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<p>DEC. 20, 2010</p>
<p>By LAER PEARCE</p>
<p>When the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show opened last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was there, which is not surprising since the manly man is quite the car lover.&#160; Remember his H1 Hummer? Or his Ferrari 360 Spider?&#160; But this time, he was standing in front of a display of 14 alternative fuel vehicles, including plug-in hybrids and full-on electric cars.</p>
<p>Mary Nichols, California’s Green Queen and Air Resources Board director, introduced the governor as the leader of California’s rush to embrace cars that are fundamentally antithetical to his old Hummer.&#160; Schwarzenegger thanked Nichols for her introduction, noting in passing that “we grabbed her and brought her out here” because of her work in support of cap and trade.&#160; Then, calling the non-gasoline or low-gasoline cars arrayed behind him fantastic and gorgeous, he said, “For us it doesn’t make any difference if it’s a hydrogen car that is the solution, if it’s an electric car, a plug-in hybrid or whatever it is. … The bottom line is we want to eventually get off fossil fuels.”</p>
<p>If that’s the bottom line, it’s a good thing for Schwarzenegger he’ll be out of Sacramento soon, because balancing the state’s ever-redder budget will get that much harder every time a Californian moves from a gas-powered car to a plug-in.&#160; That’s because when Californians pump a gallon of gas into the tank, they’re paying 65 cents in state, federal and local sales taxes – the highest total gas tax in the nation – creating a green river flowing into Sacramento that’s part of a total of $100 billion in annual gasoline taxes at all levels of government across the nation.&#160; Yet the state is subsidizing the very cars that will cut this revenue stream, with financial incentives like those that will allow some lucky Californians to buy a $32,780 all-electric Nissan Leaf for as little as $12,280, and non-financial ones, like the free pass to drive a hybrid solo in carpool lanes – even though hybrids are most efficient in stop-and-go traffic.</p>
<p>The gasoline tax is supposed to be spent on transportation improvements, but the Legislature’s adeptness at finding ways around that barrier hit a roadblock with the passage of Prop. 26, which imposes a two-thirds vote requirement before fees can be raised.&#160; Since it’s retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010, it negates the “gas tax swap” the Legislature cooked up in March.&#160; The swap of fuel sales taxes and fuel excise taxes had transferred about $1 billion out of the transportation fund to the general fund, where we can bet it would have been spent on just about anything but road improvements.&#160; Now it’s all back in the transportation fund, digging the General Fund budget hole a billion dollars deeper.</p>
<p>Still, California insists on shooting itself in the revenue foot by incentivizing reductions in fuel use.&#160; Pressed on the disastrous fiscal consequences of the state’s position, CARB director Nichols refused to address the problem, saying nothing more than, “It is an issue we will have to deal with.”&#160; The normal solutions – fees per mile or per kilowatt hour for electric vehicles, for example – are now off the table for all intents and purposes since they will require a two-thirds majority to pass, yet the state still insists on underwriting uncompetitive battery buggies.</p>
<p>Another big question about electric cars also remains unanswered: Will environmentalist supporters of the technology also support the new power plants needed to charge their batteries?&#160; Not hardly. Instead, they will push for California’s electric grid to be filled with more alternative energy, which can be defined as energy that does not make sense economically. Alternative fuel is more expensive, so electric cars will be even less competitive against gasoline-powered cars, and therefore will need even greater government incentives if they’re to become popular.&#160; And environmentalists will fight wind farms and desert solar plants every step of the way, all the while demanding we stop relying on gasoline.</p>
<p>But that’s just the tip of the electricity supply problem.&#160; In Shepherd Flats, Oreg., the wind turbines of the world’s largest wind farm turn for California and nowhere else, as 100 percent of the field’s output goes south.&#160; In all, 55 percent to 65 percent of the Northwest’s wind energy is generated for California, so our utilities can meet state mandates demanding more of the state’s energy come from alternative sources.</p>
<p>So big is our energy-sucking that the Bonneville Power Administration – Northwestern energy’s big Kahuna – frequently has to dump water from its dams instead of using it to generate electricity because the region’s grid is already full of wind-generated electricity. Last June, Bonneville actually was giving electricity away because so much wind energy was in the system.&#160; That seems swell, but it’s bad for migrating salmon and it wrecks Bonneville’s financials.</p>
<p>Why is the energy hanging around in the Northwest’s grid instead of being on its way to California?&#160; Because California utilities don’t actually use the wind energy; they just use the “wind credits” they buy in Washington and Oregon to count towards their mandated green energy use.&#160; Why don’t the California utilities just buy their green credits from Bonneville – or pick up the surplus electricity for free – since hydroelectric power is about as green as it gets?&#160; They can’t, because the anti-dam environmentalists in the California Legislature refuse to count hydroelectric power as green power, even though it burns no carbon.</p>
<p>So we’ll be buying wind-generated energy we’re not using, and will be not using it to power electric cars we’ve been incentivized to buy even though they dig our budget hole deeper.&#160; All of which proves there is a highway to Hell, and it runs straight through Sacramento.</p>
<p>Laer Pearce, a veteran of three decades of California public affairs, is currently working on a book that shows how everything wrong with America comes from California.</p>
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dec 20 2010 laer pearce 2010 los angeles auto show opened last month gov arnold schwarzenegger surprising since manly man quite car lover160 remember h1 hummer ferrari 360 spider160 time standing front display 14 alternative fuel vehicles including plugin hybrids fullon electric cars mary nichols californias green queen air resources board director introduced governor leader californias rush embrace cars fundamentally antithetical old hummer160 schwarzenegger thanked nichols introduction noting passing grabbed brought work support cap trade160 calling nongasoline lowgasoline cars arrayed behind fantastic gorgeous said us doesnt make difference hydrogen car solution electric car plugin hybrid whatever bottom line want eventually get fossil fuels thats bottom line good thing schwarzenegger hell sacramento soon balancing states everredder budget get much harder every time californian moves gaspowered car plugin160 thats californians pump gallon gas tank theyre paying 65 cents state federal local sales taxes highest total gas tax nation creating green river flowing sacramento thats part total 100 billion annual gasoline taxes levels government across nation160 yet state subsidizing cars cut revenue stream financial incentives like allow lucky californians buy 32780 allelectric nissan leaf little 12280 nonfinancial ones like free pass drive hybrid solo carpool lanes even though hybrids efficient stopandgo traffic gasoline tax supposed spent transportation improvements legislatures adeptness finding ways around barrier hit roadblock passage prop 26 imposes twothirds vote requirement fees raised160 since retroactive jan 1 2010 negates gas tax swap legislature cooked march160 swap fuel sales taxes fuel excise taxes transferred 1 billion transportation fund general fund bet would spent anything road improvements160 back transportation fund digging general fund budget hole billion dollars deeper still california insists shooting revenue foot incentivizing reductions fuel use160 pressed disastrous fiscal consequences states position carb director nichols refused address problem saying nothing issue deal with160 normal solutions fees per mile per kilowatt hour electric vehicles example table intents purposes since require twothirds majority pass yet state still insists underwriting uncompetitive battery buggies another big question electric cars also remains unanswered environmentalist supporters technology also support new power plants needed charge batteries160 hardly instead push californias electric grid filled alternative energy defined energy make sense economically alternative fuel expensive electric cars even less competitive gasolinepowered cars therefore need even greater government incentives theyre become popular160 environmentalists fight wind farms desert solar plants every step way demanding stop relying gasoline thats tip electricity supply problem160 shepherd flats oreg wind turbines worlds largest wind farm turn california nowhere else 100 percent fields output goes south160 55 percent 65 percent northwests wind energy generated california utilities meet state mandates demanding states energy come alternative sources big energysucking bonneville power administration northwestern energys big kahuna frequently dump water dams instead using generate electricity regions grid already full windgenerated electricity last june bonneville actually giving electricity away much wind energy system160 seems swell bad migrating salmon wrecks bonnevilles financials energy hanging around northwests grid instead way california160 california utilities dont actually use wind energy use wind credits buy washington oregon count towards mandated green energy use160 dont california utilities buy green credits bonneville pick surplus electricity free since hydroelectric power green gets160 cant antidam environmentalists california legislature refuse count hydroelectric power green power even though burns carbon well buying windgenerated energy using using power electric cars weve incentivized buy even though dig budget hole deeper160 proves highway hell runs straight sacramento laer pearce veteran three decades california public affairs currently working book shows everything wrong america comes california
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />Now that the&#160; <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2003/apr/28/business/fi-contracts28" type="external">$42 billion in debt from the 2001 Electricity Crisis</a>&#160;has been paid off,&#160;California is in the process of re-working electric power rates.&#160;It has mostly been high-volume electricity users who have been paying down that debt through higher power rates.</p>
<p>California’s “tiered” electricity rate billing system is based on usage. Rates go up the more you use.</p>
<p>But that now&#160;has to be reformed to modestly raise electricity rates for the very bottom tier of usage.&#160; To reform the rate system, earlier this year the California Legislature passed, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law,&#160; <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/asm/ab_0301-0350/ab_327_bill_20131007_chaptered.html" type="external">Assembly Bill 327</a>, the Ratepayer Equity Act.</p>
<p>This change in the electricity rate structure is likely to create a perception problem that California is disproportionately dumping onto those who use the least amount of power the bill to pay for the&#160; <a href="http://www.10news.com/news/sdge-raising-rates-again-some-calling-it-a-san-onofre-bailout-06262013" type="external">higher costs of green power, decommissioning coastal power plants, and closing the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant</a>.&#160; However, these higher costs are not part of the rate reform package under AB327.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />AB327 was enacted on October 7, 2013. But the Legislature delegated the actual recommendations for setting new electric rates to the California Public Utilities Commission.&#160; On Nov. 22, California’s three investor-owned utilities&#160; — <a href="https://www.sce.com/wps/wcm/connect/d5afac7a-9c08-48d5-99b5-f7d38e11fe61/RateReformCustomerNotice_English.pdf?MOD=AJPERES" type="external">Southern California Edison</a>, <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/michaelturnipseed/pge-presentation-to-kerntax-20130222" type="external">Pacific Gas &amp; Electric</a> and <a href="https://www.sdge.com/sites/default/files/documents/846548754/Rate_Reform.pdf" type="external">San Diego Gas &amp; Electric</a> — submitted proposals to the <a href="http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M079/K020/79020832.PDF" type="external">PUC</a> to make their rates consistent with the new law.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2013/apr/24/citylights1-electric-rates/" type="external">San Diego</a>&#160;pays the highest electric rates in the United States. &#160; <a href="https://www.sdge.com/sites/default/files/documents/846548754/Rate_Reform.pdf" type="external">Its proposed rate adjustments</a>&#160;are likely to spark political controversy because the lowest tier of usage, Tier 1, would see a 2.31-cent per kilowatt-hour rate&#160;increase.</p>
<p>Conversely, the highest tier of usage, Tier 4, would see a 7.45 cent per kilowatt-hour rate&#160;decrease&#160;(see Table below).</p>
<p>The typical San Diego residential electric bill rate would go <a href="https://www.sdge.com/sites/default/files/documents/846548754/Rate_Reform.pdf" type="external">from 17.7-cents per kilowatt-hour to 18.6-cents, or from $88.92 to $93.25 per month</a></p>
<p>However, low-usage&#160;ratepayers should not be confused with low-income&#160;ratepayers.</p>
<p>Under the California Alternate Rates for Energy program, qualified low-income households are not subject to the proposed rate adjustments.&#160; <a href="http://www.liheap.ncat.org/Utility/CA/sdge.htm" type="external">CARE ratepayers</a>&#160;get a 20 percent discount on electric bills in San Diego. &#160;The typical San Diego CARE ratepayer would pay 11.2 cents to 11.4 cents per kilowatt-hour for power under the new rate-adjustment proposal.</p>
<p>San Diego Gas and Electric Company</p>
<p>Proposed Interim Residential Rate Changes Under Assembly Bill 327</p>
<p>California’s new restructured green power system also has brought about a problem of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">high electricity rates at sunset each day</a>.&#160; This is especially acute during the spring and fall seasons, rather than the hot summer months.</p>
<p>But California is trying to shift the burden of high sunset hour electricity prices to other states, mainly by buying cheap hydropower from dams in the Southwest and in the Pacific Northwest, largely from firms owned by billionaire Warren Buffett and the U.S. government (read&#160; <a href="" type="internal">here</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">here</a>).&#160; This cost-shifting plan may run into trouble if the regional power grid is congested during sunset hours, or the system lacks cheap hydropower available to bail out California’s high power rates.</p>
<p>Additionally, AB327 allows electric utilities to tack an additional $10 per month surcharge to electricity bills for those who receive subsidized power rates for the installation of rooftop solar systems. According to&#160; <a href="http://www.edison.com/files/November_2013_Business_Update.pdf" type="external">Southern California Edison</a>, the unsubsidized solar power rate would be 28.3 cents per kilowatt-hour.</p>
<p>However, the actual rate paid by rooftop solar households is 8.2 cents per kilowatt-hour.&#160; This results in a whopping 20.1-cent per kilowatt-hour subsidy to rooftop solar households.&#160; So some of the cost of the free power from rooftop solar systems must be rebated to other electricity customers.</p>
<p>AB327 also delays the impacts from time-of-use billing through smart meters until 2018. &#160;Any rate reduction now for high-end electricity users would likely be lost when time-of-use metering begins.</p>
<p>Cost shifting won’t solve the problem of high overall green power prices or the imbalancing of the electric grid at critical hours of the day without causing other problems as well.</p>
<p>When time-of-use metering is implemented, electricity ratepayers also are going to be able to get into the game of cost shifting.&#160; But to do that, ratepayers are going to have to shift their lifestyles away from the “super peak hours” from 3 pm to 6 pm every day, when electricity usage — and rates — will be the highest.&#160; Californians are going to have to understand that it isn’t the hottest time of day, or necessarily the coldest part of a cold snap, when the rates are highest anymore. Instead, it is during the sunset hours that electricity rates are going to be the highest.</p>
<p>During those hours, for example, a family might postpone doing the laundry or using an electric stove until after the “super peak hours.”</p>
<p>Eventually, it will mean lifestyle changes for Californians similar to those already&#160; <a href="http://www.aps.com/en/residential/accountservices/serviceplans/Pages/time-advantage-super-peak.aspx" type="external">in effect in Arizona</a>.&#160; Rates jump 22 cents per hour in Arizona during the June through August billing cycle, from $0.24477 per kilowatt-hour during “on-peak hours” to a whopping $0.46517 per kilowatt-hour during “super-peak hours.”</p>
<p>This may affect when advertisers target ads on television and the scheduling of sports events. After-school sports practice under lights may become a thing of the past.</p>
<p>Ironically, one of the few ways to hold down electricity rates other than shutting off the lights would be to deregulate the power grid to allow&#160; <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1996-12-01/electricity-the-power-shift-ahead" type="external">“freebooters”</a>&#160;who don’t own wires or even power plants to deliver lower power rates. &#160;Alas, with California just recently paying off its $42 billion bill for botching deregulation last time, Californians can’t look for relief from deregulation any time soon.</p>
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the160 42 billion debt 2001 electricity crisis160has paid off160california process reworking electric power rates160it mostly highvolume electricity users paying debt higher power rates californias tiered electricity rate billing system based usage rates go use now160has reformed modestly raise electricity rates bottom tier usage160 reform rate system earlier year california legislature passed gov jerry brown signed law160 assembly bill 327 ratepayer equity act change electricity rate structure likely create perception problem california disproportionately dumping onto use least amount power bill pay the160 higher costs green power decommissioning coastal power plants closing san onofre nuclear power plant160 however higher costs part rate reform package ab327 ab327 enacted october 7 2013 legislature delegated actual recommendations setting new electric rates california public utilities commission160 nov 22 californias three investorowned utilities160 southern california edison pacific gas amp electric san diego gas amp electric submitted proposals puc make rates consistent new law san diego160pays highest electric rates united states 160 proposed rate adjustments160are likely spark political controversy lowest tier usage tier 1 would see 231cent per kilowatthour rate160increase conversely highest tier usage tier 4 would see 745 cent per kilowatthour rate160decrease160see table typical san diego residential electric bill rate would go 177cents per kilowatthour 186cents 8892 9325 per month however lowusage160ratepayers confused lowincome160ratepayers california alternate rates energy program qualified lowincome households subject proposed rate adjustments160 care ratepayers160get 20 percent discount electric bills san diego 160the typical san diego care ratepayer would pay 112 cents 114 cents per kilowatthour power new rateadjustment proposal san diego gas electric company proposed interim residential rate changes assembly bill 327 californias new restructured green power system also brought problem of160 high electricity rates sunset day160 especially acute spring fall seasons rather hot summer months california trying shift burden high sunset hour electricity prices states mainly buying cheap hydropower dams southwest pacific northwest largely firms owned billionaire warren buffett us government read160 here160and160 here160 costshifting plan may run trouble regional power grid congested sunset hours system lacks cheap hydropower available bail californias high power rates additionally ab327 allows electric utilities tack additional 10 per month surcharge electricity bills receive subsidized power rates installation rooftop solar systems according to160 southern california edison unsubsidized solar power rate would 283 cents per kilowatthour however actual rate paid rooftop solar households 82 cents per kilowatthour160 results whopping 201cent per kilowatthour subsidy rooftop solar households160 cost free power rooftop solar systems must rebated electricity customers ab327 also delays impacts timeofuse billing smart meters 2018 160any rate reduction highend electricity users would likely lost timeofuse metering begins cost shifting wont solve problem high overall green power prices imbalancing electric grid critical hours day without causing problems well timeofuse metering implemented electricity ratepayers also going able get game cost shifting160 ratepayers going shift lifestyles away super peak hours 3 pm 6 pm every day electricity usage rates highest160 californians going understand isnt hottest time day necessarily coldest part cold snap rates highest anymore instead sunset hours electricity rates going highest hours example family might postpone laundry using electric stove super peak hours eventually mean lifestyle changes californians similar already160 effect arizona160 rates jump 22 cents per hour arizona june august billing cycle 024477 per kilowatthour onpeak hours whopping 046517 per kilowatthour superpeak hours may affect advertisers target ads television scheduling sports events afterschool sports practice lights may become thing past ironically one ways hold electricity rates shutting lights would deregulate power grid allow160 freebooters160who dont wires even power plants deliver lower power rates 160alas california recently paying 42 billion bill botching deregulation last time californians cant look relief deregulation time soon
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<p>Israel’s religious political parties worked for months to pass <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-passes-bill-that-bans-most-stores-from-operating-on-shabbat-1.5729892" type="external">new religious legislation</a> requiring convenience stores and groceries to close on the Sabbath. Few pieces of proposed legislation have caused more problems for the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his secular and centrist Likud party.</p>
<p>What’s known as the minimarkets law (or supermarkets bill) deadlocked the Knesset for weeks. Shas, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox party for Sephardic Jews, threatened to topple the government if these bills were not immediately passed. The Knesset finally passed the bill Jan. 9 by a one-point margin (a vote of 58 to 57), with many coalition members voting with the opposition against the bill.</p>
<p>Israel’s religious politicians weren’t always so divisive, so why start now? My research on the political behavior of Israel’s Jewish religious leaders suggests that these extreme religious bills are symptoms of the growing internal divisiveness and increasingly empowered “extreme” factions since the death of previous leaders.</p>
<p>Why are these bills controversial?</p>
<p>The effort to prohibit more activities on the Sabbath is extremely unpopular among the Israeli public. This includes Likud voters, traditional voters who support Shas and large parts of the religious public. <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2016/03/08/religion-politics-and-public-life/" type="external">Opinion polls consistently show</a> that the public wants to permit more — not fewer — activities on the Sabbath (like public transportation).</p>
<p>The current fiasco also comes on the heels of an earlier crisis over allowing infrastructure work on the Sabbath. On Nov. 25, Netanyahu refused to cave in to religious demands, and in response, Yaakov Litzman, head of United Torah Judaism, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox party for Ashkenazim, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/ultra-orthodox-minister-resigns-from-cabinet-over-shabbat-crisis-1.5626893" type="external">resigned from the government</a>.</p>
<p>Why are religious parties pushing this legislation?</p>
<p>Just a few months ago, members of the religious parties, including Shas, <a href="http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/politics-q4_2017/Article-e4e7207f47dff51004.htm" type="external">were quick to point out</a> that there has never been a better government for them. Money to yeshivot (religious schools) had reached a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/yeshiva-funding-hits-all-time-high-with-new-government-boost/" type="external">record high</a>. Previous legislation passed by the secular Yesh Atid party when the religious parties were in the opposition had been overturned.</p>
<p>Now, these same parties were threatening early elections if these bills were not passed. What changed? Why are they breaking the religious <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_quo_(Israel)" type="external">status quo</a>, norms that have regulated the role of religion in public life since the founding of the state? Why are Israel’s religious parties now pursuing such a hard-line position?</p>
<p>It’s the rabbi’s fault</p>
<p>I argue that these extreme religious bills are symptoms of the growing internal divisiveness affecting religious leadership in Israel. Deaths of powerful and politically moderate religious leaders such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aharon_Yehuda_Leib_Shteinman" type="external">Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosef_Shalom_Eliashiv" type="external">Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovadia_Yosef" type="external">Rav Ovadia Yosef</a>&#160;created a leadership vacuum in which more <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-the-split-in-haredi-community-1.5277178" type="external">extreme factions</a> have emerged. These new leaders oppose the old religious status quo reached by moderates at a time when the religious political parties possessed little power.</p>
<p>As these leaders vie for power, two main trends emerge. First, moderate religious leaders are finding it hard to continue justifying religious compromise in a context where <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-s-shabbat-wars-are-symptom-of-deeper-haredi-crisis-1.5626851" type="external">every decision is scrutinized</a> by the ultra-Orthodox media. Second, other religious leaders are using extreme rulings as a tool for building religious legitimacy. This includes encouraging <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-police-arrest-36-ultra-orthodox-anti-draft-protesters-in-jerusalem-1.5626936" type="external">protests in Jerusalem</a> over the army draft and remaining relatively quiet toward&#160; <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/soldier-attacked-by-ultra-orthodox-mob-in-jerusalem/" type="external">attacks against soldiers</a> in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.</p>
<p>These developments have had important repercussions for Israel’s religious parties. These parties are closely tied to their religious leadership and depend upon religious leaders for legitimacy and electoral support. Thus, their political leaders have reluctantly adopted the strict religious agenda to maintain legitimacy among the broader religious leadership.</p>
<p>Recent events appear to support this explanation. When Yaakov Litzman was asked why he resigned from the government over infrastructure work on the Sabbath, he said he had no choice. According to Litzman, he received a direct order by the <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-the-haredi-rabbi-behind-litzman-s-resignation-1.5626941" type="external">young head Rabbi of Gur</a> to resign from any government that allows work on the Sabbath.</p>
<p>During the infrastructure crisis, Shas stayed in the government despite criticism from the ultra-Orthodox world. However, they justified their position by saying they would make sure the minimarkets bill would be passed. Since the death of Yosef, the highly revered religious leader of Shas, the party has been in decline and seems increasingly vulnerable to extremist demands.</p>
<p>What do these shifts mean for Israeli politics?</p>
<p>Recent legislation solidifies the perception that Netanyahu has sold out the public to maintain electoral support from Israel’s religious political parties. Frequent crises over religion also succeed in polarizing the public over the role of religion in Israeli political life.</p>
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<p>It also distances North American Jewry. For them, <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2013/10/01/jewish-american-beliefs-attitudes-culture-survey/" type="external">religious pluralism is a central value</a>, especially among the reform and conservative denominations. These groups are already upset after religious parties persuaded Netanyahu to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/26/jewish-diaspora-angry-as-netanyahu-scraps-western-wall-mixed-prayer-plan" type="external">renege on a promise</a> to allow mixed prayers for these denominations at the Western Wall.</p>
<p>As religious parties become more susceptible to extremist demands, it becomes difficult to build a stable coalition that relies on cooperation between secular and religious parties. Past dependence on religious parties to build coalitions ensures that religious extremists will continue to have a broad impact on Israeli politics and society.</p>
<p><a href="http://mfreedman.mit.edu/" type="external">Michael Freedman</a>&#160;is a PhD candidate in political science at MIT.</p>
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israels religious political parties worked months pass new religious legislation requiring convenience stores groceries close sabbath pieces proposed legislation caused problems government prime minister benjamin netanyahu secular centrist likud party whats known minimarkets law supermarkets bill deadlocked knesset weeks shas israels ultraorthodox party sephardic jews threatened topple government bills immediately passed knesset finally passed bill jan 9 onepoint margin vote 58 57 many coalition members voting opposition bill israels religious politicians werent always divisive start research political behavior israels jewish religious leaders suggests extreme religious bills symptoms growing internal divisiveness increasingly empowered extreme factions since death previous leaders bills controversial effort prohibit activities sabbath extremely unpopular among israeli public includes likud voters traditional voters support shas large parts religious public opinion polls consistently show public wants permit fewer activities sabbath like public transportation current fiasco also comes heels earlier crisis allowing infrastructure work sabbath nov 25 netanyahu refused cave religious demands response yaakov litzman head united torah judaism israels ultraorthodox party ashkenazim resigned government religious parties pushing legislation months ago members religious parties including shas quick point never better government money yeshivot religious schools reached record high previous legislation passed secular yesh atid party religious parties opposition overturned parties threatening early elections bills passed changed breaking religious status quo norms regulated role religion public life since founding state israels religious parties pursuing hardline position rabbis fault argue extreme religious bills symptoms growing internal divisiveness affecting religious leadership israel deaths powerful politically moderate religious leaders rabbi aharon yehuda leib shteinman rabbi yosef shalom elyashiv rav ovadia yosef160created leadership vacuum extreme factions emerged new leaders oppose old religious status quo reached moderates time religious political parties possessed little power leaders vie power two main trends emerge first moderate religious leaders finding hard continue justifying religious compromise context every decision scrutinized ultraorthodox media second religious leaders using extreme rulings tool building religious legitimacy includes encouraging protests jerusalem army draft remaining relatively quiet toward160 attacks soldiers ultraorthodox neighborhoods developments important repercussions israels religious parties parties closely tied religious leadership depend upon religious leaders legitimacy electoral support thus political leaders reluctantly adopted strict religious agenda maintain legitimacy among broader religious leadership recent events appear support explanation yaakov litzman asked resigned government infrastructure work sabbath said choice according litzman received direct order young head rabbi gur resign government allows work sabbath infrastructure crisis shas stayed government despite criticism ultraorthodox world however justified position saying would make sure minimarkets bill would passed since death yosef highly revered religious leader shas party decline seems increasingly vulnerable extremist demands shifts mean israeli politics recent legislation solidifies perception netanyahu sold public maintain electoral support israels religious political parties frequent crises religion also succeed polarizing public role religion israeli political life politics monkeycage orlando shooting updates news analysis deadliest mass shooting us history post_newsletter348 followorlando true endofarticle false please provide valid email address also distances north american jewry religious pluralism central value especially among reform conservative denominations groups already upset religious parties persuaded netanyahu renege promise allow mixed prayers denominations western wall religious parties become susceptible extremist demands becomes difficult build stable coalition relies cooperation secular religious parties past dependence religious parties build coalitions ensures religious extremists continue broad impact israeli politics society michael freedman160is phd candidate political science mit
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<p>LONDON — Truck drivers who <a href="" type="internal">plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin</a> and a <a href="" type="internal">crowd of pedestrians in Nice</a> perpetrated exactly the kind of low-tech, vehicular attacks on soft targets that terrorism experts say are almost impossible to prevent.</p>
<p>Vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices are a well-established threat in Afghanistan and Iraq, where motorcycles and pick-ups laden with explosives are driven towards security checkpoints or convoys of soldiers.</p>
<p>But the European incidents underscore fears that the use of vehicles as weapons in themselves is a growing threat in the United States and elsewhere in the West.</p>
<p>“Vehicle ramming offers terrorists with limited access to explosives or weapons an opportunity to conduct a Homeland attack with minimal prior training or experience,” the <a href="https://info.publicintelligence.net/DHS-TerroristRamming.pdf" type="external">Department of Homeland Security warned in 2010</a>, urging vigilance against “attempts to infiltrate closed areas where traffic usually moves but where crowds are gathered, such as for street festivals or farmers’ markets".</p>
<p>But aside from ever-greater intelligence gathering, experts say there is little that can be done to stop a determined attacker from "killing by car" in main streets or other busy areas.</p>
<p>“This is what authorities fear the most — a low-tech weapon than can be obtained by anyone and used at any time,” said Shiraz Maher, senior research fellow at the International Centre for Study of Radicalization and Political Violence (ICSR) at Kings College, London.</p>
<p>“Anyone can prepare and carry out this kind of attack, you don’t need to take the risk of becoming part of a terror cell or traveling to Syria or anything like that," he added, speaking to NBC News in the wake of the Nice massacre. "There is no plot to be intercepted or plan to be thwarted. These attackers are already behind enemy lines, as ISIS sees it.”</p>
<p>Security was stepped up at <a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-NYPD-Increases-Hercules-Security-After-Attack-Berlin-Holiday-Market-407563375.html" type="external">busy spots in New York City on Monday night</a> following the Berlin incident.</p>
<p>"Absent intelligence, the same way you can’t stop someone from shooting into a crowd, there isn’t a magic way to stop someone from driving into a crowd,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/jihadists-cars-vans-terror-ram-attacks-nypd-article-1.2156574" type="external">told the New York Daily News</a> in July. “What we seek to do is minimize that threat in pedestrian malls like Times Square, where you have the largest crowds".</p>
<p>Attacks like those in Berlin or Nice are easy to replicate.</p>
<p>Matthew Henman, head of IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Research Center foretold further attacks by truck in the wake of the one in Nice: "The high-impact/low-capability nature of the attack raises the risk of the repeated use of the tactic in France and allied countries in the coming months, as well as copycat attacks in the following days".</p>
<p>The Nice atrocity was at least the fourth politically or militant-inspired vehicular assault in France since 2014. Two attacks took place with motor vehicles in Dec. 2014 in the towns of Nantes and Dijon, killing one person and injuring more than 20. In January, an attacker rammed French soldiers who were guarding a mosque in Valence, although none were killed.</p>
<p>An ISIS video circulated in July called on followers around the world to run down Westerners, according to the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE).</p>
<p>“Fill your cars with gas…” the video instructs, according to ICSVE, showing images of an SUV driver preparing to run over crowds in Australia.</p>
<p>Al Qaeda's Inspire magazine suggested to militants in 2010 that "running over them with your cars and trucks" was a method of attack. And in 2014, ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed Al Adnan implored followers to kill disbelievers "in any manner or way, however it may be ... run him over with your car."</p>
<p>The threat comes not just from jihadis but anyone with a grievance and a car. Lakeisha Nicole Holloway was accused in December of killing one person and injuring dozens more by <a href="" type="internal">mowing down pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip</a>, while Army veteran Shawn Nelson <a href="http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/When-Security-Is-Compromised-69316502.html" type="external">stole a tank and went on a rampage in San Diego</a> in 1995 before a police officer shot and killed him. Last year, a man described by authorities as mentally ill killed three people by plowing his car into a crowd then <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/at-least-two-killed-in-austria-after-man-drives-into-crowd-before-stabbing-passers-by-in-graz-10333891.html" type="external">stabbing passers-by in Graz, Austria</a>.</p>
<p>Michael Leiter, counter-terrorism analyst for NBC News, said low-tech attacks were more difficult to thwart than conventional plots. “There is no doubt — and this is where ISIS has surpassed al Qaeda in its brilliant simplicity — this is much, much harder,” he said following the Nice attack.</p>
<p>Ramming of passers-by has been the modus operandi for Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians for some time, including when an excavator was used in a deadly attack on a bus in Jerusalem in 2014 and a stolen taxi smashed into a checkpoint near a Tel Aviv nightclub in 2011, injuring seven.</p>
<p>Authorities there installed metal bollards to protect sidewalks close to traffic lights and bus stops where pedestrians gather.</p>
<p>When a Jeep Cherokee laden with propane cylinders was driven into the check-in area at Scotland's Glasgow Airport in 2007, British authorities <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/375208/Crowded_Places-Planning_System-Jan_2012.pdf" type="external">called for a rethink in the design of public spaces</a> and “structural measures that prevent access to, or close proximity of, unscreened vehicles to the building or space … and measures that reduce the speed of vehicles … like bends or chicanes.”</p>
<p>So-called <a href="http://www.cpni.gov.uk/advice/Physical-security/Vehicle-borne/" type="external">“hostile vehicle mitigation”</a> has already seen airport approach roads rerouted away from terminal entrances, installation of concrete bollards on sidewalks and the introduction of checkpoints away from busy terminals.</p>
<p>Britain’s counter-terrorism strategy includes the creation of “safer places and buildings that are less vulnerable to terrorist attack and, should an attack take place, where people are better protected from its impact.” Older, unprotected terminal buildings, such as the check-in hall that was destroyed in the March 22 attack on Brussels airport, remain more vulnerable.</p>
<p>But while buildings and roads can be redesigned, it is much harder to protect soft targets such as crowds — a headache for organizers of public events such as fireworks displays, sports tournaments and festivals.</p>
<p>Relatively simple technology could provide a solution. A British firm says it has developed a system that can disable the engines of moving targets such as boats or cars by emitting radio frequency pulses that overload the sensors in a vehicle's electronic controls. For as long as it emits the pulses, the engine cannot be restarted.</p>
<p>Yet the covering public spaces with anti-terror measures could be counter-productive for governments and authorities.</p>
<p>“If you turn up to a family event and see barriers everywhere and bomb-proof glass or detector arches, you can create a culture of apprehension,” ICSR’s Maher said. “The reality is, you can’t protect every event from an attack like this.”</p>
<p />
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london truck drivers plowed christmas market berlin crowd pedestrians nice perpetrated exactly kind lowtech vehicular attacks soft targets terrorism experts say almost impossible prevent vehicleborne improvised explosive devices wellestablished threat afghanistan iraq motorcycles pickups laden explosives driven towards security checkpoints convoys soldiers european incidents underscore fears use vehicles weapons growing threat united states elsewhere west vehicle ramming offers terrorists limited access explosives weapons opportunity conduct homeland attack minimal prior training experience department homeland security warned 2010 urging vigilance attempts infiltrate closed areas traffic usually moves crowds gathered street festivals farmers markets aside evergreater intelligence gathering experts say little done stop determined attacker killing car main streets busy areas authorities fear lowtech weapon obtained anyone used time said shiraz maher senior research fellow international centre study radicalization political violence icsr kings college london anyone prepare carry kind attack dont need take risk becoming part terror cell traveling syria anything like added speaking nbc news wake nice massacre plot intercepted plan thwarted attackers already behind enemy lines isis sees security stepped busy spots new york city monday night following berlin incident absent intelligence way cant stop someone shooting crowd isnt magic way stop someone driving crowd nypd deputy commissioner john miller told new york daily news july seek minimize threat pedestrian malls like times square largest crowds attacks like berlin nice easy replicate matthew henman head ihs janes terrorism insurgency research center foretold attacks truck wake one nice highimpactlowcapability nature attack raises risk repeated use tactic france allied countries coming months well copycat attacks following days nice atrocity least fourth politically militantinspired vehicular assault france since 2014 two attacks took place motor vehicles dec 2014 towns nantes dijon killing one person injuring 20 january attacker rammed french soldiers guarding mosque valence although none killed isis video circulated july called followers around world run westerners according international center study violent extremism icsve fill cars gas video instructs according icsve showing images suv driver preparing run crowds australia al qaedas inspire magazine suggested militants 2010 running cars trucks method attack 2014 isis spokesman abu mohammed al adnan implored followers kill disbelievers manner way however may run car threat comes jihadis anyone grievance car lakeisha nicole holloway accused december killing one person injuring dozens mowing pedestrians las vegas strip army veteran shawn nelson stole tank went rampage san diego 1995 police officer shot killed last year man described authorities mentally ill killed three people plowing car crowd stabbing passersby graz austria michael leiter counterterrorism analyst nbc news said lowtech attacks difficult thwart conventional plots doubt isis surpassed al qaeda brilliant simplicity much much harder said following nice attack ramming passersby modus operandi palestinian attacks israeli civilians time including excavator used deadly attack bus jerusalem 2014 stolen taxi smashed checkpoint near tel aviv nightclub 2011 injuring seven authorities installed metal bollards protect sidewalks close traffic lights bus stops pedestrians gather jeep cherokee laden propane cylinders driven checkin area scotlands glasgow airport 2007 british authorities called rethink design public spaces structural measures prevent access close proximity unscreened vehicles building space measures reduce speed vehicles like bends chicanes socalled hostile vehicle mitigation already seen airport approach roads rerouted away terminal entrances installation concrete bollards sidewalks introduction checkpoints away busy terminals britains counterterrorism strategy includes creation safer places buildings less vulnerable terrorist attack attack take place people better protected impact older unprotected terminal buildings checkin hall destroyed march 22 attack brussels airport remain vulnerable buildings roads redesigned much harder protect soft targets crowds headache organizers public events fireworks displays sports tournaments festivals relatively simple technology could provide solution british firm says developed system disable engines moving targets boats cars emitting radio frequency pulses overload sensors vehicles electronic controls long emits pulses engine restarted yet covering public spaces antiterror measures could counterproductive governments authorities turn family event see barriers everywhere bombproof glass detector arches create culture apprehension icsrs maher said reality cant protect every event attack like
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<p>OBAMA AGENDA: What we still don’t know about the 8 million</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/us/obama-says-young-adults-push-health-care-enrollment-above-targets.html?hp&amp;_r=0" type="external">The New York Times</a> notes what we still don't know about Obamacare numbers: "The administration did not release two other crucial statistics that would help determine the success of the law: the number of people among the eight million who bought insurance for the first time and the number who paid their initial premiums."</p>
<p>Noted, from Obama's <a href="" type="internal">statement yesterday</a> at the White House about new ACA data showing eight million sign-ups in the first enrollment period: "Democrats running for reelection this fall should "forcefully defend and be proud of the fact that millions of people ... we're helping because of something we did."</p>
<p>Obama also slammed Republicans again yesterday for failing to take up immigration legislation – a familiar refrain. But the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304626304579508091839546088?mg=reno64-wsj" type="external">Wall Street Journal writes</a> that GOP leaders are saying privately that some immigration measures may still be on the table. "Speaker John Boehner and other senior House Republicans are telling donors and industry groups that they aim to pass immigration legislation this year, despite the reluctance of many Republicans to tackle the divisive issue before the November elections. Many lawmakers and activists have assumed the issue was off the table in an election year. But Mr. Boehner said at a Las Vegas fundraiser last month he was "hellbent on getting this done this year," according to two people in the room."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/17/us-usa-court-security-idUSBREA3G2JM20140417" type="external">Reuters</a>: Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg "indicated on Thursday night that the court will ultimately have to decide the legality of National Security Agency surveillance activities."</p>
<p>OFF TO THE RACES: Mitt remains on the political stage</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romney-returns-to-political-stage-as-republicans-prepare-for-midterms/2014/04/18/551c4b22-c634-11e3-bf7a-be01a9b69cf1_story.html" type="external">The Washington Post</a> writes on Mitt Romney's return to the political stage: "He may not direct a high-powered political-action committee or hold a formal position, but with the two living former Republican presidents — George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush — shying away from campaign politics, Romney, 67, has begun to embrace the role of party elder, believing he can shape the national debate and help guide his fractured party to a governing majority."</p>
<p>Simon and Schuster announced the title of Hillary Clinton's new book due out in June: "Hard Choices."</p>
<p>Clinton's daughter Chelsea <a href="" type="internal">announced Thursday afternoon</a> that she and her husband Marc are expecting their first child this year.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/us/politics/in-a-switch-some-campaign-ads-press-the-positive.html?hp" type="external">New York Times' Ashley Parker</a> writes that super PACs are trying to accentuate the positive in their ads. "The shift is the product of several factors — the renewed hope that positive commercials can break through the advertising clutter; lessons of the 2012 presidential race, when Mitt Romney and outside Republican groups largely failed to offer an alternate message to an onslaught of negative spots; and the increasing prevalence of stock footage made public by campaigns that makes producing positive ads easier.”</p>
<p>"Online gun sweepstakes have become one of the most useful tools for campaign outreach in the 2014 Republican primaries," <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/us/politics/gop-campaign-outreach-tool-gun-sweepstakes.html?hpw&amp;rref=politics" type="external">writes the New York Times.</a></p>
<p>Former Obama aides Jim Messina and David Axelrod are consulting on opposite sides of the British general election next year, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/obama-campaign-gurus-axelrod-and-messina-to-face-off-in-british-vote/2014/04/18/e9587c9b-1887-4746-905c-012366c9b655_story.html?hpid=z4" type="external">writes the Washington Post.</a></p>
<p>A Friday laugh, <a href="" type="internal">via NBCNews.com</a>: "The crowing announcement that Britain's Labour Party had hired Barack Obama's campaign guru and former adviser David Axelrod to help propel it back to power distilled why it might need the strategist’s help. The release on Labour’s website misspelled Axelrod’s name in the headline: "David Alexrod joins the team."</p>
<p>CALIFORNIA: California Democrats are on the defensive after a spate of high-profile scandals, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303887804579504212729970586?mg=reno64-wsj" type="external">the Wall Street Journal notes.</a></p>
<p>DELAWARE: Beau Biden <a href="" type="internal">will run for governor</a> in Delaware in 2016.</p>
<p>GEORGIA: GOP Senate candidate David Perdue has a potential “outsourcing” problem, <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/david-perdue-georgia-outsourcing-past" type="external">MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin reports</a>. “As senior vice president [at Haggar Clothing Co.], Perdue was in charge of international operations at Haggar and later domestic operations as well. Under his watch, the company did what so many clothing manufacturers did at the time: closed down factory lines in America and outsourced production overseas where labor was cheap and regulations were less restrictive. That meant cutting hundreds of jobs at South Texas facilities in Weslaco, Edinburg, and Brownsville and producing clothes in countries like Mexico, where the average manufacturing employee earned about $1.50 an hour in wages and benefits.”</p>
<p>The U.S Chamber of Commerce <a href="http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2014/04/17/u-s-chamber-backs-jack-kingston-in-senate-race/" type="external">is backing</a> Rep. Jack Kingston in the Georgia Senate primary</p>
<p>IOWA: Remember how Clinton backers criticized the Iowa caucus system for excluding those unable to attend a weekday evening event? Iowa Democrats are eyeing changes to the system, <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/04/17/iowa-democrats-seek-to-boost-caucus-participation/7825235/" type="external">the Des Moines Register reports.</a></p>
<p>KANSAS: After a flurry of speculation, Kathleen Sebelius tells the New York Times through a spokeswoman that she's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/us/politics/sebelius-says-shes-not-interested-in-senate-run.html?rref=politics&amp;module=Ribbon&amp;version=origin&amp;region=Header&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=Politics&amp;pgtype=article" type="external">"not considering a run for the Senate."</a></p>
<p>MASSACHUSETTS: <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2014/04/17/elizabeth-warren-book-includes-lessons-distancing-herself-from-media-learned-from-senate-campaign/9OdW5k05XRVFW5tpbZXFvJ/story.html" type="external">The Boston Globe's Matt Viser:</a> "In book, Warren explains guarded nature with the media"</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Warren <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/17/warren-reiterates-im-not-running-for-president/" type="external">is reiterating</a> that she's not running for president, the Washington Post reports.</p>
<p>NEW HAMPSHIRE: The NH state Senate has nixed a bill to repeal the death penalty, <a href="http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140417/NEWS06/140419175" type="external">the Union Leader reports.</a></p>
<p>PROGRAMMING NOTES.</p>
<p>*** Friday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up: NBC’s Luke Russert interviews former Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Deputy Editor of the Rothenberg Political Report Nathan Gonzales, Roll Call’s politics editor Shira Center, NBC News’ Senior Political Editor Mark Murray and CNBC’s Eunice Yoon.</p>
<p>*** Friday’s “Jansing &amp; Co.” line-up: Chris Jansing interviews Navy Lt. Arlo Abrahamson, The Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim, National Journal’s Elahe Izadi, Investigative Reporter for Reuters David Rohde, Anti-Defamation League’s Michael Salberg, Associate Professor for International Affairs at The New School Nina Khrushcheva, Democratic Strategist Angela Rye, Republican Strategist Chip Saltsman, MSNBC’s Joy Reid, and MSNBC Krystal Ball.</p>
<p>*** Friday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Tamron Hall interviews GlobalPost Senior Correspondent Geoff Cain, Rosalind Osgood from the Broward County School Board, Los Angeles Magazine writer Jesse Katz, Michael Felci from The Desert Sun about Coachella, and Lisa Williams, founder of World of EPI and Positively Perfect Dolls.</p>
<p>*** Friday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Case Foundation Chairman Steve Case, Bloomberg View’s Jeffrey Goldberg, NBC’s David Gregory, Jim Maceda, John Yang and Lester Holt and the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart.</p>
<p>*** Saturday’s and Sunday’s “Weekend with Alex Witt”: As part of her weekly “Office Politics” series, MSNBC’s Alex Witt interviews MSNBC’s Tamron Hall.</p>
| false | 3 |
obama agenda still dont know 8 million new york times notes still dont know obamacare numbers administration release two crucial statistics would help determine success law number people among eight million bought insurance first time number paid initial premiums noted obamas statement yesterday white house new aca data showing eight million signups first enrollment period democrats running reelection fall forcefully defend proud fact millions people helping something obama also slammed republicans yesterday failing take immigration legislation familiar refrain wall street journal writes gop leaders saying privately immigration measures may still table speaker john boehner senior house republicans telling donors industry groups aim pass immigration legislation year despite reluctance many republicans tackle divisive issue november elections many lawmakers activists assumed issue table election year mr boehner said las vegas fundraiser last month hellbent getting done year according two people room reuters justices antonin scalia ruth bader ginsburg indicated thursday night court ultimately decide legality national security agency surveillance activities races mitt remains political stage washington post writes mitt romneys return political stage may direct highpowered politicalaction committee hold formal position two living former republican presidents george hw bush george w bush shying away campaign politics romney 67 begun embrace role party elder believing shape national debate help guide fractured party governing majority simon schuster announced title hillary clintons new book due june hard choices clintons daughter chelsea announced thursday afternoon husband marc expecting first child year new york times ashley parker writes super pacs trying accentuate positive ads shift product several factors renewed hope positive commercials break advertising clutter lessons 2012 presidential race mitt romney outside republican groups largely failed offer alternate message onslaught negative spots increasing prevalence stock footage made public campaigns makes producing positive ads easier online gun sweepstakes become one useful tools campaign outreach 2014 republican primaries writes new york times former obama aides jim messina david axelrod consulting opposite sides british general election next year writes washington post friday laugh via nbcnewscom crowing announcement britains labour party hired barack obamas campaign guru former adviser david axelrod help propel back power distilled might need strategists help release labours website misspelled axelrods name headline david alexrod joins team california california democrats defensive spate highprofile scandals wall street journal notes delaware beau biden run governor delaware 2016 georgia gop senate candidate david perdue potential outsourcing problem msnbcs benjy sarlin reports senior vice president haggar clothing co perdue charge international operations haggar later domestic operations well watch company many clothing manufacturers time closed factory lines america outsourced production overseas labor cheap regulations less restrictive meant cutting hundreds jobs south texas facilities weslaco edinburg brownsville producing clothes countries like mexico average manufacturing employee earned 150 hour wages benefits us chamber commerce backing rep jack kingston georgia senate primary iowa remember clinton backers criticized iowa caucus system excluding unable attend weekday evening event iowa democrats eyeing changes system des moines register reports kansas flurry speculation kathleen sebelius tells new york times spokeswoman shes considering run senate massachusetts boston globes matt viser book warren explains guarded nature media meanwhile warren reiterating shes running president washington post reports new hampshire nh state senate nixed bill repeal death penalty union leader reports programming notes fridays daily rundown lineup nbcs luke russert interviews former governor bill richardson dnm senator richard blumenthal dct deputy editor rothenberg political report nathan gonzales roll calls politics editor shira center nbc news senior political editor mark murray cnbcs eunice yoon fridays jansing amp co lineup chris jansing interviews navy lt arlo abrahamson huffington posts ryan grim national journals elahe izadi investigative reporter reuters david rohde antidefamation leagues michael salberg associate professor international affairs new school nina khrushcheva democratic strategist angela rye republican strategist chip saltsman msnbcs joy reid msnbc krystal ball fridays news nation tamron hall lineup tamron hall interviews globalpost senior correspondent geoff cain rosalind osgood broward county school board los angeles magazine writer jesse katz michael felci desert sun coachella lisa williams founder world epi positively perfect dolls fridays andrea mitchell reports lineup nbcs andrea mitchell interviews case foundation chairman steve case bloomberg views jeffrey goldberg nbcs david gregory jim maceda john yang lester holt washington posts jonathan capehart saturdays sundays weekend alex witt part weekly office politics series msnbcs alex witt interviews msnbcs tamron hall
| 706 |
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p>The Roman Catholic Church is committed to social media despite the hassles —&#160;ugly criticism, vicious arguments, inappropriate photos —&#160;a Vatican official said this week.</p>
<p>While Facebook, Twitter and other platforms often bring out the worst in people, Archbishop Claudio Celli said in a May 23 <a href="http://www.religionnews.com/2014/05/23/vatican-media-chief-says-church-cant-ignore-social-media/" type="external">Religion News Service story</a>&#160;they also provide rich opportunities for evangelism.</p>
<p>“In our church we are always fishing inside the aquarium,” said Celli, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. “And we forget that most fish are outside the aquarium.”</p>
<p>Lo and behold, that turns out to be the view shared by many Baptist organizations, as well. Communications and media managers with a variety of state and national groups consistently say that the time and money spent projecting a social media presence far outweighs any drawbacks to an online presence.</p>
<p>‘Building online community’</p>
<p>“I have spoken to pastors who say ‘I don’t have time to be on Facebook and social media,’ and my answer is, you can’t afford not to do it,” said Nathan White, web minister for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.</p>
<p>Facebook alone has an estimated <a href="http://www.statisticbrain.com/facebook-statistics/" type="external">1.3 billion members</a> worldwide. And that, White said, is a very ripe missions field.</p>
<p>“I’ve heard that if Facebook were a country, it would be the third-largest country in the world,” he said. “If Facebook were a country, we would be sending missionaries there —&#160;we need to have a presence.”</p>
<p>But that doesn’t mean it’s easy, he added. Developing and implementing social media strategies, consistently adding relevant content and pushing reluctant or busy leaders to stay current with their posts is time-consuming.</p>
<p>And so is policing negative posts that can be personally critical. But that can be avoided by staying on message, White said.</p>
<p>“In building [an online] community we’re trying to stay away from the issues that would divide us,” he said of theological and political issues that can generate hostility online. “But we can all come around missions in a unity of spirit, and so that’s the thing we stick with on social media.”</p>
<p>Sharing stories, connecting readers</p>
<p>Staying on message does minimize the activity of so-called “trolls” who plague many web, blog and social media sites with inflammatory comments and criticisms, Baptist leaders said.</p>
<p>“Our main goal is to share stories, to connect readers who have shared passions and highlight innovative ministries,” said Aaron Weaver, communications manager for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.</p>
<p>The CBF also uses its Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, vimeo and blogging platforms in advocacy efforts, such as raising awareness about immigration reform or predatory lending practices, Weaver said. The Fellowship recently partnered with consumer groups to share stories about predatory lending practices.</p>
<p>But even a sharp focus on the CBF’s mission online can’t eliminate negativity altogether, he said.</p>
<p>“There are challenges,” Weaver said. “Sometimes we get negative comments on Facebook —&#160;but we encourage conversation and sometimes that’s going to happen.”</p>
<p>Usually, the commentary is within the bounds of healthy discussion.</p>
<p>“We only step in when the conversation turns inappropriate —&#160;but that doesn’t happen all that often,” Weaver said.</p>
<p>‘Keeping your ear to the ground’</p>
<p>And even then, the extra effort of having to police wayward comments is worth the effort, said Laura Barclay, networking, communications and interim missions associate at the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship.</p>
<p>“Shying away from social media is like refusing to get a phone in the early 20th&#160;century,” Barclay said.</p>
<p>Faith-based groups also should consider hiring someone specifically dedicated to web-based outreach, she said, because social media and other platforms are constantly evolving and new ones are coming online.</p>
<p>Barclay said she’s got her hands full keeping an eye on the online lives of teens, who are known to be shifting away from Facebook to outlets like Instagram.</p>
<p>“We can expect those networks to change,” she said, adding that it’s a full-time job “keeping your ear to the ground and figuring out what the trends will be.”</p>
<p>Beyond that, social media provides KBF and others a way to stay connected with ministry partners and pushes the organization to be concise in its communications.</p>
<p>“When you have 140 characters [in Twitter] it forces us to be more direct,” she said.</p>
<p>But the most important reason, she said in echoing the Vatican comments, is it’s about evangelism.</p>
<p>“Fundamentally, using social media is a way of reaching people where they are.”</p>
<p>‘Fulfilling our mission’</p>
<p>That’s a fact about social media that Chris Canary knows all too well.</p>
<p>Canary began his job as an intern with CBF Oklahoma to help coordinate disaster recovery efforts following the May 2013 tornadoes. Facebook was especially useful in communicating to the wider Fellowship and world what the local needs were. As a result, many out-of-state churches and other organizations were inspired to send volunteers.</p>
<p>“And it did help us with fundraising,” said Canary, now the office administrator and disaster response coordinator for CBF Oklahoma.</p>
<p>Currently it’s also being used to promote the state Fellowship’s missions projects, including recent work to help refurbish <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/CBF-of-Oklahoma/449723758450604?id=449723758450604&amp;sk=photos_stream" type="external">Watonga Indian Baptist Church</a>.</p>
<p>Despite that, there are occasionally those who use the site to vent their anger.</p>
<p>“There was a guy who posted something yesterday,” Canary said Wednesday, May 28. “He posted something that shouldn’t be on our site, that he was tired of Obama and the liberals running the government.”</p>
<p>The value of Facebook and other social media platforms to cash-strapped nonprofits makes having to police such remarks worthwhile, Canary added.</p>
<p>“It allows us to tell our story and to show people how we are fulfilling our mission as CBF Oklahoma.”</p>
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jeff brumley roman catholic church committed social media despite hassles 160ugly criticism vicious arguments inappropriate photos 160a vatican official said week facebook twitter platforms often bring worst people archbishop claudio celli said may 23 religion news service story160they also provide rich opportunities evangelism church always fishing inside aquarium said celli head pontifical council social communications forget fish outside aquarium lo behold turns view shared many baptist organizations well communications media managers variety state national groups consistently say time money spent projecting social media presence far outweighs drawbacks online presence building online community spoken pastors say dont time facebook social media answer cant afford said nathan white web minister virginia baptist mission board facebook alone estimated 13 billion members worldwide white said ripe missions field ive heard facebook country would thirdlargest country world said facebook country would sending missionaries 160we need presence doesnt mean easy added developing implementing social media strategies consistently adding relevant content pushing reluctant busy leaders stay current posts timeconsuming policing negative posts personally critical avoided staying message white said building online community trying stay away issues would divide us said theological political issues generate hostility online come around missions unity spirit thats thing stick social media sharing stories connecting readers staying message minimize activity socalled trolls plague many web blog social media sites inflammatory comments criticisms baptist leaders said main goal share stories connect readers shared passions highlight innovative ministries said aaron weaver communications manager cooperative baptist fellowship cbf also uses facebook twitter flickr vimeo blogging platforms advocacy efforts raising awareness immigration reform predatory lending practices weaver said fellowship recently partnered consumer groups share stories predatory lending practices even sharp focus cbfs mission online cant eliminate negativity altogether said challenges weaver said sometimes get negative comments facebook 160but encourage conversation sometimes thats going happen usually commentary within bounds healthy discussion step conversation turns inappropriate 160but doesnt happen often weaver said keeping ear ground even extra effort police wayward comments worth effort said laura barclay networking communications interim missions associate kentucky baptist fellowship shying away social media like refusing get phone early 20th160century barclay said faithbased groups also consider hiring someone specifically dedicated webbased outreach said social media platforms constantly evolving new ones coming online barclay said shes got hands full keeping eye online lives teens known shifting away facebook outlets like instagram expect networks change said adding fulltime job keeping ear ground figuring trends beyond social media provides kbf others way stay connected ministry partners pushes organization concise communications 140 characters twitter forces us direct said important reason said echoing vatican comments evangelism fundamentally using social media way reaching people fulfilling mission thats fact social media chris canary knows well canary began job intern cbf oklahoma help coordinate disaster recovery efforts following may 2013 tornadoes facebook especially useful communicating wider fellowship world local needs result many outofstate churches organizations inspired send volunteers help us fundraising said canary office administrator disaster response coordinator cbf oklahoma currently also used promote state fellowships missions projects including recent work help refurbish watonga indian baptist church despite occasionally use site vent anger guy posted something yesterday canary said wednesday may 28 posted something shouldnt site tired obama liberals running government value facebook social media platforms cashstrapped nonprofits makes police remarks worthwhile canary added allows us tell story show people fulfilling mission cbf oklahoma
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<p>The CPS Inspector General is investigating the district’s $20 million principal professional development contract with the SUPES Academy, Catalyst Chicago has learned.</p>
<p>The contract is by far the largest no-bid contract that CPS has entered into in at least five years. And the contract has raised suspicion because CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett had a previous relationship with SUPES. Catalyst detailed those ties in <a href="http://catalyst-chicago.org/2013/07/20-million-no-bid-contract-raises-questions-about-supes-academy/" type="external">this story</a>, not long after the contract was quietly approved by the School Board.</p>
<p>CPS officials and board members said this summer that they did not ask for bids and gave the contract to SUPES Academy because of its ability to tap a bevy of school administrators to teach workshops and serve as coaches. The pricey initiative is called the Chicago Executive Leadership Academy or CELA.</p>
<p>However, a Catalyst analysis of the list of superintendents and other school administrators who work as coaches and lead workshops shows a web of ties between the educators, their school districts and SUPES or its associated companies.</p>
<p>Catalyst found that at least five of the coaches or workshop leaders, called ‘master teachers,’ work for school districts that have awarded contracts to one or more of these companies. Yet the full picture is unclear, since SUPES refused to provide professional biographies and fully identify all of its coaches and master teachers. (Catalyst identified several through Internet research.)</p>
<p>Because the coaches and master teachers are paid by SUPES, which is a private company and not subject to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, their compensation is not public.</p>
<p>Sources say that coaches are paid a flat fee of several thousand dollars for each principal they are assigned to coach, plus a lump sum for each day of master teaching. According to a log of coach contacts obtained by Catalyst, 34 coaches are working with an average of 10 principals each.</p>
<p>One of these coaches is Ed Heatley, who resigned from a suburban Atlanta school district and is now Commissioner of Education for the Bermuda Ministry of Education. During his tenure in Georgia’s Clayton County School District, Heatley was criticized for his harsh leadership style, his handling of budget cuts and the appearance of impropriety with a district employee.</p>
<p>Heatley coaches 29 CPS principals and all of his contact with them has been via e-mail, according to the coaches’ log.</p>
<p>Revolving door, lack of transparency</p>
<p>Gary Miron, an education professor at Western Michigan University, says that as an increasing number of for-profit businesses get involved in public education, more needs to be known about the relationships between the businesses and school district administrators. Much of his work has focused on educational management organizations that run charter schools and he has found several that employ former officials after receiving lucrative contracts from their school districts.</p>
<p>“It is disgraceful,” Miron says.</p>
<p>He notes that congressmen cannot be a consultant or work for a company that has a government contract for years after leaving their post. The ban keeps company officials from promising lucrative future payment to lawmakers as they negotiate government contracts.</p>
<p>Miron also notes that private companies lack transparency, so school board members might have no idea about the nature or extent of relationships with administrators.</p>
<p>In an emailed response to questions from Catalyst, SUPES Academy President Thomas Vranas wrote that the company adheres to each district’s guidelines regarding hiring and consulting, as well as the necessary disclosures in each district’s purchasing, procurement and legal processes. Vranas declined to be interviewed via telephone.</p>
<p>He also stated that the company’s selling point is access to “talented leaders” and therefore it should be no surprise that the coaches and master teachers are current superintendents and deputy superintendents.</p>
<p>“We take exceptional pride in knowing that we provide our participants with some of the most talented leaders in the country,” he wrote. “This access to current educational leaders, who intimately know the issues of the day, ensures a pragmatic and practical approach to professional development, instead of a theoretical basis for how to lead.”</p>
<p>Byrd-Bennett agrees, saying having coaches who are superintendents from districts that simultaneously have contracts with SUPES or its associated businesses is “totally not inappropriate.”</p>
<p>“They are renowned superintendents,” she says.</p>
<p>CPS, however, acknowledges a steady chorus of complaints from principals critical of the quality of training.</p>
<p>Web of ties</p>
<p>The for-profit SUPES Academy has two branches, one that trains superintendents and another that trains principals and other administrators. Gary Solomon and Thomas Vranas, the men who run the Wilmette-based SUPES, have two other companies—a school administrator search firm called PROACT Search and one that does turnarounds of school districts called Synesi Associates.</p>
<p>Vranas says that the “three firms all work to improve the quality of public education by providing the best professionals and resources to leaders, schools and districts.”</p>
<p>But with three inter-related businesses, school leaders can easily become entangled. An example is S. Dallas Dance, the superintendent of Baltimore County, Md. Public Schools, which serves 108,000 students. Dance is now serving and getting paid as both a master teacher and a coach for 11 CPS principals.</p>
<p>In 2011, Dance participated in the SUPES Academy superintendent training program.&#160; In July of 2012, he was hired for his current position. Five months later, in December of 2012, the Baltimore County Public Schools board approved an $895,000 contract to have SUPES work with a cohort of principals over three years, according to the district’s website. District officials say the contract was not bid out because they were “piggy-backing” on a contract that SUPES had with St. Louis Public Schools. The St. Louis superintendent is also a SUPES master teacher.</p>
<p>Mychael Dickerson, spokesman for Baltimore County schools, says Dance has yet to be paid for any of his work with SUPES, but that, except for travel expenses to Chicago, Dance plans to turn his payment over to the non-profit Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools.</p>
<p>Dickerson would not specify how much Dallas expects to be paid.</p>
<p>Baltimore County School Board President Lawrence Schmidt says Dance’s contract allows him to do consultant work as long as it doesn’t interfere with his duties as superintendent. Also, because the school district entered into the contract with SUPES before Dance began working for the firm, Schmidt does not think it is a conflict of interest.</p>
<p>“It is fairly common for superintendents to lecture or serve as a mentor and I don’t necessarily think it is a bad thing or inappropriate,” Schmidt says.</p>
<p>However, Schmidt did not know of Dance’s relationship with SUPES until being told by Catalyst and seemed unclear that the pay is significant. At times during an interview, Schmidt called Dance’s work a volunteer position or one that pays a “small honorarium plus expenses.”</p>
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cps inspector general investigating districts 20 million principal professional development contract supes academy catalyst chicago learned contract far largest nobid contract cps entered least five years contract raised suspicion ceo barbara byrdbennett previous relationship supes catalyst detailed ties story long contract quietly approved school board cps officials board members said summer ask bids gave contract supes academy ability tap bevy school administrators teach workshops serve coaches pricey initiative called chicago executive leadership academy cela however catalyst analysis list superintendents school administrators work coaches lead workshops shows web ties educators school districts supes associated companies catalyst found least five coaches workshop leaders called master teachers work school districts awarded contracts one companies yet full picture unclear since supes refused provide professional biographies fully identify coaches master teachers catalyst identified several internet research coaches master teachers paid supes private company subject illinois freedom information act compensation public sources say coaches paid flat fee several thousand dollars principal assigned coach plus lump sum day master teaching according log coach contacts obtained catalyst 34 coaches working average 10 principals one coaches ed heatley resigned suburban atlanta school district commissioner education bermuda ministry education tenure georgias clayton county school district heatley criticized harsh leadership style handling budget cuts appearance impropriety district employee heatley coaches 29 cps principals contact via email according coaches log revolving door lack transparency gary miron education professor western michigan university says increasing number forprofit businesses get involved public education needs known relationships businesses school district administrators much work focused educational management organizations run charter schools found several employ former officials receiving lucrative contracts school districts disgraceful miron says notes congressmen consultant work company government contract years leaving post ban keeps company officials promising lucrative future payment lawmakers negotiate government contracts miron also notes private companies lack transparency school board members might idea nature extent relationships administrators emailed response questions catalyst supes academy president thomas vranas wrote company adheres districts guidelines regarding hiring consulting well necessary disclosures districts purchasing procurement legal processes vranas declined interviewed via telephone also stated companys selling point access talented leaders therefore surprise coaches master teachers current superintendents deputy superintendents take exceptional pride knowing provide participants talented leaders country wrote access current educational leaders intimately know issues day ensures pragmatic practical approach professional development instead theoretical basis lead byrdbennett agrees saying coaches superintendents districts simultaneously contracts supes associated businesses totally inappropriate renowned superintendents says cps however acknowledges steady chorus complaints principals critical quality training web ties forprofit supes academy two branches one trains superintendents another trains principals administrators gary solomon thomas vranas men run wilmettebased supes two companiesa school administrator search firm called proact search one turnarounds school districts called synesi associates vranas says three firms work improve quality public education providing best professionals resources leaders schools districts three interrelated businesses school leaders easily become entangled example dallas dance superintendent baltimore county md public schools serves 108000 students dance serving getting paid master teacher coach 11 cps principals 2011 dance participated supes academy superintendent training program160 july 2012 hired current position five months later december 2012 baltimore county public schools board approved 895000 contract supes work cohort principals three years according districts website district officials say contract bid piggybacking contract supes st louis public schools st louis superintendent also supes master teacher mychael dickerson spokesman baltimore county schools says dance yet paid work supes except travel expenses chicago dance plans turn payment nonprofit education foundation baltimore county public schools dickerson would specify much dallas expects paid baltimore county school board president lawrence schmidt says dances contract allows consultant work long doesnt interfere duties superintendent also school district entered contract supes dance began working firm schmidt think conflict interest fairly common superintendents lecture serve mentor dont necessarily think bad thing inappropriate schmidt says however schmidt know dances relationship supes told catalyst seemed unclear pay significant times interview schmidt called dances work volunteer position one pays small honorarium plus expenses
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<p>The Obama administration is in the talking business again. In particular, it's talking to an American “enemy” without preconditions, in a clear break with the Bush years. Once upon a time, we commonly referred to it as diplomacy.</p>
<p>U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced during a Mideast tour that two high-level envoys would be dispatched to Damascus for “preliminary conversations.” While acknowledging that there was “no way to predict” the direction that U.S. relations would take, the secretary of state said “it is a worthwhile effort.”</p>
<p>It may take two envoys to untangle relations with Syria that have been on the rocks since the early days of the Bush administration and in deep freeze since 2005.</p>
<p>Are these the first steps in the Obama administration's new approach to the Middle East? The tentative opening with Syria certainly made the headlines, but for many Middle East watchers, it is too soon to tell.</p>
<p>“This is such a low-cost investment, it’s a nothing burger,” says Aaron David Miller, who worked for six secretaries of state and wrote a book about peace-making in the Middle East. “I’m from Ohio, but on this one, I’m from Missouri, you have to show me that they are going to be tough, smart, and fair. Those are the three things you need to succeed in this arena.”</p>
<p>Obama wasted no time signaling that his administration was willing to talk to Syria, and the signals have been loud and clear. In the past few weeks the U.S. Treasury Department allowed parts for two aging Syrians aircraft to be delivered, and also permitted $500,000 raised in the U.S. to be transferred to a Syrian cancer charity.</p>
<p>The Syrian ambassador, Imad Moustapha, was invited to the State Department for the first high-level talks in years. (In one last slap in the waning moments of the Bush administration, Syria’s ambassador was left off the invitation list for the Obama inauguration).</p>
<p>In February, Sen. John F. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, went to Damascus and declared his hope for "the possibility of real cooperation on a number of different issues beginning immediately.”</p>
<p>For his part, Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, has been signaling right back. Assad sent a cable of congratulations when the new American president was sworn into office.&#160;</p>
<p>Further, the Syrian leader told the Guardian newspaper that: "There is no substitute for the United States." It is a remarkable statement considering that during the Bush years Syria often accused the United States of war crimes and encouraging terrorism.</p>
<p>There is&#160; a bargaining process underway, says Josh Landis, a history professor at the University of Oklahoma, who runs an influential blog on all things Syrian. “The Obama administration is trying to feel their way forward,” Landis said. “Addressing the Palestinian issue is difficult, Iran is complicated, so that leaves you with Syria.”</p>
<p>And there is plenty to talk about. Syria plays a role in Iraq, sharing a border and hosting an Iraqi refugee population that is still estimated at over one million. Damascus has close ties to the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah and wields considerable influence in neighboring Lebanon where an election is scheduled later in the year. Assad is adept at playing these cards and keeping current at least one part of the old Middle East adage that you can’t make war in the region without Egypt and you can’t make peace without Syria.</p>
<p>For Damascus, reclaiming the Golan Heights, a strip of high land captured by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1981, is the ultimate goal in warming relations with the Obama administration, aside from continued good relations with the U.S. in order to meet other key goals. The new opening offered by Clinton could clear the way for Israel and Syria to restart indirect talks held with Turkish mediation last year that were suspended after Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.&#160;</p>
<p>But there are shorter-term goals that center on the economy.</p>
<p>Syria has been hit by a three-year drought and its oil reserves are running out. The economy is in transition from a socialist model to a more market-based system. U.S. sanctions set in place by the Bush administration remain an impediment to Syria’s economic well-being, and can only be lifted by Congress.</p>
<p>The Damascus Stock Exchange is set to open soon and Syria’s planning minister has said he hopes for $50 billion dollars in foreign investment over the next decade. A smiley face from Washington could help, according to Landis. "Syria needs new everything, new ports, new roads, a new electric grid.”&#160;</p>
<p>Syria has opened new markets in Iraq, selling everything from shoes to soft drinks, socks and popped corn. “This is all promising,” Landis said. “Now, they want to get beyond that.”</p>
<p>There is a glittering new class of capitalist in Damascus, but also a growing gap between rich and poor.</p>
<p>The change in the air between Washington and Damascus, with a willingness on both sides to explore the conditions of a deal, is “the beginning of a very long, slow dance,” according to Miller.</p>
<p>Washington's chief goal is loosening Syria’s alliance with Iran as well as Syria’s support for Hezbollah and Hamas. But these are all big tickets items. Syria would have to be sure that the new Obama administration was indeed smart, tough, and above all else fair, before it gave way on alliances that have served Syrian interests in the turmoil of the past eight years.</p>
<p>Obama has made clear that Washington will stand by Israel, and Kerry acknowledged in Damascus that “we will disagree on some issues for sure."</p>
<p>The question is: where are the areas of agreement? And what is the price?&#160;</p>
<p>In the historic market in the old city of Damascus, the goods are beautifully displayed but the prices are never marked. The values are determined anew with each negotiation.</p>
<p>These are early days in a difficult relationship, a getting-to-know-you moment that is a breakthrough for sure. But a deal is far from certain.</p>
<p>Deborah Amos, the author of "Lines in the Sand:&#160;Desert Storm and the Remaking of the Arab World," is working on a book about Iraqi refugees. She is the 2009 winner of the Weintal award for diplomatic reporting. A Mideast correspondent for NPR, she won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award and a Breakthru Award, and widespread recognition for her coverage of the Gulf War in 1991.</p>
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obama administration talking business particular talking american enemy without preconditions clear break bush years upon time commonly referred diplomacy us secretary state hillary clinton announced mideast tour two highlevel envoys would dispatched damascus preliminary conversations acknowledging way predict direction us relations would take secretary state said worthwhile effort may take two envoys untangle relations syria rocks since early days bush administration deep freeze since 2005 first steps obama administrations new approach middle east tentative opening syria certainly made headlines many middle east watchers soon tell lowcost investment nothing burger says aaron david miller worked six secretaries state wrote book peacemaking middle east im ohio one im missouri show going tough smart fair three things need succeed arena obama wasted time signaling administration willing talk syria signals loud clear past weeks us treasury department allowed parts two aging syrians aircraft delivered also permitted 500000 raised us transferred syrian cancer charity syrian ambassador imad moustapha invited state department first highlevel talks years one last slap waning moments bush administration syrias ambassador left invitation list obama inauguration february sen john f kerry chairman senate foreign relations committee went damascus declared hope possibility real cooperation number different issues beginning immediately part syrias president bashar alassad signaling right back assad sent cable congratulations new american president sworn office160 syrian leader told guardian newspaper substitute united states remarkable statement considering bush years syria often accused united states war crimes encouraging terrorism is160 bargaining process underway says josh landis history professor university oklahoma runs influential blog things syrian obama administration trying feel way forward landis said addressing palestinian issue difficult iran complicated leaves syria plenty talk syria plays role iraq sharing border hosting iraqi refugee population still estimated one million damascus close ties militant groups hamas hezbollah wields considerable influence neighboring lebanon election scheduled later year assad adept playing cards keeping current least one part old middle east adage cant make war region without egypt cant make peace without syria damascus reclaiming golan heights strip high land captured israel 1967 annexed 1981 ultimate goal warming relations obama administration aside continued good relations us order meet key goals new opening offered clinton could clear way israel syria restart indirect talks held turkish mediation last year suspended israels military campaign gaza160 shorterterm goals center economy syria hit threeyear drought oil reserves running economy transition socialist model marketbased system us sanctions set place bush administration remain impediment syrias economic wellbeing lifted congress damascus stock exchange set open soon syrias planning minister said hopes 50 billion dollars foreign investment next decade smiley face washington could help according landis syria needs new everything new ports new roads new electric grid160 syria opened new markets iraq selling everything shoes soft drinks socks popped corn promising landis said want get beyond glittering new class capitalist damascus also growing gap rich poor change air washington damascus willingness sides explore conditions deal beginning long slow dance according miller washingtons chief goal loosening syrias alliance iran well syrias support hezbollah hamas big tickets items syria would sure new obama administration indeed smart tough else fair gave way alliances served syrian interests turmoil past eight years obama made clear washington stand israel kerry acknowledged damascus disagree issues sure question areas agreement price160 historic market old city damascus goods beautifully displayed prices never marked values determined anew negotiation early days difficult relationship gettingtoknowyou moment breakthrough sure deal far certain deborah amos author lines sand160desert storm remaking arab world working book iraqi refugees 2009 winner weintal award diplomatic reporting mideast correspondent npr alfred dupontcolumbia award breakthru award widespread recognition coverage gulf war 1991
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<p>From left are Naomi Jacobson, Amy McWilliams, Holly Twyford, Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan and Emily Townley in ‘Bad Dog’ at Olney Theatre. (Photo by Christopher Mueller, courtesy Olney)</p>
<p>This year, a huge part of D.C.’s fall theater lineup is the much anticipated <a href="http://www.womensvoicestheaterfestival.org" type="external">Women’s Voices Theater Festival</a>.&#160;To spotlight the scope of new plays being written by women and the range of professional theater being produced in the area, more than 50 local professional companies&#160; are presenting at least one world premiere of a play by a female playwright throughout all of September and October.</p>
<p>For the festival, <a href="http://shakespearetheatre.org" type="external">Shakespeare Theatre Company</a>&#160;is doing “Salomé” (Oct. 6-Nov. 8), adapted and directed by the internationally acclaimed Yaël Farber. The company’s website says Farber “infuses this raw New Testament tale with evocative sound and physicality, drawing on ancient biblical and pagan texts, as well as Oscar Wilde’s landmark mystery play, to spin a tale as provocative as the Dance of the Seven Veils.”</p>
<p><a href="http://olneytheatre.org" type="external">Olney Theatre’s</a>&#160;contribution is “Bad Dog” (Sept. 30-Oct. 25) by out playwright and TV writer (“Nurse Jackie”) Jennifer Hoppe-House. “Bad Dog” is the story of Molly Drexler (played by out actor Holly Twyford) who after 10 years clean and sober drives a Prius through her living room. An intervention ensues. The terrific Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan plays Abby, Molly’s wife.</p>
<p>And at <a href="http://www.arenastage.org" type="external">Arena Stage</a>&#160;it’s “Destiny of Desire” (Sept. 11-Oct. 18), a new telenovela-inspired comedy by Karen Zacarías featuring talented out actor Nicholas Rodriquez who made his Broadway debut playing the title role in Disney’s “Tarzan.”</p>
<p>Also as part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, the <a href="http://www.thehighwoodtheatre.org" type="external">Highwood Theatre</a>&#160;in Silver Spring is presenting “The Long Way Around” (Oct. 9-25) by young playwright Julia Starr. This new play explores the sometimes nebulous line between friendship and romance in female relationships.</p>
<p>The fall theater season is chockfull of musicals, mostly familiar but some new. Here are a few.</p>
<p>On the Southwest Waterfront, out director Molly Smith is staging her 30th production as artistic director of <a href="http://www.arenastage.org" type="external">Arena Stage</a>&#160;with a reimagined production of “Oliver!”(Oct. 30-Jan. 3). This will be a new in-the-round staging infusing a modern edge to the beloved musical based on Dickens’ classic novel, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London.</p>
<p>At <a href="http://www.sigtheatre.org" type="external">Signature Theatre</a>out artistic director Eric Schaeffer is helming “Girlstar” (Oct. 13-Nov.15), a new musical by Anton Dudley and Brian Feinstein billed as “a fantastical fairytale, brimming with magic, darkness and blinding ambition.” Local actor Donna Migliaccio stars as legendary record producer Daniella Espere who in searching for the next international sensation finds her long lost niece.</p>
<p>Also at Signature out director Matthew Gardiner is staging the company’s first ever stab at “West Side Story” (Dec. 8-Jan. 24), the legendary Broadway musical by gay dream creative team Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics). “West Side Story” reimagines Romeo and Juliet set against (what was then) the mean streets of Manhattan with lots of balletic rumbles and a genius score featuring songs like “Something’s Coming,” “Tonight,” “I Feel Pretty” and “America.”</p>
<p>Shakespeare will present “Kiss Me, Kate,” (Nov. 17-Jan. 3), that classical musical tribute to the Bard by the late great gay composer Cole Porter. The theater’s out associate artistic director Alan Paul directs.</p>
<p>Murder and chaos meet love and virtue when the <a href="http://youngartistsamerica.org" type="external">Young Artists of America Youth Orchestra</a> and Vocal Ensemble (performing alongside professional mentors) present “Jekyll &amp; Hyde” (Nov. 14) in Concert at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at University of Maryland. The popular Broadway musical is slated to be performed by some of the most talented high school aged students in our area.</p>
<p>For two nights only at Cobalt nightclub, local actor <a href="https://pinkhairedone.wordpress.com" type="external">Jeffrey Johnson</a> is reprising his celebrated turn as outrageous “Little Edie” of “Grey Gardens” fame in “Edie Beale Live at Reno Sweeney” (Oct. 6-7).</p>
<p>At <a href="https://www.studiotheatre.org" type="external">Studio Theatre</a>&#160;out director Serge Seiden is staging the final two plays of Richard Nelson’s quartet about American life, “The Apple Family Cycle” (Oct. 28-Dec.13). The cast includes local out actor Sarah Marshall.</p>
<p><a href="http://galatheatre.org" type="external">Gala Theatre’</a>s season opener is “Yerma” (though Oct. 4), a contemporary adaptation of gay Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca’s classic tale about a childless Spanish peasant’s rage against the oppression of a loveless marriage and repressive&#160; society.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rorschachtheatre.com" type="external">Rorschach Theatre</a> presents “Truth &amp; Beauty Bombs: A Softer World” (through Oct. 4). A project directed and conceived by Jenny McConnell Frederick based on the popular web series “A Softer World” features scenes by different authors including out playwright Norman Allen.</p>
<p>Highbrow meets Hollywood at the <a href="http://www.kennedy-center.org" type="external">Kennedy Center</a>&#160;with movie star Juliette Binoche playing the title role in a contemporary take on Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, “Antigone” (Oct. 22-25).</p>
<p>Downtown’s busy and buzzy <a href="http://thenationaldc.org" type="external">National Theater</a>&#160;is hosting family friendly fare with the national tour of Broadway’s hit “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” (Nov. 18-29), a reimagined take on the original with a new book by witty gay playwright Douglas Carter Beane who puts a girl positive twist on the age-old tale.</p>
<p>“Beautiful: the Carole King Musical” will be at the Kennedy Center Opera House Oct. 6-25.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mcdaniel.edu/undergraduate/the-mcdaniel-plan/departments/theatre-arts" type="external">McDaniel College</a> (2 College Hill, Westminster, Md.) presents “The Laramie Project” Sept. 30-Oct. 3.</p>
<p>And around the corner, the <a href="http://www.warnertheatredc.com" type="external">Warner Theatre</a>&#160;is targeting a more grown-up crowd with “Margaret Cho – the psyCHO Tour” (Oct. 8); “Andy Cohen &amp; Anderson Cooper” (Oct. 17); and out comic Wanda Sykes (Nov. 7-8).</p>
<p>In opera land, <a href="http://www.urbanarias.org" type="external">UrbanArias</a>&#160;presents “As One,” a 70-minute work by Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed about a transgender person with two singers — one male, one female — playing the leads Oct. 3-10. It will be performed at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St., N.E.).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kennedy-center.org/wno/index" type="external">Washington National Opera</a> has a busy season with “Carmen” (Sept. 19-Oct. 3), “Appomattox” (Nov. 14-22) and more on the fall slate. Details at kennedy-center.org.</p>
<p>And the <a href="http://concertopera.org" type="external">Washington Concert Opera</a>&#160;will present “Semiramide,” a “complex and lush tale of murder, power and revenge that brings ancient Babylon to life” at the Lisner Auditorium (730 21st St., N.W.) at 6 p.m. on Nov. 22.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">2015 Fall Arts Guide</a> <a href="" type="internal">Anderson Cooper</a> <a href="" type="internal">Andy Cohen</a> <a href="" type="internal">Arena Stage</a> <a href="" type="internal">Bad Dog</a> <a href="" type="internal">Beautiful: the Carole King Musical</a> <a href="" type="internal">Destiny of Desire</a> <a href="" type="internal">Edie Beale Live at Reno Sweeney</a> <a href="" type="internal">Gala Theatre</a> <a href="" type="internal">Girlstar</a> <a href="" type="internal">Highwood Theatre</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jeffrey Johnson</a> <a href="" type="internal">Kiss Me Kate</a> <a href="" type="internal">Laramie Project</a> <a href="" type="internal">Margaret Cho</a> <a href="" type="internal">National Theatre</a> <a href="" type="internal">Oliver!</a> <a href="" type="internal">Olney Theatre</a> <a href="" type="internal">Rorschach Theatre</a> <a href="" type="internal">Salome</a> <a href="" type="internal">Shakespeare Theatre Company</a> <a href="" type="internal">Signature Theatre</a> <a href="" type="internal">Studio Theatre</a> <a href="" type="internal">The Apple Family Cycle</a> <a href="" type="internal">The Long Way Around</a> <a href="" type="internal">Truth &amp; Beauty Bombs</a> <a href="" type="internal">UrbanArias</a> <a href="" type="internal">Washington Concert Opera</a> <a href="" type="internal">Washington National Opera</a> <a href="" type="internal">West Side Story</a> <a href="" type="internal">Women's Voices Theater Festival</a> <a href="" type="internal">Yerma</a> <a href="" type="internal">Young Artists of America Youth Orchestra</a></p>
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left naomi jacobson amy mcwilliams holly twyford alyssa wilmoth keegan emily townley bad dog olney theatre photo christopher mueller courtesy olney year huge part dcs fall theater lineup much anticipated womens voices theater festival160to spotlight scope new plays written women range professional theater produced area 50 local professional companies160 presenting least one world premiere play female playwright throughout september october festival shakespeare theatre company160is salomé oct 6nov 8 adapted directed internationally acclaimed yaël farber companys website says farber infuses raw new testament tale evocative sound physicality drawing ancient biblical pagan texts well oscar wildes landmark mystery play spin tale provocative dance seven veils olney theatres160contribution bad dog sept 30oct 25 playwright tv writer nurse jackie jennifer hoppehouse bad dog story molly drexler played actor holly twyford 10 years clean sober drives prius living room intervention ensues terrific alyssa wilmoth keegan plays abby mollys wife arena stage160its destiny desire sept 11oct 18 new telenovelainspired comedy karen zacarías featuring talented actor nicholas rodriquez made broadway debut playing title role disneys tarzan also part womens voices theater festival highwood theatre160in silver spring presenting long way around oct 925 young playwright julia starr new play explores sometimes nebulous line friendship romance female relationships fall theater season chockfull musicals mostly familiar new southwest waterfront director molly smith staging 30th production artistic director arena stage160with reimagined production oliveroct 30jan 3 new intheround staging infusing modern edge beloved musical based dickens classic novel blending chaotic worlds 19thcentury victorian london 2015 london signature theatreout artistic director eric schaeffer helming girlstar oct 13nov15 new musical anton dudley brian feinstein billed fantastical fairytale brimming magic darkness blinding ambition local actor donna migliaccio stars legendary record producer daniella espere searching next international sensation finds long lost niece also signature director matthew gardiner staging companys first ever stab west side story dec 8jan 24 legendary broadway musical gay dream creative team arthur laurents book leonard bernstein music stephen sondheim lyrics west side story reimagines romeo juliet set mean streets manhattan lots balletic rumbles genius score featuring songs like somethings coming tonight feel pretty america shakespeare present kiss kate nov 17jan 3 classical musical tribute bard late great gay composer cole porter theaters associate artistic director alan paul directs murder chaos meet love virtue young artists america youth orchestra vocal ensemble performing alongside professional mentors present jekyll amp hyde nov 14 concert clarice smith performing arts center university maryland popular broadway musical slated performed talented high school aged students area two nights cobalt nightclub local actor jeffrey johnson reprising celebrated turn outrageous little edie grey gardens fame edie beale live reno sweeney oct 67 studio theatre160out director serge seiden staging final two plays richard nelsons quartet american life apple family cycle oct 28dec13 cast includes local actor sarah marshall gala theatres season opener yerma though oct 4 contemporary adaptation gay spanish playwright federico garcía lorcas classic tale childless spanish peasants rage oppression loveless marriage repressive160 society rorschach theatre presents truth amp beauty bombs softer world oct 4 project directed conceived jenny mcconnell frederick based popular web series softer world features scenes different authors including playwright norman allen highbrow meets hollywood kennedy center160with movie star juliette binoche playing title role contemporary take sophocles greek tragedy antigone oct 2225 downtowns busy buzzy national theater160is hosting family friendly fare national tour broadways hit rodgers hammersteins cinderella nov 1829 reimagined take original new book witty gay playwright douglas carter beane puts girl positive twist ageold tale beautiful carole king musical kennedy center opera house oct 625 mcdaniel college 2 college hill westminster md presents laramie project sept 30oct 3 around corner warner theatre160is targeting grownup crowd margaret cho psycho tour oct 8 andy cohen amp anderson cooper oct 17 comic wanda sykes nov 78 opera land urbanarias160presents one 70minute work laura kaminsky mark campbell kimberly reed transgender person two singers one male one female playing leads oct 310 performed atlas performing arts center 1333 h st ne washington national opera busy season carmen sept 19oct 3 appomattox nov 1422 fall slate details kennedycenterorg washington concert opera160will present semiramide complex lush tale murder power revenge brings ancient babylon life lisner auditorium 730 21st st nw 6 pm nov 22 2015 fall arts guide anderson cooper andy cohen arena stage bad dog beautiful carole king musical destiny desire edie beale live reno sweeney gala theatre girlstar highwood theatre jeffrey johnson kiss kate laramie project margaret cho national theatre oliver olney theatre rorschach theatre salome shakespeare theatre company signature theatre studio theatre apple family cycle long way around truth amp beauty bombs urbanarias washington concert opera washington national opera west side story womens voices theater festival yerma young artists america youth orchestra
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<p>LONDON —&#160;Predictable? Yes. An “earthquake?” Maybe.</p>
<p>The European Parliament election results saw unprecedented success for “anti-” parties of the left and, overwhelmingly, of the right.</p>
<p>Anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim. Anti-immigrant (in some cases, the same thing as being anti-Muslim). Xenophobic.</p>
<p>For weeks, Europe's main parties have been bracing for bad results. They got them. One third of the parliament is now made up of anti-EU parties — enough to make life difficult if not to force the EU into fundamental change.</p>
<p>The earthquake adjective, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27559714" type="external">originating with French President Francois Hollande's reaction to the results</a>, is most appropriate for France, where the National Front finished first with 25 percent of the vote. That is more than either of the two major parties in France's National Assembly, the Socialists and the Union for a Popular Movement (formerly led by Nicolas Sarkozy).&#160;</p>
<p>The NF has been around a very long time and has had occasional success but it has never come first in any national poll. Its victory is a tribute to the political skills of its leader, Marine Le Pen.</p>
<p>The decisive win is also a worry to those who know that the party was built on a platform of anti-Semitism and blatant racism by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen. The elder Le Pen was convicted of Holocaust denial under France’s Gayssot Act for saying, "I ask myself several questions. I'm not saying the gas chambers didn't exist. I haven't seen them myself. I haven't particularly studied the question. But I believe it's just a detail in the history of World War II.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t his only conviction for inciting hatred — in 2005 he was fined for remarks about Muslims.</p>
<p>But in the case of Marine Le Pen, the apple seems to have rolled a good distance from the tree. “Jean-Marie Le Pen is a child of World War II,” says Jean-Yves Camus. “Marine Le Pen was born in 1968, these issues mean nothing to her.”</p>
<p>Camus, a researcher at Paris think tank, IRIS, is the acknowledged expert on anti-Semitism in Europe. He has also studied extremist nationalism across the continent. In his view, “She is not a Holocaust denier.”</p>
<p>Marine Le Pen, says Camus, is a politician intent on power. Her father’s pugnaciously expressed racism and xenophobia is not the way to government. Anti-EU campaigning, and relentless attacks on the entrenched and self-regarding elites of the traditional parties, is the way for her group to garner the votes that now make her a plausible candidate for France’s presidency when elections are held in 2017.</p>
<p>Something similar to the National Front's success has happened in the UK where the deeply euroskeptic UKIP led by Nigel Farage, won the election outright ahead of Labour and the Conservatives. Farage managed to reposition his party away from the racist British National Party and it is seen as a purely populist party.</p>
<p>Le Pen’s successful repositioning of the National Front as a populist, not a racist party, capable of winning major elections is an example to the two parties Camus says are neo-Nazi: Greece's Golden Dawn and Hungary's Jobbik.</p>
<p>Greece’s Golden Dawn tried to tone down its rhetoric and embrace mainstream politics in this campaign, a matter of self-preservation. Its leader Nikos Michaloliakos is currently in prison, accused of being a member of a criminal gang.</p>
<p>The faces of Golden Dawn support in this campaign included former top civil servants and senior military officers - including two generals who served assignments with NATO. But its spokesman is Ilias Kasidiaris, <a href="http://greekindependentnews.net/wp-content/uploads/kasidiaris.jpg" type="external">who famously has a swastika tattooed on his upper arm</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>The party’s anti-Semitism is not outrageous in the Greek context. Greece is a country where anti-Semitism is generally an open sentiment. In the Anti-Defamation League’s recent global survey of attitudes to Jews, <a href="http://global100.adl.org/#country/greece" type="external">69 percent of Greeks harbored anti-Jewish views</a>, the highest level in Europe.</p>
<p>Eighty-two percent of Greeks surveyed said it was “probably true” that Jews have too much power in international financial markets. When the “international financial markets” lost confidence in Greece’s ability to repay its debts in 2011, a catastrophic series of events was set in motion that led to the fall of the PASOK government and a bailout of the country under exceptionally harsh terms that effectively condemned the country to Depression-style economic contraction.&#160;</p>
<p>Unemployment in Greece remains around 26-28 percent, and resentment of the “troika” which includes the International Monetary Fund and those who speculate in the bond markets has put international finance front and center in Greek minds.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/10856865/Greece-votes-3-MPs-from-Greeces-Golden-Dawn-into-Brussels.html" type="external">Golden Dawn took almost 10 percent of the vote</a> and was rewarded with parliamentary seats.&#160;</p>
<p>Hungary’s Jobbik, will also have three seats, <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/belief/hungary-jobbik-party-tea-party-occupy-kkk" type="external">the same as it did after the last vote in 2009</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Just last month Jobbik did create an earthquake in Hungary’s parliamentary election when it took 20 percent of the vote. It only got a little more than 14 percent of the vote in the EU election. This may be down to turnout as not quite 30 percent of Hungarians voted.</p>
<p>Despite their efforts to present a modern face to the wider world, they haven’t impressed Marine Le Pen. The National Front leader announced Tuesday that she would seek to form a voting bloc of right-wing parties in the new parliament, but pointedly said that Golden Dawn and Jobbik <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/27/marine-le-pen-met-far-right-leaders-eu-bloc" type="external">were not invited to join</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>It is difficult to draw a simple conclusion from the results of these elections. At one level they continue a trend going back to 2011 and the eurozone crisis. Incumbents — with the notable exception of Angela Merkel — have been thrown out of power in national elections. In this election the overwhelming theme has been voters giving their main political parties another good kicking.</p>
<p>But why does that mean a significant minority turn to parties whose rhetoric and symbols are either outright neo-Nazi as in the case of Golden Dawn, or hark back to militias that aided and abetted the Nazis, in the case of Jobbik?</p>
<p>In a continent which has virtually no Jews left, why does contemporary nationalism still use anti-Semitic tropes?</p>
<p>The problem for pro-Europeans is that the EU symbolizes a redefinition of what it means to be a nation. It is an attempt - not expressly stated - to create a federal system out of sovereign nation states.</p>
<p>This is a tough sell when the era of globalized capital seems to be visiting ruin on previously prosperous, sovereign countries.</p>
<p>On Tuesday Marine Le Pen demanded three things of French President Hollande, all related to globalization: “Firstly, France halts the transatlantic treaty [with the US]; secondly, France states its veto of Turkey's entry into the European Union and, thirdly, he nationalizes Alstom, (a french conglomerate that builds the TGV high-speed train) contrary to the rules of the European Union, to save this strategic company."</p>
<p>It is this desire to pull up the drawbridge on globalization that underlines so much politics across Europe now (and the US)?</p>
<p>Nativists and nationalists are coming out of the woodwork and the language they use to connect with voters is an old one. Jews are internationalists. They are more loyal to their tribe and Israel than to the countries where they were born. The new parties speak of Muslim immigrants as a fifth column trying to establish the caliphate in Europe. Immigrants from Africa, the Middle East, Asia are all taking jobs away from hard-working “indigenous” people.</p>
<p>Fear and hatred is an easier sell for parties trying to make a mark. If they last long enough, like the National Front, then perhaps they will migrate towards the kind of legitimacy Marine Le Pen is leading her father’s party towards. &#160;</p>
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london 160predictable yes earthquake maybe european parliament election results saw unprecedented success anti parties left overwhelmingly right antisemitic antimuslim antiimmigrant cases thing antimuslim xenophobic weeks europes main parties bracing bad results got one third parliament made antieu parties enough make life difficult force eu fundamental change earthquake adjective originating french president francois hollandes reaction results appropriate france national front finished first 25 percent vote either two major parties frances national assembly socialists union popular movement formerly led nicolas sarkozy160 nf around long time occasional success never come first national poll victory tribute political skills leader marine le pen decisive win also worry know party built platform antisemitism blatant racism father jeanmarie le pen elder le pen convicted holocaust denial frances gayssot act saying ask several questions im saying gas chambers didnt exist havent seen havent particularly studied question believe detail history world war ii wasnt conviction inciting hatred 2005 fined remarks muslims case marine le pen apple seems rolled good distance tree jeanmarie le pen child world war ii says jeanyves camus marine le pen born 1968 issues mean nothing camus researcher paris think tank iris acknowledged expert antisemitism europe also studied extremist nationalism across continent view holocaust denier marine le pen says camus politician intent power fathers pugnaciously expressed racism xenophobia way government antieu campaigning relentless attacks entrenched selfregarding elites traditional parties way group garner votes make plausible candidate frances presidency elections held 2017 something similar national fronts success happened uk deeply euroskeptic ukip led nigel farage election outright ahead labour conservatives farage managed reposition party away racist british national party seen purely populist party le pens successful repositioning national front populist racist party capable winning major elections example two parties camus says neonazi greeces golden dawn hungarys jobbik greeces golden dawn tried tone rhetoric embrace mainstream politics campaign matter selfpreservation leader nikos michaloliakos currently prison accused member criminal gang faces golden dawn support campaign included former top civil servants senior military officers including two generals served assignments nato spokesman ilias kasidiaris famously swastika tattooed upper arm160 partys antisemitism outrageous greek context greece country antisemitism generally open sentiment antidefamation leagues recent global survey attitudes jews 69 percent greeks harbored antijewish views highest level europe eightytwo percent greeks surveyed said probably true jews much power international financial markets international financial markets lost confidence greeces ability repay debts 2011 catastrophic series events set motion led fall pasok government bailout country exceptionally harsh terms effectively condemned country depressionstyle economic contraction160 unemployment greece remains around 2628 percent resentment troika includes international monetary fund speculate bond markets put international finance front center greek minds golden dawn took almost 10 percent vote rewarded parliamentary seats160 hungarys jobbik also three seats last vote 2009160 last month jobbik create earthquake hungarys parliamentary election took 20 percent vote got little 14 percent vote eu election may turnout quite 30 percent hungarians voted despite efforts present modern face wider world havent impressed marine le pen national front leader announced tuesday would seek form voting bloc rightwing parties new parliament pointedly said golden dawn jobbik invited join160 difficult draw simple conclusion results elections one level continue trend going back 2011 eurozone crisis incumbents notable exception angela merkel thrown power national elections election overwhelming theme voters giving main political parties another good kicking mean significant minority turn parties whose rhetoric symbols either outright neonazi case golden dawn hark back militias aided abetted nazis case jobbik continent virtually jews left contemporary nationalism still use antisemitic tropes problem proeuropeans eu symbolizes redefinition means nation attempt expressly stated create federal system sovereign nation states tough sell era globalized capital seems visiting ruin previously prosperous sovereign countries tuesday marine le pen demanded three things french president hollande related globalization firstly france halts transatlantic treaty us secondly france states veto turkeys entry european union thirdly nationalizes alstom french conglomerate builds tgv highspeed train contrary rules european union save strategic company desire pull drawbridge globalization underlines much politics across europe us nativists nationalists coming woodwork language use connect voters old one jews internationalists loyal tribe israel countries born new parties speak muslim immigrants fifth column trying establish caliphate europe immigrants africa middle east asia taking jobs away hardworking indigenous people fear hatred easier sell parties trying make mark last long enough like national front perhaps migrate towards kind legitimacy marine le pen leading fathers party towards 160
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<p>We are writing in response to the misleading and factually inaccurate article regarding the Board of Education’s Capital Program published in the June 1997 issue of Catalyst. Initially, we decided to disregard the piece, but a couple of people have cited it, and now we feel compelled to set the record straight.</p>
<p>Despite the board’s efforts to implement the program even-handedly based on need, Catalyst reporter Dan Weissmann authored a piece claiming that the board’s expenditure of capital dollars has been driven by politics, with supposedly “powerful aldermen” and “middle-class constituents” benefiting at the expense of allegedly needier, less affluent wards. It seems as though his article was written to support a predetermined point of view. As explained below, Mr. Weissmann’s article is factually inaccurate and fundamentally flawed in numerous critical respects.</p>
<p>Mr. Weissmann’s article is based on the following syllogism:</p>
<p>1. The board in January 1996 ranked wards by “need.”</p>
<p>2. Actual spending in Phase I of the program did not match “need” as projected in January 1996.</p>
<p>3. Certain wards received a greater expenditure than the January 1996 “need” assessment would have suggested.</p>
<p>4. Some of those wards have supposedly “powerful” aldermen and “middle-class constituencies.”</p>
<p>Therefore, all decisions on spending were based on the presence of “powerful” aldermen and the presence of “middle-class constituencies.”</p>
<p>This syllogism fails at almost every turn.</p>
<p>First, the so-called “need” assessment upon which Mr. Weissmann relies is contained in the McClier Report, a study which was almost two years old at the time the board was first putting together the program in late 1995, but which was the most comprehensive systemwide analysis then available.</p>
<p>In fact, the board’s assessment of need has changed based on new information and field conditions, including new demographic data and projections produced in conjunction with the University of Illinois. This is consistent with the way any well-managed capital improvement program is run, and to operate otherwise would be irresponsible. Thus, for example, as the capital program unfolded, the board discovered certain schools had deteriorated so rapidly since the McClier Report was published to the point where immediate action was necessary. Similarly, based on field observations, greater resources were devoted to addressing environmental conditions than had originally been projected. Rather than ignore these conditions because correcting them was inconsistent with the original “need” assessment, as Mr. Weissmann would apparently prefer, the board addressed these hazards promptly regardless of location or demographics.</p>
<p>Moreover, if, as Mr. Weissmann contends, the board’s capital decisions were politically driven, it would have made no sense for the board to allocate projects based on a “need” assessment which the board knew was unacceptable. Either Mr. Weissmann is contending that the board did not realize which aldermen were “powerful” and which constituencies were “middle class” until after it published this assessment, or he is claiming that the board naively produced a “need” assessment which it knew would change based on so-called political considerations. Both assumptions are simply in error.</p>
<p>Second, even if Mr. Weissmann had accurately characterized the true needs of the system as assessed by the board based on an updated examination of field conditions and demographics, he misses the mark substantially in his calculations of spending by ward. For example:</p>
<p>Mr. Weissmann only analyzes dollars as of mid-April 1997. To date, the board has awarded projects with an estimated budget of over $600 million. A more accurate analysis would, at a minimum, need to evaluate dollars committed to projects over a longer period of time.</p>
<p>Mr. Weissmann inexplicably ignores the funds, now totaling approximately $230 million, committed by the board to new construction projects to relieve overcrowding. No fair and complete analysis of capital spending could overlook such a vital component of the program.</p>
<p>Mr. Weissmann fails to even mention the more than $600 million spent over the past eight years by the Public Building Commission on school projects.</p>
<p>While Mr. Weissmann elects to omit millions of dollars in grants which were used for capital projects in certain lower-income neighborhoods, he chooses to include $20 million in funding provided by the FAA for noise reduction in schools around O’Hare and Midway airports. Those funds, which are lost to suburban schools if not vigorously pursued and timely spent, are used on schools specified by the FAA, and the expenditures are a function of the location of airports, not politics.</p>
<p>Similarly, Mr. Weissmann fails to include in his analysis the $32 million allotted to the schools for capital maintenance in Phases I and II of the program, and the $84 million allocated to the schools for routine repairs and maintenance items in the last two years.</p>
<p>Finally, Mr. Weissmann simplistically ranks spending by merely dividing the limited dollars he chooses to count by the square footage of school space in each ward. In so doing, Mr. Weissmann fails to control for the fact that certain areas have older schools which may require more rehabilitation work, that overcrowded schools which predominate in certain wards tend to deteriorate faster than buildings under capacity, and that certain types of work such as environmental remediation are simply more costly per square foot than more routine capital renovations.</p>
<p>Third, and perhaps most serious, much of the body of Mr. Weissmann’s piece contradicts his premise. For instance, although Mr. Weissmann contends that political clout and the presence of middle-class constituencies are responsible for spending patterns in the 14th and 33rd wards, he later acknowledges that those wards have large Latino constituencies (which may or may not be “middle class”) with severe overcrowding problems and rehabilitation needs. Further, while Mr. Weissmann claims that so-called “clout” affects spending patterns, he grudgingly acknowledges that an alderman’s supposed status is not a “sure pass” to having repairs done, and casually brushes aside results of his analysis that many supposedly clout-heavy wards have had little activity by describing these wards as an “odd lot.”</p>
<p>Finally, confronted with the lack of factual support for his hypothesis, Mr. Weissmann resorts to quotes from members of the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group. This group, to our knowledge, has never managed capital construction and has had no role in the board’s Capital Plan. In fact, Ms. Jacqueline Leavy and Mr. Dion Miller Perez have only recently begun attending meetings of the board’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee. The Blue Ribbon Committee, which the board created two years ago, has been ably co-chaired by Dr. Wayne Watson, president of Kennedy King College, and John Rosales, president of a local Coca-Cola distributor, and has provided important input and advice to the board over the life of the program. Neither of these gentlemen were consulted by Mr. Weissmann for his article. Nor to our knowledge did he speak with any outside experts who have experience actually running a capital program on the scale of that being implemented by the board.</p>
<p>In the final analysis, knowing that Mr. Weissmann was studying the capital program for several months, and having provided to Mr. Weissmann thousands of pages of documents and open access to CPS personnel, the board had hoped for a fair and impartial review. Unfortunately, Mr. Weissmann appears to have been more interested in twisting the available data to support his preconceived conclusion. The result is a dangerously misleading article, which, fortunately, most people have either ignored or dismissed as biased.</p>
<p>Gery J. Chico, president</p>
<p>Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees</p>
<p>Paul G. Vallas, chief executive officer</p>
<p>Chicago Public Schools</p>
<p>Editor’s response: I stand by the methodology and reporting that produced the article, “Mell, Burke wards near top in school repair spending.” Sticking to the facts:</p>
<p>Mr. Weissmann’s article does not say, as Messrs. Chico and Vallas assert, that “all spending decisions were based on the presence of ‘powerful’ aldermen and ‘middle-class constituencies.'” Rather, it reports the findings of a data analysis that showed “the wards of some powerful aldermen and middle-class constituencies” had been favored over other wards with greater school rehab needs.</p>
<p>We ran our methodology by Operations Chief Tim Martin, who made one suggestion, which we followed.</p>
<p>We focused on school rehabilitation because the needs are citywide and of interest to the greatest number of people. We have since published articles on the board’s new construction program, which serves a more limited area of the city. (“New-school prototype: Not a Ferrari, but it runs,” October 1997)</p>
<p>We used the McClier Report because board officials said it was the best available comprehensive guide to need. Incidentally, it was commissioned by the previous Board of Education and released less than a year before the Reform Board unveiled its capital plan.</p>
<p>As for FAA grants, the data supplied by the board specified less than $650,000 in repair spending at the target schools, not $20 million.</p>
<p>We excluded capital maintenance and routine repair funds because they were distributed to all schools regardless of capital need.</p>
<p>We calculated both need and spending on a square footage basis to account for variations in the number, size and repair needs of schools from one ward to the next.</p>
<p>The Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee did not meet from June 1996 to February 1997. Ms. Leavy—whose organization has been tracking public works spending in Chicago for over eight years—and other committee members complained through last summer that they were not receiving adequate information to fulfill their monitoring function.</p>
<p>The April data was the latest available when we prepared our articles in May. We look forward to receiving the latest data so we can update the analysis.</p>
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writing response misleading factually inaccurate article regarding board educations capital program published june 1997 issue catalyst initially decided disregard piece couple people cited feel compelled set record straight despite boards efforts implement program evenhandedly based need catalyst reporter dan weissmann authored piece claiming boards expenditure capital dollars driven politics supposedly powerful aldermen middleclass constituents benefiting expense allegedly needier less affluent wards seems though article written support predetermined point view explained mr weissmanns article factually inaccurate fundamentally flawed numerous critical respects mr weissmanns article based following syllogism 1 board january 1996 ranked wards need 2 actual spending phase program match need projected january 1996 3 certain wards received greater expenditure january 1996 need assessment would suggested 4 wards supposedly powerful aldermen middleclass constituencies therefore decisions spending based presence powerful aldermen presence middleclass constituencies syllogism fails almost every turn first socalled need assessment upon mr weissmann relies contained mcclier report study almost two years old time board first putting together program late 1995 comprehensive systemwide analysis available fact boards assessment need changed based new information field conditions including new demographic data projections produced conjunction university illinois consistent way wellmanaged capital improvement program run operate otherwise would irresponsible thus example capital program unfolded board discovered certain schools deteriorated rapidly since mcclier report published point immediate action necessary similarly based field observations greater resources devoted addressing environmental conditions originally projected rather ignore conditions correcting inconsistent original need assessment mr weissmann would apparently prefer board addressed hazards promptly regardless location demographics moreover mr weissmann contends boards capital decisions politically driven would made sense board allocate projects based need assessment board knew unacceptable either mr weissmann contending board realize aldermen powerful constituencies middle class published assessment claiming board naively produced need assessment knew would change based socalled political considerations assumptions simply error second even mr weissmann accurately characterized true needs system assessed board based updated examination field conditions demographics misses mark substantially calculations spending ward example mr weissmann analyzes dollars midapril 1997 date board awarded projects estimated budget 600 million accurate analysis would minimum need evaluate dollars committed projects longer period time mr weissmann inexplicably ignores funds totaling approximately 230 million committed board new construction projects relieve overcrowding fair complete analysis capital spending could overlook vital component program mr weissmann fails even mention 600 million spent past eight years public building commission school projects mr weissmann elects omit millions dollars grants used capital projects certain lowerincome neighborhoods chooses include 20 million funding provided faa noise reduction schools around ohare midway airports funds lost suburban schools vigorously pursued timely spent used schools specified faa expenditures function location airports politics similarly mr weissmann fails include analysis 32 million allotted schools capital maintenance phases ii program 84 million allocated schools routine repairs maintenance items last two years finally mr weissmann simplistically ranks spending merely dividing limited dollars chooses count square footage school space ward mr weissmann fails control fact certain areas older schools may require rehabilitation work overcrowded schools predominate certain wards tend deteriorate faster buildings capacity certain types work environmental remediation simply costly per square foot routine capital renovations third perhaps serious much body mr weissmanns piece contradicts premise instance although mr weissmann contends political clout presence middleclass constituencies responsible spending patterns 14th 33rd wards later acknowledges wards large latino constituencies may may middle class severe overcrowding problems rehabilitation needs mr weissmann claims socalled clout affects spending patterns grudgingly acknowledges aldermans supposed status sure pass repairs done casually brushes aside results analysis many supposedly cloutheavy wards little activity describing wards odd lot finally confronted lack factual support hypothesis mr weissmann resorts quotes members neighborhood capital budget group group knowledge never managed capital construction role boards capital plan fact ms jacqueline leavy mr dion miller perez recently begun attending meetings boards blue ribbon advisory committee blue ribbon committee board created two years ago ably cochaired dr wayne watson president kennedy king college john rosales president local cocacola distributor provided important input advice board life program neither gentlemen consulted mr weissmann article knowledge speak outside experts experience actually running capital program scale implemented board final analysis knowing mr weissmann studying capital program several months provided mr weissmann thousands pages documents open access cps personnel board hoped fair impartial review unfortunately mr weissmann appears interested twisting available data support preconceived conclusion result dangerously misleading article fortunately people either ignored dismissed biased gery j chico president chicago school reform board trustees paul g vallas chief executive officer chicago public schools editors response stand methodology reporting produced article mell burke wards near top school repair spending sticking facts mr weissmanns article say messrs chico vallas assert spending decisions based presence powerful aldermen middleclass constituencies rather reports findings data analysis showed wards powerful aldermen middleclass constituencies favored wards greater school rehab needs ran methodology operations chief tim martin made one suggestion followed focused school rehabilitation needs citywide interest greatest number people since published articles boards new construction program serves limited area city newschool prototype ferrari runs october 1997 used mcclier report board officials said best available comprehensive guide need incidentally commissioned previous board education released less year reform board unveiled capital plan faa grants data supplied board specified less 650000 repair spending target schools 20 million excluded capital maintenance routine repair funds distributed schools regardless capital need calculated need spending square footage basis account variations number size repair needs schools one ward next blue ribbon advisory committee meet june 1996 february 1997 ms leavywhose organization tracking public works spending chicago eight yearsand committee members complained last summer receiving adequate information fulfill monitoring function april data latest available prepared articles may look forward receiving latest data update analysis
| 933 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>AUGUST 17, 2010</p>
<p>By JOHN SEILER</p>
<p>Do tax hikes fix budgets? That was the subject of <a href="" type="internal">an article I wrote</a> last month here on CalWatchDog.com.</p>
<p>The question is critical as the California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, still unable to pass and sign a budget a month and a half into the 2010-11 fiscal year, c <a href="http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/aug/16/tax-hike-plan/" type="external">ontemplate another round of tax increases</a>.</p>
<p>The evidence seemed to be negative, at least for large tax hikes: That they don’t increase revenues, but rather can decrease them – at least sometimes. In particular, I looked at the effects of Gov. Pete Wilson’s then-record tax increase increase of $7 billion in 1991. Here are the numbers I used:</p>
<p>Fiscal Yr. &#160;Amount %Change</p>
<p>1991-92 : $42,026 1992-93 : $40,946 : -2.1% 1993-94 : $40,095 : -2.1% 1994-95 : $42,710 : +6.5% 1995-96 : $46,296 : +8.4%</p>
<p>The revenues actually dropped for two fiscal years in a row, in fiscal 1992-93 and 1993-94. And revenues only picked up again in fiscal 1994-95, as the Wilson tax increases expired.</p>
<p>In the comment section for the article, a reader wrote a rebuttal:</p>
<p>I enjoyed your article, but you fell prey to the common misconception about the 1991 tax increases – that the tax increases caused aggregate revenues to fall. In fact, tax revenues would have been much lower without the tax increases. While the tax increases did not produce as much revenue as they had been expected to when enacted, they still produced additional revenue that made a significant contribution to closing the deficit. Similarly, you assert that revenues increased a few years later because the tax increases expired – this is really explained by the resurgence of the economy. Most economists will tell you that state level tax changes are too small relative to the economy to be such a driving force….</p>
<p>He referred me to <a href="http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis/1993/pandi_93_3_4.pdf#page=3" type="external">a 1993 report</a> on the matter by the Legislative Analyst, which wrote:</p>
<p>As the figure shows [in the LAO report], General Fund revenues are expected to decrease by $1.1 billion in both 1992-93 and 1993-94. Most of this weakness in the performance of state revenues can be attributed to the weak performance of the state’s economy. Several recent or pending tax changes also are contributing to these revenue reductions:</p>
<p>* The passage of Proposition 163 in November 1992, rescinding the 1991 application of the state’s sales tax to “snack” foods and bottled water.</p>
<p>* The reinstatement of the net operating loss (NOL) deduction as of January 1, 1993.</p>
<p>* The termination of the state’s temporary 1/2 cent sales tax on July 1, 1993.</p>
<p>In contrast to the Proposition 163-related revenue losses, which occur in both 1992-93 and 1993-94, the reinstatement of NOL deductions and the termination of the temporary sales tax rate primarily affect 1993-94 revenues. That is, the General Fund revenue estimates for 1993-94 have been reduced by approximately $1.8 billion to account for these tax changes, which more than explains the overall decline of $1.1 billion. In the absence of these scheduled tax changes, revenue collections would actually increase by about $700 million over 1992-93.</p>
<p>Actually, it also could be assumed that, had these taxes remained on the books, they could have damaged the economy even more. In particular, the 1991 “snack” food tax was onerous to grocery and convenience stores. Nobody could remember whether it taxed nuts and exempted candy – or the other way around. It certainly increased the paperwork such stores were forced to use.</p>
<p>Indeed, the LAO noted that the budget documents of Gov. Pete Wilson had anticipated much higher revenues than actually came in. So the working assumption at the time was that higher taxes would bring higher revenues – when the opposite happened. The LAO wrote:</p>
<p>Over the past several years, the economic forecasts contained in the Governor’s Budget, and those developed for the May Revision, have been consistently wrong as to the timing of the state’s recovery from recession. In each case, recovery was projected to have already begun or be “just around the corner,” and the budget’s revenue forecasts were&#160;based on this assumption….</p>
<p>For 1991-92, the budget forecast that General Fund revenues would total $45.8 billion, including approximately $2.8 billion of revenue enhancements. Actual revenues for 1991-92 amounted to $42.0 billion, including about $6 billion of major revenue enhancements.</p>
<p>Thus, this initial estimate was about $7 billion too high. For 1992-93, General Fund revenues were initially projected at $45.7 billion, and now are forecast to come in at $40.9 billion, or $4.8 billion lower. (No major revenue enhancements were included in&#160;either figure.)</p>
<p>The 1993 study also came before the worst of the taxes, the income tax surcharge, expired in 1995 – the year, as I explained, the economy started to boom.</p>
<p>As Nobel economics laureate Friedrich Hayek showed, <a href="http://www.auburn.edu/~garriro/e4hayek.htm" type="external">prices are “signals”</a> to consumers. Taxes are a type of “price.” So, if the tax “price” rises, especially under a supposedly anti-tax Republican administration, then the signal is: there is no restraint on taxes, now or in the future.</p>
<p>By contrast, when the signal is that the tax “price” is dropping, then businesses know they are free to plan, grow and create jobs. That’s especially true under Democrats, normally tax increasers.</p>
<p>A good example is what happened under President Bill Clinton. He increased taxes in 1993. As the LAO’s report noted, in the section The “Clinton Factor”:</p>
<p>In effect, the DOF [California Department of Finance] anticipated that taxpayers would choose to accelerate the realization of some capital gains (including stock options) and other income into 1992, earlier than originally planned, in order to avoid the potentially higher 1993 federal tax rates. Based on information from December and January PIT [personal income tax] collections, it appears that the acceleration adjustment was appropriate.</p>
<p>The first Clinton years were days of economic stagnation. But notice what happened next. Bill Clinton’s 1996 capital gains tax, worked out with the Republicans then running Congress, cut the top cap gains rate from 28 percent to 20 percent. The signal: invest in business and jobs creation, and your profits will be taxed less – yes, even under a Democrat. Corollary: that tax won’t go up, even under a Democrat. The Dot-Com boom ensued.</p>
<p>To get more perspective on taxes in the early 1990s, I called up budget offices in the Florida and Texas governments. These are the two states most like California: they’re in the Sun Belt;&#160; are first (California), second (Texas) and fourth (Florida) in population; major industries are in high-tech and tourism; and they have large and diverse immigrant populations, especially of Latinos.</p>
<p>The big difference: Texas and Florida don’t have an income tax, so they didn’t increase it. California’s top rate, by contrast, was 9.3 percent, and was boosted to 10.3 percent.</p>
<p>Here are the numbers for Texas’ “General Revenue Fund.” (Fortunately, in 1991 Texas changed its accounting. So from that year on, for our purposes, the numbers are consistent. <a href="http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Fiscal_Size-up_Archive/Fiscal_Size-up_2002-2003_0102.pdf" type="external">Source: Texas Fiscal Size-Up</a>.)</p>
<p>Fiscal Yr. &#160; &#160;Amount &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; %Change</p>
<p>1991 : &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;$27.2 billion 1992 : &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;$29.4 billion : +7.9% 1993 : &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;$33.4 billion : +13.8% 1994 : &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;$35.8 billion : &#160;+7% 1995 : &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;$37.0 billion : &#160;+3.5%</p>
<p>Florida showed something similar for its “Summary of Legislative Appropriations” (Source: Florida budget document sent to me by the state Legislative Appropriations System/Planning and Budgeting Subsystem):</p>
<p>Fiscal Yr. &#160;Amount &#160; &#160; &#160; % Change 1991-92 : $28.9 billion 1992-93 : $31.7 billion: + 9.7% 1993-94 : $35.5 billion: + 12.0% 1994-95 : $38.8 billion: + 9.3% 1995-96 : $39.1 billion: + 0.8%</p>
<p>Both Texas and Florida suffered from the same national recession as did California in the early 1990s. Yet that recession staggered them much less. The reason seemed to be that their tax structure – especially the lack of state income taxes – was more favorable to businesses than was California’s.</p>
<p>John Seiler, an editorial writer with The Orange County Register for 20 years, is a reporter and analyst for <a href="" type="internal">CalWatchDog.com</a>. His email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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august 17 2010 john seiler tax hikes fix budgets subject article wrote last month calwatchdogcom question critical california legislature gov arnold schwarzenegger still unable pass sign budget month half 201011 fiscal year c ontemplate another round tax increases evidence seemed negative least large tax hikes dont increase revenues rather decrease least sometimes particular looked effects gov pete wilsons thenrecord tax increase increase 7 billion 1991 numbers used fiscal yr 160amount change 199192 42026 199293 40946 21 199394 40095 21 199495 42710 65 199596 46296 84 revenues actually dropped two fiscal years row fiscal 199293 199394 revenues picked fiscal 199495 wilson tax increases expired comment section article reader wrote rebuttal enjoyed article fell prey common misconception 1991 tax increases tax increases caused aggregate revenues fall fact tax revenues would much lower without tax increases tax increases produce much revenue expected enacted still produced additional revenue made significant contribution closing deficit similarly assert revenues increased years later tax increases expired really explained resurgence economy economists tell state level tax changes small relative economy driving force referred 1993 report matter legislative analyst wrote figure shows lao report general fund revenues expected decrease 11 billion 199293 199394 weakness performance state revenues attributed weak performance states economy several recent pending tax changes also contributing revenue reductions passage proposition 163 november 1992 rescinding 1991 application states sales tax snack foods bottled water reinstatement net operating loss nol deduction january 1 1993 termination states temporary 12 cent sales tax july 1 1993 contrast proposition 163related revenue losses occur 199293 199394 reinstatement nol deductions termination temporary sales tax rate primarily affect 199394 revenues general fund revenue estimates 199394 reduced approximately 18 billion account tax changes explains overall decline 11 billion absence scheduled tax changes revenue collections would actually increase 700 million 199293 actually also could assumed taxes remained books could damaged economy even particular 1991 snack food tax onerous grocery convenience stores nobody could remember whether taxed nuts exempted candy way around certainly increased paperwork stores forced use indeed lao noted budget documents gov pete wilson anticipated much higher revenues actually came working assumption time higher taxes would bring higher revenues opposite happened lao wrote past several years economic forecasts contained governors budget developed may revision consistently wrong timing states recovery recession case recovery projected already begun around corner budgets revenue forecasts were160based assumption 199192 budget forecast general fund revenues would total 458 billion including approximately 28 billion revenue enhancements actual revenues 199192 amounted 420 billion including 6 billion major revenue enhancements thus initial estimate 7 billion high 199293 general fund revenues initially projected 457 billion forecast come 409 billion 48 billion lower major revenue enhancements included in160either figure 1993 study also came worst taxes income tax surcharge expired 1995 year explained economy started boom nobel economics laureate friedrich hayek showed prices signals consumers taxes type price tax price rises especially supposedly antitax republican administration signal restraint taxes future contrast signal tax price dropping businesses know free plan grow create jobs thats especially true democrats normally tax increasers good example happened president bill clinton increased taxes 1993 laos report noted section clinton factor effect dof california department finance anticipated taxpayers would choose accelerate realization capital gains including stock options income 1992 earlier originally planned order avoid potentially higher 1993 federal tax rates based information december january pit personal income tax collections appears acceleration adjustment appropriate first clinton years days economic stagnation notice happened next bill clintons 1996 capital gains tax worked republicans running congress cut top cap gains rate 28 percent 20 percent signal invest business jobs creation profits taxed less yes even democrat corollary tax wont go even democrat dotcom boom ensued get perspective taxes early 1990s called budget offices florida texas governments two states like california theyre sun belt160 first california second texas fourth florida population major industries hightech tourism large diverse immigrant populations especially latinos big difference texas florida dont income tax didnt increase californias top rate contrast 93 percent boosted 103 percent numbers texas general revenue fund fortunately 1991 texas changed accounting year purposes numbers consistent source texas fiscal sizeup fiscal yr 160 160amount 160 160 160 160 change 1991 160 160 160 160272 billion 1992 160 160 160 160294 billion 79 1993 160 160 160 160334 billion 138 1994 160 160 160 160358 billion 1607 1995 160 160 160 160370 billion 16035 florida showed something similar summary legislative appropriations source florida budget document sent state legislative appropriations systemplanning budgeting subsystem fiscal yr 160amount 160 160 160 change 199192 289 billion 199293 317 billion 97 199394 355 billion 120 199495 388 billion 93 199596 391 billion 08 texas florida suffered national recession california early 1990s yet recession staggered much less reason seemed tax structure especially lack state income taxes favorable businesses californias john seiler editorial writer orange county register 20 years reporter analyst calwatchdogcom email writejohnseilergmailcom
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<p>By Corey Fields</p>
<p>I have a childhood memory of driving with my family across state lines and, in bewilderment, asking my mother where the line was.</p>
<p>That may have been my first introduction to the arbitrary and human-made nature of many of life’s boundaries, some of which are defended in violent and tragic ways.</p>
<p>I can’t help but see irony (and theology?) in the fact that most of the straight boundaries on a map are human-drawn, while the ones that are jagged and irregular are God-drawn (e.g., rivers).</p>
<p>In one sense, boundaries are necessary. We humans can’t function without them, neither in the physical nor conceptual world.</p>
<p>When it comes to how we perceive things, Teller the Magician explains it well: “Our brains don’t see everything — the world is too big, too full of stimuli. So the brain takes shortcuts, constructing a picture of reality with relatively simple algorithms for what things are supposed to look like.”</p>
<p>These “simple algorithms” that we use to understand and categorize the world can quickly become what Chimamanda Adichie called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg" type="external">“the single story.”</a> The problem is that these algorithms and boundaries can quickly trip us up. Life is complicated, and these boundaries often don’t behave. As Adichie put it, “Stereotypes are not necessarily untrue, but they are largely incomplete.” Herself from Nigeria, she tells of the confusion some experience upon learning that not all Africans are poor.</p>
<p>We struggle to understand our world and see complexity. CNN anchors didn’t seem to grasp it when Reza Aslan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pjxPR36qFU" type="external">told them</a> that there are some “Muslim countries” that honor civil rights, while some “Christian countries” oppress women. Last week, some U.S. lawmakers were clearly confused upon learning that the Iranian government has joined the fight against ISIS.</p>
<p>The namesake of St. Patrick’s Day was a fifth-century missionary and bishop in Ireland who didn’t keep his boundaries straight. Not himself Irish, he transgressed the boundaries of privilege and culture to bring the message of Christ to a country in which he had earlier been enslaved for six years. According to his letter Confessio, his Christian peers in Roman Britain would ask, “Why does this man want to work among these barbarians who don’t know God?”</p>
<p>Boundary keeping is a staple in religion. People have been marginalized, jailed and killed for falling outside determined limits — limits which are usually set by those in power. Boundaries play a role in aiding our understanding but all too often serve to shield us from having to engage with changing circumstances.</p>
<p>Theology must always have a context. The context for theology is always a human context, and the human context is fluid. Reality does not operate by “the single story” or simple algorithms.</p>
<p>This is why some contemporary Christian authors have latched onto Paul Hiebert’s distinction of bounded sets vs. centered sets. Hiebert was a missionary to India in the early 1960s. In his work, he encountered a lot of boundaries that didn’t behave, and he drew on this distinction from set theory and applied it to the question, “Who is a Christian?”</p>
<p>Bounded-set thinking sees things in clear categories. Criteria determine who is in and who is out. You are in if you meet the criteria, possess certain characteristics or believe certain things. In centered-set thinking, the question is not whether one is in or out but rather what one’s orientation is in relation to a central focal point.</p>
<p>Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch explain the difference with an analogy from ranching. They noticed that in the United States, fences are erected to keep livestock within boundaries (bounded set). In Australia, however, ranches tend to be too big for a fence to be practical, and they instead have a well that is central to the property. Though there is little to restrict animals’ movement, they eventually return to the water source and their grazing habits begin to revolve around it (centered set).</p>
<p>In short, bounded sets are about criteria. Centered sets are about values and orientation.</p>
<p>Contemporary missional church authors have picked up on this shift and see something much more true and helpful in centered-set thinking. In fact, it’s how Jesus himself seemed to operate (making it hard for him to get along with the bounded-set religious authorities).</p>
<p>He said that the law could be summarized by the commands to love God and love neighbor (Matthew 22:40). In the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3ff), Jesus held up the values and orientations of the kingdom of God: peacemaking, mercy, thirsting for righteousness. Jesus looked at people who thought they were well within the boundaries and said, “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matthew 21:31).</p>
<p>Christians must learn to see Jesus as the well in the center more than belief as the fence around the pasture, because immediately the question becomes, “Who gets to put up the fence?” Roger Olson of Truett Seminary, though he has previously signaled a preference for centered-set thinking in his work, <a href="" type="internal">recently tried</a> to fence off moderates and liberals in the CBF pasture.</p>
<p>I suppose any of us can succumb to the temptation. As Hiebert has written, bounded sets are “fundamental to American understanding of order.”</p>
<p>What might it look like for the United States to explore a more centered approach to foreign policy? Much of how we relate to the world seems to involve criteria and boundaries instead of values and orientation. Our loyalties remain static even as circumstances and leaders change. What would it look like to center ourselves around the peacemakers and the merciful, wherever they may be? What if we shifted our gaze to those who mourn or are persecuted for righteousness?</p>
<p>Perhaps that’s naive. But I know that, as a Christian, I have been called to follow Jesus into this world that doesn’t behave according to my boundaries and singular stories. Neither does God.</p>
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corey fields childhood memory driving family across state lines bewilderment asking mother line may first introduction arbitrary humanmade nature many lifes boundaries defended violent tragic ways cant help see irony theology fact straight boundaries map humandrawn ones jagged irregular goddrawn eg rivers one sense boundaries necessary humans cant function without neither physical conceptual world comes perceive things teller magician explains well brains dont see everything world big full stimuli brain takes shortcuts constructing picture reality relatively simple algorithms things supposed look like simple algorithms use understand categorize world quickly become chimamanda adichie called single story problem algorithms boundaries quickly trip us life complicated boundaries often dont behave adichie put stereotypes necessarily untrue largely incomplete nigeria tells confusion experience upon learning africans poor struggle understand world see complexity cnn anchors didnt seem grasp reza aslan told muslim countries honor civil rights christian countries oppress women last week us lawmakers clearly confused upon learning iranian government joined fight isis namesake st patricks day fifthcentury missionary bishop ireland didnt keep boundaries straight irish transgressed boundaries privilege culture bring message christ country earlier enslaved six years according letter confessio christian peers roman britain would ask man want work among barbarians dont know god boundary keeping staple religion people marginalized jailed killed falling outside determined limits limits usually set power boundaries play role aiding understanding often serve shield us engage changing circumstances theology must always context context theology always human context human context fluid reality operate single story simple algorithms contemporary christian authors latched onto paul hieberts distinction bounded sets vs centered sets hiebert missionary india early 1960s work encountered lot boundaries didnt behave drew distinction set theory applied question christian boundedset thinking sees things clear categories criteria determine meet criteria possess certain characteristics believe certain things centeredset thinking question whether one rather ones orientation relation central focal point michael frost alan hirsch explain difference analogy ranching noticed united states fences erected keep livestock within boundaries bounded set australia however ranches tend big fence practical instead well central property though little restrict animals movement eventually return water source grazing habits begin revolve around centered set short bounded sets criteria centered sets values orientation contemporary missional church authors picked shift see something much true helpful centeredset thinking fact jesus seemed operate making hard get along boundedset religious authorities said law could summarized commands love god love neighbor matthew 2240 beatitudes matthew 53ff jesus held values orientations kingdom god peacemaking mercy thirsting righteousness jesus looked people thought well within boundaries said tax collectors prostitutes entering kingdom god ahead matthew 2131 christians must learn see jesus well center belief fence around pasture immediately question becomes gets put fence roger olson truett seminary though previously signaled preference centeredset thinking work recently tried fence moderates liberals cbf pasture suppose us succumb temptation hiebert written bounded sets fundamental american understanding order might look like united states explore centered approach foreign policy much relate world seems involve criteria boundaries instead values orientation loyalties remain static even circumstances leaders change would look like center around peacemakers merciful wherever may shifted gaze mourn persecuted righteousness perhaps thats naive know christian called follow jesus world doesnt behave according boundaries singular stories neither god
| 528 |
<p>45</p>
<p>Greensboro</p>
<p>Stay-at-home mom, retired attorney</p>
<p>"I started running in middle school on the cross country team. My only memory of that experience is walking a lot. I continued doing track in high school, and I was actually lapped in the mile race by my sister, and she didn't come in first place. For our longer runs, we would run to McDonald's, eat and then run back and tell the coach we did a really long run. That's probably why I wasn't very good. In my 20s, I ran on and off. I did run three marathons. My first was Team in Training Rock 'n' Roll San Diego (2000). All three of them were fun, but I was pretty slow.</p>
<p>"After I had children, I suddenly got faster. I ran a half marathon in a little under 1:43, about 20 minutes faster than my half marathon time before I had kids (marathon best had been 4:26:12, Vermont, 2002). One of my dear friends said, 'You know, if you run a full marathon, you're probably going to qualify for Boston.' I didn't know much about Boston, and I had no idea that there were qualifying times. Once I looked it up, I was pretty determined to do it. So I ran the Wineglass Marathon in upstate New York (2009), and I qualified there, and I ran Boston in 2010, which was amazing."</p>
<p>"I have an annual goal of 1,000 miles. I've done that the last few years, and it's nice because it gets me out the door week-in and week-out to know that I have to get the thousand in. That's a little bit less than 20 miles a week. I've always been a solo runner and I'd listen mostly to audio books when I run.</p>
<p>Andrea Pollina, front, with the Bryan Family YMCA's Downtown Dashers.</p>
<p>"But about two years ago, a friend told me about the Downtown Dashers (Bryan Family YMCA), and I started running with them. They run at 5 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. They are an amazing group of runners, all ages, all speeds. It's worth getting up that early just to run with them. ... JR (John Reilly) is a gentleman who runs with the Dashers. He is always telling us funny stories. Sometimes he'll come out with these outrageous opinions that he thinks are perfectly true, and then you'll hear somebody in the group say, 'Oh, JR!' And then they'll tell him how it really is. He makes our runs so much fun."</p>
<p>Andrea Pollina, left, with Downtown Dashers at the Zero Prostate 5K in November 2016.</p>
<p>"Any of the trails around Greensboro. There's nothing like running into a trail, and you have the canopy of trees all around you, and you can hear the birds and smell the earth, and you only hear your feet moving. You don't see anybody. It's so soothing. I feel like my body is taking a big exhale throughout the run. And then I come out and I feel like I'm just reset. It's my nirvana."</p>
<p>"I try to do hot yoga a couple of times a week. It's hot, obviously, and it's sweaty, but I feel like it makes me stronger. I don't know if it makes me more limber, but it definitely strengthens those leg muscles that I need to run."</p>
<p>"I play tennis (taught by Lawndale's Brian Hattaway). My husband (Chris) would say I play too much tennis. Tennis is a really frustrating sport. You can spend hours and hours and hours in clinics and lessons and match play and get incrementally better. With running, you put in your speed work, you put in your tempo, and you run a really good time your next race. With tennis, I can practice my serve a hundred times, and then my next match I can have a double fault my first serve. But I love it, and I play a lot of it."</p>
<p>"I've been watching way too much of the Australian Open. I ran 10 miles on a treadmill last week in the snowstorm and I watched the Australian Open, and it was (Novak) Djokovic playing in like 110-degree heat. I thought if they can be out there for three and a half hours in the 110-degree heat, I can run an hour and a half on the treadmill. I love watching (Roger) Federer. He has such class, such style, and he's such an amazing player. And he's older, too."</p>
<p>"I still have my old watch that has the virtual trainer, my Garmin. I have a newer Garmin, which syncs with my phone, which is nice. But that old watch I'll be using during my (next) marathon. It's just something about having a little virtual trainer guy that I know that my speed is exactly where it needs to be."</p>
<p>Andrea Pollina, left, with Allison Jones after finishing 1-2 in their age group in the 5K at the Cannonball Run in October.</p>
<p>"I had to hit 3:45:59; it was back in the day where they gave you the extra 59 seconds and as long as you got within that time, you got in. Wineglass was funny because they only got my gun time, not my chip time. They didn't record me going over the mat in the beginning. My gun time was 3:45:25, and my (chip) time would've been a minute or so less than that. They told me, 'We didn't record your chip time; you can give us the time on your watch or you can just accept the gun time. Because I knew it qualified for Boston, I just accepted the gun time.</p>
<p>"It was really close. And I actually stopped at Wineglass, probably a mile from the finish line (laughs), to go to the bathroom. I was pretty lackadaisical about the whole thing. I figured I probably had the time, and I really had to go to the bathroom. ... It looked like I had a minute or two, so, yeah, I stopped. I really had to go, so I stopped. ...</p>
<p>"I waited until the last day to sign up for Boston. I think I just lucked out. I didn't even know that it closed, that it got full. I knew nothing about it. I just remember it was the last day and 'I really need to sign up for that.' It worked out OK.</p>
<p>"I just was clueless about Boston. I didn't know that much about it. Since then the time standards have gotten a lot quicker."</p>
<p>"Boston was amazing. I had three non-running girlfriends fly up with me. They all wore the T-shirts with my name on it, and they had little pins with my name on it, my picture, and a big banner, and they stood on Heartbreak Hill at the top of it. I remember the night before Boston, I had gone to bed early and they all went out. I hear something at 2 o'clock in the morning, and it's my girlfriends outside just laughing hysterically. I was like, 'Girls, people are sleeping for the marathon! You guys have got to come in here.' And they did, and they got up the next morning, and they cheered me on. ...</p>
<p>"My Boston time was 3:44:21 – pretty similar to my qualifying time. But once again, they gave me a DNF, because they didn't catch me crossing the finish line. We were in Logan Airport the next day, looking at the newspaper with all the thousands and thousands of names, and no name. I finally got home on my computer and had a DNF next to my name. But they emailed me within a few days and said, 'You're one of 10 or 15 people we did not get crossing the line, what was your watch time?' They put that down as my time. I didn't realize then that that time would have qualified me for the next year."</p>
<p>"My inspiration has changed as I've gotten older. When my kids were little, I ran for alone time. It was a great time to be alone, to listen to my books and to relax. Now that I'm older, I run because I can. I have a little mantra, and I call it 'running grateful.' I realize as I get older that I'm not always going to be able to run, and hopefully that won't be for a long time. But I realize it's not always going to be that way. Every time I lace up my shoes, I'm just grateful that I can get out there and run. It's not that it's always easy. Sometimes I'm tired or sore, but I never now have a problem getting out the door. I'm grateful that my body can do it."</p>
<p>"I guess it would be Boston. That's the pinnacle for a lot of people. Even if I never run Boston again, that's perfectly fine. I'm just glad that when I'm an old lady and I'm sitting in that rocking chair, I can show my grandchildren my shirt and my medal from Boston. I can show them and say, 'This is what I did.'"</p>
<p>"After I ran Grandma's (2011 in Minnesota), I really thought I was done with marathons. I've done tons of half marathons, it's a great distance, I love running trails, I've done a few trail halfs. I was at a book club last fall, and one of my girlfriends knew that I had turned 45. She said, 'Do you know the Boston qualifying time takes a big jump when you turn 45?' I was like, 'Oh, I didn't know that.' She said, 'You are up to 3:55 now.' I said, 'Oh, really?' That got the wheels turning in my head, and once those wheels start turning, they don't stop. So I am going to run the Newport News One City Marathon on March 4. That will be my seventh marathon.</p>
<p>"I'll probably do some more of the Trivium race series. Libby and Rich (Swor) do well-organized, fun events. One of my favorites from last year was the Moonlight Bootlegger. It was in the dark, it was trails, and we got to have moonshine at the end."</p>
<p>"Running is not easy, and I don't think it gets easier ever, no matter what shape you're in. The person that's running the 30-minute 5K is running just as hard and it hurts just as much as the person that's running the 20-minute 5K. I was out on the track with the Dashers this week at 5 a.m., and I think when I'm out there, 'If this was easy, everybody would be here.' Running is not easy. But the minute you stop that watch and you're done, the sense of accomplishment you have, you don't get anywhere else."</p>
<p>Andrea Pollina and daughter Maddie.</p>
<p>"I'm always trying to get them (children Maddie, Ethan and Jacob) to run with me, with little success. Both Maddie and Ethan did the cross country team at school, and I think they were one-season wonders. It was not their cup of tea. They did it because I help out with the cross country team. Even though I love running races with them, sometimes I have been known to bribe them to get their race bib on. They think that it might be a great idea, but then when they actually have to get up for the event, it doesn't seem as fun for them. All three of them have found their sport: One is a gymnast, one is a diver, and one is a swimmer. Even though they're not runners, I'm so thrilled that they have found something they enjoy as much as I enjoy running. ... (Chris) is a sometimes-runner. Yeah. He's a sometimes-runner. We have run one race as a family; all of us did the PTI airport race five years ago. We all did it, we all wore our shirts. He's very supportive of my running and my tennis."</p>
<p>Andrea Pollina with her younger son, Jacob.&#160;</p>
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45 greensboro stayathome mom retired attorney started running middle school cross country team memory experience walking lot continued track high school actually lapped mile race sister didnt come first place longer runs would run mcdonalds eat run back tell coach really long run thats probably wasnt good 20s ran run three marathons first team training rock n roll san diego 2000 three fun pretty slow children suddenly got faster ran half marathon little 143 20 minutes faster half marathon time kids marathon best 42612 vermont 2002 one dear friends said know run full marathon youre probably going qualify boston didnt know much boston idea qualifying times looked pretty determined ran wineglass marathon upstate new york 2009 qualified ran boston 2010 amazing annual goal 1000 miles ive done last years nice gets door weekin weekout know get thousand thats little bit less 20 miles week ive always solo runner id listen mostly audio books run andrea pollina front bryan family ymcas downtown dashers two years ago friend told downtown dashers bryan family ymca started running run 5 tuesday thursday mornings amazing group runners ages speeds worth getting early run jr john reilly gentleman runs dashers always telling us funny stories sometimes hell come outrageous opinions thinks perfectly true youll hear somebody group say oh jr theyll tell really makes runs much fun andrea pollina left downtown dashers zero prostate 5k november 2016 trails around greensboro theres nothing like running trail canopy trees around hear birds smell earth hear feet moving dont see anybody soothing feel like body taking big exhale throughout run come feel like im reset nirvana try hot yoga couple times week hot obviously sweaty feel like makes stronger dont know makes limber definitely strengthens leg muscles need run play tennis taught lawndales brian hattaway husband chris would say play much tennis tennis really frustrating sport spend hours hours hours clinics lessons match play get incrementally better running put speed work put tempo run really good time next race tennis practice serve hundred times next match double fault first serve love play lot ive watching way much australian open ran 10 miles treadmill last week snowstorm watched australian open novak djokovic playing like 110degree heat thought three half hours 110degree heat run hour half treadmill love watching roger federer class style hes amazing player hes older still old watch virtual trainer garmin newer garmin syncs phone nice old watch ill using next marathon something little virtual trainer guy know speed exactly needs andrea pollina left allison jones finishing 12 age group 5k cannonball run october hit 34559 back day gave extra 59 seconds long got within time got wineglass funny got gun time chip time didnt record going mat beginning gun time 34525 chip time wouldve minute less told didnt record chip time give us time watch accept gun time knew qualified boston accepted gun time really close actually stopped wineglass probably mile finish line laughs go bathroom pretty lackadaisical whole thing figured probably time really go bathroom looked like minute two yeah stopped really go stopped waited last day sign boston think lucked didnt even know closed got full knew nothing remember last day really need sign worked ok clueless boston didnt know much since time standards gotten lot quicker boston amazing three nonrunning girlfriends fly wore tshirts name little pins name picture big banner stood heartbreak hill top remember night boston gone bed early went hear something 2 oclock morning girlfriends outside laughing hysterically like girls people sleeping marathon guys got come got next morning cheered boston time 34421 pretty similar qualifying time gave dnf didnt catch crossing finish line logan airport next day looking newspaper thousands thousands names name finally got home computer dnf next name emailed within days said youre one 10 15 people get crossing line watch time put time didnt realize time would qualified next year inspiration changed ive gotten older kids little ran alone time great time alone listen books relax im older run little mantra call running grateful realize get older im always going able run hopefully wont long time realize always going way every time lace shoes im grateful get run always easy sometimes im tired sore never problem getting door im grateful body guess would boston thats pinnacle lot people even never run boston thats perfectly fine im glad im old lady im sitting rocking chair show grandchildren shirt medal boston show say ran grandmas 2011 minnesota really thought done marathons ive done tons half marathons great distance love running trails ive done trail halfs book club last fall one girlfriends knew turned 45 said know boston qualifying time takes big jump turn 45 like oh didnt know said 355 said oh really got wheels turning head wheels start turning dont stop going run newport news one city marathon march 4 seventh marathon ill probably trivium race series libby rich swor wellorganized fun events one favorites last year moonlight bootlegger dark trails got moonshine end running easy dont think gets easier ever matter shape youre person thats running 30minute 5k running hard hurts much person thats running 20minute 5k track dashers week 5 think im easy everybody would running easy minute stop watch youre done sense accomplishment dont get anywhere else andrea pollina daughter maddie im always trying get children maddie ethan jacob run little success maddie ethan cross country team school think oneseason wonders cup tea help cross country team even though love running races sometimes known bribe get race bib think might great idea actually get event doesnt seem fun three found sport one gymnast one diver one swimmer even though theyre runners im thrilled found something enjoy much enjoy running chris sometimesrunner yeah hes sometimesrunner run one race family us pti airport race five years ago wore shirts hes supportive running tennis andrea pollina younger son jacob160
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<p>Fox5 News reports that an internal police investigation “sustained” a complaint accusing Sgt. Jessica Hawkins of misconduct. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>D.C.’s Fox5 News reported Thursday night that an internal D.C. police investigation “sustained” an allegation that Sgt. Jessica Hawkins, supervisor of the department’s LGBT Liaison Unit, offered to show student interns working at the liaison unit “a homemade video of her having sex with four men while she was intoxicated.”</p>
<p>Fox5, which said it obtained a copy of an investigative report about Hawkins prepared by the department’s Internal Affairs Division, disclosed in its news broadcast that Hawkins also allegedly arranged for two of the interns who were under the age of 21 to join her in consuming alcohol at a gay bar.</p>
<p>“Two separate complainants wrote Sgt. Hawkins’ bad judgment allowed her to ‘take interns assigned to her unit out drinking with other MPD officers at Freddie’s, a well-known LGBT bar in Arlington,’” the Fox5 story quoted the investigative report as saying.</p>
<p>“The summer interns were both under the age of 21,” the story says. “One of them even admitted to having a fake ID and showing it to Sgt. Hawkins, who laughed at it,” says the Fox5 story, which was written and delivered on the air by correspondent Marina Marraco.</p>
<p>“We have no knowledge of the allegations and this is the first we have heard of them,” said Freddie’s general manager, Ross Colbourne, in an email to the Blade. “Freddie’s conducts a very strict ID check policy and does not serve alcohol to anyone under 21,” Colbourne said.</p>
<p>Concerning the allegation about the sex video, Fox5’s Marraco stated in her broadcast, “Hawkins told investigators she pulled out her cell phone and told her interns, ‘If you want to watch it it’s right here’ and admitted to showing others a picture of a ____,” which the broadcast suggested was a sexually explicit scene of someone’s body.</p>
<p>“Both allegations Hawkins admitted were true in an interview conducted with Internal Affairs,” the story says.</p>
<p>“Hawkins in that very interview also admitted to buying alcohol while on duty and drinking the store bought vodka inside an MPD facility amongst others while they were on duty,” the Fox5 story reports.</p>
<p>Hawkins, who’s transgender, made news in March 2015 when then D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier appointed her to head the LGBT Liaison Unit, making her the first transgender person to hold the position.</p>
<p>Transgender activists have praised her for helping to improve D.C. police relations with the trans community at a time when, despite recognized improvements under Lanier, reports of alleged police mistreatment of transgender people continued to surface.</p>
<p>Police spokesperson Dustin Steinbeck told the Washington Blade in a statement&#160;on Friday&#160;that the department would not be making Sgt. Hawkins available for comment and would not comment on the Fox5 revelations beyond what it released in a statement to the TV news program on Thursday.</p>
<p>“Following misconduct allegations, Sgt. Jessica Hawkins was the focus of a recent Internal Affairs investigation,” the statement says. “That investigation has concluded and the findings are currently with the MPD’s Disciplinary Review Division (DRD). The DRD will review and determine an appropriate penalty,” says the statement.</p>
<p>“Throughout the investigation, Sgt. Hawkins remained in her current assignment and is still widely considered a valuable MPD team member in our Special Liaison Division,” the statement concludes.</p>
<p>Fox5 News reported it learned from sources that the Internal Affairs Division recommended a penalty for Hawkins of a 25-day suspension without pay. Fox5 News correspondent Marraco speculated at the conclusion of her broadcast that the suspension has not taken effect yet because Hawkins may have filed an appeal.</p>
<p>But one source familiar with the MPD told the Blade Hawkins told people she knows she would not appeal the penalty recommended by Internal Affairs.</p>
<p>The Fox5 story on the reported findings of the Internal Affairs investigation into the allegations against Hawkins comes five weeks after Interim D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham confirmed to the Blade that a complaint had been filed against Hawkins, which he said the department was investigating.</p>
<p>The Blade learned about the complaint through sources but could not confirm at the time what the complaint was about.</p>
<p>“It’s a personnel matter so we don’t discuss that publicly because there are rules regarding personnel,” Newsham said in an Oct. 31 interview. “We’re in the process of investigating the complaint and we’ll see what happens when we get to the bottom of it.”</p>
<p>The Fox5 News story also reports that unnamed sources claimed Hawkins’ reputation within the LGBT community came into question due to “allegations she gave preference to concerns from transgender citizens over others.”</p>
<p>According to the Fox5 News story, “Officers claimed her role was undermined amongst her peers after her predecessor and now chairman of the D.C. police [union], Sgt. Matthew Mahl, incited tensions between her and the gay community after Mahl left the unit on bad terms.”</p>
<p>When contacted by the Blade&#160;on Friday, Mahl disputed claims that he sought to stir up tension between Hawkins and the LGBT community.</p>
<p>“I’ve had a very positive relationship with Sgt. Hawkins and the members of the GLLU since my departure and have still upheld my role in the gay community even as head of the police union,” he said in an email. “This is the first time I’m hearing of that claim of me undermining her role as the supervisor,” he said, adding “It’s disturbing to me.”</p>
<p>Only two of a half dozen local LGBT activists respond as of late&#160;when contacted by the Blade for comment on the Fox5 News revelations about Hawkins.</p>
<p>David Mariner, executive director of the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, said the revelations “definitely raise some concerns.” He added, “It would make it difficult for her to continue in her job.”</p>
<p>Transgender activist Ruby Corado, who said she was speaking as an individual and not as head of the LGBT social services group she heads, Casa Ruby, disputed the accuracy of the Fox5 story.</p>
<p>“Everything about this story is so wrong – especially the language used and the one-sided angle,” Corado said. “Whoever is behind this clearly shows their dislike over this woman’s leadership within the department — shame, shame, shame.”</p>
<p>Corado didn’t say what it was about the story she believes was incorrect.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Cathy Lanier</a> <a href="" type="internal">David Mariner</a> <a href="" type="internal">Fox5</a> <a href="" type="internal">Freddie's Beach Bar</a> <a href="" type="internal">GLLU</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jessica Hawkins</a> <a href="" type="internal">Marina Marraco</a> <a href="" type="internal">Matthew Mahl</a> <a href="" type="internal">Peter Newsham</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ross Colbourne</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ruby Corado</a></p>
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fox5 news reports internal police investigation sustained complaint accusing sgt jessica hawkins misconduct washington blade photo michael key dcs fox5 news reported thursday night internal dc police investigation sustained allegation sgt jessica hawkins supervisor departments lgbt liaison unit offered show student interns working liaison unit homemade video sex four men intoxicated fox5 said obtained copy investigative report hawkins prepared departments internal affairs division disclosed news broadcast hawkins also allegedly arranged two interns age 21 join consuming alcohol gay bar two separate complainants wrote sgt hawkins bad judgment allowed take interns assigned unit drinking mpd officers freddies wellknown lgbt bar arlington fox5 story quoted investigative report saying summer interns age 21 story says one even admitted fake id showing sgt hawkins laughed says fox5 story written delivered air correspondent marina marraco knowledge allegations first heard said freddies general manager ross colbourne email blade freddies conducts strict id check policy serve alcohol anyone 21 colbourne said concerning allegation sex video fox5s marraco stated broadcast hawkins told investigators pulled cell phone told interns want watch right admitted showing others picture ____ broadcast suggested sexually explicit scene someones body allegations hawkins admitted true interview conducted internal affairs story says hawkins interview also admitted buying alcohol duty drinking store bought vodka inside mpd facility amongst others duty fox5 story reports hawkins whos transgender made news march 2015 dc police chief cathy lanier appointed head lgbt liaison unit making first transgender person hold position transgender activists praised helping improve dc police relations trans community time despite recognized improvements lanier reports alleged police mistreatment transgender people continued surface police spokesperson dustin steinbeck told washington blade statement160on friday160that department would making sgt hawkins available comment would comment fox5 revelations beyond released statement tv news program thursday following misconduct allegations sgt jessica hawkins focus recent internal affairs investigation statement says investigation concluded findings currently mpds disciplinary review division drd drd review determine appropriate penalty says statement throughout investigation sgt hawkins remained current assignment still widely considered valuable mpd team member special liaison division statement concludes fox5 news reported learned sources internal affairs division recommended penalty hawkins 25day suspension without pay fox5 news correspondent marraco speculated conclusion broadcast suspension taken effect yet hawkins may filed appeal one source familiar mpd told blade hawkins told people knows would appeal penalty recommended internal affairs fox5 story reported findings internal affairs investigation allegations hawkins comes five weeks interim dc police chief peter newsham confirmed blade complaint filed hawkins said department investigating blade learned complaint sources could confirm time complaint personnel matter dont discuss publicly rules regarding personnel newsham said oct 31 interview process investigating complaint well see happens get bottom fox5 news story also reports unnamed sources claimed hawkins reputation within lgbt community came question due allegations gave preference concerns transgender citizens others according fox5 news story officers claimed role undermined amongst peers predecessor chairman dc police union sgt matthew mahl incited tensions gay community mahl left unit bad terms contacted blade160on friday mahl disputed claims sought stir tension hawkins lgbt community ive positive relationship sgt hawkins members gllu since departure still upheld role gay community even head police union said email first time im hearing claim undermining role supervisor said adding disturbing two half dozen local lgbt activists respond late160when contacted blade comment fox5 news revelations hawkins david mariner executive director dc center lgbt community said revelations definitely raise concerns added would make difficult continue job transgender activist ruby corado said speaking individual head lgbt social services group heads casa ruby disputed accuracy fox5 story everything story wrong especially language used onesided angle corado said whoever behind clearly shows dislike womans leadership within department shame shame shame corado didnt say story believes incorrect cathy lanier david mariner fox5 freddies beach bar gllu jessica hawkins marina marraco matthew mahl peter newsham ross colbourne ruby corado
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<p>California’s highest court Thursday unanimously ruled the public has a right to see emails and text messages about public affairs on&#160;government officials’ personal devices, ending a long legal battle that began in San Jose and setting a statewide precedent for records disclosure.</p>
<p>The ruling closes what government watchdogs said was a loophole that let&#160;public officials conduct&#160;the people’s business privately on personal phones&#160;and computers outside the reach of records requests that until now covered only their government-issued devices and accounts.</p>
<p>“We hold that when a city employee uses a personal account to communicate about the conduct of public business, the writings may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act,” the&#160; <a href="http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S218066.PDF" type="external">court opinion</a> said. “If public officials could evade the law simply by clicking into a different email account, or communicating through a personal device, sensitive information could routinely evade public scrutiny.”</p>
<p>Peter Scheer, former executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, called the ruling “a great thing for the public.”</p>
<p>“Government officials have been using this trick of communicating about public business on their personal email or text in order to avoid public scrutiny,” Scheer said. “It means the people we elect to represent us won’t be able to avoid public scrutiny by using personal email accounts — rather than government ones.”</p>
<p>After San Jose in 2009 refused to release personal emails and texts about a downtown development, one man waged a legal battle that went all the way to the California Supreme Court and led to&#160;Thursday’s 20-page ruling.</p>
<p>Ted Smith, a&#160;former lawyer with a background in nonprofit work, suspected that San Jose officials were using their private phones and email accounts to conceal dealings with&#160;former Mayor Tom McEnery, who proposed a development in downtown San Jose.&#160;McEnery received a $6 million loan from the city’s Redevelopment Agency.</p>
<p>In June 2009, Smith submitted a request to the city seeking&#160;public records involving specific officials related to downtown San Jose redevelopment. The city turned over everything — except Smith’s request for “any and all voicemails, emails or text messages sent or received on private electronic devices used by Mayor Chuck Reed or members of the City Council, or their staff, regarding any matters concerning the City of San Jose, including any matters concerning Tom McEnery.”</p>
<p>The city’s argument was simple: “What we’re saying is California’s Public Records Act doesn’t cover private emails,” said San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle.&#160;A trial court sided with Smith, but in March 2014, an appellate court ruled in the city’s favor and Smith&#160;appealed to the state’s high court.</p>
<p>Although the San Pedro Square Market — McEnery’s project — is already built, Smith argued all communications about city business should be public, regardless of how they’re created, communicated or stored.</p>
<p>While San Jose owns more than 4,000 mobile phones for employees to use, government officials in smaller agencies across California often rely solely on personal devices for business.&#160;The court’s ruling applies to&#160;all public entities in California — from water districts to school districts to cities, counties and state agencies.</p>
<p>“This is an important victory for the public’s right to know,” Smith said. “Once again California is at the forefront of creating rules to guarantee that the public’s business is conducted with public scrutiny.”</p>
<p>Following the decision Thursday, Doyle said&#160;San Jose will need to craft policies to determine how it collects public records from private accounts.&#160;The court opinion only says a “reasonable effort” to search records must be made — but allows local agencies to decide how.</p>
<p>“We’re going to have to tread carefully on the issue of how we do a search for records on private devices,” Doyle said. “Is it enough to say ‘Check your devices and let us know,’ or will employees have to sign some kind of affidavit?”</p>
<p>After Smith filed suit in August 2009, the San Jose City Council adopted a policy to release elected officials’ communications from private devices, relying on “self-reporting” to get them. But Smith and his attorney, James McManis, said the rules should apply to city employees too.</p>
<p>“There was nothing sensitive about this information except that someone didn’t want to talk about what was going on at City Hall with respect to former Mayor Tom McEnery,” McManis said Thursday.</p>
<p>McEnery said “the public deserves full transparency” and that he had no quarrel with the ruling. He said dozens of other projects had received similar redevelopment loans but his got more&#160;scrutiny because&#160;“I was mayor for eight years and I picked up my share of enemies.”</p>
<p>McManis said the ruling also applies to city workers’ social media accounts because it focuses on the content of the communication — not the medium in which it occurred.</p>
<p>The ruling suggests cities can set policies to prohibit using personal devices for official business, but it also recognized that not all private writings by city workers are public. The communications “must relate in some substantive way to the conduct of the public’s business.”</p>
<p>“The court does acknowledge government workers’ right to privacy,” Doyle said. “If a city official writes a text to their spouse and says their co-worker is an idiot — that may not be a public record.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
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californias highest court thursday unanimously ruled public right see emails text messages public affairs on160government officials personal devices ending long legal battle began san jose setting statewide precedent records disclosure ruling closes government watchdogs said loophole let160public officials conduct160the peoples business privately personal phones160and computers outside reach records requests covered governmentissued devices accounts hold city employee uses personal account communicate conduct public business writings may subject disclosure california public records act the160 court opinion said public officials could evade law simply clicking different email account communicating personal device sensitive information could routinely evade public scrutiny peter scheer former executive director first amendment coalition called ruling great thing public government officials using trick communicating public business personal email text order avoid public scrutiny scheer said means people elect represent us wont able avoid public scrutiny using personal email accounts rather government ones san jose 2009 refused release personal emails texts downtown development one man waged legal battle went way california supreme court led to160thursdays 20page ruling ted smith a160former lawyer background nonprofit work suspected san jose officials using private phones email accounts conceal dealings with160former mayor tom mcenery proposed development downtown san jose160mcenery received 6 million loan citys redevelopment agency june 2009 smith submitted request city seeking160public records involving specific officials related downtown san jose redevelopment city turned everything except smiths request voicemails emails text messages sent received private electronic devices used mayor chuck reed members city council staff regarding matters concerning city san jose including matters concerning tom mcenery citys argument simple saying californias public records act doesnt cover private emails said san jose city attorney rick doyle160a trial court sided smith march 2014 appellate court ruled citys favor smith160appealed states high court although san pedro square market mcenerys project already built smith argued communications city business public regardless theyre created communicated stored san jose owns 4000 mobile phones employees use government officials smaller agencies across california often rely solely personal devices business160the courts ruling applies to160all public entities california water districts school districts cities counties state agencies important victory publics right know smith said california forefront creating rules guarantee publics business conducted public scrutiny following decision thursday doyle said160san jose need craft policies determine collects public records private accounts160the court opinion says reasonable effort search records must made allows local agencies decide going tread carefully issue search records private devices doyle said enough say check devices let us know employees sign kind affidavit smith filed suit august 2009 san jose city council adopted policy release elected officials communications private devices relying selfreporting get smith attorney james mcmanis said rules apply city employees nothing sensitive information except someone didnt want talk going city hall respect former mayor tom mcenery mcmanis said thursday mcenery said public deserves full transparency quarrel ruling said dozens projects received similar redevelopment loans got more160scrutiny because160i mayor eight years picked share enemies mcmanis said ruling also applies city workers social media accounts focuses content communication medium occurred ruling suggests cities set policies prohibit using personal devices official business also recognized private writings city workers public communications must relate substantive way conduct publics business court acknowledge government workers right privacy doyle said city official writes text spouse says coworker idiot may public record 160
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<p>Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday sent out a tweet revealing plans to unveil an “unexpected” new product on October 17. Speculation runs from a new battery sports car to an electric pickup truck — but, whatever Musk has under his hood, analysts are beginning to question whether the cash-strapped car maker will be able to remain in the fast lane amid a European assault.</p>
<p>Daimler chairman and CEO Dieter Zetsche has already declared his goal to overtake Tesla Motors as the world’s biggest seller of luxury electric vehicles. BMW and Volkswagen are also targeting Tesla and could overwhelm the Silicon Valley maker with a flood of new products.</p>
<p>VW alone is promising 30 pure battery-electric models over the next decade, and Mercedes-Benz just unveiled its new Generation EQ concept vehicle, which features a high-performance electric drive system that could not only launch it from 0 to 60 in “under five seconds,” but deliver up to 325 miles per charge.</p>
<p>A production version will be ready within three years, said Zetsche, adding that it will be just the first in a wave of pure battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, that the maker will bring to market over the next decade. They will collectively be sold through the new Mercedes-EQ sub-brand.</p>
<p>“The emission-free automobile is the future,” said Zetsche, a message echoed throughout the halls of last week's Paris car show.</p>
<p>European makers were long reluctant to embrace battery power, citing the traditional weaknesses: limited range, long charging times, and high costs. They also were happy to stick with relatively high-mileage diesel engines that wouldn’t require major new investments and the tear-up of existing factories.</p>
<p>Tough new rules</p>
<p>Diesels, however, have come under increasing assault. Parisian government officials have said they want to ban the sale of the engines in the next few years. The image of diesels has been further hurt by the emissions testing scandal that has already cost Volkswagen AG almost $20 billion — and rising — to resolve.</p>
<p>Tough new emissions and mileage rules put in place in most major global markets, meanwhile, will simply demand yet more efficient solutions. On the plus side, battery costs are falling rapidly — from about $1,000 per kilowatt-hour at the beginning of the decade, to around $200 today, a major improvement considering the latest BEVs are using anywhere from 50 to 100 kWh of lithium-ion cells. Meanwhile, range is rising rapidly — in some cases to 300 miles or more, even as charging times tumble.</p>
<p>Luxury manufacturers like Mercedes are changing their tunes especially fast, in part because they need to offset the gas-guzzling nature of their larger and higher-powered models with zero-emission vehicles.</p>
<p>And Mercedes isn’t alone in carving out a unique sub-brand to represent its electrified vehicles. BMW was first, several years ago introducing the “i” brand to handle products like the fully electric i3 city car and the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car. During the Bavarian maker’s Paris news conference, global marketing chief Ian Robertson revealed plans for several new “i” models over the next several years, including an open-top i8, and a battery supercar based on the BMW Next concept vehicle.</p>
<p>The battery power transformation, however, can be seen across the European spectrum. France’s Renault was a pioneer, along with Japanese alliance partner Nissan. It brought to the Paris show a new version of its Zoe electric vehicles that is doubling the car’s range, to 400 kilometers, or 250 miles, per charge.</p>
<p>But perhaps no European maker is making a deeper plunge than Volkswagen. It insists the transformation was already underway even before it got caught up in the diesel emissions scandal last year, but that clearly has added momentum.</p>
<p>During a media preview, VW unveiled its own pure electric concept, the I.D., which will reach production by 2020. It will be the first of as many as 30 new electric models planned to go on sale by 2020. “Our future is electric,” said Volkswagen brand boss Herbert Diess.</p>
<p>But the I.D. may offer even more miles per charge than the Mercedes Generation EQ, up to as much as 375.</p>
<p>“A range of 300km (or just under 200 miles) appears to be the magic number to be surpassed,” in the bid to take electric vehicles mainstream, an analysis of the trend released Friday by consulting firm IHS Automotive said. “The question now is whether this step up will mean that more customers will make the switch than already have done.”</p>
<p>Ask again in 10 years</p>
<p>European automakers can only hope so. Right now, battery-electric vehicles account for less than 1 percent of the continental market, and not much more elsewhere. But Diess said VW is hoping to sell more than 1 million of its pure electric models by 2025. Daimler is betting electric will account for a double-digit share of its own sales. Renault is equally optimistic.</p>
<p>There are plenty of battery proponents who hope to see the market grow even larger — and faster. And, after years of falling short of expectations, Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn is betting that will happen as battery cars get better, faster and, in mainstream segments, more affordable.</p>
<p>Worldwide, it will take at least a decade, if not longer, for BEVs to outsell cars powered by gas or diesel, he cautioned last week. But the pace is quickening, especially where governments back the push. In smoggy China, he said, “I can see this happening in the next three to four years.”</p>
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tesla ceo elon musk monday sent tweet revealing plans unveil unexpected new product october 17 speculation runs new battery sports car electric pickup truck whatever musk hood analysts beginning question whether cashstrapped car maker able remain fast lane amid european assault daimler chairman ceo dieter zetsche already declared goal overtake tesla motors worlds biggest seller luxury electric vehicles bmw volkswagen also targeting tesla could overwhelm silicon valley maker flood new products vw alone promising 30 pure batteryelectric models next decade mercedesbenz unveiled new generation eq concept vehicle features highperformance electric drive system could launch 0 60 five seconds deliver 325 miles per charge production version ready within three years said zetsche adding first wave pure batteryelectric vehicles bevs maker bring market next decade collectively sold new mercedeseq subbrand emissionfree automobile future said zetsche message echoed throughout halls last weeks paris car show european makers long reluctant embrace battery power citing traditional weaknesses limited range long charging times high costs also happy stick relatively highmileage diesel engines wouldnt require major new investments tearup existing factories tough new rules diesels however come increasing assault parisian government officials said want ban sale engines next years image diesels hurt emissions testing scandal already cost volkswagen ag almost 20 billion rising resolve tough new emissions mileage rules put place major global markets meanwhile simply demand yet efficient solutions plus side battery costs falling rapidly 1000 per kilowatthour beginning decade around 200 today major improvement considering latest bevs using anywhere 50 100 kwh lithiumion cells meanwhile range rising rapidly cases 300 miles even charging times tumble luxury manufacturers like mercedes changing tunes especially fast part need offset gasguzzling nature larger higherpowered models zeroemission vehicles mercedes isnt alone carving unique subbrand represent electrified vehicles bmw first several years ago introducing brand handle products like fully electric i3 city car i8 plugin hybrid sports car bavarian makers paris news conference global marketing chief ian robertson revealed plans several new models next several years including opentop i8 battery supercar based bmw next concept vehicle battery power transformation however seen across european spectrum frances renault pioneer along japanese alliance partner nissan brought paris show new version zoe electric vehicles doubling cars range 400 kilometers 250 miles per charge perhaps european maker making deeper plunge volkswagen insists transformation already underway even got caught diesel emissions scandal last year clearly added momentum media preview vw unveiled pure electric concept id reach production 2020 first many 30 new electric models planned go sale 2020 future electric said volkswagen brand boss herbert diess id may offer even miles per charge mercedes generation eq much 375 range 300km 200 miles appears magic number surpassed bid take electric vehicles mainstream analysis trend released friday consulting firm ihs automotive said question whether step mean customers make switch already done ask 10 years european automakers hope right batteryelectric vehicles account less 1 percent continental market much elsewhere diess said vw hoping sell 1 million pure electric models 2025 daimler betting electric account doubledigit share sales renault equally optimistic plenty battery proponents hope see market grow even larger faster years falling short expectations renaultnissan alliance ceo carlos ghosn betting happen battery cars get better faster mainstream segments affordable worldwide take least decade longer bevs outsell cars powered gas diesel cautioned last week pace quickening especially governments back push smoggy china said see happening next three four years
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<p>Eighty-eight percent of Chicago Teachers Union members voted to authorize a strike, union officials announced Monday morning. That’s 13 percentage points higher than the 75 percent that state law requires for strike authorization.</p>
<p>“By any count, that’s overwhelming,” CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said at a press conference. “Rahm, Forrest Claypool: listen to what teachers and educators are trying to tell you. Do not cut the schools anymore.”</p>
<p>Union officials said close to 92 percent of the union’s 24,752 eligible members voted during a <a href="http://catalyst-chicago.org/2015/11/ctu-members-may-vote-on-strike-next-week/" type="external">three-day period last week.</a>Of those who voted, nearly 97 percent favored a walk-out. The turnout was <a href="http://catalyst-chicago.org/2012/06/eve-union-strike-vote-battle-lines-are-drawn/" type="external">about the same as in 2012,</a>when the CTU went on strike for seven days.</p>
<p>In a statement, Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool said that while he understands teachers’ frustrations, “a strike that threatens to set back our students’ progress is simply not the answer to our challenges.”</p>
<p>Despite the vote, a strike can’t legally&#160;happen until May.&#160;That’s because the&#160;state’s education labor relations board won’t meet until&#160;Jan. 21 to decide on a CTU demand for injunctive relief&#160;to compel&#160;the so-called “fact-finding” stage, one of the last required steps in the protracted process leading to a&#160;walkout. Once a&#160;fact-finding panel is convened, the clock starts on a&#160;120-day process that needs to play out before a strike.*</p>
<p>District leaders have said that it’s too early to even talk about a strike, as an appointed mediator has not yet finished listening to both sides’ contract proposals. &#160;In addition, Claypool has been trying to shift the public focus on funding equity from the state, and getting the CTU on board to “join us to fight for our shared goal of equal education funding from Springfield.”</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for the mayor echoed that sentiment in a separate statement. “The Mayor finds the idea of cuts to our schools unconscionable and he hopes that CTU will join the City and CPS in demanding a funding system that will treat our children fairly and secure our teachers’ futures,” she said.</p>
<p>According to the union, the district is asking for a pay freeze and wants to phase out the so-called “pension pick-up,” in which CPS picks up 7 of the 9 percent that educators must pay into their pension costs. Meanwhile the CTU is asking for thousands of new positions, including teachers, nurses and social workers, in addition to a reduction in paperwork and standardized testing.</p>
<p>The&#160; <a href="" type="internal">district says</a> that the union’s demands would cost an additional $1.5 billion per year.</p>
<p>Added pressure to negotiations</p>
<p>Even though a potential strike is still five months away, just the&#160;threat of a walkout is likely to add&#160;pressure to the mediated contract negotiations that have been sputtering along since the summer.</p>
<p>Also, a second teachers strike in less than four years certainly would be politically damaging for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is in a vulnerable position now due to the release of a 2014 video of a young black adolescent named Laquan McDonald getting repeatedly shot in the back by a white police officer.</p>
<p>“The Emanuel administration has a crisis of legitimacy on its hands,” Sharkey said.&#160;“If we want to avoid there being more Laquan McDonalds, we better do a better job with our schools, we better do a better job with our social services, we better do a better job actually trying to provide some of the things that our system is not providing.”</p>
<p>The potential for a strike comes as the district faces a massive, mid-year budget hole. Under Claypool’s advice, the CPS Board of Education approved <a href="http://catalyst-chicago.org/2015/08/budget-outlines-layoffs-cuts-to-special-ed/" type="external">an operating budget earlier this year</a> that depends on a half-billion dollars in unappropriated aid from the state. However, lawmakers have been unable to agree on a state budget, let alone on giving a hand to CPS.</p>
<p>Without relief from Springfield, Claypool has said, the district will have to turn to a combination of layoffs and more “unsustainable borrowing.” In fact, the <a href="http://www.cpsboe.org/content/documents/december_16_2015_public_agenda_to_print.pdf" type="external">Board will vote this week on recommendations</a> to increase its short-term line of credit by $130 million, and issue another $120 million in bonds. And sources say that Claypool is considering 450 layoffs in Central Office.</p>
<p>On Monday afternoon,&#160;CPS released <a href="" type="internal">memo from the financial firm Ernst&amp;Young</a>dated&#160;last Friday that spells&#160;out the extent of the district’s financial troubles. The memo indicates that CPS will “completely exhaust” its current line of credit and cash resources by January. Part of the trouble is that the state still owes CPS about $119 million in block grand monies it was supposed to reimburse in September.</p>
<p>Sharkey says the mayor should use his “magical Rolodex” to call up some of his biggest donors and get their support for new revenue sources in Chicago. He says the only options can’t be more borrowing or cuts.</p>
<p>Legal next steps</p>
<p>The union and district have been negotiating on a new contract since about November of last year. CTU members have been working without a contract since July, when a three-year contract expired.</p>
<p>In August, the district abruptly walked away from a <a href="http://catalyst-chicago.org/2015/08/back-to-drawing-board-for-contract-negotiations/" type="external">tentative one-year deal,</a>citing disagreements over teacher evaluations and layoff order. That tentative deal preserved the “pension pick-up” and included a promise from the district to not open any new charter schools for the duration of the contract.</p>
<p>Soon after, Martin Malin, a&#160;professor at the ITT Chicago-Kent School of Law, was brought in to mediate the negotiations.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, the union officially requested that the negotiations move into fact-finding, in which a three-person panel reviews both sides’ most recent contract proposals and proposes an agreement.</p>
<p>The district rejected the request, saying the mediation has not run its course. The union subsequently filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, seeking to compel fact-finding. The labor relations board has not yet made a decision.</p>
<p>Once a panel is convened, it would have up to 75 days to review both the CTU’s and CPS’s most recent contract proposals and issue recommendations, which are then made public. Then both sides have up to 15 days to accept or reject the panel’s report. If accepted by both sides, the recommendations would become &#160;the new labor contract.</p>
<p>If either side rejects a settlement proposed by the panel, the union must wait 30 days before it can strike.</p>
<p>The final decision to strike would be made by the union’s 800-member House of Delegates, which includes representatives from each school.</p>
<p>*Story was updated on Dec. 14 at 2:45 p.m. to include new information on&#160;a hearing set by the state’s education labor relations board and a financial memo from Ernst&amp;Young; it was updated again at 3:40 p.m. to include a statement from the mayor’s office.</p>
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eightyeight percent chicago teachers union members voted authorize strike union officials announced monday morning thats 13 percentage points higher 75 percent state law requires strike authorization count thats overwhelming ctu vice president jesse sharkey said press conference rahm forrest claypool listen teachers educators trying tell cut schools anymore union officials said close 92 percent unions 24752 eligible members voted threeday period last weekof voted nearly 97 percent favored walkout turnout 2012when ctu went strike seven days statement chicago public schools ceo forrest claypool said understands teachers frustrations strike threatens set back students progress simply answer challenges despite vote strike cant legally160happen may160thats the160states education labor relations board wont meet until160jan 21 decide ctu demand injunctive relief160to compel160the socalled factfinding stage one last required steps protracted process leading a160walkout a160factfinding panel convened clock starts a160120day process needs play strike district leaders said early even talk strike appointed mediator yet finished listening sides contract proposals 160in addition claypool trying shift public focus funding equity state getting ctu board join us fight shared goal equal education funding springfield spokeswoman mayor echoed sentiment separate statement mayor finds idea cuts schools unconscionable hopes ctu join city cps demanding funding system treat children fairly secure teachers futures said according union district asking pay freeze wants phase socalled pension pickup cps picks 7 9 percent educators must pay pension costs meanwhile ctu asking thousands new positions including teachers nurses social workers addition reduction paperwork standardized testing the160 district says unions demands would cost additional 15 billion per year added pressure negotiations even though potential strike still five months away the160threat walkout likely add160pressure mediated contract negotiations sputtering along since summer also second teachers strike less four years certainly would politically damaging mayor rahm emanuel vulnerable position due release 2014 video young black adolescent named laquan mcdonald getting repeatedly shot back white police officer emanuel administration crisis legitimacy hands sharkey said160if want avoid laquan mcdonalds better better job schools better better job social services better better job actually trying provide things system providing potential strike comes district faces massive midyear budget hole claypools advice cps board education approved operating budget earlier year depends halfbillion dollars unappropriated aid state however lawmakers unable agree state budget let alone giving hand cps without relief springfield claypool said district turn combination layoffs unsustainable borrowing fact board vote week recommendations increase shortterm line credit 130 million issue another 120 million bonds sources say claypool considering 450 layoffs central office monday afternoon160cps released memo financial firm ernstampyoungdated160last friday spells160out extent districts financial troubles memo indicates cps completely exhaust current line credit cash resources january part trouble state still owes cps 119 million block grand monies supposed reimburse september sharkey says mayor use magical rolodex call biggest donors get support new revenue sources chicago says options cant borrowing cuts legal next steps union district negotiating new contract since november last year ctu members working without contract since july threeyear contract expired august district abruptly walked away tentative oneyear dealciting disagreements teacher evaluations layoff order tentative deal preserved pension pickup included promise district open new charter schools duration contract soon martin malin a160professor itt chicagokent school law brought mediate negotiations earlier month union officially requested negotiations move factfinding threeperson panel reviews sides recent contract proposals proposes agreement district rejected request saying mediation run course union subsequently filed unfair labor practice complaint illinois educational labor relations board seeking compel factfinding labor relations board yet made decision panel convened would 75 days review ctus cpss recent contract proposals issue recommendations made public sides 15 days accept reject panels report accepted sides recommendations would become 160the new labor contract either side rejects settlement proposed panel union must wait 30 days strike final decision strike would made unions 800member house delegates includes representatives school story updated dec 14 245 pm include new information on160a hearing set states education labor relations board financial memo ernstampyoung updated 340 pm include statement mayors office
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<p>This spring, the Board of Education asked the state for $50.6 million to keep existing state prekindergarten programs up and running and open classrooms in 89 more schools.</p>
<p>“Any school that asked, we included in the proposal,” says Velma Thomas, director of early childhood education. “I don’t think we’ve ever gotten what we asked for, but it’s important to show the need.”</p>
<p>Instead, the department ended up with $39.7 million—about $3 million more than last year. But the new school administration used the increase to help balance the general operating budget, taking advantage of new block-grant funding from the state. (For an explanation of block grants, see CATALYST, September 1995.) As a result, Chicago won’t open any new state prekindergartens this year.</p>
<p>To further cut costs, the board also fired 81 employees who screen children throughout the year, including over the summer; the move could delay efforts to identify and recruit “at-risk” children for next fall, Thomas cautions. (The state prekindergarten program serves children whose developmental level is such that they are considered “at risk” of educational failure.)</p>
<p>During the school year, teachers and aides will be solely responsible for screening. “The slack may not be too bad this year, but I don’t know what the impact will be next year,” says Alice Moss, state prekindergarten manager for Chicago.</p>
<p>Limited funds are but one obstacle the school system faces as it struggles to prepare youngsters for school. Many schools have no space for prekindergarten programs, and there is a shortage of bilingual teachers with early childhood training.</p>
<p>Moreover, traditional teaching in the primary grades is out of sync with how young children learn, early childhood experts say; as a result, children who do get preschool education often lose the gains they’ve made once they begin regular schooling.</p>
<p>“There’s no doubt that schools aren’t doing what they should” to improve teaching, says Barbara Bowman, president of the Erikson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development. “It’s not a vaccination—you can’t just say, ‘Aha, we gave them preschool, so it’s OK.’ “</p>
<p>Still, Chicago’s department of early childhood education gets good marks. “The highest quality of [preschool] programs are in the schools,” says Barbara Jean Cizak, executive director of the Chicago Association for the Education of Young Children. Schools are being urged to seek national accreditation for their prekindergarten programs, and the school system is subcontracting with private day care centers to provide prekindergarten programs in neighborhoods with overcrowded schools. (See stories on pages 15 and 9.)</p>
<p>Quantity, however, remains as much an issue as quality.</p>
<p>At least a quarter of the city’s low-income children aged 3 to 5—who are most “at-risk” and need preschool the most—can’t get it. Excluding children in publicly funded day care centers—which often don’t provide educational programs—the percentage of youngsters without access to service climbs to almost 40.</p>
<p>The citywide waiting list for state prekindergarten alone is close to 2,500; some schools have local lists of over 100 children, board staff say. (State prekindergarten is the major source of preschool in Chicago schools. Other types of preschool include Head Starts and child-parent centers, both of which are funded by federal money; and state Chapter 1 preschools, which schools have launched on their own.)</p>
<p>As demand grows, the need is becoming more critical, too. A recent board study suggests that children now are entering school less well-prepared than they were in the late 1980s. (See story.)</p>
<p>Finding money</p>
<p>Schools have relied on state Chapter 1 to pay for a range of new initiatives since reform began, but relatively few have used it to start preschools.</p>
<p>Only 54 schools budgeted state Chapter 1 for preschool in 1994-95, according to an analysis by the Chicago Panel on School Policy. In contrast, four times as many spent money on art and music programs, for instance.</p>
<p>Of the principals who did open state Chapter 1 preschools, those contacted by CATALYST said they were merely replacing Head Starts that had been transferred out of their schools to community agencies in 1991 and 1992. The board’s early childhood department tried to replace them with state prekindergartens, but wasn’t able to in every case. (See story on Head Start.)</p>
<p>Pilsen Community Academy is one example. The school lost two Head Starts, but got funding for only one state prekindergarten. So, to keep the second classroom open, Principal Ana Espinoza used state Chapter 1 that had previously paid for three teacher aides.</p>
<p>Since the city’s Department of Human Services, which oversees Head Start, removed furniture and materials purchased with Head Start funds, Espinoza had to use state Chapter 1 for “start-up” as well as operating costs. Teacher Aurelia Spurlark got about $7,000 to re-equip her classroom, and, she notes, “That’s not a lot of money when a chair costs $50 and you need 30.” Under the state prekindergarten program, each classroom usually gets about $20,000 for furniture and equipment.</p>
<p>Cost is a significant barrier to any school that wants to open its own preschool, the board’s Thomas acknowledges. Salaries for a teacher and an aide, child-size furniture, rugs for children to sit on for story hours, and educational toys and games can approach $100,000. Other popular uses of state Chapter 1, such as after-school tutoring, don’t require nearly that much money, Thomas notes. With preschool, “you’re not just supplementing, like with other programs,” she says.</p>
<p>Finding space</p>
<p>“It might be stretching it a bit, but for every classroom [now open], we could open up another one,” says Moss. “Actually, that’s not too far off. Every school that has one says they could use another.”</p>
<p>But in many schools, there simply is no space. Of the 89 schools that asked for state prekindergarten programs this year, only 61 had space available, according to the board’s funding proposal.</p>
<p>The problem is particularly acute in Latino neighborhoods, such as Humboldt Park, which tend to have the most overcrowded schools. “Where there’s the most kids, there’s the least space,” Moss observes.</p>
<p>In some cases, the board has rented private space. For example, on the Near Northwest Side, prekindergartens for Barry and Falconer schools are located in a shopping mall.</p>
<p>“I went out myself and scouted the neighborhood and talked to [developers] when the mall was under construction,” says Barry Principal Alice Vila. “I’d prefer to have it at the school for supervisory reasons, but I don’t want to do without [a prekindergarten]. If we’re going to have any chance with [educating] kids, I have to have one.”</p>
<p>To solve the supervision dilemma, principals from both schools rotate daily visits to the site. And, Vila points out, “By clustering them together, it’s made it safer and gets teachers working together.”</p>
<p>The board is reluctant to rent, however, because of the high cost. For example, the rent, maintenance and taxes for off-site state prekindergartens for four schools (Chappell, Hibbard, Barry and Falconer) will top $110,000 this year, according to board documents.</p>
<p>Sometimes, off-site space needs to be renovated to meet facilities guidelines set by the state Board of Education. For instance, state prekindergarten classrooms must have running water and a sink in the room. Toilet facilities must either be in a separate section of the classroom or be nearby on the same floor, because “children [that age] are too little to line up for a trip to the bathroom,” Thomas notes. And classrooms must be on the ground floor or basement, so that small children are not forced to climb stairs.</p>
<p>Then, if the board pays for renovations and the school decides for some reason that it doesn’t want the program, “you’re leaving your money there,” Thomas notes.</p>
<p>At some schools, the board has used demountable units for prekindergartens. But the board has pretty much abandoned that practice because of the cost.</p>
<p>Some overcrowded schools have offered prekindergarten after school, usually from 2:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. But last year, the board stopped paying overtime to assistant principals or other administrators who stayed after school to supervise. At least one school, Pablo Casals, decided to pick up the tab with state Chapter 1.</p>
<p>“The more of these kinds of expenses we have, the fewer children we can serve,” notes Thomas, who adds that the state requires that a certain number of children be served if a district receives a certain amount of money.</p>
<p>All these space problems prompted the board to turn to subcontracting with private day care centers. That solution also solves a major problem faced by working parents: Finding day care for the half day when their child is not in preschool.</p>
<p>“That’s one of the problems with Head Start and state prekindergarten— it’s not designed for working families,” says Carol Dellahousaye, program associate for Voices for Illinois Children. “It’s missing the care component.”</p>
<p>So far, the subcontracting program has been judged a success. (See story.)</p>
<p>Lack of space raises another issue for state prekindergartens. Ideally, children would start at age 3 and continue for two years; that’s how the program is designed. However, 4-year-olds get priority for enrollment because they will enter kindergarten in a year. But with space at a premium and so many children on waiting lists, not many schools can accommodate more than a few 3-year-olds. As a result, most children are getting only one year of prekindergarten.</p>
<p>“Being 4 is one of my criteria” for enrollment, says Vila. “I just can’t take them at 3.”</p>
<p>In 1993-94, only 2,000 of the 12,000 state prekindergartners in Chicago—or 16 percent—were in their second year, according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education. In contrast, 29 percent of state prekindergartners in Rockford, the second-largest city in Illinois, were in their second year.</p>
<p>“When we have them for two years, it makes a big, big difference,” says Pilsen Community Academy prekindergarten teacher Norma Martinez. Kindergartners with two years of prekindergarten, she reports, adjust to kindergarten and 1st grade more quickly and, in general, are farther ahead in their development. But, Martinez adds, relatively few children in her class, or in colleague Spurlark’s state Chapter 1 preschool, get that second year.</p>
<p>Research points to the benefits of a second year. The acclaimed High Scope/Perry Preschool Project in Ypsilanti, Mich., ran for two years; reports on the project say that that was a key component of its success.</p>
<p>It’s not surprising that children with two years do better, says Erikson’s Bowman. “If you have more time to learn something, you learn it better.”</p>
<p>Getting primary grades ‘ready’</p>
<p>Early childhood experts say that getting schools ready for youngsters is as important as getting youngsters ready for school. If the gains children make in preschool are to be maintained, primary-grade teaching must change.</p>
<p>“Many teachers are going to have to change their instructional practices,” says Thomas. “Teachers can no longer say, ‘Well, I taught him, but he didn’t learn it.’ There has to be a whole new approach.” Her department has tried to push schools in that direction by promoting an improvement program called Opening Windows to Learning, but the board has never had staff or funds to provide teacher training on a wide scale.</p>
<p>Schools need to institute what’s called “developmentally appropriate” teaching, adds Bowman. In general, such teaching should:</p>
<p>Be age-appropriate. “That means you’re not asking a child to do something that’s outside what you’d expect a child that age to do—you wouldn’t sit a 3-year-old down with a book and expect him to read,” Bowman explains.</p>
<p>Be tailored to individual children, because “children grow at different rates.”</p>
<p>Be culturally appropriate—that is, take into consideration the backgrounds of children whose native language is not English, or children who don’t come from a “typical” middle-class background.</p>
<p>“People don’t want to change—they don’t want to do it,” says Sarah Barber, a state prekindergarten coordinator and trainer. “But you can’t use the same lesson plan you used 20 years ago.”</p>
<p>A principal from Englewood, she recalls, once asked her to recommend consultants to provide staff development for kindergarten and primary teachers. Knowing some of the teachers at the school, Barber says, “I recommended [someone] I knew would come in and put her foot down.”</p>
<p>“There’s been an explosion of knowledge about how children learn in the last 15 years,” Bowman says. “We need to bring teachers up to date on what we know about how children learn.”</p>
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spring board education asked state 506 million keep existing state prekindergarten programs running open classrooms 89 schools school asked included proposal says velma thomas director early childhood education dont think weve ever gotten asked important show need instead department ended 397 millionabout 3 million last year new school administration used increase help balance general operating budget taking advantage new blockgrant funding state explanation block grants see catalyst september 1995 result chicago wont open new state prekindergartens year cut costs board also fired 81 employees screen children throughout year including summer move could delay efforts identify recruit atrisk children next fall thomas cautions state prekindergarten program serves children whose developmental level considered risk educational failure school year teachers aides solely responsible screening slack may bad year dont know impact next year says alice moss state prekindergarten manager chicago limited funds one obstacle school system faces struggles prepare youngsters school many schools space prekindergarten programs shortage bilingual teachers early childhood training moreover traditional teaching primary grades sync young children learn early childhood experts say result children get preschool education often lose gains theyve made begin regular schooling theres doubt schools arent improve teaching says barbara bowman president erikson institute advanced study child development vaccinationyou cant say aha gave preschool ok still chicagos department early childhood education gets good marks highest quality preschool programs schools says barbara jean cizak executive director chicago association education young children schools urged seek national accreditation prekindergarten programs school system subcontracting private day care centers provide prekindergarten programs neighborhoods overcrowded schools see stories pages 15 9 quantity however remains much issue quality least quarter citys lowincome children aged 3 5who atrisk need preschool mostcant get excluding children publicly funded day care centerswhich often dont provide educational programsthe percentage youngsters without access service climbs almost 40 citywide waiting list state prekindergarten alone close 2500 schools local lists 100 children board staff say state prekindergarten major source preschool chicago schools types preschool include head starts childparent centers funded federal money state chapter 1 preschools schools launched demand grows need becoming critical recent board study suggests children entering school less wellprepared late 1980s see story finding money schools relied state chapter 1 pay range new initiatives since reform began relatively used start preschools 54 schools budgeted state chapter 1 preschool 199495 according analysis chicago panel school policy contrast four times many spent money art music programs instance principals open state chapter 1 preschools contacted catalyst said merely replacing head starts transferred schools community agencies 1991 1992 boards early childhood department tried replace state prekindergartens wasnt able every case see story head start pilsen community academy one example school lost two head starts got funding one state prekindergarten keep second classroom open principal ana espinoza used state chapter 1 previously paid three teacher aides since citys department human services oversees head start removed furniture materials purchased head start funds espinoza use state chapter 1 startup well operating costs teacher aurelia spurlark got 7000 reequip classroom notes thats lot money chair costs 50 need 30 state prekindergarten program classroom usually gets 20000 furniture equipment cost significant barrier school wants open preschool boards thomas acknowledges salaries teacher aide childsize furniture rugs children sit story hours educational toys games approach 100000 popular uses state chapter 1 afterschool tutoring dont require nearly much money thomas notes preschool youre supplementing like programs says finding space might stretching bit every classroom open could open another one says moss actually thats far every school one says could use another many schools simply space 89 schools asked state prekindergarten programs year 61 space available according boards funding proposal problem particularly acute latino neighborhoods humboldt park tend overcrowded schools theres kids theres least space moss observes cases board rented private space example near northwest side prekindergartens barry falconer schools located shopping mall went scouted neighborhood talked developers mall construction says barry principal alice vila id prefer school supervisory reasons dont want without prekindergarten going chance educating kids one solve supervision dilemma principals schools rotate daily visits site vila points clustering together made safer gets teachers working together board reluctant rent however high cost example rent maintenance taxes offsite state prekindergartens four schools chappell hibbard barry falconer top 110000 year according board documents sometimes offsite space needs renovated meet facilities guidelines set state board education instance state prekindergarten classrooms must running water sink room toilet facilities must either separate section classroom nearby floor children age little line trip bathroom thomas notes classrooms must ground floor basement small children forced climb stairs board pays renovations school decides reason doesnt want program youre leaving money thomas notes schools board used demountable units prekindergartens board pretty much abandoned practice cost overcrowded schools offered prekindergarten school usually 245 pm 515 pm last year board stopped paying overtime assistant principals administrators stayed school supervise least one school pablo casals decided pick tab state chapter 1 kinds expenses fewer children serve notes thomas adds state requires certain number children served district receives certain amount money space problems prompted board turn subcontracting private day care centers solution also solves major problem faced working parents finding day care half day child preschool thats one problems head start state prekindergarten designed working families says carol dellahousaye program associate voices illinois children missing care component far subcontracting program judged success see story lack space raises another issue state prekindergartens ideally children would start age 3 continue two years thats program designed however 4yearolds get priority enrollment enter kindergarten year space premium many children waiting lists many schools accommodate 3yearolds result children getting one year prekindergarten 4 one criteria enrollment says vila cant take 3 199394 2000 12000 state prekindergartners chicagoor 16 percentwere second year according data illinois state board education contrast 29 percent state prekindergartners rockford secondlargest city illinois second year two years makes big big difference says pilsen community academy prekindergarten teacher norma martinez kindergartners two years prekindergarten reports adjust kindergarten 1st grade quickly general farther ahead development martinez adds relatively children class colleague spurlarks state chapter 1 preschool get second year research points benefits second year acclaimed high scopeperry preschool project ypsilanti mich ran two years reports project say key component success surprising children two years better says eriksons bowman time learn something learn better getting primary grades ready early childhood experts say getting schools ready youngsters important getting youngsters ready school gains children make preschool maintained primarygrade teaching must change many teachers going change instructional practices says thomas teachers longer say well taught didnt learn whole new approach department tried push schools direction promoting improvement program called opening windows learning board never staff funds provide teacher training wide scale schools need institute whats called developmentally appropriate teaching adds bowman general teaching ageappropriate means youre asking child something thats outside youd expect child age doyou wouldnt sit 3yearold book expect read bowman explains tailored individual children children grow different rates culturally appropriatethat take consideration backgrounds children whose native language english children dont come typical middleclass background people dont want changethey dont want says sarah barber state prekindergarten coordinator trainer cant use lesson plan used 20 years ago principal englewood recalls asked recommend consultants provide staff development kindergarten primary teachers knowing teachers school barber says recommended someone knew would come put foot theres explosion knowledge children learn last 15 years bowman says need bring teachers date know children learn
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<p>Editor’s Note: This is the eighth in a CalWatchDog.com&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Special Series</a>&#160;of in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Are the staggering forecasted public pension obligations facing state and local governments in California the result of overspending or under-taxation?</p>
<p>The technical answer to this politically contentious question is: neither.&#160; This is because most cities and counties have deferred both spending and any tax increases for pensions to the future. But starting around 2015 or sooner, bubble pension obligations are going to start showing up with dire consequences to city and county budgets.</p>
<p>Sure, cities such as&#160; <a href="http://www.dailyrepublic.com/opinion/statenationalcolumnists/california-cities-pay-price-for-overspending/" type="external">Vallejo and Stockton</a>&#160;went on wild spending sprees to build residential subdivisions during the real estate bubble of the mid-2000s.&#160; Such cities hired too many permanent employees. They gave out overly generous salaries and pension benefits.&#160; They expanded the division of labor and created superfluous job positions with lavish compensation packages.&#160; Overreliance on development fees, property taxes and sales taxes from new commercial developments fueled this spending binge. It appeared it would continue forever. But as the saying goes, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”</p>
<p>In 2008, Vallejo’s City Council&#160; <a href="http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-05-24/bay-area/17152955_1_bankruptcy-filing-vallejo-labor-contracts" type="external">voted to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy</a>.&#160; It became the largest California city to ever do so.&#160; Reportedly, the salaries and pension benefits&#160; <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/886hxint.asp" type="external">exceeded 80 percent</a>&#160;of the city’s operating budget.</p>
<p>The city of Stockton additionally built a new marina, baseball park and sports arena.&#160; None of these projects broke even. Stockton&#160; <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-27/stockton-california-to-file-for-bankruptcy-city-says.html" type="external">declared bankruptcy</a>&#160;last summer.</p>
<p>What mostly threatens future city budgets are the labor contracts that obligate each city to pay out future pension benefits.&#160; Typically such lucrative pensions have been based on unrealistic pension fund investment returns during the real estate bubble. Nonetheless, the California Constitution guarantees such “bubble” pension benefits.&#160; Without legal relief from these constitutional mandates, many cities may be facing:</p>
<p>* Court approval for any pension reductions;</p>
<p>* Employee layoffs;</p>
<p>* Having to roll existing, approved pensions benefits into risky taxable pension obligation bonds that end up costing double due to paying interest on the bonds plus taxes;</p>
<p>* Ultimately bankruptcy.</p>
<p>About 80 percent of a city’s general fund budget goes to salaries, based on data from the California League of Cities.&#160; Pensions only encumber roughly 5 percent to 10 percent of most city or county operating budgets today,&#160; <a href="http://evercorewealthmanagement.com/hcure.asp" type="external">according to Howard Cure</a>, director of Municipal Bond Credit for Evercore Financial Management in New York.&#160; Payment of long-term debt for capital projects — bonds — typically takes up another 5 percent to 10 percent of a city’s budget.&#160; Cities usually set aside 10 percent of gross revenues for reserves. Future pension liabilities don’t usually show up in a city’s operating budget until the benefits need to be paid out.</p>
<p>But if pensions grow to 20 percent or higher, then there is a fiscal — or budget — insolvency crisis at hand, as shown in the simplified table below.</p>
<p>How Pension Bubble Causes City Budget to go Upside Down</p>
<p>As you can plainly see in the above table, the cost of the pension bubble does not show up on a city budget until after the real estate bubble. This is because pension spending is in the future. So it gives an illusion that increased hiring levels and lavish pension benefits are sustainable. Current pension benefit obligations in California are “eventually unsustainable,” according to Cure.</p>
<p>The&#160; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/citing-pension-costs-costa-mesa-calif-plans-to-lay-off-nearly-half-its-employees/2011/03/18/AB1y68x_story.html" type="external">city of Costa Mesa</a>&#160;is an example of what happens in a post-bubble economy.&#160; In 2011 it had to lay off 50 percent of its employees because pensions were going to rise to 20 percent of the city budget by 2014.</p>
<p>The city of San Jose has chosen a different route than layoffs. On Dec. 6, 2011, the&#160; <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&amp;id=8456636" type="external">city council</a>&#160;voted to put a pension-reduction measure on the June 2012 ballot. Part of the proposed San Jose deal would reduce pension levels in return for job security.</p>
<p>The constitutionality of such measures is likely to end up in court and would eventually set a precedent for what is going to happen all over the state.&#160; If the courts uphold existing, guaranteed pension levels, then there is a much greater prospect that cities would end up seeking Chapter 9 bankruptcy as their only way out of unsustainable pension obligations.</p>
<p>The&#160; <a href="http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_19203294" type="external">city of Pasadena</a>&#160;has decided to refinance its existing police and firefighter pension plan and roll it into a $65 million pension obligation bond.&#160; Because it is an existing pension plan, the refinancing doesn’t require voter approval. The city must also make a balloon payment of $81 million in 2015 to keep the pension plan afloat.</p>
<p>Pasadena is a wealthy city. It had nearly two-thirds of a billion dollars — $666,000,000 — in budget reserves, investments and cash in early 2008.&#160; But now it is running a&#160; <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-pas-1214-rose-bowl-pasadena-budget-gap-grows,0,7167966.story" type="external">$20 million deficit</a>&#160;in its special revenue fund to renovate the Rose Bowl.&#160; This could end up tapping the city’s general fund. Pasadena now wants to at least temporarily bring a National Football League team into the Rose Bowl to bail itself out. As real estate developers often say when the economy turns down, “The only way out of a hole is to build out of it.”&#160; But should government be in the “spec” real estate business?</p>
<p>Some cities have had to turn to speculative recreational development to hopefully generate a tax base to bail themselves out of their self-created pension crisis.&#160; For example, Stockton is stuck with a bunch of revenue-generating recreational projects with a negative cash flow. The proverbial rule, “If you have dug yourself into a hole, stopping digging,” seems to apply here.</p>
<p>Much as sports betting plays the point spread between football teams, cities have gambled the interest rate spread to pay off unfunded pension liabilities.</p>
<p>According to the&#160; <a href="http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_2003/general_govt/gen_2_cc_retirement_anl03.htm" type="external">State Legislative Analyst</a>, since 1963 more than two-dozen cities and counties in California have issued taxable pension obligation bonds to pay off their unfunded liabilities in a lump sum. Payments to the bondholders substitute for payments into the pension fund.</p>
<p>The difference in interest charges between the pension system’s higher assumed rate of return — say, 8 percent — and the interest rate on the bonds — say, 5 percent — supposedly generates savings for the city.&#160; Thus, a city with a pension obligation bond does not have to generate around an 8 percent average rate of return.&#160; It only has to pay off a bond at, say, 2 to 5 percent interest, plus taxes.</p>
<p>This is also called arbitrage and typically is forbidden with the use of tax-exempt bonds.&#160; But pension obligation bonds are taxable, which adds to their cost to the taxpayers.</p>
<p>Courts have upheld that pension obligation bonds do not require voter approval.&#160; This is because they reflect the replacement of an existing debt with another debt.&#160; This is also called refinancing. The State Legislative Analyst’s Office states, “Incurring debt for operating costs is ill advised.”</p>
<p>California&#160;Pension Obligation Bonds –POB’s</p>
<p>(Source: Hewitt Associates, the Segal Company, Deloitte Consulting, 2009.)</p>
<p>One of the problems with municipalities playing the interest rate spread is that the expected rate of return on pension fund investments — historically around 8 percent — is risky. The 8 percent is a rate before monetary inflation. The goal is to generate a net rate of return after inflation of around 5 percent. But today the U.S. Federal Reserve Board has lowered effective interest rates on Treasury Bills to near zero. T-Bills set the benchmark for interest rates on municipal bonds and other investments.</p>
<p>In a near-zero interest rate environment, the 8 percent target interest rate of pension investments is unrealistic. During the real estate bubble, 8 percent was considered a typical average return rate partly because most investments were puffed up by debt and high leverage (little or no down payment). But leveraging is also a thing of the past.</p>
<p>A recent bond issue of a taxable state bond provides an example. On Dec. 16, 2011, the state issued a $4.4 million “California State Taxable Bond — Variable Purpose.” It yielded 5.68 percent and matured in 2036 — a 25-year bond.&#160; The 5.68 percent indicates a 2.32 percent spread from the 8 percent benchmark rate.</p>
<p>But inflation is running 3.5 percent.&#160; So is there really an advantageous spread between a taxable pension bond and an estimated 8 percent return from a pension investment fund?&#160; Has the interest rate spread gone poof? A report issued Dec. 9, 2009 by Hewitt Associates, the Segal Company, and Deloitte Consulting,&#160; <a href="http://ucrpfuture.universityofcalifornia.edu/files/2010/09/peb_ax_t-1_perspectives-pension-obligation-bonds.pdf" type="external">“Perspectives on Pension and Retiree Health Obligation Bonds,”</a>&#160;questioned the advantageousness of the spreads on this type of bond.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is why the quoted return rate on CalPERS and other pension fund investments is asserted to be 7.5 percent.&#160; If it were lower, it would indicate little or no advantage to issuing taxable pension obligation bonds. Thus, the only apparent advantage to a pension bond is that it is exempt from voter approval.</p>
<p>All of this may explain why&#160; <a href="http://publicceo.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=2537:moodys-begins-treating-pension-liabilities-like-bond-debt&amp;catid=151:local-governments-publicceo-exclusive&amp;Itemid=20" type="external">Moody’s</a>&#160;bond rating service is starting to treat pension liabilities like bonds. Previously, pension liabilities only influenced the yield rate on bonds.</p>
<p>So we may see many cities turn to high-risk pension obligation bonds to bail themselves out of their pension obligations. However, it should be understood that pension obligation bonds are for municipal “high rollers.”</p>
<p>So, how did California local governments over-commit future revenues?&#160; The suspects as to what is causing the emerging municipal budget crisis are:</p>
<p>*&#160;SB 400.&#160; <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070529/news_mz1ed29middl.html" type="external">Senate Bill 400</a>&#160;passed the Legislature in 1999 and was sponsored by then-Assemblywoman Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento. It retroactively increased the formula for government workers’ benefits based on the “superior return on system assets” of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System — CalPERS. SB 400 was initially passed in the California Legislature by an overwhelming majority of both parties.</p>
<p>*&#160;According to the&#160; <a href="http://reason.org/files/a2ec7caccc5d660e870c4a21526ef5f8.pdf" type="external">Reason Foundation</a>, the extra benefits provided by SB 400 will add $3.5 billion in pension costs in 2011, or about one-sixth of the $20 billion structural state budget deficit.</p>
<p>* Boom in Public Employment. Costs of government have soared in many ways. Since 1998, California’s government work force has grown by 31 percent, to 356,000 workers.&#160; The state population grew by about 12 percent over that same time.</p>
<p>*&#160;Boom in Public Employee Compensation. The cost to the state general fund for California’s government pension and retiree health and dental care costs have increased five-fold, from about $1 billion in the 1998-99 fiscal year to $5 billion in 2010. According to the&#160; <a href="http://reason.org/files/a2ec7caccc5d660e870c4a21526ef5f8.pdf" type="external">Reason Foundation</a>, state retirement spending is expected to triple, to $15 billion, within the next decade. That tripling will crowd out funding for other public services in the state budget, some of which flow to local government programs.&#160; The future $10 billion increase in pension costs would increase the structural state budget deficit to $30 billion.</p>
<p>One third of San Francisco city workers have salaries at $100,000 or higher. At the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California,&#160; <a href="" type="external">69 percent of the workers make</a>&#160;$100,000 per year or higher; 89 percent make $75,000 a year or higher.</p>
<p>The&#160; <a href="http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-bell-hefty-salaries,0,3545022.story" type="external">salary abuses at the city of Bell</a>&#160;are now legendary, where the city manager earned a compensation package in excess of $1 million.&#160; Public compensation has grown out of control in most municipalities.</p>
<p>* Puffed Pension Benefit Packages. In 1960, 5 percent of government employees received “public safety” pensions funded at 90 percent of their ending salary rather than the typical 60 percent funding. Today, 33 percent of employees receive the premium public-safety benefits originally intended only for firefighters and police officers.</p>
<p>California is the sole state that uses a pension benefit formula based on the last year of service, while most states use three-year or five-year averaging formulas that limit pension spiking. The one-year final salary rule was implemented in 1990 in California under Senate Bill 2465, by state Sen. Cecil Green, D-Norwalk.</p>
<p>* Move To Providing Luxury Public Services. While the real-estate bubble was inflating, cities went wild with spending on all kinds of inflationary luxury goods: open space acquisitions that inflated the market price of housing; luxury affordable housing projects in upscale locations near light-rail stations; malls that replaced mom-and-pop businesses with upscale chain stories and with markets with unionized employees; public subsidized urgent care centers to relieve congested hospital emergency rooms; &#160;subsidized restaurant business incubators, etc. You name it; cities funded it.</p>
<p>But these luxury public goods are often empty jobs programs. As William Voegeli writes in an article in City Journal, “ <a href="http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_california.html" type="external">The Big Spending, High Taxing, Lousy Services Paradigm</a>,” “Whatever theoretical claims are made for imposing high taxes to provide generous government benefits, the practical reality is that these public goods are, increasingly, neither public nor good: their beneficiaries are mostly the service providers themselves, and their quality is poor….</p>
<p>“It’s true that many people are less sensitive to taxes and more concerned about public goods, and these consumer-voters will congregate in places with extensive services. But it’s also true, all things being equal, that everyone would rather pay lower than higher taxes. The high-benefit, high-tax model can work, but only if the high taxes actually purchase high benefits – that is, public goods that far surpass the quality of those available to people who pay low taxes.”</p>
<p>State and local government got into the business of providing luxury public goods to replace the loss of industrial jobs due to de-industrialization. Without the real estate bubble, which brought in record tax revenues, the wild spending spree by local government would have been more apparent. Instead, at the time, it was seen as just another California gold rush that would go on forever.</p>
<p>Not to be outdone by the cities and counties, the state of California also rushed into providing luxury affordable housing; duplicative stem cell research bond financing; five water bonds totaling $18.7 billion that mostly went for open-space acquisitions; and landscaping and aesthetic water habitats around upscale residential communities.&#160;California got few new water resources added to its water supply for that $18.7 billion. The voters bought into the social marketing of these programs by voting for bonds at the ballot box to fund them, without concern about the ability to pay them off in the coming economic downturn.</p>
<p>California cities, technically, didn’t tax and spend themselves into the pension ditch they find themselves in.&#160; They kicked the can down the road to the future. The future is now.</p>
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editors note eighth calwatchdogcom160 special series160of indepth articles municipal bankruptcy staggering forecasted public pension obligations facing state local governments california result overspending undertaxation technical answer politically contentious question neither160 cities counties deferred spending tax increases pensions future starting around 2015 sooner bubble pension obligations going start showing dire consequences city county budgets sure cities as160 vallejo stockton160went wild spending sprees build residential subdivisions real estate bubble mid2000s160 cities hired many permanent employees gave overly generous salaries pension benefits160 expanded division labor created superfluous job positions lavish compensation packages160 overreliance development fees property taxes sales taxes new commercial developments fueled spending binge appeared would continue forever saying goes looks good true probably 2008 vallejos city council160 voted file chapter 9 bankruptcy160 became largest california city ever so160 reportedly salaries pension benefits160 exceeded 80 percent160of citys operating budget city stockton additionally built new marina baseball park sports arena160 none projects broke even stockton160 declared bankruptcy160last summer mostly threatens future city budgets labor contracts obligate city pay future pension benefits160 typically lucrative pensions based unrealistic pension fund investment returns real estate bubble nonetheless california constitution guarantees bubble pension benefits160 without legal relief constitutional mandates many cities may facing court approval pension reductions employee layoffs roll existing approved pensions benefits risky taxable pension obligation bonds end costing double due paying interest bonds plus taxes ultimately bankruptcy 80 percent citys general fund budget goes salaries based data california league cities160 pensions encumber roughly 5 percent 10 percent city county operating budgets today160 according howard cure director municipal bond credit evercore financial management new york160 payment longterm debt capital projects bonds typically takes another 5 percent 10 percent citys budget160 cities usually set aside 10 percent gross revenues reserves future pension liabilities dont usually show citys operating budget benefits need paid pensions grow 20 percent higher fiscal budget insolvency crisis hand shown simplified table pension bubble causes city budget go upside plainly see table cost pension bubble show city budget real estate bubble pension spending future gives illusion increased hiring levels lavish pension benefits sustainable current pension benefit obligations california eventually unsustainable according cure the160 city costa mesa160is example happens postbubble economy160 2011 lay 50 percent employees pensions going rise 20 percent city budget 2014 city san jose chosen different route layoffs dec 6 2011 the160 city council160voted put pensionreduction measure june 2012 ballot part proposed san jose deal would reduce pension levels return job security constitutionality measures likely end court would eventually set precedent going happen state160 courts uphold existing guaranteed pension levels much greater prospect cities would end seeking chapter 9 bankruptcy way unsustainable pension obligations the160 city pasadena160has decided refinance existing police firefighter pension plan roll 65 million pension obligation bond160 existing pension plan refinancing doesnt require voter approval city must also make balloon payment 81 million 2015 keep pension plan afloat pasadena wealthy city nearly twothirds billion dollars 666000000 budget reserves investments cash early 2008160 running a160 20 million deficit160in special revenue fund renovate rose bowl160 could end tapping citys general fund pasadena wants least temporarily bring national football league team rose bowl bail real estate developers often say economy turns way hole build it160 government spec real estate business cities turn speculative recreational development hopefully generate tax base bail selfcreated pension crisis160 example stockton stuck bunch revenuegenerating recreational projects negative cash flow proverbial rule dug hole stopping digging seems apply much sports betting plays point spread football teams cities gambled interest rate spread pay unfunded pension liabilities according the160 state legislative analyst since 1963 twodozen cities counties california issued taxable pension obligation bonds pay unfunded liabilities lump sum payments bondholders substitute payments pension fund difference interest charges pension systems higher assumed rate return say 8 percent interest rate bonds say 5 percent supposedly generates savings city160 thus city pension obligation bond generate around 8 percent average rate return160 pay bond say 2 5 percent interest plus taxes also called arbitrage typically forbidden use taxexempt bonds160 pension obligation bonds taxable adds cost taxpayers courts upheld pension obligation bonds require voter approval160 reflect replacement existing debt another debt160 also called refinancing state legislative analysts office states incurring debt operating costs ill advised california160pension obligation bonds pobs source hewitt associates segal company deloitte consulting 2009 one problems municipalities playing interest rate spread expected rate return pension fund investments historically around 8 percent risky 8 percent rate monetary inflation goal generate net rate return inflation around 5 percent today us federal reserve board lowered effective interest rates treasury bills near zero tbills set benchmark interest rates municipal bonds investments nearzero interest rate environment 8 percent target interest rate pension investments unrealistic real estate bubble 8 percent considered typical average return rate partly investments puffed debt high leverage little payment leveraging also thing past recent bond issue taxable state bond provides example dec 16 2011 state issued 44 million california state taxable bond variable purpose yielded 568 percent matured 2036 25year bond160 568 percent indicates 232 percent spread 8 percent benchmark rate inflation running 35 percent160 really advantageous spread taxable pension bond estimated 8 percent return pension investment fund160 interest rate spread gone poof report issued dec 9 2009 hewitt associates segal company deloitte consulting160 perspectives pension retiree health obligation bonds160questioned advantageousness spreads type bond perhaps quoted return rate calpers pension fund investments asserted 75 percent160 lower would indicate little advantage issuing taxable pension obligation bonds thus apparent advantage pension bond exempt voter approval may explain why160 moodys160bond rating service starting treat pension liabilities like bonds previously pension liabilities influenced yield rate bonds may see many cities turn highrisk pension obligation bonds bail pension obligations however understood pension obligation bonds municipal high rollers california local governments overcommit future revenues160 suspects causing emerging municipal budget crisis 160sb 400160 senate bill 400160passed legislature 1999 sponsored thenassemblywoman deborah ortiz dsacramento retroactively increased formula government workers benefits based superior return system assets california public employees retirement system calpers sb 400 initially passed california legislature overwhelming majority parties 160according the160 reason foundation extra benefits provided sb 400 add 35 billion pension costs 2011 onesixth 20 billion structural state budget deficit boom public employment costs government soared many ways since 1998 californias government work force grown 31 percent 356000 workers160 state population grew 12 percent time 160boom public employee compensation cost state general fund californias government pension retiree health dental care costs increased fivefold 1 billion 199899 fiscal year 5 billion 2010 according the160 reason foundation state retirement spending expected triple 15 billion within next decade tripling crowd funding public services state budget flow local government programs160 future 10 billion increase pension costs would increase structural state budget deficit 30 billion one third san francisco city workers salaries 100000 higher metropolitan water district southern california160 69 percent workers make160100000 per year higher 89 percent make 75000 year higher the160 salary abuses city bell160are legendary city manager earned compensation package excess 1 million160 public compensation grown control municipalities puffed pension benefit packages 1960 5 percent government employees received public safety pensions funded 90 percent ending salary rather typical 60 percent funding today 33 percent employees receive premium publicsafety benefits originally intended firefighters police officers california sole state uses pension benefit formula based last year service states use threeyear fiveyear averaging formulas limit pension spiking oneyear final salary rule implemented 1990 california senate bill 2465 state sen cecil green dnorwalk move providing luxury public services realestate bubble inflating cities went wild spending kinds inflationary luxury goods open space acquisitions inflated market price housing luxury affordable housing projects upscale locations near lightrail stations malls replaced momandpop businesses upscale chain stories markets unionized employees public subsidized urgent care centers relieve congested hospital emergency rooms 160subsidized restaurant business incubators etc name cities funded luxury public goods often empty jobs programs william voegeli writes article city journal big spending high taxing lousy services paradigm whatever theoretical claims made imposing high taxes provide generous government benefits practical reality public goods increasingly neither public good beneficiaries mostly service providers quality poor true many people less sensitive taxes concerned public goods consumervoters congregate places extensive services also true things equal everyone would rather pay lower higher taxes highbenefit hightax model work high taxes actually purchase high benefits public goods far surpass quality available people pay low taxes state local government got business providing luxury public goods replace loss industrial jobs due deindustrialization without real estate bubble brought record tax revenues wild spending spree local government would apparent instead time seen another california gold rush would go forever outdone cities counties state california also rushed providing luxury affordable housing duplicative stem cell research bond financing five water bonds totaling 187 billion mostly went openspace acquisitions landscaping aesthetic water habitats around upscale residential communities160california got new water resources added water supply 187 billion voters bought social marketing programs voting bonds ballot box fund without concern ability pay coming economic downturn california cities technically didnt tax spend pension ditch find in160 kicked road future future
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<p>BEIJING - A wage dispute at a huge sneaker factory that supplies brands including Adidas and Nike escalated Wednesday, highlighting the growing problems faced by China’s manufacturing powerhouse.</p>
<p>Workers at the plant – owned by the world's largest maker of sneakers, Yue Yuen – earn as little as $1.67 an hour making shoes that can sell for up to 100 times as much in the United States.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of employees have been off work for a second week, forcing Adidas to switch production to some of its other suppliers. At least one organizer was arrested by police and has not been seen for 24 hours, activists told NBC News Wednesday after a settlement offer was rejected.</p>
<p>At the core of the dispute is the issue of historic underpayments for social security and housing fund contributions, but the issue goes far beyond the shoe plant.</p>
<p>Workers throughout China are demanding not just higher wages but better social insurance as they face the prospect of supporting a <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101198566" type="external">rapidly aging population</a>.</p>
<p>“The fact that something as nuanced as social insurance has led to a strike shows just how much things are changing,” said Kevin Slaten of U.S.-based non-profit China Labor Watch. “This generation of workers is a lot more aware of its rights and this problem is not unique to this factory.”</p>
<p>China has enjoyed decades as the world’s manufacturing powerhouse, but increasing labor activism and a shortage of migrant workers is pushing up labor costs.</p>
<p>There has been a <a href="http://www.clb.org.hk/en/content/worker-protests-china-surge-after-lunar-new-year" type="external">surge in the number of strikes and worker protests</a> since the Lunar New Year holiday in early February, according to the Hong Kong-based China Labor Bulletin, which manages <a href="http://www.numble.com/PHP/mysql/clbmape.html" type="external">an online map of disputes</a>. It recorded 202 incidents in the first quarter of 2014, which it said was a 31 percent increase on the same period last year.</p>
<p>“This increase might partly be explained by greater social media coverage but there does seem to be a pronounced increase in activism on the ground,” it said on its website.</p>
<p>The stoppage at Yue Yuen’s Dongguan plant in Guangdong is already one of China’s biggest. Workers on Wednesday rejected the Hong Kong-based company’s offer, which included partial back payments for social security and housing, full contributions for those benefits starting May 1 and a $37 monthly cost-of-living allowance.</p>
<p>The workers are demanding a 30-percent pay raise, a stronger commitment to future contributions and the right to choose their own workplace representatives.</p>
<p>"We'll pay what is in the regulations, there should not be any concern on that," Yue Yuen spokesman George Liu told Reuters.</p>
<p>However, there were signs of an escalation Wednesday when at least one activist helping the workers was arrested by police. Zhang Zhiru, leader of the Shenzhen Spring Breeze Labor Disputes Service, hasn’t been seen since his arrest and his wife has been unable to contact him for 24 hours, another activist told NBC News.</p>
<p>“There is some uncertainty now on what will happen next” in the dispute, the activist said.</p>
<p>Adidas, the biggest customer of the factory, said Wednesday that plant owners were in talks with local officials in a bid to find a solution. The Germany-based sportswear brand said it had more than 1,000 global suppliers and had already taken steps to source shoes from other factories.</p>
<p>“We are closely monitoring the situation and we can confirm that our supplier … is in discussion with the local government and the trade union federation to seek ways to address the concerns expressed by the workers,” said spokeswoman Katja Schreiber in a statement.</p>
<p>“In order to minimize the impact on our operations, we are currently reallocating some of the future orders originally allocated to Yue Yuen Dongguan to other suppliers.”</p>
<p>In a statement, Nike said it was “aware of and concerned by the events at the Yue Yuen factory,” adding: “We're continuing to monitor the dialogue between factory management and the workers, as well as production at the factory.”</p>
<p>A typical worker the plant might earn around $400 a month depending on position and overtime, according to China Labor Watch, <a href="http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/upfile/2010_11_2/20101130143496.pdf" type="external">which published a report on the facility in 2010</a>. Hours vary in China’s factories, but a 60-hour week is not uncommon.</p>
<p>Hong Kong-based advocacy group <a href="http://globalmon.org.hk/content/open-letter-adidas-and-yue-yuen-dongguan-china" type="external">Globalization Monitor</a> said some Yue Yuen workers discovered the factory had been underpaying social insurance for years. One worker on a $480 monthly salary had been getting social insurance contributions based on a salary of $288, the group said.</p>
<p>Another Yue Yuen worker told the Associated Press that there was a reluctance to accept new offers because of the scale of the historic underpayments.</p>
<p>"Some have worked there for more than 10 years, and in this case, they need to pay 20,000 to 30,000 yuan ($3,200 to $4,800)” to make up the difference, said 31-year-old Cui Tiangang, who cuts and glues rubber soles. “It is too hard for the workers."</p>
<p>The company was not immediately available to comment on the claims, but it has already threatened to temporarily shift some production to its other factories in Vietnam or Indonesia.</p>
<p>“When labor costs are kept down, protests violently suppressed and workers cannot use different channels to defend their rights, it creates what companies see as a stable business environment.”</p>
<p>However, Slaten said labor disputes were unlikely to cause a manufacturing exodus.</p>
<p>“The infrastructure in China is very good,” he said, and blue collar workers there are better educated than their low-wage counterparts elsewhere in south Asia.</p>
<p>Chinese employers also have the country’s uncompromising security forces on their side, as some of the Dongguan strikers discovered when they were prevented by police from marching through the city on April 14, according to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ca-hoozEGE&amp;feature=youtu.be" type="external">a video uploaded to YouTube by China Labor Watch</a>.</p>
<p>“When labor costs are kept down, protests violently suppressed and workers cannot use different channels to defend their rights, it creates what companies see as a stable business environment,” said Slaten. “Local officials support these businesses because the growth of the local economy is more important to them than the rights if individual workers.”</p>
<p>Alastair Jamieson reported from London. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p>
| false | 3 |
beijing wage dispute huge sneaker factory supplies brands including adidas nike escalated wednesday highlighting growing problems faced chinas manufacturing powerhouse workers plant owned worlds largest maker sneakers yue yuen earn little 167 hour making shoes sell 100 times much united states tens thousands employees work second week forcing adidas switch production suppliers least one organizer arrested police seen 24 hours activists told nbc news wednesday settlement offer rejected core dispute issue historic underpayments social security housing fund contributions issue goes far beyond shoe plant workers throughout china demanding higher wages better social insurance face prospect supporting rapidly aging population fact something nuanced social insurance led strike shows much things changing said kevin slaten usbased nonprofit china labor watch generation workers lot aware rights problem unique factory china enjoyed decades worlds manufacturing powerhouse increasing labor activism shortage migrant workers pushing labor costs surge number strikes worker protests since lunar new year holiday early february according hong kongbased china labor bulletin manages online map disputes recorded 202 incidents first quarter 2014 said 31 percent increase period last year increase might partly explained greater social media coverage seem pronounced increase activism ground said website stoppage yue yuens dongguan plant guangdong already one chinas biggest workers wednesday rejected hong kongbased companys offer included partial back payments social security housing full contributions benefits starting may 1 37 monthly costofliving allowance workers demanding 30percent pay raise stronger commitment future contributions right choose workplace representatives well pay regulations concern yue yuen spokesman george liu told reuters however signs escalation wednesday least one activist helping workers arrested police zhang zhiru leader shenzhen spring breeze labor disputes service hasnt seen since arrest wife unable contact 24 hours another activist told nbc news uncertainty happen next dispute activist said adidas biggest customer factory said wednesday plant owners talks local officials bid find solution germanybased sportswear brand said 1000 global suppliers already taken steps source shoes factories closely monitoring situation confirm supplier discussion local government trade union federation seek ways address concerns expressed workers said spokeswoman katja schreiber statement order minimize impact operations currently reallocating future orders originally allocated yue yuen dongguan suppliers statement nike said aware concerned events yue yuen factory adding continuing monitor dialogue factory management workers well production factory typical worker plant might earn around 400 month depending position overtime according china labor watch published report facility 2010 hours vary chinas factories 60hour week uncommon hong kongbased advocacy group globalization monitor said yue yuen workers discovered factory underpaying social insurance years one worker 480 monthly salary getting social insurance contributions based salary 288 group said another yue yuen worker told associated press reluctance accept new offers scale historic underpayments worked 10 years case need pay 20000 30000 yuan 3200 4800 make difference said 31yearold cui tiangang cuts glues rubber soles hard workers company immediately available comment claims already threatened temporarily shift production factories vietnam indonesia labor costs kept protests violently suppressed workers use different channels defend rights creates companies see stable business environment however slaten said labor disputes unlikely cause manufacturing exodus infrastructure china good said blue collar workers better educated lowwage counterparts elsewhere south asia chinese employers also countrys uncompromising security forces side dongguan strikers discovered prevented police marching city april 14 according video uploaded youtube china labor watch labor costs kept protests violently suppressed workers use different channels defend rights creates companies see stable business environment said slaten local officials support businesses growth local economy important rights individual workers alastair jamieson reported london reuters associated press contributed report
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<p>Just our luck that 2017 gave us more of the same bad news that we’ve experienced in recent years.</p>
<p>Here’s just a small sampling of what we suffered through in 2017.</p>
<p>The new boss proved to be the same as the old boss. True to form, the new boss (Donald Trump) proved to be no better than his predecessors in the White House in terms of protecting the citizenry from the American police state.</p>
<p>911 calls turned deadly. “Don’t call the cops” became yet another don’t to the add the growing list of things that could get you or a loved one tasered, shot or killed by police, especially if you have any condition that might hinder your ability to understand, communicate or immediately comply with an order.</p>
<p>Traffic stops took a turn for the worse. Police officers were given free range to pull anyone over for a variety of reasons and subject them to forced cavity searches, forced colonoscopies, forced blood draws, forced breath-alcohol tests, forced DNA extractions, forced eye scans, forced inclusion in biometric databases.</p>
<p>The courts failed to uphold justice. A review of critical court rulings over the past decade or so, including some ominous ones by the U.S. Supreme Court, reveals a startling and steady trend towards pro-police state rulings by an institution concerned more with establishing order and protecting the ruling class and government agents than with upholding the rights enshrined in the Constitution.</p>
<p>A culture of compliance paved the way for sexual predators. Twenty years after America gave a collective shrug over accusations of sexual harassment by Bill Clinton, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/145964/broken-justice-system-led-sexual-harassment-crisis" type="external">sexual harassment suddenly made headlines</a> after a series of powerful men, including Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, were accused of predatory behavior in the workplace.</p>
<p>Patriotism trumped free speech. At a time when the American flag adorns everything from men’s boxers and women’s bikinis to beer koozies with little outcry from the American public, a <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912280282224525312" type="external">conveniently timed public dispute</a> over disrespect for the country’s patriotic symbols during football games further divided the nation.</p>
<p>Mass shootings claimed more lives. A <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/02/expert-las-vegas-shooter-may-have-used-trigger-crank/723236001/" type="external">mass shooting</a>&#160;in Las Vegas, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/us/las-vegas-attack-deadliest-us-mass-shooting-trnd/index.html" type="external">the deadliest to date</a>, left us with more questions than answers, none of them a flattering reflection of the nation’s values, political priorities, or the manner in which the military-industrial complex continues to dominate, dictate and shape almost every aspect of our lives.</p>
<p>Civil discourse was drowned out by intolerance, violence and militarized police. Americans allowed their fears—fear for their safety, fear of each other, fear of being labeled racist or hateful or prejudiced, etc.—to trump their freedom of speech and muzzle them far more effectively than any government edict could. In <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/01/flawed-law-enforcement-plan-failed-prevent-injury-death-violent-charlottesville-protests/912671001/?csp=breakingnews" type="external">Charlottesville</a>, Berkeley and St. Louis, the presence of violent protesters and militarized police turned First Amendment activities into riots.</p>
<p>The cost of endless wars drove the nation deeper into debt. Waging endless wars abroad (in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Syria) didn’t make America—or the rest of the world—any safer, any greater, or any richer. The interest alone on the money America has borrowed to wage its wars will cost an <a href="http://www.mintpressnews.com/report-post-911-war-debt-will-cost-us-8-trillion-interest-alone/234405/" type="external">estimated $8 trillion</a>.</p>
<p>Government agencies padded their pockets at the expense of taxpayers. In Virginia, drivers traveling along a toll road during rush hour were hit with a $40 toll to travel a 10-mile stretch of road, part of a new <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/us/i66-toll-virginia-washington.html" type="external">dynamic price gouging scheme</a> aimed at penalizing single-occupant vehicles traveling during peak times.</p>
<p>The plight of the nation’s homeless worsened. In communities across the country, legislators adopted a variety of methods ( <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spare-a-dime-cities-install-meters-to-combat-panhandling/" type="external">parking meters</a>, zoning regulations, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/11/29/atlanta-feeding-homeless-permit-police/" type="external">tickets</a>, and even <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/robots-are-being-used-to-deter-homeless-people-from-setting-up-camp-in-san-francisco/ar-BBGENeH" type="external">robots</a>) to discourage the homeless from squatting, loitering and panhandling.</p>
<p>Free speech was dealt one knock-out punch after another. First Amendment activities were pummeled, punched, kicked, choked, chained and generally gagged all across the country.</p>
<p>The Surveillance State rendered Americans vulnerable to threats from government spies, police, hackers and power failures. The Corporate State tapped into our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hp-laptops-have-a-keylogger-bug-that-can-record-everything-you-type-2017-12" type="external">computer keyboards</a>, cameras, cell phones and smart devices in order to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5200661/Is-phone-listening-word-say.html" type="external">better target us for advertising</a>. Social media giants such as <a href="https://qz.com/1160719/facebooks-transparency-report-the-company-is-giving-the-us-government-more-and-more-data/" type="external">Facebook granted secret requests by the government</a> and its agents for access to users’ accounts. And our private data—methodically collected and stored with or without our say-so—was <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/massive-leak-exposes-data-on-123m-us-households/" type="external">repeatedly compromised and breached</a>.</p>
<p>Technology drove teens to suicide. Studies show that the rapid explosion of cell phone use and increased screen time by young people have contributed to a climate in which teen mental health is failing and <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-teen-mental-health-deteriorating-over-five-years-theres-a-likely-culprit-86996" type="external">suicide rates among 13- to 18-year-olds are skyrocketing</a>.</p>
<p>Police became even more militarized and weaponized. Despite concerns about the government’s steady transformation of local police into a standing military army, local police agencies <a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/02/military_surplus_program_1033_nj.html" type="external">continued to acquire weaponry</a>, training, and equipment suited for the battlefield—with <a href="https://reason.com/blog/2017/12/18/trump-wants-more-police-militarization" type="external">full support from the Trump Administration</a>.</p>
<p>Drones became more lethal. DARPA, the government’s military research agency, unveiled a plan to deploy a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/darpa-drone-swarm-project-2017-12" type="external">swarm of armed, surveillance mini-drones</a>. The Pentagon also provided a glimpse into its future plans for <a href="http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2017/12/information-bombs-top-pentagons-counter-terror-office-wishlist/144427/" type="external">kamikaze drones and tethered targeted killer drones</a>.</p>
<p>Science got scary. Researchers created <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/24391/your-tax-dollars-work-funding-humanized-mice-using-hank-berrien" type="external">“humanized” mice</a> using organs taken from fetal tissue. Genetic engineers <a href="https://www.activistpost.com/2017/12/dna-gone-digital-possibly-go-wrong.html" type="external">created an entire synthetic DNA genome</a> watermarked with encoded links and hidden messages. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/health/digital-pill-fda.html" type="external">FDA approved the first digital pill</a> embedded with sensors to monitor patients’ intake. And DARPA funded research towards the creation of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/04/us-military-agency-invests-100m-in-genetic-extinction-technologies" type="external">genetic extinction technologies</a> that could be used to eradicate or alter whole populations.</p>
<p>The government waged a renewed war on cash. Championed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the government’s attempts to seize cash and other valuables <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-12-07/us-justice-department-taps-prosecutor-to-oversee-asset-forfeiture-program" type="external">under the guise of asset forfeiture</a> moved into high gear. Denver made <a href="http://kdvr.com/2017/11/13/denver-city-attorneys-office-made-2-4-million-in-car-seizures-in-2016/" type="external">$2.4 million in car seizures</a> in one year alone. One Alabama town <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2017/11/08/tiny-alabama-speed-trap-seizes-cash-impounds-cars-to-fund-police/#6117987d3317" type="external">turned its police force into a money-making operation</a> to increase revenue.</p>
<p>The U.S. military-industrial complex—aided by the Trump administration—armed the world while padding its own pockets. Not content to sell an arsenal of weapons and military equipment to the world, the U.S. government pushed to amend a global arms control agreement to <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/413700-drones-export-mtcr-amendment/" type="external">allow it to sell military drones globally</a>.</p>
<p>Let’s not take the mistakes and the carnage and the toxicity of this past year into a new year.</p>
<p>As I make clear in my book&#160; <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-America-War-American-People/dp/1590793099" type="external">Battlefield America: The War on the American People</a>, the police state is marching forward, more powerful than ever.</p>
<p>Thus, if there is to be any hope for freedom in 2018, it rests with “we the people” engaging in local, grassroots activism that transforms our communities and our government from the ground up.</p>
<p>Let’s resolve to work together to make this new year better than the last.</p>
| false | 3 |
luck 2017 gave us bad news weve experienced recent years heres small sampling suffered 2017 new boss proved old boss true form new boss donald trump proved better predecessors white house terms protecting citizenry american police state 911 calls turned deadly dont call cops became yet another dont add growing list things could get loved one tasered shot killed police especially condition might hinder ability understand communicate immediately comply order traffic stops took turn worse police officers given free range pull anyone variety reasons subject forced cavity searches forced colonoscopies forced blood draws forced breathalcohol tests forced dna extractions forced eye scans forced inclusion biometric databases courts failed uphold justice review critical court rulings past decade including ominous ones us supreme court reveals startling steady trend towards propolice state rulings institution concerned establishing order protecting ruling class government agents upholding rights enshrined constitution culture compliance paved way sexual predators twenty years america gave collective shrug accusations sexual harassment bill clinton sexual harassment suddenly made headlines series powerful men including hollywood mogul harvey weinstein accused predatory behavior workplace patriotism trumped free speech time american flag adorns everything mens boxers womens bikinis beer koozies little outcry american public conveniently timed public dispute disrespect countrys patriotic symbols football games divided nation mass shootings claimed lives mass shooting160in las vegas deadliest date left us questions answers none flattering reflection nations values political priorities manner militaryindustrial complex continues dominate dictate shape almost every aspect lives civil discourse drowned intolerance violence militarized police americans allowed fearsfear safety fear fear labeled racist hateful prejudiced etcto trump freedom speech muzzle far effectively government edict could charlottesville berkeley st louis presence violent protesters militarized police turned first amendment activities riots cost endless wars drove nation deeper debt waging endless wars abroad iraq afghanistan pakistan syria didnt make americaor rest worldany safer greater richer interest alone money america borrowed wage wars cost estimated 8 trillion government agencies padded pockets expense taxpayers virginia drivers traveling along toll road rush hour hit 40 toll travel 10mile stretch road part new dynamic price gouging scheme aimed penalizing singleoccupant vehicles traveling peak times plight nations homeless worsened communities across country legislators adopted variety methods parking meters zoning regulations tickets even robots discourage homeless squatting loitering panhandling free speech dealt one knockout punch another first amendment activities pummeled punched kicked choked chained generally gagged across country surveillance state rendered americans vulnerable threats government spies police hackers power failures corporate state tapped computer keyboards cameras cell phones smart devices order better target us advertising social media giants facebook granted secret requests government agents access users accounts private datamethodically collected stored without saysowas repeatedly compromised breached technology drove teens suicide studies show rapid explosion cell phone use increased screen time young people contributed climate teen mental health failing suicide rates among 13 18yearolds skyrocketing police became even militarized weaponized despite concerns governments steady transformation local police standing military army local police agencies continued acquire weaponry training equipment suited battlefieldwith full support trump administration drones became lethal darpa governments military research agency unveiled plan deploy swarm armed surveillance minidrones pentagon also provided glimpse future plans kamikaze drones tethered targeted killer drones science got scary researchers created humanized mice using organs taken fetal tissue genetic engineers created entire synthetic dna genome watermarked encoded links hidden messages fda approved first digital pill embedded sensors monitor patients intake darpa funded research towards creation genetic extinction technologies could used eradicate alter whole populations government waged renewed war cash championed attorney general jeff sessions governments attempts seize cash valuables guise asset forfeiture moved high gear denver made 24 million car seizures one year alone one alabama town turned police force moneymaking operation increase revenue us militaryindustrial complexaided trump administrationarmed world padding pockets content sell arsenal weapons military equipment world us government pushed amend global arms control agreement allow sell military drones globally lets take mistakes carnage toxicity past year new year make clear book160 battlefield america war american people police state marching forward powerful ever thus hope freedom 2018 rests people engaging local grassroots activism transforms communities government ground lets resolve work together make new year better last
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<p>WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Penn. — Over the weekend, dozens of Republican leaders publicly renounced Trump over a 2005 tape of him boasting about groping women, with many openly demanding the party replace him.</p>
<p>Angie Stroud, 52, knows every single one of their names.</p>
<p>Waiting for a Trump rally here, Stroud said she keeps an updated list on Facebook for her fellow Trump supporters to reference.</p>
<p>"I won't vote for any of them," she said. "The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican who acts like a Democrat."</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Reince Priebus Says RNC Will Stand by Trump</a></p>
<p>The recent defections from Trump amount to an unprecedented rejection of a nominee by their own party, but it was only the first volley in the GOP’s civil war. Trump and his supporters are now returning fire themselves by lashing out at defectors, promising political retribution, and finding new targets for his base’s rage as election day nears.</p>
<p>With polls showing a Trump collapse, the infighting could push Republican losses to new heights if the party can't get it under control before election day.</p>
<p>Trump horrified Republican critics at Sunday’s debate by holding a press conference with women accusing Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct and pledging to jail Hillary Clinton. But it was music to his fans’ ears in Pennsylvania, who universally praised his debate performance. Some wore Bill Clinton "rapist" t-shirts sold by conspiracy theorist and Trump supporter Alex Jones.</p>
<p />
<p>His supporters on Monday sounded bewildered by the reaction to the video, blaming it alternately on nervous Republicans and a hostile press.</p>
<p>"Nobody has the guts to take the gloves off on the Clintons until Trump, and they jump ship over a tape?" Jim Dodson, who wore a "Hillary for Prison" button, said of the GOP dissenters.</p>
<p>Some said they were offended by the footage of Trump, some said they weren’t, but all of them dismissed it as a minor distraction compared to the issues that they say drew them to his campaign: closing borders, blocking refugees, protecting gun rights, and retaking control of the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Above all, they were terrified of a Clinton presidency. Thousands of Trump supporters led fist-pumping chants of "Lock her up!" more than four hours before his scheduled rally began.</p>
<p>"Lock her up is right," Trump said when he took the stage.</p>
<p>Crowds screamed and chanted obscenities at the press pen with Trump’s encouragement. He paused repeatedly to allow thousands of fans to turn around and directly confront reporters for long periods.</p>
<p>"That’s why we have to win this election," he said. "We have to take it away from these dishonest characters."</p>
<p>Trump alternated between assuring the room all was well in the campaign while directing their unbridled fury at anyone undermining his campaign, from the media to surveys.</p>
<p>"Even the polls are crooked," he said. "Look, we're in a rigged system folks."</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Full Coverage of the 2016 Presidential Race</a></p>
<p>Trump decided, for now, to keep Republicans off his list of targets for the crowd — from the stage at least.</p>
<p>Earlier Monday, House Speaker Paul Ryan told Republican House members to "do what’s best for you in your district" and said he would no longer defend the nominee. Trump shot back on Twitter that Ryan "should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee." And on Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted:</p>
<p>His voters were ready to join him in the fray.</p>
<p>"People will not be happy with Paul Ryan," Carol Stofflet of Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, said. "They'll remember it when he wants to run again for any public office."</p>
<p>Stofflet, like Trump and many rally-goers, dismissed the recent tape of Trump as unimportant. But she saw it had an impact: One of her friends who was undecided ruled out Trump.</p>
<p>"She doesn't want Hillary, but with the video she doesn't want to support him," she said. "I told her actions speak louder than words."</p>
<p>Others said they couldn’t believe surveys showing Trump losing Pennsylvania by wide margins, saying they had seen only Trump signs around their hometown.</p>
<p>"They say she's up 11 in Pennsylvania," one woman said. "How? Is every person in Philadelphia for her?"</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">After Trump Video, Clinton Lead Jumps to Double Digits</a></p>
<p>Susan Tolendini drove all the way from Staten Island, where Trump racked up one of his highest margins in the primaries, to cheer him on through a tough week.</p>
<p>"The only Hillary sign I’ve ever seen is Hillary for Prison," Tolendini said.</p>
<p>By her count, she has 92 friends who "like" Trump on Facebook versus only 4 who "like" Clinton. Across the river from her is Manhattan, one of the most Democratic areas in the country and the only county Trump lost in his home state’s primary.</p>
<p>"I hear all this talk about how he's not a good role model for children, but I feel quite the opposite way," she said. "I use him as a role model for our daughters to tell them to stick to your convictions, no matter what anyone tells you, and to never give up."</p>
<p>Kay Sunday, 76, and Carol Klemish, 69, expressed their support for Trump via guerrilla theater. Klemish dressed as Hillary Clinton in a red pantsuit while Sunday dressed as Trump and dragged her friend around on an oversized chain attached to her neck. She periodically stopped to have mock coughing fits, much to the delight of the crowds waiting in line.</p>
<p>"We can't look at the past," Klemish said. "We have to look at the future and our future is with Trump."</p>
<p>As for the Republicans abandoning the nominee she had a one-word response.</p>
<p>"Traitors."</p>
| false | 3 |
wilkesbarre township penn weekend dozens republican leaders publicly renounced trump 2005 tape boasting groping women many openly demanding party replace angie stroud 52 knows every single one names waiting trump rally stroud said keeps updated list facebook fellow trump supporters reference wont vote said thing worse democrat republican acts like democrat related reince priebus says rnc stand trump recent defections trump amount unprecedented rejection nominee party first volley gops civil war trump supporters returning fire lashing defectors promising political retribution finding new targets bases rage election day nears polls showing trump collapse infighting could push republican losses new heights party cant get control election day trump horrified republican critics sundays debate holding press conference women accusing bill clinton sexual misconduct pledging jail hillary clinton music fans ears pennsylvania universally praised debate performance wore bill clinton rapist tshirts sold conspiracy theorist trump supporter alex jones supporters monday sounded bewildered reaction video blaming alternately nervous republicans hostile press nobody guts take gloves clintons trump jump ship tape jim dodson wore hillary prison button said gop dissenters said offended footage trump said werent dismissed minor distraction compared issues say drew campaign closing borders blocking refugees protecting gun rights retaking control supreme court terrified clinton presidency thousands trump supporters led fistpumping chants lock four hours scheduled rally began lock right trump said took stage crowds screamed chanted obscenities press pen trumps encouragement paused repeatedly allow thousands fans turn around directly confront reporters long periods thats win election said take away dishonest characters trump alternated assuring room well campaign directing unbridled fury anyone undermining campaign media surveys even polls crooked said look rigged system folks full coverage 2016 presidential race trump decided keep republicans list targets crowd stage least earlier monday house speaker paul ryan told republican house members whats best district said would longer defend nominee trump shot back twitter ryan spend time balancing budget jobs illegal immigration waste time fighting republican nominee tuesday morning trump tweeted voters ready join fray people happy paul ryan carol stofflet pen argyl pennsylvania said theyll remember wants run public office stofflet like trump many rallygoers dismissed recent tape trump unimportant saw impact one friends undecided ruled trump doesnt want hillary video doesnt want support said told actions speak louder words others said couldnt believe surveys showing trump losing pennsylvania wide margins saying seen trump signs around hometown say shes 11 pennsylvania one woman said every person philadelphia related trump video clinton lead jumps double digits susan tolendini drove way staten island trump racked one highest margins primaries cheer tough week hillary sign ive ever seen hillary prison tolendini said count 92 friends like trump facebook versus 4 like clinton across river manhattan one democratic areas country county trump lost home states primary hear talk hes good role model children feel quite opposite way said use role model daughters tell stick convictions matter anyone tells never give kay sunday 76 carol klemish 69 expressed support trump via guerrilla theater klemish dressed hillary clinton red pantsuit sunday dressed trump dragged friend around oversized chain attached neck periodically stopped mock coughing fits much delight crowds waiting line cant look past klemish said look future future trump republicans abandoning nominee oneword response traitors
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<p>Wade Earp, left, and Sonny Koerner compete with the International Gay Rodeo Association. (Photos courtesy the subjects)</p>
<p>Two legends on the&#160; <a href="http://igra.com" type="external">International Gay Rodeo Association</a> circuit will compete at the 30th anniversary World Gay Rodeo Finals this weekend in Las Vegas. The competition will feature the top 20 competitors on the Association circuit in 13 events. The finalists are determined by points accumulated over roughly 14 rodeos throughout the United States and Canada this past year.</p>
<p>On a beautiful morning on a ranch outside of Dallas, it’s feeding time and the animals are producing a loud symphony for their owner. Wade Earp apologizes for the background noise.</p>
<p>“The birds are going crazy this morning,” says Earp, “and it always makes the other animals frisky.”</p>
<p>Along with his partner, Earp raises ducks, geese, chickens, Bobwhite quail, donkeys and small breed goats. He says his whole life is farming and ranching. Oh and there’s that rodeo thing too.</p>
<p>Raised in Texas and Arkansas, Earp thrived in sports including baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball and basketball where he was all-state. His road to being a rodeo competitor is a journey that includes two older brothers who competed, competitive two-step dancing and a lifelong love of animals. Also, his father was a fireman and the fire department hosted the local rodeo every year.</p>
<p>Earp’s first gay rodeo event was barrel racing in 1999 and since then, he’s been a fixture on the gay rodeo circuit. In 2014, he was one of the featured cowboys in the film documentary, “Queens and Cowboys.” His accomplishments are too numerous to list here, but include the Association World Gay Rodeo Finals all-around cowboy and a Gay Games gold medal.</p>
<p>At this year’s finals, Earp has qualified for nine out of 13 events. He retired from bronc riding last year, but at 50 is still going strong in other events. He says he’s too hooked on the camaraderie of the gay rodeo circuit to consider retiring.</p>
<p>“I wish it wasn’t about gay or straight, but rodeo is very machismo. It’s tough to be an out gay rodeo competitor outside of this circuit,” Earp says. “There is such a family atmosphere here, especially with the rough stock competitors. It’s a place where people loan each other gear and help tie each other in in the chute.”</p>
<p>Earp is a direct descendant of the Earp brothers who gained fame from their Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He tracked his link back to Virgil Earp when Time Life presented a family tree.</p>
<p>“It’s a tough name to live up to,” says Earp, “but I haven’t had it half as bad as my brother, Wyatt.”</p>
<p>Sonny Koerner remembers giggling the first time he saw men two-stepping together at Remington’s back in the early ‘90s. He would go on to become one of the first D.C. Cowboys. Earlier in his life he had been determined to become the first member of his family to become a rodeo competitor to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was the main male influence in his life.</p>
<p>Koerner grew up in multiple locations as a part of a military family, but spent a lot of time at his grandparent’s cattle ranch in Victoria, Texas. He started competing in junior rodeos at age 12 and has been competing off and on ever since.</p>
<p>He has been in the D.C. area since being stationed here in the early ‘90s during his military stint and now runs a consulting firm along with his partner. D.C. is not known to be a hotbed for rodeo, but he was pulled back into the sport after attending his first gay rodeo.</p>
<p>“I was kind of in tears as I sat in the stands and watched my first gay rodeo,” Koerner says. “I had not married both sides of my life; rodeo and being gay. The opposing sides of me were coming together. It was a cathartic.”</p>
<p>Koerner competed in his first gay rodeo in 1993 and has competed in all four categories, though he has focused on rough stock events:&#160; bull riding, steer riding, steer wrestling and bareback bronc riding.</p>
<p>Now approaching 50, he has retired from bronc riding and has qualified for this year’s finals in the three other rough stock events and three camp events. The rough stock events can be brutal and require an elevated level of athleticism from the competitors.</p>
<p>Early on, Koerner excelled at sports such as track &amp; field, basketball and football. He went to the University of Alabama on a track scholarship and is a 14-time medalist in track &amp; field at the Gay Games along with winning a medal in steer riding. He says he has maintained his fitness all along to help with his rodeo events.</p>
<p>“There is a threshold that you cross in this sport in terms of training,” Koerner says. “Eventually it becomes more about knowledge, fitness and core.”</p>
<p>The prospect of retiring is definitely in Koerner’s crosshairs, but like his performances on bulls, he’s hanging on. He still loves it and he wants to help draw new people to the circuit. The Association is looking for new blood in the rough stock events to replace an aging core group and Koerner’s charisma is palpable.</p>
<p>“I have won plenty of buckles and I have plenty of awards. I still enjoy it, but I am past that point where I crave it,” Koerner says. “It’s the people that make up this rodeo family that are keeping me here. It’s more than the sport.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">DC Cowboys</a> <a href="" type="internal">international gay rodeo association</a> <a href="" type="internal">sonny koerner</a> <a href="" type="internal">wade earp</a> <a href="" type="internal">world gay rodeo finals</a></p>
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wade earp left sonny koerner compete international gay rodeo association photos courtesy subjects two legends the160 international gay rodeo association circuit compete 30th anniversary world gay rodeo finals weekend las vegas competition feature top 20 competitors association circuit 13 events finalists determined points accumulated roughly 14 rodeos throughout united states canada past year beautiful morning ranch outside dallas feeding time animals producing loud symphony owner wade earp apologizes background noise birds going crazy morning says earp always makes animals frisky along partner earp raises ducks geese chickens bobwhite quail donkeys small breed goats says whole life farming ranching oh theres rodeo thing raised texas arkansas earp thrived sports including baseball soccer softball volleyball basketball allstate road rodeo competitor journey includes two older brothers competed competitive twostep dancing lifelong love animals also father fireman fire department hosted local rodeo every year earps first gay rodeo event barrel racing 1999 since hes fixture gay rodeo circuit 2014 one featured cowboys film documentary queens cowboys accomplishments numerous list include association world gay rodeo finals allaround cowboy gay games gold medal years finals earp qualified nine 13 events retired bronc riding last year 50 still going strong events says hes hooked camaraderie gay rodeo circuit consider retiring wish wasnt gay straight rodeo machismo tough gay rodeo competitor outside circuit earp says family atmosphere especially rough stock competitors place people loan gear help tie chute earp direct descendant earp brothers gained fame gunfight ok corral tracked link back virgil earp time life presented family tree tough name live says earp havent half bad brother wyatt sonny koerner remembers giggling first time saw men twostepping together remingtons back early 90s would go become one first dc cowboys earlier life determined become first member family become rodeo competitor follow footsteps grandfather main male influence life koerner grew multiple locations part military family spent lot time grandparents cattle ranch victoria texas started competing junior rodeos age 12 competing ever since dc area since stationed early 90s military stint runs consulting firm along partner dc known hotbed rodeo pulled back sport attending first gay rodeo kind tears sat stands watched first gay rodeo koerner says married sides life rodeo gay opposing sides coming together cathartic koerner competed first gay rodeo 1993 competed four categories though focused rough stock events160 bull riding steer riding steer wrestling bareback bronc riding approaching 50 retired bronc riding qualified years finals three rough stock events three camp events rough stock events brutal require elevated level athleticism competitors early koerner excelled sports track amp field basketball football went university alabama track scholarship 14time medalist track amp field gay games along winning medal steer riding says maintained fitness along help rodeo events threshold cross sport terms training koerner says eventually becomes knowledge fitness core prospect retiring definitely koerners crosshairs like performances bulls hes hanging still loves wants help draw new people circuit association looking new blood rough stock events replace aging core group koerners charisma palpable plenty buckles plenty awards still enjoy past point crave koerner says people make rodeo family keeping sport dc cowboys international gay rodeo association sonny koerner wade earp world gay rodeo finals
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<p>LISBON, Portugal — It’s a quiet day in the store and Pavlo Lehonkov is dozing at the counter among shelves stocked with dill pickles, honey-infused vodka, and sweet sparkling Crimean wine.</p>
<p>When he snaps awake however, Lehonkov is quickly alert to the problems of his distant homeland.</p>
<p>"Ukraine needs help fast," he says in Portuguese thick with Slavic undertones. "The euro zone, America they all talk a lot, but nobody does anything to help."</p>
<p>Lehonkov is one of 45,000 Ukrainians living in Portugal. In this country of 10 million, they are the second-largest immigrant community after the Brazilians.</p>
<p>The Ukrainians in Europe's westernmost country mostly arrived in the 1990s and early 2000s when the post-Soviet economy was tanking back home. Many also settled in Spain and Italy.</p>
<p>That exodus was the latest in a series of mass migrations that mean 20 million Ukrainians live outside the country, according to the Toronto-based Ukrainian World Congress. That compares to 46 million still in Ukraine.</p>
<p>Support from the diaspora could prove crucial if the country is to rebuild after the crisis.</p>
<p>Ukrainians abroad sent home an estimated $9 billion in 2013, according to World Bank estimates. That makes Ukraine the only European nation in the top 10 global recipients of emigrants' remittances.</p>
<p>That hard cash injection — amounting to about 5 percent of GDP — is vital. Ukraine’s central bank <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140228/ukraine-puts-crisis-limit-cash-withdrawals-currency-rallies" type="external">set limits</a> Friday on withdrawals as the country struggles to head off the threat of bankruptcy and a run on bank accounts.</p>
<p>During four months of demonstrations that led to the toppling of President Viktor Yanukovych in late February, the diaspora had been providing direct support for the protest movement, raising money and lobbying governments in their host countries.</p>
<p>"All Ukrainians in the diaspora and in Ukraine are in a struggle for freedom, for the values that those of us living in a democratic country hold dear," Irene Mycak, a spokeswoman for the Toronto-based Ukrainian World Congress, said in a telephone interview.</p>
<p>In Portugal, Ukrainians raised over $55,000 for the protesters, says community leader Pavlo Sadokha. He spoke to GlobalPost in early March on the sidelines of a demonstration where several dozen sang, chanted and waved Ukrainian and European Union flags outside the country's Lisbon embassy.</p>
<p>"We've been demonstrating here every Sunday for months, we're trying to get the diplomats to side with the people," Sadokha said. "This is our struggle too. We’re a very young community here and we've all got family in Ukraine, parents, children, friends. Ukraine is still our country."</p>
<p>Sakokha strongly denied claims by embassy staff that he and other protesters are linked to anti-Semitic ultranationalist groups. Ukrainian communities elsewhere have faced similar charges.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/140221/chicagos-ukrainian-village-cant-look-away-kyiv" type="external">Chicago’s Ukrainian Village can’t look away from Kyiv</a></p>
<p>“I’ve been working on this organization for years, and my parents worked on it before. There is nothing to do with any Nazis or fascists or any of that stuff. That’s spin from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and people in Russia to give themselves a reason to march into another country,” says Nadia Prokopiw, of the Canadian Ukrainian Congress.</p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of the 1.2 million Ukrainians in Canada are supportive of the protest movement, Prokopiw says. “I can’t say it’s 100 percent, you are always going to have somebody that's not on board ... but the active majority are absolutely against Yanukovych.”</p>
<p>Canada and the United States have the biggest Ukrainian communities outside the former Soviet Union. Other significant long-standing communities are found in Brazil and Argentina, while more recent migration has put an estimated 300,000 Ukrainians in Italy and 100,000 in Spain.</p>
<p>Canadians of Ukrainian heritage are a powerful political lobby.</p>
<p>Justin Trudeau, leader of the opposition Liberal Party, found that out to his cost after joking that Russia might seek to intervene militarily in Ukraine to make up for its poor showing in the Olympic ice hockey. Trudeau was forced to make multiple apologies to the community after coming under intense criticism for insensitivity.</p>
<p>His comments gained new resonance days later when Putin won Russian parliamentary approval for military intervention and Ukrainian government officials said 15,000 Russian troops had already poured into the southern Crimea region.</p>
<p>In North and South America, Ukrainian communities trace their roots back to the 19th century, when the country was divided between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. Those enclaves swelled with successive waves fleeing both world wars and Soviet rule.</p>
<p>The most recent outflow came during the economic chaos that followed independence in 1991.</p>
<p>Western Europe's poorest country, Portugal has historically been an exporter of labor and was caught by surprise by the arrival of so many migrants from Ukraine together with smaller numbers from Russia, Moldova and Romania. Since then, the easterners have generally integrated successfully.</p>
<p>Due to the economic hardships back home, well-educated Ukrainians initially accepted low-paying jobs below their qualifications: Lawyers worked construction, teachers waited tables in Portuguese restaurants.</p>
<p>While many are still overqualified for their positions, it’s common these days to find Ukrainians working as doctors, engineers or in other professions.</p>
<p>Lehonkov divides his time between the store selling products from Eastern Europe in a gritty inner-city neighborhood and the gymnasium where he’s become a hero for kids in his adopted city as coach of the Portuguese junior kick-boxing team that won three medals at last year's European championship.</p>
<p>While Brazilian restaurants and African nightclubs are a common sight in Lisbon, the Ukrainian presence is more discreet. There's little visible sign of the easterners beyond a few stores and the occasional appearance of silk-clad folk dance troops performing high-kicking Cossack routines at village fiestas.</p>
<p>In recent years, Portugal has been hard hit by the euro zone economic crisis. Since 2008, the unemployment rate has more than doubled to over 15 percent. Many Ukrainians have left — either to return home or to try their luck in other countries — notably Canada, Britain and Australia.</p>
<p>Most, however, have stayed on.</p>
<p>"Portugal for me is a wonderland. It's sunny. It's got good food, good beaches. It’s got very calm people," says businessman Andriy Zayachkowski who arrived in Lisbon 14 years ago. "I've made a good life here, thank God, but I'm still Ukrainian. One day, if the situation there is better, I'll go back to my country."</p>
<p>A positive scenario for Ukraine would see successful emigrants using their economic and civil society experience to help the country rebuild. There is however a darker prospect, one that would force yet another generation to flee conflict or economic collapse.</p>
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lisbon portugal quiet day store pavlo lehonkov dozing counter among shelves stocked dill pickles honeyinfused vodka sweet sparkling crimean wine snaps awake however lehonkov quickly alert problems distant homeland ukraine needs help fast says portuguese thick slavic undertones euro zone america talk lot nobody anything help lehonkov one 45000 ukrainians living portugal country 10 million secondlargest immigrant community brazilians ukrainians europes westernmost country mostly arrived 1990s early 2000s postsoviet economy tanking back home many also settled spain italy exodus latest series mass migrations mean 20 million ukrainians live outside country according torontobased ukrainian world congress compares 46 million still ukraine support diaspora could prove crucial country rebuild crisis ukrainians abroad sent home estimated 9 billion 2013 according world bank estimates makes ukraine european nation top 10 global recipients emigrants remittances hard cash injection amounting 5 percent gdp vital ukraines central bank set limits friday withdrawals country struggles head threat bankruptcy run bank accounts four months demonstrations led toppling president viktor yanukovych late february diaspora providing direct support protest movement raising money lobbying governments host countries ukrainians diaspora ukraine struggle freedom values us living democratic country hold dear irene mycak spokeswoman torontobased ukrainian world congress said telephone interview portugal ukrainians raised 55000 protesters says community leader pavlo sadokha spoke globalpost early march sidelines demonstration several dozen sang chanted waved ukrainian european union flags outside countrys lisbon embassy weve demonstrating every sunday months trying get diplomats side people sadokha said struggle young community weve got family ukraine parents children friends ukraine still country sakokha strongly denied claims embassy staff protesters linked antisemitic ultranationalist groups ukrainian communities elsewhere faced similar charges globalpost chicagos ukrainian village cant look away kyiv ive working organization years parents worked nothing nazis fascists stuff thats spin russian president vladimir putin people russia give reason march another country says nadia prokopiw canadian ukrainian congress overwhelming majority 12 million ukrainians canada supportive protest movement prokopiw says cant say 100 percent always going somebody thats board active majority absolutely yanukovych canada united states biggest ukrainian communities outside former soviet union significant longstanding communities found brazil argentina recent migration put estimated 300000 ukrainians italy 100000 spain canadians ukrainian heritage powerful political lobby justin trudeau leader opposition liberal party found cost joking russia might seek intervene militarily ukraine make poor showing olympic ice hockey trudeau forced make multiple apologies community coming intense criticism insensitivity comments gained new resonance days later putin russian parliamentary approval military intervention ukrainian government officials said 15000 russian troops already poured southern crimea region north south america ukrainian communities trace roots back 19th century country divided russian austrohungarian empires enclaves swelled successive waves fleeing world wars soviet rule recent outflow came economic chaos followed independence 1991 western europes poorest country portugal historically exporter labor caught surprise arrival many migrants ukraine together smaller numbers russia moldova romania since easterners generally integrated successfully due economic hardships back home welleducated ukrainians initially accepted lowpaying jobs qualifications lawyers worked construction teachers waited tables portuguese restaurants many still overqualified positions common days find ukrainians working doctors engineers professions lehonkov divides time store selling products eastern europe gritty innercity neighborhood gymnasium hes become hero kids adopted city coach portuguese junior kickboxing team three medals last years european championship brazilian restaurants african nightclubs common sight lisbon ukrainian presence discreet theres little visible sign easterners beyond stores occasional appearance silkclad folk dance troops performing highkicking cossack routines village fiestas recent years portugal hard hit euro zone economic crisis since 2008 unemployment rate doubled 15 percent many ukrainians left either return home try luck countries notably canada britain australia however stayed portugal wonderland sunny got good food good beaches got calm people says businessman andriy zayachkowski arrived lisbon 14 years ago ive made good life thank god im still ukrainian one day situation better ill go back country positive scenario ukraine would see successful emigrants using economic civil society experience help country rebuild however darker prospect one would force yet another generation flee conflict economic collapse
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<p>Most would agree that conflict in human relationships is inevitable, even normal. Managed, conflict can cause us to identify needed changes and creates energy enough to make them. It can be a catalyst causing growth.</p>
<p>It can cause us to carefully examine our own attitudes and levels of understanding. Conflict can force us to accept changes we would rather ignore.</p>
<p>Like fire, conflict has positive effects when contained.</p>
<p>But we are all aware of the other side of conflict, too. We have witnessed its destructive power. We have seen people drop out of church altogether, churches have split and fast friends have parted ways.</p>
<p>For conflict to create positive consequences, the parties involved need to want peace. Confronting conflict with good will and good containment techniques is essential. But containment after it has become destructive is not enough. Damage to relationships and the reputation of the church will have already been done.</p>
<p>A fire department responding to an alarm may be able to contain the flames and prevent a building from being destroyed completely, but some destruction has already been done. This is why most fire departments devote time and resources to fire prevention. Building codes require sprinkler systems in public buildings and regular inspections are made to keep risk of fire to a minimum.</p>
<p>Deacons and other church leaders must know how to fight the fires of conflict, but even more importantly, they must be adept at peacemaking—a job to which every Christian is called. In saying that peacemakers would be called the children of God, Jesus was not addressing only a select few followers, but all. How does a deacon, other church leader or any church member make peace?</p>
<p>In this Leadership Link series on preventing conflict, we will first consider the example of Christ himself and identify those characteristics within his own character that made peace. Then, in subsequent installments we will look at the example of the early church.</p>
<p>What about Jesus made him a peacemaker?</p>
<p>Consider his humility</p>
<p>Paul, the apostle, wrote to leaders of the early church in Philippi saying, “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.” Then, to drive home the point, Paul continued, “He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!”</p>
<p>The art of setting one’s self aside is not as easy is it might appear. Each of us has ego needs. Everybody wants to be somebody. Humility is acting on the understanding that in the spiritual dimension the way we become somebody is to let others be somebody first. Jesus demonstrated both the understanding and the action.</p>
<p>To his followers, who, incidentally were arguing over who was going to be greater in the kingdom, Jesus told them plainly that in the realm of his kingdom, “Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage."</p>
<p>But Jesus was not speaking theoretically. In the upper room while celebrating the Passover the night before he was crucified, Jesus did what none of his followers was willing to do. He took the towel and basin and washed the feet of the others. Humility is recognizing that in Christ’s kingdom the way we become somebody is to make others feel like somebody.</p>
<p>Consider his sacrifice</p>
<p>Except for religious usage, describing meritorious military conduct and signifying an out that scores a run in baseball, the word sacrifice isn’t used much anymore. The emphasis of our age and culture is on accumulation, not sacrifice. We tend to place a premium on getting and winning. But if deacons are to follow the example of Jesus in making peace, they cannot escape the sacrificial attitude he adopted.</p>
<p>In an age that has seen a decade of war we have witnessed too many sacrifices on the battlefield. These men and women lost their lives in defense of a greater good—for a cause that was greater than their individual selves. Ironically, that’s the spirit necessary to make peace.</p>
<p>The spirit of sacrifice should not be confused with being a doormat, however. Just because Jesus had a sacrificial attitude did not mean that he did everything people wanted him to do. On the contrary, he did what the Father wanted him to do. At times the Father wants us to limit our personal freedoms, rights, and opinions for the sake of the body of Christ.</p>
<p>If a sacrificial attitude should not be confused with being a doormat, neither should it be confused with suppressing feelings. We should not bury or ignore our feelings. Buried feelings rise again—often at unfortunate times and in inappropriate ways. Jesus did not ignore his fear and grief when facing the cross. Rather, he identified them, admitted them to the Father, dealt with them and then sacrificed himself for the salvation of the world in spite of them.</p>
<p>Likewise, deacons and other church leaders may be called upon to sacrifice their personal wants for the sake of the body. I once knew of a church having a history that stretched back more than a century. In many ways this church represented the best of rural religious life. But the church was no longer rural. In fact, a major city had expanded its limits beyond the church. What was once farmland now sprouted condos, subdivisions and shopping centers.</p>
<p>Two factions developed in this old church. One group, made up mostly of newer people, pressed for change. They wanted to abandon heritage and adapt to new surroundings. The other group, led by an elderly deacon, wanted things—and leaders—to stay just as they had been for years. Unfortunately for the church, both groups failed to recognize that change does not have to destroy heritage, and neither was willing to sacrifice some of what they wanted for the greater good of the church to achieve a win/win solution.</p>
<p>In the next installment we will consider more of Jesus’ example in making peace.</p>
<p>Jim White is executive editor at the Religious Herald. ( <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>) Much of this material was gleaned from the author’s previous writing in a book called Equipping Deacons to Confront Conflict (Nashville, Baptist Sunday School Board, 1987).</p>
<p>Related stories: <a href="http://www.religiousherald.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=6198&amp;Itemid=9" type="external">• Blessed are the church leaders who make peace in their own congregations, part 4</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.religiousherald.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=6202&amp;Itemid=9" type="external">• Blessed are the church leaders who make peace in their own congregations, part 3</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.religiousherald.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=6105&amp;Itemid=9" type="external">• Blessed are the church leaders who make peace in their own congregations, part 2</a></p>
<p />
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would agree conflict human relationships inevitable even normal managed conflict cause us identify needed changes creates energy enough make catalyst causing growth cause us carefully examine attitudes levels understanding conflict force us accept changes would rather ignore like fire conflict positive effects contained aware side conflict witnessed destructive power seen people drop church altogether churches split fast friends parted ways conflict create positive consequences parties involved need want peace confronting conflict good good containment techniques essential containment become destructive enough damage relationships reputation church already done fire department responding alarm may able contain flames prevent building destroyed completely destruction already done fire departments devote time resources fire prevention building codes require sprinkler systems public buildings regular inspections made keep risk fire minimum deacons church leaders must know fight fires conflict even importantly must adept peacemakinga job every christian called saying peacemakers would called children god jesus addressing select followers deacon church leader church member make peace leadership link series preventing conflict first consider example christ identify characteristics within character made peace subsequent installments look example early church jesus made peacemaker consider humility paul apostle wrote leaders early church philippi saying think way christ jesus thought drive home point paul continued equal status god didnt think much cling advantages status matter time came set aside privileges deity took status slave became human art setting ones self aside easy might appear us ego needs everybody wants somebody humility acting understanding spiritual dimension way become somebody let others somebody first jesus demonstrated understanding action followers incidentally arguing going greater kingdom jesus told plainly realm kingdom whoever wants great must become servant whoever wants first among must slave son man done came serve servedand give away life exchange many held hostage jesus speaking theoretically upper room celebrating passover night crucified jesus none followers willing took towel basin washed feet others humility recognizing christs kingdom way become somebody make others feel like somebody consider sacrifice except religious usage describing meritorious military conduct signifying scores run baseball word sacrifice isnt used much anymore emphasis age culture accumulation sacrifice tend place premium getting winning deacons follow example jesus making peace escape sacrificial attitude adopted age seen decade war witnessed many sacrifices battlefield men women lost lives defense greater goodfor cause greater individual selves ironically thats spirit necessary make peace spirit sacrifice confused doormat however jesus sacrificial attitude mean everything people wanted contrary father wanted times father wants us limit personal freedoms rights opinions sake body christ sacrificial attitude confused doormat neither confused suppressing feelings bury ignore feelings buried feelings rise againoften unfortunate times inappropriate ways jesus ignore fear grief facing cross rather identified admitted father dealt sacrificed salvation world spite likewise deacons church leaders may called upon sacrifice personal wants sake body knew church history stretched back century many ways church represented best rural religious life church longer rural fact major city expanded limits beyond church farmland sprouted condos subdivisions shopping centers two factions developed old church one group made mostly newer people pressed change wanted abandon heritage adapt new surroundings group led elderly deacon wanted thingsand leadersto stay years unfortunately church groups failed recognize change destroy heritage neither willing sacrifice wanted greater good church achieve winwin solution next installment consider jesus example making peace jim white executive editor religious herald jwhitereligiousheraldorg much material gleaned authors previous writing book called equipping deacons confront conflict nashville baptist sunday school board 1987 related stories blessed church leaders make peace congregations part 4 blessed church leaders make peace congregations part 3 blessed church leaders make peace congregations part 2
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<p>On a Sunday in early March, a day after Vladimir Putin won parliamentary backing for an invasion of Ukraine, Angela Merkel called him to demand an explanation. The German leader was shaken by what she heard, sources within her party say.</p>
<p>For weeks, in a series of phone calls, the Russian president, speaking mainly in the German he perfected as a KGB agent in East Germany, had assured the chancellor he would respect the territorial integrity of his western neighbor and had no plans to intervene militarily.</p>
<p>Merkel, in turn, had been preaching caution on punishing Russia in her talks with the United States, hopeful that Putin would eventually back down and accept proposals to ease the crisis.</p>
<p>But on the March 2 call, according to German sources, Putin dropped all pretence and coldly admitted to sending Russian troops into Crimea.</p>
<p>The conversation seems to have sapped what little faith Merkel still had in Putin, according to officials in Berlin and Washington.</p>
<p>The Germans came away convinced the Russian leader had deceived them in order to win time to tighten his grip on Crimea. Putin could no longer be trusted.</p>
<p>Merkel later called U.S. President Barack Obama to vent. The German government declined comment.</p>
<p>"It's not as if we had any illusions about Putin, but before this we at least had the impression that there was some degree of respect there," said one German source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>According to several officials, the call between the leaders was a turning point in Berlin's approach to the crisis.</p>
<p>Despite Germany's heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas, extensive business interests in the country and long-held view of Moscow as a "strategic partner", Merkel swung quickly behind the punitive measures she had been warning against for weeks.</p>
<p>Four days later, at a hastily called EU summit in Brussels, where leaders set out a three-step plan to ratchet up sanctions against Russia, she was among the most vocal proponents of a tough line, according to participants.</p>
<p>On Thursday, ahead of another summit, she warned in a speech in parliament that Europe was prepared to move to politically sensitive "phase three" measures, including economic sanctions, if Russia refused to back down.</p>
<p>The coming weeks will be crucial in determining whether Europe has the stomach to deliver on that threat.</p>
<p>They will also show whether Merkel, who emerged as Europe's dominant leader during the euro zone debt crisis, can keep 28 member states with different economic and political interests united and firm in their approach to Russia.</p>
<p>"If she puts her foot down, few will defy her," said an EU official.</p>
<p>PROVOCATIONS</p>
<p>During the euro crisis, Merkel was often criticized for her cautious approach -- for resisting the "big bazooka" solution that some of Germany's partners and many leading economists felt was needed to prevent the single currency from breaking apart.</p>
<p>In private meetings over the past weeks, she has sketched out a similar plan for sanctioning Russia, saying Putin's "Nadelstiche" or pin-point provocations on Ukraine's eastern border should be mirrored by slowly escalating measures from Europe.</p>
<p>But it would be wrong to confuse this "step by step" approach with a lack of determination.</p>
<p>Since her fateful call with Putin, she has sent abundant signals that she will not shy away from confrontation with Russia, despite pressure from German industry and opinion polls which show a solid majority of Germans are against full-scale economic sanctions.</p>
<p>Last week, at a closed door meeting of lawmakers from her conservative party, she showed rare emotion, according to participants, in criticizing Putin and signaling to colleagues that Germany must be prepared to accept an economic backlash from tougher sanctions.</p>
<p>Top aides, when asked about the consequences for German companies of an economic war with Russia, reply that political principles are more important than profits.</p>
<p>"This may be Merkel's moment, the time when she shows unusual boldness" said Ulrich Speck, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, drawing a parallel with her cautious mentor Helmut Kohl's sudden embrace of German reunification when the Berlin Wall fell.</p>
<p>"Confronting Russia would be a bold step and until now she has done everything to avoid it," he said. "But she could take that step."</p>
<p>During last year's German election campaign she was accused by her Social Democrat (SPD) opponent Peer Steinbrueck of showing a lack of passion for Europe in the euro crisis because she was brought up in communist East Germany.</p>
<p>The time around the opposite may be true. Having grown up behind the Iron Curtain in a Soviet garrison town, it is hard to imagine a crisis that would arouse more resolve in the pragmatic physicist than this one.</p>
<p>BARE ESSENTIALS</p>
<p>Regardless of how Europe as a whole reacts, Germany's experience with Putin in the Ukraine crisis has already triggered a fundamental rethink of its bilateral relationship with Russia.</p>
<p>Berlin's policy of "Wandel durch Annaeherung" -- changing Russia by getting closer to it -- was already cracking under Merkel, who has taken a tougher line with Putin than her SPD predecessor Gerhard Schroeder.</p>
<p>Now it is effectively dead, even for many members of the SPD whose attitudes towards Russia were shaped by chancellor Willy Brandt's "Ostpolitik" engagement policy in the 1970s and the crumbling Soviet Union's support for German reunification.</p>
<p>SPD Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a protege of Schroeder who took office three months ago promising a closer partnership with Russia, has turned into one of the most vocal critics of Moscow in recent weeks.</p>
<p>The tougher stance has moved Berlin closer to Washington at a time when transatlantic ties have been strained by the NSA spying scandal. The only leader Merkel seems to have spoken to as much as Putin since the crisis erupted is Obama, whom she will see next week in the Hague and in Washington in early May.</p>
<p>"The Russians have managed to give this relationship a new sense of direction and purpose," said John Kornblum, U.S. ambassador to Germany under President Bill Clinton.</p>
<p>For the foreseeable future, even leading SPD officials acknowledge, relations with Russia will be reduced to bare economic essentials.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, in one of the strongest signals of Berlin's resolve to date, the SPD-led economy ministry told defense contractor Rheinmetall to put a halt to a two-year old contract to deliver combat simulation gear to Russia.</p>
<p>Already, a debate has begun about how Germany, which receives over a third of its gas and oil from Russia, can reduce its dependence -- a task complicated by Merkel's abrupt phase-out of nuclear energy following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.</p>
<p>"What would really hurt Russia is Germany buying less gas and oil," Michael Fuchs, deputy leader for Merkel's conservatives in parliament, told Reuters. "Even if we reduce it by a few percentage points it will send an important signal."</p>
<p>EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, a party ally of Merkel, has said Europe could tap more gas from countries like Norway, Algeria, Nigeria, Libya and the United States, even if it is more expensive.</p>
<p>Behind this tough talk is a more confident Germany.</p>
<p>Back in 2009, when Russia halted gas flows through Ukraine for two weeks, affecting supplies to Europe, Germany was in the midst of its worst recession since World War Two.</p>
<p>Now, after weathering the euro crisis with barely a scratch, there is a widespread sense that Russia would suffer far more from an economic Cold War than Germany, or Europe.</p>
<p>Putin, Merkel seems to be calculating, has much more to lose.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by&#160; <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&amp;n=luke.baker&amp;" type="external">Luke Baker</a>, Tom Koerkemeier &amp; Martin Santa in Brussels,&#160; <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&amp;n=matt.spetalnick&amp;" type="external">Matt Spetalnick</a>&#160;in Washington,&#160; <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&amp;n=christian.lowe&amp;" type="external">Christian Lowe</a>&#160;in Warsaw, Jason Hovet in Prague,&#160; <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&amp;n=elizabethpineau&amp;" type="external">Elizabeth Pineau</a>&#160;in Paris, William James &amp; Kylie MacLellan in London; Editing by Anna Willard)</p>
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sunday early march day vladimir putin parliamentary backing invasion ukraine angela merkel called demand explanation german leader shaken heard sources within party say weeks series phone calls russian president speaking mainly german perfected kgb agent east germany assured chancellor would respect territorial integrity western neighbor plans intervene militarily merkel turn preaching caution punishing russia talks united states hopeful putin would eventually back accept proposals ease crisis march 2 call according german sources putin dropped pretence coldly admitted sending russian troops crimea conversation seems sapped little faith merkel still putin according officials berlin washington germans came away convinced russian leader deceived order win time tighten grip crimea putin could longer trusted merkel later called us president barack obama vent german government declined comment illusions putin least impression degree respect said one german source spoke reuters condition anonymity according several officials call leaders turning point berlins approach crisis despite germanys heavy dependence russian oil gas extensive business interests country longheld view moscow strategic partner merkel swung quickly behind punitive measures warning weeks four days later hastily called eu summit brussels leaders set threestep plan ratchet sanctions russia among vocal proponents tough line according participants thursday ahead another summit warned speech parliament europe prepared move politically sensitive phase three measures including economic sanctions russia refused back coming weeks crucial determining whether europe stomach deliver threat also show whether merkel emerged europes dominant leader euro zone debt crisis keep 28 member states different economic political interests united firm approach russia puts foot defy said eu official provocations euro crisis merkel often criticized cautious approach resisting big bazooka solution germanys partners many leading economists felt needed prevent single currency breaking apart private meetings past weeks sketched similar plan sanctioning russia saying putins nadelstiche pinpoint provocations ukraines eastern border mirrored slowly escalating measures europe would wrong confuse step step approach lack determination since fateful call putin sent abundant signals shy away confrontation russia despite pressure german industry opinion polls show solid majority germans fullscale economic sanctions last week closed door meeting lawmakers conservative party showed rare emotion according participants criticizing putin signaling colleagues germany must prepared accept economic backlash tougher sanctions top aides asked consequences german companies economic war russia reply political principles important profits may merkels moment time shows unusual boldness said ulrich speck senior fellow carnegie europe think tank drawing parallel cautious mentor helmut kohls sudden embrace german reunification berlin wall fell confronting russia would bold step done everything avoid said could take step last years german election campaign accused social democrat spd opponent peer steinbrueck showing lack passion europe euro crisis brought communist east germany time around opposite may true grown behind iron curtain soviet garrison town hard imagine crisis would arouse resolve pragmatic physicist one bare essentials regardless europe whole reacts germanys experience putin ukraine crisis already triggered fundamental rethink bilateral relationship russia berlins policy wandel durch annaeherung changing russia getting closer already cracking merkel taken tougher line putin spd predecessor gerhard schroeder effectively dead even many members spd whose attitudes towards russia shaped chancellor willy brandts ostpolitik engagement policy 1970s crumbling soviet unions support german reunification spd foreign minister frankwalter steinmeier protege schroeder took office three months ago promising closer partnership russia turned one vocal critics moscow recent weeks tougher stance moved berlin closer washington time transatlantic ties strained nsa spying scandal leader merkel seems spoken much putin since crisis erupted obama see next week hague washington early may russians managed give relationship new sense direction purpose said john kornblum us ambassador germany president bill clinton foreseeable future even leading spd officials acknowledge relations russia reduced bare economic essentials wednesday one strongest signals berlins resolve date spdled economy ministry told defense contractor rheinmetall put halt twoyear old contract deliver combat simulation gear russia already debate begun germany receives third gas oil russia reduce dependence task complicated merkels abrupt phaseout nuclear energy following fukushima disaster japan would really hurt russia germany buying less gas oil michael fuchs deputy leader merkels conservatives parliament told reuters even reduce percentage points send important signal eu energy commissioner guenther oettinger party ally merkel said europe could tap gas countries like norway algeria nigeria libya united states even expensive behind tough talk confident germany back 2009 russia halted gas flows ukraine two weeks affecting supplies europe germany midst worst recession since world war two weathering euro crisis barely scratch widespread sense russia would suffer far economic cold war germany europe putin merkel seems calculating much lose additional reporting by160 luke baker tom koerkemeier amp martin santa brussels160 matt spetalnick160in washington160 christian lowe160in warsaw jason hovet prague160 elizabeth pineau160in paris william james amp kylie maclellan london editing anna willard
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<p>PRAGUE — Like others throughout the continent, Czechs are voting in European parliamentary elections on Saturday. And there is growing concern over the rise of right-wing extremist parties.</p>
<p>More than 30 parties are competing for the 22 Czech seats in the European parliament, and the two leading parties from the left and the right are expected to gain the lion's share of those seats.</p>
<p>It's not that any of the extremist parties is expected to win enough votes to gain a seat in Brussels, but rather that a combination of broad public apathy towards European elections combined with a get-out-the-vote drive by the extremists could result in one or more parties qualifying for state subsidies.</p>
<p>Political parties receive state funds based on the number of votes they get above a certain threshold, explained Walek Czeslaw, the deputy minister for human rights.</p>
<p>“The real fear is that with the low (overall) turnout they'll pass 1 percent of the vote and qualify for state funding,” he said.</p>
<p>Jan Hartl, director for the STEM polling agency, said both the Workers Party and the National Party could cross that threshold, if they can turn out about 26,000 voters. Of course, if overall voter turnout is higher than expected — perhaps 35 percent — than the 1 percent threshold will be higher.</p>
<p>In a campaign dominated by an outbreak of egg throwing whenever the leader of the Social Democrats took the stage, a 60-second add that aired only once on Czech public television managed to provoke a public outcry, if only momentarily.</p>
<p>While public attention was quickly diverted by egg throwing, the ad further raised alarm bells at the ministry of human rights and among advocates. The ad calls the Roma "black racists" and "parasites." But the most incendiary line advocates “The Final Solution to the Gypsy Question,” a virtual paraphrase of Hitler's 'The final solution of the Jewish question."</p>
<p>The Nazi's "final solution" aimed to kill all of Europe's Jews through industrialized mass slaughter. And they nearly succeeded, as more than 6 million Jews — as well as large numbers of Roma and others — died in a network of concentration camps.</p>
<p>Czech TV pulled the ad but defended its decision to air it by saying it was bound by law to broadcast all election commercials.</p>
<p>There haven't been any right-wing extremist parties in parliament here since the mid-1990s. But the extremists have used tough economic times to make scapegoats of the Roma, who are marginalized by society in the best of times. Unemployment is up and manufacturing production is down.</p>
<p>The Human Rights Ministry is circulating "an agreement" for politicians to sign, in which they vow to work against racism. Czeslaw says former president Vaclav Havel has also signed the document. It's noteworthy, however, that current President Vaclav Klaus has refused to sign it.</p>
<p>Klaus also vetoed an EU-mandated anti-discrimination bill that was passed by parliament. But parliament has never undertaken to override the veto, leaving the Czechs as the only EU country without an anti-discrimination law on the books.</p>
<p>Klaus, who is generally described as a euroskeptic, actually called himself "an EU dissident" late last year. At about the same time he left the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) — the country's leading right-wing party — which he helped found in the aftermath of the fall of communism in November 1989.</p>
<p>After leaving the ODS, one of his close associates founded a new right-wing party that is openly hostile towards EU integration. More recently Klaus was widely quoted as saying that EU elections were useless and that he wouldn't participate.</p>
<p>Klaus now says he was misunderstood and that “he'll vote tomorrow,” said Petr Macinka, a spokesman for the president. (Polls are open here Friday and Saturday).</p>
<p>Czeslaw says the growing right-wing extremism in the country reached a turning point last autumn when the Workers Party created their own vigilante group and launched a series of "patrols" of a Roma community in Litvinov, about 160 miles northeast of Prague.</p>
<p>More than once, large-scale brawls nearly erupted and at one point 1,000 police were deployed to protect the Roma.&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>“The right-wing extremists are using the economic crisis” to attract followers, Czeslaw said. “Their meetings are next to socially excluded communities (like the Roma), where people are unhappy and willing to listen to these extremist views.”</p>
<p>But while the human rights ministry recognizes the problems and wants to act, it faces significant restrictions.</p>
<p>Because it operates more as an appendage of the prime minister's office than as a full ministry, its resources are very limited. In addition, much of the legal authority related to this issue rests with the interior ministry, which has been widely criticized for saying all of the right things but doing very little.</p>
<p>Gwendolyn Albert, a human rights advocate here, points to the ministry's "attempt" to have the Workers Party legally banned last year. “They filed a (legal) brief in December that was so laughably amateurish that the court had no choice but to reject it,” she said.</p>
<p>The Interior Ministry, which assured it would make someone available to comment for this article had not done so at press time.</p>
<p>Albert says it is still unclear how effective the interim government, which is leading the country until early elections in October, will be. “Prime Minister (Jan) Fischer's words have been correct but the proof is in the pudding.” &#160;</p>
<p>Read more about the European Parliament elections:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/european-union/090603/will-apathy-reign" type="external">Will apathy reign?</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/europe/090529/austria-far-right" type="external">Austria's far-right shows strength</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/european-union/090517/european-parliament-elections" type="external">Reasons to care about the European Parliament elections</a></p>
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prague like others throughout continent czechs voting european parliamentary elections saturday growing concern rise rightwing extremist parties 30 parties competing 22 czech seats european parliament two leading parties left right expected gain lions share seats extremist parties expected win enough votes gain seat brussels rather combination broad public apathy towards european elections combined getoutthevote drive extremists could result one parties qualifying state subsidies political parties receive state funds based number votes get certain threshold explained walek czeslaw deputy minister human rights real fear low overall turnout theyll pass 1 percent vote qualify state funding said jan hartl director stem polling agency said workers party national party could cross threshold turn 26000 voters course overall voter turnout higher expected perhaps 35 percent 1 percent threshold higher campaign dominated outbreak egg throwing whenever leader social democrats took stage 60second add aired czech public television managed provoke public outcry momentarily public attention quickly diverted egg throwing ad raised alarm bells ministry human rights among advocates ad calls roma black racists parasites incendiary line advocates final solution gypsy question virtual paraphrase hitlers final solution jewish question nazis final solution aimed kill europes jews industrialized mass slaughter nearly succeeded 6 million jews well large numbers roma others died network concentration camps czech tv pulled ad defended decision air saying bound law broadcast election commercials havent rightwing extremist parties parliament since mid1990s extremists used tough economic times make scapegoats roma marginalized society best times unemployment manufacturing production human rights ministry circulating agreement politicians sign vow work racism czeslaw says former president vaclav havel also signed document noteworthy however current president vaclav klaus refused sign klaus also vetoed eumandated antidiscrimination bill passed parliament parliament never undertaken override veto leaving czechs eu country without antidiscrimination law books klaus generally described euroskeptic actually called eu dissident late last year time left civic democratic party ods countrys leading rightwing party helped found aftermath fall communism november 1989 leaving ods one close associates founded new rightwing party openly hostile towards eu integration recently klaus widely quoted saying eu elections useless wouldnt participate klaus says misunderstood hell vote tomorrow said petr macinka spokesman president polls open friday saturday czeslaw says growing rightwing extremism country reached turning point last autumn workers party created vigilante group launched series patrols roma community litvinov 160 miles northeast prague largescale brawls nearly erupted one point 1000 police deployed protect roma160160 rightwing extremists using economic crisis attract followers czeslaw said meetings next socially excluded communities like roma people unhappy willing listen extremist views human rights ministry recognizes problems wants act faces significant restrictions operates appendage prime ministers office full ministry resources limited addition much legal authority related issue rests interior ministry widely criticized saying right things little gwendolyn albert human rights advocate points ministrys attempt workers party legally banned last year filed legal brief december laughably amateurish court choice reject said interior ministry assured would make someone available comment article done press time albert says still unclear effective interim government leading country early elections october prime minister jan fischers words correct proof pudding 160 read european parliament elections apathy reign austrias farright shows strength reasons care european parliament elections
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<p>One thief, posing as a delivery man, pulled a can of bear mace on employees and ransacked their marijuana shop, fleeing in a defensive cloud of “ultra-pepper” spray. Another opened the wall of a dispensary with an ax and attacked the store’s safe with a circular saw. Still another stuck to the basics. He kicked in the front door and pointed his gun at the counterman. An accomplice kicked in the back door and filled a duffel bag with more than $10,000 worth of high-quality cannabis.</p>
<p>For weeks now, the Mile High state has allowed the sale of recreational pot to adults, and so far the Rockies still stand. But crimes like the ones above, all of which occurred in Colorado in the last six months, have produced an acid-drip of anxiety in the industry, highlighting the dangers faced by those hoping to drag America’s most popular illegal drug into the light. Because marijuana remains banned by Congress, banks and security firms deny services to most dispensaries. That leaves them cash-based and vulnerable, a magnet for criminals who like the idea of unguarded counting rooms and shelves lined with lucrative horticulture.</p>
<p>“Everyone in the industry is having nightmares,” says Michael Elliott, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, a powerful young lobby in Colorado. “You hit a 7-Eleven, you’ll get 20 bucks. You hit a dispensary, you’ll get $300,000 on a good day,” adds Mitch Morrissey, District Attorney for Denver. “It’s only a matter of time before someone gets shot.”</p>
<p>Since 2010, the new pot barons have been required to install alarms and surveillance cameras, and most secure all cash and retail pot in a floor-bolted safe overnight. That helps limit losses, but the thieves keep coming. They throw bricks through windows, and tunnel under floors. One team tore away the locks on a grow house with a set of chains and a Subaru Outback. Another crashed an Audi through a warehouse door.</p>
<p>At first, most of the heists were softened by a kind of likable idiocy. Owners joked about the hapless fellow who zip-lined through an opening in a greenhouse roof, then lacked the oomph to climb his way out. Or the thief who kicked into an apartment above a pot shop, only to be chased off by the apartment’s surprised owner, a member of the Denver Nuggets. Or the team that crowbarred into a dispensary in 2012, leaving with a broken scale and $8 from a “karma jar” on the counter.</p>
<p>More recently, however, the crimes have sent a forked bolt of fear through the industry. Last summer, for example, a trio of gunmen “demanded Weed” from the workers at a dispensary called 420 Wellness, according to documents provided by the district attorney’s office. As two of the gunmen filled “several trash bags” with award-winning marijuana, the third leapt over the counter and took a female employee by the elbow, leading her around the shop as a human insurance policy. Police caught up with that squad soon after they fled the scene, charging the ringleader with aggravated robbery and kidnapping.</p>
<p>But over the next six weeks, a different team of burglars hit at least eight dispensaries, and a third team is still on the loose after a stick-up at New Age Wellness in nearby Boulder County. Moments after closing time, two men dressed in baby-blue ski-masks burst in, pointed guns, and cleaned out the little mountain depot. “It’s an epidemic,” says one of the employees, who declined to give his name for safety reasons. “Everything is a lot tighter now. It isn’t so homey anymore.”</p>
<p>“It’s like they think: ‘If we can precipitate some sort of public safety issue, maybe we can stop it.’”</p>
<p>To judge by the data, it’s not so homey anywhere in the region’s marijuana market, where attempted theft has gone from a concern to a near-certainty. In 2009, the Denver Police Department estimated that about 17 percent of marijuana retail shops had been robbed or burglarized in the last year. That was good news: a bit less than liquor stores (20 percent) and banks (34 percent), and on par with pharmacies.</p>
<p>Today, however, a darker picture has emerged. There are about 325 marijuana companies in Denver, based on an analysis of licensing data done for NBC News by Marijuana Business Daily, a leading trade publication. (Most companies hold numerous licenses.) At the same time, there have been about 317 burglaries and seven robberies reported by these companies in the last two years, according to police data. That’s an annual robbery and burglary rate of about 50 percent, more than double what it was in 2009.</p>
<p>While a Denver Police spokesperson disputed these figures, the department doesn't have its own. What is available suggests a troubling parallel development: as the industry has grown, its access to banking and security has declined, and crime has soared. What spurred the sudden loss of services remains a mystery, although many dispensary owners blame it on pressure from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has called Colorado’s experiment “reckless and irresponsible.”</p>
<p>“It’s like they’re trying to precipitate some sort of disaster,” says Norton Arbelaez, the founder of River Rock, one the Denver’s larger dispensaries. “It’s like they think: ‘If we can precipitate some sort of public safety issue, maybe we can stop it.’”</p>
<p>The Obama administration says that it's working on new regulations that will allow banks to hold accounts for legal marijuana businesses. But Jack Finlaw, the chief legal counsel to Colorado’s governor doesn’t think that will be enough. As long as marijuana remains illegal under the Controlled Substances Act, he says, banks, security firms and indeed most traditional businesses will be wary of aiding what amounts to a state-sanctioned federal crime. “Congress really needs to act,” he says. “I don’t see a quick fix.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the collateral damage continues to mount. Some dispensaries may be hit five times and others none at all, but on average every marijuana-related business in Denver can now expect a taste of the crowbar or the gun at least once every two years.</p>
<p>“I think everyone has been robbed at least once,” says Jonathan Salfeld, the owner of Local Product of Colorado, which has been broken into twice, despite being located a block from Denver Police headquarters. “It leaves you feeling less than safe,” adds Elan Nelson, the director of business development at Medicine Man, one of the largest dispensaries in Denver. She says her last dispensary was broken into four or five times, and employees began to watch the door, wondering when the thieves would decide to try work hours.</p>
<p>Yevette Williams of Timberline Herbal Clinic is facing that same feeling, after suffering three break-ins in four years. The most recent heist was last month, amid a rash of seven burglaries in Denver in the first 11 days of legalization. The thieves came at night, taking $1,000 in edible pot and leaving $6,000 in damages. “We just don’t know what to do,” she says. “We’re at a loss.”</p>
<p>“To understand the importance of fixing banking, please read this story: 'Marijuana clinic owner penis cut off.'”</p>
<p>For the moment, Coloradans can still cling to a pebble of solace: no one has ever been killed in a state-licensed marijuana dispensary. Expect that to change, says Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey. Last summer he told the city council that there have been a dozen homicides “directly” related to mom-and-pop residential marijuana grows, which have been legal in the state since 2000.</p>
<p>The editorial page director of the Denver Post accused him of “blowing smoke,” but Morrissey is now going further, predicting a spike in “strong-arm, bank-style, mask-and-gun robberies," as the old violence of the residential market spills into the new world of legalized marijuana from seed to sale. “You know, they say this is going to bring in tax revenue for our schools. Well, I don't deal with that. I deal with dead bodies.”</p>
<p>The worst violence has been in California, where in 2010 a gunman forced workers down on the ground, robbed their medical marijuana dispensary, and returned moments later to shoot both in the back of the head. But the fate that’s really spreading terror in Colorado fell just shy of murder.</p>
<p>It began when three men broke into the home of a dispensary owner in Newport Beach, Calif., according to police reports that surfaced last fall. They zip-tied the man, dragged him into a van, burned him with a blow-torch, doused him in bleach, severed his penis, and then drove away with it—all in a bid to learn where he was hiding his cash. Now Elliott, the industry lobbyist, appends press releases with an unusual note: “To understand the importance of fixing banking, please read this story: 'Marijuana clinic owner penis cut off.'”</p>
<p>The industry is certainly taking the crime threat seriously. Dispensaries are sinking cash into bulletproof glass, Mission Impossible-style fingerprint scanners, and guards—lots of guards. A marijuana militia of sorts is building across the state, a force big enough to safeguard six-figure cash transports, seven-figure inventories and assets, and thousands of justifiably paranoid employees.</p>
<p>As with the criminals, some of the guards are less than intimidating. The owner’s elderly (and doze-prone) uncle is the designated watchman inside one Denver dispensary. At another dispensary a guard considers his biceps “the only guns I need.” But at least two major security firms—one purely marijuana-focused, the other an all-purpose global heavyweight—have ridden in to rescue Denver in the last year.</p>
<p>The first was Blue Line Protection Group, launched in August by Ted Daniels, a retired police officer and U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. He cuts a rather secure figure himself, with muscle that jumps from shoulder to ear, and shades wrapped around a bald pate. He has hired more than 40 guards, most with special ops experience.</p>
<p>“If you’re going to fight the best,” as he likes to say, “you better have the best.”</p>
<p>Steps from the counter where the peace buds are sold, a warning sign is emblazoned with the words, “DEADLY FORCE.”</p>
<p>His firm has landed about 30 contracts so far and is adding about one a day, according to Daniels, who charges between $5,000 and $15,000 a month. Most of the contracts come right after a break-in or a robbery, he says, and none have been hit again with his team on the scene. “I think criminals are afraid,” he says. “I don’t think they want to deal with my guys.”</p>
<p>At Medicine Man, where Daniels has provided security since January 1st, there are now six cash registers and an armed guard for each one, plus another at the door. At the end of the day, after spraying the cash with Febreze to mask the scent, employees stuff it into tamper-resistant clear plastic bags, which Blue Line escorts downtown and into the company’s vault.</p>
<p>If they face a robbery, they may call 911, but they’re authorized to return fire. Every day now at New Age Wellness, in Boulder County, steps from the counter where the peace buds are sold, a warning sign is emblazoned with the words, “DEADLY FORCE.” In front of the sign is a Blue Line guard, Glock on his hip.</p>
<p>“One of my guys, I think, can probably easily hold off five to 10 guys by himself,” says Daniels, who appreciates the irony of blending what is essentially police work with the protection of a product that he used to bust people for using. For most of his guys, however, the product doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Daniels allows them to partake of the plant they’re guarding, as long as they quit it at least 10 hours before reporting to duty, but they’re in it for the conflict.</p>
<p>“We thrive on going out,” says Keith Wood, a former Army Ranger who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, before coming home to become Blue Line’s operations manager. “I’m not going to run away,” he said in an interview. “I could die today on the job. We don't know. But that’s another reason to bring veterans in. That’s how we’re trained to think.”</p>
<p>The competition comes from former Denver city councilman Ed Thomas, a 23-year veteran of the Denver Police Department. He recently partnered with CSC-USA, a California-based company that touts security gigs during two World Cups, four presidential inaugurations, and 30 Super Bowls. He’s got two contracts so far andexpects that number to grow.</p>
<p>“There are some really bad guys out there,” he says. “It’s just a matter of time until … well, I don’t even want to go there.”</p>
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one thief posing delivery man pulled bear mace employees ransacked marijuana shop fleeing defensive cloud ultrapepper spray another opened wall dispensary ax attacked stores safe circular saw still another stuck basics kicked front door pointed gun counterman accomplice kicked back door filled duffel bag 10000 worth highquality cannabis weeks mile high state allowed sale recreational pot adults far rockies still stand crimes like ones occurred colorado last six months produced aciddrip anxiety industry highlighting dangers faced hoping drag americas popular illegal drug light marijuana remains banned congress banks security firms deny services dispensaries leaves cashbased vulnerable magnet criminals like idea unguarded counting rooms shelves lined lucrative horticulture everyone industry nightmares says michael elliott executive director marijuana industry group powerful young lobby colorado hit 7eleven youll get 20 bucks hit dispensary youll get 300000 good day adds mitch morrissey district attorney denver matter time someone gets shot since 2010 new pot barons required install alarms surveillance cameras secure cash retail pot floorbolted safe overnight helps limit losses thieves keep coming throw bricks windows tunnel floors one team tore away locks grow house set chains subaru outback another crashed audi warehouse door first heists softened kind likable idiocy owners joked hapless fellow ziplined opening greenhouse roof lacked oomph climb way thief kicked apartment pot shop chased apartments surprised owner member denver nuggets team crowbarred dispensary 2012 leaving broken scale 8 karma jar counter recently however crimes sent forked bolt fear industry last summer example trio gunmen demanded weed workers dispensary called 420 wellness according documents provided district attorneys office two gunmen filled several trash bags awardwinning marijuana third leapt counter took female employee elbow leading around shop human insurance policy police caught squad soon fled scene charging ringleader aggravated robbery kidnapping next six weeks different team burglars hit least eight dispensaries third team still loose stickup new age wellness nearby boulder county moments closing time two men dressed babyblue skimasks burst pointed guns cleaned little mountain depot epidemic says one employees declined give name safety reasons everything lot tighter isnt homey anymore like think precipitate sort public safety issue maybe stop judge data homey anywhere regions marijuana market attempted theft gone concern nearcertainty 2009 denver police department estimated 17 percent marijuana retail shops robbed burglarized last year good news bit less liquor stores 20 percent banks 34 percent par pharmacies today however darker picture emerged 325 marijuana companies denver based analysis licensing data done nbc news marijuana business daily leading trade publication companies hold numerous licenses time 317 burglaries seven robberies reported companies last two years according police data thats annual robbery burglary rate 50 percent double 2009 denver police spokesperson disputed figures department doesnt available suggests troubling parallel development industry grown access banking security declined crime soared spurred sudden loss services remains mystery although many dispensary owners blame pressure drug enforcement administration called colorados experiment reckless irresponsible like theyre trying precipitate sort disaster says norton arbelaez founder river rock one denvers larger dispensaries like think precipitate sort public safety issue maybe stop obama administration says working new regulations allow banks hold accounts legal marijuana businesses jack finlaw chief legal counsel colorados governor doesnt think enough long marijuana remains illegal controlled substances act says banks security firms indeed traditional businesses wary aiding amounts statesanctioned federal crime congress really needs act says dont see quick fix meanwhile collateral damage continues mount dispensaries may hit five times others none average every marijuanarelated business denver expect taste crowbar gun least every two years think everyone robbed least says jonathan salfeld owner local product colorado broken twice despite located block denver police headquarters leaves feeling less safe adds elan nelson director business development medicine man one largest dispensaries denver says last dispensary broken four five times employees began watch door wondering thieves would decide try work hours yevette williams timberline herbal clinic facing feeling suffering three breakins four years recent heist last month amid rash seven burglaries denver first 11 days legalization thieves came night taking 1000 edible pot leaving 6000 damages dont know says loss understand importance fixing banking please read story marijuana clinic owner penis cut moment coloradans still cling pebble solace one ever killed statelicensed marijuana dispensary expect change says denver district attorney mitch morrissey last summer told city council dozen homicides directly related momandpop residential marijuana grows legal state since 2000 editorial page director denver post accused blowing smoke morrissey going predicting spike strongarm bankstyle maskandgun robberies old violence residential market spills new world legalized marijuana seed sale know say going bring tax revenue schools well dont deal deal dead bodies worst violence california 2010 gunman forced workers ground robbed medical marijuana dispensary returned moments later shoot back head fate thats really spreading terror colorado fell shy murder began three men broke home dispensary owner newport beach calif according police reports surfaced last fall ziptied man dragged van burned blowtorch doused bleach severed penis drove away itall bid learn hiding cash elliott industry lobbyist appends press releases unusual note understand importance fixing banking please read story marijuana clinic owner penis cut industry certainly taking crime threat seriously dispensaries sinking cash bulletproof glass mission impossiblestyle fingerprint scanners guardslots guards marijuana militia sorts building across state force big enough safeguard sixfigure cash transports sevenfigure inventories assets thousands justifiably paranoid employees criminals guards less intimidating owners elderly dozeprone uncle designated watchman inside one denver dispensary another dispensary guard considers biceps guns need least two major security firmsone purely marijuanafocused allpurpose global heavyweighthave ridden rescue denver last year first blue line protection group launched august ted daniels retired police officer us army veteran served afghanistan cuts rather secure figure muscle jumps shoulder ear shades wrapped around bald pate hired 40 guards special ops experience youre going fight best likes say better best steps counter peace buds sold warning sign emblazoned words deadly force firm landed 30 contracts far adding one day according daniels charges 5000 15000 month contracts come right breakin robbery says none hit team scene think criminals afraid says dont think want deal guys medicine man daniels provided security since january 1st six cash registers armed guard one plus another door end day spraying cash febreze mask scent employees stuff tamperresistant clear plastic bags blue line escorts downtown companys vault face robbery may call 911 theyre authorized return fire every day new age wellness boulder county steps counter peace buds sold warning sign emblazoned words deadly force front sign blue line guard glock hip one guys think probably easily hold five 10 guys says daniels appreciates irony blending essentially police work protection product used bust people using guys however product doesnt matter daniels allows partake plant theyre guarding long quit least 10 hours reporting duty theyre conflict thrive going says keith wood former army ranger deployed iraq afghanistan coming home become blue lines operations manager im going run away said interview could die today job dont know thats another reason bring veterans thats trained think competition comes former denver city councilman ed thomas 23year veteran denver police department recently partnered cscusa californiabased company touts security gigs two world cups four presidential inaugurations 30 super bowls hes got two contracts far andexpects number grow really bad guys says matter time well dont even want go
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<p>More than a year after Mayor Richard M. Daley announced plans to create a National Teaching Academy of Chicago, architects are designing the building but the program and its partners are still up in the air.</p>
<p>When the mayor introduced his idea during last year’s election campaign, city and school officials outlined what educators call a professional development school, that is, a real school staffed by master teachers who also work with visiting teachers or teachers-in-training.</p>
<p>The school was to be built near the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), which would join the Chicago Public Schools and the Golden Apple Foundation in developing and running the training program. The March 10, 1999 issue of UIC News listed six possible sites and quoted then-Chancellor David Brodski praising the “unique partnership.”</p>
<p>Subsequently, the School Board chose none of the above and decided to build two schools, one elementary and one high school. For the elementary school, it chose a site at 22nd and Federal near the Ickes and Hilliard Homes housing developments. The K-8 school is to enroll 380 students and open in fall 2001.</p>
<p>“We had an agreement with that community to build a new school to replace South Loop branch some years ago, so we decided to put it there. It’s in our capital development plan,” explains Chief Education Officer Cozette Buckney. “Yes, the University of Illinois was considering giving up some land, but it didn’t work out.”</p>
<p>The revised location figured in the heated election campaign for the local school council at South Loop School, where middle-income and low-income parents and community members have been engaged in a decades-long tug-of-war over control of the school. At the chosen location, the Teachers Academy elementary school likely would siphon children from the main South Loop building, which is situated in the middle-income community of Dearborn Park.</p>
<p>The board has not selected a site for the Teachers Academy high school, which is to serve 600 students and open in fall 2002.</p>
<p>While neighborhood children are to attend the academy schools, the School Board wants these schools to be governed by an appointed board rather than elected local school councils. “We don’t think an LSC would be appropriate for this school,” says Buckney. “It will not be like a regular public school. Teachers will probably be required to work eight-hour days. Colleges of education will be involved. We think a governing board is more appropriate.”</p>
<p>In March, the administration presented the School Board with a “draft” resolution calling for a board that would include two parents, two members of the corporate community, Buckney, CPS Chief of Staff Diane Grigsby Jackson, Chicago Teachers Union President Thomas Reece, Golden Apple Foundation founder Martin “Mike” Koldyke and Victoria Chou, chair of the Council of Chicago Area Deans of Education. However, the Illinois General Assembly refused to advance legislation giving the School Board authority to appoint such an academy board.</p>
<p>“This school is still going to open,” says Buckney. “It’s not moving anywhere in Springfield, so we’ll just explore other routes like a charter or an alternative school.”</p>
<p>The board’s proposed legislation also ran afoul of the Chicago Teachers Union for seeking exemptions from the collective bargaining agreement and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. “The original language was unpalatable to us,” says Jackie Gallagher, the union’s spokesperson. “We’ve been working on this concept for years, and this language seemed to exclude teachers.”</p>
<p>Says Buckney: “We’ll have a side waiver agreement with the union. We will use union teachers.”</p>
<p>UIC also has seen its role shift. Initially, other universities were angry that UIC had been singled out. Then, UIC found itself left out of planning meetings after balking at making commitments without having details of the Academy nailed down, according to sources who asked not to be identified.</p>
<p>“We plan on working with as many colleges of education there are out there,” says Buckney. “We encourage UIC as well as other universities for input.”</p>
<p>In March, board administrators met with the Council of Chicago Area Deans of Education to discuss the board’s plan to have pre-service teachers attend both the academy and their college programs concurrently.</p>
<p>“Maybe they go through two or three years with us,” says Buckney. “Maybe students are at the academy three or four hours a day or for half the day. We don’t know yet.”</p>
<p>Administrators also are meeting with officials of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a state boarding school for gifted high school students, to decide how to use a $4 million federal grant they won to produce more math and science teachers.</p>
<p>“They will probably train our folks in math and science and, prior to the academy opening, talk about developing and creating a curriculum,” says Diane Zendejas, director of the CPS Teachers Academy for Professional Development.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the locus of the board’s planning has moved from a largely external group that included officials of UIC and Golden Apple, among others, to an in-house working committee headed by John Frantz, officer of curriculum, instruction and professional development.</p>
<p>“I have a lot of confidence that John will pull this project together,” says Peg Cain, executive director of Golden Apple. “I have been very pleased with this team so far.”</p>
<p>So far, CPS has focused on pre-service education. It wants to produce 170 new teachers the first year; those going through the program would have to pledge to work in CPS for a given amount of time. The Chicago Teachers Union would like the academy to help with inservice education of teachers, too, particularly those interested in applying for national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.</p>
<p>“The academy will be an intro for what the year will be like if they go through the [national] board process,” says Molly Carroll of the CTU. “After their [academy] training is over, they can go back to their home school and hopefully go through the NBPTS.”</p>
<p>The school board shares the goal of increasing the number of nationally certified teachers in CPS. Indeed, it wants all academy faculty members to apply within a couple years of coming on board.</p>
<p>“We know it’s a demanding program, so we are looking into giving teachers stipends as an incentive to go through the process,” says Buckney. “And because teachers will take on more duties than they do normally most likely teaching in a classroom for part of the day and mentoring new teachers for another part—we’re also exploring using a different pay scale for them.”</p>
<p>However, Chicago teachers who have gone through the national certification process suggest the board would still be asking too much.</p>
<p>“I’m glad they have a vision of teacher training,” says Margie Rogasner, a 1st-grade bilingual teacher at Jordan Elementary who received national certification last year. “But this is ambitious. When you go through the national board, you have to say no to everything else because it is so rigorous. With so much being asked of teachers, I’d be afraid they’d burn out. And even if you tell them they’ve got a few years before they have to go through the process, a new school is usually five years of growing pains. It’s still a lot for teachers to handle.”</p>
<p>The academy schools will need a total of 82 teachers. Buckney says that for starters, 10 teachers will be sought from each of the school system’s six regions.</p>
| false | 3 |
year mayor richard daley announced plans create national teaching academy chicago architects designing building program partners still air mayor introduced idea last years election campaign city school officials outlined educators call professional development school real school staffed master teachers also work visiting teachers teachersintraining school built near university illinois chicago uic would join chicago public schools golden apple foundation developing running training program march 10 1999 issue uic news listed six possible sites quoted thenchancellor david brodski praising unique partnership subsequently school board chose none decided build two schools one elementary one high school elementary school chose site 22nd federal near ickes hilliard homes housing developments k8 school enroll 380 students open fall 2001 agreement community build new school replace south loop branch years ago decided put capital development plan explains chief education officer cozette buckney yes university illinois considering giving land didnt work revised location figured heated election campaign local school council south loop school middleincome lowincome parents community members engaged decadeslong tugofwar control school chosen location teachers academy elementary school likely would siphon children main south loop building situated middleincome community dearborn park board selected site teachers academy high school serve 600 students open fall 2002 neighborhood children attend academy schools school board wants schools governed appointed board rather elected local school councils dont think lsc would appropriate school says buckney like regular public school teachers probably required work eighthour days colleges education involved think governing board appropriate march administration presented school board draft resolution calling board would include two parents two members corporate community buckney cps chief staff diane grigsby jackson chicago teachers union president thomas reece golden apple foundation founder martin mike koldyke victoria chou chair council chicago area deans education however illinois general assembly refused advance legislation giving school board authority appoint academy board school still going open says buckney moving anywhere springfield well explore routes like charter alternative school boards proposed legislation also ran afoul chicago teachers union seeking exemptions collective bargaining agreement illinois educational labor relations act original language unpalatable us says jackie gallagher unions spokesperson weve working concept years language seemed exclude teachers says buckney well side waiver agreement union use union teachers uic also seen role shift initially universities angry uic singled uic found left planning meetings balking making commitments without details academy nailed according sources asked identified plan working many colleges education says buckney encourage uic well universities input march board administrators met council chicago area deans education discuss boards plan preservice teachers attend academy college programs concurrently maybe go two three years us says buckney maybe students academy three four hours day half day dont know yet administrators also meeting officials illinois mathematics science academy state boarding school gifted high school students decide use 4 million federal grant produce math science teachers probably train folks math science prior academy opening talk developing creating curriculum says diane zendejas director cps teachers academy professional development meantime locus boards planning moved largely external group included officials uic golden apple among others inhouse working committee headed john frantz officer curriculum instruction professional development lot confidence john pull project together says peg cain executive director golden apple pleased team far far cps focused preservice education wants produce 170 new teachers first year going program would pledge work cps given amount time chicago teachers union would like academy help inservice education teachers particularly interested applying national certification national board professional teaching standards academy intro year like go national board process says molly carroll ctu academy training go back home school hopefully go nbpts school board shares goal increasing number nationally certified teachers cps indeed wants academy faculty members apply within couple years coming board know demanding program looking giving teachers stipends incentive go process says buckney teachers take duties normally likely teaching classroom part day mentoring new teachers another partwere also exploring using different pay scale however chicago teachers gone national certification process suggest board would still asking much im glad vision teacher training says margie rogasner 1stgrade bilingual teacher jordan elementary received national certification last year ambitious go national board say everything else rigorous much asked teachers id afraid theyd burn even tell theyve got years go process new school usually five years growing pains still lot teachers handle academy schools need total 82 teachers buckney says starters 10 teachers sought school systems six regions
| 721 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">By Greg Warner</a></p>
<p>In&#160;the Bible, twins Jacob and Esau are anything but brotherly. Trickery, betrayal and estrangement destroy their relationship. Jacob cheats his brother and flees his homeland, leaving his twin behind.</p>
<p>Jacob and Esau Francis, twins from South Sudan, proudly bear those famous names but nothing of those traits. Together, they fled war in their homeland as teens. Together, they lived on the streets of Uganda’s largest city. Together, they found rescue and friendships at Refuge &amp; Hope, a Christian ministry in Kampala founded by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel Jade and Shelah Acker. Now the young men spend their days there with other young refugees also trying to rebuild their lives.</p>
<p>Jacob and Esau</p>
<p>But every evening, they leave the peaceful ministry center and head back into the city to their temporary home, where each night they battle the demons that followed them to their adopted homeland — still together and yet alone.</p>
<p>Soon after South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, internal factions started fighting for control of the government. In 2012, Jacob and Esau found themselves in the middle of the fighting, and the lives of these teenagers changed instantly and forever.&#160;</p>
<p>“They attacked us,” Jacob said of rebel soldiers. “They started shooting the vehicles. They shot a friend who started bleeding. I felt like we [were] the next to die.”</p>
<p>Away from home at the time, Jacob and Esau had to act quickly and decisively. They ran. Suddenly running for their lives, they couldn’t even say goodbye to their family — nor have they seen them since.&#160;</p>
<p>“Jacob and Esau had to act quickly and decisively. Running for their lives, they couldn’t even say goodbye to their family — nor have they seen them since.”</p>
<p>The twins got a life-saving break when they hooked up with a convoy sent by the Ugandan government to rescue its own people. “We had to sneak in with their citizens,” Jacob said.&#160;</p>
<p>The Ugandans knew they didn’t belong but covered for them until they reached the border. Alone but together, the twins took a roundabout path into Uganda, passing through a neighboring country first. “It was a desperate journey,” Jacob recalled — one that is today still far from over.</p>
<p>Without parental support or scholarships, the twins cannot further their education. However, they constantly seek to expand their knowledge and find new opportunities.</p>
<p>Months later, as they listened to a Christian youth worker read a Bible story, the boys were shocked to learn they bear the names of maybe the world’s most famous twins.&#160;</p>
<p>It was a bittersweet discovery. “I never even took time to ask my mom, my father, ‘Why did you give me that name Jacob, and my brother Esau?’”</p>
<p>“I wish I could have that moment, but it’s already gone,” he said sadly.</p>
<p>They have tried but haven’t been able to track down any relatives in South Sudan, and they later learned their father was shot in the fighting between warring factions. They’ve never heard for sure, but they presume he is dead.&#160;</p>
<p>In 2013, the turmoil in South Sudan erupted into full-blown civil war. An estimated 300,000 people have been killed. More than a third of the population (four million) has been displaced, including at least one million people who, like Jacob and Esau a year earlier, left the country.&#160;</p>
<p>Their story is reminiscent of the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” the estimated 20,000 orphaned and displaced boys who more than a decade ago fled southern Sudan on foot. While that tragedy sparked international outrage and rescue efforts, the latest, smaller exodus has gone largely unnoticed outside the country.</p>
<p>Once in Uganda, with South Sudan’s fighting behind them, they felt safe but still not secure. “When we reached Uganda, life wasn’t that good,” Jacob said. “Life is tough.”</p>
<p>In 2013, the turmoil in South Sudan erupted into full-blown civil war. An estimated 300,000 people have been killed. More than a third of the population (four million) has been displaced, including at least one million people who, like Jacob and Esau a year earlier, left the country.</p>
<p>Although Uganda freely accepts refugees, their new lives have been far from easy. Like most new arrivals, the twins went first to one of four massive, overcrowded refugee camps near the nation’s borders. Conditions there are harsh, resources few.&#160;</p>
<p>Situated near the center of the continent, Uganda is a magnet for refugees from the impoverished and war-torn countries all around. Unlike in many countries, refugees are free to leave camps and settle elsewhere, and life outside is little better. Those who leave usually go to the capital, Kampala, a city of 1.5 million, where a third of young adults are unemployed.</p>
<p>Like refugees worldwide, Jacob and Esau had big dreams. At first, they were among the lucky ones — they had a sponsor who paid for their schooling in South Sudan and again in Uganda, which like much of Africa, doesn’t offer free education. The school also provided them a place to live. They finished “senior six,” the equivalent of high school. But once they graduated, they were required to leave the school.</p>
<p>“We ended up on the street,” Esau said. “We had nowhere to sleep.”&#160;</p>
<p>At least back home they had a home, bed and friends, he said. On the street, there are only other desperate people. “They come and beat you and steal your property, just the little you have,” Esau said. “[In] truth, we just spent our nights in clubs.”&#160;</p>
<p>Life for urban refugees is challenging. Without a home or parental support, Jacob and Esau found themselves hanging out in clubs and bars to stay safe at night.</p>
<p>The twins hid in several of Kampala’s 24-hour nightclubs. “We [would] just go there, spend the night to be safe,” Esau explained. “It [was] just to survive, to not be arrested, to not be attacked by the robbers at night.”</p>
<p>Street life takes a toll. Now 19 years old, both Jacob and Esau battle depression and even thoughts of suicide.</p>
<p>“I keep blaming myself [or] my God,” Jacob confessed. “I don’t know whether God wants us to live in this way, to leave our parents. I don’t know whether this life is meant for us.”</p>
<p>But the streets also brought good news — a tip from other refugees.</p>
<p>Shelah and Jade Acker serve as CBF field personnel in Uganda and are the founders of Refuge &amp; Hope.</p>
<p>“They told us, ‘There’s some place called Refuge &amp; Hope,’” Esau said. “Let’s go there and have fun with the youth there, and we found ourselves at Refuge &amp; Hope.”</p>
<p>Ironically, the ministry was founded in 2004 by Jade and Shelah Acker to rescue nine child soldiers and street children from what is now South Sudan. Now the Ackers and their 50-member staff offer emergency assistance and other services to all refugees.&#160;</p>
<p>Although Refuge &amp; Hope is not a shelter, its social workers help refugees resettle. It provides crisis counseling, job training, English classes, life skills, business classes — a full menu of services to help refugees find their way and hold onto their dreams.</p>
<p>Refugees get help finding a job, housing and social services. The center sponsors young children in local schools and offers GED certification to older ones. At the heart of the ministry is a broad curriculum that teaches adults English, employable skills, entrepreneurship, business finance, practical life skills and more. Approximately 1,000 students enroll each year in classes at Refuge &amp; Hope.</p>
<p>Youth at Refuge &amp; Hope enjoy spending time with youth program directors Haryet and Allono, as well as founders and directors Jade and Shelah Acker.</p>
<p>The refugees who flock to the ministry often bring children, and some children arrive unaccompanied. “Somehow the children kept coming to my office,” recalled Haryet Hamony, who handled the center’s finances at the time. “They called it the [youth] office. I got less done.”&#160;</p>
<p>“I talked to Jade and Shelah, and we decided to have a program for the youth in the afternoons,” said Hamony, who now is youth director. “I would do the finance in the morning and then have the youth group in the afternoon. Since then, we’ve never looked back.” The youth meet every day after school, giving them a safe place and a social network. There are 80 involved now, Hamony said, and range in age from about 12 to 24.</p>
<p>“We have different people from different countries — Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Congo. They create harmony…they end up calling each other brother and sister.”</p>
<p>Jacob and Esau liked what they found there, so they kept going back. They figured It was better than hanging out in bars.</p>
<p>“Instead of just loitering around the street being idle, I thought, ‘Why don’t I come and volunteer?’” Esau said. Eventually, Jacob and Esau started working every day as volunteers in the youth department. They especially like to help the younger refugees. Soon they were studying the Bible and learning about God from Hamony.&#160;</p>
<p>Esau and a friend discuss faith at Refuge &amp; Hope.</p>
<p>“She said, ‘Please spare time for God and try to know God more,’” Esau remembered. “Before, I wasn’t even interested in learning Bible. But that’s what has been helping me. Now I’m closer to God.”</p>
<p>The boys also were struck by the way, among the youth, natural enemies accepted each other — ethnic groups who were at war in their homelands worked side-by-side.&#160;</p>
<p>“We have different people from different countries — Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Congo,” Esau said. “It’s so wonderful! You find a Muslim learning the Bible. You find a Christian wants to know about [Islam]. They create harmony in that place. They end up calling each other brother and sister,” Esau said.</p>
<p>Jacob and Esau volunteer for or help organize many of the programs and events the youth department sponsors, such as a children’s camp, a talent show, music, cultural dances, Bible studies — even a presentation on gender-based violence.</p>
<p>The twins also operate a small popcorn-selling project. “It may not be a huge amount of money,” Esau said, but it pays the school fees for one elementary child.&#160;</p>
<p>“They are the life of the youth group in many ways,” Hamony said of the twins. “A lot of the younger youth really look up to them.”</p>
<p>The most transformative project the department conducts is an annual peace conference, where youth from many ethnic groups and nations spend several days in a retreat, learning about tolerance, reconciliation and peacemaking. The results are powerful and moving, Hamony said.</p>
<p>“I thank God for the directors for having such an organization in Uganda. If this organization wasn’t here, I don’t know where I would be right now.”</p>
<p>For the twins, who have encountered ethnic strife and discrimination their whole lives, the youth group has redefined peace and home. “I find hope here,” Jacob said. “People encourage each other. I feel like this is a home.”</p>
<p>Last year, the youth department became home in more ways than one. With still no place to live, the twins started sleeping in the youth office.&#160;</p>
<p>When Hamony found them sleeping in her office, she looked the other way. “I couldn’t kick them out,” she said. Only then did she learn they were alone with no family or place to stay. “How can someone live that way?” she said.</p>
<p>When Shelah Acker heard the twins were sleeping on-site, she called them into her office to find out the whole story. Initially the twins were scared they would be back out on the street. Instead, Shelah and other CBF personnel found Jacob and Esau a place to stay. “I know it might not be a pretty place, but at least we have somewhere to put our heads,” Jacob said.</p>
<p>Shelah Acker, the co-founder and director of Refuge &amp; Hope, is always ready to listen to others.</p>
<p>That hasn’t solved all their problems, of course. Even now, their existence is hand-to-mouth. “We eat once in a while,” Esau said. “Sometimes we don’t eat; just take water.”</p>
<p>Jacob and Esau still bear emotional scars from the violence and racism they have experienced. Their father was from the north, a Sudanese man with dark skin typical of that Arab population. Their mother is South Sudanese, an ethnic tradition linked to the more Christianized Central Africa.</p>
<p>Even with a Christian name, Jacob said he encountered racist hatred because of his dark skin. “They consider my color to be [that of] an Arab. Even with the name ‘Jacob,’ they take you as an enemy.”</p>
<p>Both boys, but especially Jacob, have known despair. Haunting thoughts of his past — the violence he witnessed — cause Jacob to question the purpose of his life.&#160;</p>
<p>It’s only around the youth at Refuge &amp; Hope that Jacob and Esau find an antidote to the world’s hate. For the twins and many others, the youth department is a respite, an escape from the harsh realities of refugee life — the pain of the past and struggles of today.&#160;</p>
<p>“This [is] a place where I can forget all the negative memories and continue with the future,” Jacob explained.&#160;</p>
<p>But at night, the young people go their separate ways.&#160;</p>
<p>“You start recalling the bad memories,” Jacob said. “No parents. No mom. No one to hold you now. Just on your own, trying to survive.”</p>
<p>If Jacob had his way, the youth would never leave the center. “I wish we had beds here,” he quipped. They could “pass the time talking, having fun, interacting, laughing and forget the nightmare which we went through.”</p>
<p>When Jacob and Esau speak of Refuge &amp; Hope — even in separate interviews — the twins sound like echoes of each other.</p>
<p>“Thank God for this wonderful place, Refuge &amp; Hope,” Esau said. “This place just feels like more than a home to me. Shelah is just like a mother to me, and Jade like a dad.”</p>
<p>“I thank God for the directors for having such an organization in Uganda,” Jacob said. “If this organization wasn’t here, I don’t know where I would be right now.”</p>
<p>Jacob and Esau are part of the newly-developed Men’s Ministry at Refuge &amp; Hope. This tight-knit group provides a safe place for them to express their emotions, be vulnerable and receive psychological support through counseling.</p>
<p>The twins probably saved their lives by fleeing South Sudan, but they lost their family and a lot more. Although they managed to graduate from high school in Uganda, they lost the chance to continue their education. Jacob’s spirit brightens a little when he talks about his educational ambitions. “I did biology, chemistry and agriculture” with hopes of becoming a scientist or doctor, he said. “Actually, I was brilliant — even my twin brother knows.”</p>
<p>Both would like to go to college but know that without funding the chances are slim. “Public health, biotechnology, I still believe the knowledge, it is in me,” Jacob said. “But as time goes on, dreams start [fading] away.”</p>
<p>“No one is there to help my education out. But I pray one day God will make it out for me. If God sends me a good sponsor to support my education, I will go back and pursue the dream.”&#160;</p>
<p>Esau dreams of a career in diplomacy, working with an international organization that helps youth. “I want to do international relations. My passion is to lead people,” he said.&#160;</p>
<p>It’s a Catch-22 for an untrained immigrant in the job market. Esau said a job that pays enough to allow him to save for college would itself require a college degree.&#160;</p>
<p>“I find hope here. People encourage each other. I feel like this is a home.”</p>
<p>Despite that, Esau isn’t making excuses. “I know God is my strength, that I can make it. My circumstance should not stop me from working towards achieving my goals.”</p>
<p>The twins differ about someday returning to South Sudan. Jacob said he doesn’t plan ever to go home, but prays that God will protect his family there.&#160;</p>
<p>“I hope one day God will reunite us. I just pray that one day we shall meet, whether in heaven or [else]where.”</p>
<p>Esau also prays for their family, and is more optimistic about returning to his homeland.</p>
<p>“I believe God is there with them.”&#160;</p>
<p>“Growing up in South Sudan was so beautiful,” he said. “I’m very proud to be South Sudanese. One day if peace comes, we shall go back, and make South Sudan a better place for people, for the next generation.”&#160;</p>
<p>You can give a future and a hope to children and young people fleeing violence.&#160;Give to support CBF field personnel around the world to serve and share God’s love.&#160; Give today at www.cbf.net/presence</p>
<p>Watch a video story below about Jacob and Esau and learn more about the ways CBF field personnel are cultivating Beloved Community at <a href="http://www.cbf.net/belovedcommunity" type="external">www.cbf.net/belovedcommunity</a></p>
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| false | 3 |
greg warner in160the bible twins jacob esau anything brotherly trickery betrayal estrangement destroy relationship jacob cheats brother flees homeland leaving twin behind jacob esau francis twins south sudan proudly bear famous names nothing traits together fled war homeland teens together lived streets ugandas largest city together found rescue friendships refuge amp hope christian ministry kampala founded cooperative baptist fellowship field personnel jade shelah acker young men spend days young refugees also trying rebuild lives jacob esau every evening leave peaceful ministry center head back city temporary home night battle demons followed adopted homeland still together yet alone soon south sudan gained independence 2011 internal factions started fighting control government 2012 jacob esau found middle fighting lives teenagers changed instantly forever160 attacked us jacob said rebel soldiers started shooting vehicles shot friend started bleeding felt like next die away home time jacob esau act quickly decisively ran suddenly running lives couldnt even say goodbye family seen since160 jacob esau act quickly decisively running lives couldnt even say goodbye family seen since twins got lifesaving break hooked convoy sent ugandan government rescue people sneak citizens jacob said160 ugandans knew didnt belong covered reached border alone together twins took roundabout path uganda passing neighboring country first desperate journey jacob recalled one today still far without parental support scholarships twins education however constantly seek expand knowledge find new opportunities months later listened christian youth worker read bible story boys shocked learn bear names maybe worlds famous twins160 bittersweet discovery never even took time ask mom father give name jacob brother esau wish could moment already gone said sadly tried havent able track relatives south sudan later learned father shot fighting warring factions theyve never heard sure presume dead160 2013 turmoil south sudan erupted fullblown civil war estimated 300000 people killed third population four million displaced including least one million people like jacob esau year earlier left country160 story reminiscent lost boys sudan estimated 20000 orphaned displaced boys decade ago fled southern sudan foot tragedy sparked international outrage rescue efforts latest smaller exodus gone largely unnoticed outside country uganda south sudans fighting behind felt safe still secure reached uganda life wasnt good jacob said life tough 2013 turmoil south sudan erupted fullblown civil war estimated 300000 people killed third population four million displaced including least one million people like jacob esau year earlier left country although uganda freely accepts refugees new lives far easy like new arrivals twins went first one four massive overcrowded refugee camps near nations borders conditions harsh resources few160 situated near center continent uganda magnet refugees impoverished wartorn countries around unlike many countries refugees free leave camps settle elsewhere life outside little better leave usually go capital kampala city 15 million third young adults unemployed like refugees worldwide jacob esau big dreams first among lucky ones sponsor paid schooling south sudan uganda like much africa doesnt offer free education school also provided place live finished senior six equivalent high school graduated required leave school ended street esau said nowhere sleep160 least back home home bed friends said street desperate people come beat steal property little esau said truth spent nights clubs160 life urban refugees challenging without home parental support jacob esau found hanging clubs bars stay safe night twins hid several kampalas 24hour nightclubs would go spend night safe esau explained survive arrested attacked robbers night street life takes toll 19 years old jacob esau battle depression even thoughts suicide keep blaming god jacob confessed dont know whether god wants us live way leave parents dont know whether life meant us streets also brought good news tip refugees shelah jade acker serve cbf field personnel uganda founders refuge amp hope told us theres place called refuge amp hope esau said lets go fun youth found refuge amp hope ironically ministry founded 2004 jade shelah acker rescue nine child soldiers street children south sudan ackers 50member staff offer emergency assistance services refugees160 although refuge amp hope shelter social workers help refugees resettle provides crisis counseling job training english classes life skills business classes full menu services help refugees find way hold onto dreams refugees get help finding job housing social services center sponsors young children local schools offers ged certification older ones heart ministry broad curriculum teaches adults english employable skills entrepreneurship business finance practical life skills approximately 1000 students enroll year classes refuge amp hope youth refuge amp hope enjoy spending time youth program directors haryet allono well founders directors jade shelah acker refugees flock ministry often bring children children arrive unaccompanied somehow children kept coming office recalled haryet hamony handled centers finances time called youth office got less done160 talked jade shelah decided program youth afternoons said hamony youth director would finance morning youth group afternoon since weve never looked back youth meet every day school giving safe place social network 80 involved hamony said range age 12 24 different people different countries somalia south sudan sudan ethiopia eritrea congo create harmonythey end calling brother sister jacob esau liked found kept going back figured better hanging bars instead loitering around street idle thought dont come volunteer esau said eventually jacob esau started working every day volunteers youth department especially like help younger refugees soon studying bible learning god hamony160 esau friend discuss faith refuge amp hope said please spare time god try know god esau remembered wasnt even interested learning bible thats helping im closer god boys also struck way among youth natural enemies accepted ethnic groups war homelands worked sidebyside160 different people different countries somalia south sudan sudan ethiopia eritrea congo esau said wonderful find muslim learning bible find christian wants know islam create harmony place end calling brother sister esau said jacob esau volunteer help organize many programs events youth department sponsors childrens camp talent show music cultural dances bible studies even presentation genderbased violence twins also operate small popcornselling project may huge amount money esau said pays school fees one elementary child160 life youth group many ways hamony said twins lot younger youth really look transformative project department conducts annual peace conference youth many ethnic groups nations spend several days retreat learning tolerance reconciliation peacemaking results powerful moving hamony said thank god directors organization uganda organization wasnt dont know would right twins encountered ethnic strife discrimination whole lives youth group redefined peace home find hope jacob said people encourage feel like home last year youth department became home ways one still place live twins started sleeping youth office160 hamony found sleeping office looked way couldnt kick said learn alone family place stay someone live way said shelah acker heard twins sleeping onsite called office find whole story initially twins scared would back street instead shelah cbf personnel found jacob esau place stay know might pretty place least somewhere put heads jacob said shelah acker cofounder director refuge amp hope always ready listen others hasnt solved problems course even existence handtomouth eat esau said sometimes dont eat take water jacob esau still bear emotional scars violence racism experienced father north sudanese man dark skin typical arab population mother south sudanese ethnic tradition linked christianized central africa even christian name jacob said encountered racist hatred dark skin consider color arab even name jacob take enemy boys especially jacob known despair haunting thoughts past violence witnessed cause jacob question purpose life160 around youth refuge amp hope jacob esau find antidote worlds hate twins many others youth department respite escape harsh realities refugee life pain past struggles today160 place forget negative memories continue future jacob explained160 night young people go separate ways160 start recalling bad memories jacob said parents mom one hold trying survive jacob way youth would never leave center wish beds quipped could pass time talking fun interacting laughing forget nightmare went jacob esau speak refuge amp hope even separate interviews twins sound like echoes thank god wonderful place refuge amp hope esau said place feels like home shelah like mother jade like dad thank god directors organization uganda jacob said organization wasnt dont know would right jacob esau part newlydeveloped mens ministry refuge amp hope tightknit group provides safe place express emotions vulnerable receive psychological support counseling twins probably saved lives fleeing south sudan lost family lot although managed graduate high school uganda lost chance continue education jacobs spirit brightens little talks educational ambitions biology chemistry agriculture hopes becoming scientist doctor said actually brilliant even twin brother knows would like go college know without funding chances slim public health biotechnology still believe knowledge jacob said time goes dreams start fading away one help education pray one day god make god sends good sponsor support education go back pursue dream160 esau dreams career diplomacy working international organization helps youth want international relations passion lead people said160 catch22 untrained immigrant job market esau said job pays enough allow save college would require college degree160 find hope people encourage feel like home despite esau isnt making excuses know god strength make circumstance stop working towards achieving goals twins differ someday returning south sudan jacob said doesnt plan ever go home prays god protect family there160 hope one day god reunite us pray one day shall meet whether heaven elsewhere esau also prays family optimistic returning homeland believe god them160 growing south sudan beautiful said im proud south sudanese one day peace comes shall go back make south sudan better place people next generation160 give future hope children young people fleeing violence160give support cbf field personnel around world serve share gods love160 give today wwwcbfnetpresence watch video story jacob esau learn ways cbf field personnel cultivating beloved community wwwcbfnetbelovedcommunity
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<p>BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck has an ethical dilemma.</p>
<p>It prides itself on making products that improve peoples' lives. But one is helping put people to death.</p>
<p>Convicted killer Benny Joe Stevens was executed Tuesday in Mississippi's Parchman State Penitentiary with a lethal injection of the anesthetic pentobarbital made by Lundbeck.</p>
<p>Denmark, like the rest of the European Union, is officially opposed to the death penalty. Lundbeck spokesman Anders Schroll said the company holds that position in the Danish headquarters as well as in its American office.</p>
<p>"This is a misuse of our product," Schroll said. "We are in an ethical dilemma where we are opposed to the use of our medication for capital punishment while at the same time we want to make sure that patients who benefit from our medication get access to it."</p>
<p>Pentobarbital is also used in the treatment of seizures in humans and in anesthesia and euthanasia of animals. Only Lundbeck still manufactures the drug for purchase in the United States. Schroll provided letters from doctors urging the company not to withdraw the 50 million doses of the drug sold each year.</p>
<p>For its part, Schroll said Lundbeck has sent letters to prisons in 11 states in recent months demanding they cease using pentobarbital as part of the lethal injection "cocktail" because "this is just not what we stand for" he said. The Danish foreign ministry has pursued the matter through its contacts. No prison has responded. In fact, more and more states are intending to use the drug, with Virginia, the secondmost-active death-penalty state, announcing a switch just this week, following the lead execution state, Texas, earlier this month.</p>
<p>The mid-sized Danish company is left in this "conundrum," as Schroll put it, because other businesses have put an end to their products' use in executions. Sodium thiopental was used as the requisite sedative in the lethal mix by all but one of the 36 death-penalty states until very recently. The only U.S. maker of sodium thiopental, Hospira, started running short in summer 2010 and stopped making it altogether in January when it moved its manufacturing facility to Italy, which forbade using it for executions.</p>
<p>The difficulty in obtaining sodium thiopental led to a mad scramble by institutions to obtain it, an effort that in some cases involved the Food and Drug Administration, which had to bypass certain regulations so it could be imported from Britain, where a company called Dream Pharma operated out of a driving school. The desperation of prison authorities and dodgy practices came to light in documents obtained by the <a href="http://www.aclunc.org/issues/criminal_justice/death_penalty/cdcr%27s_december_8,_2010_response_to_aclu_public_records_act_request.shtml#April72011" type="external">American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California</a> and the London-based human rights group <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/investigations/deathrow/executiondrugs" type="external">Reprieve</a>.</p>
<p>The British government late last year put an emergency export ban on sodium thiopental, after being sued by Reprieve. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has now seized stockpiles of sodium thiopental due to concerns raised about the legality of its import.</p>
<p>But there are also concerns about whether the drug made by Dream Pharma actually worked. The mother of executed Georgia inmate Brandon Rhode came to Europe recently to share the story of what she believes was the agonizing death of her son last year due to defective sodium thiopental. A lethal-injection expert said Brandon's eyes remained open during his execution, indicating the sedative didn't work properly. Patches Rhode pleaded with the British government to extend the emergency ban on the drug, saying U.S. authorities had "not only killed Brandon but tortured him - . I beg [you] to keep this torture from happening to anyone else."</p>
<p>Last month Britain added pentobarbital along with two other lethal-injection drugs to the emergency export ban.</p>
<p>"We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances," said U.K. Business Secretary Vince Cable, "and are clear that British drugs should not be used to carry out lethal injections."</p>
<p>Patches Rhode is gratified. Speaking from her home in Mississippi this week, she said, "There's just no words than can get across how it feels. The fact that Europeans are going to work harder to help people in prison in the U.S. than the people in the U.S. are is just" - she paused cautiously - "it's shameful for the Americans - but it's great. It really is."</p>
<p>The British ban leaves Lundbeck as the sole supplier of the new lethal-injection barbiturate. Schroll says the company has done all it can to find a way to limit who can buy pentobarbital and for what purpose.</p>
<p>"That is not an option," he concluded, "because wholesalers have no ability to control the end use."</p>
<p>Reprieve's Maya Foa contends that if Lundbeck really wanted to remove itself from the death-penalty business, it could. Manufacturers find ways to do this all the time, she said.</p>
<p>"This doesn't need to be done through end-user contracts," Foa explained. "The obvious solution is that they use specialty pharmacies, which are precisely for distributing products that need to be restricted or which they want to monitor."</p>
<p>Schroll says Lundbeck has looked at that possibility and concluded it still wouldn't be effective.</p>
<p>"Licensed healthcare providers in the U.S. can use approved drugs in any way they deem appropriate," he said. He also hoped that "[Non-governmental organizations] would realize that pressure on us will not stop the misuse of the product or stop capital punishment and executions. The only effective way to stop this would be when states stop the death penalty."</p>
<p>Foa still believes the company can and should do more to "not be complicit." And she's actively working on coming up with a number of strategies by which Lundbeck and other pharmaceutical companies can, in her view, "make an active moral choice - or an economic choice, but then they must let it be known it's an economic choice."</p>
<p>But will limiting the availability of drugs used in executions achieve her - and the EU's - ultimate goal of ending capital punishment in America?</p>
<p>"It may not be that the person who sits on death row in Texas right now is going to be saved," said Foa, but by making the process more difficult for U.S. states to carry out, and by "putting this back into the public consciousness," she's convinced "people have to question it."</p>
<p>Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the spelling of a name.</p>
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brussels belgium danish pharmaceutical company lundbeck ethical dilemma prides making products improve peoples lives one helping put people death convicted killer benny joe stevens executed tuesday mississippis parchman state penitentiary lethal injection anesthetic pentobarbital made lundbeck denmark like rest european union officially opposed death penalty lundbeck spokesman anders schroll said company holds position danish headquarters well american office misuse product schroll said ethical dilemma opposed use medication capital punishment time want make sure patients benefit medication get access pentobarbital also used treatment seizures humans anesthesia euthanasia animals lundbeck still manufactures drug purchase united states schroll provided letters doctors urging company withdraw 50 million doses drug sold year part schroll said lundbeck sent letters prisons 11 states recent months demanding cease using pentobarbital part lethal injection cocktail stand said danish foreign ministry pursued matter contacts prison responded fact states intending use drug virginia secondmostactive deathpenalty state announcing switch week following lead execution state texas earlier month midsized danish company left conundrum schroll put businesses put end products use executions sodium thiopental used requisite sedative lethal mix one 36 deathpenalty states recently us maker sodium thiopental hospira started running short summer 2010 stopped making altogether january moved manufacturing facility italy forbade using executions difficulty obtaining sodium thiopental led mad scramble institutions obtain effort cases involved food drug administration bypass certain regulations could imported britain company called dream pharma operated driving school desperation prison authorities dodgy practices came light documents obtained american civil liberties union northern california londonbased human rights group reprieve british government late last year put emergency export ban sodium thiopental sued reprieve us drug enforcement agency seized stockpiles sodium thiopental due concerns raised legality import also concerns whether drug made dream pharma actually worked mother executed georgia inmate brandon rhode came europe recently share story believes agonizing death son last year due defective sodium thiopental lethalinjection expert said brandons eyes remained open execution indicating sedative didnt work properly patches rhode pleaded british government extend emergency ban drug saying us authorities killed brandon tortured beg keep torture happening anyone else last month britain added pentobarbital along two lethalinjection drugs emergency export ban oppose death penalty circumstances said uk business secretary vince cable clear british drugs used carry lethal injections patches rhode gratified speaking home mississippi week said theres words get across feels fact europeans going work harder help people prison us people us paused cautiously shameful americans great really british ban leaves lundbeck sole supplier new lethalinjection barbiturate schroll says company done find way limit buy pentobarbital purpose option concluded wholesalers ability control end use reprieves maya foa contends lundbeck really wanted remove deathpenalty business could manufacturers find ways time said doesnt need done enduser contracts foa explained obvious solution use specialty pharmacies precisely distributing products need restricted want monitor schroll says lundbeck looked possibility concluded still wouldnt effective licensed healthcare providers us use approved drugs way deem appropriate said also hoped nongovernmental organizations would realize pressure us stop misuse product stop capital punishment executions effective way stop would states stop death penalty foa still believes company complicit shes actively working coming number strategies lundbeck pharmaceutical companies view make active moral choice economic choice must let known economic choice limiting availability drugs used executions achieve eus ultimate goal ending capital punishment america may person sits death row texas right going saved said foa making process difficult us states carry putting back public consciousness shes convinced people question editors note story updated correct spelling name
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<p>At 9:35 on a Tuesday morning in June, the windowless waiting room in the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Woodlawn office was already crowded. All the brown chairs were taken, and women were lined up on both sides of the large room, looking tired and annoyed, waiting to see their welfare caseworkers.</p>
<p>The office, at 915 E. 63rd St., was just as crowded as it was five years ago, when a sweeping new federal welfare reform package pushed recipients to work and set a 60-month time limit for getting cash benefits. As a key component of the legislation, states were allowed to design their own welfare programs.</p>
<p>Moving into welfare reform’s critical fifth anniversary this July, Illinois’ rolls are down 73 percent, leaving 50,712 cases as of June 2002.</p>
<p>But 77 percent of these remaining cases are in Cook County, up from 65 percent in 1997, according to an analysis of Human Services data by The Chicago Reporter. The statewide caseload also has become increasingly African American, with black recipients making up 74 percent of the rolls, compared with 62 percent five years ago.</p>
<p>Figuring out how to help these women off the rolls will be the next task of state and federal lawmakers reauthorizing welfare reform this year.</p>
<p>It probably won’t be easy. Human Services officials, social service agencies, experts and the recipients themselves say a combination of factors have left so many black women from the state’s most urban area on the rolls.</p>
<p>Many live in impoverished areas where they haven’t had access to good education, jobs or, if needed, emotional help or treatment for mental illness and drug addiction. Also, studies show black welfare recipients often face discrimination, both from employers and welfare caseworkers.</p>
<p>John Donahue, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, has lobbied federal lawmakers to increase job training for welfare recipients and to promote poverty reduction for those who have left the rolls. He had a quick response to the Reporter’s findings.</p>
<p>“Race, race, race,” he said. “It is all about employability, and employability is all about race. Unless lawmakers take a good look at race and admit that there is a racial issue here, then we will not move closer to making this system fairer.”</p>
<p>Welfare caseworkers feel pressure to close cases any way they can, said J.R. Jordan, the director of community services at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, an 8,000-member congregation in south suburban Harvey.</p>
<p>“It [is] about a quota, not about getting a woman a job to earn a livable wage,” he said. “Women here resisted giving up their safety net.”</p>
<p>State Rep. Mary Flowers, a Democrat, said getting off welfare has been especially hard for women in her South Side district because many of them come from families who had lived by the rules of the old welfare system for generations.</p>
<p>“They had been told for 30 years, –˜You can’t get married, you can’t get education, you can’t get a job if you want any type of benefits,'” she said. “Now they have been told they should do these things. But it is going to take more than five years to convince them.”</p>
<p>Women can remain on welfare for good reasons. Illinois allows recipients to continue getting some aid, with the clock stopped on their 60-month time limits, until they earn three times the amount of their monthly public aid check. Full-time college students and victims of domestic violence can also get exemptions.</p>
<p>In June, 18 percent of all recipients were working, according to Human Services.</p>
<p>Moving remaining cases off the rolls “is a challenge, and we work on that everyday,” said Karan D. Maxson, the department’s director of transitional services. “We are trying to put the resources that are needed in the city.”</p>
<p>As welfare reform enters its next phase, the department plans to offer additional training to recipients who are working, as well as to struggling families who have moved off welfare, Maxson said. But its major responsibility is focusing on the hard cases left on the rolls.</p>
<p>In the past year, the department has hired social workers and counselors specializing in mental health, drug addiction and domestic violence to set up shop in Chicago welfare offices.</p>
<p>“Frankly, just the problems they face of living in pockets of poverty in the city are a lot more difficult to address than they are in smaller communities where every one knows everyone and they are more comfortable leaving their immediate community to find work,” Maxson said.</p>
<p>Work First</p>
<p>Although in some ways Illinois took a moderate approach to welfare reform, Human Services officials were strict in one aspect.</p>
<p>“We want you to work first and then get education and training. I don’t care where you get a job, even if it is at McDonald’s,” B.J. Walker, then the department’s community operations director, told the Reporter in 1999.</p>
<p>The state has required all recipients to participate in job searching, job training or job readiness programs, or risk having their benefits discontinued.</p>
<p>The process now works like this: When clients show up at welfare offices, caseworkers direct them to start looking for work on their own if they are deemed capable. But those with “barriers,” such as little work history or no high school diploma, are sent to social service agencies, which typically have eight weeks to get them jobs. The agencies receive extra state stipends if their clients stay in their jobs for 90 days.</p>
<p>St. Mark was one of about 25 Cook County agencies that took on the task. The village of Harvey, where the church is located, is 81 percent African American. Twenty percent of Harvey’s families live below the poverty line.</p>
<p>The church implemented a program to teach recipients how to fill out applications, go through interviews and act on the job. But church leaders quickly realized the economic troubles of the region would hinder their success. “There are no jobs around here, and it is hard to convince someone to take the bus for an hour and a half each way for a $6-an-hour job,” Jordan said.</p>
<p>Two years later, Jordan’s church stopped taking the state’s welfare reform money and discontinued the program.</p>
<p>The Chicago Urban League had a similar experience. The league’s president and chief executive officer, James W. Compton, said the state sent clients to the agency who had few skills.</p>
<p>Eight weeks wasn’t enough time to train welfare recipients, Compton said, so the league tried to convince clients to take service industry jobs. The women became discouraged by the low wages and tedious work, and quit, he said.</p>
<p>“It may be easier for agencies outside of Cook County to find people employment,” Compton said.</p>
<p>The experience of Compton and Jordan is backed by a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development. The center looked at where 480 recipients were working in 1997 and 1998 after being placed into jobs by Human Services. Recipients who lived in northern and western Cook County got jobs near their homes, but those who lived in the southern part of Chicago and Cook County traveled to find work.</p>
<p>Nearly half the new jobs created in the area over the past decade were in northwest Cook County and DuPage County, whereas affordable homes and rental housing is mostly in the western and southern parts of Chicago, southern Cook County and other parts of the region, according to an April report by Chicago Metropolis 2020, a nonprofit regional economic development organization based in Chicago.</p>
<p>Welfare recipients from these poor communities may also have a hard time because they haven’t had access to good education and lack basic skills.</p>
<p>Elsie Norberg and Erin Fountain, co-founders of the Institute for Positive Mental Health, a Chicago agency that prepares welfare recipients and others for jobs, were “floored” to be referred so many welfare clients who didn’t know how to read. A volunteer retired elementary school teacher helps their clients with basic reading and math.</p>
<p>In 1998, two of the city’s largest social service organizations, Catholic Charities and the Heartland Alliance, helped create an alternative to the state’s approach to try to reach the clients with the most barriers. Along with social service agencies in 33 other states, they began placing recipients in subsidized jobs for six months and helping them work through the issues that might cause them to lose their positions.</p>
<p>“Left on the rolls, you have African Americans that live in devastated communities and come from families that have been on welfare for multiple generations,” said Joe Antolin, executive director of Chicago Connections, a Heartland Alliance program. “They need job experience. They need to learn how to work.”</p>
<p>The transitional jobs program provides basic education classes, social workers, mentors and transportation assistance. Funded by the City of Chicago, it costs between $7,000 and $9,000 per client, compared with about $1,152 per client in the state’s Work First programs in the 2002 fiscal year. The program works with about 300 clients at a time, and 78 percent of those who completed it held onto their jobs for at least 180 days, Antolin said.</p>
<p>Bad Treatment</p>
<p>After years of trying to feed and clothe three children–”now ages 8 to 23–”on a public aid check of $377 a month, Jacqueline Trotter of Chicago knows better than most how hard it is to get off welfare.</p>
<p>After participating in St. Mark’s program, she was hired in 1999 to be the church’s receptionist. Before that, Trotter, who is black, found a job as a housekeeper at a south suburban hotel. She describes the experience as bitter.</p>
<p>“Even though we would do our work, the lady who was the boss was never polite to us,” she said. “She treated us so bad. She called us lazy and said [it was] no wonder no one wanted to hire us.”</p>
<p>Discrimination in the workplace and in welfare offices bears some of the blame for black women not getting off the rolls as quickly as white women, said Menachem Krajcer, the director of welfare programs at the Oakland, Calif.-based Applied Research Center, a public policy advocacy group.</p>
<p>He cited studies showing that blacks and Latinos at welfare offices aren’t offered the same level of services, such as child care or transportation assistance, as whites. For example, a 1998 survey of 2,166 Illinois families receiving welfare found that half of white recipients were referred to educational programs, compared with 18 percent of African Americans.</p>
<p>In addition, Chicago recipients reported having much more of a problem finding child care than people from other parts of the state, according to the survey, which was done by the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Chicago Urban League and a Chicago-based advocacy group called Work, Welfare and Families.</p>
<p>Phyllis Russell, executive director of Work, Welfare and Families, said Cook County caseworkers may offer fewer supports to families because they have higher caseloads than those downstate.</p>
<p>“In smaller communities it might be easier to work with families intensively,” she said. “And what we have found is that the better the case management, the better position the recipient is put in.”</p>
<p>Although what has happened in Illinois is an extreme example, across the nation welfare has increasingly become a black, Latino and urban issue, Krajcer said. The Applied Research Center and other grassroots groups convinced U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat, to introduce a bill that would provide $500 million to increase access to services for people of color who are receiving or seeking welfare. It would also force states to collect uniform information by race about case closings and openings.</p>
<p>Chicago Democratic representatives Luis V. Gutierrez, Rod R. Blagojevich, Danny K. Davis, Jesse L. Jackson Jr., Bobby L. Rush and Janice D. Schakowsky are all co-sponsors.</p>
<p>Changing Mindsets</p>
<p>Trotter said she was a victim of discrimination and knows other women who had trouble handling long commutes from their south suburban homes to their jobs. But she is convinced that attitude explains the difference between those who successfully got off welfare and those who did not.</p>
<p>With her youngest son no longer a baby and her oldest son almost a man, she felt it was time to get a job. “I was ready,” she said. “The people who dropped out of the program weren’t. They were comfortable staying on welfare.”</p>
<p>Vernette Hughes, a petite 30-year-old black woman who had collected public aid since she was 19, said she clung to welfare because of personal battles.</p>
<p>She was pregnant five times. She felt fat. She felt ugly. She had low self-esteem. She didn’t feel like anyone would want to hire her.</p>
<p>She admits she got discouraged easily. One placement program had her take the bus from her home in the South Side’s Washington Park neighborhood for an hour to a job that had already been filled. “I never went back to the program,” she said.</p>
<p>Another program got her a job taking care of the elderly in a nursing home, but she didn’t think working part-time at $5.75 an hour was worth her while. She also worked as a hotel housekeeper, but didn’t want to scrub toilets all day.</p>
<p>“If you don’t like the job, you are not going to stay on it,” she said.</p>
<p>Hughes finally got a job she liked three months ago, when the Heartland Alliance offered her a permanent position as an administrative assistant. She is now working on her high school equivalency diploma, and said she would like to get married and buy a house.</p>
<p>Hughes’ boss, Pamela Jones, an administrator, gets a sad, stern look on her face when she talks about why so many of the people left on the rolls are black. Most of the women who come into her office are African American, and many are struggling because they have not been exposed to work, said Jones, who is black.</p>
<p>“That is all they know how to do, is to sit at home and think of ways to get out of work,” she said. “It easily becomes a lifestyle.”</p>
<p>Norberg and Fountain said many of their clients at the Institute of Positive Mental Health struggle to be independent. Many are also deeply entrenched in difficult family situations. One client’s daughter, for instance, is about to have a baby. Another has a son who was killed. Another is getting beaten at home.</p>
<p>“Almost every day, one person here cries,” Norberg said.</p>
<p>Soap Watchers</p>
<p>Because of the state’s requirements, even those on the rolls who aren’t working have probably not been sitting back collecting their checks, said Margaret Stapleton, a staff attorney for the Chicago-based National Center on Poverty Law.</p>
<p>“There are no soap watchers anymore,” she said.</p>
<p>Those on welfare today are not necessarily the same people who were on when welfare reform began, she pointed out. The caseload is always in flux, with new cases being opened, closed and re-opened all the time.</p>
<p>Much of the decrease in the caseload stems from a decrease in case openings, she said. During 2001, an average of 3,393 cases opened every month, with minorities accounting for 80 percent of them. In the first year of welfare reform, the monthly average was 11,024; minorities accounted for 78 percent of them.</p>
<p>“The word on the street is that you can’t get welfare,” Stapleton said.</p>
<p>Illinois’ welfare program has been successful overall, said Dan A. Lewis, a Northwestern University professor who conducts an annual survey of families who were on welfare.</p>
<p>Lewis notes Illinois has taken a moderate approach to welfare reform, stopping the 60-month clock–”but not necessarily cutting off benefits–”as soon as recipients begin working at least 30 hours a week. People can also get benefits such as child care assistance until they make more than half the state’s median income of $24,000 a year.</p>
<p>And, in the last year, Illinois has become even more flexible, creating more opportunities for people to remain on the rolls for legitimate reasons. Victims of domestic violence and full-time college students with grade point averages of at least 2.5 can now stop their clocks.</p>
<p>Felicia Morgan, 23, is one of 1,831 recipients taking advantage of the provision.</p>
<p>But Morgan, a sociology major at Chicago State University, bemoans the fact that her clock ticks during summer break. The same is true if she goes to school part time. Human Services officials recently told her she had used 31 months of her eligibility.</p>
<p>Still, she is grateful to get benefits. She plans to be done with the welfare system for good once she graduates–”and never again step into the dark, stuffy Woodlawn office.</p>
<p>“They can say goodbye to me,” she said.</p>
<p>Contributing: Janelle Frost, Priya Khatkhate and Jocelyn Prince helped research this article.</p>
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935 tuesday morning june windowless waiting room illinois department human services woodlawn office already crowded brown chairs taken women lined sides large room looking tired annoyed waiting see welfare caseworkers office 915 e 63rd st crowded five years ago sweeping new federal welfare reform package pushed recipients work set 60month time limit getting cash benefits key component legislation states allowed design welfare programs moving welfare reforms critical fifth anniversary july illinois rolls 73 percent leaving 50712 cases june 2002 77 percent remaining cases cook county 65 percent 1997 according analysis human services data chicago reporter statewide caseload also become increasingly african american black recipients making 74 percent rolls compared 62 percent five years ago figuring help women rolls next task state federal lawmakers reauthorizing welfare reform year probably wont easy human services officials social service agencies experts recipients say combination factors left many black women states urban area rolls many live impoverished areas havent access good education jobs needed emotional help treatment mental illness drug addiction also studies show black welfare recipients often face discrimination employers welfare caseworkers john donahue executive director chicago coalition homeless lobbied federal lawmakers increase job training welfare recipients promote poverty reduction left rolls quick response reporters findings race race race said employability employability race unless lawmakers take good look race admit racial issue move closer making system fairer welfare caseworkers feel pressure close cases way said jr jordan director community services st mark missionary baptist church 8000member congregation south suburban harvey quota getting woman job earn livable wage said women resisted giving safety net state rep mary flowers democrat said getting welfare especially hard women south side district many come families lived rules old welfare system generations told 30 years cant get married cant get education cant get job want type benefits said told things going take five years convince women remain welfare good reasons illinois allows recipients continue getting aid clock stopped 60month time limits earn three times amount monthly public aid check fulltime college students victims domestic violence also get exemptions june 18 percent recipients working according human services moving remaining cases rolls challenge work everyday said karan maxson departments director transitional services trying put resources needed city welfare reform enters next phase department plans offer additional training recipients working well struggling families moved welfare maxson said major responsibility focusing hard cases left rolls past year department hired social workers counselors specializing mental health drug addiction domestic violence set shop chicago welfare offices frankly problems face living pockets poverty city lot difficult address smaller communities every one knows everyone comfortable leaving immediate community find work maxson said work first although ways illinois took moderate approach welfare reform human services officials strict one aspect want work first get education training dont care get job even mcdonalds bj walker departments community operations director told reporter 1999 state required recipients participate job searching job training job readiness programs risk benefits discontinued process works like clients show welfare offices caseworkers direct start looking work deemed capable barriers little work history high school diploma sent social service agencies typically eight weeks get jobs agencies receive extra state stipends clients stay jobs 90 days st mark one 25 cook county agencies took task village harvey church located 81 percent african american twenty percent harveys families live poverty line church implemented program teach recipients fill applications go interviews act job church leaders quickly realized economic troubles region would hinder success jobs around hard convince someone take bus hour half way 6anhour job jordan said two years later jordans church stopped taking states welfare reform money discontinued program chicago urban league similar experience leagues president chief executive officer james w compton said state sent clients agency skills eight weeks wasnt enough time train welfare recipients compton said league tried convince clients take service industry jobs women became discouraged low wages tedious work quit said may easier agencies outside cook county find people employment compton said experience compton jordan backed study university illinois chicagos center urban economic development center looked 480 recipients working 1997 1998 placed jobs human services recipients lived northern western cook county got jobs near homes lived southern part chicago cook county traveled find work nearly half new jobs created area past decade northwest cook county dupage county whereas affordable homes rental housing mostly western southern parts chicago southern cook county parts region according april report chicago metropolis 2020 nonprofit regional economic development organization based chicago welfare recipients poor communities may also hard time havent access good education lack basic skills elsie norberg erin fountain cofounders institute positive mental health chicago agency prepares welfare recipients others jobs floored referred many welfare clients didnt know read volunteer retired elementary school teacher helps clients basic reading math 1998 two citys largest social service organizations catholic charities heartland alliance helped create alternative states approach try reach clients barriers along social service agencies 33 states began placing recipients subsidized jobs six months helping work issues might cause lose positions left rolls african americans live devastated communities come families welfare multiple generations said joe antolin executive director chicago connections heartland alliance program need job experience need learn work transitional jobs program provides basic education classes social workers mentors transportation assistance funded city chicago costs 7000 9000 per client compared 1152 per client states work first programs 2002 fiscal year program works 300 clients time 78 percent completed held onto jobs least 180 days antolin said bad treatment years trying feed clothe three childrennow ages 8 23on public aid check 377 month jacqueline trotter chicago knows better hard get welfare participating st marks program hired 1999 churchs receptionist trotter black found job housekeeper south suburban hotel describes experience bitter even though would work lady boss never polite us said treated us bad called us lazy said wonder one wanted hire us discrimination workplace welfare offices bears blame black women getting rolls quickly white women said menachem krajcer director welfare programs oakland califbased applied research center public policy advocacy group cited studies showing blacks latinos welfare offices arent offered level services child care transportation assistance whites example 1998 survey 2166 illinois families receiving welfare found half white recipients referred educational programs compared 18 percent african americans addition chicago recipients reported much problem finding child care people parts state according survey done university illinois chicago chicago urban league chicagobased advocacy group called work welfare families phyllis russell executive director work welfare families said cook county caseworkers may offer fewer supports families higher caseloads downstate smaller communities might easier work families intensively said found better case management better position recipient put although happened illinois extreme example across nation welfare increasingly become black latino urban issue krajcer said applied research center grassroots groups convinced us rep eddie bernice johnson texas democrat introduce bill would provide 500 million increase access services people color receiving seeking welfare would also force states collect uniform information race case closings openings chicago democratic representatives luis v gutierrez rod r blagojevich danny k davis jesse l jackson jr bobby l rush janice schakowsky cosponsors changing mindsets trotter said victim discrimination knows women trouble handling long commutes south suburban homes jobs convinced attitude explains difference successfully got welfare youngest son longer baby oldest son almost man felt time get job ready said people dropped program werent comfortable staying welfare vernette hughes petite 30yearold black woman collected public aid since 19 said clung welfare personal battles pregnant five times felt fat felt ugly low selfesteem didnt feel like anyone would want hire admits got discouraged easily one placement program take bus home south sides washington park neighborhood hour job already filled never went back program said another program got job taking care elderly nursing home didnt think working parttime 575 hour worth also worked hotel housekeeper didnt want scrub toilets day dont like job going stay said hughes finally got job liked three months ago heartland alliance offered permanent position administrative assistant working high school equivalency diploma said would like get married buy house hughes boss pamela jones administrator gets sad stern look face talks many people left rolls black women come office african american many struggling exposed work said jones black know sit home think ways get work said easily becomes lifestyle norberg fountain said many clients institute positive mental health struggle independent many also deeply entrenched difficult family situations one clients daughter instance baby another son killed another getting beaten home almost every day one person cries norberg said soap watchers states requirements even rolls arent working probably sitting back collecting checks said margaret stapleton staff attorney chicagobased national center poverty law soap watchers anymore said welfare today necessarily people welfare reform began pointed caseload always flux new cases opened closed reopened time much decrease caseload stems decrease case openings said 2001 average 3393 cases opened every month minorities accounting 80 percent first year welfare reform monthly average 11024 minorities accounted 78 percent word street cant get welfare stapleton said illinois welfare program successful overall said dan lewis northwestern university professor conducts annual survey families welfare lewis notes illinois taken moderate approach welfare reform stopping 60month clockbut necessarily cutting benefitsas soon recipients begin working least 30 hours week people also get benefits child care assistance make half states median income 24000 year last year illinois become even flexible creating opportunities people remain rolls legitimate reasons victims domestic violence fulltime college students grade point averages least 25 stop clocks felicia morgan 23 one 1831 recipients taking advantage provision morgan sociology major chicago state university bemoans fact clock ticks summer break true goes school part time human services officials recently told used 31 months eligibility still grateful get benefits plans done welfare system good graduatesand never step dark stuffy woodlawn office say goodbye said contributing janelle frost priya khatkhate jocelyn prince helped research article
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<p>LIMA, Peru — In Latin America’s latest challenge to Washington’s “war on drugs,” Ecuador has quietly begun releasing thousands of convicted cocaine smugglers.</p>
<p>The move is a result of the country’s <a href="http://www.justicia.gob.ec/codigo-organico-integral-penal-el-impulso-para-una-justicia-moderna-y-agil/" type="external">new criminal law</a>, which took effect Aug. 10. It treats “drug mules” who commit the low-profit, high-risk offense more as vulnerable people exploited by cartels than as hardened criminals.</p>
<p>The reform retroactively applies heavily reduced jail sentences to those already convicted of attempting to transport relatively small amounts of drugs — often hidden dangerously inside their own bodies — out of the Latin American country.</p>
<p>Around 500 mules have already been freed and at least another 2,000 are expected to follow, says Jorge Paladines, national coordinator of the Public Defender’s Office. The sentence reduction is not automatic and can only happen after a court hearing, which the prisoner has to request.</p>
<p>“There is a policy of seeing mules as victims of the drug trade,” Paladines told GlobalPost. “I don’t like using the term ‘sentence reduction,’ because was their sentence fair to start with? This is really about sentence proportionality.”</p>
<p>This is hardly the first time Ecuador’s populist leftist president, Rafael Correa, has defied the United States. In the past, he’s granted asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and booted the Drug Enforcement Administration out of the country.</p>
<p>But this time, Correa has an unusually personal reason for his stance: His father was imprisoned in the US for three years in the 1970s for being a drug courier.</p>
<p>Although he usually avoids the subject, Correa has revealed he had a “ <a href="http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2007/04/07QUITO885.html" type="external">difficult childhood</a>” as a result.</p>
<p>Ecuador actually produces virtually no cocaine. But it is a major stop-off point for much of the coca-derived powder produced by its Andean neighbors, especially Bolivia and Peru.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/140220/ecuador-cocaine-submarine-route-drug-war" type="external">Ecuador, cocaine’s stopover on the way to market</a></p>
<p>Under its previous Narcotic and Psychoactive Substances Law, anyone caught smuggling up to 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of drugs received a mandatory sentence of between eight and 12 years — even if the actual amount was miniscule.</p>
<p>Under the new law, carrying less than 50 grams (1.8 ounces) gets you two to six months in jail, while the penalty for someone transporting up to 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) is between one and three years.</p>
<p>The harshest sentence of 10-13 years is reserved only for those moving more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds).</p>
<p>Most mules are caught with between 1 and 2 kilograms. They conceal it in their luggage or often in their own bodies, crammed into tiny capsules and then swallowed or, for women, stuffed into the vagina. If the capsules leak, the smuggler can die from a massive overdose.</p>
<p>Experts say the micro-traffickers tend to come from poor families, often with limited education, and are easily preyed upon by cartels, whose members mislead them about the risks. Payment for a single run is thought to vary from $5,000 to as little as $1,000.</p>
<p>“The objective [of this law] has been to decriminalize poverty,” says Gerardo Esteva Vallejo, a lawyer from Spain who has been visiting Ecuador since 2007 to <a href="http://www.presosenelextranjero.com/" type="external">provide legal support</a> for Spanish prisoners there. “This is a crime that, of course, is only carried out by people of limited resources.”</p>
<p>There are currently 85 Spanish mules in Ecuadorean jails and another 24 convicted in the South American nation but now serving their sentences in their homeland, Esteva Vallejo says. Their numbers have swelled in recent years with Spain gripped by economic crisis, including a ruinous unemployment rate that nearly hit 27 percent last year.</p>
<p>Many return to Spain “mentally and physically broken” after their time in harsh prison conditions, he adds.</p>
<p>Paquita, an inmate at a women's prison in Quito, spends time with her son inside her cell. (Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
<p>Yet experts say most low-level traffickers behind bars in Ecuador and other Latin American nations are locals. They’re often women, including sex workers, single mothers and drug addicts who are desperate for cash.</p>
<p>According to the International Drug Policy Consortium, the number of women behind bars in this region <a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64663568/library/IDPC-Briefing-Paper_Women-in-Latin-America_ENGLISH.pdf" type="external">almost doubled</a> from 40,000 in 2006 to 74,000 in 2011, with around 70 percent on drug charges.</p>
<p>Hannah Hetzer, Latin America expert at the Drug Policy Alliance, a New York-based group that advocates for looser anti-narcotics laws, welcomed Ecuador’s new “fairer sentencing” that would allow convicted mules to “rejoin their families.”</p>
<p>“This is an important step towards fixing a broken criminal justice system that often falls most unjustly on the most marginalized,” she added.</p>
<p>Ecuador’s jam-packed jails — estimated to hold <a href="http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/ecuador" type="external">double their intended capacity</a> — can definitely use the relief.</p>
<p>Overcrowded penitentiaries are a serious problem in much of Latin America. That partly stems from the police’s hyper focus on drug arrests since countries here adopted United Nations treaties and succumbed to US pressure to lock up more narco-traffickers, according to <a href="http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/downloadable/Drug%20Policy/2011/TNIWOLA-Systems_Overload-def.pdf" type="external">Systems Overload</a>, a report on the region’s prison crises. Washington is even accused of conditioning economic aid and trade benefits on governments’ willingness to play by its drug war rules, the report says.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/series/latin-america-prison-problems" type="external">Encarcelacion: Latin America’s fatal prison problem</a></p>
<p>Some of the region’s leaders have been trying to turn the situation around.</p>
<p>In 2008 and 2009, Correa pardoned more than 2,000 convicted drug smugglers. But the new criminal code enshrines reduced sentences in law rather than leaving them to the whim of the president.</p>
<p>Correa has called the previous law <a href="http://www.eluniverso.com/2011/07/24/1/1355/mulas-traficantes-drogas-trato-distinto-nuevo-codigo-penal.html" type="external">"barbaric"</a> for conflating small time possession offenders with major traffickers.</p>
<p>“I know where that drug law came from: imposed by the gringos at the beginning of the 1990s and accepted submissively by [Ecuador’s] appeaser governments [concerned they would lose their] visa to the United States,” the president said in 2011.</p>
<p>America’s narco evolution</p>
<p>Ironically, Washington actually appears to be subtly backpedalling from the hard-line approach President Richard Nixon unveiled in 1971. US officials have called for an <a href="http://www.coha.org/misplaced-priorities-an-analysis-of-a-discussion-on-u-s-drug-policy/" type="external">end to the term “war on drugs</a>,” to treat the issue as a public health problem, and to reduce sentences for low-level drug dealers.</p>
<p>Outgoing US Attorney General Eric Holder has complained about America’s “overreliance on incarceration.” “It comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate,” he <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140313/us-backs-less-jail-time-small-time-traffickers" type="external">said</a> in March.</p>
<p>In an email to GlobalPost, the US Embassy in Quito said its officials are “aware” of the South American country’s legal reform but did not comment on it. Officials are informing the handful of US citizens in prisons there so they can apply to have their sentences reviewed, the embassy added.</p>
<p>Ecuador’s Interior Ministry did not answer requests for comment, and officials haven’t made public exactly how many prisoners could benefit from the reform.</p>
<p>Paladines, the Public Defender’s Office coordinator, says the country currently has 6,700 people in prison convicted of drug offenses, around 5,600 of whom have been convicted for possession. “Not many of them are drug lords,” Paladines adds.</p>
<p>But how could someone make such a bad judgment as to attempt to board an international flight with illegal drugs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars?</p>
<p>Esteva Vallejo, the Spanish lawyer, responds: “I ask the same question. The truth is they [the mules] don’t really understand the potential repercussions of what they are doing.”</p>
<p>“They are typically people who have not traveled abroad before, and some may think that in developing nations, the police and officials in the airport may not be that well trained or equipped.”</p>
<p>“Of course, the gangsters encourage that and lie to them and tell them they won’t get caught.”</p>
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lima peru latin americas latest challenge washingtons war drugs ecuador quietly begun releasing thousands convicted cocaine smugglers move result countrys new criminal law took effect aug 10 treats drug mules commit lowprofit highrisk offense vulnerable people exploited cartels hardened criminals reform retroactively applies heavily reduced jail sentences already convicted attempting transport relatively small amounts drugs often hidden dangerously inside bodies latin american country around 500 mules already freed least another 2000 expected follow says jorge paladines national coordinator public defenders office sentence reduction automatic happen court hearing prisoner request policy seeing mules victims drug trade paladines told globalpost dont like using term sentence reduction sentence fair start really sentence proportionality hardly first time ecuadors populist leftist president rafael correa defied united states past hes granted asylum wikileaks founder julian assange booted drug enforcement administration country time correa unusually personal reason stance father imprisoned us three years 1970s drug courier although usually avoids subject correa revealed difficult childhood result ecuador actually produces virtually cocaine major stopoff point much cocaderived powder produced andean neighbors especially bolivia peru globalpost ecuador cocaines stopover way market previous narcotic psychoactive substances law anyone caught smuggling 20 kilograms 44 pounds drugs received mandatory sentence eight 12 years even actual amount miniscule new law carrying less 50 grams 18 ounces gets two six months jail penalty someone transporting 2 kilograms 44 pounds one three years harshest sentence 1013 years reserved moving 5 kilograms 11 pounds mules caught 1 2 kilograms conceal luggage often bodies crammed tiny capsules swallowed women stuffed vagina capsules leak smuggler die massive overdose experts say microtraffickers tend come poor families often limited education easily preyed upon cartels whose members mislead risks payment single run thought vary 5000 little 1000 objective law decriminalize poverty says gerardo esteva vallejo lawyer spain visiting ecuador since 2007 provide legal support spanish prisoners crime course carried people limited resources currently 85 spanish mules ecuadorean jails another 24 convicted south american nation serving sentences homeland esteva vallejo says numbers swelled recent years spain gripped economic crisis including ruinous unemployment rate nearly hit 27 percent last year many return spain mentally physically broken time harsh prison conditions adds paquita inmate womens prison quito spends time son inside cell rodrigo buendiaafpgetty images yet experts say lowlevel traffickers behind bars ecuador latin american nations locals theyre often women including sex workers single mothers drug addicts desperate cash according international drug policy consortium number women behind bars region almost doubled 40000 2006 74000 2011 around 70 percent drug charges hannah hetzer latin america expert drug policy alliance new yorkbased group advocates looser antinarcotics laws welcomed ecuadors new fairer sentencing would allow convicted mules rejoin families important step towards fixing broken criminal justice system often falls unjustly marginalized added ecuadors jampacked jails estimated hold double intended capacity definitely use relief overcrowded penitentiaries serious problem much latin america partly stems polices hyper focus drug arrests since countries adopted united nations treaties succumbed us pressure lock narcotraffickers according systems overload report regions prison crises washington even accused conditioning economic aid trade benefits governments willingness play drug war rules report says globalpost encarcelacion latin americas fatal prison problem regions leaders trying turn situation around 2008 2009 correa pardoned 2000 convicted drug smugglers new criminal code enshrines reduced sentences law rather leaving whim president correa called previous law barbaric conflating small time possession offenders major traffickers know drug law came imposed gringos beginning 1990s accepted submissively ecuadors appeaser governments concerned would lose visa united states president said 2011 americas narco evolution ironically washington actually appears subtly backpedalling hardline approach president richard nixon unveiled 1971 us officials called end term war drugs treat issue public health problem reduce sentences lowlevel drug dealers outgoing us attorney general eric holder complained americas overreliance incarceration comes human moral costs impossible calculate said march email globalpost us embassy quito said officials aware south american countrys legal reform comment officials informing handful us citizens prisons apply sentences reviewed embassy added ecuadors interior ministry answer requests comment officials havent made public exactly many prisoners could benefit reform paladines public defenders office coordinator says country currently 6700 people prison convicted drug offenses around 5600 convicted possession many drug lords paladines adds could someone make bad judgment attempt board international flight illegal drugs worth hundreds thousands dollars esteva vallejo spanish lawyer responds ask question truth mules dont really understand potential repercussions typically people traveled abroad may think developing nations police officials airport may well trained equipped course gangsters encourage lie tell wont get caught
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<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>A well-known black Southern Baptist preacher says he believes the election of President Obama may have been foretold in Scripture.</p>
<p>Dwight McKissic, <a href="http://www.cornerstonetx.com/content.cfm?id=149&amp;member_id=17" type="external">pastor</a> of the 3,000-member Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, and a former trustee at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said in a <a href="http://dwightmckissic.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/from-king-to-obama-a-fulfillment-of-jewish-prophecy/" type="external">blog</a> celebrating next Monday’s Martin Luther King holiday that he believes the prominence of African-American leaders like King, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Fred Luter, the first black president of the Southern Baptist Convention, are no accident.</p>
<p>“My thesis is:&#160;A study of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament regarding Noah’s sons and their descendants will indicate that the children of Ham would experience political and spiritual empowerment and renewal before the coming of the Lord within a Judeo-Christian context,” McKissic wrote.</p>
<p>“Are we in the midst of witnessing, ‘Princes coming out of Egypt, and the Ethiopian stretching out their hand to God?’” he asked, quoting <a href="http://biblehub.com/parallel/psalms/68-31.htm" type="external">Psalm 68:31</a>. “Could President Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Pastor Fred Luter, Justice Clarence Thomas, Ms. Condoleezza Rice, Lecrae and Kofi Annan be partially fulfilling this verse (to name just a few)?”</p>
<p>McKissic recalled receiving an e-mail from a white Southern Baptist pastor after the election of Barack Obama suggesting that if white Southerners had known what was coming they would “have picked their own [expletive] cotton.”</p>
<p>“Africans were brought to the United States to pick cotton, not to pick presidents, and certainly not to be elected president,” McKissic said. “If the slave masters realized that Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Richard Allen, Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King and many of the men and women who voted for Sen. Obama were in those slave ships, the ships would not have been allowed to leave the docks of West Africa.”</p>
<p>McKissic said he agrees with the late radio Bible preacher <a href="http://www.ttb.org/contentpages/21718/e9774b0a-1ed5-49b7-9509-af9f7f7a2a46/AboutUs.aspx" type="external">J. Vernon McGee</a>’s reading of Genesis Chapter 10’s genealogies of Noah’s three sons as foretelling the development of the races of mankind in history.</p>
<p>McGee believed the world’s first great civilization, coming out of <a href="http://www.discoveringegypt.com/" type="external">Africa</a>, represented descendants of Noah’s son Ham. That lasted until the time of Abraham, introduced in Genesis 11 in the lineage of Shem, followed by the ascendancy of Western civilization underway during Jesus’ lifetime.</p>
<p>“Apparently, we are currently in the period in which the white man has come to the front,” McKissic quoted from McGee’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Thru-Bible-Vernon-McGee/dp/078520279X" type="external">Thru the Bible</a> commentary on Genesis, published by Thomas Nelson in 1981. “It seems to me that all three are demonstrating that regardless of whether they are a son of Ham or a son of Shem or a son of Japheth, they are incapable of ruling this world.”</p>
<p>McKissic said he began reflecting on McGee’s theory when it appeared possible that then-Sen. Obama could be elected <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama" type="external">president</a> in 2008.</p>
<p>“Understanding that the sons of Ham ruled 2,000 years, the sons of Shem ruled 2,000 years and for the past 2,000 years the sons of Japheth were ruling, it triggered the question in my mind, what would happen at the end of 2,000 years of European/Japhetic Rule?” McKissic wrote. “I thought of only two possibilities: (1) The return of Jesus; or (2) The return of a son of Ham to political leadership.”</p>
<p>McKissic said President Obama “is undeniably a son of Ham, or Africa.” He recalled one gathering of an African-American Baptist convention years ago where the keynote speaker opened his address with the words, “The sons of Ham have gathered.”</p>
<p>McKissic said many find the idea of a direct African descendant being elected president of the United States “staggering and astounding to many.”</p>
<p>“Many of us disagree vehemently with his abortion and same-sex marriage policies, but we must admit he was God’s sovereign choice for this position,” McKissic said. “He certainly provides poetic justice for America’s racist past.”</p>
<p>“Many Americans of all colors and political persuasions thought that they would never live to see the day that the son or daughter of Africa would become president of the United States of America,” McKissic said. “I was no different.”</p>
<p>“Yet, in the back of my mind, I was cognizant of McGhee’s view of racial history, and I was also aware of Psalm 68:31,” he said. “Therefore, it was not totally out of the realm of possibility from my perspective.”</p>
<p>“When the Bible speaks of Ethiopia, Egypt and the land of Ham, it is talking about the entire continent of Africa,” McKissic explained. “On the earliest maps, the entire continent would be labeled by one of those three names.”</p>
<p>“In this obscure verse, God was showing David something,” McKissic said. “I’m not saying this with certainty, but it appears that David was saying that descendants of Africa would have a political impact beyond Africa. David said Princes shall ‘come out of’ Egypt or Africa. Africa would be their roots, but their ‘shoots’ would be elsewhere.”</p>
<p>“Perhaps this is the reason that Barack Obama’s dad is not from Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas or Tennessee,” McKissic speculated. “Who would have ever thought that America would have a president named with a Hebrew and African name: Barack Obama?”</p>
<p>“President Obama’s name and his dad are directly out of Kenya,” he said. “Kenya is just below Egypt and at one time Egypt engulfed that whole area. Princes, political leaders, kings, nobles and dignitaries will emanate from, or come directly out of Africa. They will have a political impact according to the Psalmist.”</p>
<p>McKissic noted that Martin Luther King said in an interview with BCC in 1960 that he believed America could have a black president in 40 years.</p>
<p>“He missed it by eight years,” McKissic said. “If Dr. King could see it, I believe the Hebrew writer of Psalms could also see it.”</p>
<p>McKissic isn’t the only high-profile Southern Baptist linking Obama with Bible prophecy. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, says in a new book that he doesn’t think the president is the Antichrist, but his policies may be setting the stage for that figure to arise in the near future.</p>
<p>Previous story:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Pastor: Obama opening door to Antichrist</a></p>
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bob allen wellknown black southern baptist preacher says believes election president obama may foretold scripture dwight mckissic pastor 3000member cornerstone baptist church arlington texas former trustee southwestern baptist theological seminary said blog celebrating next mondays martin luther king holiday believes prominence africanamerican leaders like king former secretary state condoleezza rice fred luter first black president southern baptist convention accident thesis is160a study hebrew bible new testament regarding noahs sons descendants indicate children ham would experience political spiritual empowerment renewal coming lord within judeochristian context mckissic wrote midst witnessing princes coming egypt ethiopian stretching hand god asked quoting psalm 6831 could president obama dr martin luther king jr pastor fred luter justice clarence thomas ms condoleezza rice lecrae kofi annan partially fulfilling verse name mckissic recalled receiving email white southern baptist pastor election barack obama suggesting white southerners known coming would picked expletive cotton africans brought united states pick cotton pick presidents certainly elected president mckissic said slave masters realized nat turner harriet tubman sojourner truth richard allen ralph abernathy martin luther king many men women voted sen obama slave ships ships would allowed leave docks west africa mckissic said agrees late radio bible preacher j vernon mcgees reading genesis chapter 10s genealogies noahs three sons foretelling development races mankind history mcgee believed worlds first great civilization coming africa represented descendants noahs son ham lasted time abraham introduced genesis 11 lineage shem followed ascendancy western civilization underway jesus lifetime apparently currently period white man come front mckissic quoted mcgees thru bible commentary genesis published thomas nelson 1981 seems three demonstrating regardless whether son ham son shem son japheth incapable ruling world mckissic said began reflecting mcgees theory appeared possible thensen obama could elected president 2008 understanding sons ham ruled 2000 years sons shem ruled 2000 years past 2000 years sons japheth ruling triggered question mind would happen end 2000 years europeanjaphetic rule mckissic wrote thought two possibilities 1 return jesus 2 return son ham political leadership mckissic said president obama undeniably son ham africa recalled one gathering africanamerican baptist convention years ago keynote speaker opened address words sons ham gathered mckissic said many find idea direct african descendant elected president united states staggering astounding many many us disagree vehemently abortion samesex marriage policies must admit gods sovereign choice position mckissic said certainly provides poetic justice americas racist past many americans colors political persuasions thought would never live see day son daughter africa would become president united states america mckissic said different yet back mind cognizant mcghees view racial history also aware psalm 6831 said therefore totally realm possibility perspective bible speaks ethiopia egypt land ham talking entire continent africa mckissic explained earliest maps entire continent would labeled one three names obscure verse god showing david something mckissic said im saying certainty appears david saying descendants africa would political impact beyond africa david said princes shall come egypt africa africa would roots shoots would elsewhere perhaps reason barack obamas dad alabama georgia arkansas tennessee mckissic speculated would ever thought america would president named hebrew african name barack obama president obamas name dad directly kenya said kenya egypt one time egypt engulfed whole area princes political leaders kings nobles dignitaries emanate come directly africa political impact according psalmist mckissic noted martin luther king said interview bcc 1960 believed america could black president 40 years missed eight years mckissic said dr king could see believe hebrew writer psalms could also see mckissic isnt highprofile southern baptist linking obama bible prophecy robert jeffress pastor first baptist church dallas says new book doesnt think president antichrist policies may setting stage figure arise near future previous story pastor obama opening door antichrist
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<p>California’s state and local governments could be hit with an increase of tens of millions to several hundred million dollars in annual health care costs if <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_46,_Medical_Malpractice_Lawsuits_Cap_and_Drug_Testing_of_Doctors_(2014)" type="external">Proposition 46</a> passes on Nov. 4. That was the <a href="http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/health/2014/Proposition-46-092914.pdf" type="external">warning</a> from California legislative analyst Ross Brown at a&#160; <a href="http://calchannel.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=7&amp;clip_id=2456" type="external">joint legislative committee informational hearing</a> on the initiative on Monday.</p>
<p>The proposition also would raise costs for private health care providers, Brown said. But he did not estimate a dollar amount. Several providers warned the costs would be significant enough to force them to reduce medical services, particularly for the state’s poorest residents.</p>
<p>The main cost driver in the initiative is the raising of the $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages for medical malpractice to match inflation. The cap was implemented by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Injury_Compensation_Reform_Act" type="external">Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act</a> in 1975. That means the cap&#160;would increase to about $1.1 million today, then rise even higher annually depending on future inflation.</p>
<p>Malpractice costs currently represent about 2&#160;percent of total annual health care spending in California. A 440 percent increase in the damages cap would force companies with health care&#160;either to pay increased premiums to insurance companies or pay more out-of-pocket if they are self-insured.</p>
<p>The two other major provisions of Prop. 46 – requiring providers to check the state’s prescription drug database and mandating drug testing of physicians – could result in offsetting costs and savings, according to Brown. For example, there would be additional costs for drug testing, but it might result in fewer instances of medical malpractice.</p>
<p>The first half of the three-hour hearing focused on emotional testimony from the proposition’s author, <a href="http://www.protectconsumerjustice.org/bob-pack-the-man-behind-californias-patient-safety-initiative.html" type="external">Bob Pack</a>, and others whose family members have been killed by medical malpractice.</p>
<p>Pack said his two children were killed and his wife injured when they were hit by a driver under the influence of prescription narcotics, mainly Vicodin. The woman’s drugs were provided by six doctors, none of whom was&#160;aware other doctors were writing prescriptions for the same woman.</p>
<p>To prevent that kind of “doctor shopping” by drug addicts, Pack lobbied the state Legislature to create the <a href="http://oag.ca.gov/cures-pdmp" type="external">Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System database</a>. But only about 30,000 doctors and pharmacists out of a total 200,000 in California are using it. Prop. 46 would require the remaining 170,000 to consult the database before prescribing or dispensing drugs for first-time users.</p>
<p>Gary Heller told the committee his wife Linda developed chronic neck pain after being rear-ended in an auto accident. A doctor prescribed a dangerous level of morphine sulfate, which led to her death after suffering for 32 days in the hospital.</p>
<p>The specialist subsequently was arrested for several DUIs, was in treatment programs and relapsed, Heller said.</p>
<p>“If Proposition 46 had been in, in my opinion, my wife’s doctor would have been caught before he negligently prescribed the drugs that caused her respiratory failure,” he said. “I believe the outcome was totally preventable. And that is something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life.”</p>
<p>Tammy Smick said her 20-year-old son Alex was prescribed a lethal combination of medications in an Orange County hospital. Ironically, Alex had checked himself into the same hospital to safely detox off prescription medications he had become addicted to after a back injury.</p>
<p>“Alex was one of up to 440,000 Americans who are killed every year because of preventable medical error,” she said. “But to me Alex is not merely a statistic, he’s my son. I am not fighting for money. I am fighting for justice and accountability. And in memory of my beloved son, I am fighting for change so that no others suffer the same devastation.”</p>
<p>Michelle Monserratt-Ramos’s fiancée died after a surgical mistake resulted in infection. His doctor has been arrested for possession of crack cocaine, she said, but is still practicing medicine. She could not get a lawyer to take the case due to the low cap on non-economic damages.</p>
<p>“They told us, ‘You absolutely have a case, but because of the [cap] we are sorry, but it would not be a good business decision to take Lloyd’s case,’” she said. “Believe me, you don’t ever want to hear that [your loved one’s] life or their death is a bad business decision. All any victim or their family wants is answers and to be able to hold a negligent doctor accountable in order to save someone else’s life.”</p>
<p>The opposition to Prop. 46 was led by Farrah McDaid Ting, representing the <a href="http://www.counties.org/" type="external">California State Association of Counties</a>. California’s 58 counties operate public hospitals and clinics that serve more than 3&#160;million people annually, she said, providing a health care safety net for California’s poorest residents.</p>
<p>“Proposition 46 will increase costs for counties,” she said. “All of these services could be negatively affected if Proposition 46 became law. Especially for counties that self-insure, the increase in medical malpractice claims and costs would be devastating to them. It would come directly out of county general fund dollars.</p>
<p>“We’re also worried about the administrative nightmares that could happen under Proposition 46. We’re concerned about the potential for increased numbers of suits and the amount of staff time that those would require. We are working to continue providing critical health services, and we worry that Proposition 46 would reduce county resources at a time when they are needed the most.”</p>
<p>Ruth Haskins, a Sacramento OB-GYN, said the initiative will drive up health care costs, hurting the poor.</p>
<p>“Many of the patients that I treat come to me from the emergency room referrals and are on Medi-Cal,” she said. “They simply wouldn’t be able to afford the exorbitant increased health care costs that Proposition 46 would yield. I worry that that would mean that they wouldn’t get the necessary prenatal care to ensure safe, low-risk deliveries for healthy babies.</p>
<p>“If Prop. 46 were to pass, OB-GYNs like me, along with other high-risk specialists, would be forced to reduce our services or close their doors altogether. Proponents may say this measure is about safety. But the truth is Prop. 46 doesn’t do anything to improve safety or quality of health care in California. In fact, it would do just the opposite.”</p>
<p>Cathy Frey, CEO of the <a href="http://cvhnclinics.org/" type="external">Central Valley Health Network</a>, also warned that health centers and community clinics “may have to look at what services they can continue providing.”</p>
<p>Cesar Diaz, representing the <a href="http://www.sbctc.org/" type="external">State Building and Construction Trades Council</a>, said his union’s 400,000 members and their families are already having to pay extra for the same level of health care. He’s concerned that Prop. 46 will force them to pay even more.</p>
<p>“We see Prop. 46 as being a venue for increased legal costs and basically attorneys having more access to such financing,” he said.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aclu.org/" type="external">American Civil Liberties Union</a> representative Michael Risher said the ACLU is opposed to the physician drug testing provision in the measure.</p>
<p>“It’s an unwarranted invasion of the privacy that our California Constitution specifically protects,” he said. “It’s unlikely to make us any safer.</p>
<p>“And it’s particularly galling that this provision was apparently thrown in not because people cared about drug testing – I think there’s a recognition that’s something more properly addressed by this Legislature – but because it apparently did well in focus groups and was thrown in as a sweetener, despite the fact that California’s Constitution does have a single-subject rule for initiatives.”</p>
<p>The “single-subject rule” exists to ensure initiatives stay on topic and don’t become grab bags of different changes in the law. However, <a href="http://weblaw.usc.edu/assets/docs/Matsusaka_Aggressive_Enforcement.pdf" type="external">a study</a> by the University of California found court enforcement of the rule is not rigorous.</p>
<p><a href="http://sd19.senate.ca.gov/" type="external">Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson</a>, D-Santa Barbara, said she’s a big fan of the ACLU, but strongly disagreed with its opposition to physician drug testing.</p>
<p>“As someone who’s had more than my share of surgery, I want to make sure that my physician is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol while performing that surgery,” she said. “We require school bus drivers … to undergo some level of drug testing.</p>
<p>“As a supporter of ACLU I’m a tad surprised about the extent of your indignation about the notion of wanting to make sure that our doctors, particularly in hospitals where life and death decisions are made, are actually equipped mentally to perform those procedures.”</p>
<p>Risher responded, “It’s not that any of us wants to be operated on by a physician who’s under the influence. The data on random, suspicionless drug testing tend to show very little deterrent effect and very little enforcement effect with anything aside from marijuana, because that stays in the system longer than drugs like alcohol, cocaine and heroin.”</p>
<p>Jackson also argued it makes sense to increase the malpractice damages cap as a deterrent punishment for what she called the 5&#160;percent of physicians who are guilty of 95 percent of medical malpractice.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://asmdc.org/members/a09/" type="external">Assemblyman Richard Pan</a>, D-Sacramento, who is also a pediatrician at a Sacramento clinic, disagreed.</p>
<p>“I do take issue with the statement that the only thing that will get doctors and hospitals to pay attention to quality is financial,” he said. “The research I’ve seen shows very little correlation between medical liability suits and quality improvement. In fact, most of the patient safety and quality literature talks about systems change, transforming the health care delivery.”</p>
<p>Frey agreed, saying that numerous laws and oversight regulators already provide safeguards for patients.</p>
<p>“Community clinics and health centers, particularly those that are federally funded, are under an enormous amount of scrutiny,” she said. “They report to the federal government, they report to the state of California. They report, report, report. And quality is our number one issue.”</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2485.pdf" type="external">Field poll</a> conducted in the second half of August showed support for Prop. 46 had dropped to just 34 percent (with 37 percent opposed and 29 percent undecided) from the 58 percent support (30 percent opposed, 12 percent undecided) it had received in late June/early July. The drop in support followed an increased campaign of TV ads by the anti-46 side.</p>
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160 californias state local governments could hit increase tens millions several hundred million dollars annual health care costs proposition 46 passes nov 4 warning california legislative analyst ross brown a160 joint legislative committee informational hearing initiative monday proposition also would raise costs private health care providers brown said estimate dollar amount several providers warned costs would significant enough force reduce medical services particularly states poorest residents main cost driver initiative raising 250000 cap noneconomic damages medical malpractice match inflation cap implemented medical injury compensation reform act 1975 means cap160would increase 11 million today rise even higher annually depending future inflation malpractice costs currently represent 2160percent total annual health care spending california 440 percent increase damages cap would force companies health care160either pay increased premiums insurance companies pay outofpocket selfinsured two major provisions prop 46 requiring providers check states prescription drug database mandating drug testing physicians could result offsetting costs savings according brown example would additional costs drug testing might result fewer instances medical malpractice first half threehour hearing focused emotional testimony propositions author bob pack others whose family members killed medical malpractice pack said two children killed wife injured hit driver influence prescription narcotics mainly vicodin womans drugs provided six doctors none was160aware doctors writing prescriptions woman prevent kind doctor shopping drug addicts pack lobbied state legislature create controlled substance utilization review evaluation system database 30000 doctors pharmacists total 200000 california using prop 46 would require remaining 170000 consult database prescribing dispensing drugs firsttime users gary heller told committee wife linda developed chronic neck pain rearended auto accident doctor prescribed dangerous level morphine sulfate led death suffering 32 days hospital specialist subsequently arrested several duis treatment programs relapsed heller said proposition 46 opinion wifes doctor would caught negligently prescribed drugs caused respiratory failure said believe outcome totally preventable something live rest life tammy smick said 20yearold son alex prescribed lethal combination medications orange county hospital ironically alex checked hospital safely detox prescription medications become addicted back injury alex one 440000 americans killed every year preventable medical error said alex merely statistic hes son fighting money fighting justice accountability memory beloved son fighting change others suffer devastation michelle monserrattramoss fiancée died surgical mistake resulted infection doctor arrested possession crack cocaine said still practicing medicine could get lawyer take case due low cap noneconomic damages told us absolutely case cap sorry would good business decision take lloyds case said believe dont ever want hear loved ones life death bad business decision victim family wants answers able hold negligent doctor accountable order save someone elses life opposition prop 46 led farrah mcdaid ting representing california state association counties californias 58 counties operate public hospitals clinics serve 3160million people annually said providing health care safety net californias poorest residents proposition 46 increase costs counties said services could negatively affected proposition 46 became law especially counties selfinsure increase medical malpractice claims costs would devastating would come directly county general fund dollars also worried administrative nightmares could happen proposition 46 concerned potential increased numbers suits amount staff time would require working continue providing critical health services worry proposition 46 would reduce county resources time needed ruth haskins sacramento obgyn said initiative drive health care costs hurting poor many patients treat come emergency room referrals medical said simply wouldnt able afford exorbitant increased health care costs proposition 46 would yield worry would mean wouldnt get necessary prenatal care ensure safe lowrisk deliveries healthy babies prop 46 pass obgyns like along highrisk specialists would forced reduce services close doors altogether proponents may say measure safety truth prop 46 doesnt anything improve safety quality health care california fact would opposite cathy frey ceo central valley health network also warned health centers community clinics may look services continue providing cesar diaz representing state building construction trades council said unions 400000 members families already pay extra level health care hes concerned prop 46 force pay even see prop 46 venue increased legal costs basically attorneys access financing said american civil liberties union representative michael risher said aclu opposed physician drug testing provision measure unwarranted invasion privacy california constitution specifically protects said unlikely make us safer particularly galling provision apparently thrown people cared drug testing think theres recognition thats something properly addressed legislature apparently well focus groups thrown sweetener despite fact californias constitution singlesubject rule initiatives singlesubject rule exists ensure initiatives stay topic dont become grab bags different changes law however study university california found court enforcement rule rigorous sen hannahbeth jackson dsanta barbara said shes big fan aclu strongly disagreed opposition physician drug testing someone whos share surgery want make sure physician influence drugs alcohol performing surgery said require school bus drivers undergo level drug testing supporter aclu im tad surprised extent indignation notion wanting make sure doctors particularly hospitals life death decisions made actually equipped mentally perform procedures risher responded us wants operated physician whos influence data random suspicionless drug testing tend show little deterrent effect little enforcement effect anything aside marijuana stays system longer drugs like alcohol cocaine heroin jackson also argued makes sense increase malpractice damages cap deterrent punishment called 5160percent physicians guilty 95 percent medical malpractice assemblyman richard pan dsacramento also pediatrician sacramento clinic disagreed take issue statement thing get doctors hospitals pay attention quality financial said research ive seen shows little correlation medical liability suits quality improvement fact patient safety quality literature talks systems change transforming health care delivery frey agreed saying numerous laws oversight regulators already provide safeguards patients community clinics health centers particularly federally funded enormous amount scrutiny said report federal government report state california report report report quality number one issue field poll conducted second half august showed support prop 46 dropped 34 percent 37 percent opposed 29 percent undecided 58 percent support 30 percent opposed 12 percent undecided received late juneearly july drop support followed increased campaign tv ads anti46 side
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<p>By the Rev. Cassandra Williams, Ed.D.</p>
<p>Cassandra Williams</p>
<p>It is Saturday a few weeks before Christmas 1962. My father has been gone at least a month now. Thanksgiving was sad, and Christmas promises to be bleak. The church’s Sunday school Christmas party is scheduled for this cold Saturday, so my sister has packed her younger siblings up in worn and ill-fitting, multi-generation hand-me-down winter jackets for the trek across town to try to brighten the holiday.</p>
<p>This is the church where, in better times, I had wet through my baptismal gown onto the pastor’s robe. We were a “good family” then, and the church was happy to welcome us into its fold. In more recent days, my sister would occasionally sneak in with her pants rolled up under her coat and slide into a back pew for a bit of solace from the chaos that had become our home life.</p>
<p>Trudging through the snow from our home on the edge of town past the little park where the miniature church played Christmas carols, on across the wind-swept bridge, and around the falling bricks of the fire station, we arrived at the little white Methodist church that sat among the Protestant cluster. Stomping snow from our shoes and shivering off the cold, we are approached by the Sunday school teacher. She makes no effort to conceal her disapproval. Hands on hip, she advises my sister that, unless we regularly attend Sunday school, we have no business attending the party. And so we turn and begin the walk back home, heads lowered against the winter chill that now penetrated our souls as well as our frayed coats — our pockets empty of everything except for shame.</p>
<p>I’ve often wondered where the Christians were when I was growing up. Where were they as my mother choked back pride and tears to call the welfare office only to be turned down because she refused to sign over our house and car to the state? Where were the Christians when I sat at my school desk in agonizing pain with an abscessed tooth and no hope of dental care? Where were they when I lay in bed in the early morning darkness praying so hard that the old battered car — the one whose door had to be tied shut with a rope — would start so my mom could get to work? I don’t know where they were.</p>
<p>Sadly, I know where some of the church people were. They were in the church doorway, sending poor children away from a party celebrating the birth of the Christ child. They were in the vestibule, rebuking my sister for not wearing a dress. They were in the grade school principal’s office, announcing over the loudspeaker that my brother had failed to do his homework again and in the hallway outside American history class, admonishing my sister that problems at home were no excuse for neglecting studies.</p>
<p>I had met them as the lady who yelled from her porch one cold January morning, “You kids should have boots on!” and then slammed her door in disgust when we called back, “We don’t have any boots.” As my friend’s aunt who told us that if her son were one of the protesting Kent State students, she’d want him to be shot. And as the local shopkeeper who paid my mother $1 a week to wash and set her hair and then followed me around her five-and-dime as if I were a thief. These are the people I knew who attended church every Sunday and claimed the name of Christ.</p>
<p>I’m often asked why I am a Christian, after what I experienced from church folks. Here’s why. There were moments when, in the midst of it all, my mother found the strength to rise above circumstances and show a kind of love that surpasses human weakness. There were woods out back where I found respite from the bucket-flushed toilet and my weekly bath in fourth-hand water (I was the youngest) in our leaky tub. There were animals, who, although sorely neglected, in their capacity to love without regard, pointed the way toward a God of unconditional love.</p>
<p>And then there was the gospel.</p>
<p>When I was 20 years old, I began reading the Bible — the Gospel of Matthew to be precise. As I read, I encountered a God of love who had special concern for those on the margins of society — for the poor, the immigrant, the fatherless, the imprisoned. Through that story, I met a Jesus who walked, not among church people, but among sinners and people in need. There I encountered a Savior who lived and died for me and whose presence gave me chills that were the antithesis of the chills of shame I felt on that cold December day.</p>
<p>I began attending the local Episcopal church. That December I sang “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” for the very first time. Every year since, with eyes moistened by tears, I re-experience that initial joy as we begin this season of preparation, singing “Rejoice, Rejoice!”</p>
<p>Not all church people are judgmental and unkind. Yet too often those who are the most visible and most vocal do disservice to the gospel; and all too commonly, the rest of us excuse their behavior with suggestions of “meaning well” or “hearts of gold” buried beneath harsh exteriors. Our faith is frequently quiet, while the judgers and condemners are loudly touching lives outside the church walls.</p>
<p>Beyond those walls, children are asking, “Where is God? Why doesn’t God love me?”</p>
<p>Meanwhile Jesus asks, “Where were you?</p>
<p>“Where were you when I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat? Where were you when I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink? Where were you when I was an immigrant and you did not invite me in? When I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, when I was sick and in prison and you did not look after&#160;me?” (Matthew 25:42-44).</p>
<p>Where will we be this Advent? Will we be busy about many things inside our houses of worship? Will we be feeling warm and righteous in comfortable spaces? Will we sometimes wonder why others aren’t smart enough or faithful enough to join us in our pews? Or perhaps comfort ourselves with the belief that those who are walking in darkness somehow brought darkness on themselves? Will any of today’s hungry children grow up to join Jesus in asking “Where were you?”</p>
<p>Advent traditions are among my favorites. Yet traditions are not sacred. They point us toward the sacred, providing opportunities to draw nearer to God and grow our faith. At best, traditions remind us that God is not found solely in our houses of worship but “out there,” where Jesus walked, among the lonely, the impoverished, the oppressed and homeless.</p>
<p>It is tragic that so many suffer in this fallen world. It is a far greater tragedy that those who claim to know the Light often choose not to be the light. Jesus dwells beyond the margins of our comfort and stands among those who desperately need us to sing “rejoice, rejoice!” with hands and feet as well as voices.</p>
<p>— The Rev. Cassandra Williams, Ed.D., is director of Discipleship Ministries, American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS). This article first appeared in <a href="https://medium.com/christian-citizen" type="external">The Christian Citizen</a>, a publication of ABHMS. ABHMS partners with American Baptists to promote Christian faith, cultivate Christ-centered leaders and disciples, and bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico. Learn more at <a href="http://www.abhms.org" type="external">www.abhms.org</a>.</p>
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rev cassandra williams edd cassandra williams saturday weeks christmas 1962 father gone least month thanksgiving sad christmas promises bleak churchs sunday school christmas party scheduled cold saturday sister packed younger siblings worn illfitting multigeneration handmedown winter jackets trek across town try brighten holiday church better times wet baptismal gown onto pastors robe good family church happy welcome us fold recent days sister would occasionally sneak pants rolled coat slide back pew bit solace chaos become home life trudging snow home edge town past little park miniature church played christmas carols across windswept bridge around falling bricks fire station arrived little white methodist church sat among protestant cluster stomping snow shoes shivering cold approached sunday school teacher makes effort conceal disapproval hands hip advises sister unless regularly attend sunday school business attending party turn begin walk back home heads lowered winter chill penetrated souls well frayed coats pockets empty everything except shame ive often wondered christians growing mother choked back pride tears call welfare office turned refused sign house car state christians sat school desk agonizing pain abscessed tooth hope dental care lay bed early morning darkness praying hard old battered car one whose door tied shut rope would start mom could get work dont know sadly know church people church doorway sending poor children away party celebrating birth christ child vestibule rebuking sister wearing dress grade school principals office announcing loudspeaker brother failed homework hallway outside american history class admonishing sister problems home excuse neglecting studies met lady yelled porch one cold january morning kids boots slammed door disgust called back dont boots friends aunt told us son one protesting kent state students shed want shot local shopkeeper paid mother 1 week wash set hair followed around fiveanddime thief people knew attended church every sunday claimed name christ im often asked christian experienced church folks heres moments midst mother found strength rise circumstances show kind love surpasses human weakness woods back found respite bucketflushed toilet weekly bath fourthhand water youngest leaky tub animals although sorely neglected capacity love without regard pointed way toward god unconditional love gospel 20 years old began reading bible gospel matthew precise read encountered god love special concern margins society poor immigrant fatherless imprisoned story met jesus walked among church people among sinners people need encountered savior lived died whose presence gave chills antithesis chills shame felt cold december day began attending local episcopal church december sang come come emmanuel first time every year since eyes moistened tears reexperience initial joy begin season preparation singing rejoice rejoice church people judgmental unkind yet often visible vocal disservice gospel commonly rest us excuse behavior suggestions meaning well hearts gold buried beneath harsh exteriors faith frequently quiet judgers condemners loudly touching lives outside church walls beyond walls children asking god doesnt god love meanwhile jesus asks hungry gave nothing eat thirsty gave nothing drink immigrant invite needed clothes clothe sick prison look after160me matthew 254244 advent busy many things inside houses worship feeling warm righteous comfortable spaces sometimes wonder others arent smart enough faithful enough join us pews perhaps comfort belief walking darkness somehow brought darkness todays hungry children grow join jesus asking advent traditions among favorites yet traditions sacred point us toward sacred providing opportunities draw nearer god grow faith best traditions remind us god found solely houses worship jesus walked among lonely impoverished oppressed homeless tragic many suffer fallen world far greater tragedy claim know light often choose light jesus dwells beyond margins comfort stands among desperately need us sing rejoice rejoice hands feet well voices rev cassandra williams edd director discipleship ministries american baptist home mission societies abhms article first appeared christian citizen publication abhms abhms partners american baptists promote christian faith cultivate christcentered leaders disciples bring healing transformation communities across united states puerto rico learn wwwabhmsorg
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<p>At Kennedy High School, college and career counselor Javier Sanchez says he sometimes finds it difficult to get students to take even the basic steps to open the door to a university.</p>
<p>This year, he and the principal at the far southwest side school are trying a combination of incentives and a bit of public humiliation. Every senior’s name is listed on a poster in the hallway with details about where they’ve applied. They hope an empty line will embarrass that student into applying. Those who fill out financial aid forms are entered into a raffle to win free tickets to the prom and a limousine to drive them there.</p>
<p>Still, Sanchez is worried it won’t be enough. He says that in his mostly Latino school, he must constantly fight against misconceptions about going to college and a lackadaisical attitude from students who then show up in his office in May “terrified about what they are going to do next,” he says.</p>
<p>The difficulty of Sanchez’s job is underscored in a new report to be released this month by the University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research. It follows a 2006 study that showed low grades and less-than-rigorous classes led to only 35 percent of CPS graduates getting a college degree within six years of leaving high school.</p>
<p>In this new report, researchers asked seniors in surveys and interviews about their college plans. In the spring, 90 percent said they wanted to go to college. By fall, only 61 percent had enrolled.</p>
<p>The report says there are many “potholes” that stymie students—from lack of family support to lack of follow-through.</p>
<p>The most fundamental problem is that 40 percent of seniors who say they want to complete a four-year college never apply to one. Also surprising to researchers: Students who said they completed a financial aid form were almost 50 percent more likely to enroll in a college than those who hadn’t filled out the form, says Melissa Roderick, the study’s author.</p>
<p>Counselors, however, say they have trouble convincing parents and students to fill out the forms, mostly because they are wary of giving their financial information or haven’t filled out tax returns.</p>
<p>“Step by step by step, we take them through it,” says Tosha Dowell, of the Paul Revere Alumni Association. The association works with students from 7th grade through high school.</p>
<p>According to this and other studies, Latino students struggle the most. Though close to 90 percent of them aspire to some form of higher education, just 37 percent enrolled in a four-year institution.</p>
<p>African-American students did only slightly better, with 94 percent aspiring to some form of higher education, but only 65 percent enrolling in any school and less than half in a four-year university.</p>
<p>Mismatches</p>
<p>Another key finding is that CPS is not doing a good job helping students get into the best college they can. Only 38 percent of highly qualified students enroll in schools that match their qualifications and 29 percent of those who could have gotten into a selective or very selective school enrolled in a two-year college, if any at all.</p>
<p>“So there is a myth that smart kids work hard and are recruited by everyone,” Roderick says. “There is a myth that they don’t need any help, that they will be fine. We did not find this to be true.”</p>
<p>Disconnect between student qualifications and college choice is the result of lack of knowledge, Dowell says. Guidance counselors and students often don’t know what opportunities exist, she says. For example, a student with decent grades and high test scores will boast about getting a full ride to Northern Illinois University or Illinois State University. Those same students, however, could qualify to get into Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania or Davidson University in North Carolina, both selective liberal arts institutions that provide full needs-based financial aid. The elite East Coast schools also offer more prestige and connections, notes Dowell.</p>
<p>“Students don’t know any of this and they don’t know anyone who has gone to these kinds of places,” she says. “They don’t even consider it.”</p>
<p>CPS officials know that students need to cast their nets wider and in 2003 it opened the Office of Postsecondary Education. Last year, Greg Darnieder, who oversees that department, issued a mandate that each senior fill out five college and scholarship applications.</p>
<p>Schools have long complained that counselors’ caseloads—about 350 to 1 in CPS—are too high to afford students the type of individual attention needed. Two years ago, Darneider hired coaches for 12 schools to see whether targeted help would improve college-going rates. Early indications are that schools with coaches improved their college-going rates slightly more than other CPS schools.</p>
<p>Overall, college-going rates throughout CPS have been inching up. According to district figures, about 48 percent of 2007 graduates enrolled in a two- or four-year college.</p>
<p>Going it alone</p>
<p>But accomplishing all of this is a tall task, says Jaclyn Reeves, the post-secondary coach for Roosevelt High on the Northwest Side. Many of her school’s students are first-generation college-goers, so they can’t turn to parents to help them navigate the process. “Our students are really going at it alone,” she says.</p>
<p>The consortium’s pothole study emphasizes this point, noting that students need significant guidance from parents to help them manage the college search process. But many CPS students, whose parents are immigrants or have limited education, lack this support.</p>
<p>Some 80 percent of Latino students and more than 40 percent of white CPS students report that their mothers were born outside the United States. Furthermore, 60 percent of Latino students report that their mothers have no schooling beyond high school.</p>
<p>However, the study challenges the notion that being undocumented leads Latinos to forgo college because they can’t get financial aid. This was only the case for 6 percent of the students surveyed.</p>
<p>The bigger problem is a lack of understanding about the process for getting into colleges and students who think college is too expensive or is not for people like them, says Barbara Karpouzian, college counselor at the Chicago Academy High in Dunning.</p>
<p>Culture plays into it too. Karpouzian says some parents at the school, which is about half Latino, one-quarter white and 20 percent black, tell her that their daughters will just get married and have babies. Some of the boys are geared more toward vocational education.</p>
<p>Elizabeth Ortiz, president of the Illinois Latino Council on Higher Education, says it boils down to the way Latinos see themselves and others see them. Society, she says, has them pegged for manual labor jobs or work in the service sector. She says college counselors and university recruiters need to challenge those views.</p>
<p>“A lot of people subconsciously believe that Latinos should be in these jobs and so they don’t even ask, did you apply to college? What are your plans? What do you think about your future?” Ortiz says.</p>
<p>Roderick says she was surprised by the number of students who told her that no one, “not a teacher, not a counselor, not a janitor,” asked whether they had applied to a college. For the first time as a researcher, Roderick says, she interjected herself during some of the interviews to dispute students’ erroneous beliefs about financial aid.</p>
<p>For example, one told her he thought it would be cheaper to put off going to a two-year college until he could save enough to pay for it himself, than to use financial aid to go to a four-year college immediately after high school.</p>
<p>The study is just the latest proof that having a bookshelf of college directories available to students is not enough. Already schools have taken heed.</p>
<p>Noble Street Charter graduated 91 students in 2006; 71 percent of them went to college, 54 percent to a four-year program and 33 percent to one that is very selective. The school has invested heavily in counselors and has worked hard to create a college-going culture, including giving students time to fill out applications during the school day.</p>
<p>Chicago Academy High declared March “college month.” All month, banners from different colleges will be posted at the doors of the classrooms. Parents will be invited in to talk about financial aid. Most of these activities are geared toward freshmen, sophomores and juniors; seniors take a class in which part of the course work is to fill out college applications.</p>
<p>The Paul Revere Alumni Association begins taking students on college tours in 8th grade. Over the next three years, they talk about college, but during senior year, monthly seminars ramp up the effort.</p>
<p>Dowell agrees that filling out financial aid forms is key. “It is more important to me that they fill out financial aid forms than that they apply to college. We can get them into a university in August, but we won’t be able to find them money then.”</p>
<p>In February, the group offers students’ families free tax preparation services at the Gary Comer Youth Center, a local community center.</p>
<p>At Dyett High, senior counselor Vanelle Thomas says the school devoted an entire day for seniors to fill out applications with the goal that each student complete five.</p>
<p>In late February, the school is hosting a financial aid night. Thomas says in the past, the school hosted financial aid workshops during the day, but this time they decided to do it at night to get more parents involved. She says parents often are hesitant to fill out the complicated form. “There’s just a lot of fear of the unknown,” Thomas says.</p>
<p>Sanchez is trying many of the same things as the counselors at Dyett, as well as other creative methods. But he says the response has been underwhelming. He describes a recent workshop he conducted for parents and students who wanted help filling out financial aid forms. The school sent a mailer to every senior’s house and sent notes home with the students. “But close to no one showed up,” he says.</p>
<p>To contact Sarah Karp, call (312) 673-3882 or send an e-mail to [email protected].</p>
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kennedy high school college career counselor javier sanchez says sometimes finds difficult get students take even basic steps open door university year principal far southwest side school trying combination incentives bit public humiliation every seniors name listed poster hallway details theyve applied hope empty line embarrass student applying fill financial aid forms entered raffle win free tickets prom limousine drive still sanchez worried wont enough says mostly latino school must constantly fight misconceptions going college lackadaisical attitude students show office may terrified going next says difficulty sanchezs job underscored new report released month university chicagos consortium chicago school research follows 2006 study showed low grades lessthanrigorous classes led 35 percent cps graduates getting college degree within six years leaving high school new report researchers asked seniors surveys interviews college plans spring 90 percent said wanted go college fall 61 percent enrolled report says many potholes stymie studentsfrom lack family support lack followthrough fundamental problem 40 percent seniors say want complete fouryear college never apply one also surprising researchers students said completed financial aid form almost 50 percent likely enroll college hadnt filled form says melissa roderick studys author counselors however say trouble convincing parents students fill forms mostly wary giving financial information havent filled tax returns step step step take says tosha dowell paul revere alumni association association works students 7th grade high school according studies latino students struggle though close 90 percent aspire form higher education 37 percent enrolled fouryear institution africanamerican students slightly better 94 percent aspiring form higher education 65 percent enrolling school less half fouryear university mismatches another key finding cps good job helping students get best college 38 percent highly qualified students enroll schools match qualifications 29 percent could gotten selective selective school enrolled twoyear college myth smart kids work hard recruited everyone roderick says myth dont need help fine find true disconnect student qualifications college choice result lack knowledge dowell says guidance counselors students often dont know opportunities exist says example student decent grades high test scores boast getting full ride northern illinois university illinois state university students however could qualify get swarthmore college pennsylvania davidson university north carolina selective liberal arts institutions provide full needsbased financial aid elite east coast schools also offer prestige connections notes dowell students dont know dont know anyone gone kinds places says dont even consider cps officials know students need cast nets wider 2003 opened office postsecondary education last year greg darnieder oversees department issued mandate senior fill five college scholarship applications schools long complained counselors caseloadsabout 350 1 cpsare high afford students type individual attention needed two years ago darneider hired coaches 12 schools see whether targeted help would improve collegegoing rates early indications schools coaches improved collegegoing rates slightly cps schools overall collegegoing rates throughout cps inching according district figures 48 percent 2007 graduates enrolled two fouryear college going alone accomplishing tall task says jaclyn reeves postsecondary coach roosevelt high northwest side many schools students firstgeneration collegegoers cant turn parents help navigate process students really going alone says consortiums pothole study emphasizes point noting students need significant guidance parents help manage college search process many cps students whose parents immigrants limited education lack support 80 percent latino students 40 percent white cps students report mothers born outside united states furthermore 60 percent latino students report mothers schooling beyond high school however study challenges notion undocumented leads latinos forgo college cant get financial aid case 6 percent students surveyed bigger problem lack understanding process getting colleges students think college expensive people like says barbara karpouzian college counselor chicago academy high dunning culture plays karpouzian says parents school half latino onequarter white 20 percent black tell daughters get married babies boys geared toward vocational education elizabeth ortiz president illinois latino council higher education says boils way latinos see others see society says pegged manual labor jobs work service sector says college counselors university recruiters need challenge views lot people subconsciously believe latinos jobs dont even ask apply college plans think future ortiz says roderick says surprised number students told one teacher counselor janitor asked whether applied college first time researcher roderick says interjected interviews dispute students erroneous beliefs financial aid example one told thought would cheaper put going twoyear college could save enough pay use financial aid go fouryear college immediately high school study latest proof bookshelf college directories available students enough already schools taken heed noble street charter graduated 91 students 2006 71 percent went college 54 percent fouryear program 33 percent one selective school invested heavily counselors worked hard create collegegoing culture including giving students time fill applications school day chicago academy high declared march college month month banners different colleges posted doors classrooms parents invited talk financial aid activities geared toward freshmen sophomores juniors seniors take class part course work fill college applications paul revere alumni association begins taking students college tours 8th grade next three years talk college senior year monthly seminars ramp effort dowell agrees filling financial aid forms key important fill financial aid forms apply college get university august wont able find money february group offers students families free tax preparation services gary comer youth center local community center dyett high senior counselor vanelle thomas says school devoted entire day seniors fill applications goal student complete five late february school hosting financial aid night thomas says past school hosted financial aid workshops day time decided night get parents involved says parents often hesitant fill complicated form theres lot fear unknown thomas says sanchez trying many things counselors dyett well creative methods says response underwhelming describes recent workshop conducted parents students wanted help filling financial aid forms school sent mailer every seniors house sent notes home students close one showed says contact sarah karp call 312 6733882 send email karpcatalystchicagoorg
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<p>Two extreme athletes named Dean Potter and Graham Hunt&#160; <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/05/18/407665150/two-base-jumpers-die-on-wingsuit-flight-in-yosemite" type="external">died while attempting to BASE jump</a>&#160;last weekend in Yosemite National Park&#160;— the same park where Carl Boenish, the father of BASE jumping, launched&#160;the sport back in the 1970s.</p>
<p>BASE jumping involves&#160;parachuting or flying with a&#160;wingsuit from&#160;a fixed structure or geological feature.&#160;"BASE"&#160;is an acronym for four types of fixed objects from which one can jump: building, antenna, span, and Earth —&#160;typically a cliff.</p>
<p>Like Potter and Hunt, Carl Boenish died doing what he loved. And now, in a slightly eerie coincidence, Boenish's story of pioneering BASE jumping — and&#160;creating innovations in filmmaking —&#160;is told in a new film, " <a href="http://www.magpictures.com/sunshinesuperman/" type="external">Sunshine Superman</a>,"&#160;which comes out in theaters this&#160;Friday.</p>
<p>The film also delves into Boenish's love for his wife and fellow jumper, Jean. She&#160;sat down with Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent,&#160;to talk about her husband's love of jumping and the filming of his many descents. The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.</p>
<p>Todd&#160;Zwillich: In the film, everyone says in —&#160;one way or another —&#160;that when you and Carl got together,&#160;you were the very last person they would ever expect to jump off a cliff. You looked like a librarian, you were kind of quiet — not the stereotypical, clichéd&#160;BASE jumper or skydiver.</p>
<p>Jean Boenish: I think Carl and I were preparing ourselves for each other, much like everybody does in life but they don't realize it. And when we got together,&#160;it happened very quickly for us. I think one of the things that Carl really liked was the fact that&#160;I started skydiving on my own. So it was very natural for us.</p>
<p>There was a time in the 1970s when people around him were looking for new challenges, new things to do in skydiving. There were a lot of advanced jumpers and they had the bug. They wanted to find something new and they found El Capitan in Yosemite.&#160;They went and jumped off of it and Carl filmed it, and that was the beginning of modern BASE jumping.</p>
<p>Carl loved making films.&#160;He wanted to film freefall to find out why people's cheeks flapped in the air. So he developed slow motion methods, ways&#160;of bringing that footage back to the studio and looking at it and actually seeing what he wanted to discover. And he became a very advanced skydiver.</p>
<p>TZ:&#160;When Carl and all of his friends were jumping off of El Capitan, it was not only a challenge to nature, but also to authority. There were park rangers, the federal government — it was illegal and&#160;it was dangerous. They had a lot more to worry about than just getting the chute open.</p>
<p>JB:&#160;It was just a brand new activity, and with anything that was this new, people didn't understand that it could be done. So we had to introduce them to the fact that, number one, it could be done. And then&#160;when somebody comes and asks you for a permit, they don't think that you're asking for something that is flat out impossible — and it worked out quite well in the long run. In the film&#160;you see the chief ranger there,&#160;and we had a very good rapport with him.</p>
<p>TZ: It’s also clear&#160;in the film that the chief ranger, who early on was responsible for busting Carl Boenish, loved him.</p>
<p>JB: Everybody loved Carl. Carl was a very, very likable person and everybody took away a special experience of him that enhanced their lives.</p>
<p>TZ:&#160;The film is remarkable for the amazing footage taken on Boenish’s jumps. You had cameras attached to your helmets in those early years. I'm thinking, “Who needs a GoPro?" You guys had this figured out back when the technology was fairly rudimentary.</p>
<p>JB: I've never used a GoPro. We used <a href="http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/gun+camera" type="external">gun cameras</a> — and that's the closest we have ever gotten to guns, so it's kind of weird we would be using things that were surplus military from World War II. The weight that we would carry on our heads, for a dual-mounted camera — still and movie — was twelve-and-a-half pounds. Carl's was upwards of fifteen. It was a lot of weight. You had to really know what you were doing and be very careful opening the chute&#160;and always be constantly aware not only of safety factors but also where the sun was, where the angles were, who you were looking at, were they framed properly. So there was a lot to consider in addition to the regular jumping needs.</p>
<p>TZ: Almost immediately after Carl's death in 1984 in a jump gone wrong, you went right back up there. You jumped yourself almost immediately. Why did you do that and what example were you trying to set?</p>
<p>JB: Well, there was another young man, as the film shows, who had arrived there to make a jump, and it was very clear that it would not look very good if he were to do that alone so soon after Carl’s death.&#160;And I needed to go up:&#160;I needed to look at the site that Carl had the troubles from and see if we could figure out why — and it’s always better to do it with somebody. So we went up together and did both things together. It made a lot of sense.</p>
<p>TZ: The film destroys the idea of BASE jumpers as adrenaline junkies. That's the cliché: People who jump out of a plane or off a bridge are just adrenaline junkies who can't be happy unless they get that rush. That's really not what the film is about, and I don't think that's what Carl was about.</p>
<p>JB: You're right. That's not what it was about. We weren't adrenaline junkies; we weren't daredevils; we weren't crazy. We were simply enjoying an experience that was broadening, enjoying an experience of self-discovery, and this happened to be our chosen method. It was a very condensed way, a very accelerated way to learn, and that's one reason we liked to share it with people, because we had learned certain things in a unique way that was worthy of sharing.</p>
<p>This story is based on <a href="http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/story-father-base-jumping/" type="external">an&#160;interview</a> from PRI's <a href="http://www.thetakeaway.org/" type="external">The Takeaway</a>, a public radio program that invites you to be part of the American conversation.</p>
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two extreme athletes named dean potter graham hunt160 died attempting base jump160last weekend yosemite national park160 park carl boenish father base jumping launched160the sport back 1970s base jumping involves160parachuting flying a160wingsuit from160a fixed structure geological feature160base160is acronym four types fixed objects one jump building antenna span earth 160typically cliff like potter hunt carl boenish died loved slightly eerie coincidence boenishs story pioneering base jumping and160creating innovations filmmaking 160is told new film sunshine superman160which comes theaters this160friday film also delves boenishs love wife fellow jumper jean she160sat todd zwillich takeaways washington correspondent160to talk husbands love jumping filming many descents conversation lightly edited clarity todd160zwillich film everyone says 160one way another 160that carl got together160you last person would ever expect jump cliff looked like librarian kind quiet stereotypical clichéd160base jumper skydiver jean boenish think carl preparing much like everybody life dont realize got together160it happened quickly us think one things carl really liked fact that160i started skydiving natural us time 1970s people around looking new challenges new things skydiving lot advanced jumpers bug wanted find something new found el capitan yosemite160they went jumped carl filmed beginning modern base jumping carl loved making films160he wanted film freefall find peoples cheeks flapped air developed slow motion methods ways160of bringing footage back studio looking actually seeing wanted discover became advanced skydiver tz160when carl friends jumping el capitan challenge nature also authority park rangers federal government illegal and160it dangerous lot worry getting chute open jb160it brand new activity anything new people didnt understand could done introduce fact number one could done then160when somebody comes asks permit dont think youre asking something flat impossible worked quite well long run film160you see chief ranger there160and good rapport tz also clear160in film chief ranger early responsible busting carl boenish loved jb everybody loved carl carl likable person everybody took away special experience enhanced lives tz160the film remarkable amazing footage taken boenishs jumps cameras attached helmets early years im thinking needs gopro guys figured back technology fairly rudimentary jb ive never used gopro used gun cameras thats closest ever gotten guns kind weird would using things surplus military world war ii weight would carry heads dualmounted camera still movie twelveandahalf pounds carls upwards fifteen lot weight really know careful opening chute160and always constantly aware safety factors also sun angles looking framed properly lot consider addition regular jumping needs tz almost immediately carls death 1984 jump gone wrong went right back jumped almost immediately example trying set jb well another young man film shows arrived make jump clear would look good alone soon carls death160and needed go up160i needed look site carl troubles see could figure always better somebody went together things together made lot sense tz film destroys idea base jumpers adrenaline junkies thats cliché people jump plane bridge adrenaline junkies cant happy unless get rush thats really film dont think thats carl jb youre right thats werent adrenaline junkies werent daredevils werent crazy simply enjoying experience broadening enjoying experience selfdiscovery happened chosen method condensed way accelerated way learn thats one reason liked share people learned certain things unique way worthy sharing story based an160interview pris takeaway public radio program invites part american conversation
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<p>However, a handful of big-ticket items totaling roughly $100 million raises questions about priorities.</p>
<p>Chief among those projects is a $45 million magnet high school that may be the most expensive new school, on a per-student basis, in the state. Board officials hope that the new North Side College Prep, located in Lincoln Square, will lure families who would otherwise leave Chicago’s public schools for private, parochial or suburban alternatives. They plan to open five more schools like North Side by the year 2001, some of them in rehabbed existing structures. In addition, the board’s capital dollars are being used to support the re-development of Cabrini-Green and to expand some elementary magnet schools.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the board does not have enough money to repair all existing schools and relieve overcrowding.</p>
<p>Julie Woestehoff, director of Parents United for Responsible Education, credits the board with having “very responsibly addressed the repair needs of most of the schools in the system.” But she says that by spreading the money around, the board also has given itself political cover to indulge in projects that, from her perspective, are questionable. Schools like North Side College Prep, she says, “are—let’s be honest—taking money away from repairs that could be made to schools in poor and minority neighborhoods.”</p>
<p>Supporters of the expanded magnet school program argue that it will pay for itself, in effect, by bolstering the city’s property tax base.</p>
<p>Matt McDermott, a policy analyst for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, agrees that the goal of retaining the middle class has merit, but he thinks the board is tilting too far in that direction.</p>
<p>“I’m not completely opposed to this,” he says. “I suppose there are some good reasons to have some flagship schools, but the cost has to be looked at, especially in light of [the board] potentially reaching their limit for capital spending. My general reaction would be that, it would be more important to save those dollars, even though they’re only 10 percent or so of the budget, for more basic needs, like schools that are falling apart, overcrowded or full of lead paint.”</p>
<p>“I think they’re all priorities,” says Jim Lewis, vice president for research and planning at the Chicago Urban League. “I can’t make a statement about how those things should be weighed against each other.”</p>
<p>Making basic repairs and relieving overcrowding are important, he explains, but so is promoting economically and racially mixed schools. “As long as [magnet programs] don’t become tools for any particular community, but remain tools for a desegregated school system, we’re completely for it,” he says.</p>
<p>In the case of two magnet high schools, McDermott and others say that the equity problem is compounded by the fact that college-prep programs are displacing vocational education programs that served lower-income students. In the South Loop, the office services program is being phased out of Jones Commercial High School to make room for a college-prep magnet. In the redeveloping Cabrini-Green area, Near North Career Magnet High School is being razed and replaced with a college-prep magnet that is closer to the Gold Coast.</p>
<p>Here are the details of the Catalyst analysis.</p>
<p>BROAD-BASED EQUITY Catalyst’s analysis of the board’s spending on capital improvements shows that about $1.5 billion, roughly 75 percent, is being used to rescue crumbling buildings and put up new ones to relieve overcrowding. About $390 million, or roughly 20 percent, is going to a grab-bag of extras, including new and expanded magnet schools, new science labs for high schools, playlots for elementary schools and office buildout for the School Board’s new downtown headquarters. About $97 million, roughly 5 percent, is going for program administration.</p>
<p>Catalyst’sanalysis of the degree to which school repair needs are being met found broad-based equity among various types of schools. Predominantly black schools, predominantly Latino schools and predominantly low-income schools all have about the same percentage of their repair needs being met as do middle-class schools and schools that enroll relatively high percentages of white students.</p>
<p>Catalyst’s ward-by-ward analysis of spending on repairs, overcrowding and extras shows no special preference for the wards of influential aldermen. In every spending category, politically influential or affluent wards were as likely to show up on a list of the 10 worst-funded wards as they were on a list of the 10 best-funded wards. For example, the least-funded wards include two of the most politically potent wards in the city: the 13th, home to Michael Madigan, speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and state Democratic Party chair, and the 19th, home to former Illinois Senate President Thomas Hynes, Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan and schools Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas. (See map on page 6.)</p>
<p>“There’s no conscious attempt to leave anyone out,” acknowledges Jacqueline Leavy, executive director of the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group. “This is an administration that prides itself on being responsive, and if someone cries out, they are going to get a response that’s at least a step in the right direction.”</p>
<p>“But we still have to be concerned with: Is anybody falling between the cracks?” she continues. “A hundred and sixty-five schools testified at public hearings this spring, and that’s a lot of folks who stayed home. Some may have been satisfied, but there are folks we need to reach, who need to be convinced that it’s worth their while to come up and say, ‘This is what’s wrong with my kids’ school, and it must be addressed.'”</p>
<p>Indeed, while Catalyst’s analyses of the board’s numbers showed a pattern of overall equity, a closer look at some projects indicates that the board’s determination of need sometimes reflects community pressure as much as physical conditions.</p>
<p>For example, the board’s capital budget book, includes no projects for Morse Elementary in Humboldt Park even though the school has a buckling wall, a lunchroom with peeling lead paint on the ceiling, and windows that are not secure. Recently, though, the board has committed to fixing the lunchroom and is now looking into a full rehab for Morse. (For details, see story.) Since no price tag has been put on these projects, Morse’s needs are not part of Catalyst’s calculations.</p>
<p>In contrast, the capital budget book does include a $18.7 million plan to build a new building for Inter-American Magnet School, now located in Lake View. This project wasn’t on the board’s radar when it launched its capital improvement program in 1996. However, top organizers and staffers from several citywide policy and advocacy groups send their children to Inter-American, and they made sure the school turned out in force for public hearings in 1997. Parents came by the busloads, waving signs and banners.</p>
<p>Inter-American’s spokesperson was Adela Coronado-Greeley, a founder of the dual-language school and former Board of Education member. When she was on the board, Greeley testified, she had purposefully refrained from advocating for Inter-American “because I knew there were other schools that needed more” and were not being helped. Only when she saw schools with less need than Inter-American getting fixed did she decide the time had come to speak up.</p>
<p>No money has been lined up for the new building, a fact that put its ward, the 44th, near the bottom of Catalyst’s list showing the degree to which need is being met. Of the $30.9 million in projects outlined for the 44th Ward, $7.7 million, or 25 percent, have been funded. Three- quarters of that discrepancy is due to Inter-American.</p>
<p>Ald. Bernie Hansen was surprised and none too pleased to learn of his ward’s standing. “All I know is that Nettlehorst is done, Blaine is done, Hawthorne is done, LeMoyne is done, and there’s going to be a new Inter-American Magnet School, wherever that’s going to be,” he says. “And I don’t know why you’d think we were last, since almost all the schools I have are done already. If the school councils and the principals were unhappy, they’d be over to see me.”</p>
<p>Without Inter-American, Hansen’s ward would have landed about in the middle of Catalyst’s list.</p>
<p>BIG-TICKET ITEMS Southwest suburban Naperville drew gasps last year when it opened a $62 million high school, Neuqua Valley. However, on a per-student basis, Neuqua Valley is less than half as expensive as North Side College Prep, which is scheduled to open next September at Bryn Mawr and Kedzie. Built for 3,000 students, Neuqua’s per-student cost is about $20,000. Designed for 1,000, the $45 million North Side will cost about $45,000 per student.</p>
<p>Chicago school officials attribute the difference to economies of scale and unique construction challenges. “You’ve got to look at the fixed costs,” says Chief Operating Officer Tim Martin. “You’ve got to have a gym, an auditorium, a swimming pool. Once you’ve built a kitchen, it doesn’t matter if you cook 3,000 meals in it or 1,000.”</p>
<p>North Side’s location on the bank of the Chicago River also increased costs, he says. The foundation needed special reinforcement, and construction crews had to take care not to disrupt sewer lines that feed into the river. He adds that the board had hoped to offset construction costs by getting the land, formerly owned by the Cook County Water Reclamation District, for free. But he says the district was policy-bound to charge a fair price for it.</p>
<p>Similarly, the Region 2 College Prep High School, scheduled to open in the year 2000 at the corner of Oak and Wells streets, has a higher per-student cost than Nequa. With a capacity of 1,000 and a price tag of $30 million, its per-pupil cost is $30,000.</p>
<p>Region 2 College Prep is located in the Cabrini-Green area tax-increment financing district (TIF), which gets to keep gains in local property tax revenues for public improvements and other development incentives within its boundaries. School officials say they will tap those funds to help build Region 2 College Prep and other new schools in the TIF district. They say they also will use proceeds of the sale of the land under the nearby Near North Career Magnet High School, which is to be razed to make way for private development.</p>
<p>Members of Near North’s local school council say the board already is dismantling school programs and sidestepping the council. Last spring, when Principal Faye Grays’s contract expired, the board refused to ratify the contract of the LSC’s choice for a replacement, Ronald Gibbs. Gibbs now leads the school on an interim basis. This fall, officials disbanded the school’s football team, offering flag football instead. When council members took issue with the board’s choice for “transition manager,” Reginald Brown, a politically-connected former principal of Chicago Vocational High School, the board named him as the school’s probation manager instead.</p>
<p>“We have to fight for everything that should come easily,” says Clara Smith, who chairs the Near North LSC.</p>
<p>Parents and community members at the school also contend board officials have given them questionable information. Several say they’ve been told that Near North’s building has to be replaced because it has structural problems and is sinking into the ground. Smith asks, “If the land the school is on is sinking, wouldn’t the houses across the street be sinking too?”</p>
<p>Dion Smith, chief of staff in the board’s Operations Department, says that, to the best of his knowledge, Near North is not structurally unsound. It is being replaced, he says, because “it is not a well-designed building.”</p>
<p>Chief Education Officer Cozette Buckney says the board is “making an investment in those students who are there now [by] committing to keeping the school open through 2001 for them.” She adds, “We will make sure that any students who qualify can certainly go to the new school.”</p>
<p>Judging by Near North’s test scores, few of its students would qualify for the new Region 2 High, which will require above-average scores for admission. In 1997, which marked a seven-year high for Near North’s scores on the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency, fewer than 15 percent of the students scored at or above national norms.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in the Cabrini-Green area, the Ferguson Child-Parent Center has been torn down and rebuilt several blocks away. Its old site now sports a parking lot for the recently opened Dominick’s at Clybourn and Division. Byrd and Jenner elementary schools also are slated for replacement.</p>
<p>These projects, along with the new high school, make Ald. Walter Burnett’s 27th Ward one of the neediest wards in the city, by the board’s definitions. About $101 million in rehab and overcrowding-relief projects are listed for the ward, with $59 million of them funded.</p>
<p>OTHER DEVELOPMENT-RELATED PROJECTS In the South Loop, where gentrification is spreading rapidly, one of the system’s most successful vocational education programs is being phased out for a college-prep program. For decades, students from high schools across the city transferred to Jones Commercial after their sophomore year to prepare for office jobs at Loop companies. The school’s close proximity facilitated an extensive work experience program.</p>
<p>Buckney, who added college-prep courses while she was principal at Jones, says the area’s changing residential demographics demand a new program. “It was the logical thing to do, to convert a two-year school in a growing area to a four-year school. … Students will still be able to choose a business style program, but not for secretarial jobs anymore.”</p>
<p>The board’s Capital Improvement Plan lists an unfunded $15 million addition to Jones, and officials have talked about using land several doors south that is occupied by the Pacific Garden Mission. Officials say they are looking at alternative sites as well. “We’re exploring options right now,” says CEO Vallas.</p>
<p>At both Jones and Near North, teachers, parents and students have protested the board’s plans, and their travails have been chronicled in a series of articles in Substance, a muckraking, teacher-produced monthly newspaper. Stories headlined “Jones fights back!” and “Near North’s slow death” have painted the board’s action as straightforward cases of officials pushing out the schools’ working-class constituencies in order to encourage gentrification in the schools’ lakefront neighborhoods.</p>
<p>Vallas has denied that the new magnet high schools are intended to lure the affluent. However, when Schools and Regions Chief Blondean Davis helped interview finalists for the principal’s job at North Side College Prep, her first question to each finalist was: “What would you do to recruit students who would otherwise go to private or parochial schools?”</p>
<p>In a redevelopment area on the Near West Side, Riis Elementary recently saw its rehab plans disappear. Riis has a faulty heating system and drafty windows, which force some students to wear their coats to class during winter. Board officials had scheduled a $2 million rehab for the school in 1997-98, but the board quietly scrapped it last summer. Principal Susan Milojevic didn’t learn of the cancellation until a reporter told her of it.</p>
<p>Salazar jittery</p>
<p>Riis sits amid the ABLA homes, a public housing complex that is being replaced with mixed-income housing. As a result, the school’s enrollment has dropped. Board officials now say they are considering closing the school and sending the students elsewhere, rather than investing in repairs.</p>
<p>In the Cabrini-Green area, another school has gotten the jitters. Salazar Bilingual Academy, which sits across the street from the site of the new Region 2 High School, recently lost its teachers’ parking lot with dizzying speed.</p>
<p>According to Local School Council Chair Ricardo Gomez, the principal got a call on a Friday afternoon in late August from David Tkak, the mayor’s point person for Near North redevelopment, says Gomez.</p>
<p>Tkak was calling to say that over the weekend city bulldozers would convert the parking lot into an alley for town homes behind the school. When the school objected, the job was put off, but not for long.</p>
<p>On Sept. 23, the Reform Board passed a resolution selling the parking lot to the City of Chicago for $1. On Sept. 26, the bulldozers came and did the job.</p>
<p>“We’re starting to feel like they’re just inching us out,” says Gomez. “Like we could show up on Friday afternoon and they could say, ‘You guys have to get out, because on Monday, the mayor’s going to be using it for his headquarters.'”</p>
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however handful bigticket items totaling roughly 100 million raises questions priorities chief among projects 45 million magnet high school may expensive new school perstudent basis state board officials hope new north side college prep located lincoln square lure families would otherwise leave chicagos public schools private parochial suburban alternatives plan open five schools like north side year 2001 rehabbed existing structures addition boards capital dollars used support redevelopment cabrinigreen expand elementary magnet schools meanwhile board enough money repair existing schools relieve overcrowding julie woestehoff director parents united responsible education credits board responsibly addressed repair needs schools system says spreading money around board also given political cover indulge projects perspective questionable schools like north side college prep says arelets honesttaking money away repairs could made schools poor minority neighborhoods supporters expanded magnet school program argue pay effect bolstering citys property tax base matt mcdermott policy analyst chicago coalition homeless agrees goal retaining middle class merit thinks board tilting far direction im completely opposed says suppose good reasons flagship schools cost looked especially light board potentially reaching limit capital spending general reaction would would important save dollars even though theyre 10 percent budget basic needs like schools falling apart overcrowded full lead paint think theyre priorities says jim lewis vice president research planning chicago urban league cant make statement things weighed making basic repairs relieving overcrowding important explains promoting economically racially mixed schools long magnet programs dont become tools particular community remain tools desegregated school system completely says case two magnet high schools mcdermott others say equity problem compounded fact collegeprep programs displacing vocational education programs served lowerincome students south loop office services program phased jones commercial high school make room collegeprep magnet redeveloping cabrinigreen area near north career magnet high school razed replaced collegeprep magnet closer gold coast details catalyst analysis broadbased equity catalysts analysis boards spending capital improvements shows 15 billion roughly 75 percent used rescue crumbling buildings put new ones relieve overcrowding 390 million roughly 20 percent going grabbag extras including new expanded magnet schools new science labs high schools playlots elementary schools office buildout school boards new downtown headquarters 97 million roughly 5 percent going program administration catalystsanalysis degree school repair needs met found broadbased equity among various types schools predominantly black schools predominantly latino schools predominantly lowincome schools percentage repair needs met middleclass schools schools enroll relatively high percentages white students catalysts wardbyward analysis spending repairs overcrowding extras shows special preference wards influential aldermen every spending category politically influential affluent wards likely show list 10 worstfunded wards list 10 bestfunded wards example leastfunded wards include two politically potent wards city 13th home michael madigan speaker illinois house representatives state democratic party chair 19th home former illinois senate president thomas hynes cook county sheriff michael sheahan schools chief executive officer paul vallas see map page 6 theres conscious attempt leave anyone acknowledges jacqueline leavy executive director neighborhood capital budget group administration prides responsive someone cries going get response thats least step right direction still concerned anybody falling cracks continues hundred sixtyfive schools testified public hearings spring thats lot folks stayed home may satisfied folks need reach need convinced worth come say whats wrong kids school must addressed indeed catalysts analyses boards numbers showed pattern overall equity closer look projects indicates boards determination need sometimes reflects community pressure much physical conditions example boards capital budget book includes projects morse elementary humboldt park even though school buckling wall lunchroom peeling lead paint ceiling windows secure recently though board committed fixing lunchroom looking full rehab morse details see story since price tag put projects morses needs part catalysts calculations contrast capital budget book include 187 million plan build new building interamerican magnet school located lake view project wasnt boards radar launched capital improvement program 1996 however top organizers staffers several citywide policy advocacy groups send children interamerican made sure school turned force public hearings 1997 parents came busloads waving signs banners interamericans spokesperson adela coronadogreeley founder duallanguage school former board education member board greeley testified purposefully refrained advocating interamerican knew schools needed helped saw schools less need interamerican getting fixed decide time come speak money lined new building fact put ward 44th near bottom catalysts list showing degree need met 309 million projects outlined 44th ward 77 million 25 percent funded three quarters discrepancy due interamerican ald bernie hansen surprised none pleased learn wards standing know nettlehorst done blaine done hawthorne done lemoyne done theres going new interamerican magnet school wherever thats going says dont know youd think last since almost schools done already school councils principals unhappy theyd see without interamerican hansens ward would landed middle catalysts list bigticket items southwest suburban naperville drew gasps last year opened 62 million high school neuqua valley however perstudent basis neuqua valley less half expensive north side college prep scheduled open next september bryn mawr kedzie built 3000 students neuquas perstudent cost 20000 designed 1000 45 million north side cost 45000 per student chicago school officials attribute difference economies scale unique construction challenges youve got look fixed costs says chief operating officer tim martin youve got gym auditorium swimming pool youve built kitchen doesnt matter cook 3000 meals 1000 north sides location bank chicago river also increased costs says foundation needed special reinforcement construction crews take care disrupt sewer lines feed river adds board hoped offset construction costs getting land formerly owned cook county water reclamation district free says district policybound charge fair price similarly region 2 college prep high school scheduled open year 2000 corner oak wells streets higher perstudent cost nequa capacity 1000 price tag 30 million perpupil cost 30000 region 2 college prep located cabrinigreen area taxincrement financing district tif gets keep gains local property tax revenues public improvements development incentives within boundaries school officials say tap funds help build region 2 college prep new schools tif district say also use proceeds sale land nearby near north career magnet high school razed make way private development members near norths local school council say board already dismantling school programs sidestepping council last spring principal faye grayss contract expired board refused ratify contract lscs choice replacement ronald gibbs gibbs leads school interim basis fall officials disbanded schools football team offering flag football instead council members took issue boards choice transition manager reginald brown politicallyconnected former principal chicago vocational high school board named schools probation manager instead fight everything come easily says clara smith chairs near north lsc parents community members school also contend board officials given questionable information several say theyve told near norths building replaced structural problems sinking ground smith asks land school sinking wouldnt houses across street sinking dion smith chief staff boards operations department says best knowledge near north structurally unsound replaced says welldesigned building chief education officer cozette buckney says board making investment students committing keeping school open 2001 adds make sure students qualify certainly go new school judging near norths test scores students would qualify new region 2 high require aboveaverage scores admission 1997 marked sevenyear high near norths scores tests achievement proficiency fewer 15 percent students scored national norms elsewhere cabrinigreen area ferguson childparent center torn rebuilt several blocks away old site sports parking lot recently opened dominicks clybourn division byrd jenner elementary schools also slated replacement projects along new high school make ald walter burnetts 27th ward one neediest wards city boards definitions 101 million rehab overcrowdingrelief projects listed ward 59 million funded developmentrelated projects south loop gentrification spreading rapidly one systems successful vocational education programs phased collegeprep program decades students high schools across city transferred jones commercial sophomore year prepare office jobs loop companies schools close proximity facilitated extensive work experience program buckney added collegeprep courses principal jones says areas changing residential demographics demand new program logical thing convert twoyear school growing area fouryear school students still able choose business style program secretarial jobs anymore boards capital improvement plan lists unfunded 15 million addition jones officials talked using land several doors south occupied pacific garden mission officials say looking alternative sites well exploring options right says ceo vallas jones near north teachers parents students protested boards plans travails chronicled series articles substance muckraking teacherproduced monthly newspaper stories headlined jones fights back near norths slow death painted boards action straightforward cases officials pushing schools workingclass constituencies order encourage gentrification schools lakefront neighborhoods vallas denied new magnet high schools intended lure affluent however schools regions chief blondean davis helped interview finalists principals job north side college prep first question finalist would recruit students would otherwise go private parochial schools redevelopment area near west side riis elementary recently saw rehab plans disappear riis faulty heating system drafty windows force students wear coats class winter board officials scheduled 2 million rehab school 199798 board quietly scrapped last summer principal susan milojevic didnt learn cancellation reporter told salazar jittery riis sits amid abla homes public housing complex replaced mixedincome housing result schools enrollment dropped board officials say considering closing school sending students elsewhere rather investing repairs cabrinigreen area another school gotten jitters salazar bilingual academy sits across street site new region 2 high school recently lost teachers parking lot dizzying speed according local school council chair ricardo gomez principal got call friday afternoon late august david tkak mayors point person near north redevelopment says gomez tkak calling say weekend city bulldozers would convert parking lot alley town homes behind school school objected job put long sept 23 reform board passed resolution selling parking lot city chicago 1 sept 26 bulldozers came job starting feel like theyre inching us says gomez like could show friday afternoon could say guys get monday mayors going using headquarters
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<p>The assault on California businesses has been going full throttle in the current legislative session. It’s conducted by union-backed Democratic legislators oblivious to the state’s 11.8 percent unemployment rate and ranking as one of the&#160; <a href="http://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-for-business" type="external">the worst states in the country in which to do business</a>. The <a href="http://www.calchamber.com/GovernmentRelations/Pages/JobKillers2011.aspx" type="external">California Chamber of Commerce lists 30 job-killing bills</a> that have been introduced, 18 of which remain active, including <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_0301-0350/ab_350_bill_20110630_amended_sen_v97.pdf" type="external">AB 350</a>.</p>
<p>Dubbed the “Displaced Property Service Employee Opportunity Act,” AB 350 forces companies that provide building security, maintenance, window cleaning or food services to retain the employees of the previous service contractor for 90 days and then offer those employees continued employment unless their performance is unsatisfactory.</p>
<p>For example, a building owner notices that supplies are disappearing and suspects that security guards are sleeping on the job and may be complicit in the thefts. As a result, he fires the security firm and hires a new one. Under AB 350, all of the same security guards must remain on the job for at least three months — and perhaps much longer — unless the new firm can prove that they aren’t doing the job.</p>
<p>Sponsor&#160; <a href="http://asmdc.org/members/a69/" type="external">Assemblyman Jose Solorio</a>, D-Anaheim, introduced the bill in the Assembly on May 31. He noted that it’s an expansion of the Displaced Janitor Opportunity Act, which has been in effect for 10 years and requires building maintenance contractors to retain the previous contractor’s employees for 60 days.</p>
<p>Solorio said the legislation “has been working fairly smoothly for both employers and employees” and added that AB 350 “will provide security to workers to maintain and secure buildings and provide flexibility for employers throughout California. These type of employees can lose their job with little or no warning. California continues to have very high unemployment levels.”</p>
<p>Two Republicans spoke in opposition.</p>
<p><a href="http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/66/" type="external">Kevin Jeffries</a>, of Lake Elsinore, argued that AB 350 makes it unfair for service companies when bidding on a contract. “How do you know what to bid?” asked Jeffries. “Because if you’re the successor bidder, and you didn’t plan to absorb all of the employees who were working in that building, you have just bankrupted your own business by winning the contract. You have to guesstimate what the cost would be of all of those employees. So that will put your bid over the top and probably cause you to lose the bid. So it’s a no-win scenario if you’re trying to have competition at the best prices.”</p>
<p><a href="http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/32/" type="external">Shannon Grove</a>&#160;of Bakersfield said, “So this legislative body is now going to legislate and tell private businesses who they can hire, who they can fire and to retain employees who they no longer wish to retain. It’s amazing to me. We are again attacking businesses. If you bid on a contract and have your own employees and are awarded that contract, why wouldn’t you want to use your own employees? And then to [be forced to] let those employees go to hire other employees that aren’t even a part of your company? I can’t believe this legislative body is going to dictate to employers and small businesses who they can hire and fire.”</p>
<p>AB 350 passed easily 46-31 with only four Democrats voting against it along with all of the Republicans. It’s scheduled for the <a href="http://sapro.senate.ca.gov/agenda" type="external">Senate Appropriations Committee</a> on Aug. 15.</p>
<p>The real intent of the bill, which is backed by a variety of unions, may be to strengthen the unions’ power in the building services industry. Federal law requires that when a company hires and retains unionized employees for 90 days, the company must then open union contract negotiations, according to a <a href="http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2011/jul/11/state-lock-building-workers/" type="external">Los Angeles Business Journal article</a>, citing an employment law specialist.</p>
<p>Forced unionization is one of the arguments against the bill cited in <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_0301-0350/ab_350_cfa_20110628_095246_sen_comm.html" type="external">the legislative analysis</a>:</p>
<p>“[O]pponents contend that this bill is designed to ensure that a union, who has been elected as the bargaining representative through the proper procedures for the prior contractor, will remain the bargaining representative for the subsequent employer. According to opponents, since this bill mandates that subsequent employers hire the predecessor’s employees, it would provide automatic protection to the incumbent union to maintain its status as the bargaining representative, thus forcing all contractors/employers of ‘property services’ to be union employers. Opponents believe the decision of whether or not to have a union in the workplace should be left to the employers and employees, after following the proper procedures outlined by the National Labor Relations Act.”</p>
<p>The anti-unionization argument is not used by the ad hoc <a href="http://www.ab350areyoukiddingme.com/index.php" type="external">No On AB 350 coalition</a>, however. A <a href="http://ab350areyoukiddingme.com/SampleLetter.doc" type="external">sample letter</a>&#160;the coalition provides for supporters to send to legislators argues that AB 350 “violates the fundamental relationships governing contracting services and the most basic tenets of employer hiring review.” And it “creates a protected class of building services employees” who must be retained “even if those employees were directly responsible for the previous contractor losing the job.</p>
<p>“AB 350 takes away the fundamental right and responsibility for an employer to screen its new hires for things such as competency in the skills required for the job. Finally, this bill would add to the already uncompetitive regulatory environment we have in California, making it more difficult for employers to expand their businesses, hire more employees, and contribute to the economic vitality of the state.”</p>
<p>If the bill makes it through the Appropriations Committee, it’s likely to sail through the state Senate on a party-line vote. The question is whether Gov. Jerry Brown will sign it. Although he’s usually as union-friendly as most Democrats, Brown has also shown an independent streak. He&#160; <a href="http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-07-01/opinion/29724908_1_secret-ballot-card-check-ufw-supporters" type="external">vetoed a card check bill</a> that threatened to end secret balloting in farm worker unionization elections. And he scuttled another <a href="http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/letters-editor/2011/07/bill-turns-public-employees-public-bosses" type="external">bill that had the effect of giving public employee unions control</a> over the commissions that govern public employees.</p>
<p>He might decide that another bill goosing unemployment isn’t needed right now in the Golden State.</p>
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assault california businesses going full throttle current legislative session conducted unionbacked democratic legislators oblivious states 118 percent unemployment rate ranking one the160 worst states country business california chamber commerce lists 30 jobkilling bills introduced 18 remain active including ab 350 dubbed displaced property service employee opportunity act ab 350 forces companies provide building security maintenance window cleaning food services retain employees previous service contractor 90 days offer employees continued employment unless performance unsatisfactory example building owner notices supplies disappearing suspects security guards sleeping job may complicit thefts result fires security firm hires new one ab 350 security guards must remain job least three months perhaps much longer unless new firm prove arent job sponsor160 assemblyman jose solorio danaheim introduced bill assembly may 31 noted expansion displaced janitor opportunity act effect 10 years requires building maintenance contractors retain previous contractors employees 60 days solorio said legislation working fairly smoothly employers employees added ab 350 provide security workers maintain secure buildings provide flexibility employers throughout california type employees lose job little warning california continues high unemployment levels two republicans spoke opposition kevin jeffries lake elsinore argued ab 350 makes unfair service companies bidding contract know bid asked jeffries youre successor bidder didnt plan absorb employees working building bankrupted business winning contract guesstimate cost would employees put bid top probably cause lose bid nowin scenario youre trying competition best prices shannon grove160of bakersfield said legislative body going legislate tell private businesses hire fire retain employees longer wish retain amazing attacking businesses bid contract employees awarded contract wouldnt want use employees forced let employees go hire employees arent even part company cant believe legislative body going dictate employers small businesses hire fire ab 350 passed easily 4631 four democrats voting along republicans scheduled senate appropriations committee aug 15 real intent bill backed variety unions may strengthen unions power building services industry federal law requires company hires retains unionized employees 90 days company must open union contract negotiations according los angeles business journal article citing employment law specialist forced unionization one arguments bill cited legislative analysis opponents contend bill designed ensure union elected bargaining representative proper procedures prior contractor remain bargaining representative subsequent employer according opponents since bill mandates subsequent employers hire predecessors employees would provide automatic protection incumbent union maintain status bargaining representative thus forcing contractorsemployers property services union employers opponents believe decision whether union workplace left employers employees following proper procedures outlined national labor relations act antiunionization argument used ad hoc ab 350 coalition however sample letter160the coalition provides supporters send legislators argues ab 350 violates fundamental relationships governing contracting services basic tenets employer hiring review creates protected class building services employees must retained even employees directly responsible previous contractor losing job ab 350 takes away fundamental right responsibility employer screen new hires things competency skills required job finally bill would add already uncompetitive regulatory environment california making difficult employers expand businesses hire employees contribute economic vitality state bill makes appropriations committee likely sail state senate partyline vote question whether gov jerry brown sign although hes usually unionfriendly democrats brown also shown independent streak he160 vetoed card check bill threatened end secret balloting farm worker unionization elections scuttled another bill effect giving public employee unions control commissions govern public employees might decide another bill goosing unemployment isnt needed right golden state
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<p>Alan and Leslie Chambers have abandoned ‘ex-gay’ causes and now advocate for marriage equality.</p>
<p>Alan Chambers says he and many of his compatriots who operated the nation’s preeminent “ex-gay” organization for 12 years before they shut it down in 2013 have undergone a fundamental, personal change in their Christian beliefs and views on homosexuality.</p>
<p>Chambers, 44, an ordained minister who served as president of Exodus International from 2001 to 2013, is scheduled to deliver two sermons at the Washington National Cathedral on Sunday morning.</p>
<p>But instead of advocating for Exodus International’s past call for “reparative therapy” to help people change their sexual orientation from gay to straight, Chambers says he plans to tell the story of how he and others involved with Exodus have changed and now believe God loves and fully embraces LGBT people for who they are.</p>
<p>“And by change I mean we changed our opinion,” he told the Washington Blade in an interview. “We’ve changed our beliefs. We’ve changed our understanding in many respects,” he said.</p>
<p>“We’ve become affirming of people and supportive and affirming of marriage equality and feel like there are a lot of amazing relationships out there,” Chambers said. “And we believe that’s something that is a right that people have and should have and that God can bless those relationships as much as he can bless heterosexual relationships.”</p>
<p>In a development that would have been unthinkable during his earlier years at Exodus, Chambers is scheduled to march in the Capital Pride Parade on Saturday as part of a contingent organized by the National Cathedral.</p>
<p>Chambers acknowledges his current views represent a major break from his past statements and actions.</p>
<p>During most of his years as president of Exodus International he fulfilled the role of poster boy for the organization’s mission to persuade people who were troubled over “same-sex attractions” to change their sexual orientation from gay to straight by embracing God and Christian beliefs.</p>
<p>Often accompanied by his wife, Leslie Chambers, Alan Chambers pointed to what he said was his own success in leaving a gay or bisexual lifestyle through reparative or “conversion” therapy that Exodus International and other ex-gay ministries promoted but that was debunked and condemned by the world’s major medical associations.</p>
<p>In 2013 Chambers shocked many of the conservative Christian leaders and organizations he worked with for over a decade by announcing Exodus International was disbanding permanently. To the dismay of those remaining supportive of “ex-gay” ministries, he publicly apologized to the LGBT community for the “pain and hurt” that Exodus had caused.</p>
<p>Chambers said the decision to close Exodus International followed his realization that reparative therapy did not work and often brought about feelings of shame and despondency when people were unable to change their sexual desires.</p>
<p>He said he also came to the realization that LGBT people were fully embraced by God’s love and that the church in many ways had failed to minister to their true needs.</p>
<p>While acknowledging and accepting Chambers’ remorse of his past role in the “ex-gay” movement and his current support for LGBT rights, some in the LGBT community have criticized him for not publicly confirming that’s he’s gay or bisexual.</p>
<p>Noting that he’s happily married and deeply in love with his wife, with whom he works closely on projects involving his public speaking tours and writings, Chambers said he’s not interested in being confined to a label.</p>
<p>“I realized a number of years ago before we closed Exodus that straight wasn’t a label that I wanted to place on myself,” he said. “But gay wasn’t either. It doesn’t mean gay isn’t a part of my identity or that I mind people using that as a label to describe me because in some regards, it absolutely does.”</p>
<p>Added Chambers: “But someone who is married happily for nearly 20 years to a woman, not because I had to be or because I needed to be but because I wanted to be. I choose really to stay away from labels that pigeonhole me into one identity that makes one group feel better or another group feel worse.”</p>
<p>The full text of the Blade’s interview with Chambers follows:</p>
<p />
<p>Washington Blade: What was it that prompted you to shut down Exodus International?</p>
<p>Alan Chambers: Well there were a number of factors, the first of which is it was always my goal to close down Exodus. And the reason for that was really what evolved over the course of time that I was the president of Exodus. I became president in 2001. And in the interview process they asked me what success would look like for me as the president of Exodus. I said success looks like Exodus going out of business because the church is doing its job.</p>
<p>And the job that I was talking about drastically changed in my mind to not helping people change but helping people be celibate, not pointing to a good or an evil but simply including people – all people – LGBTQ plus people into the life, body, and ministry of the church.</p>
<p>And that’s really the passion that we have today is seeking inclusion, full inclusion where people can use their gifts and not be second-class citizens in the church but be treated as I would treat anyone and that is as a full-fledged member of His family.</p>
<p>And I know something that changed for us and that’s one of the major factors in closing Exodus was it was founded on a premise that was faulty in our opinion. And we couldn’t modify our mission. We couldn’t rebrand our mission. In order to do the maximum amount of healing necessary we had to shut the organization down.</p>
<p>And I felt like that message to the church that people who had been entrenched in this movement have changed. And by change I mean we changed our opinion. We’ve changed our beliefs. We changed our understanding in many respects. And then to the LGBT community our message in closing was we pray that this is a huge healing opportunity for those who have been hurt, for those who have had different experiences frankly than I had at Exodus.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: When you say the Exodus movement was based on a faulty premise, by that did you mean it’s not possible to change someone’s sexual orientation from gay to straight?</p>
<p>Chambers: Right – and that’s the whole premise – that Exodus was an organization that believed and promoted change.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: Didn’t you say in some of your recent writings that you repented? Was all of this part of a repenting in some way?</p>
<p>Chambers: Yeah. And repenting, you know, means change your mind. And we changed our minds. I changed my mind on all of these things, especially how we approached them from a Christian perspective and a human rights perspective. And so we repented. I repented. I changed my mind.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: By changing your mind, do you now agree with the many LGBT Christian activists such as leaders of the LGBT supportive Metropolitan Community Church that God loves LGBT people and same-sex love and committed same-sex relationships are not a sin? Is that something you now feel has validity?</p>
<p>Chambers: Absolutely. We’ve become affirming of people and supportive and affirming of marriage equality and feel like there are a lot of amazing relationships out there and that’s something we need to support and encourage. And it gives people the opportunity to be faithful where they haven’t been able to experience that before. And we believe that’s something that is a right that people have and should have and that God can bless those relationships as much as he can bless heterosexual relationships.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: You mention in some of your writings that during your tenure at Exodus you walked the halls of Congress. By that did you mean you lobbied or advocated in opposition to LGBT civil rights legislation among other things?</p>
<p>Chambers: For a period of time we did lobby against marriage equality and certain anti-discrimination policies and things like that. In 2008 we publicly came out and said we were wrong for doing that and we now no longer were going to do that. And so during the last few years of Exodus – the last five or six years of Exodus we, again, to use the word repent, repented our political involvement in that regard.</p>
<p>And since then, since closing Exodus, I felt there were things where I needed to be very vocal about my support in the affirmation of the things that I used to oppose.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: But when you stopped opposing LGBT rights legislation in 2008 were you still promoting the idea that gay people could change their sexual orientation?</p>
<p>Chambers: Yeah, gradually, though, we got away from the change verbiage and denounced reparative therapy and those types of things before we closed, which caused a huge fissure and separation within Exodus where other groups began to break off and form their own organizations because of our changing positions.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: Clearly many conservative or fundamentalist Christians and religious right organizations like the Family Research Council still condemn homosexuality and claim gays can and should change their sexual orientation. Have any of these people confronted you or challenged you on your current beliefs?</p>
<p>Chambers: Oh, absolutely, yes. We were challenged tremendously in all of that. And some even made accusations against me – that I was having an affair and there was no way I could say the things I was saying for any other reason than I was cheating on my wife and I was living a double life and those types of things. I had a prominent Evangelical person call my pastors and tell them that he had a word from God that I was cheating on my family and that was the only way I could have a change of heart and change of position on all of these things.</p>
<p>So they have done everything from challenge me publicly and in the press to invading my private space in life by calling people and spreading lies about me. And that’s been hurtful. But it is what it is and it only galvanizes our desire to do right by the LGBTQ plus community and stand our ground and continue to work and fight on behalf of them.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: You’ve undoubtedly heard those who quote Biblical passages such as Leviticus, which they interpret to say homosexuality is a sin condemned by God. Do you have any thoughts on how that can be reconciled with your own beliefs?</p>
<p>Chambers: I know there are a number of people on both sides who spend an inordinate amount of time trying to take scripture and prove a point with it. And what I’ve come to understand about scripture is I believe that the Bible is true. What I know of myself is I don’t have the ability to interpret it perfectly and no one else does either. So there are numerous scriptures, not just related to homosexuality but related to so many things that I look at and I think there is more to it than what’s there in the black and white.</p>
<p>What I do know is my understanding of scripture is that it’s full of good news and it’s full of good advice. And the good news is – the most important part in that good news is that Jesus came for all of us, that he is someone who wants a relationship with everyone. And there is no one excluded from that.</p>
<p>So I know there are a lot of people that explain theology and gay theology so much better than I do. What I found as a Christian and a pastor and as a person that this impacts directly – I don’t have to be concerned about what those passages actually mean because I think when it comes down to it, it is irrelevant. The arguing over that is irrelevant. He didn’t die so we can point our finger at people and say you’re better than or you’re less than or you’re good or you’re evil.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: In a commentary published last October in the Advocate, writer Eliel Cruz said he believes you are sincere about the changes in your beliefs about the “ex-gay” movement. But he criticized you for not being willing so far to identify as gay or bisexual. What are your thoughts on that?</p>
<p>Chambers: Well Eliel is my friend and we’ve had these conversations. And he’s not the only one that feels that way. I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time focused on a label. I was a part of a movement that labeled itself as ex-gay, which was frankly a label that I always hated. And that was a part of what we were involved in and entrenched in for so long. And I realized a number of years ago before we closed Exodus that straight wasn’t a label that I wanted to place on myself. But gay wasn’t either. It doesn’t mean that gay isn’t a part of my identity or that I mind people using that as a label to describe me because in some regards it absolutely does. But as someone who is married happily for nearly 20 years to a woman, not because I had to be or because I needed to be but because I wanted to be. I choose really to stay away from labels that pigeonhole me into one identity that makes one group feel better or another feel worse.</p>
<p>I just feel like I’m more than those things and for me, if I’m going to identity myself or label myself it’s going to be as the thing that I am. I’m a husband. I’m a father…a Christian. All of those things are far more descriptive and accurate. If I were going to pull an orientation label there is certainly truth to the gay orientation. But also as a married man for almost 20 years, my orientation is my wife. And but if I was gay or straight predominantly my orientation should be to the person I’m married to. And so when I think about it in those terms I feel like that is something that is fair to me and fair to my family to label myself in those ways.</p>
<p>But I certainly understand when somebody uses the gay label to describe me. And I wouldn’t argue with them. There is truth there. But as a person I prefer to live beyond sexual labels or the social labels, even though I appreciate them and understand when people use them for themselves and even for me.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: Former President Jimmy Carter created a stir in 1976 when he was a presidential candidate and said in an interview that he had sinned many times because he had attractions to other women as a married man, even though he overcome those temptations and was faithful to his wife. Could that be a situation that you’re in since some have labeled you bisexual?</p>
<p>Chambers: Well I am married and I believe attraction in and of itself is not a sin. So for me to say I find another human being attractive I don’t think is to say that I am committing a sin. I think attraction in and of itself is value neutral. What I do with those attractions, whether it’s a gay attraction or a straight attraction or whatever – whether it’s to a person or an attraction to money that we need to something that I shouldn’t do – those are areas where I don’t yield.</p>
<p>When it comes to being married I feel like my priority is to my wife. And so I do have attractions. I do have temptations – all of those types of things. But I would no matter what. So my desire as a husband is to be faithful. So I exercise a great deal of restraint as any husband would or any wife would who’s committed to their partner. And so it’s not a gay or a straight issue or one is more sinful than another…My desire is to be faithful to my wife.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: Do you have a position on laws that have been proposed and passed in a number of states to prohibit so-called conversion therapy for minors under the age of 18?</p>
<p>Chambers:&#160; Yeah absolutely I do. I wrote an article for Religion News Service in April 2015, the day President Obama stated his opposition to conversion therapy and made a call for a ban on that for minors. And I agreed with him. And I just did an interview with the Southern Poverty Law Center. They released a report on their opposition to conversion therapy and I worked with them and will continue to work with them and others to see that conversion therapy for minors is banned. I’m opposed to that. I think it is dangerous. I think it promotes shame and it shouldn’t be something that minors are forced to be a part of.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: Would you have any advice for an adult who may be considering undergoing conversion therapy to change their sexual orientation?</p>
<p>Chambers: Yeah – my advice to people who are seeking out reparative therapy, which is the traditional name for it, is that you cannot change your sexual orientation. If someone is interested in a celibacy option whether they are gay or straight and they are married and there is a faith or moral conviction about sex outside of marriage that’s very different than seeking out reparative therapy, which I believe produces shame. Orientation cannot be changed. I spent over 20 years in the movement that promoted it, and it doesn’t work. It’s not possible.</p>
<p>But if someone has a moral or a faith conviction about sex outside of marriage then they should be allowed to seek help with someone who will help them achieve that goal. But that’s not reparative therapy. Reparative therapy is something that produce shame and tells you, you are less than and you can change your orientation, which is not possible.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: Can you tell a little about what your message will be when you speak at the National Cathedral on Sunday?</p>
<p>Chambers: Well I’ll be preaching from a text and beyond that I’ll share some of my personal journey and also talk a lot about the example I believe that comes from God and the life of Jesus related to inclusion, related to grace and love and those being our highest priorities – and the hope that people who have been marginalized or hurt by the church or heard a different message from the church will realize their great worth that Christians very often fall short of speaking for God when they talk about sex and sexuality. And we need to do better.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: With marriage equality now the law of the land, LGBT rights advocates say one of the most important remaining tasks for the LGBT rights movement is persuading Congress to pass a federal LGBT civil rights law. Is that something that you can support?</p>
<p>Chambers: Yeah. I try to stay out of politics in general, but I am supportive of legislation that protects individuals and people – groups of people who have been marginalized. And the LGBT community is certainly one of those for sure.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: Can you tell a little about what you are doing now? You’re based in Orlando, Fla. Are you working for another organization?</p>
<p>Chambers: No, we haven’t been working for another organization. My wife is a teacher. And I speak and we both write. And we go where people ask us to go. Most often times that’s for free. And we have just tried very hard not to jump into full-time organization work or a cause but really taken the time to listen to people and spend time with people that wasn’t based around an organization we were trying to promote or raise money for.</p>
<p>And so we’re in the process of trying to move back toward a ministry of some sort. We’ve talked about starting some sort of a church or ministry where we can continue to speak and write just on a different level than we did before. But that’s what we’ve been doing. I freelance and have done some consulting and things like that in the interim. But we’re ready to jump back in full-time and pursue what we believe is our call.</p>
<p />
<p>Blade: What religious denomination did you grow up in?</p>
<p>Chambers: I was a Southern Baptist. We’re non-denominational at this point. You can go to Alan Chambers.org. I think there’s a bio there that you could see. We’ve not written a ton in the last couple of years, but there are some things there that we have.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Alan Chambers</a> <a href="" type="internal">Capital Pride parade</a> <a href="" type="internal">ex-gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">Exodus International</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">Leslie Chambers</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBT</a> <a href="" type="internal">reparative therapy</a> <a href="" type="internal">sexual orientation</a> <a href="" type="internal">Washington National Cathedral</a></p>
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alan leslie chambers abandoned exgay causes advocate marriage equality alan chambers says many compatriots operated nations preeminent exgay organization 12 years shut 2013 undergone fundamental personal change christian beliefs views homosexuality chambers 44 ordained minister served president exodus international 2001 2013 scheduled deliver two sermons washington national cathedral sunday morning instead advocating exodus internationals past call reparative therapy help people change sexual orientation gay straight chambers says plans tell story others involved exodus changed believe god loves fully embraces lgbt people change mean changed opinion told washington blade interview weve changed beliefs weve changed understanding many respects said weve become affirming people supportive affirming marriage equality feel like lot amazing relationships chambers said believe thats something right people god bless relationships much bless heterosexual relationships development would unthinkable earlier years exodus chambers scheduled march capital pride parade saturday part contingent organized national cathedral chambers acknowledges current views represent major break past statements actions years president exodus international fulfilled role poster boy organizations mission persuade people troubled samesex attractions change sexual orientation gay straight embracing god christian beliefs often accompanied wife leslie chambers alan chambers pointed said success leaving gay bisexual lifestyle reparative conversion therapy exodus international exgay ministries promoted debunked condemned worlds major medical associations 2013 chambers shocked many conservative christian leaders organizations worked decade announcing exodus international disbanding permanently dismay remaining supportive exgay ministries publicly apologized lgbt community pain hurt exodus caused chambers said decision close exodus international followed realization reparative therapy work often brought feelings shame despondency people unable change sexual desires said also came realization lgbt people fully embraced gods love church many ways failed minister true needs acknowledging accepting chambers remorse past role exgay movement current support lgbt rights lgbt community criticized publicly confirming thats hes gay bisexual noting hes happily married deeply love wife works closely projects involving public speaking tours writings chambers said hes interested confined label realized number years ago closed exodus straight wasnt label wanted place said gay wasnt either doesnt mean gay isnt part identity mind people using label describe regards absolutely added chambers someone married happily nearly 20 years woman needed wanted choose really stay away labels pigeonhole one identity makes one group feel better another group feel worse full text blades interview chambers follows washington blade prompted shut exodus international alan chambers well number factors first always goal close exodus reason really evolved course time president exodus became president 2001 interview process asked success would look like president exodus said success looks like exodus going business church job job talking drastically changed mind helping people change helping people celibate pointing good evil simply including people people lgbtq plus people life body ministry church thats really passion today seeking inclusion full inclusion people use gifts secondclass citizens church treated would treat anyone fullfledged member family know something changed us thats one major factors closing exodus founded premise faulty opinion couldnt modify mission couldnt rebrand mission order maximum amount healing necessary shut organization felt like message church people entrenched movement changed change mean changed opinion weve changed beliefs changed understanding many respects lgbt community message closing pray huge healing opportunity hurt different experiences frankly exodus blade say exodus movement based faulty premise mean possible change someones sexual orientation gay straight chambers right thats whole premise exodus organization believed promoted change blade didnt say recent writings repented part repenting way chambers yeah repenting know means change mind changed minds changed mind things especially approached christian perspective human rights perspective repented repented changed mind blade changing mind agree many lgbt christian activists leaders lgbt supportive metropolitan community church god loves lgbt people samesex love committed samesex relationships sin something feel validity chambers absolutely weve become affirming people supportive affirming marriage equality feel like lot amazing relationships thats something need support encourage gives people opportunity faithful havent able experience believe thats something right people god bless relationships much bless heterosexual relationships blade mention writings tenure exodus walked halls congress mean lobbied advocated opposition lgbt civil rights legislation among things chambers period time lobby marriage equality certain antidiscrimination policies things like 2008 publicly came said wrong longer going last years exodus last five six years exodus use word repent repented political involvement regard since since closing exodus felt things needed vocal support affirmation things used oppose blade stopped opposing lgbt rights legislation 2008 still promoting idea gay people could change sexual orientation chambers yeah gradually though got away change verbiage denounced reparative therapy types things closed caused huge fissure separation within exodus groups began break form organizations changing positions blade clearly many conservative fundamentalist christians religious right organizations like family research council still condemn homosexuality claim gays change sexual orientation people confronted challenged current beliefs chambers oh absolutely yes challenged tremendously even made accusations affair way could say things saying reason cheating wife living double life types things prominent evangelical person call pastors tell word god cheating family way could change heart change position things done everything challenge publicly press invading private space life calling people spreading lies thats hurtful galvanizes desire right lgbtq plus community stand ground continue work fight behalf blade youve undoubtedly heard quote biblical passages leviticus interpret say homosexuality sin condemned god thoughts reconciled beliefs chambers know number people sides spend inordinate amount time trying take scripture prove point ive come understand scripture believe bible true know dont ability interpret perfectly one else either numerous scriptures related homosexuality related many things look think whats black white know understanding scripture full good news full good advice good news important part good news jesus came us someone wants relationship everyone one excluded know lot people explain theology gay theology much better found christian pastor person impacts directly dont concerned passages actually mean think comes irrelevant arguing irrelevant didnt die point finger people say youre better youre less youre good youre evil blade commentary published last october advocate writer eliel cruz said believes sincere changes beliefs exgay movement criticized willing far identify gay bisexual thoughts chambers well eliel friend weve conversations hes one feels way feel like ive spent lot time focused label part movement labeled exgay frankly label always hated part involved entrenched long realized number years ago closed exodus straight wasnt label wanted place gay wasnt either doesnt mean gay isnt part identity mind people using label describe regards absolutely someone married happily nearly 20 years woman needed wanted choose really stay away labels pigeonhole one identity makes one group feel better another feel worse feel like im things im going identity label going thing im husband im fathera christian things far descriptive accurate going pull orientation label certainly truth gay orientation also married man almost 20 years orientation wife gay straight predominantly orientation person im married think terms feel like something fair fair family label ways certainly understand somebody uses gay label describe wouldnt argue truth person prefer live beyond sexual labels social labels even though appreciate understand people use even blade former president jimmy carter created stir 1976 presidential candidate said interview sinned many times attractions women married man even though overcome temptations faithful wife could situation youre since labeled bisexual chambers well married believe attraction sin say find another human attractive dont think say committing sin think attraction value neutral attractions whether gay attraction straight attraction whatever whether person attraction money need something shouldnt areas dont yield comes married feel like priority wife attractions temptations types things would matter desire husband faithful exercise great deal restraint husband would wife would whos committed partner gay straight issue one sinful anothermy desire faithful wife blade position laws proposed passed number states prohibit socalled conversion therapy minors age 18 chambers160 yeah absolutely wrote article religion news service april 2015 day president obama stated opposition conversion therapy made call ban minors agreed interview southern poverty law center released report opposition conversion therapy worked continue work others see conversion therapy minors banned im opposed think dangerous think promotes shame shouldnt something minors forced part blade would advice adult may considering undergoing conversion therapy change sexual orientation chambers yeah advice people seeking reparative therapy traditional name change sexual orientation someone interested celibacy option whether gay straight married faith moral conviction sex outside marriage thats different seeking reparative therapy believe produces shame orientation changed spent 20 years movement promoted doesnt work possible someone moral faith conviction sex outside marriage allowed seek help someone help achieve goal thats reparative therapy reparative therapy something produce shame tells less change orientation possible blade tell little message speak national cathedral sunday chambers well ill preaching text beyond ill share personal journey also talk lot example believe comes god life jesus related inclusion related grace love highest priorities hope people marginalized hurt church heard different message church realize great worth christians often fall short speaking god talk sex sexuality need better blade marriage equality law land lgbt rights advocates say one important remaining tasks lgbt rights movement persuading congress pass federal lgbt civil rights law something support chambers yeah try stay politics general supportive legislation protects individuals people groups people marginalized lgbt community certainly one sure blade tell little youre based orlando fla working another organization chambers havent working another organization wife teacher speak write go people ask us go often times thats free tried hard jump fulltime organization work cause really taken time listen people spend time people wasnt based around organization trying promote raise money process trying move back toward ministry sort weve talked starting sort church ministry continue speak write different level thats weve freelance done consulting things like interim ready jump back fulltime pursue believe call blade religious denomination grow chambers southern baptist nondenominational point go alan chambersorg think theres bio could see weve written ton last couple years things alan chambers capital pride parade exgay exodus international gay leslie chambers lgbt reparative therapy sexual orientation washington national cathedral
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />Dec. 27, 2012</p>
<p>By John Hrabe</p>
<p>The world didn’t end in 2012, but several municipalities did.</p>
<p>Four California cities, Stockton, Atwater, San Bernardino and Mammoth Lakes, declared bankruptcy this year. One financial expert <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/04/14218808-fourth-california-city-faces-bankruptcy-as-municipal-disease-spreads?lite" type="external">described</a>the problem as “spreading like a disease.” Of course, these bankruptcies were caused, in part, by wasteful government spending.</p>
<p>Don’t expect the threat of municipal bankruptcy to rain on every city’s parade.</p>
<p>Twenty-seven percent of the floats in next week’s 124th Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade will be sponsored by a government agency. In many cases, taxpayers directly foot the bill to design and build these elaborate floats. Even responsible cities that rely on donations and corporate sponsorships rack up thousands of dollars in indirect taxpayer expenses.</p>
<p>In addition to two public universities, the 2013 Rose Parade will feature floats from the cities of Alhambra, Burbank, Downey, Glendale, La Canada-Flintridge, Los Angeles, San Gabriel and South Pasadena. The long tradition of city-sponsored parade floats takes all year and thousands of dollars to prepare for just a few seconds of global publicity.</p>
<p>“The Rose Parade’s elaborate floats have come a long way since the Tournament’s early days,” the Rose Parade <a href="http://www.tournamentofroses.com/TheRoseParade/TheParade/Participants/Floats.aspx" type="external">boasts on its website</a>. “Today, float building is a multi-million dollar business and float construction begins just after the previous year’s Parade is over.”</p>
<p>The city of Glendale started planning for the 2013 parade in March, when the city council approved a $100,000 contract with the award-winning Phoenix Decorating Company to design and build the city’s 2013 float. Appropriately themed, “Living the Good Life,” the city fronted the cash with the hope that public donations and corporate sponsorships would backfill the public treasury. By late July, <a href="http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/government/council_packets/Reports_072412/CC_8b_072412.pdf" type="external">city staff had secured</a> just $60,000 in sponsorships.</p>
<p>Glendale, like so many cities, was seeking just a few minutes of international publicity.</p>
<p>“If you ever tried to spot the Glendale Rose Parade float on television on New Year’s Day, you know you had to stay glued to your set and never blink,” <a href="http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-1201-ron-kaye-trying-to-extend-a-spotlight,0,2203258.story" type="external">wrote Glendale News Press columnist</a> Ron Kaye. “You only get a passing glance.”</p>
<p>Just a few miles away, a unanimous Alhambra city council approved a $95,000 contract with the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce to oversee the construction and decoration of the 2013 float, <a href="http://www.cityofalhambra.org/government/city_clerk/downloads/12-05-14Minutes.pdf" type="external">according to council minutes</a>.</p>
<p>While Glendale and Alhambra held public council votes on their Rose Parade floats, other cities provided contributions toward float building through the city’s parks and recreation department. This fiscal year, the city of Burbank allocated $54,720 in a direct cash contribution for the parade from its Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. Drew Sugars, Burbank’s public information officer, is quick to point out that this year’s contribution is about 10 percent less than last year’s. Just two years ago, Burbank allocated $71,310 in direct taxpayer funds for the city’s float.</p>
<p>“Tracking in-kind costs can be a bit more complicated,” Sugars explained.</p>
<p>According to a 2011 city memo, which Sugars provided to CalWatchdog.com, the city’s cash contribution is supplemented by other city expenses for “essential staffing, storage, transportation, related mechanical expenses and miscellaneous expenses.” For example, city employees devoted staff time to train parade volunteers in how to operate a forklift. Additionally, it cost the city $55,000 to warehouse the float. In the 2010-11 fiscal year, the city estimated its “total cost of support” for the Burbank Tournament of Roses Association was $157,374.12.</p>
<p>City staff concluded that the bill was too much for taxpayers to bear.</p>
<p>“As the PRCS Department priorities core programs and services during the FY 2011-2012 Budget process, it recommends the elimination of the City’s $60,800 cash contribution to BTORA,” the city memo stated. Yet, the council declined to follow staff’s recommendation.</p>
<p>Even if some cities wanted to reduce their parade subsidies, not all indirect city subsidies are easily rescinded. In 1995, the city of Downey <a href="http://64.60.105.26/WebLink8/PDF/nbiqhhv5qbtbyevrqrlj5m45/2/Ordinance%20No.%200994.pdf" type="external">entered</a>into a 25-year lease agreement with the Downey Rose Float Association. The city provided this benefit, according to the contract, for nothing more than “the favorable publicity from being represented in the annual Rose Parade.”</p>
<p>The cities’ direct and indirect contribution to these non-profit organizations often comes with minimal oversight or accountability. According to the IRS, the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association had its federal tax exemption <a href="http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayRevocation.do?dispatchMethod=displayRevokeInfo&amp;revocationId=456542&amp;ein=320268111&amp;exemptTypeCode=al&amp;isDescending=false&amp;totalResults=5&amp;postDateTo=&amp;ein1=&amp;state=All...&amp;dispatchMethod=searchRevocation&amp;postDateFrom=&amp;country=US&amp;" type="external">“automatically revoked for its failure to file a Form 990-series return or notice for three consecutive years.”</a></p>
<p>Ted Shaw, president of the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, said that he was working with the IRS to retroactively correct the organization’s filing requirements.</p>
<p>“We have reapplied to the IRS with a retro date to May 11th and have been advised once the fees are paid there will be no problem,” Shaw told CalWatchdog.com. “We are a small solely volunteer organization committed to building a float for our community once a year.”</p>
<p>Yet, the delinquent federal tax return didn’t stop the city from making its annual contribution. Sally Kilby, the city clerk of South Pasadena, said the city contributed $14,500 in business improvement tax funds for the annual Rose Parade float.</p>
<p>“The funds do not come from the General Fund (city), but from business improvement tax funds,” Kilby said. “These monies are collected from the business license tax on all businesses.”</p>
<p>While South Pasadena dedicates business improvement taxes toward parade expenses, not all small businesses see an improvement in their bottom line from the parade.</p>
<p>“Amber Szabo, manager of the Old Pasadena store Lather, which specializes in skin and beauty supplies, said the store always closes for the Rose Parade day, as do many others on the route,” the Los Angeles Times <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/08/local/la-me-rose-bowl-clean-20120108" type="external">reported</a>last January.</p>
<p>Businesses may not benefit, but city officials do. San Gabriel Mayor Kevin Sawkins, who also chairs the city’s centennial committee, <a href="http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_21973510/san-gabriel-enter-first-rose-parade-float-41" type="external">will be one of the float’s</a> six lucky riders. According to the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/23/local/la-me-San-Gabriel-float-20121123" type="external">Los Angeles Times’ Rosanna Xia</a>, “The float, which will cost an estimated $155,000 and is being funded by donations from local businesses and residents, captures the city’s historic roots as well as its evolution.”</p>
<p>Taxpayers may grumble, but city subsidies are a founding principle of the Rose Parade, which began as a publicity stunt for California cities.</p>
<p>“Back in 1890, the city of Pasadena wanted to showcase how their winter was soooo much better than yours,” <a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_19729_6-iconic-things-you-wont-believe-began-as-publicity-stunts_p2.html" type="external">reports Cracked.com</a>. “And in 1890, there were only two ways to accomplish that: by commissioning an artist to paint scenes of local wintertime fun and then just nonchalantly leaving the paintings all around the country, or by holding a festival. Pasadena went with the second one.”</p>
<p>The Los Angeles International Airport, the agency representing the city of Los Angeles in this year’s parade, <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_22262554/lax-rose-parade-float-making-connections-features-bradley" type="external">told the Los Angeles Daily News</a> that “no taxpayer funds were used to pay for the float.” In 2011, the City of La Canada-Flintridge <a href="http://www2.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/953/281/2012-953281373-0858d1cd-9.pdf" type="external">provided</a>at least $10,000 in taxpayer funds to the city’s non-profit float association. However, current year expenses were unavailable.</p>
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dec 27 2012 john hrabe world didnt end 2012 several municipalities four california cities stockton atwater san bernardino mammoth lakes declared bankruptcy year one financial expert describedthe problem spreading like disease course bankruptcies caused part wasteful government spending dont expect threat municipal bankruptcy rain every citys parade twentyseven percent floats next weeks 124th pasadena tournament roses parade sponsored government agency many cases taxpayers directly foot bill design build elaborate floats even responsible cities rely donations corporate sponsorships rack thousands dollars indirect taxpayer expenses addition two public universities 2013 rose parade feature floats cities alhambra burbank downey glendale la canadaflintridge los angeles san gabriel south pasadena long tradition citysponsored parade floats takes year thousands dollars prepare seconds global publicity rose parades elaborate floats come long way since tournaments early days rose parade boasts website today float building multimillion dollar business float construction begins previous years parade city glendale started planning 2013 parade march city council approved 100000 contract awardwinning phoenix decorating company design build citys 2013 float appropriately themed living good life city fronted cash hope public donations corporate sponsorships would backfill public treasury late july city staff secured 60000 sponsorships glendale like many cities seeking minutes international publicity ever tried spot glendale rose parade float television new years day know stay glued set never blink wrote glendale news press columnist ron kaye get passing glance miles away unanimous alhambra city council approved 95000 contract alhambra chamber commerce oversee construction decoration 2013 float according council minutes glendale alhambra held public council votes rose parade floats cities provided contributions toward float building citys parks recreation department fiscal year city burbank allocated 54720 direct cash contribution parade parks recreation community services department drew sugars burbanks public information officer quick point years contribution 10 percent less last years two years ago burbank allocated 71310 direct taxpayer funds citys float tracking inkind costs bit complicated sugars explained according 2011 city memo sugars provided calwatchdogcom citys cash contribution supplemented city expenses essential staffing storage transportation related mechanical expenses miscellaneous expenses example city employees devoted staff time train parade volunteers operate forklift additionally cost city 55000 warehouse float 201011 fiscal year city estimated total cost support burbank tournament roses association 15737412 city staff concluded bill much taxpayers bear prcs department priorities core programs services fy 20112012 budget process recommends elimination citys 60800 cash contribution btora city memo stated yet council declined follow staffs recommendation even cities wanted reduce parade subsidies indirect city subsidies easily rescinded 1995 city downey enteredinto 25year lease agreement downey rose float association city provided benefit according contract nothing favorable publicity represented annual rose parade cities direct indirect contribution nonprofit organizations often comes minimal oversight accountability according irs south pasadena tournament roses association federal tax exemption automatically revoked failure file form 990series return notice three consecutive years ted shaw president south pasadena tournament roses association said working irs retroactively correct organizations filing requirements reapplied irs retro date may 11th advised fees paid problem shaw told calwatchdogcom small solely volunteer organization committed building float community year yet delinquent federal tax return didnt stop city making annual contribution sally kilby city clerk south pasadena said city contributed 14500 business improvement tax funds annual rose parade float funds come general fund city business improvement tax funds kilby said monies collected business license tax businesses south pasadena dedicates business improvement taxes toward parade expenses small businesses see improvement bottom line parade amber szabo manager old pasadena store lather specializes skin beauty supplies said store always closes rose parade day many others route los angeles times reportedlast january businesses may benefit city officials san gabriel mayor kevin sawkins also chairs citys centennial committee one floats six lucky riders according los angeles times rosanna xia float cost estimated 155000 funded donations local businesses residents captures citys historic roots well evolution taxpayers may grumble city subsidies founding principle rose parade began publicity stunt california cities back 1890 city pasadena wanted showcase winter soooo much better reports crackedcom 1890 two ways accomplish commissioning artist paint scenes local wintertime fun nonchalantly leaving paintings around country holding festival pasadena went second one los angeles international airport agency representing city los angeles years parade told los angeles daily news taxpayer funds used pay float 2011 city la canadaflintridge providedat least 10000 taxpayer funds citys nonprofit float association however current year expenses unavailable
| 717 |
<p>A few months ago, it was impossible to move around Port-au-Prince unaware of the thousands of families still homeless after the January 2010 earthquake. Tent camps – with their tattered blue and gray tarps and make-shift structures of plywood and rusting metalware – were set up in the streets, on median strips, and in the main parks of Petion-Ville and Port-au-Prince. Men, women and children bathed in buckets in the street.</p>
<p>Now it’s frighteningly easy to forget. The government and international NGOs moved people out of the most visible places, by handing out cash or housing assistance. Earlier this summer, Champs de Mars, the city’s main square, was cleared of its hundreds of post-quake inhabitants in time for the president to organize a massive Carnaval there. It made up for the cancellation of the regular spring Carnaval, which was impossible because of the homeless inconveniently set up right where the celebration would have taken place.</p>
<p>Haiti’s president and government clearly recognize the psychological, economic, and political importance of&#160;offering free entertainment, and for Port-au-Prince residents to have their parks back. Now the giant national palace, slumped and deflated since the earthquake like a slain dragon, <a href="http://www.theworld.org/2012/08/haitis-iconic-national-palace-set-for-demolition/" type="external">is being demolished</a>. There is much to be said for boosting people’s spirits by clearing away the constant reminders of the suffering caused by the unspeakably horrific tragedy of 2010. But there are also potential consequences.</p>
<p>The approach of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaac made Haitians and the international community turn their attention, at least for a moment, back to the most vulnerable. As the storm approached, official addresses and public service announcements aired repeatedly on radio stations calling on Haitians to remember the elderly and the handicapped and to exhibit solidarity.</p>
<p>One announcement concluded, ‘One for all, and all for one,’ in an odd twist on Haiti’s motto: L’Union Fait La Force, there is strength in unity. And local and foreign journalists asked how people still living in tents would survive the storm’s heavy winds and torrential rain.</p>
<p>On Saturday morning, after a sleepless night (even for those of us in secure, solid housing), for the first time after arriving here two weeks ago, I began visiting camps.</p>
<p>Two of them were in Carrefour, the crowded and largely chaotic city on the western edge of Port-au-Prince. The first one, Camp Marine, on the main road outside the Coast Guard station, was full of tiny make-shift shelters with now muddy earthen floors, damp beds, and rain still dripping through many spots of the tarp ceilings. Some families had fled overly wet shacks to squeeze in with neighbors in equally cramped but slightly dryer structures.</p>
<p>They simply had no better refuge. Everyone I spoke with had lost the homes they rented in the earthquake, are now unemployed, and simply have no means to find housing.</p>
<p>At the next camp, Grace Village, the situation was even worse. It took some time to find the place because it was off a side road and the main gate was locked shut. We entered a back way, through a winding road, a rushing stream, muddy ground, and another gate. Many of the hundreds of shelters had collapsed from the wind and rain,&#160;one crushed by a falling tree, but everyone was talking about the death of a baby in the night.</p>
<p>A young mother’s nine-month-old baby had fallen ill. An emergency vehicle was summoned but wasn’t able to enter because the nearby gate was locked and no one had the key – no one but the property owner. The vehicle came around the long way, and the baby died.</p>
<p>There’s no knowing what the fate of the baby would have been had the gate opened, but no matter, camp residents were livid.</p>
<p>‘They’re imprisoning us!’ people kept yelling, pointing toward the closed gate. On the one hand, they were shut in; on the other, resident upon resident made the same claim: the property owner was trying to drive them out by making life there as miserable as possible – by sending police in to arrest people and force them out into the street, and reportedly sending thugs in to beat people up and destroy the toilets and solar street lamps NGOs had set up. They were deprived of basic services, such as food and water, and of the right to move about freely.</p>
<p>Who is this landowner? A pastor, who reportedly initially welcomed earthquake victims to the grounds of his ‘Grace Village’ but then decided he had had enough.</p>
<p>Macsonne Polyte, a city council member who visits the camp regularly, called the situation an outrage.</p>
<p>“Haitian law says you cannot mistreat people,” he said, referring to Haiti’s constitutional guarantee of decent housing for all of its citizens. But, he added, “the law of the pastors says you must mistreat people,” an allusion to allegations that the pastor is doing all he can to make life unbearable for the squatters.</p>
<p>But Polyte later acknowledged that this situation is really a failure of the state. “You look at the condition people are living in. You know how many thousands were spent on the various Carnavals all over the country?”</p>
<p>I was unable to reach the pastor or anyone who could defend him, but whatever the politics of Grace Village – the who paid who to do what, and the who has the right to what land – it remains a scandal that hundreds of men, women, children and babies are living in this kind of unbearable squalor behind closed gates, out of site and out of mind.</p>
<p>According to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration, almost 400,000 Haitians are still homeless, and often there is no sign of efforts to make their lives any better.</p>
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months ago impossible move around portauprince unaware thousands families still homeless january 2010 earthquake tent camps tattered blue gray tarps makeshift structures plywood rusting metalware set streets median strips main parks petionville portauprince men women children bathed buckets street frighteningly easy forget government international ngos moved people visible places handing cash housing assistance earlier summer champs de mars citys main square cleared hundreds postquake inhabitants time president organize massive carnaval made cancellation regular spring carnaval impossible homeless inconveniently set right celebration would taken place haitis president government clearly recognize psychological economic political importance of160offering free entertainment portauprince residents parks back giant national palace slumped deflated since earthquake like slain dragon demolished much said boosting peoples spirits clearing away constant reminders suffering caused unspeakably horrific tragedy 2010 also potential consequences approach hurricanetropical storm isaac made haitians international community turn attention least moment back vulnerable storm approached official addresses public service announcements aired repeatedly radio stations calling haitians remember elderly handicapped exhibit solidarity one announcement concluded one one odd twist haitis motto lunion fait la force strength unity local foreign journalists asked people still living tents would survive storms heavy winds torrential rain saturday morning sleepless night even us secure solid housing first time arriving two weeks ago began visiting camps two carrefour crowded largely chaotic city western edge portauprince first one camp marine main road outside coast guard station full tiny makeshift shelters muddy earthen floors damp beds rain still dripping many spots tarp ceilings families fled overly wet shacks squeeze neighbors equally cramped slightly dryer structures simply better refuge everyone spoke lost homes rented earthquake unemployed simply means find housing next camp grace village situation even worse took time find place side road main gate locked shut entered back way winding road rushing stream muddy ground another gate many hundreds shelters collapsed wind rain160one crushed falling tree everyone talking death baby night young mothers ninemonthold baby fallen ill emergency vehicle summoned wasnt able enter nearby gate locked one key one property owner vehicle came around long way baby died theres knowing fate baby would gate opened matter camp residents livid theyre imprisoning us people kept yelling pointing toward closed gate one hand shut resident upon resident made claim property owner trying drive making life miserable possible sending police arrest people force street reportedly sending thugs beat people destroy toilets solar street lamps ngos set deprived basic services food water right move freely landowner pastor reportedly initially welcomed earthquake victims grounds grace village decided enough macsonne polyte city council member visits camp regularly called situation outrage haitian law says mistreat people said referring haitis constitutional guarantee decent housing citizens added law pastors says must mistreat people allusion allegations pastor make life unbearable squatters polyte later acknowledged situation really failure state look condition people living know many thousands spent various carnavals country unable reach pastor anyone could defend whatever politics grace village paid right land remains scandal hundreds men women children babies living kind unbearable squalor behind closed gates site mind according latest figures international organization migration almost 400000 haitians still homeless often sign efforts make lives better
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<p>Last week, a jury awarded more than $5 million to two police officers who were seriously injured with a handgun that a gun shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sold to a straw buyer in 2009. The case was a rarity: It was only the second time in the last decade that a civil suit alleging negligence against a gun shop reached a jury. That’s because the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/7901" type="external">Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act</a> (PLCAA), which Congress passed in 2005, bars most negligence suits against gun stores. What made this case different was that Badger Guns, a notorious dealer of guns used to commit crimes, was found to have knowingly broken the law by selling a gun to an obvious straw purchaser.</p>
<p>The landmark ruling could create a window for another negligence claim, this one against a pawn shop in Odessa, Missouri. Seeking to establish a new precedent, the suit argues that even if a gun dealer didn’t break any laws, it should still be held responsible for selling a gun to a person who clearly meant to harm someone.</p>
<p>Colby Sue Weathers, <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/mary-sanchez/article2644190.html" type="external">now 41</a>, had been battling with mental illness for years before she shot her father in 2012. After his death, Weathers’s mother, Janet Delana, filed a lawsuit against the pawn shop that sold Weathers the gun used in the murder. She argued that the shop was negligent in making the sale, and was partly responsible for the death of her husband.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/Delana-Complaint-FOR-FILING.pdf" type="external">complaint</a> details the extent of Weathers’s illness. So sick that she was unable to work, she received disability payments from the Social Security Administration, which classified her as “severely mentally ill.” In 2011, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Her delusions were as frightening as they were outlandish: She thought she was being spied on through&#160;a chip implanted in her head, and believed her mother had sold her into <a href="http://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-sanchez-lack-of-mental-health-care-brings-gu-20141010-story.html" type="external">sex work</a> at the age of 12.&#160;Weathers was also suicidal. Four times over the course of three years, she tried to kill herself by overdosing on pills.</p>
<p>“I’m begging you. I’m begging you as a mother, if she comes in, please don’t sell her a gun.”</p>
<p>For Weathers, thoughts of suicide never went away. On May 29, 2012, she purchased a Hi-Point .40 caliber pistol from Odessa Gun &amp; Pawn Shop, with the intent of using it to kill herself. (Despite her condition, Weathers was never involuntarily committed to a mental institution, which meant that she would have passed a federal background check.) She sat at home with the gun for an hour, unable to follow through on her self-destructive urges. She eventually told her parents about the gun, and her father, Tex Delana, promptly got rid of it.</p>
<p>As June approached, Janet knew that a monthly Social Security check would soon arrive in the mail for her daughter. She feared that she would use the money to purchase another handgun. On June 25, she&#160;phoned Odessa to ask them not to sell Weathers a weapon. “I’m begging you,” said Janet, according to a legal brief provided to The Trace. “I’m begging you as a mother, if she comes in, please don’t sell her a gun.”</p>
<p>On the phone with a shop attendant, Janet went into detail about Weathers’s psychiatric condition, giving him ample&#160;information with which to identify Weathers, including her date of birth and Social Security number. Janet requested that the clerk write the information on a piece of paper to keep next to the register, so employees could reference it should Weathers come in. She hoped that if they knew about her daughter’s suicidal obsessions, they would refuse to sell her a gun, as <a href="http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/57100000141.html" type="external">Missouri law</a> permits gun sellers to use individual discretion when making or denying a sale. But the clerk told Janet that he couldn’t make any promises.</p>
<p>Subscribe to receive The Trace’s newsletters on important gun news and analysis.</p>
<p>Two days later, on June 27, Weathers walked into Odessa looking for another handgun. Despite Janet’s warnings, Odessa apparently took no extra precautions. There’s no indication that the clerk had written Weathers’s information down, or whether they had asked her any questions about her purchase. The National Shooting Sports Foundation <a href="http://www.bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/Draft-Complaint-Against-Gander-Mountain-FINAL.pdf" type="external">advises</a> gun sellers to “engage the customer and ask enough questions to draw out information on their background and intentions. If suspicions arise, it is more prudent to follow the precautionary principle of politely refusing the sale.”</p>
<p>Weathers left the store that day with a new&#160;Hi-Point .45. Derrick Dady, the same clerk who sold Weathers a gun a month earlier, supervised the sale. At home an hour later, Weathers approached her father, who was sitting at the dining room table, and shot him through the back of his chair. She then sent a text to Janet, who was out of the house at the time. “Dad is dead” it said. Weathers was later charged with murder, but the court accepted her plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.</p>
<p>In 2014, Janet, with the help of the The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, filed a complaint against Odessa in a wrongful death action. The suit alleged two types of negligence. The first, known to lawyers as negligence per se, argues that the shop violated a Missouri statute that says a gun store can’t sell a weapon to a person who is <a href="http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/57100000701.html" type="external">mentally unfit</a>. The suit also argues that Odessa was generally negligent for failing to prevent a foreseeable injury — the very sort of injury Janet had warned them about.</p>
<p>General negligence is a much broader claim than negligence per se and it is easier to prove in court. In a case like this one, the&#160;jury’s decision might involve a wide range of questions about the store’s business practices, especially in&#160;regards to its employees’ interactions with the customer who later killed with a product it sold. For instance: How were the&#160;employees trained? Did they make a habit of asking gun buyers questions about their purchases? Should&#160;an employee have written down information about a troubled woman when the mother phoned it in, or asked&#160;the woman&#160;more questions about why she wanted the gun? The jury’s conclusions would then be based on whether or not the store — in this case Odessa Gun &amp; Pawn — behaved as a reasonable gun seller.</p>
<p>But a jury might never&#160;get the chance to consider those questions in the Odessa case, because&#160;this April a trial court judge dismissed Janet and Brady’s general negligence claim. “PLCAA bars the suits that contest behavior that is legal, but kind of reckless,” says Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University. He believes that, contrary to PLCAA, gun dealers should still be found negligent in cases like Weathers’s even if no law was broken. “Just because something’s legal doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be held responsible when you injure someone.”</p>
<p>The plaintiffs are now appealing the decision to the Supreme Court of Missouri, arguing that PLCAA oversteps a state’s powers and is thus unconstitutional. Jon Lowy, the director of the Brady Center’s Legal Action Center, is one of the attorneys working on the appeal. PLCAA, he argues, “basically tells states that they can’t use their judicial branch to say that a gun company violated common law,” the body of past cases that in suits against other industries gives courts contextual clues for negligence.</p>
<p>The state Supreme Court will hear the argument&#160;in early 2016, but it’s unclear whether the plaintiffs will ever make it to trial. To date, no state court has held PLCAA to be unconstitutional. “We’re in largely uncharted territory,” says Lytton. The theory that Brady is pursuing, he adds, “is quite bold. But big and new things happen.”</p>
<p>[Photo: Flickr user&#160; <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/4553195759/in/photolist-7Wmjta-9sxyS4-7Hb1aN-apbksU-x51ieB-9gi2Jj-9Tn7rB-6PYWwx-6PJdMF-stKyH-c1BZqw-85ri1j-4Hf7Sz-4iRjmC-6LyQNU-9VDriV-6A5FiW-bF87cp-7ZZJ3f-8XeRuS-5ViCoA-8vZK6P-9ntsoP-71bW2d-P5aZj-517352-5kBrJP-67jN7d-7VWwvv-6tZWDe-rqkT7o-6NFsHH-7WQJPj-nb5U-yTE9nt-5mpBb1-nE6Rvh-9cjBP1-63pp4Z-4FFao2-H44bb-9Fs1yg-4qbKKE-e7DdcX-5ecyWo-4FLa9Q-CCzmA-4PgWf8-5ecyFs-4zb2eS" type="external">Jeremy Brooks</a>]</p>
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last week jury awarded 5 million two police officers seriously injured handgun gun shop milwaukee wisconsin sold straw buyer 2009 case rarity second time last decade civil suit alleging negligence gun shop reached jury thats protection lawful commerce arms act plcaa congress passed 2005 bars negligence suits gun stores made case different badger guns notorious dealer guns used commit crimes found knowingly broken law selling gun obvious straw purchaser landmark ruling could create window another negligence claim one pawn shop odessa missouri seeking establish new precedent suit argues even gun dealer didnt break laws still held responsible selling gun person clearly meant harm someone colby sue weathers 41 battling mental illness years shot father 2012 death weatherss mother janet delana filed lawsuit pawn shop sold weathers gun used murder argued shop negligent making sale partly responsible death husband complaint details extent weatherss illness sick unable work received disability payments social security administration classified severely mentally ill 2011 diagnosed schizophrenia delusions frightening outlandish thought spied through160a chip implanted head believed mother sold sex work age 12160weathers also suicidal four times course three years tried kill overdosing pills im begging im begging mother comes please dont sell gun weathers thoughts suicide never went away may 29 2012 purchased hipoint 40 caliber pistol odessa gun amp pawn shop intent using kill despite condition weathers never involuntarily committed mental institution meant would passed federal background check sat home gun hour unable follow selfdestructive urges eventually told parents gun father tex delana promptly got rid june approached janet knew monthly social security check would soon arrive mail daughter feared would use money purchase another handgun june 25 she160phoned odessa ask sell weathers weapon im begging said janet according legal brief provided trace im begging mother comes please dont sell gun phone shop attendant janet went detail weatherss psychiatric condition giving ample160information identify weathers including date birth social security number janet requested clerk write information piece paper keep next register employees could reference weathers come hoped knew daughters suicidal obsessions would refuse sell gun missouri law permits gun sellers use individual discretion making denying sale clerk told janet couldnt make promises subscribe receive traces newsletters important gun news analysis two days later june 27 weathers walked odessa looking another handgun despite janets warnings odessa apparently took extra precautions theres indication clerk written weatherss information whether asked questions purchase national shooting sports foundation advises gun sellers engage customer ask enough questions draw information background intentions suspicions arise prudent follow precautionary principle politely refusing sale weathers left store day new160hipoint 45 derrick dady clerk sold weathers gun month earlier supervised sale home hour later weathers approached father sitting dining room table shot back chair sent text janet house time dad dead said weathers later charged murder court accepted plea guilty reason insanity 2014 janet help brady center prevent gun violence filed complaint odessa wrongful death action suit alleged two types negligence first known lawyers negligence per se argues shop violated missouri statute says gun store cant sell weapon person mentally unfit suit also argues odessa generally negligent failing prevent foreseeable injury sort injury janet warned general negligence much broader claim negligence per se easier prove court case like one the160jurys decision might involve wide range questions stores business practices especially in160regards employees interactions customer later killed product sold instance the160employees trained make habit asking gun buyers questions purchases should160an employee written information troubled woman mother phoned asked160the woman160more questions wanted gun jurys conclusions would based whether store case odessa gun amp pawn behaved reasonable gun seller jury might never160get chance consider questions odessa case because160this april trial court judge dismissed janet bradys general negligence claim plcaa bars suits contest behavior legal kind reckless says timothy lytton law professor georgia state university believes contrary plcaa gun dealers still found negligent cases like weatherss even law broken somethings legal doesnt mean shouldnt held responsible injure someone plaintiffs appealing decision supreme court missouri arguing plcaa oversteps states powers thus unconstitutional jon lowy director brady centers legal action center one attorneys working appeal plcaa argues basically tells states cant use judicial branch say gun company violated common law body past cases suits industries gives courts contextual clues negligence state supreme court hear argument160in early 2016 unclear whether plaintiffs ever make trial date state court held plcaa unconstitutional largely uncharted territory says lytton theory brady pursuing adds quite bold big new things happen photo flickr user160 jeremy brooks
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<p>WASHINGTON&#160;— Five years after American activists began to call attention to the violence in Darfur, their movement has bloomed in size and sophistication, reaching out via the internet, enlisting Hollywood celebrities like George Clooney and Mia Farrow and touching everyone from presidential candidates to junior high school service clubs.</p>
<p>In its mission to raise awareness, the coalition to save Darfur has been “spectacularly successful,” said Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. Yet if “you go to Darfur and you look on the ground, you find it very difficult to put the words Darfur and success in the same sentence,” admitted Rebecca Hamilton, a Darfur activist.</p>
<p>Hamilton, a fellow at the Open Society Institute, is now conducting research for a book, to try to understand what she says is the troublesome “mismatch between all the energy … and the outcome.”</p>
<p>“We still have thousands of people living in camps,” said Scott Gration, the Obama administration’s special envoy for Darfur, briefing reporters last week.</p>
<p>“We have women (threatened by rape) who are afraid to go out and collect firewood, and we have children that are not having the benefit of growing up in their homeland; they are growing up in these camps.” Meanwhile, violence in the nearby region is increasing, Gration said.</p>
<p>“The status quo is horrible,” said John Norris, a foreign aid expert with the Enough Project. “There is no effective peacekeeping on the ground.”</p>
<p>This spring, after being indicted by the International Criminal Court, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir expelled 13 international aid groups, who are still trying to work their way back. Prominent advocates, like New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and actress Angelina Jolie, have recently voiced concern that the crisis is slipping from the public radar.</p>
<p>“The Save Darfur movement seems to be losing steam,” Kristof wrote in his blog June 9. “It is riven by internal debate, it is being ignored by the Obama administration.”</p>
<p>“I find it very sad that this administration should seem so uninterested,” he said. “Darfur has been allowed to fester.” The devastating north-south civil war in Sudan, which has been contained by a temporary peace agreement, could erupt again, Kristof warned.</p>
<p>Amid the self-examination, the Save Darfur movement has been bruised, as well, by Mamdani’s new book “Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror,” which accuses the coalition of a long list of sins, including religious and racial imperialism, hype, historical ignorance, and sentimentality.</p>
<p>One of the most noteworthy criticisms voiced by Mamdani — that activist groups inaccurately raised the specter of genocide by exaggerating the number of people killed in Darfur — has, to some extent, been accepted by international bodies like the ICC, and even some activists themselves.</p>
<p>Estimates of fatalities that ranged as high as 400,000 have slid, in official tallies, to about 100,000, Mamdani said, and some 80 percent of those deaths were due to disease and may, or may not, have been war-related.</p>
<p>“The estimates of the dead are usually done by agencies whose funding depends on how many have died,” Mamdani said.</p>
<p>“Maybe it’s stupid, frankly, to talk about” the number of dead in Darfur, acknowledged John Prendergast, a leading activist in the Darfur movement, while responding to Mamdani in a debate at Columbia University earlier this year. “At the end of the day it’s not really credible … it’s not something we are ever going to know.”</p>
<p>The Obama administration is divided on the subject. The word “genocide” is a powerful term, and focuses the world’s attention on ethnic violence that might otherwise be dismissed. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice described the situation in Darfur as “genocide” in a speech in Europe last week, but Gration declined to go that far.</p>
<p>“What we see is the remnants of genocide,” he told reporters at the State Department, carefully selecting his words. The level of violence in Darfur has decreased significantly, Gration said, and “it doesn’t appear that it is a coordinated effort similar to what we had in 2003 to 2006.”</p>
<p>Mortality estimates in remote, war-torn places like Darfur are extrapolations, said Prendergast, and though he personally still believes that what happened is accurately termed genocide, “I wouldn’t fall on my sword for it,” he said.</p>
<p>“I do know the number of dead, diseased and the number who will suffer will increase exponentially if we do not act boldly” now, he added.</p>
<p>Mamdani’s critique goes beyond numbers. The Save Darfur movement had a “salutary effect at the beginning,” he said, but then it “went on its merry course … uninterested in what was happening in Darfur … intent on building a movement.”</p>
<p>The coalition does not provide aid to starving or displaced Africans itself, Mamdani noted. “It is a lavish advertisement” and represents “a systematic attempt to discredit … any kind of African solution to an African problem.” In the post 9/11 climate, Mamdani said, the Arab population of the Sudan was vilified, and Save Darfur peace activists urged U.S. military intervention.</p>
<p>All grassroots movements face the challenge of perpetuating themselves. Threats may be exaggerated, as well as a movement’s achievements, to keep volunteers motivated and engaged, Hamilton said.</p>
<p>“You end up celebrating the small victories,” she said. “It is a victory but … it’s not a real victory. It’s not the victory that counts on the ground.”</p>
<p>“A public outcry is necessary,” Hamilton said, “but not sufficient.” In a recent forum at the Washington think tank Center for American Progress, Norris, of Enough Project, agreed.</p>
<p>“It isn’t enough just to hold rallies. It isn’t enough just to write letters,” he said. “The activist movement has a long, long way to go.” The international response to human rights disasters in places like Kosovo, Rwanda or Darfur inevitably sprouts, he said, “crisis after crisis … in an ad hoc way.”</p>
<p>But as bad as conditions are in Darfur, Norris said, “the situation on the ground would be far worse” if the movement had not focused the world’s attention on the brutal war being waged by Sudanese paramilitary forces upon the civilian population of Darfur.</p>
<p>“If the entire movement had ended the conflict one week earlier,” he said, “it would be worth it.”</p>
<p>More GlobalPost dispatches by John Aloysius Farrell:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/diplomacy/090531/experts-sober-nuclear-risks" type="external">Experts sober on nuclear risks</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/diplomacy/090530/china-us-rivalry" type="external">Coming out of the crisis</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/diplomacy/090521/why-one-democrat-voted-no-afghanistan" type="external">Why one Demoncrat voted 'no' on Afghanistan</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/diplomacy/090521/why-one-democrat-voted-no-afghanistan" type="external">&#160;</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=darfur,+sudan&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=58.858685,94.570313&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;ll=13.38962,23.994141&amp;spn=7.476378,12.744141&amp;z=6" type="external">View Larger Map</a></p>
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washington160 five years american activists began call attention violence darfur movement bloomed size sophistication reaching via internet enlisting hollywood celebrities like george clooney mia farrow touching everyone presidential candidates junior high school service clubs mission raise awareness coalition save darfur spectacularly successful said columbia university professor mahmood mamdani yet go darfur look ground find difficult put words darfur success sentence admitted rebecca hamilton darfur activist hamilton fellow open society institute conducting research book try understand says troublesome mismatch energy outcome still thousands people living camps said scott gration obama administrations special envoy darfur briefing reporters last week women threatened rape afraid go collect firewood children benefit growing homeland growing camps meanwhile violence nearby region increasing gration said status quo horrible said john norris foreign aid expert enough project effective peacekeeping ground spring indicted international criminal court sudanese president omar albashir expelled 13 international aid groups still trying work way back prominent advocates like new york times columnist nicholas kristof actress angelina jolie recently voiced concern crisis slipping public radar save darfur movement seems losing steam kristof wrote blog june 9 riven internal debate ignored obama administration find sad administration seem uninterested said darfur allowed fester devastating northsouth civil war sudan contained temporary peace agreement could erupt kristof warned amid selfexamination save darfur movement bruised well mamdanis new book saviors survivors darfur politics war terror accuses coalition long list sins including religious racial imperialism hype historical ignorance sentimentality one noteworthy criticisms voiced mamdani activist groups inaccurately raised specter genocide exaggerating number people killed darfur extent accepted international bodies like icc even activists estimates fatalities ranged high 400000 slid official tallies 100000 mamdani said 80 percent deaths due disease may may warrelated estimates dead usually done agencies whose funding depends many died mamdani said maybe stupid frankly talk number dead darfur acknowledged john prendergast leading activist darfur movement responding mamdani debate columbia university earlier year end day really credible something ever going know obama administration divided subject word genocide powerful term focuses worlds attention ethnic violence might otherwise dismissed un ambassador susan rice described situation darfur genocide speech europe last week gration declined go far see remnants genocide told reporters state department carefully selecting words level violence darfur decreased significantly gration said doesnt appear coordinated effort similar 2003 2006 mortality estimates remote wartorn places like darfur extrapolations said prendergast though personally still believes happened accurately termed genocide wouldnt fall sword said know number dead diseased number suffer increase exponentially act boldly added mamdanis critique goes beyond numbers save darfur movement salutary effect beginning said went merry course uninterested happening darfur intent building movement coalition provide aid starving displaced africans mamdani noted lavish advertisement represents systematic attempt discredit kind african solution african problem post 911 climate mamdani said arab population sudan vilified save darfur peace activists urged us military intervention grassroots movements face challenge perpetuating threats may exaggerated well movements achievements keep volunteers motivated engaged hamilton said end celebrating small victories said victory real victory victory counts ground public outcry necessary hamilton said sufficient recent forum washington think tank center american progress norris enough project agreed isnt enough hold rallies isnt enough write letters said activist movement long long way go international response human rights disasters places like kosovo rwanda darfur inevitably sprouts said crisis crisis ad hoc way bad conditions darfur norris said situation ground would far worse movement focused worlds attention brutal war waged sudanese paramilitary forces upon civilian population darfur entire movement ended conflict one week earlier said would worth globalpost dispatches john aloysius farrell experts sober nuclear risks coming crisis one demoncrat voted afghanistan 160 160 view larger map
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />Sept. 24, 2012</p>
<p>By Chris Reed</p>
<p>Dan Walters had a good <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/23/4845561/dan-walters-expediency-undermines.html#mi_rss=Top%20Stories" type="external">column</a> over the weekend about the staggering political expedience we’re seeing throughout California. But after spending many hours researching a $2.8 billion school bond being pushed by the San Diego Unified School District, I’m now certain that there’s yet another massive scam unfolding in California: a systematic attack by school districts on the integrity of general obligation bonds.</p>
<p>I wrote about my findings as they relate to San Diego city schools <a href="http://web.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/22/vote-no-on-san-diego-school-bond-it-props-up-a/" type="external">here</a>. The short version is that the old principle that bonds should only be spent on long-term capital improvements has given way to an anything-goes approach that uses borrowed funds paid back over 30 years to pay for what should be regular school expenses. Why? To make sure there is enough money in the operating fund to pay for teachers’ salaries and benefits.</p>
<p>How is this possible? The old days in which rules were so tough that the California Education Code said bond funds could only be used for school buses if they lasted 20 years have given way to this fuzzy consensus about OK uses for borrowed funds:</p>
<p>“The construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities, including the furnishing and equipping of school facilities.”</p>
<p>That is from guidance the California School Boards Association gives local districts.</p>
<p>In San Diego, where compensation eats up 93 percent of the operating budget, that means bond funds are being used or could soon be used for laptops, iPads and the most routine maintenance, such as painting and minor repairs. Proposition Z, on the November ballot, also includes repair funds for schools that just opened five years ago.</p>
<p>John DeBeck, a San Diego school board member from 1990-2010, told me using bond funds to supplant operating funds has gotten far more brazen in recent years. He said that bonds could easily be written to make the supplanting of general fund spending with bond fund spending impossible, but that such language was increasingly rare. DeBeck also said bond trickery used to be more likely from district staff, but now it was likely to be cooked up by staff in cahoots with trustees.</p>
<p>It reminds me of what a school finance investigator told me in 1996. He said fraud in which schools and entire districts lie about their average daily attendance was rampant. ADA is the basic formula by which schools get money from the state. He told me — and a school principal in San Bernardino confirmed — that this lying wasn’t just about who came to school. It was about how they were classified. Schools get more for troubled students than normal students.</p>
<p>Why was it tolerated and widespread? The school finance investigator said that was because school officials viewed it as a victimless crime.</p>
<p>The school bond scam is another version of that. Using funds that aren’t repaid until 2042 to buy an iPad that may last three years is insane, but it’s a “victimless crime” as far as the scammers are concerned.</p>
<p>Back to my theory that mass fleecing is going on with school bonds. I am now going to use Google to find another school bond on a local ballot in California. I bet it’s full of the same vague glop as San Diego Unified’s.</p>
<p>OK, the Burlingame Elementary School District pops up. (Really, I didn’t rig my Google search to come up with the district where the CTA is <a href="http://archive.cta.org/ContactCTA/ContactCTA.htm" type="external">headquartered</a>.) It reads:</p>
<p>“Measure D: “To maintain excellent local schools by modernizing science labs, upgrading instructional technology/computers, adding classrooms/reopening an existing school to reduce current overcrowding, upgrading classrooms to meet current safety codes, renovating heating and electrical systems to save money, shall Burlingame Elementary School District issue $56,000,000 of bonds that cannot be taken by the State, at legal rates, to renovate, construct, acquire local neighborhood schools, sites, equipment, and facilities with independent audits, citizens’ oversight, and no money for admnistrators?”</p>
<p>LOL. Bingo. 30-year borrowing for computers that last two years. 30-year borrowing for basic repairs. No guarantees that the funds will not be used to supplant regular operating budget responsibilities.</p>
<p>As one would expect, the official yes on Prop. D <a href="http://www.excellentburlingameschools.org/SchoolBond/index.php" type="external">website</a> doesn’t include specifics of any kind that would counter concerns that this was just another scam to allow teachers to keep getting automatic step and column increases in pay.</p>
<p>Now here’s the wrinkle: In the CTA’s backyard, it appears they are particularly greedy:</p>
<p>“Voters in the affluent district have also signed off on two recent parcel tax measures. Unlike bond money, proceeds from a parcel tax can go toward teacher compensation. In 2010, voters renewed a 10-year, $180-per-parcel levy. The following year they approved Measure E, a four-year, $76-per-parcel tax.”</p>
<p>Whole story <a href="http://www.marinij.com/ci_21140247/burlingame-school-board-vote-bond-measure" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>Dan Walters’ column closed by noting that state Treasurer Bill Lockyer was interested in statewide legislation that would prevent school districts from floating horrible bonds in which only the interest is paid back for decades, reacting to a scandal discovered when Poway Unified was found to have borrowed $105 million that would ultimately cost $981 million.</p>
<p>But will Lockyer go after the way more common bond scam of using 30-year borrowing to pay for tablet computers and routine repairs?</p>
<p>Nah. That would require courage. The California Teachers Association is the king, and it’s good to be the king. Going after the CTA’s “puke politics” is beyond the guy who once took on Gray Davis’ “ <a href="http://igs.berkeley.edu/events/recallconarts.html" type="external">puke politics</a>.” California’s alleged political maverick picks his spots in displaying his maverick qualities, and the CTA scares him as much as it does everyone else in his party.</p>
<p>I hope everyone who reads this takes a close look at school bonds in their own backyards. I bet they are as pathetic as those in San Diego Unified and Burlingame Elementary. As far as the CTA is concerned, any crime that benefits the CTA is a victimless crime. If you do so and find anything juicy, please share it with me at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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sept 24 2012 chris reed dan walters good column weekend staggering political expedience seeing throughout california spending many hours researching 28 billion school bond pushed san diego unified school district im certain theres yet another massive scam unfolding california systematic attack school districts integrity general obligation bonds wrote findings relate san diego city schools short version old principle bonds spent longterm capital improvements given way anythinggoes approach uses borrowed funds paid back 30 years pay regular school expenses make sure enough money operating fund pay teachers salaries benefits possible old days rules tough california education code said bond funds could used school buses lasted 20 years given way fuzzy consensus ok uses borrowed funds construction reconstruction rehabilitation replacement school facilities including furnishing equipping school facilities guidance california school boards association gives local districts san diego compensation eats 93 percent operating budget means bond funds used could soon used laptops ipads routine maintenance painting minor repairs proposition z november ballot also includes repair funds schools opened five years ago john debeck san diego school board member 19902010 told using bond funds supplant operating funds gotten far brazen recent years said bonds could easily written make supplanting general fund spending bond fund spending impossible language increasingly rare debeck also said bond trickery used likely district staff likely cooked staff cahoots trustees reminds school finance investigator told 1996 said fraud schools entire districts lie average daily attendance rampant ada basic formula schools get money state told school principal san bernardino confirmed lying wasnt came school classified schools get troubled students normal students tolerated widespread school finance investigator said school officials viewed victimless crime school bond scam another version using funds arent repaid 2042 buy ipad may last three years insane victimless crime far scammers concerned back theory mass fleecing going school bonds going use google find another school bond local ballot california bet full vague glop san diego unifieds ok burlingame elementary school district pops really didnt rig google search come district cta headquartered reads measure maintain excellent local schools modernizing science labs upgrading instructional technologycomputers adding classroomsreopening existing school reduce current overcrowding upgrading classrooms meet current safety codes renovating heating electrical systems save money shall burlingame elementary school district issue 56000000 bonds taken state legal rates renovate construct acquire local neighborhood schools sites equipment facilities independent audits citizens oversight money admnistrators lol bingo 30year borrowing computers last two years 30year borrowing basic repairs guarantees funds used supplant regular operating budget responsibilities one would expect official yes prop website doesnt include specifics kind would counter concerns another scam allow teachers keep getting automatic step column increases pay heres wrinkle ctas backyard appears particularly greedy voters affluent district also signed two recent parcel tax measures unlike bond money proceeds parcel tax go toward teacher compensation 2010 voters renewed 10year 180perparcel levy following year approved measure e fouryear 76perparcel tax whole story dan walters column closed noting state treasurer bill lockyer interested statewide legislation would prevent school districts floating horrible bonds interest paid back decades reacting scandal discovered poway unified found borrowed 105 million would ultimately cost 981 million lockyer go way common bond scam using 30year borrowing pay tablet computers routine repairs nah would require courage california teachers association king good king going ctas puke politics beyond guy took gray davis puke politics californias alleged political maverick picks spots displaying maverick qualities cta scares much everyone else party hope everyone reads takes close look school bonds backyards bet pathetic san diego unified burlingame elementary far cta concerned crime benefits cta victimless crime find anything juicy please share chrisreed99yahoocom
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<p>The war in Afghanistan has attained yet another dismal milestone: The highest-ranking United States military officer killed there since 9/11.</p>
<p>Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene died Tuesday when a man in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on a group of coalition troops at a military academy just outside Kabul.</p>
<p>Greene, who was 55, was <a href="http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140805/NEWS/308050075/Victim-insider-attack-identified-Maj-Gen-Harold-Greene" type="external">involved</a> in preparing Afghan soldiers for the US-led coalition's withdrawal at the end of this year. An engineer and skilled logistician, he <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/world/middleeast/us-general-killed-in-afghanistan-a-quietly-effective-leader-known-for-technical-skill.html" type="external">reportedly</a> had not seen combat in more than 30 years of service, until the Army sent him to Afghanistan earlier this year.</p>
<p>Officials <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/shooter-in-afghan-military-uniform-opens-fire-at-training-facility-1407240953" type="external">said</a> this is the first general killed on an overseas battlefield since the Vietnam War.</p>
<p>The identity of the shooter, who was killed, has not been released. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said there was no reason to believe the Taliban or any other insurgent groups were involved.</p>
<p>“We have no indications that [the gunman] was anything other than Afghan national security forces,” Kirby said briefing reporters Tuesday.</p>
<p>In addition to the US general killed, as many as 15 were injured, according to Kirby. Among the wounded was a <a href="http://www.dw.de/us-general-killed-german-general-hurt-in-afghan-attack/a-17832630" type="external">German general</a>, but Germany’s military said in a statement that his injuries were not life threatening.</p>
<p>This is the latest in “green-on-blue” attacks — in which Afghan soldiers fire on troops from the International Security Assistance Force, the US-led coalition known as ISAF.</p>
<p>Such attacks have declined in recent years, both because there have been fewer foreign troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and because ISAF instituted more stringent security measures after a <a href="http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/08/green-on-blue_attack.php#ixzz39XigDnzg" type="external">spate of shootings in 2012</a>, when 61 coalition soldiers were killed. By contrast, 13 died last year, and Greene is the fourth killed so far in 2014.</p>
<p>Kirby was at pains to emphasize that Tuesday’s deadly shooting would have no wider effect on the mission in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>“I see no indications that there has been a degradation of trust,” he told reporters, adding that he also saw “no impact to plans to draw down our forces.”</p>
<p />
<p>The US combat mission in Afghanistan is set to end this year; plans for the future beyond 2014 are still up in the air, hostage to a very complicated internal situation in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Not only is the country in a deep political crisis due to a <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/thomson-reuters/140712/disputed-afghan-election-be-recounted-full" type="external">disputed presidential election</a>, it is facing possible economic disaster as the international funds that are sustaining the government and fueling growth <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/afghan-economy-facing-serious-revenue-shortage/2014/04/15/6ddce38a-5be9-46ad-8f3b-1eb2ef4ed9bd_story.html" type="external">leave along with foreign forces</a>.</p>
<p>Whether or not the US is able to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan post-2014 <a href="" type="external">depends</a> on a Bilateral Security Agreement that has been negotiated but not yet signed. It awaits the approval of whomever ultimately emerges as Afghanistan’s next leader.</p>
<p>If the BSA is signed, the US will maintain a small — 9,800 — contingent of “advisers” to help the Afghan national force get on its feet.</p>
<p>Judging by this new attack, this may take some doing.</p>
<p>The Taliban are far from a spent force. An independent <a href="http://www.cna.org/sites/default/files/research/CNA%20Independent%20Assessment%20of%20the%20ANSF.pdf" type="external">assessment</a> by the Center for Naval Analyses concluded in February that “the security environment in Afghanistan will become more challenging after the drawdown of most international forces in 2014,” since "the Taliban insurgency will become a greater threat to Afghanistan's stability ... than it is now.”</p>
<p>But the US military is not, publicly, prepared to accept this version of reality.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s shooting comes at a sensitive time for ISAF: The current commander, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, will soon be replaced by Army Gen. John F. Campbell.</p>
<p>Campbell is nothing if not upbeat. He told a frankly skeptical Senate during his confirmation hearings in July that Afghanistan was “on a positive path.”</p>
<p>“Everything I see, sir, is good news,” he <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/afghanistan/140714/afghan-iraq-islamic-state-obama?page=0" type="external">said</a>.</p>
<p>Last Friday, he told journalists at the Pentagon that recent reports that the Taliban has been gaining ground were more PR than fact.</p>
<p>The New York Times had <a href="" type="external">reported</a> that the Taliban were moving beyond their traditional strongholds to dominate crucial highways and even some cities close to Kabul.</p>
<p>“Their advance has gone unreported because most American forces have left the field and officials in Kabul have largely refused to talk about it,” wrote the journalist Azam Ahmed.</p>
<p>But Campbell dismisses such talk.</p>
<p>“A lot of what you’re getting on how bad it may have been down in the south, or this attack there, or some of the things in the east, is we have kind of lost the information war here,” he <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/us/reports-of-taliban-surge-are-exaggerated-incoming-isaf-commander-says-1.296506" type="external">said</a>.</p>
<p>The Afghan security forces are fully capable of dislodging the Taliban from any territory they may have gained, Campbell said.</p>
<p>But Tuesday’s attack is likely to expose some of the fault lines in the US-Afghan relationship.</p>
<p>The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) released a new <a href="http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2014-07-30qr.pdf" type="external">report</a> last week that highlighted some of the problems.</p>
<p>It said the Afghan government is incapable of sustaining its military with its own revenues — and armed men who do not get paid can be very difficult to handle.</p>
<p>The Taliban, who in the past has been only too eager to claim “credit” for such attacks, denied involvement in Tuesday’s. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahed told the media that he was still trying to collect information on the shootings.</p>
<p>The Taliban’s website had a <a href="http://shahamat-english.com/index.php/news/47823-afghan-soldier-kills-italian-general,-3-us-soldiers" type="external">short story</a> on the attack, but most of the details were wrong, including the number and nationalities of those involved.</p>
<p>While the Pentagon’s Kirby insists that the Afghan forces “continue to perform at a high level of confidence and competence,” Tuesday’s shootings show just how shaky that confidence could turn out to be.</p>
<p>Jean MacKenzie spent seven years in Afghanistan, where she worked as a journalist trainer at the Institute of War &amp; Peace Reporting and served as senior correspondent for GlobalPost.</p>
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war afghanistan attained yet another dismal milestone highestranking united states military officer killed since 911 maj gen harold j greene died tuesday man afghan army uniform opened fire group coalition troops military academy outside kabul greene 55 involved preparing afghan soldiers usled coalitions withdrawal end year engineer skilled logistician reportedly seen combat 30 years service army sent afghanistan earlier year officials said first general killed overseas battlefield since vietnam war identity shooter killed released pentagon spokesman rear adm john kirby said reason believe taliban insurgent groups involved indications gunman anything afghan national security forces kirby said briefing reporters tuesday addition us general killed many 15 injured according kirby among wounded german general germanys military said statement injuries life threatening latest greenonblue attacks afghan soldiers fire troops international security assistance force usled coalition known isaf attacks declined recent years fewer foreign troops ground afghanistan isaf instituted stringent security measures spate shootings 2012 61 coalition soldiers killed contrast 13 died last year greene fourth killed far 2014 kirby pains emphasize tuesdays deadly shooting would wider effect mission afghanistan see indications degradation trust told reporters adding also saw impact plans draw forces us combat mission afghanistan set end year plans future beyond 2014 still air hostage complicated internal situation afghanistan country deep political crisis due disputed presidential election facing possible economic disaster international funds sustaining government fueling growth leave along foreign forces whether us able maintain military presence afghanistan post2014 depends bilateral security agreement negotiated yet signed awaits approval whomever ultimately emerges afghanistans next leader bsa signed us maintain small 9800 contingent advisers help afghan national force get feet judging new attack may take taliban far spent force independent assessment center naval analyses concluded february security environment afghanistan become challenging drawdown international forces 2014 since taliban insurgency become greater threat afghanistans stability us military publicly prepared accept version reality tuesdays shooting comes sensitive time isaf current commander marine corps gen joseph dunford soon replaced army gen john f campbell campbell nothing upbeat told frankly skeptical senate confirmation hearings july afghanistan positive path everything see sir good news said last friday told journalists pentagon recent reports taliban gaining ground pr fact new york times reported taliban moving beyond traditional strongholds dominate crucial highways even cities close kabul advance gone unreported american forces left field officials kabul largely refused talk wrote journalist azam ahmed campbell dismisses talk lot youre getting bad may south attack things east kind lost information war said afghan security forces fully capable dislodging taliban territory may gained campbell said tuesdays attack likely expose fault lines usafghan relationship special inspector general afghanistan reconstruction sigar released new report last week highlighted problems said afghan government incapable sustaining military revenues armed men get paid difficult handle taliban past eager claim credit attacks denied involvement tuesdays taliban spokesman zabiullah mojahed told media still trying collect information shootings talibans website short story attack details wrong including number nationalities involved pentagons kirby insists afghan forces continue perform high level confidence competence tuesdays shootings show shaky confidence could turn jean mackenzie spent seven years afghanistan worked journalist trainer institute war amp peace reporting served senior correspondent globalpost
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<p>As Wednesday’s strike authorization vote began, a battle began brewing between the district and the Chicago Teachers Union over the voting process itself.</p>
<p>CEO Jean- Claude Brizard’s team asked the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board to issue an emergency order to have the union secure election material and provide the IELRB and the district access to them. The district wants 20 different pieces of material from a copy of the ballot to the “educational flyer provided to each member explaining the reasons for the strike authorization vote” to information on the messenger services retained to deliver ballot boxes.</p>
<p>In a letter to the IELRB, district lawyers argue that because Senate Bill 7 sets out a process for how a strike should occur, the labor relations board has the power to monitor it.</p>
<p>“We want to make sure there is integrity in the process,” Brizard said.</p>
<p>CTU President Karen Lewis countered that CPS has no right to the material. Union officials already said they planned to have local clergy observe the vote-counting and will preserve the ballots.</p>
<p>“They are fishing, and we don’t participate in fishing expeditions,” said Lewis. She and other union officials made high-profile appearances at their former schools to cast their ballots. &#160;</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for the labor board said both the Chicago Teachers Union and CPS had filed documents with the board in recent days, but she declined to make them available without a Freedom of Information Act request. Law firms for the parties involved did not respond to requests to release additional documents.</p>
<p>The conflict underscores the importance of the strike authorization vote and the high stakes of the outcome. Brizard walked a fine line on Wednesday, saying that on one hand, regardless of the results, CPS and CTU will continue negotiating toward the goal of reaching an agreement before school starts in the fall.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/96185305/Brizard-s-letter-to-teachers" type="external">Brizard also emphatically argued</a> that teachers should delay the vote and allow an independent fact-finder to issue a report on July 16.</p>
<p>“Teachers are being asked to vote on inaccurate information,” he said. “This is a serious process.”</p>
<p>He added that teachers only get one vote. Once teachers authorize to strike, they can’t reverse that decision, added spokeswoman Becky Carroll. (The vote, however, does not require the union to call a strike.)</p>
<p>Lewis and other union officials countered that the new process for calling a strike and requiring 75 percent approval <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/96186364/CTU-Press-Release" type="external">makes it critical that the vote take place before school lets out for the summer.</a> Once teachers disperse for the vacation, it would be difficult to get enough members to participate, union officials said.</p>
<p>Lewis said Wednesday morning she was confident that she can get enough members to authorize the strike. Showing the union can reach that threshold and that a strike threat is real will speed up the negotiation process, not thwart it as Brizard has maintained, she said.</p>
<p>“We want to get there [and reach a contract settlement] before August 27. We don’t want to wait till then,” she said.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Out in schools</p>
<p>Early Wednesday morning, Lewis went to King High School to cast her ballot. Lewis, who taught at King before taking the helm of the CTU, was greeted with hugs from students, teachers and even the police officer stationed at the school.</p>
<p>Throughout the morning, King’s teachers unceremoniously picked up their ballots in the main office, filled them out, stuffed them in envelopes and went back to their classes. Students were taking finals on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Many of the teachers wore red shirts to show their support for the union. Social studies teacher Andrew Lambert had donned a blue shirt, but said he did vote to authorize a strike. “I am young and didn’t do the laundry,” he said. “I think that this vote is more important for young teachers because we have to live with the consequences for our entire career.”</p>
<p>Still, it was unclear whether King would get 100 percent participation or approval this first day. David Robbins, one of the union delegates, said that 59 of 70 members of the staff participated in a survey last month that was meant to be a dry run for the vote: 56 of 59 responded that they thought the union should reject the existing CPS contract offer.</p>
<p>Robbins said there’s a mix of reasons why people might sit out a vote, which essentially will mean they are casting a “No” vote.&#160;</p>
<p>But at other schools, delegates expected 100 percent of union members to vote in favor of the strike. CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey appeared at Senn High School at 7:30 a.m. to cast his vote and talk with teachers. “People said, ‘What are you doing here? This building’s 100 percent (in favor). Go somewhere they need your help,’ ” he said.</p>
<p>At Ray School in Hyde Park, teachers were eager to cast their ballots. By 8:30, all but 15 of 60 teachers had already done so. Teachers also contributed to a pot-luck breakfast, and a table nearby was heavy with donuts, coffee and other treats.</p>
<p>Union delegate John Cusiack said he expects everyone will authorize the strike.</p>
<p>Like other teachers interviewed on Wednesday, he said that the overall direction of CPS, and education reform generally, is what teachers are voting against. He said he is against efforts such as firing tenured teachers and replacing them with new staff, which happens in turnaround schools.</p>
<p>“In some schools they have done that several times and it is still no different,” he said.</p>
<p>Therese Wasik, who is retiring from Ray this year, said she was glad she got a chance to vote.&#160; Her first year in the district, she worked one day and then went on strike. She said she remembers being nervous that her job wasn’t safe. Because she’s retiring, she has no such concerns.</p>
<p>“I have been in the union for more than 30 years and I know what I would want if I were here,” she said.</p>
<p>At Gale Elementary in Rogers Park, Head Start teacher Maxine Gladney – who has been with the district since 1968 – said that CPS’ treatment of veteran teachers had persuaded her to vote for the strike authorization.</p>
<p>“It’s something we should be doing, or we’re going to end up like Wisconsin, like a lot of other places, and we’re going to have nobody to protect us,” Gladney said. “We are blamed for things we are not responsible for, decisions [CPS] makes that are not up to us.”</p>
<p>Joseph Hill, a special education teacher, said that he supports the vote as well. “We are the only city employees that are asked to work longer for free,” he said.</p>
<p>&#160;He is not optimistic that a vote will pressure CPS to cave in to the union’s demands. “They’re not going to give us a pay raise. We’re just going to need to go on strike,” he added.</p>
<p>But parent volunteer Tameka Leonard, who has three children at Gale, said she was unhappy about the vote. “I think it’s too early to be talking about a strike. It’s summer break. You’ve still got time to negotiate,” she said.</p>
<p>And, she noted, she’s pleased with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s initiative to extend the school day because of the number of kids she sees running around the neighborhood with nothing to do after school.</p>
<p>[Photos by Marc Monaghan]</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/96185305/Brizard-s-letter-to-teachers" type="external">Brizard’s letter to teachers</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/96186364/CTU-Press-Release" type="external">CTU Press Release</a></p>
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wednesdays strike authorization vote began battle began brewing district chicago teachers union voting process ceo jean claude brizards team asked illinois educational labor relations board issue emergency order union secure election material provide ielrb district access district wants 20 different pieces material copy ballot educational flyer provided member explaining reasons strike authorization vote information messenger services retained deliver ballot boxes letter ielrb district lawyers argue senate bill 7 sets process strike occur labor relations board power monitor want make sure integrity process brizard said ctu president karen lewis countered cps right material union officials already said planned local clergy observe votecounting preserve ballots fishing dont participate fishing expeditions said lewis union officials made highprofile appearances former schools cast ballots 160 spokeswoman labor board said chicago teachers union cps filed documents board recent days declined make available without freedom information act request law firms parties involved respond requests release additional documents conflict underscores importance strike authorization vote high stakes outcome brizard walked fine line wednesday saying one hand regardless results cps ctu continue negotiating toward goal reaching agreement school starts fall brizard also emphatically argued teachers delay vote allow independent factfinder issue report july 16 teachers asked vote inaccurate information said serious process added teachers get one vote teachers authorize strike cant reverse decision added spokeswoman becky carroll vote however require union call strike lewis union officials countered new process calling strike requiring 75 percent approval makes critical vote take place school lets summer teachers disperse vacation would difficult get enough members participate union officials said lewis said wednesday morning confident get enough members authorize strike showing union reach threshold strike threat real speed negotiation process thwart brizard maintained said want get reach contract settlement august 27 dont want wait till said 160 schools early wednesday morning lewis went king high school cast ballot lewis taught king taking helm ctu greeted hugs students teachers even police officer stationed school throughout morning kings teachers unceremoniously picked ballots main office filled stuffed envelopes went back classes students taking finals wednesday many teachers wore red shirts show support union social studies teacher andrew lambert donned blue shirt said vote authorize strike young didnt laundry said think vote important young teachers live consequences entire career still unclear whether king would get 100 percent participation approval first day david robbins one union delegates said 59 70 members staff participated survey last month meant dry run vote 56 59 responded thought union reject existing cps contract offer robbins said theres mix reasons people might sit vote essentially mean casting vote160 schools delegates expected 100 percent union members vote favor strike ctu vice president jesse sharkey appeared senn high school 730 cast vote talk teachers people said buildings 100 percent favor go somewhere need help said ray school hyde park teachers eager cast ballots 830 15 60 teachers already done teachers also contributed potluck breakfast table nearby heavy donuts coffee treats union delegate john cusiack said expects everyone authorize strike like teachers interviewed wednesday said overall direction cps education reform generally teachers voting said efforts firing tenured teachers replacing new staff happens turnaround schools schools done several times still different said therese wasik retiring ray year said glad got chance vote160 first year district worked one day went strike said remembers nervous job wasnt safe shes retiring concerns union 30 years know would want said gale elementary rogers park head start teacher maxine gladney district since 1968 said cps treatment veteran teachers persuaded vote strike authorization something going end like wisconsin like lot places going nobody protect us gladney said blamed things responsible decisions cps makes us joseph hill special education teacher said supports vote well city employees asked work longer free said 160he optimistic vote pressure cps cave unions demands theyre going give us pay raise going need go strike added parent volunteer tameka leonard three children gale said unhappy vote think early talking strike summer break youve still got time negotiate said noted shes pleased mayor rahm emanuels initiative extend school day number kids sees running around neighborhood nothing school photos marc monaghan brizards letter teachers ctu press release
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<p>The federal department that oversees Head Start wants to require full-day programs that run the entire school year – a significant change that would need a substantial boost in funding to avoid the loss of teaching jobs and slots for children.</p>
<p>Under the proposed changes, most Head Start programs would be required to run for 180 days a year, up from the current 128 days, and six hours a day, up from the minimum three and a half hours now—a move that would make programs more attractive for working parents.</p>
<p>Other proposed changes include requiring programs to collect and analyze data on children’s achievement; requiring teachers to use assessment data in their lesson planning (a strategy many already use); an end to expulsions for behavior problems and limits on suspensions; and allowing programs to reserve slots for children who are homeless or in foster care.</p>
<p>Head Start curriculum would need to be aligned to updated early learning outcomes <a href="http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/sr/approach/cdelf" type="external">from the federal government</a> and <a href="http://www.isbe.net/earlychi/pdf/early_learning_standards.pdf" type="external">state early learning standards</a>. That wouldn’t be a shift in Illinois, according to Theresa Hawley, the executive director of the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, who said the state has long worked to make sure the curriculum is standards-based.</p>
<p>Sylvia Burwell, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary, said the <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2015-14379.pdf" type="external">proposed changes</a>– the first in 17 years, built on the work of researchers, experts and focus groups – would improve the quality of programs. Burwell made the announcement this week at Nia Family Center, a Head Start provider in West Humboldt Park.</p>
<p>In Chicago, nearly 21,000 children were enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start programs during the 2013-14 school year, the latest federal data available. Most attended programs through the city.</p>
<p>Head Start programs could apply for a waiver to create a “locally-designed variation” if the program works with research experts to show the model is effective for the community it serves. Waivers could be sought for teacher-child ratios, class size and program length.</p>
<p>Department officials estimate that enacting the changes would cost about $1 billion. President Obama requested an extra $1.5 billion for Head Start in his 2016 budget, an amount that the department said would cover the costs without cutting teaching jobs or slots. However, the budget resolution adopted by Congress in May doesn’t specify how much money Head Start will get.</p>
<p>Given Chicago and the state’s finances, it would be “completely impossible” to expand Head Start without that federal funding, says Maria Whelan, the president and CEO of the Chicago-based advocacy group Illinois Action for Children.</p>
<p>Federal officials estimated that enacting the changes without extra funding would cut the number of slots by about 126,000 and reduce the number of teaching jobs by about 9,400.</p>
<p>The 50-year-old Head Start program promotes school readiness for children from low-income families. Head Start serves 3- and 4-year-olds, while Early Head Start helps infants and toddlers under 3, as well as pregnant mothers.</p>
<p>Change to benefit parents, English-learners</p>
<p>Though Mayor Rahm Emanuel already <a href="http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2015/january/mayor-emanuel-announces-city-of-chicago-is-awarded--600-million-.html" type="external">had plans</a> to expand the number of full-day preschool programs over the next five years using Head Start funding, the federal change would significantly ramp up the expansion.</p>
<p>About five in 10 Chicago children enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start attended part-day programs in centers and schools last school year, and about four in 10 attended full-day programs in centers and schools.</p>
<p>At Chicago Public Schools – the largest Head Start provider in the city – most children attend a part-day program. According to federal data, about 6,900 of the 7,100 children in CPS were in part-day programs.</p>
<p>Zerlina Smith, a parent who sits on the CPS committee for Head Start policy, said in the past new full-day Head Start programs were usually proposed in communities with large numbers of parents who worked or went to school – leaving behind neighborhoods with high unemployment rates. The proposed rule changes could help improve equity.</p>
<p>The full-day requirement also would benefit children who are English-language learners, Hawley said. Extra time in the classroom would give them more time to work on their home language, she said, which would improve their cognitive development, boosting their chances for long-term academic success.</p>
<p>The federal government has proposed that after the rule becomes final – it has to go through a 60-day comment period and Congress has the right to review it – the provisions would take effect in one year.</p>
<p>Finding teachers, facilities</p>
<p>Advocates say even if the federal government comes through with the funding, there will be two main challenges: Finding enough high-quality teachers and locating facilities appropriate for early education.</p>
<p>Hawley says even before the Head Start proposal was announced, the state knew it had to work on workforce development.</p>
<p>“This is sort of one more step in the direction we’re working on,” she said. “No doubt it’s a lot of work and will take a lot of effort and attention and focus.”</p>
<p>The state could look at offering more scholarships to encourage teachers to get the appropriate degrees and credentials, she added.</p>
<p>Cristina Pacione-Zayas, the education director at the Chicago-based Latino Policy Forum, says workforce needs will be especially great in the city’s Latino neighborhoods, where there is a high need for bilingual early childhood educators who understand the cultural and language needs of their students.</p>
<p>Pacione-Zayas says given CPS’s financial issues it’s unclear if it would be able to provide the kind of wraparound services necessary to run a full-day Head Start program, such as providing enough social workers and school psychologists.</p>
<p>There’s also the issue of teacher pay and hiring competition. Right now, early education school-based sites&#160;often offer better salary and benefit packages than community-based sites because they follow the pay scale for union teachers, Pacione-Zayas said. Sometimes preschool teachers get experience at community-based sites and then “get poached” by a school site.</p>
<p>Pacione-Zayas said it would be challenging to find enough classroom space for expanded Head Start in certain areas of the city, especially on the Southwest and Northwest Sides in largely Latino neighborhoods, where there is “huge demand and limited facilities.”</p>
<p>Plus there’s a whole host of licensing regulations that providers have to follow before they can open an early childhood center, Whelan says. Programs have to meet square footage requirements and install sometimes complex and costly alarm systems to meet safety requirements.</p>
<p>“It’s not like you can walk into a building and say, ‘Oh this works,’” Whelan said. “You want it to be a place children want to be.”</p>
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federal department oversees head start wants require fullday programs run entire school year significant change would need substantial boost funding avoid loss teaching jobs slots children proposed changes head start programs would required run 180 days year current 128 days six hours day minimum three half hours nowa move would make programs attractive working parents proposed changes include requiring programs collect analyze data childrens achievement requiring teachers use assessment data lesson planning strategy many already use end expulsions behavior problems limits suspensions allowing programs reserve slots children homeless foster care head start curriculum would need aligned updated early learning outcomes federal government state early learning standards wouldnt shift illinois according theresa hawley executive director governors office early childhood development said state long worked make sure curriculum standardsbased sylvia burwell us department health human services secretary said proposed changes first 17 years built work researchers experts focus groups would improve quality programs burwell made announcement week nia family center head start provider west humboldt park chicago nearly 21000 children enrolled head start early head start programs 201314 school year latest federal data available attended programs city head start programs could apply waiver create locallydesigned variation program works research experts show model effective community serves waivers could sought teacherchild ratios class size program length department officials estimate enacting changes would cost 1 billion president obama requested extra 15 billion head start 2016 budget amount department said would cover costs without cutting teaching jobs slots however budget resolution adopted congress may doesnt specify much money head start get given chicago states finances would completely impossible expand head start without federal funding says maria whelan president ceo chicagobased advocacy group illinois action children federal officials estimated enacting changes without extra funding would cut number slots 126000 reduce number teaching jobs 9400 50yearold head start program promotes school readiness children lowincome families head start serves 3 4yearolds early head start helps infants toddlers 3 well pregnant mothers change benefit parents englishlearners though mayor rahm emanuel already plans expand number fullday preschool programs next five years using head start funding federal change would significantly ramp expansion five 10 chicago children enrolled head start early head start attended partday programs centers schools last school year four 10 attended fullday programs centers schools chicago public schools largest head start provider city children attend partday program according federal data 6900 7100 children cps partday programs zerlina smith parent sits cps committee head start policy said past new fullday head start programs usually proposed communities large numbers parents worked went school leaving behind neighborhoods high unemployment rates proposed rule changes could help improve equity fullday requirement also would benefit children englishlanguage learners hawley said extra time classroom would give time work home language said would improve cognitive development boosting chances longterm academic success federal government proposed rule becomes final go 60day comment period congress right review provisions would take effect one year finding teachers facilities advocates say even federal government comes funding two main challenges finding enough highquality teachers locating facilities appropriate early education hawley says even head start proposal announced state knew work workforce development sort one step direction working said doubt lot work take lot effort attention focus state could look offering scholarships encourage teachers get appropriate degrees credentials added cristina pacionezayas education director chicagobased latino policy forum says workforce needs especially great citys latino neighborhoods high need bilingual early childhood educators understand cultural language needs students pacionezayas says given cpss financial issues unclear would able provide kind wraparound services necessary run fullday head start program providing enough social workers school psychologists theres also issue teacher pay hiring competition right early education schoolbased sites160often offer better salary benefit packages communitybased sites follow pay scale union teachers pacionezayas said sometimes preschool teachers get experience communitybased sites get poached school site pacionezayas said would challenging find enough classroom space expanded head start certain areas city especially southwest northwest sides largely latino neighborhoods huge demand limited facilities plus theres whole host licensing regulations providers follow open early childhood center whelan says programs meet square footage requirements install sometimes complex costly alarm systems meet safety requirements like walk building say oh works whelan said want place children want
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<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The Arab Spring revolutions began in Tunisia when a street vendor, frustrated by government corruption, set himself on fire.</p>
<p>Almost a year later, there was a similar incident Thursday in Tunisia.&#160;This time it was an unemployed man who immolated himself.</p>
<p>It’s a reminder of the challenges still facing Tunisia’s new, democratically-elected government.&#160;The government is headed by the formerly-banned Islamist party called Ennahda.</p>
<p>It bills itself as a moderate Islamist party. Soumaya Ghannouchi, the daughter of the party’s leader, was 12-years-old when her family fled Tunisia. Rachid Ghannouchi, her father, has been in charge of Ennahda, which means “renaissance,” for two decades. The Ghannouchi family lived in exile until last January, when the Tunisian uprising drove former dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali into exile.</p>
<p>“We were able to come back, which was great, to see our relatives, and see our country after such a long time, an incredible time,” Ghannouchi said. “We are really grateful. And since then really incredible things have been happening.”</p>
<p>The first incredible thing was the way people greeted her father’s return to Tunisia after more than 20 years in exile.</p>
<p>Thousands gathered at the Tunis airport on Jan. 30, 2011, when Ghannouchi arrived. Ten months later, Tunisians held their first free and fair elections since the country gained independence from France in 1957. Ennahda won 40 percent of the seats in parliament.</p>
<p>Ghannouchi said Ennahda’s success in the election is partly due to its history over the past few decades.</p>
<p>“It’s been at the forefront of the struggle against the dictatorship, it’s given many sacrifices so people appreciate that,” she said. “And even though there was no organized structure on the ground before the revolution because of the crackdown on the party, the people still kept their allegiance to the party. And once they were able to express that they did so and very quickly organized themselves.”</p>
<p>Dressed conservatively in a bulky coat and a hijab wrapped tightly around her head, Ghannouchi is a practicing Muslim and a professional woman. She said Ennahda is one of the most progressive political parties in the Arab world – Islamist or otherwise.</p>
<p>“We said clearly that it’s not the duty or right of the state to interfere in people’s personal choices, “ she said. “What they eat, drink, or how they live. We don’t believe in a theocracy that imposes a lifestyle or thoughts or ways of life on people, we believe in the right of every Tunisian woman and man to make that choice.”</p>
<p>Tunisia is by far the most secular country in the region. After independence, women were given the right to vote and be elected to parliament, to earn equal wages to men and to divorce, among other things. Ghannouchi said Ennahda looks to protect, and advance, these aspects of Tunisian society.</p>
<p>“We want to strengthen the gains made by Tunisian women, we are proud of those gains, and we want to develop them further,” she said.</p>
<p>Since the party’s founding, Ennahda’s leadership has disavowed violence and endorsed tolerance and pluralism. Ghannouchi and other party officials say they look to countries like Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia as models for the role Islam can play in the state.</p>
<p>But there are skeptics. Even among religious Tunisians, there is uneasiness with an Islamist party – no matter how moderate – in power.&#160;Saleh Basharre said he didn’t like the idea of mixing religion and the state, and he didn’t vote for them.</p>
<p>“I was afraid that Ennahda, if they won, they will be narrow minded and extremist,” Basharre said. “And you should know I’m Muslim, and I love Islam, but I don’t want people to push me to do things, and to order me to do things. Religion is between me and God.”</p>
<p>Ennahda dismisses these fears, saying it’s the same old propaganda about Islamists that regional dictators have always thrown around. But some would welcome a truly Islamist government.</p>
<p>A picture of Islam’s holiest site, the Ka’ba, in Mecca, adorns the walls of a grocery store in a middle class neighborhood outside Tunis. 29-year-old Bareech Hathnawy said he voted for Ennahda because he wants the party to impose moral order on society.</p>
<p>“We want them to stop bad language on the streets,” he said. “You go on the street with your sister or mother and hear bad words on the streets. The government should stop this. They need to stop other bad things like people drinking alcohol on the street and girls wearing short skirts. “</p>
<p>Hathnaway is from the south, where Tunisians are more conservative. He said people there voted for Ennahda for many of the same reasons he did.</p>
<p>“People in the cities are more open-minded, but in the south they are more conservative,” Hathnaway said. “For example, if I saw my sister with a cigarette I would kill her. This is why people voted for Ennahda in the south — to stop girls from wearing short skirts, these kinds of things.”</p>
<p>Still, even Hathnawy doesn’t think women should be forced to wear the veil.</p>
<p>Ziad Mahearsee, the head of the Tunisian news website “Tunisia Live,” said he didn't think Ennahda had a plan to drastically change society. He said most people probably voted for Ennahda because they seem honest, not because of how they practice Islam. Besides, he said, Ennahda realizes that the country faces huge issues.</p>
<p>“What we need now more than anything is 750,000 jobs,” Mahearsee sais. “And these people are aware of the challenges of the working poor in Tunisia. So I think most Tunisians will judge Ennahda on capacity to create jobs and allow the Tunisian economy to flourish — rather than the religious aspect of things.”</p>
<p>Ennahda is also part of a diverse governing coalition. Its partners are two determinedly secular parties. And Rachid Ghannouchi seems eager to continue the western friendly traditions that have been hallmarks of Tunisia’s foreign policy, and to put western governments at ease about his party’s newfound position</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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160 arab spring revolutions began tunisia street vendor frustrated government corruption set fire almost year later similar incident thursday tunisia160this time unemployed man immolated reminder challenges still facing tunisias new democraticallyelected government160the government headed formerlybanned islamist party called ennahda bills moderate islamist party soumaya ghannouchi daughter partys leader 12yearsold family fled tunisia rachid ghannouchi father charge ennahda means renaissance two decades ghannouchi family lived exile last january tunisian uprising drove former dictator zine el abidine ben ali exile able come back great see relatives see country long time incredible time ghannouchi said really grateful since really incredible things happening first incredible thing way people greeted fathers return tunisia 20 years exile thousands gathered tunis airport jan 30 2011 ghannouchi arrived ten months later tunisians held first free fair elections since country gained independence france 1957 ennahda 40 percent seats parliament ghannouchi said ennahdas success election partly due history past decades forefront struggle dictatorship given many sacrifices people appreciate said even though organized structure ground revolution crackdown party people still kept allegiance party able express quickly organized dressed conservatively bulky coat hijab wrapped tightly around head ghannouchi practicing muslim professional woman said ennahda one progressive political parties arab world islamist otherwise said clearly duty right state interfere peoples personal choices said eat drink live dont believe theocracy imposes lifestyle thoughts ways life people believe right every tunisian woman man make choice tunisia far secular country region independence women given right vote elected parliament earn equal wages men divorce among things ghannouchi said ennahda looks protect advance aspects tunisian society want strengthen gains made tunisian women proud gains want develop said since partys founding ennahdas leadership disavowed violence endorsed tolerance pluralism ghannouchi party officials say look countries like turkey indonesia malaysia models role islam play state skeptics even among religious tunisians uneasiness islamist party matter moderate power160saleh basharre said didnt like idea mixing religion state didnt vote afraid ennahda narrow minded extremist basharre said know im muslim love islam dont want people push things order things religion god ennahda dismisses fears saying old propaganda islamists regional dictators always thrown around would welcome truly islamist government picture islams holiest site kaba mecca adorns walls grocery store middle class neighborhood outside tunis 29yearold bareech hathnawy said voted ennahda wants party impose moral order society want stop bad language streets said go street sister mother hear bad words streets government stop need stop bad things like people drinking alcohol street girls wearing short skirts hathnaway south tunisians conservative said people voted ennahda many reasons people cities openminded south conservative hathnaway said example saw sister cigarette would kill people voted ennahda south stop girls wearing short skirts kinds things still even hathnawy doesnt think women forced wear veil ziad mahearsee head tunisian news website tunisia live said didnt think ennahda plan drastically change society said people probably voted ennahda seem honest practice islam besides said ennahda realizes country faces huge issues need anything 750000 jobs mahearsee sais people aware challenges working poor tunisia think tunisians judge ennahda capacity create jobs allow tunisian economy flourish rather religious aspect things ennahda also part diverse governing coalition partners two determinedly secular parties rachid ghannouchi seems eager continue western friendly traditions hallmarks tunisias foreign policy put western governments ease partys newfound position 160
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<p>HUEYPOXTLA, Mexico — Mexico’s energy authorities say specialists finally have recovered a capsule of cobalt-60 from a cornfield near the Mexican capital, presumably ending a nine-day saga that began when thieves hijacked a truck carrying the highly radioactive metal.</p>
<p>“The source has been recovered and stored ... in a safe place,” the Energy Department said in a statement late Tuesday night.</p>
<p>The cobalt-60 theft, in the early hours of Dec. 2, sent alarmed officials scrambling from Mexico City to Washington to Vienna.</p>
<p>Some warned that the dangerous material can be used by a terrorist to make so-called dirty bombs that spread radiation by detonating conventional explosives. Others quickly announced the theft was a common robbery, not terrorism.</p>
<p>Still others advised that anyone touching or in proximity to exposed “highly radioactive” material risked quick and nearly certain death. If sold for scrap, as some feared, the material could end up affecting thousands should it end up in steel used in building materials or furniture.</p>
<p>The alarms were squelched for many last Thursday when officials discovered the cobalt in a field on the edge of Hueypoxtla, a farm town of 4,000 people on the high plains 40 miles northeast of Mexico City.</p>
<p>The case seemed to be solved a day later when federal police arrested six men in relation to the missing cobalt.</p>
<p>Four of them stand accused of inadvertently acquiring the toxic stash when they allegedly hijacked the truck transporting it. Two others tried to fence the stolen goods, police charge.</p>
<p>Still, it took nearly a week for Mexican nuclear security experts to locate the cobalt-60, determine it had not been compromised and package it for safe shipment to a radioactive waste facility.</p>
<p>Someone, likely the thieves, had dismantled the iron casing holding the cobalt before abandoning everything amid the broadcast warnings of its deadly potential.</p>
<p>But the protective tube containing the radioactive material had not been opened, Jaime Aguirre, who was leading the nuclear security commission’s recovery team, told anxious villagers Tuesday night, hours before the cobalt’s recovery was announced.</p>
<p>Therefore, Aguirre assured the villagers in a public meeting, the cobalt-60 posed no danger to Hueypoxtla’s people or environment, he said.</p>
<p>“Your land, your water, are going to remain completely clean,” Aguirre told the villagers who gathered shortly before sunset at an open air community center, the recovery operation visible across the harvested fields. “We are here to resolve this matter. The situation is controllable and is controlled.”</p>
<p>Many in the crowd weren’t buying it. Skepticism runs deep in Mexico, where officials have a well-earned reputation for downplaying or outright denying hazards affecting the population.</p>
<p>The gathered men, women and children berated both Aguirre and Huepoxtla Mayor Francisco Santillan, accusing them of deceit and a cover-up.</p>
<p>Below is a short clip captured by McClatchy correspondent Tim Johnson, in which you can hear the crowd heckling nuclear safety official Jaime Aguirre.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“You are lying,” retired school principal Raul Cardenas said in response to Aguirre’s assurances that the cobalt’s protective casing had not been breached. “If the problem were that simple you would already have taken [the cobalt-60] away.”</p>
<p>Led by Cardenas, some threatened to blockade the nearby toll highway that connects Mexico’s industrial heartland to Gulf Coast ports and the capital. Other residents called for non-government experts to be brought in to inspect the site. More called for payment for supposedly damaged crops or soil and life insurance to guard against cancer they fear could arise in the coming years.</p>
<p>“Don’t let them fool us, compañeros,” someone shouted, many in the crowd hollering in agreement. “Make them tell us the truth.”</p>
<p>The crowd forced reluctant officials to allow reporters, including crews from Mexico’s major television networks and newspapers, into the meeting.</p>
<p>Released just in time for the late-night television news broadcasts, the Energy Department’s announcement that the cobalt had been safely recovered could render the villagers’ protests moot.</p>
<p>The cobalt-60 apparently had been taken by mistake when thieves hijacked the truck that was transporting it at a highway gas station not far from Hueypoxtla, officials said.</p>
<p>It had been removed from an obsolete medical device at a government hospital in Tijuana, on the California border, and was destined for a facility that stores radioactive material near Hueypoxtla.</p>
<p>Mexican officials alerted the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna of the theft and launched a frantic search for the cobalt. They warned in media interviews that anyone coming into contact or near proximity to exposed cobalt-60 risked almost certain and quick death.</p>
<p>But Mauro Moya says he hadn’t heard those warnings when he came across the dismantled iron pump — the size of a truck transmission — that contained the material early on Dec. 5 and carried it home intending to sell it for scrap.</p>
<p>He saw neither the stolen truck nor the smaller capsule containing the cobalt, Moya said in an interview on Tuesday in the patio of his family’s small, cinder-block house on the edge of Hueypoxtla.</p>
<p>“Let’s be honest, times are tough, I needed the money,” said Moya, 45, an independent truck driver who thought the scrap would sell for enough money to keep food on the family’s table for at least two weeks. “Who would have thought you’d see so much iron lying on the side of the road?”　</p>
<p>By early that afternoon, federal police and Energy Department experts were at his door, Moya said, scanning him and his family for radiation. After quarantining his neighborhood, the officials took Moya to the dusty lane between the fields where he found the iron.</p>
<p>The officials’ radiation scanning instruments sounded alarms at the site, Moya said. Soldiers and federal police cordoned off about a square mile of the fields and recovery operations began.</p>
<p>Officials examined Moya’s family and nearly two dozen others in Huepoxtla and said they were <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/mexico/131205/mexico-cobalt-contamination-free" type="external">free of contamination</a>.</p>
<p>But six men were arrested on charges of stealing the truck after turning up at a hospital in the nearby state capital of Pachuca fearing they had been contaminated. All the men were declared in good health, officials said.</p>
<p>A neighbor of Moya’s, who <a href="http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion-mexico/2013/impreso/recuperan-con-robot-cobalto-60-211523.html" type="external">reportedly</a> found and briefly handled the cobalt capsule, has been hospitalized with what may be radiation effects.</p>
<p>“Recovering a source of that level of intensity is not making enchiladas,” Juan Eibenschutz, executive director of the Nuclear Security and Safeguard Commission, said in a phone interview Wednesday, referring to the radioactive metal. “This is a very, very complex operation.”</p>
<p>The cobalt-60 will now be stored, along with other radioactive waste, at a 40-year-old facility of the National Institute of Nuclear Investigations, which sits near the farm village of Maquixco, about 30 miles from Hueypoxtla.</p>
<p>The loss and delayed recovery of the cobalt-60 — as well as the officials’ warning last week of how dangerous the material is — have renewed decades-long fears among villagers there. Many complain of increased cancer rates among local families.</p>
<p>“We have again seen the magnitude of the danger this material carries,” Julio Escobar, 60, the village’s senior elected official, told GlobalPost. “It isn’t right that they come to leave it here where there are a lot of people and livestock. There are plenty of empty deserts in places like Sonora.”</p>
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hueypoxtla mexico mexicos energy authorities say specialists finally recovered capsule cobalt60 cornfield near mexican capital presumably ending nineday saga began thieves hijacked truck carrying highly radioactive metal source recovered stored safe place energy department said statement late tuesday night cobalt60 theft early hours dec 2 sent alarmed officials scrambling mexico city washington vienna warned dangerous material used terrorist make socalled dirty bombs spread radiation detonating conventional explosives others quickly announced theft common robbery terrorism still others advised anyone touching proximity exposed highly radioactive material risked quick nearly certain death sold scrap feared material could end affecting thousands end steel used building materials furniture alarms squelched many last thursday officials discovered cobalt field edge hueypoxtla farm town 4000 people high plains 40 miles northeast mexico city case seemed solved day later federal police arrested six men relation missing cobalt four stand accused inadvertently acquiring toxic stash allegedly hijacked truck transporting two others tried fence stolen goods police charge still took nearly week mexican nuclear security experts locate cobalt60 determine compromised package safe shipment radioactive waste facility someone likely thieves dismantled iron casing holding cobalt abandoning everything amid broadcast warnings deadly potential protective tube containing radioactive material opened jaime aguirre leading nuclear security commissions recovery team told anxious villagers tuesday night hours cobalts recovery announced therefore aguirre assured villagers public meeting cobalt60 posed danger hueypoxtlas people environment said land water going remain completely clean aguirre told villagers gathered shortly sunset open air community center recovery operation visible across harvested fields resolve matter situation controllable controlled many crowd werent buying skepticism runs deep mexico officials wellearned reputation downplaying outright denying hazards affecting population gathered men women children berated aguirre huepoxtla mayor francisco santillan accusing deceit coverup short clip captured mcclatchy correspondent tim johnson hear crowd heckling nuclear safety official jaime aguirre lying retired school principal raul cardenas said response aguirres assurances cobalts protective casing breached problem simple would already taken cobalt60 away led cardenas threatened blockade nearby toll highway connects mexicos industrial heartland gulf coast ports capital residents called nongovernment experts brought inspect site called payment supposedly damaged crops soil life insurance guard cancer fear could arise coming years dont let fool us compañeros someone shouted many crowd hollering agreement make tell us truth crowd forced reluctant officials allow reporters including crews mexicos major television networks newspapers meeting released time latenight television news broadcasts energy departments announcement cobalt safely recovered could render villagers protests moot cobalt60 apparently taken mistake thieves hijacked truck transporting highway gas station far hueypoxtla officials said removed obsolete medical device government hospital tijuana california border destined facility stores radioactive material near hueypoxtla mexican officials alerted international atomic energy agency vienna theft launched frantic search cobalt warned media interviews anyone coming contact near proximity exposed cobalt60 risked almost certain quick death mauro moya says hadnt heard warnings came across dismantled iron pump size truck transmission contained material early dec 5 carried home intending sell scrap saw neither stolen truck smaller capsule containing cobalt moya said interview tuesday patio familys small cinderblock house edge hueypoxtla lets honest times tough needed money said moya 45 independent truck driver thought scrap would sell enough money keep food familys table least two weeks would thought youd see much iron lying side road early afternoon federal police energy department experts door moya said scanning family radiation quarantining neighborhood officials took moya dusty lane fields found iron officials radiation scanning instruments sounded alarms site moya said soldiers federal police cordoned square mile fields recovery operations began officials examined moyas family nearly two dozen others huepoxtla said free contamination six men arrested charges stealing truck turning hospital nearby state capital pachuca fearing contaminated men declared good health officials said neighbor moyas reportedly found briefly handled cobalt capsule hospitalized may radiation effects recovering source level intensity making enchiladas juan eibenschutz executive director nuclear security safeguard commission said phone interview wednesday referring radioactive metal complex operation cobalt60 stored along radioactive waste 40yearold facility national institute nuclear investigations sits near farm village maquixco 30 miles hueypoxtla loss delayed recovery cobalt60 well officials warning last week dangerous material renewed decadeslong fears among villagers many complain increased cancer rates among local families seen magnitude danger material carries julio escobar 60 villages senior elected official told globalpost isnt right come leave lot people livestock plenty empty deserts places like sonora
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<p>‘Person of Interest’ stars Sarah Shahi and Amy Acker at ClexaCon. (Photo courtesy ClexaCon)</p>
<p>LAS VEGAS — In-depth fan discussions about pop culture often happen online but last weekend in Las Vegas, the discussions were held face to face.</p>
<p>ClexaCon, modeled after Comic Con, Dragon Con, etc., was held March 3-5 at Bally’s and was billed as the first entertainment and media convention organized for queer women by queer women. The convention’s name comes from the popular lesbian couple Clexa, comprised of Clarke and Lexa, from the CW show “The 100.” Show runners killed off Lexa, in an episode fans only refer to ominously as&#160; “307” because it’s the exact episode number when Lexa’s death occurs, that initiated a movement from enraged fans.</p>
<p>More than 2,000 attendees came for the weekend including “Grey’s Anatomy” star Sara Ramirez who made a low-key appearance and quietly sat in on panels.</p>
<p>On day one of the convention, the line wrapped around the hallway with people itching to get inside to kickstart their weekend of panels, workshops and a film festival screening lesbian-centric films.</p>
<p>“Lexa’s Legacy,” one of the first panels of the weekend, filled up quickly. Lexa was just one of the more recent casualties of the “Bury Your Gays” trope, the entertainment industry’s pattern of killing off gay characters in TV and film. While her story is a common one for gay characters, the panel’s popularity proved her death affected many.</p>
<p>Another panel, Transgender Representation in the Media, included three panelists, all transgender women. The panelists discussed how “Transparent” both failed the transgender community and, in their opinion, got it right, too. Later, they discussed their desire for stories about transgender individuals that weren’t just about their trans identities but explored them joining a basketball team or wanting to start a family.</p>
<p>These conversations are likely rare outside a transgender forum online.</p>
<p>Jamie Broadnax, founder and managing editor of <a href="http://blackgirlsnerds.com" type="external">blackgirlsnerds.com</a>, says she applauds ClexaCon for its diversity.</p>
<p>But that doesn’t mean ClexaCon isn’t problematic.</p>
<p>“This con is called ClexaCon and focuses on the death of a white, queer character,” Broadnax told the Washington Blade. “Meanwhile Poussey from ‘Orange is the New Black’ was the queer death of a black character that didn’t get as much of a response. So there still needs to be that intersectionality within marginalized communities.”</p>
<p>Broadnax says she and the Black Geeks, a community for African Americans to discuss nerdy pop culture, are planning their own fan convention for women, people of color and the LGBT community. The convention will take place in Baltimore April 26-29, 2018.</p>
<p>ClexaCon did make an effort to be inclusive of diverse voices by including a panel called Queer Women of Color: Media Representation, which had a packed audience. The panel went past its allotted 50 minutes.</p>
<p>The most popular events at ClexaCon were the reunion of popular onscreen lesbian couples from various shows. D.C. native Gabrielle Christian and Mandy Musgrave, known for playing Spencer and Ashley on the teen drama “South of Nowhere,” appeared together to chat about their time on the show. Known by fans as “Spashley,” the young lesbian couple made a huge impact in the lives of many queer women viewers.</p>
<p>Many fans took the mic to tell Christian and Musgrave how the show was the first time they saw themselves represented on screen. They also shared how the show helped them come to terms with their own sexual orientation.</p>
<p>Christian and Musgrave also appeared on the lesbian web series “Girltrash!” and its prequel film “Girltrash: All Night Long.” Musgrave told the crowd that while playing queer roles had caused her to sometimes be typecast as bisexual, it had given her the best fanbase of lesbian supporters.</p>
<p>Other reunions included “WayHaught” from “Wynonna Earp,” “Shoot” from “Person of Interest,” “BAM” from “All My Children” and “Hollstein” from “Carmilla.”</p>
<p>The lines for the reunion panels were long and excited cheers could be heard exploding from the rooms during each one.</p>
<p>The convention wouldn’t have been a true fan gathering without cos-play (i.e. dressing up). A competition was held to showcase the best cos-players at the end of day two. The top three included Holtz from “Ghostbusters” and a couple dressed as Clexa.</p>
<p>However, the first place winner went to a little girl dressed as Lexa. Affectionally called “Little Lexa” throughout the convention, the crowd screamed and cheered uplifting the youngest attendee.</p>
<p>A recurring theme was that change is needed regarding lesbian representation in the media. Attorney Mindy Gulati hosted her panel “How Implicit Bias Affects the LGBTG community in the Media,” and spotlighted one of the major issues with queer representation.</p>
<p>“Whether for good, bad or reasons we don’t understand, people do have a lot of unconscious biases toward the gay community,” Gulati says. “Even those who work in film and TV and feel like they’re a step ahead of people and progressive, a lot of the time they don’t understand how deep-seated these biases can be.”</p>
<p>One way to eliminate these biases is to have queer women creating their own content. Several speakers encouraged, and often pleaded, for attendees to get creative and tell their own stories.</p>
<p>During a panel celebrating LGBT actresses in film and television, which included Sarah Paulson’s younger sister Rachel Paulson, actress Jasika Nicole (“Fringe”) discussed her new dark comedy film “Suicide Kale.”</p>
<p>Nicole explained how she and her queer friends simply decided to get together and make a movie one day. Panel moderator Dana Piccoli knowingly eyed the audience and said the people in attendance should get together to make their own film that could possibly premiere at ClexaCon next year.</p>
<p>The urge to be creative and tell stories that represent marginalized groups was rampant. Actress and producer Elizabeth Keener (“The L Word,” “Skirtchasers”) spoke with the Washington Blade and said she was blown away to see women getting together to learn and grow.</p>
<p>“Women have a yearning first to learn from other women, but also to find a place where they can have the freedom to talk about sexual orientation or even make things or create things that have to do with that but don’t even put that in the forefront. It just is,” Keener says.</p>
<p>She hopes ClexaCon could one day be on the same playing field as Comic Con and happen more than once a year in different cities.</p>
<p>As ClexaCon wound down, exclamations of, “I’m so glad I came” and “Why haven’t I been to things like this more often?” could be heard in the hall.</p>
<p>Lexa’s death may have been hurtful for many, but the character’s untimely “bury-your-gays” end lit a spark in queer fans.</p>
<p>From left are Jasika Nicole, Ali Liebert, Elizabeth Kenner and Rachel Paulson at a ClexaCon panel called LGBTQ Actresses in Film and Television. (Washington Blade photo by Mariah Cooper)</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bally's</a> <a href="" type="internal">ClexaCon</a> <a href="" type="internal">Comic Con</a> <a href="" type="internal">Dana Piccoli</a> <a href="" type="internal">Dragon Con</a> <a href="" type="internal">Elizabeth Kenner</a> <a href="" type="internal">Gabrielle Christian</a> <a href="" type="internal">Grey's Anatomy</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jamie Broadnax</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jasika Nicole</a> <a href="" type="internal">Las Vegas</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mandy Musgrave</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mindy Gulati</a> <a href="" type="internal">Orange is the New Black</a> <a href="" type="internal">Rachel Paulson</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sara Ramirez</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sarah Paulson</a> <a href="" type="internal">Skirtchasers</a> <a href="" type="internal">South of Nowhere</a> <a href="" type="internal">Suicide Kale</a> <a href="" type="internal">The 100</a> <a href="" type="internal">The L Word</a></p>
| false | 3 |
person interest stars sarah shahi amy acker clexacon photo courtesy clexacon las vegas indepth fan discussions pop culture often happen online last weekend las vegas discussions held face face clexacon modeled comic con dragon con etc held march 35 ballys billed first entertainment media convention organized queer women queer women conventions name comes popular lesbian couple clexa comprised clarke lexa cw show 100 show runners killed lexa episode fans refer ominously as160 307 exact episode number lexas death occurs initiated movement enraged fans 2000 attendees came weekend including greys anatomy star sara ramirez made lowkey appearance quietly sat panels day one convention line wrapped around hallway people itching get inside kickstart weekend panels workshops film festival screening lesbiancentric films lexas legacy one first panels weekend filled quickly lexa one recent casualties bury gays trope entertainment industrys pattern killing gay characters tv film story common one gay characters panels popularity proved death affected many another panel transgender representation media included three panelists transgender women panelists discussed transparent failed transgender community opinion got right later discussed desire stories transgender individuals werent trans identities explored joining basketball team wanting start family conversations likely rare outside transgender forum online jamie broadnax founder managing editor blackgirlsnerdscom says applauds clexacon diversity doesnt mean clexacon isnt problematic con called clexacon focuses death white queer character broadnax told washington blade meanwhile poussey orange new black queer death black character didnt get much response still needs intersectionality within marginalized communities broadnax says black geeks community african americans discuss nerdy pop culture planning fan convention women people color lgbt community convention take place baltimore april 2629 2018 clexacon make effort inclusive diverse voices including panel called queer women color media representation packed audience panel went past allotted 50 minutes popular events clexacon reunion popular onscreen lesbian couples various shows dc native gabrielle christian mandy musgrave known playing spencer ashley teen drama south nowhere appeared together chat time show known fans spashley young lesbian couple made huge impact lives many queer women viewers many fans took mic tell christian musgrave show first time saw represented screen also shared show helped come terms sexual orientation christian musgrave also appeared lesbian web series girltrash prequel film girltrash night long musgrave told crowd playing queer roles caused sometimes typecast bisexual given best fanbase lesbian supporters reunions included wayhaught wynonna earp shoot person interest bam children hollstein carmilla lines reunion panels long excited cheers could heard exploding rooms one convention wouldnt true fan gathering without cosplay ie dressing competition held showcase best cosplayers end day two top three included holtz ghostbusters couple dressed clexa however first place winner went little girl dressed lexa affectionally called little lexa throughout convention crowd screamed cheered uplifting youngest attendee recurring theme change needed regarding lesbian representation media attorney mindy gulati hosted panel implicit bias affects lgbtg community media spotlighted one major issues queer representation whether good bad reasons dont understand people lot unconscious biases toward gay community gulati says even work film tv feel like theyre step ahead people progressive lot time dont understand deepseated biases one way eliminate biases queer women creating content several speakers encouraged often pleaded attendees get creative tell stories panel celebrating lgbt actresses film television included sarah paulsons younger sister rachel paulson actress jasika nicole fringe discussed new dark comedy film suicide kale nicole explained queer friends simply decided get together make movie one day panel moderator dana piccoli knowingly eyed audience said people attendance get together make film could possibly premiere clexacon next year urge creative tell stories represent marginalized groups rampant actress producer elizabeth keener l word skirtchasers spoke washington blade said blown away see women getting together learn grow women yearning first learn women also find place freedom talk sexual orientation even make things create things dont even put forefront keener says hopes clexacon could one day playing field comic con happen year different cities clexacon wound exclamations im glad came havent things like often could heard hall lexas death may hurtful many characters untimely buryyourgays end lit spark queer fans left jasika nicole ali liebert elizabeth kenner rachel paulson clexacon panel called lgbtq actresses film television washington blade photo mariah cooper ballys clexacon comic con dana piccoli dragon con elizabeth kenner gabrielle christian greys anatomy jamie broadnax jasika nicole las vegas mandy musgrave mindy gulati orange new black rachel paulson sara ramirez sarah paulson skirtchasers south nowhere suicide kale 100 l word
| 732 |
<p>Michelle Gunderson used to look forward to her weekly training sessions about how to work with struggling readers.</p>
<p>One morning per week, she and her fellow first-grade teachers at Nettelhorst Elementary School in Chicago would cycle through each other’s classrooms to discuss useful strategies and to see the visual aids others were using up close.</p>
<p>But then Mayor Rahm Emanuel mandated a <a href="http://contract.ctunet.com/article:106" type="external">&#160;seven-hour school day</a> for all students, pointing to research tying more time in school to better academic outcomes. Under pressure to spend more time in front of students, teachers had to abandon the training sessions.</p>
<p>With 840 students to instruct, the school’s hectic schedule hasn’t allowed for shared planning time to serve as a replacement. And teachers also have less time during the school day to complete essential responsibilities such as writing lessons and grading tests.</p>
<p />
<p>“The nature of teaching is that you have to pace yourself so you have enough energy to get up and do it the next day,” Gunderson said, a veteran with 20 years of experience in the classroom. “If you spent all night planning and grading papers, what do you have to give the children the next day? We have to be able to reserve our energies so our instruction is effective.”</p>
<p>Gunderson’s experience reflects a fundamental tension in schools with expanded learning time for students: Research suggests that more time in school boosts students’ skills and long-term prospects, but adding productive time to students’ days often means cutting time from their teachers’. And that lost teacher planning and training time, research shows, also matters.</p>
<p>“It really is a balance. More time is only as good as it’s being used,” said Scott Barton, the principal of a California charter school whose model includes additional time for students and teachers alike. “To use that time wisely, we have to make sure that our teachers are prepared.”</p>
<p>Tug of war in New York City</p>
<p>New York City’s recent experience highlights the tug of war that can play out around learning time.</p>
<p>The city’s 2005 contract with its teachers union added 150 minutes per week of small-group instruction for struggling students, in keeping with then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Children First” education agenda. “We are taking 300,000 children who are performing below average, and as of today they are going to have an extra period, four days a week in classes of 10 or less,” he said at the time.</p>
<p>But when Bloomberg’s successor, Bill de Blasio, negotiated a new contract with the union in 2013, he took a different approach and <a href="http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2014/05/05/educators-question-contracts-bet-on-teacher-training-over-student-tutoring/#.VZFqLlVViko" type="external">rolled most of that time back</a> to make way for teacher training and collaboration.</p>
<p>The teachers union hailed the change. “We have to train teachers so that the time they’re spending with students is much more effective and valuable,” union chief Michael Mulgrew said at the time. “Versus doing, once again, this political punch line — more time with the student. Let’s make it better time with the student.”</p>
<p>But the tradeoff left some educators scratching their heads. “I honestly have never met one teacher who thinks the solution to the educational crisis is less time with students and more time in PD,” one teacher wrote on his blog.</p>
<p>The same balancing act is playing out in thousands of schools across the country that have extended the school day, according to Jennifer Davis, co-founder and president of the National Center on Time and Learning, a nonprofit that advocates for expanded learning time.</p>
<p>Davis said schools that are strategic about how to allocate time can optimize their schedules to meet both student and teacher needs. About half of the 2,000 schools her group tracks offer additional time for students and teachers alike, she said.</p>
<p>“I’m not saying it’s easy,” Davis said. “There are hard trade-offs, but there are ways to work it out.”</p>
<p>The Preuss School, the charter secondary school in La Jolla, Calif., that Barton runs, is one school where managing those tradeoffs has been a goal from the beginning. Founded in 1999 with more time for students and teachers as a key part of its model, Preuss requires students to be in school for 198 days a year, rather than the more typical 180 days.</p>
<p>In addition, Preuss teachers teach for six of the eight class periods per day. A teacher’s two free periods are blocked together for a daily 90-minute prep period, which is frequently used as collaborative planning time across departments or grade levels.</p>
<p>And the school has a later student start-time each Friday, providing all teachers with 105 minutes to collaborate and learn from one another every week.</p>
<p>“We felt from the beginning that there has to be time for teachers if we have more time for students,” Barton said. “Teachers need time and we need to build it in — not make it after school.”</p>
<p>Janis Gabay, an English teacher at Preuss and the 1991 National Teacher of the Year, serves as her department’s chair and said the Friday professional development sessions are unlike anywhere else she’s worked.</p>
<p>“When I worked in the large school district, staff development was kind of a monthly thing, if that, where you trotted out a speaker and you had people who sat in the back and wanted to grade papers,” she said. “Here, it’s a way to stay connected with one another. It’s where we’re encouraging the reflective teacher and asking things like ‘What have you struggled with? What are you curious about?’”</p>
<p>Charter schools like Preuss tend not to be bound by union contracts and so have the most flexibility in reworking schedules to balance the needs of students and teachers.</p>
<p>Some regular schools rise to the challenge &#160;</p>
<p>But traditional schools are finding ways to split the difference, as well.</p>
<p>Oakland, Calif., has found a way to resolve the tension by combining expanded learning time offerings in the summer for both.</p>
<p>Typically, summer school is a time for bare-bones instruction to ensure that students get the basics that they did not pick up during the school year. But last summer, Oakland hired coaches to work with English and math teachers as they worked to tie their teaching to the Common Core standards for the first time.</p>
<p>Tamrya Walker, who is a math teacher and instructional coach in Oakland, said one of the benefits of training during the summer is the smaller class size and fewer requirements placed on the teachers.</p>
<p>“There’s not as much stress in terms of assessment,” she said. “Teachers can focus on helping kids.”</p>
<p>A new program in Denver is taking the same approach. The district <a href="http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/06/24/in-dps-imaginarium-room-to-experiment-for-students-and-teachers/#.VY2nYFVViko" type="external">recently launched</a> a three-week laboratory summer program for teachers to try out new strategies, particularly around how to tailoring instruction to individual students.</p>
<p>Signs of balance are even emerging in contracts between districts and their teachers union, traditionally an arena for tugs of war over time because they set parameters for how teachers’ days are spent. In December, Boston negotiated <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/26/walsh-says-teachers-union-schools-have-agreed-add-minutes-learning-time-school-day/Z6FucOIACuabMBemXNsoUL/story.html" type="external">a new contract</a> that added 40 minutes a day at dozens of schools and also doubled teachers’ planning and training time.</p>
<p>“Boston public schools have been saying for many years that we need a longer school day,” said Michael O’Neill, chairman of the city’s school governing board, said when announcing the contract terms. “But a longer day isn’t effective unless you also transform the quality of the education.”</p>
<p>Boston teachers at participating schools saw nearly $5,000 raises as a result of the added time.</p>
<p>In districts with less fiscal flexibility, figuring out how to balance teacher and student time has been more of a challenge.</p>
<p>In Philadelphia, School Reform Commissioner Bill Green is advocating for a longer school day in the district’s next teacher contract. “It’s fairly simple,” he said. “All of the research indicates that longer school days or years have a positive impact on the achievement of urban students.”</p>
<p>Green is also arguing that state law requires Philadelphia to increase instructional time by nearly half an hour a day — an interpretation of the law that the teachers union is contesting. But he has said the cash-strapped district cannot pay teachers any more.</p>
<p>“To expect that the district is going to be able to attract and retain teachers as long as they totally disrespect them as professionals is unconscionable,” Philadelphia teachers union president Jerry Jordan said earlier this year, reacting to Green’s longer-day push. “It’s not going to happen.”</p>
<p>Back in Chicago, where the 2012 contract resulted in the city’s first teachers union strike in 25 years, teachers hope a new contract will better balance time for students and time for teachers.</p>
<p>Time isn’t the biggest issue in ongoing negotiations, which appear likely to extend beyond the June 30 contract expiration. Instead, the city and teachers union are locked in conflict about how teachers should be evaluated and how likely layoffs will happen.</p>
<p>Still, Gunderson said she hopes an eventual contract adds resources so that teachers can work together to make the longer school day effective.</p>
<p>“Without the time we have together, I don’t have as much of a chance to connect with my fellow teachers in terms of mentoring,” she said. “Here I am with years of craft knowledge that I would love to be able to give to my fellow teachers, but I’m not&#160;afforded the time to anymore.”</p>
<p>This story was written as part of a <a href="http://expandlt.chalkbeat.org/" type="external">collaborative reporting project</a> on expanded learning time that involved Catalyst and six other education news organizations and was supported by the Ford Foundation.</p>
| false | 3 |
michelle gunderson used look forward weekly training sessions work struggling readers one morning per week fellow firstgrade teachers nettelhorst elementary school chicago would cycle others classrooms discuss useful strategies see visual aids others using close mayor rahm emanuel mandated 160sevenhour school day students pointing research tying time school better academic outcomes pressure spend time front students teachers abandon training sessions 840 students instruct schools hectic schedule hasnt allowed shared planning time serve replacement teachers also less time school day complete essential responsibilities writing lessons grading tests nature teaching pace enough energy get next day gunderson said veteran 20 years experience classroom spent night planning grading papers give children next day able reserve energies instruction effective gundersons experience reflects fundamental tension schools expanded learning time students research suggests time school boosts students skills longterm prospects adding productive time students days often means cutting time teachers lost teacher planning training time research shows also matters really balance time good used said scott barton principal california charter school whose model includes additional time students teachers alike use time wisely make sure teachers prepared tug war new york city new york citys recent experience highlights tug war play around learning time citys 2005 contract teachers union added 150 minutes per week smallgroup instruction struggling students keeping thenmayor michael bloombergs children first education agenda taking 300000 children performing average today going extra period four days week classes 10 less said time bloombergs successor bill de blasio negotiated new contract union 2013 took different approach rolled time back make way teacher training collaboration teachers union hailed change train teachers time theyre spending students much effective valuable union chief michael mulgrew said time versus political punch line time student lets make better time student tradeoff left educators scratching heads honestly never met one teacher thinks solution educational crisis less time students time pd one teacher wrote blog balancing act playing thousands schools across country extended school day according jennifer davis cofounder president national center time learning nonprofit advocates expanded learning time davis said schools strategic allocate time optimize schedules meet student teacher needs half 2000 schools group tracks offer additional time students teachers alike said im saying easy davis said hard tradeoffs ways work preuss school charter secondary school la jolla calif barton runs one school managing tradeoffs goal beginning founded 1999 time students teachers key part model preuss requires students school 198 days year rather typical 180 days addition preuss teachers teach six eight class periods per day teachers two free periods blocked together daily 90minute prep period frequently used collaborative planning time across departments grade levels school later student starttime friday providing teachers 105 minutes collaborate learn one another every week felt beginning time teachers time students barton said teachers need time need build make school janis gabay english teacher preuss 1991 national teacher year serves departments chair said friday professional development sessions unlike anywhere else shes worked worked large school district staff development kind monthly thing trotted speaker people sat back wanted grade papers said way stay connected one another encouraging reflective teacher asking things like struggled curious charter schools like preuss tend bound union contracts flexibility reworking schedules balance needs students teachers regular schools rise challenge 160 traditional schools finding ways split difference well oakland calif found way resolve tension combining expanded learning time offerings summer typically summer school time barebones instruction ensure students get basics pick school year last summer oakland hired coaches work english math teachers worked tie teaching common core standards first time tamrya walker math teacher instructional coach oakland said one benefits training summer smaller class size fewer requirements placed teachers theres much stress terms assessment said teachers focus helping kids new program denver taking approach district recently launched threeweek laboratory summer program teachers try new strategies particularly around tailoring instruction individual students signs balance even emerging contracts districts teachers union traditionally arena tugs war time set parameters teachers days spent december boston negotiated new contract added 40 minutes day dozens schools also doubled teachers planning training time boston public schools saying many years need longer school day said michael oneill chairman citys school governing board said announcing contract terms longer day isnt effective unless also transform quality education boston teachers participating schools saw nearly 5000 raises result added time districts less fiscal flexibility figuring balance teacher student time challenge philadelphia school reform commissioner bill green advocating longer school day districts next teacher contract fairly simple said research indicates longer school days years positive impact achievement urban students green also arguing state law requires philadelphia increase instructional time nearly half hour day interpretation law teachers union contesting said cashstrapped district pay teachers expect district going able attract retain teachers long totally disrespect professionals unconscionable philadelphia teachers union president jerry jordan said earlier year reacting greens longerday push going happen back chicago 2012 contract resulted citys first teachers union strike 25 years teachers hope new contract better balance time students time teachers time isnt biggest issue ongoing negotiations appear likely extend beyond june 30 contract expiration instead city teachers union locked conflict teachers evaluated likely layoffs happen still gunderson said hopes eventual contract adds resources teachers work together make longer school day effective without time together dont much chance connect fellow teachers terms mentoring said years craft knowledge would love able give fellow teachers im not160afforded time anymore story written part collaborative reporting project expanded learning time involved catalyst six education news organizations supported ford foundation
| 906 |
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p>C.S. Lewis did it during his lifetime and he’s continued to do it in the 50 years since his death on Nov. 22, 1963: inspire Christians from theologically diverse traditions through his theological and fictional work.</p>
<p>Box sets of his theological bestsellers, including Mere Christianity, and his fictional works continue to adorn bookstore shelves and have moved into the e-book realm — and they continue to draw praise from Christians who do not worship or even socialize together.</p>
<p>Cooperative Baptist Kevin Glenn and Southern Baptist Steven Owensby are perfect examples of that.</p>
<p>Glenn, the pastor of <a href="http://www.memorialbaptist.org/#/welcome/welcome" type="external">Memorial Baptist Church</a> in Columbia, Mo., calls himself “a Lewis addict” who admires the late Anglican for promoting the commonalities between Christians.</p>
<p />
<p>“Baptists love him just as much as Anglicans because he embodied what it means to keep the essentials front and center,” Glenn said.</p>
<p>Owensby, meanwhile, said he continues to read those writings of Lewis’ that lend themselves to apologetics and promoting Christianity over other religions.</p>
<p>“I would recommend him to other Christians, especially some of his writings about why to believe and the greatness of belief,” said Owensby, pastor of <a href="http://fbcenoree.wordpress.com/" type="external">Enoree First Baptist Church</a> in South Carolina.</p>
<p>Lewis’ works have continued to enjoy popularity, mostly in America. Historically his draw was among Anglicans, Catholics and some mainline Christians.</p>
<p />
<p>But that changed more recently, syndicated religion columnist <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/getreligion/terry-mattingly/" type="external">Terry Mattingly</a> said.</p>
<p>“The evangelical world grabbed him with a vengeance in the ’70s,” he said. Once “the evangelical industrial complex claims him as one of their own, at that point he’s officially linked to everybody.”</p>
<p>But opinions differ about how Lewis won over such disparate audiences, why his books continue to sell and if that trend will continue among Millennials and religiously unafilliated Americans.</p>
<p>‘You can read into it’</p>
<p>Brett Younger argues that Lewis’ fiction writing enabled him to penetrate such a wide Christian audience with his more serious theological work.</p>
<p>Many were introduced to Lewis through his “Chronicles of Narnia” fantasy series, said <a href="http://theology.mercer.edu/faculty-staff/younger/" type="external">Younger, associate professor</a> of preaching at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology.</p>
<p />
<p>“You can read into it” according to pre-conceived beliefs, Younger said of the seven-book series.</p>
<p>“So when a very conservative Christian reads <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/lion-witch-and-wardrobe" type="external">The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe</a>, it’s about substitutionary atonement,” he said of the first book in the series, which was made into a 2005 film.</p>
<p>“When a more liberal Christian reads <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/84369.The_Last_Battle" type="external">The Last Battle</a>, it’s about universalism and there is no room for anything else,” he said.</p>
<p>‘Fundamentalists have attacked him’</p>
<p>Lewis’ imaginary writing influenced his theological arguments which in turn gave the latter an unusual accessibility for non-academics, said Ralph Wood, <a href="http://www.baylor.edu/religion/index.php?id=66255" type="external">professor of theology and literature</a>at Baylor University.</p>
<p>“Lewis wrote with a kind of clarity and candor and eloquence and directness that is unavailable” among theological thinkers of his own time and even today, Wood said.</p>
<p>&#160;Being a popular writer didn’t mean Lewis was churning out lightweight fare, he added.</p>
<p>“He was very widely read — from the ancients to the moderns.”</p>
<p>But that sometimes earned him criticism. Lewis’ research into ancient forms of Christianity drew him to the Eastern Orthodox concept of “theosis.”</p>
<p>“Theosis is the doctrine that the whole purpose of the Christian life is to be enfolded in the life of God,” he said, “that we are meant to participate in the divine nature.”</p>
<p>That was a turn off to some Christian readers, as was his view of Scripture as instructional and doctrinal — not literal.</p>
<p>“Fundamentalists have attacked him on biblical inerrancy,” Wood said.</p>
<p>‘Wrestling with faith’</p>
<p>Owensby acknowledged that he and other conservative Christians do not embrace all of Lewis’ ideas — in particular what he calls Lewis’ unclear teachings about the nature of salvation.</p>
<p>“There are places where he writes and you would think he’s right in line with what I believe, and there’s also places where he contradicts the convictions I have,” Owensby said.</p>
<p>Lewis is on target enough of the time to continue reading him, Owensby added. “He gave very good reasons for us to trust and believe in Christianity over and against any other world [religious] system.”</p>
<p>For Glenn the reasons to keep reading and teaching Lewis are markedly different, and begin with the author’s ability to translate difficult theological concepts into language accessible to most readers.</p>
<p>Lewis also models how to struggle with doubt and anger toward God in the face of deep personal loss.</p>
<p>“He wrestled with the dark side of faith, the things that we question,” Glenn said. “He’s kind of the champion of wrestling with our faith and coming out stronger on the other side.”</p>
<p>‘Nobody has picked up the baton’</p>
<p>It’s precisely that real, gritty side of Lewis that most appeals to younger people, including those who make up the rising population of “nones” in America, said Christian author and blogger <a href="http://www.sarahcunningham.org/me" type="external">Sarah Cunningham</a>.</p>
<p>In fact, the biggest obstacle to Lewis’ continued popularity among Millennials and other young people is that they aren’t reading books as much as blogs and other online journals.</p>
<p>But Lewis’ advancement of “an intuitive Christianity” and his aversion to denominationalism is just the kind of message that resonates with younger generations, said Cunningham, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZAR99G/ref=cm_sw_su_dp" type="external">children’s literature</a> and The Well-Balanced World Changer.</p>
<p />
<p>“I don’t think a lot of ‘nones’ are anti-religion or anti-faith, they just don’t want to be connected to a specific sect or group,” she said.</p>
<p>Mattingly, who is the founder and editor of GetReligion.org, said there is no one else on the horizon, dead or alive, who is positioned to assume a near-universal appeal for Christians.</p>
<p>“Who’s going to take this man’s place?” Mattingly said. “Nobody has picked up the baton from him in the name of orthodox Christianity.”</p>
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jeff brumley cs lewis lifetime hes continued 50 years since death nov 22 1963 inspire christians theologically diverse traditions theological fictional work box sets theological bestsellers including mere christianity fictional works continue adorn bookstore shelves moved ebook realm continue draw praise christians worship even socialize together cooperative baptist kevin glenn southern baptist steven owensby perfect examples glenn pastor memorial baptist church columbia mo calls lewis addict admires late anglican promoting commonalities christians baptists love much anglicans embodied means keep essentials front center glenn said owensby meanwhile said continues read writings lewis lend apologetics promoting christianity religions would recommend christians especially writings believe greatness belief said owensby pastor enoree first baptist church south carolina lewis works continued enjoy popularity mostly america historically draw among anglicans catholics mainline christians changed recently syndicated religion columnist terry mattingly said evangelical world grabbed vengeance 70s said evangelical industrial complex claims one point hes officially linked everybody opinions differ lewis disparate audiences books continue sell trend continue among millennials religiously unafilliated americans read brett younger argues lewis fiction writing enabled penetrate wide christian audience serious theological work many introduced lewis chronicles narnia fantasy series said younger associate professor preaching mercer universitys mcafee school theology read according preconceived beliefs younger said sevenbook series conservative christian reads lion witch wardrobe substitutionary atonement said first book series made 2005 film liberal christian reads last battle universalism room anything else said fundamentalists attacked lewis imaginary writing influenced theological arguments turn gave latter unusual accessibility nonacademics said ralph wood professor theology literatureat baylor university lewis wrote kind clarity candor eloquence directness unavailable among theological thinkers time even today wood said 160being popular writer didnt mean lewis churning lightweight fare added widely read ancients moderns sometimes earned criticism lewis research ancient forms christianity drew eastern orthodox concept theosis theosis doctrine whole purpose christian life enfolded life god said meant participate divine nature turn christian readers view scripture instructional doctrinal literal fundamentalists attacked biblical inerrancy wood said wrestling faith owensby acknowledged conservative christians embrace lewis ideas particular calls lewis unclear teachings nature salvation places writes would think hes right line believe theres also places contradicts convictions owensby said lewis target enough time continue reading owensby added gave good reasons us trust believe christianity world religious system glenn reasons keep reading teaching lewis markedly different begin authors ability translate difficult theological concepts language accessible readers lewis also models struggle doubt anger toward god face deep personal loss wrestled dark side faith things question glenn said hes kind champion wrestling faith coming stronger side nobody picked baton precisely real gritty side lewis appeals younger people including make rising population nones america said christian author blogger sarah cunningham fact biggest obstacle lewis continued popularity among millennials young people arent reading books much blogs online journals lewis advancement intuitive christianity aversion denominationalism kind message resonates younger generations said cunningham author childrens literature wellbalanced world changer dont think lot nones antireligion antifaith dont want connected specific sect group said mattingly founder editor getreligionorg said one else horizon dead alive positioned assume nearuniversal appeal christians whos going take mans place mattingly said nobody picked baton name orthodox christianity
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<p>Besides taking the political pulse of local school councils, Catalyst asked local leaders to review council structure and policy and suggest ways to make councils more effective partners in school improvement. The following is what they came up with.</p>
<p>Council structure: No need to rebuild</p>
<p>Majority opinion: The original model—six parents, two teachers, two community members, the principal and, at high schools, one student—can work better than it now does; there is no need to change it. In particular, reducing the number of parents would undercut the intent of the School Reform Act to make schools more integral to their communities.</p>
<p>Barbara Sizemore, DePaul University professor emerita, says that having parents on LSCs is a critical part of supporting parent participation in schools. Everyone in education agrees parent participation is crucial to improvement, she says, yet parents bear the brunt of council critiques. “If [CPS wants] parents to be involved, then parents should be the dominant force on LSCs,” she says.</p>
<p>Julie Woestehoff of Parents United for Responsible Education says her group might be open to a change so long as parents retain the majority. “We have thought about the principal not being a voting member, and maybe there should be one more teacher,” she says. “We’d fight if the parent majority were changed.”</p>
<p>A different view: Terry Mazany, senior program education officer at the Chicago Community Trust, suggests five parents or community members, five teachers and the principal. “It creates an interesting power dynamic,” he notes. “No one group has the automatic majority.” Having more teachers would also bring additional, needed educational expertise, he says.</p>
<p>Related ideas: Provide a staff member to keep minutes, collect data and reports and prepare meeting documents.</p>
<p>Reimburse members for expenses, such as travel, food and professional conference fees. Elect members to staggered terms. “An entire council can be replaced every two years, and that is unfair to the council and to the school,” says David Peterson of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association. With staggered terms, he notes, “half the council has experience at all times.” On the other hand, James Deanes, director of School and Community Relations, says the cost of mounting more elections would be prohibitive. “The cost would probably be mind-boggling,” he says.</p>
<p>Council powers:Keep keys to the kingdom</p>
<p>Majority opinion: In most cases, councils are able to handle the authority they’ve been legally granted: approving school improvement plans, spending discretionary budgets and hiring and evaluating principals. The latter has always been a flash point and remains that way today.</p>
<p>LSCs are effective in evaluating whether principals reach out to parents and community, says Anthony Bryk of the Consortium on Chicago School Research. “And we know that matters. If you don’t have positive development in that area, you are unlikely to see improvements in reading and math,” he says.</p>
<p>When LSCs get in trouble, however, it is often when disagreements with the principal get personal. DePaul University Professor Barbara Radner says on-going evaluation, rather than year-end, can ease tensions and improve communication.</p>
<p>A novel twist: Martin “Mike” Koldyke of the Golden Apple Foundation says LSCs at improving schools should keep their principal evaluation powers. But at bottom-tier schools that have chronically failed, central office should remove the principal.</p>
<p>To find a replacement, he suggests a blue-ribbon panel—”not a political panel, a group of really first-rate educators”—should give councils three high-quality nominees. The onus would be on central office to find outstanding candidates, “not reworked people,” he says.</p>
<p>Because finding talented principals is not easy, he says, the board should use this process in fewer than 10 schools a year. Once those principals are chosen, the councils and board should agree to a “no-meddling clause” so the newcomers can work freely for their entire terms.</p>
<p>A different view: Dolores Gonzalez, director of Leadership Initiative for Transformation (LIFT), a training program for new principals, says councils should be advisory on principal hiring and firing, as they were in the mid-1980s. Local school advisory councils then interviewed and ranked candidates, she says. That ranking was given to the district superintendent (now the regional education officer), who would make the final choice.</p>
<p>“I thought that kept the whole process kind of honest and above board,” she says.</p>
<p>Recalling even earlier history, Peterson of the principals’ association says, “I don’t think you ever want to go back to the old system. I got a principal’s job because of rank order on a test. The final decision was always the central office.”</p>
<p>Related ideas: Keep councils informed. Region 1 Education Officer Linda Pierzchalski, former principal of Bogan High School, says councils were sometimes helpful in reviewing budgets. Use up-to-date spending totals and be ready to explain them to LSC members, she adds.</p>
<p>Include LSCs in the School Improvement Plan (SIP) process. Some principals bar councils from meeting at the school outside of monthly LSC meetings, says Archon Fung, an assistant professor at Harvard University. Such a policy makes it difficult for LSCs to see the SIP in action, he says.</p>
<p>Create easy-to-use principal evaluation forms. The board’s form is too complicated, says James Deanes, who oversees LSC relations. A simpler form, developed by Leadership for Quality Education, is being piloted in 60 schools this year, and will be expanded throughout the system next fall.</p>
<p>Training: Pump it up</p>
<p>Majority opinion: Do more of it, and make it more relevant, especially in the areas of consensus building and conflict mediation. Even more important, add a teaching and instruction component and make it mandatory. Now, CPS training for councils covers only the basics, such as councils’ legal duties.</p>
<p>Parents do not have to become educational experts, says Warren Chapman, education program officer at the Joyce Foundation. But parents need to know what students need, and they need to ask educators tough questions to keep them honest. “That’s as important as picking a principal,” he says.</p>
<p>Hazel Stewart, a retired region education officer, says training quality is uneven. Trainers should be trained at the same place to ensure consistency, she insists. Principals should join them, too. “It’s important that they’re all hearing the same thing at the same time,” she says.</p>
<p>A different idea: Teachers get paid to take professional development, jurors get paid for their time, why not pay LSCs for the time they spend in training, says Mazany of the Chicago Community Trust. He also suggests expanding mandatory training to 40 hours; LSCs are now required to take 16 hours. “Not many of us have made household budget decisions for $1 million.”</p>
<p>Related ideas: Deliver training on the Internet. Bryk says CPS could use the money it saves on consultants to work one-on-one with councils that need extra support.</p>
<p>Develop training standards and align curriculum so that CPS trainers and outside groups are on the same page. Kenneth Wong, a former University of Chicago researcher, suggests hiring a third party to monitor the quality of LSC training.</p>
<p>Provide ongoing training throughout LSC members’ two-year terms, not just at the start of service. Wong, now at Vanderbilt University, says council members need ongoing training because they will face a number of unforeseen issues during their terms.</p>
<p>Candidate recruitment: Just a little respect</p>
<p>Majority opinion: Councils need to be recognized as a valuable resource for schools; many are worthy of praise for the hard work they do. Parents and community members should feel that they are joining an important and respected institution when they sit on an LSC, says Michael Klonsky of the Small Schools Workshop.</p>
<p>Right now, that’s not the case. “You’ve almost got to be a glutton for punishment to be on an LSC now— especially in a low-performing school,” he says. “Where is the praise?”</p>
<p>Exemplary LSCs were once recognized every year, but that practice disappeared in 1992.</p>
<p>This year, six councils won awards for excellent work when a consortium of council advocacy groups, school improvement organizations and local foundations revived the practice.</p>
<p>Joann Podkul, a teacher at Bowen High School, says councils could be recognized at a luncheon where they meet other LSC members and share ideas.</p>
<p>“If they see what they’re doing at the local level has an effect, they don’t feel like they are wasting their time when they should be at work or with their faculty,” she says.</p>
<p>Novel twists: Richard Laine, education policy director of the Illinois Business Roundtable, suggests that schools build a farm team of sorts, growing potential council members by recruiting prospective candidates to serve as tutors and school volunteers.</p>
<p>Phyllis Martin, executive director of the Financial Research and Advisory Committee (FRAC), suggests jumpstarting the business community with a United Way-style campaign for LSCs. “Companies would set a quota to get a certain number of employees … to join LSCs,” she says.</p>
<p>A different idea: John Ayers, executive director of LQE, favors paying LSC members in low-income communities. Head Start, which hires parents to work with children, offers such a model, he says. “It gets them engaged and positively involved. For parents who are really good with kids, this could be a way to pursue employment with the Chicago Public Schools.”</p>
<p>Related ideas: Open eligibility requirements so outside experts—lawyers, accountants, educators—who don’t live within the school’s attendance area can run for council seats.</p>
<p>Build public awareness. The Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) program steadily attracts volunteers by keeping public awareness high, Fung says. The city has a cable television station that could advertise council elections, he adds. “It’s been awhile since [CPS] has invested time, money and energy in getting people to run for LSC positions.”</p>
<p>Decrease the frequency of meetings. DePaul University Professor Barbara Radner says quarterly, rather than monthly, LSC meetings could accomplish two things. First, councils could operate similar to a board of directors and engage mostly in big-picture planning. Secondly, fewer meetings could stem high turnover rates by placing lower time demands on members. Factor in student mobility rates. High student mobility also means high parent mobility, and can affect council vacancy rates, says the Consortium’s Bryk.</p>
<p>Reported by Catalyst staff and written by Managing Editor Mario Ortiz. Comments may be emailed to [email protected]</p>
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besides taking political pulse local school councils catalyst asked local leaders review council structure policy suggest ways make councils effective partners school improvement following came council structure need rebuild majority opinion original modelsix parents two teachers two community members principal high schools one studentcan work better need change particular reducing number parents would undercut intent school reform act make schools integral communities barbara sizemore depaul university professor emerita says parents lscs critical part supporting parent participation schools everyone education agrees parent participation crucial improvement says yet parents bear brunt council critiques cps wants parents involved parents dominant force lscs says julie woestehoff parents united responsible education says group might open change long parents retain majority thought principal voting member maybe one teacher says wed fight parent majority changed different view terry mazany senior program education officer chicago community trust suggests five parents community members five teachers principal creates interesting power dynamic notes one group automatic majority teachers would also bring additional needed educational expertise says related ideas provide staff member keep minutes collect data reports prepare meeting documents reimburse members expenses travel food professional conference fees elect members staggered terms entire council replaced every two years unfair council school says david peterson chicago principals administrators association staggered terms notes half council experience times hand james deanes director school community relations says cost mounting elections would prohibitive cost would probably mindboggling says council powerskeep keys kingdom majority opinion cases councils able handle authority theyve legally granted approving school improvement plans spending discretionary budgets hiring evaluating principals latter always flash point remains way today lscs effective evaluating whether principals reach parents community says anthony bryk consortium chicago school research know matters dont positive development area unlikely see improvements reading math says lscs get trouble however often disagreements principal get personal depaul university professor barbara radner says ongoing evaluation rather yearend ease tensions improve communication novel twist martin mike koldyke golden apple foundation says lscs improving schools keep principal evaluation powers bottomtier schools chronically failed central office remove principal find replacement suggests blueribbon panelnot political panel group really firstrate educatorsshould give councils three highquality nominees onus would central office find outstanding candidates reworked people says finding talented principals easy says board use process fewer 10 schools year principals chosen councils board agree nomeddling clause newcomers work freely entire terms different view dolores gonzalez director leadership initiative transformation lift training program new principals says councils advisory principal hiring firing mid1980s local school advisory councils interviewed ranked candidates says ranking given district superintendent regional education officer would make final choice thought kept whole process kind honest board says recalling even earlier history peterson principals association says dont think ever want go back old system got principals job rank order test final decision always central office related ideas keep councils informed region 1 education officer linda pierzchalski former principal bogan high school says councils sometimes helpful reviewing budgets use uptodate spending totals ready explain lsc members adds include lscs school improvement plan sip process principals bar councils meeting school outside monthly lsc meetings says archon fung assistant professor harvard university policy makes difficult lscs see sip action says create easytouse principal evaluation forms boards form complicated says james deanes oversees lsc relations simpler form developed leadership quality education piloted 60 schools year expanded throughout system next fall training pump majority opinion make relevant especially areas consensus building conflict mediation even important add teaching instruction component make mandatory cps training councils covers basics councils legal duties parents become educational experts says warren chapman education program officer joyce foundation parents need know students need need ask educators tough questions keep honest thats important picking principal says hazel stewart retired region education officer says training quality uneven trainers trained place ensure consistency insists principals join important theyre hearing thing time says different idea teachers get paid take professional development jurors get paid time pay lscs time spend training says mazany chicago community trust also suggests expanding mandatory training 40 hours lscs required take 16 hours many us made household budget decisions 1 million related ideas deliver training internet bryk says cps could use money saves consultants work oneonone councils need extra support develop training standards align curriculum cps trainers outside groups page kenneth wong former university chicago researcher suggests hiring third party monitor quality lsc training provide ongoing training throughout lsc members twoyear terms start service wong vanderbilt university says council members need ongoing training face number unforeseen issues terms candidate recruitment little respect majority opinion councils need recognized valuable resource schools many worthy praise hard work parents community members feel joining important respected institution sit lsc says michael klonsky small schools workshop right thats case youve almost got glutton punishment lsc especially lowperforming school says praise exemplary lscs recognized every year practice disappeared 1992 year six councils awards excellent work consortium council advocacy groups school improvement organizations local foundations revived practice joann podkul teacher bowen high school says councils could recognized luncheon meet lsc members share ideas see theyre local level effect dont feel like wasting time work faculty says novel twists richard laine education policy director illinois business roundtable suggests schools build farm team sorts growing potential council members recruiting prospective candidates serve tutors school volunteers phyllis martin executive director financial research advisory committee frac suggests jumpstarting business community united waystyle campaign lscs companies would set quota get certain number employees join lscs says different idea john ayers executive director lqe favors paying lsc members lowincome communities head start hires parents work children offers model says gets engaged positively involved parents really good kids could way pursue employment chicago public schools related ideas open eligibility requirements outside expertslawyers accountants educatorswho dont live within schools attendance area run council seats build public awareness chicago alternative policing strategy caps program steadily attracts volunteers keeping public awareness high fung says city cable television station could advertise council elections adds awhile since cps invested time money energy getting people run lsc positions decrease frequency meetings depaul university professor barbara radner says quarterly rather monthly lsc meetings could accomplish two things first councils could operate similar board directors engage mostly bigpicture planning secondly fewer meetings could stem high turnover rates placing lower time demands members factor student mobility rates high student mobility also means high parent mobility affect council vacancy rates says consortiums bryk reported catalyst staff written managing editor mario ortiz comments may emailed editorialcatalystchicagoorg
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<p>Your mobile phone, your computer, most of your electronics have minerals in them that can be found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The quest for profits from mineral mining there has helped fuel 15 years of conflict that has caused some five million deaths. US legislation passed last year, as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, requires that US electronics companies not use conflict minerals from Africa. That's led US and European buyers to pull back, until a system is in place to certify minerals conflict free.</p>
<p>And Goma, a dusty border town that has long served as clearing house for the minerals mined in this region, is hurting. Its Belgian colonial buildings are crumbling. Its roads are ripped up and dusty, thanks to government embezzlement of funds that were supposed to go to a Chinese construction company. And in the evenings — frequent blackouts mean residents often have to feel their way in the dark.</p>
<p>A single lantern lights the living room of Jason Luneno Maene. He's a civil society leader here, who's running for the National Assembly in next month's election. Maene says Chinese mineral buyers now have a virtual monopoly here.</p>
<p>"They are paying 20 percent less, maybe even 30 percent less than the old price, because now they are the only buyers," he says. "The lower price means fewer people are bringing minerals to sell, and a lot of mines have suspended operations. But the Chinese are buying what comes to them. Their warehouses are full, with constant turnover."</p>
<p>The Chinese buyers are especially interested in tin and in coltan — a metallic ore that contains tantalum. Tantalum stores energy and is resistant to high temperatures, and is used in everything from mobile phones and laptops to jet engines and space vehicles.</p>
<p>Congo's coltan also contains a bonus metal — uranium. The Democratic Republic of Congo has rich reserves or uranium — it supplied uranium for the nuclear bombs that hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But soon after independence in 1960, the government filled the shafts of its main Shinkolobwe mine in Katanga with concrete, and said Congo would save its uranium for future generations.</p>
<p>William Mishiki Buhini, the traditional chief of a huge mineral-rich and conflict-ridden region in Congo called Walikale, says buying Congo's coltan or tin can give backdoor access to uranium — as long as the buyer has the means to separate it out. China has a tantalum smelter in the province of Ningxia. Buying Minerals</p>
<p>When Europeans were buying minerals, they wouldn't accept uranium content of more than two percent, because the radiation was considered too dangerous," he says. "But the Chinese don't care. Even if it's at five percent, they still buy the minerals."</p>
<p>Mishiki says Chinese purchases of minerals are keeping this region's mining industry limping along, though at a much lower level of production than before. He says the regional government depends on mining proceeds for more than half of its budget. And while he says he's all for taking armed groups and the military out of Congo's mines, he says the pullout of Western buyers has gutted the local economy in the short term.</p>
<p>"Since this Dodd-Frank Act was enacted, there are more people recruited into army groups than before," Mishiki says. "Because all these guys … who used to depend on the artisanal mining, they are jobless now. They have mines, but they cannot sell. So they have to go where they can survive. And the only place to go, because there are no factories … the only way to survive is to be recruited into the army groups. And then they can go somewhere and try to make money to survive."</p>
<p>That's not what advocacy groups like Enough: The Project to End Genocide intended when they ran ads lobbying for the Dodd-Frank legislation, with college kids holding up their cell phones and saying: "I don't want my cell phone to fuel a war. This is the next blood diamond. I want peace in Congo." The ad called on electronics companies to clean up their acts, and stop using minerals from mines controlled by armed groups.</p>
<p>Congolese army commanders and illegal armed groups — including Hutus who participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide — have long controlled East Congo's mines directly or levied illegal taxes on independent artisinal miners.</p>
<p>Some of the armed groups have terrorized local communities, raped women and forced children, at gunpoint, to do the mining for their profit. When the Dodd-Frank Act first passed last year, says Fidel Bafilemba, Enough's East Congo consultant, some Congolese army commanders took it as an opportunity to push out artisinal miners and take over some mines themselves. But when they found the market drying up, Congo's government made the Congolese army pull back. Bafilemba says about 60 percent of the mines are now free of armed groups, and the government is taking further measures.</p>
<p>"All the illegal taxes are going to be cut off," he says. "And instead of the military controlling the mines, the Congolese government is going to deploy mining police to secure the mines, and also securing the trading routes, so the minerals can come to the trading centers."</p>
<p>And for the first time, he says, the government will make sure a portion of proceeds from minerals sales goes back to the mining communities, for hospitals, schools and roads. Walikale Chief William Mishiki says it's about time.</p>
<p>"The people who were digging, the people who were suffering…there's not even a house with bricks. They live like animals. They make pee in the rivers. There are no environment conditions respected. Because the government is making money, they don't care. If you compare our country with our neighbor, Rwanda, it's a shame. Rwanda doesn't have any resources. But look at the economy of Rwanda. Look at the education system. It's a matter of proper management. If we could manage this country properly, we wouldn't need the Chinese." Agreements with China</p>
<p>China is not only buying minerals in the troubled Kivu region of East Congo. It also has a $6 billion resources-for-infrastructure agreement with the Congolese government, shaved down from $9 billion after the World Bank and IMF voiced concerns that servicing such a huge debt would be beyond Congo's reach. Other criticisms included that the terms of the deal are vague and opaque, that it wasn't clear how the minerals would be priced, and that the deal included an agreement that Congo would repay China first, before repaying any other outstanding debts.</p>
<p>The Chinese government has called this, and other deals in Africa like it — in Angola, for instance — win-win. China gets the minerals and other resources it needs for its rapid development. African countries get infrastructure built by experienced Chinese teams. Mishiki, who has been a government minister and aspires to be president, says it's not ultimately a great deal for Congo.</p>
<p>"I can say, frankly speaking, that we are the losers," he says. "But we didn't have a choice. I support President Kabila, really, in this contract. Because, here in Congo, we have a lot of resources. But we don't have the capacity to bring these resources out from the ground, to transform them into wealth.</p>
<p>So if I have $1 million in the ground, but I don't know how to get it out. You tell me, 'you know what, my friend? I give you $100,000, and I take $1 million.' I'll say, 'ok, please.' Because if I don't have the $100,000, I will never get it."</p>
<p>Mishiki says one way to create wealth in East Congo would be to diversify the economy and make it less dependent on mining. As a start, he says, he has shifted out of the mining business and is instead running a farm in Walikale, growing coffee and other crops and employing some 2,300 people. In a region with some 800,000 people, it's a start.</p>
<p>So are the Congolese government's better-late-than-never initiatives to rid East Congo's mines of armed groups, says Annie Dunneback, a senior campaigner with the advocacy group Global Witness. She just visited Goma and the Kivu region, and praises the government for having issued a directive in September that the mining sector has to adhere to international due diligence standards — checks companies have to perform on their supply chains.</p>
<p>"And when we were in Eastern Congo, we spoke to some of the Chinese companies, who were very clear about the fact that the priority for them was to respect domestic law, and follow any directive that the Congolese government handed down," Dunneback says. "So companies in the US and Europe have to adhere to new standards. But now these standards are also being replicated on the ground in Congo. So there should eventually be a more even playing field and a sort of harmonization across supply chains."</p>
<p>For now, the playing field is still a bit bumpy. Dunneback says smuggling to nearby Rwanda did pick up in the months after the Dodd-Frank legislation passed. But then, the Congolese government lowered export tax on minerals — to make people think twice about whether it was worth taking the risk. A Congolese lieutenant was recently given a three-year prison sentence for smuggling. And, this month, the Rwandan government pledged to return to Congo up to 90 tons of smuggled minerals it has confiscated.</p>
<p>"There's been a big shift on the part of the Congolese government. Eighteen months ago, the government and the military, especially, wouldn't acknowledge the problem of militarized minerals trade in Eastern Congo. Now, it's openly acknowledged. We've had quite significant reforms, especially in the direction of mineral traceability, that have been spearheaded by the Congolese government." Hurdles</p>
<p>There are also still hurdles to clear before the Dodd-Frank legislation takes full effect. The Securities and Exchange Commission has to come up with standards for electronics companies to meet to be in compliance, and the US Chamber of Commerce, one of the biggest conservative lobbying groups in the United States, has threatened to sue the SEC if the standards prove to be too costly or cumbersome.</p>
<p>But Chris Hazen, Asia director of WSP Environment and Energy, a consulting group that works with electronics firms on supply chain issues, says the Dodd-Frank Act might just be a good thing for industry, as well as for miners in the Congo</p>
<p>"There is value to industries, like the electronics industry, to have common standards and processes which eliminate a reputational risk for the industry," he says. "The risk of reputational damage from coltan mining practices in Central Africa has been known about for some time, And a big unknown was when it might blow up for any given company. Dodd-Frank has helped to create a bit of a wellspring of momentum to help come up with industry-wide solutions."</p>
<p>Removing the risk includes making sure factories in China aren't using conflict minerals in electronics destined for the US market. China may be cleaning up on minerals for now — but if Americans really don't want their gadget habit to fuel conflict in Congo, enforcing a clean supply chain could soon become China's business, too.</p>
<p>-end-</p>
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mobile phone computer electronics minerals found democratic republic congo quest profits mineral mining helped fuel 15 years conflict caused five million deaths us legislation passed last year part doddfrank act requires us electronics companies use conflict minerals africa thats led us european buyers pull back system place certify minerals conflict free goma dusty border town long served clearing house minerals mined region hurting belgian colonial buildings crumbling roads ripped dusty thanks government embezzlement funds supposed go chinese construction company evenings frequent blackouts mean residents often feel way dark single lantern lights living room jason luneno maene hes civil society leader whos running national assembly next months election maene says chinese mineral buyers virtual monopoly paying 20 percent less maybe even 30 percent less old price buyers says lower price means fewer people bringing minerals sell lot mines suspended operations chinese buying comes warehouses full constant turnover chinese buyers especially interested tin coltan metallic ore contains tantalum tantalum stores energy resistant high temperatures used everything mobile phones laptops jet engines space vehicles congos coltan also contains bonus metal uranium democratic republic congo rich reserves uranium supplied uranium nuclear bombs hit hiroshima nagasaki soon independence 1960 government filled shafts main shinkolobwe mine katanga concrete said congo would save uranium future generations william mishiki buhini traditional chief huge mineralrich conflictridden region congo called walikale says buying congos coltan tin give backdoor access uranium long buyer means separate china tantalum smelter province ningxia buying minerals europeans buying minerals wouldnt accept uranium content two percent radiation considered dangerous says chinese dont care even five percent still buy minerals mishiki says chinese purchases minerals keeping regions mining industry limping along though much lower level production says regional government depends mining proceeds half budget says hes taking armed groups military congos mines says pullout western buyers gutted local economy short term since doddfrank act enacted people recruited army groups mishiki says guys used depend artisanal mining jobless mines sell go survive place go factories way survive recruited army groups go somewhere try make money survive thats advocacy groups like enough project end genocide intended ran ads lobbying doddfrank legislation college kids holding cell phones saying dont want cell phone fuel war next blood diamond want peace congo ad called electronics companies clean acts stop using minerals mines controlled armed groups congolese army commanders illegal armed groups including hutus participated 1994 rwandan genocide long controlled east congos mines directly levied illegal taxes independent artisinal miners armed groups terrorized local communities raped women forced children gunpoint mining profit doddfrank act first passed last year says fidel bafilemba enoughs east congo consultant congolese army commanders took opportunity push artisinal miners take mines found market drying congos government made congolese army pull back bafilemba says 60 percent mines free armed groups government taking measures illegal taxes going cut says instead military controlling mines congolese government going deploy mining police secure mines also securing trading routes minerals come trading centers first time says government make sure portion proceeds minerals sales goes back mining communities hospitals schools roads walikale chief william mishiki says time people digging people sufferingtheres even house bricks live like animals make pee rivers environment conditions respected government making money dont care compare country neighbor rwanda shame rwanda doesnt resources look economy rwanda look education system matter proper management could manage country properly wouldnt need chinese agreements china china buying minerals troubled kivu region east congo also 6 billion resourcesforinfrastructure agreement congolese government shaved 9 billion world bank imf voiced concerns servicing huge debt would beyond congos reach criticisms included terms deal vague opaque wasnt clear minerals would priced deal included agreement congo would repay china first repaying outstanding debts chinese government called deals africa like angola instance winwin china gets minerals resources needs rapid development african countries get infrastructure built experienced chinese teams mishiki government minister aspires president says ultimately great deal congo say frankly speaking losers says didnt choice support president kabila really contract congo lot resources dont capacity bring resources ground transform wealth 1 million ground dont know get tell know friend give 100000 take 1 million ill say ok please dont 100000 never get mishiki says one way create wealth east congo would diversify economy make less dependent mining start says shifted mining business instead running farm walikale growing coffee crops employing 2300 people region 800000 people start congolese governments betterlatethannever initiatives rid east congos mines armed groups says annie dunneback senior campaigner advocacy group global witness visited goma kivu region praises government issued directive september mining sector adhere international due diligence standards checks companies perform supply chains eastern congo spoke chinese companies clear fact priority respect domestic law follow directive congolese government handed dunneback says companies us europe adhere new standards standards also replicated ground congo eventually even playing field sort harmonization across supply chains playing field still bit bumpy dunneback says smuggling nearby rwanda pick months doddfrank legislation passed congolese government lowered export tax minerals make people think twice whether worth taking risk congolese lieutenant recently given threeyear prison sentence smuggling month rwandan government pledged return congo 90 tons smuggled minerals confiscated theres big shift part congolese government eighteen months ago government military especially wouldnt acknowledge problem militarized minerals trade eastern congo openly acknowledged weve quite significant reforms especially direction mineral traceability spearheaded congolese government hurdles also still hurdles clear doddfrank legislation takes full effect securities exchange commission come standards electronics companies meet compliance us chamber commerce one biggest conservative lobbying groups united states threatened sue sec standards prove costly cumbersome chris hazen asia director wsp environment energy consulting group works electronics firms supply chain issues says doddfrank act might good thing industry well miners congo value industries like electronics industry common standards processes eliminate reputational risk industry says risk reputational damage coltan mining practices central africa known time big unknown might blow given company doddfrank helped create bit wellspring momentum help come industrywide solutions removing risk includes making sure factories china arent using conflict minerals electronics destined us market china may cleaning minerals americans really dont want gadget habit fuel conflict congo enforcing clean supply chain could soon become chinas business end
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<p>Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, a colossus of contemporary European history who was celebrated as the father of German reunification and an architect of European integration, died Friday at the age of 87, the newspaper Bild reported.</p>
<p>Germany's longest serving post-war leader died in his house in Ludwigshafen, in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, said the newspaper, whose management had close ties with the conservative politician.</p>
<p>Former US President George H.W. Bush mourned the death of Kohl,&#160;describing him as "a true friend of freedom" and "one of the greatest leaders in post-War Europe."</p>
<p>"Helmut hated war — but he detested totalitarianism even more," the former president said in a statement.&#160;</p>
<p>"Working closely with my very good friend to help achieve a peaceful end to the Cold War and the unification of Germany within NATO will remain one of the great joys of my life."</p>
<p>When a 52-year-old Kohl — whose surname means "cabbage" in German — first became chancellor of West Germany in 1982, the 6-foot-4-inch provincial conservative with the penchant for rustic pork dishes was the butt of countless food jokes.</p>
<p>But when the detested Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, Kohl moved to "grab the mantle of history," as he later said, forging a political stature commensurate with his towering height.</p>
<p>Former protégé Angela Merkel lauded Kohl's contribution to German and European integration in 2012, on the 30th anniversary of his becoming chancellor, declaring that Europeans were "united in our luck" thanks to Kohl's efforts.&#160;</p>
<p>Kohl, who served as chancellor for 16 years, considered Konrad Adenauer — West Germany's visionary first chancellor, who allowed the nation to make a fresh start after World War II — as an ideological forefather.</p>
<p>"After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kohl acted as though the spirit of Konrad Adenauer had suddenly seized him," wrote Stanley Hoffmann, a professor of European history at Harvard University.</p>
<p>In 1989, after four decades of division, the capitalist and democratic West Germany was starkly different from the communist, dilapidated East Germany.</p>
<p>Uniting the two would prove a Herculean task, with "Wessis" (Westerners) loath to sacrifice their standard of living, and "Ossis" (Easterners) keen for unity but worried of being treated as second-class citizens.</p>
<p>On the world stage, too, the challenges were daunting.</p>
<p>Kohl recalled in his autobiography how he had to contend with the reticence of French President François Mitterrand to see Germany unified, and the even stronger resistance of Britain's "foot stomping" premier Margaret Thatcher.</p>
<p>"It was suddenly very clear to me that the Iron Lady wanted to maintain the status quo. ... All fears boiled down to one thing — that Germany would become strong again," he wrote.</p>
<p>Kohl assured both leaders that Germany would respect its 1945 borders and move forward "shoulder to shoulder" with its Western allies.</p>
<p>The conservative Kohl and the socialist Mitterrand went on to develop a warm friendship, and their tight cooperation drove Europe towards the creation of its single currency.</p>
<p>Kohl wrote in his memoirs that his conviction German reunification was necessary was vindicated in the fateful autumn of 1989, when protesters' chants in the East shifted from "We are the people" to "We are one people."</p>
<p>He cut short a visit to Poland on the night the Wall fell and rushed to Berlin, only to be jeered by the crowd.</p>
<p>But less than three weeks later, he unveiled a 10-point plan that decisively set East and West on course for unification.</p>
<p>Kohl persuaded President Bush to accept a larger, reunified Germany, and convinced Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to withdraw troops from East Germany.</p>
<p>The new country was to be the heart of an enlarged European Union — a project he believed would ensure peace — and a staunch NATO member.</p>
<p>Riding roughshod over the concerns of Germany's central bank, Kohl insisted that the deutschmark and the ostmark would be given the same value.</p>
<p>Less than 11 months after the Wall fell, on Oct.&#160;3, 1990, Germany was again whole. But unity came at a cost.</p>
<p>Facing significantly higher unemployment, the east remained poorer than the west, making many former East Germans nostalgic for the old days — frustrations that helped Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder topple Kohl in 1998.</p>
<p>"The political — and also economic — price of delaying unification would have been much heavier than the financial burden that we accepted with fast-track reunification," Kohl insisted in 1996, by which time $480 billion had already flowed east.</p>
<p>"Even if I had seen those figures in 1990, I would not have acted differently on the main points."</p>
<p>Born a Catholic on April 3, 1930, in the western industrial city of Ludwigshafen, Kohl rose quickly through the ranks of the Christian Democratic Union party, his ever-smiling blonde wife Hannelore — with whom he had two sons — by his side.</p>
<p>Hannelore had long suffered from an excruciating sunlight allergy, however, and committed suicide in 2001.</p>
<p>Seven years later, Kohl married Maike Richter, an economy ministry aide 35 years his junior.</p>
<p>Though his place in history is assured, Kohl's reputation in Germany was marred in the twilight of his career by a party slush fund scandal.</p>
<p>The affair helped propel a young Merkel to the helm of the party — and later the country — after she turned on her former mentor.&#160;</p>
<p>Kohl sniped in recent years at her handling of the eurozone debt crisis, though he left politics in 2002 and had recently been confined to a wheelchair, with his speech severely impaired after his jaw was paralyzed in a fall.</p>
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former german chancellor helmut kohl colossus contemporary european history celebrated father german reunification architect european integration died friday age 87 newspaper bild reported germanys longest serving postwar leader died house ludwigshafen western state rhinelandpalatinate said newspaper whose management close ties conservative politician former us president george hw bush mourned death kohl160describing true friend freedom one greatest leaders postwar europe helmut hated war detested totalitarianism even former president said statement160 working closely good friend help achieve peaceful end cold war unification germany within nato remain one great joys life 52yearold kohl whose surname means cabbage german first became chancellor west germany 1982 6foot4inch provincial conservative penchant rustic pork dishes butt countless food jokes detested berlin wall came november 1989 kohl moved grab mantle history later said forging political stature commensurate towering height former protégé angela merkel lauded kohls contribution german european integration 2012 30th anniversary becoming chancellor declaring europeans united luck thanks kohls efforts160 kohl served chancellor 16 years considered konrad adenauer west germanys visionary first chancellor allowed nation make fresh start world war ii ideological forefather fall berlin wall kohl acted though spirit konrad adenauer suddenly seized wrote stanley hoffmann professor european history harvard university 1989 four decades division capitalist democratic west germany starkly different communist dilapidated east germany uniting two would prove herculean task wessis westerners loath sacrifice standard living ossis easterners keen unity worried treated secondclass citizens world stage challenges daunting kohl recalled autobiography contend reticence french president françois mitterrand see germany unified even stronger resistance britains foot stomping premier margaret thatcher suddenly clear iron lady wanted maintain status quo fears boiled one thing germany would become strong wrote kohl assured leaders germany would respect 1945 borders move forward shoulder shoulder western allies conservative kohl socialist mitterrand went develop warm friendship tight cooperation drove europe towards creation single currency kohl wrote memoirs conviction german reunification necessary vindicated fateful autumn 1989 protesters chants east shifted people one people cut short visit poland night wall fell rushed berlin jeered crowd less three weeks later unveiled 10point plan decisively set east west course unification kohl persuaded president bush accept larger reunified germany convinced soviet leader mikhail gorbachev withdraw troops east germany new country heart enlarged european union project believed would ensure peace staunch nato member riding roughshod concerns germanys central bank kohl insisted deutschmark ostmark would given value less 11 months wall fell oct1603 1990 germany whole unity came cost facing significantly higher unemployment east remained poorer west making many former east germans nostalgic old days frustrations helped social democrat gerhard schroeder topple kohl 1998 political also economic price delaying unification would much heavier financial burden accepted fasttrack reunification kohl insisted 1996 time 480 billion already flowed east even seen figures 1990 would acted differently main points born catholic april 3 1930 western industrial city ludwigshafen kohl rose quickly ranks christian democratic union party eversmiling blonde wife hannelore two sons side hannelore long suffered excruciating sunlight allergy however committed suicide 2001 seven years later kohl married maike richter economy ministry aide 35 years junior though place history assured kohls reputation germany marred twilight career party slush fund scandal affair helped propel young merkel helm party later country turned former mentor160 kohl sniped recent years handling eurozone debt crisis though left politics 2002 recently confined wheelchair speech severely impaired jaw paralyzed fall
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<p>He’s a hip-hop mogul, New York Times best-selling author, and proud dad of two, and that’s not even the half of it. As fast as you can list Russell Simmons’ seemingly endless achievements, he adds to them. His capacity for success and his passion for philanthropic and social initiatives seems both limitless and effortless. How does he do it? His new book, out tomorrow, called “Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple,” goes some way to explain it. A practical guide to the benefits of meditation, it makes a compelling, thoroughly researched case, and offers readers straightforward guidance on how to get started. Here, Simmons discusses what he considers to be the greatest tool to promote happiness.</p>
<p>Your book includes the quote: “To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.” Some think of meditation as being hippy-dippy but that projects great power.</p>
<p>It’s still a little bit of a lofty quote! But you know, the fact is those who understand what we’re seeking, those who know, they just need an example...like when I tell a basketball player about when he’s in the zone -- when the rim feels like it’s as big as the ocean, you can’t miss it. When you read a word and you’re not even breathing, because you are in total concentration. This shock or this beauty that promotes this shock, or this music that promotes this stillness, is a catalyst.</p>
<p>What you’re looking for is lasting stillness, stable, lasting stillness, or bliss. Whenever the noise is gone, then everything is beautiful.</p>
<p>And we don’t know how to get into it, whether it’s running up and down the basketball court until finally you get a second wind and the world just opens up because you become present. You cannot induce it through the other vehicles always. Music is helpful to people who love music, and beauty for those people who want to go look at sights and say, “Oh my God, look at that sunset.” These things are all helpful, but they kind of shock you into presence. What you’re looking for is lasting stillness, stable, lasting stillness, or bliss. Whenever the noise is gone, then everything is beautiful. You can actually see God’s miracles unfolding.</p>
<p>What would you say to young men who think meditating might make them look weird or weak?</p>
<p>I know how to talk to them. I can explain it depending on who I am talking to. I kind of made it as simple as I could, so much so that my 11 year-old daughter said that the book was written like “See Spot Run.” I said, “This is as highbrow as Daddy can get!” I said, “Is there anything in there you didn’t already know about meditation?” She said, “Yes. Some of the research.” I said, “Well, good, there you go, you learned something, shut up!” My 11 year-old daughter thought my book was written for a child! She’s pretty smart, they both go to a school for the gifted, so they’re both geniuses and they get it from their Mama. Daddy is a little bit simpler.</p>
<p>I think that my job is taking complex scripture and complex ideas and simplifying them as much as I can without losing their essence.</p>
<p>There’s a reason that some things are written in terms that are more sophisticated, and scriptures are more difficult to grasp. Not only because people like to use big words, but because they want to really pinpoint the experiences. I think that my job is taking complex scripture and complex ideas and simplifying them as much as I can without losing their essence, and it’s a fun one. Writing my Twitter keeps me in prayer. And doing that with scripture and with spiritual principles is something that makes me very happy, so that’s why I write these books.</p>
<p>You talk a lot about the fast lifestyle you once lived. Was there a specific turning point when you realized you wanted to live differently?</p>
<p>Every morning every drug addict wakes up and says that. You know, people who say they have a revelation one day are those people. I’m a different person. I had a revelation over time. Evolution is ongoing. The process of moving towards enlightenment.</p>
<p>You could wake up and be enlightened. It could happen. You could wake up and everything moves slow all the time, everything. You could be fully awake or fully present. Eckhart Tolle describes waking up and the trees breathing and the world being alive and bright and colorful...he had that experience and he described it, and that’s beautiful. Somebody could say it’s like losing your mind.</p>
<p>It’s a gradual process for most of us. We move towards God, or towards God consciousness, towards Yoga towards Nirvana...we move towards this, like it or not we’re moving towards this. But if we find the path and we get on it, then we can move more deliberately and more speedily towards this state of consciousness.</p>
<p>You address this notion that meditation somehow conflicts with religion: Why do you think people have propagated that?</p>
<p>Look, some Muslims, some Christians, some Jews, some Buddhists, some of all of them, think that there’s some conflict between what the Prophet said. As a Yogi, and as a Christian, and as a Buddhist, and as a Muslim, we should all recognize, I think we could all recognize, that all the Prophets, no matter what color, what time, the age that they came, the language they dispersed it in, all gave us the same truth. Everything in the Yoga Sutras appears in the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, and the Buddhist scripture. There is nothing in the science of Yoga that contradicts.</p>
<p>There is a piece of God in you....The profound truth that comes from underneath or at the source, is in us...It’s why it’s so beautiful to sit and reflect on what piece of it comes up.</p>
<p>And meditation of course, every religion talks about stillness, and one thing the Buddha said, which I think is especially informative, and that all the prophets have probably said at some point is: Look inside and agree with what the prophet, the preacher, the teacher tells you. Look inside and double-check with the source. There is a piece of God in you....we have to be able to reach for that which was given to us. This relationship with God consciousness, or relationship with what’s uplifting and inspiring and fruitful, or promotes life, reaffirms life; we have that in us. So that’s why we meditate: to sit and check...The profound truth that comes from underneath or at the source, is in us. It’s locked in us. It’s why it’s so beautiful to sit and reflect on what piece of it comes up.</p>
<p>How would you describe that first experience of complete stillness during meditation?</p>
<p>Enlightening. Beautiful. Like any time you hear a joke that makes you laugh, there’s stillness because everything disappears but the joke. Every time there’s a beautiful song, everything is gone but the melody.</p>
<p>We’re so invested in business narratives of success. You talk about the importance of focusing on the process rather than the rewards.</p>
<p>There is no reward. It’s very small and minimal. We all aspire to it still, we still don’t know better. We still chase it. But the truth is that the work itself is the prayer. So when we invest in the process, the results come. When we operate from abundance we attract the universe. Needing nothing attracts everything. The neediness is the cause of all suffering. We want to get rid of the neediness.</p>
<p>What do you think are the qualities that make a great father?</p>
<p>Be attentive and loving and try and do what you can. All great fathers are different. I hope I’m a decent father. I show up in the morning and meditate with them and take them to school. That’s a good start.</p>
<p>You say you are as energized and focused now in your fifties as you were in your twenties and thirties. But has the nature of that energy evolved in any way?</p>
<p>Yeah! I do less and get more done.</p>
<p>The book makes the case for meditation with lots of compelling data, but if you had to pick just one reason to convince someone to meditate, what would it be?</p>
<p>There is no greater tool that promotes happiness than meditation.</p>
<p>For More: Read this <a href="http://mariashriver.com/blog/2014/03/success-through-stillness-excerpt-russell-simmons/" type="external">excerpt</a> from "“Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple" on <a href="http://mariashriver.com/" type="external">mariashriver.com</a></p>
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hes hiphop mogul new york times bestselling author proud dad two thats even half fast list russell simmons seemingly endless achievements adds capacity success passion philanthropic social initiatives seems limitless effortless new book tomorrow called success stillness meditation made simple goes way explain practical guide benefits meditation makes compelling thoroughly researched case offers readers straightforward guidance get started simmons discusses considers greatest tool promote happiness book includes quote mind still whole universe surrenders think meditation hippydippy projects great power still little bit lofty quote know fact understand seeking know need examplelike tell basketball player hes zone rim feels like big ocean cant miss read word youre even breathing total concentration shock beauty promotes shock music promotes stillness catalyst youre looking lasting stillness stable lasting stillness bliss whenever noise gone everything beautiful dont know get whether running basketball court finally get second wind world opens become present induce vehicles always music helpful people love music beauty people want go look sights say oh god look sunset things helpful kind shock presence youre looking lasting stillness stable lasting stillness bliss whenever noise gone everything beautiful actually see gods miracles unfolding would say young men think meditating might make look weird weak know talk explain depending talking kind made simple could much 11 yearold daughter said book written like see spot run said highbrow daddy get said anything didnt already know meditation said yes research said well good go learned something shut 11 yearold daughter thought book written child shes pretty smart go school gifted theyre geniuses get mama daddy little bit simpler think job taking complex scripture complex ideas simplifying much without losing essence theres reason things written terms sophisticated scriptures difficult grasp people like use big words want really pinpoint experiences think job taking complex scripture complex ideas simplifying much without losing essence fun one writing twitter keeps prayer scripture spiritual principles something makes happy thats write books talk lot fast lifestyle lived specific turning point realized wanted live differently every morning every drug addict wakes says know people say revelation one day people im different person revelation time evolution ongoing process moving towards enlightenment could wake enlightened could happen could wake everything moves slow time everything could fully awake fully present eckhart tolle describes waking trees breathing world alive bright colorfulhe experience described thats beautiful somebody could say like losing mind gradual process us move towards god towards god consciousness towards yoga towards nirvanawe move towards like moving towards find path get move deliberately speedily towards state consciousness address notion meditation somehow conflicts religion think people propagated look muslims christians jews buddhists think theres conflict prophet said yogi christian buddhist muslim recognize think could recognize prophets matter color time age came language dispersed gave us truth everything yoga sutras appears bible koran torah buddhist scripture nothing science yoga contradicts piece god youthe profound truth comes underneath source usits beautiful sit reflect piece comes meditation course every religion talks stillness one thing buddha said think especially informative prophets probably said point look inside agree prophet preacher teacher tells look inside doublecheck source piece god youwe able reach given us relationship god consciousness relationship whats uplifting inspiring fruitful promotes life reaffirms life us thats meditate sit checkthe profound truth comes underneath source us locked us beautiful sit reflect piece comes would describe first experience complete stillness meditation enlightening beautiful like time hear joke makes laugh theres stillness everything disappears joke every time theres beautiful song everything gone melody invested business narratives success talk importance focusing process rather rewards reward small minimal aspire still still dont know better still chase truth work prayer invest process results come operate abundance attract universe needing nothing attracts everything neediness cause suffering want get rid neediness think qualities make great father attentive loving try great fathers different hope im decent father show morning meditate take school thats good start say energized focused fifties twenties thirties nature energy evolved way yeah less get done book makes case meditation lots compelling data pick one reason convince someone meditate would greater tool promotes happiness meditation read excerpt success stillness meditation made simple mariashrivercom
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<p>CURWOOD: From the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios in Boston and PRI, this is Living on Earth. Im Steve Curwood. The price of oil has been plummeting, down some 25 percent since June, and as we record this show, the price per barrel is near $80 dollars. Motorists and freight haulers see this as good news, but cheap oil encourages consumption, and over the long term thats not such good news when it comes to cutting global warming gas emissions. Still, opponents of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to carry tar sands oil to market from Alberta, Canada are seeing a benefit from the slump in oil prices, which makes it harder to make a profit. Uncertainty over Keystone and questionable returns recently prompted the Norwegian oil giant Statoil to halt its tar sands plans. Brian Palmer, a writer for OnEarth Magazine, has been following these developments. Welcome to Living on Earth.</p>
<p>PALMER: Thanks for having me, Steve.</p>
<p>CURWOOD: Brian, tell me, why did StatOil pull out of tar sands?</p>
<p>PALMER: Well, there's the kind of corporate press release, and then there is a kind of a lot of reasons kind of behind it. They did specifically mention changing market conditions and limited pipeline access, and what limited pipeline access means in corporate speak is the lack of the Keystone pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline is crucial to tar sands projects in northern Alberta becoming profitable.</p>
<p>Pollution from industrial development in the Tar Sands region of Alberta (Photo: Kris Krg; CC BY 2.0)</p>
<p>CURWOOD: Well, but Keystone is still on the table. It hasn't been taken completely off the table.</p>
<p>PALMER: That's true, but they need to do their long-term planning. As of a couple of years ago, I think most of the energy executives thought of the Keystone pipeline as something that had been postponed for political reasons, but once we kind of got out of election season, to the extent we have a non-election season any more, it would be approved. And we would kind of move forward no matter who was is in the White House. But environmentalists have been so successful in postponing it that a lot of oil companies are now worried that it's never going to happen, and if it's never going to happen, making a long-term commitment to a tar sands project is a kind of iffy proposition.</p>
<p>CURWOOD: Now, we're in the middle of a precipitous decline in price of crude oil. As we're recording this, the price of crude is down $81 dollars a barrel. How does that impact the viability of tar sands oil?</p>
<p>Right now, much oil from Alberta is being transported to markets by train. (Photo: Bigstockphoto)</p>
<p>PALMER: So, to understand this you need a bit of background. Tar sands oil is a kind of a cheap low-quality version of crude oil that comes from a very specific and remote location. Extracting tar sands is nothing like drilling for oil; it's much more like mining. So you need to move huge amounts of equipment out there to get the tar sands out of the ground. You need more equipment to separate the bitumen, which is the stuff that actually makes oil, from the sand and clay that it's stuck in, and then you need even more equipment to cook that down and turn it into something that vaguely resembles crude oil. When all of that is done, you still have to get the stuff to a refinery.</p>
<p>There are limited places that are refining oil in North America right now. The two best places to ship crude oil from Alberta are probably the upper mid-western United States and the Gulf of Mexico, and getting it there is a challenge. As of right now, it costs about $25 dollars per barrel to move tar sands crude from Alberta by rail to the Gulf of Mexico. If they had a pipeline, say, something like the Keystone XL pipeline, they could cut that price from $25 down to $9 dollars. Thats a huge difference. Now, because tar sands, as I mentioned, is a much lower quality version of oil, of crude oil, it sells at a discount, something like $20 to $30 dollars less than conventional crude. So with conventional crude in the 80s, tar sands crude more like in the 60s, maybe even a little bit less than that. If you can only get something like $60 to $65 dollars for your barrel of oil, having to pitch in an extra $15 to $20 dollars to move it by rail right now, rather than pipeline, will turn a marginally profitable business into a completely unprofitable business and that's scaring oil producers off of tar sands projects right now.</p>
<p>Getting oil out of tar sands bitumen is expensive. Brian Palmer says it could be called oil mining. (Photo: Julia Kilpatrick, the Pembina Institute; CC BY 2.0)</p>
<p>CURWOOD: So this delay then, on the Keystone XL pipeline decision from President Obama, is essentially making the difference to the economies of this industry up in Alberta.</p>
<p>PALMER: Yes, and there are several factors. As you mentioned, the price of oil has dropped. The cost of labor has risen because Northern Alberta is like the kind of place that John Denver sang about - it is very, very remote. Getting people to move there costs money, and when you want to expand, you're trying to convince more and more people who are not that enthusiastic about moving there to go, you need to offer them higher and higher salaries, so labor costs are going up. So, there are a variety of factors, but there's great evidence to support the idea that the Keystone pipeline is the kind of difference between having new tar sands projects and not having new tar sands projects.</p>
<p>Without a major pipeline like the Keystone XL, expanding tar sands projects in Alberta is a risky venture. (Photo: Bigstockphoto)</p>
<p>CURWOOD: Now, there's been a debate about just how important Keystone XL pipeline is to getting tar sands oil. The folks who are opposed say it is essential. Industry says that the oil is going to get to port either way. How do you think the StatOil decision influences that debate?</p>
<p>PALMER: Well, so the StatOil decision is just one of many. Shell has canceled projects recently. The French energy company Total, SunCor Energy of Canada, they've all killed tar sands projects in the last year, and those cancellations have cost billions of dollars. What they're looking at is not the current state of things. They are looking into the future. There was an article in Politico quoting a lot of energy executives talking about how the delays of Keystone are sort of irrelevant, quoting a lot of numbers about how much Canadian oil is coming into the United States. But the issue is not expansion up until now. It's future expansions. So think of tar sands projects as being something like a freight train. It takes a lot of work to get one going, but once they're going, it's very hard to stop them. Once youve put, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars into starting a tar sands mine, you're not going to shut it down because you've already put the money in.</p>
<p>Oil processing facilities at Fort McMurray, Alberta (Photo: Kris Krg; CC BY 2.0)</p>
<p>PALMER: The problem is building new mines. If you're going to invest lots and lots of money, and you're an oil executive and you want to invest in a project that's going to take 30 years, but you have no reason to believe it's ever going to become profitable because you don't have a pipeline, that's going to scare you off, and you're going to have a hard time convincing your shareholders that's a good idea. So these other kind of alternatives: rail is a terrible kind of alternative. They want to expand another pipeline called the Alberta Clipper - that's encountering resistance. That's going nowhere. They just don't have a lot of options right now. They barely have enough to handle the tar sand oil that they have, and the idea of expanding the industry just seems like a complete nonstarter right now.</p>
<p>CURWOOD: So, looks like the Harper government is pushing to convert an existing gas pipeline that goes east across nearly every province in Canada to take oil from Alberta, to take that tar sands oil to refineries. What do you make of that?</p>
<p>PALMER: So the Energy East pipeline is sort of a Canadian version of Keystone XL, and it's getting the same reaction in Canada that Keystone XL got in the United States. Once it became a serious issue, lots of Canadian environmental groups started raising a fuss about it for good reason.</p>
<p>Writer Brian Palmer of OnEarth Magazine (Photo: Brian Palmer)</p>
<p>CURWOOD: Yeah, we saw that in Montral Gazette reported that some 2,000 people showed up at a town of 2,000 to protest the Energy East pipeline. Doesn't seem like it's terribly popular in Qubec anyway.</p>
<p>PALMER: That's pretty good turnout, I'd say.</p>
<p>CURWOOD: So how concerned are the shareholders of these major companies that these delays are going to go on forever?</p>
<p>PALMER: That's a good question. I think the flurry of articles we're seeing recently, talking about Keystone as no longer that important to oil companies, is an indication of worry in the boardrooms. If you own stock in an oil company that invests in tar sands and has an existing project and you see all these cancellations, you're starting to think why are we so heavily invested in tar sands when no one else wants to get into this business? And so I think what's maybe going on with a lot of these new articles and energy executives confidently talking about a new pipeline access like Energy East or Alberta Clipper or other pipelines, that what's going on is that's a message they're sending their shareholders saying, "Don't worry. There's going to be pipeline access. We're not throwing money down into a pit quite literally. This is going to work out in the end. You just have to stick with us through this and we'll make sure everything is OK.</p>
<p>CURWOOD: And they're speaking the truth?</p>
<p>PALMER: [LAUGHS] Only time will tell. It doesn't look good right now if things continue as they are.</p>
<p>CURWOOD: Brian Palmer is a writer for OnEarth Magazine, a publication of the Natural Resources Defense Council.</p>
<p>PALMER: Brian, thanks so much for taking the time with me today.</p>
<p>CURWOOD: Thanks for having me, Steve.</p>
| false | 3 |
curwood jennifer ted stanley studios boston pri living earth im steve curwood price oil plummeting 25 percent since june record show price per barrel near 80 dollars motorists freight haulers see good news cheap oil encourages consumption long term thats good news comes cutting global warming gas emissions still opponents proposed keystone xl pipeline carry tar sands oil market alberta canada seeing benefit slump oil prices makes harder make profit uncertainty keystone questionable returns recently prompted norwegian oil giant statoil halt tar sands plans brian palmer writer onearth magazine following developments welcome living earth palmer thanks steve curwood brian tell statoil pull tar sands palmer well theres kind corporate press release kind lot reasons kind behind specifically mention changing market conditions limited pipeline access limited pipeline access means corporate speak lack keystone pipeline keystone xl pipeline crucial tar sands projects northern alberta becoming profitable pollution industrial development tar sands region alberta photo kris krg cc 20 curwood well keystone still table hasnt taken completely table palmer thats true need longterm planning couple years ago think energy executives thought keystone pipeline something postponed political reasons kind got election season extent nonelection season would approved would kind move forward matter white house environmentalists successful postponing lot oil companies worried never going happen never going happen making longterm commitment tar sands project kind iffy proposition curwood middle precipitous decline price crude oil recording price crude 81 dollars barrel impact viability tar sands oil right much oil alberta transported markets train photo bigstockphoto palmer understand need bit background tar sands oil kind cheap lowquality version crude oil comes specific remote location extracting tar sands nothing like drilling oil much like mining need move huge amounts equipment get tar sands ground need equipment separate bitumen stuff actually makes oil sand clay stuck need even equipment cook turn something vaguely resembles crude oil done still get stuff refinery limited places refining oil north america right two best places ship crude oil alberta probably upper midwestern united states gulf mexico getting challenge right costs 25 dollars per barrel move tar sands crude alberta rail gulf mexico pipeline say something like keystone xl pipeline could cut price 25 9 dollars thats huge difference tar sands mentioned much lower quality version oil crude oil sells discount something like 20 30 dollars less conventional crude conventional crude 80s tar sands crude like 60s maybe even little bit less get something like 60 65 dollars barrel oil pitch extra 15 20 dollars move rail right rather pipeline turn marginally profitable business completely unprofitable business thats scaring oil producers tar sands projects right getting oil tar sands bitumen expensive brian palmer says could called oil mining photo julia kilpatrick pembina institute cc 20 curwood delay keystone xl pipeline decision president obama essentially making difference economies industry alberta palmer yes several factors mentioned price oil dropped cost labor risen northern alberta like kind place john denver sang remote getting people move costs money want expand youre trying convince people enthusiastic moving go need offer higher higher salaries labor costs going variety factors theres great evidence support idea keystone pipeline kind difference new tar sands projects new tar sands projects without major pipeline like keystone xl expanding tar sands projects alberta risky venture photo bigstockphoto curwood theres debate important keystone xl pipeline getting tar sands oil folks opposed say essential industry says oil going get port either way think statoil decision influences debate palmer well statoil decision one many shell canceled projects recently french energy company total suncor energy canada theyve killed tar sands projects last year cancellations cost billions dollars theyre looking current state things looking future article politico quoting lot energy executives talking delays keystone sort irrelevant quoting lot numbers much canadian oil coming united states issue expansion future expansions think tar sands projects something like freight train takes lot work get one going theyre going hard stop youve put tens millions hundreds millions dollars starting tar sands mine youre going shut youve already put money oil processing facilities fort mcmurray alberta photo kris krg cc 20 palmer problem building new mines youre going invest lots lots money youre oil executive want invest project thats going take 30 years reason believe ever going become profitable dont pipeline thats going scare youre going hard time convincing shareholders thats good idea kind alternatives rail terrible kind alternative want expand another pipeline called alberta clipper thats encountering resistance thats going nowhere dont lot options right barely enough handle tar sand oil idea expanding industry seems like complete nonstarter right curwood looks like harper government pushing convert existing gas pipeline goes east across nearly every province canada take oil alberta take tar sands oil refineries make palmer energy east pipeline sort canadian version keystone xl getting reaction canada keystone xl got united states became serious issue lots canadian environmental groups started raising fuss good reason writer brian palmer onearth magazine photo brian palmer curwood yeah saw montral gazette reported 2000 people showed town 2000 protest energy east pipeline doesnt seem like terribly popular qubec anyway palmer thats pretty good turnout id say curwood concerned shareholders major companies delays going go forever palmer thats good question think flurry articles seeing recently talking keystone longer important oil companies indication worry boardrooms stock oil company invests tar sands existing project see cancellations youre starting think heavily invested tar sands one else wants get business think whats maybe going lot new articles energy executives confidently talking new pipeline access like energy east alberta clipper pipelines whats going thats message theyre sending shareholders saying dont worry theres going pipeline access throwing money pit quite literally going work end stick us well make sure everything ok curwood theyre speaking truth palmer laughs time tell doesnt look good right things continue curwood brian palmer writer onearth magazine publication natural resources defense council palmer brian thanks much taking time today curwood thanks steve
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<p>Australia's koala population has been hit hard by two rapidly spreading diseases: chlamydia (a sexually transmitted bacterial infection) and a retrovirus similar to HIV. Scientists are working to develop vaccines, while lay citizens help care for sick koalas. Biologists say the epidemics, combined with other threats like habitat loss, pose a serious threat to the species. Ari Daniel Shapiro of our partner program NOVA reports.</p>
<p>"[I'll] put some ultrasound gel in the pouch, and then we'll have a look on this ultrasound machine," says veterinarian Amber Gillett.</p>
<p>Gillett is checking Penny's bladder for symptoms of chlamydia.</p>
<p>In people, chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease. A different strain infects koalas, but it too can be spread sexually, and it is causing a devastating epidemic.</p>
<p>"These are our koala wards," says Gillett, pointing to a series of open-air enclosures. "[They] are generally always full with koalas all year round."</p>
<p>Last year, Gillett and her team treated about 300 koalas for chlamydia. These included females, males, and the little ones — called joeys — that can pick up chlamydia from their mothers while suckling in the pouch.</p>
<p>Chlamydia causes blindness and infertility, and it can be fatal. In some parts of Australia, infection rates among koalas are as high as 90 percent.</p>
<p>"It's a major threat to our population," Gillett says.</p>
<p>"HIV" in Koalas</p>
<p>It is not just chlamydia that is making koalas sick. Leukemia and lymphoma are increasingly common, too. The reason is something called koala retrovirus.</p>
<p>Virologist Paul Young of the University of Queensland says the retrovirus is a lot like HIV in humans. It suppresses a koala's immune system.</p>
<p>"What we're looking at is a virus invading the population in real time," he says. "We're actually looking at it as we speak."</p>
<p>Young says every koala that he has tested in the northern part of the species' range has been infected, and the virus is gradually making its way south.</p>
<p>Initially, the infection was probably transmitted from koala to koala through physical contact, but Young says that within the last century, the virus has managed to insert itself directly into koala sperm and eggs.</p>
<p>"So as soon as a koala is born, they've got very high levels of the virus," he explains, "and it remains that way for the rest of their life."</p>
<p>Between chlamydia and the retrovirus, koalas in many parts of Australia are in trouble. In response, a small but committed army of people is working to save them.</p>
<p>Helping the Orphaned and Sick</p>
<p>Since 1999, Wanda Grabowski has hand-raised about 40 orphaned koalas in her home.</p>
<p>"I love everything about koalas," she says, "from their little, furry ears down to the little poo that pops out of their bottoms."</p>
<p>Grabowski and others like her call themselves "koala carers." They ensure that the young joeys of sick mother koalas survive.</p>
<p>Grabowksi says it is not easy rearing these baby animals in their first year of life. "Joeys are most active at nighttime, so you have to turn your day into night," she explains.</p>
<p>And then, when they are a little older, you have to cut and collect fresh eucalyptus leaf, which can mean driving hours every day. If all goes well, the young koalas are eventually released back into the wild.</p>
<p>"I always investigate the sites where my joeys go," Grabowski says. "You wouldn't want to send your kid off to some strange place, would you? You'd check it out. So that's what I do — as a good mum."</p>
<p>Arboreal Checkups</p>
<p>Adult koalas that recover at the hospital are also released back into the wild — as long as they remain fertile. At that point, wildlife biologists like Jon Hanger continue to look after them.</p>
<p>Hanger visits a eucalyptus woodland outside Brisbane about once a week to check on a handful of koalas.</p>
<p>"By tracking them and regularly monitoring them, we can certainly detect if they become ill again," he says. If he finds a koala that needs additional medical attention, Hanger will bring it back to his clinic or the hospital for a workup.</p>
<p>On a recent day, Hanger stood in the forest and unfurled an antenna. Some of the animals here had been fitted with radio collars. Hanger punched in the frequency for a collar on his receiver.</p>
<p>He followed the signal and came to the base of a tall tree. Hanger pointed 20 feet up into the branches.</p>
<p>"The koala we've just tracked is a koala called Maggie," he said. She was sitting in a fork of the tree, gripping the bark.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago, Maggie ended up in the hospital. She had chlamydia, but the infection was caught early.</p>
<p>"She was given antibiotic treatment and that was effective in curing her of that infection," Hanger said. "Her fertility was retained. She's had two joeys since then, and hopefully she's got a third one in the pouch as we speak. So she's a real success story."</p>
<p>A More Permanent Fix</p>
<p>Long-term success in battling these diseases, however, may only come if koalas can be prevented from getting sick in the first place. That is where researchers at the Queensland University of Technology enter the picture.</p>
<p>Microbiologist Peter Timms and his team have developed an experimental vaccine for koala chlamydia. The lab has pursued it alongside a vaccine for chlamydia in humans — something that still needs a lot of work.</p>
<p>Timms says preliminary research on the vaccine for koalas suggests that it can produce an immune response that could protect the animals from becoming infected. He wants to start using the vaccine soon and has a couple of field trials planned, but he admits that vaccinating all the koalas in Australia is not realistic.</p>
<p>"We don't see it being practical to find the last koala in the last tree out in the middle of Queensland," he says.</p>
<p>Still, thousands of koalas are already being handled each year at hospitals and other care facilities, and he would like to see them vaccinated.</p>
<p>Many of these koalas have been struck by cars or attacked by dogs. Others have been pushed off their land due to suburban sprawl.</p>
<p>Timms says all of these threats add up to a dire future for koalas, which makes it all the more important to vaccinate them against chlamydia and, perhaps one day, the retrovirus, too.</p>
<p>"Because maybe now we can make a real difference there that we weren't making before," he says. "You should try and pick some battles, I think, where you can win."</p>
<p>Winning the battle against disease will not by itself ensure the survival of koalas in the wild. But, Timms says, at least it is a start.</p>
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australias koala population hit hard two rapidly spreading diseases chlamydia sexually transmitted bacterial infection retrovirus similar hiv scientists working develop vaccines lay citizens help care sick koalas biologists say epidemics combined threats like habitat loss pose serious threat species ari daniel shapiro partner program nova reports ill put ultrasound gel pouch well look ultrasound machine says veterinarian amber gillett gillett checking pennys bladder symptoms chlamydia people chlamydia common sexually transmitted disease different strain infects koalas spread sexually causing devastating epidemic koala wards says gillett pointing series openair enclosures generally always full koalas year round last year gillett team treated 300 koalas chlamydia included females males little ones called joeys pick chlamydia mothers suckling pouch chlamydia causes blindness infertility fatal parts australia infection rates among koalas high 90 percent major threat population gillett says hiv koalas chlamydia making koalas sick leukemia lymphoma increasingly common reason something called koala retrovirus virologist paul young university queensland says retrovirus lot like hiv humans suppresses koalas immune system looking virus invading population real time says actually looking speak young says every koala tested northern part species range infected virus gradually making way south initially infection probably transmitted koala koala physical contact young says within last century virus managed insert directly koala sperm eggs soon koala born theyve got high levels virus explains remains way rest life chlamydia retrovirus koalas many parts australia trouble response small committed army people working save helping orphaned sick since 1999 wanda grabowski handraised 40 orphaned koalas home love everything koalas says little furry ears little poo pops bottoms grabowski others like call koala carers ensure young joeys sick mother koalas survive grabowksi says easy rearing baby animals first year life joeys active nighttime turn day night explains little older cut collect fresh eucalyptus leaf mean driving hours every day goes well young koalas eventually released back wild always investigate sites joeys go grabowski says wouldnt want send kid strange place would youd check thats good mum arboreal checkups adult koalas recover hospital also released back wild long remain fertile point wildlife biologists like jon hanger continue look hanger visits eucalyptus woodland outside brisbane week check handful koalas tracking regularly monitoring certainly detect become ill says finds koala needs additional medical attention hanger bring back clinic hospital workup recent day hanger stood forest unfurled antenna animals fitted radio collars hanger punched frequency collar receiver followed signal came base tall tree hanger pointed 20 feet branches koala weve tracked koala called maggie said sitting fork tree gripping bark couple years ago maggie ended hospital chlamydia infection caught early given antibiotic treatment effective curing infection hanger said fertility retained shes two joeys since hopefully shes got third one pouch speak shes real success story permanent fix longterm success battling diseases however may come koalas prevented getting sick first place researchers queensland university technology enter picture microbiologist peter timms team developed experimental vaccine koala chlamydia lab pursued alongside vaccine chlamydia humans something still needs lot work timms says preliminary research vaccine koalas suggests produce immune response could protect animals becoming infected wants start using vaccine soon couple field trials planned admits vaccinating koalas australia realistic dont see practical find last koala last tree middle queensland says still thousands koalas already handled year hospitals care facilities would like see vaccinated many koalas struck cars attacked dogs others pushed land due suburban sprawl timms says threats add dire future koalas makes important vaccinate chlamydia perhaps one day retrovirus maybe make real difference werent making says try pick battles think win winning battle disease ensure survival koalas wild timms says least start
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<p>GREENSBORO — About 80 percent of North Carolina’s 9.7 million people don’t attend church and reaching them will require a “mixed economy” of both existing congregations and new forms of church, a group of Baptist leaders was told Feb. 1.</p>
<p>“We are attempting to re-evangelize a previously evangelized society. That has never happened in the United States,” said Chris Backert, national director of <a href="http://freshexpressionsus.org/" type="external">Fresh Expressions</a>, a movement which aims to help churches engage postmodern culture through new creative communities of faith.</p>
<p>Backert was one of several leaders at a Fresh Expressions “Vision Day” — an introduction to the movement — held at First Baptist Church in Greensboro. A capacity crowd of about 150 attended the event, sponsored by the <a href="http://www.cbfnc.org/" type="external">Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina</a>, the <a href="http://www.thefellowship.info/" type="external">national CBF</a>, the <a href="http://www.healthychurch.org/" type="external">Center for Congregational Health</a> and the <a href="http://www.vbmb.org/" type="external">Baptist General Association of Virginia</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>“In response to changes in our culture we can have great hope,” Backert said. “It’s not our job to fix it. God is not unaware of the changes and he is responding and inviting us to join him. We’re just trying to keep up with where the Holy Spirit is taking the church.”</p>
<p>Following that lead will require “fresh expressions” of church which have a strong mission focus, a willingness to re-imagine the shape churches can take, and a commitment to both existing and new forms of church, Backert said.</p>
<p>“A ‘fresh expression’ is putting the church Jesus loves closer to where the people Jesus loves actually are,” he said.</p>
<p>Those new forms must be “soft and pliable,” said Ben Jamison, director of training and operations for Fresh Expressions.</p>
<p>“Flexible structures are needed to bridge the gap between church culture and the cultures around us whose people are unable or unwilling to come to church,” Jamison said. “One of the marks of a ‘fresh expression’ is adaptability and flexibility.’”</p>
<p>Jamison insisted there’s no fixed strategy for developing new communities of faith.</p>
<p>“The ethos of Fresh Expressions is not about saying something which worked in a particular place can work in every place,” he said. “It’s not about a model but about a mindset. … We need a form without a formula, an intention without an equation.”</p>
<p>Unlike creative ministries initiated by existing congregations, these new communities of faith aim to be church — though often in unfamiliar and unconventional forms, said Backert. “They will come into being through the principles of listening, service, incarnational mission and making disciples,” he said. “They will have the potential of becoming a mature expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of a church in its cultural context.”</p>
<p>Brightest hope</p>
<p>Gannon Sims, director of networking and communications for Fresh Expressions, said a “symbiotic relationship” between existing and new forms of congregations are the “brightest hope” for the church.</p>
<p>“A ‘fresh expression’ can mobilize God’s mission force which is by and large found in existing or inherited congregations,” he said. “They provide space for innovation and mission.”</p>
<p>He added: “Let’s not keep all our eggs in the old basket. We need to figure out how to diversify.”</p>
<p>Three examples of new church forms were offered by George Linney, pastor of Tobacco Trail Church in Durham, N.C.; Cheryl McCarthy, executive director of Seeds Ministry in New Bern, N.C.; and Greg LeMaster, pastor for outreach at Graceland Baptist Church in Powhatan, Va.</p>
<p>A common thread in their comments — listening and waiting.</p>
<p>“Listening is the No. 1 key thing,” said McCarthy. “It’s learning what it means to be the sheep when the shepherd is Jesus, and learning how to hear what he says no matter what.”</p>
<p>“Risk the false start,” said Linney. “Stay there and lean into it a lot longer than you probably did to get your degree or to get married or anything else. These are longer waits.”</p>
<p />
<p>LeMaster experimented with several approaches before the emergence of Joy Church, which aims at families with special needs. “It takes a while,” he said.</p>
<p>Fresh Expressions is the American franchise of a movement begun nearly 10 years ago among Anglicans in the United Kingdom.&#160; Baptist General Association of Virginia leaders subsequently developed Fresh Expressions US, which now receives additional support from several Christian faith traditions.</p>
<p>Participants at the Greensboro event said they found plenty to chew on.</p>
<p>“Having been exposed to the Fresh Expressions movement in Great Britain (from a distance) and in the U.S. (primarily in Virginia), I’m excited to introduce it to the CBFNC community,” said Larry Hovis, CBFNC executive coordinator. “Fresh Expressions, I believe, will provide an important pathway for our churches to make shifts toward becoming missionaries in our communities.”</p>
<p>“My big takeaway is that Christians have made expanding the Kingdom of God too difficult,” said Ka’thy Gore Chappell, the CBFNC’s leadership development coordinator. “God means for us to simply relax and listen, and then proceed — in a thoroughly professional way but in relationship with people. Sometimes that’s just sitting in a chair next to someone, and listening and having a conversation over coffee.”</p>
<p>Finding patience for the new</p>
<p>Mike Queen, retired pastor of First Baptist Church in Wilmington, N.C., said the Vision Day delivered a “big message.”</p>
<p>“Everyone knows the world has changed. Everyone gets that. But everyone is bewildered about what to do,” said Queen, currently interim pastor of First Baptist Church in Greensboro. About 20 members of the church attended the conference.</p>
<p>“We are so distracted by numbers and success and we don’t have patience with something new,” he added. “What the Fresh Expressions leaders shared is that it doesn’t have to bear fruit tomorrow. We have to take a long-term view. That’s important for people to hear. They also said you don’t have to give up what you’re currently doing, and that’s important. … What this conference did was give us a framework for a conversation.”</p>
<p>That conversation will shake the conventional view of a “professional” clergy and an “amateur” laity, said Bill Wilson, president of the Center for Congregational Health.</p>
<p>“The Fresh Expressions model and the missional model essentially say we’ll flip that perception,” he said. “The people who have the most problem with that are the clergy. The laity are ready to go.”</p>
<p>Matt Cook, current pastor of First Baptist Church in Wilmington, said the conference made it clear that “if the church is going to take its role to be a witness to the world seriously that means we have to hold on to our traditional ways of doing things loosely enough not to get in the way of doing new and creative things.”</p>
<p>Offering freedom to think “outside the box” could allow existing church ministries to become “fresh expressions,” Cook said.</p>
<p>“But there’s no way churches with limited resources can hire enough staff to do that,” he said. “We’re either going to be content with a very low ceiling or we’re going to have to unleash the passion of the whole church and send them in the same way we send missionaries — release them and trust them. They are capable of being at the center of a new movement of God’s spirit alongside the traditional church. That’s a prophetic word.</p>
<p>“But a hopeful word for the traditional church is that it’s an ‘alongside movement,’ not a rejection of the traditional church,” he added. “It was good for me to hear that God is blessing us by giving us some mature expressions of church in which we can still operate. [Fresh Expressions leaders] don’t think and I don’t think that God’s intent is to burn down the traditional church. We can celebrate it. We just can’t be so bound to it that it stifles the new thing God wants us to be doing.”</p>
<p>Robert Dilday ( <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>) is managing editor of the Religious Herald.</p>
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greensboro 80 percent north carolinas 97 million people dont attend church reaching require mixed economy existing congregations new forms church group baptist leaders told feb 1 attempting reevangelize previously evangelized society never happened united states said chris backert national director fresh expressions movement aims help churches engage postmodern culture new creative communities faith backert one several leaders fresh expressions vision day introduction movement held first baptist church greensboro capacity crowd 150 attended event sponsored cooperative baptist fellowship north carolina national cbf center congregational health baptist general association virginia response changes culture great hope backert said job fix god unaware changes responding inviting us join trying keep holy spirit taking church following lead require fresh expressions church strong mission focus willingness reimagine shape churches take commitment existing new forms church backert said fresh expression putting church jesus loves closer people jesus loves actually said new forms must soft pliable said ben jamison director training operations fresh expressions flexible structures needed bridge gap church culture cultures around us whose people unable unwilling come church jamison said one marks fresh expression adaptability flexibility jamison insisted theres fixed strategy developing new communities faith ethos fresh expressions saying something worked particular place work every place said model mindset need form without formula intention without equation unlike creative ministries initiated existing congregations new communities faith aim church though often unfamiliar unconventional forms said backert come principles listening service incarnational mission making disciples said potential becoming mature expression church shaped gospel enduring marks church cultural context brightest hope gannon sims director networking communications fresh expressions said symbiotic relationship existing new forms congregations brightest hope church fresh expression mobilize gods mission force large found existing inherited congregations said provide space innovation mission added lets keep eggs old basket need figure diversify three examples new church forms offered george linney pastor tobacco trail church durham nc cheryl mccarthy executive director seeds ministry new bern nc greg lemaster pastor outreach graceland baptist church powhatan va common thread comments listening waiting listening 1 key thing said mccarthy learning means sheep shepherd jesus learning hear says matter risk false start said linney stay lean lot longer probably get degree get married anything else longer waits lemaster experimented several approaches emergence joy church aims families special needs takes said fresh expressions american franchise movement begun nearly 10 years ago among anglicans united kingdom160 baptist general association virginia leaders subsequently developed fresh expressions us receives additional support several christian faith traditions participants greensboro event said found plenty chew exposed fresh expressions movement great britain distance us primarily virginia im excited introduce cbfnc community said larry hovis cbfnc executive coordinator fresh expressions believe provide important pathway churches make shifts toward becoming missionaries communities big takeaway christians made expanding kingdom god difficult said kathy gore chappell cbfncs leadership development coordinator god means us simply relax listen proceed thoroughly professional way relationship people sometimes thats sitting chair next someone listening conversation coffee finding patience new mike queen retired pastor first baptist church wilmington nc said vision day delivered big message everyone knows world changed everyone gets everyone bewildered said queen currently interim pastor first baptist church greensboro 20 members church attended conference distracted numbers success dont patience something new added fresh expressions leaders shared doesnt bear fruit tomorrow take longterm view thats important people hear also said dont give youre currently thats important conference give us framework conversation conversation shake conventional view professional clergy amateur laity said bill wilson president center congregational health fresh expressions model missional model essentially say well flip perception said people problem clergy laity ready go matt cook current pastor first baptist church wilmington said conference made clear church going take role witness world seriously means hold traditional ways things loosely enough get way new creative things offering freedom think outside box could allow existing church ministries become fresh expressions cook said theres way churches limited resources hire enough staff said either going content low ceiling going unleash passion whole church send way send missionaries release trust capable center new movement gods spirit alongside traditional church thats prophetic word hopeful word traditional church alongside movement rejection traditional church added good hear god blessing us giving us mature expressions church still operate fresh expressions leaders dont think dont think gods intent burn traditional church celebrate cant bound stifles new thing god wants us robert dilday rdildayreligiousheraldorg managing editor religious herald
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<p>RIGA, Latvia — Tiny European country lures Russian cash by the suitcase before suffering banking crisis.</p>
<p>Sound familiar? But this isn’t Cyprus, whose financial woes unleashed a European political crisis just over a month ago.</p>
<p>An old playground for wealthy Russians, Latvia plans to join the euro zone next year, which has made it one of the newest causes of nervousness among euro zone decision-makers.</p>
<p>Not that you would guess by talking to Latvian officials. The economy is currently growing and the country meets the European Union’s economic criteria for joining the currency zone. Latvian officials say the euro’s benefits for business, the country’s budget and its financial credentials make adopting the single currency a good option.</p>
<p>“We have only heard positive [things] from other countries,” said Dace Kalsone, who oversees Latvia’s possible introduction of the euro at the Latvian Finance Ministry. “It’s been 10 years since we voted to be part of the European Union. And since that time, the euro was our goal.”</p>
<p>But many ordinary Latvians disagree: Only 27 percent favor adopting the single currency, a survey by Latvian pollsters SKDS found in January.</p>
<p>Latvia’s adoption of the euro has its critics abroad, too. The country has a history of huge economic booms and busts, they say. Some are warning that allowing Latvia into the single currency could create new headaches for Brussels.</p>
<p>“If we see another situation like Cyprus and Greece, that’s obviously of concern to the wider euro zone,” said Robert Palmer from Global Witness, a British group that researches financial corruption.</p>
<p>For critics, the similarities are clear. Like Cyprus, Latvia has earned a reputation as a “no-questions-asked” destination for Russian investors on the run from the taxman or the police, anti-corruption activists say.</p>
<p>European governments and institutions have repeatedly admonished the country for its failure to fight money laundering and tax evasion.</p>
<p>In a January report, the European Commission urged Latvia to “pay more attention” to investigating and prosecuting tax dodgers and criminals. The US State Department recently found that official corruption and a large illicit economy made policing money laundering “challenging” for Latvian authorities.</p>
<p>But Latvian financial regulators deny charges the country’s banking sector is being used to hide money of dubious provenance.</p>
<p>“Latvia’s banks go to extraordinary lengths to avoid even the appearance of impropriety [in relation to] all accounts, particularly those from the former Soviet Union,” said Laima Auza, a spokeswomen for Latvia’s Financial and Capital Market Commission.</p>
<p>If true, that would represent a change in the way that the country does business, activists say. Latvia’s banking system is “prone to dubious money from the former Soviet Union,” Global Witness’s Palmer said.</p>
<p>Bankers say that massive quantities of foreign money, much of it from Russia, flowed into Latvia before the global financial crisis. Banks lent on that money with few strings attached, EU studies show. The result was a heady era of booming house prices.</p>
<p>“Before the crisis, there wasn’t sufficient oversight,” said Zsolt Darvas, a researcher at Brussels think tank Bruegel. “That was reflected in major credit and housing booms and all kinds of booms.”</p>
<p>Then came the bust. Demand fell across almost every sector of the economy. Housing prices collapsed. The government was forced to take a majority stake in Latvia’s second-largest bank, Parex, which was almost insolvent.</p>
<p>Parex’s near failure was partly prompted by savers withdrawing their money, US State Department cables dating from the period show.</p>
<p>In November 2008, both “residents and non-residents” emptied out their bank accounts, diplomats wrote. By that point, Latvian regulators were already closely monitoring Parex due to concern over problems stemming from its “high volume of non-resident deposits from Russia,” a cable reads.</p>
<p>Back then, Latvian bankers say, Russians took their money out of Latvian banks and put it into Cypriot accounts. Now they’ve moved their savings back to Latvia.</p>
<p>“It became clear that Cyprus has problems,” said Girts Rungainis, who runs Latvia’s largest investment bank, Prudentia. “It also became clear that Latvia is sailing relatively safely as a result of support from IMF and the European Union and all the austerity reforms.”</p>
<p>The Latvian government had difficulties securing private financing thanks to the Parex bank takeover. So it turned to the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, which bailed out the government. In return, the country made huge cuts to public spending and downsized government.</p>
<p>Latvia managed to reduce its deficit and begin to grow strongly again. The country’s export businesses are surging ahead and unemployment continues to fall, EU figures show. Latvia is being held up as a model of austerity policy success.</p>
<p>“They [the Latvian government] reformed many things,” a senior European official with first-hand knowledge of the country said. “When the government showed they wanted to be rid of the problem and that they were able to get the tough decisions through parliament, people realized that perhaps there could be an exit from the crisis.”</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Latvia’s government says it will pay money into the euro zone’s bailout fund partly because it “could not say that it [Latvia’s economic collapse] will never happen again,” Kalsone, from the Latvian government’s Euro Project unit, said.</p>
<p>EU officials agree that it’s unclear if the country has overcome its history of large ups and downs.</p>
<p>“It’s a small country that is very exposed to the financial winds, so money coming in and out,” the European official said. “That’s why we try to let the country know that they have to lean against the wind.”</p>
<p>The government has restructured its banking sector in the aftermath of the Parex crisis in an attempt to prevent future banking dramas deriving from hot money.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/5831972/russias-year-protests" type="external">Russia's year of protests (PHOTOS)</a></p>
<p>In addition to forcing banks to increase capital buffers, it has effectively separated banks targeted at foreigners from institutions serving local customers, Auma from Latvia’s Financial and Capital Market Commission said in an email.</p>
<p>And the government says Latvia is no longer “rushing to attract this money” from dubious foreign sources, an EU official said. The European Union has worked to “significantly” improve the Latvian financial sector’s “transparency,” he added.</p>
<p>However, bankers say Russian investors continue to move large quantities of money to Latvia from Cyprus.</p>
<p>“We’ve been recently in touch with one investor who was actively using financial services in Cyprus — he lost a few Mercedes' worth of money, but he can afford it,” Prudentia’s Rungainis said.</p>
<p>“I guess there are people for whom the situation was much more painful,” he added. “But the smart money left Cyprus a long time ago.”</p>
<p>Charles McPhedran reported from Berlin.</p>
| false | 3 |
riga latvia tiny european country lures russian cash suitcase suffering banking crisis sound familiar isnt cyprus whose financial woes unleashed european political crisis month ago old playground wealthy russians latvia plans join euro zone next year made one newest causes nervousness among euro zone decisionmakers would guess talking latvian officials economy currently growing country meets european unions economic criteria joining currency zone latvian officials say euros benefits business countrys budget financial credentials make adopting single currency good option heard positive things countries said dace kalsone oversees latvias possible introduction euro latvian finance ministry 10 years since voted part european union since time euro goal many ordinary latvians disagree 27 percent favor adopting single currency survey latvian pollsters skds found january latvias adoption euro critics abroad country history huge economic booms busts say warning allowing latvia single currency could create new headaches brussels see another situation like cyprus greece thats obviously concern wider euro zone said robert palmer global witness british group researches financial corruption critics similarities clear like cyprus latvia earned reputation noquestionsasked destination russian investors run taxman police anticorruption activists say european governments institutions repeatedly admonished country failure fight money laundering tax evasion january report european commission urged latvia pay attention investigating prosecuting tax dodgers criminals us state department recently found official corruption large illicit economy made policing money laundering challenging latvian authorities latvian financial regulators deny charges countrys banking sector used hide money dubious provenance latvias banks go extraordinary lengths avoid even appearance impropriety relation accounts particularly former soviet union said laima auza spokeswomen latvias financial capital market commission true would represent change way country business activists say latvias banking system prone dubious money former soviet union global witnesss palmer said bankers say massive quantities foreign money much russia flowed latvia global financial crisis banks lent money strings attached eu studies show result heady era booming house prices crisis wasnt sufficient oversight said zsolt darvas researcher brussels think tank bruegel reflected major credit housing booms kinds booms came bust demand fell across almost every sector economy housing prices collapsed government forced take majority stake latvias secondlargest bank parex almost insolvent parexs near failure partly prompted savers withdrawing money us state department cables dating period show november 2008 residents nonresidents emptied bank accounts diplomats wrote point latvian regulators already closely monitoring parex due concern problems stemming high volume nonresident deposits russia cable reads back latvian bankers say russians took money latvian banks put cypriot accounts theyve moved savings back latvia became clear cyprus problems said girts rungainis runs latvias largest investment bank prudentia also became clear latvia sailing relatively safely result support imf european union austerity reforms latvian government difficulties securing private financing thanks parex bank takeover turned european commission international monetary fund bailed government return country made huge cuts public spending downsized government latvia managed reduce deficit begin grow strongly countrys export businesses surging ahead unemployment continues fall eu figures show latvia held model austerity policy success latvian government reformed many things senior european official firsthand knowledge country said government showed wanted rid problem able get tough decisions parliament people realized perhaps could exit crisis nevertheless latvias government says pay money euro zones bailout fund partly could say latvias economic collapse never happen kalsone latvian governments euro project unit said eu officials agree unclear country overcome history large ups downs small country exposed financial winds money coming european official said thats try let country know lean wind government restructured banking sector aftermath parex crisis attempt prevent future banking dramas deriving hot money globalpost160 russias year protests photos addition forcing banks increase capital buffers effectively separated banks targeted foreigners institutions serving local customers auma latvias financial capital market commission said email government says latvia longer rushing attract money dubious foreign sources eu official said european union worked significantly improve latvian financial sectors transparency added however bankers say russian investors continue move large quantities money latvia cyprus weve recently touch one investor actively using financial services cyprus lost mercedes worth money afford prudentias rungainis said guess people situation much painful added smart money left cyprus long time ago charles mcphedran reported berlin
| 682 |
<p>US President Barack Obama has said Washington welcomes China's rise but that engagement with Beijing would not come at the expense of its Asian allies — as Chinese state media greeted his arrival in the region with a broadside accusing the United States of wanting to "cage" the emerging superpower.</p>
<p>The reassuring remarks aimed at Japan and other allies, set against a robust commentary from China's state news agency Xinhua that also called the United States "myopic," demonstrate the delicate balancing act Obama faces on a week-long Asia tour.</p>
<p>Obama arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday at the start of a four-nation trip that comes at a time of rising tension in the region, and as the United States urges Japan's unpredictable neighbor North Korea not to conduct another nuclear test.</p>
<p>Obama, who is making the first full state visit to Japan by a US President since 1996, must assuage worries by Tokyo and other allies that his commitment to their defense in the face of an increasingly assertive China is weak, without hurting vital US ties with Asia's biggest economy.</p>
<p>Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are also keen to show progress on a two-way trade pact seen as critical to a broader regional deal that would be one of the world's biggest trade agreements and is central to Obama's "pivot" of military, diplomatic and trade resources towards Asia.</p>
<p>Noting Beijing and Washington could work together on issues such as North Korea's nuclear program, Obama told Japan's Yomiuri newspaper, in written remarks: "In other words, we welcome the continuing rise of a China that is stable, prosperous and peaceful and plays a responsible role in global affairs."</p>
<p>He added: "And our engagement with China does not and will not come at the expense of Japan or any other ally."</p>
<p>Such assurances are likely to be high on the agenda when Obama meets Abe at a symbolic summit on Thursday.</p>
<p>Japan, whose relations with rival China have chilled over the past two years, has been beset by anxiety over the degree to which reality matches rhetoric in Obama's promised "pivot."</p>
<p>China, for its part, fears the US is pursuing a policy of containment through its network of Asian allies, several of whom have long-standing territorial disputes with Beijing in the East and South China Seas.</p>
<p>Wednesday's Xinhua commentary criticized US policy in the region as "a carefully calculated scheme to cage the rapidly developing Asian giant."</p>
<p>"The United States should reappraise its anachronistic hegemonic alliance system and stop pampering its chums like Japan and the Philippines that have been igniting regional tensions with provocative moves," it said.</p>
<p>Treaty obligations</p>
<p>Obama and Abe are expected to send a message of solidarity after strains following Abe's December visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, seen by critics as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.</p>
<p>Obama also assured Japan that tiny isles in the East China Sea at the heart of a territorial row with China are covered by a bilateral security treaty that obligates America to come to Japan's defense. That is long-stated US policy, but the confirmation by the president is likely to be welcome in Japan.</p>
<p>"The policy of the United States is clear — the Senkaku islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of ... the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security," Obama said, using the Japanese name for the islands that are known as the Diaoyu in China, which also claims them.</p>
<p>China reiterated that it "resolutely opposed" the islands being part of the security treaty.</p>
<p>"The so-called US-Japan alliance is a bilateral arrangement from the Cold War and ought not to harm China's territorial sovereignty and reasonable rights," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news briefing in Beijing.</p>
<p>Japanese and Chinese naval vessels and coastguard ships have played cat-and-mouse around the disputed islets since Japan's government bought the then-privately owned territory in 2012.</p>
<p>A joint statement to be issued at the summit will state the two allies will not tolerate any attempt to change the status quo by force — a phrase that implicitly targets China — but likely not mention the islands or China by name, Japanese media have reported.</p>
<p>Nuclear North Korea</p>
<p>Obama also reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the security of South Korea, and said it would stand firm in its insistence that a nuclear North Korea was unacceptable.</p>
<p>Seoul is the second stop on Obama's four-nation swing, which also includes Malaysia and the Philippines.</p>
<p>"The burden is on Pyongyang to take concrete steps to abide by its commitments and obligations, and the United States, Japan and South Korea are united in our goal — the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," Obama said.</p>
<p>North Korea, already subject to United Nations' sanctions over its previous atomic tests, the third and most recent of which took place in early 2013, threatened last month to conduct what it call "a new form of nuclear test."</p>
<p>The United States said on Tuesday it was watching the Korean peninsula closely after news reports quoted the South Korean government as saying that heightened activity had been detected at North Korea's underground nuclear test site.</p>
<p>"We continue to urge North Korea to refrain from actions that threaten regional peace and security and to comply with its international obligations and commitments," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a regular briefing.</p>
<p>(Editing by Alex Richardson)</p>
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us president barack obama said washington welcomes chinas rise engagement beijing would come expense asian allies chinese state media greeted arrival region broadside accusing united states wanting cage emerging superpower reassuring remarks aimed japan allies set robust commentary chinas state news agency xinhua also called united states myopic demonstrate delicate balancing act obama faces weeklong asia tour obama arrived tokyo wednesday start fournation trip comes time rising tension region united states urges japans unpredictable neighbor north korea conduct another nuclear test obama making first full state visit japan us president since 1996 must assuage worries tokyo allies commitment defense face increasingly assertive china weak without hurting vital us ties asias biggest economy obama japanese prime minister shinzo abe also keen show progress twoway trade pact seen critical broader regional deal would one worlds biggest trade agreements central obamas pivot military diplomatic trade resources towards asia noting beijing washington could work together issues north koreas nuclear program obama told japans yomiuri newspaper written remarks words welcome continuing rise china stable prosperous peaceful plays responsible role global affairs added engagement china come expense japan ally assurances likely high agenda obama meets abe symbolic summit thursday japan whose relations rival china chilled past two years beset anxiety degree reality matches rhetoric obamas promised pivot china part fears us pursuing policy containment network asian allies several longstanding territorial disputes beijing east south china seas wednesdays xinhua commentary criticized us policy region carefully calculated scheme cage rapidly developing asian giant united states reappraise anachronistic hegemonic alliance system stop pampering chums like japan philippines igniting regional tensions provocative moves said treaty obligations obama abe expected send message solidarity strains following abes december visit tokyos yasukuni shrine seen critics symbol japans past militarism obama also assured japan tiny isles east china sea heart territorial row china covered bilateral security treaty obligates america come japans defense longstated us policy confirmation president likely welcome japan policy united states clear senkaku islands administered japan therefore fall within scope usjapan treaty mutual cooperation security obama said using japanese name islands known diaoyu china also claims china reiterated resolutely opposed islands part security treaty socalled usjapan alliance bilateral arrangement cold war ought harm chinas territorial sovereignty reasonable rights foreign ministry spokesman qin gang told regular news briefing beijing japanese chinese naval vessels coastguard ships played catandmouse around disputed islets since japans government bought thenprivately owned territory 2012 joint statement issued summit state two allies tolerate attempt change status quo force phrase implicitly targets china likely mention islands china name japanese media reported nuclear north korea obama also reaffirmed washingtons commitment security south korea said would stand firm insistence nuclear north korea unacceptable seoul second stop obamas fournation swing also includes malaysia philippines burden pyongyang take concrete steps abide commitments obligations united states japan south korea united goal complete denuclearization korean peninsula obama said north korea already subject united nations sanctions previous atomic tests third recent took place early 2013 threatened last month conduct call new form nuclear test united states said tuesday watching korean peninsula closely news reports quoted south korean government saying heightened activity detected north koreas underground nuclear test site continue urge north korea refrain actions threaten regional peace security comply international obligations commitments state department spokeswoman jen psaki told regular briefing editing alex richardson
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<p>LISBON, Portugal — While the United States grapples with the effectiveness and morality of military drone strikes, Europe is seeking to reap the benefits of bringing the remotely piloted aircraft into civilian life.</p>
<p>Authorities on this side of the Atlantic are hoping to harness drone technology to help farmers mind their flocks, engineers maintain pipelines and power cables, and delivery services send parcels faster and cheaper.</p>
<p>"Europe needs to be ambitious and embrace drones as an essential part of the future of flying," says Violeta Bulc, the European Union's transport commissioner.</p>
<p>"Drones are already flying, and the market is pushing for more," she told a recent aviation conference. "We need to create the right environment for them to flourish."</p>
<p>Europe's market is now governed by a patchwork of national regulations.</p>
<p>Spain last year banned commercial drone flights despite an outcry from its tech and film industries. France, Italy and others take a more liberal approach. Now, the EU is working to introduce common rules that would address privacy and safety issues, while allowing commercial drones to operate around the 28-nation bloc.</p>
<p>In March, national governments, civil aviation agencies and industry representatives met in Riga, Latvia, to map the way ahead. They agreed to draw up regulations by December "to allow businesses to provide drone services everywhere in Europe as from 2016."</p>
<p>Industry experts say that could leave the US civilian drone industry trailing in Europe's wake.</p>
<p>The drone industry in the United States says it loses around $27 million a day due to rules that effectively ban commercial flights by unmanned aircraft systems (unless they get special authorization from the Federal Aviation Authority).</p>
<p>"If European regulators have their way, drone operations in the EU are going to become very permissive, far outpacing American regulations," Gregory S. McNeal, a drone expert at California's Pepperdine University, wrote in a regular blog for Forbes magazine.</p>
<p>As it struggles to inject new life into an economy struggling to recover from the euro&#160;zone debt crisis, Europe sees clear advantages in drone investments.</p>
<p>The EU estimates civil unmanned flight could generate $17 billion a year by 2020, and the aerospace industry says building and operating drones will create 150,000 jobs in Europe by 2050.</p>
<p>Some aren't waiting that long. In Italy alone, 85 schools have been authorized to teach drone piloting in the past year, according to the country's civil aviation agency.</p>
<p>France, which became one of the first countries to regularize commercial drone flights in 2012, now has more than 1,200 operators.</p>
<p>Bordeaux wine producers operate drones to monitor the quality of grapes and rapidly detect signs of disease on the vines.</p>
<p>French energy giant GDF-Suez has started to use surveillance drones to check for potentially damaging construction work close to its network of almost 20,000 miles of underground pipeline.&#160;</p>
<p>During recent floods in southern France, local authorities hired commercial drones to monitor water levels, assess damage and prioritize response operations.</p>
<p>Companies like&#160;Amazon, Google and DHL are preparing to start commercial services using remotely piloted planes, but Europeans are likely to get their goodies dropped in the backyard by miniature helicopters before Americans.</p>
<p>Amazon said that American legislation prevents it from even test-flying its delivery drones in the United States. So it shifted its experimental work to Canada.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, DHL was able to launch a groundbreaking regular drone delivery service in Germany last autumn, taking medical supplies eight miles from the mainland to the remote North Sea island of Juist using a yellow-painted four-rotor “parcelcopter.”</p>
<p>Europe hopes its incoming legislation will encourage more such initiatives to keep it at the forefront of a fast expanding market, even as officials insist new EU-wide standards will take full account of the privacy, safety and security questions.</p>
<p>The European Aviation Safety Agency has put forward a “concept of operations for drones” that could form the basis of the legislation due to be adopted by the end of this year.</p>
<p>It proposes placing drones in three categories, ranging from the most simple that require no specific authorization — provided they are&#160;not flown in risky areas, such as over crowds or near airports — to more complex drones requiring a risk assessment and government clearance, and a highest category that would be treated like traditional manned aircraft.</p>
<p>“We have quite an open approach,” Ilias Maragakis, an EASA spokesman, said from the agency's headquarters in Cologne, Germany.</p>
<p>“Our priority is not just to develop regulations, but to make sure the regulations do not strangle this new and upcoming industry," he told GlobalPost. “Always keeping safety in mind, but creating a fertile field for this industry to grow.”</p>
<p>Civilian deaths from US drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and recent terrorist fears after mysterious drones appeared over sensitive sites in Paris&#160;have given unmanned planes a sinister reputation. The European industry however is stressing the aircraft's good-guy applications.</p>
<p>Relief organizations have been using drones to survey damage and search for survivors in the wake of the Nepal earthquake — although the government announced restrictions Wednesday over fears they were revealing sensitive information.</p>
<p>A Malta-based humanitarian group says its two drones have helped locate and rescue thousands of migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.</p>
<p>Researchers in Belgium and the Netherlands are testing "ambulance drones" to fly defibrillators to cardiac arrest victims, saying their speedy arrival could increase survival rates by 10.</p>
<p>And conservationists are using drone-borne cameras to catch poachers preying on rhinos and elephants in African game parks.</p>
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lisbon portugal united states grapples effectiveness morality military drone strikes europe seeking reap benefits bringing remotely piloted aircraft civilian life authorities side atlantic hoping harness drone technology help farmers mind flocks engineers maintain pipelines power cables delivery services send parcels faster cheaper europe needs ambitious embrace drones essential part future flying says violeta bulc european unions transport commissioner drones already flying market pushing told recent aviation conference need create right environment flourish europes market governed patchwork national regulations spain last year banned commercial drone flights despite outcry tech film industries france italy others take liberal approach eu working introduce common rules would address privacy safety issues allowing commercial drones operate around 28nation bloc march national governments civil aviation agencies industry representatives met riga latvia map way ahead agreed draw regulations december allow businesses provide drone services everywhere europe 2016 industry experts say could leave us civilian drone industry trailing europes wake drone industry united states says loses around 27 million day due rules effectively ban commercial flights unmanned aircraft systems unless get special authorization federal aviation authority european regulators way drone operations eu going become permissive far outpacing american regulations gregory mcneal drone expert californias pepperdine university wrote regular blog forbes magazine struggles inject new life economy struggling recover euro160zone debt crisis europe sees clear advantages drone investments eu estimates civil unmanned flight could generate 17 billion year 2020 aerospace industry says building operating drones create 150000 jobs europe 2050 arent waiting long italy alone 85 schools authorized teach drone piloting past year according countrys civil aviation agency france became one first countries regularize commercial drone flights 2012 1200 operators bordeaux wine producers operate drones monitor quality grapes rapidly detect signs disease vines french energy giant gdfsuez started use surveillance drones check potentially damaging construction work close network almost 20000 miles underground pipeline160 recent floods southern france local authorities hired commercial drones monitor water levels assess damage prioritize response operations companies like160amazon google dhl preparing start commercial services using remotely piloted planes europeans likely get goodies dropped backyard miniature helicopters americans amazon said american legislation prevents even testflying delivery drones united states shifted experimental work canada meanwhile dhl able launch groundbreaking regular drone delivery service germany last autumn taking medical supplies eight miles mainland remote north sea island juist using yellowpainted fourrotor parcelcopter europe hopes incoming legislation encourage initiatives keep forefront fast expanding market even officials insist new euwide standards take full account privacy safety security questions european aviation safety agency put forward concept operations drones could form basis legislation due adopted end year proposes placing drones three categories ranging simple require specific authorization provided are160not flown risky areas crowds near airports complex drones requiring risk assessment government clearance highest category would treated like traditional manned aircraft quite open approach ilias maragakis easa spokesman said agencys headquarters cologne germany priority develop regulations make sure regulations strangle new upcoming industry told globalpost always keeping safety mind creating fertile field industry grow civilian deaths us drone strikes yemen pakistan afghanistan recent terrorist fears mysterious drones appeared sensitive sites paris160have given unmanned planes sinister reputation european industry however stressing aircrafts goodguy applications relief organizations using drones survey damage search survivors wake nepal earthquake although government announced restrictions wednesday fears revealing sensitive information maltabased humanitarian group says two drones helped locate rescue thousands migrants seeking cross mediterranean sea europe researchers belgium netherlands testing ambulance drones fly defibrillators cardiac arrest victims saying speedy arrival could increase survival rates 10 conservationists using droneborne cameras catch poachers preying rhinos elephants african game parks
| 586 |
<p>Katy Grimes: I sat through a State Assembly session this morning wondering why I was there. It was obviously a thinly veiled excuse by legislators to capture the $142 per diem payment.</p>
<p>There were the usual speeches honoring the recently departed. But, time spent at the Capitol is rarely a waste. During the earnest floor speeches about a resolution highlighting the WWll internment of Japanese-Americans, Democratic Assemblyman Charles Calderon complained that a Fox News Anchor made racist comments about “one of the most distinguished former members of this house, and member of Congress, Maxine Waters.”</p>
<p>I nearly choked.&#160; <a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Calderon’s reference was to a brash comment made by “Fox and Friends'” Anchor Eric Bolling, Thursday morning. &#160;“Congresswoman, you saw what happened to Whitney Houston. Step away from the crack pipe, step away from the Xanax, step away from the Lorazepam because it’s going to get you in trouble,” Bolling said.</p>
<p>But Calderon neglected to mention that Maxine Waters had called U.S. House Republican leadership “demons” on Wednesday, inciting Bolling’s controversial comments.</p>
<p>Fox News can discipline or get rid of Bolling, but America appears to be stuck with Maxine Waters and her nasty mouth.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Waters is notorious for her rants and imbecelic comments about colleagues, as well as depictions of those she deems “racist” when it suits her.</p>
<p>Water’s “demon” comments were made last weekend at the state <a href="http://cademconvention.org/" type="external">Democratic party convention in San Diego</a>.&#160; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpfwhWrvQZk" type="external">Video of her speech</a>&#160;shows her ginning up the crowd with the incendiary comments.</p>
<p>“I saw pictures of Boehner and Cantor on our screens (at the convention). Don’t ever let me see again, in life, those Republicans in our hall, on our screens, talking about anything. These are demons,” Waters&#160;told the crowd, Fox News&#160; <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/15/maxine-waters-calls-republican-leaders-demons/" type="external">reported</a>.&#160;“They are bringing down this country, destroying this country, because they’d rather do whatever they can do destroy this president rather than for the good of this country.”</p>
<p>I tried to locate news reports of Waters’ comments on ABC, CBS, NBC, or MSNBC, but was unable to find anything. However, England’s&#160; <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100137163/california-congresswoman-calls-conservative-leaders-demons-will-barack-obama-condemn-her/" type="external">Telegraph UK</a> reported the incident.</p>
<p>Waters also claimed that banks will be “shaking in their boots” if Democrats take back the house and she becomes the House Financial Services Committee chairwoman. Egads. I’ll be shaking in my boots if a daft grandstander like Maxine Waters takes over the House Financial Services Committee.&#160;If you thought Rep. Barney Frank was an unscrupulous reprobate, just wait for Maxine.</p>
<p>Rep. Maxine Waters is quite famously known for really ridiculous, inflammatory statements:</p>
<p>“I have to march because my mother could not have an abortion,” Waters said at a pro-abortion rally.</p>
<p>“The tea party can go straight to hell,” Waters said in August, at an unemployment forum in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>“The President is a liar.&#160; Dick Cheney, the chief architect of the Big Lie, is not only a liar, he is a thief,” Waters said about&#160;&#160;President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, while they were in office.</p>
<p>About President Obama: “He’s been on the other side of the aisle talking with people. He’s invited them up to the White House to have beer. He’s invited them to come and watch the Super Bowl games.&#160;He’s done all of that, and when they eat his food and drink his beer and leave, then they go and try to kill him.”</p>
<p>During a congressional hearing in 2008, while lecturing oil company executives, Waters <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-e8Hwm8c_Q" type="external">&#160;</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-e8Hwm8c_Q" type="external">let slip that she would like to “socialize”</a>&#160;oil companies.&#160;“Guess what this liberal would be all about?&#160; This liberal would be about socializing … uh, umm.&#160; … Would be about, basically, taking over, and the government running all of your companies,” Waters said.</p>
<p>As a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, Waters was as responsible as anyone on the committee for allowing the nefarious actions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which led to the housing meltdown. &#160;“At a 2004 congressional hearing, (and yes, that is the same “Frank” Raines that vastly overstated Fannie Mae’s earnings in order to receive $90 million in bonuses). &#160;‘We do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and particularly Fannie Mae, under the outstanding leadership of Frank Raines,'” Waters famously said. ( <a href="http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45762" type="external">Human Events</a>)</p>
<p>Waters said about then-sitting president George H.W. Bush: “I would like to … say … very clearly that I believe George [H.W.] Bush is a racist.”</p>
<p>Waters regularly refers to the Republican Party as “the enemy.”</p>
<p>She has referred to former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, a Republican, as a “plantation owner.”</p>
<p>Waters called the 1992 Los Angeles riots a “rebellion,” and defended the looters. “They are not crooks.” But that “rebellion” and city-wide looting included assault,&#160;arson,&#160;murders&#160;and property damages adding up to more than $1 billion. 53 people died during the riots, and thousands were injured. The murderous free-for-all, brawling, and lawlessness was hardly an uprising.</p>
<p>Even Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxine_Waters" type="external">reports</a> that Waters is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged insider deals benefitting her husband. “Waters’ husband is a stockholder and former director of OneUnited Bank and the bank’s executives were major contributors to her campaigns. In September 2008, Waters arranged meetings between U.S. Treasury Department officials and OneUnited Bank, so that the bank could plead for federal cash. It had been heavily invested in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and its capital was “all but wiped out” after the U.S. government took them over. The bank received $12 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money.”</p>
<p>It would all be so embarrassing if only Waters was capable of shame.</p>
<p>Calderon’s shameless pandering to Waters was so out of place during the Remembrance resolution, I wondered if any of his colleagues might have bristled. I did notice a few heads snap to attention as he spoke about Waters.</p>
<p>Remembering past atrocities is appropriate and important; capitalizing on the emotions of the moment is boorish, and shameless brown-nosing is conceited.</p>
<p>FEB. 17, 2012</p>
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katy grimes sat state assembly session morning wondering obviously thinly veiled excuse legislators capture 142 per diem payment usual speeches honoring recently departed time spent capitol rarely waste earnest floor speeches resolution highlighting wwll internment japaneseamericans democratic assemblyman charles calderon complained fox news anchor made racist comments one distinguished former members house member congress maxine waters nearly choked160 calderons reference brash comment made fox friends anchor eric bolling thursday morning 160congresswoman saw happened whitney houston step away crack pipe step away xanax step away lorazepam going get trouble bolling said calderon neglected mention maxine waters called us house republican leadership demons wednesday inciting bollings controversial comments fox news discipline get rid bolling america appears stuck maxine waters nasty mouth waters notorious rants imbecelic comments colleagues well depictions deems racist suits waters demon comments made last weekend state democratic party convention san diego160 video speech160shows ginning crowd incendiary comments saw pictures boehner cantor screens convention dont ever let see life republicans hall screens talking anything demons waters160told crowd fox news160 reported160they bringing country destroying country theyd rather whatever destroy president rather good country tried locate news reports waters comments abc cbs nbc msnbc unable find anything however englands160 telegraph uk reported incident waters also claimed banks shaking boots democrats take back house becomes house financial services committee chairwoman egads ill shaking boots daft grandstander like maxine waters takes house financial services committee160if thought rep barney frank unscrupulous reprobate wait maxine rep maxine waters quite famously known really ridiculous inflammatory statements march mother could abortion waters said proabortion rally tea party go straight hell waters said august unemployment forum los angeles president liar160 dick cheney chief architect big lie liar thief waters said about160160president george w bush vice president dick cheney office president obama hes side aisle talking people hes invited white house beer hes invited come watch super bowl games160hes done eat food drink beer leave go try kill congressional hearing 2008 lecturing oil company executives waters 160 let slip would like socialize160oil companies160guess liberal would about160 liberal would socializing uh umm160 would basically taking government running companies waters said senior member house financial services committee waters responsible anyone committee allowing nefarious actions fannie mae freddie mac led housing meltdown 160at 2004 congressional hearing yes frank raines vastly overstated fannie maes earnings order receive 90 million bonuses 160we crisis freddie mac particularly fannie mae outstanding leadership frank raines waters famously said human events waters said thensitting president george hw bush would like say clearly believe george hw bush racist waters regularly refers republican party enemy referred former los angeles mayor richard riordan republican plantation owner waters called 1992 los angeles riots rebellion defended looters crooks rebellion citywide looting included assault160arson160murders160and property damages adding 1 billion 53 people died riots thousands injured murderous freeforall brawling lawlessness hardly uprising even wikipedia reports waters currently investigation house ethics committee alleged insider deals benefitting husband waters husband stockholder former director oneunited bank banks executives major contributors campaigns september 2008 waters arranged meetings us treasury department officials oneunited bank bank could plead federal cash heavily invested freddie mac fannie mae capital wiped us government took bank received 12 million troubled asset relief program tarp money would embarrassing waters capable shame calderons shameless pandering waters place remembrance resolution wondered colleagues might bristled notice heads snap attention spoke waters remembering past atrocities appropriate important capitalizing emotions moment boorish shameless brownnosing conceited feb 17 2012
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<p>There appears to be little chance that Senate Democrats and Republicans will agree to a formula that will allow the full body to vote on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court.&#160; Under current Senate rules, Democrats can block Gorsuch’s nomination by mustering just 41 votes, denying Republicans the 60-vote super-majority needed to prevent a Democratic filibuster.</p>
<p>Currently, there are 48 Democratic Senators.&#160; That means a straight party-line vote would appear to doom Gorsuch’s chances.&#160; But there’s a hitch.</p>
<p>Four years ago, then-Senate majority leader Harry Reid was so disgusted with efforts by the GOP to block the Democrats’ legislative agenda that he orchestrated a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-poised-to-limit-filibusters-in-party-line-vote-that-would-alter-centuries-of-precedent/2013/11/21/d065cfe8-52b6-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html?utm_term=.f220d8ff5db9" type="external">parliamentary maneuver</a>that shocked many in the Senate on both sides of the aisle.&#160; He unilaterally changed the Senate rules for confirming cabinet appointees and federal judicial nominees.</p>
<p>The filibuster-proof 60-vote super-majority rule was abandoned.&#160; In the future, it would only take a simple 51-vote majority to confirm cabinet officers and judges.&#160; It was called the <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/harry-reid-nuclear-option-100199" type="external">“nuclear option”</a>because it “blew away” opposition in a single bold stroke.</p>
<p>Democrats, of course, never expected to lose the Senate, much less the White House.&#160; And they also set a boundary to the nuclear option:&#160; They would not apply it to Supreme Court nominees.</p>
<p>Now, Republicans are threatening to do just that.</p>
<p>A few weeks ago, it looked like this battle might be avoided.&#160; &#160;A number of Democrats – about eight — had strongly intimated that they would be willing to work with Republicans to confirm Gorsuch.&#160; With one condition:&#160; They wanted the GOP to forswear use of the nuclear option in the future.</p>
<p>But that was before Trump and the GOP <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/us/politics/health-care-affordable-care-act.html" type="external">failed so miserably</a> to “repeal and replace” Obamacare.&#160; Sensing Republican disarray, some top Democrats now want to block a deal with the GOP on Gorsusch.&#160; They think it’s better to force the GOP to institute the nuclear option to get Gorsuch confirmed because mainstream voters will be appalled.&#160; Or faced with an angry filibuster, the GOP might feel compelled to back down.</p>
<p>It’s a huge risk – and an unwise one.&#160; What’s more likely to happen is that the GOP will get Gorsuch confirmed anyway and voters will punish the Democrats. That’s because <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/306210-10-senate-seats-that-could-flip-in-2018" type="external">10 key Democratic Senate seats</a> are up for grabs in 2018 – in states where Trump beat Clinton by a large margin.&#160; Democratic intransigence over Gorsuch — whose confirmation is favored by a plurality of voters, according to <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/319804-fox-news-poll-almost-half-of-voters-favor-gorsuch-confirmation" type="external">polls</a> — could well doom their candidates in these races and deliver a filibuster-proof majority to the GOP.</p>
<p>But Democrats are also under <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/democrats-should-not-fear-the-nuclear-option-214730" type="external">enormous pressure</a> from their base to oppose Trump at every turn, and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who feels humiliated that his close friend Hillary Clinton lost the presidency to the billionaire real estate mogul, is <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/harry-reid-nuclear-option-100199" type="external">spoiling</a> for a fight.&#160; So the Democrats may just decide to dig their heels in on Gorsuch, hoping that luck – of which they’ve had little of late – will somehow turn their way.</p>
<p>Of course Democrats are also still sore – and perhaps rightly so – that the GOP <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/us/politics/merrick-garland-supreme-court-obama-nominee.html" type="external">refused to confirm</a> their own choice to replace the deceased Antonin Scalia — Justice Merrick Garland — while President Obama was still in office.&#160; In a tit-for-tat world, they <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/us/politics/supreme-court-neil-gorsuch-senate.html?_r=0" type="external">feel</a> have every right to hold up Gorsuch.&#160; It’s simply turnabout fair-play.</p>
<p>But it’s also destructive play.&#160; And it fits a pattern of Democratic rule-twisting that dates to the fateful 2010 decision to pass Obamacare with just 51 votes – in that case, using an arcane application of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/us/politics/the-parliamentary-trick-that-could-obliterate-obamacare.html?_r=0" type="external">“budget reconciliation”</a> process.&#160; Then, too, Democrats were warned that setting a precedent – actually both parties had done it previously but neither for a while – would undermine the “checks and balances” that prevent one party from manipulating the legislative process to try to dominate national politics unilaterally.</p>
<p>Democrats ignored that advice, of course, and Obamacare passed.&#160; But like Reid’s passage of the “nuclear” option, it’s come back to haunt them. Despite the GOP’s recent failure, at some point, Republicans will return to the Congress with a “repeal and replace” bill&#160; of some kind and like Obamacare in 2010, it will pass with a less than 60-vote majority.</p>
<p>The biggest loser in this to-and-fro process isn’t the Democrats or the Republicans.&#160; It’s the American system of government – and the voters, who mostly want their Congress to govern, and yes, to compromise, and to not insist on partisan paybacks every time they lose a big vote.</p>
<p>Obama was elected with the promise that he would transcend partisanship — but for a variety of reasons, he quickly succumbed to pressures to line up with his party.&#160; Trump, who is a Republican in name openly, also has ambitions of governing somewhat closer to the center.&#160; To his credit he did just resist pressures from House GOP conservatives to embrace their draconian alternative to Obamacare — but in the end, to no avail.</p>
<p>The Gorsuch fight may be the last chance for Congress to demonstrate that it is capable of reversing the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/04/14/how-congress-became-more-partisan-over-time-in-four-charts./?utm_term=.d3a484c2389e" type="external">terrible tide of extreme partisanship</a> that has plagued the country for nearly a decade.&#160; It won’t be easy, with so many of the Senate’s moderate bridge-builders long retired.&#160; John McCain, the Navy war veteran and one-time POW, remains in the Senate.&#160; He’d like to forge a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-30/mccain-seeks-last-ditch-deal-to-avoid-nuclear-fight-on-gorsuch" type="external">last-minute agreement</a> on Gorsuch. The Congress badly needs his heroism.&#160; But right now he must feel — again — like a prisoner of war.</p>
<p>Where will it end?&#160; Assuming the GOP applies the nuclear option to Supreme court nominees, it’s only a matter of time before the same slim 51-vote majority standard is applied to routine pieces of legislation that are currently subject to filibuster and a veto threat. &#160; Once that happens, the two parties might as well declare civil war.</p>
<p />
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appears little chance senate democrats republicans agree formula allow full body vote nomination judge neil gorsuch us supreme court160 current senate rules democrats block gorsuchs nomination mustering 41 votes denying republicans 60vote supermajority needed prevent democratic filibuster currently 48 democratic senators160 means straight partyline vote would appear doom gorsuchs chances160 theres hitch four years ago thensenate majority leader harry reid disgusted efforts gop block democrats legislative agenda orchestrated parliamentary maneuverthat shocked many senate sides aisle160 unilaterally changed senate rules confirming cabinet appointees federal judicial nominees filibusterproof 60vote supermajority rule abandoned160 future would take simple 51vote majority confirm cabinet officers judges160 called nuclear optionbecause blew away opposition single bold stroke democrats course never expected lose senate much less white house160 also set boundary nuclear option160 would apply supreme court nominees republicans threatening weeks ago looked like battle might avoided160 160a number democrats eight strongly intimated would willing work republicans confirm gorsuch160 one condition160 wanted gop forswear use nuclear option future trump gop failed miserably repeal replace obamacare160 sensing republican disarray top democrats want block deal gop gorsusch160 think better force gop institute nuclear option get gorsuch confirmed mainstream voters appalled160 faced angry filibuster gop might feel compelled back huge risk unwise one160 whats likely happen gop get gorsuch confirmed anyway voters punish democrats thats 10 key democratic senate seats grabs 2018 states trump beat clinton large margin160 democratic intransigence gorsuch whose confirmation favored plurality voters according polls could well doom candidates races deliver filibusterproof majority gop democrats also enormous pressure base oppose trump every turn senate minority leader chuck schumer dny feels humiliated close friend hillary clinton lost presidency billionaire real estate mogul spoiling fight160 democrats may decide dig heels gorsuch hoping luck theyve little late somehow turn way course democrats also still sore perhaps rightly gop refused confirm choice replace deceased antonin scalia justice merrick garland president obama still office160 titfortat world feel every right hold gorsuch160 simply turnabout fairplay also destructive play160 fits pattern democratic ruletwisting dates fateful 2010 decision pass obamacare 51 votes case using arcane application budget reconciliation process160 democrats warned setting precedent actually parties done previously neither would undermine checks balances prevent one party manipulating legislative process try dominate national politics unilaterally democrats ignored advice course obamacare passed160 like reids passage nuclear option come back haunt despite gops recent failure point republicans return congress repeal replace bill160 kind like obamacare 2010 pass less 60vote majority biggest loser toandfro process isnt democrats republicans160 american system government voters mostly want congress govern yes compromise insist partisan paybacks every time lose big vote obama elected promise would transcend partisanship variety reasons quickly succumbed pressures line party160 trump republican name openly also ambitions governing somewhat closer center160 credit resist pressures house gop conservatives embrace draconian alternative obamacare end avail gorsuch fight may last chance congress demonstrate capable reversing terrible tide extreme partisanship plagued country nearly decade160 wont easy many senates moderate bridgebuilders long retired160 john mccain navy war veteran onetime pow remains senate160 hed like forge lastminute agreement gorsuch congress badly needs heroism160 right must feel like prisoner war end160 assuming gop applies nuclear option supreme court nominees matter time slim 51vote majority standard applied routine pieces legislation currently subject filibuster veto threat 160 happens two parties might well declare civil war
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<p>Natasha Panda Desai remembers watching the 1993 Bollywood film King Uncle when she was six years old and falling for Shah Rukh Khan.</p>
<p>“I love him from his old-school mullet days,” she says, though she’s seen every one of his more than 80 films since then. “He played the lead actor’s younger brother, and there was a musical number where he and his girlfriend were riding on his bicycle. He was wearing a white shirt, brown leather jacket, and 1987 jeans that were way too high, and I was like, ‘I want to be that girl! He’s so handsome and dreamy!’”</p>
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<p>Desai is a New York-based instructor for Doonya, a Bollywood-inspired dance fitness workout. From Tennessee, she spent parts of her childhood in India and London and remembers watching Hindi films with her Indian babysitter while her physician parents were working night shifts at the hospital.</p>
<p>While some Americans are primed for the return of Star Wars, for Desai, tonight is opening night for Dilwale ("The Brave-Hearted"). Though Dilwale&#160;is not technically a sequel, the title invokes Khan’s popular film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (“The Brave-Hearted Will Take The Bride,” also known as DDLJ), which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year to much fanfare. But to call it popular is, perhaps, underselling it.&#160;One theater in Mumbai&#160; <a href="http://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/dilwale-dulhania-le-jayenge-the-record-breaking-bollywood-rom-com-celebrating-1000-weeks-in-cinemas" type="external">showed the film for almost 20 years continuously</a>.&#160;By <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/ddlj-is-bollywood-s-second-highest-grosser-of-all-time-114121600110_1.html" type="external">some estimates</a>, DDLJ box office earnings are $45 million.&#160;But <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31543626" type="external">$2 million came from outside India</a>, from fans like Desai.</p>
<p>And 20 years later, enthusiasm for the 90s romance endures. Dilwale reunites Khan with DDLJ actress Kajol. The pair are often referred to as India’s most beloved onscreen couple, though Khan has successfully wooed almost every single Bollywood leading lady single.</p>
<p>Let’s just say, he’s got a lot of charm on screen. And his personal life just adds to the folklore. Born in a Muslim middle-class family in New Delhi, Khan met his Punjabi Hindu wife Gauri when they were teenagers. In a storyline that mirrors the intensity of the&#160;DDLJ story, he had to fight for her parents’ approval.&#160;Their long-standing marriage has become&#160;a symbol of Khan’s ability to bring different worlds together. If you look at the most successful Indian films based on revenue made internationally, Shah Rukh Khan stars in 11 of the top 25, according to a&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/SRK-Global-Bollywood-Rajinder-Dudrah/dp/0199460477" type="external">new book about his global appeal</a>.</p>
<p>“He works hard to perfect his craft, but his craft involves more than just being an actor,” says Desai. “His craft is being a superstar. It’s his appeal to the masses that makes him legendary.”</p>
<p>When President Barack Obama visited India in January, he quoted a DDLJ line in broken Hindi to the surprise and delight of Indians around the world. It was a gesture to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, when visiting New York in 2014, ended his speech with the Star Wars line, “May the Force be with you.”</p>
<p />
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<p>Coincidentally, Desai owns a T-shirt featuring the same DDLJ&#160;line. She ordered it while she was in college. When she got married — she's now in her mid-20s —&#160;her fellow Doonya instructors gave her custom mugs that depicted one of DDLJ’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7NVIwO8_pI" type="external">most iconic scenes</a>. One mug features Khan, his arms outstretched, and the other features Kajol, just before she runs through a field of yellow flowers and into his tight embrace.</p>
<p>Brian Hu remembers seeing Khan onscreen for the first time at a film festival as a college movie critic. He was a fan of classic black-and-white Hollywood musicals and felt that Bollywood filled a void that was missing in contemporary American film.</p>
<p>“I remember feeling so emotionally overwhelmed by the end,” he says. “Shah Rukh Khan’s films really show how he can be star of every single genre in one movie. He’s a comedian, he’s a romantic hero, he’s an action star, he’s the center of a family drama, and he can switch back and forth and pull it all off.”</p>
<p>Ten years later, he now includes Bollywood films in the <a href="http://pacarts.org/san-diego-asian-film-festival/" type="external">San Diego Asian Film Festival</a>, where he is the artistic director, and often screens DDLJ when he teaches media classes at the University of San Diego.</p>
<p>Jeannie Baumann, who also teaches Doonya in Washington, DC, first came across Bollywood music at her Indian American friends’ weddings.</p>
<p>“People sometimes ask me, ‘Do you have to be South Asian to teach Doonya?’” Baumann says, which confuses her because she is Korean American. “The passion and love for the music is universal, and the more you learn, the more you appreciate it.”</p>
<p>To Baumann, it’s all about celebration. “Sometimes there’s so much tragedy, and Bollywood can provide an escapism with the color, music, and uplifting beats,” she says. “It’s about being in the moment, imagining you’re in a beautiful, dancing world where everyone ends up with their dream boy or girl and your parents are happy. And it’s so much fun.”</p>
<p>Want to go down the Shah Rukh Khan rabbit hole? Here are some good places to start.</p>
<p>“Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna” from DDLJ (1995)</p>
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<p>“Chaiyya Chaiyya” from Dil Se (1998)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOYN9qNXmAw" type="external" /></p>
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<p>“Maahi Ve” from Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)</p>
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<p>“Dhoom Taana” from Om Shanti Om &#160;(2007)</p>
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<p>“Janam Janam” from Dilwale (2015)</p>
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<p>A previous version of this story misstated where&#160;Jeannie&#160;Baumann works and where&#160;Natasha Desai is from.</p>
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natasha panda desai remembers watching 1993 bollywood film king uncle six years old falling shah rukh khan love oldschool mullet days says though shes seen every one 80 films since played lead actors younger brother musical number girlfriend riding bicycle wearing white shirt brown leather jacket 1987 jeans way high like want girl hes handsome dreamy desai new yorkbased instructor doonya bollywoodinspired dance fitness workout tennessee spent parts childhood india london remembers watching hindi films indian babysitter physician parents working night shifts hospital americans primed return star wars desai tonight opening night dilwale bravehearted though dilwale160is technically sequel title invokes khans popular film dilwale dulhania le jayenge bravehearted take bride also known ddlj celebrated 20th anniversary year much fanfare call popular perhaps underselling it160one theater mumbai160 showed film almost 20 years continuously160by estimates ddlj box office earnings 45 million160but 2 million came outside india fans like desai 20 years later enthusiasm 90s romance endures dilwale reunites khan ddlj actress kajol pair often referred indias beloved onscreen couple though khan successfully wooed almost every single bollywood leading lady single lets say hes got lot charm screen personal life adds folklore born muslim middleclass family new delhi khan met punjabi hindu wife gauri teenagers storyline mirrors intensity the160ddlj story fight parents approval160their longstanding marriage become160a symbol khans ability bring different worlds together look successful indian films based revenue made internationally shah rukh khan stars 11 top 25 according a160 new book global appeal works hard perfect craft craft involves actor says desai craft superstar appeal masses makes legendary president barack obama visited india january quoted ddlj line broken hindi surprise delight indians around world gesture indian prime minister narendra modi visiting new york 2014 ended speech star wars line may force coincidentally desai owns tshirt featuring ddlj160line ordered college got married shes mid20s 160her fellow doonya instructors gave custom mugs depicted one ddljs iconic scenes one mug features khan arms outstretched features kajol runs field yellow flowers tight embrace brian hu remembers seeing khan onscreen first time film festival college movie critic fan classic blackandwhite hollywood musicals felt bollywood filled void missing contemporary american film remember feeling emotionally overwhelmed end says shah rukh khans films really show star every single genre one movie hes comedian hes romantic hero hes action star hes center family drama switch back forth pull ten years later includes bollywood films san diego asian film festival artistic director often screens ddlj teaches media classes university san diego jeannie baumann also teaches doonya washington dc first came across bollywood music indian american friends weddings people sometimes ask south asian teach doonya baumann says confuses korean american passion love music universal learn appreciate baumann celebration sometimes theres much tragedy bollywood provide escapism color music uplifting beats says moment imagining youre beautiful dancing world everyone ends dream boy girl parents happy much fun want go shah rukh khan rabbit hole good places start mehndi laga ke rakhna ddlj 1995 chaiyya chaiyya dil se 1998 maahi kal ho naa ho 2003 dhoom taana om shanti om 1602007 janam janam dilwale 2015 previous version story misstated where160jeannie160baumann works where160natasha desai
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<p>The Illinois Department of Human Rights has found “substantial evidence” of anti-gay discrimination at ExxonMobil.(Photo of Exxon sign by Ildar Sagdejev, photo of Mobil sign by Terence Ong; courtesy Wikimedia Commons).</p>
<p>President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for secretary of state Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, a company that faces a lawsuit accusing it&#160;of anti-gay discrimination in its hiring practices.</p>
<p>ExxonMobil’s resistance to adopt LGBT non-discrimination protections until President Obama signed an executive order in 2014 barring federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers has been well documented. But the lawsuit, which explicitly claims anti-LGBT discrimination occurred at the company, hasn’t received much attention.</p>
<p>Freedom to Work, an LGBT group that lobbied President Obama to sign his executive order barring anti-LGBT discrimination among federal contractors, filed <a href="" type="internal">the complaint</a> in 2013 against the oil-and-gas giant with the Illinois Human Rights Commission <a href="" type="internal">alleging the company violated a 2005 state law prohibiting anti-LGBT discrimination.</a></p>
<p>The basis of the lawsuit is resume audit testing in which Freedom to Work sent two fictitious resumes to the company for the same job in Illinois. One was from a more qualified applicant who outed herself as LGBT by noting work at the Gay &amp; Lesbian Victory Fund; the other was a less qualified applicant who gave no indication about her sexual orientation or gender identity. The less qualified straight applicant received multiple call backs, the more qualified LGBT applicant did not.</p>
<p>Over the course of initial proceedings before the Illinois Department of Human Rights, Dona Steadman, an ExxonMobil human resources adviser, denied sexual orientation was a factor in the hiring decision. She testified she selected in the initial screening process 35 applicants out of the 51 who applied by “looking at their experience, not their volunteer work and their education.”</p>
<p>Nonetheless, in January 2015, the Illinois Department of Human Rights <a href="" type="internal">announced</a> it found “ <a href="" type="internal">substantial evidence</a>” of anti-gay discrimination at ExxonMobil and enough for the case “to be heard before a trier of fact so that credibility can be determined.” That finding prompted Freedom to Work to file a complaint before the Illinois Human Rights Commission, where the litigation remains ongoing.</p>
<p>Mike Theodore, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Human Rights, confirmed for the Washington Blade late Monday “the matter is still pending before the Illinois Human Rights Commission,” but didn’t have any information on when it would be resolved.</p>
<p>The initial goal of the complaint was to compel ExxonMobil to adopt a non-discrimination policy for the LGBT employees and job applicants and to educate its managers and workforce on ensuring workers or potential workers aren’t subject to anti-LGBT discrimination.</p>
<p>At the time, ExxonMobil lacked such an explicit policy as part of its standards of conduct. In fact, shareholders of ExxonMobil consistently rejected LGBT non-discrimination at its annual meetings. In 2014, the rejection of one proposal sponsored by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who represented New York’s share in ExxonMobil, marked the 17th time ExxonMobil turned down LGBT non-discrimination protections.</p>
<p>It wasn’t until Obama signed an executive order barring federal contractors from engaging in anti-LGBT employment discrimination that ExxonMobil adopted for its workers an LGBT non-discrimination policy. The company&#160;has accrued more than $1 billion in federal contracts over the past decade.</p>
<p>With the LGBT non-discrimination policy in place at ExxonMobil, the lawsuit after the initial findings by the Illinois Department of Human Rights has taken on a goal of payment of legal expenses and affirmation the LGBT non-discrimination rule is enforced, but that would still require a finding of guilt as a result of the lawsuit from the Illinois Human Rights Commission.</p>
<p>ExxonMobil didn’t respond to repeated requests from the Washington Blade on Tuesday to comment on the ongoing case or any expectation for when it will be resolved. Neither Freedom to Work, nor the attorney that represented the organization in the case, Peter Romer-Friedman of Outten &amp; Golden LLP, could immediately be reached.</p>
<p>At one point, ExxonMobil had an unprecedented score of “-25” on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for its anti-LGBT policies. The company now scores “85” in 2017 after having adopted its LGBT non-discrimination rule and other policies. In 2013, ExxonMobil adopted spousal health and pension benefits for its employees in a same-sex marriage after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act.</p>
<p>Rena McDonald, a Las Vegas-based attorney and member of the LGBT workplace equality group <a href="http://www.executivepride.org/" type="external">Executive Pride</a>, said the anti-gay policies of Tillerson are “further emphasized” by the Illinois finding “Exxon discriminated against a potential new hire who was better qualified for a position, simply because of their affiliations with the gay community.”</p>
<p>“Trump’s choice of Rex Tillerson as the secretary of state should be a serious concern for Americans worried about Equal Rights for all employees,” McDonald said. “Even though the LGBTQ community has made great strides in securing equal rights in other areas, the workplace remains an environment where discrimination not only still exists, but is legal in most states. This creates a hostile environment where you can now get married and then be legally fired for it.”</p>
<p>The Trump transition team didn’t respond to the Blade’s request for comment on whether the history of the anti-LGBT policy at ExxonMobil or the pending lawsuit filed by Freedom to Work predicts Tillerson would be hostile to LGBT rights as secretary of state.</p>
<p>Richard Johnson, a <a href="http://onlinempadegree.usfca.edu/mpa-degree/faculty/dr-richard-greggory-johnson-iii/" type="external">professor of public administration at the University of San Francisco</a>, said the appointment of Tillerson as secretary of state with a lawsuit against his company alleging anti-gay discrimination “is lunacy and could provide long-term problems.”</p>
<p>“Though Exxon has a new set of LGBT protections, it is not clear as to the role Tillerson played in this new outcome for Exxon, or its motivations,” Johnson said. “The new secretary of state will have an active role in helping to shape foreign policy, especially on LGBT rights worldwide. I am not confident that Rex Tillerson will be the person to stand up to countries where a person can be imprisoned or killed for being LGBT. Indeed, his track record on stopping human rights violations is dubious at best.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">ExxonMobil</a> <a href="" type="internal">Freedom to Work</a> <a href="" type="internal">Rex Tillerson</a> <a href="" type="internal">Richard Johnson</a> <a href="" type="internal">University of San Francisco</a></p>
| false | 3 |
illinois department human rights found substantial evidence antigay discrimination exxonmobilphoto exxon sign ildar sagdejev photo mobil sign terence ong courtesy wikimedia commons presidentelect donald trump tapped secretary state rex tillerson ceo exxonmobil company faces lawsuit accusing it160of antigay discrimination hiring practices exxonmobils resistance adopt lgbt nondiscrimination protections president obama signed executive order 2014 barring federal contractors discriminating lgbt workers well documented lawsuit explicitly claims antilgbt discrimination occurred company hasnt received much attention freedom work lgbt group lobbied president obama sign executive order barring antilgbt discrimination among federal contractors filed complaint 2013 oilandgas giant illinois human rights commission alleging company violated 2005 state law prohibiting antilgbt discrimination basis lawsuit resume audit testing freedom work sent two fictitious resumes company job illinois one qualified applicant outed lgbt noting work gay amp lesbian victory fund less qualified applicant gave indication sexual orientation gender identity less qualified straight applicant received multiple call backs qualified lgbt applicant course initial proceedings illinois department human rights dona steadman exxonmobil human resources adviser denied sexual orientation factor hiring decision testified selected initial screening process 35 applicants 51 applied looking experience volunteer work education nonetheless january 2015 illinois department human rights announced found substantial evidence antigay discrimination exxonmobil enough case heard trier fact credibility determined finding prompted freedom work file complaint illinois human rights commission litigation remains ongoing mike theodore spokesperson illinois department human rights confirmed washington blade late monday matter still pending illinois human rights commission didnt information would resolved initial goal complaint compel exxonmobil adopt nondiscrimination policy lgbt employees job applicants educate managers workforce ensuring workers potential workers arent subject antilgbt discrimination time exxonmobil lacked explicit policy part standards conduct fact shareholders exxonmobil consistently rejected lgbt nondiscrimination annual meetings 2014 rejection one proposal sponsored new york state comptroller thomas dinapoli represented new yorks share exxonmobil marked 17th time exxonmobil turned lgbt nondiscrimination protections wasnt obama signed executive order barring federal contractors engaging antilgbt employment discrimination exxonmobil adopted workers lgbt nondiscrimination policy company160has accrued 1 billion federal contracts past decade lgbt nondiscrimination policy place exxonmobil lawsuit initial findings illinois department human rights taken goal payment legal expenses affirmation lgbt nondiscrimination rule enforced would still require finding guilt result lawsuit illinois human rights commission exxonmobil didnt respond repeated requests washington blade tuesday comment ongoing case expectation resolved neither freedom work attorney represented organization case peter romerfriedman outten amp golden llp could immediately reached one point exxonmobil unprecedented score 25 human rights campaigns corporate equality index antilgbt policies company scores 85 2017 adopted lgbt nondiscrimination rule policies 2013 exxonmobil adopted spousal health pension benefits employees samesex marriage us supreme courts ruling antigay defense marriage act rena mcdonald las vegasbased attorney member lgbt workplace equality group executive pride said antigay policies tillerson emphasized illinois finding exxon discriminated potential new hire better qualified position simply affiliations gay community trumps choice rex tillerson secretary state serious concern americans worried equal rights employees mcdonald said even though lgbtq community made great strides securing equal rights areas workplace remains environment discrimination still exists legal states creates hostile environment get married legally fired trump transition team didnt respond blades request comment whether history antilgbt policy exxonmobil pending lawsuit filed freedom work predicts tillerson would hostile lgbt rights secretary state richard johnson professor public administration university san francisco said appointment tillerson secretary state lawsuit company alleging antigay discrimination lunacy could provide longterm problems though exxon new set lgbt protections clear role tillerson played new outcome exxon motivations johnson said new secretary state active role helping shape foreign policy especially lgbt rights worldwide confident rex tillerson person stand countries person imprisoned killed lgbt indeed track record stopping human rights violations dubious best exxonmobil freedom work rex tillerson richard johnson university san francisco
| 614 |
<p>By Jeff Brumley</p>
<p>Alan Rudnick never was a fan of bringing phones into church sanctuaries and never did so himself — until about a year ago.</p>
<p>That’s when he discovered bona fide uses for electronic devices during worship services at First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa, N.Y., where he is the pastor:</p>
<p>• Capture and upload to the Internet video of visiting missionaries.</p>
<p>• Allow a worshipper to post a quotation from a sermon that struck home.&#160;</p>
<p>• Multiply the number of people able to fellowship with the community, albeit electronically.</p>
<p>So, at the Ballston Spa church, as in thousands of others nationwide, the use of electronic devices not only is allowed, but also encouraged. Rudnick believes it’s about time.</p>
<p>“I’m a modern person with a cell phone, and I get the whole tech thing,” the American Baptist minister said. “I figured out there were enough people in our congregation who are going to connect with what I am doing and be able to interact.”</p>
<p>It’s in the numbers</p>
<p>Mobile phone statistics indicate their use in cars, planes and houses of worship is all but inevitable. The numbers and the way phones are being used spell that out.</p>
<p>“Fully 91 percent of American adults own a cell phone, and many use the devices for much more than phone calls,” according to a September 2013 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.&#160;</p>
<p>Other uses include text messaging (81 percent), Internet access (60 percent), sending and receiving e-mail (52 percent) and downloading apps (50 percent), the <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Cell-Activities.aspx" type="external">survey</a> found.&#160;</p>
<p>More research from the Pew project found a generational factor to be considered in any policies around cell phones and smartphones.</p>
<p>A previous study showed 49 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 own smartphones, and it increases to 58 percent for Americans ages 25 to 34.</p>
<p>‘It’s going to happen’</p>
<p>People bothered by the existence of cell phones in the pews must realize there’s really no going back, said South Carolina-based church consultant, blogger and author George Bullard. Churches with no-cell-phone policies “have their head in the sand,” he said.</p>
<p>Churches make a mistake when they deny worshipers access to the gadgets they have come to live with and use for daily communication, said Bullard, president of the Columbia Partnership. “Those who are trying to reach the younger generations, they realize it’s going to happen,” he said.</p>
<p>It’s not about being techy for the sake of being techy, Bullard insisted. Some people use their phones or tablets to give an offering online and will do so during the normal collection time.</p>
<p>“It allows them to actively participate in the offering, even though they are not going to put anything in the offering plate,” he said.</p>
<p>Bible apps, posting attendance</p>
<p>Many worshippers use mobile phones and tablets to access Bible apps to follow along with Scripture readings. Some use the devices to take notes on the sermon.</p>
<p>Churches have discovered other practical uses. Church nurseries no longer need to issue pagers to parents but simply text them on their cell phones when issues arise.</p>
<p>Increasingly, preachers urge members to post their whereabouts and meaningful sermon passages to social media, Bullard said.</p>
<p>“I have suggested there ought to be a 17-year-old-kid in the control booth texting the pastor’s sermon,” Bullard added. “And I would say, ‘Everybody get out your phone and check in that you’re here in worship.’”</p>
<p>‘We have to be cognizant’</p>
<p>Churches’ resistance to the use of smartphones is declining. Consider Westminster Presbyterian Church in Burbank, Calif., which posted a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2_c81Nnsc0" type="external">video</a> in 2011 prohibiting electronic devices in services.The light-hearted video threatens fines if the devices ring during worship — and damnation if a cell phone causes a disturbance during the sermon.</p>
<p>“We always try to do things a little twisted,” Pastor Paul Clairville said about the tongue-in-cheek video.</p>
<p>Clairville said the 1-minute video is meant as a friendly reminder to prevent ringers from interrupting the flow of services — not dissuade them from using devices to interact with worship.</p>
<p>“The cell phone has become absolutely ubiquitous,” he said. “It’s one of those things we have to be cognizant of.”</p>
<p>People often post to the church Facebook page during worship, and younger people, especially, are capable of using the devices and following readings and sermons simultaneously.</p>
<p>“With cell phones, we are extending the community — assuming it’s not just surfing the Net,” Clairville said.</p>
<p>‘I want my friends to know’</p>
<p>As the owner and publisher of a website and magazine for families, Colleen Pierre relies heavily on her gadgets and social media to connect with community leaders, readers, contributors and others to keep her business going. She’s glad her church and pastor take the same approach in reaching out to members and potential members.</p>
<p>So for Pierre, 32, sitting in the pew at First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa, means taking pictures or video now and then or posting updates on social media.</p>
<p>She’s even been known to whip the phone out while singing in the choir.</p>
<p>“I want my friends to know what the church means to me and that it’s a strong part of my value system,” said the mother of two, who runs the Saratoga Mama online and print publication.</p>
<p>Complaints, distractions</p>
<p>Rudnick hasn’t received many complaints since his church crossed the digital divide by embracing smartphones and other devices in worship.</p>
<p>Nor is he concerned about the possibility that some people in the pews may be playing games, texting friends or sending e-mails about nonchurch topics.&#160;</p>
<p>Christians long have used pencil and paper to jot down grocery lists and doodle during sermons, he said. Churchgoers also have been known to sleep through services — long before there were smartphones to distract them.</p>
<p>Either way, the benefits outweigh any negatives, Rudnick said.</p>
<p>“We have to remember that, as long as we don’t make it a gimmick, it’s just another form of communicating the gospel and interacting with the gospel,” he said.</p>
| false | 3 |
jeff brumley alan rudnick never fan bringing phones church sanctuaries never year ago thats discovered bona fide uses electronic devices worship services first baptist church ballston spa ny pastor capture upload internet video visiting missionaries allow worshipper post quotation sermon struck home160 multiply number people able fellowship community albeit electronically ballston spa church thousands others nationwide use electronic devices allowed also encouraged rudnick believes time im modern person cell phone get whole tech thing american baptist minister said figured enough people congregation going connect able interact numbers mobile phone statistics indicate use cars planes houses worship inevitable numbers way phones used spell fully 91 percent american adults cell phone many use devices much phone calls according september 2013 study pew internet american life project160 uses include text messaging 81 percent internet access 60 percent sending receiving email 52 percent downloading apps 50 percent survey found160 research pew project found generational factor considered policies around cell phones smartphones previous study showed 49 percent americans ages 18 24 smartphones increases 58 percent americans ages 25 34 going happen people bothered existence cell phones pews must realize theres really going back said south carolinabased church consultant blogger author george bullard churches nocellphone policies head sand said churches make mistake deny worshipers access gadgets come live use daily communication said bullard president columbia partnership trying reach younger generations realize going happen said techy sake techy bullard insisted people use phones tablets give offering online normal collection time allows actively participate offering even though going put anything offering plate said bible apps posting attendance many worshippers use mobile phones tablets access bible apps follow along scripture readings use devices take notes sermon churches discovered practical uses church nurseries longer need issue pagers parents simply text cell phones issues arise increasingly preachers urge members post whereabouts meaningful sermon passages social media bullard said suggested ought 17yearoldkid control booth texting pastors sermon bullard added would say everybody get phone check youre worship cognizant churches resistance use smartphones declining consider westminster presbyterian church burbank calif posted video 2011 prohibiting electronic devices servicesthe lighthearted video threatens fines devices ring worship damnation cell phone causes disturbance sermon always try things little twisted pastor paul clairville said tongueincheek video clairville said 1minute video meant friendly reminder prevent ringers interrupting flow services dissuade using devices interact worship cell phone become absolutely ubiquitous said one things cognizant people often post church facebook page worship younger people especially capable using devices following readings sermons simultaneously cell phones extending community assuming surfing net clairville said want friends know owner publisher website magazine families colleen pierre relies heavily gadgets social media connect community leaders readers contributors others keep business going shes glad church pastor take approach reaching members potential members pierre 32 sitting pew first baptist church ballston spa means taking pictures video posting updates social media shes even known whip phone singing choir want friends know church means strong part value system said mother two runs saratoga mama online print publication complaints distractions rudnick hasnt received many complaints since church crossed digital divide embracing smartphones devices worship concerned possibility people pews may playing games texting friends sending emails nonchurch topics160 christians long used pencil paper jot grocery lists doodle sermons said churchgoers also known sleep services long smartphones distract either way benefits outweigh negatives rudnick said remember long dont make gimmick another form communicating gospel interacting gospel said
| 563 |
<p>Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia is mere months away from assuming the chairmanship of the Legislative Women’s Caucus.&#160;</p>
<p>While her ascendancy will need to be formalized with a vote of caucus members after November’s election, the vice chair, which Garcia is, has almost always become chair. The position already wields great power from its bully pulpit, but the bipartisan caucus appears set for a makeover after November sweeps in a large voting bloc of Democratic women to consolidate power in the Assembly.</p>
<p>Exactly how many women is unknown until the votes are counted. But a&#160;conservative estimate, based on a CalWatchdog analysis, suggests Democratic women will likely occupy between 16 and 28 seats in the Legislature next session, compared to 19 now.</p>
<p>The biggest gains will be in the Assembly where Democratic women could control at least&#160;25 percent of the votes, with Garcia taking&#160;a lead role in the recruitment efforts.</p>
<p>In the four years since being elected — and after surviving&#160;a sharp learning curve having come from no background in elected office — the Bell Gardens Democrat rose in stature&#160;by&#160;focusing largely on ethics and women’s issues, with a knack for forcing to the forefront what she says are taboo topics.</p>
<p>Garcia made recent headlines for calling out a male colleague accused of domestic violence and for championing a bill&#160; <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB701" type="external">redefining rape</a> in the aftermath of the controversial sentencing of a former Stanford swimmer who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman and another&#160; <a href="" type="internal">eliminating sales tax on tampons and other feminine hygiene products</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Both bills passed the Legislature and await a final decision from Gov. Jerry Brown. But to her, the legislative victories are just as important as the cultural changes.&#160;</p>
<p>“I’ve been talking about periods the whole year,” Garcia told CalWatchdog in August over ice cream in Sacramento. “Why does it have to be taboo? It’s women’s health.”</p>
<p>One of Garcia’s biggest goals with the women’s caucus outside of policy will be to build a bench of viable Democratic women candidates, particularly women of color, to compete for governor. There are&#160;only 11 women of color in the Legislature at the moment (several of whom are termed out in November), but many of the presumptive newcomers&#160;are Latinas. &#160;</p>
<p>There’s no reason the first female&#160;governor in the state’s history would need to come through the Legislature, but it’s not a bad launch pad. Garcia didn’t dispel the notion she may make a&#160;run for governor at some point, but she said she’s satisfied doing what it takes to&#160;make a female Democratic governor possible.&#160;</p>
<p>“If we don’t have a farm, we’re never going to climb,” Garcia said. “The men aren’t doing it for us, so we have to do it for ourselves.”</p>
<p>The 2018 gubernatorial field is quickly filling with men, so Garcia is looking to future elections to break the glass ceiling. Garcia knows gubernatorial candidates will want the women’s caucus’ support, but it would come with a price.</p>
<p>“I’ll help you now because I want something later,” Garcia said. “And that something is a woman governor after you.”</p>
<p>In 2012, the&#160;unassuming math teacher was sent to Sacramento by voters in an underprivileged&#160;district in southeastern Los Angeles County — her only prior political experience was forming a community group in response to widespread corruption in Bell Gardens.</p>
<p>In her first primary, she bested a member of a political dynasty, then-former Assemblyman Tom Calderon. After defeating Calderon, she handily beat her Republican opponent in the general election and has run officially unopposed ever since.</p>
<p>Garcia is quick to condemn what she sees as immoral or unethical actions. A few months ago, she was <a href="" type="internal">one of the first</a>&#160;legislators to demand the resignation of&#160;fellow Democratic Assemblyman Roger Hernandez after allegations of domestic violence surfaced.</p>
<p>In 2013, she was <a href="http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/11/calderon-lashes-out-at-garcia-says-all-politicians-live-in-glass-houses.html" type="external">the first sitting legislator</a>&#160;to speak out and organize protests against Ron Calderon, a sitting senator,&#160;calling for his resignation after allegations surfaced the FBI suspected him of bribery. Calderon&#160;would later&#160;plead guilty to mail fraud, while his brother, Tom (Garcia’s former opponent), pleaded guilty to money laundering.</p>
<p>When the <a href="http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/02/sacramento-lobbyist-kevin-sloat-faces-133500-fppc-fine.html" type="external">Kevin Sloat lobbying scandal</a> ripped through the Legislature, Garcia responded with a&#160; <a href="http://asmdc.org/members/a58/news-room/press-releases/governor-signs-measures-in-assemblymember-garcia-s-ethics-reform-package" type="external">sweeping ethics package</a>. And currently <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-overhaul-of-controversial-l-a-county-1472067704-htmlstory.html" type="external">waiting for Gov. Brown’s signature</a> is a measure to overhaul the Central Basin Municipal Water District amid allegations of wrongdoing.&#160;</p>
<p>But Garcia has had her own ethical faux pas. During her first run for the Assembly, she claimed she had a Ph.D. when she had only completed coursework. She has since <a href="http://www.loscerritosnews.net/2012/10/11/assembly-hopeful-cristina-garcia-admits-not-having-doctoral-credentials-seeks-forgiveness-from-voters/" type="external">admitted the mistake</a>&#160;and will defend her dissertation in December.</p>
<p>Above all, Garcia’s&#160;time as&#160;chair will be about women and women’s issues, and she’ll have tremendous influence over the legislative focus of the caucus. Her recruitment efforts with the 2016 crop of women candidates will engender a base of loyalists.&#160;</p>
<p>Garcia plans to personally push for early childhood education, but rather than having members support the caucus’ agenda, Garcia plans to have the caucus support members’ agendas — hence the emphasis on electing more Democratic women.</p>
<p>Naturally, Democratic women are more likely to stick together than a bipartisan group would. Plus, Republican women in the Legislature will drop from 12 seats to between five and eight.</p>
<p>Garcia understands power in the Legislature is held in numbers — the tighter and larger the voting bloc, the better — and wants to use it to enable women to accomplish their goals.</p>
<p>“We just have to prop each other up,” Garcia said. “Hold our votes together to push our stuff forward, and hold our votes together to hold things hostage when our stuff is not being taken seriously.”</p>
| false | 3 |
assemblywoman cristina garcia mere months away assuming chairmanship legislative womens caucus160 ascendancy need formalized vote caucus members novembers election vice chair garcia almost always become chair position already wields great power bully pulpit bipartisan caucus appears set makeover november sweeps large voting bloc democratic women consolidate power assembly exactly many women unknown votes counted a160conservative estimate based calwatchdog analysis suggests democratic women likely occupy 16 28 seats legislature next session compared 19 biggest gains assembly democratic women could control least16025 percent votes garcia taking160a lead role recruitment efforts four years since elected surviving160a sharp learning curve come background elected office bell gardens democrat rose stature160by160focusing largely ethics womens issues knack forcing forefront says taboo topics garcia made recent headlines calling male colleague accused domestic violence championing bill160 redefining rape aftermath controversial sentencing former stanford swimmer sexually assaulted unconscious woman another160 eliminating sales tax tampons feminine hygiene products160 bills passed legislature await final decision gov jerry brown legislative victories important cultural changes160 ive talking periods whole year garcia told calwatchdog august ice cream sacramento taboo womens health one garcias biggest goals womens caucus outside policy build bench viable democratic women candidates particularly women color compete governor are160only 11 women color legislature moment several termed november many presumptive newcomers160are latinas 160 theres reason first female160governor states history would need come legislature bad launch pad garcia didnt dispel notion may make a160run governor point said shes satisfied takes to160make female democratic governor possible160 dont farm never going climb garcia said men arent us 2018 gubernatorial field quickly filling men garcia looking future elections break glass ceiling garcia knows gubernatorial candidates want womens caucus support would come price ill help want something later garcia said something woman governor 2012 the160unassuming math teacher sent sacramento voters underprivileged160district southeastern los angeles county prior political experience forming community group response widespread corruption bell gardens first primary bested member political dynasty thenformer assemblyman tom calderon defeating calderon handily beat republican opponent general election run officially unopposed ever since garcia quick condemn sees immoral unethical actions months ago one first160legislators demand resignation of160fellow democratic assemblyman roger hernandez allegations domestic violence surfaced 2013 first sitting legislator160to speak organize protests ron calderon sitting senator160calling resignation allegations surfaced fbi suspected bribery calderon160would later160plead guilty mail fraud brother tom garcias former opponent pleaded guilty money laundering kevin sloat lobbying scandal ripped legislature garcia responded a160 sweeping ethics package currently waiting gov browns signature measure overhaul central basin municipal water district amid allegations wrongdoing160 garcia ethical faux pas first run assembly claimed phd completed coursework since admitted mistake160and defend dissertation december garcias160time as160chair women womens issues shell tremendous influence legislative focus caucus recruitment efforts 2016 crop women candidates engender base loyalists160 garcia plans personally push early childhood education rather members support caucus agenda garcia plans caucus support members agendas hence emphasis electing democratic women naturally democratic women likely stick together bipartisan group would plus republican women legislature drop 12 seats five eight garcia understands power legislature held numbers tighter larger voting bloc better wants use enable women accomplish goals prop garcia said hold votes together push stuff forward hold votes together hold things hostage stuff taken seriously
| 523 |
<p>Two years ago last month, I filed a public&#160;records request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of my reporting into the flawed response to Hurricane Sandy. Then, I waited.</p>
<p>The Freedom of Information Act requires a response within 20 business days, but agencies routinely blow that deadline. Eight months later, ProPublica and NPR published&#160; <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-red-cross-secret-disaster" type="external">our investigation</a>&#160;into the Sandy response, but it did not include any documents from FEMA. The agency had simply never gotten back to me.</p>
<p>Finally, this Feb. 10 — 492 business days past the law's 20-day deadline — I got a curious phone call from FEMA. The agency was starting a "clean search" for the documents I asked for, because the original search "was not done properly."</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>"I wish I had the answer," the staffer told me. "There are quite a few cases that this happened to."</p>
<p>Documents are the lifeblood of investigative journalism, but these problems aren't of interest only to reporters. The Freedom of Information Act is supposed to deliver on the idea of a government "for and by the people," whose documents are our documents. The ability to get information from the government is essential to holding the people in power accountable. This summer will mark the 50th anniversary of the law, which has been essential in disclosing&#160; <a href="https://www.thetorturedatabase.org/search/apachesolr_search" type="external">the torture of detainees after 9/11</a>, decades of&#160; <a href="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/index.htm" type="external">misdeeds by the CIA</a>, FBI informants who were&#160; <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/04/fbi-informant-crimes-report/2613305/" type="external">allowed to break the law</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="http://www.sunshineingovernment.org/stories/index.php" type="external">hundreds of other stories</a>.</p>
<p>President Obama himself waxed poetic about FOIA on his first full day in office in 2009, issuing a statement calling it "the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government." He promised that his would be "the most transparent administration in history."</p>
<p>But Obama hasn't delivered. In fact, FOIA has been a&#160; <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/obama-administration-sets-new-record-withholding-foia-requests/" type="external">disaster</a>&#160; <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2012/03/obamas-transparency-stumbles-073606?paginate=false" type="external">under</a>&#160; <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/03/barack_obama_promised_transparency_the_white_house_is_as_opaque_secretive.single.html" type="external">his watch</a>.</p>
<p>Newly uncovered documents ( <a href="https://freedom.press/blog/2016/03/new-documents-show-obama-admin-aggressively-lobbied-kill-transparency-reform-congress" type="external">made public only through a FOIA lawsuit</a>) show the Obama administration aggressively lobbying against reforms proposed in Congress. The Associated Press&#160; <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/obama-administration-sets-new-record-withholding-foia-requests/" type="external">found</a>&#160;last year that the administration had set a record for censoring or denying access to information requested under FOIA, and that the backlog of unanswered requests across the government had risen by 55 percent, to more than 200,000.</p>
<p>The Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee looked into the state of the public-records law and in January issued a report with a simple, devastating title: " <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2753220-FINAL-FOIA-Report-January-2016.html" type="external">FOIA Is Broken</a>."</p>
<p>Incredibly, it took my ProPublica colleague Michael Grabell&#160; <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/tsa-releases-data-on-air-marshal-misconduct-7-years-after-we-asked" type="external">more than seven years</a>&#160;to get records about air marshal misconduct from the Transportation Security Administration. As he pointed out, his latest contact in the FOIA office was still in high school when Grabell filed his initial request.</p>
<p>After a reporter at NBC4 in Washington sought files related to the 2013 Navy Yard shooting, Navy officials&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/08/us-navy-email-foia_n_4564068.html" type="external">actively strategized</a>&#160;about how to thwart the request. The Navy only apologized after it mistakenly forwarded its internal email traffic to the reporter.</p>
<p>When a Mexican journalist asked the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2014 for files related to its role in the capture of drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the agency sent a letter back&#160; <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dea-demands-1.4-million-on-foia-for-docs-detailing-mexican-drug-kingpins-arrest/article/2560105" type="external">demanding $1.4 million</a>&#160;in fees to search its records.</p>
<p>"There's a leadership void that has gotten worse," veteran FOIA lawyer Scott Hodes told me. "It's not treated as an important thing within the administration."</p>
<p>Why is the law failing so badly after all the promises about transparency? My experience and the experience of other journalists suggests the reason is twofold: incompetence and neglect.</p>
<p>When I probed a bit more into what had gone wrong at FEMA, the agency's entire FOIA apparatus started to look like a Potemkin village of open government. The FOIA staff was never trained properly, a FEMA spokesman told me. Of 16 positions in the office, eight have long been vacant for reasons that are not entirely clear. The backlog of requests at FEMA has ballooned to 1,500. That's more than double what it was less than two years ago.</p>
<p>Spokesman Rafael Lemaitre promised that the backlog was "frankly unacceptable to senior leadership here at FEMA, who have been aware of the problems and are taking actions to correct it."</p>
<p>"Obviously the Freedom of Information Act is a very vital resource for taxpayers," Lemaitre said. "Frankly, we haven't done a very good job of fulfilling that promise."</p>
<p>Over the past two years, whenever I periodically called or emailed for updates, agency staffers either ignored me, said their systems weren't working or told me they didn't have any new information.</p>
<p>My request outlasted the tenure of my original contact in the FOIA office. When I called 14 months into the process, I was told she had left the agency — fair enough, as people change jobs all the time. But my request had apparently not been handed off to anyone else. No one seemed to know what was going on.</p>
<p>Last year, the federal FOIA ombudsman found that FEMA took an average of&#160; <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2753217-FEMA-FOIA-Compliance-Report-18-SEPT-2015.html" type="external">214 days</a>&#160;to process complex FOIA requests, the third-worst in the Department of Homeland Security. (That compares to an average processing time for complex requests of <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2755250-Fy-2014-Annual-FOIA-Report-Summary.html" type="external">119 days</a> across the rest of the government.) "A lack of responsiveness prompted lawsuits that cost the agency a bunch of money," said James Holzer, the head of the ombudsman's office, who praised FEMA officials for at least recognizing the problem.</p>
<p>A hiring freeze at the agency after&#160; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/02/20/the-sequester-absolutely-everything-you-could-possibly-need-to-know-in-one-faq/" type="external">sequestration</a>&#160;didn't help matters. But officials told Holzer's investigators last year that the eight long-vacant positions in the public records office would be filled as early as last fall. Today, those jobs remain empty. The FEMA spokesman didn't have an explanation for what's taking so long.</p>
<p>When I tried to find out whether anyone had been held responsible for the fiasco, I didn't find much more transparency. "I cannot discuss any personnel issues, unfortunately," the spokesman told me.</p>
<p>Has the agency at least set a specific goal for when it will get through its backlog? "Our target is to get these cleared as quickly as possible — I don't have a date for you."</p>
<p>ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for their <a href="http://www.propublica.org/forms/newsletter_daily_email" type="external">newsletter</a>.</p>
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two years ago last month filed public160records request federal emergency management agency part reporting flawed response hurricane sandy waited freedom information act requires response within 20 business days agencies routinely blow deadline eight months later propublica npr published160 investigation160into sandy response include documents fema agency simply never gotten back finally feb 10 492 business days past laws 20day deadline got curious phone call fema agency starting clean search documents asked original search done properly wish answer staffer told quite cases happened documents lifeblood investigative journalism problems arent interest reporters freedom information act supposed deliver idea government people whose documents documents ability get information government essential holding people power accountable summer mark 50th anniversary law essential disclosing160 torture detainees 911 decades of160 misdeeds cia fbi informants were160 allowed break law160and160 hundreds stories president obama waxed poetic foia first full day office 2009 issuing statement calling prominent expression profound national commitment ensuring open government promised would transparent administration history obama hasnt delivered fact foia a160 disaster160 under160 watch newly uncovered documents made public foia lawsuit show obama administration aggressively lobbying reforms proposed congress associated press160 found160last year administration set record censoring denying access information requested foia backlog unanswered requests across government risen 55 percent 200000 republicanled house oversight government reform committee looked state publicrecords law january issued report simple devastating title foia broken incredibly took propublica colleague michael grabell160 seven years160to get records air marshal misconduct transportation security administration pointed latest contact foia office still high school grabell filed initial request reporter nbc4 washington sought files related 2013 navy yard shooting navy officials160 actively strategized160about thwart request navy apologized mistakenly forwarded internal email traffic reporter mexican journalist asked drug enforcement administration 2014 files related role capture drug lord joaquín el chapo guzmán agency sent letter back160 demanding 14 million160in fees search records theres leadership void gotten worse veteran foia lawyer scott hodes told treated important thing within administration law failing badly promises transparency experience experience journalists suggests reason twofold incompetence neglect probed bit gone wrong fema agencys entire foia apparatus started look like potemkin village open government foia staff never trained properly fema spokesman told 16 positions office eight long vacant reasons entirely clear backlog requests fema ballooned 1500 thats double less two years ago spokesman rafael lemaitre promised backlog frankly unacceptable senior leadership fema aware problems taking actions correct obviously freedom information act vital resource taxpayers lemaitre said frankly havent done good job fulfilling promise past two years whenever periodically called emailed updates agency staffers either ignored said systems werent working told didnt new information request outlasted tenure original contact foia office called 14 months process told left agency fair enough people change jobs time request apparently handed anyone else one seemed know going last year federal foia ombudsman found fema took average of160 214 days160to process complex foia requests thirdworst department homeland security compares average processing time complex requests 119 days across rest government lack responsiveness prompted lawsuits cost agency bunch money said james holzer head ombudsmans office praised fema officials least recognizing problem hiring freeze agency after160 sequestration160didnt help matters officials told holzers investigators last year eight longvacant positions public records office would filled early last fall today jobs remain empty fema spokesman didnt explanation whats taking long tried find whether anyone held responsible fiasco didnt find much transparency discuss personnel issues unfortunately spokesman told agency least set specific goal get backlog target get cleared quickly possible dont date propublica pulitzer prizewinning investigative newsroom sign newsletter
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<p>Bold plan or political gambit?</p>
<p>Gov. Rod Blagojevich unleashed a storm of controversy when he unveiled his scheme to sell the state’s lottery for $10 billion to raise more money for schools.</p>
<p>But the proposal seems to have alienated lawmakers as well as education activists, who are already dismissing it and looking toward the November midterm elections with the goal of reviving a push for school funding reform. (The veto session, set to begin a week after the elections, could include action on a school construction bill and Chicago school closings.)</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t want to see us selling a valuable asset the state owns,” says state Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline). The plan “is fraught with controversy, and I don’t think it will see the light of day.”</p>
<p>Besides the controversy, there is little historical precedent for the lottery sale. Only one state, Louisiana, has had its lottery system operated by a private company: In the 1800’s, the Louisiana Lottery Company operated nationwide for 22 years before being shut down due to corruption charges.</p>
<p>Blagojevich’s proposal has been tainted by suggestions that lottery company GTECH, whose Springfield lobbyist once worked for the governor, might be interested in the deal.</p>
<p>GTECH Corporation, a multinational company based in Rhode Island, provides online gaming technology, operates lotteries in the Caribbean and provides other gaming devices like slot machines and scratch-off tickets. The company already has a five-year contract with Illinois to provide Instant Lottery ticket machines.</p>
<p />
<p>In general, critics see the governor’s plan as nothing more than a political stunt to placate state Sen. James Meeks, who threatened Blagojevich with a third-party gubernatorial run. (Meeks—referring to the education initiatives that the governor tied to the lottery sale—said he told Blagojevich before the plan was announced, “You look me in straight in the eye and promise me we are going to do these things. He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘I can’t do them if I’m not re-elected.’ “)</p>
<p>A number of the initiatives, such as merit pay for teachers, have failed to gain traction with lawmakers in the past.</p>
<p>No solution to inequity</p>
<p>The $10 billion price tag is only about $1 billion more than the cost of running the state’s schools for a single year; the 2007 education budget is $8.7 billion.</p>
<p>House Speaker Michael Madigan and some Republicans have questioned how investment banking company Goldman Sachs reached its estimate of the lottery’s worth. The governor’s administration so far has declined to release the Goldman Sachs report.</p>
<p>Critics also point out that the governor’s plan does not include any provision for replacing the $10 billion once it runs out ($4 billion would go directly into schools for the first four years, with $6 billion invested in an annuity expected to generate $650 million a year through 2025). There is also no provision for replacing the lost revenue from lottery growth, which has averaged $27 million annually for each of the past five years, according to an analysis by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.</p>
<p>“Not only is the funding source not sustainable, it actually results in schools having less money over the long term,” says Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center.</p>
<p>Overall, activists note, the proposal does nothing to solve the inequities in Illinois school funding.</p>
<p>In the first year, $250 million would be spent to raise the foundation level, which may not even cover increased costs due to inflation, says Bindu Batchu, campaign manager for A+ Illinois, an umbrella organization for groups working on funding reform.</p>
<p>“It leaves schools treading water,” Batchu says. This year, the state raised per-pupil funding by $170 to $5,334. The state is still more than $1,000 shy of the $6,405 per-pupil funding level recommended by the Education Funding Advisory Board.</p>
<p>The board estimated an additional $2.2 billion is needed to reach its recommended goal.</p>
<p>All eyes on November</p>
<p>With the lottery proposal seemingly on a road to nowhere and the November elections on the horizon, education activists are working once again toward legislative reform of school funding.</p>
<p>To draw attention to the issue, several rallies are being planned for this fall, including a Sept. 12 rally organized by the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.</p>
<p>So far, neither Blagojevich nor Topinka have talked much about education, with the governor focusing on pushing his record of increasing per-pupil spending. Blagojevich also pushed through a $45 million universal preschool program, but failed to win enough GOP votes to pass a school construction bonding program.</p>
<p>Compromise on school closings?</p>
<p>On Nov. 14, legislators will return to Springfield for the veto session and, with the election out of the way, may revive a school construction bill.</p>
<p>There is also a slight chance that House Bill 2012, a bill that originally would have given voters a say in Chicago school closings, may come up for a vote in the Senate. Senate lawmakers essentially gutted the bill. Lawmakers intend to work out a compromise on closings with CPS before rewriting the bill.</p>
<p>The initial bill, crafted in response to widespread public outcry over closings, would have required CPS to follow these steps before shutting down schools:</p>
<p>* Announce school closings at least six months before the School Board vote.</p>
<p>* Hold three public hearings, in separate locations. If most of the testimony at the hearings is opposed to the closing, a federal mediator would be brought in to resolve the matter.</p>
<p>* If mediation does not resolve the dispute within 60 days, the closing would be submitted to voters in the school’s attendance area during the next regular election.</p>
<p>* If the closure is voted down, the board will be prohibited from shutting down the school during the current or following school year.</p>
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bold plan political gambit gov rod blagojevich unleashed storm controversy unveiled scheme sell states lottery 10 billion raise money schools proposal seems alienated lawmakers well education activists already dismissing looking toward november midterm elections goal reviving push school funding reform veto session set begin week elections could include action school construction bill chicago school closings wouldnt want see us selling valuable asset state owns says state sen mike jacobs deast moline plan fraught controversy dont think see light day besides controversy little historical precedent lottery sale one state louisiana lottery system operated private company 1800s louisiana lottery company operated nationwide 22 years shut due corruption charges blagojevichs proposal tainted suggestions lottery company gtech whose springfield lobbyist worked governor might interested deal gtech corporation multinational company based rhode island provides online gaming technology operates lotteries caribbean provides gaming devices like slot machines scratchoff tickets company already fiveyear contract illinois provide instant lottery ticket machines general critics see governors plan nothing political stunt placate state sen james meeks threatened blagojevich thirdparty gubernatorial run meeksreferring education initiatives governor tied lottery salesaid told blagojevich plan announced look straight eye promise going things looked straight eye said cant im reelected number initiatives merit pay teachers failed gain traction lawmakers past solution inequity 10 billion price tag 1 billion cost running states schools single year 2007 education budget 87 billion house speaker michael madigan republicans questioned investment banking company goldman sachs reached estimate lotterys worth governors administration far declined release goldman sachs report critics also point governors plan include provision replacing 10 billion runs 4 billion would go directly schools first four years 6 billion invested annuity expected generate 650 million year 2025 also provision replacing lost revenue lottery growth averaged 27 million annually past five years according analysis center tax budget accountability funding source sustainable actually results schools less money long term says ralph martire executive director center overall activists note proposal nothing solve inequities illinois school funding first year 250 million would spent raise foundation level may even cover increased costs due inflation says bindu batchu campaign manager illinois umbrella organization groups working funding reform leaves schools treading water batchu says year state raised perpupil funding 170 5334 state still 1000 shy 6405 perpupil funding level recommended education funding advisory board board estimated additional 22 billion needed reach recommended goal eyes november lottery proposal seemingly road nowhere november elections horizon education activists working toward legislative reform school funding draw attention issue several rallies planned fall including sept 12 rally organized rainbowpush coalition far neither blagojevich topinka talked much education governor focusing pushing record increasing perpupil spending blagojevich also pushed 45 million universal preschool program failed win enough gop votes pass school construction bonding program compromise school closings nov 14 legislators return springfield veto session election way may revive school construction bill also slight chance house bill 2012 bill originally would given voters say chicago school closings may come vote senate senate lawmakers essentially gutted bill lawmakers intend work compromise closings cps rewriting bill initial bill crafted response widespread public outcry closings would required cps follow steps shutting schools announce school closings least six months school board vote hold three public hearings separate locations testimony hearings opposed closing federal mediator would brought resolve matter mediation resolve dispute within 60 days closing would submitted voters schools attendance area next regular election closure voted board prohibited shutting school current following school year
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<p>Charlotte, N.C., won’t cave on its non-discrimination ordinance despite pressure over HB2. (Photo public domain)</p>
<p>Despite pressure from Gov. Pat McCrory and business groups seeking relief under economic pressure to North Carolina,&#160;Charlotte once again won’t act on a proposed compromise to undo its LGBT non-discrimination ordinance in exchange for&#160;repeal of the state’s anti-LGBT law.</p>
<p>Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, who in February&#160;led the Charlotte City Council in enacting the ordinance, said in a statement the council won’t act to&#160;rescind the ordinance during its evening meeting Monday, when observers speculated repeal might come up.</p>
<p>“The City of Charlotte continues its commitment to be a welcoming that honors and respects all people,” Roberts said. “We appreciate the state wanting to find a solution to the challenges we are facing and applaud the governor for recognizing the state should overturn&#160;HB2, which the state can do at any time without any action from the City of Charlotte. We are not prepared to add this item to our agenda this evening, however, we urge the state to take action as soon as possible and encourage continued dialogue with the broader community.”</p>
<p>The North Carolina Restaurant &amp; Lodging Association and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce&#160;urged Charlotte to undo its LGBT non-discrimination ordinance in exchange for legislative repeal of HB2. LGBT advocates said the proposed compromise was engineered by McCrory, who’s facing political backlash after signing HB2 into law. Urging&#160;Charlotte to hold firm, LGBT advocates renewed calls for McCrory and the state legislature to repeal HB2 on their own accord.</p>
<p>JoDee Winterhof, the Human Rights Campaign’s senior vice president of policy and political affairs,&#160;said in a statement Roberts “made it clear that the rights of LGBTQ people are not up for grabs, and that Charlotte won’t sell out our community.”</p>
<p>“Not only is this scheme to repeal Charlotte’s protections wrong, it won’t fix the problem,” Winterhof said. “The fact is, Gov.&#160;McCrory and his allies in the state legislature have had six months to fix the mess they’ve created, and they could repeal HB2 tomorrow without any action from Charlotte.”</p>
<p>It’s&#160;not the first&#160;time in which Charlotte was poised to act on a deal with the state legislature by undoing&#160;its non-discrimination ordinance in exchange for repeal of HB2. In May, Charlotte was prepared&#160;to act, but <a href="" type="internal">ultimately determined to keep the non-discrimination ordinance</a> in place.</p>
<p>Business organizations made a renewed push for a compromise&#160;as a result of continued economic damage to the state. Just last week, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Atlantic Coast Conference <a href="" type="internal">cancelled</a> championship games previously scheduled in North Carolina as a result of the anti-LGBT law.</p>
<p>Christopher Sgro, executive director of Equality North Carolina, said in a statement House Bill 2, not the ordinance, was to blame for the economic harm to the state.</p>
<p>“These ordinances are common sense local protections that actually create a competitive advantage for Charlotte,” Sgro said.&#160;“Instead of repealing HB2, Gov.&#160;McCrory is reprising his role as ‘blamer-in-chief.’ Not a single entity has left North Carolina because of the Charlotte ordinance — they’ve all left because of HB2. We all know what must be done – and that is to immediately repeal HB2.”</p>
<p>After Charlotte approved&#160;its non-discrimination in February, lawmakers in the state legislature called a special session to override&#160;the measure, stoking fears about the prohibition on discrimination against transgender people and saying it would enable men to enter women’s restrooms.</p>
<p>Over the course of single day, the legislature passed and Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law HB2, which blocked&#160;the Charlotte ordinance from taking effect and barred transgender people across the state from using the public restroom in schools and government buildings consistent with their gender identity.</p>
<p>The&#160;NCAA and ACC decisions to cancel games in the state were the latest in cancellation of events and business expansion in the state over the anti-LGBT law. Two Republicans who voted in favor of the law — State Rep. Gary Pendleton and State Rep. Tamara Barringer — are now calling for its repeal.&#160;Both Hillary Clinton and <a href="" type="internal">the White House</a> embraced the values with which the collegiate organizations decided to cancel events in North Carolina.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Targeted for defeat</a> by LGBT advocates for signing HB2 into law, McCrory is trailing in his bid to win re-election in a traditionally “red” state. Polls have shown most North Carolina oppose the anti-LGBT law and McCrory is trailing several digits behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper, who’s pledged to repeal HB2 and supports LGBT non-discrimination protections in his state.</p>
<p>After Roberts announced Charlotte won’t repeal its&#160;non-discrimination ordinance as part of compromise to repeal HB2, Cooper called on the legislature to convene a special session to take the anti-LGBT law off the books.</p>
<p>“The damage to our economy must be stopped and it is clear that full repeal of HB2 will accomplish this,” Cooper said. “The governor&#160;should call for a special session today. It’s time for the governor to be a leader, not a follower.”</p>
<p>The Washington Blade has placed a call in with the office of McCrory seeking comment on Charlotte’s refusal at this time to take up to rescind its LGBT non-discrimination ordinance in exchange for repeal of HB2.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">House Bill 2</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jennifer Roberts</a> <a href="" type="internal">North Carolina</a> <a href="" type="internal">Pat McCrory</a></p>
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charlotte nc wont cave nondiscrimination ordinance despite pressure hb2 photo public domain despite pressure gov pat mccrory business groups seeking relief economic pressure north carolina160charlotte wont act proposed compromise undo lgbt nondiscrimination ordinance exchange for160repeal states antilgbt law charlotte mayor jennifer roberts february160led charlotte city council enacting ordinance said statement council wont act to160rescind ordinance evening meeting monday observers speculated repeal might come city charlotte continues commitment welcoming honors respects people roberts said appreciate state wanting find solution challenges facing applaud governor recognizing state overturn160hb2 state time without action city charlotte prepared add item agenda evening however urge state take action soon possible encourage continued dialogue broader community north carolina restaurant amp lodging association charlotte chamber commerce160urged charlotte undo lgbt nondiscrimination ordinance exchange legislative repeal hb2 lgbt advocates said proposed compromise engineered mccrory whos facing political backlash signing hb2 law urging160charlotte hold firm lgbt advocates renewed calls mccrory state legislature repeal hb2 accord jodee winterhof human rights campaigns senior vice president policy political affairs160said statement roberts made clear rights lgbtq people grabs charlotte wont sell community scheme repeal charlottes protections wrong wont fix problem winterhof said fact gov160mccrory allies state legislature six months fix mess theyve created could repeal hb2 tomorrow without action charlotte its160not first160time charlotte poised act deal state legislature undoing160its nondiscrimination ordinance exchange repeal hb2 may charlotte prepared160to act ultimately determined keep nondiscrimination ordinance place business organizations made renewed push compromise160as result continued economic damage state last week national collegiate athletic association atlantic coast conference cancelled championship games previously scheduled north carolina result antilgbt law christopher sgro executive director equality north carolina said statement house bill 2 ordinance blame economic harm state ordinances common sense local protections actually create competitive advantage charlotte sgro said160instead repealing hb2 gov160mccrory reprising role blamerinchief single entity left north carolina charlotte ordinance theyve left hb2 know must done immediately repeal hb2 charlotte approved160its nondiscrimination february lawmakers state legislature called special session override160the measure stoking fears prohibition discrimination transgender people saying would enable men enter womens restrooms course single day legislature passed gov pat mccrory signed law hb2 blocked160the charlotte ordinance taking effect barred transgender people across state using public restroom schools government buildings consistent gender identity the160ncaa acc decisions cancel games state latest cancellation events business expansion state antilgbt law two republicans voted favor law state rep gary pendleton state rep tamara barringer calling repeal160both hillary clinton white house embraced values collegiate organizations decided cancel events north carolina targeted defeat lgbt advocates signing hb2 law mccrory trailing bid win reelection traditionally red state polls shown north carolina oppose antilgbt law mccrory trailing several digits behind democratic gubernatorial candidate roy cooper whos pledged repeal hb2 supports lgbt nondiscrimination protections state roberts announced charlotte wont repeal its160nondiscrimination ordinance part compromise repeal hb2 cooper called legislature convene special session take antilgbt law books damage economy must stopped clear full repeal hb2 accomplish cooper said governor160should call special session today time governor leader follower washington blade placed call office mccrory seeking comment charlottes refusal time take rescind lgbt nondiscrimination ordinance exchange repeal hb2 house bill 2 jennifer roberts north carolina pat mccrory
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<p>In September, Chicago got its first new Catholic high school in more than 30 years, and it’s like none other.</p>
<p>Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, housed in the shuttered St. Stephens Elementary School in Pilsen, is centered around college-prep courses, but it also teaches workplace skills, conducts some classes in two languages, stresses cooperative learning and employs what educators call block scheduling, or 80-minute classes.</p>
<p>“I would say that we may be similar in curriculum to other schools in that we’re preparing our students for college, but we’re different in our methodology,” says Sister Judy Murphy, the school’s principal. “For example, we’re teaching in English and Spanish, and we’ve espoused both languages as fundamental to the curriculum. We’re creating the curriculum as we go along.”</p>
<p>Cristo Rey also uses an innovative work-study program to make a Catholic education affordable for working parents from a neighborhood where the average household income is $22,500. Students work one full day a week at an office job, and their pay goes toward their $5,100 tuition.</p>
<p>“The Jesuits are looking at this in other schools in other cities,” says Preston Kendall, who runs the work-study program. “They want to try and copy it. We think this will be a model for urban education in America.”</p>
<p>“I think it will mean opening tremendous avenues of hope and possibility for many young people,” says Father John P. Foley, president of the new school. “The community, business people especially, are the ones that made us go ahead with it.”</p>
<p>In 1993, newly ordained Jesuit priest James G. Gartland was asked by his provincial, the Very Rev. Bradley M. Schaeffer of the Jesuit Provincial Office to move to Pilsen and begin to assess the educational needs of the Latino community.</p>
<p>Gartland spent a year talking to community leaders, parents, children and teachers. “It became clear quickly that the needs were enormous,” he recalls. “We found out that many of the students weren’t graduating. Our kids weren’t being educated, and the parents didn’t know what an educational system is, and they were terrified of the gangs in the area.”</p>
<p>Working class clients</p>
<p>Many of the families in the community are working-class immigrants from rural areas in Mexico who have little or no formal education.</p>
<p>The Pilsen Project, as it came to be called, wanted to take advantage of the community’s strong attachment to family and its grounding in the Spanish language and culture.</p>
<p>“We thought, let’s take something they already have and make them proficient at it,” Gartland says. The idea was to develop a curriculum that would enable students to speak, read and write in both English and Spanish.</p>
<p>But before the school could be developed, Gartland, Schaeffer and the Rev. Ted Munz, president of Loyola Academy in Wilmette, had to figure out how to finance it. “We knew we wanted strong discipline and we wanted academic excellence and we wanted to involve the parents, but now we needed to make it affordable,” Gartland recalls.</p>
<p>They turned to Rick Murray, an attorney and consultant, to come up with a plan. What Murray devised was a work-study program that relied on corporations to provide the bulk of the tuition in return for labor provided by the students.</p>
<p>“I tried to put this together where I thought it would be easy for Chicago businesses to participate in a meaningful way without a lot of administrative or high cost,” says Murray. “They are critical to make this work.”</p>
<p>Five students share a full-time position that pays a total of $18,000 but does not include benefits. The school receives $3,600 for each student, and families pay $1,500 per child. (A scholarship program has been set up for students who can’t afford the $1,500.)</p>
<p>Just as the school’s planners considered the needs and culture of the Pilsen-Little Village community, they also considered the needs and culture of the business community. For example, the employers were assured that they would be in charge of on-the-job discipline and could fire students as they would fire any other employee.</p>
<p>“As soon as we said that, it seemed to make a difference with the businesses,” Murray says. “That’s part of what we want to teach. All we’re asking is for the opportunity to let the kids work.”</p>
<p>Technically, the students are part-time, contract employees of the school’s work-study program, a structure adopted to minimize administrative work for the outside partners. The work-study program manages placements and tends to the paperwork, including income tax withholding and insurance.</p>
<p>Twenty-four companies signed on, but only 17 were needed. They include Aon Corp., Ameritech, the Tribune Company, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, law firms, the Latino Institute, the Mexican Fine Arts Museum and others. Most of the businesses are in the Loop; two are in the suburbs.</p>
<p>The bootstrap idea of students working to pay for their education had great appeal for many executives at the companies.</p>
<p>“We all started out in the mail room or at an entry-level position,” Murray notes. “It’s no different for most of the CEOs in Chicago. They worked hard and worked their way up.”</p>
<p>Most of the work that students perform is clerical: filing documents, making copies, entering data into computers and answering phones.</p>
<p>“It’s fun,” says Clara Pichardo, 16, a sophomore. “I feel like an adult.” Pichardo works for the human resources department of the Chicago Tribune in Tribune Tower. “I like it because it helps me with my English,” she adds.</p>
<p>Clara does copying, filing and computer data entry. Her family moved to Chicago two years ago from Mexico City. Her English already is vastly improved, and she communicates with ease and only a trace of an accent. Clara wants to go to college and become a high school teacher in English and Spanish.</p>
<p>The jobs provide the students with more than tuition; they also give students an opportunity to learn and practice workplace skills, to interact with college-educated professionals and to explore careers. And they promote positive self-esteem, says Gartland.</p>
<p>“We knew we wanted to do education that would foster self-esteem qualities,” he says. “Not only will the work-study program help pay for their tuition, it will also give them an experience that will form them.”</p>
<p>Small school</p>
<p>In its first year, Cristo Rey enrolled just 90 students—the total dropped to 85 the second semester. All are sophomores and seniors, and most are from nearby Benito Juarez High School. The school was very selective in deciding whom to admit. Interviews were conducted with potential students and parents to determine interest, commitment and enthusiasm for learning. Less emphasis was placed on grades, says Sister Murphy.</p>
<p>Eventually, Cristo Rey plans to grow into a four-year high school with 500 to 600 students, says Murphy. “We’ve already had inquiries from close to 300 people, 200 of them for the freshman class.”</p>
<p>The ratio of students to adults is small, too, with one full-time teacher for every 9 to 10 students.</p>
<p>The classes are language arts (English and Spanish), math, science, history, religion, art, physical education and life skills, e.g. savings accounts and income taxes. However, during the first month of school the focus was on how students should comport themselves in a business environment. They attended workshops on such topics as conflict management, professional demeanor, office equipment and corporate organization, and they engaged in motivational exercises and skills development.</p>
<p>“We orient the students immediately toward working and the work place and being responsible citizens and responsible employees,” says Father Foley.</p>
<p>Cristo Rey’s designers adopted a dual-language program because they feel it is necessary for reaching and tapping the potential of students in the predominantly Latino neighborhood.</p>
<p>Unlike the transitional bilingual education program that is standard in the Chicago public schools, dual language seeks to make students fluent in two languages.</p>
<p>“The whole purpose of bilingual education is transitional to English from Spanish, to an English classroom,” notes Beth Scully, Cristo Rey’s curriculum coordinator. “The problem with bilingual education is that many children end up stuck on that bridge and never become proficient in either English or Spanish.</p>
<p>“With dual language, the purpose is to achieve literacy in both languages to the greatest extent possible, so there would never be an appropriate time to let go of the mother language,” she says. “We see it as a gift not to be wasted.”</p>
<p>Adds Murphy: “The research that’s been done currently around the country shows that students’ cognitive development is aided if they continue to develop their mother tongue, in addition to learning English. It also helps their mastery of English to learn their first language.”</p>
<p>Domitila Gonzalez-Prus, who teaches Spanish at Cristo Rey, notes that fluency in two languages can be an asset when looking for a job. “If you have all the other qualities an employer is looking for and you speak a second language, they’re going to hire you,” she maintains.</p>
<p>Cristo Rey wants all its teachers to be bilingual but, so far, it has had to compromise, says Murphy. Three of its nine teachers are native speakers of Spanish, and the others are learning.</p>
<p>With students working one day a week—on any given day, a fifth of the student body is off campus—Cristo Rey’s school day is unusual, too. Classes run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and are followed by two hours of activities. Courses are taught in 80-minute periods, with language arts running yearlong and other courses alternating between semesters. For example, a student might take science, history and life skills one semester and math, religion and art the next.</p>
<p>Although the classes are long, the kids are adjusting to the new hours.</p>
<p>“You get a lot done,” says Ruben Hernandez, 17, a sophomore. “It’s a long time to be concentrating on one subject, but it’s all right. You learn more.” Hernandez works in the human resources department of a Loop law firm.</p>
<p>Teachers have adjustments to make, as well.”The key is to be [willing] to change,” says James Wall, who teaches English. “You realize that it was nice in the planning stage but this is how it really works.”</p>
<p>Wall team teaches with Gonzalez-Prus; he teaches a concept in English, and she teaches it in Spanish. In one project, students wrote short stories using both languages in their stories.</p>
<p>“There’s a lot more emphasis on cooperative learning,” says Wall. “You structure the course so there’s a 10-15 minute lecture, and then you break them up into groups, and they’re sent to perform various tasks.”</p>
<p>Says Murphy: “We discovered that there’s a need to plan differently for a longer block of time. We structured it so that Spanish and English would be team taught, and on some days teachers break that [down] so that it becomes much more like the traditional class.”</p>
<p>He adds, “We aspire to grow into using the 80-minute class.”</p>
| false | 3 |
september chicago got first new catholic high school 30 years like none cristo rey jesuit high school housed shuttered st stephens elementary school pilsen centered around collegeprep courses also teaches workplace skills conducts classes two languages stresses cooperative learning employs educators call block scheduling 80minute classes would say may similar curriculum schools preparing students college different methodology says sister judy murphy schools principal example teaching english spanish weve espoused languages fundamental curriculum creating curriculum go along cristo rey also uses innovative workstudy program make catholic education affordable working parents neighborhood average household income 22500 students work one full day week office job pay goes toward 5100 tuition jesuits looking schools cities says preston kendall runs workstudy program want try copy think model urban education america think mean opening tremendous avenues hope possibility many young people says father john p foley president new school community business people especially ones made us go ahead 1993 newly ordained jesuit priest james g gartland asked provincial rev bradley schaeffer jesuit provincial office move pilsen begin assess educational needs latino community gartland spent year talking community leaders parents children teachers became clear quickly needs enormous recalls found many students werent graduating kids werent educated parents didnt know educational system terrified gangs area working class clients many families community workingclass immigrants rural areas mexico little formal education pilsen project came called wanted take advantage communitys strong attachment family grounding spanish language culture thought lets take something already make proficient gartland says idea develop curriculum would enable students speak read write english spanish school could developed gartland schaeffer rev ted munz president loyola academy wilmette figure finance knew wanted strong discipline wanted academic excellence wanted involve parents needed make affordable gartland recalls turned rick murray attorney consultant come plan murray devised workstudy program relied corporations provide bulk tuition return labor provided students tried put together thought would easy chicago businesses participate meaningful way without lot administrative high cost says murray critical make work five students share fulltime position pays total 18000 include benefits school receives 3600 student families pay 1500 per child scholarship program set students cant afford 1500 schools planners considered needs culture pilsenlittle village community also considered needs culture business community example employers assured would charge onthejob discipline could fire students would fire employee soon said seemed make difference businesses murray says thats part want teach asking opportunity let kids work technically students parttime contract employees schools workstudy program structure adopted minimize administrative work outside partners workstudy program manages placements tends paperwork including income tax withholding insurance twentyfour companies signed 17 needed include aon corp ameritech tribune company chicago mercantile exchange law firms latino institute mexican fine arts museum others businesses loop two suburbs bootstrap idea students working pay education great appeal many executives companies started mail room entrylevel position murray notes different ceos chicago worked hard worked way work students perform clerical filing documents making copies entering data computers answering phones fun says clara pichardo 16 sophomore feel like adult pichardo works human resources department chicago tribune tribune tower like helps english adds clara copying filing computer data entry family moved chicago two years ago mexico city english already vastly improved communicates ease trace accent clara wants go college become high school teacher english spanish jobs provide students tuition also give students opportunity learn practice workplace skills interact collegeeducated professionals explore careers promote positive selfesteem says gartland knew wanted education would foster selfesteem qualities says workstudy program help pay tuition also give experience form small school first year cristo rey enrolled 90 studentsthe total dropped 85 second semester sophomores seniors nearby benito juarez high school school selective deciding admit interviews conducted potential students parents determine interest commitment enthusiasm learning less emphasis placed grades says sister murphy eventually cristo rey plans grow fouryear high school 500 600 students says murphy weve already inquiries close 300 people 200 freshman class ratio students adults small one fulltime teacher every 9 10 students classes language arts english spanish math science history religion art physical education life skills eg savings accounts income taxes however first month school focus students comport business environment attended workshops topics conflict management professional demeanor office equipment corporate organization engaged motivational exercises skills development orient students immediately toward working work place responsible citizens responsible employees says father foley cristo reys designers adopted duallanguage program feel necessary reaching tapping potential students predominantly latino neighborhood unlike transitional bilingual education program standard chicago public schools dual language seeks make students fluent two languages whole purpose bilingual education transitional english spanish english classroom notes beth scully cristo reys curriculum coordinator problem bilingual education many children end stuck bridge never become proficient either english spanish dual language purpose achieve literacy languages greatest extent possible would never appropriate time let go mother language says see gift wasted adds murphy research thats done currently around country shows students cognitive development aided continue develop mother tongue addition learning english also helps mastery english learn first language domitila gonzalezprus teaches spanish cristo rey notes fluency two languages asset looking job qualities employer looking speak second language theyre going hire maintains cristo rey wants teachers bilingual far compromise says murphy three nine teachers native speakers spanish others learning students working one day weekon given day fifth student body campuscristo reys school day unusual classes run 8 430 pm followed two hours activities courses taught 80minute periods language arts running yearlong courses alternating semesters example student might take science history life skills one semester math religion art next although classes long kids adjusting new hours get lot done says ruben hernandez 17 sophomore long time concentrating one subject right learn hernandez works human resources department loop law firm teachers adjustments make wellthe key willing change says james wall teaches english realize nice planning stage really works wall team teaches gonzalezprus teaches concept english teaches spanish one project students wrote short stories using languages stories theres lot emphasis cooperative learning says wall structure course theres 1015 minute lecture break groups theyre sent perform various tasks says murphy discovered theres need plan differently longer block time structured spanish english would team taught days teachers break becomes much like traditional class adds aspire grow using 80minute class
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />JULY 18, 2011</p>
<p>By DAVE ROBERTS</p>
<p>There are currently nine top-tier candidates for mayor of San Francisco. But the candidates who are not Asian-American may stand little chance under <a href="http://www.sfelections.org/demo/" type="external">the city’s ranked-choice voting system</a>.</p>
<p>San Francisco voters will specify their first, second and third choices for mayor (as well as for sheriff and district attorney) this November. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, which is likely in such a large mayoral field without an elected incumbent, the second and third choice votes will be counted from among the runners up and added to the front runners’ totals until a candidate tops 50 percent.</p>
<p>As a result, it’s likely that San Francisco’s next mayor will either be interim <a href="http://sfmayor.org/" type="external">Mayor Ed Lee</a> (if he chooses to run), state <a href="http://lelandyee.com/" type="external">Sen. Leland Yee</a>,&#160;Board of Supervisors President <a href="http://davidchiuformayor.com/" type="external">David Chiu</a> or Assessor-Recorder <a href="http://www.philting.com/" type="external">Phil Ting</a>. That’s because one third of San Franciscans are Asian, most of whom will likely select Asians as their first, second and third choices — a powerful multiplier effect provided by ranked-choice voting.</p>
<p>Asians are outnumbered by whites, who comprise 48.5 percent of San Francisco’s population. But whites tend to split their votes based on ideology, geography, sexual preference, etc. The potential offsetting factor in this Asian advantage is that recent immigrants tend to not vote as much as long-term residents.</p>
<p>A version of this synergistic group-identity scenario played out last November in the <a href="http://www.californiabeat.org/2010/11/11/perata-concedes-oakland-mayoral-race-faults-ranked-choice-voting-for-loss" type="external">Oakland mayor’s race</a>. <a href="http://www.jeanquanforoakland.org/" type="external">Jean Quan</a> was in second place, trailing <a href="http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=5610" type="external">Don Perata</a> by more than 10,000 votes after the second-choice ballots were distributed from the bottom eight candidates. There were no other Asians in the race. But the second choice votes distributed from those who preferred third-place finisher Rebecca Kaplan, who is openly lesbian, went nearly three-to-one for Quan, providing her with a 2,000-vote victory over Perata.</p>
<p>Of course, San Francisco has a large, cohesive gay community that could similarly benefit. But there’s only one well-known gay running for mayor, former supervisor <a href="http://bevandufty.com/" type="external">Bevan Dufty</a>. As a result, like all of the other non-Asian candidates, he must reach out to all voters in an effort to pick up those vital second- and third-choice ballots.</p>
<p>This is the first time the system will be in effect in a San Francisco mayoral race. Gavin Newsom won outright in 1997, having received 74 percent of the vote. Newsom was elected lieutenant governor last November, and former city administrator Lee was appointed by the <a href="http://www.sfbos.org/" type="external">Board of Supervisors</a> to fill in the remainder of Newsom’s term after Lee promised not to run for mayor.</p>
<p>But a shadow campaign has launched, gathering 20,000 signatures and $60,000 in a warchest to urge Lee to run. Lee has said he’s enjoying the mayoral job, but is not planning to run for election. But he’s also not demanding that the “ <a href="http://runedrun.com/" type="external">Run Ed Run</a>” campaign disband. If Lee chooses to file, he would be the favorite in the race. For an interim appointment, he’s been an active mayor, hitting all of the ribbon cuttings and forging consensus after years of bitter in-fighting at City Hall.</p>
<p>One of the criticisms of ranked-choice voting is that it causes the candidates to downplay their ideological differences so as not to alienate potential second- and third-choice voters. Some of the candidates acknowledged as much at last week’s forum at the <a href="http://www.irishcentersf.org/" type="external">United Irish Cultural Center</a>, which was packed with about 500 people (Lee was not in attendance).</p>
<p>“Fortunately, campaigning has been much more positive than it has been in recent years,” said Chiu. “From my perspective that is a good thing. Because one of the real challenges at City Hall is that over the past decade we have had some very, very negative politics. Supervisors and mayors have fought constantly. It is a good turn for the better when we have an opportunity to talk about leadership that can actually bring our diverse communities together.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.joinjoanna.com/" type="external">Joanna Rees</a>, a venture capitalist and the only candidate at the forum who has not held elective office, said, “I think ranked-choice voting is really confusing for people.” Voters have told her that they were so excited about a particular candidate in a previous election that they voted for that person as their first, second and third choices.</p>
<p>Former supervisor <a href="http://michelaformayor.com/" type="external">Michela Alioto-Pier</a> agreed that “the system is very confusing.” Then she spread some confusion of her own, saying that when voters vote for the same candidate three times, their ballot is thrown out. Actually, in that case the first-choice vote is counted, but not the second and third choices, according to a San Francisco Examiner article. No one at the forum corrected her.</p>
<p>Alioto-Pier, whose grandfather <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Alioto" type="external">Joseph Alioto</a> was a San Francisco mayor, said that ranked-choice has changed campaigning, but not necessarily for the better: “As a candidate there’s nothing stranger than going into a room and saying, ‘Please vote for me number one, but if you like someone else more, vote for me for number two.’ I’m used to speaking my mind, having an honest debate. That really does not seem to happen. It does become a little boring. You’re trying to go after first votes and second votes and third votes.”</p>
<p>Supervisor <a href="http://avalosformayor.com/" type="external">John Avalos</a>, who is probably furthest left of the top candidates, agreed, saying, “We are running campaigns that often conceal our differences.” He then sought to reveal his difference by launching into a diatribe calling for raising taxes on the rich and corporations to pay for schools, mass transit and social welfare — although most of the candidates likely agreed with him.</p>
<p>Yee, who has been a leftist lightning rod in Sacramento, calling for a boycott of Rush Limbaugh and denouncing the U.S. Supreme Court for allowing violent video games, among other causes, played it safe during the forum before one of the city’s more conservative constituencies. As the highest-ranking Asian in the race, he stands to benefit most from the ranked-choice Asian effect (assuming Lee does not run). But he’s not relying on it alone.</p>
<p>“Ranked choice has change the way we are campaigning,” Yee said. “It’s not about your number one vote. It’s your number twos and threes. What that has done is that no longer can you go out into the city and just identify where your base is and try to make sure that base that you have is going to continue to be out there and support you. What it is doing is forcing all of us to think about the communities we ought to be going out to to try to capture number two and three votes. It forces the candidates to go beyond our comfort zone and reach all individuals. That is extremely important. The mayor represents everybody. Ranked choice has done a tremendous public service.”</p>
<p>Dufty pointed out the elephant that was not in the room: Lee, who has until Aug. 12 to decide whether to enter the race. “Mayor Ed Lee is doing an outstanding job for the city,” said Dufty. “There will be two phases of the campaign when he decides whether he’s going to run or not. You will see a different campaign once that decision is made.”</p>
<p>But it was apparent from the candidates’ statements during the forum that it will be pretty much business as usual in this perenially dysfunctional, debt-ridden, government-burdened city, regardless of which candidate is elected — with the exception of one: <a href="http://tonyhallsf.com/" type="external">Tony Hall</a>.</p>
<p>The former supervisor, a self-described independent (being Republican would be the kiss of death), is the only major candidate opposed to the watered down pension reform plan favored by Lee and the supervisors, saying it falls $300 million short of the cuts that are needed and which are provided in his plan.</p>
<p>Hall also promised to take a machete to the city government’s bloated payroll, saying that 10 percent of employees are political appointees and he would cut them all. And he wants to reduce business taxes, lower the exorbitant parking meter rates, get the homeless off the streets and eliminate the “systemic corruption that every native San Franciscan knows is ruining our city with pay-to-play politics,” among other reforms.</p>
<p>These common-sense reforms make Hall a longshot in the People’s Republic of San Francisco, but it doesn’t hurt to try.</p>
| false | 3 |
july 18 2011 dave roberts currently nine toptier candidates mayor san francisco candidates asianamerican may stand little chance citys rankedchoice voting system san francisco voters specify first second third choices mayor well sheriff district attorney november candidate receives 50 percent firstchoice votes likely large mayoral field without elected incumbent second third choice votes counted among runners added front runners totals candidate tops 50 percent result likely san franciscos next mayor either interim mayor ed lee chooses run state sen leland yee160board supervisors president david chiu assessorrecorder phil ting thats one third san franciscans asian likely select asians first second third choices powerful multiplier effect provided rankedchoice voting asians outnumbered whites comprise 485 percent san franciscos population whites tend split votes based ideology geography sexual preference etc potential offsetting factor asian advantage recent immigrants tend vote much longterm residents version synergistic groupidentity scenario played last november oakland mayors race jean quan second place trailing perata 10000 votes secondchoice ballots distributed bottom eight candidates asians race second choice votes distributed preferred thirdplace finisher rebecca kaplan openly lesbian went nearly threetoone quan providing 2000vote victory perata course san francisco large cohesive gay community could similarly benefit theres one wellknown gay running mayor former supervisor bevan dufty result like nonasian candidates must reach voters effort pick vital second thirdchoice ballots first time system effect san francisco mayoral race gavin newsom outright 1997 received 74 percent vote newsom elected lieutenant governor last november former city administrator lee appointed board supervisors fill remainder newsoms term lee promised run mayor shadow campaign launched gathering 20000 signatures 60000 warchest urge lee run lee said hes enjoying mayoral job planning run election hes also demanding run ed run campaign disband lee chooses file would favorite race interim appointment hes active mayor hitting ribbon cuttings forging consensus years bitter infighting city hall one criticisms rankedchoice voting causes candidates downplay ideological differences alienate potential second thirdchoice voters candidates acknowledged much last weeks forum united irish cultural center packed 500 people lee attendance fortunately campaigning much positive recent years said chiu perspective good thing one real challenges city hall past decade negative politics supervisors mayors fought constantly good turn better opportunity talk leadership actually bring diverse communities together joanna rees venture capitalist candidate forum held elective office said think rankedchoice voting really confusing people voters told excited particular candidate previous election voted person first second third choices former supervisor michela aliotopier agreed system confusing spread confusion saying voters vote candidate three times ballot thrown actually case firstchoice vote counted second third choices according san francisco examiner article one forum corrected aliotopier whose grandfather joseph alioto san francisco mayor said rankedchoice changed campaigning necessarily better candidate theres nothing stranger going room saying please vote number one like someone else vote number two im used speaking mind honest debate really seem happen become little boring youre trying go first votes second votes third votes supervisor john avalos probably furthest left top candidates agreed saying running campaigns often conceal differences sought reveal difference launching diatribe calling raising taxes rich corporations pay schools mass transit social welfare although candidates likely agreed yee leftist lightning rod sacramento calling boycott rush limbaugh denouncing us supreme court allowing violent video games among causes played safe forum one citys conservative constituencies highestranking asian race stands benefit rankedchoice asian effect assuming lee run hes relying alone ranked choice change way campaigning yee said number one vote number twos threes done longer go city identify base try make sure base going continue support forcing us think communities ought going try capture number two three votes forces candidates go beyond comfort zone reach individuals extremely important mayor represents everybody ranked choice done tremendous public service dufty pointed elephant room lee aug 12 decide whether enter race mayor ed lee outstanding job city said dufty two phases campaign decides whether hes going run see different campaign decision made apparent candidates statements forum pretty much business usual perenially dysfunctional debtridden governmentburdened city regardless candidate elected exception one tony hall former supervisor selfdescribed independent republican would kiss death major candidate opposed watered pension reform plan favored lee supervisors saying falls 300 million short cuts needed provided plan hall also promised take machete city governments bloated payroll saying 10 percent employees political appointees would cut wants reduce business taxes lower exorbitant parking meter rates get homeless streets eliminate systemic corruption every native san franciscan knows ruining city paytoplay politics among reforms commonsense reforms make hall longshot peoples republic san francisco doesnt hurt try
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<p>Tireless. Knowledgeable. Passionate. Two months ago, Catalyst Associate Editor Debra Williams set out to find a local school council member with these qualities who would let us into his or her busy life. Carol Johnson fit the bill.</p>
<p>Johnson, 46, is married and has five children—three sons, ages 24, 11 and 8, and two daughters, 17 and 21. The energetic Austin resident chairs two local school councils, Spencer Elementary and Westinghouse High School—she has been on the council at Westinghouse for two years, Spencer for four. Johnson also works full time as an organizer for Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), a group that trains leaders in low-income neighborhoods.</p>
<p>“There are gems all over the city working their butts off,” says Nancy Jones, who works with council members for the Chicago Successful Schools Project. “Carol is one of them.”</p>
<p>Catalyst spent a month with Carol Johnson, tracking her LSC-related activities. Along the way, Johnson kept a log. The final tally: Between Jan. 8 and Feb. 13, Johnson spent 21 hours attending six meetings, organized and hosted a Saturday morning community breakfast, gave a speech at two-hour LSC recognition reception and made 48 LSC-related telephone calls.</p>
<p>Tuesday, Jan. 8</p>
<p>Westinghouse High School</p>
<p>5:00 p.m. At a time when many people are heading home from work or rushing to pick up children from day care, Carol Johnson is off to West Garfield Park for an LSC meeting at Westinghouse High School, which she co-chairs.</p>
<p>Johnson is eligible to serve as chair only until June, when her daughter Crystal will be graduating. Still, Johnson is committed to getting Westinghouse off of probation, which it got back on last November, and holding the School Board to its promise to build a new school.</p>
<p>Originally a candy factory built in 1922, the school building is outdated and infested with rodents; a ceiling is leaking; and plaster is falling off the walls. Johnson says the constant patch-up jobs are too costly to keep up. This year, Westinghouse received $5 million for construction planning and land acquisition; the new facility is to be built near the existing site.</p>
<p>Westinghouse’s principal, Lona Bibbs, reports she has talked to CPS Operations Chief Tim Martin, who promises he’ll come out and talk to the council about the new building at the March LSC meeting.</p>
<p>For this meeting, Johnson has invited The Neighborhood Capital Budget Group (NCBG) to talk about how it can become involved in the construction process. NCBG’s rep Andrea Lee tells the group that her organization will help them get the community involved in planning a new building that suits their needs. NCBG will also stick around as an advisor until the building is completed, Lee says.</p>
<p>When Lee finishes her presentation, Johnson gets down to business. “How much does your help cost? What’s your fee?”</p>
<p>Lee says there’s no fee for the group’s help, but some council members are skeptical. Johnson tries to allay their fears. “This is my opinion. It’s worth looking at [working with NCBG]. This building will have to last for many years. If we don’t like what’s built, we can’t go back to the table.”</p>
<p>Later, someone on the council wonders aloud whether the board will renege on the new building. Johnson counters that they can protect themselves. “May I make a suggestion? When there is a capital development meeting, we—the LSC and the community—should be there. Those who speak the loudest get heard.”</p>
<p>The meeting adjourns at 7:15, but Johnson sticks around until 8 to hear the latest school news from Bibbs and the assistant principal.</p>
<p>Back at home by 8:20, Johnson’s long day is not over yet. She makes sure her brood has eaten dinner and finished their homework. (Three of her five children still live at home.) She catches up on everyone’s day, and makes it into bed herself by 11.</p>
<p>Wednesday, Jan. 9</p>
<p>Spencer Elementary</p>
<p>9:30 a.m. Johnson is up around 6:45 to see her husband, Harold, off to work, iron her sons’ school uniforms and make sure her kids eat breakfast, which they fix themselves. Then, she heads to Spencer, two blocks away, for a 9:30 LSC meeting. One of the items on the agenda to be discussed: the school’s CANAL grant.</p>
<p>For the last two years, Spencer has applied for and received a $50,000 grant from Project CANAL, a federally-funded school board program that supports extended-day programs. Last year, the school used the grant for an after-school tutoring program for 120 primary students and for family programs like reading night, puppet making, dance classes and weekend drum and piano lessons.</p>
<p>“Johnson and the other parents wrote the proposal for this grant,” says Spencer Principal Sharon Bryant, proudly. “We were one of only five or seven schools to get it.”</p>
<p>This year, Johnson would like to see the school expand its existing programs to include GED and computer classes for parents and a family movie night.</p>
<p>Johnson also envisions the school staying open until 6 or 7 p.m. next year to serve as an academic and recreational safe haven for students and their families.</p>
<p>Over the next month, Spencer will have four meetings on Project CANAL, and Johnson will attend three of them.</p>
<p>Spencer’s LSC also is organizing a breakfast for community social service organizations in Austin with the hope that some will agree to offer free services on-site. “We asked our teachers what they saw as barriers to teaching,” says Bryant. “What we found was that kids needed social services like counseling and mentoring.” When the discussion was over, the council agreed to invite 20 community organizations, then follow-up with phone calls. Johnson agreed to make the calls.</p>
<p>When the council adjourns at 11:45, Johnson meets with Spencer’s LSC election coordinator to confirm dates for a public forum, where parents and community residents can meet and listen to LSC candidates. They wrap up minutes later, and she heads out for work.</p>
<p>Monday, Jan. 14</p>
<p>Central office, Clark Street</p>
<p>2:15 p.m. Johnson is at Clark Street on work-related business but runs into Tim Martin. Cornering him, she reminds him about Westinghouse’s March LSC meeting. “I told him, ‘Don’t come empty-handed—bring your architects, plans, layouts and design ideas,'” she recalls. Martin says OK.</p>
<p>Johnson’s style is direct. She asks for what she wants and find answers to what she doesn’t know, but in a way that does not ruffle feathers.</p>
<p>Thursday, Jan. 17</p>
<p>Spencer, home</p>
<p>3:00 p.m. On her way home, Johnson makes a pit stop at Spencer to turn in her candidate nomination form. Thirty minutes later, she’s back at home calling LSC members and parents who belong to SCPA (Spencer Concerned Parents of Austin), reminding them about this Friday’s CANAL meeting.</p>
<p>Wednesday, Jan. 23</p>
<p>At home</p>
<p>4:00 p.m. Johnson is on the telephone with Nancy Jones of the Chicago Successful Schools Project, a group that tracks council success stories and trains local leaders, like Johnson, to become LSC spokespeople. Successful Schools is sponsoring an LSC awards reception, and Jones has asked Johnson to make a two-minute speech on LSCs and the need for them to work together.</p>
<p>“Carol is a natural networking with other local school councils,” says Jones.</p>
<p>After the short conversation with Jones, Johns on heads into her “office,” the dining room, where she keeps a computer, a fax machine and everything else she needs to do LSC work. Johnson makes a round of calls confirming attendance for the Jan. 26 breakfast. She also faxes the breakfast’s agenda. She’s done by 6.</p>
<p>Friday, Jan. 25</p>
<p>Spencer</p>
<p>3:30 p.m. Johnson is at another CANAL planning meeting, this time to go over last-minute details for tomorrow’s breakfast. She and two other parents set up the library for the event, moving tables and chairs into place and assembling folders of Spencer literature for breakfast participants.</p>
<p>An hour later, she’s back at home. In between washing dishes and other household chores, Johnson spends the next couple hours making another round of calls to breakfast invitees. She’s done by 6:30. Later, she “tries to have a life” by phoning her mother and other relatives, then relaxing and watching television.</p>
<p>Saturday, Jan. 26</p>
<p>Spencer</p>
<p>8:15 a.m. Johnson is up and out the door, off to pick up another parent. She stops at a neighborhood store to pick up two bags of ice and arrives at Spencer at 8:25 with enough time to help set up. Guests are scheduled to arrive at 9.</p>
<p>Thirty minutes later, Johnson is meeting and greeting guests. Twenty organizations were invited; nine show up. A number of parents from the LSC and SCPA show up, as well as Spencer administrators. Bryant welcomes the group, asks guests to introduce themselves and then shares her vision for Spencer. Johnson speaks briefly about her vision as an LSC member, a parent and a representative of COFI, which offers leadership training to Spencer parents.</p>
<p>After the presentations, Bryant asks social service agencies to commit in writing to help the school. Seven organizations agree to do so. Hargrove Mental Health Facility, for one, agrees to provide mentors for male students.</p>
<p>Bryant declares the meeting a success. “Carol made a lot of phone calls and did a lot of legwork on this project,” Bryant says. “I’m pleased with the outcome.”</p>
<p>The breakfast ends at 11, but Johnson stays another hour to help clean up and put the library furniture back in order.</p>
<p>Monday, Jan. 28</p>
<p>At home</p>
<p>10:00 a.m. Johnson’s 11-year-old son, Harold III, is sick, so she stays home from work; however, she calls Nancy Jones to set up a meeting to talk about the LSC awards ceremony.</p>
<p>Tuesday, Jan. 29</p>
<p>Spencer</p>
<p>2:30 p.m. Johnson stops by Spencer for 10 minutes to check the LSC mailbox and to tell Bryant that she will not be able to attend this afternoon’s CANAL meeting. Her son is still at home sick.</p>
<p>Wednesday, Jan. 30</p>
<p>Wishbone restaurant</p>
<p>9:30 a.m. Today is Johnson’s birthday, but she’s not celebrating yet. She meets Nancy Jones for breakfast at a popular Near West Side restaurant to talk over the agenda for tomorrow night’s LSC award event.</p>
<p>Thursday, Jan. 31</p>
<p>Union League Club</p>
<p>5:00 p.m. Johnson arrives at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson, and mingles with other council members at the well-attended event. An MC takes the podium at 6:30 and the program begins. CEO Arne Duncan is the keynote speaker; Schools and Community Relations Officer James Deanes makes a pitch for council members to recruit candidates for the upcoming elections. Council members from six LSCs from across the city receive awards for outstanding work. Then Carol steps onstage to give final remarks.</p>
<p>Johnson delivers, although, she hadn’t prepared a formal speech beforehand. “Whenever I have to speak in front of people, I ask God to give me the words and then I get up there and say them,” says Johnson. “I have key points I know I have to make, but I never know what I’m going to say until I say it. I speak from my heart.”</p>
<p>Says Bryant, “She was really good. I think it was a nice touch that she closed out the meeting. She talked about how important LSCs are, how they need to work together and how they need to be recognized. She was the right person to do it.”</p>
<p>Monday, Feb. 4</p>
<p>At home</p>
<p>6:00 p.m. In her home office, Johnson is calling parents to remind them about tomorrow’s CANAL meeting. Then she calls Andrea Lee of the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group. Lee invites Johnson to join other LSC members at a Feb. 11 meeting with CEO Arne Duncan to discuss community involvement in new school-construction projects. Johnson has a work-related appointment the same day and cannot make the meeting, but she promises to get two Westinghouse LSC members to attend in her place.</p>
<p>Tuesday, Feb. 5</p>
<p>At home, then Spencer</p>
<p>9:00 a.m. Before she heads to work, Johnson calls the CPS Office of Accountability to find out who was assigned last fall to be Westinghouse’s probation manager. She’d like to meet the manager and invite him or her to the next LSC meeting. But no luck—she’s unable to reach the person who has the information.</p>
<p>Then, Johnson calls Westinghouse’s assistant principal to find out about the probation manager. She’s not there either.</p>
<p>That afternoon, at 3, Johnson is participating in another CANAL meeting. It lasts two and a half hours; then, she and her sons go home, where she checks homework and cooks dinner.</p>
<p>Wednesday, Feb. 6</p>
<p>Spencer</p>
<p>3:00 p.m. A month has passed, and Johnson is once again presiding over an LSC meeting at Spencer. First on the agenda: How to turn the school’s auditorium into a movie theater on Friday nights. The council is weighing options, which include purchasing a pull-down or a retractable viewing screen.</p>
<p>When the meeting ends, Johnson looks tired. She says she’s feeling sick; when she gets home, she heads straight for bed. She stays there all weekend. “I know I’m doing a lot,” says Johnson. “My body is telling me.”</p>
<p>Even so, she makes a call from her sickbed to confirm that Westinghouse LSC co-chair Robert Jones and community representative Jason Ervin will be at the Arne Duncan meeting next Monday at 2.</p>
<p>Monday, Feb. 11</p>
<p>At home</p>
<p>6:00 p.m. Back home from work, Johnson gets the boys settled, feeds them, checks their homework, then tries to reach Jones or Ervin to find out how the meeting with Arne Duncan went. Neither is home.</p>
<p>Wednesday, Feb. 13</p>
<p>Westinghouse</p>
<p>5:30 p.m. The Westinghouse LSC meeting begins a few minutes late; the new school facility is the topic of discussion. Bibbs and Johnson both share that they’ve talked to Tim Martin again about attending the March LSC meeting.</p>
<p>Johnson still doesn’t know what happened at the meeting with Duncan. Jones missed it, and Ervin, who did attend, is not at tonight’s LSC meeting.</p>
<p>Johnson moves on to the next agenda item: probation. The Office of Accountability conducted a site visit in November and made recommendations that the school must address.</p>
<p>“I am really concerned about this accountability thing,” says Johnson. “I’d like Accountability to address this council. There’s a lot I don’t understand. Also, when Dr. [Barbara] Sizemore was our probation manager, she was here at every meeting. This new person is not. I don’t even know who it is. I’d like whoever it is to attend an LSC meeting.”</p>
<p>She adds, “And if they don’t show up, we should call their boss.”</p>
<p>Johnson says that while the school was placed on probation in November, CPS did not assign a probation manager until January. “We’ve been waiting on them,” says Johnson. “And now that we have one, I don’t know who it is.”</p>
<p>The meeting adjourns at 7:20. Packing up to go home, Johnson concedes that she has not yet decided whether she’ll run again for a spot on the Westinghouse council. Being an LSC member at a high school is harder than at an elementary school, she says. “I just need to spend more time at home with my kids,” she sighs.</p>
<p>But a couple weeks later, when Johnson decides to run again for a seat, she discovers she can’t. Once her daughter graduates in June, she’s no longer eligible to sit as a parent. She’s also not eligible to run as a community rep—Johnson lives in Austin, Westinghouse is located in West Garfield Park.</p>
<p>Still, never one to quit, Johnson’s got another plan. “I’ll just find someone who can sit on that council and help Westinghouse get what it needs.”</p>
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tireless knowledgeable passionate two months ago catalyst associate editor debra williams set find local school council member qualities would let us busy life carol johnson fit bill johnson 46 married five childrenthree sons ages 24 11 8 two daughters 17 21 energetic austin resident chairs two local school councils spencer elementary westinghouse high schoolshe council westinghouse two years spencer four johnson also works full time organizer community organizing family issues cofi group trains leaders lowincome neighborhoods gems city working butts says nancy jones works council members chicago successful schools project carol one catalyst spent month carol johnson tracking lscrelated activities along way johnson kept log final tally jan 8 feb 13 johnson spent 21 hours attending six meetings organized hosted saturday morning community breakfast gave speech twohour lsc recognition reception made 48 lscrelated telephone calls tuesday jan 8 westinghouse high school 500 pm time many people heading home work rushing pick children day care carol johnson west garfield park lsc meeting westinghouse high school cochairs johnson eligible serve chair june daughter crystal graduating still johnson committed getting westinghouse probation got back last november holding school board promise build new school originally candy factory built 1922 school building outdated infested rodents ceiling leaking plaster falling walls johnson says constant patchup jobs costly keep year westinghouse received 5 million construction planning land acquisition new facility built near existing site westinghouses principal lona bibbs reports talked cps operations chief tim martin promises hell come talk council new building march lsc meeting meeting johnson invited neighborhood capital budget group ncbg talk become involved construction process ncbgs rep andrea lee tells group organization help get community involved planning new building suits needs ncbg also stick around advisor building completed lee says lee finishes presentation johnson gets business much help cost whats fee lee says theres fee groups help council members skeptical johnson tries allay fears opinion worth looking working ncbg building last many years dont like whats built cant go back table later someone council wonders aloud whether board renege new building johnson counters protect may make suggestion capital development meeting wethe lsc communityshould speak loudest get heard meeting adjourns 715 johnson sticks around 8 hear latest school news bibbs assistant principal back home 820 johnsons long day yet makes sure brood eaten dinner finished homework three five children still live home catches everyones day makes bed 11 wednesday jan 9 spencer elementary 930 johnson around 645 see husband harold work iron sons school uniforms make sure kids eat breakfast fix heads spencer two blocks away 930 lsc meeting one items agenda discussed schools canal grant last two years spencer applied received 50000 grant project canal federallyfunded school board program supports extendedday programs last year school used grant afterschool tutoring program 120 primary students family programs like reading night puppet making dance classes weekend drum piano lessons johnson parents wrote proposal grant says spencer principal sharon bryant proudly one five seven schools get year johnson would like see school expand existing programs include ged computer classes parents family movie night johnson also envisions school staying open 6 7 pm next year serve academic recreational safe students families next month spencer four meetings project canal johnson attend three spencers lsc also organizing breakfast community social service organizations austin hope agree offer free services onsite asked teachers saw barriers teaching says bryant found kids needed social services like counseling mentoring discussion council agreed invite 20 community organizations followup phone calls johnson agreed make calls council adjourns 1145 johnson meets spencers lsc election coordinator confirm dates public forum parents community residents meet listen lsc candidates wrap minutes later heads work monday jan 14 central office clark street 215 pm johnson clark street workrelated business runs tim martin cornering reminds westinghouses march lsc meeting told dont come emptyhandedbring architects plans layouts design ideas recalls martin says ok johnsons style direct asks wants find answers doesnt know way ruffle feathers thursday jan 17 spencer home 300 pm way home johnson makes pit stop spencer turn candidate nomination form thirty minutes later shes back home calling lsc members parents belong scpa spencer concerned parents austin reminding fridays canal meeting wednesday jan 23 home 400 pm johnson telephone nancy jones chicago successful schools project group tracks council success stories trains local leaders like johnson become lsc spokespeople successful schools sponsoring lsc awards reception jones asked johnson make twominute speech lscs need work together carol natural networking local school councils says jones short conversation jones johns heads office dining room keeps computer fax machine everything else needs lsc work johnson makes round calls confirming attendance jan 26 breakfast also faxes breakfasts agenda shes done 6 friday jan 25 spencer 330 pm johnson another canal planning meeting time go lastminute details tomorrows breakfast two parents set library event moving tables chairs place assembling folders spencer literature breakfast participants hour later shes back home washing dishes household chores johnson spends next couple hours making another round calls breakfast invitees shes done 630 later tries life phoning mother relatives relaxing watching television saturday jan 26 spencer 815 johnson door pick another parent stops neighborhood store pick two bags ice arrives spencer 825 enough time help set guests scheduled arrive 9 thirty minutes later johnson meeting greeting guests twenty organizations invited nine show number parents lsc scpa show well spencer administrators bryant welcomes group asks guests introduce shares vision spencer johnson speaks briefly vision lsc member parent representative cofi offers leadership training spencer parents presentations bryant asks social service agencies commit writing help school seven organizations agree hargrove mental health facility one agrees provide mentors male students bryant declares meeting success carol made lot phone calls lot legwork project bryant says im pleased outcome breakfast ends 11 johnson stays another hour help clean put library furniture back order monday jan 28 home 1000 johnsons 11yearold son harold iii sick stays home work however calls nancy jones set meeting talk lsc awards ceremony tuesday jan 29 spencer 230 pm johnson stops spencer 10 minutes check lsc mailbox tell bryant able attend afternoons canal meeting son still home sick wednesday jan 30 wishbone restaurant 930 today johnsons birthday shes celebrating yet meets nancy jones breakfast popular near west side restaurant talk agenda tomorrow nights lsc award event thursday jan 31 union league club 500 pm johnson arrives union league club 65 w jackson mingles council members wellattended event mc takes podium 630 program begins ceo arne duncan keynote speaker schools community relations officer james deanes makes pitch council members recruit candidates upcoming elections council members six lscs across city receive awards outstanding work carol steps onstage give final remarks johnson delivers although hadnt prepared formal speech beforehand whenever speak front people ask god give words get say says johnson key points know make never know im going say say speak heart says bryant really good think nice touch closed meeting talked important lscs need work together need recognized right person monday feb 4 home 600 pm home office johnson calling parents remind tomorrows canal meeting calls andrea lee neighborhood capital budget group lee invites johnson join lsc members feb 11 meeting ceo arne duncan discuss community involvement new schoolconstruction projects johnson workrelated appointment day make meeting promises get two westinghouse lsc members attend place tuesday feb 5 home spencer 900 heads work johnson calls cps office accountability find assigned last fall westinghouses probation manager shed like meet manager invite next lsc meeting luckshes unable reach person information johnson calls westinghouses assistant principal find probation manager shes either afternoon 3 johnson participating another canal meeting lasts two half hours sons go home checks homework cooks dinner wednesday feb 6 spencer 300 pm month passed johnson presiding lsc meeting spencer first agenda turn schools auditorium movie theater friday nights council weighing options include purchasing pulldown retractable viewing screen meeting ends johnson looks tired says shes feeling sick gets home heads straight bed stays weekend know im lot says johnson body telling even makes call sickbed confirm westinghouse lsc cochair robert jones community representative jason ervin arne duncan meeting next monday 2 monday feb 11 home 600 pm back home work johnson gets boys settled feeds checks homework tries reach jones ervin find meeting arne duncan went neither home wednesday feb 13 westinghouse 530 pm westinghouse lsc meeting begins minutes late new school facility topic discussion bibbs johnson share theyve talked tim martin attending march lsc meeting johnson still doesnt know happened meeting duncan jones missed ervin attend tonights lsc meeting johnson moves next agenda item probation office accountability conducted site visit november made recommendations school must address really concerned accountability thing says johnson id like accountability address council theres lot dont understand also dr barbara sizemore probation manager every meeting new person dont even know id like whoever attend lsc meeting adds dont show call boss johnson says school placed probation november cps assign probation manager january weve waiting says johnson one dont know meeting adjourns 720 packing go home johnson concedes yet decided whether shell run spot westinghouse council lsc member high school harder elementary school says need spend time home kids sighs couple weeks later johnson decides run seat discovers cant daughter graduates june shes longer eligible sit parent shes also eligible run community repjohnson lives austin westinghouse located west garfield park still never one quit johnsons got another plan ill find someone sit council help westinghouse get needs
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />Sept. 14, 2012</p>
<p>By Wayne Lusvardi</p>
<p>Will Americans be protected from eminent domain abuses? Eminent domain is where the government takes someone’s property, usually for a government purpose, such as building a school or road. But sometimes eminent domain is abused to take private property and give it to a private company, such as a big-box store or housing development.</p>
<p>Last week, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s told mortgage banks and agencies of the federal government to “back off” from their opposition to the use of eminent domain in California to take “underwater mortgages.”</p>
<p>In response, on&#160;Sept. 13&#160; <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/09/13/eminent-domain-furor-hits-capitol-hill/tab/print/" type="external">Rep. John Campbell</a>, R-Irvine,&#160;introduced the <a href="http://www.campbell.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=3210:release-campbell-introduces-the-defending-american-taxpayers-from-abusive-government-takings&amp;catid=41:press-releases&amp;Itemid=300032" type="external">“Defending American Taxpayers from Abusive Government Takings Act”</a> (H.R. 6397). &#160;It would block local governments from pursuing the condemnation of so-called “underwater mortgages,” as is being proposed in San Bernardino County and elsewhere in California.</p>
<p>Campbell’s bill would work with secondary mortgage market lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration and the Veteran’s Administration to bring about mortgage reductions. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, overseer of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had threatened to take action against the use of what might be called “submerged eminent domain” before Rep. Campbell proposed his bill.</p>
<p>Underwater mortgages are really “over-mortgaged” loans where the amount of loan owed on a property is much higher than the current market value of a home.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://www.flashreport.org/blog/2012/09/14/californias-eminent-domain-heist/" type="external">Campbell</a> points out that San Bernardino County’s proposal would provide an incentive to appraise properties with underlying seized mortgages as low as possible to increase their potential profit to mortgage re-financiers. Stated differently: profiteering would be submerged out of the scrutiny of the public in rigged real estate appraisals.&#160; What might be called “submergible eminent domain” would be used for underwater mortgages.</p>
<p>Campbell called such schemes “atrocious, corruptive, irresponsible and unconstitutional.”</p>
<p>The civil war over the use of eminent domain to acquire underwater mortgages has gotten almost all the media attention.&#160; What has received <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/07/business/la-fi-mortgage-relief-taxes-20120907" type="external">less attention</a> is the pending expiration of temporary federal legislation passed in 2007 that suspended the tax liability of homeowners who receive mortgage reductions of up to $2 million.</p>
<p>In 2007, Congress passed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage_Forgiveness_Debt_Relief_Act_of_2007" type="external">Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act</a>, which expires at the end of 2012.&#160; There is discussion to extend it, but Congress only has three months to act. &#160;Newsom has made no known advocacy to extend the Debt Relief Act.&#160; Instead he is championing the questionable use of eminent domain law to buy out underwater mortgages.</p>
<p>Steven Gluckstern, chairman of <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/11/v-mobile/4715792_sacramento-area-officials-explore.html#storylink=cpy" type="external">Mortgage Resolution Partners</a>, a private hedge fund proposing to condemn underwater mortgages, has proposed another “doozey” of a concept.&#160; It would involve using creative appraisals instead of eminent domain to reduce mortgages. &#160;Here is the Sacramento Bee described an example of his:</p>
<p>“A homeowner paid $300,000 for a house during the boom. That house is now worth $200,000, with a mortgage balance much higher than that. A city would seize the mortgage and pay the note holder $160,000. Gluckstern contends that would be fair-market value, after the potential costs of foreclosing on the mortgage are deducted.”</p>
<p>“The idea is not for the city to become a lender. Instead, he said, the homeowner would refinance his mortgage at $190,000, with help from Mortgage Resolution Partners. The extra $30,000 would be split between investors, local government and MRP, which would make a flat fee of $4,500 per transaction.”</p>
<p>A representative of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association called the above-described proposal a scheme for “short-term opportunistic investors to make a 20-to-30 percent profit” by “cherry pick(ing) the best loans out of a securitized poor and buying at a substantial discount.”</p>
<p>Prominent eminent domain attorney <a href="http://gideonstrumpet.info/" type="external">Gideon Kanner</a> on his blog on Aug. 17 said, in reaction to the creative appraisal concept:</p>
<p>“Nobody seems to be asking why the awesome sovereign government power of eminent domain should be enlisted in quest of quick private profit…the public interest must predominate and the private benefit is limited to being incidental to it, as the court explained in [the case] County of Los Angeles vs. Anthony.”&#160;</p>
<p>Kanner also asked what public interest is served in the above refinancing example when the loan in question is that of a performing mortgage where payments are being made.</p>
<p>Kanner also noted that, once the Pandora’s Box of eminent domain is opened up for underwater mortgages, the property owners could not be denied hiring their own attorney and appraiser and contesting any mortgage buyout or reduction offer.&#160; If they won in front of a jury, the local government agency would be on the hook to pay court costs and the property owner’s litigation and appraisal fees.&#160; This is minimally about $50,000 per case.</p>
<p>The use of so-called “submerged eminent domain” has become a trendy cause by media elites <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/john-cusack-arianna-huffington-eminent-domain_n_1773382.html" type="external">Arianna Huffington and actor John Cusack</a>.&#160; However, no mention has been made that, in San Bernardino County, the proposal to use eminent domain would call for about 80 percent of all property owners to vote for higher property taxes to pay off the underwater mortgages of the other 20 percent of homeowners.</p>
<p>How long the concept of using eminent domain to reduce “underwater mortgages” would remain popular when all homeowners in a designated area would have to vote for higher property taxes remains to be seen.</p>
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sept 14 2012 wayne lusvardi americans protected eminent domain abuses eminent domain government takes someones property usually government purpose building school road sometimes eminent domain abused take private property give private company bigbox store housing development last week california lt gov gavin newsoms told mortgage banks agencies federal government back opposition use eminent domain california take underwater mortgages response on160sept 13160 rep john campbell rirvine160introduced defending american taxpayers abusive government takings act hr 6397 160it would block local governments pursuing condemnation socalled underwater mortgages proposed san bernardino county elsewhere california campbells bill would work secondary mortgage market lenders fannie mae freddie mac federal housing administration veterans administration bring mortgage reductions federal housing finance agency overseer fannie mae freddie mac threatened take action use might called submerged eminent domain rep campbell proposed bill underwater mortgages really overmortgaged loans amount loan owed property much higher current market value home example campbell points san bernardino countys proposal would provide incentive appraise properties underlying seized mortgages low possible increase potential profit mortgage refinanciers stated differently profiteering would submerged scrutiny public rigged real estate appraisals160 might called submergible eminent domain would used underwater mortgages campbell called schemes atrocious corruptive irresponsible unconstitutional civil war use eminent domain acquire underwater mortgages gotten almost media attention160 received less attention pending expiration temporary federal legislation passed 2007 suspended tax liability homeowners receive mortgage reductions 2 million 2007 congress passed mortgage forgiveness debt relief act expires end 2012160 discussion extend congress three months act 160newsom made known advocacy extend debt relief act160 instead championing questionable use eminent domain law buy underwater mortgages steven gluckstern chairman mortgage resolution partners private hedge fund proposing condemn underwater mortgages proposed another doozey concept160 would involve using creative appraisals instead eminent domain reduce mortgages 160here sacramento bee described example homeowner paid 300000 house boom house worth 200000 mortgage balance much higher city would seize mortgage pay note holder 160000 gluckstern contends would fairmarket value potential costs foreclosing mortgage deducted idea city become lender instead said homeowner would refinance mortgage 190000 help mortgage resolution partners extra 30000 would split investors local government mrp would make flat fee 4500 per transaction representative securities industry financial markets association called abovedescribed proposal scheme shortterm opportunistic investors make 20to30 percent profit cherry picking best loans securitized poor buying substantial discount prominent eminent domain attorney gideon kanner blog aug 17 said reaction creative appraisal concept nobody seems asking awesome sovereign government power eminent domain enlisted quest quick private profitthe public interest must predominate private benefit limited incidental court explained case county los angeles vs anthony160 kanner also asked public interest served refinancing example loan question performing mortgage payments made kanner also noted pandoras box eminent domain opened underwater mortgages property owners could denied hiring attorney appraiser contesting mortgage buyout reduction offer160 front jury local government agency would hook pay court costs property owners litigation appraisal fees160 minimally 50000 per case use socalled submerged eminent domain become trendy cause media elites arianna huffington actor john cusack160 however mention made san bernardino county proposal use eminent domain would call 80 percent property owners vote higher property taxes pay underwater mortgages 20 percent homeowners long concept using eminent domain reduce underwater mortgages would remain popular homeowners designated area would vote higher property taxes remains seen
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<p>WASHINGTON—The new Illinois law that overhauls teacher tenure, collective bargaining, layoff procedures, and the right to strike took the stage in the nation’s capital on Wednesday, with several key people behind the measure holding it up as a model for other states. WASHINGTON—The new Illinois law that overhauls teacher tenure, collective bargaining, layoff procedures, and the right to strike took the stage in the nation’s capital on Wednesday, with several key people behind the measure holding it up as a model for other states.</p>
<p>“My challenge was keeping everyone at the table,” said state Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood), the assistant majority leader credited with shepherding the measure known as Senate Bill 7 through the Legislature earlier this year.</p>
<p>Speaking at a two-hour symposium on the law at the Center for American Progress, Lightford and others highlighted a collaborative negotiation process that included legislative leaders, key reform organizations, and the teachers’ unions.</p>
<p>“We were on the same planet,” said Jonathan Furr, a partner at Holland &amp; Knight in Chicago who represented the group Advance Illinois during the process. “Some dialogues here in D.C. and in other states [on such teacher issues] aren’t even in the same solar system.”</p>
<p>The Center for American Progress is a progressive think tank led by John D. Podesta, who was a chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. In a paper for the Center, lawyer Elliot Regenstein said SB 7 benefited from a wave of collaborative discussion in 2009 and 2010 among various stakeholders on teacher-effectiveness. The law also benefitted from the process that crafted Illinois’ applications—ultimately unsuccessful—for federal Race to the Top grants.</p>
<p>Regenstein, a partner with EducationCounsel in Chicago, also cites the participation of groups such as Advance Illinois, co-founded by former Gov. Jim Edgar, and Stand for Children, an Oregon-based organization that put its own reform stamp on teacher-effectiveness proposals.</p>
<p>In Illinois, Stand for Children has been controversial because the group swept into the state to push its legislative agenda and quickly <a href="/notebook/index.php/entry/1065/" type="external">garnered $3 million</a>from some of Chicago’s wealthiest civic leaders. Comments by national Stand for Children director Jonah Edelman have garnered attention because he bragged about <a href="/notebook/index.php/entry/1185/For_the_Record%3A_Chicago_Teachers_Union_strike_votes" type="external">using SB7</a> to curb teachers’ labor rights. Edelman has since apologized.</p>
<p>Lightford “convened larger group meetings at which all of the key stakeholders were represented,” Regenstein says. Later, the group was whittled down to include the groups Lightford considered “truly necessary to the discussions.”</p>
<p>Lightford said Wednesday that it was difficult to have as many as 80 people representing various interests at these meetings.&#160; “I minimized the size of the meetings and I was criticized for it,” Lightford said. “So be it.”</p>
<p>Illinois Education Association Executive Director Audrey Soglin, Advance Illinois Executive Director Robin Steans and key legislators participated in smaller meetings. As the discussion advanced, details of the bill were hammered out by a team of four lawyers: a lawyer for the Illinois Education Association; Furr of Advance Illinois; a lawyer for the Illinois Association of School Administrators; and Darren Reisberg, the deputy state superintendent and the general counsel of the Illinois State Board of Education.</p>
<p>The <a href="/notebook/index.php/entry/1109/" type="external">bill was signed</a> by Gov. Pat Quinn on June 13 at the Maywood public school Lightford attended as a child.</p>
<p>No representatives of the Chicago Teachers Union or its parent unions, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers, spoke at the Wednesday event. UNIONS ‘FACING REALITY?’</p>
<p>Reisberg said that the 75 percent strike-approval provision and other Chicago measures got much of the attention late in the process, but that should not overshadow the fact that SB 7 will be significant for all of the more than 860 other school districts in Illinois.</p>
<p>“Really, in large part this bill is about everything other than Chicago,” Reisberg said. “The majority of the reforms are really Downstate-focused.”</p>
<p>Soglin of the IEA, an affiliate of the National Education Association, whose locals represent teachers in many suburban and downstate districts, said the tenure and reduction-in-force provisions were among the most contentious in SB 7.</p>
<p>“Tenure is access to due process and access to just cause” for teacher discipline and removal, Soglin said. “It isn’t a lifetime guarantee of a job.”</p>
<p>But she acknowledged that the teachers’ unions are facing reality by engaging in discussions and altering some of their long-held positions on such issues.</p>
<p>“We came at this with the idea that we agreed performance had to have a role” in layoff procedures, Soglin said. “But you cannot say that experience and seniority don’t matter.”</p>
<p>As for lessons for other states, Regenstein’s report offers a lengthy list, including: “sequencing can be key,” or building on bills in separate legislative sessions; “engage an honest broker” such as someone like Lightford; thoughtful counter-proposals to initial ideas “can go a long way”; and “show humility and respect others.”</p>
<p>SB 7 was praised by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and at the event here Wednesday, Brad Jupp, a senior program adviser in Duncan’s office, said Illinois had accomplished a lot by passing the measure, but there was still much work to do.</p>
<p>“This is very much a local game,” said Jupp, who is on loan from the Denver public schools. “You still have very difficult things to do to execute at the local level.”</p>
<p>John M. Luczak, the education program manager at The Joyce Foundation in Chicago, who led the discussion here, agreed with that assessment.</p>
<p>“Passing the law is the easy part,” he said. “Now we really need to focus on implementation.”&#160;</p>
<p>Mark Walsh is based in Washington, D.C. and writes regularly for Education Week.</p>
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washingtonthe new illinois law overhauls teacher tenure collective bargaining layoff procedures right strike took stage nations capital wednesday several key people behind measure holding model states washingtonthe new illinois law overhauls teacher tenure collective bargaining layoff procedures right strike took stage nations capital wednesday several key people behind measure holding model states challenge keeping everyone table said state sen kimberly lightford dmaywood assistant majority leader credited shepherding measure known senate bill 7 legislature earlier year speaking twohour symposium law center american progress lightford others highlighted collaborative negotiation process included legislative leaders key reform organizations teachers unions planet said jonathan furr partner holland amp knight chicago represented group advance illinois process dialogues dc states teacher issues arent even solar system center american progress progressive think tank led john podesta chief staff president bill clinton paper center lawyer elliot regenstein said sb 7 benefited wave collaborative discussion 2009 2010 among various stakeholders teachereffectiveness law also benefitted process crafted illinois applicationsultimately unsuccessfulfor federal race top grants regenstein partner educationcounsel chicago also cites participation groups advance illinois cofounded former gov jim edgar stand children oregonbased organization put reform stamp teachereffectiveness proposals illinois stand children controversial group swept state push legislative agenda quickly garnered 3 millionfrom chicagos wealthiest civic leaders comments national stand children director jonah edelman garnered attention bragged using sb7 curb teachers labor rights edelman since apologized lightford convened larger group meetings key stakeholders represented regenstein says later group whittled include groups lightford considered truly necessary discussions lightford said wednesday difficult many 80 people representing various interests meetings160 minimized size meetings criticized lightford said illinois education association executive director audrey soglin advance illinois executive director robin steans key legislators participated smaller meetings discussion advanced details bill hammered team four lawyers lawyer illinois education association furr advance illinois lawyer illinois association school administrators darren reisberg deputy state superintendent general counsel illinois state board education bill signed gov pat quinn june 13 maywood public school lightford attended child representatives chicago teachers union parent unions illinois federation teachers american federation teachers spoke wednesday event unions facing reality reisberg said 75 percent strikeapproval provision chicago measures got much attention late process overshadow fact sb 7 significant 860 school districts illinois really large part bill everything chicago reisberg said majority reforms really downstatefocused soglin iea affiliate national education association whose locals represent teachers many suburban downstate districts said tenure reductioninforce provisions among contentious sb 7 tenure access due process access cause teacher discipline removal soglin said isnt lifetime guarantee job acknowledged teachers unions facing reality engaging discussions altering longheld positions issues came idea agreed performance role layoff procedures soglin said say experience seniority dont matter lessons states regensteins report offers lengthy list including sequencing key building bills separate legislative sessions engage honest broker someone like lightford thoughtful counterproposals initial ideas go long way show humility respect others sb 7 praised us secretary education arne duncan event wednesday brad jupp senior program adviser duncans office said illinois accomplished lot passing measure still much work much local game said jupp loan denver public schools still difficult things execute local level john luczak education program manager joyce foundation chicago led discussion agreed assessment passing law easy part said really need focus implementation160 mark walsh based washington dc writes regularly education week
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<p>Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground — everything that has the breath of life in it — I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.</p>
<p>It can be argued from Gen. 1:29-30 that that the original intent of creation was for all life, including humans, to be vegetarians.</p>
<p>Killing in Eden, even for food, was considered incongruent with paradise’s primeval peace as designed by God. No blood was shed, and survival of the fittest did not exist in this idyllic garden. There was truly peace on earth and goodwill toward humans.</p>
<p>Since the expulsion from the garden, the idea of a return to Eden has captured the religious imagination. Isaiah’s messianic vision of the future is modeled on the past, with the wolf cohabitating with the lamb, the panther sleeping with the kid, the cow and bear becoming friends, the lion eating straw like the ox and the child playing with the venomous snake (Is. 11:6-8).</p>
<p>So, why wait for some messianic future to begin modeling our behavior on Eden’s utopian paradigm?</p>
<p>Multiple biblical imageries reveal an ancient relationship existing between humans and the animals they have raised. As humans moved from hunter-gatherers to domesticators of animals and crop cultivators; they understood that their very survival depended upon the animals for which they cared. Hence, a relationship, if not a spiritual bond, developed.</p>
<p>We discover a God whose concern for animals is demonstrated in the Flood story where God not only saves Noah’s family from the coming deluge, but also the animals.</p>
<p>Animals must be allowed to rest on the Sabbath, and if the animal’s life is in danger, then humans are permitted to violate the Sabbath.</p>
<p>Calves are not to be cooked in their mother’s milk, lest we become insensitive to animals. Animals are to be killed mercifully. It is an abomination for them to suffer needlessly.</p>
<p>Husbandry techniques rooted in the ancient custom of animal care, spurred human development. Animals provide humans with material for clothing (fur, skins, wools, leather); dairy products; and the ultimate sacrifice, their very lives, so that humans can be nourished by their flesh. In return, humans provided care and protection. The shepherd leaves the 99 sheep grazing upon the hill to find the lost little one. After all, the ultimate image of God is that of the shepherd.</p>
<p>The industrialization of agriculture has led to a disregard of animal welfare. Few today are concerned with how the food arrives to their supermarkets. Industrialization replaced husbandry, breaking the human-animal social contract as concern for the animal’s well-being made way for cost effectiveness. While at one time a farmer would spend more time or money than an ill animal was worth, today’s attention to corporate profit would discourage spending more in caring for animals than their book value.</p>
<p>We know that ignoring the conditions that food animals must endure leads to ecological concerns. If people truly wish to reduce their carbon footprint, probably the greatest contribution that can be made is to become a vegetarian.</p>
<p><a href="ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0701e/a0701e00.pdf" type="external">According</a>&#160;to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations our livestock sector is one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems faced at every level of society, from local to global, impacting climate change, degradation, air pollution, water pollution, water shortage and loss of biodiversity.</p>
<p>Food production and distribution account for one-third of all human-caused global warming. The fuel required by the U.S. agricultural sector greatly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Roughly 123 million barrels of oil is consumed during the production of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Add to this figure the transportation costs of getting the average American meal, which travels some 1,500 miles from point of origin to our plates, and a total of 450 billion gallons of oil is required each and every year to sustain the U.S. food system.</p>
<p>Further contributing to greenhouse gas problems is the animals themselves, along with their waste. The methane released by cows and pigs, while less prevalent in the air than carbon dioxide, is 23 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas. This makes livestock responsible for 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas problem, compared to transportation, which is only responsible for 13 percent.</p>
<p>Due to the sheer numbers, crowded livestock facilities simply cannot properly process the manure generated. A daily farm with 2,500 cows produces as much waste as a city of 411,000 individuals, but unlike the city, no sewage treatment plant exists. Properly processing animal waste becomes a logistic impossibility.</p>
<p>Animal waste sprayed onto the land creates cesspools that pollute groundwater, streams and rivers leading to health problems among workers and nearby neighbors. Considering that two-thirds of all human infectious diseases are&#160; <a href="http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12958" type="external">zoonotic</a>&#160;– capable of being transmitted from animals to humans — it should come as no surprise that respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular problems and prenatal and neonatal health concerns rise wherever livestock-based environmental contamination occurs.</p>
<p>These conditions even impact those who are vegetarians or vegans, as illustrated by illnesses and fatalities caused by the nationwide E. coli&#160; <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2006/september/" type="external">outbreak</a>&#160;in September 2006 that was traced to prepackaged spinach.</p>
<p>Adopting vegetarianism as supposedly found in Eden is not some panacea, but it can contribute to reducing global hunger in underdeveloped nations, and definitely to reducing obesity in developed nations such as the United States.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">This article originally ran on the ABPnews website on September 17, 2012.</a></p>
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god said give every seedbearing plant face whole earth every tree fruit seed food beasts earth birds sky creatures move along ground everything breath life give every green plant food argued gen 12930 original intent creation life including humans vegetarians killing eden even food considered incongruent paradises primeval peace designed god blood shed survival fittest exist idyllic garden truly peace earth goodwill toward humans since expulsion garden idea return eden captured religious imagination isaiahs messianic vision future modeled past wolf cohabitating lamb panther sleeping kid cow bear becoming friends lion eating straw like ox child playing venomous snake 1168 wait messianic future begin modeling behavior edens utopian paradigm multiple biblical imageries reveal ancient relationship existing humans animals raised humans moved huntergatherers domesticators animals crop cultivators understood survival depended upon animals cared hence relationship spiritual bond developed discover god whose concern animals demonstrated flood story god saves noahs family coming deluge also animals animals must allowed rest sabbath animals life danger humans permitted violate sabbath calves cooked mothers milk lest become insensitive animals animals killed mercifully abomination suffer needlessly husbandry techniques rooted ancient custom animal care spurred human development animals provide humans material clothing fur skins wools leather dairy products ultimate sacrifice lives humans nourished flesh return humans provided care protection shepherd leaves 99 sheep grazing upon hill find lost little one ultimate image god shepherd industrialization agriculture led disregard animal welfare today concerned food arrives supermarkets industrialization replaced husbandry breaking humananimal social contract concern animals wellbeing made way cost effectiveness one time farmer would spend time money ill animal worth todays attention corporate profit would discourage spending caring animals book value know ignoring conditions food animals must endure leads ecological concerns people truly wish reduce carbon footprint probably greatest contribution made become vegetarian according160to food agriculture organization united nations livestock sector one top two three significant contributors serious environmental problems faced every level society local global impacting climate change degradation air pollution water pollution water shortage loss biodiversity food production distribution account onethird humancaused global warming fuel required us agricultural sector greatly contributes greenhouse gas emissions roughly 123 million barrels oil consumed production synthetic fertilizers pesticides add figure transportation costs getting average american meal travels 1500 miles point origin plates total 450 billion gallons oil required every year sustain us food system contributing greenhouse gas problems animals along waste methane released cows pigs less prevalent air carbon dioxide 23 times potent heattrapping gas makes livestock responsible 18 percent worlds greenhouse gas problem compared transportation responsible 13 percent due sheer numbers crowded livestock facilities simply properly process manure generated daily farm 2500 cows produces much waste city 411000 individuals unlike city sewage treatment plant exists properly processing animal waste becomes logistic impossibility animal waste sprayed onto land creates cesspools pollute groundwater streams rivers leading health problems among workers nearby neighbors considering twothirds human infectious diseases are160 zoonotic160 capable transmitted animals humans come surprise respiratory illnesses cardiovascular problems prenatal neonatal health concerns rise wherever livestockbased environmental contamination occurs conditions even impact vegetarians vegans illustrated illnesses fatalities caused nationwide e coli160 outbreak160in september 2006 traced prepackaged spinach adopting vegetarianism supposedly found eden panacea contribute reducing global hunger underdeveloped nations definitely reducing obesity developed nations united states article originally ran abpnews website september 17 2012
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<p>Notice to incoming freshmen: High school may be hazardous to your academic health.</p>
<p>That, in essence, is the message of an ongoing study of the transition from 8th grade to 9th grade in the Chicago public schools.</p>
<p>Freshman failures</p>
<p>In a review of student transcripts from 1992, researchers found that 50 percent of all freshmen failed at least one first-semester course—primarily English, math, science or social studies, the core academic regimen students must master for success in school. Worse yet, only 29 percent of these freshmen broke free of failure the second semester, with 71 percent continuing to fail as many or even more courses.</p>
<p>Over all, preliminary results of the study, conducted by the Consortium on Chicago School Research, paint a picture of routine failure and few safety nets for freshmen, who are grappling with the physical and social rites of passage into adolescence.</p>
<p>“We need to be setting up an environment that takes into account kids’ developmental needs,” says Melissa Roderick, the University of Chicago assistant professor who directed the study. “So much of this failure rate [is] adolescents who encounter difficulty, then act like adolescents.”</p>
<p>For example, a 9th-grade student who clashes with a teacher may cut a class rather than work through the tension day to day. And attendance is closely associated with failure. In the study, 9th-graders who missed up to five days of school stood a 29 percent chance of getting an F in a core subject. The rate more than doubled to 61 percent for those who missed 15 or more days.</p>
<p>Another reason behind 9th-grade academic troubles is a lack of basic reading and math skills—a problem the Reform Board’s new promotion policy aims to solve. Still, low-achieving 8th-grade graduates aren’t the only freshmen failing. Students who test at or above grade level are vulnerable as well. Even freshmen who enter high school with 10th-grade reading scores have a 22 percent chance of receiving an F, the Consortium found.</p>
<p>Freshman academies</p>
<p>For Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas, the chief remedy is the creation of “freshman academies” at every high school in the system. They may be a distinct place within a high school, or they may be just a set of practices that pay special attention to the needs of the neophytes. As articulated by board administrators, they amount to a call to do something.</p>
<p>“The whole idea is to try,” says Roderick. “If something doesn’t work, try something else.”</p>
<p>The board’s stated goals for freshman academies are threefold: Restructure high schools. Teach students the skills and values necessary to get a job. Improve academic achievement.</p>
<p>Roderick says the overarching goals should be: Set and follow-up on high expectations. Monitor students closely. Provide individual support.</p>
<p>Eric Camburn, a co-author of the Consortium report, stresses that a freshman academy must be more than a place. Segregating freshmen from upperclassmen may avert some minor altercations, he says, but does little to address academic failure rates.</p>
<p>Of the city’s 74 high schools, 62 are developing full or partial freshman academy programs. About half embraced the idea when it was originally presented last year. Those schools drafted program proposals last spring, attended training workshops over the summer and launched full-scale programs in September. Each received $100,000 in seed money.</p>
<p>The rest joined the board’s $4.7 million effort much later—the result of a late summer press by Board President Gery Chico to get every school to sign up. With little time, no training and only $35,000 to work with, many of these schools struggled to set up some semblance of a freshman academy program.</p>
<p>Problems with academy beginnings</p>
<p>Educators, reform groups and even students agree that high schools need to make major changes to ease the 9th-grade transition process. But some disapprove of the School Board’s headlong rush to install freshman academies in all schools this year, particularly with other major initiatives, such as probation, coming on line.</p>
<p>At some schools, notes Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE), “Programs were thrown together.”</p>
<p>However, she applauds Chicago school officials for recognizing that high schools must pay as much attention to freshmen as they do college-bound seniors. “One good thing—they are actually helping the kids before it’s too late,” she says.</p>
<p>Chicago High School for Agricultural Science and Bowen High School were among the schools pressed into last-minute action.</p>
<p>The Ag School created what it calls Homework Central, late afternoon sessions that initially ran until 4:40 p.m. However, parents complained that that was too late for students to begin the long trek home from the Southwest Side magnet school. The school then devised a complicated system of adding extra time to freshman classes three days a week so that it could squeeze the homework sessions into a fourth day, when other students get out early.</p>
<p>Even prior to the board’s freshman academy push, Ag School freshmen already were required to attend four weeks of summer school. The program serves as an orientation to both the agriculture industry and the school. The purpose, says Principal Barbara Valerious, is to give freshmen a dose of the heavy course load and long school day they will encounter during the regular school year. “Our kids are overwhelmed,” she says.</p>
<p>For its partial program, Bowen opted to hold twice-weekly, after-school tutorials. But the class is not required and offers no credit, so only a handful of students have been showing up.</p>
<p>“Next semester we’re going to fix that,” says George Schmidt, Bowen’s freshman academy coordinator. The voluntary program did not work because freshmen at risk don’t take the initiative to help themselves. “It’s not their fault at the age of 14,” he says.</p>
<p>Beginning in February, the after-school sessions will be required for all freshmen who fail one or more classes. That could affect as many as 150 freshmen, estimates Schmidt. Also next month, Bowen freshmen will begin publishing a newspaper of their own.</p>
<p>Privately, some educators complain that their own programs were addressing the same problems but in a different way. For example, schools-within-schools divide a school vertically rather than horizontally, creating a smaller, more supportive environment for groups of students that include freshmen through seniors.</p>
<p>“We thought we were doing a lot of those things already,” says one high school administrator.</p>
<p>Reviewing schools’ efforts, Roderick says, “I don’t agree with everything I see, but I agree with the general impetus.” The Consortium has been asked to evaluate the programs, but no agreement is in place.</p>
<p>Academy components</p>
<p>It wasn’t until freshman academy grants had been made that board officials published a list of possible components of a freshman academy. The brochure lists a core curriculum as an option, but the administration is readying a core curriculum as a mandate. Other components are:</p>
<p>INTEGRATED CURRICULUM Teachers in core academic classes and electives would work together to coordinate projects and homework so that courses would complement each other. The idea is to increase students’ engagement by putting subject matter in a broader context and showing them how one subject can be used to understand another.</p>
<p>At Chicago Ag School, for example, teachers in the biology, English and computer science departments are coordinating their efforts to assist freshmen with science fair projects. At Kenwood Academy High School, geometry teachers worked with art and drafting instructors so students could see the practical applications of an abstract subject.</p>
<p>SKILL LABS Reading, math and writing labs would reinforce basic skills and help prepare students for standardized achievement tests.</p>
<p>FRESHMEN-ONLY TEACHERS A group of teachers would be selected to teach only freshmen. The goal is to have teachers get to know the students and their needs better so that students will feel more comfortable asking for help. When Hyde Park Career Academy set up a freshman school in 1991, “teaching freshmen was punishment,” says Anita Harmon, director of guidance. “Everyone wanted to teach the AP classes.” However, teachers have come around since then and enjoy the challenge, she says.</p>
<p>AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS Schools would provide homework centers, tutoring sessions or other programs that extend the school day for an extra period. These classes would operate like supervised study halls, with a teacher or counselor on hand to answer questions and give advice.</p>
<p>At Kenwood Academy, for example, all freshmen meet 9th period in “cluster” classes that cover topics like time management, test-taking skills and conflict resolution.</p>
<p>ALTERNATIVE SCHEDULING Double-period classes for an integrated presentation of two subjects—English and history, for example—or for a double dose of one subject. In September, Bogan Computer Tech High School switched to double-period classes for the four core classes freshmen take. As a result, students take English and computer science one semester and math and lab science the other.</p>
<p>“Fifty-minute periods [the standard in Chicago] work well for kids who are aggressive, think fast and ask for help,” says Melissa Roderick. “Not for kids who feel lost.”</p>
<p>Hyde Park Career Academy has a variation on the more-time theme. Freshmen who have not completed their work by the end of a marking period or are doing less than C-level work, get an incomplete or P grade for participation.</p>
<p>“That can be removed if they complete their work within a designated time frame,” says Principal Weldon Beverly. “Some [freshman academy] models allow kids to work until senior year. We don’t believe in that.”</p>
<p>School officials also recommend formal tutoring and counseling programs for freshmen, with extra attention given to those who need more help.</p>
<p>Academy pioneers</p>
<p>Hyde Park is among a number of schools that have paid formal attention to the needs of freshmen for years. The school officially recognized transition as early as 1988, with “Starting on the Right Foot,” a program that brought freshman-level teachers together with teachers from Hyde Park’s elementary feeder schools to acquaint them with what would be expected of their students. In 1991, Hyde Park added a summer orientation program for 8th-grade graduates and created a cadre of freshman-only teachers.</p>
<p>And block scheduling for all students is firmly established at Manley High in East Garfield Park and Robeson High in Englewood. At Robeson, double periods are standard for all classes except P. E. Part of the goal at Robeson is to supplement lectures with hands-on learning activities. (See CATALYST, September 1994.)</p>
<p>Schools that bought into the Vallas effort early are trying yet other approaches. Some have limited the independence of freshmen by confining them to school grounds with closed-campus restrictions. Others have mandated participation in extracurricular activities, as a way for teachers and students to form closer ties. And a half dozen elementary schools have gotten into the act by adding a 9th grade.</p>
<p>As the first semester came to a close, school officials admit they do not yet have a handle on whether individual programs are succeeding. Overall, 9th-grade attendance rates are improving at schools with full academy programs, says Beverly LaCoste, who directed the freshman academy program from August through mid-January.</p>
<p>The program’s effect on grades remains to be seen. LaCoste declines to release the average mid-semester failure rate. That number is tainted, she says, because it includes grades for second-year freshmen who have not yet passed last year’s coursework. First-semester results for freshmen who entered high school this fall won’t be available until February.</p>
<p>“Some schools are working well, others are not,” concedes LaCoste, formerly principal of Kenwood Academy.</p>
<p>A national concern</p>
<p>Chicago is not the only city grappling with transition issues.</p>
<p>Three years ago, Detroit school officials were so alarmed by an escalating freshman dropout rate that they proposed removing all 9th-graders from high schools and placing them in separate 9th-grade academies or in middle schools. While that plan was not adopted, each of Detroit’s 28 high schools launched its own program for 9th-graders.</p>
<p>Most center on making teachers, social workers and administrators more accessible to freshmen, says Eddie Green, a region superintendent who helped spearhead 9th-grade programs.</p>
<p>In Baltimore, Patterson High School has had much success with its freshman academy, which Chicago school officials visited. However, Patterson followed a different time line than Chicago has adopted.</p>
<p>After a year of study and planning, the school adopted a model created by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, which is working with the city’s high schools to improve attendance and achievement while reducing drop-out and failure rates. The model provides for a Ninth Grade Success Academy as a separate entity with its own teachers, administrators and building entrance. Several academies are set up for older students, each with a career focus and a college preparatory curriculum.</p>
<p>After the academies opened, the attendance rate of freshmen jumped 9.4 percentage points, and the schoolwide average rose 6.1 points to 77.7 percent. (At 61.5 percent, Austin Community Academy had the lowest attendance rate last year among regular high schools in Chicago.)</p>
<p>In the 1993-94 academic year, 80 percent of Patterson’s freshmen flunked 9th grade; two years later, it was just the opposite, with 85 percent promoted to the sophomore level.</p>
<p>“Some had to go to summer school, but they were willing to do that to keep up with their classmates,” says James McPartland, director of high school programs at Hopkins’ Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk.</p>
<p>Patterson succeeded because its small schools program attacked both student apathy and anonymity, says McPartland. To break the cycle of failure, disengaged students must see a reason to study and must connect with someone who has their best interest at heart. “When you can wrap the program into a career focus, the school starts having some meaning, some focus, some direction,” he adds.</p>
<p>Developing a good program takes time, he cautions. “It can’t be rushed into, or it really won’t have the kind of commitment from teachers it needs,” he says.</p>
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notice incoming freshmen high school may hazardous academic health essence message ongoing study transition 8th grade 9th grade chicago public schools freshman failures review student transcripts 1992 researchers found 50 percent freshmen failed least one firstsemester courseprimarily english math science social studies core academic regimen students must master success school worse yet 29 percent freshmen broke free failure second semester 71 percent continuing fail many even courses preliminary results study conducted consortium chicago school research paint picture routine failure safety nets freshmen grappling physical social rites passage adolescence need setting environment takes account kids developmental needs says melissa roderick university chicago assistant professor directed study much failure rate adolescents encounter difficulty act like adolescents example 9thgrade student clashes teacher may cut class rather work tension day day attendance closely associated failure study 9thgraders missed five days school stood 29 percent chance getting f core subject rate doubled 61 percent missed 15 days another reason behind 9thgrade academic troubles lack basic reading math skillsa problem reform boards new promotion policy aims solve still lowachieving 8thgrade graduates arent freshmen failing students test grade level vulnerable well even freshmen enter high school 10thgrade reading scores 22 percent chance receiving f consortium found freshman academies chief executive officer paul vallas chief remedy creation freshman academies every high school system may distinct place within high school may set practices pay special attention needs neophytes articulated board administrators amount call something whole idea try says roderick something doesnt work try something else boards stated goals freshman academies threefold restructure high schools teach students skills values necessary get job improve academic achievement roderick says overarching goals set followup high expectations monitor students closely provide individual support eric camburn coauthor consortium report stresses freshman academy must place segregating freshmen upperclassmen may avert minor altercations says little address academic failure rates citys 74 high schools 62 developing full partial freshman academy programs half embraced idea originally presented last year schools drafted program proposals last spring attended training workshops summer launched fullscale programs september received 100000 seed money rest joined boards 47 million effort much laterthe result late summer press board president gery chico get every school sign little time training 35000 work many schools struggled set semblance freshman academy program problems academy beginnings educators reform groups even students agree high schools need make major changes ease 9thgrade transition process disapprove school boards headlong rush install freshman academies schools year particularly major initiatives probation coming line schools notes julie woestehoff executive director parents united responsible education pure programs thrown together however applauds chicago school officials recognizing high schools must pay much attention freshmen collegebound seniors one good thingthey actually helping kids late says chicago high school agricultural science bowen high school among schools pressed lastminute action ag school created calls homework central late afternoon sessions initially ran 440 pm however parents complained late students begin long trek home southwest side magnet school school devised complicated system adding extra time freshman classes three days week could squeeze homework sessions fourth day students get early even prior boards freshman academy push ag school freshmen already required attend four weeks summer school program serves orientation agriculture industry school purpose says principal barbara valerious give freshmen dose heavy course load long school day encounter regular school year kids overwhelmed says partial program bowen opted hold twiceweekly afterschool tutorials class required offers credit handful students showing next semester going fix says george schmidt bowens freshman academy coordinator voluntary program work freshmen risk dont take initiative help fault age 14 says beginning february afterschool sessions required freshmen fail one classes could affect many 150 freshmen estimates schmidt also next month bowen freshmen begin publishing newspaper privately educators complain programs addressing problems different way example schoolswithinschools divide school vertically rather horizontally creating smaller supportive environment groups students include freshmen seniors thought lot things already says one high school administrator reviewing schools efforts roderick says dont agree everything see agree general impetus consortium asked evaluate programs agreement place academy components wasnt freshman academy grants made board officials published list possible components freshman academy brochure lists core curriculum option administration readying core curriculum mandate components integrated curriculum teachers core academic classes electives would work together coordinate projects homework courses would complement idea increase students engagement putting subject matter broader context showing one subject used understand another chicago ag school example teachers biology english computer science departments coordinating efforts assist freshmen science fair projects kenwood academy high school geometry teachers worked art drafting instructors students could see practical applications abstract subject skill labs reading math writing labs would reinforce basic skills help prepare students standardized achievement tests freshmenonly teachers group teachers would selected teach freshmen goal teachers get know students needs better students feel comfortable asking help hyde park career academy set freshman school 1991 teaching freshmen punishment says anita harmon director guidance everyone wanted teach ap classes however teachers come around since enjoy challenge says afterschool programs schools would provide homework centers tutoring sessions programs extend school day extra period classes would operate like supervised study halls teacher counselor hand answer questions give advice kenwood academy example freshmen meet 9th period cluster classes cover topics like time management testtaking skills conflict resolution alternative scheduling doubleperiod classes integrated presentation two subjectsenglish history exampleor double dose one subject september bogan computer tech high school switched doubleperiod classes four core classes freshmen take result students take english computer science one semester math lab science fiftyminute periods standard chicago work well kids aggressive think fast ask help says melissa roderick kids feel lost hyde park career academy variation moretime theme freshmen completed work end marking period less clevel work get incomplete p grade participation removed complete work within designated time frame says principal weldon beverly freshman academy models allow kids work senior year dont believe school officials also recommend formal tutoring counseling programs freshmen extra attention given need help academy pioneers hyde park among number schools paid formal attention needs freshmen years school officially recognized transition early 1988 starting right foot program brought freshmanlevel teachers together teachers hyde parks elementary feeder schools acquaint would expected students 1991 hyde park added summer orientation program 8thgrade graduates created cadre freshmanonly teachers block scheduling students firmly established manley high east garfield park robeson high englewood robeson double periods standard classes except p e part goal robeson supplement lectures handson learning activities see catalyst september 1994 schools bought vallas effort early trying yet approaches limited independence freshmen confining school grounds closedcampus restrictions others mandated participation extracurricular activities way teachers students form closer ties half dozen elementary schools gotten act adding 9th grade first semester came close school officials admit yet handle whether individual programs succeeding overall 9thgrade attendance rates improving schools full academy programs says beverly lacoste directed freshman academy program august midjanuary programs effect grades remains seen lacoste declines release average midsemester failure rate number tainted says includes grades secondyear freshmen yet passed last years coursework firstsemester results freshmen entered high school fall wont available february schools working well others concedes lacoste formerly principal kenwood academy national concern chicago city grappling transition issues three years ago detroit school officials alarmed escalating freshman dropout rate proposed removing 9thgraders high schools placing separate 9thgrade academies middle schools plan adopted detroits 28 high schools launched program 9thgraders center making teachers social workers administrators accessible freshmen says eddie green region superintendent helped spearhead 9thgrade programs baltimore patterson high school much success freshman academy chicago school officials visited however patterson followed different time line chicago adopted year study planning school adopted model created researchers johns hopkins university working citys high schools improve attendance achievement reducing dropout failure rates model provides ninth grade success academy separate entity teachers administrators building entrance several academies set older students career focus college preparatory curriculum academies opened attendance rate freshmen jumped 94 percentage points schoolwide average rose 61 points 777 percent 615 percent austin community academy lowest attendance rate last year among regular high schools chicago 199394 academic year 80 percent pattersons freshmen flunked 9th grade two years later opposite 85 percent promoted sophomore level go summer school willing keep classmates says james mcpartland director high school programs hopkins center research education students placed risk patterson succeeded small schools program attacked student apathy anonymity says mcpartland break cycle failure disengaged students must see reason study must connect someone best interest heart wrap program career focus school starts meaning focus direction adds developing good program takes time cautions cant rushed really wont kind commitment teachers needs says
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<p>It's rare for a school in the West Bank to offer Hebrew classes. And it is rarer still for the Hebrew teacher to be a convicted killer, fresh out of jail.</p>
<p>That’s how it has been this year at the Greek Orthodox Secondary School in the village of Taybeh. When the morning school bell rings, ninth grade boys shuffle into class with Esmat Mansour, a Palestinian prisoner who served twenty years in jail for the murder of an Israeli.</p>
<p>Mansour was released in August, along with other Palestinian prisoners. During the last 9 months of US-sponsored peace talks, Israel has agreed to free groups of prisoners convicted of killing Israelis in order to keep the talks going.</p>
<p>Recently, however, there was a disagreement over a formula to extend the talks, and Israel didn’t follow through on releasing one last group of prisoners. Last week, peace talks broke down altogether.</p>
<p>Releasing convicted Palestinian killers has been hugely unpopular in Israel. But Mansour, the recently-released prisoner, says he is committed to building bridges between the two societies by teaching Palestinian kids how to speak Hebrew. Once a week, he teaches seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth grade Hebrew at the Greek Orthodox school in Taybeh.</p>
<p>During one recent class, Mansour taught students how to order food at a restaurant. He stood in front of a boy’s desk and recited a dialogue from the student's textbook. Mansour’s Hebrew is so good that he can read from the textbook upside down.</p>
<p>Mansour wore a slick sports jacket and a black, buttoned-down shirt tucked into light jeans. It is hard to imagine that he spent the last twenty years in a prison uniform.</p>
<p>When Mansour was his students' age, he helped kill Haim Mizrahi, a 30-year-old Israeli who used to buy eggs at a farm where Mansour worked, near a West Bank Jewish settlement. One day, when he came to buy eggs, Mansour and some older teens pounced on him.</p>
<p>“We thought we would be able to kidnap him and release Palestinian prisoners,” said Mansour. “However, we could not control the settler. We had to kill him.”</p>
<p>Mansour said the other teens stabbed the Israeli and he did not. But an Israeli judge found that Mansour held the Israeli down during the stabbing, and sentenced Mansour to 22 years behind bars for premeditated murder.</p>
<p>In jail, Mansour studied journalism by correspondence course and wrote three novels. One of his Palestinian cellmates taught him Hebrew.</p>
<p>His Hebrew got to be so good that he became an official liaison between his fellow prisoners and prison officials. Every day, he’d read Israeli newspapers and watch Israeli television — news, culture, even the Israeli version of CSPAN, which airs government meetings.</p>
<p>“This is the main reason why I decided to become a teacher, because I saw the other side of the Israelis,” said Mansour. “I saw that we can build bridges. I saw that we can communicate with the Israelis and understand each other. We can find, through language and through talking to them, partners with whom we can talk peace.”</p>
<p>In August, Israel released Mansour a few years early, along with 23 other prisoners. Mansour received a hero’s welcome in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority made him the rank of a colonel, gave him a $50,000 homecoming gift and started paying him a monthly salary of about $1700. He didn’t really need to work.</p>
<p>But Abeer Khouryieh, the principal at the Greek Orthodox School, found him a job teaching Hebrew at her school. Khouryieh said she knows of only one other school in the West Bank that teaches Hebrew.</p>
<p>“I want to give the example of [Mansour] as a person who was put in jail for many years and who came out loving life,” said Khouryieh. “He did not come out bitter, ready to take vengeance. No, he came out as a human being who wants to continue in a peaceful way.”</p>
<p>That “peaceful way” seems to fall on deaf ears in Mansour’s ninth grade Hebrew class. The day’s lesson, how to order pizza or chocolate ice cream at an Israeli restaurant, is a scenario the kids cannot even imagine. Most Palestinians are barred from visiting Israeli cities.</p>
<p>None of the kids in the class said they knew any Israelis. Instead, they said they are taking Mansour’s Hebrew class to learn the language of the enemy.&#160;“At the checkpoint, they speak to us in Hebrew, so I should be able to respond to them in Hebrew,” one student said.</p>
<p>“When we know the Hebrew language, we will understand their plans, we will understand their thinking, and this way, we can be ahead of them,” another said.</p>
<p>“I think there will never be peace, because they are not peace lovers,” a third student said, referring to Israelis.</p>
<p>Mansour said he understands his students. They’re about the same age as he was when he helped kill Haim Mizrahi.</p>
<p>“This generation is living through a very confused situation. Nothing is clear,” said Mansour. “They don’t have any hope in any political debate [or] solutions. They do not believe in their leadership. They are very pessimistic and very confused. I am very worried that they will be pulled into extreme behavior, that they will conduct extreme acts, because they are very vulnerable.”</p>
<p>Mansour is trying to be a role model for his students, but it’s complicated. He said his students keep asking him why he was in jail, and though he said he never tells them, he is sure they know what he did. His students consider him a hero, but he doesn’t want them to glorify killing.</p>
<p>On the one hand, Mansour said he would never kill again. But, on the other hand, he said he was like a soldier acting on behalf of his people and doesn’t regret what he did.</p>
<p>Whether Mansour can be the role model he wants to be is not an easy question to answer.</p>
<p>“I see in their eyes that they see me as a hero,” said Mansour. “But I try all the time to tell them that killing someone is not a decision of a human being. Killing is a decision only of God. He is the only one who should decide to end somebody’s life. Through other means, we can be heroes, not through killing.”</p>
<p>This is not a story of personal forgiveness and reconciliation. Mansour has not reached out to the family of the Israeli he helped kill, and that family was completely against his release.</p>
<p>Instead, the way Mansour describes it, his story is one of a man who did his time and wants to make a difference for the future. Mansour is focusing on his own people, the next generation of Palestinians, to try to help them understand Israelis — in their own language.</p>
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rare school west bank offer hebrew classes rarer still hebrew teacher convicted killer fresh jail thats year greek orthodox secondary school village taybeh morning school bell rings ninth grade boys shuffle class esmat mansour palestinian prisoner served twenty years jail murder israeli mansour released august along palestinian prisoners last 9 months ussponsored peace talks israel agreed free groups prisoners convicted killing israelis order keep talks going recently however disagreement formula extend talks israel didnt follow releasing one last group prisoners last week peace talks broke altogether releasing convicted palestinian killers hugely unpopular israel mansour recentlyreleased prisoner says committed building bridges two societies teaching palestinian kids speak hebrew week teaches seventh eighth ninth tenth grade hebrew greek orthodox school taybeh one recent class mansour taught students order food restaurant stood front boys desk recited dialogue students textbook mansours hebrew good read textbook upside mansour wore slick sports jacket black buttoneddown shirt tucked light jeans hard imagine spent last twenty years prison uniform mansour students age helped kill haim mizrahi 30yearold israeli used buy eggs farm mansour worked near west bank jewish settlement one day came buy eggs mansour older teens pounced thought would able kidnap release palestinian prisoners said mansour however could control settler kill mansour said teens stabbed israeli israeli judge found mansour held israeli stabbing sentenced mansour 22 years behind bars premeditated murder jail mansour studied journalism correspondence course wrote three novels one palestinian cellmates taught hebrew hebrew got good became official liaison fellow prisoners prison officials every day hed read israeli newspapers watch israeli television news culture even israeli version cspan airs government meetings main reason decided become teacher saw side israelis said mansour saw build bridges saw communicate israelis understand find language talking partners talk peace august israel released mansour years early along 23 prisoners mansour received heros welcome west bank palestinian authority made rank colonel gave 50000 homecoming gift started paying monthly salary 1700 didnt really need work abeer khouryieh principal greek orthodox school found job teaching hebrew school khouryieh said knows one school west bank teaches hebrew want give example mansour person put jail many years came loving life said khouryieh come bitter ready take vengeance came human wants continue peaceful way peaceful way seems fall deaf ears mansours ninth grade hebrew class days lesson order pizza chocolate ice cream israeli restaurant scenario kids even imagine palestinians barred visiting israeli cities none kids class said knew israelis instead said taking mansours hebrew class learn language enemy160at checkpoint speak us hebrew able respond hebrew one student said know hebrew language understand plans understand thinking way ahead another said think never peace peace lovers third student said referring israelis mansour said understands students theyre age helped kill haim mizrahi generation living confused situation nothing clear said mansour dont hope political debate solutions believe leadership pessimistic confused worried pulled extreme behavior conduct extreme acts vulnerable mansour trying role model students complicated said students keep asking jail though said never tells sure know students consider hero doesnt want glorify killing one hand mansour said would never kill hand said like soldier acting behalf people doesnt regret whether mansour role model wants easy question answer see eyes see hero said mansour try time tell killing someone decision human killing decision god one decide end somebodys life means heroes killing story personal forgiveness reconciliation mansour reached family israeli helped kill family completely release instead way mansour describes story one man time wants make difference future mansour focusing people next generation palestinians try help understand israelis language
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<p>Remarks of President Barack Obama, as prepared for delivery:</p>
<p>Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:</p>
<p>Today in America, a teacher spent extra time with a student who needed it, and did her part to lift America's graduation rate to its highest level in more than three decades.</p>
<p>An entrepreneur flipped on the lights in her tech startup, and did her part to add to the more than eight million new jobs our businesses have created over the past four years.</p>
<p>An autoworker fine-tuned some of the best, most fuel-efficient cars in the world, and did his part to help America wean itself off foreign oil.</p>
<p>A farmer prepared for the spring after the strongest five-year stretch of farm exports in our history. A rural doctor gave a young child the first prescription to treat asthma that his mother could afford. A man took the bus home from the graveyard shift, bone-tired but dreaming big dreams for his son. And in tight-knit communities across America, fathers and mothers will tuck in their kids, put an arm around their spouse, remember fallen comrades, and give thanks for being home from a war that, after twelve long years, is finally coming to an end.</p>
<p>Tonight, this chamber speaks with one voice to the people we represent: it is you, our citizens, who make the state of our union strong.</p>
<p>Here are the results of your efforts: The lowest unemployment rate in over five years. A rebounding housing market. A manufacturing sector that's adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s. More oil produced at home than we buy from the rest of the world - the first time that's happened in nearly twenty years. Our deficits - cut by more than half. And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders around the world have declared that China is no longer the world's number one place to invest; America is.</p>
<p>That's why I believe this can be a breakthrough year for America. After five years of grit and determined effort, the United States is better-positioned for the 21st century than any other nation on Earth.</p>
<p>The question for everyone in this chamber, running through every decision we make this year, is whether we are going to help or hinder this progress. For several years now, this town has been consumed by a rancorous argument over the proper size of the federal government. It's an important debate - one that dates back to our very founding. But when that debate prevents us from carrying out even the most basic functions of our democracy - when our differences shut down government or threaten the full faith and credit of the United States - then we are not doing right by the American people.</p>
<p>As President, I'm committed to making Washington work better, and rebuilding the trust of the people who sent us here. I believe most of you are, too. Last month, thanks to the work of Democrats and Republicans, this Congress finally produced a budget that undoes some of last year's severe cuts to priorities like education. Nobody got everything they wanted, and we can still do more to invest in this country's future while bringing down our deficit in a balanced way. But the budget compromise should leave us freer to focus on creating new jobs, not creating new crises.</p>
<p>In the coming months, let's see where else we can make progress together. Let's make this a year of action. That's what most Americans want - for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations. And what I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all - the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead.</p>
<p>Let's face it: that belief has suffered some serious blows. Over more than three decades, even before the Great Recession hit, massive shifts in technology and global competition had eliminated a lot of good, middle-class jobs, and weakened the economic foundations that families depend on.</p>
<p>Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled. The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by - let alone get ahead. And too many still aren't working at all.</p>
<p>Our job is to reverse these trends. It won't happen right away, and we won't agree on everything. But what I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. Some require Congressional action, and I'm eager to work with all of you. But America does not stand still - and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that's what I'm going to do.</p>
<p>As usual, our First Lady sets a good example. Michelle's Let's Move partnership with schools, businesses, and local leaders has helped bring down childhood obesity rates for the first time in thirty years - an achievement that will improve lives and reduce health care costs for decades to come. The Joining Forces alliance that Michelle and Jill Biden launched has already encouraged employers to hire or train nearly 400,000 veterans and military spouses. Taking a page from that playbook, the White House just organized a College Opportunity Summit where already, 150 universities, businesses, and nonprofits have made concrete commitments to reduce inequality in access to higher education - and help every hardworking kid go to college and succeed when they get to campus. Across the country, we're partnering with mayors, governors, and state legislatures on issues from homelessness to marriage equality.</p>
<p>The point is, there are millions of Americans outside Washington who are tired of stale political arguments, and are moving this country forward. They believe, and I believe, that here in America, our success should depend not on accident of birth, but the strength of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams. That's what drew our forebears here. It's how the daughter of a factory worker is CEO of America's largest automaker; how the son of a barkeeper is Speaker of the House; how the son of a single mom can be President of the greatest nation on Earth.</p>
<p>Opportunity is who we are. And the defining project of our generation is to restore that promise.</p>
<p>We know where to start: the best measure of opportunity is access to a good job. With the economy picking up speed, companies say they intend to hire more people this year. And over half of big manufacturers say they're thinking of insourcing jobs from abroad.</p>
<p>So let's make that decision easier for more companies. Both Democrats and Republicans have argued that our tax code is riddled with wasteful, complicated loopholes that punish businesses investing here, and reward companies that keep profits abroad. Let's flip that equation. Let's work together to close those loopholes, end those incentives to ship jobs overseas, and lower tax rates for businesses that create jobs here at home.</p>
<p>Moreover, we can take the money we save with this transition to tax reform to create jobs rebuilding our roads, upgrading our ports, unclogging our commutes - because in today's global economy, first-class jobs gravitate to first-class infrastructure. We'll need Congress to protect more than three million jobs by finishing transportation and waterways bills this summer. But I will act on my own to slash bureaucracy and streamline the permitting process for key projects, so we can get more construction workers on the job as fast as possible.</p>
<p>We also have the chance, right now, to beat other countries in the race for the next wave of high-tech manufacturing jobs. My administration has launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing in Raleigh and Youngstown, where we've connected businesses to research universities that can help America lead the world in advanced technologies. Tonight, I'm announcing we'll launch six more this year. Bipartisan bills in both houses could double the number of these hubs and the jobs they create. So get those bills to my desk and put more Americans back to work.</p>
<p>Let's do more to help the entrepreneurs and small business owners who create most new jobs in America. Over the past five years, my administration has made more loans to small business owners than any other. And when ninety-eight percent of our exporters are small businesses, new trade partnerships with Europe and the Asia-Pacific will help them create more jobs. We need to work together on tools like bipartisan trade promotion authority to protect our workers, protect our environment, and open new markets to new goods stamped "Made in the USA." China and Europe aren't standing on the sidelines. Neither should we.</p>
<p>We know that the nation that goes all-in on innovation today will own the global economy tomorrow. This is an edge America cannot surrender. Federally-funded research helped lead to the ideas and inventions behind Google and smartphones. That's why Congress should undo the damage done by last year's cuts to basic research so we can unleash the next great American discovery - whether it's vaccines that stay ahead of drug-resistant bacteria, or paper-thin material that's stronger than steel. And let's pass a patent reform bill that allows our businesses to stay focused on innovation, not costly, needless litigation.</p>
<p>Now, one of the biggest factors in bringing more jobs back is our commitment to American energy. The all-of-the-above energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today, America is closer to energy independence than we've been in decades.</p>
<p>One of the reasons why is natural gas - if extracted safely, it's the bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change. Businesses plan to invest almost $100 billion in new factories that use natural gas. I'll cut red tape to help states get those factories built, and this Congress can help by putting people to work building fueling stations that shift more cars and trucks from foreign oil to American natural gas. My administration will keep working with the industry to sustain production and job growth while strengthening protection of our air, our water, and our communities. And while we're at it, I'll use my authority to protect more of our pristine federal lands for future generations.</p>
<p>It's not just oil and natural gas production that's booming; we're becoming a global leader in solar, too. Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar; every panel pounded into place by a worker whose job can't be outsourced. Let's continue that progress with a smarter tax policy that stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don't need it, so that we can invest more in fuels of the future that do.</p>
<p>And even as we've increased energy production, we've partnered with businesses, builders, and local communities to reduce the energy we consume. When we rescued our automakers, for example, we worked with them to set higher fuel efficiency standards for our cars. In the coming months, I'll build on that success by setting new standards for our trucks, so we can keep driving down oil imports and what we pay at the pump.</p>
<p>Taken together, our energy policy is creating jobs and leading to a cleaner, safer planet. Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth. But we have to act with more urgency - because a changing climate is already harming western communities struggling with drought, and coastal cities dealing with floods. That's why I directed my administration to work with states, utilities, and others to set new standards on the amount of carbon pollution our power plants are allowed to dump into the air. The shift to a cleaner energy economy won't happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. And when our children's children look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer, more stable world, with new sources of energy, I want us to be able to say yes, we did.</p>
<p>Finally, if we are serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement - and fix our broken immigration system. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted. I know that members of both parties in the House want to do the same. Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next two decades. And for good reason: when people come here to fulfill their dreams - to study, invent, and contribute to our culture - they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everyone. So let's get immigration reform done this year.</p>
<p>The ideas I've outlined so far can speed up growth and create more jobs. But in this rapidly-changing economy, we have to make sure that every American has the skills to fill those jobs.</p>
<p>The good news is, we know how to do it. Two years ago, as the auto industry came roaring back, Andra Rush opened up a manufacturing firm in Detroit. She knew that Ford needed parts for the best-selling truck in America, and she knew how to make them. She just needed the workforce. So she dialed up what we call an American Job Center - places where folks can walk in to get the help or training they need to find a new job, or better job. She was flooded with new workers. And today, Detroit Manufacturing Systems has more than 700 employees.</p>
<p>What Andra and her employees experienced is how it should be for every employer - and every job seeker. So tonight, I've asked Vice President Biden to lead an across-the-board reform of America's training programs to make sure they have one mission: train Americans with the skills employers need, and match them to good jobs that need to be filled right now. That means more on-the-job training, and more apprenticeships that set a young worker on an upward trajectory for life. It means connecting companies to community colleges that can help design training to fill their specific needs. And if Congress wants to help, you can concentrate funding on proven programs that connect more ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.</p>
<p>I'm also convinced we can help Americans return to the workforce faster by reforming unemployment insurance so that it's more effective in today's economy. But first, this Congress needs to restore the unemployment insurance you just let expire for 1.6 million people.</p>
<p>Let me tell you why.</p>
<p>Misty DeMars is a mother of two young boys. She'd been steadily employed since she was a teenager. She put herself through college. She'd never collected unemployment benefits. In May, she and her husband used their life savings to buy their first home. A week later, budget cuts claimed the job she loved. Last month, when their unemployment insurance was cut off, she sat down and wrote me a letter - the kind I get every day. "We are the face of the unemployment crisis," she wrote. "I am not dependent on the government…Our country depends on people like us who build careers, contribute to society…care about our neighbors…I am confident that in time I will find a job…I will pay my taxes, and we will raise our children in their own home in the community we love. Please give us this chance."</p>
<p>Congress, give these hardworking, responsible Americans that chance. They need our help, but more important, this country needs them in the game. That's why I've been asking CEOs to give more long-term unemployed workers a fair shot at that new job and new chance to support their families; this week, many will come to the White House to make that commitment real. Tonight, I ask every business leader in America to join us and to do the same - because we are stronger when America fields a full team.</p>
<p>Of course, it's not enough to train today's workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow's workforce, by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.</p>
<p>Estiven Rodriguez couldn't speak a word of English when he moved to New York City at age nine. But last month, thanks to the support of great teachers and an innovative tutoring program, he led a march of his classmates - through a crowd of cheering parents and neighbors - from their high school to the post office, where they mailed off their college applications. And this son of a factory worker just found out he's going to college this fall.</p>
<p>Five years ago, we set out to change the odds for all our kids. We worked with lenders to reform student loans, and today, more young people are earning college degrees than ever before. Race to the Top, with the help of governors from both parties, has helped states raise expectations and performance. Teachers and principals in schools from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. are making big strides in preparing students with skills for the new economy - problem solving, critical thinking, science, technology, engineering, and math. Some of this change is hard. It requires everything from more challenging curriculums and more demanding parents to better support for teachers and new ways to measure how well our kids think, not how well they can fill in a bubble on a test. But it's worth it - and it's working.</p>
<p>The problem is we're still not reaching enough kids, and we're not reaching them in time. That has to change.</p>
<p>Research shows that one of the best investments we can make in a child's life is high-quality early education. Last year, I asked this Congress to help states make high-quality pre-K available to every four year-old. As a parent as well as a President, I repeat that request tonight. But in the meantime, thirty states have raised pre-k funding on their own. They know we can't wait. So just as we worked with states to reform our schools, this year, we'll invest in new partnerships with states and communities across the country in a race to the top for our youngest children. And as Congress decides what it's going to do, I'm going to pull together a coalition of elected officials, business leaders, and philanthropists willing to help more kids access the high-quality pre-K they need.</p>
<p>Last year, I also pledged to connect 99 percent of our students to high-speed broadband over the next four years. Tonight, I can announce that with the support of the FCC and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, and Verizon, we've got a down payment to start connecting more than 15,000 schools and twenty million students over the next two years, without adding a dime to the deficit.</p>
<p>We're working to redesign high schools and partner them with colleges and employers that offer the real-world education and hands-on training that can lead directly to a job and career. We're shaking up our system of higher education to give parents more information, and colleges more incentives to offer better value, so that no middle-class kid is priced out of a college education. We're offering millions the opportunity to cap their monthly student loan payments to ten percent of their income, and I want to work with Congress to see how we can help even more Americans who feel trapped by student loan debt. And I'm reaching out to some of America's leading foundations and corporations on a new initiative to help more young men of color facing tough odds stay on track and reach their full potential.</p>
<p>The bottom line is, Michelle and I want every child to have the same chance this country gave us. But we know our opportunity agenda won't be complete - and too many young people entering the workforce today will see the American Dream as an empty promise - unless we do more to make sure our economy honors the dignity of work, and hard work pays off for every single American.</p>
<p>Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it's an embarrassment. A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship - and you know what, a father does, too. It's time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a "Mad Men" episode. This year, let's all come together - Congress, the White House, and businesses from Wall Street to Main Street - to give every woman the opportunity she deserves. Because I firmly believe when women succeed, America succeeds.</p>
<p>Now, women hold a majority of lower-wage jobs - but they're not the only ones stifled by stagnant wages. Americans understand that some people will earn more than others, and we don't resent those who, by virtue of their efforts, achieve incredible success. But Americans overwhelmingly agree that no one who works full time should ever have to raise a family in poverty.</p>
<p>In the year since I asked this Congress to raise the minimum wage, five states have passed laws to raise theirs. Many businesses have done it on their own. Nick Chute is here tonight with his boss, John Soranno. John's an owner of Punch Pizza in Minneapolis, and Nick helps make the dough. Only now he makes more of it: John just gave his employees a raise, to ten bucks an hour - a decision that eased their financial stress and boosted their morale.</p>
<p>Tonight, I ask more of America's business leaders to follow John's lead and do what you can to raise your employees' wages. To every mayor, governor, and state legislator in America, I say, you don't have to wait for Congress to act; Americans will support you if you take this on. And as a chief executive, I intend to lead by example. Profitable corporations like Costco see higher wages as the smart way to boost productivity and reduce turnover. We should too. In the coming weeks, I will issue an Executive Order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally-funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour - because if you cook our troops' meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn't have to live in poverty.</p>
<p>Of course, to reach millions more, Congress needs to get on board. Today, the federal minimum wage is worth about twenty percent less than it was when Ronald Reagan first stood here. Tom Harkin and George Miller have a bill to fix that by lifting the minimum wage to $10.10. This will help families. It will give businesses customers with more money to spend. It doesn't involve any new bureaucratic program. So join the rest of the country. Say yes. Give America a raise.</p>
<p>There are other steps we can take to help families make ends meet, and few are more effective at reducing inequality and helping families pull themselves up through hard work than the Earned Income Tax Credit. Right now, it helps about half of all parents at some point. But I agree with Republicans like Senator Rubio that it doesn't do enough for single workers who don't have kids. So let's work together to strengthen the credit, reward work, and help more Americans get ahead.</p>
<p>Let's do more to help Americans save for retirement. Today, most workers don't have a pension. A Social Security check often isn't enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn't help folks who don't have 401ks. That's why, tomorrow, I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It's a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. And if this Congress wants to help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy save, but does little to nothing for middle-class Americans. Offer every American access to an automatic IRA on the job, so they can save at work just like everyone in this chamber can. And since the most important investment many families make is their home, send me legislation that protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis ever again, and keeps the dream of homeownership alive for future generations of Americans.</p>
<p>One last point on financial security. For decades, few things exposed hard-working families to economic hardship more than a broken health care system. And in case you haven't heard, we're in the process of fixing that.</p>
<p>A pre-existing condition used to mean that someone like Amanda Shelley, a physician assistant and single mom from Arizona, couldn't get health insurance. But on January 1st, she got covered. On January 3rd, she felt a sharp pain. On January 6th, she had emergency surgery. Just one week earlier, Amanda said, that surgery would've meant bankruptcy.</p>
<p>That's what health insurance reform is all about - the peace of mind that if misfortune strikes, you don't have to lose everything.</p>
<p>Already, because of the Affordable Care Act, more than three million Americans under age 26 have gained coverage under their parents' plans.</p>
<p>More than nine million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage.</p>
<p>And here's another number: zero. Because of this law, no American can ever again be dropped or denied coverage for a preexisting condition like asthma, back pain, or cancer. No woman can ever be charged more just because she's a woman. And we did all this while adding years to Medicare's finances, keeping Medicare premiums flat, and lowering prescription costs for millions of seniors.</p>
<p>Now, I don't expect to convince my Republican friends on the merits of this law. But I know that the American people aren't interested in refighting old battles. So again, if you have specific plans to cut costs, cover more people, and increase choice - tell America what you'd do differently. Let's see if the numbers add up. But let's not have another forty-something votes to repeal a law that's already helping millions of Americans like Amanda. The first forty were plenty. We got it. We all owe it to the American people to say what we're for, not just what we're against.</p>
<p>And if you want to know the real impact this law is having, just talk to Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky, who's here tonight. Kentucky's not the most liberal part of the country, but he's like a man possessed when it comes to covering his commonwealth's families. "They are our friends and neighbors," he said. "They are people we shop and go to church with…farmers out on the tractors…grocery clerks…they are people who go to work every morning praying they don't get sick. No one deserves to live that way."</p>
<p>Steve's right. That's why, tonight, I ask every American who knows someone without health insurance to help them get covered by March 31st. Moms, get on your kids to sign up. Kids, call your mom and walk her through the application. It will give her some peace of mind - plus, she'll appreciate hearing from you.</p>
<p>After all, that's the spirit that has always moved this nation forward. It's the spirit of citizenship - the recognition that through hard work and responsibility, we can pursue our individual dreams, but still come together as one American family to make sure the next generation can pursue its dreams as well.</p>
<p>Citizenship means standing up for everyone's right to vote. Last year, part of the Voting Rights Act was weakened. But conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are working together to strengthen it; and the bipartisan commission I appointed last year has offered reforms so that no one has to wait more than a half hour to vote. Let's support these efforts. It should be the power of our vote, not the size of our bank account, that drives our democracy.</p>
<p>Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say "we are not afraid," and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook.</p>
<p>Citizenship demands a sense of common cause; participation in the hard work of self-government; an obligation to serve to our communities. And I know this chamber agrees that few Americans give more to their country than our diplomats and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.</p>
<p>Tonight, because of the extraordinary troops and civilians who risk and lay down their lives to keep us free, the United States is more secure. When I took office, nearly 180,000 Americans were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, all our troops are out of Iraq. More than 60,000 of our troops have already come home from Afghanistan. With Afghan forces now in the lead for their own security, our troops have moved to a support role. Together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by the end of this year, and America's longest war will finally be over.</p>
<p>After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future. If the Afghan government signs a security agreement that we have negotiated, a small force of Americans could remain in Afghanistan with NATO allies to carry out two narrow missions: training and assisting Afghan forces, and counterterrorism operations to pursue any remnants of al Qaeda. For while our relationship with Afghanistan will change, one thing will not: our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country.</p>
<p>The fact is, that danger remains. While we have put al Qaeda's core leadership on a path to defeat, the threat has evolved, as al Qaeda affiliates and other extremists take root in different parts of the world. In Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Mali, we have to keep working with partners to disrupt and disable these networks. In Syria, we'll support the opposition that rejects the agenda of terrorist networks. Here at home, we'll keep strengthening our defenses, and combat new threats like cyberattacks. And as we reform our defense budget, we have to keep faith with our men and women in uniform, and invest in the capabilities they need to succeed in future missions.</p>
<p>We have to remain vigilant. But I strongly believe our leadership and our security cannot depend on our military alone. As Commander-in-Chief, I have used force when needed to protect the American people, and I will never hesitate to do so as long as I hold this office. But I will not send our troops into harm's way unless it's truly necessary; nor will I allow our sons and daughters to be mired in open-ended conflicts. We must fight the battles that need to be fought, not those that terrorists prefer from us - large-scale deployments that drain our strength and may ultimately feed extremism.</p>
<p>So, even as we aggressively pursue terrorist networks - through more targeted efforts and by building the capacity of our foreign partners - America must move off a permanent war footing. That's why I've imposed prudent limits on the use of drones - for we will not be safer if people abroad believe we strike within their countries without regard for the consequence. That's why, working with this Congress, I will reform our surveillance programs - because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated. And with the Afghan war ending, this needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay - because we counter terrorism not just through intelligence and military action, but by remaining true to our Constitutional ideals, and setting an example for the rest of the world.</p>
<p>You see, in a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power - including strong and principled diplomacy. American diplomacy has rallied more than fifty countries to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands, and allowed us to reduce our own reliance on Cold War stockpiles. American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syria's chemical weapons are being eliminated, and we will continue to work with the international community to usher in the future the Syrian people deserve - a future free of dictatorship, terror and fear. As we speak, American diplomacy is supporting Israelis and Palestinians as they engage in difficult but necessary talks to end the conflict there; to achieve dignity and an independent state for Palestinians, and lasting peace and security for the State of Israel - a Jewish state that knows America will always be at their side.</p>
<p>And it is American diplomacy, backed by pressure, that has halted the progress of Iran's nuclear program - and rolled parts of that program back - for the very first time in a decade. As we gather here tonight, Iran has begun to eliminate its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium. It is not installing advanced centrifuges. Unprecedented inspections help the world verify, every day, that Iran is not building a bomb. And with our allies and partners, we're engaged in negotiations to see if we can peacefully achieve a goal we all share: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.</p>
<p>These negotiations will be difficult. They may not succeed. We are clear-eyed about Iran's support for terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, which threaten our allies; and the mistrust between our nations cannot be wished away. But these negotiations do not rely on trust; any long-term deal we agree to must be based on verifiable action that convinces us and the international community that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb. If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today.</p>
<p>The sanctions that we put in place helped make this opportunity possible. But let me be clear: if this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, I will veto it. For the sake of our national security, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed. If Iran's leaders do not seize this opportunity, then I will be the first to call for more sanctions, and stand ready to exercise all options to make sure Iran does not build a nuclear weapon. But if Iran's leaders do seize the chance, then Iran could take an important step to rejoin the community of nations, and we will have resolved one of the leading security challenges of our time without the risks of war.</p>
<p>Finally, let's remember that our leadership is defined not just by our defense against threats, but by the enormous opportunities to do good and promote understanding around the globe - to forge greater cooperation, to expand new markets, to free people from fear and want. And no one is better positioned to take advantage of those opportunities than America.</p>
<p>Our alliance with Europe remains the strongest the world has ever known. From Tunisia to Burma, we're supporting those who are willing to do the hard work of building democracy. In Ukraine, we stand for the principle that all people have the right to express themselves freely and peacefully, and have a say in their country's future. Across Africa, we're bringing together businesses and governments to double access to electricity and help end extreme poverty. In the Americas, we are building new ties of commerce, but we're also expanding cultural and educational exchanges among young people. And we will continue to focus on the Asia-Pacific, where we support our allies, shape a future of greater security and prosperity, and extend a hand to those devastated by disaster - as we did in the Philippines, when our Marines and civilians rushed to aid those battered by a typhoon, and were greeted with words like, "We will never forget your kindness" and "God bless America!"</p>
<p>We do these things because they help promote our long-term security. And we do them because we believe in the inherent dignity and equality of every human being, regardless of race or religion, creed or sexual orientation. And next week, the world will see one expression of that commitment - when Team USA marches the red, white, and blue into the Olympic Stadium - and brings home the gold.</p>
<p>My fellow Americans, no other country in the world does what we do. On every issue, the world turns to us, not simply because of the size of our economy or our military might - but because of the ideals we stand for, and the burdens we bear to advance them.</p>
<p>No one knows this better than those who serve in uniform. As this time of war draws to a close, a new generation of heroes returns to civilian life. We'll keep slashing that backlog so our veterans receive the benefits they've earned, and our wounded warriors receive the health care - including the mental health care - that they need. We'll keep working to help all our veterans translate their skills and leadership into jobs here at home. And we all continue to join forces to honor and support our remarkable military families.</p>
<p>Let me tell you about one of those families I've come to know.</p>
<p>I first met Cory Remsburg, a proud Army Ranger, at Omaha Beach on the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Along with some of his fellow Rangers, he walked me through the program - a strong, impressive young man, with an easy manner, sharp as a tack. We joked around, and took pictures, and I told him to stay in touch.</p>
<p>A few months later, on his tenth deployment, Cory was nearly killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan. His comrades found him in a canal, face down, underwater, shrapnel in his brain.</p>
<p>For months, he lay in a coma. The next time I met him, in the hospital, he couldn't speak; he could barely move. Over the years, he's endured dozens of surgeries and procedures, and hours of grueling rehab every day.</p>
<p>Even now, Cory is still blind in one eye. He still struggles on his left side. But slowly, steadily, with the support of caregivers like his dad Craig, and the community around him, Cory has grown stronger. Day by day, he's learned to speak again and stand again and walk again - and he's working toward the day when he can serve his country again.</p>
<p>"My recovery has not been easy," he says. "Nothing in life that's worth anything is easy."</p>
<p>Cory is here tonight. And like the Army he loves, like the America he serves, Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg never gives up, and he does not quit.</p>
<p>My fellow Americans, men and women like Cory remind us that America has never come easy. Our freedom, our democracy, has never been easy. Sometimes we stumble; we make mistakes; we get frustrated or discouraged. But for more than two hundred years, we have put those things aside and placed our collective shoulder to the wheel of progress - to create and build and expand the possibilities of individual achievement; to free other nations from tyranny and fear; to promote justice, and fairness, and equality under the law, so that the words set to paper by our founders are made real for every citizen. The America we want for our kids - a rising America where honest work is plentiful and communities are strong; where prosperity is widely shared and opportunity for all lets us go as far as our dreams and toil will take us - none of it is easy. But if we work together; if we summon what is best in us, with our feet planted firmly in today but our eyes cast towards tomorrow - I know it's within our reach.</p>
<p>Believe it.</p>
<p>God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.</p>
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remarks president barack obama prepared delivery mr speaker mr vice president members congress fellow americans today america teacher spent extra time student needed part lift americas graduation rate highest level three decades entrepreneur flipped lights tech startup part add eight million new jobs businesses created past four years autoworker finetuned best fuelefficient cars world part help america wean foreign oil farmer prepared spring strongest fiveyear stretch farm exports history rural doctor gave young child first prescription treat asthma mother could afford man took bus home graveyard shift bonetired dreaming big dreams son tightknit communities across america fathers mothers tuck kids put arm around spouse remember fallen comrades give thanks home war twelve long years finally coming end tonight chamber speaks one voice people represent citizens make state union strong results efforts lowest unemployment rate five years rebounding housing market manufacturing sector thats adding jobs first time since 1990s oil produced home buy rest world first time thats happened nearly twenty years deficits cut half first time decade business leaders around world declared china longer worlds number one place invest america thats believe breakthrough year america five years grit determined effort united states betterpositioned 21st century nation earth question everyone chamber running every decision make year whether going help hinder progress several years town consumed rancorous argument proper size federal government important debate one dates back founding debate prevents us carrying even basic functions democracy differences shut government threaten full faith credit united states right american people president im committed making washington work better rebuilding trust people sent us believe last month thanks work democrats republicans congress finally produced budget undoes last years severe cuts priorities like education nobody got everything wanted still invest countrys future bringing deficit balanced way budget compromise leave us freer focus creating new jobs creating new crises coming months lets see else make progress together lets make year action thats americans want us chamber focus lives hopes aspirations believe unites people nation regardless race region party young old rich poor simple profound belief opportunity notion work hard take responsibility get ahead lets face belief suffered serious blows three decades even great recession hit massive shifts technology global competition eliminated lot good middleclass jobs weakened economic foundations families depend today four years economic growth corporate profits stock prices rarely higher top never done better average wages barely budged inequality deepened upward mobility stalled cold hard fact even midst recovery many americans working ever get let alone get ahead many still arent working job reverse trends wont happen right away wont agree everything offer tonight set concrete practical proposals speed growth strengthen middle class build new ladders opportunity middle class require congressional action im eager work america stand still neither wherever whenever take steps without legislation expand opportunity american families thats im going usual first lady sets good example michelles lets move partnership schools businesses local leaders helped bring childhood obesity rates first time thirty years achievement improve lives reduce health care costs decades come joining forces alliance michelle jill biden launched already encouraged employers hire train nearly 400000 veterans military spouses taking page playbook white house organized college opportunity summit already 150 universities businesses nonprofits made concrete commitments reduce inequality access higher education help every hardworking kid go college succeed get campus across country partnering mayors governors state legislatures issues homelessness marriage equality point millions americans outside washington tired stale political arguments moving country forward believe believe america success depend accident birth strength work ethic scope dreams thats drew forebears daughter factory worker ceo americas largest automaker son barkeeper speaker house son single mom president greatest nation earth opportunity defining project generation restore promise know start best measure opportunity access good job economy picking speed companies say intend hire people year half big manufacturers say theyre thinking insourcing jobs abroad lets make decision easier companies democrats republicans argued tax code riddled wasteful complicated loopholes punish businesses investing reward companies keep profits abroad lets flip equation lets work together close loopholes end incentives ship jobs overseas lower tax rates businesses create jobs home moreover take money save transition tax reform create jobs rebuilding roads upgrading ports unclogging commutes todays global economy firstclass jobs gravitate firstclass infrastructure well need congress protect three million jobs finishing transportation waterways bills summer act slash bureaucracy streamline permitting process key projects get construction workers job fast possible also chance right beat countries race next wave hightech manufacturing jobs administration launched two hubs hightech manufacturing raleigh youngstown weve connected businesses research universities help america lead world advanced technologies tonight im announcing well launch six year bipartisan bills houses could double number hubs jobs create get bills desk put americans back work lets help entrepreneurs small business owners create new jobs america past five years administration made loans small business owners ninetyeight percent exporters small businesses new trade partnerships europe asiapacific help create jobs need work together tools like bipartisan trade promotion authority protect workers protect environment open new markets new goods stamped made usa china europe arent standing sidelines neither know nation goes allin innovation today global economy tomorrow edge america surrender federallyfunded research helped lead ideas inventions behind google smartphones thats congress undo damage done last years cuts basic research unleash next great american discovery whether vaccines stay ahead drugresistant bacteria paperthin material thats stronger steel lets pass patent reform bill allows businesses stay focused innovation costly needless litigation one biggest factors bringing jobs back commitment american energy alloftheabove energy strategy announced years ago working today america closer energy independence weve decades one reasons natural gas extracted safely bridge fuel power economy less carbon pollution causes climate change businesses plan invest almost 100 billion new factories use natural gas ill cut red tape help states get factories built congress help putting people work building fueling stations shift cars trucks foreign oil american natural gas administration keep working industry sustain production job growth strengthening protection air water communities ill use authority protect pristine federal lands future generations oil natural gas production thats booming becoming global leader solar every four minutes another american home business goes solar every panel pounded place worker whose job cant outsourced lets continue progress smarter tax policy stops giving 4 billion year fossil fuel industries dont need invest fuels future even weve increased energy production weve partnered businesses builders local communities reduce energy consume rescued automakers example worked set higher fuel efficiency standards cars coming months ill build success setting new standards trucks keep driving oil imports pay pump taken together energy policy creating jobs leading cleaner safer planet past eight years united states reduced total carbon pollution nation earth act urgency changing climate already harming western communities struggling drought coastal cities dealing floods thats directed administration work states utilities others set new standards amount carbon pollution power plants allowed dump air shift cleaner energy economy wont happen overnight require tough choices along way debate settled climate change fact childrens children look us eye ask could leave safer stable world new sources energy want us able say yes finally serious economic growth time heed call business leaders labor leaders faith leaders law enforcement fix broken immigration system republicans democrats senate acted know members parties house want independent economists say immigration reform grow economy shrink deficits almost 1 trillion next two decades good reason people come fulfill dreams study invent contribute culture make country attractive place businesses locate create jobs everyone lets get immigration reform done year ideas ive outlined far speed growth create jobs rapidlychanging economy make sure every american skills fill jobs good news know two years ago auto industry came roaring back andra rush opened manufacturing firm detroit knew ford needed parts bestselling truck america knew make needed workforce dialed call american job center places folks walk get help training need find new job better job flooded new workers today detroit manufacturing systems 700 employees andra employees experienced every employer every job seeker tonight ive asked vice president biden lead acrosstheboard reform americas training programs make sure one mission train americans skills employers need match good jobs need filled right means onthejob training apprenticeships set young worker upward trajectory life means connecting companies community colleges help design training fill specific needs congress wants help concentrate funding proven programs connect readytowork americans readytobefilled jobs im also convinced help americans return workforce faster reforming unemployment insurance effective todays economy first congress needs restore unemployment insurance let expire 16 million people let tell misty demars mother two young boys shed steadily employed since teenager put college shed never collected unemployment benefits may husband used life savings buy first home week later budget cuts claimed job loved last month unemployment insurance cut sat wrote letter kind get every day face unemployment crisis wrote dependent governmentour country depends people like us build careers contribute societycare neighborsi confident time find jobi pay taxes raise children home community love please give us chance congress give hardworking responsible americans chance need help important country needs game thats ive asking ceos give longterm unemployed workers fair shot new job new chance support families week many come white house make commitment real tonight ask every business leader america join us stronger america fields full team course enough train todays workforce also prepare tomorrows workforce guaranteeing every child access worldclass education estiven rodriguez couldnt speak word english moved new york city age nine last month thanks support great teachers innovative tutoring program led march classmates crowd cheering parents neighbors high school post office mailed college applications son factory worker found hes going college fall five years ago set change odds kids worked lenders reform student loans today young people earning college degrees ever race top help governors parties helped states raise expectations performance teachers principals schools tennessee washington dc making big strides preparing students skills new economy problem solving critical thinking science technology engineering math change hard requires everything challenging curriculums demanding parents better support teachers new ways measure well kids think well fill bubble test worth working problem still reaching enough kids reaching time change research shows one best investments make childs life highquality early education last year asked congress help states make highquality prek available every four yearold parent well president repeat request tonight meantime thirty states raised prek funding know cant wait worked states reform schools year well invest new partnerships states communities across country race top youngest children congress decides going im going pull together coalition elected officials business leaders philanthropists willing help kids access highquality prek need last year also pledged connect 99 percent students highspeed broadband next four years tonight announce support fcc companies like apple microsoft sprint verizon weve got payment start connecting 15000 schools twenty million students next two years without adding dime deficit working redesign high schools partner colleges employers offer realworld education handson training lead directly job career shaking system higher education give parents information colleges incentives offer better value middleclass kid priced college education offering millions opportunity cap monthly student loan payments ten percent income want work congress see help even americans feel trapped student loan debt im reaching americas leading foundations corporations new initiative help young men color facing tough odds stay track reach full potential bottom line michelle want every child chance country gave us know opportunity agenda wont complete many young people entering workforce today see american dream empty promise unless make sure economy honors dignity work hard work pays every single american today women make half workforce still make 77 cents every dollar man earns wrong 2014 embarrassment woman deserves equal pay equal work deserves baby without sacrificing job mother deserves day care sick child sick parent without running hardship know father time away workplace policies belong mad men episode year lets come together congress white house businesses wall street main street give every woman opportunity deserves firmly believe women succeed america succeeds women hold majority lowerwage jobs theyre ones stifled stagnant wages americans understand people earn others dont resent virtue efforts achieve incredible success americans overwhelmingly agree one works full time ever raise family poverty year since asked congress raise minimum wage five states passed laws raise many businesses done nick chute tonight boss john soranno johns owner punch pizza minneapolis nick helps make dough makes john gave employees raise ten bucks hour decision eased financial stress boosted morale tonight ask americas business leaders follow johns lead raise employees wages every mayor governor state legislator america say dont wait congress act americans support take chief executive intend lead example profitable corporations like costco see higher wages smart way boost productivity reduce turnover coming weeks issue executive order requiring federal contractors pay federallyfunded employees fair wage least 1010 hour cook troops meals wash dishes shouldnt live poverty course reach millions congress needs get board today federal minimum wage worth twenty percent less ronald reagan first stood tom harkin george miller bill fix lifting minimum wage 1010 help families give businesses customers money spend doesnt involve new bureaucratic program join rest country say yes give america raise steps take help families make ends meet effective reducing inequality helping families pull hard work earned income tax credit right helps half parents point agree republicans like senator rubio doesnt enough single workers dont kids lets work together strengthen credit reward work help americans get ahead lets help americans save retirement today workers dont pension social security check often isnt enough stock market doubled last five years doesnt help folks dont 401ks thats tomorrow direct treasury create new way working americans start retirement savings myra new savings bond encourages folks build nest egg myra guarantees decent return risk losing put congress wants help work fix upsidedown tax code gives big tax breaks help wealthy save little nothing middleclass americans offer every american access automatic ira job save work like everyone chamber since important investment many families make home send legislation protects taxpayers footing bill housing crisis ever keeps dream homeownership alive future generations americans one last point financial security decades things exposed hardworking families economic hardship broken health care system case havent heard process fixing preexisting condition used mean someone like amanda shelley physician assistant single mom arizona couldnt get health insurance january 1st got covered january 3rd felt sharp pain january 6th emergency surgery one week earlier amanda said surgery wouldve meant bankruptcy thats health insurance reform peace mind misfortune strikes dont lose everything already affordable care act three million americans age 26 gained coverage parents plans nine million americans signed private health insurance medicaid coverage heres another number zero law american ever dropped denied coverage preexisting condition like asthma back pain cancer woman ever charged shes woman adding years medicares finances keeping medicare premiums flat lowering prescription costs millions seniors dont expect convince republican friends merits law know american people arent interested refighting old battles specific plans cut costs cover people increase choice tell america youd differently lets see numbers add lets another fortysomething votes repeal law thats already helping millions americans like amanda first forty plenty got owe american people say want know real impact law talk governor steve beshear kentucky whos tonight kentuckys liberal part country hes like man possessed comes covering commonwealths families friends neighbors said people shop go church withfarmers tractorsgrocery clerksthey people go work every morning praying dont get sick one deserves live way steves right thats tonight ask every american knows someone without health insurance help get covered march 31st moms get kids sign kids call mom walk application give peace mind plus shell appreciate hearing thats spirit always moved nation forward spirit citizenship recognition hard work responsibility pursue individual dreams still come together one american family make sure next generation pursue dreams well citizenship means standing everyones right vote last year part voting rights act weakened conservative republicans liberal democrats working together strengthen bipartisan commission appointed last year offered reforms one wait half hour vote lets support efforts power vote size bank account drives democracy citizenship means standing lives gun violence steals us day seen courage parents students pastors police officers country say afraid intend keep trying without congress help stop tragedies visiting innocent americans movie theaters shopping malls schools like sandy hook citizenship demands sense common cause participation hard work selfgovernment obligation serve communities know chamber agrees americans give country diplomats men women united states armed forces tonight extraordinary troops civilians risk lay lives keep us free united states secure took office nearly 180000 americans serving iraq afghanistan today troops iraq 60000 troops already come home afghanistan afghan forces lead security troops moved support role together allies complete mission end year americas longest war finally 2014 support unified afghanistan takes responsibility future afghan government signs security agreement negotiated small force americans could remain afghanistan nato allies carry two narrow missions training assisting afghan forces counterterrorism operations pursue remnants al qaeda relationship afghanistan change one thing resolve terrorists launch attacks country fact danger remains put al qaedas core leadership path defeat threat evolved al qaeda affiliates extremists take root different parts world yemen somalia iraq mali keep working partners disrupt disable networks syria well support opposition rejects agenda terrorist networks home well keep strengthening defenses combat new threats like cyberattacks reform defense budget keep faith men women uniform invest capabilities need succeed future missions remain vigilant strongly believe leadership security depend military alone commanderinchief used force needed protect american people never hesitate long hold office send troops harms way unless truly necessary allow sons daughters mired openended conflicts must fight battles need fought terrorists prefer us largescale deployments drain strength may ultimately feed extremism even aggressively pursue terrorist networks targeted efforts building capacity foreign partners america must move permanent war footing thats ive imposed prudent limits use drones safer people abroad believe strike within countries without regard consequence thats working congress reform surveillance programs vital work intelligence community depends public confidence abroad privacy ordinary people violated afghan war ending needs year congress lifts remaining restrictions detainee transfers close prison guantanamo bay counter terrorism intelligence military action remaining true constitutional ideals setting example rest world see world complex threats security leadership depends elements power including strong principled diplomacy american diplomacy rallied fifty countries prevent nuclear materials falling wrong hands allowed us reduce reliance cold war stockpiles american diplomacy backed threat force syrias chemical weapons eliminated continue work international community usher future syrian people deserve future free dictatorship terror fear speak american diplomacy supporting israelis palestinians engage difficult necessary talks end conflict achieve dignity independent state palestinians lasting peace security state israel jewish state knows america always side american diplomacy backed pressure halted progress irans nuclear program rolled parts program back first time decade gather tonight iran begun eliminate stockpile higher levels enriched uranium installing advanced centrifuges unprecedented inspections help world verify every day iran building bomb allies partners engaged negotiations see peacefully achieve goal share preventing iran obtaining nuclear weapon negotiations difficult may succeed cleareyed irans support terrorist organizations like hezbollah threaten allies mistrust nations wished away negotiations rely trust longterm deal agree must based verifiable action convinces us international community iran building nuclear bomb john f kennedy ronald reagan could negotiate soviet union surely strong confident america negotiate less powerful adversaries today sanctions put place helped make opportunity possible let clear congress sends new sanctions bill threatens derail talks veto sake national security must give diplomacy chance succeed irans leaders seize opportunity first call sanctions stand ready exercise options make sure iran build nuclear weapon irans leaders seize chance iran could take important step rejoin community nations resolved one leading security challenges time without risks war finally lets remember leadership defined defense threats enormous opportunities good promote understanding around globe forge greater cooperation expand new markets free people fear want one better positioned take advantage opportunities america alliance europe remains strongest world ever known tunisia burma supporting willing hard work building democracy ukraine stand principle people right express freely peacefully say countrys future across africa bringing together businesses governments double access electricity help end extreme poverty americas building new ties commerce also expanding cultural educational exchanges among young people continue focus asiapacific support allies shape future greater security prosperity extend hand devastated disaster philippines marines civilians rushed aid battered typhoon greeted words like never forget kindness god bless america things help promote longterm security believe inherent dignity equality every human regardless race religion creed sexual orientation next week world see one expression commitment team usa marches red white blue olympic stadium brings home gold fellow americans country world every issue world turns us simply size economy military might ideals stand burdens bear advance one knows better serve uniform time war draws close new generation heroes returns civilian life well keep slashing backlog veterans receive benefits theyve earned wounded warriors receive health care including mental health care need well keep working help veterans translate skills leadership jobs home continue join forces honor support remarkable military families let tell one families ive come know first met cory remsburg proud army ranger omaha beach 65th anniversary dday along fellow rangers walked program strong impressive young man easy manner sharp tack joked around took pictures told stay touch months later tenth deployment cory nearly killed massive roadside bomb afghanistan comrades found canal face underwater shrapnel brain months lay coma next time met hospital couldnt speak could barely move years hes endured dozens surgeries procedures hours grueling rehab every day even cory still blind one eye still struggles left side slowly steadily support caregivers like dad craig community around cory grown stronger day day hes learned speak stand walk hes working toward day serve country recovery easy says nothing life thats worth anything easy cory tonight like army loves like america serves sergeant first class cory remsburg never gives quit fellow americans men women like cory remind us america never come easy freedom democracy never easy sometimes stumble make mistakes get frustrated discouraged two hundred years put things aside placed collective shoulder wheel progress create build expand possibilities individual achievement free nations tyranny fear promote justice fairness equality law words set paper founders made real every citizen america want kids rising america honest work plentiful communities strong prosperity widely shared opportunity lets us go far dreams toil take us none easy work together summon best us feet planted firmly today eyes cast towards tomorrow know within reach believe god bless god bless united states america
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<p>On the surface, Jafet Melendez looks pretty much like any other 8th-grader at Pulaski Elementary in Bucktown. He wears an Old Navy hoodie and high-top sneakers nearly every day. He likes video games, McDonalds, and the Latin-flavored rap music called reggaetón. He has a cell phone—and a pierced tongue, thanks to his stepfather, Sergio, a factory worker and part-time tattoo artist. The desk near his bed at the family home is covered with items most teenage boys collect—action figures, tough-guy sunglasses and CDs.</p>
<p>Despite the outer trappings of a typical American teen, in reality, Jafet is still closely tied to the place he called home until 18 months ago: a neighborhood just outside Mexico City. He still tracks websites showing the latest news and events back there, exchanges e-mails with his uncle and tells his new friends the latest Spanish slang he’s learned from calling friends back in Mexico. The class picture from his 6th-grade graduation is tacked up on the wall near his bed. And while he usually chooses to speak English with a visitor, he continues to speak Spanish to his Spanish-speaking classmates and parents, who speak little English.</p>
<p>Jafet’s experiences over the past 18 months illustrate some the challenges facing the 57,700 students in Chicago Public Schools whose native language is not English. The percentage of English-language learners in CPS has held steady for the past decade at about 14 percent. At Pulaski, however, it’s 25 percent.</p>
<p>Jafet faces the additional challenge of learning English as an older student. And the pressure on schools like Pulaski is greater than ever. After many years of being judged mostly by one measure—how quickly students learned English and transitioned into mainstream classrooms—districts and schools are now also being held accountable for raising the achievement of bilingual students in core subjects, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.</p>
<p>Now English-language learners in CPS and elsewhere in Illinois, will take a simplified version of the test used to measure academic progress under NCLB: the IMAGE (Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English), a modified version of the ISAT.</p>
<p>The new IMAGE includes fewer questions and a lower minimum passing score. (Students will also face a new assessment of English skills, called ACCESS.)</p>
<p>Many advocates for bilingual and immigrant students support NCLB’s emphasis on the needs of these students. But some are critical of the standardized tests used to measure achievement, and say that NCLB’s criteria for determining whether schools are making progress with bilingual students is difficult to meet.</p>
<p>“It’s a treadmill,” says James Crawford, executive director of the National Association of Bilingual Education in Washington, D.C. “Each year the high-scoring kids leave the (English-language learners) subgroup and new kids with low scores arrive.”</p>
<p>September 2004: More than 100 languages</p>
<p>When Jafet started at Pulaski, the only English he knew was hello, goodbye, and how to count to 10—just about the same amount of Spanish most native English speakers can speak.</p>
<p>He and two other boys, Jonathan and Julio, started 7th grade at about the same time and quickly formed a tight bond, clustering together everywhere they went—at lunch, on the playground, in the regular classroom, and in their ESL (English as a Second Language) class. Bilingual coordinator Fabiola Ginski, who teaches the ESL class, affectionately nicknamed them “The Three Musketeers.” She describes Jafet as “the most traditional of the boys” because of his well-mannered and respectful attitude toward adults.</p>
<p>During Jafet’s first six months at Pulaski, he spent about two and a half hours per day in the ESL class—a common schedule for a student with the most limited English skills—and is one of about 10 7th- and 8th-graders who rotate into the room. Here, Ginski teaches English as well as some academic content in core subjects.</p>
<p>This approach, rather than a full-fledged bilingual program in which students would be taught core subjects in their native language while also learning English, is standard practice in schools with small numbers of children at varying grade levels who speak different languages. At Pulaski, in what was once a predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood, students now also speak Bulgarian, Lithuanian and Haitian Creole. In all, more than 100 languages are now spoken by students in Chicago, according to CPS.</p>
<p>Jafet’s first few months in Ginski’s class weren’t easy. He was disruptive and seemed unfocused at times, behavior Ginski attributed to immaturity and the difficult process of “settling in” to a new school, a new country and family life with a new stepfather.</p>
<p>In previous years, CPS could have provided Jafet with extra help making the adjustment. The district used to receive about $1 million a year in federal funding targeted toward support services for immigrant students, such as home visits and other outreach efforts.</p>
<p>At Pulaski, a counselor and social worker help monitor newly arrived students.</p>
<p>The district still provides some services to immigrant children. And CPS has also applied for a federal grant to fund two “welcoming centers,” operated in conjunction with other agencies to serve new immigrant students across the city, according to Rosa Vazquez, administrator in CPS’ Office of Language and Cultural Education.</p>
<p>Ginski, who spends lots of time talking with Jafet about his schoolwork and how things are going at home, eventually called Jafet’s mother and stepfather in to discuss his behavior. By winter, Jafet’s conduct had improved.</p>
<p>February 2005: Bouts of being homesick</p>
<p>Jafet is one of a small group—about 30 percent—of English-language learners who are older than primary-grade age when they enter CPS. “The vast majority come [in] kindergarten,” says Fernando Martinez, deputy head of the Office of Language and Cultural Education.</p>
<p>Helping older students learn a second language is considered more challenging. For one, younger children usually pick up a second language more easily. And adolescents must get up to speed in English while also keeping up in core academic subjects.</p>
<p>Learning English can easily make adolescent children feel isolated and stigmatized, according to Crawford of the bilingual education group. “It’s terrible for the kids,” he says. “They feel isolated and stupid and treated like they are the problem. They get the idea that something is wrong with them.”</p>
<p>Ginski’s approach is relentless, but not so demanding that children can’t keep up. When students ask questions in their native language, Ginski almost always responds in English. She insists on reasonably correct pronunciation. If Jafet and his friends use Spanish to explain something to each other or mutter the correct answer to a question, Ginski chides them firmly. “You’re not helping him that way,” she says.</p>
<p>However, no one in the class is pushed too far, even when they experience “brain freeze” and momentarily can’t generate a single word in English. And Ginski offers lots of gimmicks to make the lessons enjoyable—basketball contests using nerf balls, skits, and “Ginski Dollars” good for treats after class. “I make it all into a game,” she says.</p>
<p>For the most part, Jafet appears to be adjusting socially, but he’s still something of an outsider. He and his two friends are sometimes referred to as “the Mexican boys” by their schoolmates—even though many of them are also Mexican-American and one of the trio, Julio, is actually from Guatemala.</p>
<p>Jafet also still experiences bouts of being homesick. He hasn’t seen his childhood friends for well over a year, and doesn’t know when he will be able to; unlike some immigrants from Mexico, his family does not travel back to their native country during the summer or the holidays.</p>
<p>Jafet’s face still tenses up when asked why his family left Mexico. “There was no work there,” he says. “It was my mother’s dream.”</p>
<p>May 2005: Too easy or too hard?</p>
<p>By last spring, Jafet was spending more time in teacher Jessica D’Andrea’s regular 7th-grade classroom, especially during math and science lessons. There is a small but noticeable drop in his confidence level, and his demeanor becomes quieter when he leaves Ginski’s ESL class.</p>
<p>This “pullout” strategy is “widely recognized as the least effective way to teach English,” says Crawford. “When the kids are in the mainstream classroom, most of the instruction is not comprehensible to them,” he says. “So they can’t learn. It’s wasted time, and it may have bad psychosocial effects on the kids.”</p>
<p>In D’Andrea’s class, Jafet sits with his two friends in the back of the room. D’Andrea, who does not speak Spanish, calls on them during class and makes sure to come over to their desks to check on them.</p>
<p>But it’s clear the boys sometimes have problems understanding the English-language materials and D’Andrea’s instructions. They also often have trouble explaining their answers in English. (Jafet and his friends do get some help from other Spanish-speaking students whose English skills are more advanced.)</p>
<p>Ideally, to ease the transition as they learn English and help them keep up with more demanding academic content, D’Andrea would have supplemental materials in a student’s native language and a bilingual aide or second ESL teacher to help in the classroom, according to CPS and state guidelines.</p>
<p>While Ginski says Pulaski has begun spending more discretionary funds on bilingual materials, the school does not have the money for an aide or second teacher.</p>
<p>Even so, Spanish-language materials for older students are not readily available, and materials in other languages are even more scarce. There is a Spanish workbook to go along with the math textbook, for instance, but nothing in Spanish for science. In the past, Ginski says she has sometimes translated textbooks herself for the older students.</p>
<p>Without the materials or skills in Spanish, D’Andrea finds it difficult to adjust the work level for her English-language learners. The issue of challenging content is a concern of some parents.</p>
<p>Last year, says Ginski, some parents complained that their children were being graded too hard by one teacher. Others, like Jafet’s mom, are concerned that the work is too easy.</p>
<p>“In Mexico, they gave him ‘investigaciones’—longer papers and in-depth projects,” Jafet’s mother, Orly, says in Spanish. “Here I haven’t seen anything like that.”</p>
<p>Some immigrant students—especially those from rural areas—had less formal education in their native country and may have limited skills in reading, writing or math. For students like Jafet, who comes from an urban area, the opposite may be true. In fact, Jafet says his schoolwork here is sometimes easier than it was back in Mexico. He also manages to get most of his homework done at school.</p>
<p>Despite the hurdles so far, Jafet says he likes it at Pulaski. He has friends, likes his teachers, is doing fairly well in school and even flirts shyly with some of the girls in his ESL classroom. His only complaint: Getting to school on the city bus is a little harder than on a CPS bus, which he rode last year.</p>
<p>November 2005: Getting ready for high school</p>
<p>When the new school year starts, Jafet begins spending only 90 minutes a day in the ESL classroom; based on tests and the progress students make in English, the school adjusts the amount of time English-language learners spend in the ESL class.</p>
<p>Jafet is now learning all his core subjects in D’Andrea’s class.(This year, she moved up a grade with her former 7th-graders, a strategy the school uses to help students and teachers forge stronger relationships.)</p>
<p>Jafet’s English is noticeably better, although he occasionally switches back and forth between English and Spanish in the same sentence. His vocabulary is larger, his confidence has grown, he’s long-since eclipsed his parents in English fluency, and he can usually follow the storylines on his favorite TV shows. Asked in Spanish whether his phone number is the same as last year, Jafet rattles off, in English, his and his parents’ new phone numbers—something he likely wouldn’t have attempted, or succeeded at, last year.</p>
<p>There’s more ground for him to improve, of course. Reading out loud, he focuses on pronunciation and leaves few pauses for commas and periods that would help get across the meaning of sentences. His written work includes slight misspellings and leaves out correct punctuation. “I goin to tell yo about when I was los in the desert with my cousin,” he writes in a first draft of a recent assignment. “Was 2 years ago.” Ginski makes sure to have him correct all of his mistakes, and says that overall, he’s “really doing well. Now, when you ask him for a sentence in English, he answers in English.”</p>
<p>While Jafet is making progress in English, D’Andrea discovers that he and other students aren’t ready to read English-language novels (math word problems in English are also difficult for them to understand). So she grouped those students together to read books in Spanish, and discuss them and do assignments in English.</p>
<p>During one lesson, Jafet leads a discussion on the book “Esperanza Rising.”</p>
<p>“Ees about a girl and her family,” explains Jafet. “Her dad dies.” (The mispronounced vowel ‘i’ is common in Spanish-speakers, who pronounce “i” like a long “e” as in sheep.) D’Andrea then explains the assignment, which involves asking questions and writing down classmates’ answers. On another worksheet, Jafet writes down words he doesn’t understand and then the definitions.</p>
<p>As his English improves, Jafet is becoming more confident participating in D’Andrea’s class. He recently stood up in front of his classmates and delivered a poem he wrote in Spanish as part of the class “poetry slam.”</p>
<p>Depending on where he attends high school, he may or may not receive more instruction in English: Just 32 of the city’s high schools have ESL programs.</p>
<p>For next year, Jafet’s parents are thinking about sending him to Prosser High School, which is closer to home and has a well-developed bilingual program. Another possibility is Mirta Ramirez Charter School, which Ginski has recommended, in part for its computer science emphasis.</p>
<p>Despite the language and cultural challenges he faces, Jafet’s teachers are confident he will continue succeeding in school. Unlike some adolescents, he hasn’t gotten into trouble or disengaged from school. And while most 13-year-olds might look down and mumble when talking to adults, Jafet looks them in the eye and greets them with a firm handshake.</p>
<p>“I’m not worried about him,” says Ginski. “He’s smart, he’s making progress and he has his friends, Julio and Jonathan, to help him along.”</p>
<p>Alexander Russo is a Catalyst contributing editor. E-mail him at [email protected].</p>
<p>[Photo by Brent Lewis]</p>
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surface jafet melendez looks pretty much like 8thgrader pulaski elementary bucktown wears old navy hoodie hightop sneakers nearly every day likes video games mcdonalds latinflavored rap music called reggaetón cell phoneand pierced tongue thanks stepfather sergio factory worker parttime tattoo artist desk near bed family home covered items teenage boys collectaction figures toughguy sunglasses cds despite outer trappings typical american teen reality jafet still closely tied place called home 18 months ago neighborhood outside mexico city still tracks websites showing latest news events back exchanges emails uncle tells new friends latest spanish slang hes learned calling friends back mexico class picture 6thgrade graduation tacked wall near bed usually chooses speak english visitor continues speak spanish spanishspeaking classmates parents speak little english jafets experiences past 18 months illustrate challenges facing 57700 students chicago public schools whose native language english percentage englishlanguage learners cps held steady past decade 14 percent pulaski however 25 percent jafet faces additional challenge learning english older student pressure schools like pulaski greater ever many years judged mostly one measurehow quickly students learned english transitioned mainstream classroomsdistricts schools also held accountable raising achievement bilingual students core subjects federal child left behind act englishlanguage learners cps elsewhere illinois take simplified version test used measure academic progress nclb image illinois measure annual growth english modified version isat new image includes fewer questions lower minimum passing score students also face new assessment english skills called access many advocates bilingual immigrant students support nclbs emphasis needs students critical standardized tests used measure achievement say nclbs criteria determining whether schools making progress bilingual students difficult meet treadmill says james crawford executive director national association bilingual education washington dc year highscoring kids leave englishlanguage learners subgroup new kids low scores arrive september 2004 100 languages jafet started pulaski english knew hello goodbye count 10just amount spanish native english speakers speak two boys jonathan julio started 7th grade time quickly formed tight bond clustering together everywhere wentat lunch playground regular classroom esl english second language class bilingual coordinator fabiola ginski teaches esl class affectionately nicknamed three musketeers describes jafet traditional boys wellmannered respectful attitude toward adults jafets first six months pulaski spent two half hours per day esl classa common schedule student limited english skillsand one 10 7th 8thgraders rotate room ginski teaches english well academic content core subjects approach rather fullfledged bilingual program students would taught core subjects native language also learning english standard practice schools small numbers children varying grade levels speak different languages pulaski predominantly spanishspeaking neighborhood students also speak bulgarian lithuanian haitian creole 100 languages spoken students chicago according cps jafets first months ginskis class werent easy disruptive seemed unfocused times behavior ginski attributed immaturity difficult process settling new school new country family life new stepfather previous years cps could provided jafet extra help making adjustment district used receive 1 million year federal funding targeted toward support services immigrant students home visits outreach efforts pulaski counselor social worker help monitor newly arrived students district still provides services immigrant children cps also applied federal grant fund two welcoming centers operated conjunction agencies serve new immigrant students across city according rosa vazquez administrator cps office language cultural education ginski spends lots time talking jafet schoolwork things going home eventually called jafets mother stepfather discuss behavior winter jafets conduct improved february 2005 bouts homesick jafet one small groupabout 30 percentof englishlanguage learners older primarygrade age enter cps vast majority come kindergarten says fernando martinez deputy head office language cultural education helping older students learn second language considered challenging one younger children usually pick second language easily adolescents must get speed english also keeping core academic subjects learning english easily make adolescent children feel isolated stigmatized according crawford bilingual education group terrible kids says feel isolated stupid treated like problem get idea something wrong ginskis approach relentless demanding children cant keep students ask questions native language ginski almost always responds english insists reasonably correct pronunciation jafet friends use spanish explain something mutter correct answer question ginski chides firmly youre helping way says however one class pushed far even experience brain freeze momentarily cant generate single word english ginski offers lots gimmicks make lessons enjoyablebasketball contests using nerf balls skits ginski dollars good treats class make game says part jafet appears adjusting socially hes still something outsider two friends sometimes referred mexican boys schoolmateseven though many also mexicanamerican one trio julio actually guatemala jafet also still experiences bouts homesick hasnt seen childhood friends well year doesnt know able unlike immigrants mexico family travel back native country summer holidays jafets face still tenses asked family left mexico work says mothers dream may 2005 easy hard last spring jafet spending time teacher jessica dandreas regular 7thgrade classroom especially math science lessons small noticeable drop confidence level demeanor becomes quieter leaves ginskis esl class pullout strategy widely recognized least effective way teach english says crawford kids mainstream classroom instruction comprehensible says cant learn wasted time may bad psychosocial effects kids dandreas class jafet sits two friends back room dandrea speak spanish calls class makes sure come desks check clear boys sometimes problems understanding englishlanguage materials dandreas instructions also often trouble explaining answers english jafet friends get help spanishspeaking students whose english skills advanced ideally ease transition learn english help keep demanding academic content dandrea would supplemental materials students native language bilingual aide second esl teacher help classroom according cps state guidelines ginski says pulaski begun spending discretionary funds bilingual materials school money aide second teacher even spanishlanguage materials older students readily available materials languages even scarce spanish workbook go along math textbook instance nothing spanish science past ginski says sometimes translated textbooks older students without materials skills spanish dandrea finds difficult adjust work level englishlanguage learners issue challenging content concern parents last year says ginski parents complained children graded hard one teacher others like jafets mom concerned work easy mexico gave investigacioneslonger papers indepth projects jafets mother orly says spanish havent seen anything like immigrant studentsespecially rural areashad less formal education native country may limited skills reading writing math students like jafet comes urban area opposite may true fact jafet says schoolwork sometimes easier back mexico also manages get homework done school despite hurdles far jafet says likes pulaski friends likes teachers fairly well school even flirts shyly girls esl classroom complaint getting school city bus little harder cps bus rode last year november 2005 getting ready high school new school year starts jafet begins spending 90 minutes day esl classroom based tests progress students make english school adjusts amount time englishlanguage learners spend esl class jafet learning core subjects dandreas classthis year moved grade former 7thgraders strategy school uses help students teachers forge stronger relationships jafets english noticeably better although occasionally switches back forth english spanish sentence vocabulary larger confidence grown hes longsince eclipsed parents english fluency usually follow storylines favorite tv shows asked spanish whether phone number last year jafet rattles english parents new phone numberssomething likely wouldnt attempted succeeded last year theres ground improve course reading loud focuses pronunciation leaves pauses commas periods would help get across meaning sentences written work includes slight misspellings leaves correct punctuation goin tell yo los desert cousin writes first draft recent assignment 2 years ago ginski makes sure correct mistakes says overall hes really well ask sentence english answers english jafet making progress english dandrea discovers students arent ready read englishlanguage novels math word problems english also difficult understand grouped students together read books spanish discuss assignments english one lesson jafet leads discussion book esperanza rising ees girl family explains jafet dad dies mispronounced vowel common spanishspeakers pronounce like long e sheep dandrea explains assignment involves asking questions writing classmates answers another worksheet jafet writes words doesnt understand definitions english improves jafet becoming confident participating dandreas class recently stood front classmates delivered poem wrote spanish part class poetry slam depending attends high school may may receive instruction english 32 citys high schools esl programs next year jafets parents thinking sending prosser high school closer home welldeveloped bilingual program another possibility mirta ramirez charter school ginski recommended part computer science emphasis despite language cultural challenges faces jafets teachers confident continue succeeding school unlike adolescents hasnt gotten trouble disengaged school 13yearolds might look mumble talking adults jafet looks eye greets firm handshake im worried says ginski hes smart hes making progress friends julio jonathan help along alexander russo catalyst contributing editor email editorcatalystchicagoorg photo brent lewis permalink
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<p>BERLIN, Germany — High atop a Berlin hostel, an unknown asylum seeker believed to be African grips tightly to a steel railing with one hand. Every few minutes, he grins broadly and capers a bit as he calls down to a knot of television journalists on the street — gathered here because of earlier reports that refugees facing expulsion from the capital were threatening to jump.</p>
<p>“Ich bin Berliner!” he shouts, channeling John F. Kennedy. “I want to stay in Berlin!”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The 28 Guertelstrasse hostel was converted into housing for refugees in April as part of a deal to convince asylum seekers to abandon a tented camp in Berlin’s Oranienplatz. They had been living illegally there, in protest against the German government's policies, for more than a year.</p>
<p>But since city authorities ordered 108 mostly African asylum seekers who had claims pending in other German states to vacate their accomodations here, the building has morphed into the latest flashpoint for Germany's refugee problem — with a handful of diehards refusing to leave the rooftop overnight Tuesday.</p>
<p>Historically committed to providing humanitarian relief to the victims of foreign conflicts, Germany has absorbed more refugees from strife in Africa and the Middle East than any other nation in Europe.</p>
<p>But as violence within Iraq and Syria heat up, a housing shortage has prompted new debate over just how many asylum seekers the country can take in, says Claudia Beck, Germany spokeswoman for the Christian aid organization Caritas.</p>
<p>“The situation is already very, very hard for the people, and now there will be much more people trying to come to Europe, and then to Germany,” says Beck, who believes her country must rise to the challenge.</p>
<p>But louder voices are beginning to disagree.</p>
<p>In 2013, Germany was surprised by an unexpected wave of 110,000 requests for asylum —&#160;more than five times the number it received in 2006, the low point since the Balkan wars of the 1990s. And with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees now predicting 2014 requests may rise as high as 200,000, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere this week proposed a strict limit on the refugees the country agrees to accept.</p>
<p>“Whoever is not politically persecuted and needs no protection should not be granted asylum and must leave the country,” de Maiziere <a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/krise-im-irak-de-maizire-spricht-sich-gegen-aufnahme-von-fluechtlingen-aus-1.2100861" type="external">said in an interview</a> with a German newspaper published Saturday.</p>
<p>Followed closely by this week’s rejection of asylum claims, the statement has sparked fears a deportation wave is coming for refugees like Haki, from Chad, who lived in a tent in Oranienplatz for more than a year.</p>
<p>“They start to deport people house by house, one by one,” says Haki, who declines to give his last name because his asylum application is still pending.</p>
<p>Some of those who arrive in Germany are automatically considered refugees based on the circumstances they have fled. Others aren't officially recognized as refugees until they've been granted asylum.</p>
<p>Public and government support remains strong for those fleeing conflict or political persecution. But the financial burden of the influx has already pushed some Germans to question whether policies should distinguish war refugees from economic migrants, says Said, an asylum seeker from Ghana.</p>
<p>Germans are more than prepared to welcome refugees from Iraq and Syria, he says, declining to give his surname. But they have less sympathy for Africans who flee places like Libya if they hold passports from peaceful, if poverty-stricken, countries.</p>
<p>“I've tried Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark,” he says. “This is my last stop.”</p>
<p>Expulsion of those deemed to be economic migrants may be the only answer, argues de Maiziere, though doing so could prove very difficult.</p>
<p>Already, cash-strapped cities across Germany have been forced to adopt extreme measures to accommodate the stream of refugees making their way here from Italy — where since the beginning of the year the Italian navy has rescued nearly <a href="http://www.dw.de/bodies-of-18-migrants-found-on-boat-off-lampedusa/a-17874287" type="external">100,000 people fleeing violence and poverty</a> in countries like Eritrea, Somalia and Syria.</p>
<p>In Hamburg, legislators have already proposed <a href="http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/neues-modell-in-hamburg-fluechtlinge-sollen-auf-kreuzfahrtschiffe/10117668.html" type="external">billeting refugees on decommissioned cruise ships</a> moored in the Elbe River and building makeshift villages out of shipping containers, for example.</p>
<p>The city houses about 10,000 refugees in more than 60 locations, and spent around 300 million euros ($396 million) for accommodation and counseling in 2014. But it's struggling to find space for more, says Marcel Schweitzer, spokesman for the Hamburg Department of Labor, Welfare and Integration.</p>
<p>“We believe the refugee policy is a national duty. It’s unbelievable that Hamburg and other cities have to house refugees in containers or tents, while houses are pulled down because of a lack of tenants in other German states,” Schweitzer wrote in an email.</p>
<p>The city of Cologne recently purchased a <a href="http://www.express.de/koeln/bei-zwangsversteigerung-stadt-koeln-kauft-vier-sterne-hotel-fuer-fluechtlinge,2856,27354076.html" type="external">four-star hotel to convert into semi-permanent housing</a> for its asylum seekers, after being forced to rent rooms for an overflow of some 800 people in 2013.</p>
<p>Other cities like Duisburg, in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, have been forced to <a href="http://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article131471197/In-Duisburg-kommen-Fluechtlinge-jetzt-ins-Zeltlager.html" type="external">erect tented camps in forests</a>, stadiums and tennis courts that have drawn criticism for poor conditions.</p>
<p>As of Wednesday afternoon, police were <a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/fluechtlinge-im-hostel-in-berlin-friedrichshain-polizei-verhandelt-schwierige-angelegenheit/10608224.html" type="external">still negotiating</a> with exhausted Berlin rooftop refugees after a 24-hour vigil.</p>
<p>Correction: An earlier version of this story said asylum seekers in Berlin were threatened with expulsion from Germany. New information on Thursday indicated they were instead threatened with expulsion from the capital — back to the German states where they had originally applied for asylum.</p>
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berlin germany high atop berlin hostel unknown asylum seeker believed african grips tightly steel railing one hand every minutes grins broadly capers bit calls knot television journalists street gathered earlier reports refugees facing expulsion capital threatening jump ich bin berliner shouts channeling john f kennedy want stay berlin 160 28 guertelstrasse hostel converted housing refugees april part deal convince asylum seekers abandon tented camp berlins oranienplatz living illegally protest german governments policies year since city authorities ordered 108 mostly african asylum seekers claims pending german states vacate accomodations building morphed latest flashpoint germanys refugee problem handful diehards refusing leave rooftop overnight tuesday historically committed providing humanitarian relief victims foreign conflicts germany absorbed refugees strife africa middle east nation europe violence within iraq syria heat housing shortage prompted new debate many asylum seekers country take says claudia beck germany spokeswoman christian aid organization caritas situation already hard people much people trying come europe germany says beck believes country must rise challenge louder voices beginning disagree 2013 germany surprised unexpected wave 110000 requests asylum 160more five times number received 2006 low point since balkan wars 1990s federal office migration refugees predicting 2014 requests may rise high 200000 german interior minister thomas de maiziere week proposed strict limit refugees country agrees accept whoever politically persecuted needs protection granted asylum must leave country de maiziere said interview german newspaper published saturday followed closely weeks rejection asylum claims statement sparked fears deportation wave coming refugees like haki chad lived tent oranienplatz year start deport people house house one one says haki declines give last name asylum application still pending arrive germany automatically considered refugees based circumstances fled others arent officially recognized refugees theyve granted asylum public government support remains strong fleeing conflict political persecution financial burden influx already pushed germans question whether policies distinguish war refugees economic migrants says said asylum seeker ghana germans prepared welcome refugees iraq syria says declining give surname less sympathy africans flee places like libya hold passports peaceful povertystricken countries ive tried italy sweden norway denmark says last stop expulsion deemed economic migrants may answer argues de maiziere though could prove difficult already cashstrapped cities across germany forced adopt extreme measures accommodate stream refugees making way italy since beginning year italian navy rescued nearly 100000 people fleeing violence poverty countries like eritrea somalia syria hamburg legislators already proposed billeting refugees decommissioned cruise ships moored elbe river building makeshift villages shipping containers example city houses 10000 refugees 60 locations spent around 300 million euros 396 million accommodation counseling 2014 struggling find space says marcel schweitzer spokesman hamburg department labor welfare integration believe refugee policy national duty unbelievable hamburg cities house refugees containers tents houses pulled lack tenants german states schweitzer wrote email city cologne recently purchased fourstar hotel convert semipermanent housing asylum seekers forced rent rooms overflow 800 people 2013 cities like duisburg western state north rhinewestphalia forced erect tented camps forests stadiums tennis courts drawn criticism poor conditions wednesday afternoon police still negotiating exhausted berlin rooftop refugees 24hour vigil correction earlier version story said asylum seekers berlin threatened expulsion germany new information thursday indicated instead threatened expulsion capital back german states originally applied asylum
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<p>Baptist News Global provides a free listing of ministry-related jobs for Baptist churches, theological institutions and organizations across the United States. Each posting is for 30 days and is limited to 150 words. Businesses may purchase a post in the “And More” section for $1.20 per word (minimum of $50 for 30 days). To submit a ministry-related job or inquire about other advertising options on this page, contact Barbara Francis at 336-717-1135, ext. 8 or <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>FULL-TIME PASTOR.&#160; Hammock Community Church, an interdenominational fellowship in a retirement area near the ocean in Palm Coast, Florida, is seeking a Pastor who preaches and teaches the Bible and the love of God; seeks guidance from the Holy Spirit, depends on the power of prayer; compassionately responds to congregant’s needs; and enables leaders of church ministries.&#160; Extensive Biblical studies and years of pastoral experience are pre-requisites.&#160; Our congregation prefers traditional music, is friendly and responds generously to one another, the local community, and international ministries.&#160; Position is available July 2017. Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. (Posted 04.04.17)</p>
<p>FULL-TIME WORSHIP PASTOR.&#160; NorthRidge Church in Haines City, Fla., is seeking a full-time Worship Pastor. The role of the Worship Pastor is to assist the Senior Pastor, staff, and volunteers in fostering unity and building a worshiping atmosphere in our church. The Worship Pastor will champion our church’s vision as a worshiping community of believers intentionally reaching and discipling the Ridge and beyond for Christ. NorthRidge is a Senior Pastor and Pastoral Staff led church. Please visit our website for full details of our ministry and the available position: ( <a href="http://www.northridgehc.com/worship-pastor" type="external">www.northridgehc.com/worship-pastor</a>). To apply email the following to <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> &#160;by March 31, 2017: cover letter, resume, and up to 3 reference letters. (Posted 02.24.17)</p>
<p>FULL-TIME PASTOR.&#160; Friendship Independent Missionary Baptist Church of Perry, Florid, is currently seeking a full-time pastor. We are a small conservative church.&#160; Position is available immediately.&#160; We have a parsonage and pay a full-time salary.&#160; Applicant must believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired and infallible word of God, meet all the qualifications of I Timothy and Titus, preach and teach only from the King James Bible.&#160; We are looking for someone to help rebuild our congregation.&#160; If you have questions or feel led to submit a resume and doctrinal statement, contact <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. (Posted 02.14.17)</p>
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<p>REGION MINISTER. &#160;The American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky seeks a qualified individual to serve as Region Minister for southern Indiana and Kentucky in a full time capacity.&#160; ABC of IN/KY is a diverse middle judicatory serving with 300+ churches, most of which are located in Indiana.&#160; The successful candidate for this position will possess the gifts, skills and experiences necessary to serve effectively and creatively alongside an energetic staff team, and among churches and leaders navigating increased cultural and ministry challenges.&#160; Among other requirements, the candidate must possess a Master of Divinity degree (preferred) or equivalent from an ATS accredited institution; have a minimum of seven years of pastoral (or equivalent ministry) experience, with demonstrated commitment to ABC ministry, including support of ABC mission (regional/national/international); and hold a recognized ABC ordination, or the qualifications necessary to obtain such an ordination.&#160; The complete announcement may be viewed here:&#160;&#160; <a href="http://bit.ly/2lOSPJS" type="external">http://bit.ly/2lOSPJS</a> .&#160;The deadline for applications is&#160;April 25th. (Posted 03.14.17)</p>
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<p>ASSOCIATE MINISTER OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND SPIRITUAL FORMATION. Immanuel Baptist Church, Paducah, KY, is seeking a full-time Associate Minister of Christian Education and Spiritual Formation. Duties are: Share a compelling vision for a vibrant ministry of Christian Education and Spiritual Formation in the local congregation. Identify, evaluate, and select curriculum for adult education. Enlist, develop, and train teachers and leadership for the educational ministry. Collaborate with other staff members in planning and implementing ministry initiatives. Send resumes to&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. (Posted 03.27.17)</p>
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<p>ASSOCIATE PASTOR OF WORSHIP &amp; MUSIC.&#160;&#160;Second Baptist Church of Liberty, MO (Kansas City) is seeking a full-time Associate Pastor of Worship &amp; Music.&#160;Responsibilities include the overall leadership and direction of the church’s worship experiences and music ministries as well as pastoral care.&#160;&#160;Please send resumes or inquiries to&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. (Posted 03.17.17)</p>
<p>SENIOR PASTOR.&#160; Woodcrest Chapel, Columbia, MO, is filling the Senior Pastor position. We are looking for an outstanding communicator, leader, and visionary. This person will relevantly communicate and teach the Word of God, lead the development of ministries, provide pastoral care, and oversee administrative functions. An advanced educational degree and prior experience in a medium to large sized church is needed. Must be an excellent teacher, an excellent communicator, and have strong leadership skills. To apply visit our website&#160; <a href="http://www.woodcrest.org/resume/" type="external">www.woodcrest.org/resume/</a>. (Posted 03.13.17)</p>
<p>FULL-TIME PASTOR OF FAMILIES.&#160; Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, MO, is seeking a full-time Pastor of Families.&#160; The position will be responsible for providing leadership and oversight to ministry and spiritual development for families and their children from birth through twelfth grade in the church. This position requires a ministerial Christian approach, ethical behavior, good attitude, and awareness of boundaries.&#160; The Pastor of Families should value diversity and understand and appreciate that Holmeswood members and our community are diverse.&#160; He/she will support the participation of all members in the various ministries of the church. The Pastor of Families will have opportunities to serve in worship, which may include preaching and explore other areas of ministry as personally interested. Applicants should send their resume to <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>&#160; or call <a href="tel:(816)%20942-1729" type="external">(816)942-1729</a>. Website: <a href="http://www.holmeswood.org/" type="external">www.holmeswood.org</a>. (Posted 02.20.17)</p>
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<p>PART-TIME ASSOCIATE FOR PRESCHOOL AND CHILDREN. Woman’s Missionary Union of North Carolina is seeking a part-time associate for preschool and children. Work location: Raleigh, N.C. (exceptions considered). Please send résumé and cover letter to: Judy Pettigrew, <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Application deadline: April 5. For job description: <a href="http://www.wmunc.org/" type="external">www.wmunc.org</a>. (Posted 03.24.17)</p>
<p>FULL-TIME MINISTER OF YOUTH &amp; CONGREGATIONAL LIFE.&#160; Roxboro Baptist Church is seeking a full-time Minister of Youth &amp; Congregational Life.&#160; The primary purpose of this position is to extend the ministry and mission of the church by guiding the process of visioning, planning, organizing, and conducting a comprehensive ministry with middle school and high school students as well as their families.&#160; The minister will also assist the Pastor and staff team in ministering to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of the entire congregation and the local community.&#160; A seminary degree is preferred and applications must be received by April 28.&#160; A full description of the job can be seen at <a href="http://www.roxborobaptist.org/" type="external">www.roxborobaptist.org</a>.&#160; A cover letter and resume may be emailed to <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> or mailed to PO Box 348, Roxboro, NC&#160; 27573. (Posted 03.23.17)</p>
<p>MINISTER TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. The Minister to Children and Families at First Baptist Church, Smithfield, N.C., provides relational leadership for extending the ministry and purposes of the church by planning, conducting, and evaluating a comprehensive program for children (birth through sixth grade) and families which under girds their spiritual, emotional, and social development as it relates to their becoming and growing as Christians, and provides opportunities and experiences at the family level for growth in Christian discipleship within and among the families of the church. Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree with emphasis on child development–Required Graduate degree from accredited seminary/divinity school — Preferred. Previous ministry experience in a Baptist church of like faith and order is preferred. Qualified candidates email <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> for a complete position description. (Posted 02.10.17)</p>
<p>SENIOR PASTOR.&#160; Immanuel Baptist Church in Greenville, N.C., is seeking a senior pastor to lead us as we begin our second 100 years. We are a diversified church that supports both CBF and SBC ministries, and we have a rich history of mission outreach to the Greenville community. Our church is located within walking distance of a growing East Carolina University, with approximately 28,000 students, where we have a strong outreach ministry, including international students. Our worship services include a blend of contemporary and traditional music. We affirm both men and women in ministry and leadership roles. The successful candidate will possess a strong calling to the pastoral ministry, and hold a degree from an accredited seminary or divinity school. Submit résumés to Pastor Search Committee, Immanuel Baptist Church, 1101 S. Elm St., Greenville, NC 27858, or to <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. We will begin reviewing résumés on April 1, and will continue until the position is filled. (Posted 02.08.17)</p>
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<p>FULL-TIME PASTOR. First Baptist Church of Crescent, Oklahoma, is currently seeking a full-time pastor. With an active congregation, we are a conservative, faith-filled church in a charming town. We offer a full-time salary and a beautiful parsonage. We believe the Lord will provide us with applicants that will unite our church, community, and build our congregation. This applicant will fulfill all pastoral duties of the Church with enthusiasm and the assistance of our support staff. Our prospective pastor will ignite and inspire the people of the church with God’s Word. This is an exciting time for this congregation, and with the right pastor, there are unlimited opportunities for this church. For more information or to submit a resume, contact the First Baptist Church of Crescent at&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. (Posted 03.08.17)</p>
<p>ASSOCIATE PASTOR OF YOUTH AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. Spring Creek Baptist Church in Oklahoma City is seeking an Associate Pastor of Youth and Community Engagement. This minister will work with our youth and their families, using these primary relationships to serve the larger church. The ideal candidate will exhibit a sense of adventure and fun, balanced by the ability to attend to the deep currents of spiritual life for our students. She/he will develop liturgical and social rhythms that give space for reflection and inclusion. The Associate Pastor will also be charged with Community Engagement. This encompasses missions, but extends to a holistic understanding of inward and outward congregational energies. She/he will need skills in digital communication technologies, comfort in cultural difference, and the ability to translate local/regional/international needs into our church context. This is a salaried position with benefits, and compensation will be based on experience. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.springcreekbc.com/associatepastorsearch" type="external">here</a>. Resumes and references can sent to <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>WORSHIP PASTOR. Welcome Baptist Church, Greenville, S.C., is seeking a full-time Worship Pastor to passionately lead in authentic blended worship that glorifies God.&#160;To be considered for this position, please submit a cover letter, resume, link to a worship service you have lead (not required), and your salary requirements to&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.&#160;You may also send copies of the information to: Welcome Baptist Church, Attn: Pam Knight, 2730 Anderson Road, Greenville, SC 29611. For more information and to view the job description, visit&#160; <a href="http://www.welcomebaptist.com/" type="external">www.welcomebaptist.com</a>. (Posted 02.07.17)</p>
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<p>PASTOR. Lovera Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas, is seeking a Part-time/Bivocational Pastor. LBC is affiliated the San Antonio Baptist Association. LBC is seeking a Pastor who can lead the church in evangelism, discipleship, teaching, and missions to engage the community and the world with the Gospel.&#160; 10 years of ministerial experience and formal theological education preferred.&#160; Resumes and letters of reference should be sent to Pastor Search Committee at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> or mailed to Lovera Baptist Church, 333 Lovera Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78212.&#160; DVDs, CDs or links to online sermons are appreciated.&#160; The search committee is accepting applications and recommendations until the position is filled. Church phone 210-735-7837.&#160;(Posted 03.27.17)</p>
<p>MUSIC DIRECTOR. Lovera Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas, seeks a music leader for Sunday 11:00 a.m. worship service.&#160; Note:&#160; we do not have a choir or orchestra so we just need someone to lead music.&#160; Resumes and letters of reference can be sent to Administrative Committee Chairman at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> &#160;or mailed to Lovera Baptist Church, 333 Lovera Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78212.&#160; Church phone 210-735-7837.&#160;&#160;(Posted 03.27.17)</p>
<p>PIANIST/ ORGANIST.&#160; Lovera Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas, seeks someone to play the piano or organ for Sunday morning 11:00 worship service.&#160; Resumes and letters of reference can be sent to Administrative Committee Chairman at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> or mailed to Lovera Baptist Church, 333 Lovera Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78212.&#160; Church phone 210-735-7837.&#160;(Posted 03.27.17)</p>
<p>ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION. BAYLOR UNIVERSITY.&#160; This position will work with the Spiritual Formation faculty in coordinating seminary covenant group activities, choosing and evaluating group curriculum, recruiting group leaders, providing instruction in spiritual formation, and offering pastoral care for students. The successful candidate for this position will: Have a committed personal life of Christian faith; Have prior experience in pastoral care with strong interpersonal skills; Have a strong personal conviction to produce quality work; Have considerable knowledge of literature and practices in spiritual formation and discipleship; and Have prior experience leading small formational groups and planning retreats. Qualifications: A Bachelor’s Degree with three years of relevant work experience and a Christian faith are required.&#160; A Master’s degree, and five years of relevant work are preferred. To apply, view the full position description <a href="https://jobs.baylor.edu/postings/2085" type="external">here</a>. Please submit an on-line application at <a href="https://jobs.baylor.edu/" type="external">https://jobs.baylor.edu</a> along with a cover letter and resume.&#160; AA/EOE. <a href="http://www.baylor.edu/" type="external">www.baylor.edu</a>&#160; (Posted 03.14.17)</p>
<p>PASTOR OF WORSHIP MINISTRIES.&#160; University Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, is seeking a full-time Worship Pastor. The Worship Pastor is responsible for the management and development of the full range of music ministries at UBC as well as the spiritual care and support of the people of UBC and our community. UBC has a rich heritage of traditional worship including, sanctuary choir, adult ensembles, orchestra, handbells and graded choirs. Qualifications:&#160; Spiritually mature, creative and gifted with disciplined musical skills. Masters in music related field. Strong leadership skills. Responsibilities:&#160; Planning, preparing, recruiting and training volunteers to lead in authentic worship experiences throughout the year with a particular emphasis on Holy Week/Easter and Advent/Christmas. Also, manage and oversee all music ministries of the church. Contact David Mobley at&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. (Posted 03.09.17)</p>
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<p>WORSHIP LEADER NEEDED. Part-time Contemporary Worship Leader needed for Render Church, which will be opening on Easter Sunday, 2017, at the Commodore Theatre, Portsmouth, VA. Render Church will feature a unique “Brand of Worship”. Rehearsals for band and vocalists take place on Thursday evenings at Alexander Baptist Church in Chesapeake. The Worship Leader will need to attend the weekly rehearsal and Sunday Worship Service, and work closely with the Pastor to develop the Sunday Order of Worship. Ability to play keyboard or guitar a plus. Position is paid. To inquire and/or schedule an interview/audition, or for more information, please reply to David Dilday via email at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>, or by phone at 757-677-6020. (Posted 04.03.17)</p>
<p>GENERAL SECRETARY.&#160; Nominations are now open for the position of Baptist World Alliance General Secretary. Information and nomination form are available on the BWA website at <a href="http://www.bwanet.org/" type="external">www.bwanet.org</a>. Nominations must be completed and sent by April 30, 2017, to: Rev. Dr. John Upton, Baptist General Association of Virginia, 2828 Emerywood Parkway, Richmond, VA 23294 USA. Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. (Post 03.28.17)</p>
<p>MINISTER TO CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES. Emmaus Baptist Church, Providence Forge, VA, is seeking a Minister to Children, Youth and their Families. Duties include communicating regularly with parents, children, and youth; planning, leading and participating in biblically-based children and youth programs, missions, and outreach activities each month and a contemporary worship service each quarter; leading youth in weekly Bible study and Vacation Bible School; taking youth to camp and leading camp fundraisers. Occasionally fill pulpit as time allows and at the discretion of the Pastor. Work with the pastor to help youth, children, &amp; parents take part in worship. Maintain 1 hour office availability onsite each week. Meet with Pastor weekly, with YC monthly, and provide quarterly report. Average 12 hours per week. To apply email <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Church Website: <a href="http://emmausbapchurch.org/" type="external">http://emmausbapchurch.org</a>. (Posted 03.24.17)</p>
<p>DIRECTOR OF MUSIC MINISTRIES.&#160; Second Branch Baptist Church Chesterfield, VA, is seeking a part-time Director of Music Ministries. SBBC is seeking to impact its community through ministries and Spirit-focused worship. The ideal candidate will be an energetic, passion filled worship leader, responsible for the order of worship for weekly and special worship services, leading congregational singing, and direction of the adult sanctuary choir and praise teams. The Director of Music Ministries position offers competitive compensation. Resume, academic and professional training, along with audio/video presentations, and references are to be sent to: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> or SBBC, 12217 Second Branch Road, Chesterfield, VA 23838. (Posted 02.27.17)</p>
<p>SENIOR PASTOR.&#160; Emmaus Baptist Church in Poquoson, VA, is seeking a full-time Senior Pastor who is effective in preaching and teaching the Bible as God’s Holy Word; who depends on the power of prayer; who ably leads in nurturing and caring for families and for individuals; who values a healthy church fellowship and surrounding community; and who enjoys prompting believers to grow spiritually as well as physically, emotionally and socially.&#160; We affiliate with CBF and BGAV.&#160; We affirm the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message and support both men and women in leadership positions.&#160; Candidates should have at least 5 years of experience as a Senior Pastor and a MDIV degree.&#160; Please send cover letter and resume to <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. (Posted 02.17.17)</p>
<p>EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.&#160; The Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage &amp; Studies are seeking an executive director to serve as the chief operating officer of both organizations.&#160; The Historical Society, founded in 1876, is focused upon collecting, preserving and sharing the tangible evidences of Virginia Baptist history and operates a research library and archives, including a church records repository, on the campus of the University of Richmond.&#160; It also maintains a heritage gallery with changing exhibits for individual visitors and church groups.&#160; The Heritage Center, founded in 2000, centers upon educational programming and resources.&#160; Applicants should have a demonstrated knowledge of the field of Baptist history and heritage. &#160;A search committee has been appointed consisting of William P. Tuck, chair, Helen S. Wood, and John L. Gordon.&#160; Address inquires and send resumes to Dr. Tuck at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> &#160;or 2340 Castlebridge Rd., Midlothian, VA 23113.&#160; Deadline March 15. (Posted 02.17.17)</p>
<p>MINISTER OF MUSIC/ORGANIST.&#160; Hampton Baptist Church, in downtown Hampton, Va., is seeking a Minister of Music/Organist.&#160; HBC is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has a traditional worship service, and about 250 active members. The ideal candidate will have a high level of artistic and technical skills based on professional training in organ and choral church music and a well-established understanding of what a music ministry entails.&#160; Information and a job description are available at <a href="http://www.hamptonbaptist.org/" type="external">www.hamptonbaptist.org</a>. Submit inquiries and resumes by March 15, 2017 to: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>, fax 757-723-8432, or mail to 40 Kings Way, Hampton, VA 23669, Attn. William Trimble, Chair, Minister of Music Search Committee. (Posted 02.03.17)</p>
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baptist news global provides free listing ministryrelated jobs baptist churches theological institutions organizations across united states posting 30 days limited 150 words businesses may purchase post section 120 per word minimum 50 30 days submit ministryrelated job inquire advertising options page contact barbara francis 3367171135 ext 8 barbarabaptistnewscom fulltime pastor160 hammock community church interdenominational fellowship retirement area near ocean palm coast florida seeking pastor preaches teaches bible love god seeks guidance holy spirit depends power prayer compassionately responds congregants needs enables leaders church ministries160 extensive biblical studies years pastoral experience prerequisites160 congregation prefers traditional music friendly responds generously one another local community international ministries160 position available july 2017 email searchhammockcommunitychurch17gmailcom posted 040417 fulltime worship pastor160 northridge church haines city fla seeking fulltime worship pastor role worship pastor assist senior pastor staff volunteers fostering unity building worshiping atmosphere church worship pastor champion churchs vision worshiping community believers intentionally reaching discipling ridge beyond christ northridge senior pastor pastoral staff led church please visit website full details ministry available position wwwnorthridgehccomworshippastor apply email following searchnorthridgehccom 160by march 31 2017 cover letter resume 3 reference letters posted 022417 fulltime pastor160 friendship independent missionary baptist church perry florid currently seeking fulltime pastor small conservative church160 position available immediately160 parsonage pay fulltime salary160 applicant must believe holy bible inspired infallible word god meet qualifications timothy titus preach teach king james bible160 looking someone help rebuild congregation160 questions feel led submit resume doctrinal statement contact lauraj2502gmailcom posted 021417 back top page region minister 160the american baptist churches indiana kentucky seeks qualified individual serve region minister southern indiana kentucky full time capacity160 abc inky diverse middle judicatory serving 300 churches located indiana160 successful candidate position possess gifts skills experiences necessary serve effectively creatively alongside energetic staff team among churches leaders navigating increased cultural ministry challenges160 among requirements candidate must possess master divinity degree preferred equivalent ats accredited institution minimum seven years pastoral equivalent ministry experience demonstrated commitment abc ministry including support abc mission regionalnationalinternational hold recognized abc ordination qualifications necessary obtain ordination160 complete announcement may viewed here160160 httpbitly2lospjs 160the deadline applications is160april 25th posted 031417 back top page associate minister christian education spiritual formation immanuel baptist church paducah ky seeking fulltime associate minister christian education spiritual formation duties share compelling vision vibrant ministry christian education spiritual formation local congregation identify evaluate select curriculum adult education enlist develop train teachers leadership educational ministry collaborate staff members planning implementing ministry initiatives send resumes to160 jbroomevcinet posted 032717 back top page associate pastor worship amp music160160second baptist church liberty mo kansas city seeking fulltime associate pastor worship amp music160responsibilities include overall leadership direction churchs worship experiences music ministries well pastoral care160160please send resumes inquiries to160 searchcommittee2bclibertyorg posted 031717 senior pastor160 woodcrest chapel columbia mo filling senior pastor position looking outstanding communicator leader visionary person relevantly communicate teach word god lead development ministries provide pastoral care oversee administrative functions advanced educational degree prior experience medium large sized church needed must excellent teacher excellent communicator strong leadership skills apply visit website160 wwwwoodcrestorgresume posted 031317 fulltime pastor families160 holmeswood baptist church kansas city mo seeking fulltime pastor families160 position responsible providing leadership oversight ministry spiritual development families children birth twelfth grade church position requires ministerial christian approach ethical behavior good attitude awareness boundaries160 pastor families value diversity understand appreciate holmeswood members community diverse160 heshe support participation members various ministries church pastor families opportunities serve worship may include preaching explore areas ministry personally interested applicants send resume davidmcdanielholmeswoodorg160 call 8169421729 website wwwholmeswoodorg posted 022017 back top page parttime associate preschool children womans missionary union north carolina seeking parttime associate preschool children work location raleigh nc exceptions considered please send résumé cover letter judy pettigrew judyjohnbellsouthnet application deadline april 5 job description wwwwmuncorg posted 032417 fulltime minister youth amp congregational life160 roxboro baptist church seeking fulltime minister youth amp congregational life160 primary purpose position extend ministry mission church guiding process visioning planning organizing conducting comprehensive ministry middle school high school students well families160 minister also assist pastor staff team ministering physical mental emotional spiritual needs entire congregation local community160 seminary degree preferred applications must received april 28160 full description job seen wwwroxborobaptistorg160 cover letter resume may emailed chawkinsroxborobaptistorg mailed po box 348 roxboro nc160 27573 posted 032317 minister children families minister children families first baptist church smithfield nc provides relational leadership extending ministry purposes church planning conducting evaluating comprehensive program children birth sixth grade families girds spiritual emotional social development relates becoming growing christians provides opportunities experiences family level growth christian discipleship within among families church qualifications bachelors degree emphasis child developmentrequired graduate degree accredited seminarydivinity school preferred previous ministry experience baptist church like faith order preferred qualified candidates email fbcsmithfieldpersonnelgmailcom complete position description posted 021017 senior pastor160 immanuel baptist church greenville nc seeking senior pastor lead us begin second 100 years diversified church supports cbf sbc ministries rich history mission outreach greenville community church located within walking distance growing east carolina university approximately 28000 students strong outreach ministry including international students worship services include blend contemporary traditional music affirm men women ministry leadership roles successful candidate possess strong calling pastoral ministry hold degree accredited seminary divinity school submit résumés pastor search committee immanuel baptist church 1101 elm st greenville nc 27858 pastorsearchibcgorg begin reviewing résumés april 1 continue position filled posted 020817 back top page fulltime pastor first baptist church crescent oklahoma currently seeking fulltime pastor active congregation conservative faithfilled church charming town offer fulltime salary beautiful parsonage believe lord provide us applicants unite church community build congregation applicant fulfill pastoral duties church enthusiasm assistance support staff prospective pastor ignite inspire people church gods word exciting time congregation right pastor unlimited opportunities church information submit resume contact first baptist church crescent at160 fbccrescentaolcom posted 030817 associate pastor youth community engagement spring creek baptist church oklahoma city seeking associate pastor youth community engagement minister work youth families using primary relationships serve larger church ideal candidate exhibit sense adventure fun balanced ability attend deep currents spiritual life students shehe develop liturgical social rhythms give space reflection inclusion associate pastor also charged community engagement encompasses missions extends holistic understanding inward outward congregational energies shehe need skills digital communication technologies comfort cultural difference ability translate localregionalinternational needs church context salaried position benefits compensation based experience information visit resumes references sent associatepastorsearchspringcreekbccom back top page worship pastor welcome baptist church greenville sc seeking fulltime worship pastor passionately lead authentic blended worship glorifies god160to considered position please submit cover letter resume link worship service lead required salary requirements to160 welcomebaptistworshippastorgmailcom160you may also send copies information welcome baptist church attn pam knight 2730 anderson road greenville sc 29611 information view job description visit160 wwwwelcomebaptistcom posted 020717 back top page pastor lovera baptist church san antonio texas seeking parttimebivocational pastor lbc affiliated san antonio baptist association lbc seeking pastor lead church evangelism discipleship teaching missions engage community world gospel160 10 years ministerial experience formal theological education preferred160 resumes letters reference sent pastor search committee loverabaptistchurchyahoocom mailed lovera baptist church 333 lovera blvd san antonio tx 78212160 dvds cds links online sermons appreciated160 search committee accepting applications recommendations position filled church phone 2107357837160posted 032717 music director lovera baptist church san antonio texas seeks music leader sunday 1100 worship service160 note160 choir orchestra need someone lead music160 resumes letters reference sent administrative committee chairman loverabaptistchurchyahoocom 160or mailed lovera baptist church 333 lovera blvd san antonio tx 78212160 church phone 2107357837160160posted 032717 pianist organist160 lovera baptist church san antonio texas seeks someone play piano organ sunday morning 1100 worship service160 resumes letters reference sent administrative committee chairman loverabaptistchurchyahoocom mailed lovera baptist church 333 lovera blvd san antonio tx 78212160 church phone 2107357837160posted 032717 assistant director spiritual formation baylor university160 position work spiritual formation faculty coordinating seminary covenant group activities choosing evaluating group curriculum recruiting group leaders providing instruction spiritual formation offering pastoral care students successful candidate position committed personal life christian faith prior experience pastoral care strong interpersonal skills strong personal conviction produce quality work considerable knowledge literature practices spiritual formation discipleship prior experience leading small formational groups planning retreats qualifications bachelors degree three years relevant work experience christian faith required160 masters degree five years relevant work preferred apply view full position description please submit online application httpsjobsbayloredu along cover letter resume160 aaeoe wwwbayloredu160 posted 031417 pastor worship ministries160 university baptist church houston texas seeking fulltime worship pastor worship pastor responsible management development full range music ministries ubc well spiritual care support people ubc community ubc rich heritage traditional worship including sanctuary choir adult ensembles orchestra handbells graded choirs qualifications160 spiritually mature creative gifted disciplined musical skills masters music related field strong leadership skills responsibilities160 planning preparing recruiting training volunteers lead authentic worship experiences throughout year particular emphasis holy weekeaster adventchristmas also manage oversee music ministries church contact david mobley at160 dmobleyubcorg posted 030917 back top page worship leader needed parttime contemporary worship leader needed render church opening easter sunday 2017 commodore theatre portsmouth va render church feature unique brand worship rehearsals band vocalists take place thursday evenings alexander baptist church chesapeake worship leader need attend weekly rehearsal sunday worship service work closely pastor develop sunday order worship ability play keyboard guitar plus position paid inquire andor schedule interviewaudition information please reply david dilday via email dpdildayaolcom phone 7576776020 posted 040317 general secretary160 nominations open position baptist world alliance general secretary information nomination form available bwa website wwwbwanetorg nominations must completed sent april 30 2017 rev dr john upton baptist general association virginia 2828 emerywood parkway richmond va 23294 usa email johnuptonbgavorg post 032817 minister children youth families emmaus baptist church providence forge va seeking minister children youth families duties include communicating regularly parents children youth planning leading participating biblicallybased children youth programs missions outreach activities month contemporary worship service quarter leading youth weekly bible study vacation bible school taking youth camp leading camp fundraisers occasionally fill pulpit time allows discretion pastor work pastor help youth children amp parents take part worship maintain 1 hour office availability onsite week meet pastor weekly yc monthly provide quarterly report average 12 hours per week apply email pastorvalleriegmailcom church website httpemmausbapchurchorg posted 032417 director music ministries160 second branch baptist church chesterfield va seeking parttime director music ministries sbbc seeking impact community ministries spiritfocused worship ideal candidate energetic passion filled worship leader responsible order worship weekly special worship services leading congregational singing direction adult sanctuary choir praise teams director music ministries position offers competitive compensation resume academic professional training along audiovideo presentations references sent secretarysecondbranchorg sbbc 12217 second branch road chesterfield va 23838 posted 022717 senior pastor160 emmaus baptist church poquoson va seeking fulltime senior pastor effective preaching teaching bible gods holy word depends power prayer ably leads nurturing caring families individuals values healthy church fellowship surrounding community enjoys prompting believers grow spiritually well physically emotionally socially160 affiliate cbf bgav160 affirm 1963 baptist faith message support men women leadership positions160 candidates least 5 years experience senior pastor mdiv degree160 please send cover letter resume pastorsearchebcmincom posted 021717 executive director160 virginia baptist historical society center baptist heritage amp studies seeking executive director serve chief operating officer organizations160 historical society founded 1876 focused upon collecting preserving sharing tangible evidences virginia baptist history operates research library archives including church records repository campus university richmond160 also maintains heritage gallery changing exhibits individual visitors church groups160 heritage center founded 2000 centers upon educational programming resources160 applicants demonstrated knowledge field baptist history heritage 160a search committee appointed consisting william p tuck chair helen wood john l gordon160 address inquires send resumes dr tuck wtuckverizonnet 160or 2340 castlebridge rd midlothian va 23113160 deadline march 15 posted 021717 minister musicorganist160 hampton baptist church downtown hampton va seeking minister musicorganist160 hbc affiliated cooperative baptist fellowship traditional worship service 250 active members ideal candidate high level artistic technical skills based professional training organ choral church music wellestablished understanding music ministry entails160 information job description available wwwhamptonbaptistorg submit inquiries resumes march 15 2017 churchhamptonbaptistorg fax 7577238432 mail 40 kings way hampton va 23669 attn william trimble chair minister music search committee posted 020317 back top page wwwchurchbookkeepingtoolcom 160160affordable professional church management tool back top page
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<p>Wells High School freshman reading teacher Jillian Connolly is one of a minority of teachers in CPS high schools with a reading specialist endorsement. Even so, Connolly says she wasn’t fully prepared to work with teen readers.She knew how to teach strategies for reading and writing. But most high school students face deeper challenges—the social-emotional aspects of learning from other students, how to be persistent when reading frustrating texts, and developing content knowledge in tandem with reading skills. They also need to show how they came to conclusions about what a text says.</p>
<p>“The difference is in metacognition and showing what you think as a reader,” Connolly says.</p>
<p>Through Reading Apprenticeship, a project of the research organization WestEd, Connolly has learned strategies designed to meet these challenges.</p>
<p>Several studies have found that the program has a positive impact on high school student motivation, grade-point averages, and reading comprehension scores—in one case, scores that were 33 percent higher than expected if students were not involved in the program. (The studies were funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Stuart Foundation and the Los Angeles Education Partnership).</p>
<p>Why is it effective? Experts believe it’s because students use persistence and problem-solving to help them learn difficult material.&#160;</p>
<p>In Chicago, the program is funded by a $300,000 grant from the Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust. Currently, it includes 45 teachers at four schools: Wells, Kenwood, Hancock and Von Steuben. It will soon expand, perhaps to as many as 135 teachers at 13 schools.</p>
<p>Reading Apprenticeship is one of several interventions whose approaches are being incorporated into Project READI, a federal project to develop a new curriculum for adolescent literacy.</p>
<p>On an April morning, Connolly is working with students on book reviews and guides them to look up reviews from the New York Times as models for their own—called “mentor texts,” because the goal is for students to learn from them as if they were teachers.</p>
<p>Connolly reads the first paragraph from a review of the young adult historical novel “The Book Thief.”</p>
<p>“Marcus Zusak has not really written ‘Harry Potter and the Holocaust.’ It just feels that way,” Connolly reads. She points out that the review mentions the author and notes the contrast with what students wrote. “Some of you started your reviews with, ‘In my book,’ and then the book’s title,” Connolly says.</p>
<p>Next, she leads the class in dissecting the sentence.</p>
<p>“Is there a book called ‘Harry Potter and the Holocaust?’” she asks. She takes the class back to the clause “has not really written,” to point out that the answer is no. Beside the sentence, she writes, “Comparison to H.P. / J.K.R. author,” for the series by J. K. Rowling.</p>
<p>Connolly moves on to the next paragraph, which starts, “It is loaded with librarian appeal.” She puts a box around the word “appeal,” which students may not know. “If it has librarian appeal, what does that mean?”</p>
<p>“Something a librarian might like,” one student says. Connolly paraphrases: “It appeals to librarians, teachers, and others who like books.”</p>
<p>She points out that one young man, Eddy, thought the book was boring. “But when your teacher gave it to you, did she think it was the best book ever?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Eddy replies. The point of the sentence has been brought home: The writer’s use of “librarian appeal” is actually a thinly veiled slam to show that other readers might not like the book.</p>
<p>The review continues, stating that the book “bestows a self-congratulatory glow on anyone willing to grapple with it.” Connolly pats herself on the back.</p>
<p>Once the class has finished, Connolly notes key points from the Times review that should be a template for students: They must summarize the book, make a recommendation about it, and mention the author.</p>
<p>Connolly’s class is an exercise in important reading strategies, including annotating material and analyzing models so they know what is expected in their own work.</p>
<p>Network for College Success Co-Director Mary Ann Pitcher explains that the goal is to get students engaged in reading longer, higher-level material and in analyzing their thought processes. (The network is a project at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration that helps high school principals use school improvement strategies that will help students get ready for college.)</p>
<p>“You start by modeling. You help students understand, ‘Where did you get stuck?’ ” Pitcher says. Students learn to view reading, she adds, “not as a magical thing that [just] happens, but as something you work through.”</p>
<p>At Kenwood Academy High School, Principal Greg Jones says Reading Apprenticeship freshmen exceeded the school’s year-end goal for test score gains—by January. “If we keep this pace, it will break national records,” Jones says. He praises the program for building fluency as well as the more critical skill of comprehension.</p>
<p>“Kids can read. But can they clearly articulate and make sense of what they’ve read?” Jones says.</p>
<p>Kenwood’s Human Geography teacher, Nedaa Alwawi, says Reading Apprenticeship helped her to overcome feeling underprepared to teach her students how to read and understand class material.</p>
<p>Just a few days after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, Alwawi’s class is working on the topic “What is Terrorism?” An editorial cartoon is projected onto the whiteboard at the front of her class.</p>
<p>The cartoon shows two terrorists with bombs and guns. One is American and the other, sporting a button that reads “Al-Qaida,” is telling him “Howdy, Brother!”</p>
<p>Alwawi hands out copies of the cartoon to students and asks them to note their observations and information they can use to answer her questions, such as why the Al-Qaida figure is saying “Howdy.”</p>
<p>Asia Gilmore, 14, labels the American: “This man is like an American who hates almost everyone and everything.”</p>
<p>About the other man, she writes: “I can tell that he is Muslim by the way he dresses, but I am confused about what he is saying.”</p>
<p>Another student writes: “The Al-Qaida man wants to shake the other man’s hand, but he is resistant.”</p>
<p>Alwawi’s class is using the strategy “Talking to the Text.” They write down questions and comments and, in effect, have a “conversation on paper” with the material. Then, they share their written observations with the group and write notes on the whiteboard next to the cartoon.</p>
<p>Dissecting the various explanations, Alwawi hones in on one for discussion: “This man says ‘Howdy, Brother’ because he’s like a partner in crime… They’re both terrorists.”</p>
<p>Next, the group tackles an article with the title ‘What is Terrorism?’ Alwawi begins with a strategy called “Think-aloud,” in which she explains her thinking out loud to the class while writing model notes.</p>
<p>She reads the first sentence. “Terrorism has come to signify race and religion even though everyone is careful not to say so.”</p>
<p>On the overhead projector, she draws a box around the word “signify,” to indicate that she believes the sentence hinges on it and she will want to look it up. She writes “100%” at the end of the sentence to show that she agrees.</p>
<p>Students analyze the rest of the article in groups, and write their own notes line by line. In a section on school shootings, Asia Gilmore puts a box around the word “ammunition.” “And what is Columbine?” she asks, about a reference to the 1999 Colorado school shooting.</p>
<p>Gilmore explains that the notes help to pinpoint information and make it easier to review material.</p>
<p>During a discussion, students use “sentence frames” to help them understand academic language. Some of the sentences they use: “After listening to (name) I agree with…” and “In addition to what (name) said, I’d like to add…”</p>
<p>At Wells, several students in Connolly’s class say they learned to annotate text before high school. But continually emphasizing the practice “helps me understand better, keep all the thoughts I have up in my head and answer questions,” says Mercedes Harris.</p>
<p>Christopher Arroyo, who came to Wells from Burr Elementary, says Connolly’s teaching has helped him improve his grades: Last year, he got A’s, B’s and D’s, but this year it is A’s, B’s and C’s. Connolly gives the class more guidance, too. Arroyo says his 8th-grade teacher “put us in the material and made us decide what to do. I had trouble turning my work in. It was hard to focus.”</p>
<p>Connolly’s school-wide literacy specialist position has just one more year left, but the school plans to keep expanding Reading Apprenticeship.</p>
<p>Like other CPS initiatives, Reading Apprenticeship will have an impact if the district sticks with it long enough, she notes.</p>
<p>“Right when you feel it’s making way and you feel confident in it, it changes,” Connolly says. But she has hope: “The impact it’s made on the teachers—that’s not going to change.”</p>
<p>Tell us what you think. Leave a comment below, or email <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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wells high school freshman reading teacher jillian connolly one minority teachers cps high schools reading specialist endorsement even connolly says wasnt fully prepared work teen readersshe knew teach strategies reading writing high school students face deeper challengesthe socialemotional aspects learning students persistent reading frustrating texts developing content knowledge tandem reading skills also need show came conclusions text says difference metacognition showing think reader connolly says reading apprenticeship project research organization wested connolly learned strategies designed meet challenges several studies found program positive impact high school student motivation gradepoint averages reading comprehension scoresin one case scores 33 percent higher expected students involved program studies funded us department education national science foundation stuart foundation los angeles education partnership effective experts believe students use persistence problemsolving help learn difficult material160 chicago program funded 300000 grant searle funds chicago community trust currently includes 45 teachers four schools wells kenwood hancock von steuben soon expand perhaps many 135 teachers 13 schools reading apprenticeship one several interventions whose approaches incorporated project readi federal project develop new curriculum adolescent literacy april morning connolly working students book reviews guides look reviews new york times models owncalled mentor texts goal students learn teachers connolly reads first paragraph review young adult historical novel book thief marcus zusak really written harry potter holocaust feels way connolly reads points review mentions author notes contrast students wrote started reviews book books title connolly says next leads class dissecting sentence book called harry potter holocaust asks takes class back clause really written point answer beside sentence writes comparison hp jkr author series j k rowling connolly moves next paragraph starts loaded librarian appeal puts box around word appeal students may know librarian appeal mean something librarian might like one student says connolly paraphrases appeals librarians teachers others like books points one young man eddy thought book boring teacher gave think best book ever yeah eddy replies point sentence brought home writers use librarian appeal actually thinly veiled slam show readers might like book review continues stating book bestows selfcongratulatory glow anyone willing grapple connolly pats back class finished connolly notes key points times review template students must summarize book make recommendation mention author connollys class exercise important reading strategies including annotating material analyzing models know expected work network college success codirector mary ann pitcher explains goal get students engaged reading longer higherlevel material analyzing thought processes network project university chicagos school social service administration helps high school principals use school improvement strategies help students get ready college start modeling help students understand get stuck pitcher says students learn view reading adds magical thing happens something work kenwood academy high school principal greg jones says reading apprenticeship freshmen exceeded schools yearend goal test score gainsby january keep pace break national records jones says praises program building fluency well critical skill comprehension kids read clearly articulate make sense theyve read jones says kenwoods human geography teacher nedaa alwawi says reading apprenticeship helped overcome feeling underprepared teach students read understand class material days bombing boston marathon alwawis class working topic terrorism editorial cartoon projected onto whiteboard front class cartoon shows two terrorists bombs guns one american sporting button reads alqaida telling howdy brother alwawi hands copies cartoon students asks note observations information use answer questions alqaida figure saying howdy asia gilmore 14 labels american man like american hates almost everyone everything man writes tell muslim way dresses confused saying another student writes alqaida man wants shake mans hand resistant alwawis class using strategy talking text write questions comments effect conversation paper material share written observations group write notes whiteboard next cartoon dissecting various explanations alwawi hones one discussion man says howdy brother hes like partner crime theyre terrorists next group tackles article title terrorism alwawi begins strategy called thinkaloud explains thinking loud class writing model notes reads first sentence terrorism come signify race religion even though everyone careful say overhead projector draws box around word signify indicate believes sentence hinges want look writes 100 end sentence show agrees students analyze rest article groups write notes line line section school shootings asia gilmore puts box around word ammunition columbine asks reference 1999 colorado school shooting gilmore explains notes help pinpoint information make easier review material discussion students use sentence frames help understand academic language sentences use listening name agree addition name said id like add wells several students connollys class say learned annotate text high school continually emphasizing practice helps understand better keep thoughts head answer questions says mercedes harris christopher arroyo came wells burr elementary says connollys teaching helped improve grades last year got bs ds year bs cs connolly gives class guidance arroyo says 8thgrade teacher put us material made us decide trouble turning work hard focus connollys schoolwide literacy specialist position one year left school plans keep expanding reading apprenticeship like cps initiatives reading apprenticeship impact district sticks long enough notes right feel making way feel confident changes connolly says hope impact made teachersthats going change tell us think leave comment email rharriscatalystchicagoorg
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />July 13, 2012</p>
<p>By Dave Roberts</p>
<p>California’s experiment in incarcerating tens of thousands of criminals in local jails or their homes rather than in state prisons is 10 months old, so the verdict is not yet in on whether it’s been a success or failure. But if <a href="http://www.co.kern.ca.us/" type="external">Kern County</a>’s experience is any indication, Californians could be in for a bumpy ride on the Kumbaya road to early releasing or attempting to help criminals at the local level, rather than simply locking them up in the state pen.</p>
<p>The statewide experiment known as “ <a href="http://californiarealignment.org/" type="external">realignment</a>” was launched last October. In the six-month period from October 2011 through March 2012 in Kern County, burglaries increased 20 percent and auto thefts and robberies were up 12 percent over the same period in the previous year, according to a recent <a href="http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/archive/x2090040207/file?nodisp=1" type="external">probation report</a>. Kern County was already one of the most crime-ridden counties in the state. Violent crime skyrocketed 49 percent from 2001-10 while property crime increased 20 percent.</p>
<p>The influx of hundreds of criminals into Kern County jails has resulted in a 200 percent increase in assaults on jail staff, 122 percent increase in the placing of prisoners in “safety cells,” 9 percent increase in fights, 10 percent increase in drug use and 40 percent increase in suicide watches. Longer sentences for some of the inmates, some as long as six or nine years, have led to a “prison mentality” developing among some inmates in what used to be a short-term housing facility, according to a <a href="http://www.co.kern.ca.us/grandjury/early_releases/PDFs/lawjustice_lerdo.pdf" type="external">grand jury report</a>.</p>
<p>Kern County was unprepared for the inmate explosion. Nineteen barracks in the county’s Lerdo jail are so antiquated that at any time three of them are closed for maintenance. Some of the one-man cells have been converted to two-man cells. The county has qualified for $100 million in state funding to add another 790 beds.</p>
<p>As a result, hundreds of prisoners have been released to home detention or rehabilitation and work programs. One of those releases was a drunk driver with prior convictions who served only a few months of a six-year sentence, according to the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304458604577491100435436414.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1" type="external">Wall Street Journal</a>. Another inmate with prior convictions, who would normally have been sent to state prison for several years for receiving stolen property, instead served just four months in jail and was sent home with a GPS ankle bracelet. Many inmates receive half-time credits, further reducing their sentences.</p>
<p>Under realignment’s goal of reducing the recidivism rate, Lerdo inmates can now take art, auto body and computer classes and receive drug counseling from four newly hired substance abuse specialists.</p>
<p>I asked Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal, who is also president of the <a href="http://www.calsheriffs.org/" type="external">California State Sheriffs’ Association</a>, whether Californians are less safe today than they were a year ago before realignment.</p>
<p>“That’s a hard question to answer,” he said. “The one thing many of us have seen is an increase in crime. But the problem is you don’t know if it’s the economy or realignment. No one has an answer yet. It’s too early to know. Are we concerned? Yes. We want to make sure we don’t get sued and don’t release the wrong people onto the street. We are all in the learning stage on what realignment is and how we implement those tools that benefit our local communities. But when the day is done, we all share the same concerns: We want to make sure we make the decisions that keep our communities safe.”</p>
<p>The <a href="http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/pdfs/cjsc/prof10/1/00.pdf?" type="external">crime rate has been trending down</a> in the state in the last decade. Violent crime decreased 30 percent from 2001 to 2010, while property crime declined 16 percent. Statistics for 2011 are not yet available on the state attorney general’s website, so it could be at least a year before the statistics comparing crime rates before and after realignment are available.</p>
<p>“I think the jury is still out, but time will tell,” said Royal. “But for me in managing my inmate population, I am going to do everything I can to make sure the right people stay in custody. I don’t want violent people on the street. Those who are released are the low-level offenders. Drunk drivers are doing a portion of their time on home detention along with those that show very minimal threat to society.”</p>
<p>I asked Royal what effect the new system will have on repeat or would-be criminals who know that they can now do the crime but may not have to do the time — even after being arrested and convicted. “Unless we do the survey, we could speculate, but we don’t know at this point,” he said. “It is a concern that has been raised. ‘Where’s the punitive action for misconduct if I know I am not going to be in jail very long?’”</p>
<p>It’s possible that Kern County is an outlier and many, perhaps most, of California’s 58 counties will escape relatively unscathed from realignment. But all county sheriffs share some things in common, according to Royal. “We all agree that the numbers [of prisoners in county jails] are greater than we thought,” he said. “We all have space problems. We are concerned about future litigation issues [due to potential overcrowding and inadequate medical care]. And we all believe there’s inadequate funding. That’s a concern all of us share.”</p>
<p>The extent of the local prisoner influx problem depends on the county, according to Karen Pank, executive director of the <a href="http://cpoc.org/" type="external">Chief Probation Officers of California</a>.</p>
<p>“We have seen a lot of population management impacts from realignment in many counties, Kern being one of them,” she said. But “for every Kern you could probably find a county that is experiencing the same type of capacity issues, and the funding needed to deal with that seems to match up better. Depending on the county situation, realignment plays out differently.”</p>
<p>It’s definitely having a major impact on county probation departments, which are taking over from the state much of the post-prison oversight role. Like Royal, Pank believes a better job can be done at the local level than the state level.</p>
<p>“One trend that we will start to be able to see is that the people supposed to be supervised by probation that were previously supervised by [state] parole are showing up to probation at a much higher rate,” she said. “Our absconders are lower. That’s a good sign. If we are properly involved and charged to work with the right population and have the flexibility, we have the opportunity to do some good for the criminal justice system. But it’s still too early to know if all of those things will happen.”</p>
<p>But it’s not too early for Paul McIntosh, executive director of the <a href="http://www.csac.counties.org/" type="external">California State Association of Counties</a>, to declare realignment a major step in the right direction.</p>
<p>“One of the things we have been doing with the former approach is we have been ripping families apart,” he said. “You incarcerate the male or breadwinner of the family and the rest of the family is on the social service roll. One of the goals [of realignment] is to keep families together and over time they will prove successful. We have said that anything that follows an incarceration model has problems, because there’s not enough money to lock everyone up and throw away the key. Are there going to be hiccups? Of course. We are in the process of multi-generational change. It will take a decade to work through this.”</p>
<p>Whether California can afford a decade of prisoner release “hiccups” remains to be seen.</p>
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july 13 2012 dave roberts californias experiment incarcerating tens thousands criminals local jails homes rather state prisons 10 months old verdict yet whether success failure kern countys experience indication californians could bumpy ride kumbaya road early releasing attempting help criminals local level rather simply locking state pen statewide experiment known realignment launched last october sixmonth period october 2011 march 2012 kern county burglaries increased 20 percent auto thefts robberies 12 percent period previous year according recent probation report kern county already one crimeridden counties state violent crime skyrocketed 49 percent 200110 property crime increased 20 percent influx hundreds criminals kern county jails resulted 200 percent increase assaults jail staff 122 percent increase placing prisoners safety cells 9 percent increase fights 10 percent increase drug use 40 percent increase suicide watches longer sentences inmates long six nine years led prison mentality developing among inmates used shortterm housing facility according grand jury report kern county unprepared inmate explosion nineteen barracks countys lerdo jail antiquated time three closed maintenance oneman cells converted twoman cells county qualified 100 million state funding add another 790 beds result hundreds prisoners released home detention rehabilitation work programs one releases drunk driver prior convictions served months sixyear sentence according wall street journal another inmate prior convictions would normally sent state prison several years receiving stolen property instead served four months jail sent home gps ankle bracelet many inmates receive halftime credits reducing sentences realignments goal reducing recidivism rate lerdo inmates take art auto body computer classes receive drug counseling four newly hired substance abuse specialists asked nevada county sheriff keith royal also president california state sheriffs association whether californians less safe today year ago realignment thats hard question answer said one thing many us seen increase crime problem dont know economy realignment one answer yet early know concerned yes want make sure dont get sued dont release wrong people onto street learning stage realignment implement tools benefit local communities day done share concerns want make sure make decisions keep communities safe crime rate trending state last decade violent crime decreased 30 percent 2001 2010 property crime declined 16 percent statistics 2011 yet available state attorney generals website could least year statistics comparing crime rates realignment available think jury still time tell said royal managing inmate population going everything make sure right people stay custody dont want violent people street released lowlevel offenders drunk drivers portion time home detention along show minimal threat society asked royal effect new system repeat wouldbe criminals know crime may time even arrested convicted unless survey could speculate dont know point said concern raised wheres punitive action misconduct know going jail long possible kern county outlier many perhaps californias 58 counties escape relatively unscathed realignment county sheriffs share things common according royal agree numbers prisoners county jails greater thought said space problems concerned future litigation issues due potential overcrowding inadequate medical care believe theres inadequate funding thats concern us share extent local prisoner influx problem depends county according karen pank executive director chief probation officers california seen lot population management impacts realignment many counties kern one said every kern could probably find county experiencing type capacity issues funding needed deal seems match better depending county situation realignment plays differently definitely major impact county probation departments taking state much postprison oversight role like royal pank believes better job done local level state level one trend start able see people supposed supervised probation previously supervised state parole showing probation much higher rate said absconders lower thats good sign properly involved charged work right population flexibility opportunity good criminal justice system still early know things happen early paul mcintosh executive director california state association counties declare realignment major step right direction one things former approach ripping families apart said incarcerate male breadwinner family rest family social service roll one goals realignment keep families together time prove successful said anything follows incarceration model problems theres enough money lock everyone throw away key going hiccups course process multigenerational change take decade work whether california afford decade prisoner release hiccups remains seen
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<p>Mostafa Kishavarzi looks over the 10,000 watches crammed into his tiny store wedged between dozens of similar retailers in the jewelry section of the Tehran Bazaar.</p>
<p>Every watch in his store — and most of those sold by his competitors — come from one place, and it’s not Iran. It’s China.</p>
<p>Kishavarzi sells everything from knock-off Rolexes to nothing-fancy, off-brand watches. He flies to Shenzhen, China, several times a year to buy the timepieces and makes a tidy profit selling them back in Tehran.&#160;</p>
<p>“My watches are perfect for middle- and low-income people,” he said proudly. “Even the batteries are guaranteed for a year.”</p>
<p>Watches are just a tiny part of an explosion in trade between the two countries: China has become Iran’s largest trading partner.&#160;</p>
<p>The Chinese government has also extended huge loans to Iran, <a href="http://https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-business-and-markets/72363/iran-china-sign-10-billion-finance-de" type="external">most recently a $10 billion line of credit</a> for Chinese companies to build infrastructure projects such as dams, power generation facilities and transportation projects.&#160;Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to block US investment and most trade with Iran. Analysts in Iran say the US pressures European businesses to do the same.</p>
<p>“The more the US puts pressure on Iran, the closer Iran will get to China,” said Foad Izadi, an assistant professor in the Department of North American Studies at the University of Tehran.</p>
<p />
<p>University of Tehran Professor Foad Izadi says Trump policies are driving Iran and China closer together politically and economically.&#160;</p>
<p>Reese Erlich</p>
<p>Izadi said China remained a reliable trading partner even during the height of US sanctions earlier this decade. After implementing the nuclear accord in 2015, Iran signed numerous memoranda of understandings with companies in Italy, Germany and France. But facing the possibility of new US sanctions, few of them followed through with sales or investments.&#160;</p>
<p>The European plane manufacturer Airbus, for example, agreed to sell 100 planes to Iran <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/13/boeings-8-billion-aircraft-sale-to-iran-air-still-safe-for-now.html" type="external">but has delivered only three so far</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>China, on the other hand, has accelerated its investments, with infrastructure projects and sales of moderately priced cars, cell phones and clothing.</p>
<p>The Chinese “are interested in buying and selling stuff,” said Izadi. “They are not interested in regime change. They are not interested in putting political pressure on governments that have an independent foreign policy.”</p>
<p>In 2016 Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/25/world/middleeast/china-deepens-its-footprint-in-iran-after-lifting-of-sanctions.html" type="external">plans to increase bilateral trade</a> to $600 billion over the next decade.&#160;That's an ambitious goal, to say the least.</p>
<p>China exported $7.95 billion worth of goods to Iran over the last eight months, a 22 percent increase over the same period last year, according to Iranian customs statistics provided by the Tehran Chamber of Commerce. Iran’s exports to China, excluding oil, were valued at $5.7 billion, a 13.5 percent increase during the same period.</p>
<p>China sees Iran as an important component of its "One Belt, One Road" program, connecting China to Europe via Asia. The project costs an estimated $1.7 trillion per year to build ports, highways, rail lines and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/23/china-asian-infrastructure-trillions.html" type="external">other infrastructure in the region</a>. China is also constructing a <a href="https://financialtribune.com/articles/domestic-economy/66450/iran-china-team-up-on-new-silk-road-project" type="external">2,000-mile long railroad to connect the western Chinese city of Urumqi with the northern Iranian city of Mashhad, cutting through four former Soviet republics.</a></p>
<p>Politically, China seeks allies against what it perceives as US hegemony in the Middle East. Izadi said China doesn’t want to depend on oil produced in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and other US allies.</p>
<p>“As long as there is a defiant Iran in the Middle East, the United States cannot fully concentrate on East Asia where China’s core interests are located,” Izadi and Esfandiar Khodaee <a href="http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S2377740017500105" type="external">wrote in a scholarly journal.</a>&#160;</p>
<p>But those common interests go only so far.&#160;</p>
<p>While China continued to buy Iranian oil during the sanctions era, it kept the money from those sales in special accounts in China as prescribed by UN sanctions. After sanctions were lifted, however, China didn’t release the $22 billion it accumulated. It only allows the funds to be used to finance Chinese infrastructure projects in Iran.&#160;</p>
<p>“They were ruthless,” political analyst Saeed Laylaz said. “They tried to cheat us. But at least they sold things to us.”</p>
<p>China faces another problem with Iran. Many ordinary people complain about the shoddy quality of Chinese goods such as the watches in the Bazaar jewelry stores.&#160;</p>
<p>“We know there are different quality goods in China,” said Bazaar shopper Fereshteh, who declined to give her last name. “But the poor quality ones end up coming to Iran. They don't last for long and break down quickly compared to products from other places.”</p>
<p>Izadi notes that the shoddy quality of some imports are as much the fault of Iranian traders as Chinese manufacturers. The traders buy cheap goods to make a bigger profit.</p>
<p>Even those consumers who want to “buy Iranian” face difficult choices.</p>
<p>Nasibeh Tavakoli, another Bazaar shopper, said she supports buying her own country’s products rather than Chinese goods. But like consumers the world over, that’s not so easy anymore. Asked if she actually buys Iranian, she replied sheepishly, “Sometimes I don’t know if it’s Iranian or Chinese. I end up buying very few Iranian goods.”</p>
<p>Reese Erlich’s reporting from Iran was made possible by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.</p>
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mostafa kishavarzi looks 10000 watches crammed tiny store wedged dozens similar retailers jewelry section tehran bazaar every watch store sold competitors come one place iran china kishavarzi sells everything knockoff rolexes nothingfancy offbrand watches flies shenzhen china several times year buy timepieces makes tidy profit selling back tehran160 watches perfect middle lowincome people said proudly even batteries guaranteed year watches tiny part explosion trade two countries china become irans largest trading partner160 chinese government also extended huge loans iran recently 10 billion line credit chinese companies build infrastructure projects dams power generation facilities transportation projects160meanwhile trump administration continues block us investment trade iran analysts iran say us pressures european businesses us puts pressure iran closer iran get china said foad izadi assistant professor department north american studies university tehran university tehran professor foad izadi says trump policies driving iran china closer together politically economically160 reese erlich izadi said china remained reliable trading partner even height us sanctions earlier decade implementing nuclear accord 2015 iran signed numerous memoranda understandings companies italy germany france facing possibility new us sanctions followed sales investments160 european plane manufacturer airbus example agreed sell 100 planes iran delivered three far160 china hand accelerated investments infrastructure projects sales moderately priced cars cell phones clothing chinese interested buying selling stuff said izadi interested regime change interested putting political pressure governments independent foreign policy 2016 chinese president xi jinping iranian president hassan rouhani announced plans increase bilateral trade 600 billion next decade160thats ambitious goal say least china exported 795 billion worth goods iran last eight months 22 percent increase period last year according iranian customs statistics provided tehran chamber commerce irans exports china excluding oil valued 57 billion 135 percent increase period china sees iran important component one belt one road program connecting china europe via asia project costs estimated 17 trillion per year build ports highways rail lines infrastructure region china also constructing 2000mile long railroad connect western chinese city urumqi northern iranian city mashhad cutting four former soviet republics politically china seeks allies perceives us hegemony middle east izadi said china doesnt want depend oil produced saudi arabia gulf states us allies long defiant iran middle east united states fully concentrate east asia chinas core interests located izadi esfandiar khodaee wrote scholarly journal160 common interests go far160 china continued buy iranian oil sanctions era kept money sales special accounts china prescribed un sanctions sanctions lifted however china didnt release 22 billion accumulated allows funds used finance chinese infrastructure projects iran160 ruthless political analyst saeed laylaz said tried cheat us least sold things us china faces another problem iran many ordinary people complain shoddy quality chinese goods watches bazaar jewelry stores160 know different quality goods china said bazaar shopper fereshteh declined give last name poor quality ones end coming iran dont last long break quickly compared products places izadi notes shoddy quality imports much fault iranian traders chinese manufacturers traders buy cheap goods make bigger profit even consumers want buy iranian face difficult choices nasibeh tavakoli another bazaar shopper said supports buying countrys products rather chinese goods like consumers world thats easy anymore asked actually buys iranian replied sheepishly sometimes dont know iranian chinese end buying iranian goods reese erlichs reporting iran made possible grant pulitzer center crisis reporting
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<p />
<p>An anti-LGBT law in Mississippi has gone into effect. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p />
<p>The law, House Bill 1523, was signed by Gov. Phil Bryant last year in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide. The purported intent of the law is to protect individuals who have religious beliefs contrary to the ruling, but the measure approaches that in a way that would allow anti-LGBT discrimination.</p>
<p>The law prohibits the state from taking action against religious organizations that decline employment, housing or services to same-sex couples; families who’ve adopted a foster child and wish to act in opposition to same-sex marriage and individuals who offer wedding services and decline to facilitate a same-sex wedding.</p>
<p>Additionally, the bill allows individuals working in medical services to decline a transgender person’s request for gender reassignment surgery. The bill also allows state government employees who facilitate marriages the option to opt out of issuing licenses to same-sex couples, but the person must issue prior written notice to the state government and a clerk’s office must not delay the issuance of licenses.</p>
<p>Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, spelled out the potential consequences of the law in a statement on the day it went into effect.</p>
<p>“The insidious power of a law like this is that it casts a long shadow over public life, forcing someone to assess whether they will be treated fairly and respectfully in situations from the crisis of an emergency room to an anniversary dinner at a restaurant to a child’s classroom,” Beach-Ferrara said. “Now we face the cruel reality of the law going into effect and the imminent threat it poses to the dignity, health and well-being of LGBT Mississippians.”</p>
<p>Last month, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reconsider “en banc” before the full court an earlier decision by a three-judge panel to throw out legal challenges to the law — one filed by the Campaign for Southern Equality, the other by the Joshua Generation Metropolitan Community Church and 13 Mississippi ministers,</p>
<p>The three-judge panel determined plaintiffs in the lawsuit lacked standing to challenge the law, reversing the trial court ruling that found HB 1523 violated the Establishment Clause by allowing state-sanctioned discrimination under one particular religious view.</p>
<p>GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement the fight against the law continues despite its harmful effects on LGBT people.</p>
<p>“America was founded on the freedom of religion and this shared value continues to be critical to our nation’s success, but it does not give people the right to impose their beliefs on others, to harm others, or to discriminate,” Ellis said. “This law allows hotels, ER doctors, business owners and even pediatricians to legally deny services to hardworking LGBTQ families in Mississippi, despite the fact that such blatant discrimination flies in the face of Mississippi and American values. The fight is far from over and we stand with advocates in Mississippi who simply want to be treated equal to their coworkers, friends, and neighbors.”</p>
<p>There were no statewide protections in Mississippi against anti-LGBT discrimination before HB 1523 went into effect. However, the cities of Jackson and Bay St. Louis have enacted LGBT non-discrimination ordinances, and HB 1523 could block the cities from enforcing those measures. Federal law against sex discrimination, which is increasingly applied anti-LGBT discrimination cases, also remains in effect in Mississippi.</p>
<p>Before HB 1523 went into effect, Mississippi already had a broad “religious freedom” law signed by Bryant in 2014 that critics say was also an attempt to enable anti-LGBT discrimination. However, unlike the new law, the earlier version didn’t explicitly spell out that individuals could refuse services to same-sex couples and transgender people.</p>
<p>Jody Owens, managing attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Jackson office, compared HB 1523 to the sweeping “religious freedom” guidance issued U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued last week.</p>
<p>“Despite the U.S. Attorney General’s memo last week inviting government agencies across the country to discriminate against LGBT people based on religion, religious freedom does not give us the right to treat others unfairly or impose our beliefs on them,” Owens said. “However, this law does just that — it purposely targets LGBT Mississippians and puts them at risk of unequal treatment.”</p>
<p>Although the Justice Department guidance doesn’t explicitly spell out permission to discriminate against LGBT people like the Mississippi law, the intent of both the guidance and the law are widely seen as the same.</p>
<p>It remains to be seen if any individuals or businesses in Mississippi will take advantage of the new law now that it has gone into effect. According to the Jackson-based <a href="http://www.djournal.com/news/northeast-mississippi-clerks-say-hb-will-not-impact-their-offices/article_88540a4b-bf6b-5568-b8a4-666310472009.html" type="external">Daily Journal</a>, all 16 clerks in Northeast Mississippi said they’ll continue to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples even with the new law in place.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=61201" type="external">Commerce Dispatch</a>, a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Miss., found no business willing go on the record to say they’d turn away LGBT people with HB 1523 in effect.</p>
<p>“It’s not Christian to judge people,” Nicole Huff, owner of Southern Flour Bakery on Highway 45, is quoted as saying.</p>
<p>Last week, the legal team behind the lawsuit sought a delay in the issuing of a mandate in the aftermath of the Fifth Circuit decision. But the appeals court denied that request and issued the mandate, enabling the anti-LGBT law to take effect.</p>
<p>Roberta Kaplan, a New York lesbian who’s lead counsel in the Campaign for Southern Equality lawsuit, said in a statement plans are underway to continue the challenge to the law.</p>
<p>“I am so terribly sorry that this unconstitutional and hateful law has to go into effect, even for one day or hour,” Kaplan said. “Nevertheless, we remain determined to make sure that HB 1523 remains in effect for as short a time period as possible and is soon relegated to where it belongs – the dustbin of history.”</p>
<p>There’s one avenue left for the litigation to continue: Plaintiffs can seek review before the U.S. Supreme Court by filing a petition for certiorari. The legal team behind the litigation has already pledged to seek to recourse before the Supreme Court.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Campaign for Southern Equality</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jasmine Beach-Ferrara</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jody Owens</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mississippi</a> <a href="" type="internal">Phil Bryant</a> <a href="" type="internal">religious freedom</a> <a href="" type="internal">Southern Poverty Law Center</a></p>
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antilgbt law mississippi gone effect washington blade photo michael key law house bill 1523 signed gov phil bryant last year aftermath us supreme court ruling favor samesex marriage nationwide purported intent law protect individuals religious beliefs contrary ruling measure approaches way would allow antilgbt discrimination law prohibits state taking action religious organizations decline employment housing services samesex couples families whove adopted foster child wish act opposition samesex marriage individuals offer wedding services decline facilitate samesex wedding additionally bill allows individuals working medical services decline transgender persons request gender reassignment surgery bill also allows state government employees facilitate marriages option opt issuing licenses samesex couples person must issue prior written notice state government clerks office must delay issuance licenses rev jasmine beachferrara executive director campaign southern equality spelled potential consequences law statement day went effect insidious power law like casts long shadow public life forcing someone assess whether treated fairly respectfully situations crisis emergency room anniversary dinner restaurant childs classroom beachferrara said face cruel reality law going effect imminent threat poses dignity health wellbeing lgbt mississippians last month us fifth circuit court appeals refused reconsider en banc full court earlier decision threejudge panel throw legal challenges law one filed campaign southern equality joshua generation metropolitan community church 13 mississippi ministers threejudge panel determined plaintiffs lawsuit lacked standing challenge law reversing trial court ruling found hb 1523 violated establishment clause allowing statesanctioned discrimination one particular religious view glaad ceo sarah kate ellis said statement fight law continues despite harmful effects lgbt people america founded freedom religion shared value continues critical nations success give people right impose beliefs others harm others discriminate ellis said law allows hotels er doctors business owners even pediatricians legally deny services hardworking lgbtq families mississippi despite fact blatant discrimination flies face mississippi american values fight far stand advocates mississippi simply want treated equal coworkers friends neighbors statewide protections mississippi antilgbt discrimination hb 1523 went effect however cities jackson bay st louis enacted lgbt nondiscrimination ordinances hb 1523 could block cities enforcing measures federal law sex discrimination increasingly applied antilgbt discrimination cases also remains effect mississippi hb 1523 went effect mississippi already broad religious freedom law signed bryant 2014 critics say also attempt enable antilgbt discrimination however unlike new law earlier version didnt explicitly spell individuals could refuse services samesex couples transgender people jody owens managing attorney southern poverty law centers jackson office compared hb 1523 sweeping religious freedom guidance issued us attorney general jeff sessions issued last week despite us attorney generals memo last week inviting government agencies across country discriminate lgbt people based religion religious freedom give us right treat others unfairly impose beliefs owens said however law purposely targets lgbt mississippians puts risk unequal treatment although justice department guidance doesnt explicitly spell permission discriminate lgbt people like mississippi law intent guidance law widely seen remains seen individuals businesses mississippi take advantage new law gone effect according jacksonbased daily journal 16 clerks northeast mississippi said theyll continue issue marriage licenses samesex couples even new law place commerce dispatch daily newspaper based columbus miss found business willing go record say theyd turn away lgbt people hb 1523 effect christian judge people nicole huff owner southern flour bakery highway 45 quoted saying last week legal team behind lawsuit sought delay issuing mandate aftermath fifth circuit decision appeals court denied request issued mandate enabling antilgbt law take effect roberta kaplan new york lesbian whos lead counsel campaign southern equality lawsuit said statement plans underway continue challenge law terribly sorry unconstitutional hateful law go effect even one day hour kaplan said nevertheless remain determined make sure hb 1523 remains effect short time period possible soon relegated belongs dustbin history theres one avenue left litigation continue plaintiffs seek review us supreme court filing petition certiorari legal team behind litigation already pledged seek recourse supreme court campaign southern equality jasmine beachferrara jody owens mississippi phil bryant religious freedom southern poverty law center
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<p>DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz predicts the 2016 platform will include the Equality Act. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>NEW YORK — Following the introduction of comprehensive LGBT non-discrimination legislation in Congress, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said she “would expect” the upcoming 2016 Democratic Party platform to include support for the Equality Act.</p>
<p>“I would expect so. I can’t envision our platform not including that,” Wasserman Schultz said speaking to LGBT reporters during an LGBT gala for the DNC in New York City’s Gotham Hall.</p>
<p>Wasserman Schultz addressed the platform in the context of the DNC recently approving a resolution in support of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of nationwide marriage equality. Asked about any upcoming resolution in favor of the Equality Act, Wasserman Schultz predicted one would be forthcoming.</p>
<p>“I’m confident that we have a resolution standing up in support of the Equality Act,” Wasserman Schultz said. “The rights of the LGBT community are the central civil rights issue of our time, and they are an extremely important part of our party. I would assume we take every opportunity to draw a contrast with Republicans, and to back up our brothers and sisters and emphasize how important their rights are.”</p>
<p>The DNC chair also said she “100 percent, absolutely” expects the Democratic Party to oppose the Republican Party on the invocation of religious liberty to enable anti-LGBT discrimination, saying those efforts are already underway.</p>
<p>The Equality Act, introduced by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) in the House and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act in addition to sex in other categories of the code where it was previously unstated.</p>
<p>Wasserman Schultz addressed the legislation in a discussion with reporters that included a range of topics, including Pope Francis’ address to Congress, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and House Speaker John Boehner’s announcement he would exit Congress.</p>
<p>On the pope’s speech, Wasserman Schultz said the biggest takeaway was his emphasis on dialogue “rather than having a very black-and-white, stark contrast” between different sides on important issues.</p>
<p>“We need dialogue on climate change, we need dialogue on health care and on immigration reform,” Wasserman Schultz said. “He really has moved, I think, toward the idea that we can find common ground on some of these incredibly important issues that affect so many people rather than being so dogmatic, and I think that’s important.”</p>
<p>Asked whether she thought the pope’s&#160;expressed concern about marriage <a href="" type="internal">being called into question</a>was intended as a criticism of same-sex marriage, Wasserman Schultz said she “didn’t take it that way.”</p>
<p>“I thought his tonality was measured, and I really heard in the pope’s remarks at that point in his speech really an emphasis on the support and the need for the strength of the family,” Wasserman Schultz said. “He did, obviously, make some passing references to church doctrine, which of course, you would expect, but I thought it was done in a way that did what we he felt he needed to do, but the focus on his speech was certainly not that.”</p>
<p>The tone of Francis’ words, Wasserman Schultz said, was the greatest gain for the LGBT community — both in his speech and more generally in his tenure as pope.</p>
<p>“Since he became pope, I think he really has emphasized tonality, tolerance and that we’re all God’s children and I think you would have been able to hear that message throughout his tenure thus far, and I think he emphasized that when he spoke to the joint session,” Wasserman Schultz said.</p>
<p>On recent news Davis would change parties from Democrat to Republican after gaining nationwide attention for enforcing a “no licenses” policy after the Supreme Court marriage decision, Wasserman Schulz indicated the decision was a good one.</p>
<p>“She clearly hasn’t been representing the views of the Democratic Party,” Wasserman Schultz said. “It would make sense that that’s where she’s more comfortable.”</p>
<p>The DNC chair, who represents Florida’s 23rd congressional district in Congress, said she wasn’t surprised by&#160;Boehner’s announcement that he’d give up his seat, saying, “How much abuse can one person take?”</p>
<p>Wasserman Schultz said although she’d like policy to move through Congress, she doesn’t expect that to happen because the Tea Party is emboldened by Boehner’s resignation.</p>
<p>“They have Boehner’s head to show for their effort,” she said. “There’s going to be consequences and hell to pay for anyone else who crosses them going forward.”</p>
<p>Asked to identify an achievement by Boehner for LGBT people during his tenure as speaker, Wasserman Schultz named&#160;the passage of LGBT-inclusive reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.</p>
<p>“He deserves credit for not continuing to block it,” Wasserman Schultz said.</p>
<p>She&#160;professed to be unaware of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s attack on openly gay Army secretary nominee Eric Fanning over his sexual orientation.</p>
<p>Maintaining Obama has consistently nominated qualified individuals to administrative posts, Wasserman Schultz said, “Mike Huckabee has shown just how horrifically bigoted and discriminatory he is. So nothing that comes out of his mouth related to the LGBT community or any other hateful thing he says surprises me.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Debbie Wasserman Schultz</a> <a href="" type="internal">Equality Act</a> <a href="" type="internal">John Boehner</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mike Huckabee</a> <a href="" type="internal">Pope Francis</a> <a href="" type="internal">same-sex marriage</a></p>
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dnc chair debbie wasserman shultz predicts 2016 platform include equality act washington blade photo michael key new york following introduction comprehensive lgbt nondiscrimination legislation congress democratic national committee chair debbie wasserman schultz said would expect upcoming 2016 democratic party platform include support equality act would expect cant envision platform including wasserman schultz said speaking lgbt reporters lgbt gala dnc new york citys gotham hall wasserman schultz addressed platform context dnc recently approving resolution support supreme courts ruling favor nationwide marriage equality asked upcoming resolution favor equality act wasserman schultz predicted one would forthcoming im confident resolution standing support equality act wasserman schultz said rights lgbt community central civil rights issue time extremely important part party would assume take every opportunity draw contrast republicans back brothers sisters emphasize important rights dnc chair also said 100 percent absolutely expects democratic party oppose republican party invocation religious liberty enable antilgbt discrimination saying efforts already underway equality act introduced rep david cicilline dri house sen jeff merkley dore would add sexual orientation gender identity civil rights act 1964 fair housing act addition sex categories code previously unstated wasserman schultz addressed legislation discussion reporters included range topics including pope francis address congress rowan county clerk kim davis house speaker john boehners announcement would exit congress popes speech wasserman schultz said biggest takeaway emphasis dialogue rather blackandwhite stark contrast different sides important issues need dialogue climate change need dialogue health care immigration reform wasserman schultz said really moved think toward idea find common ground incredibly important issues affect many people rather dogmatic think thats important asked whether thought popes160expressed concern marriage called questionwas intended criticism samesex marriage wasserman schultz said didnt take way thought tonality measured really heard popes remarks point speech really emphasis support need strength family wasserman schultz said obviously make passing references church doctrine course would expect thought done way felt needed focus speech certainly tone francis words wasserman schultz said greatest gain lgbt community speech generally tenure pope since became pope think really emphasized tonality tolerance gods children think would able hear message throughout tenure thus far think emphasized spoke joint session wasserman schultz said recent news davis would change parties democrat republican gaining nationwide attention enforcing licenses policy supreme court marriage decision wasserman schulz indicated decision good one clearly hasnt representing views democratic party wasserman schultz said would make sense thats shes comfortable dnc chair represents floridas 23rd congressional district congress said wasnt surprised by160boehners announcement hed give seat saying much abuse one person take wasserman schultz said although shed like policy move congress doesnt expect happen tea party emboldened boehners resignation boehners head show effort said theres going consequences hell pay anyone else crosses going forward asked identify achievement boehner lgbt people tenure speaker wasserman schultz named160the passage lgbtinclusive reauthorization violence women act 2013 deserves credit continuing block wasserman schultz said she160professed unaware republican presidential candidate mike huckabees attack openly gay army secretary nominee eric fanning sexual orientation maintaining obama consistently nominated qualified individuals administrative posts wasserman schultz said mike huckabee shown horrifically bigoted discriminatory nothing comes mouth related lgbt community hateful thing says surprises debbie wasserman schultz equality act john boehner mike huckabee pope francis samesex marriage
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<p>Leading global health experts told Capitol Hill lawmakers today that the fight against malaria is at a turning point, during a <a href="" type="external">hearing</a> on the US’ role in combating malaria globally.</p>
<p>The hearing was held today by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.&#160;</p>
<p>Ambassador Mark Dybul, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said in a briefing that because of a concerted and effective effort over the last 10 years to control malaria, the disease could be eradicated as soon as 20 years from now.</p>
<p>“We are at a critical tipping point in the history of malaria,” he said. “We are on the cusp of completely controlling this infection and ultimately eliminating it.”</p>
<p>Malaria affects 219 million people and causes 660,000 deaths each year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa among children under the age of 5, according to the most recent statistics from the World Health Organization. Over the last decade, more than one million lives have been saved, said Subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) in his opening remarks.</p>
<p>The Global Fund, established in 2002, provides around 50 percent of malaria funding worldwide, according to the multilateral organization’s US advocate, Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The US is the Global Fund’s largest supporter, and nearly one-third of the fund’s $23 billion portfolio has gone towards addressing malaria.</p>
<p>The US expanded its malaria outreach in 2005 with the launch of the 5-year $1.2 billion President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) under President George W. Bush, with the goal of halving malaria-related deaths in 15 countries with a high burden of the disease.</p>
<p>PMI works in partnership with multi-lateral organizations like the Global Fund and has invested in a host of prevention and treatment interventions, including insecticide-treated nets and anti-malarial drugs. The program was reauthorized in 2008 under the Lantos-Hyde Act. It is largely heralded as a significant bipartisan global health success. An external <a href="" type="external">evaluation</a> of the program published last year concluded that PMI “has earned and deserves the task of sustaining and expanding the U.S. Government’s response to global malaria control efforts and should be given the responsibility to steward additional USG financial and human resources to accomplish this task.”</p>
<p>But in the still uncertain face of sequestration and negotiations over the fiscal year 2014 budget, experts said that any move to cut the program could roll back progress. In President Obama’s proposed budget for FY 2014, PMI received a modest 3 percent increase in funding over FY 2012, the latest year for which final numbers are available, according to budget analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The Global Fund received a boost of 27 percent over the same time period. Still, the House budget under Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) voted for a 5.6 percent cut to the budget for international affairs. Because global health is part of the international affairs budget, a cut to international affairs could mean a cut to global health.</p>
<p>PMI “is a tremendous success story and yet is incomplete,” said Admiral Tim Ziemer, who leads PMI, during the hearing. “The gains are fragile and could be reversed without continued support.”</p>
<p>Ziemer said that since 2008, the US and its partners have distributed more than 300 million bed nets to sub-Saharan Africa that covered nearly 600 million people.</p>
<p>“Are there gaps? You bet. Are we dealing with them better? Yes. We just have to keep at it,” he said to the lawmakers.</p>
<p>Also concerning is the rise of drug-resistant malaria and insecticide resistance, Ziemer said.</p>
<p>During the hearing, the subcommittee responded positively overall to US global malaria efforts, said Friends of the Global Fight’s President Deb Derrick. Derrick even observed that many of those partaking in the hearing referenced personal or familial experiences with malaria. Ziemer, for one, contracted the disease as a child living abroad, and the fathers of both Chairman Smith and Rep. Randy Weber (R-Tex.) were once infected with the disease as well.</p>
<p>In his opening remarks, Chairman Smith called malaria a “killer disease” and, though he voted in favor of the Ryan budget plan, said that US malaria control efforts “fall short of the global need” to adequately address the disease. “We want to be advocates. I certainly, personally, want to make sure that all that can be done is done,” Smith said.</p>
<p>Dybul acknowledged that asking for increased resources in a tightened budget climate is a “difficult ask.” But he said that the US is not the only partner on the ground, and that the private sector has been particularly important to progress in the global malaria fight. Recognizing that malaria impacts work productivity, Chevron, for example, gave $55 million to the Global Fund. The business coalition Product Red gave more than $200 million, and the Gates Foundation has given “significant resources” to the organization. Other countries, too, are beginning to use their own funding to address malaria – and even South Africa and Namibia contribute to the Global Fund, Dybul said.</p>
<p>Ziemer also said that private partners have been important for PMI, and cited specific examples in Western Ghana, Zambia, and Angola, with ExxonMobil being a noteworthy partner that has invested $4.5 million in nets and the scale-up of nets alone.</p>
<p>“It was highly supportive,” said Derrick, of the hearing. “There has consistently been bipartisan support for [global health] over time, and even in very lean budget years, those programs have done reasonable well.”</p>
<p>Colonel Peter J. Weina, deputy commander at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research at the US Department of Defense, also appeared before the subcommittee.</p>
<p>In both houses of Congress, appropriations committees are now shaping the contours of the budget for fiscal year 2014.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/health/130423/us-budget-cuts-global-health-spending-child-health" type="external">US budget negotiations threaten global health spending&#160;</a> &#160;</p>
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leading global health experts told capitol hill lawmakers today fight malaria turning point hearing us role combating malaria globally hearing held today house foreign affairs subcommittee africa global health global human rights international organizations160 ambassador mark dybul executive director global fund fight aids tuberculosis malaria said briefing concerted effective effort last 10 years control malaria disease could eradicated soon 20 years critical tipping point history malaria said cusp completely controlling infection ultimately eliminating malaria affects 219 million people causes 660000 deaths year mostly subsaharan africa among children age 5 according recent statistics world health organization last decade one million lives saved said subcommittee chairman chris smith rnj opening remarks global fund established 2002 provides around 50 percent malaria funding worldwide according multilateral organizations us advocate friends global fight aids tuberculosis malaria us global funds largest supporter nearly onethird funds 23 billion portfolio gone towards addressing malaria us expanded malaria outreach 2005 launch 5year 12 billion presidents malaria initiative pmi president george w bush goal halving malariarelated deaths 15 countries high burden disease pmi works partnership multilateral organizations like global fund invested host prevention treatment interventions including insecticidetreated nets antimalarial drugs program reauthorized 2008 lantoshyde act largely heralded significant bipartisan global health success external evaluation program published last year concluded pmi earned deserves task sustaining expanding us governments response global malaria control efforts given responsibility steward additional usg financial human resources accomplish task still uncertain face sequestration negotiations fiscal year 2014 budget experts said move cut program could roll back progress president obamas proposed budget fy 2014 pmi received modest 3 percent increase funding fy 2012 latest year final numbers available according budget analysis kaiser family foundation global fund received boost 27 percent time period still house budget chairman paul ryan rwis voted 56 percent cut budget international affairs global health part international affairs budget cut international affairs could mean cut global health pmi tremendous success story yet incomplete said admiral tim ziemer leads pmi hearing gains fragile could reversed without continued support ziemer said since 2008 us partners distributed 300 million bed nets subsaharan africa covered nearly 600 million people gaps bet dealing better yes keep said lawmakers also concerning rise drugresistant malaria insecticide resistance ziemer said hearing subcommittee responded positively overall us global malaria efforts said friends global fights president deb derrick derrick even observed many partaking hearing referenced personal familial experiences malaria ziemer one contracted disease child living abroad fathers chairman smith rep randy weber rtex infected disease well opening remarks chairman smith called malaria killer disease though voted favor ryan budget plan said us malaria control efforts fall short global need adequately address disease want advocates certainly personally want make sure done done smith said dybul acknowledged asking increased resources tightened budget climate difficult ask said us partner ground private sector particularly important progress global malaria fight recognizing malaria impacts work productivity chevron example gave 55 million global fund business coalition product red gave 200 million gates foundation given significant resources organization countries beginning use funding address malaria even south africa namibia contribute global fund dybul said ziemer also said private partners important pmi cited specific examples western ghana zambia angola exxonmobil noteworthy partner invested 45 million nets scaleup nets alone highly supportive said derrick hearing consistently bipartisan support global health time even lean budget years programs done reasonable well colonel peter j weina deputy commander walter reed army institute research us department defense also appeared subcommittee houses congress appropriations committees shaping contours budget fiscal year 2014 globalpost us budget negotiations threaten global health spending160 160
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />May 4, 2013</p>
<p>By Wayne Lusvardi</p>
<p>New York Times journalist <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=MJIqq6OO1KYC&amp;pg=PA265&amp;lpg=PA265&amp;dq=peter+passell+california's+water+system&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=DjLMpKHIwS&amp;sig=ys87PKDOSZh7o1CeL8x1kgd89gM&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=U4x9UcDjCe7yiQL-sYHQDA&amp;ved=0CGoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&amp;q=peter%20passell%20california's%20water%20system&amp;f=false" type="external">Peter Passell</a> once wrote: “California’s water system might have been invented by a Soviet bureaucrat on an LSD trip.” And as the 1960s hippies would have put it, the trip would have been a bummer.</p>
<p>San Joaquin Valley farmers must feel they are on such a surreal drug trip.&#160; The Merced Irrigation District has been attempting for some time to raise the spillways on the New Exchequer Dam that creates the artificial lake of Lake McClure in Mariposa County. The lake is located <a href="http://www.californiasgreatestlakes.com/mcclure/mcclure_graphics/greater_lake_mcclure_map.png" type="external">between Modesto on the West and Yosemite National Park on the East</a>. It stores water for 2,200 farmers and generates 100 megawatts of hydroelectric power. &#160;There are 82-miles of shoreline around the winding lake.</p>
<p>The Merced Irrigation District wants to disturb less than one-half mile of shoreline to raise the McClure Lake spillway up to one foot.&#160; This would allow up to 70,000-acre feet of additional water to be captured once every three years during wet years.&#160; As shown on the photo above, the spillways are not located on or next to the dam, but next to the boat marina and recreation area.</p>
<p>The project would cost about $40 million.&#160; That equates to a very cheap $57 per acre-foot of water over the expected 30-year life of the bonds to finance the project.&#160; Typical agricultural revenues in this area range from <a href="http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_211EHR.pdf" type="external">$320 to $1,500 per-acre</a>, depending on the type of crop and market. The project would pay for itself through increased agricultural production with no subsidies required.</p>
<p>An acre-foot of water is roughly sufficient to irrigate one-third acre of farmland. &#160;So about 23,333 acres — or about 36 square miles — of additional farmland could be irrigated every three years.</p>
<p>Expanding the capacity and footprint of the lake would have many potential environmental benefits. <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=PK3uAAAAMAAJ&amp;pg=PA44&amp;lpg=PA44&amp;dq=lake+mcclure+wildlife&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=K_OoWf8cVJ&amp;sig=u2g9kArI4nUopCyTS9wBJq_xc_M&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=iKR9UfyHGOK0iwKwyoGgCQ&amp;ved=0CHcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&amp;q=lake%20mcclure%20wildlife&amp;f=false" type="external">Coho salmon</a> are only self-sustaining in Lake McClure, not in the Merced River.&#160; The rare sub-species of the <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=PK3uAAAAMAAJ&amp;pg=PA44&amp;lpg=PA44&amp;dq=lake+mcclure+wildlife&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=K_OoWf8cVJ&amp;sig=u2g9kArI4nUopCyTS9wBJq_xc_M&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=iKR9UfyHGOK0iwKwyoGgCQ&amp;ved=0CHcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&amp;q=lake%20mcclure%20wildlife&amp;f=false" type="external">“Limestone Salamander”</a> that has from 9 to 15 colonies around the lake only are found on the north-and-east rocky limestone outcrops and talus slopes of the lake. They are not found where the spillway is located. And the salamander habitat is 5 to 10 miles distant from where the spillway is located. The federally-and-state-listed <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=PK3uAAAAMAAJ&amp;pg=PA44&amp;lpg=PA44&amp;dq=lake+mcclure+wildlife&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=K_OoWf8cVJ&amp;sig=u2g9kArI4nUopCyTS9wBJq_xc_M&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=iKR9UfyHGOK0iwKwyoGgCQ&amp;ved=0CHcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&amp;q=lake%20mcclure%20wildlife&amp;f=false" type="external">Bald Eagle</a> concentrates around Lake McClure rather than the Merced River. The rare <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=PK3uAAAAMAAJ&amp;pg=PA44&amp;lpg=PA44&amp;dq=lake+mcclure+wildlife&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=K_OoWf8cVJ&amp;sig=u2g9kArI4nUopCyTS9wBJq_xc_M&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=iKR9UfyHGOK0iwKwyoGgCQ&amp;ved=0CHcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&amp;q=lake%20mcclure%20wildlife&amp;f=false" type="external">Shaggyhair Lupine plant</a>&#160;— a reported Federal Candidate 2 Species — occurs around Lake McClure.</p>
<p>Thus, critical environmental resources are sustained by the artificial lake with very minor negative impacts due to the proposed project.&#160; Raising the spillway would only impact already disturbed lands. &#160;The spillway is adjacent to the <a href="http://www.lakemcclure.com/LakeMcclure/assets/File/detail_map_lake_mcclure_point.pdf" type="external">boat ramp and houseboat repair yard</a> of the McClure Point Recreation Area and Marina.</p>
<p>On top of being economically and environmentally sustaining, there is bipartisan political support for the project by <a href="http://www.costa.house.gov/index.php/2013-press-releases/935-costa-and-mcclintock-introduce-merced-wild-and-scenic-river-boundary-adjustment-legislation" type="external">Rep. Jim Costa</a> (D-Fresno) and <a href="http://mcclintock.house.gov/2013/04/hr-934-merced-wild-and-scenic-river-boundary-adjustment-legislation.shtml" type="external">Rep. Tom McClintock</a> (R-Elk Grove).</p>
<p>So raising the spillway would hypothetically be a four-way winning deal for farmers, recreational users of the lake, politicians and the environment.&#160; It sounds like a “no brainer” to approve such a project.</p>
<p>But the project is opposed by California Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.&#160; The spillway-raising project was part of <a href="" type="internal">H.R. 1837, the San Joaquin River Water Reliability Act</a>,&#160;that died in the U.S. Senate partially due to non-support by Feinstein and Boxer. Also, <a href="http://www.friendsoftheriver.org/site/DocServer/HR_2578_House_letter_6-17-2012b.pdf?docID=6361" type="external">52 environmental organizations who oppose the project.</a> &#160;Among them are Friends of the River, the Sierra Club and the California Wilderness Coalition.</p>
<p>Now, Congressmen Costa and McClintock have reintroduced the proposed project as <a href="http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/934/text" type="external">H.R 934 – Amendment to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act</a>.</p>
<p>This has resulted in a lot of hysteria and factual hallucinations by environmental groups.</p>
<p>Some of the disinformation spread about the McClure Spillway-Raising Project include:</p>
<p>* The project proposes to raise the dam 10-feet thus flooding the abutments and tower foundations for the adjacent bridge. &#160;Fact: It is the spillway — <a href="http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/08/10/v-print/2470824/wil-hunter-dont-be-fooled-spillway.html" type="external">not the dam</a> -– that would be raised.</p>
<p>* It would set a dangerous precedent of being the very first roll back of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. &#160;Fact: <a href="http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/08/10/v-print/2470824/wil-hunter-dont-be-fooled-spillway.html" type="external">The 1987 boundary of the dam inundation area preceded the overlapping boundary line of the Wild and Scenic Rivers designation of the lake</a> that was <a href="http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/Communications_Directorate/2011_congressional.Par.29147.File.dat/H.R.%202578%20Amends%20the%20Wild%20and%20Scenic%20Rivers%20(Lower%20Merced).pdf" type="external">extended in 1992</a>.</p>
<p>* It would inundate the habitat of the Limestone Salamander, a California endangered species. &#160;In fact, the salamander habitat is 10-miles away from the spillway project. <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/14/115788/administration-raises-questions.html" type="external">Raising the water level of the lake 10 feet from 867 to 877 feet above sea level for two months each year would only affect a half-mile of shoreline</a>.</p>
<p>* The “dam raising” is motivated by “ <a href="http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2012-08-13/007833" type="external">manic ‘gread’ (sic) for more water, more power, more ‘moeny’ (sic) that motivates the managers of irrigation and water districts.”</a>&#160;&#160; Fact: The project is economically self-sustaining and does not enrich water managers or their pensions benefit programs.</p>
<p>* The project is another <a href="http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2012-08-13/007833" type="external">“porkbarrel boondoggle” that will “produce electricity that will go to the high speed rail” – “the grandmother of all pork barrels.”</a>&#160; Fact check: the project would be paid for by local farmers from the crop production it would generate.&#160; The McClure Lake dam produces 100 megawatts of power. &#160;The spillway-raising project would boost hydropower output to <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/06/19/v-print/152956/house-votes-to-boost-merced-river.html" type="external">10,000 megawatts</a>.&#160; The hydropower produced mainly is for water well pumping by the members of the Merced Irrigation District. There is a <a href="http://www.mercedid.org/index.cfm/about/history-of-the-district/" type="external">Power Purchase Agreement</a> (PPA) for PG&amp;E to buy the hydropower produced by the dam’s hydroelectric turbines.&#160;&#160; But the California Bullet Train would require <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/09/25/2553219/high-speed-rail-would-test-power.html" type="external">3 billion megawatts of power</a>.</p>
<p>* Marcilynn Burke, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Land Management, testified to the Obama Administration that: “ <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/14/115788/administration-raises-questions.html" type="external">it (the project) would result in a wild river segment becoming more like a lake than a river.”</a>&#160; Fact: the spillway-raising project is located at the non-flowing lake and not on the Merced River.</p>
<p>Not only have environmental activists apparently engaged in a power trip to block more water, more hydropower, and more wildlife habitat for Lake McClure.&#160; They have been joined by high-level Federal officials including U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.</p>
<p>Recently, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-boxer-environmentalists-20130429,0,1134896.story?track=rss&amp;utm_source=feedly" type="external">Sen. Boxer</a> has broken ranks with environmental organizations.&#160; She is now supporting legislation to impose deadlines for environmental reviews of water projects -– especially flood control projects –- in order to end unnecessary delays to projects.&#160; As powerful head of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, would Boxer finally support the Lake McClure Boundary Adjustment Project, which is a win for both farmers and the environment?</p>
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may 4 2013 wayne lusvardi new york times journalist peter passell wrote californias water system might invented soviet bureaucrat lsd trip 1960s hippies would put trip would bummer san joaquin valley farmers must feel surreal drug trip160 merced irrigation district attempting time raise spillways new exchequer dam creates artificial lake lake mcclure mariposa county lake located modesto west yosemite national park east stores water 2200 farmers generates 100 megawatts hydroelectric power 160there 82miles shoreline around winding lake merced irrigation district wants disturb less onehalf mile shoreline raise mcclure lake spillway one foot160 would allow 70000acre feet additional water captured every three years wet years160 shown photo spillways located next dam next boat marina recreation area project would cost 40 million160 equates cheap 57 per acrefoot water expected 30year life bonds finance project160 typical agricultural revenues area range 320 1500 peracre depending type crop market project would pay increased agricultural production subsidies required acrefoot water roughly sufficient irrigate onethird acre farmland 160so 23333 acres 36 square miles additional farmland could irrigated every three years expanding capacity footprint lake would many potential environmental benefits coho salmon selfsustaining lake mcclure merced river160 rare subspecies limestone salamander 9 15 colonies around lake found northandeast rocky limestone outcrops talus slopes lake found spillway located salamander habitat 5 10 miles distant spillway located federallyandstatelisted bald eagle concentrates around lake mcclure rather merced river rare shaggyhair lupine plant160 reported federal candidate 2 species occurs around lake mcclure thus critical environmental resources sustained artificial lake minor negative impacts due proposed project160 raising spillway would impact already disturbed lands 160the spillway adjacent boat ramp houseboat repair yard mcclure point recreation area marina top economically environmentally sustaining bipartisan political support project rep jim costa dfresno rep tom mcclintock relk grove raising spillway would hypothetically fourway winning deal farmers recreational users lake politicians environment160 sounds like brainer approve project project opposed california democratic senators dianne feinstein barbara boxer160 spillwayraising project part hr 1837 san joaquin river water reliability act160that died us senate partially due nonsupport feinstein boxer also 52 environmental organizations oppose project 160among friends river sierra club california wilderness coalition congressmen costa mcclintock reintroduced proposed project hr 934 amendment wild scenic rivers act resulted lot hysteria factual hallucinations environmental groups disinformation spread mcclure spillwayraising project include project proposes raise dam 10feet thus flooding abutments tower foundations adjacent bridge 160fact spillway dam would raised would set dangerous precedent first roll back wild scenic rivers act 160fact 1987 boundary dam inundation area preceded overlapping boundary line wild scenic rivers designation lake extended 1992 would inundate habitat limestone salamander california endangered species 160in fact salamander habitat 10miles away spillway project raising water level lake 10 feet 867 877 feet sea level two months year would affect halfmile shoreline dam raising motivated manic gread sic water power moeny sic motivates managers irrigation water districts160160 fact project economically selfsustaining enrich water managers pensions benefit programs project another porkbarrel boondoggle produce electricity go high speed rail grandmother pork barrels160 fact check project would paid local farmers crop production would generate160 mcclure lake dam produces 100 megawatts power 160the spillwayraising project would boost hydropower output 10000 megawatts160 hydropower produced mainly water well pumping members merced irrigation district power purchase agreement ppa pgampe buy hydropower produced dams hydroelectric turbines160160 california bullet train would require 3 billion megawatts power marcilynn burke deputy director bureau land management testified obama administration project would result wild river segment becoming like lake river160 fact spillwayraising project located nonflowing lake merced river environmental activists apparently engaged power trip block water hydropower wildlife habitat lake mcclure160 joined highlevel federal officials including us senators dianne feinstein barbara boxer recently sen boxer broken ranks environmental organizations160 supporting legislation impose deadlines environmental reviews water projects especially flood control projects order end unnecessary delays projects160 powerful head senates environment public works committee would boxer finally support lake mcclure boundary adjustment project win farmers environment
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<p>HERAT — Soraya Pakzad projects calm and serenity, qualities that are at odds with her daily routine. For the past six years she has been rescuing Afghan women from the steady round of violence and coercion that is all too often their lot in life.</p>
<p>A winner of the 2008 Women of Courage award, given by the U.S. State Department for exceptional leadership and bravery, Pakzad has created a small oasis of safety for women in her native Herat, Afghanistan’s second city.</p>
<p>But her work as the head of the organization Voices of Afghan Women is becoming more difficult as the government’s hold on security weakens and the economy declines.</p>
<p>“We have had to pull out of areas we worked in three years ago,” said Pakzad, sitting in her comfortable office on a tree-lined street in the city center. “The situation is worse, the policy is worse.”</p>
<p>One aspect of that policy is the Shi’ia Family Law, a highly contentious bill passed by parliament and signed by President Hamid Karzai last month.</p>
<p>The law has grabbed headlines and unleashed rhetoric around the world, causing at least one NATO member to question its commitment to maintaining troops in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Judging by the diplomatic brouhaha, the most inflammatory provision of the law requires a wife to satisfy her husband’s sexual desires, and mandates that a husband has a right to demand sex at least once every four nights. This has led to its being dubbed “the rape law” by media outlets around the world.</p>
<p>Pakzad smiles indulgently at the fuss. The reality is that no Afghan woman, Shi’ia or Sunni, has the right to object to her husband’s advances. The international outcry, while well meaning, misses the point: It is not a single law that is the problem, it is the overall status of women.</p>
<p>“Our law does not recognize rape within marriage,” she said. “The moment a woman is married, her husband is authorized to do whatever he wants.”</p>
<p>Shi’ia are a minority in predominantly Sunni Afghanistan, comprising approximately 15 percent of the population. Special provisions within the Afghan Constitution allow the Shi’ia to have special laws that pertain only to their communities. The offending law was pushed through parliament by a few powerful MPs, observers say, and done quickly and quietly.</p>
<p>“This law was very professionally passed through the parliament,” Pakzad said. “Even some of the women MPs did not object to it, because it was not explained well. There were just a few Shi’ia fundamentalists, very strict. I had always thought the Shi’ia were more liberal than the Sunni.”</p>
<p>The law, which President Barack Obama deemed “abhorrent,” contains many articles that severely curtail women’s rights. Among other restrictions, the law requires a wife to have her husband’s permission to leave the house except in dire emergencies; in its original form, the law sought to lower the legal age of marriage to 12 or even younger.</p>
<p>The law's Article 132 requires wives to submit to their husband's sexual demands. It was&#160; strongly condemned by human rights groups around the world and by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, which issued a scathing report about the proposed law.</p>
<p>Most women in Afghanistan still face severe limitations in their personal lives. More than 50 percent of girls are married before they reach the legal age of 16, domestic violence is prevalent, and, especially in the conservative south, women cannot leave the house without permission from a male family member.</p>
<p>While the international community expected that the fall of the Taliban would free Afghanistan’s women, the reality is that cultural values, insecurity and the economy are proving as adept at hampering their development as the fundamentalists. The Shi’ia Family Law, whatever its provisions, is unlikely to worsen the actual situation greatly.</p>
<p>The real danger is that conservative lawmakers could seize on the bill as a pretext to roll back all of the legal protections women have gained under the present Constitution.</p>
<p>“It raised the alarm,” Pakzad said. “If this becomes law for the Sunni community as well, our work is finished. We cannot struggle against the law.”</p>
<p>While women’s legal rights may be more honored in the breach than in the observance of law, its existence at least furnishes a ray of hope.</p>
<p>“We have a beautiful Constitution,” smiled Pakzad. “It gives equal rights to men and women. There is a lack of governance, and women’s rights are not always protected. But if we see a violation, we can stop it.”</p>
<p>Pakzad established Afghanistan’s first shelter for women in 2003, providing legal assistance, guidance and mediation for women caught in impossible situations. She has dealt with “wives” as young as 9 years of age, who have run away from their husbands and sought refuge with her organization.</p>
<p>“If a man marries a 9-year-old girl, he is breaking the law,” she said. “We can tell him ‘if you do this, you will go to jail.'”</p>
<p>The legal age for marriage is 16 for girls, 18 for boys.</p>
<p>Pakzad has formed an alliance with Herat’s police, and in several cases husbands have been arrested and imprisoned for taking under-aged wives. Fathers and brothers could also face legal censure, she said, for giving away their sisters or daughters. But most are forced into it by economic hardship, needing the bride price a girl might fetch in order to feed the rest of their family.</p>
<p>“People are very poor,” she explained. “I have had fathers cry and say ‘I love my daughter, I do not want to give her up. But give me an option.’”</p>
<p>Pakzad has recently returned from Washington, D.C., where she met with prominent figures as part of a delegation of Afghan women.</p>
<p>She tried to explain her world — the falling numbers of girls in school, the increasing violence, forced marriages, self-immolation. Pakzad herself is the mother of six children, married at 14 with little say in her own future.</p>
<p>“I met Michelle (Obama) and Hillary (Clinton),” she said. “Michelle cried when I spoke about the way our women live. But they told me that more schools have been built, more roads have been paved. Why are they so concerned about the buildings? I think because a building is something they can measure, they can count. But who is going to be able to go to these schools?”</p>
<p>More GlobalPost dispatches on Afghanistan:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/090404/the-almost-candidate" type="external">The almost-candidate</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/090331/afghanistan-gets-the-bombs-pakistan-the-bucks" type="external">Afghans get the bombs, Pakistan the bucks</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/090213/love-the-time-taliban" type="external">Love in the time of Taliban</a></p>
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herat soraya pakzad projects calm serenity qualities odds daily routine past six years rescuing afghan women steady round violence coercion often lot life winner 2008 women courage award given us state department exceptional leadership bravery pakzad created small oasis safety women native herat afghanistans second city work head organization voices afghan women becoming difficult governments hold security weakens economy declines pull areas worked three years ago said pakzad sitting comfortable office treelined street city center situation worse policy worse one aspect policy shiia family law highly contentious bill passed parliament signed president hamid karzai last month law grabbed headlines unleashed rhetoric around world causing least one nato member question commitment maintaining troops afghanistan judging diplomatic brouhaha inflammatory provision law requires wife satisfy husbands sexual desires mandates husband right demand sex least every four nights led dubbed rape law media outlets around world pakzad smiles indulgently fuss reality afghan woman shiia sunni right object husbands advances international outcry well meaning misses point single law problem overall status women law recognize rape within marriage said moment woman married husband authorized whatever wants shiia minority predominantly sunni afghanistan comprising approximately 15 percent population special provisions within afghan constitution allow shiia special laws pertain communities offending law pushed parliament powerful mps observers say done quickly quietly law professionally passed parliament pakzad said even women mps object explained well shiia fundamentalists strict always thought shiia liberal sunni law president barack obama deemed abhorrent contains many articles severely curtail womens rights among restrictions law requires wife husbands permission leave house except dire emergencies original form law sought lower legal age marriage 12 even younger laws article 132 requires wives submit husbands sexual demands was160 strongly condemned human rights groups around world united nations development fund women issued scathing report proposed law women afghanistan still face severe limitations personal lives 50 percent girls married reach legal age 16 domestic violence prevalent especially conservative south women leave house without permission male family member international community expected fall taliban would free afghanistans women reality cultural values insecurity economy proving adept hampering development fundamentalists shiia family law whatever provisions unlikely worsen actual situation greatly real danger conservative lawmakers could seize bill pretext roll back legal protections women gained present constitution raised alarm pakzad said becomes law sunni community well work finished struggle law womens legal rights may honored breach observance law existence least furnishes ray hope beautiful constitution smiled pakzad gives equal rights men women lack governance womens rights always protected see violation stop pakzad established afghanistans first shelter women 2003 providing legal assistance guidance mediation women caught impossible situations dealt wives young 9 years age run away husbands sought refuge organization man marries 9yearold girl breaking law said tell go jail legal age marriage 16 girls 18 boys pakzad formed alliance herats police several cases husbands arrested imprisoned taking underaged wives fathers brothers could also face legal censure said giving away sisters daughters forced economic hardship needing bride price girl might fetch order feed rest family people poor explained fathers cry say love daughter want give give option pakzad recently returned washington dc met prominent figures part delegation afghan women tried explain world falling numbers girls school increasing violence forced marriages selfimmolation pakzad mother six children married 14 little say future met michelle obama hillary clinton said michelle cried spoke way women live told schools built roads paved concerned buildings think building something measure count going able go schools globalpost dispatches afghanistan almostcandidate afghans get bombs pakistan bucks love time taliban
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<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>The mother of a child sex abuse victim who is suing a Maryland ministry with ties to leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention said June 11 that a “good-old-boy” network among evangelical preachers is just as effective in covering up clergy predators as the Catholic hierarchy.</p>
<p>“It’s almost like a mafia system,” Pam Palmer, a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit heard June 9 by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, said in a media event staged outside the SBC annual meeting in Baltimore by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.</p>
<p>“To me, as a Bible-believing Christian, it should not be that way,” Palmer said of an alleged conspiracy to conceal child abuse by Sovereign Grace Ministries, an evangelical network of churches that during internal strife moved its headquarters from Montgomery County, Md., to Louisville, Ky., in part because of proximity to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.</p>
<p>“They have come out very publicly in support of Sovereign Grace Ministries,” Palmer said. That concern brought her to Baltimore for a demonstration prodding Southern Baptist officials “to take child sex abuse cases more seriously and take strong steps now to safeguard innocent children and vulnerable adults from those who commit and conceal clergy sex crimes.”</p>
<p>The sidewalk press conference and flier handout was arranged by SNAP, the nation’s oldest and largest support group for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.</p>
<p>SNAP is asking the SBC, the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Roman Catholics, to hire independent experts to review child sexual abuse scandals, immediately respond to child sexual abuse reports with openness and compassion and hire outside experts to study of the feasibility a denomination-wide database of clergy predators.</p>
<p>The SBC Executive Committee responded to a motion requesting such a study in 2007 with an internal probe that recommended against the idea, saying the denomination lacks authority to police autonomous Southern Baptist congregations.</p>
<p>“The Southern Baptist Convention is doing the same thing Sovereign Grace Ministries has done,” Palmer said in describing her reason for linking up with SNAP in the SBC protest.</p>
<p>Palmer said “there is no doubt in my mind” that C.J. Mahaney, founder and former head of Sovereign Grace Ministries, knew of a conspiracy to discourage the reporting of sexual abuse to outside authorities and instead handle it internally as a matter of “church discipline” during his 27 years as senior pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md.</p>
<p>“I just know how it was run,” said Palmer, an active member in the church for 23 years. “It was run with a very strong hand of leadership,” she said, with group leaders reporting to pastors who in turn reported to senior pastors up the chain of command.</p>
<p>When she learned her 3-year-old daughter was sexually abused in 1993, she said, pastors advised her not to call the police, but the family had already done so.</p>
<p>She said at the time “there was no reason given” for the counsel, but later church leaders said it was to not cause further harm to her daughter.</p>
<p>If that is so, Palmer’s daughter, Renee Gamby, wondered why six months after her abuse she was re-victimized by a “reconciliation” meeting organized with her abuser “as if a 3-year-old was supposed to forgive the perpetrator.”</p>
<p>“I was absolutely terrified,” she recalls vividly at age 24. “As soon as I could, I crawled under my mom’s chair.”</p>
<p>Gamby’s story is one of several recounted in sometimes graphic detail in a lawsuit dismissed by a trial court because Maryland law requires sex abuse victims to file lawsuits within three years of turning 18. Gamby described the statute of limitations as “antiquated” and said it protects only predators.</p>
<p>Experts say delayed reporting of child sexual abuse is a common and normal reaction from someone who has experienced traumatic events. Sometimes the secret is kept for decades.</p>
<p>Gamby said what prompted her family to break silence was when a number of former church members with similar stories came into contact and perceived a pattern of alleged minimizing and non-reporting of sexual abuse by church leaders in 2011.</p>
<p>Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler and prominent Southern Baptist pastor Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, responded to allegations in the lawsuit with a public statement vouching for the “personal integrity” of Mahaney, a ministry colleague who with Presbyterian pastor Ligon Duncan co-founded a biennial preaching conference called Together for the Gospel.</p>
<p>“A Christian leader, charged with any credible, serious and direct wrongdoing, would usually be well advised to step down from public ministry,” Dever, Duncan and Mohler said in a statement later removed without comment from the T4G website.</p>
<p>“No such accusation of direct wrongdoing was ever made against C. J. Mahaney,” they said. “Instead, he was charged with founding a ministry and for teaching doctrines and principles that are held to be true by vast millions of American evangelicals.”</p>
<p>Palmer said she doesn’t understand why Southern Baptist leaders so quick to speak out on controversies such as the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State seem so circumspect when it involves one of their own.</p>
<p>She said SBC pundits have been similarly silent about John Langworthy, a former staff member at Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, Miss., and Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, convicted of molesting multiple boys in the 1980s.</p>
<p>Prestonwood Pastor Jack Graham, who came to the now multisite church with its main campus in Plano, Texas, just before church leaders reportedly fired Langworthy for sexual misconduct with minors but did not call police, is a former SBC president.</p>
<p>Greg Belser, the pastor of Morrison Heights Baptist Church, which investigated the recently discovered allegations against Langworthy but refused to share the findings with secular authorities, has been honored with recent denominational leadership roles. The most recent was membership on this year’s SBC Resolutions Committee, which drafted pronouncements on social issues including the 50th&#160;anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, payday lending and transgender identity.</p>
<p>“If it’s a good-old-boys club at the expense of children, we know what Jesus said they should do,” Palmer said. “Have a millstone around their neck.”</p>
<p>After attending Monday’s hearing Palmer said she is “hopeful” the lawsuit will move forward, but if not the plaintiffs intend to continue appealing to a higher court.</p>
| false | 3 |
bob allen mother child sex abuse victim suing maryland ministry ties leaders southern baptist convention said june 11 goodoldboy network among evangelical preachers effective covering clergy predators catholic hierarchy almost like mafia system pam palmer plaintiff classaction lawsuit heard june 9 maryland court special appeals said media event staged outside sbc annual meeting baltimore survivors network abused priests biblebelieving christian way palmer said alleged conspiracy conceal child abuse sovereign grace ministries evangelical network churches internal strife moved headquarters montgomery county md louisville ky part proximity southern baptist theological seminary come publicly support sovereign grace ministries palmer said concern brought baltimore demonstration prodding southern baptist officials take child sex abuse cases seriously take strong steps safeguard innocent children vulnerable adults commit conceal clergy sex crimes sidewalk press conference flier handout arranged snap nations oldest largest support group survivors clergy sexual abuse snap asking sbc nations secondlargest faith group behind roman catholics hire independent experts review child sexual abuse scandals immediately respond child sexual abuse reports openness compassion hire outside experts study feasibility denominationwide database clergy predators sbc executive committee responded motion requesting study 2007 internal probe recommended idea saying denomination lacks authority police autonomous southern baptist congregations southern baptist convention thing sovereign grace ministries done palmer said describing reason linking snap sbc protest palmer said doubt mind cj mahaney founder former head sovereign grace ministries knew conspiracy discourage reporting sexual abuse outside authorities instead handle internally matter church discipline 27 years senior pastor covenant life church gaithersburg md know run said palmer active member church 23 years run strong hand leadership said group leaders reporting pastors turn reported senior pastors chain command learned 3yearold daughter sexually abused 1993 said pastors advised call police family already done said time reason given counsel later church leaders said cause harm daughter palmers daughter renee gamby wondered six months abuse revictimized reconciliation meeting organized abuser 3yearold supposed forgive perpetrator absolutely terrified recalls vividly age 24 soon could crawled moms chair gambys story one several recounted sometimes graphic detail lawsuit dismissed trial court maryland law requires sex abuse victims file lawsuits within three years turning 18 gamby described statute limitations antiquated said protects predators experts say delayed reporting child sexual abuse common normal reaction someone experienced traumatic events sometimes secret kept decades gamby said prompted family break silence number former church members similar stories came contact perceived pattern alleged minimizing nonreporting sexual abuse church leaders 2011 southern seminary president albert mohler prominent southern baptist pastor mark dever capitol hill baptist church washington responded allegations lawsuit public statement vouching personal integrity mahaney ministry colleague presbyterian pastor ligon duncan cofounded biennial preaching conference called together gospel christian leader charged credible serious direct wrongdoing would usually well advised step public ministry dever duncan mohler said statement later removed without comment t4g website accusation direct wrongdoing ever made c j mahaney said instead charged founding ministry teaching doctrines principles held true vast millions american evangelicals palmer said doesnt understand southern baptist leaders quick speak controversies jerry sandusky scandal penn state seem circumspect involves one said sbc pundits similarly silent john langworthy former staff member morrison heights baptist church clinton miss prestonwood baptist church dallas convicted molesting multiple boys 1980s prestonwood pastor jack graham came multisite church main campus plano texas church leaders reportedly fired langworthy sexual misconduct minors call police former sbc president greg belser pastor morrison heights baptist church investigated recently discovered allegations langworthy refused share findings secular authorities honored recent denominational leadership roles recent membership years sbc resolutions committee drafted pronouncements social issues including 50th160anniversary civil rights act payday lending transgender identity goodoldboys club expense children know jesus said palmer said millstone around neck attending mondays hearing palmer said hopeful lawsuit move forward plaintiffs intend continue appealing higher court
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<p>On a winter day in 1986, a routine trip to school turned into a near tragedy for a 5-year-old West Chicago girl with Down’s Syndrome—she fell out of her bus as it was traveling along busy Butterfield Road to her special education kindergarten in Warrenville.</p>
<p>Children were jumping around inside the bus, and the girl, Becky, bumped against the rear emergency door and fell out, her mother says. The driver didn’t notice and kept going. Bundled up in a snowsuit, Becky was not injured, but she was frightened, her mother says, “because the bus was gone.” A motorist who noticed the child stopped to help and called police. After that incident, Becky’s mother says, her main concern “was to keep her close to home.”</p>
<p>For a while, she drove her daughter to school. In 1990, however, the neighborhood school, Turner Elementary, agreed to pilot a program of inclusion, and Becky became one of five special ed pioneers. The program went so well that in 1993 the school district, West Chicago Elementary District 33, closed all its self-contained classes for special education students. Today, all but 22 of its some 300 children with disabilities attend their neighborhood schools. And the district draws visitors from throughout the state.</p>
<p>West Chicago takes a team approach. Regular education teachers are responsible for the education of their special ed students. However, they get help from special education facilitators, who modify curriculum and teaching methods to meet the goals of children’s individual education plans (IEPs), and from teacher’s assistants, who work individually with special ed students. If a child is having difficulty in a certain subject, the facilitator may work one-on-one with him in class. To make sure the team is in sync, all three meet weekly during school hours to review the child’s progress and plan for the next week.</p>
<p>“We have the weekly meeting no matter what,” says Jan Lootens, a 5th-grade teacher at Turner, a racially diverse school of 530 students. “And that is a really, really important piece, because then the teacher is not out there wondering ‘What am I going to do?'”</p>
<p>The district hires substitutes to cover the class. “We have the same sub every week,” Lootens says, so the sub becomes familiar with the class and the material. “There’s the commitment.”</p>
<p>On a Tuesday morning in April, teaching assistant Teresa Cinquegrani sits at a desk next to the teacher’s and uses flash cards to review vocabulary words with Michael, a 1st-grader diagnosed with a learning disability. Standing next to her, Michael gets to stamp each card he reads correctly. The regular teacher, Susan Masterson, walks among the rest of the children, who are quietly printing.</p>
<p>After Michael returns to his desk, Cinquegrani calls up two more children, one by one, to practice their vocabulary words; they haven’t been diagnosed with any disability. While Cinquegrani frequently works with regular children who are slow learners, the boy with a learning disability “comes first,” she stresses. “He is the one I am here for.”</p>
<p>She says she often goes over key concepts the teacher is covering, such as coins, with a small group of both special ed and non-disabled students. “Once they get that one goal, then it’s easier for them to blend with the other students,” she says.</p>
<p>Little experience</p>
<p>Before coming to Turner, Cinquegrani worked for five years as a teacher’s assistant in Elgin with children who had multiple handicaps. However, many of Turner’s 17 assistants have had little or no prior experience with people with disabilities.</p>
<p>Originally, the school, which has some 55 children in special ed, required assistants to have 30 hours of college credit. But it soon learned that “teaching assistants are hard to hire and hard to keep,” Lootens says. Some use the job “as a stepping stone, or they realize they can make more money substituting,” she says. Some just get sick of it, she adds. The school pays its assistants $7.40 an hour for a six-hour day.</p>
<p>Now the school requires assistants to have only a high school diploma. Principal Carol Auer says that when she interviews applicants, she looks for qualities such as “successful experience with children, warmth, caring and somebody who’s dependable.”</p>
<p>Beth Walrath worked for two years as a special ed teacher in a self-contained classroom in upstate New York before moving to Illinois to go to graduate school. Now she is one of three full-time special education facilitators at Turner and has a caseload of 20 children. (Turner shares one additional facilitator with two other schools.)</p>
<p>Walrath says that once a team gets to know its children, certain curriculum modifications become routine. For example, if a class is reading a novel, a special ed student may be assigned a condensed or summarized version. Another option: all students may be grouped by reading ability and assigned novels of varying difficulty. “That’s a modification that helps more than the children in my caseload,” she notes.</p>
<p>In math, a teacher’s assistant may have to go over a worksheet with slow learners individually or in a small group, but the special ed children “will have their turn at the board with everyone else,” Walrath says. If a math lesson is too difficult for a child, she says, he can “be the checker and do the math on the calculator.”</p>
<p>In social studies and health, special ed students sometimes are assigned fewer facts to master. “If the class is studying the whole nervous system, have [the children with a disability] focus on only the brain and spinal column,” she suggests.</p>
<p>Changing the curriculum requires changing the tests. “We re-write an awful lot of tests,” Walrath says. Sometimes only the method of testing is changed. “We test people orally,” she says. “For a science class, a student can demonstrate an experiment.” Instead of writing an essay on the Civil War, the student could be told to list the reasons for the conflict, she says.</p>
<p>Turner made physical modifications for a boy who had learning disabilities and limited vision, says Auer, the principal. He got a computer keyboard with larger letters, textbooks with larger print and uncluttered worksheets with bold print and distinct colors.</p>
<p>Walrath says the hardest part of her job is scheduling. Each facilitator has one full day of meetings a week, spending about 45 minutes with each teacher and assistant.</p>
<p>District 33’s move to inclusion was spearheaded by its superintendent, John Hennig. “I had been reading research on the effectiveness of special education [and was struck by] the deplorable condition of special education students in this country as they went into adulthood,” he says. Hennig was impressed by the inclusion ideas of a team of Canadian educators and took a group, including Auer and some school board members, to visit their program outside of Toronto.</p>
<p>“As we got involved in the research, we realized everyone was going to benefit from inclusion, not just the special ed students,” he says.</p>
<p>Hennig persuaded Auer to take up the challenge, and in turn, Auer talked to several teachers. “I didn’t ask for volunteers,” she says. “I selected three excellent teachers who were respected by the staff and good communicators.”</p>
<p>Persuasion needed</p>
<p>The district also won over several parents. “They sent me to a conference [on inclusion] in Normal, Illinois,” says Becky’s mother. “It was wonderful. It made me want to do it. I saw a bunch of parents who were convinced this was the thing to do.”</p>
<p>Lootens, who was then teaching 3rd grade, remembers the first year. The mother of one special ed student showed up “with a legal pad full of questions,” she recalls. “I thought, ‘Holy Smoke! What did I get myself into?'” At year’s end, the mother came to the annual review with only “a little slip of paper with one or two questions,” she reports.</p>
<p>Hennig says, “If I’m a parent of a student with a disability, I have every reason to be fearful. If the school doesn’t provide the training and support, it doesn’t work. Everyone loses.”</p>
<p>Prior to inclusion, West Chicago’s special ed classes were held in whichever school had space for them. “The program moved around a lot,” notes Auer.</p>
<p>One parent says she was pleased one year when her son’s program moved to a school with large windows. He is visually impaired and would benefit from the extra light. Later, she learned that her son and about nine other special ed students spent their day in a large storage closet being used as a classroom.</p>
<p>Contemplating the move to a regular classroom, this mother said it was “what I had dreamed for him.” Even so, she was apprehensive. She and her husband feared that their son “would be so obedient, he just would be overlooked.”</p>
<p>To ease her fears, the school arranged a meeting with staff. “They let me meet [his teacher],” the mother recalls. “I wanted to know if the teacher wanted him there, or was this being forced on her.”</p>
<p>Inclusion can be difficult, Lootens acknowledges, “when you have a new, first-year teacher, a difficult child and an assistant who is not up to snuff.” The solution? “Other people have to get involved,” Looten says.</p>
<p>Some special ed students are easier to accommodate than others, she continues. Children with learning disabilities are “poster kids” for inclusion, she says. “It works well with them.” Children with behavior problems are sometimes more challenging.</p>
<p>“I’m no Pollyanna,” Lootens says. “There are kids in this school who I don’t think belong here.” She had a child in 3rd grade who used to yell out and crawl around the room. However, she acknowledges that when she talked to the class about his behavior, she learned that it disturbed her more than it did the other students.</p>
<p>Auer says Turner has had only one child it was not able to educate in its inclusion program. The boy, who had health problems and learning and behavioral disabilities, “was with us for 1st through 3rd grades. He left in the middle of 4th grade,” she says. “It was a difficult decision, but we were not meeting his needs.”</p>
<p>The faculty and families who have seen inclusion first-hand speak of its benefits with conviction. Now, a child with disabilities “has kids that he can take example from, be it good or bad,” says Lootens. “His peers are not all special ed kids.”</p>
<p>Becky, the girl who fell out of the bus, “learned not only how to cope with regular ed children, she made her behavior fit the regular ed class,” her mother says. “She wanted to be like them, so she made her behavior more acceptable.”</p>
<p>Sometimes general education teachers are discouraged by the slow progress of students with disabilities, Lootens says. “We want to make a difference in every kid’s life for the year we have them.” The special education child takes such small steps, she says, you don’t see that progress. Through parents’ feedback and over time, however, it becomes evident. “You don’t realize until the end of the year what leaps you’ve made,” Lootens says.</p>
<p>She remembers one boy who couldn’t write his name at the start of 3rd grade. He worked on it the whole year, writing it hundreds of times. Outside one day, he called her over to the swings. There in the gravel he had written his full name. “He was so proud. It was like he was saying, ‘Ta-Da!'”</p>
<p>Hennig says that for a district the size of Chicago, successfully adopting inclusion “will take a lot of good planning and a strategy on how to get there. You can’t turn that ship on a dime.” The first step, he says, is for the policymakers “to get their beliefs in line and communicate [them]. You have to let the staff know what you expect, provide support and supervise them,” he says. “Tell them these are the consequences if you don’t believe.”</p>
<p>Says Turner’s Auer, “We were told, ‘The board has adopted this, and this is the way of the future. There is no refusal, you’re either on the wagon or out of the district.'”</p>
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winter day 1986 routine trip school turned near tragedy 5yearold west chicago girl downs syndromeshe fell bus traveling along busy butterfield road special education kindergarten warrenville children jumping around inside bus girl becky bumped rear emergency door fell mother says driver didnt notice kept going bundled snowsuit becky injured frightened mother says bus gone motorist noticed child stopped help called police incident beckys mother says main concern keep close home drove daughter school 1990 however neighborhood school turner elementary agreed pilot program inclusion becky became one five special ed pioneers program went well 1993 school district west chicago elementary district 33 closed selfcontained classes special education students today 22 300 children disabilities attend neighborhood schools district draws visitors throughout state west chicago takes team approach regular education teachers responsible education special ed students however get help special education facilitators modify curriculum teaching methods meet goals childrens individual education plans ieps teachers assistants work individually special ed students child difficulty certain subject facilitator may work oneonone class make sure team sync three meet weekly school hours review childs progress plan next week weekly meeting matter says jan lootens 5thgrade teacher turner racially diverse school 530 students really really important piece teacher wondering going district hires substitutes cover class sub every week lootens says sub becomes familiar class material theres commitment tuesday morning april teaching assistant teresa cinquegrani sits desk next teachers uses flash cards review vocabulary words michael 1stgrader diagnosed learning disability standing next michael gets stamp card reads correctly regular teacher susan masterson walks among rest children quietly printing michael returns desk cinquegrani calls two children one one practice vocabulary words havent diagnosed disability cinquegrani frequently works regular children slow learners boy learning disability comes first stresses one says often goes key concepts teacher covering coins small group special ed nondisabled students get one goal easier blend students says little experience coming turner cinquegrani worked five years teachers assistant elgin children multiple handicaps however many turners 17 assistants little prior experience people disabilities originally school 55 children special ed required assistants 30 hours college credit soon learned teaching assistants hard hire hard keep lootens says use job stepping stone realize make money substituting says get sick adds school pays assistants 740 hour sixhour day school requires assistants high school diploma principal carol auer says interviews applicants looks qualities successful experience children warmth caring somebody whos dependable beth walrath worked two years special ed teacher selfcontained classroom upstate new york moving illinois go graduate school one three fulltime special education facilitators turner caseload 20 children turner shares one additional facilitator two schools walrath says team gets know children certain curriculum modifications become routine example class reading novel special ed student may assigned condensed summarized version another option students may grouped reading ability assigned novels varying difficulty thats modification helps children caseload notes math teachers assistant may go worksheet slow learners individually small group special ed children turn board everyone else walrath says math lesson difficult child says checker math calculator social studies health special ed students sometimes assigned fewer facts master class studying whole nervous system children disability focus brain spinal column suggests changing curriculum requires changing tests rewrite awful lot tests walrath says sometimes method testing changed test people orally says science class student demonstrate experiment instead writing essay civil war student could told list reasons conflict says turner made physical modifications boy learning disabilities limited vision says auer principal got computer keyboard larger letters textbooks larger print uncluttered worksheets bold print distinct colors walrath says hardest part job scheduling facilitator one full day meetings week spending 45 minutes teacher assistant district 33s move inclusion spearheaded superintendent john hennig reading research effectiveness special education struck deplorable condition special education students country went adulthood says hennig impressed inclusion ideas team canadian educators took group including auer school board members visit program outside toronto got involved research realized everyone going benefit inclusion special ed students says hennig persuaded auer take challenge turn auer talked several teachers didnt ask volunteers says selected three excellent teachers respected staff good communicators persuasion needed district also several parents sent conference inclusion normal illinois says beckys mother wonderful made want saw bunch parents convinced thing lootens teaching 3rd grade remembers first year mother one special ed student showed legal pad full questions recalls thought holy smoke get years end mother came annual review little slip paper one two questions reports hennig says im parent student disability every reason fearful school doesnt provide training support doesnt work everyone loses prior inclusion west chicagos special ed classes held whichever school space program moved around lot notes auer one parent says pleased one year sons program moved school large windows visually impaired would benefit extra light later learned son nine special ed students spent day large storage closet used classroom contemplating move regular classroom mother said dreamed even apprehensive husband feared son would obedient would overlooked ease fears school arranged meeting staff let meet teacher mother recalls wanted know teacher wanted forced inclusion difficult lootens acknowledges new firstyear teacher difficult child assistant snuff solution people get involved looten says special ed students easier accommodate others continues children learning disabilities poster kids inclusion says works well children behavior problems sometimes challenging im pollyanna lootens says kids school dont think belong child 3rd grade used yell crawl around room however acknowledges talked class behavior learned disturbed students auer says turner one child able educate inclusion program boy health problems learning behavioral disabilities us 1st 3rd grades left middle 4th grade says difficult decision meeting needs faculty families seen inclusion firsthand speak benefits conviction child disabilities kids take example good bad says lootens peers special ed kids becky girl fell bus learned cope regular ed children made behavior fit regular ed class mother says wanted like made behavior acceptable sometimes general education teachers discouraged slow progress students disabilities lootens says want make difference every kids life year special education child takes small steps says dont see progress parents feedback time however becomes evident dont realize end year leaps youve made lootens says remembers one boy couldnt write name start 3rd grade worked whole year writing hundreds times outside one day called swings gravel written full name proud like saying tada hennig says district size chicago successfully adopting inclusion take lot good planning strategy get cant turn ship dime first step says policymakers get beliefs line communicate let staff know expect provide support supervise says tell consequences dont believe says turners auer told board adopted way future refusal youre either wagon district
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<p>SAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazilian presidential candidate Marina Silva, an icon of the green movement, is cozying up to old adversaries in the sugar and ethanol industry as she seeks to win over the powerful farm lobby ahead of next month's election.</p>
<p>Since entering the race in mid-August, Silva has picked a pro-agriculture congressman as her running mate, met repeatedly with agribusiness leaders and campaigned in the farm belt, eager to make allies in an industry that accounts for a quarter of Brazil's economy.</p>
<p>Her message: conservation and big agriculture would thrive side-by-side in a Silva government and she would roll back the gasoline subsidies that President Dilma Rousseff has used to contain inflation. The fuel price controls have gutted Brazil's once-booming sugar cane ethanol industry.</p>
<p>Silva, who polls show is slightly ahead of Rousseff in an expected runoff, has also pleased crowds in the farm belt by reminding voters that she has dropped her opposition to genetically modified crops, which have been crucial to Brazil's rise in recent years as an agricultural power.</p>
<p>"There's this legend out there that I'm against genetically modified crops. That's not true. I support a model in which GMO and GMO-free crops co-exist," she said in a recent TV interview.</p>
<p>A few days later, on a campaign stop in the grains-rich state of Rio Grande do Sul, she said: "I will support agriculture on all levels" — a relief for producers who worry she would favor smaller family farms over the large-scale plantations that have come to dominate Brazil's countryside.</p>
<p>Silva's apparent embrace of big agriculture marks an about-face for a lifelong environmentalist who ran for president in 2010 on the Green Party ticket, and she runs the risk of alienating some voters and allies in the green movement.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/brazil/140825/brazilian-candidate-marina-silva-amazon-environmentalist" type="external">Here's how Brazil's new presidential candidate could help save the planet</a></p>
<p>A former rubber-tapper and maid who grew up poor in the Amazon state of Acre, Silva became a symbol of the global green movement by devoting her life to environmental issues after the murder of her mentor, union leader Chico Mendes, in 1988.</p>
<p>As environment minister between 2003 and 2008, she fought to contain the expansion of Brazil's grain belt and cattle ranching, helping to reduce the pace of Amazon deforestation by more than half but also angering farmers, ranchers and loggers in the region.</p>
<p>But to win the October election and form the political alliances needed to steer Brazil out of its economic rut, the center-left Silva needs agribusiness leaders and their influential friends in Congress on her side.</p>
<p>So far, the strategy appears to be working. Though not everyone in the farm belt is rallying around Silva, several big names in agribusiness have spoken out in her favor.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/brazil/140829/4-numbers-explain-brazil-recession" type="external">4 numbers that explain Brazil's recession</a></p>
<p>Polls show her gaining support in the farm belt, giving her a good chance of beating Rousseff in a runoff between the two.</p>
<p>"She seems to get the importance of bringing value to agribusiness," said Plinio Nastari, a leading consultant in the sugar and ethanol sector who hosted a recent dinner for Silva with 47 agribusiness leaders.</p>
<p>Overcoming rejection</p>
<p>The sugar and ethanol industry, which has watched biofuels lose market share under Rousseff's gasoline subsidies, was a logical starting point for Silva. Her defense of sustainable development is an easy fit with the renewable energy credentials of the cane industry.</p>
<p>But her environmental advocacy often put her at odds over the years with farm leaders, especially as Brazil aggressively expanded its farmland and asserted itself as a major producer of everything from soybeans and beef to sugar and coffee.</p>
<p>Her highest voter rejection rates still reside in the agribusiness community, although that also means she stands to gain votes if she can convince farmers that she's not their enemy.</p>
<p>Roberto Rodrigues, a prominent farm leader who clashed with Silva when he was agriculture minister under former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has spoken more favorably of his former adversary than Rousseff, Lula's hand-picked successor.</p>
<p>"Agribusiness is wary of her [Silva], but not me," Rodrigues said recently.</p>
<p>Marcos Jank, an executive at Brazil's biggest poultry exporter BRF who previously headed the country's association of sugarcane producers, wrote in an op-ed piece: "There is more common ground than divergence between the agendas of modern agriculture and sustainable use of resources as proposed by Marina Silva."</p>
<p>A growing number of local agricultural leaders now embrace the tough conservation laws that Silva helped shape earlier in her career, arguing that they help boost the appeal of Brazilian exports in some foreign markets.</p>
<p>"Social and environmental concerns over Brazilian agriculture go beyond mere luxury goods providers but has become a concern for those segments that add value to raw materials," said Roberto Smeraldi, director at Amigos da Terra, a non-profit group focused on sustainable development in the Amazon.</p>
<p>Polling the farm</p>
<p>A poll this week showed Silva's efforts have given her a 5-point lead over Rousseff in the grain- and cattle-rich states in central Brazil. Silva, who now represents the Brazilian Socialist Party, also has a commanding lead in the southeast, home to Brazil's sugar cane belt.</p>
<p>Her charm offensive, though, may not be enough to win over everyone in agribusiness. Some in the grain belt question whether Silva has truly evolved from her days as a hard-line environmentalist.</p>
<p>Senator Blairo Maggi, whose family is one of the biggest producers of soybeans in Brazil, said recently that Silva "will be a disaster for our sector" if she is elected, and called her "stubborn and deceptive."</p>
<p>Maggi is a former governor of Mato Grosso, a grain state on the southern rim of the Amazon, where some of the highest rates of deforestation occurred when Silva was environment minister.</p>
<p>To be sure, Rousseff still enjoys solid support in the farm belt, especially in her adopted home state of Rio Grande do Sul. She has given the farm sector the hope of better infrastructure by auctioning off contracts to expand and pave key roads that will improve farmers' access to sea ports and local markets.</p>
<p>But Silva hopes <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/thomson-reuters/140911/exclusive-brazils-silva-would-end-currency-intervention-program" type="external">her promise of a free floating currency</a>, in contrast to Rousseff's policy of propping up the real to help contain inflation, will attract votes from agricultural exporters who benefit from a weaker exchange rate.</p>
<p>Silva's rapprochement with agriculture has generated some unease among her environmentalist support base, though no one is accusing her of selling out just yet.</p>
<p>She remains immensely popular back in home in Acre, a state that has managed to preserve about 90 percent of its rainforest in part thanks to Silva's efforts. But some cracks in that support are starting to surface.</p>
<p>One former supporter, a daughter of Silva's late mentor Chico Mendes, has declared her vote for Rousseff instead, saying she doesn't think Silva would be able to "form the utopian government" she is touting on the campaign trail.</p>
<p>Editing by Todd Benson and Kieran Murray.</p>
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sao paulo brazil brazilian presidential candidate marina silva icon green movement cozying old adversaries sugar ethanol industry seeks win powerful farm lobby ahead next months election since entering race midaugust silva picked proagriculture congressman running mate met repeatedly agribusiness leaders campaigned farm belt eager make allies industry accounts quarter brazils economy message conservation big agriculture would thrive sidebyside silva government would roll back gasoline subsidies president dilma rousseff used contain inflation fuel price controls gutted brazils oncebooming sugar cane ethanol industry silva polls show slightly ahead rousseff expected runoff also pleased crowds farm belt reminding voters dropped opposition genetically modified crops crucial brazils rise recent years agricultural power theres legend im genetically modified crops thats true support model gmo gmofree crops coexist said recent tv interview days later campaign stop grainsrich state rio grande sul said support agriculture levels relief producers worry would favor smaller family farms largescale plantations come dominate brazils countryside silvas apparent embrace big agriculture marks aboutface lifelong environmentalist ran president 2010 green party ticket runs risk alienating voters allies green movement globalpost heres brazils new presidential candidate could help save planet former rubbertapper maid grew poor amazon state acre silva became symbol global green movement devoting life environmental issues murder mentor union leader chico mendes 1988 environment minister 2003 2008 fought contain expansion brazils grain belt cattle ranching helping reduce pace amazon deforestation half also angering farmers ranchers loggers region win october election form political alliances needed steer brazil economic rut centerleft silva needs agribusiness leaders influential friends congress side far strategy appears working though everyone farm belt rallying around silva several big names agribusiness spoken favor globalpost 4 numbers explain brazils recession polls show gaining support farm belt giving good chance beating rousseff runoff two seems get importance bringing value agribusiness said plinio nastari leading consultant sugar ethanol sector hosted recent dinner silva 47 agribusiness leaders overcoming rejection sugar ethanol industry watched biofuels lose market share rousseffs gasoline subsidies logical starting point silva defense sustainable development easy fit renewable energy credentials cane industry environmental advocacy often put odds years farm leaders especially brazil aggressively expanded farmland asserted major producer everything soybeans beef sugar coffee highest voter rejection rates still reside agribusiness community although also means stands gain votes convince farmers shes enemy roberto rodrigues prominent farm leader clashed silva agriculture minister former president luiz inacio lula da silva spoken favorably former adversary rousseff lulas handpicked successor agribusiness wary silva rodrigues said recently marcos jank executive brazils biggest poultry exporter brf previously headed countrys association sugarcane producers wrote oped piece common ground divergence agendas modern agriculture sustainable use resources proposed marina silva growing number local agricultural leaders embrace tough conservation laws silva helped shape earlier career arguing help boost appeal brazilian exports foreign markets social environmental concerns brazilian agriculture go beyond mere luxury goods providers become concern segments add value raw materials said roberto smeraldi director amigos da terra nonprofit group focused sustainable development amazon polling farm poll week showed silvas efforts given 5point lead rousseff grain cattlerich states central brazil silva represents brazilian socialist party also commanding lead southeast home brazils sugar cane belt charm offensive though may enough win everyone agribusiness grain belt question whether silva truly evolved days hardline environmentalist senator blairo maggi whose family one biggest producers soybeans brazil said recently silva disaster sector elected called stubborn deceptive maggi former governor mato grosso grain state southern rim amazon highest rates deforestation occurred silva environment minister sure rousseff still enjoys solid support farm belt especially adopted home state rio grande sul given farm sector hope better infrastructure auctioning contracts expand pave key roads improve farmers access sea ports local markets silva hopes promise free floating currency contrast rousseffs policy propping real help contain inflation attract votes agricultural exporters benefit weaker exchange rate silvas rapprochement agriculture generated unease among environmentalist support base though one accusing selling yet remains immensely popular back home acre state managed preserve 90 percent rainforest part thanks silvas efforts cracks support starting surface one former supporter daughter silvas late mentor chico mendes declared vote rousseff instead saying doesnt think silva would able form utopian government touting campaign trail editing todd benson kieran murray
| 693 |
<p>On an afternoon between the day my dad died and his funeral, in early November 2006, one of his brothers — not a man who was always on the right side of the law — came by, drunk, asking after Daddy’s hunting rifles. They were tucked away in a closet in my parents’ home in Clinton, Arkansas, a small, rural town on the southern edge of the Ozark Mountains. We had honestly forgotten about them.</p>
<p>Now we had to decide what to do with the guns. My mom didn’t want to give my uncle the rifles, which Daddy had owned forever. But she also didn’t want them in the house. If she’d been interested, she could have <a href="http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1814426" type="external">found evidence</a>&#160;to justify her position. Mama’s reasoning was unscientific but no less sound: The guns made her feel unsafe.</p>
<p>One option, which turned out to not be viable, would have been to find someone to buy the guns. Mama wasn’t ready to go through the hassle, or the emotional turmoil, of selling Daddy’s things yet. Finally, my cousin Wesley, who was a cop in town, offered to keep the rifles for her. He cleaned Daddy’s rifles and put them in a large safe where he stored his own guns. Unused, unloaded, they stayed in the back of his safe for the better part of a decade.</p>
<p>If I’d been a boy, I might have been invited to join my father when he went deer hunting every fall. Instead he’d had daughters.”</p>
<p>Last summer, I saw Wesley for the first time in years, at the sheriff’s department where he works, and he reminded me about Daddy’s rifles. Wesley’s own dad had died in 1980, and he was especially close to mine growing up. About once a year he would message me to say how much he missed my dad, which would make me remember how much I missed my dad, and how many years had passed since I’d last heard his voice or seen his face. “I’m happy to keep them as long as you like, but they’re not mine, they’re yours,” Wesley said about Daddy’s guns. “They mean nothing to me, but they mean the world to you.”</p>
<p>My first thought was that Wesley was full of it. The guns didn’t mean anything to me. The way he said it, though, made me think they should, and that sense of unfulfilled duty gnawed at me. Maybe Daddy wouldn’t have wanted them sitting forgotten in a safe. I didn’t own anything of his. Retrieving the rifles might be a way to reconnect with my fading memories of him.</p>
<p>I’ve never been a gun person. Rifles and shotguns were part of a culture I’d always felt detached from, even when I was growing up in it. It’s hard to overstate how much I hated Clinton — a conservative, isolated town — and how much I wanted to get away from it. If I’d been a boy, no doubt Daddy would have taught me how to shoot. If I’d been his son, I might have been invited — or obligated — to join him when he drove to the deer camp on the mountain every fall to hunt, his guns mounted on a rack in the back of his Ford pickup or piled on the passenger seat beside him. Instead he’d had daughters. Hunting was his refuge from a house full of girls.</p>
<p>My dad was a big country boy, a gregarious, good-natured carouser who was almost never home. A self-employed plumber, his workday started at dawn, and he’d stay out long after it ended and I’d gone to bed. I’d go days without seeing him. When I did, he was almost always wearing a ratty old pair of jeans or jean shorts, with a t-shirt full of holes and covered in grease. He’d tuck his unruly red hair under a trucker cap like, my mom used to say, a Wooly Booger — a crazy mountain man who, in the hierarchy of Southern slang, falls just below hillbilly. He drank too much Budweiser and smoked two packs of Marlboros a day. He had several strokes at the end of his life, and by the time he was diagnosed with lung cancer, at 55, the sun had scorched his red hair and permanently burned his skin so that they were the same ruddy color: He was a literal red neck.</p>
<p>I loved my dad, but I wasn’t close to him in an everyday kind of way. I probably could have asked him to teach me to shoot, but I was an indoor kid who liked to spend weekends reading books. I wouldn’t have wanted to pass that many quiet hours with him, aware of how little we had to talk about. Our last conversation was about what we almost always talked about after I left home: the weather. I was living in New York City at the time. On The Weather Channel, he kept tabs on my local forecast.</p>
<p>Right before I saw my cousin Wesley, I moved to northern Virginia, about an hour west of Washington, D.C., with my partner, Samir. At that point I’d been living in one big East Coast city or another for several years. The move was part of my effort, as a settled adult, to reconcile the country and city sides of me. My new landscape reminds me of the Ozarks I grew up in. In the woods behind our house, our landlord keeps a homemade shooting range.</p>
<p>Samir has lived in Virginia since he was 23 years old and owns three rifles. He took me shooting for the first time at our landlord’s range soon after we moved in together. I found out I like target practice. There’s something soothing about sitting still in the woods while trying, over and over, to hit the same far-away bullseye. It’s a practice that requires deep breathing and a search for calm stillness. It’s a little like yoga, but with bullets.</p>
<p>I mostly shoot a .22-caliber bolt-action rifle Samir bought a few years ago, a light, easy-to-use weapon. There’s almost no recoil and it emits a mild snap when fired. It wasn’t long before I started to feel control over the gun. I’m getting better, hitting the target in a tighter and tighter circle, closer and closer to where I’m actually aiming. The progress is gratifying. &#160;</p>
<p>I needed something of my dad’s to hold in my hands, and to have someone who knew him tell me about it, before it was too late.”</p>
<p>Even as I was getting into shooting, it hadn’t crossed my mind to reclaim Daddy’s rifles. Then, about six months after my conversation with Wesley, on New Year’s Day, my dad’s mom died, just after her 89th birthday. She’d outlived all six of her children, my grandfather, and my step-grandfather. I wasn’t close to Mammaw but her death hit me unexpectedly hard. It occurred to me one night, in the panicky way facts snap into inescapable clarity as you’re trying to fall asleep, that my dad’s family had disappeared. Without the generations above us around to keep us connected, I feared that my cousins and I — there are 15 of us on my dad’s side — were floating apart.</p>
<p>I needed something of my dad’s to hold in my hands, and to have someone who knew him tell me about it, before it was too late. Daddy hadn’t left many things behind. He’d built the house that my mom still lives in. Later in life, he started collecting coins in the hope they’d be valuable some day, but he left a note telling us to save his collection for his first grandchild. And then there were his guns. &#160;</p>
<p>No one knows for sure how many guns are inherited every year in America. The federal government doesn’t collect data on gun ownership. Most of the statistics we have on the number of guns in this country come from wildly diverging surveys — which estimate there are between <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2007/en/Small-Arms-Survey-2007-Chapter-02-annexe-4-EN.pdf" type="external">270 million</a>and <a href="http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/201083.pdf" type="external">310 million</a> firearms in the U.S. — or divine the numbers by comparing gun-manufacturing data, which the government does collect, with the number of people who go through the FBI’s instant background check system at the point of purchase.</p>
<p>Properly stored and cared for, guns can stay operable nearly forever. Passing them down to, and between, family members is a generations-old tradition. On <a href="http://www.hbo.com/real-time-with-bill-maher/episodes/14/392-episode/index.html" type="external">“Real Time with Bill Maher” in June</a>, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff, talked about how he owns 14 weapons. When Maher asked why so many, Wilkerson said, “I’ve accumulated them! My father died and left me some, my brother died and left me some.”</p>
<p>Once I decided I wanted Daddy’s guns, there was still the question of how to go about getting them. The legal owner of most types of firearms can transport them across state lines if the guns are locked, stowed, and kept out of reach of drivers and passengers. What constitutes a legal owner can be less straightforward, as I was about to learn.</p>
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<p>If I were buying a new <a href="https://www.atf.gov/questions-and-answers/qa/may-unlicensed-person-acquire-firearm-under-gca-any-state" type="external">rifle or shotgun</a>, I could go to Arkansas, pick out the models I wanted at a gun store, pass an instant background check, and drive them back. (I couldn’t do the same with a handgun, as federal law requires that they be purchased in one’s home state.) I could also just pick up the guns and drive them back if I’d officially inherited them. But since Daddy hadn’t specifically left them to me in a will, they technically belonged to my mom, who’d come to own them along with the rest of the estate, such as it was. If she gave them to me, they’d legally be a gift, and federal law prohibits giving guns directly to someone who lives in another state.</p>
<p>The surest way to follow the law would be to ship the rifles from a Federal Firearms Licensed dealer in Arkansas to an FFL in Virginia, where I’d go through a background check to retrieve them. Jeff Pistole, the owner of <a href="http://www.jeffpistole.com/" type="external">Pistole Gun and Pawn</a> in Clinton, told me it would cost at least $100 to ship Daddy’s rifles to Virginia. He wanted me to save the money.</p>
<p>This June I stood in Pistole’s shop, beneath the AR-15s and crossbows hanging from the ceiling, as he thumbed through a thick rulebook from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and made a few calls. Finally, we figured out a way that I could drive the rifles back without breaking any rules. Now it was time to go get them.</p>
<p>I went to Wesley’s house early on a Saturday morning. He was still drinking his coffee as he brought me to his living room and opened his big safe. “You know that .30-30 was your Daddy’s pride and joy,” he said to me. Actually, I hadn’t known anything about the guns until Wesley was digging them out and putting each one in my hands.</p>
<p>The smaller of the two was a simple, single-shot .22-caliber my dad had used for the kind of plinking I now do behind my house. It was so old we couldn’t find a serial number on it.</p>
<p>The other gun was the .30-30, a Winchester 94 model with a serial number indicating it was manufactured in 1958. First made by Winchester Repeating Arms in 1894, the rifle was marketed as “smokeless,” one of the first mass-produced guns that didn’t require the owner to load black powder on his own, the way muzzle loaders did. The rifle is a bridge between old and modern, a piece of iconic Americana: The 2,500,000th one made was presented to President Dwight Eisenhower.</p>
<p>I found myself absurdly proud of Daddy for sticking with such an interesting gun instead of something he could have bought at a strip mall. I thought it was the kind of choice I’d make, too.”</p>
<p>Daddy’s .30-30 was manufactured before Winchester switched from steel to a cheaper alloy in 1964, qualifying it as a collector’s item. To cycle through rounds of ammunition, you pull a lever down and away from the body of the rifle and back up, with a satisfying clink-chunk, like a cowboy in a Western.</p>
<p>“People made so much fun of Uncle Bill,” Wesley told me, talking about Daddy’s time at deer camp. “They all had deer rifles with scopes, but he didn’t mind. If he’d wanted a new gun he would have bought himself the best gun in the world.” (It was just like my dad, I realized, to prefer the classic and sturdy to the shiny and new.) Wesley recalled one time when he and Daddy were talking in the woods and heard the dogs stir. They looked up and saw a six-point buck right in front of them. Without hesitating, Daddy pulled up the .30-30 and shot the deer square between the eyes. “Boy, did he crow then,” Wesley said.</p>
<p>I found myself absurdly proud of Daddy for sticking with such an interesting gun instead of something he could have bought at a strip mall. I thought it was the kind of choice I’d make, too.</p>
<p>He’d had the .30-30 for as long as anyone could remember, probably for as long as he’d been my dad. I studied the rifle more closely. It was clear it was carefully, lovingly maintained, polished and clean without a hint of grime or damage. Holding it, I remembered something about him I’d forgotten. Despite his old t-shirts and unruly hair, he could be so fastidious. He used to iron his money so the bills would lie flat and fold in his wallet easily. He kept papers in neat stacks on his desk, and had tight, tidy penmanship. The rifle had been his more than any other object could be.</p>
<p>After I got the guns from Wesley, Mom and I went down to the Pistole’s. There, Mom would legally transfer ownership to me — and by doing it in a licensed gun shop, Pistole could run me through a background check right then, rather than shipping the guns to Virginia and having the check done there. Since neither Arkansas nor Virginia regulates owning a long gun, the background check would be my only encounter with gun laws during the handover.</p>
<p>I filled out the form. As Pistole’s son entered my information into his computer, I went through a brief, frantic, mental inventory of every parking ticket I’d ever gotten, wondering if I’d paid them all or if that would come up if I hadn’t. (Answer: It wouldn’t.) Before I could finish, the younger Pistole received a message back that said “proceed.” Then he handed me a receipt for $0 with the guns’ information, on which he wrote, with a pen, “Transfer.” I walked out of the shop a law-abiding gun owner.</p>
<p>One afternoon after I returned with the rifles to Virginia, Samir and I hiked out to our landlord’s range in the woods. The .30-30 was surprisingly light for something so sturdy, and easy to carry. I’d been used to sitting and resting the barrel of a .22 on a stand when shooting, but that seemed wrong for a cowboy’s gun like this. The .30-30 was a gun to shoot standing up. We pinned two targets on a big tree and stood about 25 yards away. Samir took the first turn with Daddy’s rife. He’s 6’5” and built like a linebacker, and the .30-30 rocked him back a bit, firing with a bone-shaking boom. “The recoil’s really not that bad,” he said, not entirely reassuringly.</p>
<p>I practiced with the rifle unloaded first — the gun has no external safety, so once a round’s in the chamber, it’s cocked and ready to fire. Loading the .30-30 took some getting used to. I had to physically push each bullet into the magazine tube. Pulling down the lever to cycle through rounds exposed the rifle’s innards — the carrier, which hoists rounds into the chamber, came all the way down out of the body of the rifle, allowing a view of the next bullet popping into place. It was pleasantly steampunk.</p>
<p>I was nervous at first that I wouldn’t be able to control something with that much power. I tried to brace myself, but anticipated the recoil so much that I flinched dramatically every time I pulled the trigger. After 12 rounds, I could tell where my shoulder would be sore in the morning. I hit a target only once, and it wasn’t even the target I was aiming at.</p>
<p>Now I could think of lots of things to talk about if my dad and I went shooting together. What had happened to the rifle’s missing butt plate, its rare blemish? Did he know there was a screw missing on the rear barrel band, or was that new? Was one side of the rifle subtly smoother and shinier than the other because that’s the side he laid it down on, so that over the years it polished itself against the leather seats of his truck?</p>
<p>As I reloaded the rifle, I wondered who had taught Daddy to shoot in the first place. What tips did he have for my aim? Of course the answers are lost forever. Just like the rest of him.</p>
<p>[Illustration: Hanna Barczyk for The Trace]</p>
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afternoon day dad died funeral early november 2006 one brothers man always right side law came drunk asking daddys hunting rifles tucked away closet parents home clinton arkansas small rural town southern edge ozark mountains honestly forgotten decide guns mom didnt want give uncle rifles daddy owned forever also didnt want house shed interested could found evidence160to justify position mamas reasoning unscientific less sound guns made feel unsafe one option turned viable would find someone buy guns mama wasnt ready go hassle emotional turmoil selling daddys things yet finally cousin wesley cop town offered keep rifles cleaned daddys rifles put large safe stored guns unused unloaded stayed back safe better part decade id boy might invited join father went deer hunting every fall instead hed daughters last summer saw wesley first time years sheriffs department works reminded daddys rifles wesleys dad died 1980 especially close mine growing year would message say much missed dad would make remember much missed dad many years passed since id last heard voice seen face im happy keep long like theyre mine theyre wesley said daddys guns mean nothing mean world first thought wesley full guns didnt mean anything way said though made think sense unfulfilled duty gnawed maybe daddy wouldnt wanted sitting forgotten safe didnt anything retrieving rifles might way reconnect fading memories ive never gun person rifles shotguns part culture id always felt detached even growing hard overstate much hated clinton conservative isolated town much wanted get away id boy doubt daddy would taught shoot id son might invited obligated join drove deer camp mountain every fall hunt guns mounted rack back ford pickup piled passenger seat beside instead hed daughters hunting refuge house full girls dad big country boy gregarious goodnatured carouser almost never home selfemployed plumber workday started dawn hed stay long ended id gone bed id go days without seeing almost always wearing ratty old pair jeans jean shorts tshirt full holes covered grease hed tuck unruly red hair trucker cap like mom used say wooly booger crazy mountain man hierarchy southern slang falls hillbilly drank much budweiser smoked two packs marlboros day several strokes end life time diagnosed lung cancer 55 sun scorched red hair permanently burned skin ruddy color literal red neck loved dad wasnt close everyday kind way probably could asked teach shoot indoor kid liked spend weekends reading books wouldnt wanted pass many quiet hours aware little talk last conversation almost always talked left home weather living new york city time weather channel kept tabs local forecast right saw cousin wesley moved northern virginia hour west washington dc partner samir point id living one big east coast city another several years move part effort settled adult reconcile country city sides new landscape reminds ozarks grew woods behind house landlord keeps homemade shooting range samir lived virginia since 23 years old owns three rifles took shooting first time landlords range soon moved together found like target practice theres something soothing sitting still woods trying hit faraway bullseye practice requires deep breathing search calm stillness little like yoga bullets mostly shoot 22caliber boltaction rifle samir bought years ago light easytouse weapon theres almost recoil emits mild snap fired wasnt long started feel control gun im getting better hitting target tighter tighter circle closer closer im actually aiming progress gratifying 160 needed something dads hold hands someone knew tell late even getting shooting hadnt crossed mind reclaim daddys rifles six months conversation wesley new years day dads mom died 89th birthday shed outlived six children grandfather stepgrandfather wasnt close mammaw death hit unexpectedly hard occurred one night panicky way facts snap inescapable clarity youre trying fall asleep dads family disappeared without generations us around keep us connected feared cousins 15 us dads side floating apart needed something dads hold hands someone knew tell late daddy hadnt left many things behind hed built house mom still lives later life started collecting coins hope theyd valuable day left note telling us save collection first grandchild guns 160 one knows sure many guns inherited every year america federal government doesnt collect data gun ownership statistics number guns country come wildly diverging surveys estimate 270 millionand 310 million firearms us divine numbers comparing gunmanufacturing data government collect number people go fbis instant background check system point purchase properly stored cared guns stay operable nearly forever passing family members generationsold tradition real time bill maher june colonel lawrence wilkerson former secretary state colin powells chief staff talked owns 14 weapons maher asked many wilkerson said ive accumulated father died left brother died left decided wanted daddys guns still question go getting legal owner types firearms transport across state lines guns locked stowed kept reach drivers passengers constitutes legal owner less straightforward learn subscribe receive traces newsletters important gun news analysis buying new rifle shotgun could go arkansas pick models wanted gun store pass instant background check drive back couldnt handgun federal law requires purchased ones home state could also pick guns drive back id officially inherited since daddy hadnt specifically left technically belonged mom whod come along rest estate gave theyd legally gift federal law prohibits giving guns directly someone lives another state surest way follow law would ship rifles federal firearms licensed dealer arkansas ffl virginia id go background check retrieve jeff pistole owner pistole gun pawn clinton told would cost least 100 ship daddys rifles virginia wanted save money june stood pistoles shop beneath ar15s crossbows hanging ceiling thumbed thick rulebook bureau alcohol tobacco firearms explosives made calls finally figured way could drive rifles back without breaking rules time go get went wesleys house early saturday morning still drinking coffee brought living room opened big safe know 3030 daddys pride joy said actually hadnt known anything guns wesley digging putting one hands smaller two simple singleshot 22caliber dad used kind plinking behind house old couldnt find serial number gun 3030 winchester 94 model serial number indicating manufactured 1958 first made winchester repeating arms 1894 rifle marketed smokeless one first massproduced guns didnt require owner load black powder way muzzle loaders rifle bridge old modern piece iconic americana 2500000th one made presented president dwight eisenhower found absurdly proud daddy sticking interesting gun instead something could bought strip mall thought kind choice id make daddys 3030 manufactured winchester switched steel cheaper alloy 1964 qualifying collectors item cycle rounds ammunition pull lever away body rifle back satisfying clinkchunk like cowboy western people made much fun uncle bill wesley told talking daddys time deer camp deer rifles scopes didnt mind hed wanted new gun would bought best gun world like dad realized prefer classic sturdy shiny new wesley recalled one time daddy talking woods heard dogs stir looked saw sixpoint buck right front without hesitating daddy pulled 3030 shot deer square eyes boy crow wesley said found absurdly proud daddy sticking interesting gun instead something could bought strip mall thought kind choice id make hed 3030 long anyone could remember probably long hed dad studied rifle closely clear carefully lovingly maintained polished clean without hint grime damage holding remembered something id forgotten despite old tshirts unruly hair could fastidious used iron money bills would lie flat fold wallet easily kept papers neat stacks desk tight tidy penmanship rifle object could got guns wesley mom went pistoles mom would legally transfer ownership licensed gun shop pistole could run background check right rather shipping guns virginia check done since neither arkansas virginia regulates owning long gun background check would encounter gun laws handover filled form pistoles son entered information computer went brief frantic mental inventory every parking ticket id ever gotten wondering id paid would come hadnt answer wouldnt could finish younger pistole received message back said proceed handed receipt 0 guns information wrote pen transfer walked shop lawabiding gun owner one afternoon returned rifles virginia samir hiked landlords range woods 3030 surprisingly light something sturdy easy carry id used sitting resting barrel 22 stand shooting seemed wrong cowboys gun like 3030 gun shoot standing pinned two targets big tree stood 25 yards away samir took first turn daddys rife hes 65 built like linebacker 3030 rocked back bit firing boneshaking boom recoils really bad said entirely reassuringly practiced rifle unloaded first gun external safety rounds chamber cocked ready fire loading 3030 took getting used physically push bullet magazine tube pulling lever cycle rounds exposed rifles innards carrier hoists rounds chamber came way body rifle allowing view next bullet popping place pleasantly steampunk nervous first wouldnt able control something much power tried brace anticipated recoil much flinched dramatically every time pulled trigger 12 rounds could tell shoulder would sore morning hit target wasnt even target aiming could think lots things talk dad went shooting together happened rifles missing butt plate rare blemish know screw missing rear barrel band new one side rifle subtly smoother shinier thats side laid years polished leather seats truck reloaded rifle wondered taught daddy shoot first place tips aim course answers lost forever like rest illustration hanna barczyk trace
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<p>An update of the unfolding drama of the pirates holding a U.S. ship captain hostage off the coast of Somalia.</p>
<p>NAIROBI — The full might of the U.S. Navy — warships bristling with torpedoes, missiles, helicopters and surveillance drones — is aligned against a lifeboat adrift in the Indian Ocean, on which four pirates armed with rifles hold an American ship's captain captive.</p>
<p>The FBI and the Pentagon are helping the officers of the U.S.S. Bainbridge to negotiate with the pirates to secure release of the captain. The captain's ship, the Maersk Alabama, is steaming off toward the Kenyan port of Mombasa.</p>
<p>The world has learned a great deal about Capt. Richard Phillips, from Vermont, who gave himself up to protect his 20 crewmen and his ship. No matter how this drama ends, we know who is the hero.</p>
<p>But who are the Somali pirates holding the U.S. Navy at bay?</p>
<p>If it is like the other six pirate hijackings this month, they are most likely young, unemployed men hired by local clan leaders and lured by the prospect of cash — hundreds of thousands of dollars of it. They can use the cash to build a mansion, buy a four-wheel-drive vehicle and marry a wife in lavish style.</p>
<p>Piracy has become the country's most lucrative industry, according to <a href="http://www.un.org/sc/committees/751/mongroup.shtml" type="external">the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia</a>. Last year 42 ships were hijacked off the Somali coastline and the ransoms paid for the ships and their cargo are estimated at more than $50 million.</p>
<p>Among the ships ransomed last year was a Ukrainian freighter carrying 33 military tanks and a Saudi-owned tanker carrying crude oil estimated to be worth $100 million. The pirates are currently holding for ransom 16 ships with 200 crew. &#160;</p>
<p>The pirate gangs have pulled in substantial amounts of money with surprisingly little violence. Because the cargo ships are generally unarmed and crews are under instructions not to fight against the pirates, the casualties on both sides have been relatively low.</p>
<p>Not all the pirate attacks are successful. In 2008 the pirates tried to hijack more than 110 ships, of which 42 were actually taken over. Because Somalia is without a functioning government, pirates that have been captured are often handed over to Kenyan authorities. They then stand trial in that country.&#160;</p>
<p>Today the pirate groups are well organized and disciplined. But it wasn't always so.</p>
<p>The pirates emerged out of coastal fishing communities, which watched for years as illegal foreign trawlers plundered Somalia’s fish-stocked waters and foreign ships dumped toxic waste where no one would stop them. The early pirate attacks were aimed at exacting an ad hoc tax from the illegal trawlers. Later, the pirates discovered the more lucrative business of kidnapping.</p>
<p>The pirates are clan-based militias with fluid memberships backed by onshore financiers, often clan leaders and government officials. Many of these leaders come from Puntland, the northern Somali region that abuts the Gulf of Aden and has become the epicenter of piracy.</p>
<p>The financiers front the money for salaries, speedboats, engines, fuel, guns, ammunition, satellite phones, handheld global positioning systems, portable radar equipment, binoculars, grappling hooks and ladders. Teams of between four and eight pirates then set off.</p>
<p>Somalia's coastline provides a parade of targets. Every year more than 20,000 ships en route to and from the Suez Canal sail through a channel only 200 miles across at its widest point. They are within easy reach of the Somali pirate networks based in the towns of Bossaso, Eyl, Hobyo, Harardheere and Mogadishu.</p>
<p>Dusty, sleepy fishing villages have been transformed into pirate havens, where expensive Land Cruisers ply the unpaved roads, beachside villas replace tin-roofed shacks and successful pirates celebrate by marrying new wives with bountiful feasts.&#160;</p>
<p>As the international community has increased its patrols of the Gulf of Aden, the pirates have extended their range into the Indian Ocean. “Mother ships” take the pirates out to sea to where they launch the small motorboats that attack the lumbering container ships and oil tankers. The Maersk Alabama, for example, was attacked 340 miles out to sea.</p>
<p>Invariably ship owners pay the ransom, often $1 million, sometimes more depending upon the value of the cargo. Half the bounty goes to the financiers and sponsors of the pirate gangs, according to sources in the pirate town of Eyl. The pirates themselves then share about $300,000, and the rest is distributed among land-based gunmen and the local community.</p>
<p>The first pirate to board a ship is rewarded for his bravery with a double share, or a vehicle, and that compensation is paid to the family of a pirate who dies, according to Somali sources.</p>
<p>A debate is raging over whether pirate cash might help fund the Islamic extremists, known as al-Shabaab, who control large parts of Somalia and have links to Al Qaeda. But so far pirates have shown more interest in money than ideology.</p>
<p>The fact that Somali imams have forbidden piracy and that attacks plummeted during the brief reign of the Islamic Courts Union in 2006 suggests that far from funding Islamists, the Islamists might be the answer to stopping piracy.</p>
<p>The piracy, and especially the new attention as a result of the attack on the U.S. ship, has provoked calls for increased patrolling of the waters by naval warships and the arming of the crews of merchant ships.</p>
<p>But others argue that the solution to the piracy lies not in increased militarization but in negotiating a solution to Somalia's chaotic political situation.</p>
<p>“The naval task force is incapable of stopping piracy,” said Rashid Abdi, Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group in Nairobi. “Unless you make Somalia work you cannot tackle piracy. The focus should be on a political solution to the Somali crisis.”</p>
<p>&#160;More GlobalPost dispatches on Somalia:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090311/there-solution-somalia" type="external">Is there a solution for Somalia?&#160;</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090327/somali-refugees-path-hardship" type="external">Somali refugees path of hardship</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090327/somali-refugees-path-hardship" type="external">&#160;</a></p>
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update unfolding drama pirates holding us ship captain hostage coast somalia nairobi full might us navy warships bristling torpedoes missiles helicopters surveillance drones aligned lifeboat adrift indian ocean four pirates armed rifles hold american ships captain captive fbi pentagon helping officers uss bainbridge negotiate pirates secure release captain captains ship maersk alabama steaming toward kenyan port mombasa world learned great deal capt richard phillips vermont gave protect 20 crewmen ship matter drama ends know hero somali pirates holding us navy bay like six pirate hijackings month likely young unemployed men hired local clan leaders lured prospect cash hundreds thousands dollars use cash build mansion buy fourwheeldrive vehicle marry wife lavish style piracy become countrys lucrative industry according united nations monitoring group somalia last year 42 ships hijacked somali coastline ransoms paid ships cargo estimated 50 million among ships ransomed last year ukrainian freighter carrying 33 military tanks saudiowned tanker carrying crude oil estimated worth 100 million pirates currently holding ransom 16 ships 200 crew 160 pirate gangs pulled substantial amounts money surprisingly little violence cargo ships generally unarmed crews instructions fight pirates casualties sides relatively low pirate attacks successful 2008 pirates tried hijack 110 ships 42 actually taken somalia without functioning government pirates captured often handed kenyan authorities stand trial country160 today pirate groups well organized disciplined wasnt always pirates emerged coastal fishing communities watched years illegal foreign trawlers plundered somalias fishstocked waters foreign ships dumped toxic waste one would stop early pirate attacks aimed exacting ad hoc tax illegal trawlers later pirates discovered lucrative business kidnapping pirates clanbased militias fluid memberships backed onshore financiers often clan leaders government officials many leaders come puntland northern somali region abuts gulf aden become epicenter piracy financiers front money salaries speedboats engines fuel guns ammunition satellite phones handheld global positioning systems portable radar equipment binoculars grappling hooks ladders teams four eight pirates set somalias coastline provides parade targets every year 20000 ships en route suez canal sail channel 200 miles across widest point within easy reach somali pirate networks based towns bossaso eyl hobyo harardheere mogadishu dusty sleepy fishing villages transformed pirate havens expensive land cruisers ply unpaved roads beachside villas replace tinroofed shacks successful pirates celebrate marrying new wives bountiful feasts160 international community increased patrols gulf aden pirates extended range indian ocean mother ships take pirates sea launch small motorboats attack lumbering container ships oil tankers maersk alabama example attacked 340 miles sea invariably ship owners pay ransom often 1 million sometimes depending upon value cargo half bounty goes financiers sponsors pirate gangs according sources pirate town eyl pirates share 300000 rest distributed among landbased gunmen local community first pirate board ship rewarded bravery double share vehicle compensation paid family pirate dies according somali sources debate raging whether pirate cash might help fund islamic extremists known alshabaab control large parts somalia links al qaeda far pirates shown interest money ideology fact somali imams forbidden piracy attacks plummeted brief reign islamic courts union 2006 suggests far funding islamists islamists might answer stopping piracy piracy especially new attention result attack us ship provoked calls increased patrolling waters naval warships arming crews merchant ships others argue solution piracy lies increased militarization negotiating solution somalias chaotic political situation naval task force incapable stopping piracy said rashid abdi somalia analyst international crisis group nairobi unless make somalia work tackle piracy focus political solution somali crisis 160more globalpost dispatches somalia solution somalia160 somali refugees path hardship 160 160 160 view larger map
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<p>When Ben Haggerty (aka Macklemore) initially played me an earlier draft of “White Privilege II” and asked me a couple of questions about race, it started out as just a conversation.</p>
<p>He and I hopped in his Cadillac; he played a draft of the song through his bass-heavy speakers, and we sat in silence. The weight of his attempt to directly address his white privilege — arguably his Achilles heel — was profound during that listening session. When the song finished, he put a recorder in my face and asked me some questions I can’t entirely remember.</p>
<p>I offered a quote (featured at the 6:35 mark of the song) to put in perspective the silliness of the All Lives Matter response to Black Lives Matter:</p>
<p>“Black Lives Matter, to use an analogy, is like if there was a subdivision and a house was on fire, the fire department wouldn’t show up and start putting water on all the houses because All Houses Matter. They would show up, and they would turn their water on the house that was burning because that’s the house that needs help the most.”</p>
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<p>In debuting “White Privilege II,” Macklemore &amp; Ryan Lewis, along with a host of contributors, kicked a larger hornet’s nest than anyone could have fully anticipated. Within hours of its release, blogs, websites, and social media platforms exploded with either harsh critiques or sincere praise for the song.</p>
<p>Washington-based poet, activist, and attorney Gyasi Ross tweeted two days after the release:</p>
<p>Outspoken Harlem rapper Azealia Banks wasted no time tweeting this after hearing the song:</p>
<p>just know that Macklemore "admitting" his white privilege is about to eclipse the REAL conversation about Blacks &amp; Entertainment.</p>
<p>— azealiabanks (@AZEALIABANKS) <a href="https://twitter.com/AZEALIABANKS/status/690654557593063426" type="external">January 22, 2016</a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, Jamil Smith, senior editor for the New Republic, was more understanding of the song’s intention:</p>
<p>Given that Macklemore is a polarizing pop figure, the love/hate, pass/fail reaction to “White Privilege II” isn’t entirely surprising. Still, “White Privilege II” has touched a nerve. If releasing this track could be compared to the board game Operation, Haggerty reached for the patient’s “wish bone,” “funny bone,” and “broken heart” and, according to his detractors, mostly triggered the buzzer with each verse.</p>
<p>That is not to say this song fails. A huge swath of Macklemore &amp; Ryan Lewis’ audience is young white kids who often like to “dress like, walk like, talk like, dance like” black folks while having no interest in showing up for black lives. This song is written for that young white audience, and that audience has the most to gain by listening to a white rapper as he breaks down, stanza by stanza, the reasons why they can no longer ignore white privilege. In that regard, “White Privilege II” is successful. The song does not purport to teach black listeners anything we don’t already know.</p>
<p>“White Privilege II” did, however, miss an opportunity with the Asian American, Native American, and Latino perspectives entirely absent from the song. Its lyrics keep the conversation historically rooted in a white versus black dynamic. Nonblack people of color who drop the n-bomb in their everyday speech but won’t stand in solidarity with black lives have much to glean from this song as well.</p>
<p>Some critics argue that communities of color have spoken out against white privilege for centuries, and it typically falls on deaf ears. Now, all of a sudden, white people are listening when the messenger is a cis-gendered white male. Well, that’s the epitome of the way white privilege works.</p>
<p>Is there danger in giving Macklemore too much credit for artfully regurgitating what black and brown folks have said seemingly forever? Absolutely. Should I as not only a vocal contributor to the song, but a black male who has spent the past year launching a <a href="http://empmuseum.org/programs-plus-education/programs/hip-hop-artist-residency.aspx" type="external">Hip-Hop Artist Residency</a> exclusively for low-income youth in partnership with Macklemore &amp; Ryan Lewis’ team still question my own willingness to be featured on “White Privilege II?”&#160;Abso-damn-lutely.</p>
<p>I didn’t work on the song at the same level as poet, organizer&#160;and attorney Nikkita Oliver or Dustin Washington, who helped Haggerty work through all of the necessary deep racial processing ahead of time.</p>
<p>I wasn’t behind the scenes setting up meetings like Hollis Wong-Wear or crooning like Jamila Woods. I just sat shotgun in a Cadillac and offered a quote that I partially borrowed from a shy, brilliant teenager I know.</p>
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<p>Macklemore&#160;posing with youth participants of the EMP’s Hip Hop Artist Residency.&#160;</p>
<p>Zoe Rain</p>
<p>But unlike those brilliant organizers and artists, I’ve spent a solid year developing pathways for Haggerty and his team to participate in educational opportunities for teens at Seattle’s EMP Museum, where I manage our youth programs and community outreach.</p>
<p>There are times that Haggerty, Lewis, and their Director of Philanthropy and Community Engagement Ben Secord are at the museum working exclusively with youth of color in the Hip-Hop Artist Residency program — and the general public doesn't know.</p>
<p>There, they discuss race, privilege, sobriety, songwriting,&#160;and, during the summer months, all the youth get paid. Macklemore’s team worked to secure fully loaded Microsoft Surface Pros for all the teens in the&#160;program. I told his team that day: This is what he needs to be doing more of with his white privilege.</p>
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<p>“White Privilege II” isn’t just a song. It’s Haggerty constantly being coached to step aside so people of color, who are equally — if not more — talented as he is, have space to thrive and speak for themselves. Stepping aside so other voices can speak is a huge challenge for most heteronormative men regardless of race. White privilege is prevalent in Haggerty’s life but so are male privilege, class privilege, and sexual orientation privilege.&#160;Until a&#160;song released on a major platform tackles those issues as a whole,&#160;attempts to address “privilege” will be incomplete.</p>
<p>Still, “White Privilege II” does not speak enough regarding long-term economic empowerment. Until the Macklemore LLC team actually employs black and brown folks on a full-time basis within their inner circle (currently they do not), it is still passively perpetuating a system that, similar to the NFL, has a lot of black players but no black owners. Many of the artists on the song or who tour with Macklemore &amp; Ryan Lewis are talented people of color getting paid.</p>
<p>This is important. This is also not enough.</p>
<p>Jonathan Cunningham is&#160;the Manager of Youth Programs + Community Outreach for Seattle's EMP Museum. In a former life, he was (and still is) an award-winning music journalist and editor with content published in major outlets such as FADER, VIBE, Spin, Rollingstone.com, and Village Voice Media.&#160;</p>
<p>This&#160; <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/white-privilege-II-showed-me-what-an-unruly-mess-were-in-20160201" type="external">story</a>&#160;was originally published by&#160; <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/" type="external">YES! Magazine</a>, a nonprofit publication that supports people’s active engagement in solving today’s social, political, and environmental challenges.&#160;</p>
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ben haggerty aka macklemore initially played earlier draft white privilege ii asked couple questions race started conversation hopped cadillac played draft song bassheavy speakers sat silence weight attempt directly address white privilege arguably achilles heel profound listening session song finished put recorder face asked questions cant entirely remember offered quote featured 635 mark song put perspective silliness lives matter response black lives matter black lives matter use analogy like subdivision house fire fire department wouldnt show start putting water houses houses matter would show would turn water house burning thats house needs help debuting white privilege ii macklemore amp ryan lewis along host contributors kicked larger hornets nest anyone could fully anticipated within hours release blogs websites social media platforms exploded either harsh critiques sincere praise song washingtonbased poet activist attorney gyasi ross tweeted two days release outspoken harlem rapper azealia banks wasted time tweeting hearing song know macklemore admitting white privilege eclipse real conversation blacks amp entertainment azealiabanks azealiabanks january 22 2016 meanwhile jamil smith senior editor new republic understanding songs intention given macklemore polarizing pop figure lovehate passfail reaction white privilege ii isnt entirely surprising still white privilege ii touched nerve releasing track could compared board game operation haggerty reached patients wish bone funny bone broken heart according detractors mostly triggered buzzer verse say song fails huge swath macklemore amp ryan lewis audience young white kids often like dress like walk like talk like dance like black folks interest showing black lives song written young white audience audience gain listening white rapper breaks stanza stanza reasons longer ignore white privilege regard white privilege ii successful song purport teach black listeners anything dont already know white privilege ii however miss opportunity asian american native american latino perspectives entirely absent song lyrics keep conversation historically rooted white versus black dynamic nonblack people color drop nbomb everyday speech wont stand solidarity black lives much glean song well critics argue communities color spoken white privilege centuries typically falls deaf ears sudden white people listening messenger cisgendered white male well thats epitome way white privilege works danger giving macklemore much credit artfully regurgitating black brown folks said seemingly forever absolutely vocal contributor song black male spent past year launching hiphop artist residency exclusively lowincome youth partnership macklemore amp ryan lewis team still question willingness featured white privilege ii160absodamnlutely didnt work song level poet organizer160and attorney nikkita oliver dustin washington helped haggerty work necessary deep racial processing ahead time wasnt behind scenes setting meetings like hollis wongwear crooning like jamila woods sat shotgun cadillac offered quote partially borrowed shy brilliant teenager know macklemore160posing youth participants emps hip hop artist residency160 zoe rain unlike brilliant organizers artists ive spent solid year developing pathways haggerty team participate educational opportunities teens seattles emp museum manage youth programs community outreach times haggerty lewis director philanthropy community engagement ben secord museum working exclusively youth color hiphop artist residency program general public doesnt know discuss race privilege sobriety songwriting160and summer months youth get paid macklemores team worked secure fully loaded microsoft surface pros teens the160program told team day needs white privilege white privilege ii isnt song haggerty constantly coached step aside people color equally talented space thrive speak stepping aside voices speak huge challenge heteronormative men regardless race white privilege prevalent haggertys life male privilege class privilege sexual orientation privilege160until a160song released major platform tackles issues whole160attempts address privilege incomplete still white privilege ii speak enough regarding longterm economic empowerment macklemore llc team actually employs black brown folks fulltime basis within inner circle currently still passively perpetuating system similar nfl lot black players black owners many artists song tour macklemore amp ryan lewis talented people color getting paid important also enough jonathan cunningham is160the manager youth programs community outreach seattles emp museum former life still awardwinning music journalist editor content published major outlets fader vibe spin rollingstonecom village voice media160 this160 story160was originally published by160 yes magazine nonprofit publication supports peoples active engagement solving todays social political environmental challenges160
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