text:
Mental-health officials clash on N.Y. gun law reporting
- Some mental-health professionals say the law has different reporting requirements than other laws
- Some county officials want to be left out of the process
- Police say real problem needs to be money for mental-health treatment
ALBANY, N.Y. — Psychiatrists, county officials and law enforcement are questioning a portion of New York's new gun-control law that requires them to take steps that could lead to guns being seized from potentially dangerous people.
Since mid-March, New York's Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act has required mental health professionals to report when a patient is a potential danger to himself or others.
A county receives the information, decides whether to approve it, and if so sends it to the state for entry into a database. Local law enforcement officials then must suspend or revoke any gun licenses and remove a gun owner's firearms.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has touted the reporting requirements outlined in the law, saying they will keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill and prevent mass shootings that have claimed more than 900 victims in the past seven years.
But parties who must participate in the process said the new law was hastily designed and broadly written.
"When someone drops a whole new set of rules out of the sky, ... you trip up on a lot of stuff," said Eric Caine, psychiatry department chairman at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Cuomo, who signed the law Jan. 15, has been discussing possible tweaks to the law with legislative leaders. But he's adamant the changes won't include significant revisions that mental-health experts are seeking.
"I am not open to any substantive changes on the law, period," Cuomo said when asked Wednesday about the proposed changes. "No substantive changes have been entertained."
The governor has come under fire since passing the law, which is considered the toughest gun-control law in the nation. Gun-rights groups said it violates the Second Amendment, and two lawsuits are pending.
Mental-health and other medical groups have pushed for amendments to the law to diminish potential liability and promote consistency with current law.
Reporting standards
New York's medical society and its psychiatric association wrote a letter March 1 to Cuomo explaining their problems with the law. Patients' advocates, nurses and social workers joined the groups in lobbying for changes.
Reporting standards vary from the criteria treatment providers typically follow. If a therapist believes a patient presents "a serious and imminent threat" to the health and safety of himself or others, the professional may report the patient to law enforcement or a potential victim without breaching confidentiality.
Under the NY SAFE Act, a therapist must report "when in their reasonable professional judgment," the patient "is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others."
The state Office of Mental Health, which has issued guidance materials including a 22-minute video tutorial on how to use the online reporting portal, maintains that the standard is the same as it has been.
Caine, who heads the University of Rochester suicide-prevention research center, agreed. But he said therapists are confused and will over-report as a result.
"Clinicians, not really understanding the nature of the law, may report people that the law never had the intention of being reported, and in the process, destroy all sorts of trust that might be there," he said. "We're not sure at all that it's going to make anybody safer, and it may have unintended consequences."
Therapists' chief concern is that patients feeling suicidal or homicidal might conceal their troubles to avoid having their guns removed.
The New York State Nurses Association wrote a memo March 13 to Cuomo arguing that the statute violates medical privacy laws and stigmatizes mental illness by linking it to gun violence, creating barriers for those who need treatment.
The groups also believe the language in the NY SAFE Act could make health officials vulnerable to lawsuits. Still, the law shields therapists from civil and criminal liability when the decision to report is made "reasonably and in good faith."
The groups want the law changed to shield therapists from liability unless they exercise "malice or intentional misconduct," which is harder to prove in court.
Who reports
Also in question is who should be required to report. The law states that physicians including psychiatrists, psychologists, registered nurses and licensed clinical social workers are obligated to make reports.
The groups argue that nurse practitioners, who have a higher level of education, should be included instead of registered nurses.
"The scope of practice of RNs does not extend to making the diagnosis and prognosis necessary to evoke a report," the medical society and psychiatric association wrote in its march 1 letter. The nurses association also objected in its memo.
Cuomo has responded to criticisms from the mental-health community, arguing that the law allows therapists a choice of whether to report. In addition to state groups' concerns, federal Department of Veterans Affairs officials have said they won't comply with the law.
"The law prescribes that it's basically in the discretion of a mental-health provider, and if a mental-health institution says they have confidentiality, they have secrecy, they don't want to share information, that's their business," Cuomo said.
When pressed that the law constitutes a requirement, not an option, for reporting, Cuomo said he couldn't imagine a situation where a therapist would choose not to report a dangerous person.
"If they have determined that someone is an imminent threat to themselves or others, I don't know what the ramifications are if they say, 'I concluded that, and I did nothing.' I don't think they'd ever be in that situation," Cuomo said.
Taking a gun
County officials want to be removed from the process, suggesting that therapists report directly to the state, the state Conference for Local Mental Hygiene Directors wrote in a February memo of opposition.
The process will be time-consuming and is an unfunded mandate, said Kelly Hansen, the group's executive director. Hansen also questioned the clinical value of the county officials' involvement because they don't know the patients.
"Why would anyone … question the clinical judgment of the person who has laid eyes on the patient and is treating them?" Hansen said.
Arthur Johnson, Broome County mental health commissioner, has handled a few reports in the first week since the reporting requirements have been in effect. He said approving the reports and forwarding them to the state generally has been simple although he did encounter a few glitches.
For one, some master's level psychologists are authorized to make a report but are not licensed by the state. While the reporting system automatically verifies the licenses of physicians, nurses and social workers, Johnson said his staff had to track down an unlicensed psychologist to confirm that the professional's report was valid.
Johnson said he and his colleagues in other counties told the state they want the ability to track the reports so they can make sure they've been processed.
"The professional making the report is exempt from liability, but the county is not," he said. "So we don't want any (reports) to fall through the cracks."
Law enforcement gets involved at the end of the process when state officials have identified whether reportedly dangerous individuals hold firearms licenses.
Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith, who is the immediate past president of the New York State Sheriffs Association, said deciding whether to suspend or revoke a gun license and removing firearms already is part of his job: Sheriffs carry out orders to retrieve firearms from people who have been served with restraining orders.
"We know our citizens. We know our counties," Smith said. "So we strongly believe that the sheriffs would be deeply involved in the whole process."
But he said police question whether this law will help prevent violence because it ignores the issue of money.
"We certainly felt that there were some positive aspects of the law pertaining to mental health," he said. "But we felt that the actual funding of mental health treatment in New York state … needs to be addressed."
VIDEO: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs N.Y. gun-control law


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Versus AARP's 10 Essential Boomer Movies
As part of their Boomers @50+ feature, the good 'ol (and I mean that in the most respectful manner) folks over at AARP gathered up a handful of prominent Baby-Boomers to highlight three of the popular arts linked to those born between 1946 and 1964. The same 76 million who "…reaped all the benefits of the postwar period's extraordinary economic growth." And as labeled by other gens, "The spoiled brats."
I be one.
Admittedly, I probably match up with the latter more than I care to reveal. As P.J. O'Rourke wrote in his contributing essay:
"Yes, we're spoiled rotten. We're self-absorbed. And it seems like we'll never shut up. But the boomers made a better world for everyone else. You're welcome."
"The boomers have been good at taking things: Mom's car without permission, drugs, umbrage at the establishment, draft deferments, advantage of the sexual revolution, and credit for the civil rights and women's liberation movements that rightly belongs to prior generations. The one thing that can be left in plain sight without us putting our sticky mitts on it is responsibility. Ask our therapists. Or the parents we haven't visited at the extended-care facility."
If I do anything on this blog, it is to examine the arts of books, music, and movies. Along with my history (or angst), with them. I confess it's a tad self-absorbed, and so typical of my generation. With that said, I'll add my set to the well-known contributors AARP selected for each of their Essential Boomer picks. Let's end the week with Oliver Stone's take on the following with his superb list:
The Graduate (1967) by Mike Nichols — Oliver: "One of the first movies to address young people as an entity unto themselves — a new form of species, dislocated, alienated. The thought of working in the plastics business was smothering." Me: Oh, Hell YES!
Easy Rider (1969) by Dennis Hopper — Oliver: "Freedom, motorcycles, long hair and a general contempt for the Southern rednecks who were fighting in Vietnam." Me: Yep. I must include for this period and generation.
A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick — Oliver: "Anarchic and innovative. It respected youth, as divorced from the state. And because we were in an antiauthoritarian age, we embraced it. Many of us, anyway. I think lot of people didn't know what the hell was going on." Me: I'll see your Kubrick and raise you Armageddon with his Dr. Strangelove.
The Godfather (1972) / The Godfather Part II (1974) by Frances Ford Coppola — Oliver: "Perhaps the most significant films of the boomer age. The Godfather broke open everything. In '72, I had just gotten out of film school. I was a cabdriver. That movie was setting the standard. It made you want to do better." Me: Double Hell YES!!!
Jaws (1975) by Steven Spielberg — Oliver: "That summer was incredible. We were young and in the prime of our 1970s mischief. And here was the ultimate enemy. Spielberg in his true glory." Me: I wouldn't dare contradict this selection, or its impact on cinema and the box office.
All The President's Men (1976) by Alan Pakula — Oliver: "A naked appeal to liberals who wanted to be free of Richard Nixon. It created a myth, in a way, that the press was so free. That probably did long-term damage, because then the press went to sleep. But it was wonderfully made. Here was a film about office work. A lot of desks." Me: Finally, I can disagree with Mr. Stone. And do it with the another Pakula film, The Parallax View (1974).
Annie Hall (1977) by Woody Allen — Oliver: "For me, it was the first woman's film, although many had been made at that time because feminism was popular in the late '60s and early '70s. But Annie Hall made this quirky heroine more available to everybody; we saw a woman with a different lifestyle, going about her life. A fascinating movie." Me: When you compare it with Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night (1964) in significance and change, it's not even close for this boomer.
Apocalypse Now (1979) by Frances Ford Coppola — Oliver: "It made Vietnam into grand opera. Although, as I pointed out when I did my movie about Vietnam, it wasn't very compassionate toward the Vietnamese." Me: If you say that, why'd you pick it, then? Anyway, I'll go with the film that was Robert Aldrich's rousing allegory of the same war in the guise of a WWII actioner, The Dirty Dozen (1967) .
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) by Robert Benton — Oliver: "Two great actors, Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman. But it was a small film, a wonderfully rendered story of a divorce and how it affected the child. My parents were divorced; I'd had a divorce already. This was a midlife issue for boomers." Me: Ah…no. Damn it to Hell NO! The better choice, post-1964, remains The Verdict (1982) by Sidney Lumet.
Reds (1981) by Warren Beatty — Oliver: "A personal favorite. Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton as lovers. Never a big commercial hit, but a liberating film." Me: A personal favorite of mine, but George Lucas' Star Wars (1977) so happened to be a big commercial hit. Oh, and it changed the Baby Boomer and younger generations right along with it.
16 Responses to "Versus AARP's 10 Essential Boomer Movies"
Hi, Michael:
I'm with Cindy and her opinion of these AARP 'staples'.
'The Graduate' made huge waves when I caught it way back when. Outside of Buck Henry's writing and glimpses of future talent like Richard Dreyfuss. The film has lost a lot of its luster.
'Easy Rider' is a given. The epitome of an at that time independent film. Also the jumping off point for lots of future talent. A later, buttressing offering would be 'Who'll Stop The Rain'.
Can't disagree with their choices down to 'All The President's Men'. Which is great on location entertainment, but has little to do with actual events. 'The Parallax View' is a much better conspiracy film! And has been getting some play on "The Sundance Channel" recently.
Scratch 'Annie Hall' and insert 'Manhattan' or 'The Sterile Cuckoo'. Scratch 'Kramer vs. Kramer' and insert 'The Paper Chase'. Leave 'The Verdict' alone. Still some of Newman's best angry older man, soliloquy work!
'Reds' was one of the first, longest and overall weakly messaged of the "vanity" films. 'Star Wars' is a good substitute. Though, I'd opt for 'Patton'.
I find it a little depressing that all of these films are somehow related to the AARP, because they were at least on network TV when I was a kid. But it must be senility that excludes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Can't disagree w/ JAWS and its impact in film and culture. Same with Star Wars, so I'm w/ you on that one, too. Boy I still need to see The Verdict and a couple others. Great post!
Some american classics here. The Graduate is well placed. I could relate to how Benjamin felt in that movie when I first saw it in the 90's. Now that is a classic. Great blog!
Nothing I feel I can argue with, although sometimes I just haven't seen the film in question. 🙂 Easy Rider stands out as a pick that's definitely generational — I don't think it speaks well to younger generations. At least that's been my experience with it.
Awesome list! All must sees! Great work on this one.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A stack of pizzas were delivered to Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps' campaign celebration on Saturday night, but they didn't taste like victory, despite her winning re-election.
The pizzas were part of a series of prank deliveries made to Helps' office throughout the campaign.
"It sounds kind of funny but it's actually unfortunate," said Alex McGowen, Helps' campaign manager. "Of course they're unpaid, and so local small businesses pretty much needed to shut down for an hour to make them."
The prank happened about six times throughout the campaign, including at Helps' campaign launch, at the office opening, and a few times in between.
"It's a really cruel prank to play on small businesses, and apparently this is the type of thing some people choose to do," McGowen said.
The pizzas came from an assortment of shops, including Superior Pizza in James Bay.
Helps and her campaigners turned the deliveries away each time.
Helps acknowleged the pranks had happened, but did not wish to address the issue on the night of her victory party.


text:
It is parentage
That engraves my names on the pillar
It was not the amount of calories
Nor was it the number of ribs
Like Eve in the garden
If the fruit had the supposed knowledge
Then who knew firsts
Like Adam, if his rib was taken
Then where was the rib
I felt I had more calories
Because I am more bitter and sour
I became also so sweet
My muse were all speaking at once
The beautiful ancient speaks
If two can tangle, HE is there
HE brings me to fore
When they join
Written by:
University of Benin
Department of English
Plumcot is practically a piece that tends to appreciate and renovate the vehicles of feminism.
Feminism is as old as man. In fact, it tends to be biblical knowledge that GOD of the bible created women with the man's rib. Therefore, the woman share common features with man and she is mentioned as "help mate" not servant or housemaid. The same bible extract from it by submitting that the gathering of two brings another company. It might be a man or a woman or two men or two women. This biblical traces tends to be a natural wave of feminism. The "man made" or may be "woman made" feminism had its route traced to 1880. But for the reason of analysis and the poem involved, the poet gives an understanding on the purpose of feminism.
Foremost, the plumcots are a certain delicacy which are also hybrids. The poet uses plumcots as a result of parentage to identify feminism which depends on other ideas in order to be independent.
As line 1 and 2 states:
It is parentage
That engraves my names on the pillar
Here, the poet tries to expatiate on the fact that feminism need not advocate for independency alone as every achievement is hinged on support or two ideas leaving on each other. The feminist who hates men will get to know that two (male and female) can only give another life. The plum and apricots are two fruits which are fruits of a hybrid called plumcots. The plum and apricots need each other to produce the best. The bible records the two ideas anything male or female as being productive.
The poet identifies himself again as the plumcot as he feels the impact on the society from some feminist. The poet wants to advise that feminist is never standing alone. Feminism should not be confusing as it may not mean hatred for anything in the quest for equality.
From line 5-7:
Like Eve in the garden
If the fruit had the supposed knowledge
Then who knew firsts
Here, the poet make reference to the bible saying that the women knew first about the knowledge. So these knowledge has made them agitate for equality with men. Here quoting that " without them the men could not have the knowledge" .
Going further in to the poem.
From Line 8-9:
Like Adam, if his rib was taken
Then where was the rib
Now the argument for knowledge can't supersede the source in which women came from according to the biblical views. Therefore, if feminist fighting for equality especially with the opposite sex it still boils than to the fact that the woman was taken from the man according to biblical view. This means that a feminist has a degree of equality with the opposite sex. In the poet view the "taken rib" was a WOMAN.
The poet speaks in line 10-13:
I felt I had more calories
Because I am more bitter and sour
I became also so sweet
My muse were all speaking at once
The poet attest to the fact that more calories in the plumcots was as a result of cross-breeding two fruits and in comparison with what gave birth to the feminist.
The expression "Because I am more bitter and sour" means that the poet is confused about the state of how the feminist deviate from the purpose in which feminism is defined.
Going further in the poem, another line in the poem says: I became also so sweet.
Here the poet try to define SWEET as a total support of FEMINISM since they still stand that logo for equality.
In summary, the expression in lines 10-13 advocate for a better definition of feminism. The word FEMINISM might be gender sensitive which might not have the strength to fight total equality.
In the last 4 lines(line 14-17):
The beautiful ancient speaks
If two can tangle, HE is there
HE brings me to fore
When they join
The poet in the last 4 lines yells for feminism as a peaceful movement which understands natural law. The poet is not against the feminist but wants the feminist to clearly define its purpose with aspirations to unite. It should be communal.
Here is a question for my fellow bloggers and readers:
1. What are you contribution,opinion and views about the poem?
2. What are the views about FEMINIST and FEMINISM in the society?
3.Are you in support of GENDER EQUALITY been agitated by FEMINIST?
Please let me know all your reactions, views and insights in the comment box below!
Typed and Edited by:
Kogwuonye Patrick Onyeka
University of Benin
Credited to :
Women who fight very much to be self independent and to all feminist
Quote based on the post: PLUMCOTS
1. Quote from my kenyan blogger friend who support feminism.
2. Quote from Patrick Stories


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Your Moon: As a Hunter Werewolf or a Blood Werewolf as you may come to be known, you draw maximum power from the Hunter or Blood Moon of October (Northern Hemisphere) or April (Southern Hemisphere). If you are to join a Hunter or a Blood Clan you must first survive a terrifying clan transformation ritual, beneath a full Blood Moon.
Tap here for more info on Hunter vs. Blood.
Human Form: As either a Hunter or Blood Werewolf you are generally seen as quiet, intelligent, precise, self-controlled, patient, intense and aggressive individual. You may be known as quick-tempered, even for a werewolf.
In human form you are the kind of friend a human wants at his back, tough, smart, loyal and controlled. You're likely known as a sensible dresser, with short hair and a big appetite for meat and berries. You have excellent night vision and good judgement. You're probably really good at laser tag and paint ball. In a staring contest you would probably win, it seems like you can go forever without blinking. So you have to remember to blink or you'll give yourself away.
Wolf Form: In wolf form the Hunter or Blood is the iconic wolf that humans recall when they think about werewolves in general.
You probably have thick dark fur and maybe a streak of blood red on your head, sometimes in the shape of a crescent moon or a bow. You can identify almost any being by the smell of its blood from miles away.
You are among the biggest wolves, yet you are light on your feet. You have big strong paws with long, sharp claws and jaws and teeth like a steel trap. Your have excellent eyesight and perfect night vision and balance. Under most conditions, you can outrun almost any prey.
Hybrid Form: As either a Hunter or Blood Werewolf Clan member you will acquire certain techniques that enable you to maintain a human-werewolf hybrid form. However you must remain aware that this form brings with it the surging powers of your transformational lycanthropy to your human side and this can make it very difficult to control the result of your actions. You must train carefully if you don't want to live a life filled with regret.
Habits & Customs: As a Hunter or Blood Werewolf, you must be highly disciplined and take your training very seriously. You may not reveal your identity as a Blood Werewolf to anyone. The Clan is always watching and listening, ready to support and defend you at all times but also ready to pounce if you slip up. Many Hunter Wolves deal with this by giving up on a normal human life entirely and living in a community with other Hunters.
As a Hunter Werewolf you learn very early during your first moons how to control your transformations with a simple blood magnet that links you to the other members of the clan. It will glow whenever another member of the clan is in close proximity.
However, some Blood Werewolves who rebelled against the group life, will turn in their magnets for the life of lone wolves. As a result they are always on the run from their own kind in addition to all their other enemies.
Social Structure: Hunter Clan society is said to be highly structured, with designated roles and positions that must be earned.
Hunter Clan members stake a large territory and live close together in remote communities.
Allies: Hunter Wolves have always found allies in certain demigods, for instance in descendants of Athena or Apollo or cyborgs.
Powers: As a Hunter or a Blood you can use your powers in different ways depending in part on your choices including your choice of Alliance and Mythos.
As a Hunter or Blood you can join one of two alliances, either Terran or Metallos Alliance and your skills and abilities will be vary depending on which one you join.
When challenged, as a Hunter or a Blood you draw power facing West, at night in a dark, isolated locations during cool weather.


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Arrested Development "I Don't See You at the Club"
Two-Time Grammy Award Winning Music Group Arrested Development has a new video, "I Don't See You at the Club" which pretty much shuts down the haters who may see that no body is checking for them. Speech always drops some science and this is no exception. The group for those who might not know ~ is Speech (Vocalist, Producer Turntables), Fareedah (Dancer Singer), Tasha LaRae (Singer), 1 Love (Vocalist Sampler), Za (Bass Guitar, Producer) JJ Boogie (Rhythm Guitar, Engineer, Producer), Extended Family Member Smok (Drums). AD has sold over 5 million albums to date. They've won 2 Grammy awards for best new artist and best rap single 1993. They were the first African – American artists to donate money to Nelson Mandela and the ANC in South Africa. AD has collaborated with director Spike Lee, on the Universal motion picture "X", Boomerang, among other movies. AD tours Australia, Asia, Europe, Canada, Africa and of course the U.S. to standing room-only crowds. They've shared stages with legends worldwide. In 2005, AD performed and won as audience favorite on NBC's, "Hit me Baby 1 more time". For that show they donated $20,000 to UNICEF for relief in Sudan, Africa. They are constantly on the road and I highly suggest seeing them when they come to your town. Download now >> Official Site
?Cred: @saintnick293
Twitter: @MissyBnyc


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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/12/newt.0811.gi.jpg caption="Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says he's among a handful of Republican candidates who are thinking about running for president in 2012."](CNN) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says he's among a handful of Republican candidates who are thinking about running for president in 2012.
"I think I'm probably on a list of seven or eight possible candidates at this stage," Gingrich reportedly told reporters in North Carolina Wednesday before speaking to a gathering of conservatives. Joe DeSantis, Gingrich's communications director, confirmed the accuracy of the quotes to CNN.
"We have a lot of people around the country who would like to have somebody who represents a commitment to replace the current failed programs and to develop a set of solutions that are practical and workable," Gingrich also said.
Among the other Republican candidates Gingrich named as possible 2012 contenders included former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Also included on Gingrich's list are Govs. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Mitch Daniels of Indiana, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Rick Perry of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. South Dakota Sen. John Thune may also be a potential candidate, Gingrich said.
Gingrich said he would make a decision about his own political future next year after discussing the prospect of a presidential bid with his wife.
Gingrich's comments come days after organizers of The Southern Republican Leadership Conference - a high-profile gathering of party activists considered to be an initial venue for potential GOP presidential candidates - announced the former House Speaker will be among the list of Republican speakers. Palin and Pawlenty are also expected to attend the event.
Gingrich also recently filed government paperwork to form a political action committee, named American Solutions PAC, according to Federal Election Commission records. The forming of a political action committee will allow Gingrich to raise cash and donate the money to federal and state candidates across the country. It could also be a sign that Gingrich is serious about running for the White House in 2012.
American Solutions is also the name of Gringrich's political organization, which is incorporated as a 527 group, and is not subject to the same contribution limits as political action committees. Unlike PACs, 527s can also directly accept funds from corporations but are barred from directly contributing to a candidate or financing a potential White House bid.
- CNN's Paul Steinhauser and Peter Hamby contributed to this report
Liberals are the funniest people I have ever met....LOL...I would take Mickey Mouse over Obama in a heart beat...wait until all these tax hikes start to take a toll on all of you and then you'll sing a different tune. At least I hope you would but many of you appear to be too brainwashed by the "Mesiah's" great oral presence to notice...The guy could talk himself into the White House...Oh wait that's just what he did...
Wow, how nice it is to not be a republican right now.
Newt- you're kidding, right?
Palin- ha, stick to faux news
Romney- taxachusetts 'mo lover
Huckabee- bible thumper
Daniels- who now?
Barbour- HA! This is not the US of Dixie.
Perry- who?
Jindal- foreign toddler
Thune- Yes. Yes, he's their best bet.
Either CNN is filtering comments or this page is infested with "fliberals". None of you flaming libs know a single thing about Newt or his beliefs. He's got a couple of books out there that you can read. There's not a single thing written in either of them that would warrant any of the ignorant comments I'm seeing here. But then again, self accountability and self responsibility are terms that "fliberals" hate. Fliberals think the gummant should decide everything. 'The gummant knows best how to provide for the citizens. Common citizens aren't capable of making decisions or managing their own affairs. We need more gummant control. People that are lucky enough to have worked hard all their lives should have to take care of the irresponsible masses, and the gummant will make darn sure they do.' Well, Newt doesn't agree with any of that rubbish and most of you don't either. You just parrot what you hear from the Communist News Network and More Socialistic Nonsense Broadcasting Company.
as another indepenent that also voted for Obama, given the mess he was dealt with when he came into power,he is no doubt doing a tremendous job amidst the obstruction from the party with no ideas but only fear mongering and obstuction. Your party of no had 8 years and came up with nothing but disasters. THey still have no ideas. I have never seen a president working so hard, it is unprecedent and he will succeed. enjoy the ride.
How is it that we didn't hear the name Newt Gingrich for 10+ years & all of a sudden he's back and thinks he's a serious contender for the White House?
As far as Sarah Palin? She's the biggest joke on the planet & count me out if she somehow gets in. This is one American who will be living abroad as she wreaks havoc & destruction on this country.
People need to be more patient. Raj A, you're as big a quitter as Sarah Palin herself. You voted for Barack Obama & the instant gratification hasn't come so you're just going to throw your hands up? You independents make me sick, almost as sick as "Conservative" Republicans. Pick a party or get the hell out.
mister gingrich knows about change he has changed wifes about three times since 1997.
Palin found her place at FOX, where she is able to make all the snide, arrogant, and dumb comments all she wants. Let her blossom there. (A channel I do not watch. Ughhh their distortion of reality makes me shudder.)
Newt Gingrich has written some fantastic alternative history books. But I wouldn't vote for him for president.
I love being a Democrat. Failed policies...funny how things are just starting to be fixed.
Please oh please let gingrich run, the only other person that would make an easier re-election for obama would be palen.
Let's tewt for Newt. Don't worry he won't waste any of his money. As for time the scum bag has lots of that.
Sarah Palin – give me a huge break. Is the bimbo still watching the skies over Alaska for Mr. Putin? She couldn't run a state with a measly population of less than 700,000 and most of them live in one city. Don't you get it – she' just an opportunist and you morons are swallowing the whole scam. Let's assume she was to win (fat chance) and then finds it too hard and quits like she did as governor. That is the track record.
Oh well! He certainly would be better than what we have now. Course most anybody would be.
Anyone else think its funny that people are stating "I voted for Obama but i'll be voting for Republicans in 2010 & 2012"...
Errr...why did you vote for Obama in the first place? What "change" did you think he was going to bring you, that you now think republicans will bring you?
I could have understood if you said you were not voting at all – because the process has proven that there's nothing worthy on either side.
But this, this just makes you look like the mental midget you obviously are.
Didn't senate republicans threaten to sue msnbc over ed schultz possibly running for senate, so why is it ok for sarah palin to be on fox news when she hasn't said she would not run for president?
This is longer than the average comment, so if you hate that, skip now.
Gingrich is proceeding as if he still has the moral high ground. His closet is empty because most of his skeletons are in the open, having been public knowledge (not blogish "knowledge", but actual public record) for many years. He remains a semi-darling of the right despite the following:
* In 1996 Gingrich, who was Speaker of the House, shut it all down. Government closed for business. The reason claimed was the repubs were trying to slow government spending, but Gingrich slipped up in an interview and said it was because he was snubbed by President Clinton on a flight to Rabin's funeral in Israel. He and Bob Dole had been made to sit in the back of the plane, and he said this was the real reason for the shutdown. And he said it in front of a roomful of reporters. Point 1: Gingrich is ego driven and selfish and thinks nothing of putting the people and the country in peril because his ego has been bruised.
* In 1997 Gingrich was charged with 84 ethics violations. Were these politics-as-usual charges? No, they didn't come from a big democratic consipracy, they came from a vastly republican congress. The vote against him was 395-28. Eventually they dropped all but one of the charges, then turned the final one over to the IRS, who bungled the case. Point 2: He is corrupt.
* He's been married three times, and it is now known (and he has admitted) that he was cheating on wife number two with wife number three. Not our business? It was while he was leading the charge against Clinton for the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He claimed moral outrage. Point 3: He may be the king of hypocrisy.
There are more. Why are the right wingers not saying the same things about this guy they still say about Bill Clinton? Can a republican commit any outrage that will turn the right against him? Can a democrat do anything that won't?


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June 24, 2010 — -- As The Jacksons' "Victory" tour kicked off in Kansas City in June 1984, Michael Jackson was the hottest celebrity on the planet. He had spent the previous 15 months atop a peak of success, fame and public admiration that no other entertainer has reached since.
He set fashion and style trends. He kicked it with President Ronald Reagan, who said as Jackson laughed: "Michael, please give some TLC to the PYTs. I know that sounds a little Off The Wall, but you know what I mean."
The Grammy Awards that year were a wash. Jackson won a record eight awards, including Record of the Year for "Beat It" and Album of the Year for "Thriller."
Watch the full two-hour special, "Michael Jackson: After Life," Friday on "20/20" at 9 p.m. ET.
"At that time, the dude could walk on water," said Nelson George, the writer and former editor of Billboard magazine. "This -- the acceptance and love for him -- was unbelievable. The media coverage was adoring. ... All the things that people sort of thought was eccentric and they didn't like five years later, in 1984 all of it was charming."
"Being with Michael at that time was like -- I said it's like being with Christ," said John Landis, who directed Jackson in the video for "Thriller," which won the Grammy for "Best Video Album." "People would see him and start sobbing."
"Thriller" was already on its way to becoming the biggest-selling LP ever when the era that defined Jackson at his pinnacle began on March 25, 1983. That was the day he unveiled his signature dance move, the moonwalk, at the Motown 25th anniversary special.
"He set the world on fire," said Debbie Allen, the director and choreographer. "When does somebody do a dance that set the world on fire? I was there. I was in the room. And it was like ... bristling. Everybody was like, 'Oh my God.'"
In the summer of '83, Jackson decided to do a video for the title track of "Thriller." He called Landis, director of "An American Werewolf in London."
"He was fascinated with the metamorphosis that the character in 'American Werewolf in London' goes through," said Landis. "And that's what Mike wanted. He wanted to turn into a monster."
Landis wanted to give Jackson his first onscreen girlfriend. Among those Landis auditioned was a 23-year-old beauty named Ola Ray. Back in 1980, Ray had cited Jackson as her favorite singer -- in her bio for Playboy.
"And I'm like, 'You, uh, uh,' I said, 'You got to give me this part,'" said Ray, laughing at the memory.
Michael Jackson: The 'Thriller' Video
When the cameras rolled in October 1983, Nancy Griffin was the only journalist on the "Thriller" set. For this month's issue of Vanity Fair magazine, Griffin wrote about the making of the video, in which she also appears.
"I remember very vividly the first night I was on the set of 'Thriller' and I was sitting in the ticket booth," said Griffin. "That was one of the nights when I saw him kind of cowering in the corner a little bit and looking around shyly ... almost looking as if he wanted somebody to talk to him."
Ray would prove happy to do just that. Onscreen, her job was to enjoy herself as Landis directed Jackson to charm her on their dance-infused stroll.
"We only did it twice," said Landis. "It's about a minute-and-a-half shot. And you can watch it. And I don't have to do all this cutting around, because he's great."
"He had to flirt with me," said Ray. "He had to play with me, touch me, and flirt with me. So that was great. ... I got to fall in love. And I'd never been in love before."
After a screen kiss, their relationship would deepen in Jackson's trailer.
"We would just sit in his dressing room, we talked about food, you know. We talked about, you know, religion," Ray said. "Wewould talk about why he couldn't date me, you know, why we couldn't be as intimate as I wanted us to be.
"He told me that ... there was someone else that really liked me on the set. He's like, 'I can't. I can't cross that line.'"
But some lines were crossed all the same.
"I think things got pretty sexy between Ola and Michael," said Griffin.
Griffin said she didn't think, in any case, that it was the peak of the star's experience with women.
"I wouldn't say that," Griffin said. "I don't think he's that innocent. He definitely knew what he was doing, in his own little way."
Michael Jackson: Visiting Stars
Jackson's lengthy sessions with makeup artist Rick Baker were captured by renowned photographer Douglas Kirkland, whose photo book "Michael Jackson: The Making of Thriller" will be released in November.
Kirkland also captured actor Rock Hudson's visit to the set.
"Michael ... sees Rock Hudson and he just goes limp," said Kirkland, laughing. "[He] goes over to him and he's looking up to him ... as this great giant."
None of the visitors loomed larger than the celebrity Landis was to meet inside Jackson's trailer late-late one night in L.A.'s gritty meatpacking district.
"I opened the door ... and Michael goes, 'John, do you know Mrs. Onassis?' And it was like..." Landis broke off, laughing. "It was Jackie Kennedy, with the pearls."
Jackson's famous friends hardly could have imagined that this most reclusive of entertainers spent his time off the set proselytizing for his faith.
"During the time 'Thriller' was filmed, Michael was still going door-to-door with copies of the Watchtower booklet," said Griffin. "He was spreading the message of Jehovah's Witness. And he would put on like a Groucho wig and glasses and mustache."
"Thriller" became a stupendous success for Jackson, becoming one of the best-loved music videos ever, imitated around the world. Yet both Landis and Ray later would sue for royalties they felt they were owed. Even in late '83, there were signs of the issues that would overtake the star.
"I had the feeling then, and I expressed it to John, of real concern about him," said costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, the director's wife. "I thought he was very lonely. I knew he was lonely."
"He was in a strange domestic situation," said John Landis. "The kid who grew up on stage, he was living at home in his parents' house."
Ray described what she saw in Jackson's eyes.
"I saw a child," she said. "I saw a child who needed love, you know? It'd make me cry, just thinking about him. His personality was just so pure to me, you know?"
Michael Jackson: Trouble With 'Victory'
In January 1984, Jackson was burned severely while taping a Pepsi ad. Then came the "Victory" tour: not a Michael Jackson solo tour, but a reunion of the grown-up Jacksons.
"Unfortunately, he could not withstand the family pressure, and he agreed to do a tour which he did not want to do," said Griffin. "The Victory Tour was very poorly organized from the beginning."
Amid shimmering performances, there were problems behind the scenes. Tickets only could be purchased through the mail using a money order and application forms cut from newspapers. Many fans could not get tickets. Michael Jackson addressed the problem at a July 1984 news conference.
"We've asked our promoter to work out a new way of distributing tickets, a way that no longer requires a money order," Jackson said. "I want you to know that I've decided to donate all my money I make from the performance to charity."
Griffin attended several "Victory" performances.
"I interviewed his brothers," said Griffin. "I saw Michael. Michael was miserable on that tour. He was completely isolated from his brothers, barely spoke to them."
The troubled tour led many fans and observes to ask a question that would haunt much of Jackson's career: How could such a sure thing also become a debacle?
"I think that Michael's issue really was the money," said John Landis. "There was so much money. ... He was generating such vast amounts of money, and there were so many people and corporate interests that wanted their share."
George said "Thriller" was a mixed blessing.
"'Thriller' was probably the best and worst thing that ever happened to [Jackson],'" George said. "Because then he spent the next 25 years of his life, you know, in pursuit of something to match that."
Jackson's response over time to his quandary would be to withdraw even further, to live in isolated splendor.
Ray still looks back on what might have been.
"We were supposed to have a secret rendezvous," she said. "A friend of the family's had contacted me, and we were supposed to meet in Vegas, but it never happened. Now it won't ever happen."


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By Ben Domenech
July 25, 2014 at 8:08 am ET
The decision in the Halbig v. Burwell case this week was an unexpected legal boon to opponents of Obamacare. Spearheaded by the Cato Institute's Michael Cannon and law professor Jonathan Adler, the case will almost certainly lead this debate about the text of the Affordable Care Act back to the Supreme Court. My colleague Sean Davis has written a comprehensive piece on the case, particularly on the nature of the supposed "drafting error" at its core.
But whatever the ultimate outcome for Halbig, the case serves as a reminder of the uneven ground on which Obama's health care law is likely to be standing over the next two years. Whether facing challenges in the courts, or in implementation, as we saw in the GAO's security report this week, or simply as a matter of political approval, Obamacare is going to be a subject of uncertainty in 2016, and its survival will depend on who wins the election, as I wrote here last month.
This raises an interesting question about how the presidential candidates will interact with the law. The law's continued instability and problems will have to be answered – but the odd circumstance likely to result from the political frame of the issue is that Republicans will put forward a plan to replace Obamacare, but Democrats won't.
One of the lazier memes of Democratic politicians and a few too many members of the media over the past several years has been the myth that Republicans have no alternative to Obamacare. This is the sort of thing that doesn't pass even the most basic assessment of accuracy in reporting – here is a list of the health care reforms introduced by Republican House members in 2012, and here's one for 2013. While their plans vary in scope, there are eight things Republicans generally agree about when it comes to health care reform:
Now, some feel that none of these count as Obamacare replacements, because they aren't aimed at doing the same things Obamacare does (namely, dramatically expanding the number of people on taxpayer-subsidized insurance or entitlement programs). But that's how Republicans will present them. There have been a host of such plans introduced in the Congress and put forward by would-be Republican presidential nominees. And it stands to reason that in 2016, every serious candidate for the presidency in the Republican Party will put forward an alternate plan or endorse one that has already been introduced, if they haven't already. The choice of nominee will also determine the choice of the replacement plan Republicans run on.
For the Democratic nominee, however, the challenge of running in defense of Obamacare could prove more difficult than might be anticipated. Obama's law is sacrosanct for some factions of the Democratic Party. Many observers have cited a variety of poll data showing that Americans want to fix Obamacare as opposed to repealing it or keeping it as-is. But those "fixes" are largely vague at this juncture, thanks to the administration's decision to enforce aspects of the law as it sees fit.
Assuming for the sake of argument that Hillary Clinton is the 2016 nominee, will she really be able to navigate the entire election without putting forward a plan on how she intends to fix Obama's law? The likeliest scenario is that she will avoid saying anything that could cause her political difficulty – urging voters not to risk going back to a pre-Obamacare era, while acknowledging that certain aspects of the law need fixing in a general sense. But fixing Obamacare in the long term (particularly fixing the kind of problems that spawned the Halbig case) will almost certainly ultimately require legislative reform, not just administrative fixes.
If this is how the 2016 election plays out as it relates to health care policy, the amusing aspect is that – for all the talk of Republicans not having a plan to replace Obamacare – we will likely end up knowing a lot more about the plan Republicans intend to put forward after the election than the one Democrats have in mind.


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September 6th, 2012
Richard Dawkins: Evolution is 'not a controversial issue'
Atheist. Biologist. Writer. Thinker. Richard Dawkins has developed an international reputation of spreading the word that evolution happened and that there is no "intelligent design" or higher being, as you might gather from the title of his book "The God Delusion."
But no matter what you think about his convictions, his ideas have gone viral – including the word "meme."
CNN caught up with Dawkins while he was passing through Atlanta earlier this year. His next U.S. tour is in October.
Here is an edited transcript of part of the conversation. Watch the video above for a more focused look at Dawkins' ideas about evolution vs. intelligent design.Read the full interview with Richard Dawkins
soundoff (1,421 Responses)
About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.


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Emily the Queen o' Memes, has a new creation with orders to all of her readers that must not be ignored. So here goes:
1. Depending on your age, go back 10, 15, 20, or even more years.
2. Tell us how many years back you have traveled.
3. Pretend you have met yourself during that era, and tell us where you are.
4. You only have one "date" with this former self.
5. Answer the questions.
I think I'll go back 15 years, which would put me at 21, in my senior year of college.
1. Would your younger self recognize you when you first meet? I think so. My hair has gotten shorter since then, but it's still basically the same style and color (with possibly less gray now than I had then, believe it or not), and I dress in much the same way. I think I'm about the same weight. If there are radical things that have changed, I'm not aware of it.
2. Would she be surprised to discover what you are doing job wise? No. She wouldn't have expected the particular location and school I'm at, but the fact that I'm a teacher wouldn't be a surprise at all. I've always been rather boring and predictable that way.
3. What piece of fashion advice would you give her? Find friends who like to shop and who will help you pick things out. It worked well with Becky, although now that she's moved to England, I'm going to have to get my fashion advice long-distance. But shopping on my own? I'd tell myself to face the fact that I hate it and find friends who don't.
4. What do you think she is most going to want to know? Probably about grad school, which she was in the process of applying for at the time, and in the longer term about careers. Everyone was saying at the time that academic jobs are hard to get (although they've gotten even harder since then), so would her strange self-confidence be justified? But also about relationships and marriage, of course. She wasn't dating anyone at the time and had no idea that in one year …
5. How would you answer her question? If I could manage it, I wouldn't answer it at all. I think it's better not to know things. But I'm not the sort who can be sensible and refuse to divulge things, so I would probably answer everything she asked.
6. What would probably be the best thing to tell her? Generally speaking, I would tell her not to be so nervous and afraid of new things. Actually, there's a lot she's not afraid of, as she's going to move to a fairly rough neighborhood in the Bronx soon (although she has no idea of it yet), and she'll do just fine. But she could be less afraid of other people and less worried about making mistakes. And she could be less judgmental about other people's choices.
7. What is something that you probably wouldn't tell her? That she will change remarkably little. This is good in some ways, but disappointing in others.
8. What do you think will most surprise her about you? She'd say, "I've become an athlete? I enjoy exercising? I ride 5,000+ miles a year on my bike and race? Yeah, right. Exercise is just another chore, and I don't know the first thing about bikes. And don't care." And she'd also say, "You don't call yourself a Christian any longer? You practice yoga and read books about Buddhism and spirituality? You've become one of those kinds of people!?"
9. What do you think will least surprise her? That I'm teaching and reading a lot. That I like reading Victorian novels. That I've done a lot of hiking.
10. At this point in your life, would you like to run into "you" from the future? No. Being 15 years older than my former self has made me a lot less confident about the future. I don't want to know.


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DX Code Of Conduct
(various languages inside)
- I will listen, and listen, and then listen again before calling.
- I will only call if I can copy the DX station properly.
- I will not trust the DX cluster and will be sure of the DX station's call sign before calling.
- I will not interfere with the DX station nor anyone calling and will never tune up on the DX frequency or in the QSX slot.
- I will wait for the DX station to end a contact before I call.
- I will always send my full call sign.
- I will call and then listen for a reasonable interval. I will not call continuously.
- I will not transmit when the DX operator calls another call sign, not mine.
- I will not transmit when the DX operator queries a call sign not like mine.
- I will not transmit when the DX station requests geographic areas other than mine.
- When the DX operator calls me, I will not repeat my call sign unless I think he has copied it incorrectly.
- I will be thankful if and when I do make a contact.
- I will respect my fellow hams and conduct myself so as to earn their respect.
Note that an expanded version of the Code in English that contains many useful hints is available here. CLICK HERE
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(My latest book God vs. Darwin: The War Between Evolution and Creationism in the Classroom has just been released and is now available through the usual outlets. You can order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, the publishers Rowman & Littlefield, and also through your local bookstores. For more on the book, see here. You can also listen to the podcast of the interview on WCPN 90.3 about the book.)
Is Barack Obama going to be a one-term president?
Given that this is the anniversary of only his first year in office, it might seem premature to pose this question, except as a hook on which to examine the state of politics in the country. That is indeed my intent in this short series of posts leading up to his State of the Union speech next week but before I do so, let me give my answer to the question anyway. At the rate he is going, Obama deserves to be just a one-term president. But what is likely to get him re-elected is that the Republican party seems to be in the process of being taken over by a coalition of wackos (religious nuts, birthers, deathers, conspiracists, tea-baggers, gun nuts, xenophobes, and outright racists) that is likely to repel most mainstream Americans, however much they may dislike Obama's performance in office. The current Republican party, once led by the likes of Abraham Lincoln, is now the party of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh, pandering to the lowest emotions of greed and fear and selfishness of a rabid core of supporters. They are leading the party into a political wilderness from which it will take a long time to return.
But the unlikelihood of this group gaining power is no reason for complacency amongst those of us who seek a more just society because the very lack of a reasonable and credible opposition only enables the Democratic leadership to sell out its supporters even more, the way that Obama and the current leadership are doing, because they know that voters have nowhere else to go. The fact that McCain-Palin in 2008 and a likely similarly bizarre Republican ticket in 2012 are truly ghastly alternatives does not mean that we should give Obama a pass and pretend that he is acting in our best interests. "I'm not as crazy as my opponents" is not an inspiring platform.
Obama rode to victory on the crest of public anger at the rampant crony capitalism that was the hallmark of the Bush-Cheney years and resulted in the looting of the public treasury to facilitate massive giveaways to the wealthy. Instead of channeling this anger to pursue a reform agenda, Obama and the Democratic leadership have instead eagerly served the needs of the same group. These people are not called the ruling class for nothing. Presidents and congresses may come and they may go, but this class rules forever.
Matt Taibbi is one of the few journalists able to see Obama's obvious selling out to Wall Street in the wake of his election:
What's taken place in the year since Obama won the presidency has turned out to be one of the most dramatic political about-faces in our history. Elected in the midst of a crushing economic crisis brought on by a decade of orgiastic deregulation and unchecked greed, Obama had a clear mandate to rein in Wall Street and remake the entire structure of the American economy. What he did instead was ship even his most marginally progressive campaign advisers off to various bureaucratic Siberias, while packing the key economic positions in his White House with the very people who caused the crisis in the first place. This new team of bubble-fattened ex-bankers and laissez-faire intellectuals then proceeded to sell us all out, instituting a massive, trickle-up bailout and systematically gutting regulatory reform from the inside.
People like Pat [a teabagger that Taibbi met at a protest] aren't aware of it, but they're the best friends Obama has. They hate him, sure, but they don't hate him for any reasons that make sense. When it comes down to it, most of them hate the president for all the usual reasons they hate "liberals" — because he uses big words, doesn't believe in hell and doesn't flip out at the sight of gay people holding hands. Additionally, of course, he's black, and wasn't born in America, and is married to a woman who secretly hates our country.
These are the kinds of voters whom Obama's gang of Wall Street advisers is counting on: idiots.
I think Taibbi has nailed it. Why do I think that Obama should be a one-term president? Long time readers of this blog will know that I had few illusions about Obama, either on domestic or foreign policy. I have repeatedly said that the US is a one-party state with two factions that can be labeled Democrats and Republican. This one party is united in its pro-war and pro-business policies, and its two factions differ only on some social issues (abortion, gay rights). And even there the differences are getting less. The Democrats have been giving only lukewarm support to the needs of their pro-choice and gay rights supporters.
The history of the US bears out this fundamental unity of aims of the two parties. Wars have been initiated and supported by both parties. When it comes to doing favors for the financial and business interests that give their parties so much money, the two parties fall over themselves to see who can be more obliging. Obama periodically makes speeches excoriating Wall Street bankers and threatening them with the prospect of even more speeches if they don't behave, while at the same time doing nothing concrete to rein in their recklessness or greed. Of course, the bankers know that this is all a show to placate the masses. So they obligingly act chastened while smirking over the fact that they effectively control the President and the government's economic policies.
If any doubts remained that the US is indeed a one party state, the election in 2008 of Barack Obama as president and of solid Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, and the subsequent policies pursued by them should, as I will argue in subsequent posts, put those doubts to rest.
POST SCRIPT: Jon Stewart nails what's annoying about Palin
|The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
|Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c


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Last week, as Egypt plunged deeper into political violence, CPJ recorded a sad statistic: the death of the 1,000th journalist in the line of duty since we began keeping records in 1992. While that benchmark death came amid a military raid, seven out of 10 killed journalists were in fact murdered in reprisal for their work– and the killers have evaded justice in almost all of those cases, our research shows.
Since launching our Global Campaign Against Impunity in 2007, CPJ has undertaken advocacy efforts targeting countries where the problem is particularly acute. We seek and often obtain top-level commitments to provide adequate protection by law enforcement, investigate journalist murders, and prosecute not only the assassins but the masterminds. In the rare instances where governments develop both the political will and technical capacity to fully investigate killings and bring the culprits to justice, the silencing cycle is broken.
One country where perpetual impunity remains a huge impediment to a free press is Somalia, where over the past decade, 24 journalist murders have gone unsolved. Last year was the deadliest, with 12 journalists murdered; at least two have been confirmed murdered in 2013. Anti-press violence is so acute in conflict-ridden Somalia that in the past five years, 70 journalists have been forced to flee the country for their safety, CPJ research shows. Among the 2012 victims of violence was Hassan Yusuf Absuge, a reporter and producer with the privately-owned Radio Maanta.
This past Saturday, Somali authorities executed Aden Sheikh Abdi, the man found by a local court to be Hassan's murderer. In a statement to the Associated Press, a CPJ representative made comments that could be construed as supportive of the execution in the first such case to be resolved in Somalia. Yet, although the case represents a step forward in that it ends the absolute indifference of authorities to the habitual killing of journalists, the trial left much to be desired in terms of due process. In fact, long before this final outcome, local journalists had expressed skepticism of the court's findings because of due process violations and the presence of some exculpatory evidence.
As an organization that advocates for the basic human right to receive and impart information and opinions without obstruction, CPJ respects each government's decisions on what is deemed adequate punishment within their own justice systems, but is not supportive of the death penalty as a way to deliver justice and build security for journalists who are targeted in reprisal for their work. On the same day that Abdi was executed, another journalist was shot dead in Mogadishu.
CPJ believes that a sure path toward justice for murdered journalists requires thorough investigations, transparency, and due process. Only such measures can further the rule of law and eventually make it safe to report on the powerful forces and taboo topics that affect the local population on a daily basis, in Somalia and around the world.


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Breaking Dawn
"We've got to get home and start reading," said one of the teenage girls tearing out the door of the small-town Borders where I bought my copy of Breaking Dawn a few minutes after midnight on Aug. 2. Ardent fans of Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster series about perpetually swooning Bella Swan, her vampire sweetheart, and the various werewolves and bloodsucking freaks who populate her world aren't waiting for a cool critical appraisal of this final installment to decide whether it's worth their time. You succumb to Meyer's novels as you do to a powerful, slightly ridiculous dream. Or you don't.
Here's a third possibility: You whip through Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, then abruptly lose all patience with the franchise midway through Breaking Dawn, when Meyer takes her supernatural love story several bizarre steps too far.
Dawn begins days before 18-year-old Bella's wedding to Edward Cullen, whom she has worshipped since she first arrived in the drizzly town of Forks, Wash., three volumes and 1,700 pages ago. Back then she was the new kid in town, insecure and crushing madly on the cutest boy in school, who just happened to be a vampire. (He's part of a polite coven who drink animal blood.) Now, after countless misunderstandings and estrangements, after outsmarting evil fiends and consorting with cuddly werewolves, Bella finally has what she has always wanted: Edward. "He had the most beautiful soul, more beautiful than his brilliant mind or his incomparable face or his glorious body," Bella coos. Yes, you need to plow through acres of this kind of goo in all Meyer's novels, but they move so quickly you hardly notice.
The couple has made a pact. Edward will transform Bella into a vampire — a fate she has pleaded for — but only after they enjoy a "real" honeymoon, complete with vampire-on-human sex. So, off to a tropical island the newlyweds jet to at last consummate their long-simmering love. Like many of his kind, Edward gets a little wild in the sack; he shreds pillows and destroys the headboard of a bed during their coupling, and bruises Bella all over her body. Happily for her, though somewhat upsettingly for the reader, she is so transported by erotic rapture that she fails to notice: "I only remembered wanting him to hold me tighter, and being pleased when he did…." If this sounds steamy, rest assured (or don't get your hopes up): Meyer writes about even furniture-wrecking sex with the decorum of a Victorian schoolmistress.
She is less restrained, alas, in her macabre descriptions of the pregnancy that immediately follows. Any reasonably astute reader will guess that Edward has knocked Bella up — inexplicable nausea, gnawing hunger — long before she figures it out herself. And it's when Bella, suffering from morning sickness and gestating a vampire, starts vomiting "a fountain" of blood, that Meyer jumps the shark.
The series has always been grounded in Bella's human voice, which is imbued with adolescent fragility and unwavering passion for Edward, which, however goopily described, has a kind of winsome purity rare in young-adult fiction. You may wish she had loftier goals and a mind of her own, but these are fairy tales, and as a steadfast lover in the Disney princess mold, Bella has a certain saccharine appeal. As the masochistic teenage mother-to-be of a monster — a fetus that breaks her ribs when it kicks — she is not only hard to identify with but positively horrifying, especially while guzzling human blood to nourish the infant. (She adamantly refuses an abortion, which even Edward begs her to consider.) By the time the feverish birth scene rolls around, you'll think Rosemary's Baby might make a suitable companion video to What to Expect When You're Expecting.
And this is just the beginning.
During the loonier stretches of the novel, Meyer wisely turns the narration over to Bella's old friend Jacob, a warmhearted werewolf who has always been sweet on her. He becomes our tenuous anchor to sanity, as outrageous new plot twists sprout like kudzu. "I felt like — like I don't know what. Like this wasn't real. Like I was in some Goth version of a bad sitcom," Jacob confides before he too is swept up in the narrative mayhem. So do we, Jacob. So do we. D


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About San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th most populous in the United States, with 815,201 residents as of 2021. It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers), at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City, and the fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. Among the 331 U.S. cities proper with more than 100,000 residents, San Francisco was ranked first by per capita income (at $133,856) and fifth by aggregate income as of 2019. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include SF, San Fran, The City, Frisco, and Baghdad by the Bay.San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and the arts and sciences, spurred by leading universities, high-tech, healthcare, FIRE, and professional services sectors.
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Our Newest Profiles


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Dear Abby Straying husband could have picked up more than hooker
DEAR ABBY: I found out my husband has been corresponding with prostitutes he picked up when we went on vacation. He emailed them twice, but the second one hurt me the most. He sent her money. I confronted him and was ready to end the marriage, but we have a son.
He denied having sexual contact with the women and said he was just flirting, so I forgave him. But I told him I won't tolerate it a third time. He agreed to have marriage counseling and do his part to convince me he will change.
Is it worth it to try again for the sake of our son? I don't trust him anymore, but I still love him. -- READY TO LET GO
DEAR READY: When a man gives money to a hooker, it's usually for a reason. The reason isn't charity; it's for services he wants rendered. (And they don't take money in arrears.)
No one can decide for you whether or not to stay in the marriage, but before making any decisions, make it your first priority to contact your doctor and be checked for STDs. Who knows what your husband might have picked up while "flirting."
If you do decide to remain in the marriage, you'd be wise to schedule regular appointments for STD checkups. Your husband has shown himself to be not only a philanderer but also a liar.
DEAR ABBY: I have been meaning to write to you for a long time. Now that we have gone through another year of Mother's Day and Father's Day, would you PLEASE acknowledge those of us who did NOT have a parent who deserved to be honored? SOME PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE PARENTS! I dread these commercialized days every year. Our planet does not lack for population. We don't need more people.
There are horror stories every day in the media about child abuse, yet you honor these people without qualification. For those who have parents who deserve to be honored, I'm happy for you. But the celebration is only salt in the wounds of those of us who wish we'd never been born. -- ONE OF THEM IN LONGMONT, COLO.
DEAR ONE OF THEM: I agree that the commercialization of certain holidays can be painful for those who cannot join in the celebration. This would include children and adults who were abused or neglected by their parents, as well as those who no longer have living parents.
I doubt many people remain childless for the public good. Usually there are deeply personal reasons for it. For people who are childless by choice, every day is an affirmation of their decision. However, for those who want children and cannot have them, their loss can be excruciating.
DEAR ABBY: Can you give any advice for a male in his 50s who is still a virgin, who is afraid of being intimate and hasn't even kissed a girl since high school? Is it OK to live and enjoy life this way, or is sex something that every human should experience? -- CURIOUS IN FLORIDA
DEAR CURIOUS: If someone is happy and enjoying life having never had sexual relations, then it's OK. However, if you are still a virgin because of fear of intimacy, this is something to discuss with a psychologist to help you understand what caused your fear and inability to trust, because you could be getting more out of life than you have settled for.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.


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Tiger Woods wins first PGA tournament since 2009
Staff Writer
State Journal-Register
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods finally brought the buzz back to the very thing that made him famous — winning.
Two weeks after another injury scare, and two days before his former coach's book goes on sale, Woods looked dominant as ever Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
It was his first PGA Tour victory since a sex scandal at the end of 2009 led to one of the greatest downfalls in sports. And with the Masters only two weeks away, Woods looks more capable of ever than resuming his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus in the majors.
Woods closed with a 2-under 70 for a five-shot win over Graeme McDowell.
The question two weeks ago was when he could play again. Now, it's whether he can rule the sport like he once did.


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Arsenic- and lead-contaminated soil is being cleaned up at several parks in two counties. A settlement has allowed the Department of Ecology to expand its Soil Safety Program to include parks, camps, and public multi-family housing.
The Washington Department of Ecology started a new round of park cleanups this week that will see arsenic- and lead-contaminated soils removed from play areas at parks in King and Pierce counties. The agency announced the play areas being cleaned up are at Dottie Harper in Burien, McMicken Heights and Sunset Playfields in SeaTac, Lake Grove in Federal Way, Dockton on Vashon Island, and American Lake and Kiwanis in Lakewood. Contamination levels in the parks are not high enough to cause immediate concern, but there is a long-term health risk for children.
Soil sampling done in 2010 confirmed the presence of arsenic and lead contamination from a former Asarco smelter in Tacoma, according to the department's news release. "We have a very tight timeline," said Ecology's cleanup coordinator, John Zinza, who is overseeing the contractors. "Grass must be seeded by mid-October in order to survive the winter, and rain can make soil work more difficult."
The funds to do the work come from a settlement with Asarco that allowed Ecology to expand its Soil Safety Program to include parks, camps, and public multi-family housing; the program originally covered school and child care play areas. "Every single park cleanup project protects more children in South King and Pierce counties from toxic chemicals," said state Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D–Des Moines, the prime sponsor of the original soil safety legislation. "This program is an investment in the health and safety of future generations."
This free webinar will inform attendees on the most significant updates and modifications in the new standard, known as E1527-21 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process.


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Millennium Films has acquired "High Value Target," a high-concept action project written by Spenser Cohen, a person familiar with the project has told TheWrap.
The film, which will also mark Cohen's directorial debut, chronicles Mantis, a lethal special-operations unit that attacks a boat operated by Somali pirates. In an effort to ramp up the realism, much of the story will be told with point of view cameras attached to members of the unit.
It has been described as "Black Hawk Down" meets "The Raid: Redemption" since the vast majority of the film covers the raid, which transpires in one location — the boat.
The deal is for low six figures, a total that could rise if the film proceeds. Millennium, the company behind "The Expendables," sees the project as a potential low-budget action franchise. The story of this special unit can be retold with new, similarly tantalizing targets.
The company did not have any comment.
Cohen, a USC film school grad, developed the project with Zachary Luna. Tripp Vinson is producing with Brooklyn Weaver, who manages Cohen at Energy Entertainment. Liza Zambri is executive producing and Anna Halberg is co-producing.


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Perlita House: The First Passive House Building in Los Angeles
A few years after I finished building what I thought was my dream house in France, I discovered the Passive House International (PHI) standard and became very frustrated that I hadn't known about it earlier.
Why Passive House?
According to the latest climate scientists' report, published in October 2018, drastic weather changes, ocean rise, more forest fires, and other consequences will occur if we don't limit total global warming to less than 2°C. To achieve this goal, we need to change our ways of living now. According to climate scientists, the target is to reduce our CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 and to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The PHI standard that began to be developed in the early 1990s has proven to reduce a home's heating-and-cooling demand by up to 90%, and to reduce up to 75% of the total energy consumption of buildings, depending on the climate. More than 80,000 buildings all around the world, in every climate zone—single-family homes, apartment buildings, office buildings, hospitals, schools, museums, and more—are built to the PHI standard. But this is still nothing compared to the several billions of new square feet built each year, and even less when you consider that there are approximately 120 million existing buildings in the United States alone.
So when communities that are really serious about meeting the international COP21 standards—the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference in France in 2015, or Conference of the Parties (COP21)—discover the PHI standard, they have a clear and reliable path to reducing almost half of their carbon emissions by building or renovating every building to conform to that standard (45% of CO2 emissions are emitted from buildings). This is, for example, what Vancouver started to do a few years ago. New buildings are to be zero emission by 2030 and using PHI standards will help them get there.
Perlita Passive House
When I learned about the PHI standard, I did not understand why every single building wasn't built to that standard. As a mechanical engineer, I wanted to get the training to help design and build houses using the standard. In 2014, I took the Certified Passive House Designer and Consultant training. And I decided that my next house would be a Passive House.
So when I moved with my family to Los Angeles, that was all I had in mind. In the summer of 2015, we found a house to renovate in the location we wanted (because the PHI standard works for retrofit as well as for new construction). And I set to work.
We have now been living in the Perlita Passive House—the first Passive House in the Los Angeles area–for a full 12 months, and I am now able to share real operational results. I can confirm that the PHI standard performs in this area as well as it does in all the cities that are adopting it around the world—from Brussels to Dublin, from New York to Vancouver.
First off, how is our house different from standard construction in California?
- It has more insulation in the walls, the roof, and the floor.
- It has fewer thermal bridges. This is done by making sure that the thermal envelope is continuous.
- It has a very airtight envelope (blower door tested at 0.6 ACH50 maximum, as compared to an average of about 6 ACH50 for conventional new construction, equivalent to a 16-inch hole in the building envelope).
- It has highly efficient windows with appropriate
- It has continuous fresh air and exhaust ventilation to ensure proper indoor air quality (IAQ).
All of these attributes enable our house to meet the PHI energy consumption criteria. These criteria are maximum heating demand 4.75 kBtu per square foot per year; maximum cooling demand 4.75k Btu per square foot per year, plus the dehumidification contribution related to the local climate (0 in our case); and maximum energy use intensity (EUI) 14.8 kBtu per square foot per year.
A simple but detailed energy modeling tool, the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP), helps you to determine the insulation R-value, window efficiency, air-conditioning system, and ventilation unit required to meet these criteria. Table 1 shows how the Perlita house compares to Title 24 California Code requirements with respect to R-value and ACH50.
Table 1. Perlita House and California Code
Los Angeles—Climate Zone 9
Perlita Passive House
Title 24—2013
R-value walls
R-value floor
R-value roof
R-value window
Air Leakage, ACH50
≤ 1.0 for retrofit
6 approx.
Our PHPP requirements were not far off the current Title 24 California Code requirements, and should lower our heating and cooling demand by 63%. (It is hard to tell precisely, since the monitoring system does not give a breakdown just for the HVAC unit; but we are close to our overall energy use goal, and our 1-ton HVAC unit does the job. So we are on track.)
The main differences between Perlita House and Title 24 were as follows:
- We increased the required R-value a little for the roof and the floor and added an extra layer of insulation for the walls.
- We installed high-performance double-paned windows and doors. The most difficult part was to find airtight ones, since the National Fenestration Rating Council air leakage test is optional.
- We made the envelope airtight. While this was the most challenging part of the job, it also made for the biggest improvement over Title 24 requirements.
- We installed an efficient ventilation system.
The overall additional cost was 3.6% more than normal construction, including the Passive House modeling and consulting fees and taking into account the savings from a smaller heating-and-cooling unit requirement.
However, it is critical to note that Passive House is not a typical cost-plus paradigm. If you take a typical building and simply try to make it a Passive House building—yes, it could cost more. But if you start from the beginning of the design process and fully integrate Passive House goals, on average PH can even cost a little less than standard construction (see Figure 1).
Living Well in a Passive House
During the Christmas holidays we stayed at some relatives' house, and that's when my wife, my son, and I realized the advantages of living in our Passive House for the last year. Unlike our relatives' conventional house, our house isn't cold when we get up in the middle of the night or in the morning. The HVAC popping on in the middle of the night does not wake us up; in our house we don't even hear our small 1-ton heat pump, which barely ran during the entire winter or even during the summer unless it was over 100°F outdoors; and the upstairs does not get warmer than the downstairs. All three of us had forgotten those issues; it is amazing how well one adjusts to comfort!
After we moved into our new house, we had friends stay with us and our two large cats. As it happens, several of them were highly allergic to cats; they had expected to suffer and to have to take strong medicine. But not one of them experienced an allergic reaction. The only explanation is that the continuous ventilation required in PHI buildings provides a silent, but constant, fresh air supply that maintains a very high IAQ. With equal amounts (120 CFM50) of fresh air and exhaust air, we can always maintain our CO2 level way below 1,000 ppm, compared to standard-built homes, where it is common to regularly exceed 3,000 ppm.
Another comfort benefit we are experiencing is that we no longer hear the city noises, thanks to our house's airtight envelope, high-efficiency windows, and extra insulation. Even helicopters flying at night (ubiquitous in Los Angeles) don't wake us up anymore.
Then every two months we receive our energy bill, and
we realize how well Passive House and net zero energy work together.
Integrating Solar, Going All-Electric
Renewable energy has been fully integrated into PHI standards since 2015, when PHI developed the primary energy renewable (PER) factor and added two new certification classes: Passive House Plus, roughly equivalent to net zero, and Passive House Premium, equivalent to carbon zero. The original Passive House standard without renewable energy was rebranded as Passive House Classic.
So on-site solar panels were not a requirement to certify our house, but we designed it to have an unshaded roof almost perfectly facing south for solar panel placement, since in California, starting in 2020, all new residential buildings up to four stories will have to be net zero (to produce at least as much energy from renewables as the building uses over a 12-month period). Our PHPP modeling called for ten panels to reach Passive House Plus or net zero for our 2,120 ft2 all-electric fossil-fuel-free house.
During the renovation process, we removed the gas line to the house, which was no longer needed. Induction cooking works better and is safer than gas; our heat-pump water heater works perfectly and cools the unconditioned basement which existed when we bought the house—perfect for wine storage. Using a heat pump for heating and A/C was cheaper than adding a furnace for heating alone. And our electric ventless clothes dryer works perfectly and was easy to install. So not only do we now not emit CO2, but we also have a healthier and safer house.
We also decided to get a small used electric car and calculated the need for four more solar panels to supply the electricity that our local commute of about 7,500 miles per year would require.
So we were looking at a solar array of 16 360W panels. Without enough historical data, and considering how much cooking we do and allowing a safety factor for house consumption, we added two extra solar panels to the ten required by PHI. Over the last 12 months (our solar panels kicked in on January 11, 2018), we produced 10,240 kWh (see Figure 2). On January 11, 2019, our electric meter showed that we had received from the grid 3,864 kWh and exported to the grid 5,095 kWh. We used 1,384 kWh for the electric car that we purchased in April, so this means that we used 7,575 kWh for the house, without paying any special attention to our usage or changing any of our habits. I suspect that much of the 20% difference between my modeling numbers and the actual figures is attributable to the fact that we did more cooking than we had anticipated, since we are enjoying our new kitchen space and entertaining often. I will be investigating our energy use further; I plan to start by finding an affordable monitoring system that takes into account the storage battery.
According to these numbers, the Perlita Passive House was net zero energy this year with only 12 solar panels, for an all-electric 2,120 ft2 house. Our final EUI was calculated at 12.1 kBtu per square foot per year. According to the LA Energy Atlas, developed by the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, the average energy consumption for single-family houses is 44.9 kBtu per square foot per year. This corresponds to an energy consumption almost 4 times higher than our Passive House, which means 4 times more solar panels to reach net zero. Looking only at buildings built after 1990, the average EUI is 33.4 kBtu per square foot per year, which is still almost 3 times higher and means 3 times more solar panels to reach net zero.
The EUI for buildings could be compared to miles per gallon for cars. The most energy-efficient gas car uses "only" one-third as much fuel as the worst gas guzzler (18 mpg versus 55 mpg for mixed city and highway use). When CO2 emissions for buildings are higher than CO2 emissions for cars, we need to start looking at building efficiency much more seriously than we do now.
For various reasons, including the fact that it is required for the Living Building Challenge certification we are doing, in addition to our Passive House certification, we installed a 13.5 kWh storage battery in mid-April. The battery allows the house to be off-grid about 70% of the time, so I looked at what it would take to make it 100% off-grid. In order to cover that 30% gap, we would need ten more solar panels and two additional storage batteries. After making that calculation and estimating the corresponding cost, I was very happy to have to pay at present only $11 a month of minimum charge to my utility company. It also shows the challenge the utility companies are facing while switching to the fossil fuel free grid we need, especially in terms of storage capacity. At present, there is no return on investment for electricity storage batteries. This will probably change as we move more and more toward an all-renewable grid, and as time-of-use peak rates continue to increase. For now, the best batteries are comfort storage batteries—that is, Passive House buildings. Improving building performance is essential if we want to see a carbon-free world.
What's Next?
I know that the Perlita Passive House won't save the world, but I hope our project is inspiring as many people as possible to start making PHI the new construction standard in California. This is what the amazing PHI community of about 10,000 people from around the world is doing every day.
In terms of changes that our society, which includes each one of us individually, needs to make, changing the way we erect and renovate buildings is probably the easiest. We already have the solutions that bring more than just comfort and very low energy bills. PHI makes economic sense; it creates jobs and gives those jobs a new meaning for contractors building and renovating houses in the field; and it gives a meaning to those "sustainable" and "green" designations that I see too often without really understanding what they mean.
What's next? Today, building operation represents 90% of the CO2 emissions in the building life cycle assessment, while less than 10% comes from building construction. However, when you reduce emissions related to operation by 75%, the emissions related to construction—mainly from construction materials—suddenly represent one-third of building emissions. So the next step for our industry is to reduce CO2 emissions from building construction—which will also help to conserve our limited natural resources. Two examples: The cement industry alone accounts for 5% of the world's total CO2 emissions; and available natural resources won't be sufficient to manufacture all the solar panels and storage batteries we will need, if we don't significantly increase our buildings' efficiency.
learn more
To learn more about the Perlita Passive House.
I am returning to France in three years. However, my goal before I leave is to begin as many Passive House buildings in the Los Angeles area and in California aspossible, and to share my experience of Passive House building with architects and designers. Vancouver has set a record that I would like to see us beat. Vancouver had one single-family Passive House in 2015; by the end of 2018, it had 1,100 permitted Passive House buildings. Can we beat that in Los Angeles? The second Passive House in the Los Angeles area is already finished. Who is next?
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UN rights chief urges Serbia to allow pride parade for lesbian and gay people
The parade, which was supposed to take place on Saturday, was banned by the Serbian Ministry of Interior based on security assessments. The same occurred last year after the parade held in Belgrade in 2010 faced attacks of violence, resulting in acts of vandalism and the wounding of many police officers and civilians.
"Responding to violent attacks against a vulnerable community by banning them from peacefully gathering and expressing themselves further violates their fundamental human rights," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay. "States should confront prejudice, not submit to it."
Ms. Pillay noted that Serbia's progress in the promotion and protection of human rights since 2008 had been cited by a number of UN human rights mechanisms, and the Belgrade Pride Parade presents another opportunity for the Balkan country to reaffirm its commitment to the advancement of human rights, especially those of vulnerable communities.
"I urge the Government to take steps to ensure adequate protection of the LGBT community, as well as other vulnerable communities and minorities such as the Roma, so that they are able to exercise their freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly," Ms. Pillay said, adding that the Government should facilitate the rescheduling of the parade.
Ms. Pillay reiterated the readiness of her office (OHCHR) to assist the Government in these efforts, in close partnership with international and regional organizations as well as national institutions and civil society organizations.
Serbia's Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human Rights Council next year will provide another forum to analyze the steps the State has taken in the field of human rights, she added.


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Philip Maddocks: God forms end-of-world exploratory committee
God announced Tuesday that he had formed an exploratory committee to investigate the possibility of ending the world.
He said he anticipated running "a much, much less ambiguous campaign" than he has in the past should he decide to make it official and announce his intention of ending the world, although he made it clear that he would not be bullied into a decision by publicity-seeking preachers and their pre-emptive attempts at setting a date for the final day.
"I think he'll play a bigger role this time than he has in previous years," said Ben Berkerstromm, the director of divine enterprises at the Institute of Politics and Study. "You can't underestimate someone who has a passionate following who can raise money."
There is some question, however, whether God is ready to subject himself and his family to the public scrutiny that would almost certainly follow should he declare his intention to end the world.
There would unquestionably be inquiries into his role in the economic meltdown, which has gone largely unexamined, even though some in the investment banking business have credited the Almighty for their success in achieving wealth.
Other observers point out that God tends to pay little attention to standard political conventions. He is fiercely antiwar at a time when the people of the world have typically expressed staunch support for military efforts. And he calls for deep and painful sacrifices by important political constituencies.
Surveys suggest, as well, that support for God to end the world remains low. In most recent polls, such a plan receives just over 5 percent of the support from potential voters.
But God remains a formidable presence with a larger international profile than any sitting Supreme Court judge, or Wall Street CEO, or television executive, even when these groups seemed to hold dominion over the world back in 2007, before the financial crisis struck.
And despite a crowded field of contenders competing for the public's attention with apocalyptic proclamations, most say that God's would still be considered the final word when it comes to ending the world.
Speaking at an event in Des Moines, God pointed to the lack of consensus on the debt ceiling, the unrepentant sullying of the environment and the end of Oprah's afternoon talk show as good arguments for bringing the world to an abrupt end. But he did not lay out a timetable for laying waste to the planet, saying only that he would decide by the end of June whether to officially announce.
God acknowledged there are already plenty of good candidates out there with fire in their belly who could probably get the job done without his help, and at points in his talk he sounded resigned to his own powerlessness.
"The world is already quite different," God said. "The impact of the Citizens United decision, the proliferation of unregulated derivatives, and the demise of scripted television shows — there are literally millions more reasons to think the world is already hurtling towards its death even without my direction."
God told his audience in Iowa that he understood and shared their concerns and frustrations, noting that the issues that are important this year — high unemployment, stability in the Middle East, and whether the Bush tax cuts are affordable — were front and center back when John was authoring the Book of Revelation.
"This is not a decision I undertake lightly," he said. "Whatever I decide to do, it will be done in the best interest of the people, the world, and free economies everywhere."
God added that when it comes to ending the world there is no substitute for the experience he has built up over thousands of years, and if he does decide to proceed, he will end things in a way that will make the world proud, telling the audience in Iowa, "It will be morning in the universe, again."
Philip Maddocks can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com