PROCEDURAL TIE-UP IN COMPENSATION BILL MAY LEAVE CLEARED INMATE EMPTY-HANDED
Source: The Miami Herald 05/02/2007
TALLAHASSEE
Alan Crotzer, who is seeking state compensation for the 24 years he spent wrongfully imprisoned, is about to go home penniless this week as he searches for a job and a rational explanation from a state Senate that won't take up his cause.
With just four days to go in the two-month lawmaking session, Senate President Ken Pruitt all but forced his counterparts in the House to kill a measure Tuesday that would have given the St. Petersburg man about $1.25 million for his lost years.
''They call themselves Christians but speak with a forked tongue,'' Crotzer said, referring to Pruitt and the Republican leader of the Senate, Dan Webster.
Pruitt said the ''process'' is to blame, as well as a tight state budget of $72 billion -- which nevertheless has about $1 billion in unspent money.
Pruitt noted the Crotzer measure had stalled in a Senate committee -- in part, because of Pruitt's own rules -- and didn't belong on a separate bill to spend $4.8 million to compensate the family of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson, who died after he was violently subdued by Panama City boot camp guards.
Crotzer said he learned how to ''do time'' in prison, but he still reacted angrily to what's happening in the Senate.
Barring a last-minute change, Crotzer, 46, will have to come back to seek state compensation next year. It would mark the third time the former inmate has sought legislation since he was released last year on the strength of DNA evidence showing he didn't commit two rapes.
Many House members were outraged. And Gov. Charlie Crist said ''justice is crying out'' for compensation of both the Anderson family and Crotzer. Nearly all of the 120 House members approved a measure to compensate Crotzer. Then, on Monday, House members tacked Crotzer's language onto the high-profile Anderson relief bill sought by the governor.
But Pruitt insisted the two bills be separated because he and fellow Republican House Speaker Marco Rubio had agreed ahead of time to approve 14 compensation bills, including a measure sought by Rubio to give $8.5 million to former Fort Lauderdale resident Minouche Noel, who was crippled by botched state-paid surgeries when she was an infant 19 years ago.
BACK AND FORTH
In the waning days of the session, when loads of legislation pour on the floor of both chambers, any friction can kill a bill if it has to bounce back and forth between the two chambers as they agree on identical language. The House members then separated Crotzer from the Anderson bill, which passed with just 10 ''no'' votes and heads to the Senate for final approval. The House changed the bill to limit lawyer and lobbyist fees.
''I'm not going to give an opinion on what's fair and not fair,'' Pruitt said. ``The Senate is not going to be put in a position where we're doing it at the last minute. Nothing good ever happens whenever you're rushed or you work late.''
A separate measure compensating Crotzer never made it out of a Senate criminal justice budget committee, whose chairman said he's waiting for Pruitt to bring it to the floor. The Republican leader, Webster, said he prefers the failed bill because it seeks to set up a court-like process that gives all exonerated inmates a flat amount of money based on the number of years wrongfully spent in prison.
Last year, the Legislature awarded $2 million to Wilton Dedge, who spent less time -- 22 years -- wrongfully imprisoned than Crotzer.
The difference between the two: Dedge had a clean record and is white. Crotzer was convicted after stealing beer as a young man and is black.
BUILDING THE FUTURE?
Rep. Terry Fields, a Democratic black caucus leader from Jacksonville, noted that there's about $1 billion in unspent money in the budget and that the Senate wanted to spend half of it on a massive public-works road-paving binge called ``Building Florida's Future.''
''How can you talk about building Florida's future when you don't right the wrongs of the past?'' Fields asked.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Law will let you take Fido to the grave
Florida legislators find it more important an issue to debate bills allowing citizens to be buried with their dogs, rather than making legal domestic partnerships. Pets over people. A backward set of priorities in my opinion.
Law will let you take Fido to the grave; Legislators passed a wide-ranging bill on the funeral industry that will give pet owners a new burial option. Source:
The Miami Herald 05/02/2007
TALLAHASSEE
Thanks to a senator's love for his dog, Floridians will soon be able to be buried with the encased ashes of their pets.
A bill in the Legislature that includes wide-ranging provisions on the industry known as ''deathcare'' originally said nothing about dogs and cats. But Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican, wanted to make sure that he can be buried with the ashes of his favorite black Lab, Valentine, who died about a decade ago.
The Senate voted for the measure 38-1 on Tuesday, sending the bill to the governor.
''Valentine was a very special dog,'' King said, adding that the pet helped him get through the deaths of his parents and was with him in his first campaign for office. ``She was the one living thing that was predictable in my life.''
Besides clearing the way for pet burials, the bill prohibits hospices from owning funeral homes and helps protect funeral directors from lawsuits brought by estranged family members who dispute a cremation. But nothing grabbed more attention than King's ''Felix and Fido'' amendment, which he said has drawn all kinds of comments from constituents.
LOTS OF ATTENTION
''I've got meaningful legislation here that probably never will see the light of day,'' King said, adding that the most praise he's received is for this minor pet amendment.
Sen. Victor Crist, the Tampa Republican and bill sponsor, said he had no problem accommodating King's request.
''The love for your pet is almost as great as the love for the other members of your family,'' Crist said. ``The focus should be on what is important to the deceased.''
Under current law, a licensed cemetery can house only human remains. Burial grounds that have wanted to allow pets usually set aside a plot outside the official cemetery. However, Florida's many unlicensed cemeteries have been allowed to bury pets.
Crist said there's no health issue because the bill allows only remains that have been cremated and encased to lie next to their masters.
A SURGE IN LAWSUITS
The other provisions in the bill are the result of changing societal attitudes on death. Funeral homes have been plagued in recent years by increasingly complex family situations, and cremation is becoming more popular, now accounting for about half of the dispositions in Florida.
The combination has culminated in more lawsuits against funeral homes when they cremate remains based on the wishes of the deceased or family. The bill specifies that funeral homes aren't liable when an estranged family member disputes the decision to cremate.
The hospice provision came out of a scare when a Fort Myers hospice applied for a license to operate a funeral home in December, causing a stir over what many said was a conflict of interest.
The bill passed with just one ''no'' vote. That came from Sen. Steve Oelrich, a Cross Creek Republican, who said he thought the bill placed too many regulations on the industry. To the pet provision, he had no objection.
Actually, he may use it to be buried with his dog, he said: ``Bobby Ray Boykin and I can snuggle up.''
Law will let you take Fido to the grave; Legislators passed a wide-ranging bill on the funeral industry that will give pet owners a new burial option. Source:
The Miami Herald 05/02/2007
TALLAHASSEE
Thanks to a senator's love for his dog, Floridians will soon be able to be buried with the encased ashes of their pets.
A bill in the Legislature that includes wide-ranging provisions on the industry known as ''deathcare'' originally said nothing about dogs and cats. But Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican, wanted to make sure that he can be buried with the ashes of his favorite black Lab, Valentine, who died about a decade ago.
The Senate voted for the measure 38-1 on Tuesday, sending the bill to the governor.
''Valentine was a very special dog,'' King said, adding that the pet helped him get through the deaths of his parents and was with him in his first campaign for office. ``She was the one living thing that was predictable in my life.''
Besides clearing the way for pet burials, the bill prohibits hospices from owning funeral homes and helps protect funeral directors from lawsuits brought by estranged family members who dispute a cremation. But nothing grabbed more attention than King's ''Felix and Fido'' amendment, which he said has drawn all kinds of comments from constituents.
LOTS OF ATTENTION
''I've got meaningful legislation here that probably never will see the light of day,'' King said, adding that the most praise he's received is for this minor pet amendment.
Sen. Victor Crist, the Tampa Republican and bill sponsor, said he had no problem accommodating King's request.
''The love for your pet is almost as great as the love for the other members of your family,'' Crist said. ``The focus should be on what is important to the deceased.''
Under current law, a licensed cemetery can house only human remains. Burial grounds that have wanted to allow pets usually set aside a plot outside the official cemetery. However, Florida's many unlicensed cemeteries have been allowed to bury pets.
Crist said there's no health issue because the bill allows only remains that have been cremated and encased to lie next to their masters.
A SURGE IN LAWSUITS
The other provisions in the bill are the result of changing societal attitudes on death. Funeral homes have been plagued in recent years by increasingly complex family situations, and cremation is becoming more popular, now accounting for about half of the dispositions in Florida.
The combination has culminated in more lawsuits against funeral homes when they cremate remains based on the wishes of the deceased or family. The bill specifies that funeral homes aren't liable when an estranged family member disputes the decision to cremate.
The hospice provision came out of a scare when a Fort Myers hospice applied for a license to operate a funeral home in December, causing a stir over what many said was a conflict of interest.
The bill passed with just one ''no'' vote. That came from Sen. Steve Oelrich, a Cross Creek Republican, who said he thought the bill placed too many regulations on the industry. To the pet provision, he had no objection.
Actually, he may use it to be buried with his dog, he said: ``Bobby Ray Boykin and I can snuggle up.''
Earth-Like Planet Discovered
"April 25, 2007 · Scientists have discovered a new planet in the constellation Libra. The small, rocky planet is special because it appears to have mild temperatures, like Earth. Researchers believe it looks like the first planet outside of our solar system that could be home to liquid water, and maybe even life.
Our solar system has only eight planets — nine if you count Pluto. But outside of our solar system, around other stars, scientists have found dozens and dozens of planets.
"We have discovered more than 100 planets, here in Geneva," says Michel Mayor, a planet hunter at the University of Geneva.
Almost all of these known "extrasolar" planets are giant balls of gas, much like Jupiter or Saturn. Such massive planets are relatively easy to find. They have a gravitational pull that makes their stars wobble, and when scientists see that wobble, they know there is a planet. Small, rocky planets cause less of a wobble, making them harder to find.
Still, Mayor and his colleagues have had some luck using the European Southern Observatory's big telescope at La Silla, Chile. They recently pointed it at a nearby star called Gliese 581, in the constellation Libra.
"It's one of our closest neighbors in the galaxy," Mayor says.
His team has found three planets around this star, and one of them is particularly interesting. They think the planet is a little bigger than Earth, with about five times the Earth's mass. It orbits very close to its star, going all the way around in just 13 days. The planet isn't super hot though, because Gliese 581 is a red dwarf, which is much dimmer and cooler than our sun.
Scientists calculate that average temperatures on the surface of the planet should be around 32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Mayor says that is a friendly environment for liquid water and maybe even life.
"We do not have any reason to believe that life exists on that planet," Mayor concedes. "We can only say that we have the temperature to permit the development of life. I would say it's one very interesting step in a long process going in the direction to having some major discovery related to life in the universe."
A report on the discovery has been submitted to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, and other experts agree that it is a significant find. Alan Boss is a planetary scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
"This seems to be the first discovery of an Earth-like planet," Boss says. "It's not exactly an Earth but it's close enough that I think it does deserve the title of perhaps the first Earth-like planet."
Other small planets discovered in the past have been very hot, or very cold. In many ways, though, this planet is a mystery.
"We do not know what the composition of the planet is," says Boss, explaining that scientists assume it is made of rock and metal like Earth. "We do not know how much water it may or may not have on it."
Boss says we could learn a lot more if scientists launched a space telescope that is specially designed to look at faraway planets. NASA has one in development called the Terrestrial Planet Finder, but it has been delayed indefinitely by budget woes.
"Things like Terrestrial Planet Finder are no longer really in the active NASA plan," Boss says.
Still, some scientists have a mental picture of the place. Todd Henry, an astronomer at Georgia State University, says that if you were standing on this planet and looked up, its sun would appear to be huge — five times bigger than our sun looks to us.
"It's going to look very different in this sort of alien situation that we're in than what we're used to here on Earth," Henry says. "The star itself is actually going to look sort of the color of Mars — sort of a red, ruddy color. But it would be much bigger in the sky than we're used to."
He says the star is also notable because the Geneva team found those two other planets circling it. They are also relatively small planets, which have been harder to find.
"This is starting to look like a solar system we're familiar with," Henry says. "If you were in a spaceship and you sort of flew into this system, this is one of the most interesting ones there is out there now."
But don't count on visiting anytime soon. Even though Gliese 581 is close, compared with other stars, it still would take over 20 years to get there — if we could travel at the speed of light, which we can't do."
Our solar system has only eight planets — nine if you count Pluto. But outside of our solar system, around other stars, scientists have found dozens and dozens of planets.
"We have discovered more than 100 planets, here in Geneva," says Michel Mayor, a planet hunter at the University of Geneva.
Almost all of these known "extrasolar" planets are giant balls of gas, much like Jupiter or Saturn. Such massive planets are relatively easy to find. They have a gravitational pull that makes their stars wobble, and when scientists see that wobble, they know there is a planet. Small, rocky planets cause less of a wobble, making them harder to find.
Still, Mayor and his colleagues have had some luck using the European Southern Observatory's big telescope at La Silla, Chile. They recently pointed it at a nearby star called Gliese 581, in the constellation Libra.
"It's one of our closest neighbors in the galaxy," Mayor says.
His team has found three planets around this star, and one of them is particularly interesting. They think the planet is a little bigger than Earth, with about five times the Earth's mass. It orbits very close to its star, going all the way around in just 13 days. The planet isn't super hot though, because Gliese 581 is a red dwarf, which is much dimmer and cooler than our sun.
Scientists calculate that average temperatures on the surface of the planet should be around 32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Mayor says that is a friendly environment for liquid water and maybe even life.
"We do not have any reason to believe that life exists on that planet," Mayor concedes. "We can only say that we have the temperature to permit the development of life. I would say it's one very interesting step in a long process going in the direction to having some major discovery related to life in the universe."
A report on the discovery has been submitted to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, and other experts agree that it is a significant find. Alan Boss is a planetary scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
"This seems to be the first discovery of an Earth-like planet," Boss says. "It's not exactly an Earth but it's close enough that I think it does deserve the title of perhaps the first Earth-like planet."
Other small planets discovered in the past have been very hot, or very cold. In many ways, though, this planet is a mystery.
"We do not know what the composition of the planet is," says Boss, explaining that scientists assume it is made of rock and metal like Earth. "We do not know how much water it may or may not have on it."
Boss says we could learn a lot more if scientists launched a space telescope that is specially designed to look at faraway planets. NASA has one in development called the Terrestrial Planet Finder, but it has been delayed indefinitely by budget woes.
"Things like Terrestrial Planet Finder are no longer really in the active NASA plan," Boss says.
Still, some scientists have a mental picture of the place. Todd Henry, an astronomer at Georgia State University, says that if you were standing on this planet and looked up, its sun would appear to be huge — five times bigger than our sun looks to us.
"It's going to look very different in this sort of alien situation that we're in than what we're used to here on Earth," Henry says. "The star itself is actually going to look sort of the color of Mars — sort of a red, ruddy color. But it would be much bigger in the sky than we're used to."
He says the star is also notable because the Geneva team found those two other planets circling it. They are also relatively small planets, which have been harder to find.
"This is starting to look like a solar system we're familiar with," Henry says. "If you were in a spaceship and you sort of flew into this system, this is one of the most interesting ones there is out there now."
But don't count on visiting anytime soon. Even though Gliese 581 is close, compared with other stars, it still would take over 20 years to get there — if we could travel at the speed of light, which we can't do."
The Uninsured
The ability to have access to healthcare should not have any relation to ones economic status as is the current policy in the USA. Neither should barriers for vast changes in America's healthcare system be present. The fact is the U.S.A. spends more in its profit driven healthcare system then it would in a socialized public regulated system. My vote would be in support of the type of healthcare policy seen in Canada and France.
Illness and the uninsured; While politicians are talking, here's a way to raise local money to help
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC) 05/02/2007
From Amsalu Bizuneh, M.D., of Gaston Memorial Hospital:
Joe (not his real name) thought he knew what to do when his groin started to hurt where he had his hernia repaired some two years ago. He came to Gaston Family Health Services, which provides care at reduced fees for those without health insurance. There he was told he had an infection in the material used to repair the hernia deep in his groin.
Joe had relocated to Gastonia from New York after he was laid off from his factory job that provided the health insurance for the initial hernia repair. His new job could not provide the costly health insurance if it hoped to continue to stay open. Joe did not qualify for Medicaid because he made "too much money."
The doctor who saw him at the Gastonia clinic knew what should be done: Joe needed to see a surgeon fast, who could remove the infected material and repair the hernia. Unfortunately, Joe did not have insurance. Further, he did not have the money to pay for the surgeon's consultation fee or for a surgical repair of the infected groin.
Although his doctor at the clinic gave him powerful antibiotics to take by mouth, he knew Joe's condition could worsen, requiring emergency care, an intensive care unit stay and the need to now see several other expert doctors -- all at a much greater cost than outpatient surgery.
Joe is only one of 47 million Americans who lack health insurance today. As we brace for another presidential election cycle, our nation's uninsured have once again become a hot political issue.
Is the political climate finally ripe to reform our complicated health-care system, where many working Americans fall through the cracks?
Maybe. But experience tells us political rhetoric doesn't always lead to effective changes in policy. What is clear, however, is that while candidates may talk about "health-care reform" every four years, those Americans without health-care coverage must roll the dice every single day in the hope that they do not require medical care.
I frequently see patients like Joe, whose conditions have worsened as a result of unavailable outpatient specialty care. Specialists in our community frequently provide charity care to these patients. However, the volume of patients who require this care is beyond the scope of the physicians who volunteer their time and efforts. Many patients earn less than a thousand dollars above the yearly national poverty level and thus are disqualified from Medicaid.
As evidenced by our presidential politics, the dilemma of Gaston County's uninsured is but a microcosm of a growing national problem that cannot wait another four years for a solution.
To this end, I am working with Gaston Family Health Services to raise awareness about uninsured patients requiring specialty care. On June 2, the inaugural Grand Garibaldi Run ( www.grandgaribaldirun.com ) will be held to raise money for those living without health insurance. I hope the 5K race and 1-mile fun walk will bring many people from the Charlotte area to Belmont, 15 minutes west of uptown Charlotte. While we hope our politicians make proposals, form committees and sponsor bills that will finally ensure sweeping health-care reform, it is left to us to take action. I encourage you to participate in the Grand Garibaldi to raise awareness and develop solutions for patients like Joe.
Illness and the uninsured; While politicians are talking, here's a way to raise local money to help
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC) 05/02/2007
From Amsalu Bizuneh, M.D., of Gaston Memorial Hospital:
Joe (not his real name) thought he knew what to do when his groin started to hurt where he had his hernia repaired some two years ago. He came to Gaston Family Health Services, which provides care at reduced fees for those without health insurance. There he was told he had an infection in the material used to repair the hernia deep in his groin.
Joe had relocated to Gastonia from New York after he was laid off from his factory job that provided the health insurance for the initial hernia repair. His new job could not provide the costly health insurance if it hoped to continue to stay open. Joe did not qualify for Medicaid because he made "too much money."
The doctor who saw him at the Gastonia clinic knew what should be done: Joe needed to see a surgeon fast, who could remove the infected material and repair the hernia. Unfortunately, Joe did not have insurance. Further, he did not have the money to pay for the surgeon's consultation fee or for a surgical repair of the infected groin.
Although his doctor at the clinic gave him powerful antibiotics to take by mouth, he knew Joe's condition could worsen, requiring emergency care, an intensive care unit stay and the need to now see several other expert doctors -- all at a much greater cost than outpatient surgery.
Joe is only one of 47 million Americans who lack health insurance today. As we brace for another presidential election cycle, our nation's uninsured have once again become a hot political issue.
Is the political climate finally ripe to reform our complicated health-care system, where many working Americans fall through the cracks?
Maybe. But experience tells us political rhetoric doesn't always lead to effective changes in policy. What is clear, however, is that while candidates may talk about "health-care reform" every four years, those Americans without health-care coverage must roll the dice every single day in the hope that they do not require medical care.
I frequently see patients like Joe, whose conditions have worsened as a result of unavailable outpatient specialty care. Specialists in our community frequently provide charity care to these patients. However, the volume of patients who require this care is beyond the scope of the physicians who volunteer their time and efforts. Many patients earn less than a thousand dollars above the yearly national poverty level and thus are disqualified from Medicaid.
As evidenced by our presidential politics, the dilemma of Gaston County's uninsured is but a microcosm of a growing national problem that cannot wait another four years for a solution.
To this end, I am working with Gaston Family Health Services to raise awareness about uninsured patients requiring specialty care. On June 2, the inaugural Grand Garibaldi Run ( www.grandgaribaldirun.com ) will be held to raise money for those living without health insurance. I hope the 5K race and 1-mile fun walk will bring many people from the Charlotte area to Belmont, 15 minutes west of uptown Charlotte. While we hope our politicians make proposals, form committees and sponsor bills that will finally ensure sweeping health-care reform, it is left to us to take action. I encourage you to participate in the Grand Garibaldi to raise awareness and develop solutions for patients like Joe.
S.Stanton Top of City's List
"Sex change official moves up on city list
By CAROL E. LEE
carol.lee@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA -- One of the front-runners for Sarasota's city manager position is the former Largo city manager who was fired after commissioners there learned of his plans to have a sex change.Steven Stanton, who applied as Susan Stanton while noting that the name change is not yet official, was one of three applicants that all five Sarasota city commissioners chose Wednesday among their top candidates.
By CAROL E. LEE
carol.lee@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA -- One of the front-runners for Sarasota's city manager position is the former Largo city manager who was fired after commissioners there learned of his plans to have a sex change.Steven Stanton, who applied as Susan Stanton while noting that the name change is not yet official, was one of three applicants that all five Sarasota city commissioners chose Wednesday among their top candidates.
The commissioners had intended to whittle down the pool of 18 semifinalists to eight, but by the end of a two-hour meeting had settled on 11.A consultant will narrow the 11 down to four to six finalists after conducting background checks and checking references. The commissioners will interview them May 29.The three candidates who won unanimous support from the commission have all served as city managers in Florida.Stanton was Largo city manager for 14 years before he was ousted in March. Patrick Salerno has been the city manager of Sunrise since 1990. Robert Bartolotta was city manager of Jupiter until resigning in 2004 to care for his ailing wife, who has since passed away."I'm interested in getting back into Florida management," Bartolotta said in a telephone interview from Savannah, Ga., on Wednesday. "Service is in my blood."Stanton plans to interview as a woman if he makes the final cut."It would be a dream job," said Stanton, who has visited Sarasota many times during the past few years, as Steven and as Susan."Being part of the community would be such an outstanding ending to what started out as a very unpleasant journey 40-some days ago," Stanton said. Sarasota commissioners' choice "contrasts how one community dealt with diversity and how another is planning to," he said."The fact that the commission has enough faith to look at someone for their credentials speaks miles of the inclusive nature of Sarasota."Salerno could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, but the city's consultant, Tom Freijo of The Mercer Group Inc., told the commissioners that Salerno had expressed interest in the Sarasota job before The Mercer Group started advertising for it.Each commissioner selected his or her top eight candidates from a stack of 18 resumes, while Freijo tallied up their nominations on a 2-foot-by-2-foot Post-It.Another three of the 11 contenders now up for review got the support of four commissioners:Daniel Fitzpatrick has been the city manager of Peekskill, N.Y., for the past four years.Marsha Segal-George has been deputy chief administrative officer of Orlando since June 2006.Michael Wright is assistant city manager for development and transportation in Tallahassee."I would certainly be paying a great deal of attention to them," Freijo said of the candidates with four or five commissioners' support.Five other applicants, who made it on two commissioners' lists, would serve more as backups, he said. They are:James Baker, director of administration for St. Louis County in Missouri.Matt Carlson, city administrator of Delafield, Wis.Dennis Kelly, deputy city manager of North Miami.James Palenick, city manager of Rio Rancho, N.M.Terry Zerkle, president of Local Government Network Inc., a consulting business in Cave Creek, Ariz.Commissioners will make a final selection May 30.
Last modified: May 03. 2007 4:31AM
SARASOTA -- One of the front-runners for Sarasota's city manager position is the former Largo city manager who was fired after commissioners there learned of his plans to have a sex change."
Last modified: May 03. 2007 4:31AM
SARASOTA -- One of the front-runners for Sarasota's city manager position is the former Largo city manager who was fired after commissioners there learned of his plans to have a sex change."
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Condoleezza Rice Rise to Power
"Source: All Africa 05/01/2007
May 01, 2007 (Modern Times/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
In the first biography of Condoleezza Rice since her appointment as secretary of state, award-winning Newsweek editor Marcus Mabry explores the contradictions-personal and political-of the most powerful black woman in the history of American politics.
The daughter of a Presbyterian minister and school teacher, Rice was raised in Birmingham, Alabama during the most volatile years of the Civil Rights Movement. She went on to attend the University of Denver, and later Notre Dame, where she received her masters in political science, with an emphasis on the Soviet Union. She later began her academic career at Stanford University, where she held the positions of Assistant and Associate Professor in Political Science, and ultimately became the youngest provost in Stanford's history (as well as the first black and first woman to serve as provost).
Rice began working for the George H.W. Bush administration in 1989, where she served as the Soviet and East European Affairs Advisor. During George W. Bush's 2000 U.S. Presidential election campaign, Rice took a one-year leave of absence from Stanford University to help work as his foreign policy advisor. In 2000 Rice was chosen to be Bush's national security advisor, where she became one of the most vocal proponents of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2004, Rice replaced Colin Powell as (the first female African American) Secretary of State. However along with success comes scrutiny. While Rice's accomplishments have been many, there has also been a great degree of criticism and controversy pertaining to her role as national security advisor and Secretary of State.
Her judgment and actions have been called into question on a number of issues including: supporting the Bush/Cheney agenda by "selling" the war in Iraq to Americans, failing to admit mistakes were made along the way to war (including those of the agency she oversaw), her stand on affirmative action, a seeming distance from America's black community (specifically called into account during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina) and an initially tepid performance as Secretary of State, followed by a rise to power where she has challenged and (in the case of the nuclear deal with North Korea) surpassed Dick Cheney. Twice as Good skillfully and even-handedly examines both sides of these controversies, with first-hand accounts by Rice and those closest to her that reveal the sources of Rice's strength as well as the origins of her blind spots.
Who is Condoleezza Rice? For all her ceiling-shattering accomplishments and historic rise to prominence and power, Condoleezza Rice remains enigmatic, even sphinx-like, a major player on the American political scene who has somehow escaped the in-depth personal scrutiny characteristic of contemporary politics. In this multilayered portrait, Marcus Mabry penetrates the mysteries surrounding one of the most controversial and fascinating women of our time and explores what price she has paid for her success. While researching this biography, Mabry interviewed her family, friends, and neighbors from her childhood in Birmingham; peers from her years at the University of Denver and Notre Dame; colleagues, allies, and adversaries from Stanford and Washington-and Condoleezza Rice herself. The author, who has had a similar background to his subject-like her, he is African American with roots in the South, a product of Stanford, and a student of international relations-uses this perspective in his interpretation of her life and work, drawing on his personal and professional background as well as his skills as a journalist to uncover a Condoleezza Rice the world has never known. The result is the most comprehensive portrait ever reported of this powerful woman.
MARCUS MABRY, now chief of correspondents at Newsweek, was formerly a State Department and foreign correspondent for the magazine and has written on foreign policy for more than a decade. Mabry has also written extensively on race and class in America, including the memoir White Bucks and Black-eyed Peas: Coming of Age Black in White America.
Twice as Good: Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power
By Marcus Mabry "
May 01, 2007 (Modern Times/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
In the first biography of Condoleezza Rice since her appointment as secretary of state, award-winning Newsweek editor Marcus Mabry explores the contradictions-personal and political-of the most powerful black woman in the history of American politics.
The daughter of a Presbyterian minister and school teacher, Rice was raised in Birmingham, Alabama during the most volatile years of the Civil Rights Movement. She went on to attend the University of Denver, and later Notre Dame, where she received her masters in political science, with an emphasis on the Soviet Union. She later began her academic career at Stanford University, where she held the positions of Assistant and Associate Professor in Political Science, and ultimately became the youngest provost in Stanford's history (as well as the first black and first woman to serve as provost).
Rice began working for the George H.W. Bush administration in 1989, where she served as the Soviet and East European Affairs Advisor. During George W. Bush's 2000 U.S. Presidential election campaign, Rice took a one-year leave of absence from Stanford University to help work as his foreign policy advisor. In 2000 Rice was chosen to be Bush's national security advisor, where she became one of the most vocal proponents of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2004, Rice replaced Colin Powell as (the first female African American) Secretary of State. However along with success comes scrutiny. While Rice's accomplishments have been many, there has also been a great degree of criticism and controversy pertaining to her role as national security advisor and Secretary of State.
Her judgment and actions have been called into question on a number of issues including: supporting the Bush/Cheney agenda by "selling" the war in Iraq to Americans, failing to admit mistakes were made along the way to war (including those of the agency she oversaw), her stand on affirmative action, a seeming distance from America's black community (specifically called into account during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina) and an initially tepid performance as Secretary of State, followed by a rise to power where she has challenged and (in the case of the nuclear deal with North Korea) surpassed Dick Cheney. Twice as Good skillfully and even-handedly examines both sides of these controversies, with first-hand accounts by Rice and those closest to her that reveal the sources of Rice's strength as well as the origins of her blind spots.
Who is Condoleezza Rice? For all her ceiling-shattering accomplishments and historic rise to prominence and power, Condoleezza Rice remains enigmatic, even sphinx-like, a major player on the American political scene who has somehow escaped the in-depth personal scrutiny characteristic of contemporary politics. In this multilayered portrait, Marcus Mabry penetrates the mysteries surrounding one of the most controversial and fascinating women of our time and explores what price she has paid for her success. While researching this biography, Mabry interviewed her family, friends, and neighbors from her childhood in Birmingham; peers from her years at the University of Denver and Notre Dame; colleagues, allies, and adversaries from Stanford and Washington-and Condoleezza Rice herself. The author, who has had a similar background to his subject-like her, he is African American with roots in the South, a product of Stanford, and a student of international relations-uses this perspective in his interpretation of her life and work, drawing on his personal and professional background as well as his skills as a journalist to uncover a Condoleezza Rice the world has never known. The result is the most comprehensive portrait ever reported of this powerful woman.
MARCUS MABRY, now chief of correspondents at Newsweek, was formerly a State Department and foreign correspondent for the magazine and has written on foreign policy for more than a decade. Mabry has also written extensively on race and class in America, including the memoir White Bucks and Black-eyed Peas: Coming of Age Black in White America.
Twice as Good: Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power
By Marcus Mabry "
Core Ridge Church Closing Political Arm
Good move. The Church would be better off investing its resources in the works of God, not politicians.
Source: The Miami Herald 05/01/2007
Bringing an end to ambitious goals that included raising $2 million to launch a Capitol Hill lobbying arm, opening a dozen regional offices and recruiting activists in all 435 congressional districts, the Fort Lauderdale-based Center for Reclaiming America has shut its doors.
The conservative organization, part of the Rev. James D. Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries, let its eight employees go last week. Coral Ridge also closed its Capitol Hill-based Center for Christian Statesmanship, founded in 1995 to convert lawmakers to evangelical Christianity.
Brian Fisher, executive vice president at Coral Ridge Ministries, said the closings are part of a larger effort to redefine the ministry's mission.
''We believe that by streamlining the operations we will be able to return to our core focus,'' he said.
Fisher said Coral Ridge officials plan to focus on television, radio and Internet, with plans to reach an audience of 30 million by 2012, up from 3 million today.
The closings mark a major shift for Coral Ridge Ministries, which runs the 10,000-member Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church at 5555 N. Federal Hwy. in Fort Lauderdale, television and radio ministries, a seminary and an evangelism training program and has an annual budget of $37 million.
Kennedy, 76, who suffered a heart attack in December, is recovering in a hospital in Michigan.
The change also comes at a pivotal moment for the religious right, which is casting about for a presidential candidate during the most wide-open campaign in more than half a century. The 2006 election delivered a major blow to Republican conservatives in Washington and in Florida, where their favored candidate for governor, Tom Gallagher, was soundly defeated. Earlier that year, a petition drive to put a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the ballot fell short, despite the center's efforts.
BACKING WANES
Kennedy, an internationally renowned evangelist, founded the center more than a decade ago to advance conservative Christian values in state and national politics. But in recent years, the center has struggled to gain broad backing for its efforts to outlaw abortion, ban gay marriage and promote prayer and creationism in schools.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, who for years has welcomed activists from around the world to the center's annual conference, said politicians seeking to appeal to the center were no longer actively courting Christian conservatives.
''After an election like that, candidates are packaging themselves in the middle, rather than to the right,'' he said. About 1,100 evangelicals -- 300 more than last year -- participated in the center's conference in March.
Naugle said he ''can't help'' but think that the center's closing has something to do with Kennedy's health. ''Certainly he was a driving force and a national recognized leader and, hopefully, his health will allow him to come back strong,'' he said.
Corwin Smidt, executive director of the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., said evangelical groups that are built around a single charismatic leader often struggle in the leader's absence.
NO REPLACEMENT
''For Kennedy, there's just no figure [to replace him] after he's gone,'' he said. ``These televangelists are able to generate a fair amount of money, but in terms of their institutional longevity, it's really at risk.''
He also sees the closings as part of a broader shift away from politics among Christian conservatives.
''There is a kind of retrenching, a regrouping, a rethinking among conservative Christians,'' Smidt said. ``Some people are saying for Christians to be involved in politics, we have to be much more aware of a variety of issues.''
Jennifer Hancock, associate director of the Humanists of Florida Association, said the closings offered evidence that Christian conservatives are losing some of their political clout.
''It's good news for us, and I think its good news for people who care about democracy,'' she said. ``These people were promoting theocracy in America.''
But Gary Cass, who had been the center's executive director for three years, said he plans to stay at the forefront of Christian activism.
''The fight continues because our cause has not changed and the stakes are so high,'' he said.
comments welcome
SUSPECTED MADAM WILL NAME CLIENTS
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel 05/01/2007
WASHINGTON
The woman who faces charges of running a prostitution ring in Washington that serviced the prominent and powerful said Monday that she intended to force many of those clients to testify in her behalf.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey is offering a simple defense to government charges that the escort service she ran for 13 years by telephone from her home in California was actually a straightforward prostitution business.
Although she promoted her business as a legal "high-end erotic fantasy service," she said it was not intended as an exchange of sex for money. She said Monday that her former clients, reported to include a Bush administration economics official and the head of a conservative research group, among others, should confirm that when they are called to testify.
If any sexual activity occurred, she said, it was not authorized or intended by her but undertaken independently by her female subcontractors and male clients "who disobeyed my directives, their signed contracts and participated in illegal behavior."
In other words, she is stunned at allegations that sexual activity had taken place between the women who worked for her and the men who paid them about $300 for 90 minutes of whatever.
As for now, the names of only two have been revealed. The most prominent was Randall L. Tobias, a veteran businessman and the top foreign aid adviser in the State Department, who resigned Friday after he acknowledged to ABC News that he was on the list of Palfrey's clients.
The other, disclosed on Palfrey's Web site, was Harlan K. Ullman, a Defense Department consultant best known for coining the phrase "shock and awe" to describe the intended effect on Iraq of the war's opening barrage, but the phrase also might well describe his own reaction to being called by reporters on Friday about the disclosure, to which he declined comment.
Palfrey says she did not know the actual names of her clients, just their telephone numbers. She said she gave them to ABC News without compensation so the network could use its resources to match names to the numbers.
ABC has used the information to prepare a story to be broadcast this Friday on its show 20/20. In a tease for the segment, ABC said on its Web site Monday that the list includes, "a Bush administration economist, the head of a conservative think tank, a prominent CEO, several lobbyists and a handful of military officials" in addition to Tobias and Ullman.
Tobias said that he had used the escort service but said he only received massages.
Palfrey said Monday that she felt sorry for Tobias because of the unwanted attention he has received, but was gratified that he supported her story that she did not run a sex-for-money service. She chided him, however, for choosing not to come forward earlier with his "extremely valuable exculpatory evidence."
GOING TO COURT: Deborah Jeane Palfrey, charged with running a prostitution ring, is escorted by her civil attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, in Washington. Palfrey says she was stunned to discover her employees had sex for money. AP photo/Jacquelyn Martin
WASHINGTON
The woman who faces charges of running a prostitution ring in Washington that serviced the prominent and powerful said Monday that she intended to force many of those clients to testify in her behalf.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey is offering a simple defense to government charges that the escort service she ran for 13 years by telephone from her home in California was actually a straightforward prostitution business.
Although she promoted her business as a legal "high-end erotic fantasy service," she said it was not intended as an exchange of sex for money. She said Monday that her former clients, reported to include a Bush administration economics official and the head of a conservative research group, among others, should confirm that when they are called to testify.
If any sexual activity occurred, she said, it was not authorized or intended by her but undertaken independently by her female subcontractors and male clients "who disobeyed my directives, their signed contracts and participated in illegal behavior."
In other words, she is stunned at allegations that sexual activity had taken place between the women who worked for her and the men who paid them about $300 for 90 minutes of whatever.
As for now, the names of only two have been revealed. The most prominent was Randall L. Tobias, a veteran businessman and the top foreign aid adviser in the State Department, who resigned Friday after he acknowledged to ABC News that he was on the list of Palfrey's clients.
The other, disclosed on Palfrey's Web site, was Harlan K. Ullman, a Defense Department consultant best known for coining the phrase "shock and awe" to describe the intended effect on Iraq of the war's opening barrage, but the phrase also might well describe his own reaction to being called by reporters on Friday about the disclosure, to which he declined comment.
Palfrey says she did not know the actual names of her clients, just their telephone numbers. She said she gave them to ABC News without compensation so the network could use its resources to match names to the numbers.
ABC has used the information to prepare a story to be broadcast this Friday on its show 20/20. In a tease for the segment, ABC said on its Web site Monday that the list includes, "a Bush administration economist, the head of a conservative think tank, a prominent CEO, several lobbyists and a handful of military officials" in addition to Tobias and Ullman.
Tobias said that he had used the escort service but said he only received massages.
Palfrey said Monday that she felt sorry for Tobias because of the unwanted attention he has received, but was gratified that he supported her story that she did not run a sex-for-money service. She chided him, however, for choosing not to come forward earlier with his "extremely valuable exculpatory evidence."
GOING TO COURT: Deborah Jeane Palfrey, charged with running a prostitution ring, is escorted by her civil attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, in Washington. Palfrey says she was stunned to discover her employees had sex for money. AP photo/Jacquelyn Martin
POLITICAL PHONE CALLS UNDER FIRE
"Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel 05/01/2007
TALLAHASSEE
Cropping up every year or two, they're universally despised. More than the stream of partisan nastiness that spews from the television screen. More than the campaign junk that fills mailboxes.
They are the hated robo-calls, the recorded voices at the other end of the line at the height of political campaigns. Sometimes containing an endorsement of a favored candidate, often hurling slurs at an opponent, the calls are disliked by seemingly everyone, except, of course, politicians who use them.
"Some people swear at them. There are other people who swear by them," said state Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville.
King, state Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, and state Rep. Stan Jordan, R-Jacksonville, are pushing legislation that would ban political robo-calls from going to anyone who is on the do-not-call list, the registry designed to protect people from telemarketers.
Lots of people dislike unsolicited calls; Florida's do-not-call list contains 8.1 million subscribers.
Telemarketers and others subject to the rules could face a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation.
Senate and House committees have approved robo-call legislation, but King said there might not be enough time to pass the final hurdles by Friday's scheduled adjournment. Gov. Charlie Crist's press secretary, Erin Isaac, said she couldn't comment on the specifics of the proposal because it's subject to change as it moves through the Legislature.
Six states prohibit political robo-calls. Florida law exempts politicians from respecting the do-not-call list. The legislation would force politicians to honor it or face the same penalties as telemarketers and other businesses. Rhoda Berman, a voter who lives west of Delray Beach, said the calls were a plague during last year's election season.
"It was insane," she said. "These calls were coming in at the worst times, during dinner and after dinner. It made the whole election so distasteful."
A nationwide survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 64 percent of registered voters reported receiving such calls in the final two months of the 2006 election season. Berman said she sometimes got four a day.
Berman was luckier, in a sense, than Robert Pelletier, of Hollywood. On vacation in Massachusetts for three weeks during the 2006 election season, Pelletier got robo-calls on his cell phone, including two from a Broward County commissioner on behalf of a candidate.
The worst part: Pelletier paid to receive the calls because of the cell-phone roaming charges.
"Boy, was I ticked," he said. "Political calls should be banned from the telephone."
He received more robo-calls this spring. They were no less irritating because they were about the Miramar city election, and Pelletier doesn't live there.
If the legislation doesn't become law this year, King said, he will try again during the 2008 session, in time to spare people from the next election season onslaught.
If not, brace for more calls. Donna Brosemer, of the consulting firm Politically Correct, in Palm Beach Gardens, said many candidates and consultants use robo-calls because they need to reach voters.
"Our options are so few. Television costs a fortune. Fewer and fewer people read newspapers. People are bombarded with direct mail," she said.
Brosemer said she rarely uses robo-calls for her candidates: "I hate [receiving] them, so I assume I'm not the only one out there who does."
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sun-sentinel.com
DISCUSSING THE CALLS
State Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, discusses the much-hated political robo-calls in an audio report at Sun-Sentinel.com/florida "
TALLAHASSEE
Cropping up every year or two, they're universally despised. More than the stream of partisan nastiness that spews from the television screen. More than the campaign junk that fills mailboxes.
They are the hated robo-calls, the recorded voices at the other end of the line at the height of political campaigns. Sometimes containing an endorsement of a favored candidate, often hurling slurs at an opponent, the calls are disliked by seemingly everyone, except, of course, politicians who use them.
"Some people swear at them. There are other people who swear by them," said state Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville.
King, state Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, and state Rep. Stan Jordan, R-Jacksonville, are pushing legislation that would ban political robo-calls from going to anyone who is on the do-not-call list, the registry designed to protect people from telemarketers.
Lots of people dislike unsolicited calls; Florida's do-not-call list contains 8.1 million subscribers.
Telemarketers and others subject to the rules could face a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation.
Senate and House committees have approved robo-call legislation, but King said there might not be enough time to pass the final hurdles by Friday's scheduled adjournment. Gov. Charlie Crist's press secretary, Erin Isaac, said she couldn't comment on the specifics of the proposal because it's subject to change as it moves through the Legislature.
Six states prohibit political robo-calls. Florida law exempts politicians from respecting the do-not-call list. The legislation would force politicians to honor it or face the same penalties as telemarketers and other businesses. Rhoda Berman, a voter who lives west of Delray Beach, said the calls were a plague during last year's election season.
"It was insane," she said. "These calls were coming in at the worst times, during dinner and after dinner. It made the whole election so distasteful."
A nationwide survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 64 percent of registered voters reported receiving such calls in the final two months of the 2006 election season. Berman said she sometimes got four a day.
Berman was luckier, in a sense, than Robert Pelletier, of Hollywood. On vacation in Massachusetts for three weeks during the 2006 election season, Pelletier got robo-calls on his cell phone, including two from a Broward County commissioner on behalf of a candidate.
The worst part: Pelletier paid to receive the calls because of the cell-phone roaming charges.
"Boy, was I ticked," he said. "Political calls should be banned from the telephone."
He received more robo-calls this spring. They were no less irritating because they were about the Miramar city election, and Pelletier doesn't live there.
If the legislation doesn't become law this year, King said, he will try again during the 2008 session, in time to spare people from the next election season onslaught.
If not, brace for more calls. Donna Brosemer, of the consulting firm Politically Correct, in Palm Beach Gardens, said many candidates and consultants use robo-calls because they need to reach voters.
"Our options are so few. Television costs a fortune. Fewer and fewer people read newspapers. People are bombarded with direct mail," she said.
Brosemer said she rarely uses robo-calls for her candidates: "I hate [receiving] them, so I assume I'm not the only one out there who does."
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sun-sentinel.com
DISCUSSING THE CALLS
State Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, discusses the much-hated political robo-calls in an audio report at Sun-Sentinel.com/florida "
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