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AFRIPOL PERSONS OF THE MONTH: JAY-Z, MADONNA AND CHARLIZE THERON

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:44:41 -0600

Complied by Emeka Chiakwelu strategist@afripol.org

With this raging global recession and Africa’s distress there are still individuals who are always willing to offer a helping hand. These individuals - JAYZ, MADONNA AND CHARLIZE THERON are willing to standup and to be counted. They have contributed to the well being of Africa by offering their time, prestige and resources in making our world a better place.

JAY-Z: The rap music mogul and successful capitalist have contributed to Africa by advocating for “water for life “project in partnership with United Nations. Water might be abundant in the world but the clean drinking water is scare, this has become a crisis in Africa. Jay-z and UN clean drinking water project has become an enlightenment tool on the issue of water crisis in the world. It has been said that almost 2 million children perished due to poor water sanitation and waterborne diseases. Jay-z in his New York concert raised over $250,000 for Play Pumps International for its water project in Africa. Together with MTV he lunched a water project travel to Africa and producing a diary video - showcasing children traveling miles to fetch water for drinking and domestic consumption. This water project will aid to stop many children from sicknesses associated with water crisis and free them from waterborne diseases. With the rural provision of clean water, life will be easier for women and children who normally travel long distances seeking for drinkable water.

MADONNA: The popular musician and Hollywood actress have on going project in Malawi, a country in Southern Africa. Madonna lunched her Malawi Foundation in 2006 to carry out humanitarian projects in the country where she previously adopted one child and another recently. Madonna and her partner Michael Berg stated, “We choose Malawi because we refuse to turn our backs on those in dire need. In the fourth poorest country in the world, Malawians face an unfortunate combination of disease, drought, poverty and a lack of critical resources. Confronting these extreme problems on a daily basis exacts a great toll. And few bear the brunt greater than the country's women and children—particularly the 2,000,000 orphaned and vulnerable children.” Madonna is currently building a Girl’s School in Malawi and she promised to replicate the school in other parts of Africa. Education is a key to progress and success in 21^st century and many girls are left behind in Africa. Education will open doors for life time learning and opportunities. Madonna must be given credit for her vision and good will that will change the life of girls and young women in Malawi. She contributes resources and time to this noble project. Recently it was reported in the news that Madonna raised 11 million dollars for his Malawi project in Brazil.

CHARLIZE THERON: The Hollywood movie star was born and grew up in South Africa. She has never forgotten her country of birth. Charlize Theron frequently traveled to his native land South Africa where she lunched his African Outreach Project which provides a comprehensive education on AIDS/HIV including testing and computer training in less privileged communities. On her “First mission, the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project worked in collaboration with Oprah ‘Angel Network provide lead funding to create a mobile health and computer unit designed to improve the health and social development of youth in Umkhanyakude District in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The mobile health clinic was officially launched on November 8, 2007 at a school assembly attended by local dignitaries, representatives from Oprah's Angel Network and Ms. Theron. Since the launch, additional support has come from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), helping to provide additional mobile units. The units now serve approximately 10,000 students from 12 high schools, visiting each school for one week each month. In addition, the units have serviced over 8,000 community members during weekends and school holidays.” She is doing a great job in the country of her birth. Theron deserves to be commended and acknowledged.

JAYZ, MADONNA AND CHARLIZE THERON are citizens of the world and because of their steadfast commitments to our collective humanity The Management and Staff of Afripol chose them as the PERSONS OF THE MONTH- NOVEMBER.

Mr. Emeka Chiakwelu is the Principal policy strategist at Afripol Organization. Africa Political and EconomicStrategicCenter (Afripol) is foremost a public policy center whose fundamental objective is to broaden the parameters of public policy debates in Africa. To advocate, promote and encourage free enterprise, democracy, sustainable green environment, human rights, conflict resolutions, transparency and probity in Africa. www.afripol.org

Jeanne-Claude, Co-Creator with Christo of 'The Gates,' Dies at 74

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:10:35 -0600

Jeanne-Claude, who co-created with her husband Christo monumental art installations including 'The Gates' and the wrapping of the Reichstag, passed away last night following a brain aneurysm. She was 74.

A family statement said that her greiving husband Christo was "committed to honor the promise they made to each other many years ago: that the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude would continue." Jeanne-Claude is also survived by her son Cyril Christo, a poet.

Jeanne-Claude and Christo shared an unusually close bond, and were both born on June 13, 1935. They moved to New York City in 1960 and have lived here since.

Read The New York Times obituary here.

More than 2,500 people were part of the effort to construct and install The Gates in Manhattan's Central Park.

Were you one of them?

Share your memories of Jeanne-Claude by posting on GroundReport or add to the comments below.

The Complexity of Caring for California's Uninsured Pregnant Women

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:09:47 -0600

By Deborah Stokol
Images by P. Kim Bui

As long as she is pregnant, a woman living in the United States may receive medical care. So even the homeless, the undocumented, “the tired [and] poor,” may visit a doctor while expecting.

Yet for the inhabitants of Los Angeles County, health continues to accompany wealth. L.A.’s southernmost areas sustain the highest rates of premature births, gestational diabetes and hypertension in the county.

Every pregnant woman residing there may attain prenatal care, but for many, that is either not enough to reverse years’ worth of physical negligence, its acquisition still does little to provide them with the attention they need or they do not seek that care in the first place.

The number of preterm births in the country has increased 20 percent since 1990.

While older women using In Vitro fertilization and overweight women are at high risk for early labor, African American women are most likely to give birth prematurely. That likelihood increases for those African Americans living in lower income areas like those in South L.A.

Many have disputed the reasons behind this phenomenon.

Some academics fault society, calling institutionalized racism the leading factor behind the stress and destitution adversely affecting these women’s pregnancies.

Others claim pollution insidiously complicates “confinement.”

Certain public health workers pin it on the difference in quality between the care a woman on Medi-Cal receives and the one she would have with Kaiser or with private insurance.

But while hospital and clinic doctors may have little reason to question or criticize the prenatal care given these women, they have joined the city’s public health department in citing other culprits.

They say it’s not necessarily the quality of care these women face that compromises their health or their baby’s, but such malaises as chronic poverty-wrought stress, non-compliance with medical schedules, family structure or the lack thereof, sexually transmitted diseases and poor nutrition.

In order to have a healthy baby, then, they say a woman must attend to her physical well-being long before she becomes pregnant because care, while incredibly important, comes too late.

:::: Care Received: More Functionally Analogous than Irrevocably Different?

Using Medi-Cal

(Click into the image to play with the numbers)

Medi-Cal is California’s branch of Medicaid, the health program the country provides for low income, low resource families.

Both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and the California State Department of Health Care administer Medi-Cal.

And under the program’s “Presumptive Eligibility for Pregnant Women,” any woman pregnant, with an annual income below roughly $11,000 may receive walk-in prenatal care and any prescription drugs needed as a result of her pregnancy.

Presumptive Eligibility does not include labor and delivery, and those do not have Medi-Cal but wishing to attain it—those uninsured and/or undocumented—must fill out an application for the service.

Once the applicant has submitted the form, the program sends her a temporary Medi-Cal card, good for two months. Medi-Cal requires this step that a women believing herself pregnant see a doctor in order to receive a pregnancy test.

Should she test positive, she must then present her results to Medi-Cal, after which the program will verify that she is financially eligible to use its services. Once its representatives have done so, they will send her an official Medi-Cal Beneficiary Identification Card (BIC) to use while pregnant.

But Watts Health Care Center’s Chief of Obstetrics & Gynecology’s Dr. Deirdre Logan said that “many of the woman do not open their mail and miss the 60 day cut off.

“Even with an extension,” she added, “a lot of women…who are on welfare and are otherwise uninsured…still don’t apply.”

A Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) located on Compton Avenue, Watts Health Center receives financial support from the government under the section 330 grant of the Public Health Service Act. FQHC’s Web site explains the grant exists in order to fund organizations “provid[ing] care to underserved populations.”

The clinic’s health educator, Marcela Rodriguez, explained that those who do apply and receive the Medi-Cal-sponsored prenatal care for which they are eligible, may visit the doctor once a month for the first six months of the pregnancy.

During the given woman’s third trimester, Rodriguez continued, she may see a doctor twice in the seventh and eighth months and once a week during her ninth. Medi-Cal’s prenatal care plan grants its subscribers health education, prenatal vitamins, lab work, diabetes testing, screening for birth defects and ultrasounds.

Clinica Monsenor Oscar A. Romero has three branches and is also a Federally Qualified Health Clinic. One site situated in East L.A. directly across from L.A. County Hospital, its doctors attend to those generally uninsured and only able to speak Spanish.

Sandra Rivera, its prenatal case manager, said Oscar Romero turns no one away.

“If they come in,” she said, “they won’t be denied. Even if a woman comes in 36 weeks pregnant and has received no other care, we’ll see her.”

In a sense, hospitals adhere to the same M.O. as does the clinic.

Even though Medi-Cal and its Presumptive Eligibility do not cover labor and delivery, and many of these women have no other insurance, no hospital may refuse care to a woman in labor.

But most women neither know that nor feel it their best option. Clinics such as Oscar Romero and the Watts Health Center match their patients to hospitals nearest the women (such as L.A. County, UCLA Harbor or St. Francis Hospitals), or those that maintain a partnership with the clinic and offer these women care (e.g. Inglewood’s Centinela Hospital).

Using Kaiser, then Private Insurance

Sarah Tuttle-Singer, 27, a pregnant woman with one young child who lives in West L.A., used both Los Angeles’ and Oakland, Calif.’s Kaiser for her first pregnancy and now has Blue Cross.

During her first pregnancy, she “had a lot of complications early on with a lot of bleeding, and I was at risk for preterm labor.

“[But with Kaiser,] you can’t just call up the doctor for the appointment,” she said. “You need to call the appointment line, and they assess whether you need to be seen. And the nurse was very good about getting me an urgent care appointment.”

She explained that Kaiser held an element of inconsistency she did not find unpleasant.

“You didn’t always see the same doctor—which was not a problem for me,” she said. “But it might be for others.”

When stepping into the waiting room, she felt “it was a very egalitarian process that includes difference ethnicities and levels of affluence.

“From what I could tell,” she continued, “we were all receiving good care. Kaiser is fantastic, but there is a different kind of attention you get with private insurance.”

She said she found the waiting room of the physician she now visits tending toward the homogonous Caucasian. She explained how it is “more expensive than with Kaiser as there is now an 80/20 co-pay.

She has received the results of every one of her tests the same day, while “the draw back with Kaiser is that there’s a longer wait time for results.

“We had a 4D video taken of the baby and could see his face and watch him moving like a real person,” she added. “You don’t get that with Kaiser as far as I know.”

:::: Other Factors

Map: Premature births and prenatal care by county. Click in to play with the numbers.

Health Center professionals and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicated that while prenatal care was invaluable to these women and their unborn children, attending to such factors as stress, STD’s, nutrition and the pursuit of the care were as, or more, important.

Both Watts Health Center’s Dr. Logan and St. John’s Dr. Laura Reynard explained that stress could lead a woman to deliver early. And women living in Watts, Logan said, are under a lot of stress.

Many of these women single mothers and many of those on welfare, Logan also said “they’re worried about killings and drive-by-shootings, and all that [concern] can induce preterm labor.”

She said sexually transmitted diseases and infections could lead to preterm birth as well.

And in 2006, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a study titled “Healthy People 2010 Midcourse Review,” breaking down the various areas within Los Angeles by such topics as respiratory disease, obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, cardiovascular disease and food consumption, among others.

The study named each general area a “service planning area” or SPA, and Watts belonged under the heading of SPA 6. Glancing at the charts revealed Watts embodied the gravest level of every category.

Thirty-nine percent of the Watts, Compton population is younger than 17, while 37 percent of the area’s “population lives below the Federal Poverty level.” Of that number, 44 percent are younger than 17-years-old.

Though L.A. County sustains 315 chlamydia cases per 100,000 people, Watts sees 1,022. While L.A. County encounters 74 gonorrhea cases per 100,000 people, Watts faces 407.

Within the area, 28.9 percent of children in fifth, seventh and ninth grade are obese, while 35.4 percent of the adults are as well. Consuming sugar-rich fast foods, 12.3 percent of SPA6 has diabetes, 37.9 percent of who die from the condition.

Eating inexpensive foods with too much salt can lead to hypertension, or high blood pressure. And 29 percent of SPA 6 have been diagnosed with hypertension. It may lead to both heart disease and stroke, 217.6 SPA 6 inhabitants per 100,000 die each year from the first, 51.9 from the second.

Nearly 75 percent of any given 1,000 births in the area come from girls within the ages of 15 and 19; for any given 100 live births, 8.5 percent concern infants with a low weight (less than 2,500 grams). Fourteen percent of babies born to African American women in the area have a low weight. Most of the infants survive, but they are far less healthy than they would otherwise be.

All of these numbers indicate that these situations are the worst in the county.

The statistics describing nutritional habits and smoking are concerning as well.

More than half of SPA 6’s children eat fast food “at least once a week;” more than half of the adults “drink at least one soda or sweetened drink a day” and more than half of the children do the same. Nineteen percent of the adults smoke cigarettes as well.

And 11.8 percent of SPA 6 live births come from mothers who received late prenatal care—or none at all.

:::: Look not for Blame Elsewhere (i.e. On-Paper Care Standards may be Deceiving)

But Cordelia Hanna-Cheruiyot said she felt the care women on Medi-Cal received sup-par, and no on-looker should be misled by what may seem like otherwise “standard care” and lofty principles.

A Pasadena Public Health Department Black Infant Health Program community service representative, Doula, certified childbirth educator, certified birth assistant, assistant midwife, certified health education specialist and masters in public health and health education and Promotion/Maternal Health, Cheruiyot said “the comprehensive Medi-Cal program seems like a very good program in design, in theory and on paper, but how it is [put to use] leaves a lot to be desired.”

She emphasized “people think good care means measuring vitals and the growth of the baby and having the visits, but that’s only adequate in one sense—in terms of the physical care of the women. A holistic model includes the optimal wellbeing of the body, mind and spirit…the patient’s psychological well-being.”

Cheruiyot explained that she felt the women had been robbed of the opportunity to make pregnancy-related choices.

“One of the greatest differences between the types of care I saw while working at a Medi-Cal clinic is that the patients did not receive informed consent,” she said.’’

In medicine, informed consent means a physician will give the patient necessary facts about a certain test or treatment, and that patient must then knowingly decide whether he or she wishes to undergo the test or treatment based on that information.

Informed consent exists that patients have the right to make decisions regarding their own bodies and health. But leaving the patient the option to make that decision without first explaining the stakes only arms that individual halfway. He or she could make the choice, but it would not be an informed one.

“The greatest disparity I saw between the types of care,” Cheruiyot said, “is that women on Medi-Cal didn’t even know they had the right to ask questions.

“The providers aren’t taking the time to fully educate someone about the pro’s and cons, advantages and disadvantages, risks and benefits [of a procedure]—based on the patient’s values and needs,” she continued. “The woman must be allowed to make an informed choice, free from coercion, free from bias, in language and terms she can understand, and that doesn’t happen very often there.”

In Cheruiyot’s estimation, calling the patients non-compliant and making a decision for them is an “excuse. That gives [care-givers] carte-blanche to do what [they] want, and that’s unethical in my point of view. A vaginal birth, for example, is 99 percent safer for the mother and the baby, yet doctors have convinced many of the patients to have Caesarians.

“Some doctors at small clinics will tell their patients ‘you’ll go to the hospital for your induction,’ but she’s at 37 weeks, and they’re sending her to be induced? Why is it not safe for her [to wait]?” She said. “There’s no reason given, and these women on Medi-Cal are disempowered, ignorant and don’t have the information they need to prevent their care-givers from taking advantage of them.”

One of the richest countries in the world, the United States ranked No. 30 in 2005 for its rate of infant survival.

“We get this idea that childbirth is perilous, and we need highly trained specialists to help that,” she said. “But the way we conduct childbirth in this country perpetuat[es] that.

“You can literally take a perfectly healthy woman, put an epidural and pitocin in too early, keep her in the bed, and you’ve created a ripe environment for fetal distress,” she continued. “Fetal distress would not [otherwise] be common on its own.”

But Cheruiyot says many take such measures because they want to speed the birthing process up for convenience purposes.

“The doctors in hospitals are seeing a large volume of patients as well, and these are 15 minute prenatal care [sessions],” she said. “It’s a baby factory. They get pushed through the system, and the clock [keeps] ticking.”

Yet even with her criticisms of the care women using all forms insurance receive, Cheruiyot emphasized the most important way to ensure healthy birth outcomes was to keep the women healthy before they became pregnant.

“You get [the patient]—at best—for seven months, and you see her nine times,” she explained, “that’s not enough to make an impact. She needs to have [less stress] before she gets pregnant.”

:::: Pollution as Malefactor: Yes, Care: No

This year, UC Irvine Epidemiology Department Assistant Professor in Public Health Jun Wu joined five other university researchers in publishing a study that showed women living near traffic hubs sustained a higher risk of preeclampsia and of delivering their babies early than did those living in areas with less air pollution.

Titled “Association between Local Traffic-Generated Air Pollution and Preeclampsia and Preterm Delivery in the South Coast Air Basin of California,” the study looked at 81,000 people living in such southern state areas as Los Angeles County and Orange County.

It found that whether wealthy or impoverished, in possession of private or public health insurance, Caucasian, Hispanic or African American, women residing in those areas had 42 percent higher chance of preeclampsia and preterm birth.

The study’s supplemental materials divide the researcher’s subjects by race (Hispanic, White, African American, Asian and Other), insurance type and socioeconomic background, among other lines.

The majority of those living in the study area were White and possessed private insurance (e.g. 2,175 Whites v. 891 African Americans in one graph and 3,990 individuals using private insurance compared to 2,481 with public in another).

But Wu said that despite the “larger sample size,” statistically speaking, the “results overlapped if [the researchers] do data analysis by public or private insurance.

“There are not many differences [between the two],” she added, clarifying that what affected the study women’s health was not the type of insurance they had or prenatal care they received but whether they lived near fume-rich thoroughfares.

:::: Next in Line: Education

Toward the beginning of November, the Los Angeles Times published an article stating Kaiser planned to open a 15,000-square-foot building in South L.A. within the next two years.

The $10 million structure would provide “primary care, specialty care and other services” to the “80,000 members of the healthcare organization in the area.”

The Times wrote many of South L.A.’s inhabitants greeted the announcement with enthusiasm, celebrating Kaiser’s increased presence in the area with a gospel choir performance.

In addition to what should be more robust site-specific healthcare, L.A. Best Babies Network and within it its Best Babies Collaboratives, links 100 or so individuals to “caregivers” seeking to improve women’s health in between pregnancies as well as during.

But if poor care comprises only one part of the potential factors behind unhealthy births, and if it may not be the factor most influential, Dolores Magana and others in her position will have their hands full.

Assistant Principal at Watts-bound Los Angeles Thomas Riley school, Magana watches over 180 pregnant teenagers.

Along with McAlister and Ramona High Schools, Thomas Riley offers a high school curriculum to high school-aged girls who are pregnant. All three of them LAUSD schools, Magana states the “only difference between our school and others’, generally speaking, is that we cater to [the students] because of their condition.”

She added “we have parenting classes, but most schools have that too.”

Though neither Magana, the school’s nurse nor its teachers could force the students to seek proper prenatal care, eat healthfully and take the precautions that would prevent their catching STD’s, she said they do their best by “forcing the students to bring proof of pregnancy” in with them before enrolling.

Magana explained the school requires that proof because it lets her, the nurse and the teacher know that the girl had to go to a doctor to acquire the note and that she had begun to “receive medical care.”

Just across the street, Watts Health Center presents a convenient healthcare station for the students. After that initial proof of pregnancy and a doctors slip OK-ing or not OK-ing PE class, Magana said the schools begs “no [further] documentation, but the teachers are constantly asking them about their ‘appointments,’ and the nurses are too.”

She added that dearth of prenatal care posed a far smaller problem than did the girls’ nutrition and their health—unrelated to the pregnancy.

“A lot of them have health issues like STD’s, asthma and kidney infections,” she began, “yet…in my experience, most of the girls take care of business and follow up on their appointments. But my belief is that the majority of the girls don’t comply with eating the right things.”

She said the school does what it can, but even that action does little by way of health benefits. And a balanced diet will need to be a point of concentration.

“We provide them with the basic LAUSD school lunch, and we have to adhere to the nutritional guide provided by the government. But a lot of that food is high in fat and low in nutritional value.”

She said the girls—some of who have their own health insurance, others of who receive their own Welfare or that of their parents’—“are healthy in the sense that they look healthy, but their [diet] leads to high blood pressure.

“A lot of them load up on salt: potato chips, Cup of Noodles, Gatorade,” she said. “They think that’s healthy.”

Today's college students experience new challenges

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:25:01 -0600

Today's college experience is radically different from that of previous years, according to recent data.

Enrollment is at an all-time high, while at the same time students must spend more years at college to attain the same degrees. Students are also facing budget cuts, reduced financial aid spending, unemployment, and higher tuition.

According to the study, released by the Pew Research Center, college enrollment among young adults is now at the highest it's ever been—almost 40 percent, or 11.5 million, of adults aged 18 to 24.

The spike is most pronounced in community colleges, which are popular for the newly unemployed wishing to brush up on job skills.

The study says that the same age group, however, is less employed than it's ever been.

The recession is also causing budget cuts in many colleges across the nation, resulting in higher tuition, less classes, and less resources for the many new students.

The reducation in classes and over-enrollment means that many students are unable to take the classes for what little financial aid is available. Because students are able to take less claseses each term, it takes them longer to achieve the same degree.

Classes in many schools, especially community colleges, have long waiting lines and teachers taking on more students than they're allowed to.

Other teachers are dealing with their overcrowded classrooms by teaching students at home as well.

Some colleges, however, are faring the economic crisis well. The Los Rios Community College district has had minimal budget cuts due to being prepared for reduced funding, according to Whitney Yamamura, vice president of instruction and student learning at one of the district's colleges.

Despite planning ahead, the district is still cutting financial aid and resources by 40 percent, according to the director of one of the college's financial aid programs.

For other colleges, the budget cuts are far more severe.

In California, which is suffering especially hard during the economic crisis, many public universities had to cut classes, raise fees, reduce financial aid, and lay off staff. The University of California, a statewide system of 10 campuses, had a $1 billion hole in its budget this year, according to the New York Times.

For many students, like those who protested in October at UC Davis, the fee hikes that result from the budget cuts were tantamount to privatizing education.

Undocumented students are also becoming a new phenomenon in the public education system.

These students, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as minors, attended high school, and have no legal status, have been quietly self-reporting in order to receive reduced tuition ever since California's governor signed AB 540. Undocumented students have been working towards educations despite being unable to receive any financial aid or citizenship.

Egypt: Nidal Hassan's Fort Hood's Shoot

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:39:29 -0600

Major Nidal Hassan is a US military psychiatrist of Arab origins who went on a shooting rampage a at Fort Hood in Texas killing 13 soldier on the fort. He is now facing the charges of premeditated murder. Psychiatrist or Psychotic? Egyptian bloggers wondered.

Nawara Negm sympathizes with him

اكيد سمع هلاوس كتير من الظباط اللي جايين من العراق بعد ما قتلوا اطفال وستات
كان عايز يسيب الخدمة وطلبه اترفض
وكل محامي عشان يرفع له قضية عشان يسيب الخدمة
فكان الرد انهم قالوا له: انت ح تروح العراق

He must have heard horror stories from the soldiers who returned from Iraq; those soldiers who killed unarmed women and kids. He wanted to leave the army but his request was denied. He went as far as filing a lawsuit to be allowed to resign, and in response, he was told that he would be sent to Iraq.

Hassan El Helali thinks he is psychotic

بفضل هذا المعتوه الحقير سيعيش العرب والمسلمين في الغرب لشهور وربما لسنوات وهم مطالبين مرة أخرى بإثبات برائتهم من تهمة ممارسة التقية والكذب… وادعاء الشرف والإنصهار في المجتمع حتى تتاح لهم الفرصة ليفجروا أنفسهم وسط الأبرياء. بفضل هذا المجرم ستزيد رزالة القائمين على منح تأشيرات الدخول للبلاد المتحضرة، ومعهم كل الحق، وستتعطل المصالح ويحرم المريض من العلاج في الخارج والطالب من بعثة التعليم والسائح من المتعة والثقافة وسيصبح كل عربي ومسلم في الغرب متهماً حتي ولو ثبتت برائته بالإرهاب والوحشية والخسة والخيانة للمجتمع الذي ضمه وعلمه ورباه حتى وصل لرتبه عسكرية راقية وتخصص علمي متميز ومنحه الأوسمة والنياشين وفرصة حياة لا يحلم بعشرها في بلاده عديمة العلم والثقافة والفن والجمال والحرية والكرامة… برافو… الله أكبر والعزة للعرب.

Because of this nutcase Arabs and Muslims living in the West will live for months and maybe years trying to prove once again that they are deceit-free and that they have integrated within their host societies until once again we learn of one of those idiots blowing himself up among a bunch of innocent civilians. Because of this criminal more entry visas to civilized countries will be denied; be it for business, pleasure, education, or health conditions. Because of him every Arab and Muslim in the West will be guilty of terrorism, brutality, treachery, and biting the hand that fed him - until proven otherwise.

Wael Nawara wants to remind everyone that:

In late June 2007, Mjr. Hasan stood before his supervisors and about 25 other mental health staff members and lectured on Islam, suicide bombers and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting in the Muslim countries of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a copy of the presentation obtained by The Washington Post.

“It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims,” he said in the presentation.

US-based Lebanese Dr Asa'ad Abu Khalil - The Angry Arab - asked why

““When a white guy shoots up a post office, they call that going postal,” said Victor Benjamin II, 30, a former member of the Army. “But when a Muslim does it, they call it jihad.”

SandMonkey has tried to avoid writing about this because

Anything I think of will sound contrived anyway. I mean, the [shooter] was Arab, Muslim and Palestinian to boot. What’s there to say? It’s an isolated incident? It might never happen again? This doesn’t mean that everybody in the military who is Arab or Muslim will act this way? For real? Do I need to say this? What is there to say?

I can only think of two things actually: 1) My deepest condolences to the families of the victims , and 2) in the name of every Arab or Muslim that will now get screwed over because of your actions: I hope you never enjoy a single day of peace in this life or any next one!

Friends and Classmates Remember Brittany Hollenbach

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:39:20 -0600

According to the local U-District Komo blog, 22-year-old Brittany Ann Hollenbach was hit by a car the morning of November 11, 2009. Brittany Hollenbach was taken to Harborview Medical Center following the incident for head injuries.

The Daily, a publication by the University of Washington, reported this morning that "Brittany “Holle” Hollenbach, a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority and a senior at the UW, was taken off life support yesterday."

The reporter added that a vigil will be held for Hollenbach at the sorority house this evening at 7 PM. The university's counseling resources are also available to classmates.

No charges have been filed against the 20-year-old driver, who passed drug and alcohol tests.

Twitter user users expressed their condolences, saying "thoughts are with Brittany Hollenbach's family and friends. She was inspirational and brightened rooms." Another user said, "Sending love, thoughts and prayers to the Hollenbach family and Tri-Delts. Holle is in all of our hearts."

The Seattle Police Department Blotter provided the following report of the incident:

The 20-year-old driver saw the group of pedestrians run across the street as the traffic signal changed to green for eastbound traffic on NE 50th St. The 20-year-old driver continued through the intersection, when suddenly a 22-year-old female running in the same crosswalk ran into the path of his car.

The Honda struck the 22-year-old pedestrian. The Seattle Fire Department responded to the scene and transported the 22-year-old female pedestrian to Harborview Medical Center with serious head injuries and possible other injuries.

A Drug recognition expert /DUI officer responded to the scene and completed an evaluation of the 20-year-old driver of the Honda, for signs of impairment and/or intoxication. There were no signs of impairment or intoxication found. The driver was Investigated & Released at the scene.

University of Phoenix’s Curious Take on the Law

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:28:06 -0600

The University of Phoenix has 190 campuses operating in 39 states [1], the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The school says it has 420,000 students and tens of thousands of employees at its schools of nursing, business and education, among others.

But it does not have a law school. Maybe it should.

In an official response [2] (PDF) to our report on enrollment abuses at Phoenix [3], the university's parent company -- Apollo Group -- made a legal mistake so basic that, when told about it, a law professor we consulted was momentarily at a loss for words.

In a joint investigation with Marketplace [4], we found a dozen current and former students, as well as two former enrollment officers, who said that Phoenix uses misleading tactics to coax people into signing up for school and, in many cases, for large government loans. Phoenix has become the single largest recipient of federal student aid, with more than $3 billion from government loan programs last year.

Responding to our reports, Apollo wrote that "it is entirely appropriate and lawful for schools to pay recruiters in part based upon how well they perform their job."

The company said this view was "recently confirmed" by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Claiming to quote the "Court," Apollo said, "If academic institutions could not pay recruiters based upon their ability to recruit students, 'you could never have any performance criteria for that particular job.' [5]"

Here's the problem: The quote came from an oral argument -- not the court’s final decision. In fact, the final ruling [6] was procedural. The judge's statements did not "confirm" Apollo's views, according to Jack Beermann, a law professor at Boston University.

"That's an inaccurate statement because if it's only one judge making a comment in argument, it certainly wasn't confirmed by the court," he said.

Knowing the difference between what a judge says in oral argument, and what the court writes in its official opinion, is one of the first and most fundamental lessons taught at law school, Beermann said.

"It's so basic," he said. "Judges may say many things in oral argument that they would never adopt as an actual decision." They could be testing ideas or playing devil's advocate. "And when only one of the three judges speaks, it's not a reliable guide to what the entire court thinks," Beermann said.

We pointed out the mistake to Apollo. The company changed part of its statement but still incorrectly maintains that the court "confirmed" its views on paying recruiters.

For the record, our reporting never claimed that it is illegal to pay recruiters according to how well they do their jobs. As we said, that's legal -- within limits set by U.S. Department of Education rules. Our report focused on allegations by former enrollment counselors and students who said recruiters lied about whether Phoenix credits will transfer and about the terms of financial aid; pressured people to sign up by falsely claiming class space was scarce; and won students' trust by befriending them. Students were left feeling they had been duped into signing up and taking on large debt.

Apollo recently announced that it expects to pay $80 million to settle a lawsuit [7] brought by two former employees who allege that Phoenix defrauded the government's student aid program [8] by paying recruiters solely on the basis of enrollment, which is not allowed under Education Department rules.

Philippines: Manila see's Hillary Visit as chance for substantial discussions between allies

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:04:08 -0600

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the south east Asian country welcomes Secretary Hillary Clinton visit the Philippines for two days on Novemeber 12th and 13th before the APEC Summit in Singapore that lasts until the 19th

Secretary Clinton’s first visit to the Philippines as U.S. Secretary of State will be meeting with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her Philippine counterpart Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo in what has been called closed door discussions.

Secretary Romulo says: “This visit by Secretary Clinton is a good opportunity for the Philippine and U.S. governments to have substantial discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest – disaster management, the Mindanao peace process, climate change, and nuclear non-proliferation.”

The announcement on the visit of the Mrs. Clinton comes a day after the Philippine Ambassador to the United States told President Arroyo and her cabinet that a major upgrade in a IS aid package for disaster relief is enroute as well as a increased allocation for the Philippine military assistance package is also underway for the country which is America’s oldest and closest Ally in Asia.

President Obama had designated the Philippines as key coordinator in talks with the Philippines. Some of Obama's closest advisers on Asia Pacific issues and the South East Asian region are people he has known since before entering politics

Manila and Jakarta in nearby Indonesia are close to the President childhood memories. His mother worked in the region with the Ford Foundation for over a decade in development projects while the President was growing up.

US Congress Doubles Obama Administration Aid package to Philippines to $667 million

The United States Congress has pushed for higher U.S. military assistance to the Philippines compared to previous years’ levels. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo said that “both Houses of the U.S. Congress have recommended close to double the amount requested by the Obama administration for foreign military assistance.”

This request for the Philippines is the second largest amount of military assistance in the Asia Pacific region. Secretary Romulo also confirmed Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro’s statement that Senator Daniel Inouye, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, committed to increase defense and security assistance for the Philippines.

Overall, the Obama administration has proposed US$667 million in assistance for the Philippines in Fiscal Year 2010 to include defense, security and economic assistance; poverty alleviation under the Millennium Challenge Account; and veterans’ benefits.

In its submission of its budget request for 2010, the Obama administration recently requested for the deletion of the conditions on

US$2 million in security assistance in the 2009 appropriations act in recognition of significant progress made by the Philippines in addressing human rights concerns.

“The Philippine Government had been recognized by both the Obama administration and the U.S. Congress for its efforts in addressing human rights issues. We welcome U.S. engagement with our country because we share the same values of democracy, freedom and rule of law. The Philippine Government remains fully committed and determined to address issues in relation to the protection and promotion of human rights,” Secretary Romulo added.

US ASEAN Manila meeting 'Reinvigorating engagement with ASEAN'

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:02:31 -0600

When Hillary Clinton arrives in Manila, for a two day visit as preliminaries to rebuild US - ASEAN cooperation, the weeks of meeting moving US towards improving trade with ASEANS 500 million consumers will be 'back on track', a U.S. State Department official says. "ASEAN is a key market for US goods and services and both ways the trade and ties are of great importance to the US and ASEAN."

OBAMA SET PHILIPPINES AS US-ASEAN COORDINATOR IN PAST WHITEHOUSE MEETING:

ASEAN is seen by US trade officials as an important block for pacific trade the 2nd largest consumer market for US agriculture, technology, and, Defense trade across the Pacific. ASEAN has worked on a FTA, free trade agreements, that can expand the regions trading volume.
Both US and ASEAN officials have proposed a US-ASEAN Free Trade agreement, but it is viewed as complex. Key issues need to be resolved. But improvements have been made and as individual trading partners with the U.S.A.- ASEAN countries trade volumes are bilaterally important.

Human rights and development issues in Myanmar, as well as regional security issues need to be worked out. Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia have Islamic extremist insurgent groups with direct ties to or are inspired by groups in the middle east. Add to that a high level of protectionism in the Agriculture sector. A key issue that would affect agricultural trade with some of the ASEAN nations whose government subsidies albeit needed for development is a source of concern.
Also in several of the group economies, there is a general aversion by local business leaders to industries that compete with the local Oligarchs and Taipans who in some cases control monopolies. While much has been done to ensure level playing fields in a number of the regional centers the complex system has hindered growth.

Thus a full FTA, is unlikely per US officials unless a more level playing field is seen and investors can be assured of security and less problems over corruption. Which while still a concern has been less of an issue with increased efforts across ASEAN versus the problem.
'The Obama administration has a distinct advantage on ASEAN', a senior official on sidelines of this week’s meeting told us, "because at least for change no one will need to tell members of the cabinet and the President what ASEAN is... and could mean to reinvigorating the global economy." Chuckling the official from Indonesia pointed to picture he had of his Jakarta schools upper classman on a briefing kit book cover - an American kid they knew as ‘Barry’.

ASEAN, a regional cooperation grouping of Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) and, Vietnam is one of the worlds least affected regions in the current global financial crisis. Its own domestic consumption and relative economic stability has been a bright spot in an otherwise global recession.

The Philippines, as the current Country Coordinator for ASEAN-U.S. relations, this week was the host for a Special Senior Officials’ Meeting from the 5th to the 7th of November in Makati City the meeting is part of steps to prepare for the ASEAN-U.S. Leaders’ Meeting in Singapore on 15 November 2009.

Meanwhile, at the Philippine Presidential Palace Saturday, President Arroyo's spokesman stressed Secretary Clinton's visit will be important to another former classmate of a American President. “President Gloria

Macapagal-Arroyo will discuss the smooth turnover of power and the implementation of a clean, honest and orderly election when US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visits the Philippines next week on her way to Singapore for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit,” Philippine Press Secretary Serge Remonde said on Government radio.

Hillary, remains largely popular among Filipino Americans, Manila's registered democrats out of the 200,000 Americans permanently living here had been more supportive of the former New York Senator and First Lady. “These are issues that the President and Secretary Clinton see eye to eye,” Remonde said in an interview today with ‘Radyo ng Bayan’ the Philippine National Government radio network.

“She (the President) is pushing for the automation of election and will provide the Commission on Election with whatever help it needs for a successful election in 2010. The President also wants a peaceful and orderly transition of power,” he said further that the visit of Secretary Clinton “further shows that the Philippines and the United States have very good relations.”

On a personal note, Remonde said the Palace welcomes the visit of Secretary Clinton, whose last visit to the country was as the US First Lady. The President and former US President Bill Clinton have known each other since they were classmates at the Georgetown University in the United States.

[Left to Right) ASEAN Permanent Secretary Osman Patra of Brunei Darussalam; SOM Leader Soeung Rathchavy of Cambodia; Secretary General Imron Cotan of Indonesia; Assistant Minister Alounkeo Kittikhoun of Lao PDR; Secretary General Tan Sri Rastam Mohd. Isa of Malaysia; Undersecretary Enrique A. Manalo of the Philippines; Ambassador to ASEAN Scot Alan Marciel of the United States; Director General Min Lwin of Myanmar; Deputy Director General Desmond Ng Wee Kwang of Singapore; Director-General Vitavas Srivihok of Thailand; Deputy Director-General Tran Duc Binh of Vietnam; and Head of External Relations Keo Chhea of the ASEAN Secretariat. (photo by: Benjamin Remo, DFA-PISU"

Background Meetings set agenda for Singapore summit US-ASEAN summit.

Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States concluded a two-day special meeting in Manila to set the stage for the 1st ASEAN-U.S. Leaders’ meeting.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique A. Manalo, Philippine Senior Official for ASEAN, and U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN Scot Alan Marciel co-chaired the Special ASEAN-U.S. Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM).

The Philippines currently serves as the Country Coordinator for ASEAN-U.S. Dialogue Relations.

“The ASEAN Senior Officials had a very productive meeting with our counterparts from the United States and we look forward to a successful 1st ASEAN-U.S. Leaders’ meeting in Singapore next week,” Undersecretary Manalo remarked.

Senior officials of the 10-member ASEAN and the United States discussed areas for broader and deeper cooperation, for Leaders’ consideration at the inaugural meeting to be held in Singapore on 15 November 2009.

The Heads of State/Government of the 10 ASEAN member states namely, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss progress on ASEAN-U.S. cooperation, as well as explore new areas of collaboration.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will attend the meeting in Singapore, which will be the first between ASEAN and U.S. Leaders in the 32-year history of ASEAN-U.S. relations.

The discussion will include a broad-range of areas such as trade and investment, development cooperation, education, energy, health, climate change, food security, disaster management, interfaith dialogue, and security issues.

President Obama is expected to reiterate the U.S. policy of reinvogorating engagement with ASEAN which it regards as a key partner in the promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fort Hood shootings: Seven dead at army post outside Killeen, Texas

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:59:40 -0600

At least seven people were killed and several others injured in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base outside Killeen, Texas on Thursday afternoon.

Local television station KXXV reported, “We’ve learned an incident has taken place at the sports dome, now known as the soldier readiness area. Temple ISD Schools Have Been locked down as part of this incident. The district’s spokeswoman tells News Channel 25 the district is on soft lockdown.”

People in and around Fort Hood were worried and shared their concerns on Twitter.

RicoRossi (Fort Hood, Texas) if your OFFPOST right now dont come to base, multiple shootings, several casualties, possible terrorist suspects… FT HOOD TX 05 Nov 2009 from web

Norrek4040 (Killeen, Texas) FORT HOOD IS LOCKED DOWN, 7 DEAD 12-15 WOUNDED! THEY DONT KNOW WHO’S DOING IT, BE SAFE PEOPLE! 05 Nov 2009 from MySpace

aneeia26 (Killeen, Texas) Wow. I do not know what to say, but thank you Jesus, I had left Fort Hood an hour before the shootings. 05 Nov 2009 from web

Jus_Shuga (undisclosed location) Over here at wrk lockdown too!!! Forthood is crazy right now 05 Nov 2009 from txt

music4life00 (undisclosed location) That’s what happens when yu live in a military town so sad 7 dead 05 Nov 2009 from UberTwitter

RicoRossi (Fort Hood, Texas) emergency sirens going off, HALO evacs, lockdowns, there is not 1 person walking thru the streets of FT HOOD 05 Nov 2009 from web

RebekahReports (Texas) Police have shot a male suspect in Army uniform with Major rank. He has run in to another building on Fort Hood. 05 Nov 2009 from TweetDeck

Other Twitter users are praying for the terror to end in Fort Hood.

nikimoo3 (location undisclosed) Pray for Fort Hood. Justin’s ok but idk about his friends 05 Nov 2009 from txt
LauraSergi (Connecticut) Prayers go out to the families and the people at Fort Hood 05 Nov 2009 from web
RobertEvans007 (undisclosed location) Please pray safety and protection for the soldiers and families at Fort Hood! 05 Nov 2009 from txt