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Clear and Present Danger By: Thomas Joscelyn
The Weekly Standard | Friday, November 28, 2008

On Sunday, November 16, CBS News's 60 Minutes broadcast the first interview with President-elect Barack Obama. The exchange touched on a wide range of topics, from Obama's distaste for college football's computerized selection of a national champion to his plans for changing course in economic and foreign policy. At one point, Obama was asked about the terrorist detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He responded:

I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantánamo, and I will follow through on that. I've said repeatedly that America doesn't torture and I'm going to make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world.

The president-elect's comments were not surprising. He had often promised on the campaign trail to close Guantánamo. And in the days before the 60 Minutes broadcast, anonymous officials from his transition team had let the press know that the president-elect would deliver on his pledge. They cannot yet say what the Obama administration will do with the 250 or so detainees still being held, but according to the Washington Post, the new team will review the government's files on each detainee and make a determination case by case.

Whatever happens to the detainees, the important point for much of the commentariat is that Guantánamo will be shuttered. For Guantánamo's many critics, the facility long ago became a symbol of all that is wrong with the Bush administration's conduct of the war on terror-from its cowboy-like unilateralism to its alleged widespread torture and abuse of terrorist suspects. That many dangerous enemies lurk in Guantánamo's cells has often been a secondary concern, if a concern at all. Thus, when President-elect Obama spoke of regaining "America's moral stature in the world," he was endorsing the widespread perception of Guantánamo as an American sin that originated in the Bush administration's overreaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

This perception, however, was always skewed. The new administration will soon discover from its review of the Guantánamo files what motivated its predecessor: The scope of the terrorist threat was far greater than anyone knew on September 11, 2001. But for the Bush administration's efforts, many more Americans surely would have perished.

This conclusion is based on a careful review of the thousands of pages of documents released from Guantánamo, as well as other publicly available evidence. In 2006, the Department of Defense began to release the documents to the public via its website. The files had been created during the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) and Administrative Review Board (ARB) hearings held for nearly 600 detainees. This unclassified cache includes both the government's allegations against each detainee and summarized transcripts of the detainees' testimony. Although the documents were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the Associated Press, the intelligence contained in the files was largely ignored by the mainstream press for more than two years. Thus, the New York Times reported only the day before the recent presidential election that the files contain "sobering intelligence claims against many of the remaining detainees."

Indeed, they do. When the Obama administration reviews the Guantánamo files, here is what it will find.

The most dangerous men currently incarcerated at Guantánamo are the 14 "high value" detainees. The Bush administration gave them this designation because they are uniquely lethal, having planned and participated in the most devastating terrorist attacks in history. Their collective dossier includes, among other attacks, 9/11, the American embassy bombings (August 7, 1998), the USS Cole bombing (October 12, 2000), and the Bali bombings (October 12, 2002). They are responsible for murdering thousands of civilians around the globe, from the eastern United States to Southeast Asia. Had they not been captured, they surely would have murdered thousands more.

The 14 were originally held not at Guantánamo, but at even more controversial black sites. And the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that have sparked international outrage were principally designed for them. One may doubt the necessity and morality of these techniques, including waterboarding, while still recognizing a fundamentally important point: The 14 high value detainees are not ordinary criminals, but perpetrators of an entirely different order of evil.

It is because of these men, in particular, that the Bush administration initiated the preventive detention regime of which Guantánamo is a part. Processing them as mere lawbreakers would not have advanced the war on terror. To read them their rights and provide them lawyers would have been to throw away their intelligence value. It would have allowed them to carry to the grave many details of still active terrorist plots. The Bush administration chose a different route-harsh interrogations designed to ferret out al Qaeda's current operations before it was too late to stop them or capture those involved.

It is not clear from the early press reports whether the Obama administration will continue preventive detention in any form. Some accounts suggest that the president-elect wants to abandon it entirely, rather than reforming it. During the campaign, Obama said he wanted to return to the way we did things in the 1990s, when terrorists were put on trial after the fact. "And, you know, let's take the example of Guantánamo," Obama said. "What we know is that, in previous terrorist attacks-for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center-we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated."

This is not true. The chief bomb designer for the 1993 strike on the World Trade Center, Ramzi Yousef, was eventually detained years after the attack and was then convicted, and imprisoned. But the man who mixed the chemicals for the bomb, Abdul Rahman Yasin, is still at large, having fled to Saddam's Iraq shortly after the bomb left a crater several stories deep in southern Manhattan. More important, Obama's comment misses the fundamental lesson of 9/11. The successful prosecution of some of those responsible for the first World Trade Center bombing, as worthwhile as it was, did little to disrupt the broader terrorist network, which grew exponentially between 1993 and 2001. The best evidence of this is the fact that Ramzi Yousef's uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ("KSM"), continued to operate unmolested long after his nephew was confined at a maximum security prison in Colorado.

KSM is the best known of the high value detainees imprisoned at Guantánamo. According to the 9/11 Commission, he first proposed to Osama bin Laden the plot that grew into the September 11 attacks, and he was involved throughout the operation. KSM has also admitted involvement in dozens of other plots and attacks, including providing some of the funds for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Members of KSM's family have been at the heart of al Qaeda's conspiracy. Another of KSM's nephews, Ammar al-Baluchi, is a high value detainee at Guantánamo. The government's files note that Ammar was a "key lieutenant for KSM" during the September 11 operation.

Ramzi Binalshibh, one of KSM's 9/11 coconspirators, is another high value detainee at Guantánamo. He was al Qaeda's chief liaison between the hijackers living in the West and more senior terrorists, such as KSM, who resided in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Al Qaeda central needed Binalshibh to coordinate various details of the plot. And the hijackers, including their ringleader, Mohammed Atta, relied on Binalshibh for both advice and cash. Some of the money Binalshibh provided the hijackers came from another high value detainee, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi. During the week prior to 9/11, four of the hijackers returned unused funds to al-Hawsawi.

If the new administration follows the vision set forth by candidate Obama, terrorists such as KSM, Binalshibh, al-Baluchi, and al-Hawsawi will be tried in our federal courts with the same constitutional protections as American citizens including the presumption of innocence. But trying elite terrorists for their crimes does nothing to expose the unconsummated plots they had already set in motion at the time of their capture. Had the Bush administration taken this approach, it is likely that America would have failed to stop many al Qaeda terrorist operations that were in fact foiled.

For example, in his autobiography, At the Center of the Storm, former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet explained that KSM's interrogation led to the arrest of an entire cell that was plotting destruction. The same day KSM was detained in 2003, another terrorist named Majid Khan was picked up. During his interrogation, KSM admitted that Khan had recently passed along $50,000 to operatives working for al Qaeda's chieftain in Southeast Asia, a man known as Hambali. When interrogators confronted Khan with KSM's revelation, Khan confirmed it and said that he gave the money to an agent of Hambali named Zubair. Khan gave his interrogators Zubair's telephone number. Shortly thereafter, Zubair was taken into custody and gave up information that led to the arrest of yet another operative nicknamed "Lilie." According to Tenet, Lilie then provided information that led to Hambali's arrest in Thailand.

Khan, Hambali, Zubair, and Lilie are all high value detainees at Guantánamo. They were plotting the "second wave" of attacks on America when they were captured. According to the Guantánamo files, Zubair and Lilie were both chosen to be suicide hijackers in an al Qaeda attack on Los Angeles. They had also plotted against targets in Southeast Asia under the direction of Hambali. Hambali was responsible, in part, for planning the 2002 Bali bombings (killing more than 200 people) and a series of attacks on 30 churches in Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000 (killing 19).

In addition to serving as an intermediary between KSM and the Hambali crew, Majid Khan was involved in other post-9/11 plots. Khan, who lived in Baltimore for years, was planning to smuggle explosives into the United States. He wanted to target gas stations and landmarks such as the Brooklyn Bridge, and he recommended to KSM that a truck driver living in Ohio named Iyman Faris could help. Faris, who had trained at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, had begun preparations for these attacks. But within weeks of KSM's and Khan's capture, Faris was identified and arrested. Months later, Faris was convicted of providing material support to al Qaeda and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Another of Khan's accomplices, a Pakistani named Uzair Paracha, was also arrested just weeks after Khan and KSM. In late March 2003, authorities raided Uzair's apartment in Brooklyn. There they found a number of incriminating pieces of evidence linking Uzair to Khan. In 2005 Uzair was convicted, and in 2006 he was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.

Uzair's father, Saifullah Paracha, is a current resident of Guantánamo. Although he has not been designated a high value detainee, he clearly consorted with terrorists. Saifullah is reportedly a multimillionaire who owns a Pakistani media company and a textile business, which exported goods to the United States. Al Qaeda wanted to use Saifullah's textile business to smuggle explosives into the United States. Saifullah also offered his media company's services to Osama bin Laden for the production of al Qaeda's propaganda.

KSM and Khan were not the only high value detainees to give up crucial, life-saving details during their interrogations. In March 2002, Abu Zubaydah was captured at his safe house in Faisalabad, Pakistan. In At the Center of the Storm, Tenet says that Zubaydah unwittingly gave up information that led to the capture of Ramzi Binalshibh on September 11, 2002. At the time, Binalshibh was plotting an attack on Heathrow Airport in London. At least several of the detainees at Guantánamo were captured along with Zubaydah at his safe house in 2002, and they too were involved in al Qaeda's post-9/11 plotting. For example, Zubaydah intended to use one of them in an attack on Israel.

The greatest success of the Bush administration is that it stopped all of this, and more, from happening. The continental United States was under attack from an enemy unlike any other this nation has ever faced. There was no easy legal precedent or historical analogy. In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration had to make up new rules as it went along. Critics are free to charge that the administration went too far. But the Obama administration may rapidly discover that treating the terrorist threat like any other matter in federal court, as candidate Obama proposed, is not only unrealistic but also dangerous.

It is true that the courts have had some notable post-9/11 successes, such as the convictions of Uzair Paracha and Iyman Faris. But those individuals were found out only because the Bush administration employed new methods to fight terrorism. Perhaps the Obama administration can achieve the same results without using the interrogation techniques employed by its predecessor. But it would be foolish to think that the government can eschew interrogations outside of the federal criminal justice system entirely. Going forward, the new president will need to approve at least some proactive measures if he is to stop al Qaeda's next attack.

Moreover, waging the war on terror requires more than just stopping individuals such as the 14 high value detainees. Tens of thousands of terrorists mean this nation harm. And over 200 of them remain at Guantánamo.

The high value detainees are the sharp tip of a very long spear. The threat they pose is relatively easy to identify. But the Obama administration is sure to ask: How dangerous are the other detainees?

Most of the 800 detainees held at one time or another at Guantánamo have been released or transferred. According to published reports, approximately 250 remain. Who they are is not entirely clear. The Pentagon has not released an official list.

In October, the New York Times published an online database listing 248 current detainees, in addition to the 14 high value prisoners. The Times compiled this list through an exhaustive search of articles and other publicly available information. THE WEEKLY STANDARD has performed a similar review. While the list generated by the Times probably includes a handful of detainees who have been released or transferred, it appears to be mostly accurate. In any event, it is the best available.

The Department of Defense has released files for all but 6 of the 248 detainees on the Times's list. We reviewed all of the unclassified documents for these 242 detainees as part of a comprehensive six-month study. Here are our findings.

While the 242 detainees may be less important than operatives at the level of KSM or Ramzi Binalshibh, it is clear that a number of dangerous individuals reside at Guantánamo. One such is Mohamed Qahtani, the terrorist who was selected by al Qaeda to become the "20th hijacker" on 9/11 but was turned away from the Orlando Airport by a suspicious immigration official. Qahtani is a member of a group dubbed the "Dirty Thirty," who were captured by Pakistani authorities while attempting to flee Afghanistan. They include a number of bodyguards for Osama bin Laden. At least several of the "Dirty Thirty" terrorists remain at Guantánamo.

But how should the Obama administration weigh the intelligence against Guantánamo residents who lack even Qahtani's high profile? We have identified four red flags the Obama administration should look for in the Guantánamo files. This methodology bears some similarities to that employed by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point in its study of the documents generated by the CSRTs at Guantánamo. Our study reviews those files, as well as the more comprehensive documents produced during the ARB hearings at Guantánamo. The new administration, of course, will have access to both of those sets of documents, as well as to the classified information on each detainee.

RED FLAG 1: Evidence that a detainee was committed to waging jihad, or holy war, against the perceived enemies of Islam is our first red flag. Jihad was a powerful motivation for many of the Guantánamo detainees, who traveled hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to get to Afghanistan. The Guantánamo files confirm that al Qaeda operates an extensive recruitment and indoctrination network stretching from the heart of Arabia to the mosques of Europe. Veteran jihadists, along with Islamic clerics, often act as recruiters, enticing the willing with heroic tales of fighting Allah's war. The recruiters frequently make travel arrangements, paying for recruits' travel and suggesting common routes to Afghanistan (mostly through Pakistan and Iran). Sheikhs also support al Qaeda's recruitment network by giving fiery sermons and issuing fatwas (religious edicts) calling for Muslims to support the jihad in Afghanistan against the United States, just as they called earlier for jihad against the Soviets, then the Northern Alliance. The call for jihad in Bosnia and Chechnya has also been a powerful recruitment tool, with wannabe jihadists sent first to Afghanistan to learn how to fight.

Of the 242 current detainees identified by the Times, our review found at least 116 (48 percent) to be allegedly connected to the jihadist recruiting network. This includes both recruiters and those recruited or inspired by the network to wage jihad. It does not include detainees who decided on their own to wage jihad or were inspired by other means including al Qaeda's propaganda.

One recruiter now at Guantánamo, a Mauritanian named Mohamedou Slahi, is particularly noteworthy. Slahi swore bayat (an oath of loyalty) to Osama bin Laden in 1990. He then trained at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan beginning in January 1991, followed bin Laden to Sudan, and later relocated to Germany. There, he recruited Ramzi Binalshibh and three 9/11 hijackers to al Qaeda's cause. The four recruits first traveled to Afghanistan for training at Slahi's urging. Slahi also spent some time as the imam of a mosque in Montreal. During Slahi's stint in Montreal, he allegedly facilitated al Qaeda's "millennium plot" against the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Ahmed Ressam, the would-be LAX bomber, was captured while attempting to cross the Canadian border en route to California with a car full of explosives. Slahi most likely mentored Ressam during their time together in Montreal.

RED FLAG 2: On their way to join the jihad, most al Qaeda and Taliban recruits stay in guesthouses. The Obama administration should look for connections with these establishments in the Guantánamo files. The unclassified documents confirm that they are located throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. The word "guesthouse" may sound innocuous at first blush, but not just anyone can gain admittance. The guesthouse operators usually require that a known al Qaeda or Taliban member vouch for those who wish to stay there. And new residents are typically required to turn in their passports or other identification papers, sometimes receiving a new identity, before being shuttled off to a training facility or the front lines. The guesthouses also provide rudimentary religious and weapons training and act as staging facilities where jihadist fighters regroup between missions.

Of the 242 current detainees identified by the Times, our review found that at least 146 (60 percent) are alleged to have either operated or stayed in an al Qaeda or Taliban guesthouse.

Two guesthouse operators still in custody at Guantánamo warrant special scrutiny. The Rabbani brothers, Abu Rahman and Mohammed, operated a series of guesthouses for al Qaeda. The 9/11 Commission report says that the hijackers responsible for securing the planes on 9/11 stayed at a guesthouse that KSM requested Abu Rahman to secure in Karachi, Pakistan. They were then deployed to the United States. Other 9/11 hijackers stayed at the Karachi guesthouse as well. One Guantánamo file notes that Abu Rahman "identified 17 of the September 11, 2001, hijackers" as having stayed at his guesthouse. He was also able to identify several of the terrorists responsible for the August 7, 1998, embassy bombings as men he had assisted. Mohammed Rabbani, according to the Guantánamo files, assisted the retreat of 50 to 60 al Qaeda fighters from Afghanistan in December 2001.

RED FLAG 3: The Taliban's Afghanistan was a hub for terrorist training, and the Obama administration should look for evidence that a Guantánamo detainee received or provided training at one of the many facilities operated there by either the Taliban or al Qaeda. Prior to 9/11, both al Qaeda and Taliban trainees mingled at training facilities throughout Afghanistan. Some of these camps, such as the infamous al Farouq, offered basic training for those wishing to fight. Other camps, such as bin Laden's Tarnak Farms, were reserved for more specialized terrorist training. Recruits who traveled to Afghanistan could learn everything from how to operate an AK-47 to how to use poison or construct a truck bomb.

Of the 242 current detainees identified by the Times, our review found that at least 174 (72 percent) were either trainers or trainees. In a few instances, this training took place outside of Afghanistan, in, for example, Bosnia or Pakistan.

Al Qaeda's trainers are typically drawn from the ranks of the most experienced fighters. One current Guantánamo inmate, a Saudi named Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair, fought in Bosnia in the 1990s and later became an instructor at al Farouq. When captured, Zuhair had in his possession the watch of an American named William Jefferson, who worked for the United Nations in Bosnia and who was shot to death on November 21, 1995. One Guantánamo file notes that Zuhair "is believed to be responsible" for Jefferson's death. The Bosnian Supreme Court convicted Zuhair in 2000 for his participation in a car bombing in Mostar on September 18, 1997. But he was not imprisoned. Instead he remained at large, teaching others his methods for mayhem.

Another trainer in pre-9/11 Afghanistan, Noor Uthman Mohammed, was the deputy in charge of the infamous Khalden camp. Khalden was operated for years by high value detainee Abu Zubaydah and graduated many famous recruits, including three of the 9/11 hijackers. After the fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, Noor fled to Faisalabad, Pakistan, where he stayed in a safe house that Zubaydah operated. Noor was detained alongside Zubaydah, as well as several other current Guantánamo inmates, in late March 2002. One Guantánamo memo notes that Zubaydah was planning to use Noor in an operation against Israel at the time of their capture. During his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, Noor admitted that he was a trainer at Khalden and that he knew Zubaydah, but claimed that none of this had anything to do with al Qaeda. Noor's quasi-denial is meaningless-it is beyond dispute that Khalden was part of al Qaeda's elaborate pre-9/11 training infrastructure.

Terrorist training in Afghanistan was so commonplace that some current Guantánamo detainees have actually attempted to use it in their defense. Binyam Mohammed is an Ethiopian who lived in the United States briefly before moving to the United Kingdom in the 1990s. Mohammed has refused to participate in his hearings at Guantánamo, but one file notes that he admitted to his "personal representative" (provided to each detainee to represent his interests) that he had traveled to Afghanistan to gain the skills necessary to fight in Chechnya but had no other involvement with al Qaeda.

The government believes he was up to much more. According to the Guantánamo files, Binyam met a number of high-ranking al Qaeda officials in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They had tasked Binyam with attacking targets inside the United States. At one point, Binyam and José Padilla, who has been convicted on terrorism-related charges in a U.S. court, apparently investigated the possibility of detonating a "dirty bomb" (made with radioactive material) in the United States. This allegation has proven controversial as detractors say there is no evidence that Binyam or Padilla was even close to constructing such a device. But what is not widely appreciated is that the dirty bomb plot is just one option they discussed with senior al Qaeda terrorists. They also explored a wide range of possible targets and modes of attack, from striking U.S. subways to setting apartment buildings on fire using ordinary gas lines. Both Binyam and his would-be accomplice were caught before any attack could be attempted. Padilla, an American citizen, was captured in Chicago and underwent interrogation using highly controversial methods. Binyam was captured in Pakistan and claims that he, too, was tortured.

RED FLAG 4: Finally, the new administration should look for evidence of participation in hostilities in Afghanistan or elsewhere. Of the 242 current detainees identified by the Times, our review identified at least 112 (46 percent) who are alleged to have participated in hostilities. The bulk of these fought on the front lines in Afghanistan against either the Northern Alliance or American forces. But this count also includes detainees who were involved in terrorist attacks or were senior operational commanders in charge of deployed forces.

One detainee, Mohammed Fazl, was the Taliban's army chief of staff. He surrendered to the Northern Alliance with a force of more than 1,000 soldiers. The government's file on Fazl notes that he "was responsible for widespread atrocities against noncombatants."

In sum, 227 (94 percent) of the 242 detainees we studied in detail had at least one of the four red flags outlined above; 181 (75 percent) had two or more red flags. Ultimately, however, this methodology is intended only to be suggestive. There are many other factors the Obama administration should study when weighing its options. Collectively, for example, the detainees have extensive ties to Islamic charities that are known to be al Qaeda fronts. And many of the remaining inmates have interacted with senior al Qaeda officials, including Osama bin Laden. Only a careful review of all of the intelligence on the detainees, classified as well as unclassified, can illuminate just who these individuals are and what they were up to at the time of their capture.

The new administration will also have to contend with the roadblocks that have frustrated its predecessor's efforts to send detainees back to their home countries. Approximately 100 Yemenis, for instance, remain at Guantánamo, but as one file notes, "Yemen is not a nation supporting the Global War on Terrorism." Terrorists detained by Yemini authorities have a pattern of finding their way back to the battlefield.

When President-elect Obama spoke so confidently of closing Guantánamo on 60 Minutes, he had a receptive audience. For years, the dominant story in the media has been the excesses of the Bush administration. Amazingly, much of this narrative was written by self-interested former inmates and the detainees' attorneys. They are always eager to provide journalists with statements about the evils of Guantánamo.

Throughout the controversy, the Bush administration has made only minimal efforts to engage its critics or explain its actions to the American people. As a result, coverage of Guantánamo has been one-sided, and the intelligence contained in the thousands of pages of unclassified documents has largely been ignored. The full story of the Guantánamo detainees remains to be told.

The faults of the Bush administration go beyond its strange failure to make its case to the public. Its refusal to release a complete list of the remaining detainees is an example of secrecy taken too far. Its use of techniques of dubious legality and morality to extract information is rightly questioned. And the military commissions approved by President Bush have proceeded at a snail's pace-only two detainees have been tried.

Obama will probably end the military commission system. He has suggested that he wants to try some of the detainees in a civilian court. But trying the most dangerous terrorists, such as the 14 high value detainees, in a civilian court will give them a forum in which to grandstand. Classified information, which may be necessary to convict them on some charges, will be difficult to protect in such a setting. It is possible that the Obama administration will create a special national security court to handle some of the cases. This is not a bad idea.

When the Bush administration sent the first detainees to the U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay in 2002, it was improvising-understandable in a situation without precedent. The captured jihadists and terrorist agents were not conventional prisoners of war, and they were not ordinary criminals. In the ensuing seven years, the administration failed to replace its stopgap measure with an institutional response seen as legitimate. Bush's successors should remember, however, that he took the steps he did in the context of a war against enemies who are still seeking to attack our homeland. President Bush, whatever his faults, protected America after September 11, 2001. Shortly, it will fall to President Obama to do the same.

Thomas Joscelyn is a terrorism researcher, writer, and economist living in New York. He is the author, most recently, of Iran's Proxy War Against America (Claremont Institute).

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St. Louis Rams defensive lineman Michael Sam (96) addresses the press after practice at Rams Park. / Scott Rovak, USA TODAY Sports

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Michael Sam is surely a man with a message.

"I'm a football player," the rookie defensive end declared Tuesday after the St. Louis Rams completed their first full-squad practice in pads and was asked if he wanted to be a trailblazer.

Fair question.

Sam is a football player, no doubt, trying to beat seemingly long odds and land a job with one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. But he's also trying to become the first openly gay football player in the league, which has put him on the map.

At what point will people just ask Sam about football?

"When I lay somebody out that first game," he said.

We'll see.

The Missouri product was undoubtedly the only seventh-round pick this year to have his own post-practice press conference. Shoot, just when you may have expected Sam Bradford or Chris Long to be made available, Sam was the only Rams player on Tuesday to be featured.

Then again, he also happens to be a seventh-round pick whose jersey sales rank sixth in the NFL.

"I'm a football player," he reminded his audience, two minutes after saying it the first time.

That was his response when I asked him if he felt he belongs in the NFL. Sam - who revealed his sexual orientation about two weeks before his unspectacular performance at the scouting combine - was the SEC's Co-Defensive Player of the Year last season, but was drafted 249th overall. Only seven picks remained after the Rams grabbed him.

I'm wondering about his sense of the talent level he is competing against as he tries to stick on the next level.

"I'm a football player," he repeated. "This is football. It feels natural."

Still, when the comments by former coach Tony Dungy to The Tampa Tribune were published last week that maintained he would not have drafted Sam because of the potential distraction, the ensuing firestorm provided a fresh reminder about the social significance of Sam's presence.

Distraction? What distraction?

Sure, Sam had a post-practice presser, but largely the day at Rams camp seemed pretty typical. There were no protestors or gay rights activists rallying. More than 1,600 fans attended the practice - including a longtime fan who screamed things at players such as, "Stick him!" and "Nobody is your friend!" - but there was no heckling aimed at Sam.

"Business as usual," Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers told USA TODAY Sports. "Focus on football. That's what time it is. He's a Rams defensive lineman, and we treat him as that."

General manager Les Snead said, "The biggest distraction right now is the weather. It's cool." The forecast was for temperatures in the low 80s, with low humidity - so rare for the typically steamy summer days here.

Dungy may have been speaking for a lot of coaches who would rather pass on Sam than deal with the potential distraction of a Summer of Sam.

Given all the hoodlums that have been given jobs in the NFL amid all sorts embarrassing situations, to pass on Sam just because of a potential distraction doesn't tell the full story.

NFL teams and coaches deal with distractions all the time - especially if a player is good enough.

During Tuesday's practice, he was hardly spectacular but certainly not out of place. As a marginal prospect, making the team will come down to the wire for Sam.

It might hinge on whether he excels on special teams. Since the last offseason minicamp, he dropped 13 pounds to get to 257 pounds on his 6-2 frame. He said the weight loss has improved his speed - which he'll need as a pass-rusher and to get down the field on the kick teams.

Fisher told USA TODAY Sports he will likely keep "nine-ish" defensive lineman.

Sam, though, hardly trying to do the math.

"Not at all," he said. "I'm looking at that guy right across from me and laying him out. That's my mentality."

Like a football player.

Copyright 2015USAToday

Read the original story: Michael Sam: 'I'm a football player,' not a trailblazer

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Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake
Courtesy of Kyodo Photo Service

My first encounter with the work of Issey Miyake came in the mid-seventies when I took a break from modeling in London to meet an American designer friend who was visiting Paris. She suggested we try to crash two designer collections showing back-to-back in the same venue. One of them was Issey Miyake' I was amazed at the mobs waiting as if it were some rock concert, desperate to get in, yet I too was one of them. Fortunately my friend spotted an acquaintance, a French magazine editor who somehow wangled us in. Even then Miyake was a hot name in fashion.

It's hard to believe now, more than 20 years later, I would still be involved in fashion but this time from another side, as a writer. But even more amazing is the fact that in a world as fickle as fashion, Miyake, who has recently entered his sixties, is still a vital creative force, a pioneer of new ideas in materials and form.

After studying graphic design at Tama Art University in the sixties, Miyake left for Paris where he studied couture then spent four years as an apprentice, first to Guy Laroche and then Givenchy. He was in Paris during the student riots of 1968; it touched a nerve and made him realize how tradition can oppress. It was then he knew he had to do something on his own. He left for New York, did a short stint with Geoffrey Beene, then headed back to Tokyo in 1970 to establish Miyake Design Studio.

From the very beginning, fashion cognoscenti have been effuse in their praise of his talent. Diana Vreeland, the most influential person in fashion at that time, first noticed his work when he showed in New York in 1971. In Paris he has consistently been named among the top ten designers by the French trade papers. "Miyake is one of the greatest innovators in both shape and fabric," writes Martha Duffy in Time magazine's 1996 Golden Anniversary issue on Asia. Time also cited him this year as one of the hundred most influential Asians of the past century.

Themes reappear throughout his life work: East and West, the body, cloth, nature, movement, culture. Miyake published the superb picture book of his best work, "East Meets West" in 1977, and since then he has often collaborated with creative people in different areas of the arts, cementing his position as one of this country's premier designers.

Zita Ohe

299: Nakamura Kankuro
Arizona lover and Kabuki actor
298: Miura Yuichiro
The Man Who Skied Down Everest
297: Iron Chef
Gourmet cuisine battles
296: "Katte wa ikenai"
"Don't buy these products"
295: Oda Yuji
The dancing detective
294: Enoki Takaaki
An artist who acts
293: Glay
Japan's reigning pop princes
292: Akebono
Hawaiian Sumo wrestler
291: Issey Miyake
Fashion designer
290: Murakami Ryu
Radical writer
289: Oshima Nagisa
Movie director
288: Takakura Ken
Crime film actor
287: Miura Kazuyoshi
Soccer player
286: Suzuki Koji
Author of the horror, Ring
285: Tezuka Osamu
God of Comics
284: Yuming
283: Anpanman
Bean-powered superhero
282: Yamaguchi Takashi
Immersed in traditional Japanese music
281: Nasubi
280: Doi Takako
First female Speaker of the House
279: Nakamura Kichiemon
Retiring Kabuki actor
278: Oe Kenzaburo
Nobel prize winning author
277: Kimura Takuya
SMAP member
276: Utada Hikaru
Teenage pop phenomenon
275: Bando Tamasaburo
Kabuki female role impersonator
274: Otomo Katsuhiro
Akira creator
273: Dreams Come True
Premier recording artist
272: Dango San Kyodai
Surprise hit of 1999
271: Banana Yoshimoto
270: Matsuzaka Daisuke
Baseball player
269: Moritaka Chisato
Model and singer
268: Mukai Chiaki
Female astronaut
267: Natto
Traditional Japanese health food
266: Hiroaki Kikuoka
Shamisen player
265: Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Japan's most revered dramatist
264: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Oscar-winning musician
263: Shigeo Nagashima
Japan's Mr Baseball
262: Ayako Totsuka
Pioneer careerwoman
261: Yatsuhashi Kengyo
Koto player
260: Chiyotaikai
Sumo wrestler
259: Pocky
Japanese snack food
258: Itsuki Hiroshi
Enka singer
257: Pocket Monsters
Conquering the world
256: Classified ads
New concept in Japan
255: Chara
Japanese pop star
254: Pink Lady
1970's singing duo
253: Takashi Sorimachi
Japanese heartthrob
252: Ennosuke Ichikawa
Kabuki actor
251: Rie Miyazawa
Model and actress
250: Shazna
Visual-kei band

Issues 350 +
Issues 349 - 300/1
Issues 248/9 -


text:
New York City Council speaker and mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, center, announces her mayoral run in New York. / Seth Wenig, AP

NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of workers in New York City are poised to get paid sick days in what may prove a pivotal moment in a national debate over whether businesses should be required to provide them.

After reaching a deal that could affect about 1 million workers in settings ranging from restaurants to construction sites, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, union leaders and business groups lauded it Friday as a plan that met both workers' needs and employers' concerns. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg called it bad for business and vowed a veto, which the council is expected to override.

While New York's measure isn't the first or farthest-reaching, worker advocates say it could be a turning point because of its sweep and stature.

"It's a real step forward for our country because of the significance of New York City, the number of workers this supports and the fact that this creates momentum around the country," said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, one of the groups pushing the paid sick time cause nationwide.

New York City is more populous than the five other cities and one state that have approved such laws so far, and the sick days campaign here drew in such high-wattage supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon. The pact in New York follows council votes just this month to approve paid sick leave laws in Portland, Ore., and Philadelphia, though it's unclear whether Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will sign the measure there.

Proponents portray sick time as a matter of both working conditions and public health, and they see the recent developments as a welcome upswing after some setbacks in recent years. Dan Cantor, national executive director of the left-leaning Working Families Party, calls the agreement in New York "a booster shot for the paid sick days movement."

But critics - including New York's billionaire businessman-turned-mayor - say government should leave sick time arrangements to workers and bosses. The requirement could hamper small businesses and hinder job growth while unemployment remains high, opponents say.

"The bill is short-sighted economic policy that will take our city in the wrong direction," Bloomberg said in a statement Friday. (He noted this week that his own company, the financial information giant Bloomberg LP, offers the benefit.)

Businesses with 20 or more employees would have to provide five paid sick days a year beginning in April 2014. Enterprises with 15 or more workers would have to do the same by October 2015. All others would have to provide five unpaid sick days per year, a provision advocates call a significant protection for an estimated 300,000 workers against getting fired for calling in sick.

A vote is expected next month.

Luis Gonzalez can't count the number of times he's gone to work with the flu, colds and other ailments during 11 years of working construction jobs around the city.

"I have no choice but to work" because of not having sick days, Gonzalez, 33, said through a Spanish interpreter. He's originally from Azogues, Ecuador.

But some businesses that don't offer sick days say they have other ways for employees to stay home when they need to.

The Rockaway Seafood Company's roughly 20 employees swap shifts if they're ill - or they did before Superstorm Sandy devastated the still-closed eatery, co-owner Chris Miles said. Shift-switching may be an allowable alternative under the upcoming law.

If not, "if and when we do get back open, here we are going to have to lay out extra money for something that has never really been an issue," Miles said.

After stalling in the City Council for about three years, Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal was energized this year from an unusually sharp flu season and the race to succeed Bloomberg next year.

Quinn - a leading Democratic candidate often seen as a Bloomberg ally courting business support - had declined to bring the proposal to a vote, saying the idea was worthy but the time wasn't right economically.

But her Democratic rivals increasingly and publicly hammered her on an issue important to unions and other key Democratic constituencies. Steinem said last month she'd withdraw her support for Quinn, who would be New York's first female mayor, if there wasn't a vote on sick leave.

And some council members began planning a virtually unheard-of move to force a vote without Quinn's OK. Some 13 signed on, nearly twice the number needed, according to a person familiar with the maneuvering, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to talk about the private discussions.

Quinn said Friday that she'd changed her mind because of changes to the proposal, such as increasing the threshold from five employees to 15, reducing fines, holding off the implementation dates until next year and 2015, and including a proviso for further delays if the economy significantly worsens.

"It provides a critically important benefit to New Yorkers, and it does that without putting jobs at risk," she said. "It is simply the right thing to do."

But one of her rivals for the Democratic mayoral nomination, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, said the city hadn't gone far enough or fast enough to set a national example.

The city and state "have been the great progressive beacons in this country, and in this case, we simply weren't," he said.

New York's paid sick leave measure is narrower than those in Seattle, Portland and Philadelphia, which apply to businesses with more than five workers; those in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., apply to businesses of any size. A measure in Connecticut, however, kicks in at 50 workers.

In some other cities, such proposals have failed altogether. Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it, and Denver voters rejected a paid sick day measure in 2011.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read the original story: Advocates: NYC deal key in paid sick days push

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Mayor outlines plan for NBA relocation visit

11:55 PM, Apr 18, 2011   |    comments
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SACRAMENTO, CA - On his way into a screening of "Waiting for Superman", an educational documentary featuring his financee Michelle Rhee, Mayor Kevin Johnson said he's excited and ready for the NBA visit.

"I'm just excited that Sacramento is still in the game," Johnson said. "This is our playof. We're the only team in the playoffs that nobody knows about."

NBA Commissioner David Stern pushed back the relocation deadline to May 2, which will allow a fact-finding team to visit both Sacramento and Anaheim. The team will investigate claims each city made during the NBA Board of Governor's meeting in New York City.

If not for the delay, the Maloofs would have had to file for a relocation to Anaheim by April 18.

The Sacramento fact-finding visit begins Thursday.

"They need to know that something is different this time then all the failed attempts in the past for an entertainment and sports complex," Johnson said. "I think there's a political will, I think we have the leadership and I think our public is ready to have these conversations -- so they'll get a chance to see first hand what we're made of in Sacramento."

The mayor said his plan to woo the NBA relocation committee is three-fold,but focuses on the financial viability of Sacramento. He said they'll be looking for corporate dollars that are ready to invest.

"Advertising, buy a suite, buy a block of tickets, for that you get a suite, you get radio, you get TV, that corporate participation," he said. "We've got to show that's there more of them in Sacramento and that creates a viable market."

The NBA liked Johnson's "business-approach" at its Big Apple meeting on Thursday, where Johnson said $7 million of those corporate dollars were found in a week.

"We think we have a corporate base that's willing to step up, different then they've done in the past and number three, we're going to go forward with a new arena -- regardless," the mayor said.

Part of the help finding those $7 million so quickly came from Sacramento's Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Bureau spokesman Mike Testa said the process revealed how valuable professional sports are in Sacramento.

"There was some outreach that was done pretty quickly and I think people understood the urgency of the issue and made those commitments," Testa said. "I think when you can generate that kind of response in a short period of time, certainly that gives you cause fo maybe there's more there."

Like Johnson, Testa is encouraged by the NBA's decision to look at what Sacramento has to offer. "If you can make a business argument that the investment in a sports and entertainment complex would benefit this region then I think you've gone a long way in making that argument," he said.

"Sixteen out of the last 20 years (the Kings) had losing teams but the arena still sold out. So that fan base I think is very important. And then the commitment from the business community forward to reinvest and buy season tickets and buy suites -- I think those are things that will be eye-openers for the committee," Testa said.

Johnson added they don't yet know how the city will pay for a new arena, but the David Taylor/ ICON Venue Group approved by the city council in January is still working on it. The full report is due at the end of May.

That group did, however, promise to accelerate portions of it for the NBA visit.

"They have committed to accelerate aspects of their feasibility study so when Clay Bennett is out here we'll be able to share some of those things in private," Johnson said.

By Nick Monacelli,

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Subject:   Apples to Apples?
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How can you store the behavior in the persistence layer? Writing it in PL/SQL? Using some kind of proprietary Oracle stored procedures in Java? The example in the article does not seem to be storing any behavior, just the current object state.

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in this morning's baltimore sun reflects those across the country. from the tribune's washington magazine, it's said when he weight in friday he delivered a lashing speech that included violent movies and video games as he said his plan would train those to guard our schools. in this edition of today's program, we're going to begin the first 45 minutes of the program to talk about the nra's response to the shootings. they broke their silence yesterday with executive director and vice president wayne. we'll talk more about what he had to say. but we want to get you involved in the conversation. so the numbers on your screen. guest: we also have a special line this morning for members of the n.r.a. (202)585-3883 this is for n.r.a. members. you can also reach out to us at and f.s.a. -- and facebook at and the headline face of the n.r.a. mountains a forceful defense advocate of armed school guards excels at lighting fires under supporters and critics alike. guest: we'll get back to more of the newspaper articles this morning regarding the n.r.a.'s response to the newtown shoot
in washington are calling for more gun controls, the nra wants to fight fire with fire in schools or maybe it's just the deterrent factor that they're hoping for. cnn national correspondent susan candiotti joining me from new york. is that the message that most people expected or wanted to hear from the nra? >> you know, everyone agrees that something needs to change, the question is, of course, is this the moment. armed guards in every school? we're getting different reactions to that. for example, in newtown, connecticut, where the community is still reeling after a shooter blasted his way into sandy hook elementary school and systematically gunned down 20 children and six adults, people are asking is this what we want to do now, put armed guards in every school? here's a sample of opinion in newtown. >> i'm very torn at this point. i'm not happy with the nra. i am not happy with the nra, and i am a gun owner myself. there's just no reason for automatic weapons out there in the public. and clips that discharge so many rounds of ammunition. >> i have many guns. but i don't have a third round
't want taxes to go up. but we only run the house, democrats continue to run washington. >> gregg: national correspondent steve centanni joins us live from washington. >> reporter: d.c. may be some shutting down for christmas but the clock hasn't stopped and fiscal cliff is closer than ever. no deal was reached this week to keep taxes from going up. joan boehner pulled plug on the plan "b" and he says it is now up to the president and g.o.p. is continuing to hammer away at president obama. >> this is the year size of our debt surpassed the our economy. a grim milestone if we don't come to grips to w it. the president's plan to raise tax rates ko could still be as far as eye could see. >> reporter: president obama will return after christmas and work on fiscal issues. he believes a comprehensive deal could be reached but he seems to be acknowledging for scaled back plan for cutting taxes on the middle-class. >> even though democrats and republicans are arguing about whether those rates should go up for the wealthiest individuals, all of us, every single one of us agree that tax rat
have guards armed with guns of their own. nbc justice correspondent pete williams says s in washington for more on this. can you break down the nra's solution? >> the nra says the answer to combating school violence is simple. it says banks, power plarngts congress, and the president are protected with armed security and the nation's schools should be guarded that way, too. after a week of calls for tighter gun restrictions and signs of a possible shift in public attitudes, about access to the weapons like the rifle used in connecticut, the national rifle association instead called for putting more armed security officers in the nation's schools. the. >> the onlying that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> reporter: the nra's wayne la pierre says children in most schools are defenseless because the schools proclaim to be places without guns. >> they tell every insane killer in america that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk. >> reporter: he took no questions from reporters but was interrupted by protesters. >> shame on the nra!
failures of leaders and failures to reach compromise in washington will have on pleasant and possibly exceedingly painful consequences wall street today sold off sharply despite more positive news on an economy that is now obviously growing and building momentum. the dow jones industrial fell 121 points. the s&p down 39 and a half, nasdaq lost 29 points. to assess what is now a bright new economic prospects and the consequence of further gathering in irresponsibility in washington, we are joined by economist john lonski, noted fund manager and strategist harvey eisn, and in other news from washington tonight president obama nominating senator john kerry to be the next secretary of state with their views on kerry, benghazi, obama's foreign policy. we will be talking with fox his national security analyst k. t. mcfarland, former ambassador john bolton, and today the national rifle association exactly one week after the sandy hook school massacre has come up with a proposal for securing every school in this country, and it is such an obvious solution, so simple it immediately raises the
report" is coming up next. >> harris: this is the fox report. tonight, drama from washington to wall street. no deal on the fiscal cliff on this final friday before christmas. negative reaction from investors as the president speaking moments ago tries to calm the fray. plus, president obama making it official. >> i'm very proud to announce my choice for america's next secretary of state, john kerry. >> the president calling on the veteran massachusetts senator to fill secretary clinton's spot. plus in the wake of the new town shooting the national rifle association breaks its silence. >> out of respect for the families and until the facts are known, the nra has refrained from comment. >> harris: and the group's ceo placing some blame. >> we have flood soaked films out there. vicious, violent video games. >> and the nra offering a proposal, an armed officer in every single school in america. also, mexican police locked up this former u.s. marine months ago, accused him of trying to bring a gun into the country. >> a lesser person would have pleaded guilty. >> they chained him to a be
control groups says "the washington post." the firearms industry is like the harvard business school case of success, but after sandy hook, key investors like large retirement funds are now pulling their money out. they're questioning if it's all about profit. the nra's suggestion has been met with an avalanche of gun controlaed vok ats and i'll talk to the executive director of gun owners of america who says the nra has it exactly right and how to plan your trip around weather delays and snowstorms across the country. [ woman ] too weak. wears off. [ female announcer ] stop searching and start repairing. eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. the end of trial and error has arrived. try a free sample at everything about the oral-b power brush is simply revolutionary. our unique brush head cleans in three directions with up to 50% more brush movements than leading sonic technology. oral-b power brushes. go to for the latest offers. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? u
and house speaker boehner left washington without reaching a deal on the fiscal cliff. before heading to hawaii, president obama said he met individually with leaders of the house and senate, asking them to work toward a package that prevents a tax hike on middle class americans. >> this is something within our capacity to solve. it doesn't take that much work. we just have to do the right thing. so call me a hopeless optimist, but i still think we can get it done. >> earlier in the day, speaker boehner held a news conference. a vote on his so-called plan "b" was scrapped thursday night when it became clear it did not have enough support among house republicans to secure passage. >> a situation where because of the political divide in the country, because of the divide here in washington, trying to bridge these differences has been difficult. if it were easy, i'll guarantee you this would have been done decades before. >> joining me now, congressional reporter for "the washington post," ed o'keefe. good to see you. >> good to see you too. any kind of realistic timetable that this will
ideas. >> the house will stand in the chair. >> this week on "inside washington," john boehner's plan b collapses and the house goes home for christmas. >> it is hard to get your mind around said that someone so young could leave us, and such a peaceful community, such an horrific event. >> another massacre and another called for gun-control. >> the fact of this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing. >> hands brawl after the state department report on benghazi, but are they the right hands? >> the compound was inadequate for the threat environment in benghazi, and in fact, grossly inadequate to deal with the attacks that took place that night. >> will former republican senator chuck hagel make it to the pentagon? >> the house did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass. house speaker john boehner's statement on thursday evening as he stood in front of the house republican conference on thursday night, he recited the serenity prayer. god, grant me the serenity to accept the things that i cannot change
to extend tax cuts for most americans. his remarks came as congress leaves washington without a plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. the president said he hoped any deal to avoid the fiscal cliff would also include and extension of unemployment insurance and lay this is about 7 minutes. >> good afternoon, everybody. for the last few weeks, i have been working with the leaders of both parties on a proposal to get our deficit under control, to avoid tax cuts -- to avoid tax hikes on the middle-class. and to make sure we can spur jobs and economic growth. a balanced proposal that cuts spending, but also ask the wealthiest americans to pay more, a proposal that will strengthen the middle class over the long haul, and our economy over the long haul. in the course of these negotiations, i offered to compromise with republicans in congress. i met them halfway on taxes and more than halfway on spending. today, i am still willing to get a comprehensive package done. i still believe that reducing our deficit is the right thing to do for the long-term health of our economy and the confidence of our
it work? national correspondent steve centanni may be the only person left in washington. steve. >> reporter: it feels like it, the president is in hawaii and congress is out of town and the fiscal cliff negotiations are on hold for the holidays with no agreement in sight. john boehner is throwing the ball in the democrats' court saying the debt is too high, spending out of control and taxes should not go up. in the g.o.p.'s weekly address, he accused the president and the democrats of refusing to accept a reasonable compromise. >> the best way to address our crippling debt is to make significant spending cuts and fix our tax code. to pave the way for long term growth and opportunity. this is an approach most americans support and remains republicans' highest priority. but we only run the house. democrats continue to run washington. >> reporter: the president left town for his traditional christmas in hawaii and he and his family arriving there this morning and he has gotten in a round of golf already. before leaving the white house, he stayed back hayes spe-- scal back his expe
are making. it seemed like washington, everybody had a different idea of what should be done, and there were advocates on both sides, are ready group of individuals who wanted to up look for an opportunity to implement irresponsible protect some area that would succeed. so that is the whole section. this section again as to the how we came to intervene and why that was actually good idea. the next question, of course, is the one everyone is talking about now on which will leave more for questions. where is libya headed next. you know, i think with regard to what happened in and gusty, it is still -- i think everyone needs to take, regardless of all the chaos that is happening, step back, go up several thousand feet and looked at this process over a much longer not the time. we are still a year into this revolution. no one really expects. the many expected that this was going to be a shorter and more pleasant experience that has been, and there have been confrontations a very rude realities, but at the same time in my trips back to the libya over the last year, i've seen similar remarkable st
by way of warning shots? >> the state department has been very clear from washington, d.c. that we need both sides, all sides to remain calm to avoid escalating. when you have escalation, and intended mishap can occur. -- unintended mishap can occur. it is imperative that all sides try to resolve these issues among themselves in a calm, deliberate fashion to avoid escalation or provocative acts. >> use the example on the economic front, the chinese like to push and see how for the can push. is that what is going on now in this front? >> i do. what is worrisome about these islands is, it is one question when you have a trade dispute. it is another when you have something involving sovereignty. the chinese have this idea of core interest. core interest means hong kong, taiwan, tibet, and now these islands. you remove a certain amount of flexibility when you say something is a core interest. it rose right into the brain of the sovereignty question. china is on compromising on that. -- uncompromising on that. >> question over here. >> in 2011, when secretary gates was visiting china for mee
a hand. [applause] since he came to washington with president obama in 2009, he has been a forward thinking and caring supporter of the district. to the teachers and principals of this city in this country. he has helped secure millions of dollars in funding. they helped shape innovative policies, all across the country. he is a true leader, not just in time for celebration, but in times of tragedy and sorrow. yesterday, he attended the funeral of the principle of sandy hook elementary school that lost her life protecting the children of the school. ladies and gentlemen, i am proud, thankful, and privileged to introduce arne duncan. [applause] >> i want to thank the children for their fantastic support. please give a round of applause for the work she is doing. [applause] i think she is an amazing leader, and d.c. has come a long way and has a long way to go. with her passion in her heart, she is leading the charge. this is a bittersweet day. i think it is so important on days like this and every day, that we listen to our children. savor their innocence and applaud their unquencha
from washington. what are the details of the nominee? >> kelly, back in 2004, senator kerry let then state senator barack obama speak at his nomination, and it was a road to the white house. and yesterday at the white house president obama nominated kerry to be secretary of state in his second term. >> in a sense, john's entire life has prepared him for this role. as a son of a foreign service officer, he has a deep respect for the men and women of the the state department, the role they play in advancing our interests and values, the risks that they undertake and the sacrifice that is they make along with their families. >> issues with iran, syria and north korea are the most pressing senator kerry will face if he's confirmed. yesterday, a long time colleague of his, senator john mccain congratulated him on his nomination and will consider that nomination, but he did not promise to support it. >> my view on whether secretary kerry should be-- or senator kerry should be secretary will not be based on differents of views. we had difference of views going back to 1991 when he said
challenged the members of our party to grapple with these issues, make tough choices. washington has a serious spending problem. this was the year, the size of our debt, all $16 trillionths of it, surpass the size of our retientire economy. but president's solution of raising tax rates would hurt jobs, at a time when for too many of our citizens are struggling to find them. i have seen the damage that higher taxes can do for jobs and families. i do not want tax rates to go up. republicans do not want tax rates to go up. the best way to address are crippling debt is to make significant spending cuts and fix our tax code, to pave the way for long-term growth and opportunity. this is an approach that most americans approve. we only run the house. democrats continued to run washington. hope springs eternal. we have it in us to come together and do the right thing. will continue to work with our colleagues in congress and the white house on a plan that protects families and small businesses. for now, i wish all the american people a blessed and mary christmas. >> on "newsmakers," represen
. >> peter doocy joins us live from washington with the very latest as we see video of the president hopping on board air force one, right? >> that's right, clayton. president obama popped in to the james brady briefing room at the white house yesterday at about 5:30 and basically said that since the american people in november voted for democratic control of the white house and the senate and republican control of the house. lawmakers need to compromise but he also made clear as of right now when it comes to the fiscal cliff and avoiding it, there is no deal. >> so as we leave town for a few days to be with our families for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody some perspective. everybody can cool off. everybody can drink some eggnog, have some christmas cookies, sing some christmas carols. enjoy company of loved ones. and then i would ask every member of congress while they're back home to think about that. think about the obligations we have to the people who sent us here. think about the hardship that some americans will endure if congress does nothing at all. >> it was just a few minu
civil liberties union? >> a here in washington has been a major impediment and a lot of people believe that nobody should be treated involuntarily. well, that flies in the face of the fact that we treat people with active tuberculosis involuntarily when they won't take medicine. we also restrict people who have alzheimer's disease and don't know they're sick. so, we do this for other conditions, but we have a lot of trouble thinking through this clearly for people with severe mental illness. >> paul: you mentioned in your op-ed for us, the number of activity psychiatric beds has declined from more than half a million to fewer than 50,000. i guess this is part of that movement you're describing against incarcerating the mentally ill, but you're saying that that decline in those beds has endangered the american public? >> it has, because if you try to get somebody who needs hospitalization into a hospital today, it's virtually impossible. as one of my colleagues says, it's easier to get somebody into harvard than it is a mental hospital. we have only one out of the 20 beds that we had 50
of the washington post, this is like lincoln at gettysburg, what would they operate on. >> i think it's a failure of the part of imagination on time magazine, if we can't come up with anyone other than the guy who won the election. >> was it a cop-out? >> i think in their minds he is the perennial person of the day, bern of the hour, person of year. >> and i think president morsi, and taken over and it really has become the narrative of the entire world. the arab spring, i call it the islamicic awakinawaking. >> rick, aren't you going to hold president obama responsible for that? >> give him credit-- >> so who should we expect next year? or is it too early to talk about. >> i think it's too early to start talking about hillary clinton. i think we're going to have to wait an um can of years, what do you say. >> i'm going to go with president obama? >> we'll have to see whether she actually testifies in front of the committee while she is still secretary of state as the senators seem to request. stay with us, we have more news watch coming up. [ loud party sounds ] hi, i'm ensure clear... clear, hu
, washington correspondent of "the nation" with the latest on today's fiscal cliff development, and the people who will get crushed if nothing gets done. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using the #edshow. we're coming right back. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." on a day when a community laid more victims to rest, on a day when a nation stopped just briefly to honor the dead, the national rifle association came out swinging, defiant, paranoid, and utterly tone-deaf. >> this is the beginning of a serious conversation. we won't be taking questions. >> but nra president david keene was just the warm-up act for the gun lobby's number one defender, wayne lapierre. wayne lapierre offered up a televised sales pitch to america, making the case to expand the gun market by demanding more guns in schools. >> with all the foreign aid the united states does, with all the money in the federal budget, can't we afford to put a police officer in every single school? i call on congress today to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every si
going over the fisical cliff? there is still no deal. steve joins us from washington with the latest on thes. >> hi, uma, the fiscal cliff may be looming. but both sides are pulting the dial on hold. no deal for the tooks . at times it appeared congress was made but not the case this weekend. house speaker john boehner said he is hopeful, but none theless of as the presidentov dubbinging the fiscal issue in the stapped off. boehner delivered the gop. >> the president has offedy will not do anything to solvelet speppeding problem and begins to the crippling debt. he wants more spending and tax hikes and that will hurt our economy . he refuses to challenge the members of his family to deal with entitlementriform and the big issues that are facing our nation. president obama said a deal could be reached but that appears unlikely. he took off for hawaii and landed with his family for a shorter than usual christmas break. he said he is it a hopeless optmist. he is scaling back and pushing for a tax cut for the middle class and calling for compromise. it can only pass from democrats and re
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Lima, Peru  |  Sunday, August 30, 2015 10:51 am  |  |  |

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Law & Order | June 4, 2007 [ 18:00 ]

Peru: Internet Pornography

(LIP-ir) -- The mayors of Lima districts Pueblo Libre and Villa El Salvador are taking more action so minors are not exposed or permitted access to pornography over the Internet.

Internet cafes are under constant watch by district authorities. The goal is to keep minors from viewing pornography on the internet.

Mayor of Pueblo Libre, Rafael Santos has said that the 70 internet cafes in his district are under "virtual" watch and all pornographic material is blocked.

In an effort with local authorities, internet cafes are constantly visited and checked to make sure minors are not viewing inappropriate material. On top of that the mayor has explained that there is an intelligence team that works in identifying places where child prostitution could be taking place.

Villa El Salvador Mayor, Jaime Zea stated that 350 internet cafes are periodically inspected to make sure that minors don't have access to pornography and can't be trapped by child pornography rings.

Internet cafe owners must have programs that block and filter inappropriate material or they will be fined and could even be closed down if regulations aren't followed.

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text:
Jazz in need of Okur's scoring
Simple strategy: When Utah's big man is getting the ball in the basket, the team is more likely to win
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A quick scouting report on tonight's Jazz-Lakers game: One guy, a fabulous offensive talent, tends to shoot more than anybody else on his team, so wins and losses naturally tend to track along with how many of his shots fall. Stop him, in other words, and victory is assured.

Oh, and Kobe Bryant will be there, too.

Maybe it's not exactly a perfect parallel, considering Bryant, the league's second-leading scorer, has hoisted as many shots in the past six games as Mehmet Okur has all season. But Okur may be almost as indispensable to the Jazz as Bryant is to the 5-8 Lakers.

Utah is 5-2 when Okur is its leading scorer, and 1-7 when it is someone else. More intriguing, the Jazz are 6-2 when Okur attempts 15 or more shots, and 0-7 when he does not.

So how hard can coaching be? You want to win, just tell "Memo" to shoot, right?

If only it was that simple.

Teams "try to double-team more attention on me now," said Okur, who has been limited to eight points in each of the Jazz's past two games, both losses. "It's harder to be open, so I'm trying to swing the ball to whoever is wide open."

That's not exactly the tactic used by Bryant, who has yet to attempt fewer than 18 shots in a game (a level reached by Okur only twice) and has more field-goal attempts than any three Laker teammates combined. As Laker coach Phil Jackson put it Wednesday afternoon, "This is an equal-opportunity offense, and right now it's not very equal."

Perhaps surprisingly, that's not exactly the strategy endorsed by Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, either. Sure, the Jazz prefer open shots above all. But the coach is working to make Okur more flexible, and logical, in his shot selection. Don't take fewer shots, Sloan has told Okur - in fact, take more. But take better ones.

Okur is a terrific outside shooter, probably the Jazz's best. But Sloan worries that, with teams increasingly scouting his leading scorer and focusing on limiting his touches, Okur is too willing to lean on those flat-footed 20-footers. "When you have to rely on strictly outside stuff, that can be taken away," Sloan said. "We've seen that lately," as Golden State and Indiana limited Okur to eight and nine shots, nearly all of them jumpers.

The answer: Take advantage of matchups that allow the 6-foot-11 Turk to post up.

"When teams take away your spot," Sloan said, "go find another spot where you can be effective."

For instance, Okur was guarded by Austin Croshere, a couple of inches shorter and nearly 20 pounds lighter, during much of Tuesday's loss to the Pacers. Yet the Jazz forward drifted out toward the perimeter most of the night, despite Sloan's urging to set up down low.

"You have to recognize, 'If I've got a smaller guy, I've got to step to the basket,' " Sloan said. "That gets you to the free-throw line, or makes them take that away from you. And you've got a lot of options."

Of course, the Jazz don't have too many offensive options, which is part of the problem, too. Only Greg Ostertag, who tries just three shots per night, most of them putbacks, is making more than half of his shots, and only he and Okur are better than 45 percent.

That means Okur's vows to shift his attention to other tasks besides scoring when defenses attack him - "I don't want to push it, so if I don't score, I'm going to play defense, get offensive boards, set screens," Okur said dutifully - is often counterproductive.

The emergence of another reliable offensive weapon, whether it's Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Gordan Giricek or someone else, would seem to be critical. Okur said his Turkish National Team was at its best when it played a two-man game, with he and Orlando forward Hedo Turkoglu forcing defenses to choose a target, then swinging the ball to the other.

"I don't force it. If I wait, shots come," Okur said.

For the Jazz, the sooner, the better.

at Jazz

Tonight, 8:30 p.m., TNT


text:
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Defensive Coordinator Ray Horton of the Arizona Cardinals looks on during pre-game warm ups before their game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on December 30, 2012 in San Francisco, California. / Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images

From the moment the Arizona Cardinals chose Bruce Arians over Ray Horton as their new head coach, it was inevitable Horton would be leaving the organization.

It took less than a day for that to happen. Horton, the defensive coordinator, has been released from his contract and is now a free agent, according to a person informed of the team's decision.

The person, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the Cards aren't confirming the firing, said Horton was furious about losing out to Arians.

Arizona's defense ranked 12th in the league in yards allowed this past season, which is impressive because the offense didn't give Horton's players enough chances to rest.

The person informed of Horton's firing said Arians wants to bring in Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Todd Bowles to replace Horton, who was on the Steelers' staff with Arians from 2004-10. Bowles played for Arians in college at Temple and was on the Cleveland Browns' staff with him from 2001-03.

A person briefed on Bowles' status with the Eagles said he has been informed he will be let go by new head coach Chip Kelly. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak for Bowles.

Horton, meanwhile, was hired Friday as defensive coordinator in Cleveland. The Browns, who interviewed him as a head-coach candidate, were hopeful Horton would join Rob Chudzinski's staff.

"We are truly excited that we were able to get someone of Ray's caliber as our defensive coordinator," Chudzinski said, according to The Associated Press. "He possesses a great deal of experience as a player, position coach and coordinator in the NFL and has been part of some of the top defenses in the league throughout his career. He is an extremely talented coach and I know that he will work very well with the young nucleus of players we have on defense."

Copyright 2015

Read the original story: 'Furious' Ray Horton demands his release from Cardinals

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text:
MRT train rams barriers, hurts 34

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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

MANILA (6th Update) –- A Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) train rammed through a concrete barrier at Edsa-Taft Avenue Station in Pasay City and rolled into a busy intersection on Wednesday, injuring at least 34 people and damaging two vehicles on the street.

Rescuers removed injured passengers from the train's front car after the accident in metropolitan Manila. At least 34 people were brought to hospitals with mostly minor injuries, Transportation and Communication Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said.

Most of the injured were women as the front coach is reserved for women, pregnant women, elderly and children.

(Video by Al Padilla/Sunnex)

Hernando Cabrera, spokesperson of the MRT-3, said the train had a "technical problem" and was being pushed by another when it became detached and rolled into the concrete barrier at the final station on the line.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the derailed train initially stalled between the Magallanes and Taft stations.

"And, following railway SOPs (standard operating procedures), (it) had to be pushed by the next oncoming train. The two trains were coupled or linked together, but along the way, the coupling disconnected. This caused the derailed train to go past the Taft platform," he said in a text message.

There were no immediate reports of any deaths but Malacanang immediately ordered a probe into the train accident.

MRT train injured
Filipinos who were among those injured in a commuter train accident talks while inside the emergency room of the San Juan de Dios hospital in suburban Pasay, Philippines on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. A commuter train rammed through concrete and steel barriers and rolled into a busy intersection on Wednesday, injuring scores of passengers and damaging vehicles, officials said. (AP Photo)

Abaya said the drivers of the two trains will be investigated by the police and his department will create a separate investigating body.

In a text message, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the MRT management should always make sure the safety of the commuting public.

"Kailangang gawin ang nararapat para tiyakin ang kaligtasan ng mga pasahero at mga mamamayan, kasama na ang pagtunton sa dahilan kung bakit naganap ang paglampas ng bagon sa riles," he said.

Senior Superintendent Florencio Ortilla, who heads the Pasay city police, said the train toppled a concrete post and pushed a portion of the railway track out into the crowded intersection.

Many passengers were hurled toward the front of the train, police said.

Regina Santos said she and other passengers in the lead car had asked to be let off the train when it earlier stalled between two stations but the driver refused to open the doors.

Santos said that just before the train crashed the driver told the passengers to open the doors using the emergency levers and to brace themselves.

"I stood by the door just in case," Santos, who was uninjured, told The Associated Press. "I prayed to God to save us."

The often-packed train system runs on an elevated track along EDSA highway, the busiest thoroughfare in Manila, and then goes down to street level as it approaches the final station, where the accident happened. (ABC/AP/SDR/Sunnex)

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text:
Wisconsin counties switch allegiance

Half-dozen counties that backed Obama in 2008 supported Romney on Tuesday

5:58 PM, Nov. 8, 2012
  • Filed Under

President Barack Obama won Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes for a second time Tuesday, but the race was much closer than in 2008 and support from many counties that voted him four years ago fizzled.

Twenty-two counties that were loyal to Obama - including many in northeast and east-central Wisconsin - backed Republican Mitt Romney this year, a Gannett Wisconsin Media review of election returns found.

"(Obama) won pretty decisively, but he didn't win by the margins he did in 2008," said Michael Kraft, a professor of public and environmental affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. ...

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text:
Sanvezzo collects MLS Player of the Week honor

3:40 PM, Jun 24, 2013   |    comments
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New York, NY (Sports Network) - Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Camilo Sanvezzo was named the MLS Player of the Week for Week 17 of the regular season on Monday.

Camilo becomes the second straight Whitecaps player to win the award after Kenny Miller claimed the honors in Week 16. The 24-year-old scored two goals and added an assist to lift Vancouver to a 3-1 win over Chivas USA on Wednesday at BC Place.

After falling behind early in the opening period, Camilo helped draw Vancouver level by setting up Jordan Harvey for the equalizer in stoppage time.

Camilo handed the 'Caps the lead just 82 seconds later by cutting inside from the right side of the penalty area and curling a left-footed shot just inside the post.

The Brazilian completed his brace nine minutes from time when he fired a shot from inside the box that took a deflection on its way past Dan Kennedy.

The MLS Player of the Week award is selected each week by the North American Soccer Reporters. The group consists of members of online, print, television, and radio media.

2013 MLS Player of the Week winners:

Week 1: Mike Magee (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Week 2: Robert Earnshaw (Toronto FC)

Week 3: Bill Hamid (D.C. United)

Week 4: Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA)

Week 5: Will Johnson (Portland Timbers)

Week 6: Ryan Johnson (Portland Timbers)

Week 7: Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo)

Week 8: Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union)

Week 9: Tim Cahill (Red Bull New York)

Week 10: Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

Week 11: Will Bruin (Houston Dynamo)

Week 12: Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders)

Week 13: Marco Di Vaio (Montreal Impact)

Week 14: Diego Fagundez (New England Revolution)

Week 15: Olmes Garcia (Real Salt Lake)

Week 16: Kenny Miller (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)

Week 17: Camilo Sanvezzo (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)

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text:
Bills Final 5 Games Matter

5:50 PM, Nov 26, 2012   |    comments
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By Ed Kilgore

With five games left, the Bills season is essentially over, at least in terms of becoming relevant in the final push towards the playoffs.   That is the perception after the Bills latest disheartening loss - 20-13 at Indy - and the perception is on target.

However, the final 5 games DO matter in many respects not related to what is quickly becoming  just another underachieving season for the Buffalo Bills.

Barring a miracle, and by that I mean running the table to finish with a winning 9-7 record, my gut now tells me this will be it for Chan Gailey and his coaching staff, most notably defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt. GM Buddy Nix is safe as long as he wants the job, although Doug Whaley is being groomed to take over sooner rather than later.

Ryan Fitzpatrick?  Fitz, both deservedly and not, is the focal point of this disappointing season. Although his actual qb numbers are respectable, and even better than more notable names like the Colts Andrew Luck, it is becoming clear that for his solid intangible qualities, Fitz simply isn't the qb of the Bills future. Nor should he be.

Nix is on record as saying the Bills will address the qb position in next year's draft, but they will not be in position to grab a "sure fire" franchise guy.  That means barring a trade or unexpected free agent gift signing, the Bills will slide into the 2013 season with Fitz the starter and the newby learning as quickly as he can.

Many fans are clamoring to see backups Tavaris Jackson and/or Tyler Thigpen in no particular order, with the reasoning "why not see what they can do?  They couldn't be worse!"

Ah, yes they could be.

First of all, the reason the Bills brought in Vince Young, and eventually Jackson, was because they already knew Thigpen is barely adequate. Jackson was available for the same reason, but the Bills figured if anything happened to Fitz Jackson might give them a little better chance to win.  The Bills have seen tons and tons of film on these guys and see them every day in practice, and Fitz is the best qb on the roster.  Sorry, but that's true, and don't think for a millisecond Gailey wouldn't bench Fitz if he thought it would give his team a better chance to win. Gailey knows well his hourglass is about out of sand.

So why do these final five games matter?

Most importantly, we'll find out who the real players are, even though by this time we have a pretty good idea.  Despite the qb and coaching situations, Nix has built a nucleus that can win with another good draft or two and continued development of players already on the roster.

Clearly the Bills need a right tackle, as Erik Pears is adequate and backup Chris Hairston is not even that. Hairston had a nightmare game against the Colts, which led to Fitz being under constant pressure.  We all know about Fitz' accuracy problems, so that doesn't help at all.

The rest of the o-line though, is young and talented, assuming Cordy Glenn continues to progress at left tackle. Center Eric Wood and left guard Adam Levitre are among the better center/guard combos in the NFL.

The Bills look more than good at running back with C.J. Spiller moving into an elite status and Fred Jackson still looking like he can be a contributor when healthy.

Defensively, the front four, now that Mario Williams is healthy again, is becoming the dominant group the Bills hoped they would be from the start. Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams are excellent inside tackles, and young Kyle Moore is coming on rapidly. Mark Anderson has been hurt but can play, and Chris Kelsay gives the Bills quality depth.

Cornerbacks are set on one side with Stephon Gilmour, while Aaron Williams is learning but improving before an injury.  Leodis McKelvin will no doubt be lost to free agency, but finding a more imposing strong safety is important.  Jairus Byrd is as good as anybody at FS, but George Wilson is slipping.

The Bills need the most help defensively at the linebacker spot, and Nick Barnett seems safe but Kelvin Sheppard and Bryan Scott need to be replaced if possible. Rookie Nigel Bradham has looked good recently as he learns the system.

So Nix has done a more than commendable job by most standards in upgrading the draft and filling in a few spots via free agency.

Gailey though, while an improvement over everybody here since Wade Phillips, probably needs to go pending the final five games.  In his defense, Gailey would have looked a LOT smarter with a better qb and right tackle, not to mention a true #1 wide receiver opposite Stevie Johnson.  Nix will try to help in those areas, but a smart young up and comer might be the way to go here.

Forget the big name guys.  Been there, done that: they aren't coming.  That's not because they don't like Buffalo, it's because the Bills still don't have a franchise qb.  The Bills could have had a choice of great coaches when they had Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith etc. on the roster.

Another thing about the remaining games.  The Bills record has slowly improved under Gailey, and an improvement on  6-10 could help entice a better coach and maybe a free agent or two, since the trend would clearly be upward.

Making a coaching change right now would be a foolish move to appease unhappy fans and media.  The smart thing is to let the season unfold, and then move forward.  There is a solid nucleus here, as mentioned, and that's more than could be said a couple years ago.

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