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about politics, social and public life
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Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
MOSESI amp KALANTARIAN LLP
VOL 27 NO 3 | 2012
1
Այս հարցին շատ հետաքրքիր պատասխան
տվեց ռուսաստանյան քաղաքական գործիչ-
ներից մեկը (Արբակ) Ըստ նրա գործող
նախագահի այս քայլը հզոր քաղաքական
քայլ էր և նպաստեց նրան որ քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը ոտքի կան-
գնեց և իր բողոքի ձայնը հրապարակայնորեն
ներկայցրեց երկրի իշխանության ուզուր-
պացման սկսված գործընթացի դեմ Ըստ մեր
զրուցակցի հեռու են իրականությունից այն
դատողությունները իբրև գործող նախագահը
վախեցավ որովհետև միայն կույրը կարող է
չտեսնել որ Մեդվեդևը որևէ կապ չունի ոչ
այս գաղափարի ոչ էլ Եդինայա Ռոսիայի
հետ
Ինչու է ետ
վերադառնում
Պուտինը
2
Այս տարվա Մարտ ամսին Ռուսաստանում տեղի են
ունենալու նախագահական ընտրություններ Իրերի
բերումով այս թեման հայտնվել է հանրային քննարկ-
ման կենտրոնում պայմանավորված առաջադրված
թեկնածուներից մեկով` նախկին նախագահ ներկա-
յիս վարչապետ Պուտինի Երկու ժամկետ այդ պաշ-
տոնում եղած գործչի հայտը ևս երկու ժամկետ վերա-
դառնալու նախագահի պաշտոնին բազում հարցեր է
առաջադրել թե ռուսաստանի այնպես էլ այս հարցով
հետաքրքրված այլ երկրների հասարակությունների
մոտ Բնականաբար առաջնային հարցը դա գործող
նախագահ Մեդվեդևին արտաքուստ փոխպայմա-
նավորվածության պատճառաբանությամբ բայց բա-
ցառված չէ իրականում ուղղակիորեն առաջադրումից
զրկելն էր Հարցականի տակ է Մեդվեդևի կամովին
հրաժարվելը և դրա շուրջ տարբեր մեկնաբա-
նությունները Եվս մեկ հարց ինչու է վերադառնում
Պուտինը ինչի համար Եվ վերջապես ընթացող
ընտրաարշավը որն իրականում գնալով ավելի ու
ավելի է հեռանում ընտրություններ հասկացությունից
Սկսենք առաջին հարցից ինչու Պուտինը երկար
դեգերումներից հետո որոշեց զրկել Մեդվեդևին առա-
ջադրումից Այստեղ մի քանի վարկածներ են առա-
ջադրվում Նախ որքան էլ որ գործող նախագահ
գտնվում է գործադիր իշխանության ղեկավարի հսկո-
ղության ներքո այնուամենայնիվ քաղաքականու-
թյունից քիչ թե շատ հասկացողների համար նա
ինքնուրույն գործիչ է Իրեն հատկացված ժամանակա-
հատվածում նախագահ Մեդվեդև կարողացավ ներ-
կայանալ իր ուրույն պատկերացումներով և ծրա-
գրերով պետության և նրան առնչվող ներ-
քաղաքական և արտաքին քաղաքական
հարցերի հետ կապված որոնք երբևիցե
չեն քննադատվել կամ հակասություններ
ունեցել այդ երկրի իշխանությունը հավա-
սար իրավունքներով կիսող գործադիր իշ-
խանության ղեկավարի կողմից Բնակա-
նաբար հարց է ծագում միգուցե և հենց դա
էր պատճառը որ արտաքուստ Պուտինի
հետ չհակադրվող Մեդվեդևը այնուամե-
նայնիվ իր ծրագրային ելույթների ինչպես
նաև պետական կարևորագույն խնդիր-
ների վերաբերյալ իր յուրօրինակ լուծում-
ների միջոցով սկսել էր ընդունելի դառնալ ինչպես
Ռուսաստանի ներսում այնպես էլ Ռուսաստանից
դուրս որպես այլ տիպի ղեկավար Անկախ ամեն
ինչից բայց նա էր հենց դիտարկվում բոլորի կողմից
Ռուսաստանի հետագա բնականոն զարգացման ջա-
տագովն ու իրականացնողը Ինչ վերաբերվում է այդ
պետության անվտանգության հետ կապված խնդիր-
ներին ապա անկախ այն բանից որ անընդհատ
գործածության մեջ էր դրվում նրա թույլ ղեկավար
լինելու հանգամանքը իրականում դա ոչ մի կապ
չունի իրականության հետ Հակառակը Մեդվեդևը
քաջալերողն է և ջատագովը այնպիսի ուղղություն-
ների զարգացման որոնք երաշխավորելու էին հասա-
րակության և պետության հետագա բնականոն զար-
գացումը Օրինակ Մեդվեդևը առաջնային էր համա-
րում և այդ ուղղությամբ կոնկրետ քայլեր է կատարել
որպեսզի պետության համար առաջնային դիտարկվեն
քաղաքացիական իրավունքները և դրանց ապահո-
վումը օրենքի գերակայության հետ կապված դատա-
կան համակարգի բարեփոխումը հասարակական վե-
րահսկողության մեխանիզմների ներդրումը Պակաս
կարևոր չէր նրա ուղիղ կապը հասարակության
տարբեր շերտերի ներկայացուցիչների հետ ինչպես
որ մեզ փոխանցեց այսօրվա իշխանություններին
ընդդիմադիր մի երիտասարդ գործող նախագահը ցու-
ցաբերում է հանդուրժողականություն իր քաղաքական
մրցակիցների նկատմամբ և պատրաստ է բաց
խոսակցության համարձակորեն ներկայացնում է իր
տեսակետները և ակնառու է որ բացառում է իր
իշխանական զինանոցում ոչ իրավական
3
Ինչու Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
հետապնդումների ձևաչափը Երկրորդ կարևոր հան-
գամանքը ըստ շատերի գործող նախագահը կար-
ևորում է բարձր տե-
խնոլոգիաների դե-
րը և խանդավառ-
ված է դրանց զար-
գացմամբ Եթե մի-
այն ամփոփենք այս
երկու օրինակները
ապա ակնհայտ է
դառնում որ Մեդ-
վեդևը երկրի անվտ-
անգության ապա-
հովման և ամրապն-
դման խնդրում ժա-
մանակաշրջանին
համապատասխան
ուղղու վրա էր գտ-
նվում Պարզ է դառ-
նում որ նրա առաջադրվելու դեպքում նա հայտնվելու
էր բավականին շահեկան վիճակում և մեծ է հավա-
նականությունը որ նրա պաշտոնավարության եր-
կրորդ ժամկետի ավարտին լինելու էր այլ որակի
Ռուսաստան և ռուսաստանյան հասարակություն Եր-
կրորդ վարկածը որ երկրորրդ ժամկետում ընտրվելու
դեպքում գործող նախագահ հնարավոր է գործեր
առանց վարչապետի և նա պարտադրված լիներ գնալու
քաղաքական թոշակի որը ի միջայլոց որևէ կապ չունի
երկրի ղեկավարի տարիքի հետ հակառակ պարա-
գայում այսօրվա զարգացած շատ երկրների երիտա-
սարդ ղեկավարներ պետք է ամեն ինչ անեն իրենց
ամբիցաները բավարարելու համար և ուզուրպացնեն
իշխանությունը
Հարցականի տակ է Մեդվեդևի կամովին հրաժարվելը
և դրա շուրջ տարբեր մեկնաբանությունները Այս-
պիսով ինչու հինգ տարվա ընթացքում անհաջո-
ղություններ և լուրջ բացթողումներ չունեցած երկրի
ղեկավարը որի պաշտոնավարության ժամանակա-
հատվածում գրանցվել են տեսանելի հաջողություններ
այնուամենայնիվ կամովին առանց պայքարի հրա-
ժարվեց Այս հարցին շատ հետաքրքիր պատասխան
տվեց ռուսաստանյան քաղաքական գործիչներից մեկը
(Արբակ) Ըստ նրա գործող նախագահի այս քայլը հզոր
քաղաքական քայլ էր և նպաստեց նրան որ քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը ոտքի կանգնեց և իր
բողոքի ձայնը հրա-պարակայնորեն ներկայցրեց երկրի
իշխանության ուզուր-
պացման սկսված գո-
րծընթացի դեմ Ըստ
մեր զրուցակցի հեռու
են իրականությունից
այն դատողություննե-
րը իբրև գործող նա-
խագահը վախեցավ
որովհետև միայն
կույրը կարող է չտես-
նել որ Մեդվեդևը որ-
ևէ կապ չունի ոչ այս
գաղափարի ոչ էլ Եդ-
ինայա Ռոսիայի հետ
Մեր զրուցակիցն ա-
սաց որ գործող նա-
խագահի այս քայլի
հետևանքով սկսվեց քաղաքացիական հասարա-
կության ձևավորման գործընթացը բացհայտվեց
Եդինայա Ռոսիայի իրական դեմքը ժողովուրդը
հասկացավ որ Մեդվեդեևը մասնակից չէ իշխող
կուսակցության այս անտրամաբանական քաղաքական
խաղերի հետ և որ ամենակարևորը այս քայլի
հետևանքով Կրեմլի կողմից իսկ ստեղծված օպպո-
ցիզիան սկսեց բացահայտորեն պայքարել Պուտինի
դեմ Որքան էլ որ անհավատալի էր Պուտինի
ընտրապայքարը ղեկավարող խամաճիկ-ների համար
ընտրապայքար սկսեց ստանալ մրցակ-ցության
երանգներ օրակարգային հարց դարձավ այն խնդիրը
որ Պուտինի վերադարձը հնարավոր է կործա-նարար
լինի ինչպես Ռուսաստանի այնպես էլ շատերի
համար Մեր կարծիքով Մեդվեդևը որպես պետության
գործող ղեկավար ստեղծված իրավիճակում այլըն-
տրանք չուներ և ոչ թե նրա համար որ Պուտինը ավելի
ուժեղ է կամ նա զուրկ է քաղաքական հենարանից այլ
շատ լավ հասկանում է որ Պուտինիզմի և նրա
քաղաքական ամբիցիաների բավարարման կասեցման
նախաձեռնողը պետք է լինի բացառապես քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը այլապես հակառակ
դեպքում պետությունը կարող է հայտնվել պալա-
տական հեղաշրջումների հորձանուտում կամ քաղա-
քացիական պատերազմի նախաշեմին
4
Ի տարբերություն իր գործընկերոջ գործող նախագահը
ավելի շատ առաջնորդվեց հասարակական և պետա-
կան շահով այլ ոչ թե հագուրդ տվեց իր ամբիցի-
աններին Մենք կարծում ենք որ այնուամենայնիվ
բոլոր տեսակի տարբերակները այս կամ այն առումով
դեռևս ամբողջական չեն քանի դեռ այս մասին իր
բացատրությունները չի տվել քաղաքական գործիչ
Մեդվեդևը և նա մի օր անպայման կտա դրանք երբ
կգա դրա ժամանակը Հինգը տարի նման հզորություն
ունեցող երկրի ղեկին եղած մարդու համար չի կարող
լինել այսրոպեական և եսապաշտական որոշումներ
մանավանդ եթե այդ գործիչը կայացել է որպես
այդպիսին
Այսպիսով ինչու է վերադառնում Պուտինը Ակնհայտ
է որ այս հարցի հիմնավորումը` իբրև այդպես են
որոշել իրենք գործող նախագահի հետ այդպես էլ
շարունակություն ասել է թե հիմնավորում չունեցավ
Այս պայմաններում ավելի շատ խելքին մոտիկ է այն
տեսակետը որ Պուտինը որոշեց վերադառնալ
որովհետև դա հնարավոր էր հիմա և եթե նա որոշեր
վերադառնալ հետո շատ մեծ էր հավանականությունը
որ դա նրա մոտ չէր ստացվելու Նախկին նախագահի
վերադարձը եթե երկիրը շեղվել է իր կողմից սկսված
կուրսից եթե երկրում նկատելի են լուրջ բաց-
թողումներ եթե խաթարվել է ազգային անվտան-
գությունը և վերջապես գործող ղեկավարը չի գտնվում
իր տեղում դեռ կարող էր մոտ լինել տրամաբանու-
թյանը մանավանդ որ հայտնի են նման նախադեպեր
Բայց որպես կանոն այդ դեպքերում ետ եկողները
դառնում են գործող նախագահին ընդդիմադիր կամ
գոնե հրապարակայնորեն քննադատում են նրանց և
հանրությանը ներկայացնում իրենց մոտեցումներն ու
անհամաձայնությունները Այս հարցի կապակցու-
թյամբ հետաքրքրության են արժանի մեկ այլ գործչի
դիտարկումները ըստ որի իշխանության ետ վերա-
դարձող Պուտինը նույն Պուտինն է և բոլորովին կարիք
չկա այս կամ այն կերպ տարբեր տեսակի որա-
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
5
կումներով կամ համեմատություններով նրան ներ-
կայացնել որպես նորի որովհետև այն ամենը ինչը որ
հիմա անում է Պուտինը և նրա ldquoիմիջմեյքերներըrdquo լրիվ
փուչիկ է Այո նա փորձում է ինչ որ ծրագրային ել-
ույթներով ներկայանալ
որպես նոր բայց նրա
հոդվածներում ներկայաց-
ված ելույթները պարունա-
կում են մտքեր որոնք դե-
կլարատիվ բնույթ են կր-
ում որոնց նույնիսկ ինքը
չի հավատում Այն որ Պու-
տինը Ռուսաստանյան պե-
տականության ակնառու
գործիչներից է և նա իրոք
ուզում է ամեն ինչ անել իր
երկրի և ժողովրդի համար կասկածից վեր է Բայց
ամբողջ խնդիրը նրանում է որ նա արդեն իսկ կա-
տարել է իր առաքելությունը միսիան և իր իսկ գոր-
ծունեության շնորհիվ երկրում ստեղծվել է այլ իրա-
վիճակ այլ հասարակությունով և երկրի առաջ կան-
գնել են բոլորովին այլ մարտահրավերներ որոնց լու-
ծումների համար անհրաժեշտ են այլ մտածելակերպի
մարդիկ Բոլոր նրանք ովքեր փորձում են համոզել
հենց իրեն Պուտինին որ նա ամենակարողն է և որ
երկիրը կհայտնվի կործանման եզրին եթե նա ետ
չվերադառնա կամ ստում են կամ էլ ունեն իրենց
կոնկրետ շահը Բայց ի տարբերություն այդպիսի
մարդկանց քիչ չեն Ռուսաստանում մարդիկ ովքեր
չեն կարծում որ Պուտինը աստված է և որ նա
անփոխարինելի է Այսօր Պուտինը կարելի է ասել որ
կաշվից դուրս է գալիս որպեսզի բոլորին համոզի որ
միայն ինքն է որ գիտի ինչ անել և ինչպես անել ուստի
հասարակությունը պետք է անվերապահորեն ընդունի
նրա վերադարձը Բայց դրանք ընդամենը խոսքեր են
և չեն համապատասխանում իրականությանը որով-
հետև նրա վերադարձն ամբողջությամբ ի սկզբանե չի
ունեցել որևէ հիմնա-
վորում Ընդհանրապես
ժամանակակից աշխա-
րհը ընդունում է իշխա-
նությունների փոփոխ-
ման միայն մի ձև Ըստ
դրա հինը փոխարին-
վում է նորով որով-
հետև եկել է նրան փո-
խելու ժամանակը Այս
դեպքում ամեն ինչ
ճիշտ հակառակն է
գործող իշխանությանը այն էլ ժողովրդի կամքով փո-
խարինման է գալիսը ոչ թե նորը այլ հինը Պուտինը իր
գալով միայն մեկ բան է ասում կամ եթե չի ասում
նույնիսկ միևնույն է դա այդպես է իմաստավորվում
Ռուսաստանը ես եմ Օրենքը ես եմ և ոչ ոք բացի ինձ-
նից չի կարող ղեկավարել այս երկիրը Ստացվում է մի
շատ հետաքրքիր իրավիճակ այսօրվա ldquoնորrdquo Պուտինը
պայքարում է Պուտինի դեմ որովհետև նրա դեմ կամ
նրա հետ պայքարելու հնարավորություն բացի ժո-
ղովրդից որևէ մեկը այսօր չունի Եվ նրա քարոզ-
արշավի պատասխանատուները հիմնականում այդ
խնդիրն էլ փորձում են լուծել փորձում են վախեցնել
ժողովրդին իբրև երկիրը ետ կվերադառնա իննսու-
նական թվականներ որպեսզի քաղաքացիները հան-
կարծ բացի վոժդին ընտրելուց այլընտրանք չտեսնեն
Իր ելույթներից մեկում Պուտինն ասաց որ ժողովուրդը
միշտ էլ ունի ընտրելու հնարավորություն նա կարող է
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
չընտրել իրեն Շատ հետաքրքիր և բազմանշանակ
պատասխան իրեն առաջադրված հարցին Ասում եմ
բազմանշանակ որովհետև նա չի ասում որ ինքը
կարող է պարտվել կամ որ կարող է ընտրվել մեկ այլ
մարդ նա ուղղակիորեն ասում է ժողովուրդը կարող է
ինձ չընտրել Այսինքն Պուտինի պատկերացրած
ընտրություններում ժողովուրդը ունի ոչ թե այս կամ
այն թեկնածուին ընտրելու հնարավորություն այլ իրեն
ընտրելու կամ չընտրելու տարբերակ
Այն որ Ռուսաստանում ընթացող գործընթացները
որևէ կապ չունեն ընտրության հետ կասկածից վեր է
վերոնշված վերլուծությունից հետո Ընտրությունը
ենթադրում է առաջին հերթին այլընտրանքի
հնարավորություն ասել է մեկից ավելի թեկնածուներ
Այդ այլընտրանքը հնարավոր է եթե նախագահի բոլոր
թեկնածուները ունեն հավասար ընտրվելու կամ
չընտրվելու հնարավորություններ Այս դեպքում
ստացվում է որ Պուտինից բացի մյուս թեկնածուները
ունեն միայն չընտրվելու հնարավորություն Մի
կողմում մի թեկնածուն է որին պաշտպանում
պարտադրում է ողջ պետական համակարգը իր բոլոր
հնարավորություններով և ազդեցությունով իսկ մյուս
կողմում սահամանափակ հնարավորություններ
ունեցող թեկնածուները որոնք բացահայտորեն և
ցուցադրաբար տարբերակվում են իշխանության
թեկնածուի կողմից Ի տարբերություն մյուս
թեկնածուների Պուտինի ընտրարշավը ոչ թե մյուս
թեկնածուներին հաղթելն է նրանց ծրագրերին
հակառակ հիմնավորումներ բերելը այլ ընտրողներին
համոզելը որ իրեն չընտրելու դեպքում երկիրը և
հասարակությունը կկորցնի ամեն ինչ Ստացվում է որ
Պուտինի հիմնական հակառակորդը դա ընտրողն է և
նրա ազատ կամաարտահայտության իրավունքը
Պուտինի թե մասնակցությունը այս ընտրություններին
և թե նրա նախընտրական արշավը դա անհաջող
բեմադրություն է որն իրականացվում է այդ գործում
հմտություններ ի չունեցող դելիտանտ մարդկանց
կողմից ովքեր որևէ կապ չունեն նման լուրջ
քաղաքական միջոցառման հետ Պուտինն այսօր ձեռքը
գցում է ցանկացած քայլի որը նրան առաջարկում է իր
ընտրարշավը իրականացնող փիար խումբը Այդ
խումբը առաջարկում է նրան իր քարոզարշավը
իրականացնել հանրությանը հայտնի մարդկանց
գեղարվեստական խմբերի կինոյի կամ թատրոնի
ներկայացուցիչների միջոցով Բնականաբար սա
կարող է որոշակի արդյունքի բերել բայց բացառված չէ
որ կարող է նաև հակառակ էֆեկտը տալ նրանից
հեռացնել հասարակության գնալով աճող այլ խմբերի
ներկայացուցիչների Ի տարբերություն նրա օրինակ
ավելի էֆեկտիվ նախընտրական արշավ է
իրականացնում թեկնածուներից մեկը միլիարդատեր
Պրոխորովը Նա կարծում ենք ավելի լավ
պատկերացնելով երկրի ներկան ի տարբերություն
Պուտինի ընտրում է այլ լսարան նա հանդիպում է
գործարար շրջանակների հետ որոնք այսօր
Ռուսաստանում թե թվաքանակով և թե ազդեցությամբ
ավելի կարողունակ են Պրոխորովը հանդես է գալիս
ավելի համարձակ և ընտրողի ուշադրությունն է
հրավիրում ինչպես մյուս թեկնածուների այնպես էլ
Պուտինի վրա համարձակորեն քննադատում է իր
բոլոր հակառակորդներին
Ամփոփելով մեր դիտարկումները առաջիկա
նախագահական ընտրությունների հետ կապված
գալիս ենք ետևյալին որ Նախագահի մեկ թեկնածուի և
մյուս թեկնածուների պայքարը շատ է նման
հանրահայտ Գլադիատոր ֆիլմի մենամարտին որտեղ
կայսրը Պուտինը մարտից առաջ մահացու
վիրավորում է իր հակառակորդ Մաքսիմուսին մյուս
թեկնածուներին և նրանց աջակիցներին որ
կարողանա հաղթել բայց ցույց է տալիս թե իբր
հավասար մարտ է ընթանում
6
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
Sobchak to work for Prokhorov
Ksenia Sobchaks political TV show called
Госдеп (Gosdep) will be broadcast on the
Сноб (Snob) website from now on report-
ed the owner of the online periodical Rus-
sian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokho-
rov
We remind that Ksenias Gosdep which
was supposed to be broadcast on MTV was
cancelled right after the first time it went on
air
I suggested that Ksenia restart the show on
the Snob website I think the show was
cancelled because Alexey Navalni was going
to be on the next show I promise that he will
make an appearance said Prokhorov
The billionaire candidate also mentioned that
freedom of speech lied at the core of a
healthy society
If I am elected president I promise the re-
turn of freedom of speech We will put an
end to lies and censure once and for all
said the presidential candidate before the
March 3 presidential elections
Medvedev Prepares Unsteady Ground
For Putin Interesting events are underway in Russia
Dmitri Medvedev decided to propose to the
presidential candidates to sign some public
agreement enabling to hold fair elections
Candidates refused to sign it Though at first
sight Medvedev may turn out to be fulfilling
Putinlsquos order but in practice it can be differ-
ent The point is that the proposal on signing
of such an agreement is nonsense The can-
didates are proposed not to break the Elec-
tion Code refrain from fraudulent elections
and prevent others from fraud At the same
time the candidates are obliged to fulfill all
these points without such an accord because
they live in a legal state An agreement on
compliance with ethics could be signed but
not one on compliance with laws
Proposing this agreement Medvedev as if
points out that there is no rule of law and the
elections are not held in compliance with
laws but by agreements reminding a non-
aggression pact among thugs
Why should Medvedev need to show this
We can presume that his personality has
unfairly been forced out of the current infor-
mation environment The information that it
might happen so that if a state of emergency
is imposed in Russia Medvedev may sud-
denly postpone the election and extend his
office has also been ignored He has already
spelt out he intention to run for president
So it is not ruled out that Medvedev is play-
ing a double game acknowledging from the
beginning that the elections are illegitimate
as if preparing a possibly wobbly ground for
Putin
This is just a presumption but it is evident
that the signing of the agreement onrefrain-
ing from fraudulent elections is not honor to
the president of the country who is the guar-
antor of fair elections He has numerous ad-
ministrative and even security levers to en-
sure such elections The fact that he does not
use them but resorts to suspicious agree-
ments also proves Medvedev needs an unfair
election of Putin
By the way the agreement runs that
―statements by opposition political figures
about the illegitimacy of any result of the
upcoming presidential elections question the
legitimacy of the presidential election and
threaten to plunge Russia into a constitution-
al crisis The fact that the agreement has not
been signed supposes that the candidates are
not going to refrain from statements on the
illegitimacy of the elections and would not
mind dipping Russia into a ―constitutional
crisis
Police cordon off Yerevan park
With the construction of kiosks going on in
Yerevanlsquos Mashtots Park the policemen
maintaining surveillance over the area have
cordoned it off not to allow anyone to get
into the construction site Our correspondent
reported from the scene that the exterior con-
struction is now nearing the end A crowd of
people protesting against the construction
work have gathered near the garden Arme-
nian writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-
Gulyanyan is also said to be among them
The environmental group struggling for the
preservation of the parks green lands had
earlier launched a campaign to protect the
mines of Kajaran (Syunik region) Speaking
to Tertam Ter-Gulanyan said it is up to the
kiosk owners not the Yerevan mayor to
solve the problem ―The kiosks must not be
located here My opinion about the mayorlsquos
work is positive and I am sure the problem
was at issue much before he took office I
propose that the owners give up the idea
especially knowing that these kiosks are not
the only property they have he said The
youth activists protesting near the park are
now singing patriotic songs and dancing
together
Eurozonersquos new bailout for Greece
agreed
Eurozone finance ministers have reached
agreement on a vital second bailout for
heavily indebted Greece BBC News re-
ported
The deal which came after more than 13
hours of talks in Brussels will provide Ath-
ens with loans worth more than euro130bn
Greece needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy
next month when maturing loans must be
repaid In return Greece will undertake to
reduce its debts to no more than 121 of its
GDP by 2020 After five straight years of
recession Greeces debts currently amounts
to more than 160 of its Gross Domestic
Product
Around the World
7
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
VOL 27 NO 3 | 2012
1
Այս հարցին շատ հետաքրքիր պատասխան
տվեց ռուսաստանյան քաղաքական գործիչ-
ներից մեկը (Արբակ) Ըստ նրա գործող
նախագահի այս քայլը հզոր քաղաքական
քայլ էր և նպաստեց նրան որ քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը ոտքի կան-
գնեց և իր բողոքի ձայնը հրապարակայնորեն
ներկայցրեց երկրի իշխանության ուզուր-
պացման սկսված գործընթացի դեմ Ըստ մեր
զրուցակցի հեռու են իրականությունից այն
դատողությունները իբրև գործող նախագահը
վախեցավ որովհետև միայն կույրը կարող է
չտեսնել որ Մեդվեդևը որևէ կապ չունի ոչ
այս գաղափարի ոչ էլ Եդինայա Ռոսիայի
հետ
Ինչու է ետ
վերադառնում
Պուտինը
2
Այս տարվա Մարտ ամսին Ռուսաստանում տեղի են
ունենալու նախագահական ընտրություններ Իրերի
բերումով այս թեման հայտնվել է հանրային քննարկ-
ման կենտրոնում պայմանավորված առաջադրված
թեկնածուներից մեկով` նախկին նախագահ ներկա-
յիս վարչապետ Պուտինի Երկու ժամկետ այդ պաշ-
տոնում եղած գործչի հայտը ևս երկու ժամկետ վերա-
դառնալու նախագահի պաշտոնին բազում հարցեր է
առաջադրել թե ռուսաստանի այնպես էլ այս հարցով
հետաքրքրված այլ երկրների հասարակությունների
մոտ Բնականաբար առաջնային հարցը դա գործող
նախագահ Մեդվեդևին արտաքուստ փոխպայմա-
նավորվածության պատճառաբանությամբ բայց բա-
ցառված չէ իրականում ուղղակիորեն առաջադրումից
զրկելն էր Հարցականի տակ է Մեդվեդևի կամովին
հրաժարվելը և դրա շուրջ տարբեր մեկնաբա-
նությունները Եվս մեկ հարց ինչու է վերադառնում
Պուտինը ինչի համար Եվ վերջապես ընթացող
ընտրաարշավը որն իրականում գնալով ավելի ու
ավելի է հեռանում ընտրություններ հասկացությունից
Սկսենք առաջին հարցից ինչու Պուտինը երկար
դեգերումներից հետո որոշեց զրկել Մեդվեդևին առա-
ջադրումից Այստեղ մի քանի վարկածներ են առա-
ջադրվում Նախ որքան էլ որ գործող նախագահ
գտնվում է գործադիր իշխանության ղեկավարի հսկո-
ղության ներքո այնուամենայնիվ քաղաքականու-
թյունից քիչ թե շատ հասկացողների համար նա
ինքնուրույն գործիչ է Իրեն հատկացված ժամանակա-
հատվածում նախագահ Մեդվեդև կարողացավ ներ-
կայանալ իր ուրույն պատկերացումներով և ծրա-
գրերով պետության և նրան առնչվող ներ-
քաղաքական և արտաքին քաղաքական
հարցերի հետ կապված որոնք երբևիցե
չեն քննադատվել կամ հակասություններ
ունեցել այդ երկրի իշխանությունը հավա-
սար իրավունքներով կիսող գործադիր իշ-
խանության ղեկավարի կողմից Բնակա-
նաբար հարց է ծագում միգուցե և հենց դա
էր պատճառը որ արտաքուստ Պուտինի
հետ չհակադրվող Մեդվեդևը այնուամե-
նայնիվ իր ծրագրային ելույթների ինչպես
նաև պետական կարևորագույն խնդիր-
ների վերաբերյալ իր յուրօրինակ լուծում-
ների միջոցով սկսել էր ընդունելի դառնալ ինչպես
Ռուսաստանի ներսում այնպես էլ Ռուսաստանից
դուրս որպես այլ տիպի ղեկավար Անկախ ամեն
ինչից բայց նա էր հենց դիտարկվում բոլորի կողմից
Ռուսաստանի հետագա բնականոն զարգացման ջա-
տագովն ու իրականացնողը Ինչ վերաբերվում է այդ
պետության անվտանգության հետ կապված խնդիր-
ներին ապա անկախ այն բանից որ անընդհատ
գործածության մեջ էր դրվում նրա թույլ ղեկավար
լինելու հանգամանքը իրականում դա ոչ մի կապ
չունի իրականության հետ Հակառակը Մեդվեդևը
քաջալերողն է և ջատագովը այնպիսի ուղղություն-
ների զարգացման որոնք երաշխավորելու էին հասա-
րակության և պետության հետագա բնականոն զար-
գացումը Օրինակ Մեդվեդևը առաջնային էր համա-
րում և այդ ուղղությամբ կոնկրետ քայլեր է կատարել
որպեսզի պետության համար առաջնային դիտարկվեն
քաղաքացիական իրավունքները և դրանց ապահո-
վումը օրենքի գերակայության հետ կապված դատա-
կան համակարգի բարեփոխումը հասարակական վե-
րահսկողության մեխանիզմների ներդրումը Պակաս
կարևոր չէր նրա ուղիղ կապը հասարակության
տարբեր շերտերի ներկայացուցիչների հետ ինչպես
որ մեզ փոխանցեց այսօրվա իշխանություններին
ընդդիմադիր մի երիտասարդ գործող նախագահը ցու-
ցաբերում է հանդուրժողականություն իր քաղաքական
մրցակիցների նկատմամբ և պատրաստ է բաց
խոսակցության համարձակորեն ներկայացնում է իր
տեսակետները և ակնառու է որ բացառում է իր
իշխանական զինանոցում ոչ իրավական
3
Ինչու Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
հետապնդումների ձևաչափը Երկրորդ կարևոր հան-
գամանքը ըստ շատերի գործող նախագահը կար-
ևորում է բարձր տե-
խնոլոգիաների դե-
րը և խանդավառ-
ված է դրանց զար-
գացմամբ Եթե մի-
այն ամփոփենք այս
երկու օրինակները
ապա ակնհայտ է
դառնում որ Մեդ-
վեդևը երկրի անվտ-
անգության ապա-
հովման և ամրապն-
դման խնդրում ժա-
մանակաշրջանին
համապատասխան
ուղղու վրա էր գտ-
նվում Պարզ է դառ-
նում որ նրա առաջադրվելու դեպքում նա հայտնվելու
էր բավականին շահեկան վիճակում և մեծ է հավա-
նականությունը որ նրա պաշտոնավարության եր-
կրորդ ժամկետի ավարտին լինելու էր այլ որակի
Ռուսաստան և ռուսաստանյան հասարակություն Եր-
կրորդ վարկածը որ երկրորրդ ժամկետում ընտրվելու
դեպքում գործող նախագահ հնարավոր է գործեր
առանց վարչապետի և նա պարտադրված լիներ գնալու
քաղաքական թոշակի որը ի միջայլոց որևէ կապ չունի
երկրի ղեկավարի տարիքի հետ հակառակ պարա-
գայում այսօրվա զարգացած շատ երկրների երիտա-
սարդ ղեկավարներ պետք է ամեն ինչ անեն իրենց
ամբիցաները բավարարելու համար և ուզուրպացնեն
իշխանությունը
Հարցականի տակ է Մեդվեդևի կամովին հրաժարվելը
և դրա շուրջ տարբեր մեկնաբանությունները Այս-
պիսով ինչու հինգ տարվա ընթացքում անհաջո-
ղություններ և լուրջ բացթողումներ չունեցած երկրի
ղեկավարը որի պաշտոնավարության ժամանակա-
հատվածում գրանցվել են տեսանելի հաջողություններ
այնուամենայնիվ կամովին առանց պայքարի հրա-
ժարվեց Այս հարցին շատ հետաքրքիր պատասխան
տվեց ռուսաստանյան քաղաքական գործիչներից մեկը
(Արբակ) Ըստ նրա գործող նախագահի այս քայլը հզոր
քաղաքական քայլ էր և նպաստեց նրան որ քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը ոտքի կանգնեց և իր
բողոքի ձայնը հրա-պարակայնորեն ներկայցրեց երկրի
իշխանության ուզուր-
պացման սկսված գո-
րծընթացի դեմ Ըստ
մեր զրուցակցի հեռու
են իրականությունից
այն դատողություննե-
րը իբրև գործող նա-
խագահը վախեցավ
որովհետև միայն
կույրը կարող է չտես-
նել որ Մեդվեդևը որ-
ևէ կապ չունի ոչ այս
գաղափարի ոչ էլ Եդ-
ինայա Ռոսիայի հետ
Մեր զրուցակիցն ա-
սաց որ գործող նա-
խագահի այս քայլի
հետևանքով սկսվեց քաղաքացիական հասարա-
կության ձևավորման գործընթացը բացհայտվեց
Եդինայա Ռոսիայի իրական դեմքը ժողովուրդը
հասկացավ որ Մեդվեդեևը մասնակից չէ իշխող
կուսակցության այս անտրամաբանական քաղաքական
խաղերի հետ և որ ամենակարևորը այս քայլի
հետևանքով Կրեմլի կողմից իսկ ստեղծված օպպո-
ցիզիան սկսեց բացահայտորեն պայքարել Պուտինի
դեմ Որքան էլ որ անհավատալի էր Պուտինի
ընտրապայքարը ղեկավարող խամաճիկ-ների համար
ընտրապայքար սկսեց ստանալ մրցակ-ցության
երանգներ օրակարգային հարց դարձավ այն խնդիրը
որ Պուտինի վերադարձը հնարավոր է կործա-նարար
լինի ինչպես Ռուսաստանի այնպես էլ շատերի
համար Մեր կարծիքով Մեդվեդևը որպես պետության
գործող ղեկավար ստեղծված իրավիճակում այլըն-
տրանք չուներ և ոչ թե նրա համար որ Պուտինը ավելի
ուժեղ է կամ նա զուրկ է քաղաքական հենարանից այլ
շատ լավ հասկանում է որ Պուտինիզմի և նրա
քաղաքական ամբիցիաների բավարարման կասեցման
նախաձեռնողը պետք է լինի բացառապես քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը այլապես հակառակ
դեպքում պետությունը կարող է հայտնվել պալա-
տական հեղաշրջումների հորձանուտում կամ քաղա-
քացիական պատերազմի նախաշեմին
4
Ի տարբերություն իր գործընկերոջ գործող նախագահը
ավելի շատ առաջնորդվեց հասարակական և պետա-
կան շահով այլ ոչ թե հագուրդ տվեց իր ամբիցի-
աններին Մենք կարծում ենք որ այնուամենայնիվ
բոլոր տեսակի տարբերակները այս կամ այն առումով
դեռևս ամբողջական չեն քանի դեռ այս մասին իր
բացատրությունները չի տվել քաղաքական գործիչ
Մեդվեդևը և նա մի օր անպայման կտա դրանք երբ
կգա դրա ժամանակը Հինգը տարի նման հզորություն
ունեցող երկրի ղեկին եղած մարդու համար չի կարող
լինել այսրոպեական և եսապաշտական որոշումներ
մանավանդ եթե այդ գործիչը կայացել է որպես
այդպիսին
Այսպիսով ինչու է վերադառնում Պուտինը Ակնհայտ
է որ այս հարցի հիմնավորումը` իբրև այդպես են
որոշել իրենք գործող նախագահի հետ այդպես էլ
շարունակություն ասել է թե հիմնավորում չունեցավ
Այս պայմաններում ավելի շատ խելքին մոտիկ է այն
տեսակետը որ Պուտինը որոշեց վերադառնալ
որովհետև դա հնարավոր էր հիմա և եթե նա որոշեր
վերադառնալ հետո շատ մեծ էր հավանականությունը
որ դա նրա մոտ չէր ստացվելու Նախկին նախագահի
վերադարձը եթե երկիրը շեղվել է իր կողմից սկսված
կուրսից եթե երկրում նկատելի են լուրջ բաց-
թողումներ եթե խաթարվել է ազգային անվտան-
գությունը և վերջապես գործող ղեկավարը չի գտնվում
իր տեղում դեռ կարող էր մոտ լինել տրամաբանու-
թյանը մանավանդ որ հայտնի են նման նախադեպեր
Բայց որպես կանոն այդ դեպքերում ետ եկողները
դառնում են գործող նախագահին ընդդիմադիր կամ
գոնե հրապարակայնորեն քննադատում են նրանց և
հանրությանը ներկայացնում իրենց մոտեցումներն ու
անհամաձայնությունները Այս հարցի կապակցու-
թյամբ հետաքրքրության են արժանի մեկ այլ գործչի
դիտարկումները ըստ որի իշխանության ետ վերա-
դարձող Պուտինը նույն Պուտինն է և բոլորովին կարիք
չկա այս կամ այն կերպ տարբեր տեսակի որա-
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
5
կումներով կամ համեմատություններով նրան ներ-
կայացնել որպես նորի որովհետև այն ամենը ինչը որ
հիմա անում է Պուտինը և նրա ldquoիմիջմեյքերներըrdquo լրիվ
փուչիկ է Այո նա փորձում է ինչ որ ծրագրային ել-
ույթներով ներկայանալ
որպես նոր բայց նրա
հոդվածներում ներկայաց-
ված ելույթները պարունա-
կում են մտքեր որոնք դե-
կլարատիվ բնույթ են կր-
ում որոնց նույնիսկ ինքը
չի հավատում Այն որ Պու-
տինը Ռուսաստանյան պե-
տականության ակնառու
գործիչներից է և նա իրոք
ուզում է ամեն ինչ անել իր
երկրի և ժողովրդի համար կասկածից վեր է Բայց
ամբողջ խնդիրը նրանում է որ նա արդեն իսկ կա-
տարել է իր առաքելությունը միսիան և իր իսկ գոր-
ծունեության շնորհիվ երկրում ստեղծվել է այլ իրա-
վիճակ այլ հասարակությունով և երկրի առաջ կան-
գնել են բոլորովին այլ մարտահրավերներ որոնց լու-
ծումների համար անհրաժեշտ են այլ մտածելակերպի
մարդիկ Բոլոր նրանք ովքեր փորձում են համոզել
հենց իրեն Պուտինին որ նա ամենակարողն է և որ
երկիրը կհայտնվի կործանման եզրին եթե նա ետ
չվերադառնա կամ ստում են կամ էլ ունեն իրենց
կոնկրետ շահը Բայց ի տարբերություն այդպիսի
մարդկանց քիչ չեն Ռուսաստանում մարդիկ ովքեր
չեն կարծում որ Պուտինը աստված է և որ նա
անփոխարինելի է Այսօր Պուտինը կարելի է ասել որ
կաշվից դուրս է գալիս որպեսզի բոլորին համոզի որ
միայն ինքն է որ գիտի ինչ անել և ինչպես անել ուստի
հասարակությունը պետք է անվերապահորեն ընդունի
նրա վերադարձը Բայց դրանք ընդամենը խոսքեր են
և չեն համապատասխանում իրականությանը որով-
հետև նրա վերադարձն ամբողջությամբ ի սկզբանե չի
ունեցել որևէ հիմնա-
վորում Ընդհանրապես
ժամանակակից աշխա-
րհը ընդունում է իշխա-
նությունների փոփոխ-
ման միայն մի ձև Ըստ
դրա հինը փոխարին-
վում է նորով որով-
հետև եկել է նրան փո-
խելու ժամանակը Այս
դեպքում ամեն ինչ
ճիշտ հակառակն է
գործող իշխանությանը այն էլ ժողովրդի կամքով փո-
խարինման է գալիսը ոչ թե նորը այլ հինը Պուտինը իր
գալով միայն մեկ բան է ասում կամ եթե չի ասում
նույնիսկ միևնույն է դա այդպես է իմաստավորվում
Ռուսաստանը ես եմ Օրենքը ես եմ և ոչ ոք բացի ինձ-
նից չի կարող ղեկավարել այս երկիրը Ստացվում է մի
շատ հետաքրքիր իրավիճակ այսօրվա ldquoնորrdquo Պուտինը
պայքարում է Պուտինի դեմ որովհետև նրա դեմ կամ
նրա հետ պայքարելու հնարավորություն բացի ժո-
ղովրդից որևէ մեկը այսօր չունի Եվ նրա քարոզ-
արշավի պատասխանատուները հիմնականում այդ
խնդիրն էլ փորձում են լուծել փորձում են վախեցնել
ժողովրդին իբրև երկիրը ետ կվերադառնա իննսու-
նական թվականներ որպեսզի քաղաքացիները հան-
կարծ բացի վոժդին ընտրելուց այլընտրանք չտեսնեն
Իր ելույթներից մեկում Պուտինն ասաց որ ժողովուրդը
միշտ էլ ունի ընտրելու հնարավորություն նա կարող է
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
չընտրել իրեն Շատ հետաքրքիր և բազմանշանակ
պատասխան իրեն առաջադրված հարցին Ասում եմ
բազմանշանակ որովհետև նա չի ասում որ ինքը
կարող է պարտվել կամ որ կարող է ընտրվել մեկ այլ
մարդ նա ուղղակիորեն ասում է ժողովուրդը կարող է
ինձ չընտրել Այսինքն Պուտինի պատկերացրած
ընտրություններում ժողովուրդը ունի ոչ թե այս կամ
այն թեկնածուին ընտրելու հնարավորություն այլ իրեն
ընտրելու կամ չընտրելու տարբերակ
Այն որ Ռուսաստանում ընթացող գործընթացները
որևէ կապ չունեն ընտրության հետ կասկածից վեր է
վերոնշված վերլուծությունից հետո Ընտրությունը
ենթադրում է առաջին հերթին այլընտրանքի
հնարավորություն ասել է մեկից ավելի թեկնածուներ
Այդ այլընտրանքը հնարավոր է եթե նախագահի բոլոր
թեկնածուները ունեն հավասար ընտրվելու կամ
չընտրվելու հնարավորություններ Այս դեպքում
ստացվում է որ Պուտինից բացի մյուս թեկնածուները
ունեն միայն չընտրվելու հնարավորություն Մի
կողմում մի թեկնածուն է որին պաշտպանում
պարտադրում է ողջ պետական համակարգը իր բոլոր
հնարավորություններով և ազդեցությունով իսկ մյուս
կողմում սահամանափակ հնարավորություններ
ունեցող թեկնածուները որոնք բացահայտորեն և
ցուցադրաբար տարբերակվում են իշխանության
թեկնածուի կողմից Ի տարբերություն մյուս
թեկնածուների Պուտինի ընտրարշավը ոչ թե մյուս
թեկնածուներին հաղթելն է նրանց ծրագրերին
հակառակ հիմնավորումներ բերելը այլ ընտրողներին
համոզելը որ իրեն չընտրելու դեպքում երկիրը և
հասարակությունը կկորցնի ամեն ինչ Ստացվում է որ
Պուտինի հիմնական հակառակորդը դա ընտրողն է և
նրա ազատ կամաարտահայտության իրավունքը
Պուտինի թե մասնակցությունը այս ընտրություններին
և թե նրա նախընտրական արշավը դա անհաջող
բեմադրություն է որն իրականացվում է այդ գործում
հմտություններ ի չունեցող դելիտանտ մարդկանց
կողմից ովքեր որևէ կապ չունեն նման լուրջ
քաղաքական միջոցառման հետ Պուտինն այսօր ձեռքը
գցում է ցանկացած քայլի որը նրան առաջարկում է իր
ընտրարշավը իրականացնող փիար խումբը Այդ
խումբը առաջարկում է նրան իր քարոզարշավը
իրականացնել հանրությանը հայտնի մարդկանց
գեղարվեստական խմբերի կինոյի կամ թատրոնի
ներկայացուցիչների միջոցով Բնականաբար սա
կարող է որոշակի արդյունքի բերել բայց բացառված չէ
որ կարող է նաև հակառակ էֆեկտը տալ նրանից
հեռացնել հասարակության գնալով աճող այլ խմբերի
ներկայացուցիչների Ի տարբերություն նրա օրինակ
ավելի էֆեկտիվ նախընտրական արշավ է
իրականացնում թեկնածուներից մեկը միլիարդատեր
Պրոխորովը Նա կարծում ենք ավելի լավ
պատկերացնելով երկրի ներկան ի տարբերություն
Պուտինի ընտրում է այլ լսարան նա հանդիպում է
գործարար շրջանակների հետ որոնք այսօր
Ռուսաստանում թե թվաքանակով և թե ազդեցությամբ
ավելի կարողունակ են Պրոխորովը հանդես է գալիս
ավելի համարձակ և ընտրողի ուշադրությունն է
հրավիրում ինչպես մյուս թեկնածուների այնպես էլ
Պուտինի վրա համարձակորեն քննադատում է իր
բոլոր հակառակորդներին
Ամփոփելով մեր դիտարկումները առաջիկա
նախագահական ընտրությունների հետ կապված
գալիս ենք ետևյալին որ Նախագահի մեկ թեկնածուի և
մյուս թեկնածուների պայքարը շատ է նման
հանրահայտ Գլադիատոր ֆիլմի մենամարտին որտեղ
կայսրը Պուտինը մարտից առաջ մահացու
վիրավորում է իր հակառակորդ Մաքսիմուսին մյուս
թեկնածուներին և նրանց աջակիցներին որ
կարողանա հաղթել բայց ցույց է տալիս թե իբր
հավասար մարտ է ընթանում
6
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
Sobchak to work for Prokhorov
Ksenia Sobchaks political TV show called
Госдеп (Gosdep) will be broadcast on the
Сноб (Snob) website from now on report-
ed the owner of the online periodical Rus-
sian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokho-
rov
We remind that Ksenias Gosdep which
was supposed to be broadcast on MTV was
cancelled right after the first time it went on
air
I suggested that Ksenia restart the show on
the Snob website I think the show was
cancelled because Alexey Navalni was going
to be on the next show I promise that he will
make an appearance said Prokhorov
The billionaire candidate also mentioned that
freedom of speech lied at the core of a
healthy society
If I am elected president I promise the re-
turn of freedom of speech We will put an
end to lies and censure once and for all
said the presidential candidate before the
March 3 presidential elections
Medvedev Prepares Unsteady Ground
For Putin Interesting events are underway in Russia
Dmitri Medvedev decided to propose to the
presidential candidates to sign some public
agreement enabling to hold fair elections
Candidates refused to sign it Though at first
sight Medvedev may turn out to be fulfilling
Putinlsquos order but in practice it can be differ-
ent The point is that the proposal on signing
of such an agreement is nonsense The can-
didates are proposed not to break the Elec-
tion Code refrain from fraudulent elections
and prevent others from fraud At the same
time the candidates are obliged to fulfill all
these points without such an accord because
they live in a legal state An agreement on
compliance with ethics could be signed but
not one on compliance with laws
Proposing this agreement Medvedev as if
points out that there is no rule of law and the
elections are not held in compliance with
laws but by agreements reminding a non-
aggression pact among thugs
Why should Medvedev need to show this
We can presume that his personality has
unfairly been forced out of the current infor-
mation environment The information that it
might happen so that if a state of emergency
is imposed in Russia Medvedev may sud-
denly postpone the election and extend his
office has also been ignored He has already
spelt out he intention to run for president
So it is not ruled out that Medvedev is play-
ing a double game acknowledging from the
beginning that the elections are illegitimate
as if preparing a possibly wobbly ground for
Putin
This is just a presumption but it is evident
that the signing of the agreement onrefrain-
ing from fraudulent elections is not honor to
the president of the country who is the guar-
antor of fair elections He has numerous ad-
ministrative and even security levers to en-
sure such elections The fact that he does not
use them but resorts to suspicious agree-
ments also proves Medvedev needs an unfair
election of Putin
By the way the agreement runs that
―statements by opposition political figures
about the illegitimacy of any result of the
upcoming presidential elections question the
legitimacy of the presidential election and
threaten to plunge Russia into a constitution-
al crisis The fact that the agreement has not
been signed supposes that the candidates are
not going to refrain from statements on the
illegitimacy of the elections and would not
mind dipping Russia into a ―constitutional
crisis
Police cordon off Yerevan park
With the construction of kiosks going on in
Yerevanlsquos Mashtots Park the policemen
maintaining surveillance over the area have
cordoned it off not to allow anyone to get
into the construction site Our correspondent
reported from the scene that the exterior con-
struction is now nearing the end A crowd of
people protesting against the construction
work have gathered near the garden Arme-
nian writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-
Gulyanyan is also said to be among them
The environmental group struggling for the
preservation of the parks green lands had
earlier launched a campaign to protect the
mines of Kajaran (Syunik region) Speaking
to Tertam Ter-Gulanyan said it is up to the
kiosk owners not the Yerevan mayor to
solve the problem ―The kiosks must not be
located here My opinion about the mayorlsquos
work is positive and I am sure the problem
was at issue much before he took office I
propose that the owners give up the idea
especially knowing that these kiosks are not
the only property they have he said The
youth activists protesting near the park are
now singing patriotic songs and dancing
together
Eurozonersquos new bailout for Greece
agreed
Eurozone finance ministers have reached
agreement on a vital second bailout for
heavily indebted Greece BBC News re-
ported
The deal which came after more than 13
hours of talks in Brussels will provide Ath-
ens with loans worth more than euro130bn
Greece needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy
next month when maturing loans must be
repaid In return Greece will undertake to
reduce its debts to no more than 121 of its
GDP by 2020 After five straight years of
recession Greeces debts currently amounts
to more than 160 of its Gross Domestic
Product
Around the World
7
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
2
Այս տարվա Մարտ ամսին Ռուսաստանում տեղի են
ունենալու նախագահական ընտրություններ Իրերի
բերումով այս թեման հայտնվել է հանրային քննարկ-
ման կենտրոնում պայմանավորված առաջադրված
թեկնածուներից մեկով` նախկին նախագահ ներկա-
յիս վարչապետ Պուտինի Երկու ժամկետ այդ պաշ-
տոնում եղած գործչի հայտը ևս երկու ժամկետ վերա-
դառնալու նախագահի պաշտոնին բազում հարցեր է
առաջադրել թե ռուսաստանի այնպես էլ այս հարցով
հետաքրքրված այլ երկրների հասարակությունների
մոտ Բնականաբար առաջնային հարցը դա գործող
նախագահ Մեդվեդևին արտաքուստ փոխպայմա-
նավորվածության պատճառաբանությամբ բայց բա-
ցառված չէ իրականում ուղղակիորեն առաջադրումից
զրկելն էր Հարցականի տակ է Մեդվեդևի կամովին
հրաժարվելը և դրա շուրջ տարբեր մեկնաբա-
նությունները Եվս մեկ հարց ինչու է վերադառնում
Պուտինը ինչի համար Եվ վերջապես ընթացող
ընտրաարշավը որն իրականում գնալով ավելի ու
ավելի է հեռանում ընտրություններ հասկացությունից
Սկսենք առաջին հարցից ինչու Պուտինը երկար
դեգերումներից հետո որոշեց զրկել Մեդվեդևին առա-
ջադրումից Այստեղ մի քանի վարկածներ են առա-
ջադրվում Նախ որքան էլ որ գործող նախագահ
գտնվում է գործադիր իշխանության ղեկավարի հսկո-
ղության ներքո այնուամենայնիվ քաղաքականու-
թյունից քիչ թե շատ հասկացողների համար նա
ինքնուրույն գործիչ է Իրեն հատկացված ժամանակա-
հատվածում նախագահ Մեդվեդև կարողացավ ներ-
կայանալ իր ուրույն պատկերացումներով և ծրա-
գրերով պետության և նրան առնչվող ներ-
քաղաքական և արտաքին քաղաքական
հարցերի հետ կապված որոնք երբևիցե
չեն քննադատվել կամ հակասություններ
ունեցել այդ երկրի իշխանությունը հավա-
սար իրավունքներով կիսող գործադիր իշ-
խանության ղեկավարի կողմից Բնակա-
նաբար հարց է ծագում միգուցե և հենց դա
էր պատճառը որ արտաքուստ Պուտինի
հետ չհակադրվող Մեդվեդևը այնուամե-
նայնիվ իր ծրագրային ելույթների ինչպես
նաև պետական կարևորագույն խնդիր-
ների վերաբերյալ իր յուրօրինակ լուծում-
ների միջոցով սկսել էր ընդունելի դառնալ ինչպես
Ռուսաստանի ներսում այնպես էլ Ռուսաստանից
դուրս որպես այլ տիպի ղեկավար Անկախ ամեն
ինչից բայց նա էր հենց դիտարկվում բոլորի կողմից
Ռուսաստանի հետագա բնականոն զարգացման ջա-
տագովն ու իրականացնողը Ինչ վերաբերվում է այդ
պետության անվտանգության հետ կապված խնդիր-
ներին ապա անկախ այն բանից որ անընդհատ
գործածության մեջ էր դրվում նրա թույլ ղեկավար
լինելու հանգամանքը իրականում դա ոչ մի կապ
չունի իրականության հետ Հակառակը Մեդվեդևը
քաջալերողն է և ջատագովը այնպիսի ուղղություն-
ների զարգացման որոնք երաշխավորելու էին հասա-
րակության և պետության հետագա բնականոն զար-
գացումը Օրինակ Մեդվեդևը առաջնային էր համա-
րում և այդ ուղղությամբ կոնկրետ քայլեր է կատարել
որպեսզի պետության համար առաջնային դիտարկվեն
քաղաքացիական իրավունքները և դրանց ապահո-
վումը օրենքի գերակայության հետ կապված դատա-
կան համակարգի բարեփոխումը հասարակական վե-
րահսկողության մեխանիզմների ներդրումը Պակաս
կարևոր չէր նրա ուղիղ կապը հասարակության
տարբեր շերտերի ներկայացուցիչների հետ ինչպես
որ մեզ փոխանցեց այսօրվա իշխանություններին
ընդդիմադիր մի երիտասարդ գործող նախագահը ցու-
ցաբերում է հանդուրժողականություն իր քաղաքական
մրցակիցների նկատմամբ և պատրաստ է բաց
խոսակցության համարձակորեն ներկայացնում է իր
տեսակետները և ակնառու է որ բացառում է իր
իշխանական զինանոցում ոչ իրավական
3
Ինչու Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
հետապնդումների ձևաչափը Երկրորդ կարևոր հան-
գամանքը ըստ շատերի գործող նախագահը կար-
ևորում է բարձր տե-
խնոլոգիաների դե-
րը և խանդավառ-
ված է դրանց զար-
գացմամբ Եթե մի-
այն ամփոփենք այս
երկու օրինակները
ապա ակնհայտ է
դառնում որ Մեդ-
վեդևը երկրի անվտ-
անգության ապա-
հովման և ամրապն-
դման խնդրում ժա-
մանակաշրջանին
համապատասխան
ուղղու վրա էր գտ-
նվում Պարզ է դառ-
նում որ նրա առաջադրվելու դեպքում նա հայտնվելու
էր բավականին շահեկան վիճակում և մեծ է հավա-
նականությունը որ նրա պաշտոնավարության եր-
կրորդ ժամկետի ավարտին լինելու էր այլ որակի
Ռուսաստան և ռուսաստանյան հասարակություն Եր-
կրորդ վարկածը որ երկրորրդ ժամկետում ընտրվելու
դեպքում գործող նախագահ հնարավոր է գործեր
առանց վարչապետի և նա պարտադրված լիներ գնալու
քաղաքական թոշակի որը ի միջայլոց որևէ կապ չունի
երկրի ղեկավարի տարիքի հետ հակառակ պարա-
գայում այսօրվա զարգացած շատ երկրների երիտա-
սարդ ղեկավարներ պետք է ամեն ինչ անեն իրենց
ամբիցաները բավարարելու համար և ուզուրպացնեն
իշխանությունը
Հարցականի տակ է Մեդվեդևի կամովին հրաժարվելը
և դրա շուրջ տարբեր մեկնաբանությունները Այս-
պիսով ինչու հինգ տարվա ընթացքում անհաջո-
ղություններ և լուրջ բացթողումներ չունեցած երկրի
ղեկավարը որի պաշտոնավարության ժամանակա-
հատվածում գրանցվել են տեսանելի հաջողություններ
այնուամենայնիվ կամովին առանց պայքարի հրա-
ժարվեց Այս հարցին շատ հետաքրքիր պատասխան
տվեց ռուսաստանյան քաղաքական գործիչներից մեկը
(Արբակ) Ըստ նրա գործող նախագահի այս քայլը հզոր
քաղաքական քայլ էր և նպաստեց նրան որ քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը ոտքի կանգնեց և իր
բողոքի ձայնը հրա-պարակայնորեն ներկայցրեց երկրի
իշխանության ուզուր-
պացման սկսված գո-
րծընթացի դեմ Ըստ
մեր զրուցակցի հեռու
են իրականությունից
այն դատողություննե-
րը իբրև գործող նա-
խագահը վախեցավ
որովհետև միայն
կույրը կարող է չտես-
նել որ Մեդվեդևը որ-
ևէ կապ չունի ոչ այս
գաղափարի ոչ էլ Եդ-
ինայա Ռոսիայի հետ
Մեր զրուցակիցն ա-
սաց որ գործող նա-
խագահի այս քայլի
հետևանքով սկսվեց քաղաքացիական հասարա-
կության ձևավորման գործընթացը բացհայտվեց
Եդինայա Ռոսիայի իրական դեմքը ժողովուրդը
հասկացավ որ Մեդվեդեևը մասնակից չէ իշխող
կուսակցության այս անտրամաբանական քաղաքական
խաղերի հետ և որ ամենակարևորը այս քայլի
հետևանքով Կրեմլի կողմից իսկ ստեղծված օպպո-
ցիզիան սկսեց բացահայտորեն պայքարել Պուտինի
դեմ Որքան էլ որ անհավատալի էր Պուտինի
ընտրապայքարը ղեկավարող խամաճիկ-ների համար
ընտրապայքար սկսեց ստանալ մրցակ-ցության
երանգներ օրակարգային հարց դարձավ այն խնդիրը
որ Պուտինի վերադարձը հնարավոր է կործա-նարար
լինի ինչպես Ռուսաստանի այնպես էլ շատերի
համար Մեր կարծիքով Մեդվեդևը որպես պետության
գործող ղեկավար ստեղծված իրավիճակում այլըն-
տրանք չուներ և ոչ թե նրա համար որ Պուտինը ավելի
ուժեղ է կամ նա զուրկ է քաղաքական հենարանից այլ
շատ լավ հասկանում է որ Պուտինիզմի և նրա
քաղաքական ամբիցիաների բավարարման կասեցման
նախաձեռնողը պետք է լինի բացառապես քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը այլապես հակառակ
դեպքում պետությունը կարող է հայտնվել պալա-
տական հեղաշրջումների հորձանուտում կամ քաղա-
քացիական պատերազմի նախաշեմին
4
Ի տարբերություն իր գործընկերոջ գործող նախագահը
ավելի շատ առաջնորդվեց հասարակական և պետա-
կան շահով այլ ոչ թե հագուրդ տվեց իր ամբիցի-
աններին Մենք կարծում ենք որ այնուամենայնիվ
բոլոր տեսակի տարբերակները այս կամ այն առումով
դեռևս ամբողջական չեն քանի դեռ այս մասին իր
բացատրությունները չի տվել քաղաքական գործիչ
Մեդվեդևը և նա մի օր անպայման կտա դրանք երբ
կգա դրա ժամանակը Հինգը տարի նման հզորություն
ունեցող երկրի ղեկին եղած մարդու համար չի կարող
լինել այսրոպեական և եսապաշտական որոշումներ
մանավանդ եթե այդ գործիչը կայացել է որպես
այդպիսին
Այսպիսով ինչու է վերադառնում Պուտինը Ակնհայտ
է որ այս հարցի հիմնավորումը` իբրև այդպես են
որոշել իրենք գործող նախագահի հետ այդպես էլ
շարունակություն ասել է թե հիմնավորում չունեցավ
Այս պայմաններում ավելի շատ խելքին մոտիկ է այն
տեսակետը որ Պուտինը որոշեց վերադառնալ
որովհետև դա հնարավոր էր հիմա և եթե նա որոշեր
վերադառնալ հետո շատ մեծ էր հավանականությունը
որ դա նրա մոտ չէր ստացվելու Նախկին նախագահի
վերադարձը եթե երկիրը շեղվել է իր կողմից սկսված
կուրսից եթե երկրում նկատելի են լուրջ բաց-
թողումներ եթե խաթարվել է ազգային անվտան-
գությունը և վերջապես գործող ղեկավարը չի գտնվում
իր տեղում դեռ կարող էր մոտ լինել տրամաբանու-
թյանը մանավանդ որ հայտնի են նման նախադեպեր
Բայց որպես կանոն այդ դեպքերում ետ եկողները
դառնում են գործող նախագահին ընդդիմադիր կամ
գոնե հրապարակայնորեն քննադատում են նրանց և
հանրությանը ներկայացնում իրենց մոտեցումներն ու
անհամաձայնությունները Այս հարցի կապակցու-
թյամբ հետաքրքրության են արժանի մեկ այլ գործչի
դիտարկումները ըստ որի իշխանության ետ վերա-
դարձող Պուտինը նույն Պուտինն է և բոլորովին կարիք
չկա այս կամ այն կերպ տարբեր տեսակի որա-
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
5
կումներով կամ համեմատություններով նրան ներ-
կայացնել որպես նորի որովհետև այն ամենը ինչը որ
հիմա անում է Պուտինը և նրա ldquoիմիջմեյքերներըrdquo լրիվ
փուչիկ է Այո նա փորձում է ինչ որ ծրագրային ել-
ույթներով ներկայանալ
որպես նոր բայց նրա
հոդվածներում ներկայաց-
ված ելույթները պարունա-
կում են մտքեր որոնք դե-
կլարատիվ բնույթ են կր-
ում որոնց նույնիսկ ինքը
չի հավատում Այն որ Պու-
տինը Ռուսաստանյան պե-
տականության ակնառու
գործիչներից է և նա իրոք
ուզում է ամեն ինչ անել իր
երկրի և ժողովրդի համար կասկածից վեր է Բայց
ամբողջ խնդիրը նրանում է որ նա արդեն իսկ կա-
տարել է իր առաքելությունը միսիան և իր իսկ գոր-
ծունեության շնորհիվ երկրում ստեղծվել է այլ իրա-
վիճակ այլ հասարակությունով և երկրի առաջ կան-
գնել են բոլորովին այլ մարտահրավերներ որոնց լու-
ծումների համար անհրաժեշտ են այլ մտածելակերպի
մարդիկ Բոլոր նրանք ովքեր փորձում են համոզել
հենց իրեն Պուտինին որ նա ամենակարողն է և որ
երկիրը կհայտնվի կործանման եզրին եթե նա ետ
չվերադառնա կամ ստում են կամ էլ ունեն իրենց
կոնկրետ շահը Բայց ի տարբերություն այդպիսի
մարդկանց քիչ չեն Ռուսաստանում մարդիկ ովքեր
չեն կարծում որ Պուտինը աստված է և որ նա
անփոխարինելի է Այսօր Պուտինը կարելի է ասել որ
կաշվից դուրս է գալիս որպեսզի բոլորին համոզի որ
միայն ինքն է որ գիտի ինչ անել և ինչպես անել ուստի
հասարակությունը պետք է անվերապահորեն ընդունի
նրա վերադարձը Բայց դրանք ընդամենը խոսքեր են
և չեն համապատասխանում իրականությանը որով-
հետև նրա վերադարձն ամբողջությամբ ի սկզբանե չի
ունեցել որևէ հիմնա-
վորում Ընդհանրապես
ժամանակակից աշխա-
րհը ընդունում է իշխա-
նությունների փոփոխ-
ման միայն մի ձև Ըստ
դրա հինը փոխարին-
վում է նորով որով-
հետև եկել է նրան փո-
խելու ժամանակը Այս
դեպքում ամեն ինչ
ճիշտ հակառակն է
գործող իշխանությանը այն էլ ժողովրդի կամքով փո-
խարինման է գալիսը ոչ թե նորը այլ հինը Պուտինը իր
գալով միայն մեկ բան է ասում կամ եթե չի ասում
նույնիսկ միևնույն է դա այդպես է իմաստավորվում
Ռուսաստանը ես եմ Օրենքը ես եմ և ոչ ոք բացի ինձ-
նից չի կարող ղեկավարել այս երկիրը Ստացվում է մի
շատ հետաքրքիր իրավիճակ այսօրվա ldquoնորrdquo Պուտինը
պայքարում է Պուտինի դեմ որովհետև նրա դեմ կամ
նրա հետ պայքարելու հնարավորություն բացի ժո-
ղովրդից որևէ մեկը այսօր չունի Եվ նրա քարոզ-
արշավի պատասխանատուները հիմնականում այդ
խնդիրն էլ փորձում են լուծել փորձում են վախեցնել
ժողովրդին իբրև երկիրը ետ կվերադառնա իննսու-
նական թվականներ որպեսզի քաղաքացիները հան-
կարծ բացի վոժդին ընտրելուց այլընտրանք չտեսնեն
Իր ելույթներից մեկում Պուտինն ասաց որ ժողովուրդը
միշտ էլ ունի ընտրելու հնարավորություն նա կարող է
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
չընտրել իրեն Շատ հետաքրքիր և բազմանշանակ
պատասխան իրեն առաջադրված հարցին Ասում եմ
բազմանշանակ որովհետև նա չի ասում որ ինքը
կարող է պարտվել կամ որ կարող է ընտրվել մեկ այլ
մարդ նա ուղղակիորեն ասում է ժողովուրդը կարող է
ինձ չընտրել Այսինքն Պուտինի պատկերացրած
ընտրություններում ժողովուրդը ունի ոչ թե այս կամ
այն թեկնածուին ընտրելու հնարավորություն այլ իրեն
ընտրելու կամ չընտրելու տարբերակ
Այն որ Ռուսաստանում ընթացող գործընթացները
որևէ կապ չունեն ընտրության հետ կասկածից վեր է
վերոնշված վերլուծությունից հետո Ընտրությունը
ենթադրում է առաջին հերթին այլընտրանքի
հնարավորություն ասել է մեկից ավելի թեկնածուներ
Այդ այլընտրանքը հնարավոր է եթե նախագահի բոլոր
թեկնածուները ունեն հավասար ընտրվելու կամ
չընտրվելու հնարավորություններ Այս դեպքում
ստացվում է որ Պուտինից բացի մյուս թեկնածուները
ունեն միայն չընտրվելու հնարավորություն Մի
կողմում մի թեկնածուն է որին պաշտպանում
պարտադրում է ողջ պետական համակարգը իր բոլոր
հնարավորություններով և ազդեցությունով իսկ մյուս
կողմում սահամանափակ հնարավորություններ
ունեցող թեկնածուները որոնք բացահայտորեն և
ցուցադրաբար տարբերակվում են իշխանության
թեկնածուի կողմից Ի տարբերություն մյուս
թեկնածուների Պուտինի ընտրարշավը ոչ թե մյուս
թեկնածուներին հաղթելն է նրանց ծրագրերին
հակառակ հիմնավորումներ բերելը այլ ընտրողներին
համոզելը որ իրեն չընտրելու դեպքում երկիրը և
հասարակությունը կկորցնի ամեն ինչ Ստացվում է որ
Պուտինի հիմնական հակառակորդը դա ընտրողն է և
նրա ազատ կամաարտահայտության իրավունքը
Պուտինի թե մասնակցությունը այս ընտրություններին
և թե նրա նախընտրական արշավը դա անհաջող
բեմադրություն է որն իրականացվում է այդ գործում
հմտություններ ի չունեցող դելիտանտ մարդկանց
կողմից ովքեր որևէ կապ չունեն նման լուրջ
քաղաքական միջոցառման հետ Պուտինն այսօր ձեռքը
գցում է ցանկացած քայլի որը նրան առաջարկում է իր
ընտրարշավը իրականացնող փիար խումբը Այդ
խումբը առաջարկում է նրան իր քարոզարշավը
իրականացնել հանրությանը հայտնի մարդկանց
գեղարվեստական խմբերի կինոյի կամ թատրոնի
ներկայացուցիչների միջոցով Բնականաբար սա
կարող է որոշակի արդյունքի բերել բայց բացառված չէ
որ կարող է նաև հակառակ էֆեկտը տալ նրանից
հեռացնել հասարակության գնալով աճող այլ խմբերի
ներկայացուցիչների Ի տարբերություն նրա օրինակ
ավելի էֆեկտիվ նախընտրական արշավ է
իրականացնում թեկնածուներից մեկը միլիարդատեր
Պրոխորովը Նա կարծում ենք ավելի լավ
պատկերացնելով երկրի ներկան ի տարբերություն
Պուտինի ընտրում է այլ լսարան նա հանդիպում է
գործարար շրջանակների հետ որոնք այսօր
Ռուսաստանում թե թվաքանակով և թե ազդեցությամբ
ավելի կարողունակ են Պրոխորովը հանդես է գալիս
ավելի համարձակ և ընտրողի ուշադրությունն է
հրավիրում ինչպես մյուս թեկնածուների այնպես էլ
Պուտինի վրա համարձակորեն քննադատում է իր
բոլոր հակառակորդներին
Ամփոփելով մեր դիտարկումները առաջիկա
նախագահական ընտրությունների հետ կապված
գալիս ենք ետևյալին որ Նախագահի մեկ թեկնածուի և
մյուս թեկնածուների պայքարը շատ է նման
հանրահայտ Գլադիատոր ֆիլմի մենամարտին որտեղ
կայսրը Պուտինը մարտից առաջ մահացու
վիրավորում է իր հակառակորդ Մաքսիմուսին մյուս
թեկնածուներին և նրանց աջակիցներին որ
կարողանա հաղթել բայց ցույց է տալիս թե իբր
հավասար մարտ է ընթանում
6
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
Sobchak to work for Prokhorov
Ksenia Sobchaks political TV show called
Госдеп (Gosdep) will be broadcast on the
Сноб (Snob) website from now on report-
ed the owner of the online periodical Rus-
sian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokho-
rov
We remind that Ksenias Gosdep which
was supposed to be broadcast on MTV was
cancelled right after the first time it went on
air
I suggested that Ksenia restart the show on
the Snob website I think the show was
cancelled because Alexey Navalni was going
to be on the next show I promise that he will
make an appearance said Prokhorov
The billionaire candidate also mentioned that
freedom of speech lied at the core of a
healthy society
If I am elected president I promise the re-
turn of freedom of speech We will put an
end to lies and censure once and for all
said the presidential candidate before the
March 3 presidential elections
Medvedev Prepares Unsteady Ground
For Putin Interesting events are underway in Russia
Dmitri Medvedev decided to propose to the
presidential candidates to sign some public
agreement enabling to hold fair elections
Candidates refused to sign it Though at first
sight Medvedev may turn out to be fulfilling
Putinlsquos order but in practice it can be differ-
ent The point is that the proposal on signing
of such an agreement is nonsense The can-
didates are proposed not to break the Elec-
tion Code refrain from fraudulent elections
and prevent others from fraud At the same
time the candidates are obliged to fulfill all
these points without such an accord because
they live in a legal state An agreement on
compliance with ethics could be signed but
not one on compliance with laws
Proposing this agreement Medvedev as if
points out that there is no rule of law and the
elections are not held in compliance with
laws but by agreements reminding a non-
aggression pact among thugs
Why should Medvedev need to show this
We can presume that his personality has
unfairly been forced out of the current infor-
mation environment The information that it
might happen so that if a state of emergency
is imposed in Russia Medvedev may sud-
denly postpone the election and extend his
office has also been ignored He has already
spelt out he intention to run for president
So it is not ruled out that Medvedev is play-
ing a double game acknowledging from the
beginning that the elections are illegitimate
as if preparing a possibly wobbly ground for
Putin
This is just a presumption but it is evident
that the signing of the agreement onrefrain-
ing from fraudulent elections is not honor to
the president of the country who is the guar-
antor of fair elections He has numerous ad-
ministrative and even security levers to en-
sure such elections The fact that he does not
use them but resorts to suspicious agree-
ments also proves Medvedev needs an unfair
election of Putin
By the way the agreement runs that
―statements by opposition political figures
about the illegitimacy of any result of the
upcoming presidential elections question the
legitimacy of the presidential election and
threaten to plunge Russia into a constitution-
al crisis The fact that the agreement has not
been signed supposes that the candidates are
not going to refrain from statements on the
illegitimacy of the elections and would not
mind dipping Russia into a ―constitutional
crisis
Police cordon off Yerevan park
With the construction of kiosks going on in
Yerevanlsquos Mashtots Park the policemen
maintaining surveillance over the area have
cordoned it off not to allow anyone to get
into the construction site Our correspondent
reported from the scene that the exterior con-
struction is now nearing the end A crowd of
people protesting against the construction
work have gathered near the garden Arme-
nian writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-
Gulyanyan is also said to be among them
The environmental group struggling for the
preservation of the parks green lands had
earlier launched a campaign to protect the
mines of Kajaran (Syunik region) Speaking
to Tertam Ter-Gulanyan said it is up to the
kiosk owners not the Yerevan mayor to
solve the problem ―The kiosks must not be
located here My opinion about the mayorlsquos
work is positive and I am sure the problem
was at issue much before he took office I
propose that the owners give up the idea
especially knowing that these kiosks are not
the only property they have he said The
youth activists protesting near the park are
now singing patriotic songs and dancing
together
Eurozonersquos new bailout for Greece
agreed
Eurozone finance ministers have reached
agreement on a vital second bailout for
heavily indebted Greece BBC News re-
ported
The deal which came after more than 13
hours of talks in Brussels will provide Ath-
ens with loans worth more than euro130bn
Greece needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy
next month when maturing loans must be
repaid In return Greece will undertake to
reduce its debts to no more than 121 of its
GDP by 2020 After five straight years of
recession Greeces debts currently amounts
to more than 160 of its Gross Domestic
Product
Around the World
7
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
3
Ինչու Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
հետապնդումների ձևաչափը Երկրորդ կարևոր հան-
գամանքը ըստ շատերի գործող նախագահը կար-
ևորում է բարձր տե-
խնոլոգիաների դե-
րը և խանդավառ-
ված է դրանց զար-
գացմամբ Եթե մի-
այն ամփոփենք այս
երկու օրինակները
ապա ակնհայտ է
դառնում որ Մեդ-
վեդևը երկրի անվտ-
անգության ապա-
հովման և ամրապն-
դման խնդրում ժա-
մանակաշրջանին
համապատասխան
ուղղու վրա էր գտ-
նվում Պարզ է դառ-
նում որ նրա առաջադրվելու դեպքում նա հայտնվելու
էր բավականին շահեկան վիճակում և մեծ է հավա-
նականությունը որ նրա պաշտոնավարության եր-
կրորդ ժամկետի ավարտին լինելու էր այլ որակի
Ռուսաստան և ռուսաստանյան հասարակություն Եր-
կրորդ վարկածը որ երկրորրդ ժամկետում ընտրվելու
դեպքում գործող նախագահ հնարավոր է գործեր
առանց վարչապետի և նա պարտադրված լիներ գնալու
քաղաքական թոշակի որը ի միջայլոց որևէ կապ չունի
երկրի ղեկավարի տարիքի հետ հակառակ պարա-
գայում այսօրվա զարգացած շատ երկրների երիտա-
սարդ ղեկավարներ պետք է ամեն ինչ անեն իրենց
ամբիցաները բավարարելու համար և ուզուրպացնեն
իշխանությունը
Հարցականի տակ է Մեդվեդևի կամովին հրաժարվելը
և դրա շուրջ տարբեր մեկնաբանությունները Այս-
պիսով ինչու հինգ տարվա ընթացքում անհաջո-
ղություններ և լուրջ բացթողումներ չունեցած երկրի
ղեկավարը որի պաշտոնավարության ժամանակա-
հատվածում գրանցվել են տեսանելի հաջողություններ
այնուամենայնիվ կամովին առանց պայքարի հրա-
ժարվեց Այս հարցին շատ հետաքրքիր պատասխան
տվեց ռուսաստանյան քաղաքական գործիչներից մեկը
(Արբակ) Ըստ նրա գործող նախագահի այս քայլը հզոր
քաղաքական քայլ էր և նպաստեց նրան որ քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը ոտքի կանգնեց և իր
բողոքի ձայնը հրա-պարակայնորեն ներկայցրեց երկրի
իշխանության ուզուր-
պացման սկսված գո-
րծընթացի դեմ Ըստ
մեր զրուցակցի հեռու
են իրականությունից
այն դատողություննե-
րը իբրև գործող նա-
խագահը վախեցավ
որովհետև միայն
կույրը կարող է չտես-
նել որ Մեդվեդևը որ-
ևէ կապ չունի ոչ այս
գաղափարի ոչ էլ Եդ-
ինայա Ռոսիայի հետ
Մեր զրուցակիցն ա-
սաց որ գործող նա-
խագահի այս քայլի
հետևանքով սկսվեց քաղաքացիական հասարա-
կության ձևավորման գործընթացը բացհայտվեց
Եդինայա Ռոսիայի իրական դեմքը ժողովուրդը
հասկացավ որ Մեդվեդեևը մասնակից չէ իշխող
կուսակցության այս անտրամաբանական քաղաքական
խաղերի հետ և որ ամենակարևորը այս քայլի
հետևանքով Կրեմլի կողմից իսկ ստեղծված օպպո-
ցիզիան սկսեց բացահայտորեն պայքարել Պուտինի
դեմ Որքան էլ որ անհավատալի էր Պուտինի
ընտրապայքարը ղեկավարող խամաճիկ-ների համար
ընտրապայքար սկսեց ստանալ մրցակ-ցության
երանգներ օրակարգային հարց դարձավ այն խնդիրը
որ Պուտինի վերադարձը հնարավոր է կործա-նարար
լինի ինչպես Ռուսաստանի այնպես էլ շատերի
համար Մեր կարծիքով Մեդվեդևը որպես պետության
գործող ղեկավար ստեղծված իրավիճակում այլըն-
տրանք չուներ և ոչ թե նրա համար որ Պուտինը ավելի
ուժեղ է կամ նա զուրկ է քաղաքական հենարանից այլ
շատ լավ հասկանում է որ Պուտինիզմի և նրա
քաղաքական ամբիցիաների բավարարման կասեցման
նախաձեռնողը պետք է լինի բացառապես քաղա-
քացիական հասարակությունը այլապես հակառակ
դեպքում պետությունը կարող է հայտնվել պալա-
տական հեղաշրջումների հորձանուտում կամ քաղա-
քացիական պատերազմի նախաշեմին
4
Ի տարբերություն իր գործընկերոջ գործող նախագահը
ավելի շատ առաջնորդվեց հասարակական և պետա-
կան շահով այլ ոչ թե հագուրդ տվեց իր ամբիցի-
աններին Մենք կարծում ենք որ այնուամենայնիվ
բոլոր տեսակի տարբերակները այս կամ այն առումով
դեռևս ամբողջական չեն քանի դեռ այս մասին իր
բացատրությունները չի տվել քաղաքական գործիչ
Մեդվեդևը և նա մի օր անպայման կտա դրանք երբ
կգա դրա ժամանակը Հինգը տարի նման հզորություն
ունեցող երկրի ղեկին եղած մարդու համար չի կարող
լինել այսրոպեական և եսապաշտական որոշումներ
մանավանդ եթե այդ գործիչը կայացել է որպես
այդպիսին
Այսպիսով ինչու է վերադառնում Պուտինը Ակնհայտ
է որ այս հարցի հիմնավորումը` իբրև այդպես են
որոշել իրենք գործող նախագահի հետ այդպես էլ
շարունակություն ասել է թե հիմնավորում չունեցավ
Այս պայմաններում ավելի շատ խելքին մոտիկ է այն
տեսակետը որ Պուտինը որոշեց վերադառնալ
որովհետև դա հնարավոր էր հիմա և եթե նա որոշեր
վերադառնալ հետո շատ մեծ էր հավանականությունը
որ դա նրա մոտ չէր ստացվելու Նախկին նախագահի
վերադարձը եթե երկիրը շեղվել է իր կողմից սկսված
կուրսից եթե երկրում նկատելի են լուրջ բաց-
թողումներ եթե խաթարվել է ազգային անվտան-
գությունը և վերջապես գործող ղեկավարը չի գտնվում
իր տեղում դեռ կարող էր մոտ լինել տրամաբանու-
թյանը մանավանդ որ հայտնի են նման նախադեպեր
Բայց որպես կանոն այդ դեպքերում ետ եկողները
դառնում են գործող նախագահին ընդդիմադիր կամ
գոնե հրապարակայնորեն քննադատում են նրանց և
հանրությանը ներկայացնում իրենց մոտեցումներն ու
անհամաձայնությունները Այս հարցի կապակցու-
թյամբ հետաքրքրության են արժանի մեկ այլ գործչի
դիտարկումները ըստ որի իշխանության ետ վերա-
դարձող Պուտինը նույն Պուտինն է և բոլորովին կարիք
չկա այս կամ այն կերպ տարբեր տեսակի որա-
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
5
կումներով կամ համեմատություններով նրան ներ-
կայացնել որպես նորի որովհետև այն ամենը ինչը որ
հիմա անում է Պուտինը և նրա ldquoիմիջմեյքերներըrdquo լրիվ
փուչիկ է Այո նա փորձում է ինչ որ ծրագրային ել-
ույթներով ներկայանալ
որպես նոր բայց նրա
հոդվածներում ներկայաց-
ված ելույթները պարունա-
կում են մտքեր որոնք դե-
կլարատիվ բնույթ են կր-
ում որոնց նույնիսկ ինքը
չի հավատում Այն որ Պու-
տինը Ռուսաստանյան պե-
տականության ակնառու
գործիչներից է և նա իրոք
ուզում է ամեն ինչ անել իր
երկրի և ժողովրդի համար կասկածից վեր է Բայց
ամբողջ խնդիրը նրանում է որ նա արդեն իսկ կա-
տարել է իր առաքելությունը միսիան և իր իսկ գոր-
ծունեության շնորհիվ երկրում ստեղծվել է այլ իրա-
վիճակ այլ հասարակությունով և երկրի առաջ կան-
գնել են բոլորովին այլ մարտահրավերներ որոնց լու-
ծումների համար անհրաժեշտ են այլ մտածելակերպի
մարդիկ Բոլոր նրանք ովքեր փորձում են համոզել
հենց իրեն Պուտինին որ նա ամենակարողն է և որ
երկիրը կհայտնվի կործանման եզրին եթե նա ետ
չվերադառնա կամ ստում են կամ էլ ունեն իրենց
կոնկրետ շահը Բայց ի տարբերություն այդպիսի
մարդկանց քիչ չեն Ռուսաստանում մարդիկ ովքեր
չեն կարծում որ Պուտինը աստված է և որ նա
անփոխարինելի է Այսօր Պուտինը կարելի է ասել որ
կաշվից դուրս է գալիս որպեսզի բոլորին համոզի որ
միայն ինքն է որ գիտի ինչ անել և ինչպես անել ուստի
հասարակությունը պետք է անվերապահորեն ընդունի
նրա վերադարձը Բայց դրանք ընդամենը խոսքեր են
և չեն համապատասխանում իրականությանը որով-
հետև նրա վերադարձն ամբողջությամբ ի սկզբանե չի
ունեցել որևէ հիմնա-
վորում Ընդհանրապես
ժամանակակից աշխա-
րհը ընդունում է իշխա-
նությունների փոփոխ-
ման միայն մի ձև Ըստ
դրա հինը փոխարին-
վում է նորով որով-
հետև եկել է նրան փո-
խելու ժամանակը Այս
դեպքում ամեն ինչ
ճիշտ հակառակն է
գործող իշխանությանը այն էլ ժողովրդի կամքով փո-
խարինման է գալիսը ոչ թե նորը այլ հինը Պուտինը իր
գալով միայն մեկ բան է ասում կամ եթե չի ասում
նույնիսկ միևնույն է դա այդպես է իմաստավորվում
Ռուսաստանը ես եմ Օրենքը ես եմ և ոչ ոք բացի ինձ-
նից չի կարող ղեկավարել այս երկիրը Ստացվում է մի
շատ հետաքրքիր իրավիճակ այսօրվա ldquoնորrdquo Պուտինը
պայքարում է Պուտինի դեմ որովհետև նրա դեմ կամ
նրա հետ պայքարելու հնարավորություն բացի ժո-
ղովրդից որևէ մեկը այսօր չունի Եվ նրա քարոզ-
արշավի պատասխանատուները հիմնականում այդ
խնդիրն էլ փորձում են լուծել փորձում են վախեցնել
ժողովրդին իբրև երկիրը ետ կվերադառնա իննսու-
նական թվականներ որպեսզի քաղաքացիները հան-
կարծ բացի վոժդին ընտրելուց այլընտրանք չտեսնեն
Իր ելույթներից մեկում Պուտինն ասաց որ ժողովուրդը
միշտ էլ ունի ընտրելու հնարավորություն նա կարող է
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
չընտրել իրեն Շատ հետաքրքիր և բազմանշանակ
պատասխան իրեն առաջադրված հարցին Ասում եմ
բազմանշանակ որովհետև նա չի ասում որ ինքը
կարող է պարտվել կամ որ կարող է ընտրվել մեկ այլ
մարդ նա ուղղակիորեն ասում է ժողովուրդը կարող է
ինձ չընտրել Այսինքն Պուտինի պատկերացրած
ընտրություններում ժողովուրդը ունի ոչ թե այս կամ
այն թեկնածուին ընտրելու հնարավորություն այլ իրեն
ընտրելու կամ չընտրելու տարբերակ
Այն որ Ռուսաստանում ընթացող գործընթացները
որևէ կապ չունեն ընտրության հետ կասկածից վեր է
վերոնշված վերլուծությունից հետո Ընտրությունը
ենթադրում է առաջին հերթին այլընտրանքի
հնարավորություն ասել է մեկից ավելի թեկնածուներ
Այդ այլընտրանքը հնարավոր է եթե նախագահի բոլոր
թեկնածուները ունեն հավասար ընտրվելու կամ
չընտրվելու հնարավորություններ Այս դեպքում
ստացվում է որ Պուտինից բացի մյուս թեկնածուները
ունեն միայն չընտրվելու հնարավորություն Մի
կողմում մի թեկնածուն է որին պաշտպանում
պարտադրում է ողջ պետական համակարգը իր բոլոր
հնարավորություններով և ազդեցությունով իսկ մյուս
կողմում սահամանափակ հնարավորություններ
ունեցող թեկնածուները որոնք բացահայտորեն և
ցուցադրաբար տարբերակվում են իշխանության
թեկնածուի կողմից Ի տարբերություն մյուս
թեկնածուների Պուտինի ընտրարշավը ոչ թե մյուս
թեկնածուներին հաղթելն է նրանց ծրագրերին
հակառակ հիմնավորումներ բերելը այլ ընտրողներին
համոզելը որ իրեն չընտրելու դեպքում երկիրը և
հասարակությունը կկորցնի ամեն ինչ Ստացվում է որ
Պուտինի հիմնական հակառակորդը դա ընտրողն է և
նրա ազատ կամաարտահայտության իրավունքը
Պուտինի թե մասնակցությունը այս ընտրություններին
և թե նրա նախընտրական արշավը դա անհաջող
բեմադրություն է որն իրականացվում է այդ գործում
հմտություններ ի չունեցող դելիտանտ մարդկանց
կողմից ովքեր որևէ կապ չունեն նման լուրջ
քաղաքական միջոցառման հետ Պուտինն այսօր ձեռքը
գցում է ցանկացած քայլի որը նրան առաջարկում է իր
ընտրարշավը իրականացնող փիար խումբը Այդ
խումբը առաջարկում է նրան իր քարոզարշավը
իրականացնել հանրությանը հայտնի մարդկանց
գեղարվեստական խմբերի կինոյի կամ թատրոնի
ներկայացուցիչների միջոցով Բնականաբար սա
կարող է որոշակի արդյունքի բերել բայց բացառված չէ
որ կարող է նաև հակառակ էֆեկտը տալ նրանից
հեռացնել հասարակության գնալով աճող այլ խմբերի
ներկայացուցիչների Ի տարբերություն նրա օրինակ
ավելի էֆեկտիվ նախընտրական արշավ է
իրականացնում թեկնածուներից մեկը միլիարդատեր
Պրոխորովը Նա կարծում ենք ավելի լավ
պատկերացնելով երկրի ներկան ի տարբերություն
Պուտինի ընտրում է այլ լսարան նա հանդիպում է
գործարար շրջանակների հետ որոնք այսօր
Ռուսաստանում թե թվաքանակով և թե ազդեցությամբ
ավելի կարողունակ են Պրոխորովը հանդես է գալիս
ավելի համարձակ և ընտրողի ուշադրությունն է
հրավիրում ինչպես մյուս թեկնածուների այնպես էլ
Պուտինի վրա համարձակորեն քննադատում է իր
բոլոր հակառակորդներին
Ամփոփելով մեր դիտարկումները առաջիկա
նախագահական ընտրությունների հետ կապված
գալիս ենք ետևյալին որ Նախագահի մեկ թեկնածուի և
մյուս թեկնածուների պայքարը շատ է նման
հանրահայտ Գլադիատոր ֆիլմի մենամարտին որտեղ
կայսրը Պուտինը մարտից առաջ մահացու
վիրավորում է իր հակառակորդ Մաքսիմուսին մյուս
թեկնածուներին և նրանց աջակիցներին որ
կարողանա հաղթել բայց ցույց է տալիս թե իբր
հավասար մարտ է ընթանում
6
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
Sobchak to work for Prokhorov
Ksenia Sobchaks political TV show called
Госдеп (Gosdep) will be broadcast on the
Сноб (Snob) website from now on report-
ed the owner of the online periodical Rus-
sian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokho-
rov
We remind that Ksenias Gosdep which
was supposed to be broadcast on MTV was
cancelled right after the first time it went on
air
I suggested that Ksenia restart the show on
the Snob website I think the show was
cancelled because Alexey Navalni was going
to be on the next show I promise that he will
make an appearance said Prokhorov
The billionaire candidate also mentioned that
freedom of speech lied at the core of a
healthy society
If I am elected president I promise the re-
turn of freedom of speech We will put an
end to lies and censure once and for all
said the presidential candidate before the
March 3 presidential elections
Medvedev Prepares Unsteady Ground
For Putin Interesting events are underway in Russia
Dmitri Medvedev decided to propose to the
presidential candidates to sign some public
agreement enabling to hold fair elections
Candidates refused to sign it Though at first
sight Medvedev may turn out to be fulfilling
Putinlsquos order but in practice it can be differ-
ent The point is that the proposal on signing
of such an agreement is nonsense The can-
didates are proposed not to break the Elec-
tion Code refrain from fraudulent elections
and prevent others from fraud At the same
time the candidates are obliged to fulfill all
these points without such an accord because
they live in a legal state An agreement on
compliance with ethics could be signed but
not one on compliance with laws
Proposing this agreement Medvedev as if
points out that there is no rule of law and the
elections are not held in compliance with
laws but by agreements reminding a non-
aggression pact among thugs
Why should Medvedev need to show this
We can presume that his personality has
unfairly been forced out of the current infor-
mation environment The information that it
might happen so that if a state of emergency
is imposed in Russia Medvedev may sud-
denly postpone the election and extend his
office has also been ignored He has already
spelt out he intention to run for president
So it is not ruled out that Medvedev is play-
ing a double game acknowledging from the
beginning that the elections are illegitimate
as if preparing a possibly wobbly ground for
Putin
This is just a presumption but it is evident
that the signing of the agreement onrefrain-
ing from fraudulent elections is not honor to
the president of the country who is the guar-
antor of fair elections He has numerous ad-
ministrative and even security levers to en-
sure such elections The fact that he does not
use them but resorts to suspicious agree-
ments also proves Medvedev needs an unfair
election of Putin
By the way the agreement runs that
―statements by opposition political figures
about the illegitimacy of any result of the
upcoming presidential elections question the
legitimacy of the presidential election and
threaten to plunge Russia into a constitution-
al crisis The fact that the agreement has not
been signed supposes that the candidates are
not going to refrain from statements on the
illegitimacy of the elections and would not
mind dipping Russia into a ―constitutional
crisis
Police cordon off Yerevan park
With the construction of kiosks going on in
Yerevanlsquos Mashtots Park the policemen
maintaining surveillance over the area have
cordoned it off not to allow anyone to get
into the construction site Our correspondent
reported from the scene that the exterior con-
struction is now nearing the end A crowd of
people protesting against the construction
work have gathered near the garden Arme-
nian writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-
Gulyanyan is also said to be among them
The environmental group struggling for the
preservation of the parks green lands had
earlier launched a campaign to protect the
mines of Kajaran (Syunik region) Speaking
to Tertam Ter-Gulanyan said it is up to the
kiosk owners not the Yerevan mayor to
solve the problem ―The kiosks must not be
located here My opinion about the mayorlsquos
work is positive and I am sure the problem
was at issue much before he took office I
propose that the owners give up the idea
especially knowing that these kiosks are not
the only property they have he said The
youth activists protesting near the park are
now singing patriotic songs and dancing
together
Eurozonersquos new bailout for Greece
agreed
Eurozone finance ministers have reached
agreement on a vital second bailout for
heavily indebted Greece BBC News re-
ported
The deal which came after more than 13
hours of talks in Brussels will provide Ath-
ens with loans worth more than euro130bn
Greece needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy
next month when maturing loans must be
repaid In return Greece will undertake to
reduce its debts to no more than 121 of its
GDP by 2020 After five straight years of
recession Greeces debts currently amounts
to more than 160 of its Gross Domestic
Product
Around the World
7
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
4
Ի տարբերություն իր գործընկերոջ գործող նախագահը
ավելի շատ առաջնորդվեց հասարակական և պետա-
կան շահով այլ ոչ թե հագուրդ տվեց իր ամբիցի-
աններին Մենք կարծում ենք որ այնուամենայնիվ
բոլոր տեսակի տարբերակները այս կամ այն առումով
դեռևս ամբողջական չեն քանի դեռ այս մասին իր
բացատրությունները չի տվել քաղաքական գործիչ
Մեդվեդևը և նա մի օր անպայման կտա դրանք երբ
կգա դրա ժամանակը Հինգը տարի նման հզորություն
ունեցող երկրի ղեկին եղած մարդու համար չի կարող
լինել այսրոպեական և եսապաշտական որոշումներ
մանավանդ եթե այդ գործիչը կայացել է որպես
այդպիսին
Այսպիսով ինչու է վերադառնում Պուտինը Ակնհայտ
է որ այս հարցի հիմնավորումը` իբրև այդպես են
որոշել իրենք գործող նախագահի հետ այդպես էլ
շարունակություն ասել է թե հիմնավորում չունեցավ
Այս պայմաններում ավելի շատ խելքին մոտիկ է այն
տեսակետը որ Պուտինը որոշեց վերադառնալ
որովհետև դա հնարավոր էր հիմա և եթե նա որոշեր
վերադառնալ հետո շատ մեծ էր հավանականությունը
որ դա նրա մոտ չէր ստացվելու Նախկին նախագահի
վերադարձը եթե երկիրը շեղվել է իր կողմից սկսված
կուրսից եթե երկրում նկատելի են լուրջ բաց-
թողումներ եթե խաթարվել է ազգային անվտան-
գությունը և վերջապես գործող ղեկավարը չի գտնվում
իր տեղում դեռ կարող էր մոտ լինել տրամաբանու-
թյանը մանավանդ որ հայտնի են նման նախադեպեր
Բայց որպես կանոն այդ դեպքերում ետ եկողները
դառնում են գործող նախագահին ընդդիմադիր կամ
գոնե հրապարակայնորեն քննադատում են նրանց և
հանրությանը ներկայացնում իրենց մոտեցումներն ու
անհամաձայնությունները Այս հարցի կապակցու-
թյամբ հետաքրքրության են արժանի մեկ այլ գործչի
դիտարկումները ըստ որի իշխանության ետ վերա-
դարձող Պուտինը նույն Պուտինն է և բոլորովին կարիք
չկա այս կամ այն կերպ տարբեր տեսակի որա-
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
5
կումներով կամ համեմատություններով նրան ներ-
կայացնել որպես նորի որովհետև այն ամենը ինչը որ
հիմա անում է Պուտինը և նրա ldquoիմիջմեյքերներըrdquo լրիվ
փուչիկ է Այո նա փորձում է ինչ որ ծրագրային ել-
ույթներով ներկայանալ
որպես նոր բայց նրա
հոդվածներում ներկայաց-
ված ելույթները պարունա-
կում են մտքեր որոնք դե-
կլարատիվ բնույթ են կր-
ում որոնց նույնիսկ ինքը
չի հավատում Այն որ Պու-
տինը Ռուսաստանյան պե-
տականության ակնառու
գործիչներից է և նա իրոք
ուզում է ամեն ինչ անել իր
երկրի և ժողովրդի համար կասկածից վեր է Բայց
ամբողջ խնդիրը նրանում է որ նա արդեն իսկ կա-
տարել է իր առաքելությունը միսիան և իր իսկ գոր-
ծունեության շնորհիվ երկրում ստեղծվել է այլ իրա-
վիճակ այլ հասարակությունով և երկրի առաջ կան-
գնել են բոլորովին այլ մարտահրավերներ որոնց լու-
ծումների համար անհրաժեշտ են այլ մտածելակերպի
մարդիկ Բոլոր նրանք ովքեր փորձում են համոզել
հենց իրեն Պուտինին որ նա ամենակարողն է և որ
երկիրը կհայտնվի կործանման եզրին եթե նա ետ
չվերադառնա կամ ստում են կամ էլ ունեն իրենց
կոնկրետ շահը Բայց ի տարբերություն այդպիսի
մարդկանց քիչ չեն Ռուսաստանում մարդիկ ովքեր
չեն կարծում որ Պուտինը աստված է և որ նա
անփոխարինելի է Այսօր Պուտինը կարելի է ասել որ
կաշվից դուրս է գալիս որպեսզի բոլորին համոզի որ
միայն ինքն է որ գիտի ինչ անել և ինչպես անել ուստի
հասարակությունը պետք է անվերապահորեն ընդունի
նրա վերադարձը Բայց դրանք ընդամենը խոսքեր են
և չեն համապատասխանում իրականությանը որով-
հետև նրա վերադարձն ամբողջությամբ ի սկզբանե չի
ունեցել որևէ հիմնա-
վորում Ընդհանրապես
ժամանակակից աշխա-
րհը ընդունում է իշխա-
նությունների փոփոխ-
ման միայն մի ձև Ըստ
դրա հինը փոխարին-
վում է նորով որով-
հետև եկել է նրան փո-
խելու ժամանակը Այս
դեպքում ամեն ինչ
ճիշտ հակառակն է
գործող իշխանությանը այն էլ ժողովրդի կամքով փո-
խարինման է գալիսը ոչ թե նորը այլ հինը Պուտինը իր
գալով միայն մեկ բան է ասում կամ եթե չի ասում
նույնիսկ միևնույն է դա այդպես է իմաստավորվում
Ռուսաստանը ես եմ Օրենքը ես եմ և ոչ ոք բացի ինձ-
նից չի կարող ղեկավարել այս երկիրը Ստացվում է մի
շատ հետաքրքիր իրավիճակ այսօրվա ldquoնորrdquo Պուտինը
պայքարում է Պուտինի դեմ որովհետև նրա դեմ կամ
նրա հետ պայքարելու հնարավորություն բացի ժո-
ղովրդից որևէ մեկը այսօր չունի Եվ նրա քարոզ-
արշավի պատասխանատուները հիմնականում այդ
խնդիրն էլ փորձում են լուծել փորձում են վախեցնել
ժողովրդին իբրև երկիրը ետ կվերադառնա իննսու-
նական թվականներ որպեսզի քաղաքացիները հան-
կարծ բացի վոժդին ընտրելուց այլընտրանք չտեսնեն
Իր ելույթներից մեկում Պուտինն ասաց որ ժողովուրդը
միշտ էլ ունի ընտրելու հնարավորություն նա կարող է
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
չընտրել իրեն Շատ հետաքրքիր և բազմանշանակ
պատասխան իրեն առաջադրված հարցին Ասում եմ
բազմանշանակ որովհետև նա չի ասում որ ինքը
կարող է պարտվել կամ որ կարող է ընտրվել մեկ այլ
մարդ նա ուղղակիորեն ասում է ժողովուրդը կարող է
ինձ չընտրել Այսինքն Պուտինի պատկերացրած
ընտրություններում ժողովուրդը ունի ոչ թե այս կամ
այն թեկնածուին ընտրելու հնարավորություն այլ իրեն
ընտրելու կամ չընտրելու տարբերակ
Այն որ Ռուսաստանում ընթացող գործընթացները
որևէ կապ չունեն ընտրության հետ կասկածից վեր է
վերոնշված վերլուծությունից հետո Ընտրությունը
ենթադրում է առաջին հերթին այլընտրանքի
հնարավորություն ասել է մեկից ավելի թեկնածուներ
Այդ այլընտրանքը հնարավոր է եթե նախագահի բոլոր
թեկնածուները ունեն հավասար ընտրվելու կամ
չընտրվելու հնարավորություններ Այս դեպքում
ստացվում է որ Պուտինից բացի մյուս թեկնածուները
ունեն միայն չընտրվելու հնարավորություն Մի
կողմում մի թեկնածուն է որին պաշտպանում
պարտադրում է ողջ պետական համակարգը իր բոլոր
հնարավորություններով և ազդեցությունով իսկ մյուս
կողմում սահամանափակ հնարավորություններ
ունեցող թեկնածուները որոնք բացահայտորեն և
ցուցադրաբար տարբերակվում են իշխանության
թեկնածուի կողմից Ի տարբերություն մյուս
թեկնածուների Պուտինի ընտրարշավը ոչ թե մյուս
թեկնածուներին հաղթելն է նրանց ծրագրերին
հակառակ հիմնավորումներ բերելը այլ ընտրողներին
համոզելը որ իրեն չընտրելու դեպքում երկիրը և
հասարակությունը կկորցնի ամեն ինչ Ստացվում է որ
Պուտինի հիմնական հակառակորդը դա ընտրողն է և
նրա ազատ կամաարտահայտության իրավունքը
Պուտինի թե մասնակցությունը այս ընտրություններին
և թե նրա նախընտրական արշավը դա անհաջող
բեմադրություն է որն իրականացվում է այդ գործում
հմտություններ ի չունեցող դելիտանտ մարդկանց
կողմից ովքեր որևէ կապ չունեն նման լուրջ
քաղաքական միջոցառման հետ Պուտինն այսօր ձեռքը
գցում է ցանկացած քայլի որը նրան առաջարկում է իր
ընտրարշավը իրականացնող փիար խումբը Այդ
խումբը առաջարկում է նրան իր քարոզարշավը
իրականացնել հանրությանը հայտնի մարդկանց
գեղարվեստական խմբերի կինոյի կամ թատրոնի
ներկայացուցիչների միջոցով Բնականաբար սա
կարող է որոշակի արդյունքի բերել բայց բացառված չէ
որ կարող է նաև հակառակ էֆեկտը տալ նրանից
հեռացնել հասարակության գնալով աճող այլ խմբերի
ներկայացուցիչների Ի տարբերություն նրա օրինակ
ավելի էֆեկտիվ նախընտրական արշավ է
իրականացնում թեկնածուներից մեկը միլիարդատեր
Պրոխորովը Նա կարծում ենք ավելի լավ
պատկերացնելով երկրի ներկան ի տարբերություն
Պուտինի ընտրում է այլ լսարան նա հանդիպում է
գործարար շրջանակների հետ որոնք այսօր
Ռուսաստանում թե թվաքանակով և թե ազդեցությամբ
ավելի կարողունակ են Պրոխորովը հանդես է գալիս
ավելի համարձակ և ընտրողի ուշադրությունն է
հրավիրում ինչպես մյուս թեկնածուների այնպես էլ
Պուտինի վրա համարձակորեն քննադատում է իր
բոլոր հակառակորդներին
Ամփոփելով մեր դիտարկումները առաջիկա
նախագահական ընտրությունների հետ կապված
գալիս ենք ետևյալին որ Նախագահի մեկ թեկնածուի և
մյուս թեկնածուների պայքարը շատ է նման
հանրահայտ Գլադիատոր ֆիլմի մենամարտին որտեղ
կայսրը Պուտինը մարտից առաջ մահացու
վիրավորում է իր հակառակորդ Մաքսիմուսին մյուս
թեկնածուներին և նրանց աջակիցներին որ
կարողանա հաղթել բայց ցույց է տալիս թե իբր
հավասար մարտ է ընթանում
6
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
Sobchak to work for Prokhorov
Ksenia Sobchaks political TV show called
Госдеп (Gosdep) will be broadcast on the
Сноб (Snob) website from now on report-
ed the owner of the online periodical Rus-
sian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokho-
rov
We remind that Ksenias Gosdep which
was supposed to be broadcast on MTV was
cancelled right after the first time it went on
air
I suggested that Ksenia restart the show on
the Snob website I think the show was
cancelled because Alexey Navalni was going
to be on the next show I promise that he will
make an appearance said Prokhorov
The billionaire candidate also mentioned that
freedom of speech lied at the core of a
healthy society
If I am elected president I promise the re-
turn of freedom of speech We will put an
end to lies and censure once and for all
said the presidential candidate before the
March 3 presidential elections
Medvedev Prepares Unsteady Ground
For Putin Interesting events are underway in Russia
Dmitri Medvedev decided to propose to the
presidential candidates to sign some public
agreement enabling to hold fair elections
Candidates refused to sign it Though at first
sight Medvedev may turn out to be fulfilling
Putinlsquos order but in practice it can be differ-
ent The point is that the proposal on signing
of such an agreement is nonsense The can-
didates are proposed not to break the Elec-
tion Code refrain from fraudulent elections
and prevent others from fraud At the same
time the candidates are obliged to fulfill all
these points without such an accord because
they live in a legal state An agreement on
compliance with ethics could be signed but
not one on compliance with laws
Proposing this agreement Medvedev as if
points out that there is no rule of law and the
elections are not held in compliance with
laws but by agreements reminding a non-
aggression pact among thugs
Why should Medvedev need to show this
We can presume that his personality has
unfairly been forced out of the current infor-
mation environment The information that it
might happen so that if a state of emergency
is imposed in Russia Medvedev may sud-
denly postpone the election and extend his
office has also been ignored He has already
spelt out he intention to run for president
So it is not ruled out that Medvedev is play-
ing a double game acknowledging from the
beginning that the elections are illegitimate
as if preparing a possibly wobbly ground for
Putin
This is just a presumption but it is evident
that the signing of the agreement onrefrain-
ing from fraudulent elections is not honor to
the president of the country who is the guar-
antor of fair elections He has numerous ad-
ministrative and even security levers to en-
sure such elections The fact that he does not
use them but resorts to suspicious agree-
ments also proves Medvedev needs an unfair
election of Putin
By the way the agreement runs that
―statements by opposition political figures
about the illegitimacy of any result of the
upcoming presidential elections question the
legitimacy of the presidential election and
threaten to plunge Russia into a constitution-
al crisis The fact that the agreement has not
been signed supposes that the candidates are
not going to refrain from statements on the
illegitimacy of the elections and would not
mind dipping Russia into a ―constitutional
crisis
Police cordon off Yerevan park
With the construction of kiosks going on in
Yerevanlsquos Mashtots Park the policemen
maintaining surveillance over the area have
cordoned it off not to allow anyone to get
into the construction site Our correspondent
reported from the scene that the exterior con-
struction is now nearing the end A crowd of
people protesting against the construction
work have gathered near the garden Arme-
nian writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-
Gulyanyan is also said to be among them
The environmental group struggling for the
preservation of the parks green lands had
earlier launched a campaign to protect the
mines of Kajaran (Syunik region) Speaking
to Tertam Ter-Gulanyan said it is up to the
kiosk owners not the Yerevan mayor to
solve the problem ―The kiosks must not be
located here My opinion about the mayorlsquos
work is positive and I am sure the problem
was at issue much before he took office I
propose that the owners give up the idea
especially knowing that these kiosks are not
the only property they have he said The
youth activists protesting near the park are
now singing patriotic songs and dancing
together
Eurozonersquos new bailout for Greece
agreed
Eurozone finance ministers have reached
agreement on a vital second bailout for
heavily indebted Greece BBC News re-
ported
The deal which came after more than 13
hours of talks in Brussels will provide Ath-
ens with loans worth more than euro130bn
Greece needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy
next month when maturing loans must be
repaid In return Greece will undertake to
reduce its debts to no more than 121 of its
GDP by 2020 After five straight years of
recession Greeces debts currently amounts
to more than 160 of its Gross Domestic
Product
Around the World
7
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
5
կումներով կամ համեմատություններով նրան ներ-
կայացնել որպես նորի որովհետև այն ամենը ինչը որ
հիմա անում է Պուտինը և նրա ldquoիմիջմեյքերներըrdquo լրիվ
փուչիկ է Այո նա փորձում է ինչ որ ծրագրային ել-
ույթներով ներկայանալ
որպես նոր բայց նրա
հոդվածներում ներկայաց-
ված ելույթները պարունա-
կում են մտքեր որոնք դե-
կլարատիվ բնույթ են կր-
ում որոնց նույնիսկ ինքը
չի հավատում Այն որ Պու-
տինը Ռուսաստանյան պե-
տականության ակնառու
գործիչներից է և նա իրոք
ուզում է ամեն ինչ անել իր
երկրի և ժողովրդի համար կասկածից վեր է Բայց
ամբողջ խնդիրը նրանում է որ նա արդեն իսկ կա-
տարել է իր առաքելությունը միսիան և իր իսկ գոր-
ծունեության շնորհիվ երկրում ստեղծվել է այլ իրա-
վիճակ այլ հասարակությունով և երկրի առաջ կան-
գնել են բոլորովին այլ մարտահրավերներ որոնց լու-
ծումների համար անհրաժեշտ են այլ մտածելակերպի
մարդիկ Բոլոր նրանք ովքեր փորձում են համոզել
հենց իրեն Պուտինին որ նա ամենակարողն է և որ
երկիրը կհայտնվի կործանման եզրին եթե նա ետ
չվերադառնա կամ ստում են կամ էլ ունեն իրենց
կոնկրետ շահը Բայց ի տարբերություն այդպիսի
մարդկանց քիչ չեն Ռուսաստանում մարդիկ ովքեր
չեն կարծում որ Պուտինը աստված է և որ նա
անփոխարինելի է Այսօր Պուտինը կարելի է ասել որ
կաշվից դուրս է գալիս որպեսզի բոլորին համոզի որ
միայն ինքն է որ գիտի ինչ անել և ինչպես անել ուստի
հասարակությունը պետք է անվերապահորեն ընդունի
նրա վերադարձը Բայց դրանք ընդամենը խոսքեր են
և չեն համապատասխանում իրականությանը որով-
հետև նրա վերադարձն ամբողջությամբ ի սկզբանե չի
ունեցել որևէ հիմնա-
վորում Ընդհանրապես
ժամանակակից աշխա-
րհը ընդունում է իշխա-
նությունների փոփոխ-
ման միայն մի ձև Ըստ
դրա հինը փոխարին-
վում է նորով որով-
հետև եկել է նրան փո-
խելու ժամանակը Այս
դեպքում ամեն ինչ
ճիշտ հակառակն է
գործող իշխանությանը այն էլ ժողովրդի կամքով փո-
խարինման է գալիսը ոչ թե նորը այլ հինը Պուտինը իր
գալով միայն մեկ բան է ասում կամ եթե չի ասում
նույնիսկ միևնույն է դա այդպես է իմաստավորվում
Ռուսաստանը ես եմ Օրենքը ես եմ և ոչ ոք բացի ինձ-
նից չի կարող ղեկավարել այս երկիրը Ստացվում է մի
շատ հետաքրքիր իրավիճակ այսօրվա ldquoնորrdquo Պուտինը
պայքարում է Պուտինի դեմ որովհետև նրա դեմ կամ
նրա հետ պայքարելու հնարավորություն բացի ժո-
ղովրդից որևէ մեկը այսօր չունի Եվ նրա քարոզ-
արշավի պատասխանատուները հիմնականում այդ
խնդիրն էլ փորձում են լուծել փորձում են վախեցնել
ժողովրդին իբրև երկիրը ետ կվերադառնա իննսու-
նական թվականներ որպեսզի քաղաքացիները հան-
կարծ բացի վոժդին ընտրելուց այլընտրանք չտեսնեն
Իր ելույթներից մեկում Պուտինն ասաց որ ժողովուրդը
միշտ էլ ունի ընտրելու հնարավորություն նա կարող է
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
չընտրել իրեն Շատ հետաքրքիր և բազմանշանակ
պատասխան իրեն առաջադրված հարցին Ասում եմ
բազմանշանակ որովհետև նա չի ասում որ ինքը
կարող է պարտվել կամ որ կարող է ընտրվել մեկ այլ
մարդ նա ուղղակիորեն ասում է ժողովուրդը կարող է
ինձ չընտրել Այսինքն Պուտինի պատկերացրած
ընտրություններում ժողովուրդը ունի ոչ թե այս կամ
այն թեկնածուին ընտրելու հնարավորություն այլ իրեն
ընտրելու կամ չընտրելու տարբերակ
Այն որ Ռուսաստանում ընթացող գործընթացները
որևէ կապ չունեն ընտրության հետ կասկածից վեր է
վերոնշված վերլուծությունից հետո Ընտրությունը
ենթադրում է առաջին հերթին այլընտրանքի
հնարավորություն ասել է մեկից ավելի թեկնածուներ
Այդ այլընտրանքը հնարավոր է եթե նախագահի բոլոր
թեկնածուները ունեն հավասար ընտրվելու կամ
չընտրվելու հնարավորություններ Այս դեպքում
ստացվում է որ Պուտինից բացի մյուս թեկնածուները
ունեն միայն չընտրվելու հնարավորություն Մի
կողմում մի թեկնածուն է որին պաշտպանում
պարտադրում է ողջ պետական համակարգը իր բոլոր
հնարավորություններով և ազդեցությունով իսկ մյուս
կողմում սահամանափակ հնարավորություններ
ունեցող թեկնածուները որոնք բացահայտորեն և
ցուցադրաբար տարբերակվում են իշխանության
թեկնածուի կողմից Ի տարբերություն մյուս
թեկնածուների Պուտինի ընտրարշավը ոչ թե մյուս
թեկնածուներին հաղթելն է նրանց ծրագրերին
հակառակ հիմնավորումներ բերելը այլ ընտրողներին
համոզելը որ իրեն չընտրելու դեպքում երկիրը և
հասարակությունը կկորցնի ամեն ինչ Ստացվում է որ
Պուտինի հիմնական հակառակորդը դա ընտրողն է և
նրա ազատ կամաարտահայտության իրավունքը
Պուտինի թե մասնակցությունը այս ընտրություններին
և թե նրա նախընտրական արշավը դա անհաջող
բեմադրություն է որն իրականացվում է այդ գործում
հմտություններ ի չունեցող դելիտանտ մարդկանց
կողմից ովքեր որևէ կապ չունեն նման լուրջ
քաղաքական միջոցառման հետ Պուտինն այսօր ձեռքը
գցում է ցանկացած քայլի որը նրան առաջարկում է իր
ընտրարշավը իրականացնող փիար խումբը Այդ
խումբը առաջարկում է նրան իր քարոզարշավը
իրականացնել հանրությանը հայտնի մարդկանց
գեղարվեստական խմբերի կինոյի կամ թատրոնի
ներկայացուցիչների միջոցով Բնականաբար սա
կարող է որոշակի արդյունքի բերել բայց բացառված չէ
որ կարող է նաև հակառակ էֆեկտը տալ նրանից
հեռացնել հասարակության գնալով աճող այլ խմբերի
ներկայացուցիչների Ի տարբերություն նրա օրինակ
ավելի էֆեկտիվ նախընտրական արշավ է
իրականացնում թեկնածուներից մեկը միլիարդատեր
Պրոխորովը Նա կարծում ենք ավելի լավ
պատկերացնելով երկրի ներկան ի տարբերություն
Պուտինի ընտրում է այլ լսարան նա հանդիպում է
գործարար շրջանակների հետ որոնք այսօր
Ռուսաստանում թե թվաքանակով և թե ազդեցությամբ
ավելի կարողունակ են Պրոխորովը հանդես է գալիս
ավելի համարձակ և ընտրողի ուշադրությունն է
հրավիրում ինչպես մյուս թեկնածուների այնպես էլ
Պուտինի վրա համարձակորեն քննադատում է իր
բոլոր հակառակորդներին
Ամփոփելով մեր դիտարկումները առաջիկա
նախագահական ընտրությունների հետ կապված
գալիս ենք ետևյալին որ Նախագահի մեկ թեկնածուի և
մյուս թեկնածուների պայքարը շատ է նման
հանրահայտ Գլադիատոր ֆիլմի մենամարտին որտեղ
կայսրը Պուտինը մարտից առաջ մահացու
վիրավորում է իր հակառակորդ Մաքսիմուսին մյուս
թեկնածուներին և նրանց աջակիցներին որ
կարողանա հաղթել բայց ցույց է տալիս թե իբր
հավասար մարտ է ընթանում
6
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
Sobchak to work for Prokhorov
Ksenia Sobchaks political TV show called
Госдеп (Gosdep) will be broadcast on the
Сноб (Snob) website from now on report-
ed the owner of the online periodical Rus-
sian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokho-
rov
We remind that Ksenias Gosdep which
was supposed to be broadcast on MTV was
cancelled right after the first time it went on
air
I suggested that Ksenia restart the show on
the Snob website I think the show was
cancelled because Alexey Navalni was going
to be on the next show I promise that he will
make an appearance said Prokhorov
The billionaire candidate also mentioned that
freedom of speech lied at the core of a
healthy society
If I am elected president I promise the re-
turn of freedom of speech We will put an
end to lies and censure once and for all
said the presidential candidate before the
March 3 presidential elections
Medvedev Prepares Unsteady Ground
For Putin Interesting events are underway in Russia
Dmitri Medvedev decided to propose to the
presidential candidates to sign some public
agreement enabling to hold fair elections
Candidates refused to sign it Though at first
sight Medvedev may turn out to be fulfilling
Putinlsquos order but in practice it can be differ-
ent The point is that the proposal on signing
of such an agreement is nonsense The can-
didates are proposed not to break the Elec-
tion Code refrain from fraudulent elections
and prevent others from fraud At the same
time the candidates are obliged to fulfill all
these points without such an accord because
they live in a legal state An agreement on
compliance with ethics could be signed but
not one on compliance with laws
Proposing this agreement Medvedev as if
points out that there is no rule of law and the
elections are not held in compliance with
laws but by agreements reminding a non-
aggression pact among thugs
Why should Medvedev need to show this
We can presume that his personality has
unfairly been forced out of the current infor-
mation environment The information that it
might happen so that if a state of emergency
is imposed in Russia Medvedev may sud-
denly postpone the election and extend his
office has also been ignored He has already
spelt out he intention to run for president
So it is not ruled out that Medvedev is play-
ing a double game acknowledging from the
beginning that the elections are illegitimate
as if preparing a possibly wobbly ground for
Putin
This is just a presumption but it is evident
that the signing of the agreement onrefrain-
ing from fraudulent elections is not honor to
the president of the country who is the guar-
antor of fair elections He has numerous ad-
ministrative and even security levers to en-
sure such elections The fact that he does not
use them but resorts to suspicious agree-
ments also proves Medvedev needs an unfair
election of Putin
By the way the agreement runs that
―statements by opposition political figures
about the illegitimacy of any result of the
upcoming presidential elections question the
legitimacy of the presidential election and
threaten to plunge Russia into a constitution-
al crisis The fact that the agreement has not
been signed supposes that the candidates are
not going to refrain from statements on the
illegitimacy of the elections and would not
mind dipping Russia into a ―constitutional
crisis
Police cordon off Yerevan park
With the construction of kiosks going on in
Yerevanlsquos Mashtots Park the policemen
maintaining surveillance over the area have
cordoned it off not to allow anyone to get
into the construction site Our correspondent
reported from the scene that the exterior con-
struction is now nearing the end A crowd of
people protesting against the construction
work have gathered near the garden Arme-
nian writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-
Gulyanyan is also said to be among them
The environmental group struggling for the
preservation of the parks green lands had
earlier launched a campaign to protect the
mines of Kajaran (Syunik region) Speaking
to Tertam Ter-Gulanyan said it is up to the
kiosk owners not the Yerevan mayor to
solve the problem ―The kiosks must not be
located here My opinion about the mayorlsquos
work is positive and I am sure the problem
was at issue much before he took office I
propose that the owners give up the idea
especially knowing that these kiosks are not
the only property they have he said The
youth activists protesting near the park are
now singing patriotic songs and dancing
together
Eurozonersquos new bailout for Greece
agreed
Eurozone finance ministers have reached
agreement on a vital second bailout for
heavily indebted Greece BBC News re-
ported
The deal which came after more than 13
hours of talks in Brussels will provide Ath-
ens with loans worth more than euro130bn
Greece needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy
next month when maturing loans must be
repaid In return Greece will undertake to
reduce its debts to no more than 121 of its
GDP by 2020 After five straight years of
recession Greeces debts currently amounts
to more than 160 of its Gross Domestic
Product
Around the World
7
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
չընտրել իրեն Շատ հետաքրքիր և բազմանշանակ
պատասխան իրեն առաջադրված հարցին Ասում եմ
բազմանշանակ որովհետև նա չի ասում որ ինքը
կարող է պարտվել կամ որ կարող է ընտրվել մեկ այլ
մարդ նա ուղղակիորեն ասում է ժողովուրդը կարող է
ինձ չընտրել Այսինքն Պուտինի պատկերացրած
ընտրություններում ժողովուրդը ունի ոչ թե այս կամ
այն թեկնածուին ընտրելու հնարավորություն այլ իրեն
ընտրելու կամ չընտրելու տարբերակ
Այն որ Ռուսաստանում ընթացող գործընթացները
որևէ կապ չունեն ընտրության հետ կասկածից վեր է
վերոնշված վերլուծությունից հետո Ընտրությունը
ենթադրում է առաջին հերթին այլընտրանքի
հնարավորություն ասել է մեկից ավելի թեկնածուներ
Այդ այլընտրանքը հնարավոր է եթե նախագահի բոլոր
թեկնածուները ունեն հավասար ընտրվելու կամ
չընտրվելու հնարավորություններ Այս դեպքում
ստացվում է որ Պուտինից բացի մյուս թեկնածուները
ունեն միայն չընտրվելու հնարավորություն Մի
կողմում մի թեկնածուն է որին պաշտպանում
պարտադրում է ողջ պետական համակարգը իր բոլոր
հնարավորություններով և ազդեցությունով իսկ մյուս
կողմում սահամանափակ հնարավորություններ
ունեցող թեկնածուները որոնք բացահայտորեն և
ցուցադրաբար տարբերակվում են իշխանության
թեկնածուի կողմից Ի տարբերություն մյուս
թեկնածուների Պուտինի ընտրարշավը ոչ թե մյուս
թեկնածուներին հաղթելն է նրանց ծրագրերին
հակառակ հիմնավորումներ բերելը այլ ընտրողներին
համոզելը որ իրեն չընտրելու դեպքում երկիրը և
հասարակությունը կկորցնի ամեն ինչ Ստացվում է որ
Պուտինի հիմնական հակառակորդը դա ընտրողն է և
նրա ազատ կամաարտահայտության իրավունքը
Պուտինի թե մասնակցությունը այս ընտրություններին
և թե նրա նախընտրական արշավը դա անհաջող
բեմադրություն է որն իրականացվում է այդ գործում
հմտություններ ի չունեցող դելիտանտ մարդկանց
կողմից ովքեր որևէ կապ չունեն նման լուրջ
քաղաքական միջոցառման հետ Պուտինն այսօր ձեռքը
գցում է ցանկացած քայլի որը նրան առաջարկում է իր
ընտրարշավը իրականացնող փիար խումբը Այդ
խումբը առաջարկում է նրան իր քարոզարշավը
իրականացնել հանրությանը հայտնի մարդկանց
գեղարվեստական խմբերի կինոյի կամ թատրոնի
ներկայացուցիչների միջոցով Բնականաբար սա
կարող է որոշակի արդյունքի բերել բայց բացառված չէ
որ կարող է նաև հակառակ էֆեկտը տալ նրանից
հեռացնել հասարակության գնալով աճող այլ խմբերի
ներկայացուցիչների Ի տարբերություն նրա օրինակ
ավելի էֆեկտիվ նախընտրական արշավ է
իրականացնում թեկնածուներից մեկը միլիարդատեր
Պրոխորովը Նա կարծում ենք ավելի լավ
պատկերացնելով երկրի ներկան ի տարբերություն
Պուտինի ընտրում է այլ լսարան նա հանդիպում է
գործարար շրջանակների հետ որոնք այսօր
Ռուսաստանում թե թվաքանակով և թե ազդեցությամբ
ավելի կարողունակ են Պրոխորովը հանդես է գալիս
ավելի համարձակ և ընտրողի ուշադրությունն է
հրավիրում ինչպես մյուս թեկնածուների այնպես էլ
Պուտինի վրա համարձակորեն քննադատում է իր
բոլոր հակառակորդներին
Ամփոփելով մեր դիտարկումները առաջիկա
նախագահական ընտրությունների հետ կապված
գալիս ենք ետևյալին որ Նախագահի մեկ թեկնածուի և
մյուս թեկնածուների պայքարը շատ է նման
հանրահայտ Գլադիատոր ֆիլմի մենամարտին որտեղ
կայսրը Պուտինը մարտից առաջ մահացու
վիրավորում է իր հակառակորդ Մաքսիմուսին մյուս
թեկնածուներին և նրանց աջակիցներին որ
կարողանա հաղթել բայց ցույց է տալիս թե իբր
հավասար մարտ է ընթանում
6
Ինչու է Պուտինը ետ վերադառնում
Sobchak to work for Prokhorov
Ksenia Sobchaks political TV show called
Госдеп (Gosdep) will be broadcast on the
Сноб (Snob) website from now on report-
ed the owner of the online periodical Rus-
sian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokho-
rov
We remind that Ksenias Gosdep which
was supposed to be broadcast on MTV was
cancelled right after the first time it went on
air
I suggested that Ksenia restart the show on
the Snob website I think the show was
cancelled because Alexey Navalni was going
to be on the next show I promise that he will
make an appearance said Prokhorov
The billionaire candidate also mentioned that
freedom of speech lied at the core of a
healthy society
If I am elected president I promise the re-
turn of freedom of speech We will put an
end to lies and censure once and for all
said the presidential candidate before the
March 3 presidential elections
Medvedev Prepares Unsteady Ground
For Putin Interesting events are underway in Russia
Dmitri Medvedev decided to propose to the
presidential candidates to sign some public
agreement enabling to hold fair elections
Candidates refused to sign it Though at first
sight Medvedev may turn out to be fulfilling
Putinlsquos order but in practice it can be differ-
ent The point is that the proposal on signing
of such an agreement is nonsense The can-
didates are proposed not to break the Elec-
tion Code refrain from fraudulent elections
and prevent others from fraud At the same
time the candidates are obliged to fulfill all
these points without such an accord because
they live in a legal state An agreement on
compliance with ethics could be signed but
not one on compliance with laws
Proposing this agreement Medvedev as if
points out that there is no rule of law and the
elections are not held in compliance with
laws but by agreements reminding a non-
aggression pact among thugs
Why should Medvedev need to show this
We can presume that his personality has
unfairly been forced out of the current infor-
mation environment The information that it
might happen so that if a state of emergency
is imposed in Russia Medvedev may sud-
denly postpone the election and extend his
office has also been ignored He has already
spelt out he intention to run for president
So it is not ruled out that Medvedev is play-
ing a double game acknowledging from the
beginning that the elections are illegitimate
as if preparing a possibly wobbly ground for
Putin
This is just a presumption but it is evident
that the signing of the agreement onrefrain-
ing from fraudulent elections is not honor to
the president of the country who is the guar-
antor of fair elections He has numerous ad-
ministrative and even security levers to en-
sure such elections The fact that he does not
use them but resorts to suspicious agree-
ments also proves Medvedev needs an unfair
election of Putin
By the way the agreement runs that
―statements by opposition political figures
about the illegitimacy of any result of the
upcoming presidential elections question the
legitimacy of the presidential election and
threaten to plunge Russia into a constitution-
al crisis The fact that the agreement has not
been signed supposes that the candidates are
not going to refrain from statements on the
illegitimacy of the elections and would not
mind dipping Russia into a ―constitutional
crisis
Police cordon off Yerevan park
With the construction of kiosks going on in
Yerevanlsquos Mashtots Park the policemen
maintaining surveillance over the area have
cordoned it off not to allow anyone to get
into the construction site Our correspondent
reported from the scene that the exterior con-
struction is now nearing the end A crowd of
people protesting against the construction
work have gathered near the garden Arme-
nian writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-
Gulyanyan is also said to be among them
The environmental group struggling for the
preservation of the parks green lands had
earlier launched a campaign to protect the
mines of Kajaran (Syunik region) Speaking
to Tertam Ter-Gulanyan said it is up to the
kiosk owners not the Yerevan mayor to
solve the problem ―The kiosks must not be
located here My opinion about the mayorlsquos
work is positive and I am sure the problem
was at issue much before he took office I
propose that the owners give up the idea
especially knowing that these kiosks are not
the only property they have he said The
youth activists protesting near the park are
now singing patriotic songs and dancing
together
Eurozonersquos new bailout for Greece
agreed
Eurozone finance ministers have reached
agreement on a vital second bailout for
heavily indebted Greece BBC News re-
ported
The deal which came after more than 13
hours of talks in Brussels will provide Ath-
ens with loans worth more than euro130bn
Greece needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy
next month when maturing loans must be
repaid In return Greece will undertake to
reduce its debts to no more than 121 of its
GDP by 2020 After five straight years of
recession Greeces debts currently amounts
to more than 160 of its Gross Domestic
Product
Around the World
7
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
Sobchak to work for Prokhorov
Ksenia Sobchaks political TV show called
Госдеп (Gosdep) will be broadcast on the
Сноб (Snob) website from now on report-
ed the owner of the online periodical Rus-
sian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokho-
rov
We remind that Ksenias Gosdep which
was supposed to be broadcast on MTV was
cancelled right after the first time it went on
air
I suggested that Ksenia restart the show on
the Snob website I think the show was
cancelled because Alexey Navalni was going
to be on the next show I promise that he will
make an appearance said Prokhorov
The billionaire candidate also mentioned that
freedom of speech lied at the core of a
healthy society
If I am elected president I promise the re-
turn of freedom of speech We will put an
end to lies and censure once and for all
said the presidential candidate before the
March 3 presidential elections
Medvedev Prepares Unsteady Ground
For Putin Interesting events are underway in Russia
Dmitri Medvedev decided to propose to the
presidential candidates to sign some public
agreement enabling to hold fair elections
Candidates refused to sign it Though at first
sight Medvedev may turn out to be fulfilling
Putinlsquos order but in practice it can be differ-
ent The point is that the proposal on signing
of such an agreement is nonsense The can-
didates are proposed not to break the Elec-
tion Code refrain from fraudulent elections
and prevent others from fraud At the same
time the candidates are obliged to fulfill all
these points without such an accord because
they live in a legal state An agreement on
compliance with ethics could be signed but
not one on compliance with laws
Proposing this agreement Medvedev as if
points out that there is no rule of law and the
elections are not held in compliance with
laws but by agreements reminding a non-
aggression pact among thugs
Why should Medvedev need to show this
We can presume that his personality has
unfairly been forced out of the current infor-
mation environment The information that it
might happen so that if a state of emergency
is imposed in Russia Medvedev may sud-
denly postpone the election and extend his
office has also been ignored He has already
spelt out he intention to run for president
So it is not ruled out that Medvedev is play-
ing a double game acknowledging from the
beginning that the elections are illegitimate
as if preparing a possibly wobbly ground for
Putin
This is just a presumption but it is evident
that the signing of the agreement onrefrain-
ing from fraudulent elections is not honor to
the president of the country who is the guar-
antor of fair elections He has numerous ad-
ministrative and even security levers to en-
sure such elections The fact that he does not
use them but resorts to suspicious agree-
ments also proves Medvedev needs an unfair
election of Putin
By the way the agreement runs that
―statements by opposition political figures
about the illegitimacy of any result of the
upcoming presidential elections question the
legitimacy of the presidential election and
threaten to plunge Russia into a constitution-
al crisis The fact that the agreement has not
been signed supposes that the candidates are
not going to refrain from statements on the
illegitimacy of the elections and would not
mind dipping Russia into a ―constitutional
crisis
Police cordon off Yerevan park
With the construction of kiosks going on in
Yerevanlsquos Mashtots Park the policemen
maintaining surveillance over the area have
cordoned it off not to allow anyone to get
into the construction site Our correspondent
reported from the scene that the exterior con-
struction is now nearing the end A crowd of
people protesting against the construction
work have gathered near the garden Arme-
nian writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-
Gulyanyan is also said to be among them
The environmental group struggling for the
preservation of the parks green lands had
earlier launched a campaign to protect the
mines of Kajaran (Syunik region) Speaking
to Tertam Ter-Gulanyan said it is up to the
kiosk owners not the Yerevan mayor to
solve the problem ―The kiosks must not be
located here My opinion about the mayorlsquos
work is positive and I am sure the problem
was at issue much before he took office I
propose that the owners give up the idea
especially knowing that these kiosks are not
the only property they have he said The
youth activists protesting near the park are
now singing patriotic songs and dancing
together
Eurozonersquos new bailout for Greece
agreed
Eurozone finance ministers have reached
agreement on a vital second bailout for
heavily indebted Greece BBC News re-
ported
The deal which came after more than 13
hours of talks in Brussels will provide Ath-
ens with loans worth more than euro130bn
Greece needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy
next month when maturing loans must be
repaid In return Greece will undertake to
reduce its debts to no more than 121 of its
GDP by 2020 After five straight years of
recession Greeces debts currently amounts
to more than 160 of its Gross Domestic
Product
Around the World
7
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
United States presidential election 2012
United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United
States presidential election to be held on Tuesday November 6
2012 It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which
presidential electors who will actually elect the President and the
Vice President of the United States on December 17 2012 will be
chosen Incumbent President Barack Obama is running for a second
and final term during this election As specified in the Constitution
the 2012 presidential election will coincide with the United States
Senate elections where one-third of the Senators will face re-election
(33 this time) and the United States House of Representatives elec-
tions (which occurs every two years) to elect the members for the
113th Congress Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections
for state legislatures will also take place at the same time
Background
In 2008 Barack Obama
defeated Republican John
McCain in the presidential
election while the Demo-
crats had net gains in both
chambers of the US Con-
gress maintaining their
majorities The major
theme during the 2008
campaign was the Ameri-
can publics general desire
of change and reform from
both Washington and the
policies of outgoing Republican President George W Bush who was
term limited out of office The economy and other domestic policies
were also dominant issues especially during the last months of the
campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis During Obamas
presidency he signed two pieces of economic stimulus - the Ameri-
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and the Tax
Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation
Act of 2010 in December 2010 As President Obama also signed the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the DoddndashFrank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Dont Ask Dont
Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Obama signed New START an arms con-
trol treaty with Russia began to gradually withdraw troops from Iraq
began to increase troops in Afghanistan and enforced the United Na-
tions-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya And on May 1 2011 Presi-
dent Obama ordered the military operation that resulted in the death
of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan The Democrats did not fare as well
in the 2010 midterm elections suffering major defeats in many na-
tional and state level elections with many seats switching to Republi-
can control The Republicans also recaptured the majority in the
House of Representatives Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on
the worsening national economic conditions and the economic poli-
cies of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats The
passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress particu-
larly Democrats as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits[2] The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement
became a vocal force in mobilizing voters in 2010 for Republican
candidates nationwide
Polling in 2011 found that Americans were still increasingly frus-
trated with the US government as a whole and the Republican
Party shared in those high disapproval ratings In particular alt-
hough the majority of Americans felt Obama did not have a suc-
cessful plan to bring jobs they trusted Congress even less to create
them The debt-ceiling crisis further eroded public support for both
Obama and the congressional Republicans
Electoral College changes
The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment
for the Presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed
below and mapped right
Eight States (Arizona Florida Georgia Nevada South Carolina
Texas Utah and Washing-
ton) gained votes due to
reapportionment based on
the 2010 Census Similarly
ten States (Illinois Iowa
Louisiana Massachusetts
Michigan Missouri New
Jersey New York Ohio
and Pennsylvania) lost
votes
In the political climate of
2011 this would give the
Democratic Party a net loss
of six electoral votes in
states won by Al Gore
John Kerry and Barack
Obama in the past three presidential elections rendering the party a
national total of 242 Conversely the Republican Party will achieve
a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W Bush
and John McCain in the past three presidential elections rendering
the GOP a national total of 181 Votes allocated to remaining states
(ie those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Re-
publican candidates during the last three presidential elections) re-
main unchanged from the national total of 115
In 2011 several states enacted new laws that the Democratic Party
attacked as attempts to improve the Republican Partys presidential
prospects Florida Georgia Ohio Tennessee and West Virginia
made their early voting periods shorter Florida and Iowa barred all
ex-felons from voting Kansas South Carolina Tennessee Texas
and Wisconsin began requiring voters to identify themselves with
government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots Barack
Obama the NAACP and the Democratic Party fought against
many of the new state laws and Bill Clinton denounced it saying
There has never been in my lifetime since we got rid of the poll
tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting the determined effort to
limit the franchise that we see today He said the moves would
effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal college
students Blacks and Latinos Rolling Stone magazine criticized the
American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to
bring about these laws The Obama campaign fought against the
Ohio law pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal
it in time for the 2012 election
8
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
United States presidential election 2012
Pennsylvania proposed a new plan that would change its representa-
tion in the electoral college from a winner-take-all model to a district-
by-district model The Governorship and both houses of its congress
were Republican-controlled and the move was seen as an affront to
Obamas re-election
Nomination process
In the United States there are two major political parties the Demo-
cratic Party and the Republican Party There are also several minor
parties usually called third parties none of which has won a presiden-
tial election since 1848 (Lincolns National Union Party which won
in 1864 was a short-lived coalition of Republicans and Northern
Democrats rather than an independent party) although in 1912 former
President Theodore Roosevelt as candidate of the Progressive Party
came in second by a wide margin Most media and public focus is on
the two major parties Each party hosts candidates who go through a
nomination process to determine the presidential nominee for that
party The nomination process consists of primaries and caucuses
held by the 50 states Guam Puerto Rico Washington DC US
Virgin Islands American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
The winner of each of these primary elections usually receives dele-
gates proportional to the percentage of the popular vote that candidate
received in each states In many Republican primaries all the states
delegates are awarded to the winning candidate In the Democratic
Party high-ranking party members known as super delegates each
receive one vote in the convention Whichever candidate has the ma-
jority of the delegates at the end of the primary elections is designated
the presumptive nominee until he or she is formally nominated and
endorsed for the presidency by his or her political party This is done
by the aforementioned delegates for each party at their respective par-
tys national convention June 20ndash22 2011 Prohibition Party National Conven-
tion in Cullman Alabama Jack Fellure won the nomination October 14ndash16 2011
Socialist Party USA National Convention held in Los Angeles Stewart Alexander won the nomination December 22ndash23 2011 Boston Tea Party National Convention held
online Tiffany Briscoe won the nomination April 18ndash21 2012 2012 Constitution
Party National Convention to be held in Nashville Tennessee May 4ndash6 2012 2012 Libertarian National Convention to be held in Las Vegas Nevada June 2012 Ameri-
cans Elect National Convention to be held over the internet July 13-15 2012 Green
National Convention to be held in Baltimore Maryland August 27ndash30 2012 2012 Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa Florida September 3ndash6 2012
2012 Democratic National Convention to be held in Charlotte North Carolina
Candidates
The following are individuals who have either formally announced
that they are running for president in 2012 andor have filed as a can-
didate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or have formed
an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2012
Democratic Party | Formally declared candidates
Republican Party
Other candidates
Warren Mosler businessman from Connecticut
Darey Richardson progressive activist from Florida
Jim Rogers a perennial candidate from Oklahoma
Vermin Supreme performance artist and perennial candi-
date from Massachusetts
Randall Terry pro-life activist from New York Barack
Obama
Newt Gingrich Former US Speaker of the
House of Representatives from
Georgia
Mitt Romney Former Governor of
Massachusetts
Rick Santorum
Ron Paul US Representative from
Texas
Inactive candidates
Michele Bachmann US Representative from Minneso-ta (withdrew on January 4 2012)
Herman Cain businessman from Georgia (withdrew on
December 3 2011)
Jon Hunstman Jr former US Ambassador to China and former Governor of Utah (withdrew on January 15 2012)
Gary Johnson former Governor of New Mexico (withdrew
on December 28 2011)
Tim Pawlenty former Governor of Minnesota (withdrew on
August 14 2011)
Rick Perry Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19 2012)
Other candidates
These candidates are or were running for president but were not
invited to the debates
Perennial candidate Jack Fellure or West Virginia (withdrew June
22 2011)
State Senator Stewart Greenleaf of Pennsylvania
Political consultant Fred Karger of California
Perennial candidate Andy Martin of Illinois
US Representative Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan (withdrew
September 22 2011)
Perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan of New York
Former Governor Buddy Roemer of Louisiana (campaign)
Perennial candidate Jonathon Sharkey of Florida (withdrew Au-
gust 17 2011)
9
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
United States presidential election 2012
Mitt Romney talks vice president bailout at town hall
SHELBY TOWNSHIP Mich mdash Mitt Romney today aban-
doned his efforts to maintain strict control over his campaignlsquos
message taking questions for nearly 30 minutes at a town hall
here The open forum mdash only the third such event Romney
has held since winning New Hampshire mdash allowed nine
Michiganders and one Canadian to query the Republican in a
manufacturing plant in this affluent Detroit suburb It came
one week before the Michigan primary in which Rick Santo-
rum is essentially tied with Romney in a state in which he was
once heavily favored The event comes as Romneylsquos advisers
insist he and the campaign are upbeat The former Massachu-
setts governor is still operating at a front-runnerlsquos pace hold-
ing one event apiece Monday and Tuesday while Santorum
scurries to three or four events to maximize daily press cover-
age The town hall follows weeks of ―message events careful-
ly stage managed by the Romney campaign Just last week
Romney participated in ―roundtable discussions with a few
hand-picked supporters who posed questions on a pre-selected
topic The result of todaylsquos forum Romney tackling tricky
social issues and his would-be vice presidential pick slam-
ming Santorum defending his opposition to the auto industry
bailout and invoking generations of Mormon persecution That
all came after Romney mdash who was introduced by Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette as ―the comeback kid mdash of-
fered a preview of his Friday economic policy speech at the
Detroit Economic Club Schuette said Romney is ―fighting
like an underdog in the state where helsquos tied with Santorum
But he sounded an optimistic tone about his chances while
invoking a phrase made famous by Bill Clinton in 1992 ―You
know what I call this Michigan guy who is fighting like an
underdog in this barn-burner of a campaign thatlsquos closing
fast Schuette said ―Itlsquos closing real fast What I call this
Mitt Romney is the comeback kid Romney took pains to
defend his opposition to the federal governmentlsquos bailout of
Michiganlsquos auto industry which most Michigan Republicans
support At the town hall Romney twice stated that the bailout
of General Motors and Chrysler followed a managed bank-
ruptcy he favored mdash a position Democrats claim is at odds
with the ―Let Detroit Go Bankrupt New York Times op-ed he
authored in 2008 ―I love the auto industry by the way Rom-
ney said ―Ilsquom delighted to see itlsquos coming back By the way
itlsquos a good thing it went through the managed bankruptcy I
said it needed to go through So Ilsquoll get Michigan working
again America working again and Ilsquoll make sure that job one
for me is getting great jobs for people of this great country
10
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
US electoral nausea lean over the rail and
vote for Romney
Tip when fighting sea-sickness on a ferry the best way
to get through it is to focus on one point dead ahead and
look at nothing else I offer that as a tip for the coming
US presidential election not on your next crossing to
Calais To withstand the sick-feeling of having Mitt
Romney as Republican candidate ndash and with his wins in
the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and
his lead in the upcoming South Carolina primary his
nomination now looks inevitable ndash any right-thinking
person concerned about the future of America must focus
on the point of getting Barack Obama out of the White
House and on nothing else
Ilsquom trying to do that I really am America must get rid of
President Obama and all efforts must be focused on that
But then at the thought of having to support Mr Romney
the Massachusetts moderatelsquo ndash which is code for a
Democrat in all things except choice of country club
membership and tax-shelter mechanismslsquo -- in order to
do that the nausea starts up again
Mr Romney is a so-called Republican who has tried to
distance himself from the legacy of Ronald Reagan who
once voted in a Democratic Party primary who raised
taxes in Massachusetts when he was governor of that left
-wing state ndash actually the fact that he could be elected in
Massachusetts tells you there is no way he could be any
kind of conservative ndash and who supported tax-payer
funded abortions In 2002 he opposed an amendment to
the Massachusetts constitution that would have prohibit-
ed homosexual marriage Yet now he claims he is a con-
servative Barf
Of course not all Republicans view a Romney nomina-
tion with nausea but most view it with resignation They
have no enthusiasm for the man who is a sort of plastic
Hollywood version of a politician right down to the pic-
ture-book family and the touch of grey at the temples of
his luxuriant hair Worse he has the obnoxious attitude
that the party owes him the nomination
The unenthusiastic Republicans take comfort in telling
themselves that Mr Romney may not inspire excitement
but he is the most electable candidatelsquo
Now normally that is the sort of phrase that ought to set
off alarm bells for any Republican As the American col-
umnist Ann Coulter pointed out last week
Conservatives are naturally suspicious of any candidate
deemed ―electable on the grounds that the mainstream
media always anoint the most liberallsquo ndash liberal in Ameri-
can politics means big tax big government ndash
Republican preferable pro-choice as the ―electable
one And then that guy goes to loselsquo
This by the way is the way the mainstream media ndash or
the MSMlsquo Democrat dominated of course ndash have been
trying to excuse their attempts to ignore the excellent
Ron Paul the only libertarian candidate in the Republi-
can field
They have been saying for months that he is
unelectablelsquo implying he doesnlsquot deserve coverage be-
cause no way is he going to get the party nomination
United States presidential election 2012
11
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
United States presidential election 2012
Yet despite the MSM efforts the support Ron Paul has
won among the Republican primary voters actually
shows he is a lot more electable that any candidate ex-
cept Romney He won 21 percent of the vote in Iowa and
23 percent in New Hampshire But the MSM are not go-
ing to admit that makes him look like
maybe a winner the only candidate
they are going to claim is electablelsquo is
the one who looks most like a Demo-
crat Which alas ndash and here comes that
nausea again ndash is exactly what Mitt
Romney is the one who looks most
like a Democrat Newt Gingrich his
other main rival in the race for the
nomination wonlsquot stop hammering
that home in his campaigning
Mr Gingrich has been relentless in at-
tacking the former Massachusettslsquo
governorlsquos Democrat-like record on
abortion the Second Amendment ndash which guarantees the
right of the people to keep and bear arms ndash taxes and job
creation According to Real Clear Politics reporter Scott
Conroy Mr Gingrich insists the real battle in South Car-
olina is between himself and Mr Romney If we end up
splitting the conservative votelsquo said Mr Gingrich at a
recent campaign rally welsquore going to end up nominat-
ing somebody with whom 95 percent of the people in
this room are going to be very uncomfortablelsquo He meant
Mitt Romney
Mr Gingrich ndash who for some reason despite his two di-
vorces two mistresses and three wives imagines he is
someone with whom conservatives could feel comforta-
ble ndash may be convincing the South Carolina voters The
latest average of opinion polls in the state shows Mr Gin-
grich is trailing Mr Romney by just five percentage
points He maintains that if he can overtake Mr Romney
now with a win in South Carolina he could roll on to a
win in Florida and grab the nomination Yeah iflsquo Too
much winning and Mr Gingrichlsquos exotic personal life
and exotic $16m earnings from Freddie Mac (a federal-
government sponsored mortgage outfit at the core of the
house market collapse) and Democrat-like support for
compulsory universal health insurance will come under
much more scrutiny than they have so far He wonlsquot get
the nomination
Still for the moment what matters about Mr Gingrich are
his attacks on Mr Romney and whether they can turn the
inevitable Romneylsquo into the stumbling Romney
Gingrich supporters have an anti-Romney ad out at the
moment called the French Connection and it is getting a
lot of attention It likens Mr Romney to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominees Michael Duka-
kis (hands up anybody who remembers
him) and John Kerry Both are Massachu-
setts politicians who are despised by Re-
publicans The ad lumps Mr Romney in
with these men and then delivers the punch
line ndash and just like John Kerry he speaks
Frenchlsquo
Which is a punch line that reminds me why
American politics even in a contest as dull
as this one are more fun than politics any-
where else Also alas maybe more stupid
At the same time the pro-Gingrich anti-
Romney camp is attacking Mr Romneylsquos
ability to look into a television camera and say Je mlsquoap-
pelle Mitt Romneylsquo they are also trying to paint him as
some sort of oily Wall Street character
Well helsquos not that He is an oily Boston private equity
man maybe but when significant number of Republi-
cans canlsquot ndash or donlsquot want to -- tell the difference be-
tween someone who plays the casinos and someone who
makes investments you have to wonder what the hell the
party wants in a candidate a life-time career politician
maybe
Traditionally Republicans leave that sort of career arc to
Democrats Mr Romney has a lot of things wrong with
him but making investments in companies isnlsquot one of
them
By M E Synon
12
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Американцы создали вакцину против
рака почки российская компания
обеспечила право исползования препа-
рата на территории России Российская
сторона пройдя все клинические ис-
пытания и преодалевая все бюрокра-
тические бареры добилась лицензии
применения препарата на территории
России чего не могла сделать Амери-
канская сторона чтобы данный препа-
рат был применен на территории
США Казалось что после всего этого
данное начинание в скором времени
должно было помогать всему чело-
вечеству Представить что кто то
может помешать или приостановить
такое начинание было немыслимо Но
это не так
Американская фирма laquoАнтидже-
никсraquo (Представитель Гаро Армен)
просто напросто без каких либо об-
ьяснении перестал выполнять обяза-
тельств ранее взявший на себя и это
после выполнения основной части ра-
боты Член совета директоров компа-
нии которая добилась лицензии на
территории России Елена Георги-
евна говорит laquoНаши партнѐры тща-
тельно следили за ходом дела посто-
янно говоря мы вам всѐ обеспечим ndash и
финансирование и поддержку только
13
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
сделайте Но как только первый
этап был пройден их поведение
поменялось Возникло впечатле-
ние что вкладываться во второй
этап они не готовыraquo laquoСамое не-
приятное в этой ситуации ndash то что
поведение поменялось что на-
зывается на полпути - сказала
нашему кореспонденту Ирина Ра-
тманова (директор Российской
компании) ndash На первом этапе мы
и так взяли на себя часть расходов
предложив нашим партнѐрам поу-
частвовать лишь в самых необхо-
димых делах Чтобы что-то полу-
чить надо сначала вложить ndash этот
простой закон никто не отменял А
наши коллеги его почему-то на-
прочь игнорируютraquo Получается
что там где зазвенели деньги гу-
манистические идеи отходят на
второй план Но сегодня команду
взявшу на себя всю ответствен-
ность имеет своих защитников ко-
торые поддержывают команду В
частности о своей готовности под-
держивать компанию неоднократ-
но говорил руководитель Нацио-
нального антикоррупционного ко-
митета России Владимир Мама-
ев Он говорит laquoОтсталость в
медицине ndash это проблема которая
laquoживѐтraquo параллельно кор-
рупционной угрозе ndash Мно-
гие структуры живут по
старинке и не желают ни-
чего менять Чтобы двинуть
процесс вперѐд нужны
огромные усилия Мы знаем
и понимаем это дело изну-
три и программа волнует
нас точно так же как и
разработчиковraquo
Согласно представителя ко-
манды которая разработала
два проекта у нынешней
команды laquoЭпомаraquo (это вто-
рой проект) в руках все ко-
зыри и успешный опыт про-
движения laquoОнкофагаraquo (пер-
вый проект) и юридически
безупречные механизмы де-йствия
(каждый их шаг под-тверждѐн
документально) и под-держка
ведущих врачей учѐных
общественных организаций
Те кто хотя бы краем глаза следят
за нынешней предвыборной кам-
панией не могли не заметить лю-
бопытную тенденцию Кандидат в
президенты В Путин сейчас лихо-
радочно пытается заручиться под-
держкой именно авторитетных об-
щественных организаций и пуб-
личных персон которые как ми-
нимум хорошо узнаваемы Отдель-
но отметим по нашему мнению в
том что некоторые при этом пре-
вращены в laquoпридворных шутовraquo
вины выступающих нет Здесь ва-
жен сам факт того что общест-
венников в кои-то веки выпустили
на публичную арену А значит
есть шанс что к ним будут при-
слушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников
именно в этой средеhellip
14
Ирина Ратманова
В центре генерал Мамаев
Елена Георгиевна
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
Our lawyers represent people who have been injured by
someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
cidents and slip-and-fall or premises liability cases
Workersrsquo Compensation
We represent injured workers in California and make sure
they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
Bankruptcy law
Our attorneys represent individuals who want to file for bank-
ruptcy protection primarily Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Lemon Law
We represent clients who have defective cars who would like
to have them declared a lemon
Criminal law
We represent clients charged with state and feder-
al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
15
Отдельно отметим по нашему мнению в том что
некоторые при этом превращены в laquoпридворных
шутовraquo вины выступающих нет Здесь важен сам
факт того что общественников в кои-то веки
выпустили на публичную арену А значит есть шанс
что к ним будут прислушиваться и впоследствии ис-
кать новых единомышленников именно в этой
средеhellip
Наши все попытки получить обяснения от пред-
ставителя Американской стороны не увенчались
успеxом Гаро Армен и его помощники не
отвечайут на наши звонки и запросы Представители Виа Виталиса
Personal injury
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someone elses negligence including those injured in car ac-
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they get all the benefits they are entitled to under the law
including disability payments medical care and job retrain-
ing
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al misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses includ-
ing healthcare fraud assault and battery and DUI offenses 818433-7590 18888488408 wwwmosesicom
ВАКЦИНА ПРОТИВ РАКА ПОЧКИ
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder
In its never-ending attempt to fabricate
mental disorders out of every human ac-
tivity the psychiatric industry is now push-
ing the most ridiculous disease theyve in-
vented yet Healthy eating disorder
This is no joke If you focus on eating
healthy foods youre mentally diseased
and probably need some sort of chemical
treatment involving powerful psychotropic
drugs The Guardian newspaper reports Fixation with healthy eating can be
sign of serious psychologicaldisorder and goes on to claim this disease is
called orthorexia nervosa-- which is basically just Latin for nervous about
correcteating
But they cant just called it nervoushealthy eatingdisorder because that
doesnt sound like they know what theyre talking about So they translate it
into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isnt) Thats where most
disease names come from Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with
a name like osteoporosis (which means bones with holes in them)
Getting back to this fabricated orthorexia disease the Guardian goes on to
report Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating Refusing to
touchsugar salt caffeine alcohol wheat gluten yeast soya corn
anddairyfoods is just the start of theirdietrestrictions Anyfoodsthat have
come into contact withpesticides herbicides or contain artificial additives are
also out
Wait a second So attempting to avoidchemicals dairy soy and sugar now
makes you amental healthpatient Yep According to theseexperts If you
actually take special care to avoid pesticidesherbicidesand genetically modi-
fied ingredients likesoyand sugar theres something wrong with you
But did you notice that eatingjunk foodis assumed to be normal If you eat
processedjunk foodslaced with synthetic chemicals thats okay with them
The mentalpatientsare the ones who choose organicnatural foods apparently
What is ldquonormalrdquo when it comes to foods
I told you this was coming Years ago I warned Natural News readers that an
attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-
cancer phytonutrients This mentalhealthassault on health-conscious consum-
ers is part of that agenda Its an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by de-
claring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to
mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatricdrugsand fed
institutionalfoodthats all processed dead and full oftoxicchemicals
The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying The obsession
about which foods are good and which are bad means orthorexics can end
up malnourished
Follow the non-logic on this if you can Eating good foods will
causemalnutrition Eating bad foods I suppose is assumed to provide all
thenutrientsyou need Thats about as crazy a statement onnutritionas Ive ever
read No wonder people are so diseased today Themainstream mediais telling
them that eating health food is amental disorderthat will cause malnutrition
Shut up and swallow your Soylent Green
Its just like I reported years ago Youre not supposed to question your food
folks Sit down shut up dig in and chow down Stop thinkingabout what
youre eating and just do what youre told by the mainstream media and its
processed food advertisers Questioning the health properties of your junk
food is a mental disorder didnt you know And if you obsess over foods
(by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels for example) then
youre weird Maybe even sick
Thats the message theyre broadcasting now Junk food eaters are normal
and sane and nourished Buthealth foodeaters are diseased abnormal and
malnourished
But why you ask would they attack healthy eaters People like Dr Gabriel
Cousens can tell you why Because increased mental and spiri tual
awarenessis only possible while on a diet of livingnaturalfoods
Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control you see It
literally messes with your mind numbing your senses with MSG aspar-
tameand yeast extract People who subsist on junk foods are docile and
quickly lose the ability to think for themselves They go along with whatever
theyre told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority never
questioning their actions or whats really happening in the world around
them
In contrast to that people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all
the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits
Over time they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue
more enlightened explorations of topics like community nature ethics phi-
losophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world They
become aware and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix so to
speak
This of course is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based
society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with sug-
gestibility For people to keep blindly buying foods medicines health insur-
ance and consumer goods they need to have their higherbrainfunctions
switched off Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens
to achieve that rather nicely Why do you think dead processed foods re-
main the default meals in public schools hospitals and prisons Its because
dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on
whatever distractions you can feed their brains Television violence fear
sports sex and so on
But living as a zombie is in one way quite normal in society today be-
cause so many people are doing it But that doesnt make it normal in my
book The real normal is an empowered healthy awakened person nour-
ished withliving foodsand operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world
Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a
whole new perspective on the fabric of reality It sets you free to think for
yourself
But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps
you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated
by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer
chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking youre eating real
food
If you want to be alive aware and in control of your own life eat more
healthy living foods But dont expect to be popular with mainstream mental
health experts or dieticians -- theyre all being programmed to consider
you to be crazy because you dont follow their mainstream diets of dead
foods laced with synthetic chemicals
But you and I know the truth here We are the normal ones The junk food
eaters are the real mental patients and the only way to wake them up to the
real world is to start feeding them living foods
Some people are ready to take the red pill and others arent All you can do
is show them the door They must open it themselves
In the mean time try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to
label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what
you put in your body Theres nothing wrong with avoiding sugar soy
MSG aspartame HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply In
fact your very life depends on it
Oh and by the way if you want to join the health experts who keep invent-
ing new fictitious diseases anddisorders check out my popular Disease
Mongering Engine web page where you can invent your own new diseases
at the click of a button Youll find it at httpwwwnaturalnewscom
16
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
17
Коррупция в России
На вопросы нашего журнала отвечает
руководитель антикоррупционного комитета
России Генерал-полковник Владимир Мамаев
Господин Мамаев в каком состоянии сейчас
находится коррупция в России
К моему сожалению Россия является одним из
самых коррумпированных государств планеты на-
ходясь в 2011 году на 143 месте из 182 Сегодня
коррупции подвержены все области государствен-
ного аппарата от дачи взяток для поступления реб-
ѐнка в детский сад откупа от службы в вооружѐнных
силах до мздоимства на уровне высших госу-
дарственных чиновников Коррупция является при-
вычной составляющей для всех социальных слоѐв
Большое количество жалоб связано с работой право-
охранительных органов и судов Однако если кор-
рупционные схемы в работе правоохранителей еще
можно вычислить то с судами дело обстоит гораздо
сложнее У граждан нет юридического права устанав-
ливать наблюдение за работой судей поэтому обви-
нения в коррупции чаще всего не принимаются к рас-
смотрению так как правоохранительные органы не
имеют права вмешиваться в дела суда В худшем
случае заявителей могут привлечь к ответственности
за клевету Подобный разгул коррупции объясняется
непрочностью политической системы Политическое
руководство России никак не может определиться
каким путем ей идти поэтому коррупция не только
не пропадает но и продолжает разрастаться
Результатом такой непоследовательной политики
становится еще больший рост коррупции возникает
угроза распада российской государственности Если
брать анализ по годам допустим начиная с 90-х
годов то уровень корупции с каждым годом все более
возрастает улучшении нет ни в какиь направлениях
и в медицене в том числе это просто преступление
зарабатывать денеги на здоровье людей
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
18
В каких отраслях в основном сильны коррупци-
онные проявления
Сегодня Российское государство пронизано корруп-
цией Берут чиновники ndash от управдома до господ
столь высокопоставленных что вся страна знает их
не по фамилиям не по должности а по имени-
отчеству По неподтвержденной информации общий
объем коррупционных сделок равен пятидесяти
процентам ВВП России При сохранении совре-
менного уровня коррупции страна так и останется
криминально-олигархическим болотом даже если к
верховной власти придут белоснежные рыцари света
и напишут для граждан идеальные законы Я думаю
что нам придется с корупционными силами и за
рубежом тоже готовиться к бою
Были ли случай разоблачения крупных чинов-
ников
Значит по количеству я могу вам сказать так что
особенно крупных чиновников не было это до
уровня регионального чиновника то есть если брать
чиновников в правительстве даже будем говорить
так Лужков может быть но он был отстранен по не-
доверию и собственно говоря ни какого разобла-
чения не было там уголовное дело возбуждено на
его супругу но это уголовное дело связано не с
корупционными действиями а с фальсификацией
махинациями но собственно прикрываясь долж-
ностью мера города мужем своим если бы его не
было то эти финансовые махинации бы не про-
изошли вот это я считаю что этот период такой
более не менее самым крупным Хотя Лужков сейчас
находится в Москве читает лекции но тут к Луж-
кову можно было применить раздел коррупции но у
нас в уголовном кодексе РФ нет такого раздела
поэтому он очень спокойно себя чувствует А так
если брать из количества у нас есть разработка по
региональным я могу сказать что среди чиновников
регионального уровня тех кто арестован кого по-
казывает по телевидению то где-то 18-19 процентов
только доходит до суда остальные или отпускаются
или сбегают но естественно за рубеж Так что сами
цифры за себя говорят Вы знаете если у руково-
дителей страны нету политической воли то и в этом
случае уголоная отвественность не наступает Естес-
твенно с коррупцией нужно боротся но прежде всего
надо боротся с порочной системой которая создает
условия и против чиновников кто эту систему создал
я думаю что вам понятно я не буду называть фами-
лии ну мне кажется вам понятно что это первые
лица государства
Есть хорошая русская поговорка ворон ворону глаз
не выколит и у нас одноглазых в правительстве нет
Давид Смит
―The Century Magazine
wwwGlendaleMicroEndodonticscom
1138 N BRAND BLVD SUITE B
GLENDALE CA 91202
Коррупция в России
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
19
Healthcare reforms missing link - - nurse practitioners
Healthcare reformrsquos
Millions more Americans soon may be searching for primary care provid-ers Nurse practitioners can do the job and save taxpayer funds
Within the next two years if federal
healthcare reforms proceed as ex-
pected roughly 30 million of the esti-
mated 50 million uninsured people
in the United States mdash 69 million in
California mdash will be trying to find
new healthcare providers
It wont be easy Primary care provid-
ers are already in short supply both
in California and nationwide Thats
because doctors are increasingly leav-
ing primary care for other types of
practices including higher paid spe-
cialties As the demand increases the
squeeze on providers will worsen
leading to potentially lower stand-
ards of care in general and longer
wait times for appointments for
many of the rest of us
Nurse practitioners can help fill this gap We are registerednurses with
graduate school education and train-ing to provide a wide range of both preventive and acute healthcare ser-vices Were trained to provide com-plete physical exams diagnose many problems interpret lab results and X-rays and prescribe and manage medications In other words were fully prepared to provide excellent primary care Moreover there are plenty of us waiting to do just that The most recent federal government statistics show there were nearly 160000 of us in 2008 an increase of 12 over 2004 and our numbers continue to rise
Clinics like the one I direct in the
heart of San Franciscos Tenderloin
district mdash GLIDE Health Services mdash
offer a hopeful glimpse into Califor-
nias healthcare future We are a fed-
erally funded affordable clinic run
almost entirely by nurse practition-
ers At our clinic we nurses and tal-
ented specialists provide high-
quality comprehensive primary care
to more than 3200 patients each
year
Despite the special hardships of our clientele who daily cope with the negative effects on health caused by poverty unemployment and sub-stance abuse our results routinely compare favorably with those of mainstream physicians Our patients with diabetes for example report regularly for checkups take their meds as directed and maintain rela-tively low average blood-sugar levels
This high standard of care provided
by nurse practitioners has been con-
firmed in several studies including a
2009 Rand Corp report which
found that nurse practitioners pro-
vide care of equivalent quality to phy-
sicians at a lower cost while achiev-
ing high levels of patient satisfaction
and providing more disease preven-
tion counseling health education and
health promotion activities than phy-
sicians
At last count there were more than 250 nurse-run clinics nationwide similar to GLIDE Health Services We and about 20 others are funded by a special federal program for af-fordable care In all of these projects nurse practitioners offer both prima-ry and preventive care including mental health services and screening for HIV and diabetes
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
20
Researchers have confirmed that such
clinics not only improve local health but
also save taxpayers money Nurse prac-
titioners salaries are generally lower
than those of physicians At the same
time the comprehensive care we pro-
vide can significantly reduce the costly
emergency room visits used by all too
many low-income Americans as their
default healthcare
Unfortunately some major obstacles stand in the way of expanding our mon-ey-saving model One big hurdle is the reluctance of leading private health plans to contract with nurse practition-ers as primary care providers Even as Medicare Medi-Cal and pioneering local programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco now con-
tract with nurse practitioners to provide such care a 2009 study by the National Nursing Centers Consortium found that nearly half of the countrys major man-aged care organizations dont
Some of the holdout companies require
nurses to bill for their services under a
physicians supervision Californias
insurance code only requires insurance
companies to contract with nurse prac-
titioners for primary care when it in-
volves Medicare or Medi-Cal If the
code were expanded to include all cov-
erage access in the state would be
greatly improved There is room for re-
form on these fronts and others and we
should get started now to enact change
In October 2010 the Institute of Medi-cine an arm of the National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report called The Future of Nursing in which it urged that nurses be full part-ners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States At clinics such as GLIDE Health Services were showing that were more than ready to answer this challenge and take our places on the front lines of healthcare reform in America
Patricia Dennehy RN NP is the direc-tor of GLIDE Health Services in San Francisco and a professor at the UC San Francisco School of Nursing Los Angeles Times
By Patricia Dennehy
Healthcare reformrsquos
23435 VALENCIA VALENCIA CA
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
21
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners wed watch again and again
Therelsquos no way to come up with this list without starting a
fight Which is of course part of the reason welsquore doing it
The big winner on Academy Award night is whoever takes
home best picture Of course itlsquos not always really the best
movie just the one the Academy picks And some are more
deserving than others
But which are the most deserving Who knows For this list we
are not pretending to pick the best of the lot going back to
when ―Wings won the first best picture award in 1927 This is
a list of the Oscarsrsquo10 best-picture winners we would be most
likely to watch again and again -- and to recommend to our
movie-going friends The most watchable of the winners in
other words The ones that never disappoint when found while
late-night channel surfing If you disagree with the choices
here you doubtless have good taste
ldquoThe Silence of the Lambsrdquo (1991)(AT) Jonathan Demmelsquos
masterpiece didnlsquot just win best picture but also best director
(Demme) actor (Anthony Hopkins) actress (Jodie Foster) and
screenplay The story of Clarice Starling an FBI trainee who
uses the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to solve a serial-
killer case is just flat-out great as much so now as when it
came out
ldquoThe Departedrdquo (2006)(AT) Calm down calm down I know
itlsquos not even director Martin Scorseselsquos best But it did win best
picture and his remake of a Japanese film about an undercover
cop (Leonardo Di Caprio) and undercover gangster (Matt Da-
mon) is great popcorn fun even with Jack Nicholsonlsquos over-
acting Just try turning it off when you stumble past it on TV
You canlsquot
ldquoThe Deer Hunterrdquo (1978)(AT) Three hours of brutality both phys-
ical and mental But man is it great Michael Cimino makes perfect
use of Robert De Niro Christopher Walken Meryl Streep and more
in his story about three friends from Pennsylvania who enlist to fight
in the Vietnam war and the horrors they endure there -- and after they
return home
ldquoAnnie Hallrdquo (1977)(AT) The rare comedy that wins best pic-
ture Woody Allenlsquos best arguably about the trials and tribula-
tions of the relationship between Alvy Singer (Allen) and An-
nie Hall (Diane Keaton) So funny so many great lines
(―Twins Max) and a great over-the-top performance by
Christopher Walken as Annielsquos brother La-di-da la-di-da
ldquoOne Flew Over the Cuckoorsquos Nestrdquo (1975)(AT) Like
―Silence of the Lambs it won for best picture best actor ac-
tress director and screenplay And like ―Silence of the Lambs
it deserved them Jack Nicholson is great as Randall McMur-
phy a prisoner who schemes to be sent to a ward for the men-
tally ill There he runs into and rebels against Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher) Director Milos Forman does a tremendous
job with Ken Keseylsquos book (which contains the great line ―Itlsquos
the truth even if it didnlsquot happen) and the film manages to be
both disturbing and entertaining at the same time
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this the
sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first
Oscar for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York nar-
cotics cop who drug network with well a French connec-
tion One of the all-time great car-chase scenes among
other great things Director William Friedkin who like
Hackman won an Oscar followed this with The Exor-
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
22
cist― Not bad
ldquoThe Godfatherrdquo (1972)(AT) Great Impossible to turn off
All-time champ in that regard
The Godfather Part II (1974)(AT) Except for maybe this
the sequel Francis Ford Coppolalsquos epic tale of a Mafia family
stretches over two movies (well three but letlsquos not count that
last one ― plus it didnlsquot win best picture) two of the greatest
ever made The first film has Marlon Brando handing off the
keys to the kingdom to a reluctant Al Pacino the sequel fol-
lows the rise in power and loss of morality of the latter Bril-
liant Compulsively watchable Tremendous Best to quit now
before there arenlsquot any superlatives left
rdquoThe French Connectionldquo (1971)(AT) The 70s werenlsquot a
bad decade for movies huh Gene Hackman won his first Os-
car for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle a New York narcotics
cop who drug network with well a French connection One
of the all-time great car-chase scenes among other great
things Director William Friedkin who like Hackman won
an Oscar followed this with The Exorcist― Not bad
rdquoCasablancaldquo (1942)(AT) Humphrey Bogart Ingrid Berg-
man a World War II backdrop and genuine romance So play
it again Sam (Yes I know he never really says that Work
with me here) Sometimes old classics are regarded as too
high-brow to really be enjoyable to a modern audience Thatlsquos
not the case with this in which Bogartlsquos Rick Blaine swallows
his pride and the lump in his throat and does the right thing
even if it means losing the woman he loves (Itlsquos also true of
Citizen Kane― a really fun film but it lost best picture to
ahem How Green Was My Valley―)
rdquoIt Happened One Nightldquo (1934)(AT) Newly married Ellie
(Claudette Colbert) escapes from her rich father (Walter Con-
nolly) who has had the marriage annulled and winds up on a
bus beside out-of-work newspaper man Peter (Clark Gable)
who recognizes her and threatens to tell her father where she
is (and get reward money for his troubles) unless she gives
him exclusive rights to the story Comedy ensues as does ro-
mance -- and youlsquoll also get a sure-fire hitchhiking tip at no
extra charge Charming funny and of course bonus points
for making journalism part of the story
Oscars 2012 | Academy Award winners
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
23
Obama Administration To Propose Cutting
Corporate Tax Rate From 35 Percent To 28
Percent
WASHINGTON mdash President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even
lower effective rate for manufacturers a senior administration offi-
cial says as the White House lays down an election-year marker in
the debate over tax policy In turn corporations would have to give
up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy Corpora-
tions with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on
their foreign earnings Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on
Wednesday was to detail aspects of Obamas proposed overhaul of
the corporate tax system a plan the president outlined in general
terms in his State of the Union speech last month Chances of ac-
complishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year domi-
nated mostly with presidential and congressional elections But for
Obama the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his
re-election strategy The corporate tax plan dovetails with Obamas
call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on
individuals making $200000 or less The 35 percent nominal corpo-
rate tax rate is the highest in the world after Japan But deductions
credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a
much lower rate Under the framework proposed by the administra-
tion the rate cuts closed loopholes and the minimum tax on over-
seas earning would result in no increase to the deficit
That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or en-
joy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less
than the 35 percent corporate tax could end up paying more under
Obamas plan Others however would pay less while some would
simply benefit from a more simplified system The official said the
Obama plan aims to help US businesses especially manufacturers
who face strong international competition Obamas plan would low-
er the effective rate for manufacturers to 25 percent while emphasiz-
ing development of clean energy systems The administration offi-
cial spoke on condition of anonymity to describe what the admin-
istration will do The New York Times first reported details of the
plan in its online edition early Wednesday Many members of both
parties have said they favor overhauling the nations individual and
corporate tax systems which they complain have rates that are too
high and are riddled with too many deductions The corporate tax
debate has made its way into the presidential contest Former Massa-
chusetts Gov Mitt Romney has called for a 25 percent rate former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich R-Ga would cut the corporate tax
rate to 125 percent and former Sen Rick Santorum R-Pa would
exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the
top rate for other businesses While Obama has been promoting vari-
ous aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and
speeches the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury
Department to unveil signaled its lower priority Whats more the
administrations framework leaves much for Congress to decide ndash a
deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but
which also doesnt subject the plan to detailed scrutiny Obamas
plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would
lower the corporate rate to 25 percent Still Obama has said cor-
porate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax
breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits
overseas He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US man-
ufacturers to firms that return jobs to this country and to
companies that relocate to some communities that have lost
big employers Geithner told a House committee last week
that the administration wants to create more incentives for
corporations to invest in the United States We want to bring
down the rate and we think we can to a level thats closer to the
average of that of our major competitors Geithner told the House
Ways and Means Committee White House economic adviser Gene
Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits Currently
many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States
to avoid the 35 percent tax rate Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before signing
legislation into law that will provide business tax credits to
help put veterans back to work during a ceremony at the Ei-
senhower Executive Office Building November 21 2011 in
Washington DC (File photo by Chip SomodevillaGetty
Obama Administration
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
24
American War Reporter Killed In Syria
Marie Colvin Dead American War Reporter Killed In Syr-
ia
LONDON (AP) mdash Respected
American journalist Marie
Colvin who spent decades
reporting on conflicts from
Sri Lanka to Syria focusing
on the suffering of women
and children in wartime died
in a fierce shelling attack
Wednesday in SyriaColvin who was 57 was known for her courage
behind the front lines and immediately recognizable for an eye patch
that hid an injury suffered in a Sri Lankan ambush She had been
holed up in the besieged Syrian city of Homs Sunday Times editor
John Witherow confirmed her death during a devastating bombard-
ment by the Syrian army French photojournalist Remi Ochlik died
alongside Colvin the French government announced Freelance pho-
tographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro
were wounded according to Witherow and Le Figaro Colvin from
Oyster Bay New York had been a foreign correspondent for Brit-
ains Sunday Times for the past two decades making a specialty of
reporting from the worlds most dangerous places Her final dispatch
Tuesday from a cellar offering refuge for women and children hinted
at the horrors that eventually took her own life It is a city of the
cold and hungry echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire
she wrote There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut
off Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through win-
dows empty of glass No shops are open so families are sharing
what they have with relatives and neighbors Many of the dead and
injured are those who risked foraging for food Fearing the snipers
merciless eyes families resorted last week to throwing bread across
rooftops or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen Col-
vin often focused on the plight of women and children in battles and
Syria was no different She gave interviews to major British broad-
casters on the eve of her death appealing for the world to notice the
slaughter taking place I watched a little baby die today she told
the BBC on Tuesday Absolutely horrific a 2-year old child had
been hit They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the
left chest and the doctor said I cant do anything Colvins boss
media mogul Rupert Murdoch described her as one of the most
outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation Colvin
worked in the Balkans where she went on patrol with the Kosovo
Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces She worked in
Chechnya where she came under fire from Russian jets while report-
ing on Chechen rebels She also covered the conflict in East Timor
after its people voted for independence she was one of the few re-
porters to interview ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his
final days She was outspoken in her defense of independent journal-
ism and a fervent advocate for the cause of unfettered war reporting
During a tribute service for slain journalists at Fleet Streets St
Brides Church in November 2010 she offered a stirring appeal to
media executives pressing the case to continue investing in conflict
zone reporting Our mission is to speak the truth to power she
said We send home that first rough draft of history We can and do
make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the
atrocities that befall civilians Her death comes only days after two
other respected journalists died while reporting on the uprising
against Syrias president Bashar Assad Two-time Pulitzer prize
winning reporter Anthony Shadid a correspondent for The New
York Times died last week of an apparent asthma attack while slip-
ping into Syria Award-winning French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier
was killed in an explosion in Homs on Jan 11 becoming the first
Western journalist to die since the uprising began His colleagues
believe he was murdered in an elaborate trap set up by Syrian author-
ities mdash a claim that Assads government denies British Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron led tributes to Colvin Cameron told lawmakers
in the House of Commons that the death of the talented and respect-
ed foreign correspondent was a desperately sad reminder of the
risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and
the dreadful events in Syria British Labour Party leader Ed
Miliband called Colvin a brave and tireless reporter an inspiration
to women in her profession Her reports in the hours before her
death showed her work at its finest he said Author Salman Rush-
die who spent years in hiding from death threats sent a message to
his followers on Twitter noting that it was dreadful news A great
reporter fine writer and fearless woman is gone Her many friends
are devastated Colvin lost her sight in one eye during an ambush in
Sri Lanka in 2001 but promised not to hang up my flak jacket and
kept reporting on the worlds most troubled places So was I stupid
Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to
last night she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack Equally
Id rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting
shot no offense to desk jobs For my part the next war I cover Ill
be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure
far more than I ever will They must stay where they are I can come
home to London
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
25
Presidents Day 2012 Barack Obama George W Bush
Bill Clinton Pose With Celebrities
Happy Presidents Day In honor of the holiday were taking a closer
look at one of our favorite perks of being commander-in-chief meet-
ing celebrities
Whether schmoozing at a political fund-raiser greeting each other
during a White House visit or gathering for a worthy cause at a chari-
ty benefit the following US presidents and entertainers appear to be
getting along famously
From Jimmy Carters photo-op with Elvis Presley in the 70s to
Barack Obamas presentation of the National Medal of Arts to actor
Al Pacino this past Monday here are 30 moments that bridge the gap
between Capitol Hill and the Hollywood Hills
Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo Ordered To Attend
Anger Management Classes
DALLAS Ore mdash Drummer Deen Castronovo from the rock group
Journey was sentenced to 80 hours of community service in Oregon
and ordered to attend anger-management classes for a domestic vio-
lence dispute The Statesman Journal reported ( ) the sentence
Wednesday based on court documents from a diversion agree-
ment httpstjrnlxAQrd7
The 47-year-old was arrested Jan 20 after a dispute in West Salem
with a woman and charged with recklessly endangering another per-
son interfering with making a police report criminal mischief and
harassment
The Statesman Journal reported the woman told police that Castrono-
vo had accused her of cheating and they had broken up
___
Information from Statesman Journal httpwwwstatesmanjournalcom
John Carter Producers On Budget Rumors amp Creating
Mars
His is a story that ushered in the modern age of science fiction in-
spiring a century of authors and sparking the imaginations that
launched Star Wars and Avatar into the cultural canon But its
only now a century after Edgar Rice Burroughs penned his first
excursion to the red planet that John Carters adventures on Mars
are being presented on the big screen And to read the ru-
mors surrounding the films four years in production the story of
how the epic Disney movie got made seems nearly as legendary a
tale Its frustrating because its wrong Lindsey Collins one of
the films co-producers says of years of trade reports that the film
the first live-action effort from Oscar-winning WALL-E director
Andrew Stanton was a bloated over-budget mess Theres no way
to talk about it without sounding defensive but Im going to sound
defensive for a second and say this movie was made on budget
Collins asserted I think Disney took a huge leap of faith with us
early on and said Okay we believe your number and its higher
than we wanted but we believe it so make it for that And in fact
in most areas it came in under and the one area we came in slight-
ly over was offset by all the underages of the others so it came
within I think two percent of the budget The budget they say they
hit was $250 million which went into live shoots in desert locations
and massive computer graphic work to create an elaborate world in
which a leather-clad Taylor Kitsch as Carter leaps into a war be-
tween two rival nations and a race of green horned four-armed
natives Barsoom as Mars is called by its inhabitants is a rocky
desert-scape littered with ornate cities mystical ruins and anachro-
nistic flying machines And its one that took over seventy five
years of technological development to make believable on the
screen Various attempts at adapting Burroughs seminal serial ad-
venture series have been made since MGM and Looney Toons
director Bob Clampett approached Burroughs in 1935 with the idea
of making a cartoon feature from the Civil War veteran-turned-
space heros exploits The test footage however did not impress
and the movie was scrapped The property was acquired by Disney
in the 80s -- Tom Cruise was wooed to star -- but that fell through
as did Paramounts attempts to make it with both Robert Rodriguez
and Jon Favreau attached to direct at different points Stanton the
current director grew up a massive fan of the stories and had al-
ways wanted to make the movie himself Once that was mentioned
to Pixars chief John Lasseter a quick meeting with then-Disney
Presidents Day 2012
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
26
The Real Top Chefs
exec Dick Cook led to the studio scooping up the rights to the
seemingly impossible-to-make movie The Curse of John Carter
Yeah I think everybody felt that the fact that this was a huge prop-
erty co-producer Collins laughed adding that a meeting with Dan-
ton Burroughs the authors grandson gave her a sense of the books
long legacy If its not done right its just going to seem silly and
campy youre never going to buy a live action person sitting next to
a CG person And at least that part I completely appreciated I was
like oh my god how the hell are we going to do this Luckily
Collins co-producer on John Carter was Jim Morris a Pixar exec
who spent nearly two decades working for and then running leading
special-effects house Industrial Light amp Magic (ironically Star
Wars creator George Lucas company -- how things come full cir-
cle) Our basic theory was that we wanted to have real stuff under
peoples feet and around them at all times Morris said So what
we did was shot them in these big landscapes and just did a little bit
of enhancement We would add ruins here and there and take natu-
ral formations and turn them into ruins and the interior stuff
whether its in the palace or light or whether its in chambers that
work we shot on stage [in front of a green screen] It requires a
certain buy-in from the viewer -- Carter has Superman-level leaping
ability hes often surrounded by the CGI aliens and the plot is tied
together with magic thread -- but Morris and Stanton didnt want
people to necessarily think of space when they watched it even if it
did take place on Mars One of the ways that gave it a grit and a
reality that differentiated it from some of the other films in the gen-
re was to just shoot it like a period piece -- just a period that you
didnt know existed he explained The production did have some
issues -- Morris explained that they had to condense story lines
give Kitschs Carter a more sympathetic arc as a Civil War soldier
who lost his family and spend a bit more time on re-shoots than
they had planned The real challenge however has come in selling
the film to the public Its been tricky Its been really tricky to mar-
ket Collins admitted The first step was changing the name Ini-
tially called John Carter of Mars Disney chopped off the second
half of the title fearful that the inclusion of the planets name would
mean people wouldnt give it the chance or the time of day to see
that it was multifaceted she explained Pixars Morris acknowl-
edges that the films audience is still likely to skew toward young
males though he says Kitschs hunk appeal has elicited positive
responses from women in test audiences His producing partner
believes that they still have a chance to sell based on the long lega-
cy of Burroughs work What were trying to get across is that
theres a strong story there Ive always been coming at it from the
point of look I think women dont go see action films because ulti-
mately theres no story and I think the more we can be convincing
showing people by the fact that theres a good story Collins said
Well see Its tough Hopefully the word of mouth will help us
too because everyone goes in and says Holy shit thats not what I
expected
The Real Top Chefs
Culinary competitions have been in the air lately especially
because of the recent Bocuse dOr USA at the Culinary Insti-
tute of America in Hyde Park NY where the American
candidate (their word) for the Bocuse dOr 2013 in Lyon
France was selected The most frequent question posed about
culinary competitors consists of one simple word Why
Why do the competitors most of whom are already commit-
ted to grueling daily schedules running or working in profes-
sional kitchens put themselves through the rigors of training
the potential embarrassment or disappointment of losing the
sheer inconvenience of the extra time and commitment If
youre thinking that the answer is obvious The fame and
fortune and the television exposure then youre probably
referring to shows like Top Chef Iron Chef or even maybe
to Hells Kitchen Depending on your personal taste some or
all of those shows may be entertaining but lets be clear about
something They are not cooking competitions at least not in
the classic sense on those shows the individual challenges
are often irreverent or based on pulling the rug out from un-
der the competitors midstream the judges are often actors
musicians firemen postal workers dog walkers ten-year
olds or plain ol restaurant diners rather than accomplished
chefs or food professionals and you cant help but watch the
elimination shows without concluding that inferior contest-
ants are often kept around for entertainment value (you can
pretty much bet that any seasons biggest instigator wont be
kicked off until well past the halfway mark) food is portioned
out and evaluated by some of the best chefs in the world Of-
ten the lesser known regional contests take place in private
or in front of small audiences at trade shows Cash prizes if
any are minimal and the competitors would be lucky to see
their name in the local paper let alone find themselves inter-
viewed on television or even on the radio I hadnt given
much thought to cooking competitions until I wrote the
book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the most prestig-
ious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture of the pro-
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
27
The Real Top Chefs
food is portioned out and evaluated by some of the best chefs
in the world Often the lesser known regional contests take
place in private or in front of small audiences at trade shows
Cash prizes if any are minimal and the competitors would
be lucky to see their name in the local paper let alone find
themselves interviewed on television or even on the radio I
hadnt given much thought to cooking competitions until I
wrote the book Knives at Dawn about the Bocuse dOr the
most prestigious one in the world Its a fascinating subculture
of the professional cooking world Unknown to the masses
Unknown to the masses there are guys in the culinary
competition underground who are superstars within their own
community (Relatively speaking there arent that many wom-
en drawn to it which is a fascinating fact worthy of examina-
tion Is the need to compete distinctly male For another
time ) Unfortunately in the United States theres a great di-
vide between restaurant chefs and hotel and cooking school
chefs Generally speaking the restaurant guys dont have a ton
of respect for or interest in their counterparts who teach or
who run hotel or country club kitchens Neither really do the
media Most competition chefs come from those places and
dont tend to be household names So its all the more remark-
able to me that so many of them choose to train and compete
Ask a culinary competitor why he or she does it and the answer
will include one or more of the following For the challenge
Because it accelerates my learning process To travel and
meet other chefs and see other food I also firmly believe that
at some level chefs are innately masochistic and so they just
want to see if they can add competition to their already taxing
lives and come out alive on the other end Much of this was
summed up by Richard Rosendale executive chef of The
Greenbrier who recently became the US candidate to the Bo-
cuse dOr I interviewed him about the value of cooking compe-
tition for Knives at Dawn This is what he had to say about his
experience on the US Culinary Olympic team In my opinion
one year on the Olympic team is the equivalent of five years in
the industry In doing the team you have obligations to push
yourself and research more and do more and learn more than
what you normally would Ive competed in Germany three
times Luxembourg twice Basel Switzerland twice and all
over the United States Seeing these other countries and the
food theyre putting up really makes you open up your mind
and see food a little differently Theres no boundaries If
Rosendale wins the Bocuse dOr or even earns a precious med-
al (in addition to gold theres silver and bronze) itll be big
news here in the United States But some similarly grand ac-
complishments come with no such fanfare Percy Whatley who
competed in the Bocuse dOr USA in 2008 and 2010 has just
embarked on one of the most solitary and taxing challenges a
chef can undertake He is training for the Certified Master Chef
(CMC) exam a 130-hour eight-day test in which he will have
to demonstrate world-class proficiency in areas as far ranging
as Classical Cuisine Buffet Catering Freestyle cooking Global
Cuisine and Bakery and Pastry Its not a head-to-head compe-
tition but the training is just as intense and at the end of the
day you either win (pass) or lose (fail) Im delighted that
Whatley is publishing a diary of his training over on my
siteToqueland The CMC is such a tough exam that its not reg-
ularly scheduled You sign up and are put on the culinary
equivalent of active duty -- waiting to be called up Periodi-
cally when enough aspirants are on board the ACF schedules
an exam (Whatley is hopeful that hell get to go for it about 16
months from now) Theres also no guarantee of success just
the opposite in fact in 2010 only five of twelve candidates
passed One of them was Rosendale the USs freshly minted
Bocuse dOr candidate Rosendale got his name in the New
York Times on NPR and on food blogs from coast to coast
(including right here on HuffPost) for being selected for the
Bocuse dOr If anybody outside of his ACF peers knew hed
become a CMC before reading this post Id be surprised and
thats a shame Its a huge achievement If Whatley succeeds
hell get to wear the letters CMC on his chef jacket for the rest
of his career joining less than 70 others who have pulled off
the same feat The challenge embodies the core appeal of real
culinary competitions to push yourself to the absolute limit
whether or not the masses are watching
8306 Foothill Blvd
Sunland CA 91040
Ph 818-951-1565
Fax 818-9511689 Email infofirstsmilehhcorg
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
0900 am to 530 pm
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People
28
Bullied 10-Year-Old Girl Says School
Failed To Intervene In Repeated Attacks
A 10-year-old girl in Chicagos south suburbs severely at-
tacked by a male classmate who has allegedly bullied her for
years has accused her school of doing almost nothing to inter-
vene in the boys repeated taunting despite her familys pleas
for help Elisa Ramirez of Lynwood Ill a fifth grader at San-
dridge School said a 10-year-old boy at the school has for
years verbally and even physically abused her Most recently
the boy allegedly hit her hard in the face and injuring her eye
and causing a trip to the emergency room CBS Chicago re-
ports
After the incident Elisas family has asked for the boy to be
transferred to a different classroom but the schools superinten-
dent told CBS that he did not believe such a change would be
appropriate Her family also alerted local police who have the
option of ticketing the boys family under the parental responsi-
bility ordinance -- a charge not possible because the ordinance
carries with it a minimum age of 13 for any individual involved
in an incident according to CBS As Ramirezs family remains
frustrated the state has been working to change the way bully-
ing is addressed in schools Two years ago Governor Pat
Quinn signed legislation aimed at reducing bullying in schools
by expanding the definition of bullying to include e-mail text
message or social media sites The law also required schools to
have gang-prevention training and created a School Bullying
Prevention Task Force ABC Chicago reported
Bullying was also the subject of a new state law sponsored by
state Rep Dwight Kay which allows school boards and admin-
istrators to suspend or even expel a student who threatens an-
other student or a school employee over the Internet But legis-
lation is clearly not enough to protect students struggling with
being bullied by their classmates Last fall 10-year-old Ash-
lynn Conner a student at Georgetown Ridge Farm Elementary
School in Vermilion County in east central Illinois killed her-
self She had told her mother a week before her death that she
was being taunted at school and being called a slut ugly
and fat While bullying and suicide risk can sometimes be
linked experts on the matter also point out that other factors --
ranging from depression and mental illness to family life or the
ending of a relationship -- can also play a role in such tragedies
The Tribune recently outlined a number of tips to help parents
and families prevent bullying
Are more religious people healthier than less religious peo-
ple
A new analysis of Gallup surveys of more than 676000 Ameri-
cans suggests they may be -- and the pattern stands across reli-
gious traditions The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
telephone survey asked a random sample of Americans across
the country to rate or describe how healthy they were in several
categories such as overall quality of life emotional health
physical health healthy behavior habits job satisfaction and
access to doctors and other health resources Responses were
used to give each person well-being scores on a scale of 0 to
100 Interviewees were also asked to identify their religion (if
any) and how religious they were
When well-being scores were compared to religiosity very
religious Americans had modestly higher scores in most areas
compared with moderately religious and nonreligious people
The only area where nonreligious people scored higher than
religious people was in physical health
Religious People