Senator Robert Menendez Asked Fed To Aid Bank Led By Donors
February 9, 2010 by Huffington Post
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Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey urged the Federal Reserve last July to approve an acquisition to save a struggling bank in his state. He didn’t mention that the bank’s chairman and vice chairman were big contributors to his political campaign.
If the acquisition had been approved, it would have prevented the two executives from losing what was left of their investments in the bank.
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Mexico Earthquake: 5.7 Magnitude Quake Strikes Oaxaca, Mexico
February 8, 2010 by Huffington Post
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A strong earthquake struck Mexico this evening, registering with a 5.7 magnitude, according to the USGS.
The Mexico earthquake struck in the Oaxaca region in southern Mexico, 285 miles southeast of Mexico City. It had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 before being revised to 5.7.
Reuters reports that the epicenter of the earthquake was Miahuatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Some Twitter users in Mexico City reported feeling the quake, though others said they did not.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
This is a developing story.
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Jeff Haas, Bill Ayers Discuss New Book About Fred Hampton And Activism At Chicago Bookstore
February 8, 2010 by Huffington Post
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Produced by HuffPost’s Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit
“Back [in the 60's] segregation was normalized so it’s easy to say ‘If I would have been alive I would have been right there.’ But would we have been?” Bill Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, posed the question Thursday night to a standing room only audience in the back room at Barbara’s Bookstore on South Halsted.
Ayers, ironically, was himself a left wing radical and founding member of the controversial group Weather Underground during the Vietnam War. He recently returned to the spotlight as questions arose over his connection to then-presidential-hopeful Barack Obama, nearly costing Obama the election.
Ayers joined a panel of activists at different levels of career revolutionism, to discuss the legacy of Fred Hampton and to promote Jeff Haas’ book “The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Killed a Black Panther.” The panel was hosted by Barbara’s Bookstore in honor of Black History Month.
Haas’ book recounts his personal story of growing up a privileged white man in Atlanta, then coming to Chicago after graduating from law school. He learned of the Black Panther movement as a young lawyer working to get Hampton released from prison. He succeeded, only to have Hampton assassinated on December 4th, 1969, in what he worked for years to prove was the work of Chicago police and the FBI, tracing all the way up to its director, J. Edgar Hoover. Haas co-founded The People’s Law Office and worked to uncover the covert and often illegal government program to obtain secret evidence on activists, COINTELPRO.
Ayers was moderator of the panel that included Haas, headliner of the evening; LaDonna Redmond, Chicago community activist and co-founder of Graffiti and Grub; Dr. David Stovall, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in Educational Policy Studies; and honorary guest Bill Hampton, Fred Hampton’s brother.
In his southern drawl, Haas began the discussion by giving a substantial recap of the events leading up to the incident that shocked Americans and enraged civil rights activists over 40 years ago. He read an excerpt of the book describing his visit to a church on Chicago’s West side to hear Hampton speak, quoting him:
“If you ever think about me and you ain’t gonna do no revolutionary act, forget about me. I don’t want myself on your mind if you’re not going to work for the people. If you’re asked to make a commitment at the age of twenty, and you say I don’t want to make a commitment at the age of twenty, only because of the reason that I’m too young to die, I want to live a little longer, then you’re dead already.”
The panelists discussed the legacy of Fred Hampton, hoping to encourage people to get involved in defending civil rights.
“We are all living in a living history,” Redmond said. “If we want peace, don’t ask what Obama did, ask what you did.”
Afterward, Haas signed copies of his book and signed mine:
“Tell truth for power. Keep the struggle for justice alive.”
Washington region digs out, but more snow ahead Tuesday
February 7, 2010 by The Washington Post
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In the aftermath of the weekend’s massive snowstorm, the region came to grips with the fact that digging out will take days, even as more potentially paralyzing winter weather appeared headed this way by Tuesday.
Colts Championship Shirts To Go To Haiti
February 7, 2010 by Huffington Post
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Despite the Colts’ 31-17 loss to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV, they can feel good that their championship apparel will be put to good use. All of the clothes made in case the Colts were to win the Super Bowl will go to areas in need in earthquake-damaged Haiti.
That should at least be on thing to please Pierre Garcon, a wide receiver for the losing Colts, whose family has origins in Haiti.
“For years, World Vision has helped us to ensure that no NFL apparel goes to waste,” said David Krichavsky, the NFL director of community relations. “With the enormous needs in Haiti and World Vision’s long-term presence there, we know that these goods will go to very good use.”
Last year, Cardinals gear was donated in El Salvador. In 2008, the Patriots’ apparel from Super Bowl XLII, with “19-0″ emblazoned to mark their would-be perfect season, was donated in Nicaragua.
According to World Vision, the donations are worth upwards of $2 million.
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Colts Championship Shirts To Go To Haiti
February 7, 2010 by Huffington Post
Filed under TOP HEADLINES
Despite the Colts’ 31-17 loss to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV, they can feel good that their championship apparel will be put to good use. All of the clothes made in case the Colts were to win the Super Bowl will go to areas in need in earthquake-damaged Haiti.
That should at least be on thing to please Pierre Garcon, a wide receiver for the losing Colts, whose family has origins in Haiti.
“For years, World Vision has helped us to ensure that no NFL apparel goes to waste,” said David Krichavsky, the NFL director of community relations. “With the enormous needs in Haiti and World Vision’s long-term presence there, we know that these goods will go to very good use.”
Last year, Cardinals gear was donated in El Salvador. In 2008, the Patriots’ apparel from Super Bowl XLII, with “19-0″ emblazoned to mark their would-be perfect season, was donated in Nicaragua.
According to World Vision, the donations are worth upwards of $2 million.
More on Super Bowl XLIV
Man Survives 17 Hours Under Avalanche, Swiss Police Say
February 7, 2010 by Huffington Post
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EVOLENE, Switzerland — A young skier was buried beneath an avalanche for 17 hours before being pulled from the snow with only mild hypothermia, Swiss police said Sunday.
The 21-year-old man appeared to have survived because he was trapped next to a pocket of air that allowed him to breathe even though he was unable to free himself from the crushing weight of the snow, police in the southern canton of Valais said.
“I’ve never heard of such a case before,” said police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet. “It’s already very difficult to survive more than 45 minutes beneath an avalanche.”
The man, who had been skiing alone on an unmarked slope in the Evolene region about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Geneva, was reported missing by his family at 4.30 p.m. Saturday, police said.
Rescuers with sniffer dogs found ski tracks leading to where a large avalanche had come down but had to break off their search overnight for safety reasons.
On Sunday morning a helicopter crew spotted movement on the surface and rescuers were able to pull the man out from beneath 20 inches (half a meter) of snow, said Bornet.
The unidentified Swiss skier has been hospitalized but appears to have suffered no serious injuries, Bornet said.
“He’s a very lucky man,” he said.
Dozens of skiers are killed by avalanches in the Swiss Alps each year.
Last month a series of avalanches at the same spot killed six people in central Switzerland, the country’s worst such disaster in more than a decade.
Wanda Sykes Takes On CBS’s Refusal To Run Gay Super Bowl Ad (VIDEO)
February 6, 2010 by Huffington Post
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Wanda Sykes took on CBS this week, mocking the fact that the network is going to allow a pro-life ad to run during the game, while squashing a gay dating site’s commercial. Sykes recommended that Man Crunch make their ad more conservative, by bashing abortion, in order to appeal to the network’s censors.
WATCH:
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Historic snowstorm in D.C. leaves a mess to be reckoned with
February 6, 2010 by The Washington Post
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In whiteout, many things come to standstill The Washington region was paralyzed by a blizzard that dumped more than two feet of heavy snow on the area by late Saturday, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people, toppling trees and reducing many streets to pedestrian pathways.
Historic snowstorm in D.C. leaves a mess to be reckoned with
February 6, 2010 by The Washington Post
Filed under TOP HEADLINES
In whiteout, many things come to standstill The Washington region was paralyzed by a blizzard that dumped more than two feet of heavy snow on the area by late Saturday, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people, toppling trees and reducing many streets to pedestrian pathways.
