Daily Challenge 8-31-11

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MOST AMERICAN MUSLIMS ARE SATISFIED OBAMA BACKERS - PG. 2

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‘9/11 GENERATION’

OF VETSPRAISED

President Barack Obama praised the “9/11 genera-tion” of military veterans and vowed the federalgovernment wouldn’t abandon those who served.

Photo: President Obama addresses the AmericanLegion Annual Conference at the Minneapolis Con-vention Center in Minneapolis. SEE PAGE 3.

IRENE COSTS RESTARTWASHINGTON BUDGET BATTLEWashington’s never-ending budget battle threatened tosnarl the recovery from Hurricane Irene as a top Republi-can said that any federal aid will have to be offset byspending cuts elsewhere.

SEE PAGE 3

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 20112 � � � � �

FANS REMEMBER R&B LEGEND NICK ASHFORD

Family, friends, and stars said afinal farewell to R&B legend NickAshford Monday.

They packed the AbsynnianBaptist Church in Harlem for hisfuneral.

There was also a crowd of fansoutside the church, all in a show ofsupport for Ashford and to saygoodbye.

“His spirit will always be withme and all my friends. His contri-bution to the music industry andeverything about him will alwaysfly high with my spirits,” said onefan.

“I’ve known about him for a lotof years. I used to see him in theneighborhood, and he was a happyperson that just inspired goodwishes and kindness and good feel-ings in his songs,” said another.

Ashford and his wife, ValerieSimpson, made up the songwritingduo Ashford and Simpson.

They gained fame for hits suchas “Solid” and “Ain’t No MountainHigh Enough.”

They also owned the Sugar Baron West 72nd Street.

Ashford died of throat cancerlast Monday at the age of 70.

PARKS AND BEACHES SLOWLY COMING

BACK TO LIFEMany area parks and beaches

are still being cleaned up after thestorm.

Jacob Riis Park in Queens is stillclosed.

The park’s bath house was dam-aged by wind, water and sand.

Sandy Hook in New Jersey isalso closed until power is restored.

Officials say that may not hap-pen until Sunday.

Great Kills Park on StatenIsland is open except for the beacharea, which suffered serious ero-sion.

Plumb Beach in Brooklyn isopen, but due to erosion, officialsare urging visitors to use caution.

Meanwhile, Gateway NationalRecreation Area has reopened.

All of the city’s outdoor swim-ming pools are back in businessalong with the Parks Departmentmarinas and nature centers.

The Bronx, Central Park,Queens, and Prospect Park Zooshave all reopened their doors.

DOE OPENS STUDENT REGISTRATION

CENTERS TODAYThe Department of Education

opened a dozen registration cen-ters for parents and guardians toregister their kids for school thisfall.

They’re for new students orthose without a zoned school.

The centers will be set up untilSeptember 16th, but will be closedon Labor Day.

Classes start next Thursday,September 8th.

For specific locations, and a listof items you’ll need, you can callthe city’s hotline at 311 or visitnyc.gov.

NNEEWWSS BBRRIIEEFFSS

By ANDREW STERN

CHICAGO — A majority of U.S.Muslims are content with the nation’sdirection in contrast to many Ameri-cans and few Muslims believe there issupport for Islamic extremism here, asurvey released on Tuesday found.

With the 10th anniversary of the alQaeda attacks on New York and thePentagon approaching, the PewResearch Center found that most Mus-lims felt ordinary Americans werefriendly or neutral toward them.

In contrast to the majority of thegeneral public dissatisfied with thenation’s direction, 56 percent of theestimated 2.75 million American Mus-lims said they are satisfied, the surveyshowed. Seven out of 10 view Presi-dent Barack Obama’s tenure favor-ably.

“On a variety of measures, Muslimsin America are very content with theirown lives and with the communitieswhere they live,” Pew researcher GregSmith said in an interview.

Four out of five Muslim Americanssurveyed were satisfied with the waythings are going in their lives andrated their communities very positive-ly as places to live.

“We’ve seen Muslims move in a dif-ferent direction than the rest of thecountry (with more) believing Ameri-ca is going in the right direction,”Smith said.

Only 6 percent of Muslims in the

survey of slightly more than 1,000surveyed by telephone between Apriland July said they there is a great dealof support for Islamic extremism inMuslim-American communities.Another 15 percent said there is a fairamount of support among U.S. Mus-lims of extremism.

Among the general public, four in10 believe extremism is supported inthe Muslim American community,researchers said.

Pew last surveyed American Mus-lims in 2007, and researchers com-pared their attitudes in light of vari-ous disputes over mosque building,attacks on Muslims and mosques, aheating up of the U.S.-led war inAfghanistan and hearings in the U.S.Congress about the threat of home-grown Muslim terrorism.

Since 2007, there has been littlechange in how Muslim Americans seehow they are viewed by the rest ofAmerica, with 28 percent saying otherAmericans viewed them suspiciouslyand 22 percent saying they had beencalled offensive names. Only 6 percentsaid they had been threatened orattacked, while 38 percent were both-ered by their sense that they were sin-gled out for increased governmentsurveillance.

In response to questions aboutbeing a Muslim in the United Statessince the September 11 attacks, 55percent said it is more difficult while37 percent saw no change.

Two-thirds of those survey said thequality of life for Muslims in the Unit-ed States is better than in most Mus-lim countries.

In 2007 only one-quarter of MuslimAmericans believed the U.S.-led waron terrorism was sincere, while 43percent surveyed this year believedthe effort was sincere.

The survey found nearly seven in10 Muslim Americans said the Mus-lim community is cooperating to theextent it should with U.S. law enforce-ment — an issue raised in congres-sional hearings. However, only one-third said U.S. Muslim leaders hadspoken out sufficiently againstextremism.

Muslim American attitudes towardterror attacks and al Qaeda had notchanged much in four years, with 81percent saying suicide bombings andother violence against civilians todefend Islam were never justified,with 1 percent saying it was often jus-tified.

Only 5 percent had a somewhat orvery favorable view of al Qaeda, with agrowing majority of 70 percent hold-ing very unfavorable views of thegroup.

The general level of satisfactionamong American Muslims was reflect-ed in the 76 percent who approved ofObama’s performance as president —nine out of 10 said they voted for theDemocrat in 2008. Muslim support forObama contrasts with unfavorableviews of his Republican predecessor,George Bush.

There are an estimated 1.8 millionMuslim adults in the United States,including U.S.-born converts, a300,000 increase since 2007. Two-thirds were born in other countries.

The survey had an error margin of5 percentage points.

Most American Muslims aresatisfied Obama backers

By JAMES B.KELLEHER

DETROIT — Former DetroitMayor Kwame Kilpatrick will bebarred from profiting from the sale ofhis memoirs, a court ruled on Tues-day, until he pays off nearly$900,000 in restitution he still owesunder his 2008 conviction on obstruc-tion of justice and perjury charges.

Kilpatrick, released from stateprison earlier this month after serv-ing nearly 14 months for violatingthe terms of his probation, had askedthe Michigan Court of Appeals tothrow out a lower court’s order estab-lishing an escrow account for profitsfrom the memoir.

But a three-judge panel rejectedKilpatrick’s request, saying it lackedmerit.

Under a plea deal he reached withstate prosecutors in 2008, Kilpatrickresigned as mayor, spent fourmonths in jail, surrendered his lawlicense and agreed to pay about $1million in restitution.

He was sent back to prison lastyear, after a judge ruled he had vio-lated the terms of his probation byfailing to report his assets and paythe restitution.

Kilpatrick, 41, still faces multiplefederal charges after a grand jurylast year indicted him on fraud andtax charges, alleging he used a non-profit fund for cash kickbacks, politi-cal campaigns and personal expens-es.

Those personal expenses includedyoga and golf lessons, summer campfor his children, college tuition forrelatives and a crisis manager to bur-nish his image after public disclosure

of text messages of a sexual nature,according to the federal indictment.

In December, federal prosecutorsexpanded the charges against Kil-patrick to include bid-rigging,bribery, extortion and other offensesinvolving city sewer, water and con-struction deals.

His father Bernard Kilpatrick,friend and contractor Bobby Fergu-son, and two aides also were chargedfor what prosecutors called a “wide-ranging and sweeping pattern” ofabuse.

The charges included attempts tosteer business toward Fergusonincluding demolition of Tiger Stadi-um and the renovation of the BookCadillac Hotel, two of the most notedconstruction projects in Detroit overthe past decade.

The federal trial has been sched-uled for September 2012.

New York police allege a man pos-ing as a law enforcement official triedto get people to evacuate before Hur-ricane Irene so houses could later beburglarized.

Authorities said Daniel DiGianni,46, a former city correction officer,and his girlfriend, Linda Fleshner,28, were walking along LibertyAvenue on Staten Island between 3and 4 p.m. Sunday, wearing fakebadges around their necks and iden-tifying themselves to residents as

“corrections officers.”Authorities allege they informed

residents they were in an evacuationzone and had to leave their homes.

Police said they believe DiGianniand Fleshner had burglary in mind.

“That’s what we feel,” an NYPDsource told the Staten IslandAdvance. “They wanted to know whowas evacuating [their homes] andwho wasn’t. So they were trying totake a tally of who was and who was-n’t.”

DiGianni’s gold badge read “NewYork City Authority” and he was car-rying handcuffs. Fleshner wore a sil-ver corrections shield that hadbelonged to DiGianni.

DiGianni was hired as a city cor-rection officer in 1995 but dismissedin 1997 due to unspecified chargesagainst him, corrections departmentspokeswoman Sharman Stein said.

DiGianni and Fleshner werecharged with misdemeanor criminalimpersonation.

Court bars former Detroit mayor from pocketing memoir profits

Police impersonators made Hurricane Irene warnings

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011 3� � � � �

By ANDY SULLIVAN

WASHINGTON — Washington’snever-ending budget battle threat-ened to snarl the recovery from Hur-ricane Irene as a top Republican saidon Monday that any federal aid willhave to be offset by spending cutselsewhere.

“Yes there’s a federal role, yeswe’re going to find the money. We’rejust going to make sure that thereare savings elsewhere,” Representa-tive Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republi-can in the House of Representatives,told Fox News.

Democrats who oversee disasterfunding in the Senate said theywon’t cut other programs to boostemergency aid.

“It makes no sense to cut pro-grams that help respond to futuredisasters in order to pay for emer-gencies that have already occurred,”Democratic Senator Mary Landrieusaid in a prepared statement.

Irene killed at least 21 people andcaused substantial property damagefrom North Carolina to Vermontover the weekend. Cantor’s Virginiadistrict was among the areas hit bythe storm, and was the epicenter ofan earthquake last week.

Obama administration officials

said they had no estimate of the stor-m’s cost and were still assessing thedamage, but other elected officialsand companies have indicated it willlikely amount to billions of dollars.

The administration will likelyhave to ask Congress for additionalfunding at a time when lawmakersare debating further budget cuts.

The Federal Emergency Manage-ment Agency has suspended fund-ing for some rebuilding programsfrom earlier disasters to ensure thatits disaster-relief fund will not runout of money, according to agencyadministrator Craig Fugate.

FEMA currently has $972 millionin the fund, according to congres-sional Republicans.

President Barack Obama hassigned declarations committing thefederal government to helping statesfrom North Carolina to New Hamp-shire cover disaster-response costs.

Obama also approved federalfunding for individuals in PuertoRico who were affected by the storm.People in other storm-ravaged areascould become eligible for federalmoney once damage assessmentsare completed, Fugate said.

“Once we know how much impactIrene will have we’ll have a bettersense of what assistance we may

need,” Fugate said on a conferencecall.

This year has been one of the mostextreme for weather in U.S. history,with $35 billion in losses so far fromfloods, tornadoes and heat waves.

FEMA has struggled to fundthese recovery efforts, warning law-makers that its disaster-relief fundis running low.

The Republican-controlled Housepassed a bill in June that would giveFEMA an additional $1 billion in dis-aster-relief funds for the current fis-cal year, which ends September 30,as well as $2.65 billion for the com-ing fiscal year.

But that bill would require theWhite House to cut other govern-ment programs if it needed moremoney for disaster relief — a provi-sion the administration has said itwould ignore.

Landrieu said her Senate Home-land Security appropriations sub-committee will hold a vote on its own

funding bill on September 6, the dayCongress returns from its Augustrecess. That bill will differ substan-tially from the House-passed ver-sion, her staff indicated.

Cantor and other Republicanshave made spending cuts a top pri-ority since taking control of theHouse in November 2010 in a bid tobring trillion-dollar budget deficitsunder control. Budget battlespushed the government to the brinkof a shutdown in April and to theedge of a first-ever default inAugust.

Republicans have not in the pastbeen reluctant to approve disaster-relief money free from normal bud-get constraints.

After Hurricane Katrina devastat-ed New Orleans and much of thesurrounding region in 2005, theRepublican-controlled Congressapproved $81.6 billion as “emer-gency spending” outside of the nor-mal budget process.

Irene costs restart Washington budget battle

MINNEAPOLIS — PresidentObama praised the “9/11 generation”of military veterans Tuesday andvowed the federal governmentwouldn’t abandon those who served.

“These men and women succeededtogether as one American team,”Obama said in a speech before theAmerican Legion National Conven-tion in Minneapolis. “In a decade ofwar, they’ve borne an extraordinaryburden.”

Obama honored the more than6,000 Americans in uniform whodied in wars since the terroristattacks on the United States Sept.11, 2001.

The president listed military suc-cesses and said credit for thembelongs “to all those who wore theuniform in the 9/11 generation.”

“Thanks to these Americans,we’re moving forward from a posi-tion of strength,” he said.

The audience applauded loudlywhen he spoke of U.S. troops “deliv-ering justice” to al-Qaida leaderOsama bin Laden, who was killed ina Navy SEALS operation in May.

Americans can look to veteransfrom all wars for strength as thecountry navigates through toughtimes today, the commander in chiefsaid.

“Americans have been throughtough times before,” Obama told vet-erans. “We didn’t just get throughthem, we emerged stronger thanbefore. In times like these, all Amer-icans can draw strength from yourexample.”

Balancing the budget would not

be done “on backs of our veterans.As commander in chief I will notallow it,” Obama said.

He reiterated his commitment tohonor his responsibility to assistmilitary veterans, whether throughmore efficiently processing claims,making available more mentalhealth services or finding vets inneed a home or a job or both.

“These are the obligations wehave. These are responsibilities wemust fulfill, not just when it’s easy… but always,” he said.

“No matter when you serve, nomatter how many years ago youtook off your uniform … Americawill never leave your side,” Obamatold veterans. “America will neverforget. We will always be grateful toyou.”

Obama praises ‘9/11 generation’ of vets

WASHINGTON — U.S. govern-ment officials have received detailedguidelines from the White House onhow to commemorate the upcoming10th anniversary of the Sept. 11attacks.

They call for honoring the memo-ry of those who died on Americansoil but also remembering thatattacks by al-Qaida and extremistgroups have occurred in many othercountries, The New York Timesreported Tuesday.

“The important theme is to showthe world how much we realize that9/11—the attacks themselves andviolent extremism writ large — isnot “just about us,” said one U.S.official who spoke on condition ofanonymity.

Copies of the guidelines were pro-vided to the Times by officials in sev-eral agencies involved in planningthe commemorations.

One set is framed for overseasallies and their citizens, anotherincludes themes for Americans.

One significant theme in both setsof documents is that Americansmust be prepared for another attackand must be resilient in recoveringfrom the loss.

Resilience is a repeated theme ofthe communications.

“It’s a statement of strength thatthe United States can outlast ouradversaries,” said Benjamin J.Rhodes, deputy national securityadviser. “We’re stronger than theterrorists’ ability to frighten us.”

WASHINGTON — Privacy advo-cates say new laws and technologiesallow the U.S. government to eaves-drop on Americans as it never couldbefore the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“It used to bethe case that ifthe govern-ment wantedto find outwhat you readand what youwrote, it wouldhave to get awarrant andsearch yourhome,” saidDaniel J.Solove, a lawprofessor atGeorge Wash-ington Universityand author of books on privacy law.

Solove told the Los Angeles Timesin an article published Tuesday thatnow “it just obtains your Amazonpurchase records, your Facebookposts, your Internet browsing histo-

ry — without you even knowing.”U.S. intelligence officials say the

government’s new surveillance pow-ers have been crucial to stopping ter-rorist plots but privacy advocates

disagree.They argue

the new sys-tems have actu-ally weakenedsecurity byburying inves-tigators ini r r e l e v a n tinformation.

“We arecaught in themiddle of a per-fect storm inwhich everythought we

c ommun i c a t e ,every step we take, every transactionwe enter into is captured in digitaldata and is subject to governmentcollection,” said Fred H. Cate, a pro-fessor at the Indiana UniversityMaurer School of Law.

White House directs Sept. 11 tributes

New laws allow more eavesdropping

4 DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011

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By GEORGE E.CURRY

If there was ever any lin-gering doubt that Republicansfavor the rich over poor andmiddle-class Americans, itshould be removed by theGOP’s opposition to PresidentObama’s proposal to extendthe payroll tax cut for anotheryear.Let’s face it: Republicans

oppose almost everythingadvocated by the nation’s firstBlack president. And Republi-can leaders have made it clearthat their top priority isdefeating Obama in 2012,even if that means wreckingthe country in the process.Whether it was coming up

with a budget compromise last

December or the most recentround of deficit haggling,Republicans have adamantlyrefused to roll back the taxrate for the wealthiest 2 per-cent of Americans to the pre-George W. Bush level. Thatmove alone would cut the fed-eral deficit by half. GOP lead-ers also refuse to close taxloopholes that allow some U.S.companies to pay little or nofederal taxes.Last year, Congress

approved President Obama’s1-year plan to reduce theshare of payroll taxes desig-nated for Social Security from6.2 percent to 4.2 percent.Now, Obama is proposingadding another year, a movethat would affect 46 percent ofall taxpayers, saving the aver-age family $1,000.

But Republicans, who, untilnow, had never met a tax cutthey didn’t like, are balking.Republican Sen. Lamar

Alexander of Tennessee said:“We don’t need short-termgestures. We need long-termfundamental changes in ourtax structure and our regula-tory structure that people whocreate jobs can rely on.”A spokesman for another

Republican, Eric Cantor, toldthe Associated Press, that theHouse majority leader “hasnever believed that this tempo-rary tax relief is the best wayto grow the economy.”Republicans are conve-

niently ignoring the fact thatthe Bush tax cuts, enacted in2001 and 2003, were sup-

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All God’s children

Republicans contradict themselves on Texans

Continued on page 5

5DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011� � � � �

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posed to be temporary. When theywere set to expire, both Republi-cans and President Obama extend-ed them.

When he was a candidate, Obamapledged to end the Bush tax cutsfor the top 2 percent of taxpayers –individuals earning at least$200,000 a year and couples mak-ing $250,000 or more. Under pres-sure from Republicans, however,Obama agreed last December toextend the cuts.

According to Citizens for TaxJustice, 52.5 percent of the Bushtax cuts benefit the richest 5 per-cent of taxpayers.

David Stockman, the budgetdirector in the Reagan administra-tion, called for letting the Bush taxcuts expire and said the rich aregetting richer while the poor aregetting poorer. In an interviewwith 60 Minutes, he said: “In 1985,the top 5 percent of the households,the wealthiest 5 percent, had a networth of 8 trillion dollars, which isa lot. Today, after serial bubbleafter serial bubble, the top 5 per-cent have a net worth of 40 tril-lion.”

Republican National ChairmanEd Gillespie defends the GOP’sdefense of the wealthy by contend-ing that 80 percent of the tax reliefto the rich goes to job-creatingsmall businesses. FactCheck.orgdebunks that myth.

“It may be true that 79% ofupper-income taxpayers have someincome from business, but Gille-spie’s definition of ‘small’ businessactually includes big accountingfirms, law firms and real-estatepartnerships, and ‘businesses’ thatare really only sidelines – such as

occasional rental income from acorporate chief’s condo,” it said. “Infact, tax statistics show that upper-income taxpayers get more of theirincome from salaries, capital gains,stock dividends and interest thanthey do from small business.”

The Tax Policy Center found thatslightly more than 22 percent ofincome reported by the wealthywill be derived from businessincome.

According to the CongressionalBudget Office, providing tax cutsto the wealthy is the least effectiveway to stimulate the economybecause rich people are more likelyto save the money. A more effectiveway to encourage spending is byplacing money in the hands of poorand middle-class citizens, peoplemore likely to spend the funds.

And that’s exactly what Presi-dent Obama seeks to do by extend-ing the payroll tax cut, whichwould benefit almost half of allAmericans. If it is not extended, itwill expire Jan. 1.

Social Security payroll taxesapply only to the first $106,800 ofwages. Many people are unawarethat the rate was reduced by 2 per-cent last year because they pay lit-tle attention to their pay stubs. Theemployer’s share was not reducedfrom its rate of 12.4 percent foreach worker.

Many Republicans have putthemselves in a box by pledging tonever raise taxes. Over the past 25years, Grover Norquist, presidentof the conservative Americans forTax Reform, has encouragedRepublicans to sign a pledge thatthey won’t raise taxes. More than200 members of Congress havesigned that pledge.

Republicans have voted againstletting the Bush tax cuts expirebecause, according to their reason-ing, that would amount to a taxincrease. Many of those sameRepublicans, however, object toextending the payroll tax cut pro-posed by Obama. It shows how farRepublicans are willing to go to

protect the wealthy, to opposeObama, and to be insensitive to thepoor and middle-class.

— George E. Curry, former edi-tor-in-chief of Emerge magazineand the NNPA News Service, is akeynote speaker, moderator, andmedia coach. He can be reachedthrough his Web site,www.georgecurry.com. You canalso follow him atwww.twitter.com/currygeorge.

Continued from page 4

Republicans contradict themselves

By DR. JOHN E.WARREN

SPECIAL TO THE NNPAFROM THE SAN DIEGOVOICE & VIEWPOINT

Appropriately 126 years ago, thefirst Labor Day holiday was estab-lished to honor American workersand their place and importance inour society. It was set aside as a timefor parades and celebrations. It wasa time to honor workers, no matterwhat area of labor.

In the last 60 years, this holidayhas also become a time for politiciansto knick off their fall campaignswith speeches and appearances atcivic events; but now, how thingshave changed.

While the nation’s unemploymentrate appears to be stuck at approxi-mately 10 percent, officially, it ismore than 16 percent for AfricanAmerican adults, and nearly 50 per-cent for African American youth

between 16 and 21.For what may be the first time in

this nation, with such high unem-ployment there is no national policy,legislation or proposed program tocreate jobs, as of this writing.

This lack of a jobs initiativeappears to be a part of the Republi-can plan to cripple and wipe outgains made by organized labor,which represents the last potentialthreat to the idea of helping thisnation’s poor and unemployed at theexpense of the wealthy.

This is not a time for celebration,when one considers that more than40 years ago this nation adopted aFull Employment Policy under theHumphrey/ Hawkins Full Employ-ment Act. No one appears to remem-ber this, including Organized Labor.

That policy set triggers for unem-ployment assistance to areas of highunemployment, since all of the coun-try was not affected equally.

The difference between then andnow is that 40 years ago Americastill had a conscience and concern

for neighbors and fellow citizenswhether poor or middle class.Today, the Tea Party and its Repub-lican supporters are hiding behind afalse concern for this nation’s debt,while seeking to protect the wealthof the rich by fighting tax increasesand protecting their tax brakes at allcost—regardless of who is hurt.

The greatest fight for OrganizedLabor is no longer for pay raises, butthe keeping of jobs for those who areemployed, while fighting not to losehealth benefits and future retire-ment for those younger workersentering the workforce.

Labor must educate its new gener-ation of Public Employees to thestruggles and accomplishments ofthe Labor movement during the last50 year. The struggle now is toobtain Collective Bargaining understate by state attack by the Tea Partyand its Republican legislative advo-cates. African Americans in particu-lar should not forget the strugglesof A. Philip Randolph and the Sleep-ing Car Porters who had to fight for

human dignity in their work placeas well as wages.

Today, the so called “playingfield” is still not level when one con-siders the disparity in wages thatcontinues between men and womenand between Blacks and Whites inparticular. While other ethnicgroups like Latinos and Asians haveentered the picture, disproportionaterepresentation of Blacks still exist inthe Trade and Construction indus-tries; imported workers are takingjobs that many Americans refuse todo, even in this period of high unem-ployment. A number of unemployedpeople must come to grips with thedifference between a job and a posi-tion.

Yes, this Labor Day is not one forcelebration. Rather, it is a day forreflection, observance and a recom-mitment to developing strategiesthat will provide jobs for our ownunemployed, before exporting jobsor importing workers for existingtechnical jobs.

Truly the struggle continues.

This Labor Day must be more than a holiday

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By DALE K. DUPONT

MIAMI — The nation’s eighthlargest jail system in Miami-DadeCounty has used excessive force oninmates and given them inadequatemedical care, results of a federalinvestigation showed on Monday.

The U.S. Department of Justicereleased the findings on Monday aftera three-year probe into the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabil-itation Department, which houses anaverage of 7,000 inmates.

“Prisoners have suffered grievousharm, including death,” said ThomasE. Perez, assistant attorney generalfor the civil rights division. “The sys-temic failures of the jail facilities haveresulted in prisoners living in inhu-mane and shocking conditions.”

The Justice Department said thejail system was “deliberately indiffer-ent to the suicide risks and seriousmental health needs” of inmates. Atleast eight have committed suicidesince 2007, officials said.

The probe also found that officersused excessive force, openly engaging

“in abusive and retaliatory conduct,which frequently causes injuries.”

The department did not provideadequate care to mentally ill prisonersand instead relied inappropriately onmedication without considering diag-noses or treatment plans, the investi-gation showed.

The probe concluded that the sys-tem was indifferent to serious medicalneeds of inmates, who wait weeks ormonths for care from HIV, cardiologyand neurology doctors, while provid-ing inadequate initial health screen-ings.

Since 2008, at least five prisonershave died after not being treated fordrug or alcohol withdrawal, the find-ings showed.

The investigation also cited unac-ceptable fire and safety systems at thejail and sanitation problems includinginadequate laundry, housekeepingand pest control.

During one visit to a medical clinic,investigators found bags of biohaz-ardous materials and trash stored in

hallways unsecured and unattended.“The isolation cells in the clinic werefilthy,” the findings showed.

The government made a number ofrecommendations for improvementsand said if conditions don’t change, itmay sue the county under the CivilRights of Institutionalized PersonsAct.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenezsaid in a statement he was deeply con-cerned about the findings and wouldreview what progress had been madeto deal with the problems identified.

Jackson Health System, which pro-vides medical services at the county’ssix jails, said it was working with thecounty to address issues in the report.The mayor and Jackson Health offi-cials said they were cooperating withinvestigators.

“Many changes have already beenimplemented since the DOJ site visitsin 2008 and 2009, and our proposedbudget for the coming year wouldaddress many others,” the healthprovider said.

Miami-Dade County jails cited for ‘shocking conditions’

By ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jack-son’s dermatologist will not testifyin the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray(right), a judge ruled on Monday, ina blow to defense plans to portraythe singer as a drug addict who mayhave given himself the substancethat caused his death.

Los Angeles Superior CourtJudge Michael Pastor also barredwitnesses in the case from testifyingabout Jackson’s 2005 trial andacquittal on child molestationcharges.

Murray’s involuntarymanslaughter trial is slated to beginnext month over the “Thriller”singer’s June 25, 2009, death fromwhat authorities said was an over-dose of the powerful anestheticpropofol and other drugs.

Murray has admitted givingJackson, 50, propofol as a sleep aid,even though it is normally used in ahospital setting. Murray’s lawyershave suggested the pop star couldhave given himself a further dosewhen his physician was out of theroom.

In court papers, Murray’s attor-neys said they wanted to call Jack-son’s longtime dermatologist, Dr.Arnold Klein, to the witness stand.

The papers said Klein gave fre-quent injections of the painkillerDemerol to Jackson for “no validmedical purpose” and that “Jacksonbecame physiologically and psycho-logically dependent on Demerol.”

“I do not think it is relevant,” Pas-tor ruled on Monday. Pastor alsobarred the testimony of five otherdoctors, but said he would allowdefense attorneys to call two otherphysicians — Allen Metzger andDavid Adams.

Murray was hired as the singerprepared for a series of comebackconcerts which had been scheduledto begin in London in July 2009.

The defense contends that Adamstold police Jackson was so familiarwith propofol that he called it“milk.”

Metzger had treated Jackson fortwo decades, and as recently as twomonths before the singer’s death,Jackson had asked Metzger forintravenous sleep medicine, thecourt papers from defense attorneyssaid.

Prosecutors told the judge onMonday that Metzger had turneddown Jackson’s request.

Pastor on Monday also refused arequest by the defense to bring up a2003 raid of the singer’s NeverlandRanch in California, in whichdefense attorneys said propofol andDemerol were found.

Murray’s team had said in courtpapers that they did not plan to referto the child molestation charges onwhich Jackson was later acquitted.

Pastor said testimony about theNeverland raid would be “irrelevant”and that it “proves absolutely noth-ing” involving Jackson’s 2009death.

Murray has pleaded not guilty toinvoluntary manslaughter. He facesup to four years in prison if convict-ed.

Jury selection in the case is due tobegin on September 8 and openingarguments are set for September 27.

By LAUREN KEIPER

BOSTON — A relative of Presi-dent Barack Obama was arrestedlast week outside Boston oncharges of drunk driving, aspokesman for his lawyer said.

Onyango Obama, 67, of Fram-ingham, Massachusetts, wasarrested last Wednesday andcharged with operating a vehicleunder the influence of alcohol, fail-ure to yield at an intersection andnegligent operation of a motorvehicle, said Cara O’Brien, aspokeswoman for the MiddlesexDistrict Attorney’s office.

Onyango Obama is a half-brotherof President Obama’s father, anadministration official confirmed.

Onyango Obama pleaded notguilty on Thursday in Framing-

ham District Court and wasreleased on personal recognizance,O’Brien said, but he was being heldon a U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement detainer.

He hired Ohio immigration attor-ney Margaret Wong, the samelawyer used by his younger sister,Zeituni Onyango, said Wongspokesman Mike Rogers.

Zeituni Onyango was grantedasylum last year by a Boston judge,putting the Kenyan woman on thepath to citizenship.

Rogers said Onyango Obamawas released from a Massachusettsjail on Monday and was beingsupervised at an undisclosed loca-tion until reporting back to immi-gration officials on Tuesday.

Immigration and CustomsEnforcement in Washington had noimmediate comment on the report.

WASHINGTON — The Obamaadministration on Tuesday rolledback a proposal requiring states andlocal governments to replace streetsigns that did not comply with newsafety standards.

The change is part of the adminis-tration’s effort to reduce what it callsburdensome regulations but also fol-lowed criticism from officials in atleast two states.

This one would cost municipalitiesmillions to update signs by 2018.

“It’s just plain common sense,”Transportation Secretary Ray

LaHood said in a statement on theproposal to eliminate 46 deadlinesmandated by federal traffic controlregulations.

Transportation planners stillfavor street signs with larger letter-ing and improved reflectivity, buthave concluded that the deadlines forupgrades are impractical.

LaHood’s agency will, however,retain 12 deadlines changes consid-ered critical for public safety, includ-ing One Way signs at certain inter-sections and Stop or Yield markers atrail crossings.

Relative of President Obamaarrested in Massachusetts

U.S. rolls back rule requiringstreet sign changes

Judge bars testimony fromlongtime Jackson doctor

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011 7

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AFRICAN SCENE8

Flooding in southwest Nigeria kills 102 people

LAGOS, Nigeria - The Nigerian RedCross says flash flooding in the country’ssouthwest this week has killed at least 102people.

Umar Mairiga, a Red Cross spokesman, saidWednesday that the flooding was mostly in Oyostate, where homes washed away and people diedtrapped inside their homes earlier this week.Mairiga said it took time to have a proper casualtyfigure as water levels in some areas remain high asseasonal rains continue throughout Africa’s mostpopulous nation.

Last year, some 500,000 people were displacednationwide by floods in Nigeria. Nigeria’s rainyseason lasts roughly from June to September.

Nigeria’s emergency agency had warned thatrains will be heavier this year than last year.

Zimbabwe PM warnsagainst ‘another Ivory Coast’

Zimbabwe PrimeMinisterMorgan Tsvangirai onWednesday urgedNigeria and the African Union tohelp ensure his country does not become “anotherIvory Coast” amid disagreement over upcomingelections.

Tsvangirai made the comments to journalistsafter meeting with Nigerian President GoodluckJonathan here.

“I am just updating him so that they can play amore active role in ensuring that we can go to theelections next year hopefully in a free and fairman-ner so that we put a closure to the dispute inZimbabwe,” he said.

“I was requesting President Jonathan to play amuch more active role. Nigeria and the brother AUmust be involved actively in support of the SADCinitiative, but also to ensure that we don’t have arepeat of another Ivory Coast.”

SADC is the Southern African DevelopmentCommunity.

Zimbabwe’s longtime leader Robert Mugabe andTsvangirai share power as president and primeminister in a tense unity government formed undera SADC-brokered deal after a flawed 2008 votewhich pushed the country into crisis.

The pair have disagreed on a date for new polls,with Mugabe insisting on this year whileTsvangirai wants reforms first.

November elections in Ivory Coast led to a five-month standoff and two weeks of full-out warsparked by Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to concede toAlassane Ouattara.

S.Africa unveils new land reform draft policySouth Africa aims to restrict private and foreign

land ownership in a new draft reform policyreleased Wednesday that aims to overhaul laggingefforts to transfer farms to the black majority.

The 11-page draft sets out the state’s vision totransform land ownership patterns — still skewed17 years after the end of apartheid — and will laythe basis for future legislation.

AFRICAN SCENE

The IMF onWednesday gavec a s h - s t r a p p e dSwaziland a firmthumbs-down on itsfiscal reform pro-gramme, effectivelydashing KingMswati III’s hopesof accessing inter-national loans.

An InternationalMonetary Fund delega-tion closed out a two-week visit to the smallsouthern African king-dom with a harshappraisal of the govern-ment’s progress on get-ting its finances inorder — the IMF’s thirdnegative assessment ina year.

“Expenditure over-runs and lack of financ-ing have led to the non-observance of severaltargets under the staff-monitored pro-gramme,” said the headof the IMF’s mission toSwaziland, JoannesMongardini, in a state-ment.

The negative report

represents a failure fora six-month IMF moni-toring programme thathoped to bring aboutreform in Africa’s lastabsolute monarchy andhelp it cope with afinancial melt-downthat has seen the gov-ernment nearly run outof cash.

The most importantmissed targets relate tothe country’s soaringgovernment deficit —which stands at morethan 14 percent of totaleconomic output — andits failure to curbspending on social pro-grammes like healthand education.

The IMF also sharplycriticised Swaziland’spublic wage bill, one ofthe continent’s highestat 51 percent of recur-rent spending in thegovernment’s annualbudget.

Mswati’s cabinet hasbeen reluctant to forcethrough salary cutsrecommended by theIMF after fierce resist-ance by trade unions

and a series of massdemonstrations by pub-lic-sector workers earli-er this year.

Without the IMF’sblessing, internationallenders like the WorldBank and AfricanDevelopment Bank areunlikely to extendloans to Swaziland.

Although IMF rec-ommendations — called“letters of comfort” —are not binding, inter-national lenders arereluctant to make loanswithout them.

The AfricanDevelopment Bank waspoised to loanSwaziland $150 million(104 million euros) inJune, but decided not togo ahead after a nega-tive review from theIMF.

Swaziland has beenborrowing from its owncentral bank to pay forthe day-to-day runningof the country since asudden drop in earn-ings from the regionalSouthern AfricanCustoms Union (SACU),

previously the govern-ment’s main source ofincome.

The global recessionsaw Swaziland losemore than half its earn-ings from SACU, spark-ing a severe financialcrisis.

Foreign reservescurrently stand at 2.2months of import cover— below the threemonths recommendedby the IMF.

The IMF warns thehole in Swaziland’sreserves could threatenthe kingdom’s curren-cy, lilangeni, currentlypegged to neighbour-ing South Africa’srand.

“Preserving the pari-ty with the SouthAfrican rand is ofutmost priority,” saidMongardini, urginggovernment to “stopborrowing from thecentral bank and repaythe outstanding emer-gency credit line fromthe central bank at theearliest possible con-venience.”

IMF review slamscrisis-hit Swaziland

A former Kenyanminister faces awar crimes courthearing Thursdayto determinewhether he andother officialsshould stand trialfor mastermindinghis country’s dead-ly post-election vio-lence in 2007-08.

A potential presiden-tial candidate in 2012,

William Ruto is due toappear at theInternational CriminalCourt with two otherofficials, two days afterthe court deniedKenya’s appeal to havethe cases declared inad-missable.

Ruto, who served asagriculture and then ashigher education min-ister, faces charges ofcrimes against human-ity along with formerindustrialisation min-

ister Henry Kosgeyand radio executiveJoshua arap Sang inthe dock.

All three men sup-ported then oppositioncandidate RailaOdinga, now Kenya’sprime minister, in thedisputed December2007 polls. While free,they are currently sub-jected to subpoenas.

The hearings, dur-ing which prosecutorswill try to convince the

court they haveenough evidence to goto trial, are scheduledto run until September12.

Defence lawyershave presented a list of48 witnesses.

A second set of hear-ings will begin onSeptember 21 for threeother former officials,including UhuruKenyatta, son ofKenya’s founding pres-ident and the country’s

Kenyan ex-minister faces war crime hearings

9DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011


CARIBBEAN NEWS1

By JUANMCCARTNEY

N A S S A U ,Bahamas — Afterviewing the wreck-age left byHurricane Irenelast week, PrimeMinister HubertIngraham pledgedto help Bahamiansin need to rebuildtheir homes andprovide for theirfamilies.

“There will be fullassessments by theDepartment of SocialServices and theMinistry of Works andothers to determine theextent of the damage,”Ingraham toldreporters at the airportin Arthur’s Town, CatIsland on Saturday,when asked what helpthose impacted by thestorm could expect.“Decisions will be basedon need and income. Soif my house gotdestroyed, the govern-ment would not provideme with any assistance.But if somebody whodoesn’t have the meansto repair their house orto rebuild it [had theirhouse been damaged],the government willprovide assistance. It’sa fairly objective stan-dard and yardstick andit applies across the

board and that’s whatwill happen.”

During the weekend,Ingraham went on aeri-al tours of severalFamily Islands mostimpacted by theCategory 2 cyclone,which left a trail ofdestruction in its wake.

Referring to the com-munity of Lovely Bay,Acklins where the dam-age was initially report-ed to be the most severe,Ingraham said the situ-ation was not as dire asreported, but the peopleof Acklins “clearlyrequire help.”

“Acklins is a placethat has a population of600 people,” the primeminister explained.“More than 10 percentof the people on Acklinsare on the govern-ment’s regular foodstamp [program] - 68out of 600. We providelunches for 174 chil-

dren. Today we are car-rying food and water toAcklins. It’s a part ofThe Bahamas that weare very sensitive to itsneeds.

“We understand thatthere will be anxiety onthe part of some for thegovernment to provideeven more assistance,and we will do what wecan.”

The prime ministeralso said that officialsfrom Jamaica took foodand water intoMayaguana onSaturday.

Regarding the exag-gerated reports of dam-age in Lovely Bay, theprime minister said it isdifficult to control theflow of informationduring disasters.

“There’s no place inThe Bahamas that’sdevastated - anywhere,”he said emphatically.“One of the things

about disasters is thatrumours spread andpeople pile on, etc. Andthen others accept thatbecause you don’texpect people to bemaking up stories dur-ing the course of thedisaster. There’s nofoolproof guaranteeagainst [inaccurateinformation]. The greatUnited States ofAmerica, they have adisaster and then youhave all sorts of wordsbeing spread with allsorts of communica-tion.”

Ingraham said henever accepted as factthe report from theisland administratorthat Lovely Bay was 90percent destroyed.

“All of the evidence Igot from talking to peo-ple up there did notsupport it,” he said.“There’s no way tochange that now. Thatis a view that is held bymany.”

Ingraham said onlytwo houses weredestroyed in LovelyBay, where about 150people live. He admittedthat other houses werealso damaged.

The prime ministersaid he started off hisaerial tour in Cat Islandbecause of the extent ofthe damage to theisland’s utility infra-structure.

Bahamas ElectricityCorporation (BEC) gen-eral manager KevinBasden estimated thatmore than 50 utilitypoles had been rendereduseless on Cat Island as

a result of HurricaneIrene.

Prime MinisterIngraham said it mightbe a while before BECcan restore the electrici-ty supply on Cat Island.

“I’m not sure theextent to which BEC isable to be responsive tothe restoration effortshere in Cat Islandbecause of the mam-moth task it’s got allover The Bahamas,” hesaid. “But we are part ofCARILEC (theCaribbean ElectricUtility ServiceCorporation). We havehad some of their mencome in before to helpwith restoration onFamily Islands - afterFloyd for instance - andwe’re probably going toask them to do so today(Saturday).”

National EmergencyManagement Agencydirector CaptainStephen Russell, whoheaded teams conduct-ing initial situationoverviews over theweekend, said sevenislands have been “trulyimpacted.”

He did not list theislands he was refer-ring to but Abaco,Acklins, CrookedIsland, Cat Island,Eleuthera, Exuma,Long Island,Mayaguana and NewProvidence were allimpacted by HurricaneIrene.

However, Russellsaid that restoring util-ities to Cat Island andAcklins are top priori-ties.

“Officials from BECand (the BahamasTelecommunicationsCompany) have startedtheir ground work interms of trying torestore some of thesedowned utility lines,”said Russell on theground in Cat Island onSaturday.

“Wherever help isneeded, BEC will tapinto our regional part-ners and similarly BTChas partners who cancome in and assist themin terms of linesmen tohelp them restore thedowned lines in all ofthe communitiesthroughout TheBahamas; that is ouraim over the course ofthe next two weeks.”

Basden, who wasalso part of the initialsituation overviewteam, said that thesouthern end of CatIsland was hit muchworse than the north-ern end.

“We have a numberof poles that are downand lines that need to berepaired. Obviously wewould need to shipadditional inventory interms of poles, over-head conductors andother materials, alongwith some heavy dutyequipment to be able toexpedite repairs,” saidBasden.

“Our approach wouldbe to gradually restoresupply, simply by iso-lating where we canand putting it in onesection at a time interms of the restorationprocess.”

Bahamas government to help residents rebuild

An aerial view of the damage sustained byColonel Hill High School on Crooked Islandduring the passage of Hurrincane Irene lastweek.

Photo: Tony Grant Jr.

PORT OF SPAIN,Trinidad — PrimeMinister KamlaPersad-Bissessarsays intelligencewill guide any con-sideration toreduce the curfewhours as has beenrequested by thebusiness communi-ty as well as for theextension of thecurfew to otherparts of Trinidadand Tobago.

She was speaking tothe media on Sundayevening during abreak from a meetingwith the NationalSecurity Council andministers when she

was being updated onthe last week of activi-ties during the state ofemergency.

On the request bymembers of the busi-ness community shesaid: “We will certainlygive consideration tothat, the adjustment ofthe curfew hours, inthe fullness of timewith the NationalSecurity Council andshould the intelligencethat we have permit,we can so do.

“Today I cannot saythat is a decision thatwe have taken. It is amatter, as all matters,that will be taken intoconsideration as wemove forward in thedays to come.”

Asked about extend-ing the curfew to otherparts of the country,the prime ministersaid, “There is no intel-ligence at this timethat warrants such anextension (of the cur-few) into the southernareas. I do not haveany intelligence andunless there is suchintelligence that thearea is under seriousthreat as other areasand that we shouldextend the curfew intothose areas. Shouldintelligence be forth-coming otherwise, cer-tainly we will discussit at the NationalSecurity Council leveland take appropriateaction.”

Intelligence will guide reduction orextension of curfew, says Trinidad PM

GEORGE TOWN,Cayman Islands —The CaribbeanCatastrophe RiskInsurance Facility(CCRIF) hasannounced that,while Hurricane Ireneresulted in registeredlosses in six of itsmember countries(Anguilla, Antiguaand Barbuda, TheBahamas, Haiti, StKitts and Nevis andthe Turks and CaicosIslands), none of thepolicies of these coun-tries were triggered.Of these territories,the highest losseswere determined for

The Bahamas and theTurks and CaicosIslands. None of theother four countrieswas impacted by morethan lower tropicalstorm-force winds(under 50mph).

“The CCRIF boardand team share therelief of the govern-ments of the Turksand Caicos Islandsand The Bahamasthat the impacts ofHurricane Irene werenot as bad as had beenfeared,” the CCRIFsaid in a pressrelease.

Early damagereports indicate low

to moderate impactsexcept for somesouthern and easternislands in TheBahamas, which laydirectly on Irene’spath. Critical tourisminfrastructure, onwhich these countrieslargely depend foreconomic activity,was not badly affect-ed.

The BahamasMinistry of Tourismindicated that themajor tourism areasof Nassau/ParadiseIsland and GrandBahama have seen aquick return to nor-mal operations.

No CCRIF payouts for Hurricane Irene


INTERNATIONALD

By KHALEDYACOUBOWEIS

AMMAN -Protesters acrossSyria demandedPresident Basharal-Assad’s removalafter prayers mark-ing the end of theMuslim fastingmonth of Ramadan,defying tanks andtroops besiegingmany cities andtowns, activists andresidents said.

Security forces shotdead at least fourdemonstrators, includ-ing a 13-year-old boy,as they streamed out ofmosques in the towns ofal-Hara and Inkhil insouthern Deraaprovince.

D emon s t r a t i o n sbroke out elsewhereacross the country,especially in Damascussuburbs, the city ofHoms, 165 km (100miles to the north) andthe northwesternprovince of Idlib,activists and residentssaid.

“The people want thedownfall of the presi-dent,” shouted protest-

ers in the Damascussuburb of Harasta,where activists saiddozens of soldiersdefected at the weekendafter refusing to shootat protesters.

In the adjacent sub-urb of Saqba a crowdheld their shoes up inthe air — an insultinggesture in the Arabworld — and chanted“This is your levelBashar.”

According to oneactivists’ group, troopshave killed at least 551civilians duringRamadan, the holiestperiod in the Islamiccalendar.

Five months into thestreet uprising againsthis autocratic rule,Assad, from Syria’sminority Alawite sect,is facing more frequentd e m o n s t r a t i o n s ,encouraged by thedemise of MuammarGaddafi’s rule in Libya,with whom Assad hadclose ties, and risinginternational pressureon the ruling hierar-chy.

Residents andactivists have alsoreported increasingdefections amongSyrian troops, drawnmostly from the Sunnimajority population but

dominated by Alawiteofficers effectivelyunder the command ofAssad’s younger broth-er Maher.

In the capital,YouTube footageshowed soldiers fromcore units roaming thecenter in big green pub-lic transport buses,their AK-47s hangingout from bus doors, toprevent protests, whichbroke out nonethelessin Qaboun, KfarSouseh, Rukn al-Dinand Maydan districts,activists said.

In a report publishedon Tuesday, the SyrianR e v o l u t i o nCoordinating Uniongrassroots activists’group said Assad’sforces killed 551 peopleduring Ramadan andthat 130 others werekilled on July 31, theeve of Ramadan, in atank assault on the cityof Hama, scene of a1982 massacre by themilitary.

“The report does notinclude the number ofmartyrs who were notidentified by namenor... bodies that wereabducted (by securityforces) and notreturned to their fami-lies,” it said.

The official state

news agency said statetelevision had aired anaudio recording of two“terrorists” whodescribed themselves asactivists. It said the taperevealed “a full agendaof provocation and tar-geting police and armycamps and terrorizingpeaceful citizens in thename of freedom andnon-violence.”

The Syrian NationalHuman RightsOrganization, headedby exiled dissidentAmmar al-Qurabi, saidpro-Assad forces,including a loyalistmilitia known as shab-biha, had killed at least3,100 civilians since theuprising erupted inMarch, including 18people on Mondayalone.

Syrian authoritiesblame “armed terroristgroups” for the blood-shed and say they havekilled 500 soldiers andpolice.

In the town of Rastannear the city of Homson Monday, andarmored force of Assadloyalists surrounded atown and fired heavymachineguns after thedefection of tens of sol-diers in the area,activists and residentssaid.

One woman, 45-year-old Amal Qoraman, waskilled and five otherpeople were injured,they said, adding thattens of people werearrested in house-to-house raids in the townof 40,000.

Syrian authoritieshave repeatedly deniedthat army defectionshave been taking place.They have expelled

independent mediasince the uprisingbegan in March.

European Union gov-ernments may imposesanctions on Syrianbanks as well as energyand telecommunica-tions companies withina week, along with aplanned embargo on oilimports from the coun-try, EU diplomats saidon Monday.

Eid protests across Syria defy tanks and troops

By LINDA SIEG & RIE ISHIGURO

TOKYO - Japan’s parliament voted in anew prime minister on Tuesday, perhapsthe last, best chance for the rulingDemocratic Party to begin pulling thecountry out of decades of stagnation.

Yoshihiko Noda, a 54-year-old former financeminister who wants to curb Japan’s huge publicdebt, becomes the country’s sixth prime minister infive years.

While tackling myriad ills dogging the world’sthird-biggest economy, he must unify warring fac-tions in his own party and win over the opposition,which can block bills in parliament.

The hurdles to governing are high and the poli-cy problems legion, but some optimists suggestthat the low-key Noda might succeed where hiscombative predecessor Naoto Kan failed.

“In Japanese tradition, the less lustrous politi-cians have tended to be more effective,” saidAndrew Horvat, director of the Stanford JapanCenter in Kyoto, comparing Noda to the late KeizoObuchi, who was dubbed “cold pizza” when he tookoffice in 1998 but used his “Everyman” image towin voter support.

“This is not a time for big talk and inappropriateaction.”

Noda’s unassuming image contrasts with that ofthe famously irascible Kan, while his humble ori-gins — his parents were both from poor farmingfamilies — set him off from the Democrats’ firstprime minister, the aristocratic Yukio Hatoyama.

But other analysts warn that the compromisesNoda needs to win over opponents in the party —he was one of five candidates for PM— could dilutehis fiscal reform agenda. He placed second in thefirst round of party voting and onlywon in the run-off.

The novice Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)swept to power just two years ago promising tochange how Japan is governed but quickly faltereddue to diplomatic missteps, policy flip flops, inter-nal bickering— and the sheer scale of Japan’s prob-lems.

Now, as its third primeminister takes power, theDPJ’s support rates lag behind those of its mainrival, the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party(LDP). If Noda fails, his party would probably losethe next general election, which must be held bylate 2013.

Noda faces a mountain of challenges: copingwith a strong yen that threatens to hit exports,forging a new energy policy while ending a radia-tion crisis at a crippled nuclear plant, rebuildingJapan’s tsunami-devastated northeast and findingfunds to pay for that and vast social security costsof the aging society.

Japan elects new PM, may beruling party’s last chance

By ARIRABINOVITCH

JERUSALEM - Israelwould not be able to haltIran’s reported quest foratomic weapons with a sin-gle strike, a senior Israelidefense official said onSunday.

Israel and the West suspectIran is trying to use its nuclearprogram to develop atomicweapons, a charge denied byTehran which says it wants to

generate electricity.Both Israel and the United

States have hinted they mightconsider takingmilitary action asa last resort to stop Iran gettingthe bomb.

The defense official, who in linewith Israeli army guidelinesdeclined to be identified, men-tioned Iran during a review of thesecurity situation in the MiddleEast in a briefing to foreignreporters.

“We’re not talking about Iraqor Syria where one strike wouldderail a program,” the official

said, referring to Israel’s 1981 airstrike that destroyed Iraq’s atom-ic reactor and the bombing in2007 of a Syrian site which theU.N. atomic agency said was verylikely a nuclear reactor.

“With Iran it’s a different proj-ect. There is no one silver bulletyou can hit and that’s over,” theofficial said.

Israeli leaders have urged theUnited States and other Westerncountries to present Tehran witha credible military threat to backup economic sanctions already inplace.

Israel “could not stop” nuclear Iran with one strike

TRIPOLI, Libya -Authorities inTripoli have discov-ered the body of atop Libyan regimeofficial suspected ofa role in the 1984shooting of a Britishpolicewoman out-side the Libyan

embassy in London,a senior official saidTuesday.

The body of AbdelKader Baghdadi, formerhead of MoammarGadhafi’s RevolutionaryGuards, was foundalong with several othercorpses in a governmentbuilding Tripoli’sTajoura neighborhood,

said Usama el-Abed,deputy chief of Tripoli’snew city council.

Baghdadi’s identitywas confirmed Tuesday,including by relativeswho viewed the body, el-Abed said.

Baghdadi was shot inthe head, possibly in aninternal feud, El-Abedsaid, adding that the cir-

cumstances of the deathare still not entirelyclear. “We think thiswas done a week or 10days ago,” el-Abed said.“Only today could weconfirm this.”

He said Baghdadiwas accused of a role inthe shooting, but did notexplain further.

Body found of suspect in British police death

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 201112

New AmericanThe

One Thought - One Humanity

FFoorr tthhee ccoonncclluussiioonnss ooff tthheessee ssttoorriieess cchheecckk oouutt tthhee AAuugguusstt 44tthh -- AAuugguusstt 1100tthh,, 22001111 iissssuuee ooff

TThhee NNeeww AAmmeerriiccaann,, wwhhiicchh hhiittss nneewwssssttaannddss eevveerryy TThhuurrssddaayyCongra tu la t i ons

may be in order forJanet Jackson whoreportedly has let bil-lionaire boyfriend Wis-sam Al-Mana put a 15-carat ring on it!!!According to reports:The singer’s boyfriend,bil lionaire Qatari busi-nessman Wissam AlMana, recently poppedthe question, and nowthe happy couple isplanning an end-of-the-year marriage ceremo-ny. “Janet is head overheels in love with Wis-sam,” said a closesource. “He’s showeredher with love, expen-sive presents and boost-ed her self-esteem byhelping her lose weightand shape up.” Wis-sam, 36, first broughtup a walk down theaisle last fall, when hereportedly presentedthe Jackson clan beau-ty with a magnificent15-carat diamond ring.But Janet, 45, wasn’tready because shewanted to focus onpreparations for hercurrent concert tour,which runs into Sep-tember. “Now Janet’stelling friends that anofficial engage mentannouncement willcome by summer’s end,and that she and Wis-sam will marry in late2011 – and they’reshopping for an evenbigger diamond ring tocelebrate their officialengagement.” The twoare anxious to start afamily as soon as possi-ble. Janet would love tohave a baby the naturalway, but at 45, she’salso looking into adop-tion possibilities,according to thesource.

The-Dream willmake his dedicatedfans very happy thismonth. The producer-singer-songwriter willrelease a free 10-trackLP, entitled ‘TeriusNash Est. 1977,’ priorto dropping his fourthstudio album ‘The Love,IV: Diary of a Madman’later this year. Accord-ing to The-Dream,‘Terius Nash Est. 1977’

will be released to thepublic free on August31. “LP4 is Underway ITHE-DREAM havedecided to go forwardwith Diary Of A Mad-man LP it almost didn’thappen. So ill be in myDef Jam uniform for atleast one More Season!”he tweeted. “Also a free10 song Internet albumwill be released by Aug31st. LP 4 because ofthe Contract negotia-tions does not have adate but it will bereleased 4th quarterbut I will give a 10song Internet LP whileyou guys wait!!!! LOVEYOU.”

Chante Moore madean announcement thatshe and her hubby ofnine years Kenny Latti-more are officially awrap. The singer post-ed the following “pri-vate announcement” onher Facebook page. Inthe meantime Chante’has her hands full asthe host of an upcom-ing Sporty Girl Fitness90 Day Transformationreality show. MichaelJai White, Vivica Foxand Tamyra Gray arealso involved with theproject.

“Can’t Be Friends”producer MarioWinans is finalizinghis new album withplans to release theproject by the end ofthe year. Winans’ thirdalbum, entitled ‘MyPurpose,’ is a follow-upto his 2004 platinumeffort ‘Hurt No More.’During his hiatus fromreleasing solo material,Winans told YKIGS “Iproduced some stufffor the Diddy and DirtyMoney [album] andwith different artistslike Rick Ross and allthe Bad Boy artists.”With urge to continuehis solo career, he wasinspired to record newmaterial: “I had beenliving a little different-ly than what my pur-pose is, and that is real-ly just to humbly serveothers to pray for oth-ers and to really be agood person and live

the way I believe. Fromthat, I was inspired totitle my album thatbecause those changeswere going on in mylife while I was work-ing on the album.” Inaddition to his forth-coming album, Winansis grooming Hip Hopartist Superstar Piper,who is credited for pro-ducing Carl Thomas’new single “It Ain’tFair.”

Beyonce’s publicisttold Today.com thatBeyonce has no plansfor a cookbook. “This isuntrue,” she said.Rumors started thatBeyonce Knowlesplanned to publish asoul food cookbook, a“source” told the DailyMirror. The singer wasallegedly inspired byher mother, who pre-pares a spread of col-lard greens, cornbread,macaroni and cheeseand fried chicken nomatter where in theworld they were. Theonly problem is thatBeyonce has previouslyadmitted that she isn’tsuch a great cook, andthat she doesn’t reallyenjoy it. In fact, Bey-once says she’s a disas-ter in the kitchen.

Will.i.am has signedup to perform a specialconcert in China toencourage Americanstudents to studyabroad and expandtheir cultural bound-aries. The Black EyedPeas star met with offi-cials at the U.S. StateDepartment in Wash-ington, D.C. andagreed to headline agig for the 100,000Strong Initiative, amotion made by Presi-dent Barack Obama tomatch the rising num-ber of Chinese studentswho travel to Americato learn. The singer’sshow will benefit Amer-icans Promoting StudyAbroad, a non-profitorganization whichprovides financial sup-port to low-income stu-dents partaking inexchange programs inthe Asian country.

Subscribe Today!Make Checks andMoney Orders Payable to:

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By CHRIS WITHERSPOON

The twin sisters best known fortheir hit ‘90s sitcom Sister, Sisterare back again. Tia Mowry Hardrictand Tamera Mowry-Housley haveteamed up with the Style Networkfor a behind the scenes look intotheir major life transformations.Their new docu-series Tia & Tamera,premieres Monday, August 8 at9:00pm ET/PT.

Last summer Tia and Tameraaired a successful preview to theirseries on The Style Network, andthis summer they are giving a morein-depth look into their lives as sis-ters and friends. Throughout theseries they learn how to balancetheir successful acting careers along

with the pressures of their personalrelationships and responsibilities.During the series, viewers get to seeTia preparing for the birth of herfirst child and Tamera planning thewedding of her dreams.

In an interview, Tia and Tameraopened up about their new show,obstacles of parenting, balancingtheir relationships and careers, andhow they were able to break the teenstar curse.

What made you want to do thisshow?

Tia: This is the time... the timingis right. Tamera and I have suchloyal fans that have stuck with usthroughout the years and wethought it would be nice to openthem to our world and let themknow who we really are.

- Full Story In This Week’s New American Newspaper -

Tia and Tamera get realwith new TV series

13DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011� � � � �

14 DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011� � � � �

��

Although older Americans havemany Medicare options to choosefrom, they may not be making gooddecisions about their coverage,according to a new study.Some seniors — particularly those

with impaired brain function — canbecome overwhelmed by the varietyof complex Medicare Advantageplans available to them, preventingthem from finding the best plan to fittheir needs, according to researchersfrom Harvard Medical School’sdepartment of health care policy.“We are providing the most com-

plex insurance choices to the verypopulation that is least equipped tomake these high-stakes decisions,”said Dr. J. Michael McWilliams,assistant professor of health carepolicy and medicine at Harvard Med-ical School and a general internist atBrigham and Women’s Hospital, in auniversity news release.“Most other Americans choose

from just a few health plans, butelderly Medicare beneficiaries often

have to sift through dozens ofoptions,” McWilliams said.The Medicare Modernization Act

of 2003 increased the number of pri-vate plans participating in theMedicare Advantage program,which purports to usher in morecompetition, lower premiums andresult in better benefits, includingprescription drug coverage.In assessing how these changes

affected enrollment in MedicareAdvantage compared to traditionalMedicare, researchers examinednearly 22,000 enrollment decisionsmade by more than 6,600 partici-pants over the course of four years,taking into account their mental sta-tus and the plans available to them.The study, published online and

in the September print issue ofHealth Affairs, found that enroll-ment in Medicare Advantageincreased when the number ofMedicare Advantage plans availableto seniors was fewer than 15.When there were more than 30

plans available, however, enrollmentdropped. The researchers pointedout that 25 percent of U.S. countiesoffer more than 30 Medicare Advan-tage options.Elderly people with impaired

brain function were much less likelyto understand and take advantage ofthe wide array of benefits offered byMedicare Advantage plans andinstead were more likely to choosethe traditional Medicare program bydefault, according to the report.Given the increasing numbers of

older Americans with Alzheimer’sand other forms of dementia, thefindings should prompt policymak-ers to establish better ways to assistseniors in making the right choicefor them, researchers said. Thatcould include offering fewer choicesor helping them make better deci-sions based on those options.“Efforts to limit choice and guide

seniors to the most valuable optionscould especially benefit those withcognitive impairments, who without

more help appear to be leavingmoney on the table,” saidMcWilliams. “Better enrollment deci-sions could in turn strengthen com-petition by rewarding high-valueplans with more enrollees.”Not all experts would agree that

the seniors who chose Medicare overMedicare Advantage were makingthe wrong choice, however.Medicare Advantage plans have

serious drawbacks compared to theoriginal Medicare, according to theMedicare Rights Center (MRC), anon-profit consumer advocacygroup.Among the problems with

Medicare Advantage the MRC citesare higher costs for skilled nursingcare, home health care and in-patient hospital costs; unstable pri-vate plans that may suddenly stopcoverage; restrictions in the choiceof doctors, hospitals and otherproviders members can choose; andproblems getting urgent or emer-gency care.

Some older Americans overwhelmed by Medicare options

Rising cigarette prices and othereconomic and social factors led to thesharp drop in smoking that occurredamong Black youth between the1970s and 1990s, U.S. researcherssay.In the early 1970s, smoking rates

among Black and white youth weresimilar and began to decline in bothgroups around 1976. However, thedrop was much sharper amongBlack youth. By the early 1990s,white students were more than fourtimes more likely than Black stu-dents to report having smoked ciga-rettes within the previous 30 days.This study concluded that racial

differences in parental attitudes, reli-gious ties, negative health concernsand experiences, worsening poverty,increased food stamp use, and risingcigarette prices are the major rea-sons for the more rapid decrease andcontinuing lower rate of smokingamong Black youth compared tothose in other racial/ethnic groups.

“Some have suggested thatAfrican American youth substitutedother forms of tobacco, alcohol andother drugs for cigarettes,” studycorresponding author Tyree Ore-dein, a doctoral student at the Uni-versity of Medicine and Dentistry ofNew Jersey-School of Public Health,said in a university news release.“However, there was an overall

decline in the use of both licit andillicit drugs among Black highschool seniors from the mid 1970sthrough the early 1990s alongsidethe fall of cigarette use,” said Ore-dein, who is also an adjunct profes-sor of health and nutrition sciencesat Montclair State University.The findings suggest that increas-

es “in cigarette price due toincreased federal and state excisetaxes have become and continue to bean effective tool in reducing ciga-rette use, especially [among] AfricanAmerican youth,” the researchersnoted.

In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, such as a tornado,earthquake or fire, most dialysispatients don’t have a plan to get themedical assistance they need, accord-ing to a new study.Although these kidney-disease

patients rely on technology and dial-ysis clinics to survive, researchersfrom the University of North Caroli-na School of Medicine found thatmany don’t know the address of abackup center. This lack of prepara-tion could seriously endanger thepatients’ health, the researchers said.“A dialysis patient relies on fre-

quent visits to a dialysis facility tomaintain his or her health, and whenpatients cannot receive dialysis dueto lack of clean water, lack of elec-tricity, impassable roadways, etc.,severe medical complications canoccur quite quickly,” Mark Foster, astudent at the University of NorthCarolina School of Medicine, said in auniversity news release. “This lack ofpreparation should stimulate mea-sures to ensure better preparationfor future disasters.”

In surveying 311 dialysis patients,the researchers found that only 43percent knew where to find an alter-native dialysis center. They alsofound that just 42 percent had theirmedical records at home so theycould travel with them on shortnotice.The study, to be published in an

upcoming issue of the Clinical Jour-nal of the American Society Nephrol-ogy, also showed that only 40 per-cent of the patients discussed theoption of staying with friends or rel-atives during a disaster, and just 15percent had a medical bracelet ornecklace they could wear if disasterstrikes.However, 57 percent of those

polled knew what type of diet theyshould follow during a disaster, and63 percent had a two-week supply ofextra medications they could rely onin an emergency.The study authors said dialysis

centers and medical organizationsshould do a better job of educatingdialysis patients on ways to preparefor potential disasters.

Dialysis patients unpreparedfor disasters, study contends

Expense may be causingfewer young Blacks to smoke


NEW JERSEYD

By MARYANNSPOTO

A day afterHurricane Irenepummeled parts ofNew Jersey, the lineto get in for lunchat Scojo’s restau-rant in Surf CityMonday was just aslong as any week-day afternoon inAugust.

To the restaurant’smanager, Dawn Russo,that’s a sign peoplearen’t giving up onsummer at the JerseyShore.

And with summer’slast hurrah less than aweek away, the JerseyShore isn’t giving up ontourists despite thegreat cleanup effortgoing on in beach com-munities.

“If anything, thetowns have their repu-tations at stake,” saidJeanne DeYoung, direc-tor of MonmouthCounty’s division oftourism. “It doesn’tmatter what time of theseason it is. They justwant the tourists tohave a good time sothey’ll come back.”

From Sandy Hook to

Cape May, all of NewJersey’s 127 miles ofcoastline felt Irene’simpact to some degree.Some communitiesexperienced only minorbeach erosion, requir-ing some grooming.Others, like SpringLake, where half of the2-mile boardwalk wasdestroyed, have majorrepairs to face.

Some beachescharged entrance feesMonday, but many didnot as they continuedwith cleanup - whilealso tending to resi-dents displaced fromtheir homes because offlooding or lack of elec-tricity.

Raw video of flood-ing from Riverdale andPompton Lakes Rawvideo of flooding fromRiverdale and PomptonLakes In this aerialfootage flooding fromthe affects of HurricaneIrene can be seenaround Riverdale andPompton Lakes. (Videoby John O’Boyle/TheStar-Ledger) Watchvideo

In Belmar, where 20percent of the commu-nity was still withoutpower Monday after-noon and a few neigh-borhoods were still

flooded, MayorMatthew Doherty saidmore than 100 volun-teers helped get sandoff the boardwalk anddeliver necessities tostranded residents. Hesaid he wants to makesure the borough isready for the 60,000tourists expected forLabor Day weekend.

“I’m committed tohaving us up and run-ning for Labor Dayweekend for a great endto the season,” he said.“We’re going as if thishappened in the begin-ning of summer. This isa very important week-end for our businesses.It’s the last real week-end for them to makemoney.”

Gov. Chris Christieand Lt. Gov. KimGuadagno put in theirplugs for the JerseyShore Monday.Guadagno madeappearances in Belmar,Asbury Park andAtlantic City andChristie stumped frombehind a podium inflood-ravaged Manville.

“If you were plan-ning to go to the JerseyShore for the last weekand into the Labor Dayweekend - we’re restor-ing power down there

at a very quick rate -get in your cars and goto the Jersey Shore,”Christie said Monday.“Let’s enjoy this lastweek of summer.There’s no reason not todo it.”

Pat Sepanak, ownerof Sand Dollar RealEstate in Surf City, saidmany homeowners sherepresents are offeringpartial rental refunds,gift certificates to localbusinesses or a couplefree days as a way ofmaking up for renters’two lost days of vaca-tion because of Irene.

Wally Wall, beachmanager inManasquan, estimatedthe town lost $100,000in the three days,including Monday. Butto soften the blow torenters who lost threedays on the beach, he’sextending the validityof the current $35weekly beach badge toLabor Day. That savesrenters who stickaround through LaborDay from having to buydaily badges or anotherweekly pass that they’donly use for three days.

Preparing for Irene,many beach townshauled in lifeguardboats and stands, rolled

up beach mats and tookdown decorations thatcould have been sweptaway by the winds.

Most of those ameni-ties will be back, partlybecause they’re neededfor safety, but alsobecause the towns wantto leave tourists with agood last impression.

But in oneMonmouth Countytown, there is plenty ofwork to be done.

Spring Lake MayorJennifer Naughton saidborough public works

crews are workingfeverishly to repair por-tions of the boardwalkthat sustained minordamage from Irene. Theboardwalk to theextreme north andsouth ends of townwere destroyed and willnot be ready by LaborDay, she said.

“To pretend every-thing is normal issilly,” she said. “We’llget it done and we’ll betthat boardwalk rebuilt,it just won’t be beforeLabor Day.

Jersey Shore rebuilds after Hurricane Irene blasts through

By MICHAELANGELO CONTE

Officials and residents across HudsonCounty continued to mop up Mondayafter a rude weekend guest left neighbor-hoods and homes in turmoil.

Firefighters and public works employees inseveral towns, including North Bergen, Kearnyand Secaucus, busied themselves pumping outflooded basements in the wake of HurricaneIrene’s pounding.

“We hope the worst is behind us,” saidSecaucus Town Administrator David Drumeler.“A lot of this is related to when high tide was dur-ing the rain storm.”

Parts of Kearny were still without powerMonday because of blown transformers and col-lapsed trees that brought down power lines,Kearny Fire Chief Steve Dyl said.

In Jersey City and Hoboken, a total of 1,800PSE&G customers were still without powerMonday and a representative of the utility compa-ny declined to predict when power would berestored.

Greg Kierce, director of the Jersey City CityOffice of Emergency Management, urged city res-idents to take photos of property damage andkeep the receipts for repairs. Both, he said, willcome in handy for insurance claims and in theevent assistance from the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency becomes available.

Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill saidall street flooding in the city has receded and reg-ular garbage pick up resumed last night. Normalparking rules resume today. The city providedtrash containers for residents on Country VillageRoad and Sycamore Road, she said.

“Things are returning back to normal, but formany people who were greatly impacted by thestorm, it will take several days,” Morrill said.

As a precaution, the city issued mandatoryevacuations for ground-floor residents before thestorm struck on Saturday. Kierce estimated that10 percent of the potential evacuees complied.

“Some people said ‘OK, it’s (the mandatoryevacuation is) for my own welfare,’ “ FireDepartment Director Armando Roman said.“Then you had some people who were more defi-ant and said they had to stay. They had to protecttheir belongings. We assured them we would dothat.”

Hudson County stays busymopping up afterHurricane Irene

By JARRETTRENSHAW

TRENTON - Witha flood of retire-ments, the sluggisheconomy and a gov-ernor intent onshrinking the sizeof government, thenumber of publicworkers in NewJersey has droppedto its lowest level ineight years, a Star-Ledger analysisshows.

New Jersey shedabout 29,100 state andlocal government jobsduring Gov. ChrisChristie’s first 19months in office, trail-ing only New York andCalifornia in the totalnumber of public sectorjobs lost, according tofederal labor statistics.

The latest figures,released earlier thismonth, show the statehas fewer publicemployees - from police

and teachers to collegeadministrators andstate workers - on thepayrolls than at anyother point sinceSeptember 2003.

In fact, New Jersey’ssizable decline accountsfor more than 8 percentof the 357,100 publicsector jobs lost in statesacross the country sinceJanuary 2010, themonth Christie tookoffice.

The loss of public sec-tor jobs comes as NewJersey’s post-recessioneconomy continues tostruggle, translatinginto a 9.5 unemploy-ment rate that is 13thhighest in the nation.

In recent months,Christie has recast theunemployment rate - acritical yardstick forgovernors - saying it’smore a measure of hissuccess than his fail-ures. He said the stub-bornly high jobless fig-ure is an unavoidableconsequence of his mis-sion to shrink the size of

government in NewJersey.

“The fact is we addednearly 50,000 new pri-vate sector jobs and atthe same time doingexactly what I promisedto do which was tolower the number ofpublic sector jobs,”Christie said in inter-view earlier this month.“That’s the way you getthe economy back. It’snot through govern-ment spending, it’sthrough the private sec-tor.”

But economists andcritics argue thatChristie’s outlookignores how the loss ofso many jobs, regard-less of their origin,threatens the state’sbroader economy.

“These are peoplewho no longer have apay check, who are notbuying things, it createsa ripple effect,” said JonShure, director of statefiscal strategies atCenter on Budget andPolicy Priorities, a liber-

al think tank inWashington. “You’renot just laying off aworker, you’re layingoff the clerk at the gro-cery store where theyshop.”

In January 2010,there were 590,200employees on publicpayrolls in New Jersey.But that has dropped bymore than 5 percent, thefifth highest percentagedecline in the nation,the analysis shows.

In the same time peri-od, the total number ofjobs in New Jersey -accounting for gains inthe private sector andlosses in public jobs -rose by 20,300. Thatranks New Jerseybehind 38 other statesin percentage of jobgrowth.

Christie’s critics sayhe may have been suc-cessful at shrinkinggovernment, but he hasfailed to expand theeconomy and providenew employment oppor-tunities.

N.J. has the lowest number of public workers in 8 years, analysis shows

16 DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2011� � � � �

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By MATT MOORE

PHILADELPHIA — Sept. 11 isetched in the memories of millions,and as the 10th anniversary nears,cartoonists are etching theirthoughts and emotions about 9/11into comic strips.

With the anniversary falling on aSunday, more than 90 cartoonistswith five different syndicates havebanded together to dedicate theirstrips on Sept. 11 to those whoselives were lost in the attacks. Sept.11-themed strips will appear fromthe writers and artists of “FamilyCircus,” ‘’Mallard Fillmore,” “Can-dorville,” “Doonesbury” and “Plug-gers,” among others.

Jeff Keane, who co-authors “TheFamily Circus,” was immediatelysold on the idea when approachedby King Features, his syndicate.

“I knew that it was somethingthat I think would work for ‘FamilyCircus’ if I could find the approachfor it,” he told The Associated Press.“Because ‘Family Circus’ is more ofa realistic look at family, and I don’tnecessarily have a cartoon that is a‘joke a day,’ but more sentimentaland more emotional, it was easierfor me to look at it that way.”

Jim Borgman, the co-creator of

“Zits” with Jerry Scott, about a per-manent teenager and his parents,called the upcoming anniversarysomething that cannot be ignored.

“As a cartoonist we would haveall been wondering ‘Is it OK to dealwith this topic in our work?’ Ofcourse you can, but there is some-thing comforting about the thoughtthat a bunch of us are going to bestruggling to say something on thatday,” he said. “My colleagues — car-toonists — are an astonishingly var-ied and talented group of people. Ifully expect we’ll see a broad rangeof approaches that day.”

It’s not the first time that car-toonists have banded together. Pre-vious efforts have included topicslike Earth Day or breast cancerawareness. But the scope of thisendeavor is unprecedented, withfive syndicates and the newspapersthey serve participating: King Fea-tures, Creators Syndicate, TribuneMedia Services, Universal PressSyndicate and Washington PostWriters Group — and the stripsthey provide to newspapers partici-pating. The artists produce thestrips independently.

The comics, each produced inde-pendently by the artists, will be fea-tured in a separate, full-color pulloutsection and online the same day at

www.cartoonistsremember911.com.Afterward, exhibits on the strips areplanned for the Newseum in Wash-ington, San Francisco’s Cartoon ArtMuseum, the Toonseum in Pitts-burgh and the Museum of Comic andCartoon Art in New York.

The tone of the strips are varied,said Brendan Burford, comics editorat King Features Syndicate, withsome taking a sentimental tack,while others may try to make areader laugh.

“After 9/11, the cartoonists orga-nized and did a series of messagestrips around Thanksgiving Week-end ... but it was also reflective andsympathetic to everyone who suf-fered,” he said.

“So 10 years later, a good numberof those cartoonists already under-stood what the message needed tobe,” Burford said. “Some are takingthe ‘it’s OK to laugh,’ and others aretaking the “it’s OK to heal” path.

And it being Sunday, that givesthe 93 cartoonists ample space towrite, draw and be read.

Borgman and Scott said theirstrip will look at the anniversarythrough teenager Jeremy’s eyes.

“Jerry Scott and I tried to thinkabout what Sept. 11, 2001, wouldmean to a person who is now 16years old — put aside the fact that

Jeremy has been 15 or 16 for 13years now,” he said.

Tony Rubino, who writes “Dad-dy’s Home,” was living in Washing-ton on Sept. 11 and has beeninvolved with Jeremy’s Heroes, acharity founded on behalf of JeremyGlick, one of the passengers killedaboard Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa.

His strip for Sept. 11, which isdrawn by Gary Markstein, drewinspiration from the passengers ofFlight 93, whose actions helpedbring the United Airlines flightdown in a Pennsylvania fieldinstead of its likely target, theWhite House or the U.S. Capitol.

“I went by their example andrather than reflect on somethingthat was negative in the past, Ithought ‘What is the future? WhatI’ve done, my particular strip for9/11 this year, is a look forwardrather than a look back,” he said.

Rubino said that the cartoonists’efforts are bound to be noticed, evenamong the din of anniversary cover-age and programming.

“The comics are different. I thinkit’s a chance for people to see a per-spective on this anniversary thatthey wouldn’t see otherwise,” hesaid. “They’re going to get a milliontelevision programs, but this is aunique way of looking at it.”

Cartoonists plan Sept. 11 anniversary tribute

Mariah Carey will be joining The XFactor this season, according to hus-band Nick Cannon. The singer hasbeen interested in being a part of theshow since it was announced to becoming to U.S. shores.

“Now it’s official,” Nick told Extra.“I still don’t know what she’s doing,but she’s doing something! She’sready... she’s excited!”

As Nick says, Mariah’s role on theshow has yet to be determined. It’sunlikely the show would add anotherjudge this late, so Mariah will eitherbe a guest on the show or help men-tor the contestants. The term beingthrown around is “guest mentor” and“judge of the judges” for her role.

The X Factor will debut on Sep-tember 21.

ABC Family is developing a half-hour comedy vehicle for ChristinaMilian.

From “Rita Rocks” creators StanZimmerman and James Berg and“Glee‘s” executive music producerAdam Anders comes “Maid InMiami,” where Milian would play ayoung maid who aspires to be asinger, reports Deadline.com.

Milian is still in negotiations tostar, while Zimmerman and Bergare writing the script and will exec-utive produce with Anders.

Milian has an existing relation-ship with ABC Family — she hasstarred in two holiday originalmovies for the channel, “Snow-globe” and last year’s “ChristmasCupid.”

Christina Milian in talks to play amaid on new ABC Family series

Mariah Carey confirmedfor ‘The X Factor’


BBC America says it will start air-ing a second season of its celebratedBritish police drama “Luther” nextmonth.

In the show, Idris Elba (left) starsas Detective Chief Inspector JohnLuther, a “super-intuitive detectivestruggling to cope with his owndemons,” the cable network said in anews release Monday.

Season 2 is four parts, the first ofwhich is to premiere Sept. 28. Thenew run of episodes will air over fourweeks and will feature two distinc-tive new crime stories from creatorand suspense novelist Neil Cross.

“In the ‘Luther’ sequel, [we’ve got]bigger stories on a wider canvas.We’ve got some familiar faces andsome new faces. We’ve got twists and

turns. We’ve got bloodcurdlingevents on the streets of London,”Cross said in a statement. “We’ve gotfear and mayhem on a city-widescale. We’ve got killers who’ll makeyou want to check the doors and win-dows are locked before you go to bedat night. And at the heart of it all,we’ve got DCI John Luther — a manin ruins, but with a heart the size ofthe moon. Bloodied and battered, butsomehow still standing. And stilldoing what he can.”

Elba has garnered both Emmyand Golden Globe nominations forhis role as John Luther. He was alsohonored at the 42nd NAACP Awardsfor Outstanding Actor in a TelevisionMovie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Spe-cial.

IDRIS ELBA MOVING ON TO SEASON 3 OF

‘LUTHER’ ON BBC ONEAs of yet, there is little known

about the 3rd season, but there istalk that it may air next year.

The actor is bent on possibly get-ting “Luther” to the big screen, say-ing the story is worthy of a biggeraudience.

“The ultimate ‘Luther’ story willunfold on the big screen,” he said inan interview a couple of months ago.

Also, Idris’ next project with“Pacific Rim” is scheduled to begin inOctober.

� � � � �

��

HOLLYWOOD — Snoop Dog wasnamed an “Icon,” but youth wasalso well served at the BMI UrbanMusic Awards in Hollywood.

BMI said 20-year-old Lex Lugerbecame the youngest “Urban Pro-ducer of the Year” and B.o.B, 22,was the youngest “Song of theYear” winner for “Nothin’ on You.”

BMI said in a written statementthe honorees also included KanyeWest, Drake and R. Kelly.

One of the highlights of Friday’sgala at the Pantages Theater wasthe salute to Snoop Dog with theannual “BMI Icon” award. He joinsthe likes of James Brown, GeorgeClinton and The Jacksons on theroster.

The award included a speech byDr. Dre and a musical tribute fromWarren G, Nas, Game and othertop-tier artists. Snoop himself tookpart in a rendition of “What’s MyName?”

Snoop named‘Icon’ at BMImusic awards

Season 2 of ‘Luther’ gets start date for BBC America

By SABRINA FORD

Rapper Lil Wayne released hisnewest album, “Tha Carter IV,” justafter midnight on Monday to hugemedia hype following MTV’s VideoMusic Awards, but early reactionsshow the record falling short of highexpectations from fans and critics.

After several delays, “Tha CarterIV,” hit digital music retailers at mid-night, almost immediately followingLil Wayne’s rowdy, rocked-out perfor-mance at VMAs.

The MTV honors show, where tro-phies are handed out in categories forbest video among others, annuallydraws top stars in music and is a keypromotional stop for singers trying toboost sales. Sunday’s show drew arecord 12.4 million viewers to the net-work, up from 11.4 million last year.

Fans watched Beyonce reveal shewas pregnant with her first child,Lady Gaga dressed in male drag, Jay-Z and Kanye West perform a songfrom their new record “Watch theThrone,” and the late singer AmyWinehouse remembered in a movingtribute.

Wayne closed out the show with histop 10 hit “How to Love,” which withWeezy’s crooning vocal, sounds as

much R&B as hip-hop, and he per-formed “John,” remixed over BlackSabbath’s rock tune “Iron Man.”

The crowd went crazy, and theshow likely was a key factor in help-ing lift the album’s 19-track deluxeedition, featuring an exclusive bonustrack, to a fast start at No. 1 oniTunes.

Wayne’s label mate and protegeNicki Minaj tweeted her support witha simple, “Buy the Carter IV.”

Veteran rapper Busta Rhymes,who is featured on the album, was ina more celebratory mood tweetingthat Wayne had “smashed the Vma’sKRAZZZZYYYYYY!!!” Adding, “Bythe way CARTER 4 AVAILABLEEVERYWHERE RIGHT NOW!!!”

Critics, however, were not so enthu-siastic.

“Tha Carter IV” is the ninth studioalbum from the New Orleans rapperborn Dwayne Carter, but the fourth inhis career-defining Carter series.

Wayne, aka Weezy, released twoalbums last year, “I Am Not a HumanBeing” and his rock experiment,“Rebirth.” Neither album came closeto the first-week sales of 1 millioncopies for 2008’s “Tha Carter III”whether due to a break from formulaor to Wayne’s being unavailable topromote the records while serving an

8-month stint for a weapons charge.Billboard.com wrote that Wayne’s

most recent effort may have had unre-alistically high expectations, sayingin its review that “Tha Carter IV” “isnot a bad album,” but adding that itmay be “may be more easily digestedand supported by those largely unfa-miliar with Weezy’s antics andunaware of his previous highs (punintended).”

Rollingstone.com gave the album arespectable 3-1/2 out of 5 stars butadmitted, “Weezy doesn’t have thesame speed-demon intensity he hadfive years ago.”

In its review, HiphopDX.com notedthat more attention was being paid toa new lyrical jab Lil Wayne took at rapimpresario and music mogul Jay-Z,who was a featured guest on “ThaCarter III,” than on the album’s music.

“The fact that most of us have spenta week debating what the fallout willbe from Wayne’s Jay-Z diss on “It’sGood,” instead of the album’s wins,was probably a bad omen,”HiphopDX.com wrote.

And a comical trending topicemerged on Twitter Monday with thehash tag, #ThingsBetterThanTheCar-terIV. The answers offered rangedfrom a colonoscopy to “Watch theThrone.”

Lil Wayne’s ‘Tha Carter IV’ falls short with critics

By JILL SERJEANT

LOS ANGELES — Singer JanetJackson said on Monday she wouldnot attend her brother Michael Jack-son’s tribute concert because it coin-cides with the trial of the singer’s doc-tor.

“Because of the trial, the timing ofthis tribute to our brother would betoo difficult for me,” Janet Jacksonsaid in a statement.

Jackson’s mother Katherine andhis sister LaToya have backed plansfor the “Michael Forever Tribute” con-

cert in Wales on October8. But theevent is opposed by brothers Randyand Jermaine and some fans areunhappy with the organization of theevent.

Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Greenand Smokey Robinson are due toheadline the concert. Janet Jacksonwas not scheduled to perform and herrepresentatives said she had issuedthe statement in response to mediaqueries about her presence.

The concert will take place in themiddle of the high-profile trial in LosAngeles of the “Thriller” singer’sphysician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Mur-

ray is accused of giving Jackson alethal dose of the anesthetic propofoland failing to monitor him properly,leading to his death in June 2009.

Janet Jackson says ‘too difficult’ to attend tribute


By TERRILYUE JONES

BEIJING — Hewlett-Packard Co’s personalcomputer business willretain its position as theworld’s largest PC man-ufacturer even after anyspinoff, the head of HP’sPC business said onTuesday.

A spinoff of the Per-sonal Systems Group(PSG) will bring the“best value” to HP share-holders for taxation andother reasons, PSG headTodd Bradley toldReuters in an interview.

“A standalone compa-ny could and will dowhat’s most required todrive value for share-holders and partners,”Bradley said.

HP stunned marketswhen it announced twoweeks ago that it is con-sidering shedding itsPC business, part of awrenching series ofmoves away from theconsumer market thatincluded killing its newtablet.

Selling the PC divi-sion to a rival such asTaiwan’s Acer Inc,which acquired comput-er maker Gateway in2007 or to China’s Leno-vo Group Ltd, which

purchased IBM’s PCdivision in 2004, is not adesirable alternative,Bradley said.

“I would just say thatthe numbers don’t sup-port that that strategyworks,” said Bradley,citing Acer reporting itsfirst-ever quarterly losslast week.

HP has been strug-gling in the PC market— a high-revenue butlow-margin business —as popular devices suchas Apple Inc’s iPad havelured consumers away.

Bradley is on a trip toChina, Taiwan andSouth Korea to meetwith employees, suppli-ers, government offi-cials and media to con-

vince them that HP’s PCbusiness will remainrobust and committed toAsian markets.

“China’s obviously acritically importantmarket for HP as well asPSG,” Bradley said.

Bradley said HP willincrease investments inShanghai, and over thenext three years expandits Shanghai manufac-turing base, consolidate

six employee sites intoone campus, and makeShanghai a regionalheadquarters in Chinafor the PSG.

Bradley said the com-pany could resurrectHP’s short-lived Touch-Pad tablet computer,which was introducedon July 1 before beingterminated only aboutsix weeks later.

“Tablet computing is

a segment of the marketthat’s relevant, absolute-ly,” Bradley said.

A standalone incar-nation of HP’s PC busi-ness would be a full-linecomputer maker includ-ing ultrathin and all-in-one PCs.

He said he is stress-ing that “regardless ofwhat happens, we’re thelargest PC company inthe world. We needeverybody energized,and while this isn’t busi-ness as usual, we needpeople to go out and sellproducts every day.”

Suppliers to HP PCswill remain largelyintact, although thecompany may renegoti-ate and redefine therelationships.

“Unwinding the inte-gration that’s takenplace within HP will beenormous amounts ofwork and effort, justi-fied by the return wethink we’ll be able toprovide to our share-holders.”

Nevertheless, he said,“we will be one of, if notthe largest customers ofall of our major suppli-ers, be it Samsung to LG

to Microsoft to Intel.”The Palo Alto, Cali-

fornia-based company isnow exploring optionsfor its WebOS software,which it acquiredthrough the acquisitionof Palm, of whichBradley is a formerchief executive.

Bradley has said inthe past that a numberof companies hadexpressed interest inpossibly using WebOSas an operating system,but he gave no furtherdetails on Tuesday, say-ing that he is not inChina to announce oreven negotiate anythingregarding WebOS.

HP’s board will meetin December to decideon the course to takewith the PC business,although insidersassume the decision willbe a spinoff.

Bradley said heexpects to be chief exec-utive of any such newcompany.

“My intention wouldbe to lead it through thistransaction...and if it’s astandalone public com-pany, to lead that,” hesaid.

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HP executive: PC business to remain world No.1

Consumer confidencecrumbled in August toits lowest level in morethan two years as thefallout from politicalwrangling over a bud-get deal took its toll,according to a privatesector report.

The ConferenceBoard, an industrygroup, said its index ofconsumer attitudessank to 44.5 from adownwardly revised59.2 the month before.The index was well off a

poll of economists byReuters for a reading of52.0.

The index was at thelowest level since April2009, the report said.July was originallyreported as 59.5.

Consumers’ outlookalso deterioratedsharply as the expecta-tions index plunged to51.9 from 74.9. Theassessment of con-sumers’ present situa-tion fared better withthe index slipping to

33.3 from 35.7.Consumers have

faced many hurdlesrecently, including thedebate surrounding thedebt ceiling, the down-grade of the U.S. creditrating by Standard &Poor’s, volatility infinancial markets andincreased fears theeconomy is heading foranother recession.

“A contributing fac-tor may have been thedebt ceiling discussionssince the decline in con-

fidence was well under-way before the S&Pdowngrade,” LynnFranco, director of TheConference Board Con-sumer Research Center,said in a statement.

Consumers’ labormarket assessment alsoworsened. The numberof respondents sayingthey found “jobs hard toget” rose to 49.1 percentfrom 44.8 percent themonth before, while the“jobs plentiful” categoryfell to 4.7 percent from5.1 percent.

The view on pricesincreases wasunchanged with expec-tations for inflation inthe coming 12 monthsholding steady at 5.8percent.

August consumer confidencelowest in more than two years

SEOUL — SamsungElectronics unveiledthree smartphone mod-els that run on its ownoperating system, as itseeks to expand marketshare in the low-endsegment and diversifyits lineups heavilyfocused on Google’sAndroid software.

The Wave series mod-

els backed by Samsung’sproprietary system“bada” reflects the SouthKorean firm’s shift instrategy from being apure hardware manu-facturer to become moresoftware-focused.

It is also aimed atpulling together Sam-sung’s different prod-ucts of smartphones,

televisions, printers andcomputers under itsown software platformand online applicationstore Samsung Apps.

Samsung on Tuesdayunveiled Wave 3 with a4-inch AMOLED screenand a 5 megapixel cam-era, as well as cheaperWave M and Wave Y.The Wave M will have

Samsung’s first instantmessaging tool chatONinstalled and entry-levelWave Y with 3.2-inchdisplay will go on sale inOctober.

The three models addto 7 Wave series lineupsSamsung introducedsince first bada-basedproduct went on sale inMay 2010.

Samsung unveils 3 smartphones to run on own platform


LONDON — Britishscientists have deviseda way of usinggraphene, the thinnestmaterial in the world,to capture and convertmore light than previ-ously, paving the wayfor advances in high-speed Internet andother optical communi-cations.

In a study in thejournal Nature Com-munication, the team— which included lastyear’s Nobel Prize-win-ning scientists AndreGeim and KostyaNovoselov — foundthat by combininggraphene with metallicnanostructures, therewas a 20-fold enhance-ment in the amount oflight the graphenecould harvest and con-vert into electricalpower.

Graphene is a formof carbon just one atomthick and yet 100 timesstronger than steel.

“Many leading elec-tronics companies con-sider graphene for thenext generation ofdevices. This work cer-tainly boostsgraphene’s chanceseven further,” said

Novoselov, a Russian-born scientist who withGeim won the 2010Nobel Prize for physicsfor research work ongraphene.

Previous researchhas shown that electri-cal power can be gener-ated by putting twoclosely-spaced metallicwires on top ofgraphene and shininglight on the wholestructure, effectivelymaking a simple solarcell.

The researchersexplained that due tothe particularly highmobility and velocity ofthe electrons ingraphene, suchgraphene cell devicescan be incredibly fast— tens or potentiallyhundreds of timesfaster than communi-cation rates in thefastest Internet cablescurrently in use.

The main stumblingblock to practical appli-cations has so far beenthe cell devices’ lowefficiency, theresearchers said. Theproblem is thatgraphene absorbs littlelight — only around 3percent — with the rest

going through withoutcontributing to theelectrical power.

In a collaborationbetween the Universi-ties of Manchester andC a m b r i d g e ,Novoselov’s team foundthey could solve thisproblem by combininggraphene with tinymetallic structuresknown as plasmonicnanostructures, whichare specially arrangedon top of graphene.

By using the plas-monic enhancement,the light-harvestingperformance ofgraphene was boostedby 20 times withoutsacrificing any of itsspeed, they wrote intheir study. Futureefficiency could beimproved even more,they said.

“We expected thatplasmonic nanostruc-tures could improvethe efficiency ofgraphene-based devicesbut it has come as apleasant surprise thatthe improvements canbe so dramatic,” saidAlexander Grigorenko,an expert in plasmon-ics and a leading mem-ber of the team.

“Graphene seems a nat-ural companion forplasmonics.”

Andrea Ferrari ofCambridge University’sengineering depart-ment, who also worked

on the team, said thefindings showgraphene’s greatpotential in photonicsand in developing elec-tronic devices thatchannel and control

light. He said the com-bination of its specialoptical and electronicproperties with plas-monic nanostructurescould be fully exploit-ed.

By DAVIDHENRY

Lenders are makingmore subprime autoloans again, reversingthe cautious approachthey adopted after thecredit crisis, an indus-try research firm saidon Tuesday.

The portion of carloans made to subprimeborrowers rose to 40.8percent in the secondquarter from 37.2 per-cent a year earlier,according to ExperianAutomotive, a unit ofcredit bureau andresearch firm ExperianPlc.

The data shows howkeen lenders are toboost their loan booksamid a sluggish U.S.economy. Car loans areseen by lenders as rela-

tively safe, because theyare collateralized andrepossessing cars iseasier than foreclosing

on homes.Average credit scores

for borrowers declinedand the average term

for their loans extendedby one month to 63months on new carsand 59 months on used

cars.“We are continuing

to see growth in sub-prime, both new andused, and loans arebecoming looser,”Melinda Zabritski,director of automotivecredit for Experian saidin an interview.

In mid 2007, loans tosubprime borrowersmade up 46.2 percent ofthe total. That easylending led to a surge indelinquency ratesbefore lenders turnedconservative.

Tighter underwrit-ing has resulted infewer loans going bad.Loans delinquent by 30days fell to 2.59 percentof those outstanding inthe second quarter ofthis year, down from2.89 percent a year ear-lier, according toExperian.

“Even though we

have growth in sub-prime of late, our delin-quency rates right noware extremely low,” saidZabritski. “We have anoverall stable marketbecause we did have alot of conservative lend-ing in 2009 and 2010.”

Repossessions havedeclined, too, with thepercentage of car loansending in repossessionfalling to 0.59 percentfrom 0.62 percent.

In a measure of mar-ket share tracked byExperian, the five mostfrequent lenders andtheir portions of thenumber of loans of allkinds made during thequarter were: AllyFinancial, 6.93 percent;Wells Fargo & Co, 5.79percent; Toyota, 4.84percent; JPMorganChase & Co, 4.75 per-cent; and Honda, 3.92percent.

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BEECCOOMMEE IINNVVOOLLVVEEDD HELP US DRAW THE LINES! LLEEGGIISSLLAATTIIVVEE RREEDDIISSTTRRIICCTTIINNGG HHEEAARRIINNGGSS SSTTAATTEE SSEENNAATTEE AANNDD AASSSSEEMMBBLLYY WHERE: Queens Brooklyn Wednesday, September 7, 2011, 10:00 a.m . Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 10:00 a.m. Queens Borough Hall, Meeting Room 213, 1 & 2 Brooklyn Borough Hall 120-55 Queens Boulevard 209 Joralemon Street Kew Gardens, NY Brooklyn, NY Bronx Manhattan Thursday, September 8, 2011, 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 10:00 a.m. Bronx Community College Assembly Hearing Room, 19th Floor Gould Memorial Library Auditorium 250 Broadway, NY 2155 University Avenue Bronx, NY LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING will have a major impact on how every citizen and community will be represented at the state level of government for the next 10 years. The redistricting process involves redrawing the political boundaries for all districts to reflect population shifts. YOUR RIGHT to fair and effective representation is crucial. This is why the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment is holding hearings to involve New Yorkers in the process. The Task Force is seeking initial public comments in order to assist us in creating new Congressional, State Senate and Assembly district boundaries. MEANINGFUL PUBLIC PARTICIPATION BEGINS WITH YOU! If you wish to speak at a hearing or have any questions, please contact the Task Force at 212-618-1100. For further information, please go to our website at www.latfor.state.ny.us

Report: U.S. lenders makingmore subprime car loans

Graphene finding could lead to super-fast Internet

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SSSSPPPPOOOORRRRTTTTSSSSDAILY

CHALLENGE

By EDDIEPELLS

NEW YORK -Venus Williamstakes these tourna-ments one match ata time. Not a badplan for a playerwho’s played onlyone match sinceWimbledon.

Williams returned totennis on the big stageMonday, winning herfirst match at the U.S.Open after a two-monthbreak she needed tofight off a viral illness.

“A lot of the battle isjust trying to be fit andstay healthy,” Williamssaid after her 6-4, 6-3victory over VesnaDolonts. “SometimesI’ve been losing thatbattle a lot. But I do feellike I can play sixmatches. I need to winthem. No one is more inone-match-at-a-timemode than me now atthis tournament.”

Williams, a two-timechampion at FlushingMeadows, came into thetournament unseededfor the first time since1997, when she was 17and made a run all theway to the final. Ofcourse, people overlookher at their peril. When

healthy and motivated,she and her sister,Serena, are the biggestX-factors in any tour-nament they enter.

Serena opens playTuesday against BojanaJovaovski in much thesame situation as hersister - seeded a lowly28th after missing a bigchunk of the year withan injury. But unlikeVenus, who had notplayed a competitivematch sinceWimbledon, Serena hashad a good lead up tothe U.S. Open, winningtwo tournaments earli-er this month.

“I think how she’splayed has been amaz-ing,” Venus Williamssaid. “It was definitelymotivating to see her doso well this summer.But I know she canplay. She knows shecan play tennis. I knowI can play tennis, so ofcourse it’s great to seethose results. But Iknow I have it in me,also.”

In her straight-setsvictory over Dolonts,Williams finished withsix aces and maxed outher serve at 126 mph.She won on 15 of her 20trips to the net andadded up a 28-7 edge inwinners against thetravel-weary Russian,

who had arrived in NewYork only four hoursbefore her match - a vic-tim to travel delayscaused by HurricaneIrene.

Venus, who likes todesign her own dresses,came out in her versionof the traditional “littleblack dress, tennis-style,” replete with laceand zippers on theback.

“Kind of fun,” shesaid.

Joining Serena infirst-round actionTuesday will be defend-ing champion and sec-ond-seeded RafaelNadal against AndreyGolubev and both thetop seeds - NovakDjokovic vs. ConorNiland and CarolineWozniacki vs. NuriaLlagostera Vives.

The only major upseton opening day wasAlexandra Dulgheru’s7-6 (3), 6-3 victory overNo. 5 Petra Kvitova.Kvitova became thefirst reigningWimbledon championto lose in the first roundat the U.S. Open.

She has only wontwo matches sincehoisting the trophy atthe All England Club.Asked why she wasstruggling, she said,“That’s a good question,

actually.”The player she beat

at Wimbledon, MariaSharapova, had to gothree sets Monday forher win. She needed 2hours, 34 minutes tobeat Heather Watson,the remarkably nimble,102nd-ranked 19-year-old from Britain.

The bad weatherstole some practice timeover the weekend fromSharapova, a three-timemajor champion, andshe conceded she wasfar from her best.

“It’s just a matter ofbelief within myself,that no matter how wellor bad or good I’m play-ing, or my opponent isplaying, I know I cantough it out,” she said.“No matter what the sit-uation is, I have thebelief.”

In the last match ofthe first day, 16-timemajor winner RogerFederer beat 54th-ranked SantiagoGiraldo of Colombia 6-4,6-3, 6-2 to collect his224th victory in GrandSlam play, tying AndreAgassi for second-mostin the Open era. JimmyConnors holds therecord at 233.

“It’s just another wayof saying, ‘Roger,you’ve been doing manythings right through-

out your career,”Federer said. “It givesme good satisfactionand points me in theright direction, Ithink.”

The only men’s seedto lose on Day 1 was No.15 Viktor Troicki ofSerbia, a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 loser againstAlejandro Falla ofColombia.

Other winnersincluded No. 2 VeraZvonareva, a finalistlast year at Wimbledonand the U.S. Open; 16-year-old Madison Keysof Boca Raton, Fla. - theyoungest and, at 455th,lowest-ranked womanin the draw - who beat37-year-old Jill Craybas6-2, 6-4; and No. 12Agnieszka Radwanskaof Poland, who beat heryounger sister Urszula6-2, 6-3.

But surprise 2009U.S. Open quarterfinal-ist Melanie Oudin ofMarietta, Ga., lost 6-0,7-6 (7) to RominaOprandi of Italy, fallingto 9-29 in 2011.

Oudin said she’llspend most of the restof this season playingin lesser events, hopingto get some matches,and wins, under herbelt to get some season-ing for a long career infront of her.

The Williams sisters,meanwhile, are think-ing about now - despitewhat the injury reportor the seedings mightsay.

“We’ve decided to justenjoy tennis,” VenusWilliams said. “It’s suchan honor. We’ll do it aslong as we can. Rightnow, the end is not real-ly in sight.”

Venus a winner at US Open; sister Serena up next

By ANDREWWELSH-

HUGGINS

COLUMBUS, Ohio -Ohio State’s top finan-cial official on Tuesdayrecommended the uni-versity hire two firms toundertake a compre-hensive review of cam-pus compliance pro-grams in the wake ofthe football team’s mem-orabilia scandal.

The review will lookat compliance acrossthe university, with anemphasis on athletics,research, the medicalcenter including OhioState hospitals, and stu-dent financial aid.

The review will alsocompare Ohio State’scompliance programs -meaning how depart-ments follow rules andregulations that applyto them - with otheruniversities and compa-nies. Finally, the com-panies will recommenda new structure forOhio State to follow.

“It’s about integrityand about having thebest system in the coun-try looking at compli-ance in all those areas,”said Geoff Chatas, theuniversity’s chief finan-cial officer.

Two firms, both out-side Ohio, are being rec-ommended by Chatas.

The first, Protiviti

Inc. of Menlo Park,Calif., is a global busi-ness and risk consult-ing firm that fit the uni-versity’s needs for acompliance review,Chatas said.

The second, NewYork-based law firmDewey and LeBoeuf,will assist with legalissues arising from thereview, Chatas said.

“We wanted the bestfirms,” he said, whilenoting that Protiviti hasa major Cincinnatioffice.

Chatas said OhioState already hasstrong compliance pro-grams in individualdepartments. But hesaid he was surprised

there wasn’t a nationalmodel of a centralizedcompliance programthe university couldlook to. Trustees arelikely to approve thehiring next week.

The review comes asOhio State tries torecover from a rulesscandal that cost formercoach Jim Tressel hisjob and led to the depar-ture of quarterbackTerrelle Pryor.

The review is aboutmuch more than theathletics department,said trustee RobertSchottenstein, chair-man of the trustees’audit committee.

“We’ve also under-scored we believe this

was an opportunity forOhio State to take a stepforward in an areawhere historicallymaybe that wasn’timportant, or wasn’t anissue,” Schottenstein,CEO and president of

M/I Homes Inc., saidTuesday.

Trustees announcedin June the universitywould review all compli-ance practices, not justthose in the athleticdepartment.

Ohio State plans for widespread compliance program

Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith



CHALLENGE

WR Crabtree back in uniform, practicing for 49ers

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Wideout MichaelCrabtree is in uniform and practicing with the SanFrancisco 49ers for the first time this preseason.

Crabtree, the 10th overall draft pick in 2009 outof Texas Tech, was activated from the physicallyunable to perform list Tuesday. He did a short drillwith quarterback Alex Smith before moving to anindividual work. A day earlier, Crabtree caught acouple dozen balls during warmups before generalmanager Trent Baalke stopped him. The teamimmediately reported the situation to the NFL.League spokesman Greg Ailleo said the NFL was“looking into it.”

The 49ers said there was nothing new to reportTuesday.

The 23-year-old Crabtree had 55 catches for 741yards and six touchdowns last year.

Pacman Jones co-defendent sentencedLAS VEGAS — A former bodyguard for NFL

football player Adam “Pacman” Jones has been sen-tenced in Las Vegas to probation, community serv-ice and anger management counseling for his rolein a Las Vegas strip club fracas and shooting thatleft three people wounded in February 2007.

Robert “Big Rob” Reid, 31, of Compton, Calif.,was sentenced Thursday by Clark County DistrictCourt Judge Douglas Herndon after pleading anequivalent of no contest in December 2007 to mis-demeanor conspiracy to commit disorderly con-duct, said his lawyer, Robert Langford.

“It closes the case for Mr. Reid,” Langford saidTuesday. He said Reid still works as a bodyguardand has been involved in the filming of a reality TVshow featuring strippers touring on a bus.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal first reportedReid’s sentencing on Tuesday.

Authorities allege that Jones instigated theshooting by throwing wads of dollar bills from alarge plastic trash bag onto a stage at the club,called Minxx, during NBA All-Star Game weekendin Las Vegas.

Jones, 27, now plays defensive cornerback forthe Cincinnati Bengals. He has denied a role in theshooting.

Police alleged that Jones met outside the clubwith Arvin Kenti Edwards of Renton, Wash., beforeEdwards opened fire.

Edwards, 32, was sentenced earlier this monthto four to 10 years in prison after entering a so-called Alford plea to attempted murder with use ofa deadly weapon. The plea avoided trial and sparedEdwards an admission of guilt but acknowledgedthat prosecutors could prove the case against him.

Jones is serving one year of probation for hisAlford plea in December 2007 to conspiracy to com-mit disorderly conduct — the same against Reid.

Jones could face a hearing in Las Vegas aboutwhether an arrest in July at an Ohio bar violatedterms of that sentence.

The district attorney in Las Vegas, David Roger,has said he was reviewing police accounts of Jones’arrest on charges of resisting arrest and misde-meanor disorderly conduct before decidingwhether to ask a Nevada judge if Jones violated astay-out-of-trouble order.

Roger didn’t immediately respond Tuesday tomessages seeking comment.

Langford, who also represents Jones, said hedidn’t think Jones’ case in Ohio would lead to ahearing in Las Vegas.

SSSSPPPPOOOORRRRTTTTSSSS BBBBRRRRIIIIEEEEFFFFSSSSBy ROB MAADDI

PHILADELPHIA -Michael Vick is really backon top now.

Vick and the PhiladelphiaEagles agreed on a six-year con-tract on Monday that againmakes the Pro Bowl quarterbackone of the highest-paid playersin the NFL.

A source familiar with thenegotiations told The AssociatedPress the deal is worth $100 mil-lion, including about $40 mil-lion guaranteed. The personspoke to the AP on condition ofanonymity because termsweren’t released.

Vick has come a long waysince spending 18 months infederal prison on dogfightingcharges. He led the Eagles to theNFC East title last year, was thestarting quarterback in the ProBowl and was the AP ComebackPlayer of the Year.

“I’m very happy we were ableto reach an agreement withMichael on this long-term con-tract,” Eagles coach Andy Reidsaid in a statement. “It’s a prod-uct of all the hard work Michaelhas done to better himself overthe last couple of years, both onand off the field. I’m very proudthat he has been able to achievesuccess again in this league, buthe’ll be the first one to tell youthat there is a lot of work yet tobe done by him and this team asa whole.

“And there’s no doubt in mymind that he will continue onthat path.”

Vick was due to earn slightlymore than $16 million this sea-son after the Eagles designatedhim the franchise player inFebruary. He’ll make a little less,possibly giving the Eaglessalary cap flexibility to give ProBowl wide receiver DeSeanJackson an extension.

The 31-year-old Vick joinedthe Eagles in 2009, and playedsparingly as the third-string QBbehind Donovan McNabb andKevin Kolb. He started last yearas the backup, but forced hisway into the starting role withhis exceptional performancesafter Kolb got hurt in the seasonopener.

Vick guided the Eagles to an8-3 record in 11 games as astarter in his first season play-

ing full-time since 2006. He setcareer highs in yards passing(3,018), touchdowns passing(21), touchdowns rushing (9),completion percentage (62.6)and passer rating (100.2). Vickalso rushed for 676 yards.

Vick, the No. 1 overall pick inthe 2001 draft, once was amegastar with the AtlantaFalcons. He signed a $130 mil-lion, 10-year deal in 2005 thatmade him the top-paid player inthe league then. But Vick lost itall when he went to jail and heeventually filed for bankruptcy.

He was reviled by fans whenhe came back, but has won themover with good behavior off thefield, a humble attitude andspectacular play.

Eagles give QB Vick $100 million deal

HAVANA, Cuba -Cuban athlete DayronRobles says he wouldn’thave been disqualifiedfrom the 110m hurdlesin the WorldChampionship if hecame from a more pow-erful country.

Robles was strippedof his first-place finishin the hurdles in SouthKorea on Monday afterjudges upheld anappeal claiming he heldback Chinese runnerLiu Xiang.

The ruling meant thegold medal was handedto American JasonRichardson, with Liusecond and British ath-lete Andrew Turnergiven bronze.

In an email sent to

The Associated Presson Tuesday, Roblessays “that wouldn’thave happened,” if he

were from a countrywith “more power”.

Robles says the set-back will make him

stronger mentally andinsists he’s focused onwinning

Robles: Being Cuban cost me hurdles gold medal

Cuba's Dayron Robles, right, makes contact with China's Liu Xiang, left,during the Men's 110m Hurdles final at the World AthleticsChampionships in Daegu, South Korea.



CHALLENGE

By DAISYNGUYEN

LOS ANGELES -Former NBA playerJavaris Crittentonwas in police cus-tody after beingarrested at aSouthern Californiaairport while wait-ing to board a flightto Atlanta, wherehis lawyer said hewould go to surren-der in a murdercase.

Crittenton, who wassuspended from theleague for having gunsin a locker room withteammate GilbertArenas, was arrestedMonday evening atJohn Wayne Airport inOrange County afterchecking in for a redeyeDelta Air Lines flight,FBI spokeswomanLaura Eimiller said.

She said he was with amale companion whowas not arrested.

Crittenton was takento a Los Angeles policestation where he wasbooked on suspicion ofbeing a fugitive fromjustice.

Jane Robison of theLos Angeles Countydistrict attorney’s officesaid Tuesday that pros-ecutors expect tocharge him Wednesdaywith being a fugitivefrom justice and he maybe arraigned later inthe day at the down-town criminal courtsbuilding.

Atlanta Policespokeswoman KimJones said Tuesday thetimetable forCrittenton’s returndepends on whether hewaives extradition.

Crittenton, 23, waswanted on a federalarrest warrant after theFBI learned that hetraveled on a one-way

ticket to Los Angeles,where he was known tohave family andfriends, several daysafter a deadly Aug. 19shooting.

Crittenton’s attorneytold The AssociatedPress earlier Mondaythat his client plannedto surrender. He said hewas in contact withFulton County DistrictAttorney Paul Howardand the FBI FugitiveTask Force to makearrangements forCrittenton’s arrest.

“He offered to turnhimself in,” lawyerBrian Steel said. “He’snot guilty. We look for-ward to getting it to thecourts.”

Eimiller said shewasn’t aware of anynegotiation forCrittenton to surrender.

Police in Atlanta hadobtained a murder war-rant for Crittenton inthe Aug. 19 shooting of22-year-old Jullian

Jones, a mother of fouryoung children, as shewas walking with twomen. Police believe oneof the men with her wasthe target.

Police spokesmanCarlos Campos had saidthe motive appears to beretaliation for a robberyin April, in whichCrittenton was a victim.

When he was withthe WashingtonWizards in December2009, Crittenton andArenas had a disputeover a card game on ateam flight. Two dayslater, Arenas broughtfour guns to the lockerroom and set them infront of Crittenton’slocker with a signtelling him to “PICK 1.”Crittenton then tookout his own gun.

Crittenton pleadedguilty in January 2010to a misdemeanor guncharge and received ayear of unsupervisedprobation. Arenas

entered his guilty pleaon Jan. 15, 2010. Heserved a short time in ahalfway house.

Crittenton is on theroster of the NBA devel-opmental league’sDakota Wizards.

Ex-NBA player Crittenton arrested in murder case

Javaris Crittenton

NEW YORK - The NFLand the players’ union aredonating $1 million tomemorials and charities tocommemorate the 10thanniversary of the Sept. 11attacks.

The first Sunday of the regu-

lar season is Sept. 11, andincludes games matching theDallas Cowboys at the New YorkJets and the New York Giants atthe Washington Redskins.

The NFL and NFL PlayersAssociation will contribute$500,000 to the 9/11 Museum &Memorial in Lower Manhattan,

and $250,000 to be dividedbetween the Flight 93 NationalMemorial in Shanksville, Pa.,and the Pentagon MemorialFund in Washington.

In addition, the NFL andNFLPA will donate all proceedsfrom the sale of auction itemsfrom games played on Sept. 11.

NFL, NFLPA to donate $1 million to 9/11 charities

By TOM WITHERS

BEREA, Ohio - The Cleveland Browns havebeen awarded offensive lineman Oniel Cousins offwaivers from Baltimore, a move made for protec-tion if they have to put left guard Eric Steinbachon injured reserve.

Steinbach, who has not missed a snap in twoseasons, may need back surgery for a bulgingdisk. On Monday, Browns coach Pat Shurmursaid the club was close to making a decision onSteinbach, an indispensable eight-year veteranwho left practice two weeks ago when his backtightened.

Cousins was drafted by the Ravens in 2008. Hemade four starts and appeared in 25 games.

With Steinbach out, rookie guard JasonPinkston, a fifth-round pick from Pittsburgh, hasbeen working with the first-team offense.

AUSTIN, Texas - Cincinnati Bengals runningback Cedric Benson was sentenced to 20 days injail Monday after reaching a deal to settle twomisdemeanor assault cases in Texas.

Benson said he will surrender to authorities onOct. 17, which is the Monday of Cincinnati’s byeweek.

“This was a difficult decision for Mr. Benson,”said Sam Bassett, the running back’s attorney.“His priority right now is to get back to work andput these legal matters behind him.”

Benson’s jail time could be significantly short-er than the sentence. He could be given credit forany time served when he was arrested and statelaw requires inmates be given two days credit forevery day they are rewarded for good behavior.Jail overcrowding also could shorten his stay.

But for now, the Bengals must make plans tobe without their leading rusher. They declinedcomment Monday.

BBBBrrrroooowwwwnnnnssss ppppiiiicccckkkk uuuuppppooooffff ffffeeeennnnssssiiiivvvveeee llll iiiinnnneeeemmmmaaaannnn

By PAT GRAHAM

DAEGU, South Korea - A memorablemeeting - marked by a late surge and astumble - could be the start of a robustrivalry between Grenada’s KiraniJames and American LaShawn Merritt.

James leaned across the line Tuesday to winthe gold medal in the 400 meters at the worldchampionships, upstaging the reigning title-holder, who had grab the back of the teenag-er’s jersey to prevent himself from falling.

The surprise finish put Merritt on notice:There’s a new kid in the blocks, and he’s pret-ty good. He’s even drawing comparisons toJamaican sensation Usain Bolt.

“I don’t want to be the next Usain Bolt,” saidJames, who turns 19 on Thursday. “I’m happyin my own skin. I’m on the right track to greatthings.”

Merritt was a little rusty. This was his firstmajor meet since serving a 21-month suspen-sion for using a banned substance that hislawyer said was the result of a male-enhance-ment product. He lost steam with about 10meters to go, opening the door for James.

“He is a great competitor,” Merritt said asthe Americans failed to win gold in the 400 forthe first time since 2001. “I didn’t quite have agood day.”

Their next major meeting could come at theLondon Olympics. Provided, of course, Merrittis allowed to compete.

Youngster from Grenadaupsets Merritt at worlds

Bengals RB Benson getsjail sentence in Texas

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Documents

Daily Challenge 8-31-11