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Thursday, August 31, 2006

Financial Times Editorial - Rumsfeld's confusion

Financial Times Editorial - Rumsfeld's confusion
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 31 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 31 2006 03:00


Donald Rumsfeld can seem peculiarly friendless. Calling for the American defence secretary's resignation is a popular sport for everyone from retired generals to political pundits. Almost the only person who seems to retain complete confidence in Mr Rumsfeld is his boss, President George W. Bush.

But Mr Rumsfeld's beleaguered position has not made him any the less pugnacious. In a speech on August 29, he attacked critics of the American war effort in Iraq for "moral and intellectual confusion", lambasted the media for spreading "myths and distortions" about the US military and argued that the west faces a "new type of fascism" in the Middle East.

It may be unfashionable to acknowledge this, but Mr Rumsfeld is making one valid and important point. There should be no moral confusion about who is responsible for the heartbreaking violence in Iraq. It is not the American army that is planting car bombs in markets. Some of the most ardent critics of the Iraq war are in danger of almost welcoming further bad news as an opportunity to say "I told you so". They should recognise that it is still overwhelmingly in the interests of those who want a freer and more peaceful Middle East that the Americans and their allies succeed in stabilising Iraq.

The trouble is that while some of Mr Rumsfeld's more ardent critics may be guilty of "moral confusion", the US defence secretary himself gives every sign of intellectual confusion. To call Iraqi insurgents and Islamist terrorists "fascists" and to accuse opponents of the war of "appeasement" may be a useful rhetorical device in the run-up to the American mid-term elections. But it also suggests that the Bush administration is still falling back on tired intellectual categories drawn from the 1930s, rather than thinking seriously and creatively about the new challenges it is facing.

Worse, the Bush administration is sowing further confusion by equating today's war with the struggle against Nazism - and then resisting any suggestion that victory may require higher taxes or more troops. Such a rhetorical mismatch inevitably feeds growing domestic cynicism and disillusionment with the war.

In the coming weeks Mr Bush is expected to make a series of speeches that will seek to rally support for the war in Iraq. He will need to go beyond Mr Rumsfeld's angry denunciation of critics of the war. Instead, the president must lay out a frank and calm analysis of what has gone wrong in Iraq and state clearly what he thinks is now required to help that tortured country to achieve stability. If that means more troops and more money, Mr Bush should say so. For without a convincing and honest analysis of the current situation, he may find that the domestic demand for a rapid American withdrawal from Iraq becomes unstoppable.

US economic growth rate halves in second quarter on weaker profits

US economic growth rate halves in second quarter on weaker profits
By Daniel Pimlott in New York
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 31 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 31 2006 03:00


The rate of US economic growth fell by almost half in the second quarter of this year, although it expanded faster than originally reported, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

Gross domestic product grew at an annualised 2.9 per cent between April and June, higher than the earlier estimate of 2.5 per cent and largely bringing it into line with Wall Street expectations of 3 per cent growth. The economy grew at 5.6 per cent in the first quarter.

The slowdown was driven in part by faltering corporate profit growth, which rose 2.1 per cent after taxes, down from 14.8 per cent growth in the first quarter, and the biggest decline in homebuilding since 1995. Overall growth was lower than in any quarter since the end of 2004.

The Federal Reserve has said it believes a slowing rate of economic growth will help to bring down inflation. On Tuesday, the minutes of the Fed's interest rate-setting committee showed that their August decision to hold rates steady was a "close call".

"This plays into the Fed's preferred path of a soft landing for the economy. The economy isn't falling apart and its showing pretty good growth overall," said Brian Bethune, chief US economist at Global Insight.

However, the current rate of growth, which is above the Fed's estimates for the period, combined with rising labour costs, may mean that the Fed will have to raise rates, analysts said.

"In the later part of the year, if growth hasn't slowed substantially and labour cost pressures remain, the Fed is likely to swing to more tightening," said Ted Wieseman, an economist at Morgan Stanley.

Consumer spending growth was revised upwards by 1 basis point to 2.6 per cent but remained a significant drag on GDP, falling from 4.8 per cent in the first quarter.

GDP was revised upwards on raised estimates of exports, non-residential building, private inventory investment, and state and local government spending. These were partly offset by a downward revision to residential fixed investment.

US stocks rose on the data, with the S&P 500 reaching its highest for three months. Treasury prices gained sharply, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note falling to its lowest level since March.

Costco alert points to lower US spending

Costco alert points to lower US spending
By Jonathan Birchall in New York
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 30 2006 17:34 | Last updated: August 30 2006 18:45


Costco, the US retailer, on Wednesday provided further evidence of weakening US consumer spending as it warned that quarterly profits would be hit by poor sales of furniture, electronics and jewellery.

The warning followed Tuesday’s report from the Conference Board, which showed consumer confidence in August at its lowest level for nine months.

Yields on the 10-year US Treasury bond also slipped on Wednesday to their lowest levels since March – reflecting expectations of a slowdown.

Costco – whose warehouse clubs have 47m members, mostly on higher income – said it had been forced to cut prices on furniture items selling for more than $1,000 during the quarter, in response to slower sales.

Jim Sinegal, chief executive, said higher petrol prices were to blame. “Obviously it has to be a factor. We have customers at the higher end of the demographic scale and so we feel that our customers are generally influenced later than other consumers across the country. But they have to be mindful of it.

“Furniture seems to be a discretionary purchase and we saw that fall off a little bit. The jewellery seems to be discretionary: we saw that fall off. But toys and electronics seem to be doing well, so it is a mixed bag.”

Jim Galanti, chief financial officer, said he was optimistic that petrol prices would move downwards, given the end of peak summer demand in the US and the easing of tensions in the Middle East.

Costco’s overall store sales grew by 7 per cent during August – more than analysts had expected. But the retailer said its profit margins had been hit by price markdowns and that it was now expecting earnings of 68-71 cents a share, against the 77 cents expected by Wall Street.

Separately, a survey published on Wednesday by Boston Consulting Group highlighted the far greater impact of higher fuel prices on middle- and lower-income consumers, with substantial reductions in eating out, holidays and spending on entertainment and impulse purchases.

Michael Silverstein, an economist at BCG, said the results highlighted, in particular, the impact on the lowest-income group of families earning less than $35,000 a year.

But he noted that the core of families earning $50,000-$150,000 annually, who account for 66-67 per cent of consumer spending, was adjusting purchasing habits to maintain lifestyles, while worrying about the future of energy prices in particular.

Target sales growth misses forecasts

Target sales growth misses forecasts
CHICAGO, Aug 31 (Reuters)
© Reuters Limited


Target on Thursday posted a smaller-than-expected 2.8 percent increase in August sales at its stores open at least a year, marking the second consecutive month that its sales growth missed Wall Street forecasts.

Analysts, on average, had expected the discount retailer to report a same-store sales gain of 3.1 percent, according to a Reuters survey.

Total sales for the four-week period that ended Aug. 26 rose 9.2 percent to $4.22 billion.

On a recorded message, Target said women’s apparel, home decor, jewelry and accessories were among the weakest categories. The strongest performers included newborn, infant and toddler merchandise, pharmacy, food and toys.

The disappointing performance comes as Wall Street is watching closely for signs that a spending slowdown is spreading among middle-class consumers as the U.S. housing market cools.

Lower-priced retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have been saying for months that steep gasoline prices were curbing spending, particularly among low-income consumers, but chains that cater to wealthier shoppers had seen less of an impact.

Target’s same-store sales growth was only slightly better than Wal-Mart’s 2.7 percent August gain.

Target said it expects September same-store sales growth in the range of 3 percent to 5 percent, while Wal-Mart forecast 1 percent to 3 percent growth for the month.

Daley decisive on all but biggest decision of all

Daley decisive on all but biggest decision of all
BY MARK BROWN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
August 31, 2006



It started the way it always does. The door opened, and somebody shouted, "Here he comes," calling the cameramen to attention. Reporters scurried to put their tape recorders on the podium.

"Lock and load," Mayor Daley said with a chuckle, as he charged into the fifth-floor room where he holds his formal news conferences. I took it as friendly alert to his inquisitors, though I realized afterward I hadn't kept a close eye on his security detail.

It was definitely a contrast to the last time I'd seen the mayor enter this room, the day not two months ago that Robert Sorich and three other mayoral aides were convicted of engaging in fraudulent hiring practices to evade court-ordered patronage restrictions.

That day we saw a performance of Daley on a hot tin roof, as a red-faced mayor wearing a frozen smile read a statement and ducked out without answering questions. Wednesday was Daley in the catbird seat, taking inquiries from all comers until he lost interest.

We've seen plenty of Daley on the hot tin roof since the Hired Truck scandal started two years ago, but at the end of the day, even with potential challengers beginning to circle, the truth is that he's still sitting comfortably in that catbird seat.

One more time?

This news conference had been called to announce that Chicago Housing Authority CEO Terry Peterson would step down after six years to be replaced by CHA chairwoman Sharon Gist Gilliam, a longtime City Hall troubleshooter. Daley used the occasion to praise Peterson's role in carrying out his goal of overhauling public housing.

But there was an expectation that Daley would say something to confirm a report in the Sun-Times that Peterson's next assignment would be to manage the mayor's re-election campaign -- in effect, a confirmation that there would be a re-election campaign.

Daley, though, wouldn't bite, responding to all questions with the same talking points he has used for months, stringing them together into the usual jumble of non sequiturs that somehow make sense.

With Peterson going to run his campaign, did that mean for sure Daley would run for re-election?

"Well, first of all, I've not announced for, I've never, ever announced at all in regards to, uh, seeking a term for the mayor's office before the state election. That's never been, you've known that, you've watched me all through the period. I've never done that. There's a process you go through. I'll be talking to my family and talking to the others about looking forward to the next term."

So what will he have Peterson doing in preparation for a possible run?

"Well, I've talked to people already about, uh, uh, uh, just talked to them, their conversation with regards to what I stand for, what we've accomplished, what the city's accomplished together. Sure, I've been, I mean, every day I do that. Every day I have to talk to the media. Every day I'm out there talking to people. So that's a process you go through. You don't all of a sudden worry about an election when it comes up. You have to fulfill what you have to do in four years, and it isn't something you start going for re-election. You have to start making decisions, and one thing this administration has made decisions. That's one thing we have done."

That would have been a good opportunity to ask who made the decision for his administration to systematically end-run the Shakman decree and its restrictions on patronage, but I'm not that quick. Instead, somebody asked again what Peterson would be doing?

"It all depends. When I make a decision, I will look for Terry. I will look for others in regards to helping me out."

Is there any chance Daley won't run?

"Well, I don't know. You know, something could occur. Let's be realistic. Something could occur in your personal life or something, something happens personally, I mean, you can never, I mean no one can see the future, I mean no one can say nothing's ever going to happen to me. There's only one person. And that person's upstairs, and not on this floor, I mean way upstairs. And that's the only, if something ever happens, you know, it could happen. You don't know."

But barring that?

Best job in America

"Oh, no. I think I've got the best job in America. I think I have the best job in America. I don't think, I think, when you look at making decisions, you have to make decisions. When I decided to take public schools over, every political consultant said, you've lost your mind. When I decided to take CHA over, they thought, I've lost my mind. They thought there's no way. I've lost it. Why would you ever tackle this? That's the federal government's problem. That's the State Board of Education. That's somebody else's problem. But I knew in making this city better, that's what you have to do. You have to concentrate on issues that no one expects a mayor to go into."

There you have it. Best job in America. Hasn't lost his mind. Not afraid to make decisions. Just not ready to tell us.

10% of tuna at sushi bars unfit to eat, report says

10% of tuna at sushi bars unfit to eat, report says
BY GARY WISBY Environment Reporter
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
August 31, 2006



Pregnant, or planning to be? Don't eat tuna when you go out for sushi.

That was the urging of researchers who on Wednesday released a study that found dangerous mercury levels at 10 top Chicago-area sushi restaurants.

Seventy percent of samples exceeded the mercury threshold at which Illinois advises women of childbearing age -- and young children -- not to have more than one serving a month.

"Toxic Tuna," a report by Environment Illinois and California-based GotMercury.org, said 10 percent of the tuna sushi samples they tested shouldn't be eaten by anyone -- man, woman or child -- because they had more mercury than the FDA's "actionable level." That's the level that would prompt the feds to seize the contaminated fish.

The report names seven restaurants in the city and one each in Lombard, Schaumburg and Wheeling. But Environment Illinois' Max Muller said the intention wasn't to point fingers at specific sushi spots, but at tuna sushi in general.

Muller and Eli Saddler of GotMercury.org said sushi restaurants should post warnings about their fare, either voluntarily or by legislative mandate.

Consumer Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, went even further in July, recommending that pregnant women avoid eating all tuna.

'Billions in costs to society'

Mercury causes decreased IQs and mental retardation in fetuses and young children, said Dr. Peter Orris of the University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Public Health. If sources of mercury pollution -- including coal-fired power plants and mercury-laden products that are disposed of improperly -- aren't curbed, "personal tragedies and yearly billions in costs to society will continue to mount," he said.

Colleen McShane, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, still reeling from the City Council ban on foie gras, said, "This is another cry for . . . overregulating restaurants."

Many restaurants already post advisories against pregnant women eating uncooked foods, she said. If customers want further warnings, "restaurants will absolutely respond," McShane added. "The customer sure isn't complaining."

gwisby@suntimes.com

New York Times Editorial - The falling paycheck

New York Times Editorial - The falling paycheck
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: August 30, 2006


After huddling with his economic team at Camp David this month, President George W. Bush emerged from a meeting and, flanked by advisers - including the secretaries of labor, commerce and the Treasury - announced to reporters, "Things are good for American workers."

The comment is preposterous. As The New York Times reported on Monday, the economic expansion that began in late 2001 is on track to become the first since World War II that fails to offer a sustained lift to the real wages of most American workers. Although the U.S. economy has grown and productivity has been strong, American employees have not shared in the wealth they've helped to create. Wages and salaries now make up the lowest proportion of the economy since the government began keeping records in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960s.

Until recently, the decline in real wages has been masked in large part by the housing boom that allowed many Americans to borrow and spend, even as their pay was squeezed. But now the housing market is flagging and with it, the Bush- era economy - without American workers having ever experienced a period of solid prosperity.

Unfortunately, there's little likelihood of meaningful improvement anytime soon. When Bush and his advisers are not insisting that everything is fine, they're promising more high-end tax cuts as a cure-all, or painting the problem as one of impersonal market forces for which there are no government solutions.

Those are not the paths out of the predicament. Just the opposite, they are approaches that have contributed to it.

New York Times Editorial - Downward mobility

New York Times Editorial - Downward mobility
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: August 30, 2006


Americans who still harbor the notion that the U.S. economy is "good" should prepare to be disabused.

Even the best number from Tuesday's Census Bureau report for 2005 is bad news for most Americans. It shows that median income rose 1.1 percent last year, to $46,326, the first increase since it peaked in 1999. But the entire increase is attributable to the 23 million households headed by someone over age 65. So the gain is from investment income and Social Security, not wages and salaries.

For the other 91 million households, the median dropped, by half a percent, or $275. Incomes for the under-65 crowd were hurt by a decline in wages and salaries among full- time working men for the second year in a row, and among full-time working women for the third straight year. In all, median income for the under-65 group was $2,000 lower in 2005 than in 2001, when the last recession bottomed out.

Despite the Bush-era expansion, the number of Americans living in poverty in 2005 - 37 million - was the same as in 2004. This is the first time the number has not risen since 2000. But the share of the population now in poverty - 12.6 percent - is still higher than at the trough of the last recession, when it was 11.7 percent. And among the poor, 43 percent were living below half the poverty line in 2005 - $7,800 for a family of three. That is the highest percentage of people in "deep poverty" since the government started keeping track of those numbers in 1975.

As for the uninsured, their ranks grew in 2005 by 1.3 million people, to a record 46.6 million, or 15.9 percent.

The Census findings are yet another indication that growth alone is not the answer to the economic and social ills of poverty, income inequality and lack of insurance. Economic growth was strong in 2005, and productivity growth was impressive. What have been missing are government policies that help to ensure that the benefits of growth are broadly shared - like strong support for public education, a progressive income tax, affordable health care, a higher minimum wage and other labor protections.

President George W. Bush is unlikely to push for those changes, wed as he is to tax cuts that mainly benefit the wealthy. But the economic agenda for the next president could not be clearer.

Bush has a job to do

Bush has a job to do
Robert E. Hunter
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: August 30, 2006



WASHINGTON The Arab-Israeli conflict has bedeviled every U.S. president for more than a half-century. President George W. Bush now has an opportunity to bring it to an end. This is in the interests of Israel, the Palestinians, and everyone in the Middle East who prefers peace to war. From the perspective of the United States, it has become a strategic imperative.

"Life isn't fair," President John Kennedy said. Bush might say the same: The job now falls to him to do all in the power of the United States to resolve one of the modern age's most emotional and long-standing conflicts.

It was not always thus. After President Anwar Sadat took Egypt out of the Arab-Israeli conflict, this key Cold War flashpoint was reduced to a troubling nuisance for U.S. administrations. American presidents acted as peacemakers from time to time, but they were not compelled to do so by U.S. strategic requirements.

Then came 9/11 and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Like it or not, since then America has found that it again has a strategic need to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. The demands placed on the United States were underscored by the recent fighting in Lebanon - Israel's first failure in war to achieve its political objectives, compounded by what seemed worldwide to be the inexplicable unwillingness of America to call a timely halt to the combat.

From the American perspective, three things are clear:

Whatever Israel does with American money, weapons and backing is chalked up to the U.S. account throughout the Middle East.

U.S. standing among Arabs and Muslims - friend and foe alike - took a further drubbing with the recent war in Lebanon.

America's overall position in the region and its strategic interests - now beset from the Mediterranean Sea to the Hindu Kush - would be immensely improved if Israel and Palestine could achieve peace as two sovereign, secure and independent states.

To make peace, America needs to demonstrate to all that it will not compromise Israel's security and survival. Arab states, for their part, must force a sea change in attitudes toward a peace that secures basic Palestinian rights.

The way forward is no mystery. After years of negotiations, the cardinal points of a settlement have become clear to virtually everyone who has ever been an Arab-Israeli peace negotiator. Polling shows that these points are endorsed by the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians.

Worked out in the last days of the Clinton presidency, the basic ideas could be sketched on the back of an envelope: withdrawal of Israel to the pre- 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps with Palestine that would incorporate in Israel most of the West Bank settlers; Jerusalem as capital of two countries and the holy places governed by common consent of religious leaders; compensation but not return for Palestinian refugees from the 1947-48 war; and a demilitarized Palestine with security guaranteed by a NATO-led force.

For four decades, Arab-Israeli negotiations have consisted of taking one step at a time, in the hope that each small success would provide the basis for the next. But that process has also worked to the advantage of extremists who can destroy diplomacy with even small acts of violence. The time has come instead to define the end state and work unceasingly toward it as a single, coherent and comprehensive goal - a product, not a process.

The United States should drive to that end, not episodically but with complete commitment, up to and including Bush. America needs to work most closely with Israel but also with the Palestinians - all Palestinians - and others.

Such a commitment would confound the enemies of peace. It would split extremists from moderates and erode popular support for the rejectionist camp. It would deprive terrorists everywhere of a recruiting tool. And it would regain for the United States the political and moral high ground.

Robert E. Hunter is a senior adviser at the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization. He was U.S. ambassador to NATO, 1993-1998.

WASHINGTON The Arab-Israeli conflict has bedeviled every U.S. president for more than a half-century. President George W. Bush now has an opportunity to bring it to an end. This is in the interests of Israel, the Palestinians, and everyone in the Middle East who prefers peace to war. From the perspective of the United States, it has become a strategic imperative.

"Life isn't fair," President John Kennedy said. Bush might say the same: The job now falls to him to do all in the power of the United States to resolve one of the modern age's most emotional and long-standing conflicts.

It was not always thus. After President Anwar Sadat took Egypt out of the Arab-Israeli conflict, this key Cold War flashpoint was reduced to a troubling nuisance for U.S. administrations. American presidents acted as peacemakers from time to time, but they were not compelled to do so by U.S. strategic requirements.

Then came 9/11 and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Like it or not, since then America has found that it again has a strategic need to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. The demands placed on the United States were underscored by the recent fighting in Lebanon - Israel's first failure in war to achieve its political objectives, compounded by what seemed worldwide to be the inexplicable unwillingness of America to call a timely halt to the combat.

From the American perspective, three things are clear:

Whatever Israel does with American money, weapons and backing is chalked up to the U.S. account throughout the Middle East.

U.S. standing among Arabs and Muslims - friend and foe alike - took a further drubbing with the recent war in Lebanon.

America's overall position in the region and its strategic interests - now beset from the Mediterranean Sea to the Hindu Kush - would be immensely improved if Israel and Palestine could achieve peace as two sovereign, secure and independent states.

To make peace, America needs to demonstrate to all that it will not compromise Israel's security and survival. Arab states, for their part, must force a sea change in attitudes toward a peace that secures basic Palestinian rights.

The way forward is no mystery. After years of negotiations, the cardinal points of a settlement have become clear to virtually everyone who has ever been an Arab-Israeli peace negotiator. Polling shows that these points are endorsed by the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians.

Worked out in the last days of the Clinton presidency, the basic ideas could be sketched on the back of an envelope: withdrawal of Israel to the pre- 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps with Palestine that would incorporate in Israel most of the West Bank settlers; Jerusalem as capital of two countries and the holy places governed by common consent of religious leaders; compensation but not return for Palestinian refugees from the 1947-48 war; and a demilitarized Palestine with security guaranteed by a NATO-led force.

For four decades, Arab-Israeli negotiations have consisted of taking one step at a time, in the hope that each small success would provide the basis for the next. But that process has also worked to the advantage of extremists who can destroy diplomacy with even small acts of violence. The time has come instead to define the end state and work unceasingly toward it as a single, coherent and comprehensive goal - a product, not a process.

The United States should drive to that end, not episodically but with complete commitment, up to and including Bush. America needs to work most closely with Israel but also with the Palestinians - all Palestinians - and others.

Such a commitment would confound the enemies of peace. It would split extremists from moderates and erode popular support for the rejectionist camp. It would deprive terrorists everywhere of a recruiting tool. And it would regain for the United States the political and moral high ground.

Robert E. Hunter is a senior adviser at the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization. He was U.S. ambassador to NATO, 1993-1998.

Katrina - When the world wanted to help America

Katrina - When the world wanted to help America
Anne C. Richard
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: August 30, 2006


WASHINGTON When other countries rushed to help America after Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. government bungled it - replying to offers of help from overseas with mixed signals, indecision and delay. President George W. Bush said America did not need help; the State Department announced the same day that no offer would be refused; and managers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency balked at going outside the United States for help.

On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. emergency management system needs to get in sync with the rest of the world. The United States must recognize that it could suffer a catastrophic disaster - a hurricane or an act of terror - in which foreign help might be necessary or useful.

After Katrina, a planeload of communications equipment sat on a runway in Sweden, arriving 11 days later and too late to use. The Swiss offer of an airplane full of relief supplies was canceled after FEMA asked for only a portion - which would have required unloading and reloading the plane. Response teams from Austria, Hungary, and Jordan were ignored or rejected.

The British quickly sent 500,000 ready-to-eat meals after a U.S. request, but inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture stopped distribution for fear of spreading mad cow disease.

By mid-September, an ad hoc system to vet in-kind contributions was operating. Aid offers ended up coming in from more than 130 countries and a dozen international organizations; 42 cargo planeloads of relief supplies arrived from overseas.

Some of the contributions proved immensely helpful. The Vancouver Urban Search and Rescue team was among the first on the scene, rescuing 119 people stranded by flood waters. The Mexican Army ran a canteen in San Antonio, Texas for relief workers and evacuees. NATO organized flights of relief supplies and Unicef school kits helped young evacuees.

The most practical contribution was money; $126 million in cash (80 percent of it from the United Arab Emirates) is going to programs to help evacuees and affected schools. Hundreds of millions more from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are going directly to charities, hospitals and schools. Millions more have been donated by corporations based outside the United States.

While America was tempted to try to go it alone in its response to the hurricane, some of the contributions from other countries were essential. Lessons from these stories of international aid suggest that more could be done, both by the United States and the international community, to be better prepared for next time.

America should be prepared to vet and handle foreign offers of assistance after a large-scale crisis. The State Department should issue a preapproved list of useful goods and services, developed with input from other agencies and disaster experts. In addition, rules must be developed regarding which regulations (like those governing food inspections and use of doctors from overseas) can be waived during an emergency.

The outcome should be a system that responds to needs in the field and not to desires of donors - preventing shipments of unneeded contributions while taking into consideration legitimate foreign policy objectives.

After Katrina, pre-existing arrangements allowed for interoperability: Canadian divers worked seamlessly with the U.S. Navy to clear navigational hazards and inspect damaged levees, reflecting years training together. Dutch public-works engineers already had a memorandum of agreement to collaborate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the two agencies are collaborating more today - to the benefit of both countries. Joint exercises and drills in which personnel get a chance to practice working together and establish standard terminology and practices are necessary.

Developed nations need to reach agreement on the best ways to respond to disaster, not just in international hot spots but also in their own countries. The international community should adopt standards, including a uniform list of goods recommended for stockpiling, so that there is never any question about their utility. NATO and the European Union do have disaster centers, but efforts should be broadened to include experts from Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan and South Korea.

Lessons from Hurricane Katrina could contribute to more effective American and global crisis response; these examples of international goodwill should inspire American leadership and action.

Anne C. Richard is vice president of the International Rescue Committee and a nonresident fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins University.

Source of CIA leak is said to admit role

Source of CIA leak is said to admit role
By Neil A. Lewis
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: August 30, 2006


WASHINGTON Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state, has acknowledged that he was the person whose conversation with a columnist in 2003 prompted a long, politically laden criminal investigation in what became known as the CIA leak case, a lawyer involved in the case said.

Armitage did not return calls for comment. But the lawyer and other associates of Armitage have said he has confirmed that he was the initial and primary source for the columnist, Robert Novak, whose column of July 14, 2003, identified Valerie Plame as a CIA officer.

The identification of Armitage as the original leaker to Novak ends what has been a tantalizing mystery. In recent months, however, Armitage's role had become clear to many, and it was recently reported by Newsweek magazine and The Washington Post.

In the accounts by the lawyer and associates, Armitage disclosed casually to Novak that Plame worked for the agency at the end of an interview in his office at the State Department. Armitage knew about Plame, the accounts continue, because he had seen a memorandum written by an under secretary of state, Marc Grossman.

Grossman had taken up the task of finding out about Plame after an inquiry from I. Lewis Libby Jr., then the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby's inquiry was prompted by an Op-Ed article on May 6, 2003, in The New York Times by Nicholas Kristof and an article on June 12, 2003, in The Washington Post by Walter Pincus.

The two articles reported on a trip by a former U.S. ambassador to Africa sponsored by the CIA to check reports that Iraq was seeking enriched uranium to help with its nuclear arms program.

Neither article identified the ambassador by name. But it was known inside the government that it was Joseph Wilson 4th, Plame's husband. White House officials wanted to know how much of a role she had in selecting him for the assignment.

Plame was a covert employee, and after Novak printed her identity, the agency requested an investigation to see whether her name had been leaked illegally.

Some administration critics said her name had been made public in a campaign to punish Wilson, whose commentary in The Times said his investigation in Africa led him to believe that the Bush administration had twisted intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

The complaints after Novak's column led to the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the disclosure of Plame's identity.

The special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, did not bring charges in connection with laws that prohibit the willful disclosure of the identity of a CIA officer.

But he did indict Libby on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, saying Libby had testified untruthfully to a grand jury and U.S. agents when he said he learned about Plame's role at the agency from reporters rather than from several officials, including Cheney.

According to an account in a coming book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War" by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, excerpts of which appeared in Newsweek this week, Armitage told a few State Department colleagues that he might have been the leaker whose identity was being sought.

The book says Armitage realized this when Novak published a second column in October 2003 that said his source had been an official who was "not a political gunslinger." The Justice Department was quickly informed, and Armitage disclosed his talks with Novak in subsequent interviews with the FBI, even before Fitzgerald's appointment.

The book quotes Carl Ford Jr., then head of the intelligence and research bureau at the State Department, as saying that Armitage had told him, "I may be the guy who caused this whole thing," and that he regretted having told the columnist more than he should have.

Grossman's memorandum did not mention that Plame had undercover status.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

AIDS Has Become a Black Disease

AIDS Has Become a Black Disease
by IRENE MOORE
Copyright by Windy City Times
2006-08-30


Before a crowd of more than 24,000 activists, health workers and researchers from more than 132 countries at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto Aug. 13-18, Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP, announced to the crowd what African-American HIV activists have been saying for decades: “It is time for the African-American community to face the fact that AIDS has become a Black disease.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , African Americans account for half of all new HIV cases. With African Americans comprising no more than 13 percent of the U.S. population, 61 percent of us under the age of 25 have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS between 2001 and 2004.

Equally alarming is that HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-American women between the ages of 25 and 44, according to the CDC, with the primary mode of transmission being heterosexual contact followed by IV drug use.

At the “Women and Response to AIDS” panel at the conference, Sheila Johnson, founder of the Crump-Johnson Foundation in Washington D.C., pointed out that another at-risk population in the African-American community is teenage girls.

Seventeen percent of the U.S. teen population is African-American, with 70 percent of Black teens testing HIV-positive. One in 10 African-American teenage girls test HIV-positive in the nation’s capital, the highest percentage in the country among this age group.

When asked why such a high percentage test positive, Johnson said, “As long as girls see themselves as glorified sex objects in hip-hop videos, HIV/AIDS will increase within this population.”

With African Americans at younger and younger ages being infected with the AIDS virus, the life expectancy rate of African Americans will decline. Soon we will no longer expect today’s young African Americans to become the elders of the community.

The third cause of death among African-American men is AIDS, and the primary mode of HIV transmission among them is having sexual contact with other men, followed by heterosexual contact and IV drug use. And HIV/AIDS among Black male inmates is five times the rate of the general population and transmitted primarily through male-to-male sex or tattooing.

Are these statistics overwhelming?

So too is the anemic leadership African Americans have faced since the epidemic began 25 years ago.

“The story of AIDS in America is mostly one of a failure to lead, and nowhere is this truer than in our Black communities” said Bond.

But where would the leadership on HIV/AIDS come from? Our African-American lawmakers?

While a few of our local African-American elected officials and the Congressional Black Caucus have spoken up about the AIDS epidemic in the Black community, the non-involvement by the majority of them has been scandalous.

Some Black officials say that their inattention to HIV/AIDS is because they are overwhelmed by the bigger and more important problems affecting inner-city urban life such as crime, gang warfare, homelessness, drugs and poverty.

For example, today the Rev. Jesse Jackson, chairman of the Rainbow Push Coalition, is in support of addressing the AIDS epidemic in the Black community: “We have also been a compliant victim, submitting through inaction. It is now time for us to fight AIDS like the major civil rights issue it is.”

But in 1992, the HIV/AIDS issue was not perceived as a priority by Jackson, albeit an epidemic even then in the Black community.

“AIDS has had to compete with other crises,” Mr. Jackson said in an interview back then. “AIDS is in the competition for the champion crisis in a community that has been abandoned. AIDS is working its way up to be a priority.”

Also while some Black elected officials have voted for money for AIDS programs, they have generally resisted providing the leadership needed to mobilize Black and Hispanic groups to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS.

But let’s confront the elephant in the Black community, by telling the truth and shaming the devil.

The biggest problem that Black lawmakers have had to confront concerning the HIV/AIDS crisis in their communities is the political gag order imposed on them by their voting constituency’s homophobia and animus toward any discussion of the disease.

Would the leadership to HIV/AIDS come from the Black Church?

“I grew up in the Black Church,” Dr. David Satcher, former Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health, told The New York Times in 1998. “I think the church has problems with the lifestyle of homosexuality. A real problem has been getting ministers that are even willing to talk about it in their pulpits.”

However, when it comes to the Black Church and HIV/AIDS, I am always reminded of what my mayor in Cambridge, Mass., Ken Reeves, who is both African-American and gay, told The Washington Blade in March 1998 during a two-day Harvard University HIV/AIDS conference: “African-American male ministers over 40 are a tough nut to crack. If we wait for the Black Church on this, we’ll all be dead.”

To date, the epidemic has claimed over 200,000 lives.

The Black Church now understands there is a problem. However, because of its discomfort in addressing issues related to sexuality, the Black Church’s “outstretched hand,” when extended, is offered passively toward people who contracted the virus through IV-drug use and not those who contracted HIV/AIDS sexually.

African Americans are bearing the brunt of this epidemic.

Why?

“Because of poverty, ignorance, and prejudice, AIDS has been allowed to stalk and kill Black America like a serial killer,” Jackson said.

As African Americans, we need a new vision .We need to exorcise our unrelenting hysteria, ignorance, and homophobia surrounding AIDS.

If we don’t heed to the admonition in Proverbs 29:18 — “Where there is no vision, the people perish” — then we will have participated in our own genocide.


This column also appears in the September Identity, which is the last print edition of Identity. Starting with the October issue, Identity will only be online, with new issues up the 1st of each month. See www.windycitymediagroup.com

Fair Wisconsin Gears Up for Election Day

Fair Wisconsin Gears Up for Election Day
Copyright by The Windy City Times
2006-08-30


BY AMY WOOTEN

The day when Wisconsin voters will decide on an amendment banning gay unions is quickly approaching, and Fair Wisconsin, the organization at the forefront of the fight for gay rights, is making great strides.

On Nov. 7, Wisconsin could be the first state in the U.S. to reject a ban on legal protections for gay couples. Voters will decide whether or not to reject a constitutional ban on gay unions that reads, “Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.”

For the people at Fair Wisconsin, time has been the key to their success. They have built an unprecedented broad, state-wide coalition over the past two years that continues to grow leading up to election day.

For Josh Freker of Fair Wisconsin, their success thus far doesn’t surprise him. “I think we had hoped because we started this so early, it gave us an advantage,” he said. “It takes time to have these conversations and really work with, for example, the labor unions, so they understand the impact on their members. What you are seeing now is essentially the fruits of our labor over two years. “

Freker hopes that the work of Fair Wisconsin will provide a template for other states potentially facing a constitutional ban on gay unions.

There is still much work to do. Currently, Fair Wisconsin is airing commercials in the northern central media markets, and needs to continue to mount the resources needed to expand the commercials to other areas and stay on the air. They also need to continue to mount their ground operation, talking to voters face to face.

“We now have the largest grassroots voter mobilization effort in this state this election year,” Freker said, adding that Fair Wisconsin will soon have 10 officers open with 45 staff people to help go door to door. The organization expects to have over 1,000 volunteers canvassing voters each week leading up to the election.

The response that volunteers have gotten when going door to door has been positive, even in smaller towns. “When people understand that this will have an impact on real people and what that looks like, and when they understand there is more at stake than gay marriage with this amendment, they move in our direction every time,” Freker said.

Freker is confident that Fair Wisconsin will prevail. “We have steadily made increases in opposition to this. We absolutely believe that we will beat this. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing and getting the support necessary to make it happen.”

Illinoisans can help their neighbors to the north. People can donate to help Fair Wisconsin with this pricey effort, or drive across the border for the day to volunteer. See fairwisconsin.com for more information.

Freker stressed the importance of paying attention to Wisconsin’s battle. “If Wisconsin, as a Midwestern swing state, can be the first in the country to reject one of these measures, it’s going to help everyone and it’s going to help keep these off the ballot in places like Illinois in the future; in Indiana, which has a potential battle in 2008; and in Minnesota,” he said. “Even in places like California and Massachusetts, that are potentially going to have these on the ballot in 2008. “

Harris to replace McKeon

Harris to replace McKeon
by Amy Wooten
Copyright by The Windy City Times
2006-08-30


Openly gay and HIV-positive Greg Harris, chief of staff for Chicago’s 48th Ward Ald. Mary Ann Smith, was announced as the replacement for retiring openly gay and HIV-positive state Rep. Larry McKeon of the 13th District in the early morning hours of Aug. 30.

History was made as four of the district’s five Democratic ward committeemen—Patrick O’Connor, Eugene Schulter, Tom Sharpe and Michael Volini—took more than four hours in an executive session to choose between six candidates—four of which were openly gay or lesbian. The stakes were high because the replacement will head directly to Springfield since there is no Republican opponent on the November ballot. Committeeman Bernard Stone was not present because he has no registered voters in his ward. ( His sliver of the 13th District is a park. )

McKeon, who is currently serving his fifth term as an Illinois General Assembly representative, announced his retirement on July 31 after 42 years of public service. McKeon has represented the 13th District since 1996. He recently battled rectal cancer, and has been living with HIV ( and now, AIDS ) for over 20 years.

The four openly gay candidates were Harris; attorney and community activist Jim Snyder, who received McKeon’s recommendation; Equality Illinois board member Kevin Thompson; and lesbian schoolteacher and community activist Mel Ferrand. The two heterosexual candidates were Schulter ally and long-time political activist Tom O’Donnell and labor activist Mary Gallagher.

Harris won by a full majority, receiving the votes of three committeemen who represent 7,868 voters: Volini, O’Connor and Schulter. Sharpe, who represents 3,614 registered voters, chose Snyder.

Community members and politicians packed Swedish Covenant Hospital’s Anderson Pavilion, and roughly 25 percent remained to hear the 12:45 a.m. announcement. Many well-known faces were among the crowd, including Alds. Mary Ann Smith and Tom Tunney; State Sen. Carol Ronen; activists Art Johnston, Michael Bauer, Rick Garcia and Coco Soodek; and Cook County judicial candidate Mike McHale. Those who stuck around passed the time by guessing who would be chosen, putting down quarters on when the announcement would come and making trips to the hospital’s vending machines. A majority of the crowd expressed relief when told an openly gay candidate was chosen, particularly because many in the GLBT community were concerned about whether or not the committeemen would recognize the need to continue gay representation downstate—McKeon is still the state’s first and only openly gay representative.

Equality Illinois’ Rick Garcia was amazed that four of the six candidates were gay or lesbian, and so many people from the community stuck around for the results.

“I think this is great,” he said. “Ten years ago, we had a struggle to get just one gay candidate.”

Garcia added that he was pleased by the committeemen’s pick. “All of them would have served us well, but now they can go out and run for other offices.”

Each candidate was given five minutes to speak, and prior to their speeches, McKeon chose to say a few words.

“Serving as state representative for the last 10 years has been a privilege and special honor,” he said. “I hope that in some small way, I have made a difference in the lives of the 110,401 constituents and for all the people in Illinois.”

McKeon stated that he chose to retire for very personal reasons. “After 42 years in public service, I am looking forward to taking some time to travel with my family, friends and my two rescued greyhounds. But for me, retirement won’t mean sitting still. I [ intend ] to be very active in the community and the Democratic Party, both locally and statewide.”

During his speech, Harris acknowledged that McKeon is leaving “big shoes to fill,” but assured the committeemen and audience that he will work for the people.

“I know the issues that are on the minds of the people in the neighborhood because I’ve dealt with them every day for a decade,” Harris said. “I have tried to make my community a better place for all, and I will fight for our community in Springfield.”

O’Donnell, in his remarks, made it clear he was not going away no matter what the outcome would be later that night. He said his campaign for the 2008 primary had already begun with this meeting—as evidenced by many of his supporters wearing O’Donnell T-shirts handed out that night prior to the slating.

Homophobia, racial bigotry in new EU members expose social rifts with western Europe

Homophobia, racial bigotry in new EU members expose social rifts with western Europe
By TIMOTHY JACOBS Associated Press Writer

(AP) - RIGA, Latvia-Pers Bogomazovs thought nothing of it when two men stopped him and his boyfriend on the street last month, asking for cigarettes.

"They were OK at the beginning and were talking to us, but then they realized we were a couple and started yelling," said the 31-year-old hairstylist. "They kicked me in the head, but we jumped into a cab that pulled over and thankfully we didn't get seriously hurt."
Click here to find out more!

Rights activists say hate crimes against gays and ethnic minorities are on the rise in many of the former communist states that joined the European Union in 2004 - raising questions about whether the new members are prepared to accept the more liberal social values prevalent in western Europe.

The issue is a key concern as the EU debates whether to continue its eastern expansion to countries like Ukraine, Serbia and predominantly Muslim Turkey, which has come under pressure to improve its human rights record.

Estonia and Latvia have seen a recent spate of attacks on gay pride events. In Poland, leaders of the conservative ruling party make no secret of their distaste for gays, and recently invited a far-right group to join the coalition. Xenophobia is rife across the new member states.

The U.S. State Department warns on its Web site of the threat of racist attacks in Poland, Slovakia and the Baltic nations - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Old Europe has certainly had its share of problems with homophobia and ethnic strife in recent years, but analysts say many EU newcomers are fundamentally out of step with the principles of tolerance that have taken root in the bloc's more established countries.

"I simply don't think everyone understood what joining (the EU) would mean, the overriding interest to join was so strong," said Ilze Brands-Kehris, head of the Latvian NGO the Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies.

"And it's also possible the EU was so eager to expand that maybe it didn't look hard enough at the situation either."

Gay rights and racial diversity are relatively new issues in eastern Europe, where the former totalitarian communist regimes drove homosexuality underground and virtually closed the borders to outsiders.

Homosexuals were viewed as deviants, facing public humiliation or even arrest if found out, and the view persists of homosexuality as a perversion that can be cured with psychological counseling.

"The other countries on this EU train have had 50 years of cooperation and have gone through these issues at relatively the same pace. And we expect these 10 new countries to catch up and to implement all these changes at once? It's a lot to ask," said Linda Freimane, a lesbian who helped found the Latvian gay rights group, Mozaika, last year.

Still, Freimane said she was surprised by the outpouring of hatred directed at her and other gay rights activists at the country's first gay pride gatherings this year and last.

The Latvian capital, Riga, banned a gay pride parade last month, saying it could not guarantee the safety of the participants. Gay rights activists meeting for a smaller event were pelted with feces, eggs and insults as police stood idly by.

The Latvian Internet portal Delfi registered over 1,600 comments, most anti-gay, on a story about the gay pride gathering. Many expressed anger at the EU and the West for the perceived imposition of "non-Latvian" values on the country, said Delfi editor Jara Sizova.

"Many people wrote 'What have we gotten ourselves into?' tying the notion of 'tolerance' to some EU directive and blaming the EU," Sizova said.

To join the EU, parliaments in the ex-communist states had to draft legislation reflecting the bloc's views toward human rights and tolerance. But that appears to have had little effect on changing attitudes.

"It's easy to change legislation, but institutional and societal change takes much longer," said Brands-Kehris.

Human Rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized lawmakers in the EU newcomers for setting a tone of intolerance. Racist or homophobic statements by government officials in eastern Europe that would cause an outcry in the West often go unchecked - or even unnoticed.

Kazys Bobelis, who served three terms in the Lithuanian Parliament, attracted little attention when he stated publicly that tolerating homosexuality could lead to tolerating bestiality. Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who banned gay pride marches when in 2004 and 2005 when he was mayor of Warsaw, expressed similar homophobia when he was Warsaw's mayor, saying: "It would be dangerous for our civilization to put homosexual rights on equal footing."

Hans Glaubitz, the Dutch ambassador to Estonia, asked for a transfer this summer, saying his male partner, who is black, had been repeatedly harassed and threatened on Tallinn's streets. "(Estonian) society is far from ready for two men being together, particularly if one of them is black," Glaubitz said.

Several nonwhites have been attacked in downtown Riga in broad daylight in the past two years, with no one in most cases coming to their aid.

"The bottom line is that the people here look at anything that is not considered 'ours' and they immediately distrust it," said George Steele, an African-American who moved to Riga 12 years ago.

Anti-Semitism remains a problem throughout the region. In the most recent high-profile attack, Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, was punched in downtown Warsaw in May by a man police said had ties to a Neo-Nazi group.

But human rights groups say some progress is being made to better protect minority rights.

Lawmakers in the Czech Republic, for example, overrode a presidential veto earlier this year and legalized same-sex unions. Thus far, however, only about a dozen couples have registered.

And this year, a Latvian court for the first time convicted three men of committing a racially motivated attack, although each was given a suspended sentence.

Despite being the victim of anti-gay attacks, Bogomazovs, the Latvian hairdresser, said he has no plans to test his newfound freedom as an EU citizen and move west. Instead, he has begun carrying pepper spray when he goes out and travels at night only by taxi.

"I'd have to start from scratch," said Bogomazovs. "I may leave in a few years, but not for these reasons."
2006-08-23T08:58:02Z

Copyright 2006
The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Chicago Free Press Editorial - Un-American

Chicago Free Press Editorial - Un-American
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
August 30, 2006

Hats off to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (R- Fla.) for having the temerity to say what so many of her fellow right-wing conservatives believe but would never publicly admit—that she envisions the United States as a fundamentalist Christian nation ruled by “God’s law” rather than the Constitution.

In an interview that appeared last week in the Florida Baptist Witness, Harris said that separating religion and politics is “wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers.”

“If you’re not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin,” including gay marriage and abortion, she added.

America remembers Harris as the embattled Florida secretary of state who took it upon herself to pronounce George W. Bush the winner of the 2000 presidential race over the objection of the Florida Supreme Court. She was widely criticized for her inappropriate show of partisanship, but her recent statements indicate she might have been following what she considered the dictates of a higher authority than Republican Party officials.

Harris, in fact, has ties to the Christian Reconstructionist movement, whose goal is to turn the U.S. into a theocracy governed by a narrow and literal fundamentalist reading of the Bible. Christian Reconstructionists not only have within their sights the eradication of legal abortion and GLBT civil rights but also a radical policing of society and personal behavior that’s identical to what’s practiced in fundamentalist Islamic nations.

In recent years, elected representatives influenced by this movement have proposed laws that would discourage women from working, ban labor unions, criminalize adultery, outlaw “blasphemy” and the teaching of evolution in public schools and impose a strict code of censorship on everything from art to theater to broadcast media. In short, they seek to reshape our culture according to a biblical model and strip all Americans of the individual liberty upon which our nation was founded and has prospered.

“We are not looking for a ‘voice at the table’ nor are we seeking ‘equal time’ with the godless promoters of pornography, abortion, safe-sodomy subsidies, socialism, etc.,” writes Christian Reconstructionist Jay Rogers. “We want them silenced and punished according to God’s Law-Word.”

According to Rogers, “God’s law” includes capital punishment for even minor religious infractions such as failure to observe the Sabbath.

A decade ago, Christian Reconstructionism could be dismissed as a lunatic-fringe movement not even worthy of attention from level-headed citizens. But type the words “Christian Reconstructionism” into a Google search today and you’ll get close to 300,000 returns.

Even more frightening than this proliferation, however, is the kind of rhetoric coming from Harris and other right-wing political leaders, including U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrove (R-Colo.) and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). They have become shockingly emboldened in their contempt for the Constitution.

Half a century ago, Americans who were even remotely associated with political philosophies advocating the overthrow of our system of government were charged with treason and hauled before congressional subcommittees. Today they sit in the halls of power thumbing their noses at our most cherished democratic values and traditions with impunity.

This is unequivocal: The United States is a secular nation founded on laws that hold freedom of religion and individual liberty as our highest values. As the most immediate and visible target of a movement that seeks to undermine these principles, the GLBT community has a critical role to play in fighting this simmering menace to the freedom of all Americans. GLBT leaders should strive to frame our struggle within this broader context.

South African cabinet OKs marriage

South African cabinet OKs marriage
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
August 30, 2006

South Africa’s cabinet OKed legislation to give equal marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples last week, moving the government closer to complying with a ruling last December by South Africa’s highest court.

The court gave the South African Parliament one year to legalize same-sex marriage.

“Basically the bill will legalize same-sex marriage in compliance with the constitutional court ruling,” government spokesman Themba Maseko said last week.

Maseko did not say when the legislation would be presented to the country’s parliament.

By approving the bill, South Africa would join the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada and Massachusetts in allowing marriage for gays and lesbians.

Army recruiters turn away gay students from Northwestern University

Army recruiters turn away gay students from Northwestern University
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press

Three Northwestern University students tried to sign up for the Army Aug. 22 in Chicago but were turned down after telling recruiters they were gay.

“We were all just rejected,” said Rob Fojtik, shortly after he and fellow students Rachelle Faroul and Kelsey Pacha were turned away at the U.S. Army recruiting office at 1239 N. Clybourn.

“We got no further than telling him we wanted to be in the Army Reserve,” Fojtik said.

After the students told Army Sgt. Roger White they were gay and wanted to enlist, White read them the Army’s policy banning recruits who are openly gay.

“This is a completely ridiculous policy,” Fojtik said. “All three of us are qualified.”

As Northwestern students, the three are likely far more qualified than many of the recruits the Army and other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces have been accepting lately. Military officials have acknowledged that they’ve lowered the standards for recruits in recent months because of difficulties meeting recruiting goals. Other steps taken to fill the ranks include raising the maximum age for new soldiers and accepting recruits with criminal records.

Still, the Pentagon has been unable to recruit enough troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan and meet its other obligations. On the very day the gay Northwestern students were rejected, the Marines announced that they were forcibly recalling thousands of soldiers to duty in Iraq, even though those soldiers have already served out their obligations.

Questioned about the rejection of the gay Northwestern students, however, a spokesman for the Army in Chicago said the students were free to ask Congress to tell the military to accept gay recruits. He did not indicate that military leaders were themselves considering asking Congress to change the Armed Forces’ anti-gay policy.

The students were part of a national campaign organized by Soulforce. As part of the campaign, young gays and lesbians have tried to enlist at recruiting stations across the country in recent weeks. Soulforce organizers said they plan a larger action at the 1239 N. Clybourn recruiting office Sept. 12.

“We will be back,” Fojtik said.

Short view By Philip Coggan - If inflation is tamed, what's next?

Short view By Philip Coggan - If inflation is tamed, what's next?
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 30 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 30 2006 03:00
Traders creeping back to their desks after the summer will find the mood of the markets has changed significantly. Producer and consumer price data in the US have calmed the widespread worries about accelerating inflation.

Bond yields have fallen accordingly, with the 10-year Treasury yield down at 4.8 per cent, against 5.24 per cent in June. But even though the yield curve is now significantly inverted (with the Fed funds rate at 5.25 per cent), few are worrying about recession.

Even though the US housing market is showing severe signs of strain, optimists, such as Chris Watling of Longview Economics, cite the UK and Australian examples as evidence that the end of a housing bubble need not automatically lead to recession. And falling bond yields have brought down mortgage rates, which may stabilise demand.

In addition, the recent fall in oil prices, following the ceasefire in Lebanon, may bring some relief to beleaguered US consumers. Gasoline prices have dropped back below $3 a gallon.

Equity markets have taken heart from the recent economic news, particularly the perception that US interest rates have peaked. The UBS risk index, which looks at factors such as credit spreads and volatility, indicates that investors' appetite for risk is elevated. The growth-sensitive MSCI Emerging Markets index has risen 15 per cent from its mid-June level.

But other factors may have been at work. Tim Lee of pi Economics sees the recent weakness of the yen as a sign that the "carry trade" is still in full swing. The inverted US yield curve means it is no longer sensible to borrow at short rates and invest on Treasury bonds. But with Japanese rates only at 0.25 per cent (and the balance of Japanese economic data rather weak), there is plenty of scope to borrow in yen and earn higher returns elsewhere.

However, if the Japanese economy is slowing, that ought to give equity investors pause for thought. In an ideal world, Japan and Europe would be taking up the slack from the US consumer. That may be too difficult a trick, especially given yesterday's decline in US consumer confidence.

Mexico's Opposition Should Accept Reality

Mexico's Opposition Should Accept Reality
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 30 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 30 2006 03:00


The saga of Mexico's disputed election is entering its final stages. After a partial recount electoral authorities on Monday dismissed legal challenges to last month's vote and within the next few days they look set to confirm the narrow triumph of Felipe Calderón, the centre-right candidate. This will leave many questions about the election unanswered but it is a result that the defeated leftwing candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, should accept.

Rightly or wrongly, millions of mainly poorer Mexicans believe that the election was unfair. A full recount would have been the best way to demonstrate that Mexico´s democracy is genuine and representative. Given the country's history and deep social and geographical divisions, a recount would also have helped establish the legitimacy of any incoming president.

Yet the electoral authorities have ruled out this option and Mr López Obrador must decide what to do. He appears more determined than ever to embark on a radical course of action, designed to secure, as he told the Financial Times last week, the "peaceful and democratic . . . revolution" that he believes Mexico needs. The occupation of central Mexico City by his supporters will continue. Next month, Mr López Obrador could assume the presidency of a "parallel government".

This is dangerous for several reasons. First, Mr López Obrador could damage the credibility and reduce the support of his Democratic Revolution Party (PRD). Opinion polls have shown that Mexicans are heavily opposed to the direct action being recommended by the leftwing leader. Many, including a large number of those who voted for Mr López Obrador in July, are anxious to resume their daily lives.

Second, whatever his stated intentions, Mr López Obrador risks weakening the ability of elected authorities at both national and local level to govern effectively. These include the local government of Mexico City, won in July by the PRD.

Third, Mr López Obrador runs the risk of encouraging extremists to take violent action on his behalf. The chaos and instability resulting from all this could do a great deal of damage to Mexico, undermining the economic and social progress that the country has made in recent years.

Mr López Obrador should therefore seek to exercise his right to protest through constitutional channels. He is in an excellent position to do so. His PRD party emerged from the vote with 126 deputies in the lower house of congress, their best ever showing. The party would be well placed to press the opposition's campaign for political reform, including for example a second round of voting in future presidential elections, a simple change that would make disputes less likely to occur in future. Persisting with his current course would be a disaster for Mr López Obrador, his party and, above all, for his country.

The myth of central banks and inflation

The myth of central banks and inflation
By Kenneth Rogoff
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 29 2006 19:36 | Last updated: August 29 2006 19:36


Central banks’ near universal success in bringing down inflation over the past two decades has led many policymakers to conclude that they have pretty much solved the problem of high inflation, once and for all. Market participants have bought into this story, as evinced by a host of quantitative and survey measures. Outside a few developing countries, nobody seems to worry much about a sustained bout of 5 per cent or 6 per cent inflation, much less the double-digit levels of the 1970s. But have central bankers truly slain the hydra of inflation?

The advent of modern independent and anti-inflation-oriented central banks is one of the great success stories of modern economic science. But this story has been exaggerated. We should consider the possibility that the unprecedented pace of modern globalisation, recently emphasised by Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, might also have played a role. If so, what will happen if the winds of globalisation ever reverse course?

Why should globalisation matter for inflation? A very popular but wrong-headed view is that “China exports deflation”, so that more rapid growth in China automatically translates into lower inflation everywhere. This is nonsense. As long as a central bank has monopoly control over its currency, as most do, it can set medium and longer term inflation trends at any level it likes. If the central bank really wants to stabilise the country’s overall inflation rate, it will respond to lower import prices by allowing an offsetting rise in the prices of domestic goods. In this sense, it would be more accurate to say that China exports inflation rather than deflation.

Instead, one should think of the modern era of rapidly expanding trade and technology progress as providing a spectacularly favourable milieu for monetary policy. With hugely positive underlying trends, central banks have been able to establish and maintain low inflation while delivering growth results that have often outperformed expectations. Rather than face the usual historical trade-off, central banks have let citizens have their cake and eat it. No wonder central bankers have become so popular.

But precisely because globalisation has produced such a steady stream of upward surprises, there is an element of illusion to central banks’ success, as most people have only sluggishly adjusted their expectations to the faster growth trends. Consider the performance of Alan Greenspan, the recently retired Fed chairman. Mr Greenspan famously got a number of big calls right, including his early ­recognition of the productivity boom in the 1990s, as well as his aggressive proactive responses to the tragedy of September 11 2001, the 1998 Russian debt crisis and the 1987 stock market crash. In each of these cases, Mr Greenspan’s big call was to slash interest rates and pour liquidity into the system, leading markets to believe that the Fed would always insure the downside of the economy without taking away any of the upside.

But life cannot always be this good for a central bank. If big Fed interest rate surprises are always cuts, markets will eventually catch on, ratcheting up inflationary expectations. Economists Milton Friedman and Ned Phelps elegantly illustrated this point way back in the 1960s. So how was Mr Greenspan able to pull off his long sequence of one-way surprises? Because he did it in an era when continuing upside surprises to underlying growth helped absorb liquidity.

Although not every country has benefited from globalisation as much as the US has, the dynamic has tended to be similar. For example, most of the rich countries have seen spectacular terms-of-trade gains; that is, a fall in the price of imports relative to exports. (Italy and Japan are possible exceptions, as both countries had export niches that were particularly vulnerable to the rise of China and the rest of emerging Asia.) Even in the developing world, which did not necessarily enjoy the same terms-of-trade gains, the move to more market-based economies has brought such efficiency gains that they have still experienced a sharp increase in trend growth. No wonder that central bankers, who are often given credit or blame for long-term growth trends over which they have little impact, have become such big rock stars. What more can one ask for than low inflation and high growth?

There are other more subtle and long-lasting impacts of globalisation on inflation.* These include the impact of greater competition, as well as greater wage and price flexibility, all of which operate to make central banks’ commitment to low inflation more credible. But the main story of consistently high underlying real growth explains, more than anything, why globalisation has helped central banks so much. Central bankers deserve credit for taking advantage of these good times to establish and enhance their credibility. I also admit to underplaying the role that better central bank policy has played in creating greater macro economic certainty, thereby directly enhancing growth. But central bankers did not create the computer chip, nor did they liberalise China.

So the question is: what happens if the winds of globalisation turn? What if a combination of economic and political problems leads to a sharp slowdown in China? What if security checks in the wake of a terrorist attack lead to a sustained pause in the expansion of global trade? What if a slowdown in trend growth exacerbates the fiscal problems that most countries are already going to face as their populations age? Or, more immediately, what if there is a disorderly unwinding of the oversized US current account deficit? Having built up public expectations about their ability to deliver high growth and low inflation simultaneously, central bankers might have a hard time explaining what went wrong.

Perhaps central banks will get lucky and not have to face any severe problems for another couple of decades but, unfortunately, that is not likely. Thus, there is some urgency in the need for central banks to take greater pains to avoid taking too much credit for upside performance.

Already today, central banks face steeply higher oil prices combined with a pause in falling import prices from developing Asia. But the current conjuncture is just a small test compared with what might happen if globalisation hits a really large bump in the road. Then, at least in a few big countries, inflation will end up being far higher than policymakers or market participants now seem to think possible. Market convictions that inflation is forever dead will be shattered.

* Impact of Globalization on Monetary Policy, by Kenneth Rogoff, August 2006 Jackson Hole Symposium, www.kc.frb.org

The writer is professor of economics at Harvard University and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund

2 tales of New Orleans

2 tales of New Orleans
By Clarence Page
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 30, 2006


NEW ORLEANS -- There was never any serious doubt among those who really know New Orleans that the city would rise again after Hurricane Katrina. Though bruised and battered, the city still receives too much love and offers too much profit potential to be ignored. What is not clear, a year after the storm, is what kind of New Orleans the recovered city will be.

It still will be a port city and tourist town. Cargo traffic through the city's port system has returned to pre-Katrina levels, officials say. Oil and gas industries are recovering too. Tourism and hotel business still are down, largely because of canceled conventions, which usually book years in advance. But commitments for future conventions indicate a rebound to at least 65 percent of pre-Katrina business in 2008, according to news reports.

Yes, there is money to be made in New Orleans. But how many evacuees will come back to earn it? A year after the storm, New Orleans is a smaller city. Half of its population is gone and may never return. More than 80 percent of its land was flooded, some of it by more than 10 feet of water, for three weeks. Its broken pipes lose two gallons of drinking water per day for every gallon delivered to customers. Only two major hospitals are left to serve the city.

And, with the commerce, what will become of New Orleans' uniquely zestful Creole- and Cajun-enriched culture? Such question are no less pervasive in the Crescent City these days than the aroma of catfish, po' boys, fried shrimp, stuffed crab, beignets, cafe au lait, and red beans and rice.

That's an important question to all lovers of the Big Easy's jazz, blues, Mardi Gras beads and bawdy bayou spirit. But whether New Orleanians are here or scattered across the map in their post-Katrina diaspora, the real question I hear haunting their minds is this: Can I come home again?

And the toughest answer for any politician to give, other than a flat-out "no," is: "That depends."

That inability to tell voters the uncomfortable truth appears to be New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's dilemma. Although President Bush took some heavy and deserved hits to his approval ratings for his administration's slow response to the Katrina emergency, most fingers of blame for the city's sluggish recovery now point to Nagin.

Billions of dollars in federal rebuilding money by way of the Louisiana Recovery Authority have been held up by the city's slowness to produce a master rebuilding plan. Proposals released for public discussion earlier this year indicate the city will have a smaller "footprint." Neighborhoods that are lowest-lying or most isolated may receive few rebuilding resources, if any.

In big jeopardy, for example, is the Lower Ninth Ward, home of such artists as Fats Domino. He, too, was trapped by the storm.

The city's long-troubled and now-abandoned public housing developments may be demolished, unless their residents somehow organize themselves to show a big desire to return. Everybody knows that reduced footprint is a strong possibility. But few city leaders want to make the hard calls about which neighborhoods are going to get top or bottom priority for the city's limited recovery resources.

Instead they sound like Nagin did on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday, when he mused: "At the end of the day, I see the city being totally rebuilt. I see us eliminating blight, still being culturally unique with a new school system that's probably state of the art and a much more diversified economy where creative people come to live, love and play."

But, as in the past, he neatly dodged any specifics about what he means by "totally rebuilt." It's much easier to make a jolly promise that the old happy days in the 'hood will come back again than to announce the uncomfortable truth, that some neighborhoods have to be sacrificed while others receive special preferences.

"He needs to be open and honest with the people," Leonard Moore, a professor of African-American history at Louisiana State University, said in a telephone interview. "He needs to tell them that, I'm sorry, but this city is not going to be totally rebuilt."

Now that the city's voters, here and absentee, have put him back in office, he finds it that much more difficult to present to them a future that falls short of the hometown they remember. But true leadership reveals itself not only when you're telling voters what they can have but what they can't have. That's the leadership Nagin's city is waiting for.

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Clarence Page is a member of the Tribune's editorial board. E-mail: cptime@aol.com

More Americans left uninsured

More Americans left uninsured
By Judith Graham
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 30, 2006

The ranks of Americans without medical coverage grew by 1.3 million people last year, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

The increase lifted the number of uninsured Americans to a record 46.6 million, 15.9 percent of the total population. By comparison, five years earlier, 38.7 million people were uninsured, or 14 percent of the population.

It's increasingly a middle-class problem. In households with incomes of $50,000 a year or more, 17 million people had no insurance last year, up 1.5 million from 2004. In contrast, more low-income people received coverage from public programs.

Of the 1.3 million additional people who were uninsured last year, 961,000 reported working full-time--continuing evidence of companies cutting spiraling costs by dropping medical coverage. Last year, 59.5 percent of Americans received health insurance through employers, down from 64.1 percent in 2000.

Meanwhile, the number of uninsured children climbed for the first time since 1998, to 8.3 million kids in 2005 from 7.9 million the year before.

"That's really troubling," said Diane Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Foundation on Medicaid and the Uninsured, noting that fiscally stressed public programs are increasingly unable to make up for the loss of private insurance.

Some politicians suggested the good news in the census report outweighed the bad.

"More people in America have health coverage today than at any time in our nation's history," said Rep. Joe Barton (R.-Texas), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Overall, 247.3 million Americans had private or public coverage in 2005, a jump of 1.4 million from the year before.

Because the population is growing, there are more people with insurance in the country as well as more without.

In Illinois, there was no change in the proportion of residents, 14.2 percent, who had no medical coverage. That's about 1.8 million people, mostly in Chicago and its suburbs.

"There isn't a day that goes by without my seeing at least one or two new patients who don't have a job or who work but don't have health insurance," said Dr. Robert McKersie, a physician at PCC Community Wellness Center on the West Side.

Although many centers such as PCC delivery low-cost primary care, getting specialty care is an enormous problem. Recently, McKersie tried to refer a patient with abdominal pain and other symptoms to the Cook County Health System for a diagnostic colonoscopy. The wait, he was told, was 18 months.

"The only thing I could do is send him to the emergency room and try to get him in the system that way," McKersie said. "The entire safety-net system is bursting at the seams."

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jegraham@tribune.com

The flip side of U.S. history - Minorities seek place in `national consciousness'

The flip side of U.S. history - Minorities seek place in `national consciousness'
By Erin Texeira
Copyright by The Associated Press
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 30, 2006

American students often get the impression from history classes that the British got here first, settling Jamestown, Va., in 1607. They hear about how white Northerners freed the black slaves, how Asians came in the mid-1800s to build Western railroads.

Forty-two years before Jamestown, Spaniards and American Indians lived in St. Augustine, Fla. Several thousand Latinos and nearly 200,000 black soldiers fought in the Civil War. And Asian-Americans had been living in California and Louisiana since the 1700s.

Now, because of the nation's growing diversity, more of these and other lesser-known facts about American minorities are getting more attention.

More than 1 in 4 Americans is not white, and many minority groups are trying to bring their often-overlooked histories to light.

Minority communities "are yelling for inclusion in the national consciousness," said Gary Okihiro, a historian at Columbia University.

Hundreds of efforts are under way to tell the untold stories.

Hispanics are the nation's largest minority group--14.5 percent of the population, according to new census figures--but there is no national museum dedicated to their history.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) is pushing a bill to study building one on the National Mall in Washington.

The Mall has dozens of sites highlighting American culture and history, including the National Museum of the American Indian that opened in 2004, 20 years after it was authorized. Organizers in June settled on the future site of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, but its opening date is still years away. A Latino museum would be even further off.

Once considered marginal to American history, those stories are "really important because oftentimes the margins really are the holders of American democracy," said Okihiro, an expert in Asian-American history. "They are those who have fought against their own racial profiling and fought for the freedoms that the majority seem to take for granted."

Asian-Americans are the only immigrants in U.S. history to have faced laws explicitly written to bar their entry--laws not overturned until immigration reform in the 1960s, said Dmae Roberts, whose public radio program on Asian immigration, "Crossing East," airs on hundreds of stations.

"People know very little of this outside of California," she said.

Some tales have gone untold because, in the less-diverse America of the past, minorities didn't make the decisions on textbooks and other means of passing along history. However, some who came of age during the civil rights movement are determined to pass the stories on.

"It is so important that children of color are not made to feel that they're asking for anything--they're claiming what's rightfully theirs just like any other child," said Cynthia Morris Lowery, executive director of the African American Experience Fund. "I tell my grandchildren, `Grandpa has earned that spot for you."'

Sometimes, history is recalled through criminal investigations, as in the case of Emmett Till.

Prosecutors in Jackson, Miss., last year exhumed the remains of the black teenager from Chicago killed in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Medical examiners performed a new autopsy, and investigators are poring over thousands of documents.

Technological advances also have fueled new interest in history.

In Connecticut last month, archeologists excavated the grave of an 18th Century slave named Venture Smith in hopes that DNA evidence could verify tales of amazing physical strength and a childhood in Guinea, West Africa. No DNA traces were found, but the graves of his wife and children also will be examined.

- - -

America's other stories

Some examples of efforts to highlight minorities in American history:

- In Colorado, a Civil War-era incident, the Sand Creek Battle, is increasingly called the Sand Creek Massacre. In 1864, U.S. soldiers killed 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho people who thought they were under Army protection. A National Park Service site has been designated but is not yet open.

- Last month in Topeka, Kan., a 10-foot-tall bronze sculpture of the Mariachi Estrella de Topeka--Topeka's Mariachi Stars--was mounted outside the city's Performing Arts Center in honor of local Mexican-American musicians who died in a Kansas City, Mo., building collapse 25 years ago.

- On Angel Island near San Francisco, thousands of immigrants, nearly all from China, were processed starting around 1910. Parts of the grounds--including barracks with Chinese poems carved on the walls--are closed pending renovations expected to be completed next year.

- A stretch of Los Angeles County's Manhattan Beach was renamed Bruce's Beach last month. Once owned by the African-American Bruce family, it was one of the few California beaches open to blacks in the 1920s and '30s.

- A just-opened museum honors the integration of Clinton High School in Clinton, Tenn., 50 years ago.

--Associated Press

South rises again--to top of nation's obesity rankings

South rises again--to top of nation's obesity rankings
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 30, 2006


The United States continues to get fatter, with Mississippi and other Southern states leading the way, according to a report issued Tuesday by the advocacy group Trust for America's Health.

The report found 29.5 percent of Mississippi residents were obese. Nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of obesity were in the South, according to the report.

At the other end of the spectrum, Colorado was the leanest state, with only 16.9 percent of its residents obese--still above federal guidelines, which call for a maximum obesity rate of 15 percent.

Illinois had an obesity rate of 23.9 percent. It ranked 23rd on the group's list, based on data from 2003-05.

"Obesity now exceeds 25 percent in 13 states, which should sound some serious alarm bells," said Dr. Jeff Levi, executive director of the trust. "Quick fixes and limited government programs have failed to stem the tide."

The states with the highest rates of obesity are also those with the highest rates of hypertension and diabetes, which typically are associated with fat. The economic costs are "devastating," Levi said. At least 27 percent of health-care costs in the United States are a result of obesity and lack of physical activity, he said.

No one knows why obesity is so prevalent in the South, he said. Experts typically attribute it to poverty, cultural factors and differences in diet across the region.

Obesity is measured as a function of the body mass index, or BMI, a ratio calculated from weight and height. A person with a BMI higher than 30 is generally considered obese. An individual who is 6 feet tall and weighs 230 pounds, for example, has a BMI of 31.

The data were compiled by the federal government's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which collects self-reported health data through telephone interviews.

As a result, the data probably underestimate the true extent of obesity, Levi said. Generally, women tend to understate their weight while men overstate their height, both of which lead to lower BMIs.

The report is available online at healthyamericans.org.

Madigan seeks Cipro warning - Tendon damage risk seen from antibiotics

Madigan seeks Cipro warning - Tendon damage risk seen from antibiotics
By Bruce Japsen, Tribune staff reporter.
Bloomberg News contributed to this story
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 30, 2006


A prominent consumer group and Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan Tuesday called for the government to put its strongest warning label on Cipro and similar prescription antibiotics because of a possible risk of tendon damage.

Public Citizen and Madigan said these antibiotics, known as fluoroquinolones, should be labeled with the Food and Drug Administration's stiffest so-called "black box" warning, which outlines the risks in boldface type that is outlined in a black box.

The warning would describe the drugs' link to torn tendons and other problems of tissue that joins the muscle to the bone. Public Citizen said the tendon that most frequently erupts is the Achilles tendon, which, when damaged, can cause severe pain and difficulty walking, among other problems.

"The numbers are startling," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group.

"Tendon ruptures associated with these drugs continue to occur at a disturbing rate but could be prevented if doctors and patients were more aware of early warning signals, such as the onset of tendon pain, and switched to other antibiotics. The FDA must act and require black box warnings and patient information guides."

Public Citizen said its review of the FDA's database of adverse events associated with fluoroquinoline antibiotics showed 262 reported cases of tendon ruptures, 258 cases of tendinitis and 274 cases of other tendon disorders between November 1997 and Dec. 31, 2005.

The drugs are widely used, marketed in both generic and brand versions by at least 20 companies, according to the FDA. Bayer AG, the maker of Cipro, had no comment.

FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro said the "association of tendon rupture risk with fluoroquinolones in fact is well documented and understood by clinicians." She would not comment, however, on the status of the FDA's evaluation of the petitions by Madigan and Public Citizen or whether the agency plans to issue more serious warnings for the antibiotics.

Madigan asked the FDA to inform doctors about the drugs' risks and urged that the entire class of drugs be submitted to the FDA's Drug Safety Oversight Board for review.

While it is unusual for Madigan's office to push the FDA for enhanced warnings on prescription drugs, her health-care staff said they felt compelled to become involved after receiving complaints from Illinois consumers.

Madigan then decided to join with Public Citizen after receiving "only a tentative, non-substantive response," from the FDA in November of 2005.

Since then the FDA has "never responded substantively to the petition," Madigan's office said in a statement, so the attorney general decided to join forces with Public Citizen in urging the agency to slap black box warnings on the antibiotics.