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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Keystone XL pipeline: a jobs coup for Republicans in tax deal? (The Christian Science Monitor)
A congressional deal to preserve a payroll tax cut for working Americans, approved by the US Senate Saturday, also contains a provision designed to force President Obama's hand on the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Republicans who pushed for the provision say the pipeline would be a slam-dunk win for a US economy that desperately needs jobs.
It now appears that when a bill lands on Mr. Obama's desk, with tax cuts that the president endorses as his own way to boost the economy, it will also include a call for him to decide within 60 days whether the Keystone pipeline for Canadian oil should be built.
Senate Republicans insisted the pipeline provision be included in the tax bill. The measure still needs a vote of approval in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
The pipeline, which would create jobs but angers environmentalists, has become a political flashpoint in recent months.
The Monitor's Weekly news Quiz 12/11-12/16
In November, Obama announced his intent to delay a decision until after the 2012 election, thus averting a difficult political dilemma.
Approving the plans of the Canadian firm TransCanada would have run afoul of environmentalists worried about threats to the massive Ogallala aquifer, which the pipeline would run past. Even Republicans in Nebraska have voiced opposition to the planned path of the project for that reason.
But denying support would have opened Obama to new jabs from critics who say he's not doing enough about the nation's most urgent priority, job creation. Even his delay, however, prompted that reaction.
Where Obama framed his choice as taking time "to ensure that all questions are properly addressed and all the potential impacts are properly understood,? Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called any reluctance about the project "utterly irrational."
Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, another candidate at the Republican debate in Iowa on Thursday, accused the president of making a decision for reasons of politics rather than national interest.
"This pipeline is one that would have brought at least 20,000 jobs, at least $6.5 billion worth of economic activity," she said. "His entire calculus was based upon his reelection effort. Because quite frankly, the radical environmentalists said to President Obama, you pass Keystone, we're not going to do your volunteer door-to-door work."
Former House Speaker Gingrich said a delay could mean that jobs and economic activity permanently flow elsewhere.
"The Canadian prime minister has already said to the American president, if you don't want to build this pipeline to bring ? create 20,000 American jobs and bring oil through the United States to the largest refinery complex in the world, Houston, I want to put it straight west in Canada to Vancouver and ship the oil direct to China," Gingrich said at the debate. "You'll lose the jobs, you'll lose the throughput, you'll lose 30 or 40 years of work in Houston."
The Keystone XL project would be a roughly 1,900-mile extension of an existing Canadian-operated pipeline that ends in Illinois. It could bring Alberta oil to refineries in the Southern US.
Positions taken in the Senate this week echoed the long-running arguments on both sides.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) of Vermont said Republicans are using "scare tactics" about jobs.
"Unable to sell the pipeline as necessary to meet the country?s energy needs, which it is not, or to refute charges that tar sands strip mining and the refining and burning of high carbon oil cause egregious harm to the environment and health, which it does," TransCanada is making dire warnings about the jobs at stake, Mr. Leahy said in a Senate floor statement. Republicans "have echoed these scare tactics."
Sen. Dan Coats (R) of Indiana, by contrast, said "If job creation is the president?s top priority, then [Obama] should allow construction of the Keystone pipeline immediately." He said thousands of jobs would be matched by reduced reliance on Middle East oil.
A State Department analysis of the Keystone plan pegged the job gains as far fewer than 20,000. The report estimated that "The construction work force would consist of approximately 5,000 to 6,000 workers, including Keystone employees, contractor employees, and construction and environmental inspection staff."
One reason for the different job estimates is the temporary nature of the jobs. The 20,000 figure, promoted by backers of the project, is based on "person-year" estimates. In that framework, employing 6,000 people for three years would equal 18,000 jobs, for example.
Critics of the project also argue that much of the oil processed in refineries near the Gulf of Mexico would be destined for export.
Beyond the specifics of the pipeline project, Keystone has become a symbol of a larger battle over energy policy under Obama. The president argues that he is taking a balanced approach, open to new fossil-fuel development with appropriate safeguarding of the environment.
The Republican candidates for president have blasted him for regulatory overreach that is preventing a potential boom in jobs and domestic energy production.
Interest groups, meanwhile, are lobbying hard to influence Obama's ultimate decision on Keystone.
"The Republican stampede to build the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is going to backfire," predicted Susan Casey-Lefkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council in a statement Saturday. "In forcing President Obama to reach a hasty decision ? which he has said he would not do ? the president will have no choice but to reject the pipeline as not in the national interest.?
The Monitor's Weekly news Quiz 12/11-12/16
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
'Batman' star Bale tries to visit China activist (AP)
BEIJING ? "Batman" star Christian Bale, in the midst of promoting a film he made in China that some critics have called propaganda, was physically stopped by government-backed guards from visiting a blind activist living under house arrest ? with a CNN crew in tow to record the scuffle.
CNN posted footage of the confrontation on its website Friday.
The run-in and publicity is likely to cause discomfort in China's government-backed film industry, which hopes Bale's movie "The Flowers of War" will be a creative success at home and abroad. The star's actions are sure to focus attention on the plight of Chen Guangcheng, guarded around the clock by thugs who have blocked dozens of reporters and fellow activists trying to see him in the past.
Bale was to leave China on Friday and his representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bale, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for last year's "The Fighter," traveled Thursday with a crew from CNN to the village in eastern China where Chen, the blind lawyer, lives with his family in complete isolation.
They were stopped at the entrance to Dongshigu village in Shandong province by unidentified men.
The video footage shows Bale asking to see Chen, with a CNN producer providing interpretation, but being ordered by one of the guards to leave. He then asked why he was unable to pass through. The guards responded by trying to grab or punch a small video camera Bale was carrying.
"What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is," Bale was quoted as saying by CNN.
Chen's case has been raised publicly by U.S. lawmakers and diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, all to no response from China.
CNN said Bale first learned of Chen from news reports when he was in China filming "The Flowers of War," China's official submission this year for best foreign language film Oscar.
"Chen Guangcheng is a newsworthy figure ... and as such it is in the interest of CNN's global viewers to hear from him," CNN said in a statement. "Mr. Bale reached out to CNN and invited us to join him on his journey to visit Chen."
Chen, a self-taught lawyer who was blinded by a fever in infancy, angered authorities after documenting forced late-term abortions and sterilizations and other abuses by overzealous authorities trying to meet population control goals in his rural community. He was imprisoned for allegedly instigating an attack on government offices and organizing a group of people to disrupt traffic, charges his supporters say were fabricated.
Although now officially free under the law, he has been confined to his home in the village eight hours' drive from Beijing and subjected to periodic beatings and other abuse, activists say.
While Bale's visit focuses new attention on Chen's case, CNN's role raises questions about activism and advocacy among reporters, said David Bandurski, editor of the China Media Project website at the University of Hong Kong.
"It made me instantly uncomfortable, wondering how it all came together. It raises questions about where the lines are drawn," Bandurski said.
The incident also drew strong interest ? most of it highly positive ? on social networking sites such as Twitter and its Chinese equivalent, Weibo.
Having their star's name pinging across the Internet in connection with such a politically sensitive subject puts promoters of "The Flowers of War" in a bind. The film opens in China on Friday and next week in the United States.
Directed by the renowned Zhang Yimou, it is also the most expensive Chinese movie ever made, at $94 million, some of which came from the state-owned Bank of China.
The movie centers on the 1937 sacking of the eastern city of Nanjing, a central event in China's pre-revolutionary "century of humiliation" and has been described by some critics as hewing to official propaganda portraying Chinese as heroic victims and Japanese as one-dimensional cartoon villains.
While China has the world's third-largest film industry ? both in box office and output ? it has made relatively little global impact. Story lines are often heavily influenced by the ruling Communist Party, whose culture commissars must approve scripts and have final say over whether a film gets released.
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
J.R. Martinez Is Going To Be A Father! (omg!)
J.R. Martinez danced his way to the top on "Dancing with the Stars" Season 13, claiming the coveted mirrorball trophy alongside professional partner Karina Smirnoff. Now, the Iraq war vet is about to receive an even more precious prize - a baby!
The 28-year-old actor and girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones are expecting their first child come spring, according to People.
PLAY IT NOW: Access Hollywood Live: J.R. Martinez On His First Memories After His Landmine Accident & His Watch Tattoo
"We found out just last week it's a girl and we are over the moon," J.R. told the mag. "Diana has a little baby bump now and it's the cutest thing ever. With the holidays coming up, this is the biggest and best gift we could get."
J.R., who won the hearts of millions of "DWTS" fans this year with his seemingly unending optimism and triumphant story (he survived an IED explosion in Iraq and subsequently underwent 33 surgeries), said the excitement of becoming a father "is sinking in," but admitted he's overwhelmed by the tremendous joy this year has brought to him and his family.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Scenes From The ?Dancing With The Stars? Season 13 Finals
"2011 has been full of a lot of surprises and opportunities and ultimately, a lot of blessings," he said. "Diana and I were just asking ourselves, 'How is 2012 going to top 2011?' Well, we have our answer!"
In addition to becoming a new daddy, the lovable veteran-turned-actor will serve as Grand Marshal of the 2012 Tournament of Roses Parade on January 2.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, J.R. first met Diana when he joined the cast of "All My Children" in 2008, where she was working as the assistant to the soap's executive producer.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: ?Dancing? Champion & Soap Star J.R. Martinez Over The Years
"We were friends, and, you know, it was a workplace, so you don't want to cross the line. I was respectful of that, and for about two years we were great friends," J.R. told Access Hollywood Live's Billy Bush and Kit Hoover during a visit to the show last month.
"Finally, something happened, something clicked, and I just said, '[Do] you ever look at me differently than just a friend?'" he continued, with a shy smile. "And she kind of paid attention to it, and here we are! It's great."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Celebrity Baby Bumps
Though the relationship was slow to blossom, J.R. is glad he and Diana -- who was frequently seen in the "Dancing" audience proudly supporting her man - built their romance on a time-tested foundation.
"I think we did it a great way - to have a friendship first, and then build on that," he said.
A rep for J.R. was not immediately available for comment on the happy news when contacted by Access Hollywood on Saturday.
Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Full ban on driver calls could be tough to enforce
FILE - In a Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 file photo, Dan Johnson uses a hands-free device to talk on a cellphone while driving, in San Diego. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday, Dec. 13, that texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. But if lawmakers follow the advice of the federal board, police officers could be faced with decoding whether someone is using their cell phone or simply singing along to the radio, pleading with backseat children to stop fighting or reciting an important sales pitch. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
FILE - In a Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 file photo, Dan Johnson uses a hands-free device to talk on a cellphone while driving, in San Diego. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday, Dec. 13, that texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. But if lawmakers follow the advice of the federal board, police officers could be faced with decoding whether someone is using their cell phone or simply singing along to the radio, pleading with backseat children to stop fighting or reciting an important sales pitch. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
FILE - In a Tuesday, June 24, 2008 file photo, a sign warning drivers that hands-free technology will be required starting July 1, displays its message over a highway in San Francisco. While most states have banned texting among drivers and a number have also prohibited hand-held phones, the Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board is to outlaw all behind-the-wheel cell phone use, wireless or not. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
A driver uses a cellphone while driving Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, in Los Angeles. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday that texting, emailing or chatting on a cellphone while driving is just too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States and is urging all states to impose total bans except for emergencies. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A motorist uses a cellphone while holding the steering wheel and a cigarette in her other hand while passing through an intersection Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, in Houston. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday that texting, emailing or chatting on a cellphone while driving is just too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States and is urging all states to impose total bans except for emergencies. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Dan Johnson uses a hands-free device to talk on a cellphone while driving Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, in San Diego. Johnson, an operations manager, uses his cellphone while driving frequently for business. The National Transportation Safety Board declared Tuesday that texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? A driver in the next lane is moving his lips. Is he on a hands-free cellphone? Talking to someone in the car? To himself? Singing along to the radio?
If lawmakers follow the advice of a federal board, police officers will have to start figuring that out ? somehow.
The National Transportation Safety Board said this week that drivers should not only be barred from using hand-held cellphones, as they are in several states, but also from using hands-free devices. No more "Sorry, I'm stuck in traffic" calls, or virtually any other cellphone chatter behind the wheel.
Though no state has yet implemented such restrictive rules, the NTSB's recommendations carry weight that could place such language into future laws, or motivate the federal government to cut funding to states that don't follow suit.
Many of the men and women patrolling the nation's streets and highways wonder how they would sort the criminally chatty from the legally chatty.
"It would be almost impossible to determine if someone was talking on a phone or exercising their vocal cords," said Capt. Donald Melanson of the West Hartford, Conn., police department, which took part in a national pilot program aimed at cracking down on drivers' cellphone use. "That would be much more difficult to enforce, almost to the point where it would be impossible."
Officer Tom Nichols of the Port St. Lucie, Fla., police said a law written like the NTSB suggests would be difficult to enforce because so many variables would be at play.
"If you identify someone who has a hands-free set hooked up to their ear that doesn't mean they are talking on the phone," he said. "They could be talking to a passenger. They could be talking to a child in the back. They could be singing."
Police could end up turning to technology for help. They might even end up with the cellphone equivalent of a radar speed gun.
Fred Mannering, a Purdue University civil engineering professor who is associate director of the Center for Road Safety, said that since all cellphones emit signals, a simple Bluetooth detection device could spot them.
Computers are already common in patrol cars, and Mannering said a relatively cheap add-on could fit them to track cellphone signals.
"It would be really easy for police to have a computer on board and pick up those signals," Mannering said, "but it is sort of Big Brother."
The NTSB's proposal, announced Tuesday as a unanimous recommendation of its five-member board, urges all states to impose total bans except for emergencies. It cited deadly crashes caused by distracted drivers across the country, and noted that many studies have shown that hands-free cellphones are often as unsafe as hand-held devices.
The recommendation poses an astounding number of questions. What about chauffeurs and traveling salesmen who spend their entire day on the road? And roadside Amber Alert and Silver Alert notifications that implore drivers to call in if they spot a specific vehicle? What comes of phone lines dedicated to those "How's My Driving?" signs on trucks? How will you let someone know you're stuck in traffic?
Joe Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor who studies people's use of technology while traveling, said he can't envision a law so restrictive ever hitting the books because phone use has become commonplace for drivers. He called such an approach "draconian" and said that if such a law were passed, the public would despise it as "imperial overreach," then ignore it.
"It's a little like speeding laws where it will become just culturally acceptable to violate," he said. He said a no-call law would be followed only if violations carried stiff penalties like those for drunken driving.
Lewis Katz, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, said a nationwide ban on using cellphones while driving would be wildly unpopular, and likely the target of legal challenges. But he believed such a law, and the methods police might use to enforce it, ultimately would be deemed as constitutional as seatbelt enforcement.
"I'm sure that it would be challenged on all sorts of constitutional grounds, including free speech," he said in a phone call from his car. "But it seems to me that it doesn't in any way infringe on any constitutional rights. It's a simple safety issue."
Whether the NTSB's recommendations will motivate decision-makers remains to be seen, but they have certainly caught their attention.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has made combating distracted driving the signature issue of his tenure, stopped short of an endorsement. His department is separate from the NTSB.
"My focus is going to be on preaching to people: Take personal responsibility. Put your cellphone and your texting device in the glove compartment when you get behind the wheel of a car," LaHood told reporters at a news conference in Chicago. "You can't drive safely when you have your hand on a cellphone and are trying to drive a 4,000- 5,000 pound vehicle."
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, a Republican, said he was wary. His state is among those that have resisted passing laws restricting drivers' cellphone use.
Cannon said future technological advances may prove more effective than legislation at addressing driver distraction issues. As an example, he cited his new iPhone, which can make phone calls and send text messages via voice command.
"In these attempts to try and prevent every bad thing from happening," he said, "it's all too easy to overly restrict personal freedoms and individual rights and responsibilities."
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, the top law enforcement official in Palm Beach County, Fla., said that if lawmakers take the NTSB's suggestions to heart, they should address all manner of distracted driving.
"I see women putting makeup on. I see a guy with an electric shaver. I see one woman with a newspaper. I see a guy with a dog in his hands. All of those are worse than texting," he said.
Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police, said training would be key to enforcing any ban. Officers are already looking for unbuckled seat belts and swerving drivers; they'd have to add to their mental checklists.
"It's something that is not insurmountable," Bond said. "How you're going to spot it, or how you're going to look for it ? you have to acclimate the troops and acclimate the operations as to how to do this."
Chief Walter McNeil of Quincy, Fla., president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said enforcement of a total ban would be difficult, but that distracted driving needs to be addressed.
"We certainly need to deal with the overall problem with distracted drivers, and getting some level of uniformity in how we enforce that would be helpful," he said.
___
Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.
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Panetta: Libya needs time to control of militias (AP)
ANKARA, Turkey ? The Pentagon chief says the U.S. needs to give Libya's new leaders some time to gain control of the militias that overthrew Moammar Gadhafi before the Obama administration can determine how to help the fledgling government.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made the comments Friday in Turkey, a day before what will be an historic visit to Tripoli, the Libyan capital.
The U.S. is eager to encourage a new democracy in Libya. But the U.S. also is wary of appearing as trying to exercise too much control over the north African nation after its eight-month civil war.
There have been clashes in Libya between revolutionary fighters and national army troops near Tripoli's airport.
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