NEWLY-ELECTED BLACK REPUBLICANS - WHERE WILL THEY FIT? - PG. 3NATIONAL NEWSPAPER

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35 Cents FinalTHE CITY’S ONLY BLACK DAILY

VOL. 39 NO. 178 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

ABU-JAMALSET FOR

NEW APPEALHEARING

The decades-old Philadelphiamurder case of Mumia Abu-Jamalis set for another appeal this

week, but lawyers say it maystill be years before it’s resolved.

SEE PAGE 3.

OBAMA: WEAKECONOMY

DROVE ELECTIONOUTCOME

SEE PAGE 2

DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 20102

YOUNG “LION KING” ACTRESS REMEMBERED LOVINGLY AT FUNERAL

Family and members of the Broad-way community gathered yesterdayfor the funeral of Shannon Tavarez, the11-year-old girl who played Nala in“The Lion King” before being diag-nosed with leukemia earlier this year.

Taverez died last week at a LongIsland children’s hospital due to com-plications from the disease.

A massive search for a bone marrowdonor was held throughout the city butno match was found. Over the sum-mer, she received a umbilical-cordblood transplant.

“I ride the trains we used to ridetogether. I now ride them alone. I singthe songs we used to sing together, butmy voice is nowhere as sweet asyours,” said her grandfather DennisShaw. “I yearn for the day when Iwould hear your laughter as I searchfor your radiant smile.”

“I could honestly say I loved her likeshe was my sister,” said MarquisRodriguez, who starred as YoungSimba in “The Lion King.” “And I’m sosad. I wanted to protect her from any-thing and this is the one thing that Icouldn’t. I love you so much Shannon.”

Family and friends say they willcontinue to recruit people to enter thebone marrow registry.

CITY TEAMS UP WITH RETAILER TO IMPROVE

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE RATESSome city students are reaping the

rewards of staying in school.A total of 300 students from 25

schools across the five boroughs areparticipating in a special AttendanceDrive.

The city partnered with Old Navy toencourage students not to miss class.

Students with the best or mostimproved attendance records get a $50gift card, which they can use to buyclothes for school.

Students who participate, however,are required to sign the pledge of atten-dance before they shop.

“If they’re not in school we’re notgoing to able to educate our students,it’s just that simple. We have some stu-dents missing 30 days, 35, even 40days out of the year. If you cut that inhalf, you’ll see the impact that has ontheir academic performance, ondropout rates, and on other things,”said Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

New York Mets All-Star shortstopJose Reyes was at the event, cheeringthe students on and encouraging themto go to class.

BROOKLYN MAN CAUGHT IN NORTH CAROLINA TO

BE EXTRADITED ON MURDER CHARGES

A Brooklyn man wanted in a deadlyshooting at a Manhattan diner lastmonth will be extradited to New York,after he was caught by police at a bas-ketball game in North Carolina thisweekend.

Police arrested Earle Barranco at aCharlotte Bobcats game Saturday. Thearrest took place without incident atthe Time Warner Cable Arena.

Barranco is accused of gunningdown Corey Scott at the Good StuffDiner on 14th Street in Chelsea in theearly morning hours on October 23rd.

NEWS BRIEFSBy CAREN BOHAN

WASHINGTON — Big electionlosses suffered by Democrats were“first and foremost” a reflection ofthe economy’s weakness ratherthan a wholesale rejection of hispolicies, President Barack Obamasaid on Sunday .

“The party in power was heldresponsible for an economy that isstill underperforming and where alot of folks are still hurting,”Obama told the CBS program “60Minutes” in an interview.

In what he has described as a“shellacking,” Republicans rackedup huge victories in last week’scongressional elections, capturingthe House of Representatives andincreasing their numbers in theSenate.

Pressed on Republican asser-tions that the vote was a rejectionof his agenda, Obama replied: “Ithink first and foremost, it was areferendum on the economy.”

Obama, who flew on Friday toIndia for the start of a 10-day trip,said at a forum with students inMumbai he would undertake a“mid-course correction” in hispresidency.

Obama and his aides have beendiscussing strategy and staffchanges as he looks toward hisown re-election battle in 2012. Butthe White House has given littleindication of how far-reaching thechanges will be.

Discussing his decision to moveahead with a major overhaul of thehealthcare system at a time whenvoters saw the economy as the topconcern, Obama acknowledged it“probably wasn’t great politics”but said he felt it was the rightthing to do.

“It proved as costly politically as

we expected — probably actually alittle more costly than we expect-ed, politically.”

Obama also said some of theemergency economic steps theadministration took — such as the$814 billion stimulus and thefinancial bailout — were viewed byvoters as government overreach.He said that was not his aim.

“I think the Republicans wereable to paint my governing philos-ophy as a classic, traditional, biggovernment liberal. And that’s notsomething the American peoplewant,” he said.

But Obama kept up the concilia-tory tone toward Republicans headopted at a news conference inthe aftermath of Tuesday’s elec-tion.

He has invited Republican andDemocratic leaders to meet withhim on November 18 to iron outtheir differences over Bush-era tax

cuts, which are scheduled toexpire at the end of this yearunless Congress and the presidentdecide to renew them.

Obama wants to extend the taxcuts only for American familiesmaking less than $250,000 a year,while Republicans want to contin-ue them across the board.

In recent days, Obama has sig-naled he is open to discussing atemporary renewal of the tax cutsfor the wealthy.

Obama said John Boehner, thepresumed next Speaker of theHouse of Representatives, andSenate Republican leader MitchMcConnell were “smart” and“capable.”

He said they had shown “politi-cal skill” in organizing a unifiedRepublican opposition to his poli-cies but added, “My assumption isthat we’re going to be able to worktogether.”

Obama: Weak economy drove election outcome

By THOMAS FERRARO

WASHINGTON — The congress-man in line to chair the HomelandSecurity Committee in the newRepublican-led House of Represen-tatives said yesterday he plans tochallenge President Barack Obamaon the issue of terrorism.

Representative Peter King ofNew York said one of his “mainpriorities” will be to stop Obama’splans to transfer detainees at theU.S. military prison in Guan-tanamo Bay, Cuba, to the UnitedStates to stand trial in civiliancourts.

King said he would also holdhearings on Obama’s intentions toclose the military facility, whichnow holds among its inmatesKhalid Sheikh Mohammed, a self-professed mastermind of the Sep-tember 11, 2001, attacks on theUnited States by al-Qaeda.

“On 9/11, al-Qaeda killed morethan 150 of my friends and con-stituents. Their memories are whatdrive me in my work,” King wrotein an opinion piece in The NewYork Post newspaper.

King is expected to become

chairman of the Homeland Securi-ty Committee when the newly elect-ed House convenes in Januaryunder Republican control, endingfour years of Democratic rule.

King, now the panel’s topRepublican, unveiled his prioritiesas chairman in the opinion piece aswell as in a statement issued by hisoffice.

“I’ve never been shy about criti-cizing the Obama administrationwhen its policies and priorities arewrong,” King wrote.

“Yet I’ve also supported theadministration when it does theright things to secure our home-land,” King added. “As chairman,I’ll continue to do both, as neces-sary.”

The Obama administration hadinitially intended to prosecuteMohammed and other September11 plotters in a U.S. criminal courtblocks from the World Trade Cen-ter site in New York. But King andothers objected, concerned aboutsecurity.

The administration backed offthat proposal but has not yetrevealed its new prosecution plans.It has adopted what it calls a flexi-ble approach, favoring military tri-

bunals in some cases and civiliantrials in others.

Obama has vowed to close theprison at Guantanamo Bay amidinternational condemnation of thetreatment of detainees. But he hasrun into political resistance athome, including in U.S. stateswhere the prisoners would bemoved.

“As chairman, I’ll make securingour homeland from terrorists thecommittee’s primary focus,” Kingwrote, charging that the panelfailed to do so while under Democ-ratic control.

“The Democrats have convenedhearing after hearing on suchissues as Hurricane Katrina anddiversity in the DHS (Departmentof Homeland Security) workforce,”King complained.

“Those are important issues,”King said. “Yet they convenedthose hearings to the exclusion ofhearings on such serious terrorismissues as the al Qaeda-linked mas-sacre at Fort Hood and PresidentObama’s plan to close the detentionfacility at Guantanamo Bay andtransfer terrorists to the U.S.homeland.”

Key Republican vows to challenge Obama on security

DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010 3

PHILADELPHIA — The decades-old Philadelphia murder case ofMumia Abu-Jamal is set for anotherappeal this week, but lawyers say itmay still be years before it’sresolved.

Abu-Jamal, a Black defendantwho has constantly professed hisinnocence, was convicted of murderand sentenced to be executed for theshooting death of white police offi-cer Daniel Faulkner.

The Philadelphia Inquirer report-ed the latest twist in the case cameFriday when Abu-Jamal’s lead attor-ney Robert Bryan withdrew, sayinghe was receiving threats from the

inmate’s supporters in an effort toembarrass him.

The report said associate counselJudith L. Ritter, a professor atWidener Law, now is set to arguethe appeal today before the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

The Inquirer said Abu-Jamal,now 56, remains on death row whilehis legal team will argue that con-fusing legal instructions to the juryin 1982 led to a sentence of execu-tion instead of a life sentence.

Abu-Jamal was convicted of the1981 shooting and sentenced todeath, but lengthy appeals havedelayed his execution.

Mumia Abu-Jamal set for new appeal hearing

By ZENITHA PRINCE

Special to the NNPA from theAFRO-American Newspaper (DC)Election Day victories for two

Black Republicans raise a rare ques-tion in the House of Representativesin the 112th Congress: How will twoAfrican American members of theGrand Old Party interact with theCongressional Black Caucus?

Fourteen Black Republicans ranfor Congress in the Nov. 2 mid-termelections but, after all the votes werecounted, only Tim Scott, a SouthCarolina businessman, and AllenWest, a Florida-based Army veteranof the Iraq War, will take seats.They are the first African AmericanRepublicans to be elected to Con-gress since 1995.

So far, West has said he wants tobe part of the CBC, while Scott is stillundecided and is leaning toward notparticipating.

“It’s really heartening to see thistype of diversity demonstrated inAfrican American representation,”NAACP Washington Bureau ChiefHilary Shelton said. “[RepublicanParty Chairman] Michael Steeledeserves credit for seeing more

African Americans seeking officeunder the Republican banner.”

He added, “They could be a realasset to the strategy of passing leg-islation in the House and in advanc-ing the CBC [Congressional BlackCaucus] agenda… It’s very difficultto get things through without thecooperation of Democrats andRepublicans.”

Not everyone is as sure about theRepublican freshmen’s value to theCBC, raising questions aboutwhether Scott and West will chooseto join—or even be welcomed—intothe caucus, which was created in1969 as a Capitol Hill advocate forthe nation’s African Americans.

While membership is open to allAfrican American lawmakers, itsmembers have been overwhelminglyDemocrats, with only one Republi-can, Gary Franks of Connecticut,ever becoming a CBC member.Though invited, J.C. Watts, a BlackRepublican who represented Okla-homa from 1995 to 2003, declinedmembership. Sen. Edward Brooke, aMassachusetts Republican whoserved in the Senate from 1967through 1979, was not publiclyinvited and refused to join a CBCboycott of President Richard Nixon’s

State of the Union address in 1971although he criticized the Nixonadministration’s approach to theBlack community and civil rights.

“The name of the group is not theCongressional Black DemocraticCaucus, it’s the Black Caucus. [And]if they go back to their foundingprinciples then these two menshould be welcomed with openarms,” said Black Republican politi-cal strategist Raynard Jackson. But,he predicted, even if they wereadmitted, “this group will make ahostile environment for anotherBlack [Republican] based on themnot being compatible in their philo-sophical leaning.”

Echoing statements by CBCChairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif.,in an Oct. 22 article in The Econo-mist, Maryland CongresswomanDonna Edwards said, “If they’realigned with the interests of work-ing people, particularly AfricanAmericans, who struggle and theywant to work with us to advancethose interests,” Scott and Westwould be welcomed into the caucus.But, she added, “What I know ofthem and their agendas, it is diffi-cult for me to see how that wouldwork [though] it might make for

some interesting discussions.”Backed by the national Tea Party

and elected to office by mostly whitevoters, Scott and West have decided-ly conservative agendas, includinglimited government, lowered taxes,and cuts in government spending.Jackson said that, even among GOPranks, the men are considered to befar, far right of center, making themalmost incompatible with the mostlyliberal members of the CBC.

“These boys are crazy; they’re TeaParty people,” Jackson said. “I’vehad White people calling me up say-ing these guys are extremely con-servative and so far out of the main-stream. Can you see them talkingwith Maxine Waters? I’d like to be afly on the wall.”

But, he added, “If I were them, I’djoin just to push the issue.”

West, in a Politico interview, indi-cated his interest in joining the CBC.“That has been a monolithic voice inthe body politic for far too long.There is a growing conservativeBlack voice in this country,” thatneeds to be heard, West told the pub-lication.

Scott, on the other hand, toldPolitico he is less willing to join,pointing to his experience in theSouth Carolina Legislative BlackCaucus and the dissonance betweenhim and Black Democrats.

Jackson suggested that the pairalso have plenty of dissonance withmore moderate Black Republicans.

Moderate Black Republicans are“more concerned with pleasingWhite people” and less committed toa “Black agenda,” Jackson said. Thatmakes them a detriment to the GOP,rather than an asset, he added.

Though white Republicans areexcited by these two additions to theHouse, saying their victories signala potential increase in the number ofBlack conservatives, the new addi-tions will not incite more Blacks tojoin the party “if they’re saying thesame thing white conservatives aresaying,” Jackson said. “It’s not themessenger; it’s the message. Youcan’t send a Black to say the samethings Pat Buchanan says.”

“In a lot of ways,” Jackson added,“it would be better not to have theseguys in these positions because itgives the white folks in the party away out” of having to create realchange, “especially if they [Scott andWest] have no real power.”

Newly-elected Black Republicans — Where will they fit?

By JULIESTEENHUYSEN

CHICAGO — The American Med-ical Association unleashed its latestsalvo in its campaign against cuts inMedicare payments to doctors with asurvey that finds overwhelming con-cern among Americans.

The physician’s group did anonline survey of 1,000 Americansaged 18 and older and found 94 per-cent of them said they are concernedabout the cuts to doctors who treatelderly patients.

The group released the findings ata meeting in San Diego to kick off anew advertising and lobbying push toconvince lawmakers to block pay-ment cuts — set to take effect Decem-ber 1 — before they recess for theThanksgiving holiday later thismonth.

“Congress must stop the cutsbefore seniors’ healthcare is put in

jeopardy,” AMA President Dr. CecilWilson told reporters on a telephonebriefing.

Wilson warned of a “catastrophe” ifCongress does not act to block thepayment cuts. He said many doctorswill be forced to see fewer patientscovered by the Medicare health insur-ance program for the elderly and dis-abled.

The survey also found that 81 per-cent of adults agreed that Congressshould act immediately to stop theMedicare physician payment cut,including 91 percent of people 55 orolder, and 96 percent of people 65 orolder

The poll was conducted from Octo-ber 22 to 26 by Synovate eNation andhad a margin of error of plus orminus 3 percentage points. AMA didnot disclose the number of peopleover age 65 who were surveyed.

In June, the group launched a sim-ilar campaign after Congress went ona week-long Memorial Day holiday

before acting on a bill that would havepostponed a pay cut that took effecton June 1.

Congress passed a six-month fix tothe problem in late June. Wilson saidmany doctors at the time had to cutback on the number of Medicarepatients they could see.

The doctors’ group wants a 13-month freeze on cuts until the systemcan be fixed.

The AMA has been lobbying for apermanent change in the paymentformula that it says is outdated andwill allow steep cuts in Medicare pay-ments if it had not been for repeatedaction by Congress to delay them.

Lawmakers for years have avoideda more permanent fix, which wouldcost about $250 billion over a decade,because of its impact on the long-termbudget outlook.

The AMA represents about 23 per-cent of the nearly 1.1 million physi-cians and medical students in theUnited States.

Doctors urge Congress to halt Medicare pay cuts

By DEBORAH MATHIS

The time: Late 2003.The place: A newsroom in Washington, D.C.The event: A veteran Republican senator dispatch-

es a news release, announcing the authorization of anew, jobs-making project in the state he represents.

The upside: News like that redounds to the politi-cian’s benefit because the voters like their man inWashington to deliver the goods. And he gets to addthis announcement to the bragging rights file for hisnext re-election bid.

The downside: The senator knows the measurehas zero chance of surviving the essential appropria-tions process, meaning the news release is pumpingpeople up for something that will never come tofruition.

The rebound: When a reporter points out this littletechnicality, both the senator and many of his con-stituents protest that she is practicing “gotcha” jour-nalism, which implies something underhanded andulterior, when, really, only those who have actuallydone something wrong or embarrassing can get got.

The bottom line: Never mind the facts, the truth,the reality. Just keep those illusions coming and layon another helping of deception for the folks backhome. It’s the perception that counts.

It’s that kind of thinking - or lack of thinking - thathas us in the bind we now find ourselves in as of latelast Tuesday, when the results of the mid-term elec-tion affirmed what many had feared: That the Ameri-can people had lost their collective mind.

Actually, they have replaced thinking with gulping,having been spoonfed pap from myriad sources,many of which are about as legitimate as a three dol-lar bill. Politics is no longer a full-bodied meal of pro-tein, starch and complex carbohydrates, but a junkfood diet chockful of sugar, salt and saturated fat. Andthe body politic is no longer healthy.

What makes this regrettable situation worse is thatso many people have no qualms about being in thiscondition. They prefer believing to knowing and oftenconfuse the two. They believe that Barack Obama isa socialist; they believe that he was not born in theU.S.; they believe that he is spending $200 million a

day for an official trip to India. They do not know any of that because it cannot be

known. It cannot be known because it is not true.Don’t bother, however, trying to tell them or even to

show them otherwise. You will only be called a spin-ner, an apologist and your evidence - Obama’s clear-ly pro-capitalist record; his official birth certificate; andofficial statements about the India trip - all of that willbe deemed as counterfeit.

This is what German writer Johann Goethe called“militant ignorance.” That’s when you’re bound anddetermined, committed and pledged to avoid andresist any attempt to enlighten, broaden or challengea hard-held point of view. We’re not talking principledhere. We’re talking about stubborn refusal to ques-tion, to self-examine, to learn. The militantly ignorantare soldiers for stupidity.

Unfortunately, many of them are also empoweredto vote, and that, they did last Tuesday, when some

of the dullest wits in the political braintrust were sweptinto the U.S. House and Senate, where they willspread the backwater gospel they used to make justenough people believe they would be worthwhile inhigh office.

Some got got before they could proceed in dam-aging and shaming their constituents - and the coun-try - any further. Like the certifiably ditzy and media-phobic Sharron Angle of Nevada and Colorado’s KenBuck, a 21st century homo sapien whose culturalsensibilities are about as evolved as Cro Magnonman.

But many made it through. And militant ignorancewas their sailboat.

I am hoping that, just as the political pendulumswings - to the left, then to the right, then toddling inthe middle, then to the left again and on and on - sowill this unfortunate comfort with not knowing.

May the curious mind rise again.

By GEORGE E.CURRY

For Republicans, theNovember 2 midterm electionswere about 2012, not 2010.Senate Majority Leader MitchMcConnell made that clear in aspeech to the Heritage Founda-tion. He said, “…The fact is, ifour primary legislative goalsare to repeal and replace thehealth spending bill, to end thebailouts, cut spending andshrink the size and scope ofgovernment, the only way todo all these things is to putsomeone else in the WhiteHouse.”

Welcome to the 2012slugfest. And with more thantwice as many Democrats thanRepublicans up for re-electioonin two years, emboldenedRepublicans have their sightsset on controlling the House,the Senate and the WhiteHouse.

In order to stay in the WhiteHouse, the President shouldadopt my 12-step recovery pro-gram:

1) Stop making concessionsbefore entering into negotia-tions with GOP leaders – Therecent Slurpee Summit has notbeen held at the White Houseand President Obama isalready saying he’s willing theextend the Bush tax cuts to thetop 2 percent of Americans, thegroup least likely to placethose dollars back into an ail-ing economy. The time to make

concessions is during the actu-al horse-trading, not inadvance. President Obama andRepublican leaders can’t evenagree on what beverage toserve at the upcoming meet-ing. During the recent cam-paign, the President calledRepublicans “Slurpeedrinkers” whose brains freezewhen it comes to economics.When asked at a news confer-ence about the possibility of apost-election Slurpee Summitat the White House, Obamareplied, “I might serve —they’re delicious.” But HouseSpeaker-in-waiting JohnBoehner responded, “I don’tknow about a Slurpee. Howabout a glass of merlot?”

2) Assemble a new commu-nications team – It’s embarass-ing to see one of the most gift-ed speakers of this generationgroping for words when try-ing to explain why the WhiteHouse did a poor job of sellingits accomplishments. Mr. Pres-ident, read my lips: Your teamhas failed you – get a new onebefore it’s too late.

3) Ignore calls to move tothe right – Whenever Democ-rats lose an election, there areinevitable suggestions that theparty should move to the right.The last thing this countryneeds is two Republican par-ties. The underreported storyof this election is that conserv-ative Democrats, so-called BlueDog Democrats, suffered thebulk of the losses, especially in

House districts previously heldby conservative Republicans.

4) Make conservatives putup or shut up – It’s one thingto campaign. It’s quite anotherto govern. Many Tea Partycandidates, including thosecross-dressing as Republicans,have pledged to balance thebudget while exemptingdefense funding and entitle-ments that make up 85 percentof the federal budget. Insistthat they give specifics on howthey can possibly balance thebudget by attacking only 15percent of the budget.

5) Use Vice President JoeBiden as your attack dog –Many presidents have usedtheir vice presidents as theirchief defenders. RichardNixon had Spiro Agnew andGeorge W. Bush used DickChaney in that capacity.Unchain Biden as your Defend-er-in-Chief while you continueto be presidential, which suitsyour non-confrontational per-sonality.

6) Realize the public stilltrust Democrats over Republi-cans on the big issues – Arecent USA Today/Gallup pollshowed that Americans trustDemocrats over Republicanson most of the importantissues facing America, includ-ing racial and ethnic discrimi-nation, unemployment, thesize and power of large corpo-

4 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

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FORUM

What President Obama should do next

How did militantignorance become

the norm?

Continued on page 5

5DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

The views expressed on the Forum page are the OPINIONS of its authors and may not reflect the views of the Daily Challenge.

Forum

By CHARLENECROWELL

Almighty Debt, the most recentCNN documentary in the network’sseries on African Americans, relatedhow severely debt imposes complex,real-life financial challenges whetherthe issue is foreclosure, long-termunemployment, or financing highereducation. Central to the documen-tary was Rev. DeForest Soaries, Jr. ofFirst Baptist Church of Lincoln Gar-dens in Somerset, New Jersey, whosecongregation members were also fea-tured.

The stories of debt were heart-wrenchingly true and they also con-nected the pivotal role and consider-able influence that African-Americanclergy have when it comes to mattersof debt. Rev. Soaries is not alone. Inother states and locales, there aremore pastors, congregations, andalliances that have made a seriouscommitment to both economic justiceand financial literacy.

In fact, these clergy view economicempowerment and justice as an essen-tial part of their clerical duties.Theirs is not a choice between servingthe church or its community; butrather the divine power that hasdominion over both.

For example, Bishop T. D. Jakes,an author and senior pastor of theDallas-based Potter’s House, has anon-profit organization, the Metro-plex Economic Development Corpora-tion that teaches the basics of creditand debt management. This wing ofBishop Jakes’ numerous endeavorsalso meets with banks and negotiatesbetter terms for his flock and commu-nity.

In a recent guest opinion for CNN,Bishop Jakes wrote, “What we mustrealize is that it is not wrong for peo-ple to want a new home or car. But it

was wrong for financial institutionsto prey on those desires with unbal-anced financial solutions.”?

That financial imbalance experi-enced by many African-Americans isalso the focus of the Collective Bank-ing Group, Inc. (CBG). Formed in1993, CBG recently shared the impe-tus for its formation and subsequentactions.

Following the call to serve as a pas-tor in a Maryland church in 1988,Rev. Jonathan Weaver led his churchout of debt with early retirement of a$200,000 mortgage incurred beforehis service. As the church grew andsought a $50,000 loan for expansion,the same lender advised Rev. Weaverthat the bank would “consider” thesmaller loan, only if a number of con-ditions were met: collateralize themortgage; secure an appraisal andthree church trustees who would per-sonally guarantee the loan. The factthat the church held accounts withthis bank for 25 years was of no valueor relevance.

Rev. Weaver then sent the presi-dent of the bank a letter saying hewould soon advise his 750-membercongregation of the bank’s decisionand ask them to consider whetherthey should retain their own individ-ual accounts with the lender. Follow-ing its receipt, the same bank officialwho iterated the numerous conditionspromptly contacted Rev. Weaver andassured him that the $50,000 loanwas approved without the additionalconditions.

More importantly, Rev. Weaversoon discovered that other pastorsand church members in PrinceGeorges County, Maryland and themetropolitan Washington, D.C. areahad similar experiences with lenders.Long-term faithful and regulardeposits seemed never enough tosecure financing from area lenders.

Their collective concerns led to thefounding of CBG with 20 churches in

the DC metro area. Today, Rev.Weaver serves as CBG’s national pres-ident and the faithful alliance hasgrown to 150 congregations repre-senting 175,000 congregantsthrough chapters in Austin, TX; Bal-timore, MD; Charlotte, NC; andMiami, FL.

It is relevant to note that researchby the Center for Responsible Lending(CRL) has shown consumer lendingconcerns in many of these samelocales, particularly as they relate toAfrican-American foreclosures. CRLdetermined Florida has seen moreAfrican-American home foreclosuresthan any other state in the country.

CBG’s Miami chapter is nowstrengthening and revising its 10-point agreement with its major bankpartners and is in discussions withanother major lender. The MiamiCBG chapter is also excited aboutrecent accomplishments in the Sun-shine State.

According to Rev. Dr. JoaquinWillis, who serves dual roles as vice-president of the national CBG andpresident of CBG-Miami-Dade &Vicinity, CBG of Miami’s front-endsolution to the housing crisis was pro-vided through a partnership withNeighborhood Housing Services, asubsidiary of Neighborhood Works.Through this partnership, churchmembers and interested communitymembers received homebuyer educa-tion and loan packaging programsthat successfully placed hundreds offamilies in homes during these crisisyears — without any problems at all.In 2010, we began to implement aback-end solution with the NationalAssociation of Consumer Activists(NACA) who contacted us.?

“CBG Miami and NACA togetherdeveloped a series of preliminaryworkshops held in February andMarch in CBG churches to preparepeople for pre-packaging home loanmodifications before NACA returned

to Florida later in the year”? contin-ued Dr. Willis. “When we moved tomultiple larger sites at Florida con-vention centers later during thespring, approximately 40,000 trou-bled homeowners received loan modi-fications in two or three-day periods. Iam proud that CBG member churchesserved the community and we openedour church doors to all troubledhomeowners regardless of whetherthey were a church member or not.”

But with a recessionary economythat imposes multiple challenges,CBG is looking at what yet remains tobe accomplished.

“We are encouraged by the successwe see,” said Pastor Willis. “But weare anxious to expand the number ofpeople served and drill deeper into theproblem of debt. “In Miami, we arelooking to also do collective buyingand collective building in addition tocontinuing our efforts on collectivebanking.”?

CBG’s stated vision is to stimulateand actualize economic empowermentin the African-American communityand other underserved communities;and to leave a legacy for future gener-ations.?

In a phone interview for this col-umn, Rev. Weaver said, “We’ve got tolearn to manage very, very carefullythe money that has been entrusted toour care. Just as we should attempt totake greater care of our physical andemotional well-being, we need to takecare of our financial well-being and beintentional about it. The days of treat-ing money frivolously need to be longgone.”

I think the Reverends and all ofCBG deserve an Amen.

— Charlene Crowell is the Centerfor Responsible Lending’s communi-cations manager for state policy andoutreach. She can be reached at:Charlene.crowell@responsiblelend-ing.org

rations, health care, the environ-ment and disengaging the U.S.from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.The GOP was favored to deal withillegal immigration, the federaldebt, terrorism and the size andpower of the federl government.Even in the recent elections.

7) Strengthen the coalitionbetween Black, Latinos and Asians –That coaltion was the key to Oba-ma’s 2008 victory when the majori-ty of Whites voted for John McCain.Latinos returned Democratic Sena-tors to power in Nevada and Cali-fornaia. Democrats can’t be success-ful in 2012 without paying specialattention to all people of color, whoare expanding their share of theelectorate.

8) Re-engage young voters – Likepeople of color and women, this is a

critical part of your base. Lookingforward to 2012, its necessary tomobilize young voters to counterthe edge older voters provideRepublicans.

9) Be a fighter (to be used in con-junction with Point #4) – Americansadmire fighters, even if they dis-agree with them. President Harry STruman was often depicted as giv-ing his opponents hell. Heexplained, “I never give anybodyhell. I just told the truth and theythought it was hell.” President “NoDrama Obama” needs to exude somefire. Ignore the fear that manyWhites don’t want to view theirpresident as “an angry Black man.”The bully pulpit is the last place youneed to sound professorial.

10) Deploy First Lady MichelleObama to more events – In manyways, Michelle Obama connects bet-

ter with audiences than the Presi-dent. Like her husband, she hastwo Ivy League degrees. Unlike thePresident, she comes across pas-sionate and unscripted. It’s time totake her out of the garden and stoplimiting her to speaking beforegroups concerned about obesity andmilitary families.

11) Don’t be discouraged –Remember that Bill Clinton andRonald Reagan, whose approval rat-ings were almost identical to yoursat this point in office, sufferedmidterm shellackings but bouncedback to get easily re-elected to a sec-ond term. You, too, can get yourgroove back.

12) Remain engaged with the

Black Media – Part of the problemthis year was President Obama’seffort to arouse the Black communi-ty came on “CP” Time. It was whatformer Nixon aide John Haldermancalled TL-square – too little, too late.Given the President’s lateness, per-haps this will end questions aboutwhether he’s Black enough.

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

Wanted: Houses to Buy Call (718) 636-9500

Black clergy seek economic freedom for their flocks

Obama should do nextContinued from page 4

6 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

‘

naTional

WASHINGTON — Thecraze for sushi has fueled ablack market in tuna worthbillions of dollars, as govern-ments collaborate with theindustry despite fears for thespecies’ survival, an investi-gation found.

A seven-month probe bythe International Consor-tium of Investigative Jour-nalists found that fishermenhave willfully violated offi-cial quotas in order to supplythe lucrative tuna market,which is dominated byJapan.

The investigation covered10 nations but found partic-ular violations in France,where it said the Ministry ofAgriculture and Fisherieshas joined forces with thetuna industry to doctorcatch numbers.

“Everyone cheated,” saidRoger Del Ponte, one of thesix French fishing captainsfacing criminal charges.

“It’s like driving down theroad. If I know there are nopolice, I’m going to speed,”he said in the report.

The journalists said theblack market in EasternAtlantic bluefin tuna wasworth at least four billiondollars between 1998 and2007. The calculation camefrom comparing the estimat-ed total catch of tuna withofficial quotas and thenusing rates at Tokyo’s Tsuk-iji fish market.

Global fears over tunastocks emerged in 2007when France declared it hadcaught nearly 10,000 tons,almost double its quotaallowed under the Interna-tional Commission for theConservation of the AtlanticTunas (ICCAT), a regulatorybody.

“We found that the systemfailed at every point. It failedin that vessels were overfish-ing and that officials wereturning a blind eye to thatoverfishing for years,” saidKate Willson, a reporter onthe investigation.

Facing an outcry, ICCATcame up with a new systemin 2008 to keep track of thetrade. But the study said the

database was ineffectual andthe tuna industry was head-ing to areas with even lessoversight such as NorthAfrica.

Willson said the Frenchministry declined repeatedrequests for comment.

“There is no way to knowif the situation is getting bet-ter. We’re supposed to trustthem that they are gettingbetter,” she said.

ICCAT found that spawn-ing stock of Eastern Atlanticbluefin tuna has tumbled bynearly 75 percent in the pastfour decades, with morethan half of the loss between1997 and 2007.

Jean-Marc Fromentin, amarine biologist on ICCAT’sscientific body, said thatexperts had recommended acut in fishing quotas as longago as the late 1990s.

“If the countries had lis-tened, then there would havebeen no risk of collapse,” hesaid in the report.

“But because they didn’tpay attention, and they did-n’t control (catch limits),

then after a few years the sit-uation became really criticaland we began to speak aboutthe risk of collapse,” he said.

ICCAT meets in Parisfrom November 17 to 27,ahead of which EuropeanUnion fisheries commission-er Maria Damanaki hascalled for a substantialreduction in the bloc’s tunacatch quota of 13,500 tons.

France has opposed thequota, arguing that tunastocks will be sustainable by2022. Diplomats say thatFrance is backed by otherMediterranean countriesincluding Greece, Italy andSpain, while Britain is theonly country clearly to backDamanaki’s position.

A March meeting in Qatarsoundly defeated a proposalbacked by the United Statesand European Union to banthe international trade ofAtlantic bluefin tuna afteran aggressive lobbyingeffort by Japan.

The study said that Japanhas driven the demand forthe Atlantic bluefin, with the

industry taking off in the1980s when the Japanesedeveloped a passion for“toro,” the fatty belly of tuna.

But after years of finan-cial backing for the indus-try, Japan has tried to dis-tance itself from perceivedexcesses, the study said.Last year it temporarily halt-ed imports from Tunisia dueto a lack of required docu-mentation on the catch.

The study traced industryexcesses to the mid-1990s,when Japanese companieshelped set up tuna “ranches”in which fishermen wouldtake their catches to under-water cages to fatten themup.

With little oversight, theindustry began to “launder”tuna by misreporting weightand country of origin, thestudy said.

“For the fish that are overquota, you have to find asolution,” a former managerat a Spanish tuna ranch saidin the report. “You eithertrade it illegally or keep ituntil the next season.”

Study: Tuna black market worth billions of dollars

LOS ANGELES — Holly-wood actors’ unions andmajor studios announcedSunday they had reached anew, three-year contractaverting the kind of strikethat paralyzed the U.S.entertainment industry for100 days in 2008.

The tentative deal, whichgoes into effect on July 1,came after six weeks ofnegotiations between theScreen Actors Guild (SAG),the American Federation of

Television and Radio Artists(AFTRA) and the Alliance ofMotion Picture & TelevisionProducers (AMPTP).

It provided a six-percentpay raise and a 10 percentincrease in contributions tothe unions’ health and pen-sion plans, which membershad seen as a key priority.

“The deals offer increasesin benefit contributions,wages and other areas criti-cal to working performerswhile being responsive to the

current challenges facingfeature film and televisionproducers,” the AMPTP saidin a statement.

“The early agreementsalso ensure that productioncan continue without disrup-tion for everyone whodepends on this industry.”

Three years ago, theinability of actors and pro-ducers to clinch an agree-ment led actors to workwithout a contract for a year.

It followed a strike by the

screenwriters in 2007-2008that became the US enter-tainment industry’s mostdamaging dispute in 20years, costing an estimatedtwo billion dollars.

“Strengthening the pen-sion and health plans wasour top priority in thesenegotiations — making sucha significant gain in thatarea was a vital achieve-ment,” said Ken Howard,president of the 125,000-member SAG.

His counterpart at the70,000-member AFTRA,Roberta Readon said she was“extremely pleased we metour goal of increasing con-tributions to our retirementand pension plans, and thatwe successfully completedthis negotiation now to pro-tect the needs of performersearly in the process.”

Hollywood actors, studios reach new contract

By MAGGIE FOX

WASHINGTON — Fast-food restaurants are steppingup efforts to market them-selves and unhealthy foodproducts to children and tod-dlers with television ads, web-sites and even their ownmenus, researchers said.

They said efforts by theindustry to regulate itselfhave failed and urged gov-ernment officials at all levelsto declare children a protect-ed group and stop marketingefforts that are fueling childobesity, a serious U.S. healthproblem.

“What we found in themarketing data is a stagger-

ing amount of fast-foodadvertising that starts whenchildren are as young as 2years old,” Jennifer Harris ofthe Yale University RuddCenter for Food Policy & Obe-sity in Connecticut told a tele-phone briefing.

Harris and colleaguesspent a year studying 12 bigfast-food chains, analyzed thecalories, fat, sugar and sodi-um in menu items and kids’meal combinations, and stud-ied what children and teensordered.

The report, available athttp://www.fastfoodmarket-ing.org, finds the industryspent more than $4.2 billionin 2009 on marketing andadvertising on television, the

Internet, social media sitesand mobile applications.

“Despite pledges toimprove their marketingpractices, fast food compa-nies seem to be stepping uptheir efforts to target kids,”Harris said.

“Today, preschoolers see21 percent more fast food adson TV than they saw in 2003,and somewhat older childrensee 34 percent more.” McDon-ald’s Corp has 13 websites,attracting 365,000 uniquechild visitors under 12 everymonth. One, ronald.com,specifically targets preschool-ers.

The U.S. Centers for Dis-ease Control and Preventionsays two-thirds of American

adults and 15 percent of chil-dren are overweight or obese.In some states, the childhoodobesity rate is above 30 per-cent.

First lady Michelle Obama,spearheading an administra-tion initiative on child obesi-ty, has urged food manufac-turers to re-package food sothat it is healthier for kids.

In 2007, McDonald’s andother large U.S. food anddrink companies pledged toadopt stricter controls onadvertising to children under12.

“Most restaurants will saythat they have added healthi-er choices to their menus inrecent years,” Yale’s MarleneSchwartz, who worked on thestudy, told the briefing.

While this is true, she saidwith the exception of private-ly owned Subway, mostoffered fries and a soft drink

as a default.“In most cases you have to

work very hard to get ahealthy side or drink in afast-food restaurant,” shesaid. “You have to know itexists and you have to ask forit.”

The researchers found thatteenagers purchased 800 to1,100 calories, or half a day’sworth, in an average visit.

Yale’s Kelly Brownell saidstate and local governmentscan rein in the marketingbehavior of the restaurants,pointing to San Francisco’slaw passed last week thatcracks down on giving awayfree toys in children’s meals.

Brownell hopes Monday’sreport will do more.

“There will be a level ofanger, even rage perhaps,that will set the stage for leg-islation and even regulatoryaction,” he said.

Fast-food restaurants target kids

DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010 7

INTERNATIONALDAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010 7

By AUNG HLA TUN

YANGON - The military will keep itsgrip on power after Myanmar’s first elec-tion in 20 years, backed by parties that onMonday looked set to win a vote marredby fraud and denounced by PresidentBarack Obama as stolen.Europe and Japan also condemned the conduct

of the poll.Complex rules for Sunday’s election thwarted

any chance of a pro-democracy upset as Myanmarends half a century of direct army rule. State TVsaid voters “freely and happily” cast ballots, butwitness accounts suggested low turn-out andirregularities in the former British colony alsoknown as Burma.“It is unacceptable to steal elections, as the

regime in Burma has done again for all the worldto see,” Obama said in a speech to India’s parlia-ment in New Delhi.“Faced with such gross violations of human

rights, it is the responsibility of the internationalcommunity — especially leaders like the UnitedStates and India — to condemn it.”Illustrating the strains multi-ethnic Myanmar

has faced for decades, minority Karen rebelsseized government buildings in clashes withtroops in the border town of Myawaddy, causingabout 12,000 people to flee into Thailand, Thai offi-cials said.Plumes of black smoke rose above the town, a

Reuters witness said. At least 10 people werewounded in fighting involving rockets or mortarbombs.Many ethnic groups fear the election will

strengthen the constitution and destroy anychance of a degree of autonomy, stoking concernthe fighting could spread to other armed ethnicgroups such as the Kachin and the Wa along theborder with China.Official results trickled out over state media,

showing the military and its proxy parties ahead,but a clear picture of who will control parliamentcould take a day or longer in the reclusive coun-try, where timely information is rare.Many who abstained from the vote expressed

doubt they could alter the status quo.“Voter turnout seems to be very bad,” Philippine

President Benigno Aquino told reporters in thefirst comments by a Southeast Asian leader. “Whatwe really wanted to happen there was broad-based

participation.FOCUS ON SUU KYI

With the results largely preordained, focusturned to whether Nobel Peace Prize-winner AungSan Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21years in detention, will be freed when her housearrest term expires on Saturday.The United States, Britain, the United Nations,

the European Union and Japan repeated calls tofree the 65-year-old pro-democracy leader whoseNational League for Democracy beat an army-backed party by a landslide in 1990, a resultignored by the military junta.She urged supporters to boycott the election

while about 2,100 political activists or oppositionpoliticians are behind bars. Her youngest son, KimAris, flew from Britain to Bangkok, stirring spec-ulation of her imminent release. The Myanmarembassy on Monday denied his request for anentry visa.A statement from the office of U.N. Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon said voting conditions inMyanmar had been “insufficiently inclusive, par-ticipatory and transparent.” But it called on thejunta to turn the election into “a new beginning”by freeing Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.Japan said it was “deeply disappointed” Suu Kyi

had not been freed before the vote. Myanmarshould “ensure that these elections mark the startof a more inclusive phase” by releasing politicaldetainees, the foreign ministry said.Freeing Suu Kyi could energize pro-democracy

forces. It would also revive debate over sanctions,although most experts agree more political pris-

oners would need to be freed before U.S. andEuropean sanctions could be reviewed.“Only five days more,” read a banner hanging

outside the headquarters of her now-defunctparty.State television said the election was conducted

“with a full sense of inclusiveness.” State media inneighboring China also praised the vote.“We know that handing over power to civilians

in Myanmar cannot happen in one step, but wesupport this direction,” said China’s Global Timesnewspaper, a tabloid published by the CommunistParty mouthpiece, the People’s Daily.For the first five months of 2010, China has

invested about $8 billion in Myanmar, seen as astrategic ally and trading partner, especially forits energy-hungry western provinces.

MILITARY DOMINANCETwenty-five percent of seats in all chambers are

reserved for serving generals, so army-backed par-ties need win just 26 percent of seats for the mili-tary and its proxies to secure a majority.The junta’s political juggernaut, the Union

Solidarity and Development Party, or USDP, close-ly aligned with junta supremo Than Shwe, fielded27 ministers and contested almost all the 1,163seats that state TV said were up for grabs.Results for just 57 seats were made public,

including 55 that went uncontested. Those resultsand comments by officials suggest the USDP andother army-backed parties dominated. One USDPofficial said his party won “sweeping victories” inMandalay and Irrawaddy, among the largest ofMyanmar’s 14 divisions.The USDP’s only real rival, the National Unity

Party, also backed by the army, was running in980 seats.The mood in the pro-democracy camp was less

ebullient. Democratic Party (Myanmar) partyspokesman Hla Myint said only one of 47 candi-dates in his party appeared to have won.At least six parties filed complaints to the elec-

tion commission, claiming state workers wereforced to vote for the USDP. The NationalDemocratic Force, the largest pro-democracyparty, accused the USDP of “widespread fraud.”Thirty-seven parties contested places in a bicam-

eral national parliament and 14 regional assem-blies. Except for the USDP and National UnityParty, none has enough candidates to win becauseof restrictions such as high fees for each candi-date.

Myanmar army-backed parties set to sweep rare poll

Security personnel from Myanmar hold theirweapons as they walk on the Moei river bankin Myanmar's Myawaddi town, from across bor-der in Thailand.

SEOUL - The death of aNorth Korean military officialand the naming of leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-un to thefuneral preparation committeewas jumped on by SouthKorean media on Monday asshowing he had risen to sec-ond-in-command.In the opaque world of North

Korea, experts are forced to dissectand analyze every snippet of infor-mation — sometimes readingbetween the lines, or words — insearch of the truth.South Korean media concluded

that by being named immediatelyafter leader Kim Jong-il to the funer-al committee by the North’s state-runnews agency KCNA, the leader’sthird son had been elevated to the

second highest position in the secre-tive state.The young Kim, known only to be

in his mid to late 20s, was identifiedas heir apparent in September whenappointed to senior political and mil-itary posts in the isolated state.Then, he was named sixth after

his father and other officials in a listof dignitaries participating at theruling Workers’ Party conference.The latest sequence — placing Kim

ahead of the cabinet premier, thechief of general staff and the defenseminister — is the clearest signal yetthat he is officially in line to takeover from his ailing 68-year-oldfather, the South’s Yonhap newsagency reported.The Chosun Ilbo daily quoted a

North Korean source as saying theheir apparent had probably already

been promoted to the posts leftvacant by the late Jo Myong-rok, orwill assume them as soon as themourning period ends.KCNA reported that Jo, the first

vice-chairman of the North’sNational Defence Commission and aclose Kim confidant, died onSaturday of chronic heart disease atthe age of 82.

NNNNoooorrrr tttthhhh KKKKoooorrrreeeeaaaa’’’’ssss hhhheeeeiiii rrrr aaaappppppppaaaarrrreeeennnntttt llllyyyy rrrr iiiisssseeeessss aaaaggggaaaaiiiinnnnSweden opens probe of U.S. embassy surveillance

STOCKHOLM - Sweden is investigating to see whether the U.S.embassy has committed any crime by carrying out surveillance meas-ures, the prosecutor’s office said on Monday in a case similar to one thathas blown up in neighboring Norway.The probe to see if illegal intelligence gathering has taken place was

launched after the Swedish Security Police at the weekend confirmed theU.S. embassy had a surveillance system in place since 2000, withoutinforming the local authorities.The Swedish office of public prosecution said in a statement that a pre-

liminary probe had been opened to see whether the U.S. measures consti-tuted a crime and to see who had carried out such a crime, if one had beencommitted.“The investigation concerns American measures to protect the U.S.

embassy in Stockholm and American personnel,” the statement said.

8 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

AFRICAN SCENE8 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Tribal chieftains aretouring the country torally support forPresident YahyaJammeh’s coronation.

“The president hasbrought development tothe country, and forthat he deserves to becrowned King of TheGambia,” said JunkungCamara, chief of thewestern region of FoniBrefet. “This is the onlyway the Gambian peo-ple can express ourgratitude to a leaderwho has done a lot forhis country.”

Like many rulers inthis part of Africa,Jammeh, 45, came topower in the wake of acoup. He was electedpresident two yearslater, and is currentlyserving his third elect-ed term in the tinycountry surrounded onthree sides by Senegal.

If he were crownedking, he could dispense

with the formality ofelections altogether.

For a ruler who likesto be called HisExcellency thePresident SheikProfessor Alhaji DoctorYahya Jammeh - identi-fying himself as a doc-tor, scholar, and elder,among other honorifics- “king” would suit himwell.

“It’s image construc-tion,” said AbdoulayeSaine, professor ofpolitical science atMiami University inOhio who specializes inGambian politics. “He’snot a scholar, he’s not adoctor, he’s not a pro-fessor. But he covetsthese titles.”

Saine says Jammeh’scoronation would givehim a new title butwould not change any-thing politically.

“Jammeh is alreadyking,” Saine said. “Hepractically owns the

country of Gambia. Hecontrols the press, theopposition, the clergy,and the coffers of thestate.”

While sub-SaharanAfrica has just oneremaining absolutemonarchy - in thesouthern Africannation of Swaziland -

other leaders have triedto similarly solidifytheir role. Idi Amin, thebrutal dictator whoruled Uganda duringthe 1970s, titled him-self His ExcellencyPresident for Life. AndCentral AfricanRepublic’s Jean-BedelBokassa crowned him-

self emperor in 1977.The call for

Jammeh’s coronation isthe latest in a series ofcontroversial eventsthat have marked hispresidency. In 2007, theruler claimed to havedeveloped a cure forAIDS and insisted thatpatients stop taking

their antiretroviralmedications so his curecould have an effect.

More recently,Jammeh’s administra-tion rounded up nearly1,000 people last yearin a witch hunt thatspanned the nation of 2million. Authoritiesforced the supposedwitches to drink a hal-lucinogen that causeddiarrhea and vomiting.The unidentified liquidled to serious kidneyproblems, and two peo-ple died after the forcedtreatment, according tointernational rightsgroup AmnestyInternational.

Sam Sarr, editor ofthe main oppositionnewspaper Foroyaa,says Jammeh’s move tobe crowned king willnever work.

“It’s unconstitution-al,” Sarr said.“According to the con-stitution, his position isan elected position.Sovereignty resides inthe people.”

Not that makingJammeh king wouldchange much.

“The presidency isalready like a monar-chy,” Sarr said. “As faras power is concerned,he has absolute power.”

His majesty? Gambia president may become kingBy ARTIS HENDERSON

DAKAR, Senegal - Gambia’s presidentonce claimed to have developed a cure forAIDS that involved an herbal body ruband bananas. His administration roundedup nearly 1,000 people last year in a witchhunt. And now he may soon have a newtitle in this tiny West African nation: Hismajesty.

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 23, 2006 file photo Gambian PresidentYahya Jammeh speaks during a press conference following his reelec-tion in Banjul, Gambia. Gambia's president once claimed to have devel-oped a cure for AIDS that involved an herbal body rub and bananas. Hisadministration rounded up nearly 1,000 people last year in a witch hunt.And now he may soon have a new title in this tiny West African nation:His majesty.Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

PARIS - Two of thehostages seized onMonday from an oil rigoff Nigeria are believedto be French, aspokesman forFrance’s foreign min-istry said.

“We have indicationsconcerning the abduc-tion off Lagos and thepossible presence oftwo French nationalsamong the peopleabducted,” said min-istry spokesmanBernard Valero. “Weare looking to confirmthese indications.”

The oil rig inNigeria’s volatile Deltaregion was attackedearly Monday and fivecrew members arebelieved to have beentaken hostage, the

company that overseesthe rig, Afren, said in astatement.

It did not state theirnationalities, but one

security source saidthey were twoAmericans, two Frenchand a Canadian.

By JASONSTRAZIUSO

NAIROBI, Kenya -Pirates near Somaliaattacked and took com-mand of a privateyacht that later firedon French naval forces.The yacht’s SouthAfrican skipperescaped captivity, butthe pirates took twocrew members hostageonto land, the EUNaval Force saidMonday.

The pirates overtookthe private yacht withthree people on board,the European Union’santi-piracy force said.A French warship, theFS Floreal, located theyacht on Saturday, butwhen a team

approached the yachtshots were fired.

The yacht ranaground on Sundaynear Somalia and theEU Naval Force saidthe South African cap-tain refused to leavethe yacht but that thepirates took the twoother crew hostage andwent ashore.

The South African isnow aboard an EUNaval Force warship. Anaval force helicoptersearched for the othertwo crew but could notlocate them, the EUNaval Force said.

A spokesman, Lt.Col. Per Klingvall, saidthe EU Naval Forcecould not immediatelyrelease the nationali-ties of the two othercrew because their rel-

atives have not yetbeen notified about thehijacking.

The incidentappears similar to thecase of Paul andRachel Chandler, aBritish couple takenhostage by Somalipirates while sailingtheir private boat offEast Africa in October2009. The Chandlersare still being held inSomalia.

Despite patrols byan international flotillaof warships, Somalipirates continue toattack and hijack shipsmoving through theGulf of Aden and theIndian Ocean off EastAfrica. Multimilliondollar ransoms paid torelease the ships andcrew fuel the attacks.

Two Nigeria oil rig hostages‘believed to be French’

South African escapespirates, but 2 crew captured

9DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

AFRICAN SCENEDAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010 9

The ethnic dividebetween supporters ofrival candidates CellouDalein Diallo and AlphaConde has overshad-owed what was sup-posed to be a historicballot for the Africannation of 10 million,which has never had achange of powerthrough an electionconsidered free andfair.

Election observerssaid voting was calmand that they hadrecorded only minorproblems, includinginsufficient ballots insome precincts, saidNational IndependentElectoral CommissionPresident SiakaToumani Sangare.

Many worry, howev-er, that the country’ssimmering ethnic ten-sions will be put to thetest in coming daysonce results areannounced and itbecomes clear that oneof the candidates haslost, forcing that com-munity to accept a pres-ident from an ethnicityother than their own.

“People say to them-selves that the countryis like a cake that isgoing to be divided.They think the onlyway to get a slice of thecake is if their ethnicgroup is in power,” saidpoll worker HamidouSoumah, who presidedover the vote in a tinystore room in theKaloum neighborhoodof Conakry where peo-ple were snaking outthe door.

Guinea - a country so

rich in minerals it isoften referred to as a‘geological scandal’ -has been ruled by mili-tary strongmen for thepast 26 years. They ranthe country into theground and it is nowranked as one of thepoorest in the worlddespite its enormousreserves of bauxite, theraw material used tomake aluminum, aswell as diamonds andgold.

The country’s fateappeared to havechanged last year whenthe military agreed tostep aside after the headof the junta was badlywounded in a shootout,forcing him to leave thecountry for emergencysurgery.

The initial round ofvoting in June nar-rowed the field of 24candidates to two,Diallo and Conde - forc-ing the country tochoose between a Peuland Malinke, the twolargest ethnic groups.

Both Malinke andPeul voters say theyfear that if their candi-date does not win, theircommunity will beexcluded from thespoils of power.

Every election sinceGuinea declared inde-pendence from Francein 1958 was rigged. Thefraud was so overt thatit was not uncommonfor precincts to reportmore votes in favor ofthe ruling party thanthere were registeredvoters. For the firsttime there is no incum-bent to sway the vote

and the army hasvowed to remain neu-tral, but Guineans haveinstead found them-selves divided.

“When the armyagreed to step down, wewere handed a gift on agolden platter ... Weneed to seize this oppor-tunity,” said RabiatouSerah Diallo, the presi-dent of the country’sNational TransitionCouncil, who was also alongtime opponent ofGuinea’s last dictator.“This is the first timesince independence thatwe are being given achance to be free.”

Clashes between Peuland Malinke supportersparalyzed Conakry forseveral days last month,and caused the vote tobe rescheduled. The vio-lence spread as far asSiguiri, a town 300miles (500 kilometers)north of here, where atleast 1,800 Peul fledtheir homes. Diallo toldreporters Sunday thathis party’s representa-tives in the Siguiri areawere too afraid to showup to monitor the vote,as required by electorallaw.

“Lately, we have verymuch seen a kind ofracial hatred - a hatredand a violence foundedon ethnicity. We cannotdeny it,” said 58-year-old Cellou Dalein Diallojust after he had fin-ished voting. “Membersof the Peul communityhave been chased out oftheir country. Theywere identified, beatenand stripped of theirproperty ... It’s the first

time in the history ofour country that we areseeing this type of vio-lence directed at onecommunity.”

In the capital, minordisturbances werereported at a handful ofpolling stations, includ-ing some where votingmaterials arrived late orwere incomplete. Themost serious incidentoccurred abroad in thepolling station inMadrid for expatriateGuineans living inSpain. Sangare, theelection chief, said vot-ers vandalized thepolling area, causingthe votes cast in thatprecinct to be canceled.

Bernard Kouchner,the foreign minister ofFrance, Guinea’s one-time colonial ruler, saidin a statement that thevote appeared to havetaken place “withoutmajor incident,” and hehailed “a historic suc-cess after 50 years of

dictatorship.”Many say they wish

they could vote for thecandidates based ontheir platforms andregret choosing alongethnic lines, but feelthey need to do so toprotect their communi-ty’s interests.

“You shouldn’t votefor a Peul because he’s aPeul or a Malinkebecause he’s a Malinke,”said tailor MamadouBah, a Peul who saidhe’s voting for the Peulcandidate, Diallo. “I’dlike to think I’m votingfor him because of hisideas, but I’m mostlyvoting for him becausethe Malinke in myneighborhood are con-stantly insulting us,”he said. “And we feelattacked.”

The No. 2 of the mili-tary junta, Gen.Sekouba Konate, whoagreed to allow thecountry to hold elec-tions after junta leader,

Capt. Moussa ‘Dadis’Camara, was forced intoexile, warned citizens ina televised speech thatviolence would not betolerated.

“We know that vio-lence is easy to sparkand difficult to put anend to. Better we don’tstart at all,” he told vot-ers on the eve of the bal-lot. “The time has cometo make a clean breakwith a past of violence,of disorder, of chaos, ofrivalry, of hatred.”

Guinea’s recent pasthas been especiallydark. In 2009, Camara’spresidential guardsealed the exits to thenational soccer stadiumwhere tens of thou-sands of protesters hadgathered to demand anend to army rule. Theythen opened fire intothe trapped crowd.Women that escapedwere hunted down andgang raped by soldierson the stadium turf.

Guinea vote goes ahead as ethnic tensions simmerBy RUKMINI CALLIMACHI

CONAKRY, Guinea - Guineans cast their ballot Sunday in avote that has been delayed multiple times following violent eth-nic clashes that pitted the nation’s two largest ethnic groupsagainst each other.

Guineans line up to cast their ballot at a polling station in Conakry,Guinea, Sunday Nov. 7, 2010. Guineans began casting their ballots in avote that has been delayed multiple times following violent ethnic clash-es pitting the nation's two largest ethnic groups against each other. Theethnic divide between the supporters of rival candidates Cellou DaleinDiallo and Alpha Conde has overshadowed what was supposed to be ahistoric vote for the African nation of 10 million on Sunday.

Photo/Jerome Delay

By JASONSTRAZIUSO

N A I R O B I ,Kenya - Piratesnear Somaliaattacked and tookcommand of a pri-vate yacht thatlater fired onFrench naval

forces. The yacht’sSouth Africanskipper escapedcaptivity, but thepirates took twocrew membershostage onto land,the EU Naval Forcesaid Monday.

The pirates overtookthe private yacht with

three people on board,the European Union’santi-piracy force said.A French warship, theFS Floreal, located theyacht on Saturday, butwhen a teamapproached the yachtshots were fired.

The yacht ranaground on Sundaynear Somalia and the

EU Naval Force saidthe South African cap-tain refused to leavethe yacht but that thepirates took the twoother crew hostage andwent ashore.

The South African isnow aboard an EUNaval Force warship. Anaval force helicoptersearched for the other

two crew but could notlocate them, the EUNaval Force said.

A spokesman, Lt.Col. Per Klingvall, saidthe EU Naval Forcecould not immediatelyrelease the nationali-ties of the two othercrew because their rel-atives have not yetbeen notified about the

hijacking.The incident appears

similar to the case ofPaul and RachelChandler, a Britishcouple taken hostageby Somali pirates whilesailing their privateboat off East Africa inOctober 2009. TheChandlers are stillbeing held in Somalia.

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10 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

CARIBBEAN NEWS10 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Former US vicepresident says

Trinidad can be greencentre of Caribbean

PORTOFSPAIN,Trinidad - FormerUS Vice PresidentAl Gore says thatTrinidad andTobago has anabundance of natu-ral resources thatwould allow it toengage in alterna-tive and renewableenergy develop-ment as part of thecountry’s diversifi-cation and econom-ic thrust, whileassisting to reduceadverse environ-mental effects.

The Guardian news-paper reported thatGore, a Nobel Laureateand one of the world’smost influential voiceson climate change,advised Trinidad andTobago that now is thetime to capitalise onthese resources as thecountry’s major rev-enue earner, gas andoil, would not last.

“You have unparal-leled resources of sun-light and good windresources and I knowyou also have cheapenergy,” he said.

He added that sinceTrinidad and Tobagowas geographicallylocated just a few kilo-meters from the world’sbest supplier of pure sil-ica, the country couldtake advantage of thisproximity by purchas-ing the silica to createsolar cells. Goreexplained that Trinidadand Tobago could gainthe potential competi-tive advantage in theproduction of solar pan-els due to its manufac-turing capabilities, lowcost energy environ-ment and its strategiclocation.

He said that thecountry had the poten-tial of becoming thegreen centre of the

Caribbean and in thenorthern part of SouthAmerica, if it had thewill to do so.

“If you choose... youcould create a centre form a n u f a c t u r i n gresearch and develop-ment for solar panelsthroughout theCaribbean and thenorthern part of SouthAmerica creating newjobs... if you chose to doso, you can become oneof the countries bestknown for wind power,”he said.

Gore was invited bythe Trinidad andTobago ManufacturersAssociation to speak onclimate change and hechose the theme“Thinking Green,Economic Strategy forthe 21st century”.

The lecture wasaimed at providingpractical guidance tothe business communi-ty, government and thepopulation as to howthey can make choicesto save the earth, whilestimulating sustainableeconomic growth bymeaningful engage-ment in the pursuit ofalternative energy.

Trinidad contractorsurged to take bonds

by cash-strappedgovernment

PORT OF SPAIN,Trinidad - Contractorsin Trinidad and Tobagohave been urged to takebonds instead of cashbecause the governmentdoes not have the fundsto pay at this time.

The call came fromWorks Minister JackWarner, while address-ing a ContractorsAssociation dinner inPort of Spain. His themewas “The role of the con-struction industry inthe development ofTrinidad and Tobago.”

Warner called on theconstruction industryto keep an open mindfor money owed to themby the state, andstressed that cash settle-ment was not an option.

CARIBBEAN BRIEFSONE FAMILY.

Whether West Indian, Africanor African American.

One God, One Aim, One Destiny. CASTRIES, StLucia — Trinidadand Tobago primeminister, KamlaPersad Bissessar,was praised by StLucia’s prime min-ister, StephensonKing, when sheand three otherministers visitedCastries on Friday,for her quickresponse to rally toSt Lucia’s assis-tance in the wake ofthe passage ofHurricane Tomas.

Persad Bissessar, herministers and technicaladvisors were taken ona tour to the areas thatwere seriously affectedby the hurricane.

King said that thecountry would needapproximately US$500million “to get up andrunning again”. Hesaid one of their imme-diate concerns was asupply of fresh water,but noted that theUnited States alreadyhas a contingent of

engineering specialisttroops on the islandworking around theclock to get water flow-ing again.

The TrinidadExpress reported thatthe Trinidadian primeminister said, “Weremain committed toassisting you and thepeople of St Lucia.There are no stringsattached to the humani-tarian aid that we bringand will continue tosend to you for recon-struction.”

She made it quiteclear, however, that hercountry could notafford as much as theTT$3 billion needed,but promised to assistas much as she could.

Persad Bissessar dis-tributed hampers toresidents in some of theareas. She disclosedthat two Trinidad andTobago Coast Guardvessels with relief sup-plies were scheduled toarrive in St Lucia overthe weekend and con-tainers with similarsupplies will be sent to

St Vincent and theGrenadines.

Trinidad and TobagoLocal GovernmentMinister, ChandradeshSharma, who visited StLucia with his primeminister, said, “As partof the CARICOM familywe are willing to lendsupport to St Lucia andwe have witnessedquite a large amount ofdestruction, includingdestruction of thebanana industry whichgenerates a lot ofincome to the country.”

Trinidad PM visits St Lucia andpledges assistance without strings

Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar

ST JOHN’S, Antigua— Antigua andBarbuda oppositionleader, Lester Bird, hasagain criticised thecountry’s governorgeneral for the delay inmaking public the find-ings of the tribunal setup to inquire into alle-gations against mem-bers of the ElectoralCommission.

In his weekly broad-cast on Sunday, Birdsaid, “It is outrageousthat, for three longweeks, the governorgeneral has been in pos-session of the reportand she continues torefuse to release it.”

This, he said, showsthe utter contempt thatshe has for the peopleof the country that, ona matter of urgent pub-lic interest, she deniesyou the right to knowwhat the Tribunal said.

“It also demonstratesthe scorn that theBaldwin Spencerregime and Spencerhimself has for you thepeople of Antigua andBarbuda,” he said.

Bird added that, inthe meantime, the gov-ernor general hasremoved the chairmanand two commissionersfrom the ElectoralCommission, althoughshe has no legal or anyother basis for doingso. Further, he said,she has appointed as amajority on theCommission, a BaldwinSpencer nominee andpolitical cohort aschairman, along withother known Spencersupporters.

The former primeminister added, “TheLabour Party will do allin our power

— peacefully and

legally — to stop theabuse of the Spencerregime. But theCaribbean and theinternational communi-ty must take cog-nizance of the mischiefthat is occurring hereand take appropriateaction.”

He has called on theCommonwealth and theOrganisation ofAmerican States (OAS)in particular to takenote of what he referredto as the mischief nowafoot by the Spencerregime to fix futuregeneral elections.

Bird added that allthe Commonwealth andthe OAS do is to sendobserver missions toAntigua and Barbudaon election day, longafter the fixing of elec-toral lists and othergerrymandering hastaken place, and all

they are doing is con-doning illegality andthe destruction ofdemocracy.

He emphasised, “Wecall on theCommonwealth, theOAS, and the EuropeanUnion to act now tohelp us maintain ourdemocracy; and end thedespotic practices of theSpencer regime.”

Antigua-Barbuda opposition leader again criticisesgovernor general for delaying tribunal report

Leader of theOpposition andformer prime

minister Lester Bird

11DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010 11

CARIBBEAN NEWS

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -At least 20 people died whenHurricane Tomas brushed pastHaiti, more than double thenumber initially reported,Haiti’s civil protection depart-ment said Monday.

Seven others remain missing anddozens were injured. More than30,000 people remain in shelters andTomas left nearly 6,000 familieshomeless. Others, already homelessfrom the Jan. 12 earthquake, losttheir tents.

The hurricane struck Haiti’ssouthern peninsula on Friday andtraveled up the coast, triggeringfloods and landslides. But itsstrongest winds and rain stayed far

to the west of the capital, sparingmost of the encampments where anestimated 1.3 million people havebeen living for nearly 10 months.

Officials are now turning theirattention back to a worseningcholera epidemic that has killed morethan 500 people and hospitalizedmore than 7,300. Flooding is expect-ed to spread the disease while dam-age to roads and buildings couldmake it harder for those sickened toget medical care.

Authorities were monitoring thecholera-laden Artibonite River onMonday after engineers let throughextra water to alleviate pressure on adam on Haiti’s central plateau. Initialreports from the area indicated thatflooding was minimal.

Officials: Hurricane killed at least 20 in Haiti

A woman carries a bucket of water on her head through the mud in a tentcity in Port-au-Prince.

Residents help to push a vehicle in a flooded street in Leogane, Hait onNovember 5. Haitians were mopping up the muddy wreckage left byTomas Saturday, after the killer storm swept through the impoverishednation as a hurricane, amid concern it could worsen a cholera epidemic.

Photo/MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi

An earthquake survivor walks in the rain early in the morning in a pro-visional camp in downtown Port-au-Prince.

By PAULHAVEN

HAVANA - A promi-nent Cuban dissidenthas pulled back from athreat to launch ahunger strike to pres-sure the government tofree the last 13 politicalprisoners jailed in a2003 crackdown, sayingMonday that he washeeding a call forrestraint from the menand their wives.

Guillermo Farinassaid he was postponingthe hunger strike, butstood ready to launchone if he is persuadedthat authorities will notrelease the prisoners. Hesaid he was writing a let-ter to Havana CardinalJaime Ortega - whonegotiated the releases

with Cuban PresidentRaul Castro - to see whathad gone wrong.

Farinas won Europe’sSakharov human rightsprize in October afterstaging a 134-dayhunger strike in supportof the prisoners. He had

vowed to stop eatingagain if the remainingdissidents were not intheir homes by Monday -one day after a deadlinefor their release.

Even as he withdrewthe threat, Farinas saidhe was pessimistic that

the government wouldmake good on its prom-ise to the church.

“This government hasdemonstrated that itcannot keep its word,”he told The AssociatedPress by phone from hishome in the central cityof Villa Clara.

In their July 7 meet-ing, Castro and Ortegaagreed on a timetable forthe liberation of 52 pris-oners of conscience heldsince a 2003 sweepagainst peacefulactivists, social commen-tators and oppositionleaders. The churchannounced that all ofthem would be out of jailwithin four months, aperiod that endedSunday.

At first, the releasescame quickly. The gov-ernment freed 39 of the

men - as well as 14 otherprisoners arrested sepa-rately for violent, butpolitically motivated,crimes. All were sentinto exile in Spain alongwith their families,though the agreementwith the church made nomention of exile being arequirement for release.

But progress hasstalled recently.

The remaining 13prisoners have refusedto leave the island, adirect challenge to thegovernment. Some saythey will continue topress for democraticpolitical change themoment they leave jail.

As the deadlineapproached, wives andmothers of the island’smost prominent politicalprisoners marchedthrough the streets of

the capital Sundaydemanding the govern-ment honor the deal orface protests and inter-national condemnation.

A prominent churchofficial expressed sur-prise at the lack ofprogress.

“It is not what wethought would happen,”the Rev. Jose FelixPerez, who coordinatesCuba’s Catholic BishopsConference, said Sundayas it became increasing-ly clear no releases wereimminent. He comment-ed after celebratingMass for the Damas deBlanco, or Ladies inWhite, a dissident groupmade up of the wivesand mothers of the 2003prisoners.

Cuban officials havedeclined to comment onthe deadline.

Cuban dissident backs off hunger strike threat

DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 201012

New AmericanThe

One Thought - One Humanity

12 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

FFoorr tthhee ccoonncclluussiioonnss ooff tthheessee ssttoorriieess cchheecckk oouutt tthhee NNoovveemmbbeerr 44tthh -- NNoovveemmbbeerr 1100tthh 22001100 iissssuuee ooff

TThhee NNeeww AAmmeerriiccaann,, wwhhiicchh hhiittss nneewwssssttaannddss eevveerryy TThhuurrssddaayyBeyonce Knowles,

the hardest workingwoman in showbiz hasjust released the firstofficial trailer, for herhotly anticipated “IAm…World Tour”DVD. The DVD willinclude performancesfrom the concert (main-ly the hit singlesreleased from hersmash LP “IAm…Sasha Fierce”) setto air on ABC thisThanksgiving (Novem-ber 25th).

Singer AnthonyDavid, who was firstbrought to the main-stream by soul divaIndia.Arie, will releasea brand-new 7 tracklive digital EP titledThe Setup on Novem-ber 23rd. David previ-ously recorded the EPlive in Atlanta. ‘TheSetup,’ will be a pre-requisite to David’snew studio album to bereleased via PurposeMusic/EntertainmentOne Music in February2011. Titled ‘As Above,So Below,’ the set willbe his 4th effort and isthe follow up to ‘AceyDuecy’ which wasreleased in the summerof 2008. Since therelease of ‘Acey Duecy,’David has been touringrelentlessly. David hasworked with closefriend India.Arie on ana w a r d - w i n n i n gsinging and songwrit-ing partnership,including “Part of MyLife,” the Grammy-nominated duet,“Words,” and The RedClay Chronicles.

Willow Smith made apromo stop on ‘TheEllen Degeneres Show’to talk about her newsingle, ‘Whip My Hair’.Willow was given aneck brace from Ellento prevent her fromdamaging herself dur-ing her debut televisionperformance.

Kid Cudi was filmedleaving a venue drunkout of his mind. Hisbodyguard had to pickhim up off the groundand basically drag him

to the vehicle. Holly-wood TV then added,“where he is inserted inthe back seat and thenneatly folded in half —no kidding!!”

Not guilty is the pleafrom T.I.’s wife, Tame-ka ‘Tiny’ Cottle, to amisdemeanor charge ofpossession of a con-trolled substance. Cot-tle, who was chargedby the Los Angeles Dis-trict Attorney on Fri-day, did not appear atthe Beverly Hills court-house on Monday butentered the pleathrough her attorney.The husband and wifewere arrested in Sep-tember in Los Angeleson a traffic stop whenauthorities allegedlysmelled marijuana.Police also found pillsin their car, which waslater determined to beecstasy.

Janelle Monae is oneof the coolest people inentertainment accord-ing to a “Cool List” pro-duced by music magNME. Here is what themag said about her:“She’s a mixture of con-tradictions that should-n’t work: an androgy-nous creative domina-trix who signed to Did-dy’s label yet retainedtotal control over heroutput.” Monae is defi-nitely a dope artists.

Morgan Freemanhas received an apolo-gy from a Republicanpolitician who used a“voice double” for theveteran actor to narratehis ad campaign. TheOscar-winner was saidto have voiced a TVpromo in support ofcongressional candi-date B.J. Lawson forthe country’s midtermelections. However,Freeman moved swiftlyto deny any involve-ment in the campaignand issued his ownstatement to contradictLawson’s.

Alicia Keys posted aletter on her blogsinging the praises ofher bundle of joy.

“Every moment isbeautiful; deliciouseven! Every momentI’m learning and livingin a way I never havebefore. Being presentin a way I never havebefore. Existing inmoments I never havebefore. Never have I feltso calm, so purposefulin taking the time totruly observe the worldaround me, to live in itfully and watch it, dis-cuss it, put time towardit. It feels really incred-ible - so peaceful, socomplete and longoverdue. I’m grown,I’m confident, I’msecure, and so blessedto be these things.”

Nelly is set to launchhis own internationalradio show in Novem-ber. The Grammy win-ner hit radio airwavesin his native St. Louis,Missouri in August,when he filled in forHot 104.1 host StaciStatic, while she was onmaternity leave, andhis stint on the showproved so popular hehas signed a deal withGlobal Radio’s Choicein London to host aweekly Saturday after-noon show beginningNovember 6th. Accord-ing to a statement, theHip-Hop star will playthe “biggest and besturban music” in addi-tion to a selection oftracks from his upcom-ing album, 5.0.

Nicki Minaj hasrevealed her growingdisinterest with her rapalias and explainedwhy, despite her aver-sion towards it, shewas kept the name asof late. According toNicki, she only keepsthe name “Minaj” tosatisfy her fans. Minaj,who is known by sever-al other aliases, saidshe got her name fromFendi, her first produc-er. “I was always calledNicki at home so I wasknown as Nicki Marajbut my first producerdid not like Maraj andthought Minaj soundedbetter.”

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“My approach tothe manifestationof Floetic Soul, hassimply been to getout of the way andgo beyond my com-fort zone, makingsure to challengeany limitationsthat I may haveplaced on myselfover time,” sharesNatalie “TheFloacist” Stewart.The strikinglybeautiful, slam-champion poet andsinger took the music world bystorm in 2002 when she graced theR&B scene with her brainchildFloetry. The Gold-selling duo’sunique elixir of sensual soul andpoetic justice garnered seven Gram-my nominations and created suchsmash hits as “Floetic,” ‘say Yes”and “Getting Late.” Floetry followedwith two more best selling albumsover the next few years. Floetic Soulis a continuation and further explo-ration of “The Floacist’s” geniusmusical mind. “Floetic Soul wasinspired by the understanding thatmy original Floetic concept of `poet-ic delivery with musical intent” hadnot come to an end, even though mygroup, Floetry, had completed itscycle. I was left with the realizationthat I still had music in my mind,my heart and my soul!”

A consummate artist, the always-inspired Floacist recorded FloeticSoul as if she was on a cosmic musi-cal mission. She recorded 16 songsover 12 days! The result is anincredibly rich album that shows offthe many sides of her mind-blowingartistry as a composer, singer, poet,lyricist, and producer. Her willing-ness and freedom to express herselfin various musical contexts isrefreshing. A testament to her talentis the caliber of artists she has sur-

rounded herself with on her newCD. Joining forces with the mesmer-izing wordsmith, is a stellar line upof guests including soul croonersMusiq Soulchild and RaheemDeVaughn, rapper MC Lyte, singerLalah Hathaway and producers JRHutson (Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild)and Chris “Big Dog” Davis (GeorgeClinton, Kim Burrell, Will Downing)and FREE SUM Music Company,The Floacist’s very own productionoutfit.

Blessed with the gift of communi-cation and ability to enrapture thecrowd in her spellbinding flow andmagnetic aura, “The Floacist” spinsstories of love, lessons learned, con-flict and resolution, anthems of per-sonal growth and affirmations ofpositivity into a tapestry of soulfulhymns, infectious hip hop groovesand seductive R&B hooks. FloeticSoul is a deeply personal project for“The Floacist” whose music is soul-ful, sensual, honest, passionate andintrospective. “Floetic Soul is areflection of the woman that I am,both musically and personally,” con-fides the 30-something renaissancewoman. “It is quite obvious thatthere have been some major changesthat have occurred since the lasttime that I last released any materi-al.”

The Floacist triumphs with highlyanticipated solo debut ‘Floetic Soul’

- Full Story In This Weeks New American Newspaper -

13DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

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.S. CensusrmsArrive:at to ExpectGTON— Let the count begin.n 120 million U.S. census formsg Monday in mailboxes around thethe government’s once-a-decadeount that will be used to divvy upl seats and more than $400 billion. Fast-growing states in the Southst could stand to lose the mostof lower-than-average mailrates in 2000 and higher shares ofd young adults, who are among themail in their forms.$2.5million Super Bowl adswork?

u receive your 2010 census, pleasemail it back,” said Census Bureauert Groves, who kicked off thein campaign Monday in Phoenix,which could gain up to two U.S.because of rapid immigrant growthcade.urging cities and states to promoteand improve upon rates in 2000,72 percent of U.S. householdsr forms. If everyone who receives amails it back, the governmentan estimated $1.5 billion in follow-

in an interview, Groves said real-ata showed public awareness of thead improved since January to levels00 at this point, which he called” Still, he remained particularlyout motivating young adults, whog other groups. Many twenty-ow on their own were living within 2000, so they haven’t had thef filling out census forms.erican public comes through in thee is capable of, we’ll have a greatves said.few weeks will be critical. Even asthe Census Bureau predicts thathirds of U.S. households will mailThat’s because it faces specialof growing U.S. apathy towardents displaced by a high number ofas well as immigrants who have

AT’S INSIDE

tsVOL. 23 NO. 49 March 20, 2010

FINAL

AFRO TIMES

nts? Our e-mail address is:wseditorataol.comllenge-Group.comribe, call (718) 636-9500 or) 857-9115allenge Newspaper Group Inc.

The Black Press of AmericaNational Newspaper Publishers Association

See US CENSUS page 2

BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEYWASHNGTON (NNPA) – Itwas a pivotal moment for theCongressional Black Caucus -and the Black community - lastThursday. The CBC was face toface with President Obama atthe White House to talk aboutwhat is currently the foremostproblematic socioeconomicissue among African Americans– joblessness.

But, when the meeting wasover and the 41-memberCaucus was back in theirCapitol Hill offices, hadAmerica’s first Black presidentreally listened? The jury is stillout according to the BlackCongressman who holds thehighest office on the Hill.“We’ll have to wait and see.I don’t know. I know that therewere some significantsuggestions,” said U. S. Rep.Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), whoholds the office of Housemajority whip. But, to makesure that the Caucus – in itssecond full meeting with theCBC got the message - Clyburnsays he will follow up in astrong way.

“I will be sending amemorandum to his seniorstaffers who were in themeeting to let them know whatI thought I heard and what Ithought some of the suggestionswere and hopefully lay a

foundation for us to evaluate ina few weeks or months whetheror not they’re listening.”The CBC has been clearabout what they want sincePresident Obama has been inoffice. Representing the

overwhelming majority of12 percent of America’s Blpopulation, CBC members hwritten letters, had phoconferences and commit

CBC Takes ‘Wait and See’ Posture

House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) (R) speaks as Rep. Congressional Black Cauc

Chairwoman Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) (L) listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill.

BYANDREWTAYLORWASHINGTON –Companies that hireunemployed workers will get atemporary payroll tax holidayunder a bill that easily won finalcongressional approvalWednesday.

The bipartisan 68-29 vote inthe Senate sends the legislationto the White House, wherePresident Barack Obama haspromised to sign it into law.It will be the first of severalelection-year jobs bills promisedby Democrats to be enacted intolaw, though there’s plenty ofskepticism that the measure willdo much to actually create jobs.Optimistic estimates predict thetax break could generate perhaps250,000 jobs through the end ofthe year, but that would be just atiny fraction of the 8.4 millionjobs lost since the start of therecession.

The measure is part of acampaign byDemocrats to showthat they are addressing thenation’s unemploymentproblem, but that message wasovershadowed by Congress’feverish final push to pass healthcare overhaul legislation by thisweekend.“It is the first of what I hopewill be a series of jobs packagesthat help to continue to putpeople back to work,” Obamasaid after the vote.The bill which passedWednesday contains about $18billion in tax breaks and a $20billion infusion of cash intohighway and transit programs.Among other things, it exemptsbusinesses that hire theunemployed from paying the 6.2percent Social Security payrolltax through December and givesemployers an additional $1,000credit if new workers stay on thejob a full year. Taxpayers will

have to reimburse SocialSecurity for the lost revenue.“This is just the first,certainly not the last, piece oflegislation that we will putforward in relation to jobs,” saidsponsor Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “If we don’t create jobs, theeconomy will not moveforward.”It also extends highway andmass transit programs throughthe end of the year and pump in$20 billion in time for the springconstruction season. Thatmoney would make up forlower-than-expected gasolinetax revenues.

The measure is modestcompared with last year’s $862billion economic stimulus bill,and the bulk of the hiring taxbreaks would probably go tocompanies that were likely tohire new workers anyway.“Most businesses that aregoing to be able to take the

credit were probably goinghire the worker anyway,” sBill Rys of the NationFederation of IndependeBusiness, which lobbiessmall business. “Until businepicks up for small businowners, there’s not going to bhuge incentive to add nworkers.”Much of the bill is financover the coming decadecracking down on offshorehavens, though it would add $billion to the debt in the comithree years.

“When are we going to stspending money around hereif there’s no tomorrow?” sSen. Judd Gregg, R-N“Because pretty soon thergoing to be no tomorrow for ochildren as we add this debttheir backs.”In addition to the hiring t

Jobs Bill Bound For Obama’s DeskSee CBC ‘WAIT’ page 3

See JOBS BILL page 3

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14 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

healTh Forum

By FREDERIKJOELVING

Whoever invented the lap-top probably didn’t worry toomuch about male reproduc-tive health.

Turns out, unsurprising-ly, that sitting with a com-puter on your lap will crankup the temperature of yournether regions, which couldaffect sperm quality.

And there is little you cando about it, according to theauthors of a study out todayin the journal Fertility andSterility, short of puttingyour laptop on a desk.

The researchers hookedthermometers to the scro-tums of 29 young men whowere balancing a laptop ontheir knees. They found thateven with a lap pad under thecomputer, the men’s scro-tums overheated quickly.

“Millions and millions ofmen are using laptops now,especially those in the repro-ductive age range,” said Dr.Yefim Sheynkin, a urologist

at the State University ofNew York at Stony Brook,who led the new study.

“Within 10 or 15 minutestheir scrotal temperature isalready above what we con-sider safe, but they don’t feelit,” he added.

So far, no studies haveactually tested how laptopsimpact men’s fertility, saidSheynkin, and there is nobulletproof evidence that itwould. But earlier researchhas shown that warming thescrotum more than onedegree Celsius (1.8 degreesFahrenheit) is enough todamage sperm.

Under normal circum-stances, the testicles’ positionoutside of the body makessure they stay a few degreescooler than the inside of thebody, which is necessary forsperm production.

“I wouldn’t say that ifsomeone starts to use laptopsthey will become infertile,”Sheynkin told ReutersHealth. But frequent usemight contribute to repro-ductive problems, he said,

because “the scrotum doesn’thave time to cool down.”

According to the Ameri-can Urological Association,nearly one in six couples inthe US have trouble conceiv-ing a baby, and about half thetime the man is at the root ofthe problem.

Both general health andlifestyle factors such asnutrition and drug use caninfluence reproductivehealth.

However, Sheynkin saidtight jeans and briefs aregenerally not considered arisk factor.

“Clothes should not signif-icantly change scrotal tem-perature, because you aremoving around,” he said.

To hold a laptop on yourknees, however, you need tosit still with your legs closed.After one hour in this posi-tion, the researchers foundthat men’s testicle tempera-ture had risen by up to 2.5 C.

A lap pad kept the com-puter cool and also madesure less heat was transmit-ted to the skin. But it didn’t

do much to cool the testicles,and might give “a false senseof security,” according toSheynkin.

“It doesn’t matter whatpad you use,” he said. “Youcan put a pillow beneath yourcomputer and it still won’tprotect you.”

As it turned out, leg posi-tion played a far bigger role.When the men sat with theirlegs spread wide — madepossible only by placing thecomputer on a large lap pad— they could keep their testi-cles cooler. But it still tookless than 30 minutes beforethey began overheating.

“No matter what you do,even with the legs spreadwide apart, the temperatureis still going to be higherthan what we call safe,” saidSheynkin.

Belkin International, Inc.,which sells lap pads andother electronics accessories,did not wish to comment onthe new findings.

Dr. James F. Smith, a urol-ogist at the University of Cal-ifornia, San Francisco, cau-

tioned that a clear impact oflaptop use on fertility hadstill not been shown, and thatit probably didn’t play a bigrole.

Still, he added in an e-mailto Reuters Health, heatingup the scrotum is likely to bebad for sperm production. Heoften asks patients that hesees for infertility if they usea laptop and, if so, suggeststhat they spread their legsperiodically or place the com-puter on a desk.

Dr. Smith said the conse-quences of continued over-heating of the testicles — so-called scrotal hyperthermia— probably weren’t perma-nent, but might take monthsto go away.

“When interested in maxi-mizing fertility potential,” headvised, “minimize harmfulexposures, eat a healthy dietand exercise regularly.”

Is your laptop cooking your testicles?

By ALISONMCCOOK

Exercise appears to havelittle long-term impact ondepression, according to anew review of large studiesinvestigating the relationship.

As long as people withdepression were taking partin an exercise program, itappeared to have a small effecton their symptoms - butmonths after the interventionended, they were just asdepressed as people who didnot participate in the exerciseprogram.

Study author Dr. JesperKrogh at Bispebjerg Universi-ty Hospital in Denmark toldReuters Health he was sur-prised to see exercise had nolong-term impact on depres-sion. “I expected that patientsthat had benefited from theintervention would stay well,”he said.

Overall, “the effect ondepression is at best small, ifany,” he noted.

However, this does notmean that exercise is not at allhelpful to people who aredepressed. People with depres-sion are also at a higher riskof dying from heart diseaseand diabetes, and for theseconditions, there is “solid doc-umentation” that supports thebenefits of exercise. “There-

fore, exercise is important inthis population,” Krogh said.

An estimated 17 percent ofpeople living in Western coun-tries develop depression atsome point in their lives.

Previous research has sug-gested that exercise couldhave an impact on depression,at least in the short term. In a2007 study of 202 depressedadults, investigators foundthat those who went throughgroup-based exercise therapydid as well as those treatedwith an antidepressant drug.

That same year, another smallstudy found that regularexercise improved depressionsymptoms in people who’vefailed to get better with anti-depressant medication.

The current study, in con-trast, looked at data collectedfrom only large studies, someof which measured exercise’slong-term impact by followingpatients for months after theintervention concluded.

The analysis, published inthe Journal of Clinical Psychi-atry, is based on 13 studies

including nearly 700 patients,half of whom were randomlyassigned an exercise interven-tion to help with their depres-sion.

On average, peopleappeared to have improvedslightly by the end of the exer-cise intervention, relative topeople who did not exercise.

However, according to the5 studies that followedpatients for between 6 and 26months, the benefits of physi-cal activity did not appear tolast once the program ended.

“If exercise was a pill, I do notthink the FDA (Food andDrug Administration) wouldapprove it as an antidepres-sant,” he said.

Perhaps, Krogh suggestedin an e-mail, exercise itselfhas indirect effects on depres-sion that only last while peo-ple are doing it. “Maybe theeffect of the intervention is notrelated to the physical exer-cise but to an element of struc-ture in the daily lives ofdepressed patients,” Kroghnoted. Some of the benefits, henoted, may include “meetingat regular intervals with otherpatients and staff that knowthe hassles of living withdepression.”

Exercise unlikely to lift depression long-term

Falls are a leading cause ofinjury in the United States,but some simple precautionscan help prevent them,experts say.

“It’s important to lookaround your everyday envi-ronment and minimize therisk . . . not only for yourself,but for others as well. Thereis a reason that unintention-al falls are common injurieswith our patients. They canhappen at any time, anyplace and happen to anyone,”Dr. Sandra Schneider, presi-dent of the American Collegeof Emergency Physicianssaid in an ACEP newsrelease.

Accidental falls are the

leading injury-related reasonwhy Americans seek emer-gency medical care, withnearly 9 million visits a year,according to the U.S. Centersfor Disease Control and Pre-vention.

Falls are the leading cause(33 percent) of accidentalhome injury deaths andaccount for more than 40percent of nonfatal injuries,the Home Safety Council hasreported. The two highestrisk age groups are childrenunder 5 years and adultsolder than 70.

“A fall can be a sentinelevent in the life of an olderperson, potentially markingthe beginning of a serious

decline in function or thesymptom of a new or wors-ening medical condition,”Schneider said. “Identifyingthe cause of the fall and mak-ing appropriate interven-tions to improve function areas critical as treating injuriesif future falls are to be pre-vented and quality of life andlongevity are to beimproved.”

Here are some ACEP tipsfor preventing falls in thehome:

Get rid of clutter in yourhome and make sure thatstairs and walkways are keptclear of objects.

Keep tops and bottoms ofstairs well lit, and leave

nightlights on in the bed-room, hall and bathroom.

Repair or replace anyloose stairway carpeting orboards.

Add handgrip bars inbathrooms and shower areas.This is especially importantfor the elderly or those withdisabilities. The bottoms oftubs and showers shouldhave a non-slip surface.

In homes with elderly peo-ple, remove throw rugs andtack down larger rugs.

In homes with young chil-dren, use locking gates nearstairs and install windowguards with quick releasemechanisms that are easilyopened in case of a fire.

Many falls, and resulting ER visits, can be prevented

15DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

NEW JERSEYDAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010 15

By BOB BRAUN

TRENTON - FromWashington to Trentonto Newark, politicalleaders from both par-ties - includingPresident BarackObama and Gov. ChrisChristie - are promot-ing charter schools asan answer to perceivedpublic school failure.And the privately runbut publicly fundedschools receive supportfrom some of thewealthiest and mostfamous people on theplanet.

But a few activistsbased in Princeton -some charter schoolparents - and a Rutgersresearcher want theirvoices heard above thecheerleading. Theywarn charters are notpanaceas.

“We are not againstcharter schools,” saysJulia Sass Rubin ofPrinceton, whosedaughter attends one.She is part of an organ-ization called Save OurSchools-New Jersey(SOS-NJ). “But we haveserious concerns aboutcost and accountabili-ty.”

Bruce Baker, a facul-ty member at Rutgers’Graduate School of

Education, issuesresearch reports on therelative success of char-ters and traditionalschools. He also writesa blog, “School Finance101,” where he postshis research.

“What we’re findingis that, to the extentcharter schools do bet-ter than traditionalschools, it is oftenattributable to ‘cream-ing’ or ‘skimming,’excluding special edu-cation students, poorstudents on free-lunchprograms, or limitedEnglish-speaking chil-dren,’’ he says.

Like Rubin, Bakersupports charters, butsays they should bemore closely regulated.He released researchshowing charters inNew Jersey take fewerspecial education stu-dents - sometimes, noneat all. When the testscores of regular stu-dents at both schoolsare compared, tradi-tional schools often dobetter than the charter.

“When valid compar-isons are made, claimsof the charters can’t beverified,” he says.

Baker also releaseddata showing that, onstatewide tests, charterstudents do about as

well as students fromthe poorest districts inthe state and far worsethan students in subur-ban districts.

That isn’t becausecharter schools areonly located in cities.Rubin’s group says anincreasing number ofcharters are located insuburbs, includingPrinceton. She sayscharters often take topstudents while leavingpoorer students - whoare more expensive toeducate - behind.

“By siphoning offlimited resources, char-ter schools not onlyreduce the resourcesavailable to the stu-dents attending tradi-tional schools, they alsothreaten the districts’ability to serve specialneeds and at-risk stu-dents,’’ her group con-tended in legislativetestimony.

Lawmakers are nowconsidering expandingcharters. The problem,suburban parents say,is school boards haveno say in establishing acharter in their dis-tricts. But, once aschool is approved, theymust pay most of thecosts of students leav-ing public schools forthe charters.

“But the fixed costsof the district remainthe same, even thoughwe lose the money thatnow goes to the char-ters,’’ says AudreyChen, another memberof SOS-NJ.

And, while voters inPrinceton can deter-mine the fate of fund-ing of traditionalschools, they cannotstop the funding - withproperty taxes - ofcharter schools.

SOS-NJ opposes abill, sponsored by stateSen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), to allow agen-cies other than the stateto authorize charterschools. It argues suchagencies - including,possibly, those allow-ing profit-makingschools subsidized bythe public - would notbe accountable.

Ironically, oneagency seeking to opencharter schools isBaker’s GraduateSchool of Educationthrough its CharterSchool ResourceCenter. While SOS-NJuses Baker’s statisticsto bolster its argument,it does not wantRutgers to open newpublicly funded charterschools.

“Neither Rutgers nor

the Center is directlyaccountable to the vot-ers,” says SOS-NJ.

Baker says he is notopposed to Rutgersrunning charters. “Butit is a big responsibility- we’d have to demandaccountability and pullthe charters if they’renot succeeding.’’

Christie on increas-ing the number of char-ter schools and his deci-sion to send his kids toparochial school

Bruno Tedeschi, aspokesman for the NewJersey Charter SchoolAssociation, respondedto requests for com-ment by questioningthe reliability of Baker’swork. He said he “seri-ously questions thecredibility” of “biaseddata” provided byBaker. He chargedBaker is “closelyaligned with teachersunions, which havebeen vocal opponents ofcharter schools andhave a vested financialinterest in their ulti-mate failure.”

He linked Baker tothe Think Tank Review

Panel operated out ofthe University ofColorado’s NationalEducational PolicyCenter. Tedeschi saysthe panel is“bankrolled” by teacherunions. Baker is, infact, a fellow at the cen-ter, which receivesfunding from a varietyof sources, includingthe Ford Foundationand the NationalEducation Association.The panel, whichincludes professorsfrom throughout thecountry - includingHarvard, Yale,Stanford, Columbia andBerkeley - writesreviews of reports pub-lished by political thinktanks.

“How did they missseeing Bill Ayers’ nameright above mine?’’ saysBaker, a reference tothe 1960s radical, aprofessor at theUniversity of Illinois,who also was on thepanel. Opponents ofBarack Obama tried tolink Ayers to Obamaduring the 2008 presi-dential campaign.

LEGAL NOTICE

N.J. activists, parents warn against promotingcharter schools as fix for education system

NOTICE TO BIDDERSSealed proposalswill be received,and opened by the Director ofPurchasing at One JournalSquare Plaza, 2nd floor , JerseyCity, New Jersey 07306. ON:THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9,2010 AT: 11:00 A.M. MUNICI-PAL SERVICES CENTER-PHASE 1-SITE PREPARA-TION, JERSEY CITY, NEWJERSEY PROJECT NO. 2009-029A Architecture. ContractDocuments including Plans,Specifications, and Bid Formsmay be obtained at the Office ofthe Director of Purchasing, OneJournal Square Plaza, 2nd floor ,Jersey City, N.J. 07306, uponpayment of $150.00 non-refund-able fee for each set. Bids maybe submitted in person, ormay besent by U.S. certified mail returnreceipt requested, or may be sentby private courier service. Mailbids to: Peter Folgado, ActingDirector, City of Jersey CityDivision of Purchasing OneJournal Square Plaza, 2nd floor,Jersey City, New Jersey 07306.Bids sent by mail must bereceived by the Director ofPurchasing no later than 4:00P.M. of the last City business daybefore the day of the bid recep-tion. Bids sent by courier servicemust be delivered to the Directorlater than 11:00 A.M. on the dayof thebid reception. TheCity shall

not be responsible for the loss,non delivery or physical conditionof bids sent by mail or courierservice. Bids must be submittedindividually in a sealed envelopeaddressed to the Director. BidProposal must comply with speci-fications. Bidders are required tocomply with the provisions ofN.J.S.A. 10:5-31 et. seq. andN.J.A.C. 17:27 et. seq. (EqualE m p l o y m e n tOpportunity/Affirmative ActionProgram). Bidders are alsorequired to comply with the provi-sions of P.L. 2004, c.57 (N.J.S.A.52:32-44) which includes therequirement that contractors pro-vide copies of their BusinessRegistrationCertificates issued bythe New Jersey Department ofthe Treasury. These provisionsare incorporated herein byReference. Full Requirements ofthe Program may be obtainedwith Proposal Forms. BidProposals MUST BE ACCOM-PANIED by a Bid Bond orCertified Check, in the amountequal to Ten (10%) Percent of thebid, but not in excess of$20,000.00 made payable to theCity of Jersey City. The ActingDirector of Purchasing reservesthe right to reject any all bidsreceived, or portions thereof, ifdeemed to be in the interest of theCity to do so. Peter FolgadoDirector of Purchasing

By PEGGYACKERMANN

TRENTON - An afford-able housing bill before theLegislature does not actu-ally require towns to pro-vide housing opportunitiesfor low-income residents,but it does credit munici-palities if they rezone formore expensive homes,according to a reportscheduled for releaseMonday.

“It’s not an exaggeration atall to say this bill may not resultin any low- or moderate-incomehousing,” said Kevin Walsh,associate director of the non-

profit Fair Share HousingCenter, which produced thereport. “This legislation isworking at cross purposes withdozens of other state policies.”

An Assembly committeeplans to consider the bill(A3447) and amendmentsMonday. Part of the legislationsays towns that fall short ontheir affordable-housing obliga-tion can rezone 20 percent oftheir developable land to allowfor housing for people who earnup to 150 percent of theirregion’s median income. Bycomparison, “affordable hous-ing” covers incomes from zeroto 80 percent of median income.

According to the report, acopy of which was obtained byThe Star-Ledger, 150 percent of

median income for a family offour in Essex County is$131,721, an amount thattranslates into a house thatcould sell for $529,900.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak,who sponsored the Senate ver-sion of the bill, said the legisla-tion focuses on zoning for allhousing. He also said it elimi-nates the Council on AffordableHousing, which told towns howmuch low- and moderate-income housing they had to pro-vide.

Lesniak (D-Union) said themarket determines where hous-ing is built, and affordable unitswould be constructed alongwith other homes.

“There’s no building require-ment in this bill,” Lesniak said.

N.J. Assembly committee to consider affordablehousing bill that focuses on rezoning

16 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

enTerTainmenT

By TODDMCCARTHY

LOS ANGELES — Direc-tor Tony Scott may havemissed his mark by a bit onhis last cinematic train ridewith “The Taking of PelhamOne Two Three,” but he hitshis target dead-on in“Unstoppable,” which Foxopens on Friday.

The best blue collar actionmovie in who knows howlong, this tense, narrowlyfocused thriller about a run-away freight train has a leanand pure simplicity to it thatis satisfying in and of itself.

But in its incidental por-trait of discontented and dis-counted working stiffs wholive marginal lives on soci-ety’s sidings and are angryto varying degrees, the filmcarries an unexpectedweight and could connectwith Middle American audi-ences in a big way.

Arriving so soon after theNovember 2 elections,“Unstoppable” would seem touncannily embody the moodreflected in the results; lifeseems fractured and out ofjoint, there’s a testiness inthe way people relate to oneanother, friction betweenclasses is worse than beforeand the future looks bleak.And yet one senses aninnate, underlying opti-

mism; perhaps the nation isdown, but it should never becounted out, with the filmsuggesting that the commonpeople can deliver the goodsas they always have.

None of this was likelyintended as the raison d’etreof Mark Bomback’s screen-play, but it massivelystrengthens the film Scotthas made for anyone whocares to notice. First and

foremost, however, it’s acrackling rip-snorter inwhich the moans, groans,sparking metal and sheerforce of the train produce anintense visceral reaction fornearly the full 99-minuterunning time.

Inspired by a real storyfrom 2001 of a 47-car traincarrying toxic molten phenolacid that left the yard with-out an engineer on board and

charged through Ohio formore than two hours beforeit was boarded and broughtunder control, the script fea-tures working class charac-ters who are uniformlypissed off and carry their badattitudes to work.

On this given day in cen-tral Pennsylvania, Will(Chris Pine), a young manwhose wife has obtained arestraining order against

him, is assigned as conduc-tor on a freight run with vet-eran engineer Frank (DenzelWashington), whose college-age daughters work at Hoot-ers but who otherwise keepshis problems to himself.Will’s youth and family polit-ical connections do nothingto endear him to Frank’s cir-cle of grizzled veterans at thetrain yard, where moraleseems very low indeed.

In fact, it is incompetenceand a cavalier “whatever”attitude that triggers the cri-sis when a slovenly, over-weight engineer (EthanSuplee) hops off his cab toreset a switch and then can’tcatch up as his train (onwhich the air brakes alsohappen to be disconnected)rolls out of the yard. There’sa bit of cheap suspense as the“coaster,” as the runaway isinitially called, is on a colli-sion course with a trainloadof school children but, oncethat’s averted, the suspenseand excitement build with-out distraction or pause.

Under full power, thehard-charging train becomes“a missile,” in the words oftrain traffic manager Connie(Rosario Dawson), who triesto keep track of where thetrain is and how catastrophecan be avoided in the shortterm. Her boss Galvin (Kevin

The jet-setting is over forNBC’s spy drama “Undercov-ers” and its star Boris Kod-joe.

NBC announced that itwill not pick up additionalepisodes from the freshmanseries beyond the original13-episode order, accordingto Deadline.com. The Warn-er Bros TV-produced show iscurrently filming Episode12.

The news follows Wednes-day night’s episode hittinganother series low when itslipped to a 1.3 rating in the18-49 demo.

The slickly produced lightdrama, whose pilot wasdirected by creator J.J.Abrams, broke primetimeground by featuring twoBlack actors as the leads.But it got off to a disappoint-ing start in the Wednesday 8p.m. slot and never foundtraction with viewers.

The series will stay on forthe next two weeks and willair its last original (for now)

on December 1, reportsDeadline. It was already setfor preemption on Nov. 24when NBC is airing aDreamWorks Animationholiday special. The fate ofthe remaining original“Undercovers” episodes isunclear.

This is the second newNBC series to get cancelled,along with legal drama“Outlaw.” The rest of NBC’sfreshman class all receivedback-nine orders two weeksago. At the time, “Undercov-ers” got a pickup for fouradditional scripts.

NBC cancels struggling drama ‘Undercovers’

Actor Andre Braugher isto star in the New York pre-miere of Mathew Lopez’sstage drama “The WhippingMan,” the Manhattan The-atre Club announced.

Braugher is one of theleads in TV’s “Men of a Cer-tain Age.” He also starred inthe drama series “Homicide:Life on the Streets” and inthe miniseries “Thief.”

On stage, Braugherreceived an Obie Award forhis performance in the 1996Shakespeare in the Parkproduction of “Henry V.”Other New York stage cred-its include “Hamlet,” “TheTragedy of Richard II,”“Measure for Measure” and“Twelfth Night.”

He is to play a formerslave named Simon in “TheWhipping Man,” which is setjust after the U.S. Civil War.Preview performances of the

play are to begin Jan. 13.The show’s official openingis scheduled for Feb. 1.

The Manhattan TheatreClub described the historicaldrama as “a tale of loyalty,deceit and deliverance, and afascinating portrayal ofthree men, and this coun-try.”

Andre Braugher headedback to N.Y. stage

‘Unstoppable’ on track for box office success

Continued on page 17

Everyday working man Denzel Washington becomes an extraordinary hero when heattempts to avert a disaster.

DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010 17

enTerTainmenT

Faith Evans is about to gether acting on! She has beenselected to play the lead rolein the upcoming biopic enti-tled “Blondie” – the story ofFlorence Ballard – the origi-nal lead singer and so-calledforgotten member of theSupremes.

The film, based on thebook “The Lost Supreme” byPeter Benjaminson, is set tobe directed by Bille Woodrufffrom a script written byKaren Spencer and RoyFegan, who will also serve asco-producers with GlennS.O.N Faide, according toBV’s Wilson Morales.

“Not only is this about re-birthing Florence Ballard’slegacy and giving her theaccolades that she hasdeserved for 34 years, it alsooffers her children an oppor-tunity to know their motherbetter and celebrate her life,”says Karen Spencer,“Blondie” screenplay writer.

A Detroit native, FlorenceBallard paved the way forfemale entertainers but shehas yet to be accurately por-trayed. The biopic will revealshocking details of Flo-rence’s life from hermoments of joy and successto her devastating betrayal

and the actual cause of herpremature death at theyoung age of 32. Her nick-name (Blondie) referencesthe hair color she inheritedfrom an Irish ancestor, saysher bio.

Ballard’s three daughtersrequested that Faith Evansportray their mother. Thesinger has spent time withthe family and studying Bal-lard’s music.

“Blondie” will premiere inthe Summer of 2011 yearand will be accompanied by asoundtrack with stars likeLauryn Hill, Kelly Price, andof course Faith Evans.

Faith Evans to become Florence Ballard of the Supremes

Dunn) must ultimatelydecide on whether or not toderail the train, but it’s head-ed to more populated areaswhere the explosion of toxiccargo could prove devastat-ing. Before long the incidentis picked up by TV news(Fox, of course) and policechoppers fly overhead.

On their run in the vicini-ty, Frank and Will becomeinvolved in the pursuit andvarious schemes are tried:Putting engines in front ofthe runaway to graduallyslow it down, then pullingan engine up from behind toconnect so as to drag thelong train to slower speeds.But the most breathtakingsequence involves attempt-ing to lower a Marine from ahelicopter by cable downonto the runaway while bothare doing 75 mph. Just whenyou think things might beokay, they’re not, and thetrain — and the film — keepcharging ahead to the out-standing finale.

Scott doesn’t show anymoves that he hasn’t usedbefore; the desaturatedimages, jumpy camerawork,abrupt cuts, spare and jokeydialogue exchanges andrelentless forward move-ment are all things he’s donefor years. But here every-thing is stripped down to itsessence and placed in theservice of creating a piecethat’s virtually wall-to-wallaction with no distraction.

Adding to the film’s effec-tiveness is the essential cred-ibility of both the mechanicsand the setting. No matterhow many or how few visualeffects were used, what’sonscreen all looks absolutelyreal, giving the appearance

of actual trains running onactual tracks and causingactual mayhem on assortedgritty locations throughoutPennsylvania and Ohio thatprovide a vivid, extensivelook at America’s Rust Belt.In the staging, shooting andediting, this is a superblyorchestrated movie.

Even though they areonly sketched in with thequickest of brush strokes,the sadness and limitationsof the characters’ lives aremade indelibly clear. Under-lying everything is an angerand frustration born ofneglect and a sense of theworld passing these peopleby. For those disposed tolooking for metaphors andhidden sociological contentin overtly commercial cine-ma, Unstoppable provides aterm paper’s worth of con-tent; the characters heredon’t know how to articulateit, but there’s a rage thatseems prone to one dayexpress itself by throwingover the oppressive, ill-runapparatus that governs somuch of their lives (manage-ment, government, judges,you name it). You can take itor leave it, but this stuff ishere.

Only somewhat more cen-tral to the action than theother actors, Washingtonand Pine spar with enjoyableattitude and humor, andcharacter actors like Suplee,Galvin, David Warshofsky(as Frank’s seasoned col-league) and Lew Temple,wonderful as a hopped-uprail employee bent on savingthe day, bring plentiful colorto this brawny, bruising ridethat lives up to its title byaccelerating from the verybeginning and not letting upuntil the very end.

For box office successContinued from page 16DETROIT — Aretha

Franklin’s annual free holi-day gospel concert in Detroitwill be held even though shehas canceled performancesfor six months, friends say.

Franklin is also expectedto be present at the concertand Thanksgiving dinner,the Detroit Free Press report-ed. She has been hosting theconcerts for seven years,although she does not alwaysperform herself.

This year’s concert is to beat New Bethel BaptistChurch, where her father,C.L. Franklin, was pastor.

The lineup at “Aretha’sThanksgiving Gospel Fest”includes Dorinda Clark-Cole

of the Clark Sisters, EstherSmith, Paul Porter of theChristianaires, Spencer Tay-lor and the Highway QCs,Slim and the MorningEchoes, and the Mighty Voic-es of Wonder.

Franklin has canceled anumber of events recently.This week, her staffannounced that she had beenreleased from Sinai-GraceHospital and had beenordered to take it easy for sixmonths. The nature of her ill-ness was not released.

“She is up and about anddoing real good but not wellenough to perform rightnow,” an old friend, FannieTyler of Detroit, said.

Aretha Franklin to hold holiday concert

LOS ANGELES — Record-ing star Rihanna has beenbooked to open the 2010American Music Awardsshow in Los Angeles.

The announcement wasmade by Orly Adelson, presi-dent of dick clark produc-tions.

This will mark Rihanna’sfourth time performing onthe AMAs. She joins a lineupof previously announced actsincluding Diddy-DirtyMoney, Ne-Yo, Bon Jovi,P!nk, Christina Aguilera,Justin Bieber, Katy Perry,

Ke$ha and Usher.Rihanna is nominated for

an AMA in the Soul/Rhythm& Blues category for FavoriteFemale Artist.

The prize presentation is tobe broadcast live from theNOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVENov. 21 on ABC.

“We could not be moreexcited to officially announceone of pop music’s biggeststars to open the celebrationat the AMAs. Be sure to tunein so you don’t miss this sure-ly memorable moment,” AMAproducer Larry Klein said.

Rihanna set to kick off AMAs broadcast

Music producer, rapperand newlywed Swizz Beatzhas been named the firstproducer-in-residence atNYU’s Clive Davis Depart-ment of Recorded Music atthe Tisch School of the Arts.

New York University saidthe appointment for the cur-

rent academic year is imme-diate, reports the AssociatedPress. Beatz will offer stu-dents one-on-one sessions,group lectures, songwritingcritiques and mentoring.

Born Kasseem Dean andmarried to Alicia Keys, theSouth Bronx native has cre-

ated hit songs for suchartists as Beyonce, LilWayne, Metallica and Jay-Z.

The Clive Davis Depart-ment of Recorded Music pro-vides professional businessand artistic training towarda Bachelor of Fine Artsdegree.

Swizz Beatz named first producer-in-residence at NYU

LONDON — Leadingeconomies should con-sider adopting a modi-fied global gold stan-dard to guide currencyrates, World Bank pres-ident Robert Zoellicksaid in a surprise pro-posal before a potential-ly acrimonious G20summit.

Writing in the Finan-cial Times, Zoellickcalled for a “BrettonWoods II” system of

floating currencies as asuccessor to the BrettonWoods fixed-exchangerate regime that brokedown in the early1970s.

The former U.S. traderepresentative, whoserved in several Repub-lican administrations,said such a move “islikely to need to involvethe dollar, the euro, theyen, the pound and (ayuan) that movestoward internationaliza-tion and then an opencapital account.

“The system shouldalso consider employinggold as an internationalreference point of mar-ket expectations aboutinflation, deflation andfuture currency values,”he added.

Analysts were cau-tious. “Going forwardthat would be some-thing that we could looktoward, but it’s notgoing to happen within

a short period of time,”said Ong Yi Ling, ana-lyst at Phillip Futures inSingapore, adding thatgold prices barely react-ed to the comments.

Gold briefly hit arecord high of$1,398.35 an ounce inearly trade on Mondayon concerns of a contin-ued weakening dollartrend after the U.S. Fed-eral Reserve last weekacted to resume buyingTreasuries.

That policy has fedacrimony among lead-ing economies in theGroup of 20 in the run-up to their summit inSeoul on Wednesdayand Thursday.

China and Germany,major exportingnations, have bothdecried the Fed’s quanti-tative easing — effec-tively printing money— which is weakeningthe dollar.

Investors are pump-

ing dollars into emerg-ing markets in search ofhigher yields, and thepotentially destabilizingimpact of this, alongwith big currentaccount deficits andsurpluses as well as Chi-na’s reluctance to let theyuan appreciate faster,are set to dominate theG20 debate.

France, which takesover the G20 chair afterthis week’s summit,says it plans to work ona new internationalmonetary system tobring greater currencystability.

Beijing’s centralbank chief has suggest-ed an alternative mone-tary system based onusing the InternationalMonetary Fund’s Spe-cial Drawing Rights, anotional unit of valuebased on a basket ofmajor currencies,instead of the dollar asthe sole global reserve

currency.Zoellick was a senior

official in the U.S. Trea-sury at the time of the1985 Plaza and 1987Louvre Accords onrebalancing currenciesamong major industri-alized nations. He notedthat that phase of cur-rency coordinationhelped launch theUruguay Round ofworld trade liberaliza-tion negotiations.

While his opinionarticle in the FinancialTimes did not representeither U.S. or WorldBank policy, it mayreflect a greater open-ness in Washingtonthan in the last twodecades to some form ofinternational currencycooperation.

“The dollar is losingits relevance especiallywith the emergence ofAsia economies, so amore neutral bench-mark may be required.

Gold, amid all the recentuncertainty, is provingits worth,” said ANZ’ssenior commodity ana-lyst Mark Pervan.

Gold retreated toaround $1,390 an ounceby 1000 GMT as specu-lators booked profits.

Zoellick said a newmonetary system wouldtake time to develop andshould be part of a pack-age approach includingpossible changes in IMFrules to review capitalas well as currentaccount policies, andlinking IMF monetaryassessments to WorldTrade Organizationobligations.

The dollar rosesharply on Monday asunwinding of dollarshort positions thatbegan with solid U.S.jobs data snowballed,pushing down the euroto its lowest level sincethe Fed embarked onfresh easing last week.

18 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

business & Technology

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT: COUNTY OF QUEENS - U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE UNDER POOLING AND SERVICING AGREEMENT DATED AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2006 MASTR ASSET BACKED SECURITIES TRUST 2006-NC2 MORTGAGE PASS THROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES 2006-NC2 , Plaintiff, AGAINST LINDA JOHNSON, ET AL., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a judgment of foreclosure and sale duly dated 7/13/2009, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Queens County Courthouse Front Steps, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, New York, New York, on 12/3/2010 at 11:00 AM, premises known as 114-48 198th Street, a/k/a 141-48 198th Street a/k/a 141 and 48 198th Street, SAINT ALBANS, NY 11412. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the New York City, Borough of QUEENS, County of Queens and State of New York, Section, Block and Lot: Block: 11014 Lot: 29. Approximate amount of judgment $304,859.19 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #20154-08. Pamela Jordan, Esq., Referee, SHAPIRO, DICARO & BARAK, LLP, Attorney for Plaintiff 250 Mile Crossing Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14624 Dated: 11/4/2010

By VICTORIABRYAN

FRANKFURT —German sportinggoods company Adidasaims to grow sales to17 billion euros ($24billion) by 2015, up twothirds on 2009 levels,as it strives to overtakemarket leader Nike.“Our aspirations are tooutperform total mar-ket growth ... to out-grow our major com-petitor and have thebottom line grow fasterthan the top line,” chiefexecutive HerbertHainer said on Mondayin a presentation toanalysts.

Last week, Adidasreported strong third-quarter results, liftedby U.S. and easternEuropean growth, andsaid it expected 2010sales to grow 8 percentat constant currencyrates from 10.4 billioneuros ($14.6 billion) in2009.

Nike recorded salesof $19 billion in its yearto May 2010, though itis aiming to reach $27billion by 2015, so itwould still be ahead ofAdidas if both met theirtargets.

Shares in Adidaswere up 1.6 percent at47.06 euros by 1342GMT, one of the topgainers on Germany’s

blue-chip index,although off earlierhighs of 47.70 euros.

“The new strategyplan is very promisingand is encouraginginvestors after strongresults,” a trader atFrankfurt’s Alpha bro-kerage said.

Adidas, the worldNo. 2, said its keygrowth markets wouldbe North America,Greater China, Rus-sia/CIS, Latin America,Japan, Britain andIndia.

Hainer said 50 per-cent of sales growthwould come from justthree of these markets -the United States,China and Russia.

In China, where itreturned to growth inthe third quarter after18 months beset byoverstocking and dis-counting, Adidas iseyeing double-digitpercentage growth foreach of the next fiveyears, Hainer added.

Under the newstrategic plan, named“Route 2015,” Adidas istargeting a compoundannual earningsgrowth rate of 15 per-cent, faster than salesgrowth, and an operat-ing margin of 11 per-cent by 2015 at the lat-est.

Hainer said the Adi-das and Reebok brandswould account for more

than 90 percent of theplanned 45-50 percentincrease in sales.

Erich Stamminger,global head of brands,said sales at the Adidassport performancebrand, aimed in partic-ular at athletes, soccerand basketball players,would grow to 8.5 bil-lion euros from 6.2 bil-lion.

Sales at the otherAdidas brands, whichhave more of a styleand fashion focus,would grow to 3.7 bil-lion euros from 2 bil-lion, while Reeboksales would rise to 3billion from 1.9 billion.

“Just one of thesedivisions will be as bigas the Number 3,”Stamminger said,referring to local rivalPuma, which last year

had sales of 2.5 billioneuros.

Hainer also said Adi-das, which acquiredReebok in 2006, wouldcontinue to play a rolein consolidation of thesector.

“It stands to reasonthat the Adidas groupwill continue in its roleas ‘Consolidator-in-Chief’, taking marketshare through organicgrowth or exploringother business oppor-tunities if they alignwith the strategicbrand priorities,” hesaid.

He reiterated thoughthat Adidas was notinterested in buyingany outdoor brands,following speculationthe group would seekto buy German compa-ny Jack Wolfskin.

Adidas sets targets to overtake Nike

World Bank chief surprises with gold standard idea

DETROIT —Chrysler Group LLCposted a third-quarternet loss, but lifted itsfull-year outlook,spurred by results thatwere better than thecompany had forecast ayear ago.

Chrysler, the U.S.automaker managed byFiat SpA, reported a netloss of $84 million, com-pared with a net loss of$172 million in the sec-ond quarter of 2010.

Excluding the cost of$308 million in intereston loans and otherexpenses, the companyposted an operatingprofit of $239 million.Third-quarter revenuewas about $11.02 bil-lion.

“A year ago, ChryslerGroup laid out clear andconcise five-year finan-cial goals and after threeconsecutive quarters ofbetter-than-forecastedresults, we are not only

living up to our commit-ments, but we are alsoexceeding our 2010financial objectives,”Chrysler CEO SergioMarchionne said in astatement.

The automaker’sresults come a year afterit unveiled an ambitiousfive-year turnaroundplan during a marathoneight-hour session at itsAuburn Hills, Michiganheadquarters.

Chrysler now pro-

jects an operating profitof $700 million for2010, up from its previ-ous outlook of break-even to as much as $200million. It sees free cashflow of $500 million, upfrom its previous fore-cast of a shortfall of $1billion.

The automaker fore-cast 2010 revenue of$42 billion for the year,at the midpoint of itsearlier range of $40 bil-lion to $45 billion.

Earnings beforeinterest, taxes, deprecia-tion and amortizationfor the year is expectedto be $3.3 billion, upfrom its earlier outlookof $2.5 billion to $2.7 bil-lion.

Chrysler is launching16 new and refreshedvehicles, including the2011 Jeep Grand Chero-kee and the Fiat 500, ina bid to seize marketshare in the UnitedStates.

Chrysler posts net loss, boosts 2010 outlook

19DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

business & Technology

By PATRICIAZENGERLE andKRITTIVASMUKHERJEE

NEW DELHI — Pres-ident Barack Obamadefended the FederalReserve’s policy ofprinting dollars onMonday after Chinaand Russia stepped upcriticism ahead of thisweek’s Group of 20meeting.

The G20 summit hasbeen pitched as achance for leaders ofthe countries thataccount for 85 percentof world output to pre-vent a currency rowescalating into a rushto protectionism thatcould imperil the globalrecovery.

But there is littlesign of consensus.

The summit has beenovershadowed by dis-agreements over theU.S. Federal Reserve’squantitative easing(QE) policy underwhich it will printmoney to buy $600 bil-lion of governmentbonds, a move thatcould depress the dollarand cause a potentiallydestabilizing flow ofmoney into emergingeconomies.

“I will say that theFed’s mandate, mymandate, is to grow oureconomy. And that’snot just good for theUnited States, that’sgood for the world as awhole,” Obama saidduring a trip to India.

“And the worst thingthat could happen tothe world economy, notjust ours, is if we endup being stuck with nogrowth or very limitedgrowth,” he said.

European CentralBank President Jean-Claude Trichet said allparticipants at a meet-ing of the world’s cen-tral bankers in Basel,Switzerland had insist-ed they were not pursu-ing weak currency poli-cies.

“We’re attached to

avoiding excessivevolatility. It’s verycounterproductive forglobal growth andglobal stability,” he tolda news conference.

Washington has fre-quently criticizedChina, saying it delib-erately undervalues itscurrency to boostexports.

China says the Unit-ed States, via the Fed, isengaged in the samething that it standsaccused of, and someemerging nations havealready acted to curbtheir currencies’ rise.

Resentment abroadstems from worry thatFed pump-priming willhasten the U.S. dollar’sslide and cause theircurrencies to shoot upin value, setting the

stage for asset bubblesand making a futureburst of inflation morelikely.

“As a major reservecurrency issuer, for theUnited States to launcha second round ofquantitative easing atthis time, we feel that itdid not recognize itsresponsibility to stabi-lize global markets anddid not think about theimpact of excessive liq-uidity on emergingmarkets,” ChineseFinance Vice MinisterZhu Guangyao said onMonday.

The Fed’s quantita-tive easing policy wasunveiled last week tojeers from emergingmarket powerhousesfrom Latin America toAsia. Russia renewed

its assault on Monday.“Russia’s president

will insist .... that suchactions are taken withpreliminary consulta-tions with other mem-bers of the global econ-omy,” said ArkadyDvorkovich, a Russianofficial who is prepar-ing the country’s posi-tion in Seoul.

Bank of JapanDeputy Governor Hiro-hide Yamaguchi saidon Monday that it toowas ready to boost itsasset-buying scheme ifit saw clear signs of adownturn. Worth 5 tril-lion yen ($62 billion), itis so far just a tenth thesize of the Fed’s.

India is Obama’s firststop in a 10-day trip toAsia that will includeIndonesia and Japan.

He will arrive inSeoul for the November11-12 summit weak-ened by a crushing con-gressional electiondefeat for his Democra-tic Party and under firefrom all sides. Ger-many described U.S.economic policy as“clueless” last week.

The U.S. has alreadyall but dropped its cen-terpiece proposal forthe G20 — a measurethat would cap currentaccount balances at 4percent of gross domes-

tic product, somethingeconomists said wasclearly aimed at China.

At the weekend, U.S.Treasury SecretaryTimothy Geithnerbacked away from thenumerical target thathad been rejected byChina, Germany, Japanand others in a signthat global financialpower had slipped fromU.S. hands.

On Monday, he wasputting on a brave face,saying China was sup-portive of the G20’sframework for rebal-ancing the global econ-omy, and that heexpected broad consen-sus on it at the summit.

The risk of a nega-tive outcome in Seoulappears to be increas-ing, or at the very least,an agreement thatmerely papers over thehuge gaps and allowscountries to pursuetheir own economicpolicies whether it beintervening in curren-cy markets like SouthKorea and Japan orprinting dollars.

“Judging by the crit-ical response of emerg-ing market govern-ments to QE, the likeli-hood of a ceasefire inthe currency war isslim,” RBC Capital mar-kets said in a report.

Obama returns fire after China slams Fed’s move

By KRISTINACOOKE

Top officials at theFederal Reserve onMonday sounded differ-ing notes on the centralbank’s bond-buying pro-gram, with one arguingit was an effective wayto fight deflation risksand another warning itmight need to be curbed.

The remarks from St.Louis Federal ReserveBank President JamesBullard, Dallas Fedchief Richard Fisher,Fed Governor KevinWarsh and ThomasHoenig of the KansasCity Fed underscoredtensions within the cen-tral bank over the wis-dom of the decision tobuy a further $600 bil-lion in governmentdebt.

“While this policycarries both risks and

rewards ... the benefitsoutweigh the risks,”Bullard told a group ofsecurities analysts inNew York.

He said worries thepolicy could create highinflation down the roadwere “legitimate andimportant,” but addedthat the disinflationarytrend “is worrisomeright now.”

The central bank’sdecision has sparked anunusually vocal publicdebate among Fed offi-cials, while drawing theire of many othernations, which worrythe United States isdeliberately undercut-ting the dollar.

Warsh, who likeBullard backed the newFed program in a votelast week, expressedconcern about the deci-sion. He said he wouldhave preferred the adop-tion of “pro-growth fis-

cal, regulatory andtrade policies” to spurgrowth.

Fisher said the pro-gram would only workif lawmakers addressedthe fiscal and regulato-ry uncertainties that hesaid were holding backbusinesses fromexpanding.

“I would suggest thateven if you share mycautious perspective onthis matter, you mightbe assuaged by lookingat this new initiative asa bridge loan to fiscalsanity,” he told a meet-ing of financial profes-sionals in San Antonio.

Warsh emphasizedthat the policy would besubject to regularreview and adjusted ifneeded, and he raisedthe prospect that risinginflation risks couldlead the central bank tocurb the program evenwith unemployment

still painfully high.“If the recent weak-

ness in the dollar, run-up in commodity pricesand other forward-look-ing indicators are sus-tained and passed alonginto final prices, theFed’s price stabilityobjective might nolonger be a compellingpolicy rationale,” hesaid.

“Policies should bealtered if certain objec-tives are satisfied, pur-ported benefits disap-point, or potential risksthreaten to materialize,”Warsh said.

However, Bullardsaid his best guess wasthat the full amountwould be purchased bymid-2011, asannounced. “Given theoutlook now ... it lookslike we will followthrough on that andreassess at that point,”he said in an interview

with Market NewsInternational publishedyesterday.

Many economiststhink the Fed couldeventually decide topush beyond the $600billion in purchasesannounced last week,notwithstanding differ-ing views within thecentral bank.

Bullard said the U.S.recovery had slowed,putting it in a disinfla-tionary trend that need-ed to be addressed toavoid a debilitating boutof deflation. He said theunconventional bond-buying program shouldprove as effective as tra-ditional policy.

Warsh, likewise, saidthe economy’s perfor-mance has been unim-pressive. In contrast,Hoenig, the only officialto vote against the Fed’sdecision last week,emphasized his viewthat the conditions werealready in place for aquickening of economicgrowth.

The Fed’s decision toadd to the $1.7 trillionin government andmortgage-related debt ithas already bought hasdriven down the valueof the dollar and drawnscathing commentsfrom countries that seethe United States push-ing for an export edge.

In response to anaudience question aboutcomplaints by countriessuch as China and Ger-many about the Fed’sdecision, Bullard saidthe U.S. central bankmust act to fulfill itsmandate of price stabili-ty and full employment.

“You can’t have otherpeople around the worldcalling the shots on thatmandate,” he said.

Warsh, however, saidheightened tensions incurrency and capitalmarkets raised the riskof a more difficult andprotracted global eco-nomic recovery, andsaid these long-termrisks need to be takeninto account.

Fed divided on bond buying risks/benefits

DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 201020

422

PICK OF THE DAYPICK OF THE DAY

GAMES MON TUES WED THURS FRI SUN

140 291 432 078 xxx 456xxx xxx 274 xxx xxx xxx

OLD WAY

BROOkLYN

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

OLD WAYHANDLE

OLD WAYHANDLE

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0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 00 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

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557

26x

476

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802

xxx

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488

615

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078

473

697

394

142

9xx

963

017

583

570

413

MON TUES WED THURS FRI SUN140

585

028

110

65x

182

304

589

844

988

689

✎

✔

Your Horoscope

935

✔✔

NUMBERS

291

513

528

91x

20x

950

445

423

007

437

362

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8xx

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967

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478

949

816

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and

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97x

68x

345

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535

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1xx

957

967

635

688

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063

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538

936

497

274

973

056

166

046

282

094

220

103

151

368

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401

1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 10 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

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511

685

ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Be careful while traveling. You will get great satisfac-tion from your efforts. Based on your excitement, serious-minded individualswill be more than interested in backing your ideas.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21) You may meet that special person if you attendfundraising functions. Use your high energy and dynamic approach to winfavors from superiors. Changes in your domestic scene are apparent.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) Talk to others about your plans. You need an outletthat will not only stimulate you but also challenge your intelligence as well. Youmay come down with minor infections if you have allowed yourself to get run-down.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) Drastic changes regarding your personal attitudeare evident. You will enjoy travel and getting together with peers. You will meeta person who may turn out to be more than just a friend.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Difficulties at an emotional level may be likely. Romancemay be likely if you travel. You would be best to work late in order to avoidsuch disharmony.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Do not allow colleagues to hinder your ambitions.Opportunities to get together with people in powerful positions could help youget ahead. Try to satisfy both of your needs.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) Verbal abuse may lead to walkouts; don't make any

rash statements you may regret later. You will accomplish the most in the workenvironment today. Don't use the interstate as a racetrack.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) Partnerships with creative people could lead tofinancial gains. Relatives will not agree with the way you are dealing with yourpersonal problems. You can make money if you're willing to push your ideason those in a position to support your efforts.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) You need some help today. Children maybe less than honest with you. Offer consolation, but don't give them any direc-tion.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) You may need a physical outlet that will helpyou relieve your tension. Younger relatives may seek your advice. The greatoutdoors will allow you to teach youngsters some of the things you learnedwhen growing up.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) Secret information will be eye opening. Askthose in key positions to help you overcome the delays and to support yourconcerns in order to move on. Your emotions will be touched off concerningrecent encounters with your lover.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Do not push your opinions or try to reform youremotional partner today. Be sure that you have all the facts before you takeaction. You can pick up information that will give you an edge.

21

SPORTS

Daily

Challenge

DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

SSPPOORRTTSSDAILY

CHALLENGE

21DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Michigan expects QB Denard Robinson to play Purdue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Michigan coach RichRodriguez says he expects quarterback DenardRobinson to play against Purdue this Saturday.Robinson didn’t play after the third quarter of

Saturday’s 67-65 triple-overtime win againstIllinois. Rodriguez says Robinson passed a seriesof tests after he had symptoms of a concussionwith headaches and dizziness. He should be readyfor the Boilermakers.He has run for 1,349 yards and is 146 away

from breaking the major college record for yardsrushing by a QB. Air Force’s Beau Morgan had1,494 yards rushing in 1996.Robinson has been knocked out of three games

this season. He had injured his left knee againstBowling Green and hurt his right shoulderagainst Iowa.

Magic’s Jameer Nelson out with injuryORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic will be

without starting point guard Jameer Nelsonagainst Atlanta on Monday night because of asprained left ankle.Nelson was hurt late in Friday’s win against

New Jersey and missed the team’s win atCharlotte on Friday. Chris Duhon will again startin his place, and Jason Williams will serve as thebackup.Magic coach Stan Van Gundy says they hope

to get Nelson back for Wednesday’s game againstUtah but it is more likely to be Friday againstToronto.The good news for the Magic: Vince Carter will

start against Atlanta Monday night. Carter hadstrained his right hip in a hard fall late in the vic-tory at Charlotte.

Police investigate Villanova freshman altercation

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Villanova forwardJayVaughn Pinkston was involved in an alterca-tion that led to an assault report early Sunday,police said, while the school acknowledged it wasreviewing what happened.Villanova issued a statement Monday saying it

had been “made of aware of an incident” involv-ing the freshman, but offering no details. Theschool said it had been in contact with UpperMerion Township authorities and was gatheringinformation.Detective Sgt. Jeffrey Maurer said Upper

Merion police responded to Bryn Mawr Hospitalat the request of another police agency earlySunday morning for an assault report involvingthis case. He said there is an investigation into analtercation in a residential area of the townshipand that there have been no arrests.“By the end of the week well have an answer,”

he said. “This isn’t something we’re going to rushto make a decision on.”While the review is ongoing, the school will

make no additional comment. Villanova coachJay Wright was not immediately available forcomment.Pinkston, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was named a

McDonald’s All-American at Bishop Loughlin. Hewas named New York’s Player of the Year as asenior.

SSSSPPPPOOOORRRRTTTTSSSS BBBBRRRRIIIIEEEEFFFFSSSS

By TIM REYNOLDS

MIAMI - Chris Bosh wasthe No. 1 scoring option inToronto for most of hisseven seasons, just asLeBron James was inCleveland and DwyaneWade was in Miami overthat span.Times have changed.When they’re on the court

together, someone has to be aNo. 2 or No. 3 option for theHeat, a role that none of themhas held in years. And even afterstarting 5-2 in Miami, the “Big3” say making that adjustment -an ongoing process - may be thebiggest challenge for a team thathas championship aspirations.“Sometimes, I get a little lost

out there,” Bosh acknowledgedSaturday night. “This is differ-ent. We have a system, but at thesame time, when the game’shappening so fast sometimes Ijust get lost. I don’t knowwhether to cut, whether to go,whether to get back and playwith those two talented guys. Ithappens real fast.”So Bosh sought out James on

the Heat charter flight homefrom New Orleans after a three-point loss on Friday night. Thechat was wide-ranging, butmostly revolved around howthey could best complement eachother and further integratethemselves into a Heat systemthat has been built around Wadefor nearly a decade.The initial results of their

conversation were promising, to

say the least. Wade scored 29points, James had 23 and Boshhad 21 in Saturday night’s winover New Jersey, the first gamewhere the three of them alltopped the 20-point plateau thisseason.“I didn’t really care about

whether they each were scoringover 20 points,” Heat coach ErikSpoelstra said. “It was moreabout being aggressive, beingathletic, being quick and they allhad a different disposition.”Spoelstra doesn’t buy into the

notions of No. 1 option, No. 2option, so on and so forth.In the Heat philosophy, if

someone’s open, he’s the No. 1option. When Bosh startedSaturday’s game by missingthree shots in a 2-minutestretch, Spoelstra grabbed himand advised him to keep shoot-ing.Bosh was 6 for 9 from the

floor the rest of the way.“I was actually encouraged by

his aggressiveness,” Spoelstrasaid. “That’s who he is. We can’ttake that away from any of ourguys.”The Heat were off on Sunday.

They return to practice Mondaymorning, then host the UtahJazz on Tuesday night.To be clear, there was no rift

between Bosh and James, norany angst over how many shotsthey or anyone else on the Heatis getting. Bosh is taking aboutfive fewer shots per night thanhe averaged in his final two sea-sons in Toronto, while James isfiring off roughly six lessattempts than he averaged withthe Cavaliers.

From the night they signedwith Miami, Wade, James andBosh all have said they wouldn’tcare about stats, and so far thatrings true.“What I got out of the whole

conversation was us getting toknow each other on a more per-sonal level,” James said. “Whenyou can do that it makes thegame much easier. ... He wasable to open up to me and I wasable to listen and get a good feelwhere he is coming from. Iknow a lot about D-Wade. I havehad multiple conversations withhim over the years. Our cohe-siveness on the court is great.”Bigger than any victory for

Miami so far has likely been thefact that while the offensivepieces are still getting puttogether at times, the Heatdefense is already working - toSpoelstra’s delight.Miami is one of three teams,

Orlando and New Orleans beingthe others, who haven’t allowedany opponent to top the 100-point mark so far this season.Given that, it’s only a matter

of time for the offense to getrolling, Wade said.“It’s only been seven games,”

Wade said. “We can look at thenext seven as hopefully beingbetter than we were in the firstseven. ... If you’ve seen some ofour practices, man, we get aftereach other in practice and(Spoelstra) wants us to bringthat same intensity to everygame. Some nights, he’s notlooking for offense to really be ata point where it’s dominant untilit’s 20, 30 games down theroad.”

Even at 5-2, Heat know theprocess is continuing

By MIKECRANSTON

C H A R L O T T E ,N.C. - CharlotteBobcats guardStephen Jacksonbecame the latesttarget of the NBA’scrackdown onbehavior when hewas fined $50,000on Saturday for ver-bally abusing the

referees after a lossto Detroit a nightearlier.A defiant Jackson

called the punishmentundeserved and is con-sidering an appeal.“Everybody should

be shocked - $50,000?”Jackson said. “If you allsaw what happened,$50,000, that’s a lot ofmoney. But welcome tothe life of StephenJackson.”Jackson was hit with

a technical foul by refer-ee Steve Javie late in thethird quarter Friday,complaining he wasfouled on a made bas-ket. The fine was for hisactions after the Pistonsfinished off a 97-90 vic-tory.“After the game, he

made inappropriatecomments towards thegame officials,” NBAspokesman Tim Franksaid, declining to givefurther details.Jackson, though,

said officials were“reading his lips,” anaccount seconded byCharlotte coach LarryBrown.“I walked off the

court upset about theoutcome of the game,”Jackson said. “I guessthey had a camera fol-lowing me all the way tothe tunnel and I wasn’teven in sight of the ref-erees and read my lips. Iguess I can’t talk tomyself. I got fined fortalking to myself.”

Bobcats’ Jackson fined $50,000 for verbal abuse

22 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

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22 DAILY CHALLENGE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2010

By JOHNSCHUHMANN

NEW YORK — It’sthe job of a sports talkradio host to have astrong opinion. Youprobably don’t get far inthat field by keeping anopen mind or speakingin shades of grey.Better to have your lis-teners strongly dis-agree with you than todisplay a rationalunderstanding of bothsides of an argument.

The truth is often thevictim in that kind ofblack-or-white, yay-or-nay environment. AndESPN Radio host ColinCowherd’s rant againstWizards point guardJohn Wall onWednesday was a spe-cial kind of ignorance.

In the wake of Wall’shistorical performance— 29 points, 13 assistsand nine steals — inTuesday’s home opener,Cowherd chose to focushis commentary onWall’s pre-game danceand eight turnovers. Hecontrasted Wall toRajon Rondo, whodished out 17 assistswithout a singleturnover the samenight.

“Rajon’s got rings,”Cowherd said. “Wallwill never have one.”

The ignorance wentfar beyond the fact thathas Rondo committedeight turnovers in agame as recently as lastChristmas. Cowherdhad seen enough to callWall selfish and “not asharp guy.”

Those of us who havewatched Wall closelyand spoken to hiscoaches and teammatesknow better. In sevenpreseason games andfour that count, Wallhas displayed leader-ship, unselfishness andintelligence to go alongwith his all-world tal-ent. The No. 1 pick hasbeen given the job ofturning the Wizardsfranchise around, andby all accounts, he’s upto the task.

Gilbert Arenas madehis regular seasondebut for the Wizards atMadison Square Gardenon Friday, playing in agame that counts forthe first time since hewas suspended for theremainder of the 2009-10 season in January.

Arenas knows that,coming back, he’s nowa complementary play-er. And the role changeis less about himselfthan it is about Wall. Sowhen Arenas finallytook the floor onFriday, he was just try-ing to stay out of theway.

“I didn’t want tointerfere with whatJohn’s been doing,because he’s been play-ing phenomenal basket-ball,” Arenas said. “Ididn’t want, once I goton the court, for him tothink he needs to focuson me.”

As the point guard,it’s Wall’s duty to get allof his teammatesinvolved in the offense.And his 9.5 assists pergame are evidence that

he’s doing just that. Butthe 17 turnovers he’scommitted in the lasttwo games are evidencethat he’s learning thatthere isn’t necessarily aplay to be made onevery possession.

“His greateststrength can be hisgreatest weakness,”Wizards coach FlipSaunders said Friday.“He’s so competitive andhe knows he can makeplays. When things gobad, he wants to try tomake something hap-pen. He’s got into thesituation the last coupleof games where he’strying to create some-thing when there’snothing there.”

Things were goingjust fine early on inNew York on Friday.

Wall picked up fivefirst-quarter assists byjust making the simplepass. He didn’t try tothread the needle ormake any spectaculardrive-and-dish moves.Everything was justsimple pick and popaction and straightfor-ward passes to openshooters. His team-mates were makingshots and the Wizards’offense was clicking.

“He’s extremelyunselfish,” Saunderssaid. “He’s going to givethe ball up when he hasto and he’ll always tryto make the right play.”

Wall’s willingness totake what the defensegives him is a rare traitamong young pointguards. But it’s not oneshared by most of his

teammates. Throughfour games, Wall has38 assists, while therest of the Wizards havejust 32.

“We don’t trust eachother enough offensive-ly,” Saunders said.“When John gets rid ofthe ball, whoever gets itthinks they have tomake something hap-pen. And we don’t makethat second pass.”

That’s when thingsgo downhill and whenWall tries to do toomuch.

Now, the rookie isstill going to make NBATV’s top 10 on a weeklybasis. His speed andability to finish at therim make him impossi-ble to stop on the break.And eventually, hisjumper will force

defenses to play himmore honestly in thehalf-court.

“When he has theball, I just watch andsee what he’s going todo next,” Arenas said.

He’s not alone. Andat this point, theWizards couldn’t behappier with the No. 1pick. Though his gamestill needs work, Wall isthe right guy to turnthe franchise around.He’s ready to lead andhis teammates are will-ing to follow.

“I just want to keepimproving myself andimproving as a team,”Wall said. “The mainthing is helping thisorganization as muchas I can. And my team-mates are willing to dothe same thing.”

Wall is still learning, but he’s the right guy to lead

Although his game isn't spotless, rookie John Wall has shown many flashes of excellence.Photo/Fernando Medina

By DAVIDALDRIDGE

It is the time forcaveats, and dis-claimers.

Such as: We’re lessthan two weeks into theregular season. Itwould be ridiculous totry to divine long-rangemeaning into a handfulof games. Too manyroad trips, too manyinjuries, too manyemergings and sub-

mergings yet to cometo think we know some-thing real beforeThanksgiving. (Otherthan the Lakers appearunbeatable, unless theyget hurt or bored.)

Having said that,what great beginningsin New Orleans andDenver, two franchisesthat have been undersiege for weeks, withtheir signature playersmaking it clear thatthey’d like to be else-where, and right soon.

The Nuggets andCarmelo Anthony haveheld things togetherfor now, and that’s asurprise. But Denverhas proven veterans atkey spots, and a veter-an coach in GeorgeKarl. And the Nuggetshave something in theway of a history. Therewill be basketball in theMile High afterAnthony leaves town,even if it’s a diminishedbrand.

New Orleans, by con-

trast, is always a workin progress, alwaysseemingly trying torecover from the latestcatastrophe. TheHornets have been aresilient franchise sincemoving from Charlottein 2002. They’ve with-stood the publicembarassments of theircurrent owner, GeorgeShinn, a two-year moveto Oklahoma City afterHurricane Katrina in2005 and the deterio-rating performance of

key players like PejaStojakovic. But thisyear’s one-two-threepunch — the SuperBowl drive of the city’sfavorite sons, theSaints, the ousting ofthe team’s former man-agement team of ByronScott and Jeff Bower,followed this summerby the disclosure ofChris Paul’s desire to bedealt — looked likesledgehammer blows.

The team’s seniorleaders had a plan, but

it involved that oldchestnut, changing theculture. And the chang-ers were two unprovenfirst-timers in theirrespective jobs — DellDemps as general man-ager, replacing Bower,and Monty Williams ascoach, who stepped infor Bower after he hadbeen forced to finish theseason on the benchlast season after Scottwas fired. The Bugsthen went 1-7 in thepreseason.

Resilient Hornets shake off uncertainty to rise once again

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Challenge

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Kings’ Wright apologizes for DUI arrest

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) —Sacramento Kings forward AntoineWright was arrested Thursday night fordriving under the influence, the teamsaid Friday.The Kings, who have a home game Saturday

against Memphis, issued a statement of apologyfrom Wright. Wright’s attorney, Bill Portanova,said in the team statement that his client is coop-erating fully with police in nearby Rocklin.“I’m sorry for having gotten myself into this

situation,” Wright said through the team. “I sin-cerely apologize to my teammates and coaches,the Sacramento Kings organization, theSacramento community and fans and my family.”Kings president of basketball operations Geoff

Petrie did not say whether Wright would face asuspension, but rather that the team would waitto see the legal process out.“We are extremely disappointed in the situa-

tion Antoine has created for himself and theorganization,” Petrie said. “There certainly hasbeen no shortage of education and/or resourcesmade available to our players in regard to thesetypes of dangerous behaviors. We will, however,respect his right of due process at this time.”Wright has appeared in two of Sacramento’s

five games, but hasn’t scored in averaging 1.4minutes.Less than a month ago, George Maloof Jr. —

brother of Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloofand owner of the Palms Casino Resort in LasVegas — spent a night in jail after being arrestednear his Las Vegas home on suspicion of drunk-en driving.

Percy Harvin explains dispute

Percy Harvin said his heated disputewith Brad Childress last Friday was overan MRI the Minnesota Vikings receiverdidn’t want to take but that he and thecoach are “fine” now.“We had a little dispute,” Harvin said, accord-

ing to the Star Tribune. “It wasn’t what peoplethought it was about. It was about whether I wasgoing to get an MRI or not. It was a little dispute,but we settled it. Me and Coach are fine.”Team sources told ESPN’s Ed Werder that the

confrontation between Harvin and Childressgrew so heated Friday afternoon that coaches andplayers were forced to separate them to prevent aphysical exchange.Childress questioned Harvin’s effort during

the practice, sources told Werder. When Harvintook exception, Childress suggested Harvin sub-mit to further testing on the ankle. The debateescalated and “was as close to physical as you canget,” according to a source.“I just didn’t think nothing was significantly

wrong with it,” Harvin said, according to the StarTribune. “I just didn’t want to go.”After the two were separated, according to

sources, a teammate told Harvin: “You just didwhat a lot of us have been wanting to say foryears.”Harvin had further testing on the ankle

Saturday morning and was activated forSunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.Harvin had nine catches for a career-high 126

yards Sunday in the Vikings’ overtime win.

SSSSPPPPOOOORRRRTTTTSSSS BBBBRRRRIIIIEEEEFFFFSSSSISTANBUL — Former

NBA star Allen Iversonarrived in Istanbul onMonday to begin a stintwith Turkish clubBesiktas, promising togive fans “something theyhaven’t seen before.”Dozens of fans greeted the 11-

time All-Star at Ataturk Airport.Sporting a Besiktas jersey and aPhiladelphia Phillies hat,Iverson waved at fans frominside his car before being driv-en to his hotel.Iverson, who agreed to a $4

million, two-year contract withBesiktas, is the Turkish league’sbiggest signing. He has calledhis move to the Istanbul club “achance to get back on track withmy basketball career” after noNBA team was willing to offerhim a contract this season.Many see his stint in Turkey

as a test of his ability to revivehis NBA career because teamsare likely to monitor Iverson’sperformance and behavior atBesiktas. The guard has said hestill believes he can play in theNBA and hopes his performancein Europe will lead to anotherchance next season.His career has been troubled

by numerous run-ins withcoaches and team officials. He’salso had several legal problemsthat landed him on probation.Iverson is expected to make

his debut with Besiktas on Nov.13 when the team plays OyakRenault at its home arena thatseats about 4,500 fans. The clubhasn’t won the Turkish leaguesince 1975.“They were great,” Iverson

told NTV sports channel of thecheering Besiktas fans who wel-comed him at the airport,adding that “the most importantthing is to be accepted, to bewanted and to be appreciated.”Iverson urged fans to come

out and support the team. Theplayer also said he would be“interacting” with the fans asmuch as possible.“Before I leave, I’ll be speak-

ing a lot of Turkish,” he said.Iverson is 17th on the NBA’s

career scoring list with 24,368points, winning the MostValuable Player award in 2001when he led the Philadelphia76ers to the finals. He spent 10seasons in Philadelphia before

moving to Denver and Detroit,ending up in Memphis last sea-son.He only played three games

before returning for a secondstint with the Sixers, where heaveraged 13.9 points in 25games. He took a leave ofabsence toward the end of theseason to deal with some familymatters.Iverson was initially due in

Istanbul on Saturday, but hisarrival was delayed by two days,and a pre-match celebration ofhis signing at the arena waspostponed. Besiktas said a lightand music show to welcomeIverson will take place onTuesday.

Allen Iverson arrives in Turkey

Roy Hibbertseemed almosteager Wednesdaynight to let theworld know howthoroughly unac-ceptable the IndianaPacers’ perform-ance atPhiladelphia hadbeen in their 101-75beatdown by the76ers. He was wait-ing for Mike Wells,beat writer for theIndianapolis Star,when the locker-room door swungopen to media atWells Fargo Center

in Philadelphia.The team in that

locker room had some‘splainin’ to do, losingin such an embarrass-ing fashion four daysafter handlingPhiladelphia by 13points at ConsecoFieldhouse, and Hibbertwas determined to bethe man to do it.“It was really pathet-

ic,” the Pacers centersaid. “People have to beheld accountable. Wehave to run the system.When we run it, we’regood. When we don’t,we lose like this ... Wewere horrible. Weweren’t running our

sets. We weren’t gettingout and running. Wewere’t cutting and mov-ing. This wasn’t Pacersbasketball. I thought wejust took three stepsback, in my opinion.”Hibbert’s we-a culpa

didn’t stop there. Soonenough, “Hoya2aPacer”was apologizing to hisgreater Twitter commu-nity: “I am sorryIndiana. That was notPacer basketball. Whatu saw is not acceptableand we r not gonna letthis be the norm. Wecan do better!”Hibbert already is.For the past few

months, the focus hasbeen on Hibbert’s physi-

cal and basketball devel-opment, areas in whichhe has made impressivestrides. His body fat isdown, his strength isup and while he stilllooks a few sandwicheslight through the hipsand thighs to consis-tently hold his positionin the low post, he wasmaking good on all thehappy projections.Through the Pacers’

first three games, theformer Georgetownstandout — my presea-son pick to be chosenMost Improved Player— had averaged 18.3points, 10 rebounds, 4.7assists and 2.67 blocks.

- Steve Aschburner

In Year 3, Hibbert looks ready to play the part of big man

SportSSportSDaily ChallengeDaily Challenge

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Former NBA starAllen Iversonarrived inIstanbul

yesterday tobegin a stintwith Turkishclub Besiktas,

promising to givefans “somethingthey haven’t seen

before.”

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