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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Try Out Windows Phone on Your iPhone or Android Right Now [Windows Phone]
Ariz. gun club offers Santa shoot
By Sylvia Wood, msnbc.com
scottsdalegunclub.com
Want to improve the caliber of your family?s Christmas card this year? How about having your picture taken with Santa Claus and your choice of machine guns?
For a fee of $5 for members and $10 for non-members, the Scottsdale Gun Club in Arizona will arrange a Yuletide photo op with Santa and a selection of automatic weapons valued at $170,000.
"It's been really fun," said Brooke Rodda, a spokesperson for the club. "We've had a tremendous response from the community."
The "unique" opportunity, Rodda said, permits families to handle weapons in a "safe, controlled environment." About 500 people turned out for the club?s first shoot on Nov. 26, and Rodda expects more crowds for the second "Santa and Machine Guns" event on Dec. 10.
Among the firearms to choose from are M60s, M249s, M240s and a modified Ar15, as well as more traditional holiday props such as reindeer antlers.
The event isn't attracting just gun enthusiasts:??"It has a broader appeal from families to older people," Rodda said.
But if firearms don?t exactly convey your holiday message, Rodda says don't worry: Santa can be just as disarming for the camera without the weapons.
Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/29/9097465-ariz-gun-club-offers-santa-shoot
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Iranian students storm British Embassy in Tehran (AP)
TEHRAN,Iran ? Dozens of hard-line Iranian students have stormed the British Embassy in Tehran, bringing down the British flag and throwing documents from windows.
The students clashed with anti-riot police and chanted "the Embassy of Britain should be taken over" and "death to England."
Tuesday's incident comes two days after Iranian parliament approved a bill that reduces diplomatic relations with Britain following London's support of recently upgraded U.S. sanctions on Tehran.
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Google continues its massive facelift, intros new persistent nav bar (video)
Continue reading Google continues its massive facelift, intros new persistent nav bar (video)
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Maggie Daley inspired countless breast cancer patients ? Arlington ...
Post a story 
Today at 11:51 a.m.
Linda Borton, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, is pictured in Arlington Heights on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. Borton learned Maggie Daley was also diagnosed with cancer on the day Borton started her chemotherapy. Daley died on Thursday after a long fight with cancer. ( Keri Wiginton/ Chicago Tribune)
On the day Chicago?s first lady announced that she had breast cancer in 2002, Linda Borton of Arlington Heights started her chemotherapy treatments for the same affliction.
Though Borton, a health executive, didn?t know Maggie Daley, she knew they were going through a shared traumatic experience, and immediately felt a kinship with this strong, positive woman.
?I knew I certainly was not alone,? Borton said, as she reflected on Daley?s death Thursday evening from complications of that cancer. ?I wanted to write her a note, just to say I?d been diagnosed myself and to try to send her some words of encouragement.?
Read more at Chicago Tribune.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Charlize Theron: Mean Girls Teased Me In High School
Charlize Theron has a secret to share. Despite her gorgeous model looks and undeniable talent, she was bullied in school. Even more shocking? The Young Adult actress says boys weren't into her when she was a teen.
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PFT: Bills' Johnson says he didn't drop game-winning TD
APAlmost 12 weeks of the 2011 season are in the books, and there are only so many things we know.
The Packers are good.? The Colts are bad.? And Ndamukong Suh is in trouble.
For the 30 other teams and 1,700 other players, who knows what?s going on?? Let?s try to make sense of some of it via 10 of the story lines coming out of Sunday?s (and one of Thursday?s) games.
1.? Texans need a proven veteran.
It?s pretty clear that the Texans have decided not to flirt with Brett Favre for the stretch run.? But that doesn?t mean it makes sense to go with T.J. Yates, Kellen Clemens, and possibly Brodie Croyle at quarterback.
While that three-headed monster could be enough to fend off the pesky Titans for the AFC South crown, it won?t be enough to advance in a playoff field featuring the likes of the Patriots, Ravens, and Steelers.
And so the Texans need a proven veteran with playoff experience.? Whether that?s Favre or Jeff Garcia or even Jeff George, the playoff-bound Texans will be a bunch of wide-eyed kids on their first trip to the amusement park, and they?d benefit from someone who has ridden a roller coaster once or twice.
Even Daunte Culpepper would be a better option than Yates, Clemens, and Croyle.? After all, Culpepper has played in four playoff games, winning two and losing two.
Texans fans defended the decision to give the keys to Leinart by pointing out the low-risk passing game, the chains-moving running game, and the brick-wall defense.? But that same reasoning applies to a veteran quarterback, too.
In the Texans offense, no quarterback will be expected to do all that much.? A veteran with playoff experience will be far better suited to do what needs to be done, when it counts the most.
2.? McNabb should pull an Orton.
After the Bears lost quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken thumb, Kyle Orton asked for, and received, his walking papers from the Broncos.? So with the Texans needing a quarterback, why isn?t Vikings backup Donovan McNabb doing the same thing?
He claims he still can play, and he believes he shouldn?t have been benched.? McNabb therefore should request his release and hope that he slides down to the Texans on the waiver priority list.
Even if he doesn?t, any chance to play is better than holding a clipboard for a 2-9 team.? If McNabb is holding out any hope of getting a starting job in 2012, he?d benefit from being on the field in the 2011 postseason.
Until then, his failure to even make a play to get out of Minnesota should prompt legitimate speculation about his actual desire to compete.
3.? High praise for A.J. Green.
Receivers taken in the first round of the draft often underwhelm at the NFL level.? Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green provides the latest exception to that rule.
He?s Randy Moss without the attitude, making great catches via a long body and uncanny ball skills that leave players like 2010 first-round pick Joe Haden helpless when trying to stop him.
Green?s three-catch, 110-yard performance against Cleveland included a 51-yard play that set up the game-winning field goal.? After the 7-4 Bengals reversed a two-game losing streak by beating the Browns, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis gave Green the ultimate endorsement.
?He?s the best first-round draft pick I?ve ever been around,? Marvin Lewis said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. ?He continues to amaze me, every day.?
How big of a deal is that?? In 1996, Marvin Lewis worked in Baltimore, where the Ravens picked up tackle Jonathan Ogden and linebacker Ray Lewis in the first round of the draft.
Both are headed for Canton.? In Marvin?s assessment, Green already is on the trajectory.
And Marvin is right.
4.? Chris Johnson saves his job.
The bad news for Titans tailback Chris Johnson after a 23-carry, 190-yard performance against the Bucs?? He still doesn?t have the explosiveness he displayed during the first three years of his career.
The good news?? He?ll get the chance to find it in 2012.
Although the Titans retain the ability to avoid most of the supposedly guaranteed money contained in Johnson?s new contract by cutting him after the season, Johnson has done enough to persuade the Titans to stick with him.? With the benefit of a full offseason program and training camp and preseason, Johnson could rediscover the quality that puts him a step ahead of all running backs not named Adrian Peterson.
It may not happen, but the Titans surely won?t risk that it will happen with another team.
5.? The Tebowmania effect.
Lost in the impact that Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has on his teammates is the impact he possibly has on his opponents.? (And, no, I?m not referring to the entirely different kind of Tebowing in which Chargers kicker Nick Novak engaged on Sunday.)
Despite the obsession that some have with statistics, football remains the unique product of 22 moving parts, fueled more by intangibles than metrics, especially where the metrics tend to balance each other out.? If 11 of the players possess genuine confidence in their skills, they can perform better than the sum of their parts.? And if they lack confidence, the opposite can occur.
That?s the other side of the Tebowmania effect.? The Broncos now believe that they can keep games close and find a way to win ? and teams like the Chargers believe that the Broncos will keep games close and find a way to win.
With each passing week, the team that Tebow plays will have to overcome his uncanny ability to overcome.? And that factor is far more dangerous than a rocket arm or a sub-4.4 40-yard dash or the ability to bench press 225 pounds up to 225 times.
Objectively, there was no reason that the Broncos should have beaten the Chargers in San Diego on Sunday.? The home team had lost five games in a row, the head coach occupies one of the hottest seats in all of football, and the Chargers on paper seem to be the better team.
But the Tebowmania effect allowed Denver to keep it close ? and to find a way to win.? Unless and until someone breaks that spell, the Broncos will remain a serious threat not only to make the playoffs but also to do some serious damage once they get there.
6.? ?Fire Andy,? and then what?
The pitchforks and torches, which have been taken out and then put away and then taken out again and then put away again, are once again out.? And this time they?re likely staying out for the rest of the season.
With the 4-7 Eagles needing to run the table and hope for plenty of help, what happens if (when) they fail to qualify for the postseason?? The home crowd has begun chanting ?Fire Andy!,? an indignity that hasn?t been loudly foisted upon anyone in the NFL since Matt Millen left Detroit for good.? Given that the Eagles went ?all in? for 2011, with president Joe Banner telling PFT Live that the line between success and failure resides at winning the Super Bowl, common sense suggests that failing to succeed means walking away from the table, not getting another stack of chips with which to go ?all in? again.
So what happens if Reid gets fired?? Does owner Jeffrey Lurie believe he can find someone as good, and hopefully better, than Reid?
Then there?s the issue of the front office.? With Reid supposedly still in charge, Banner and G.M. Howie Roseman could be vulnerable if Lurie tries to hire someone like Bill Cowher, who would want to have the same power that Reid has enjoyed, along with the ability to hire a new set of lieutenants.
It becomes a complex and risky exercise for Lurie, making the status quo safer, and thus more likely.? Even though things haven?t gotten better under Reid lately, they could get a lot worse.
7.? Lame-duck reluctance could result in plenty of vacancies.
Through nearly 12 full weeks of the 2011 season, no teams have fired their head coaches.? Once the 2011 season ends, at least six coaches will slide into the spotlight, for one very important reason.
For coaches whose contracts expire after the 2012 season, teams must decide whether to extend the contracts, to allow them to coach as lame ducks next year, or to move on and/or move out.
That dynamic applies to at least a half-dozen men:? Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo, Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris, Chiefs coach Todd Haley, Colts coach Jim Caldwell, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, and Giants coach Tom Coughlin.? Five of the six lost on Sunday, and the last one could lose on Monday night at New Orleans.
Over the past four weeks, those teams have generated a combined record of 5-20.? Apart from the Giants, none are in serious contention for the postseason.
So when Black Monday (not to be confused with Black Friday) arrives the morning after New Year?s Day, pay close attention to those six teams.? Assuming that none of them decide before then to make a change.
8.? Niners are still in great shape.
It would be easy to assume that the 49ers? bubble has burst, via a 10-point loss in Baltimore on Thanksgiving night.
It would be easy.? But it also would be incorrect.
Look at the schedule and the standings.? The 9-2 Niners still play four games ? four games ? against NFC West teams.? And they play the hapless Rams not once, but twice.
Even if the 49ers lose to the visiting Steelers in San Fran on Monday, December 19, the 49ers easily should get to 13-3, which would be enough to secure the second seed in the NFC.
Yes, at some point they may face another defense that could chase Alex Smith all over the field.? But that may not happen unless they face the Bears in the postseason ? or until the 49ers take on the the Ravens again, not in Baltimore but at a neutral site in February.
Either way, the 49ers will continue to be a significant factor down the stretch.? If anything, that loss knocks them toward the edge of the radar screen in the short term, which is probably where coach Jim Harbaugh would prefer to be anyway.
9.? The DeSean dilemma.
Regardless of whether Andy Reid stays or goes, the Eagles have a significant personnel issue on the horizon:? What should they do with receiver DeSean Jackson?
He?ll be a free agent after the season.? In recent weeks, Jackson has been deactivated after missing a meeting, flagged for a taunting penalty that wiped out a 50-yard gain (thanks to a bizarre quirk in the rules), and benched in the fourth quarter of Sunday?s latest loss, following another key drop.
Once presumed the Eagles would use the franchise tag in the hopes of signing Jackson to a long-term deal, the team may now opt to make a change.? But that doesn?t mean they?ll let him walk away.? Instead, look for the Eagles to apply the franchise tag (which will cost $9.5 million in cap space), to make him available in trade, to search for a replacement via free agency or the draft, and possibly to rescind the franchise tender if they can?t move him ? and if they can find another guy to return punts and run ?go? routes.
The risk of that approach comes from Jackson signing the franchise tender, which would guarantee him a base salary of $9.5 million in 2012; it equates to more than 15.8 times his $600,000 base salary in 2011.? And that would be Jackson?s smartest move, if he?s tagged.? Otherwise, the Eagles could end up removing the franchise tender later in the offseason (like they previously did to Jeremiah Trotter and Corey Simon), making Jackson an unrestricted free agent well after the vast majority of the unrestricted free agency money has flowed.
For that reason alone, the Eagles possibly could decide not to apply the franchise tag at all, something that would be more likely to happen if owner Jeffrey Lurie decides to clean house.
10.? ?Bowe doesn?t know football.?
Last night?s far-closer-than-expected game between the Steelers and Chiefs included a late effort by the Chiefs to drive for the winning touchdown.? Unthinkable given Kansas City?s recent inability to score offensive touchdowns but not impossible given Pittsburgh?s recent history of giving up big drives late, the Chiefs made it interesting.
Until receiver Dwayne Bowe blew it.
With the Chiefs facing first and 15 from the Pittsburgh 37, Bowe shot down the field, throwing his hand in the air ? the universal football gesture that means, ?I?m going deep.?
But then, right after Bowe called for a long throw, he broke to the post.? Tyler Palko already had launched toward where Bowe would have been.? And it landed where a Steelers defender was.
Making things worse for the Chiefs, and for Bowe, was a half-hearted (hoof-hearted) effort to catch the ball.? Bowe jumped but he didn?t extend, possibly wary of a rib-breaking blow to the midsection.
Bowe?s effort, or lack thereof, drew harsh criticism from NBC?s Cris Collinsworth, a former receiver who has the experience and the knowledge to justify criticism of a current player at the position.? And for a guy like Bowe, who?ll be heading to free agency after the season, a better try needs to be made in those situations.
It?s not as if a victory last night would have propelled the Chiefs back into the race for the AFC West crown or a wild-card berth, but it could have.? The loss instead dropped Kansas City to 4-7, making it difficult if not impossible for the Chiefs to qualify for the postseason and/or for coach Todd Haley to keep his job.
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New home sales rise 1.3 percent in October (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? New single-family home sales rose in October and the supply of homes on the market fell to its lowest level since April of last year, showing some healing in the battered housing sector.
The Commerce Department on Monday said that sales edged up 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 307,000-unit annual rate, which was the fastest pace in five months yet still below analysts' expectations.
The supply of new homes in the market would last 6.3 months at the current pace of sales.
The data fueled hopes the market for homes could at least be bottoming out following the previous decade's boom and bust in the housing sector.
"This looks like a bottom. The market is stabilizing," said Gregory Miller, an economist at Suntrust Bank in Atlanta.
Prices for U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on hopes that fresh proposals could be emerging out of Europe to help solve the region's debt crisis.
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Graphic - US new home sales: http://link.reuters.com/dym35s
Graphic - U.S. Midwest manufacturing: http://link.reuters.com/gem35s
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Europe's troubles are casting a pall over the economic outlook in the United States, which has made strides since the summer thanks to strong factory output and improved consumer spending.
Retail sales soared over the Thanksgiving weekend as shoppers scooped up discounted merchandise. Sales were record $52.4 billion, a 16.4 percent jump over the prior year, raising hopes consumer spending would be strong over the holiday season.
But falling home prices and tighter credit continue to be the bane of the recovery, which has progressed with fits and starts since the 2007-2009 recession.
The median sales price dropped 0.5 percent in October to $212,300, the lowest in a year, the Commerce Department said.
Falling prices could hamper the housing market by making buyers see homes as a bad investment. Still, compared to October last year, the median price was up 4.0 percent.
A housing market recovery has been frustrated by a glut of unsold properties and an unemployment rate that has been stuck around 9 percent.
Without a steady supply of credit and at least stable prices, a turnaround in the housing sector could still be some time away.
In a bid to shore up the sector, the government last month expanded its refinancing program to help homeowners who owe more than their houses are worth.
September's sales pace was revised slightly down to 303,000 units from the previously reported 313,000 units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales at a 315,000-unit rate. In the 12 months through October, new home sales are up 8.9 percent.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has held short-term interest rates at nearly zero since 2008 and has expanded its balance sheet in a bid to get credit to businesses and households.
That has helped bring 30-year mortgage rates to record lows. The problem is that even with low rates, many would-be borrowers still cannot get a loan.
(Additional reporting by Richard Leong in New York)
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11.11.27 14:30 COMMUNITY EVENT - BINGO - Sunday November 27, 2011 starting at 2:30 pm @ Knights of Columbus Hall
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Egyptians vote in 1st elections since uprising
CAIRO?? Voting began on Monday in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising nine months ago.
The ballot is a milestone many Egyptians hope will usher in a democratic age after decades of dictatorship.
In the nine months since a revolt ended the ex-president's 30-year rule, political change in Egypt has faltered, with the military apparently more focused on preserving its power and privilege than on fostering any democratic transformation.
But the vote has already has been marred by turmoil in the streets, and the population is sharply polarized and confused over the nation's direction.
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Still, the vote promises to be the fairest and cleanest election in Egypt in living memory. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best organized group, along with its Islamist allies are expected to do well in the vote.
Voters stood in long lines outside some polling centers in Cairo well before they opened at 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET), a rare sign of interest in political participation after decades of apathy created by the mass rigging of every vote.
"We are very happy to be here and to be part of the election," said Wafa Zaklama, 55, voting for the first time in a parliamentary election. "What was the point before?" she asked.
Video: Cairo protesters attempt to block new prime minister (on this page)"I am voting for freedom. We lived in slavery. Now we want justice in freedom," said 50-year-old Iris Nawar as she was about to vote in the district of Maadi, a Cairo suburb.
"We are afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood. But we lived for 30 years under Mubarak, we will live with them too," said Nawar, a fist-time voter.
'No fanatics'
In the upscale neighborhood of Zamalek, some 500 voters waited in line outside a polling station at a school. Shahira Ahmed, 45, was there with her husband and daughter. Like Nawar, Ahmed had never cast a ballot before.
"I never voted because I was never sure it was for real. This time, I hope it is, but I am not positive. The most important thing is to have a liberal and a civilized country, I mean no fanatics," she said, alluding to the Islamists, who hope their domination of the next parliament will bring them closer to realizing their dream of creating an Islamic Egypt.
Story: Egypt's military ruler says nation at crossroads ahead of electionMany parties have been set up in recent months after Mubarak's ouster. Under the former president, polls were routinely rigged and his National Democratic Party repeatedly secured sweeping majorities in parliament.
The first phase of voting Monday and Tuesday includes Cairo and Alexandria. The staggered voting system means the election to the lower house will not be completed till January 11. Voters pick a mixture of party lists and individual candidates.
Oppressed under Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties stood aloof from those challenging army rule, unwilling to let anything obstruct elections that may open a route to political power previously beyond their reach.
Silent majority?
It is not clear whether voters will punish them for that or whether the Brotherhood's disciplined organization will enable its newly formed Freedom and Justice Party to triumph over the welter of lesser-known parties and individuals in the race.
A high turnout among Egypt's 50 million eligible voters could throw up surprises, perhaps revealing whether a silent majority favors stability or the radical overhaul demanded by the youthful protesters who overthrew Mubarak.
Slideshow: Protests continue in Egypt (on this page)Shadi Hamid, research director at the Doha Brookings Center, said the parliamentary vote phased over weeks until January 10 was the first real benchmark of progress in Egypt's transition.
"It will also tell us how much Egyptians are invested in this political process. If turnout is low, it will mean there is widespread disaffection among Egyptians and they don't believe that real change is possible through the electoral process."
American filmmaker in Cairo tells of arrest ordealParliament's lower house will be Egypt's first nationally elected body since Mubarak's fall, and those credentials alone may enable it to dilute the military's monopoly of power.
The military had envisaged that once upper house polls are completed in March, parliament would pick a constituent assembly to write a constitution to be approved by a referendum before a presidential election. That would have let the generals stay in power until late 2012 or early 2013.
Video: Freed American student: ?It was very scary? (on this page)The faster timetable agreed under pressure from the street has thrown up many questions about how the process will unfold and how much influence the army will retain behind the scenes.
The United States and its European allies, which have long valued Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, have urged the generals to step aside swiftly, apparently seeing them as causing, not curing instability in the most populous Arab nation.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45459377/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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Hatzolah Controversy: Group of Orthodox Jewish Women Seek To Join All-Male EMT Corps In NYC
NEW YORK -- Most Orthodox Jewish women avoid touching men except direct relatives. They don't sit next to men on buses or even at weddings. They have separate swimming hours at indoor pools. But for an emergency birth, Orthodox Jewish women will usually turn to the all-male volunteer ambulance corps known as Hatzolah.
Now a group of women in one of the country's largest Orthodox Jewish communities is proposing to join up with Hatzolah as emergency medical technicians to respond in cases of labor or gynecological emergencies.
The proposal for a women's division has stirred up criticism within Orthodox Jewish circles, with one well-known blog editorializing that it amounts to a "new radical feminist agenda." And when a prominent elected local official, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, spoke about it on his weekly radio show, he was criticized for even bringing the subject up.
Rachel Freier, a Hasidic attorney who is representing the women in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, said there is a need for emergency services that adhere to the community's customs of modesty, calling for the sexes to avoid physical contact unless they are related.
"It has nothing to do with feminism," Freier said. "It has to do with the dignity of women and their modesty."
She is careful to avoid framing the proposal as a critique of Hatzolah, whose work she says they respect. Instead, she says it is a matter of reclaiming a "job that has been the role of women for thousands of years" ? that of midwife. "We are so proud of Hatzolah," she said. But, she added, "they can't understand what a woman feels like when she is in labor."
The volunteer ambulance corps was founded by Rabbi Herschel Weber in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the 1960s in response to a perceived delay in responding to emergency calls made by Jewish communities. Today Hatzolah, a Hebrew word that translates as "rescue" or "relief," has dozens of affiliates around the world, each of them operating independently and often in close coordination with the community they serve. Policies, such as whether women can volunteer, are usually set locally by each affiliate.
It is unclear how many Hatzolah affiliates allow women to volunteer. But in Israel, for instance, United Hatzalah, which responds to more than 112,500 calls per year, has volunteers who are both male and female, as well as secular and religious, according to its website.
And the new division being proposed in Brooklyn by the women Freier represents ? it would be known as the Ezras Nashim, Hebrew for "women's section" ? would be modeled after a program created more than a year ago in New Square, N.Y., a small, insular Orthodox Jewish community in New York City's northern suburbs.
But a program for women, with women volunteers, in Borough Park would be far more ambitious in scope and size. Besides being one of the biggest Orthodox Jewish communities in the country, if not the world, the neighborhood had the city's highest birth rate in 2009 with 26.7 per 1,000 people, according to the Department of Health. That is a lot of babies that need to be delivered.
Yocheved Lerner, 49, is one of the women who would like to work as a volunteer for a newly formed all-women Hatzolah division in Brooklyn.
A state-certified emergency medical technician and mother herself, she said her group has a list of about 200 trained Orthodox Jewish women who could respond to medical calls in the neighborhood.
"There are strict rules between men and women, except in the case of Hatzolah," she said. "The problem is that any number of men might respond to a call on Hatzolah." That has been a source of "tremendous embarrassment" for some women, she said.
"It's quite unfortunate that it's been the case when seven or eight men have responded to a woman in labor call," she said. "If birth is imminent, that's how many people are watching. And it's a very, very troubling situation for a woman."
She said a core group of about five women had spearheaded the proposal and that it is drawing wider support. She emphasized that in no way did they want to or expect to work alongside the men of Hatzolah, suggesting they could have their own ambulances available to them.
"We don't want to be socializing with the men of Hatzolah," she said.
Chevra Hatzalah, a registered nonprofit, serves much of metropolitan New York City, including Borough Park. They dispatch about 50,000 calls a year and have 1,200 volunteers, said its CEO, Rabbi David Cohen.
Interviewed recently about the women's proposal, Cohen said he had not heard from the group of women directly but had read about their proposal.
Nevertheless, he declined to answer specific questions about it.
"I really haven't talked to the people. I don't know what they want exactly," he said, adding that Hatzolah's four-member rabbinical board released an internal memo saying that they should not engage in discussions on the matter.
He said a similar proposal had been rejected about 25 years ago ? and that nothing had changed since then. "We have an internal statement basically saying we are continuing our policy," he said.
Heshy Jacobs, a member of Chevra Hatzalah's executive board, told the popular Orthodox Jewish blog Vos Iz Neias that adding women could affect response time.
"There are many things at which women are superior, but when it comes to speed and physical strength, which are both of the essence in a medical emergency, it is a proven fact that men have an advantage," Jacobs told VIN News in September. "Additionally we already have systems in place to get our responders in place as quickly as possible. ...By introducing women into the scenario, you are adding another layer to the process and you are talking about a situation where a delay of seconds can literally cost lives."
Renee Ghert-Zand, a contributor to a blog on women's issues, Sisterhood, published by the Jewish publication the Forward, said the refusal to allow women to volunteer for Hatzolah was an example of discrimination against women.
"Women have been increasingly marginalized from public life and from public view under the pretext of modesty," she said. "They're saying it's not modest for women to give emergency care. I see absolutely no reason why that should not happen. There are women who are trained in the medical profession."
Freier said in an email that she had attempted to reach Hatzolah's CEO and set up a meeting for July or August. "The initial plan was for me to meet with Hatzolah and explain the need for women to join," she said. However, I was told that the policy of women not joining Hatzolah was set years ago."
Undeterred, she said she is discussing the matter with rabbinical leaders in the community.
"We're just trying to make a great organization even better," she said. "We're not filing a complaint. We're coming with a suggestion."
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Obama administration, GAO appear to have ignored group???s ACORN affiliation to award $700K (Daily Caller)
A newly released internal audit?appears to indicate that the Government Accountability Office and President Barack Obama?s Department of Housing and Urban Development incorrectly argued that a specific organization wasn?t ACORN-affiliated.
HUD?s office of general counsel and the GAO have both claimed that Affordable Housing Centers of America, or AHCOA, is not affiliated with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. AHCOA formerly called itself ACORN Housing, but changed its name after the 2009 ACORN meltdown.
The Obama administration has awarded more than $700,000 in taxpayer funds to AHCOA despite a 2010 law stipulating that no taxpayer funds could be awarded to ACORN ?or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations.?
The previously confidential internal audit report, from NeighborWorks America, shows that contrary to what the GAO and the Obama administration contend, AHCOA is far too close to ACORN to receive taxpayer funding. In fact, NeighborWorks America ? a nonprofit group that doles out taxpayer funds ? decided against sending cash to AHCOA because of the internal audit report it conducted.
?Although AHC and ACORN might be incorporated as separate entities in form and structure, the financial transactions noted below evidence extensive relationships between both organizations that may undermine claims of an ?arm?s length relationship? between them,? the NeighborWorks America auditors wrote.
Even so, the GAO issued a September 2010 letter giving the Obama administration cover to legally provide AHCOA with taxpayer cash.
That GAO opinion became official policy at the end of September 2011 because no members of Congress challenged it. The GAO then reaffirmed its opinion that AHCOA isn?t ACORN-affiliated in a June 2011 report, in which it cites the previously confidential internal audit report.
That means the GAO was well aware of this NeighborWorks America internal audit report while it was finalizing its ruling that will now allow what appears to be a former ACORN affiliate to continue receiving taxpayer funding through a loophole.
NeighborWorks America has subsequently decided it will not be providing funding to AHCOA.
According to June 2011 emails The Daily Caller has obtained, NeighborWorks America representatives informed Congress this past summer that even though the Obama administration and GAO said it?s okay to fund AHCOA, because of that internal audit report, the organization would not be giving money to AHCOA. That?s because NeighborWorks America didn?t want to break the law.
NeighborWorks America isn?t a government agency, but it acts like one in how it disburses taxpayer funds. NeighborWorks America?s board of directors includes several members of the Obama administration, too, and though it?s a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Congress created it.
One of the board members, Raphael Bostic, is Obama?s assistant secretary of policy development and research at HUD. Because he?s on NeighborWorks? board while he serves in the administration, Bostic likely had access to the aforementioned internal audit report, and could?ve provided it to Obama?s senior officials at HUD. It?s unclear what level of influence Bostic has in HUD?s office of general counsel and it?s unclear whether he discussed the internal audit with his superiors at Obama?s HUD.
Investigative organization Cause of Action forced NeighborWorks America to finally release the internal audit report in late November 2011. But, since its release came after the one-year deadline that hit at the end of September 2011, the GAO ruling stands indefinitely.
Cause of Action executive director Daniel Epstein told TheDC that he?s worried about political motivations behind NeighborWorks America?s board members keeping the internal audit report confidential until after the GAO ruling was finalized.
Epstein said Obama administration officials sympathetic to ACORN?s cause, who sit on the NeighborWorks America board, might have intentionally withheld the report from the public until AHCOA was cleared and legally allowed to receive taxpayer funding despite its close ties to ACORN.
Epstein had requested the report be made public before the GAO deadline, something that NeighborWorks America officials failed to do. Epstein is suspicious that some kind of malfeasance took place within NeighborWorks America and has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the organization to find any and all internal communications regarding its release of the report.
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