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Friday, March 29, 2013
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Marriage debate revives questions about high court role as social change-maker
By Tom Curry, National Affairs Writer, NBC News
Underneath all the arcane legal fencing in this week?s Supreme Court oral arguments on marriage lies a basic question: Why should the justices take on the job of redefining marriage laws for the nation?
Is it the best venue for making decisions that could fundamentally change social institutions such as marriage? Is it the courts, in the person of unelected life-tenured justices? Or is it the democratic process in the states and in Congress?
The Supreme Court appeared ready to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act during Wednesday's oral arguments but it was a different story for Prop. 8 with Justices signaling that they may take a narrow approach to avoid setting a national precedent on the issue of same-sex marriage. California Attorney General Kamala Harris discusses.
At least some elected officials, including President Barack Obama and many Democratic members of Congress are saying to the high court: ?You decide this.?
Even some Democratic members of Congress, such as Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who voted for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)?defining marriage as ?a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife,? told the high court in their amicus brief that they?d made a big mistake in 1996 -- and now they want the justices to fix it.
But at least some of the justices are pushing back and saying to the politicians: ?Why don?t you decide this??
Justice Samuel Alito said to Solicitor General Donald Verrilli?on Tuesday as Verrilli?was urging the court to strike down California's traditional marriage definition: ?You want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution which is newer than cellphones or the Internet??
Alito said that he and his fellow justices ?do not have the ability to see the future,? implying that they shouldn?t be the lawmakers for American society.
This week North Dakota became the latest state to challenge Roe v. Wade ? moving to ban abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy. On the heels of Arkansas and other states chipping away at abortion access, those caught up in the debate think abortion could soon be headed back to the Supreme Court. Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards discusses.
The court does have experience in overriding decisions made by the people and their elected representatives and spurring fundamental social change ? for example, the Brown v. Board of Education decision that ordered an end to racial segregation in public schools in 1954 and the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized most abortions nationwide.
Whether the court wants the job of social change-maker on marriage remains to be seen.
It may hinge on Justice Anthony Kennedy?s view of Section 3 of DOMA. If Kennedy and his colleagues strike down Section 3, then, as Verrilli said, it is ?difficult? to see how laws in the 38 states that define marriage almost exactly as Section 3 does would survive court challenges.
Both Charles Cooper, the lawyer defending California?s traditional marriage law before the court on Tuesday, and Paul Clement on Wednesday defending section 3 of DOMA, pleaded with the justices to let the democratic process work.
?Persuasion,? Clement said in his closing argument. ?That's what the democratic process requires. You have to persuade somebody you're right? That's going on across the country. Colorado, the state that brought you Amendment 2 (which essentially banned gay rights in the state in 1992), has just recognized civil unions. Maine, that was pointed to in the record in this case as being evidence of the persistence of discrimination because they voted down a statewide (same-sex) referendum, the next election cycle it came out the other way.?
Clement implied that the political momentum is all in the direction of gay and lesbian rights.
But he omitted mention of North Carolina, which last May became the thirtieth state in the union to amend its constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages. Three out of five North Carolina voters voted for the amendment.
Chief Justice Roberts also seemed to making a case for the court staying out of the fray, implying that gays and lesbians are powerful enough to get politicians? attention.
In an allusion to recent same-sex marriage endorsements by politicians such as Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Roberts told lawyer Roberta Kaplan -- representing Edith Windsor, who is seeking to have DOMA overturned -- that ?political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your side of the case.?
He told Kaplan that ?the political force and effectiveness of people representing, supporting your side of the case? had led to laws being changed in nine states to allow same-sex couples to marry.
He asked ?You don't doubt that the lobby supporting the enactment of same sex-marriage laws in different states is politically powerful, do you??
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
George Washington University students and hundreds of others rally outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments in a case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) March 27, 2013 in Washington, DC.
Kaplan disagreed. Her argument and the Obama administration?s rests partly on a contention that gays and lesbians are a politically powerless minority.
In his brief, Verrilli?wrote that ?the final consideration is whether gays and lesbian people are ?a minority or politically powerless.? They are both.? If gays are powerless and are what the courts call ?a suspect class,? then?it is easier to strike down laws that affect them under Supreme Court precedents.
Evidence that gays and lesbians aren?t powerless is that politicians such as Hagan, who is up for re-election next year in a state that just banned same-sex marriages, are now not shy about joining the same-sex marriage cause.
But to say it?s no longer too politically risky for Hagan in North Carolina to endorse the right of same-sex couples to marry is not the same as saying there are now the votes in North Carolina to rescind the marriage law which voters enacted just last year.
Putting national polls aside for the moment, it may be useful to look at the pattern of voting in states where real, flesh-and-blood voters have recently voted on marriage.
Maryland voters last November approved a referendum that allows gay and lesbian couples to marry. The vote was 52.4 percent to 47.6 percent ? this is in a state that Obama carried with 62 percent.
The pattern reflected the long-standing urban/rural split in politics; urban and suburban counties such as Montgomery County, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., approved the measure. Two-thirds of Montgomery County voters voted for it.
But in rural counties such as Harford County, the measure was defeated. It was also narrowly defeated in predominantly African-American Prince George?s County in the Washington suburbs.?
The pattern in the state of Washington, where voters last November approved a measure legalizing same-sex marriage, was the same. In suburban Snohomish County, 53 percent of voters voted for legal recognition of same-sex marriages; just across the mountains in rural Chelan County, 57 percent of voters rejected same-sex marriages.
Many of the 38 states that have traditional marriage laws have conservative electorates that more closely resemble rural counties' electorates than urban ones.?It may be, as Clement argued, that momentum will eventually move people in those 38 states to OK same-sex marriages, or it may be that Kennedy and his colleagues won?t wait, and will decide the question for them.
Related:
Supreme Court likely to advance gay marriage but stop short of broad ruling
Shifts on same-sex marriage come from surprising groups
Obama on rights of gay couples: 'It is time for the justices to examine this issue'
This story was originally published on Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:54 AM EDT
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Creepy Critters in Sensitive Places: How Science Reporters Get Your Attention
We're not as daring as Magellan (who died) or Columbus (who went crazy) or Henry Hudson (who froze), but in our dainty little way, we take astonishing risks. Well, maybe not astonishing. Maybe just embarrassing.
Some of the best science reporters, like the best Vaudevillians, the best circus performers, the best teachers, are hungry for attention ? not for themselves (well, maybe a little), but for a way to seize your mind, to bring you to an idea, a creature, a puzzle. We are a strange bunch, shy, desperate, ferocious ? we want you to know what we know, meet who we've met.
Here's a perfect example. I've got this friend, Destin, who is not even a fully-employed science reporter (though he's about to be). By day, he tests rockets for the U.S. Defense Department in Huntsville, Ala., but the rest of the time he explores physics, biology and explodes things, blowing up anything and everything (while, of course, wearing safety glasses ? because, as I said, we may look crazy, but we're dainty on the inside). He does his reporting on his own YouTube channel, called Smarter Every Day. He's his own cameraman, reporter, narrator, money-raiser and nuisance to his long-suffering wife.
Doing What Must Be Done
Recently, he took himself on a trip to the Amazon rainforest, accompanied by a gang of, you should excuse the expression, "frat boy" types (scientists, I suppose), who took him to a hole, literally a hole in a mound of mud or dirt deep in the forest. In that hole, they knew, was a tailless whip scorpion, a big, scary, frightening-looking multi-legged beast who is clearly, VERY CLEARLY, making Destin extremely uncomfortable. Lots of people get the creeps near spiders, which is what these are (though six-legged, they've got two more limbs up front, making them "amblypygids," part of the spider family). But true to our code (Explore, Describe, Pee in Your Pants) Destin has his Encounter. Yes, his eyes are squinched shut, and he's barely breathing, but he's a Science Reporter, Doing What Must Be Done ... as you will see ... right here ...
By the way, (and this is why we don't belong with Columbus, Magellan or Henry Hudson), according to the scientists at The Wild Classroom, tailless whip scorpions "are completely harmless. They have no way of inflicting stings, or in any way hurting a human being. [They] do not have venom, and their formidable pedipalps [those claw-like limbs] are used solely for capturing small prey like tiny crickets crawling on tree trunks."
They don't even have tails. Tailless scorpions are like mouthless dragons. Very un-dangerous. Their Latin name, "amblypigid," means "blunt rump." So Destin was never in harm's way, not even slightly.
The Science Reporting Difference ...
But this is why we are different from those other show folks who make fiction TV and movies ? we show you the truth. Destin may be a coward, but he knows the animal is not his enemy. Heck, he even takes it home to its hole after their "date."
They didn't do that in the Harry Potter movies. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, features a tailless whip scorpion. Professor Mad-Eye Moody (the one with the magical eye) calls it "lethal" (hah!) and proceeds to torture the little guy until Hermione begs him to stop.
Dr. Moody may be a full professor at Hogwarts ? but he's no science reporter. We may not be pure-bred wizards, but we're made of truer stuff.
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Scientists find new gene markers for cancer risk
Vicki Gilbert sits on stone steps in Wiltshire, England in this undated photo made available by the family on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. In 2010, Gilbert was diagnosed with breast cancer and then found she carries the mutated BRCA1 gene which may make her pre-disposed to ovarian cancer. Gilbert decided to have ovaries removed to prevent the potential onset of further cancer, and her breast cancer is in remission. A huge international effort involving more than 100 institutions and genetic tests on 200,000 people has uncovered dozens of signposts in DNA that can help reveal further a person?s risk for breast, ovarian or prostate cancer, scientists reported Wednesday, March 27, 2013. It?s the latest mega-collaboration to learn more about the intricate mechanisms that lead to cancer. (AP Photo)
Vicki Gilbert sits on stone steps in Wiltshire, England in this undated photo made available by the family on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. In 2010, Gilbert was diagnosed with breast cancer and then found she carries the mutated BRCA1 gene which may make her pre-disposed to ovarian cancer. Gilbert decided to have ovaries removed to prevent the potential onset of further cancer, and her breast cancer is in remission. A huge international effort involving more than 100 institutions and genetic tests on 200,000 people has uncovered dozens of signposts in DNA that can help reveal further a person?s risk for breast, ovarian or prostate cancer, scientists reported Wednesday, March 27, 2013. It?s the latest mega-collaboration to learn more about the intricate mechanisms that lead to cancer. (AP Photo)
This undated photo provided by the family on Tuesday, March 26, 2013 shows Vicki Gilbert in Wiltshire, England. In 2010, Gilbert was diagnosed with breast cancer and then found she carries the mutated BRCA1 gene which may make her pre-disposed to ovarian cancer. Gilbert decided to have ovaries removed to prevent the potential onset of further cancer, and her breast cancer is in remission. A huge international effort involving more than 100 institutions and genetic tests on 200,000 people has uncovered dozens of signposts in DNA that can help reveal further a person?s risk for breast, ovarian or prostate cancer, scientists reported Wednesday, March 27, 2013. It?s the latest mega-collaboration to learn more about the intricate mechanisms that lead to cancer. (AP Photo)
NEW YORK (AP) ? A huge international effort involving more than 100 institutions and genetic tests on 200,000 people has uncovered dozens of signposts in DNA that can help reveal further a person's risk for breast, ovarian or prostate cancer, scientists reported Wednesday.
It's the latest mega-collaboration to learn more about the intricate mechanisms that lead to cancer. And while the headway seems significant in many ways, the potential payoff for ordinary people is mostly this: Someday there may be genetic tests that help identify women with the most to gain from mammograms, and men who could benefit most from PSA tests and prostate biopsies.
And perhaps farther in the future these genetic clues might lead to new treatments.
"This adds another piece to the puzzle," said Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research U.K., the charity which funded much of the research.
One analysis suggests that among men whose family history gives them roughly a 20 percent lifetime risk for prostate cancer, such genetic markers could identify those whose real risk is 60 percent.
The markers also could make a difference for women with BRCA gene mutations, which puts them at high risk for breast cancer. Researchers may be able to separate those whose lifetime risk exceeds 80 percent from women whose risk is about 20 to 50 percent. One doctor said that might mean some women would choose to monitor for cancer rather than taking the drastic step of having healthy breasts removed.
Scientists have found risk markers for the three diseases before, but the new trove doubles the known list, said one author, Douglas Easton of Cambridge University. The discoveries also reveal clues about the biological underpinnings of these cancers, which may pay off someday in better therapies, he said.
Experts not connected with the work said it was encouraging but that more research is needed to see how useful it would be for guiding patient care. One suggested that using a gene test along with PSA testing and other factors might help determine which men have enough risk of a life-threatening prostate cancer that they should get a biopsy. Many prostate cancers found early are slow-growing and won't be fatal, but there is no way to differentiate and many men have surgery they may not need.
Easton said the prospects for a genetic test are greater for prostate and breast cancer than ovarian cancer.
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide, with more than 1 million new cases a year. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer, with about 900,000 new cases every year. Ovarian cancer accounts for about 4 percent of all cancers diagnosed in women, causing about 225,000 cases worldwide.
The new results were released in 13 reports in Nature Genetics, PLOS Genetics and other journals. They come from a collaboration involving more than 130 institutions in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. The research was mainly paid for by Cancer Research U.K., the European Union and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Scientists used scans of DNA from more than 200,000 people to seek the markers, tiny variations in the 3 billion "letters" of the DNA code that are associated with disease risk.
The scientists found 49 new risk markers for breast cancer plus a couple of others that modify breast cancer risk from rare mutated genes, 26 for prostate cancer and eight for ovarian cancer. Individually, each marker has only a slight impact on risk estimation, too small to be useful on its own, Easton said. They would be combined and added to previously known markers to help reveal a person's risk, he said.
A genetic test could be useful in identifying people who should get mammography or PSA testing, said Hilary Burton, director of the PHG Foundation, a genomics think-tank in Cambridge, England. A mathematical analysis done by her group found that under certain assumptions, a gene test using all known markers could reduce the number of mammograms and PSA tests by around 20 percent, with only a small cost in cancer cases missed.
Among the new findings:
? For breast cancer, researchers calculated that by using all known markers, including the new ones, they could identify 5 percent of the female population with twice the average risk of disease, and 1 percent with a three-fold risk. The average lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about 12 percent in developed countries. It's lower in the developing world where other diseases are a bigger problem.
? For prostate cancer, using all the known markers could identify 1 percent of men with nearly five times the average risk, the researchers computed. In developed countries, a man's average lifetime risk for the disease is about 14 to 16 percent, lower in developing nations.
?Markers can also make a difference in estimates of breast cancer risk for women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations. Such women are rare, but their lifetime risk can run as high as 85 percent. Researchers said that with the new biomarkers, it might be possible to identify the small group of these women with a risk of 28 percent or less.
For patients like Vicki Gilbert of England, who carries a variation of the BRCA1 gene, having such details about her cancer risk would have made decision-making easier.
Gilbert, 50, found out about her genetic risk after being diagnosed with the disease in 2009. Though doctors said the gene wouldn't change the kind of chemotherapy she got, they suggested removing her ovaries to avoid ovarian cancer, which is also made more likely by a mutated BRCA1.
"They didn't want to express a definite opinion on whether I should have my ovaries removed so I had to weigh up my options for myself," said Gilbert, a veterinary receptionist in Wiltshire. "...I decided to have my ovaries removed because that takes away the fear it could happen. It certainly would have been nice to have more information to know that was the right choice."
Gilbert said knowing more about the genetic risks of cancer should be reassuring for most patients. "There are so many decisions made for you when you go through cancer treatment that being able to decide something yourself is very important," she said.
Dr. Charis Eng, chair of the Genomic Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, who didn't participate in the new work, called the breast cancer research exciting but not ready for routine use.
Most women who carry a BRCA gene choose intensive surveillance with both mammograms and MRI and some choose to have their breasts removed to prevent the disease, she said. Even the lower risk described by the new research is worrisomely high, and might not persuade a woman to avoid such precautions completely, Eng said.
___
AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng contributed to this report from London.
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
US swipes at China for hacking allegations
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. has taken its first real swipe at China following accusations that the Beijing government is behind a widespread and systemic hacking campaign targeting U.S. businesses.
Buried in a spending bill signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday is a provision that effectively bars much of the federal government from buying information technology made by companies linked to the Chinese government.
It's unclear what impact the legislation will have, or whether it will turn out to be a symbolic gesture. The provision only affects certain non-defense government agency budgets between now and Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends. It also allows for exceptions if an agency head determines that buying the technology is "in the national interest of the United States."
Still, the rule could upset U.S. allies whose businesses rely on Chinese manufacturers for parts and pave the way for broader, more permanent changes in how the U.S. government buys technology.
"This is a change of direction," said Stewart Baker, a former senior official at the Homeland Security Department now with the legal firm Steptoe and Johnson in Washington. "My guess is we're going to keep going in this direction for a while."
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he supports the restriction and doesn't think it would be too cumbersome for federal agencies. The Defense and Energy departments already are mindful of how its networks are built.
"Anything we can do to call awareness to the fact that we're continuing to be cyberattacked, we're continuing to lose jobs, and that billions of dollars in American money is being stolen," Ruppersberger said in an interview Wednesday.
In March, the U.S. computer security firm Mandiant released details on what it said was an aggressive hacking campaign on American businesses by a Chinese military unit. Since then, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has used high-level meetings with Beijing officials to press the matter. Beijing has denied the allegations.
Congressional leaders have promised to push comprehensive legislation that would make it easier for industry to share threat data with the government. But those efforts have been bogged down amid concerns that too much of U.S. citizens' private information could end up in the hands of the federal government.
As Congress and privacy advocates debate a way ahead, lawmakers tucked "section 516" into the latest budget resolution, which enables the government to pay for day-to day operations for the rest of the fiscal year. The provision specifically prohibits the Commerce and Justice departments, NASA and the National Science Foundation from buying an information technology system that is "produced, manufactured or assembled" by any entity that is "owned, operated or subsidized" by the People's Republic of China.
The agencies can only acquire the technology if, in consulting with the FBI, they determine that there is no risk of "cyberespionage or sabotage associated with the acquisition of the system," according to the legislation.
The move might sound like a no-brainer. If U.S. industry and intelligence officials are right, and China is stealing America's corporate secrets at a breathtaking pace, why reward Beijing with lucrative U.S. contracts? Furthermore, why install technical equipment that could potentially give China a secret backdoor into federal systems?
Last fall, Ruppersberger and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., released a report urging U.S. companies and government agencies to drop any business with Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei Technologies Ltd. and ZTE Corp. because of the security risks they pose.
"Any bug, beacon or backdoor put into our critical systems could allow for a catastrophic and devastating domino effect of failures throughout our networks," Rogers said in a statement accompanying the report.
But a blanket prohibition on technology linked to the Chinese government may be easier said than done. Information systems are often a complicated assembly of parts manufactured by different companies around the globe. And investigating where each part came from, and if that part is made by a company that could have ties to the Chinese government could be difficult.
Huawei, the third-largest maker of smartphones, says it is owned by its employees and rejects claims that it is controlled by the communist government or China's military.
Depending on how the Obama administration interprets the law, Baker said it also could cause problems for the U.S. with the World Trade Organization, whose members include U.S. allies like Germany and Britain that might rely on Chinese technology to build computers or handsets.
But in the end, Baker says it could make the U.S. government safer and wiser.
"We do have to worry about buying equipment from companies that may not have our best interests at heart," he said.
___
Follow Anne Flaherty on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AnneKFlaherty.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-swipes-china-hacking-allegations-185518359--finance.html
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Thursday, March 14, 2013
Patient Advocates, LLC Continues to Grow: Hires Covelli as Nurse ...
Published 'Wednesday, March 13th, 2013 at 11:07 am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:? Linda Varrell
Broadreach Public Relations
207-619-7350
lindav@broadreachpr.com
Patient Advocates, LLC Continues to Grow: Hires Covelli as Nurse Advocate
?
Gray, MAINE (March 13, 2013) ? Lynn Marie Covelli, RN of Portland recently joined Patient Advocates as a Nurse Advocate and Case Manager. Covelli?s new role involves assisting patients as they navigate the healthcare system, assuring access to the optimal level of care in a timely manner. In this capacity, Covelli will work with patients on managing their health situation and in many cases arranging for a second or even a third opinion for medical conditions, as well as coordinating visits and treatments at regional centers of excellence around the country.
?The demand for our services continues to grow, especially now with all of the changes taking place in the health care system,? said Jim Ward, President of Patient Advocates. ?Our clients simply want the right care at the right time ? and for it to be affordable. With Lynn?s background as a nurse educator and a health coach, she?ll be a tremendous resource for our growing client base.?
?It is rewarding to be associated with a company so focused on the needs of its patients,? said Covelli of her new position with Patient Advocates.
Covelli, a registered nurse, holds a bachelor?s of science in health and hospital management. Her background includes roles such as nurse educator, heath care insurance account manager and health coach.
About Patient Advocates
Patient Advocates, LLC (PA) has been helping clients navigate the healthcare system since 1995. Employers trust PA to help manage their costs while ensuring the highest quality of care for their employees. Built on the premise that access to the highest quality health care results in greater cost-savings over time, PA offers innovative patient advocacy and disease management services, award-winning wellness programs and creative benefit plan designs with third-party administration. www.patientadvocatesllc.com
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Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Scientists identify why some fathers are left holding the baby
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
A century old mystery as to why, for some animals, it's the father rather than the mother that takes care of their young has been cracked by scientists at the University of Sheffield and University of Bath.
Researchers from the University, in collaboration with the University of Bath and Veszpr?m (Hungary) found that role reversal was caused by an imbalance in the numbers of males relative to females.
The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Darwin noted in 1871 that in most animals, it is the females that spend most time looking after the young, whilst males focus on competing with each other for females.
Evolutionary biologists argued that this was due to the female investing significant amounts of energy in producing eggs, and in the case of mammals, giving birth, and so it is in their interests to ensure their offspring's survival by caring for them.
However, in some species, such as seahorses, the sex roles are reversed where the females produce the eggs but then leave it to their male mates to care for their offspring.
Dr Andr?s Liker, Marie Curie Research Fellow from the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, said: "Sex-role reversal has been a formidable puzzle for evolutionary biologists ever since Darwin. Our study is the first supporting the idea that sex ratio plays an important part in the evolution of role reversal."
The researchers studied birds where the sex roles were reversed and found there was a higher ratio of males to females in the population, compared with the usual situation where females care for offspring.
Professor Tam?s Sz?kely, Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Bath, explained: "The research group has investigated sex role reversal for over 20 years, and was extremely pleasing to see such a clear cut result.
"Mathematical models suggest that these animals' behaviour is strongly influenced by their social environment, and our findings support these predictions.
"When there are lots of males in a population, it's harder to find females, so it benefits males to stay with their mate and look after the young.
"However, the females often take advantage of this and leave the male holding the baby, whilst they go and find another mate."
Females in the sex role reversed species also take on the traditional male role of being bigger and compete with each other for males.
The role reversal isn't usually seen in mammals: since males can't produce milk it's not as easy for them to take over the parenting completely. However changes in sex role behaviour have been observed in humans when the sex ratio is imbalanced.
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University of Sheffield: http://www.shef.ac.uk
Thanks to University of Sheffield for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127269/Scientists_identify_why_some_fathers_are_left_holding_the_baby
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Richard (RJ) Eskow: A Smart and Principled Plan to End 'Too Big to Fail'
The CEO and Research Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas have written a clear, smart, and principled proposal for reforming our banking system, and for managing the moral and financial crises our too-big-to-fail banks have caused and perpetrated. The plan proposed by Richard Fisher and Harvey Rosenblum is clear, because it follows a simple three-point structure; smart, because it provides a comprehensive framework for reform; and principled,?because it restores several fundamental principles to our banking system, include the "free-market" principle which conservatives claim (often falsely) to hold so dear.
Their analysis of the problem is right on target: ?"A dozen megabanks today control almost 70% of the assets in the U.S. banking industry," write Fisher and Rosenblum, who go on to say that:
"...(T)he mere 0.2% of banks deemed "too big to fail" are treated differently from the other 99.8%, and differently from other businesses. Implicit government policy has made these institutions exempt from the normal processes of bankruptcy and creative destruction. Without fear of failure, these banks and their counterparties can take excessive risks."
As Attorney General Eric Holder made clear last week, they can also feloniously launder money for the drug cartels if they so choose, secure in the knowledge that the law won't touch them.
These banking behemoths continued to perform better than they should in the stock market, despite their record of fiscal mismanagement, executive errors, and institutional mendacity. ?Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, misled investors about the scope of the "London Whale" scandal, which lost billions for the bank after Dimon boasted of a superior risk management model which was ignored by the London unit (which reported to Dimon directly).
And yet JPMorgan Chase suffered no deep and lasting damage from these or other revelations. Grossly mismanaged institutions like Citigroup and Bank of America seem equally immune for their own flaws. Why? Because investors assume that these banks will be rescued, no matter how grossly mismanaged they may be, and their expectations are well-grounded in the experience of the last four years.
As Fisher and Rosenblum note, studies have shown that this expectation of government rescue is worth "as much as one percentage point, or some $50 billion to $100 billion annually, in the period surrounding the financial crisis."
Think of it as yet one more taxpayer bailout.
As the authors note, the Dodd/Frank bill doesn't address the fundamental and systemic problem this poses. Instead it tried to balance the public interest and those of mega-bank executives and became excessively complicated as a result. In places this has turned it into a Rube Goldberg-like contraption of regulatory complexity. The answer isn't to jettison banking regulation. ?The answer is smart, simple reform.
That's where Fisher and Rosenblum come in. First they would restrict government support - deposit insurance and the Fed's discount window - to traditional commercial banks. Remember them? They're the ones who lend money to people, and to businesses that hire people and sell goods and services to people. ?Principle No. 1 is therefore: Government banking assistance should go to bankers - not speculators, gamblers, or hedgers.
Next, say the authors, "customers, creditors and counterparties of all nonbank affiliates and the parent holding companies would sign a simple, legally binding, unambiguous disclosure acknowledging and accepting that there is no government guarantee--ever--backstopping their investment."
No more free rides for investors at government expense. Let the market decide how much it values Dimon's JPMorgan Chase, or Brian Moynihan's Bank of America, or the country's other cumbersome creations. The?principle? Free-market capitalism.
Lastly, the too-big-to-fail banks would "be restructured so that every one of their corporate entities is subject to a speedy bankruptcy process, and in the case of banking entities themselves, that they be of a size that is 'too small to save.'" As Alan Greenspan said (before it became clear there would be no penalty for grossly misreading the economy), "Too big to fail is too big to exist."
Will the Fisher/Rosenblum plan work? Our financial system's too complex to give that question a facile answer. But while the details might need to be fine-tuned, overall the answer is "yes." Their proposal outlines the continued urgency and gravity of our banking system's systemic flaws, and provides a framework for reform that should alter our national debate.
Will it alter that debate? Wall Street money and influence suffuses both our politics and our media, so the answer to that question remains to be seen. But the ideas presented by Fisher and Rosenblum should reshape our national conversation over the financial and moral failure of our current banking system.
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Follow Richard (RJ) Eskow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rjeskow
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Monday, March 11, 2013
War of words erupts in Afghanistan over US troop pullout
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel responds to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's statements in which Karzai accused the U.S. and Taliban with working together.
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By Mike Taibbi, Correspondent, NBC News
KABUL --?In his opening statement released at the start of his first Afghanistan visit since being named defense secretary, Chuck Hagel reminded everyone, ?We are still in a war.? By the time his official visit ended, after a planned joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was cancelled over ?security concerns,? it was clear that war?s second front, the war of words, was as volatile as ever.
The press conference cancellation was announced hours after Karzai had gone on national television with another blast of criticism over the U.S. role here. He said the U.S. and the Taliban were "negotiating daily," and working in concert to ensure that coalition combat forces would remain in Afghanistan beyond the scheduled pullout in 2014. Karzai added that two deadly suicide attacks Saturday?one explosion in Kabul that Hagel actually heard from his safe location more than a mile away?were intended by the Taliban to show that U.S. and coalition forces would not be able to withdraw as planned.
?Categorically false,? said the commander of coalition forces, U.S. General Joseph Dunford. A Taliban spokesman also rejected all of Karzai?s assertions unequivocally.
By Sunday night, Dunford was compelled to say the U.S. ?does not have a broken relationship (with Karzai),? or a lack of trust. And Hagel told reporters that as a former politician himself he ?can understand the kind of pressures national leaders are always under,? and that the two countries will be able to move forward together.
Still, the?dust-up?over the busted joint press conference was evidence of the stubborn distance yet to be covered?and that seems in some ways to be widening? between an emerging new Afghanistan and the U.S., its chief protector and stakeholder.
One illustration of that distance?the cancellation on Saturday, even as Hagel began his round of briefings, of the planned handover to Afghan control of the Parwan prison at Bagram Air Base. To the Karzai government the ceremony would be welcome evidence of his administration?s authority and autonomy. ?But the ceremony was spiked and delayed at least temporarily when it was learned the U.S. would insist that detainees it considered high risk or high value would not be included in the prisoner releases Karzai has said are essential if reconciliation with the Taliban is to go forward.
The Pentagon has canceled a scheduled joint press conference with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai citing security concerns. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
Another example of the stubborn distance between the Karzai government and its primary benefactor?Karzai?s order that U.S. and coalition special forces withdraw from the Kabul suburb of Wardak because of unconfirmed allegations of attacks and abusive tactics employed against civilians. Karzai had announced a two-week deadline for compliance with his order; it?s now two weeks later, with no evidence those special forces have retreated as ordered.
And Karzai?s new allegation Sunday that the U.S. and the Taliban are ?negotiating daily??in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban have set up an office, and elsewhere?was denied by both parties but was a signal too that the Afghan leader feels the endgame might be played out in forums and in discussions in which he won?t be the controlling voice.
Despite unequivocal denials by both the U.S. and a Taliban spokesman that any negotiations are taking place, Karzai did not back off his remarks when he met privately with Hagel after their press conference was called off and replaced by a mere photo op.
?I told him it was not true ... that the U.S. unilaterally is not working with the Taliban to negotiate anything,??Hagel later told reporters.
What would Karzai?s goal be in asserting the existence of a?back-channel?alliance between the U.S. and the Taliban?
?Political,? a NATO official said, asking not to be identified. ?I mean Karzai has always been a bit paranoid, and he?s got a control reflex that seems more apparent now, as he?s speaking to Afghans and to his legacy ? but these comments about the U.S. and the Taliban might end up killing all possibilities for real negotiations. It?s difficult to see where (Karzai) is going."
But though the Karzai/Hagel press conference was scrapped, the two sides did issue final statements of continued solidarity.
?We talked about everything (in our private meeting),? Hagel said, "I told him that he could and should call me directly if there?s anything I can do to facilitate the resolution of any of these issues."
Karzai?s chief spokesman, Aimal Faizi, said that both Hagel and General Dunford had been responsive to President Karzai?s views. ?They understand our concerns,? Faizi said. ?Hagel noted that both sides should learn from their mistakes.?
Related:
Karzai accuses U.S. and Taliban of conspiring to keep troops in Afghanistan
Blast rocks Kabul during Hagel visit
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Senate Democrats prepare government funding bill
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate Democrats are preparing a catchall government funding bill that denies President Barack Obama money for implementing signature first-term accomplishments like new regulations on Wall Street and his expansion of government health care subsidies but provides modest additional funding for domestic priorities like health research.
The measure expected to be released Monday is the product of bipartisan negotiations and is the legislative vehicle to fund the day-to-day operations of government through Sept. 30 ? and prevent a government shutdown when current funding runs out March 27.
Passage in the Senate this week would presage an end to a mostly overlooked battle between House Republicans and Obama and his Senate Democratic allies over the annual spending bills required to fund federal agency operations.
The bipartisan measure comes as Washington girds for weeks of warfare over the budget for next year and beyond as both House and Senate Budget Committees this week take up blueprints for the upcoming 2014 budget year.
The first salvo in that battle is coming from House Republicans poised to release on Tuesday a now-familiar budget featuring gestures to block "Obamacare," turn Medicare into a voucher-like program for future retirees and sharply curb Medicaid and domestic agency budgets. Such ideas are dead on arrival with Obama and Democrats controlling the Senate, but will ? in concert with new taxes on the wealthy enacted in January ? allow Republicans to propose a budget that would come to balance within 10 years.
"We think we owe the American people a balanced budget," House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said on "Fox News Sunday."
Senate Democrats are countering on Wednesday with a budget plan mixing tax increases, cuts to the Pentagon and relatively modest cuts to domestic programs. The measure would not reach balance, but it would undo automatic budget cuts that started taking effect this month and largely leaves alone rapidly growing benefit programs like Medicare.
"We need to make sure that everybody participates in getting us to a budget that deals with our debt and our deficit responsibly," Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Monday evening.
The upcoming debate over the long-term budgetary future promises to be stoutly partisan, even as Obama is undertaking outreach to rank-and-file Republicans in hopes of sowing the seeds for a bipartisan "grand bargain" on the budget this year after two failed attempts to strike agreement with House Speaker John Boehner. Obama's budget is already weeks overdue and Press Secretary Jay Carney deflected questions about it Monday, other than to promise that it would "for a period of time" bring deficits below 3 percent of gross domestic product, a measure that many analysts say is sustainable without damaging the economy.
The wrap-up spending bill for the half-completed fiscal year released Monday, however, is another matter entirely. It's a lowest common denominator approach that gives the Pentagon much-sought relief for readiness accounts but adds money sought by Democrats like Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., for domestic programs such as Head Start, health research, transportation and housing.
The Senate measure would award seven Cabinet departments ? including Defense, Commerce, justice, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs ? with their line-by-line detailed budgets, but would leave the rest of the government running on autopilot at current levels. All domestic agencies except for Veterans Affairs would then be subject to a 5 percent across-the-board cut while the Pentagon would bear an 8 percent cut.
Mikulski needs GOP votes to pass the measure through the Senate, which Democrats control with 55 votes but where 60 votes are required for virtually every piece of substantive legislation. Using their leverage, Republicans have denied a White House request for almost $1 billion to help set up state health-care exchanges to implement Obamacare as well as smaller requests for financial regulators to implement the 2010 Dodd-Frank law overhauling regulation of Wall St. and for the IRS to police tax returns.
It is hoped that the pre-negotiated Senate measure could return to the House ? which passed a different catchall spending bill last week ? and pass through that chamber unchanged and be sent on to Obama well in time to avert a politically disastrous government shutdown.
House Republicans weighed in strongly and successfully against a proposal by Mikulski to give the Obama administration greater flexibility to transfer funds between accounts to cope with the across-the-board spending cuts, known as sequestration. By law, the across-the-board cuts are supposed to be taken in equal measure from front-line programs like air traffic control, meat inspection and the Border Patrol and lower-priority items such as agriculture research and subsidies for airline travel to rural airports.
Even as many Republicans attack the administration for choices such as ending White House tours or canceling early snow removal from Yellowstone National Park, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee in particular fear that giving Obama greater flexibility would erode Congress' control over the federal purse, which is enshrined in the Constitution and zealously guarded.
Thirty-eight Senate Republicans voted last month to give Obama significant flexibility to manage the automatic cuts, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Richard Shelby of Alabama, the party's senior member on the Appropriations Committee.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-democrats-prepare-government-funding-bill-201027944--politics.html
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Beta ROM puts Sense 5 on your Droid DNA earlier than HTC expected
While plenty of Android users prefer the vanilla OS experience, manufacturer-created skins persist, like HTC's updated Sense 5 UI debuting on the latest One flagship. HTC's Droid DNA will almost certainly receive this new version in the future -- the handset maker has confirmed it's coming to the Butterfly, a DNA variant -- but if you're partial to flashing, you can get your fingers on it right now. XDA Developers member newtoroot clearly isn't lacking the expertise their handle suggests, and has taken to the site's forum to offer a beta build of Sense 5 for the DNA. Bear in mind it's a beta, but everything is said to working bar MMS and the new Zoe camera mode. If you've got the hardware, know your way around a ROM and are up for toying with HTC's latest skin, head to the source link for the file and thread.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, HTC
Via: PhoneArena
Source: XDA Developers
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/11/sense-5-beta-htc-droid-dna/
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Friday, March 8, 2013
Jury grills woman accused of Arizona lover's murder
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A woman accused of murdering her Arizona lover struggled on Wednesday to explain to a jury why she could not recall stabbing him repeatedly including several times from behind in a killing she says was in self-defense.
Jodi Arias, 32, could face the death penalty if convicted of murdering 30-year-old Travis Alexander, whose body was found in the shower of his Phoenix valley home in June 2008. He was shot in the face, stabbed 27 times and had his throat slit.
Arias said she killed him in self-defense after he attacked her when she dropped his camera while taking pictures of him in the shower.
The prosecutor argues the killing was premeditated, and that she stabbed Alexander in the back of the head and torso after shooting him.
The defense and prosecution have cross-examined Arias on the stand. On Wednesday Judge Sherry Stephens put to her dozens of questions from the jury, several of which focused on her claims that her mind went blank after she shot Alexander.
"I can't really explain why my mind did what it did, maybe because it was too horrible, I don't know. I really don't know the answer as to why I blacked out or have memory gaps for much of that day," Arias testified.
Arias has said the memory lapse began immediately after she shot Alexander, although she later recalled dropping the knife on the tile floor in the shower and driving away from the crime scene.
Asked by the jury if she had sought medical help or taken medication for her "memory issue," she replied that she had not.
Jurors also wanted to know more about Arias' actions on the day she said she killed Alexander, including why she had not called emergency responders.
"I don't have an adequate explanation for my state of mind following that, I just know that I believed something really bad had happened and I was scared," Arias, wearing glasses and a white blouse, told the court.
In several days of aggressive cross-examination on the stand, prosecutor Juan Martinez poked holes in Arias' testimony, pointing out conflicting accounts she gave to friends, family and police of her relationship with Alexander and his death.
After her arrest in July 2008, Arias, who is from California, at first denied being involved in the killing. She then told investigators that two intruders killed Alexander, before changing her story once again and admitting that she killed her lover in what she said was self-defense.
Stephens followed up on Wednesday with another juror question, wanting to know why Arias had not simply told the police the truth about the killing from the start.
"I was ... very scared," Arias replied. "Whether I was defending myself or not, I felt like it was wrong to kill somebody, regardless of the circumstances."
Following her arrest, Arias gave a television interview from jail in which she predicted that no jury would ever convict her because she was innocent. Jurors wanted to know why she had said it.
"I was very confident that no jury would convict me because I was going to be dead," Arias said, adding that she had planned to kill herself before the case came to trial.
"I assumed that I would be in the next life, where ... God is the ultimate judge," she said.
The trial, which began in January, continues on Thursday.
(Editing by Xavier Briand)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jury-grills-woman-accused-arizona-lovers-murder-031057694.html
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Dana White says Mark Hunt turned down UFC 160 fight with Junior dos Santos
Mark Hunt (9-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) had an opportunity to replace injured Alistair Overeem (36-12 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and fight Junior dos Santos (15-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) but turned it down, according to UFC President Dana White.Overeem bowed out of the UFC 160 bout on Wednesday due to a thigh injury, and as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported earlier today, White later said his fight with former heavyweight champ dos Santos will be rebooked for the summer.
But Hunt? White said he wasn't interested.
"Hey dummy Mark Hunt turned down the fight with JDS as of last night so STFU when u don't know what ur talkin about," White tweeted in response to one of his followers.
He then suggested a big fight could be in order for the New Zealand kickboxer, who recently demolished Stefan Struve in this past week's UFC on FUEL TV 8 co-headliner in Japan. It marked Hunt's fourth straight win and continued a recent career resurgence.
"With his win last week he broke into the top 10," White tweeted. "He will get a top 10 fight but as of last nite he turned down JDS."
On Wednesday Hunt told MMAFighting.com he was open to the May 25 fight with Dos Santos if offered. However, he declined comment today.
With Overeem's injury expected to sideline him weeks instead of months, his fight with Dos Santos likely will be rerouted to one of the UFC's big summer pay-per-view cards.
For more on the UFC's upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Mark Hunt) Edit this article
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Thursday, March 7, 2013
Alyson Hannigan gets 3-year restraining order
Toby Canham / Getty Images
By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor
For at least a few years, Alyson Hannigan can rest easier: According to the Associated Press, the "How I Met Your Mother" star has been granted a restraining order from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.
The order, which lasts for three years, is specific to a 43-year-old New Hampshire man named John Hobbs, who had threatened more than once on Facebook and fan sites to kill Hannigan and her husband, Alexis Denisof. Hobbs, 43, will now be prohibited from coming closer than 100 yards of Hannigan and her family, talking about her online or otherwise trying to contact her, E! Online added.
Last month, Hannigan petitioned for a temporary restraining order, noting that Hobbs was "mentally unstable," had a pistol permit and was on release from a mental hospital.?
"(I)n 2013 I still can marry you tomorrow. I can kill you tomorrow too. Cause I simply like and love you as you live life. Aly...It doesn't end. Even after death," a Facebook post from January 3 attributed to Hobbs read. It was included in the court filing.
Judge Carol Boas Goodson said that Hobbs agreed to the terms of the restraining order. Hannigan did not attend the hearing, and has not commented on the matter.
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Curiosity rover out of safe mode, still recovering
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ? NASA says the Curiosity rover is returning to normal after a computer problem limited its activities.
The space agency said Monday that the car-size rover exited safe mode over the weekend, meaning it suspends its science activities but is still in contact with Earth.
Curiosity is now preparing to resume its science experiments ? perhaps by next week.
Engineers still don't know what caused Curiosity's memory glitch.
The rover was in the middle of analyzing powder from a rock it recently drilled into.
Curiosity has been purposely taking it slow since it landed last year in an ancient crater near the Martian equator. Scientists still plan to order the rover to head toward a mountain in the middle of the crater. The trip is expected to take at least nine months.
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Prison Planet.com ? Special Report: Did US Cancer Weapon Kill ...
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
March 6, 2013
Could the Venezuelan leader?s death have been chemically induced by means of an exotic cancer bio-weapon? Paul Joseph Watson examines the evidence.
RELATED: Russian Leader Demands Investigation of Chavez? Death
This article was posted: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Tags: foreign affairs, war
8 Responses to ?Special Report: Did US Cancer Weapon Kill Hugo Chavez??
Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/special-report-did-us-cancer-weapon-kill-hugo-chavez.html
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A day of tears after Chavez death in Venezuela
People walk alongside the flag-draped coffin containing the body of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez from the hospital where he died, to a military academy where it will remain until his funeral in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Seven days of mourning were declared, all schools were suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected for an elaborate funeral Friday. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
People walk alongside the flag-draped coffin containing the body of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez from the hospital where he died, to a military academy where it will remain until his funeral in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Seven days of mourning were declared, all schools were suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected for an elaborate funeral Friday. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A supporter of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez holds images of him while the coffin containing his body passes in the street, from the hospital where he died on Tuesday to a military academy where it will remain until his funeral in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Seven days of mourning were declared, all schools were suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected for an elaborate funeral Friday. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Covered by objects placed on it by supporters, the coffin containing the body of Venezuela late President Hugo Chavez arrives to the military academy where it will lie in state until his funeral in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Seven days of mourning were declared, all schools were suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected for an elaborate funeral Friday. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Supporters of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez embrace as the coffin containing his body passes in the street as it is taken from the hospital, where he died on Tuesday, to a military academy where it will remain until his funeral in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Seven days of mourning were declared, all schools were suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected for an elaborate funeral Friday. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A Presidential Guard soldier holds a replica of Simon Bolivar's sword as he walk along the coffin containing the remains of President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Seven days of mourning were declared, all schools were suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected for an elaborate funeral Friday.(AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? By the hundreds of thousands, Hugo Chavez's tearful supporters carried their dead president through streets still plastered with his smiling image, an epic farewell to a larger-than-life leader remembered simply as "our commander."
In a display of raw, and at times, unruly emotion, generations of Venezuelans, many dressed in the red of Chavez's socialist party, filled Caracas' streets Wednesday to remember the man who dominated their country for 14 years before succumbing to cancer.
Chavez's flag-draped coffin floated over hundreds of thousands of supporters as it made its way atop an open hearse on a seven-hour journey to a military academy in the capital. Mourners followed the lead of a grim drum major, with some shouting out "nuestro comandante" ? "our commander," in English ? as the coffin passed.
At the academy, Chavez's family and close advisers, as well as the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay, attended a funeral Mass before the president's open casket. Later, the public slowly filed past in a show of respect expected to go on late into the night.
But even amid the outpouring of grief, questions about the country's future could not be put off for long, with worries amplified by the government's lack of regard for the letter of the constitution and the military's eagerness to choose political sides.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro, the late president's hand-picked successor, and Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of his staunchest allies, mingled with the crowd, at one point falling to the ground in the jostle of bodies pushing in every direction. Military officers and Cabinet members ringed the president's coffin, stone-faced with grief.
Other mourners pumped their fists and held aloft images of the late president, amid countless waving yellow, blue and red Venezuelan flags.
"The fight goes on! Chavez lives!" the mourners shouted in unison, many through eyes red from crying late into the night.
Chavez's bereaved mother, Elena Frias de Chavez, leaned against her son's casket, while a priest read a prayer before the procession left the military hospital where Chavez died Tuesday at age 58. His funeral is scheduled for Friday.
"I feel so much pain. So much pain," said Yamile Gil, a 38-year-old housewife. "We never wanted to see our president like this. We will always love him."
Others who bitterly opposed Chavez's take-no-prisoners brand of socialism said they were sorry about his death, but hopeful it would usher in a less confrontational, more business-friendly era in this major oil-producing country. Under his leadership, the state expropriated key industries, raised taxes on the rich and forced many opponents into exile.
"I am not happy that he has died, but I can't be sad either," said Delia Ramirez, a 32-year-old accountant who stayed away from the procession. "This man sowed hatred and division among Venezuelans."
Even as Chavistas said their goodbyes, a sense of foreboding gripped the country as it awaited word on what might come next. Many Venezuelans, fearful of possible violence, stocked up on food and fuel as the country pondered whether the former paratrooper's socialist agenda would survive him, and for how long.
The 1999 constitution that Chavez himself pushed through mandates that elections be called within 30 days, but Chavez's top lieutenants have often improvised with the law.
The charter clearly states that the speaker of the National Assembly, in this case Diosdado Cabello, should become interim president if a head of state is forced to leave office within three years of his election. Chavez was re-elected only in October.
But Chavez anointed Maduro for that role, and the vice president has assumed the mantle even as the government announced he would represent the ruling socialist party in the presidential vote.
Some took to Twitter to denounce the move, citing Article 233 of the constitution, which establishes Cabello as the rightful president.
The military also appears to be showing firm support for Maduro, despite a constitutional mandate that it play no role in politics. In a late-night tweet, Venezuelan state television said the defense minister, Adm. Diego Molero, had pledged military support for Maduro's candidacy against likely opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, raising concern among critics about the fairness of the vote.
Capriles, the 40-year-old governor of Miranda state who lost to Chavez in October, was conciliatory in a televised address Tuesday.
"This is not the moment to highlight what separates us," Capriles said. "This is not the hour for differences; it is the hour for union, it is the hour for peace."
Other opposition leaders were more critical of the military stance.
"When all Venezuela wants unity and peace, and a climate of respect between Venezuelans predominates, they're contrasted by what's unacceptable, the declarations of the minister of defense, that are, besides false, unconstitutional," said Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, executive secretary of the opposition coalition.
If elected, Maduro would still face a stiff challenge replacing the ultra-charismatic Chavez, who parlayed a folksy nationalism and stiff resolve into a virtual one-man government, maintaining support among the poor despite food shortages, rampant crime and inflation topping 20 percent.
Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin American Program at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said Maduro won't be able to harness "Chavismo" as Chavez did so successfully, but she expects him to win any upcoming presidential vote.
"There's really no one who can step into those shoes," she said.
The next administration must also control a ballooning public debt that has quadrupled to $102 billion since Chavez took office in 1999, despite Venezuela's booming oil exports
Maduro's Jekyll-and-Hyde-like behavior Tuesday has stoked worries about a future government.
He used a speech just before Chavez's death to lash out at the United States and internal opponents he accused of plotting to destabilize the government. He pointed to shadowy forces as being behind the president's cancer and expelled two American military attaches he charged with spying.
In a speech later announcing the death, a shaken and somber Maduro called for peace, love and reconciliation among all Venezuelans.
Many mourners at Wednesday's procession took their cue from the more virulent Maduro speech, venting anger at Washington and accusing Venezuela's opposition of conspiring with far-right U.S. forces to undermine the revolution.
"The government of the United States is not going to rest," said Oscar Navas, a 33-year-old fruit vendor and Chavez supporter who joined the procession. "It's going to continue conspiring against our revolution because we are anti-imperialists. I don't have the slightest doubt the CIA is here, undercover, doing whatever it can to destabilize our country."
Venezuela and the United States have a complicated relationship, with Chavez's enemy to the north remaining the top buyer of Venezuelan oil. But Chavez's inner circle has long claimed the United States was behind a failed 2002 attempt to overthrow him, and he has frequently used anti-American rhetoric to stir up support. Venezuela has been without a U.S. ambassador since July 2010 and expelled a U.S. military officer in 2006.
In Washington, senior Obama administration officials said Wednesday they hoped to rebuild the U.S.-Venezuelan relationship in the wake of Chavez's death, but acknowledged that sudden rapprochement was unlikely given the Latin American country's upcoming presidential election.
They expressed displeasure with the expulsion of two U.S. military officials in Venezuela and Maduro's accusations that the U.S. was somehow responsible for Chavez's cancer.
"Yesterday's first press conference was not encouraging," a senior official said. "It disappointed us."
She and the other officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The U.S. is still reviewing whether to take reciprocal action for the expulsion of the American attaches, the officials said.
___
Associated Press writers Christopher Toothaker, Jorge Rueda and Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas and Bradley Klapper in Salt Lake City, Utah, contributed to this report.
___
Paul Haven on Twitter: www.twitter.com/paulhaven
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