Public's Priorities for 2010: Economy, Jobs, Terrorism Energy Concerns Fall, Deficit Concerns Rise - People's Press

Public's Priorities for 2010: Economy, Jobs, Terrorism Energy Concerns Fall, Deficit Concerns Rise


As Barack Obama begins his second year in office, the public’s priorities for the president and Congress remain much as they were one year ago. Strengthening the nation’s economy and improving the job situation continue to top the list. And, in the wake of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, defending the country from future terrorist attacks also remains a top priority.At the same time, the public has shifted the emphasis it assigns to two major policy issues: dealing with the nation’s energy problem and reducing the budget deficit. About half (49%) say that dealing with the nation’s energy problem should be a top priority, down from 60% a year ago. At the same time, there has been a modest rise in the percentage saying that reducing the budget deficit should be a top priority, from 53% to 60%.Other policy priorities show little change from a year ago. For example, despite the ongoing debate over health care reform, about as many now call reducing health care costs a top priority (57%) as did so in early 2009 59%). In fact, the percentage rating health care costs a top priority is lower now than it was in
both 2008 (69%) and 2007 (68%).

In addition, the percentage placing top priority on providing health insurance to the uninsured stands at 49%. That is little changed from a year ago and off its high of 61% in January 2001. Notably, there is now a wider partisan gap in opinion about this issue than for any of the other 20 issues in the survey: fully 75% of Democrats rate providing health insurance to the uninsured as a top priority compared with just 26% of Republicans.More than six-in-ten Americans say securing the Social Security system (66%) and securing the Medicare system (63%) should be top priorities for Obama and Congress. About as many (65%) say that improving the educational system should be a top policy priority. For all three items, public evaluations are not significantly different than they were one year ago.In the wake of the financial crisis, the public does not place increased financial regulation among its top policy priorities. Fewer than half (45%) say stricter regulation of financial institutions should be a top priority for the president and Congress.

City owes a-rabs one last chance - Baltimore Sun

City owes a-rabs one last chance - Baltimore Sun


Dan Rodricks

Too bad Sheila Dixon can't be trusted with other people's money -- or gift cards -- again. She owes the citizens of Baltimore 500 hours of community service, and there's a certain unfinished matter to which she could give her time to fulfill a promise her administration made nearly three years ago.The city promised to see that the tradition of a-rabbing in Baltimore -- selling produce out of horse- or pony-drawn wagons -- survives.It was August 2007. Ms. Dixon had replaced Martin O'Malley in the big chair in City Hall. She was running for election in the September Democratic primary. Reggie Scriber, a deputy commissioner in the housing department, spoke to a group of a-rabs at a meeting in West Baltimore, shortly after the city closed the Retreat Street stable because of the building's decrepit conditions. According to reporter Kelly Brewington's account in The Baltimore Sun, Mr. Scriber became emotional as he spoke of how his father, cousin and brother were all a-rabs. He promised to take personal responsibility for a-rabbing's survival."I am heartbroken over this," he said of the closing of the stable, where 51 horses and ponies had been kept. "I may wear a suit, but I still walk the streets of this community. As long as I have air in my chest, we are going to make sure you have a place to continue this." Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank called the a-rabs integral to the revitalization of the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor. "They are
among the jewels on the charm bracelet of historic attractions along the corridor," he said at the meeting. "Mayor [Sheila] Dixon is committed to finding a solution."

That was then, this is now: Ms. Dixon is on her way out of office, and a-rabbing is on its way out of Baltimore. After the Retreat Street condemnation, the city moved a bunch of the ponies and
horses to a muddy hollow under a bridge in southwest Baltimore for a couple of years, then joined hands with the anti-horses-pulling-anything Humane Society of the United States to confiscate 19 animals on dubious allegations of mistreatment. That was in mid-November.The last of the city's a-rabs, who owned most of the animals that had been kept under the bridge, have been told they'll need to come up with $500 per animal to get them back. For Shawnta Chase and her husband, James, that means $4,000 she can't afford, and for her uncle, Donald Savoy, that means $3,500. They have until Tuesday to file a request for a hearing to contest the city's November seizure of
the animals and ask for their return.It appears that the city wants not only to sever its ties with a-rabbing, which has been around for a couple of centuries, but wants to see the tradition go away for good. Mr. Scriber doesn't have much to say about this anymore. He referred my questions to the city law department.Mr. Frank stated in an e-mail last week: "For two years, the city has subsidized the operation of the a-rabbers in a good faith effort to preserve the tradition. However, with city service cuts resulting from a $50 million budget deficit this fiscal year and a projected $127 million gap next year, we need to balance our priorities carefully." That's all understandable; the city can't afford to subsidize the a-rabs anymore. But, all due respect to Mr. Frank, there's not much "good faith" in stabling 19 horses in a muddy hollow under a bridge for two years, then collaborating with the Humane Society to suggest that a-rabs had mistreated their horses and are to blame for this mess. A veteran horseman who looked at the citations against the Chases and Mr. Savoy concluded that , and the city's grounds for seizing the horses highly contestable.To hold up the Chases and Mr. Savoy for $7,500 between them is just another heavy-handed move to rid the streets of a-rabs for good. It's a shame. This all could have been avoided. Perhaps, had she truly cared about this, or had she not been so busy defending herself against theft charges, Sheila Dixon might have been able to organize a venture to save a-rabbing. She should have called in a favor from some Baltimore business leaders (retired or still active), along with some local economists, preservationists, architects and marketing professionals, and asked them to carry out a feasibility study. Assuming they could come up with a self-sustaining business model, a-rabbing in Baltimore could enjoy a renaissance.The animals could get better stables and turnouts on city land; new a-rabs coming into the business could get training in equine care. City neighborhoods could get
a supply of fresh produce and other items sold off the wagons. Tourists could still get to see this colorful Baltimore tradition. The city could turn the responsibilities of maintaining a-rabbing in Baltimore to a nonprofit. It's not too late. The University of Baltimore chapter of Students in Free
Enterprise has taken up the project. A professional campaign consultant, Linda Brown-Rivelis, is trying to come up with a plan. At some point, someone needs to take charge, and it would be nice if the incoming mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, did what her predecessor failed to do -- appoint someone to coordinate these efforts. The city owes the a-rabs at least that much, at least one more try.
Dan Rodricks' column appears Thursdays and Sundays in print and online, and Tuesdays online-only. He is host of the Midday talk show on WYPR-FM.

Multivitamins of little value? Washington Post

Evidence is thin that multivitamins are beneficial, but they seem benign Washington Post


Earlier this month, I found myself standing in front of a massive display of multivitamins at a local grocery store, confounded by the options: There were supplements for children, teens, males, females, pregnant women, adults "50 and wiser," those in peri-menopause and menopause, and seniors; for immune support, high energy and stress relief; pills to be taken once, twice or three times a day and supplements to be taken in liquid form; with added ingredients such as antioxidants, iron or lycopene; and whole-food options derived from actual produce that promise more bang than their synthetic counterparts, albeit for much more of your buck.

So many choices, so little evidence that any of these products actually result in better health. Indeed, although the vitamin, mineral and supplement industry is a booming $25 billion business and more than half of Americans take a daily multivitamin, the evidence on effectiveness is decidedly mixed. In fact, while some older studies have linked multivitamin use to the prevention
of conditions such as breast and colon cancer and heart disease, the latest research has shown absolutely no impact on health and disease prevention, over time. Most recently, a rigorous, widely regarded study published last February in the Archives of Internal Medicine tracked more than 161,000 post-menopausal women over eight years and found that multivitamins had no effect whatsoever in 10 health-related categories, from the rate of the most common cancers, heart attack and stroke.

Go here for more

Second Harvest Food Bank expands its reach with hybrid truck - SJ Mercury News

Second Harvest Food Bank expands its reach with hybrid truck - SJ Mercury News

By Stephen Baxter

Willow Glen Resident
Posted: 01/25/2010 06:14:31 PM PST
Updated: 01/25/2010 06:14:34 PM PST

It's been said that there is no famine in the United States, but there is food insecurity. If a person has money for food now but doesn't know if he can eat later in the week, and a dollar buys 800 calories of junk food or 200 calories of vegetables — why wouldn't he reach for the Doritos? To try to alleviate some of that food insecurity, Second Harvest Food Bank delivers fresh vegetables to community centers and low-income neighborhoods in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

For the last year and a half, the organization has used a tractor-trailer to deliver the produce, and in January Second Harvest added a hybrid truck dubbed the Produce Mobile that can hold up to 20,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables. It was purchased with a $207,000 donation from Symantec Corp. The new 32-foot vehicle can be refrigerated to as low as 30 degrees, and it has
doors on both sides for faster loading and unloading. Lynn Crocker, a spokeswoman for Second Harvest, said the second truck will widen the reach of their services. It will allow the food bank to open 14 more sites in the next fiscal year, and more than 21,000 people will now receive food each month.Crocker compared the new truck to a farmers market on wheels, and she said the hybrid engine was Symantec's idea. The money saved on fuel will be reinvested in to food programs.

"Our driver said it sips diesel, and there is about a 30 percent fuel savings," Crocker said of the new truck. he new Produce Mobile has made several deliveries so far, including trips to Tropicana Plaza in East San Jose and the Onetta Harris Community Center in Menlo Park.

Go here for more