Article @ MindSay

People like Bloomberg scare me. He is out for absolute power. For whatever reason, he thinks his job is to dictate to people how to live, what to eat, how to defend themselves, etc. This man has no place in a so called "free country." How about cleaning up that rat hole you call a city with a little less elitist bullshit and stop getting involved in people's lives?

Gates, Bloomberg pool riches to fight smoking

By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jul 23, 5:32 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_re_us/anti_smoking_billionaires&printer=1;_ylt=Ahf66vIxzb9JnEEW3rnHX9RH2ocA

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are pooling their piles of money to pour $375 million into a global effort to cut smoking.

The billionaire philanthropists, who have a combined worth of more than $70 billion, said Wednesday that the money will help efforts in developing countries where tobacco use is highest. There are more than 1 billion smokers worldwide.

The $250 million from Bloomberg and $125 million from Gates will support projects that raise tobacco taxes, help smokers quit, ban tobacco advertising and protect nonsmokers from exposure to smoke. It will also aid efforts to track tobacco use and better understand tobacco control strategies.

"Together we can make a clear, measurable difference — not just for ourselves and our generation but for the generations that come after us," Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg, an ex-smoker, and Gates made the announcement together at a Manhattan news conference — an appearance that Gates noted was his first public event since ending his full-time tenure at Microsoft Corp. to spend more time at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates also hinted it might be just the first of "many things" he and Bloomberg will do together.

Bloomberg, who built his fortune from the financial information company he founded in the 1980s, is adding $250 million to an anti-smoking initiative he funded with $125 million in 2006. That money goes toward tobacco-fighting campaigns in low- and middle-income countries, most specifically China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Bangladesh. Bloomberg Philanthropies is also conducting a survey to better understand smoking in those countries.

The Gates Foundation has until now focused most of its world health dollars on fighting malaria, AIDS and other diseases. The anti-tobacco campaign represents a new direction for the Seattle-based organization, which since 2006 has also been charged with giving away billions from investor Warren Buffett.

Because of strings the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. founder attached to the money, the world's largest charitable foundation is now broadening its reach, most notably into agriculture development.

Bloomberg quit cigarettes about 30 years ago and has crusaded against smoking as a public official. In his first term he banned smoking in bars and restaurants and his health department has an aggressive, ongoing campaign to help New Yorkers kick the habit.

When Bloomberg first announced that $125 million gift, he said at the time that he believed smoking was a public health issue that was largely ignored by philanthropists. He said he hoped publicizing it would bring more attention from other major foundations.

Gates said Wednesday that $24 million of his gift will go directly toward Bloomberg's efforts that are already under way.

The remaining money will be used by his foundation to begin its own anti-tobacco work, including a focus on preventing tobacco use from increasing in Africa.

"The epidemic in Africa is not well advanced, and that means that we can catch it at an early stage," Gates said.

____

Associated Press writer Donna Blankinship contributed to this story from Seattle.

City tries to get guns off streets by buying them
Associated Press
7:35 AM CDT, July 23, 2008
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-gunsbuyback,0,5817859.story

CHICAGO - The city of Chicago is hoping to take a record number of guns off the street this weekend.

On Saturday, the city will be in the gun business, as it will pay -- no questions asked -- $100 for every gun turned in to one of 25 participating churches.

Last year, using money from corporate donors, the city purchased a record 6,700 guns in a similar buyback program.

When people turn in guns they will receive a $100 prepaid MasterCard. They'll get $10 prepaid cards for BB guns, replica guns and air guns.

Such ashame. I loved her as Sophia. Breaks my heart. But one day we must all die.

Estelle Getty of 'Golden Girls' dies at 84
By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 22, 12:37 PM PDT

Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 84.

Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.

"Estelle always wanted to be an actress, and she achieved that goal beyond her dreams," former "Golden Girls" co-star Rue McClanahan told The Associated Press. "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia."

"The Golden Girls," featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff's belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.

Three of its stars had already appeared in previous series: Bea Arthur in "Maude," Betty White in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and McClanahan in "Mama's Family." The last character to be cast was Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Arthur's character.

"Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her," Arthur said in a statement.

When she auditioned, Getty was appearing on stage in Hollywood as the carping Jewish mother in Harvey Fierstein's play "Torch Song Trilogy." In her early 60s, she flunked her "Golden Girls" test twice because it was believed she didn't look old enough to play 80.

"I could understand that," she told an interviewer a year after the show debuted. "I walk fast, I move fast, I talk fast."

She came prepared for the third audition, however, wearing dowdy clothes and telling an NBC makeup artist, "To you this is just a job. To me it's my entire career down the toilet unless you make me look 80." The artist did, Getty got the job and won two Emmys.

"The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us," White said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

"The Golden Girls" culminated a long struggle for success during which Getty worked low-paying office jobs to help support her family while she tried to make it as a stage actress.

"I knew I could be seduced by success in another field, so I'd say, 'Don't promote me, please,'" she recalled.

She also appeared in small parts in a handful of films and TV movies during that time, including "Tootsie," "Deadly Force" and "Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story."

After her success in "The Golden Girls," other roles came her way. She played Cher's mother in "Mask," Sylvester Stallone's in "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" and Barry Manilow's in the TV film "Copacabana." Other credits included "Mannequin" and "Stuart Little" (as the voice of Grandma Estelle).

"The Golden Girls," which ran from 1985 to 1992, was an immediate hit, and Sophia, who began as a minor character, soon evolved into a major one.

Audiences particularly loved the verbal zingers Getty would hurl at the other three. When McClanahan's libidinous character Blanche once complained that her life was an open book, Sophia shot back, "Your life's an open blouse."

"I always told her she should be a standup comic. She was so funny in person," McClanahan recalled. "She would always say, 'Why couldn't we make these characters Jewish? Why am I Sicilian?'"

Getty had gained a knack for one-liners in her late teens when she did standup comedy at a Catskills hotel. Female comedians were rare in those days, however, and she bombed.

Undeterred, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment, and while her parents were encouraging, her father also insisted that she learn office skills so she would have something to fall back on.

Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4.

She married New York businessman Arthur Gettleman (the source of her stage name) in 1947, and they had two sons, Carl and Barry. The marriage prevailed despite her long absences on the road and in "The Golden Girls."

Getty was evasive about her height, acknowledging only that she was "under 5 feet and under 100 pounds."

McClanahan said her nickname for Getty was "Slats."

"Because she was so short, itty-bitty," she said.

In addition to her son Carl, Getty is survived by son Barry Gettleman, of Miami; a brother, David Scher of London; and a sister, Rosilyn Howard of Las Vegas.

___

Associated Press Writers Robert Jablon and Solvej Schou contributed to this report.


Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

New York Times defends not running McCain op-ed

By ANN SANNER, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jul 21, 7:27 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_newspaper&printer=1;_ylt=Alwd7GQW8lce93kJs4UkGz5h24cA

The New York Times defended its decision not to publish an op-ed article as submitted by Republican John McCain about the Iraq war on grounds it customarily reviews such pieces with the author.

McCain's presidential campaign submitted the op-ed on Friday. In it, the Arizona senator describes how the buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq has helped curb violence. He also chides Democratic rival Barack Obama for outlining his plan for Iraq before his current meetings there with commanders and Iraqi leaders.

In an e-mail to the campaign on Friday, David Shipley, an op-ed editor at the newspaper, said he could not accept the piece in its current form, but would look at another version. In the e-mail, released by McCain's campaign, Shipley wrote that McCain's article would "have to lay out a clear plan for achieving victory — with troops levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate. And it would need to describe the senator's Afghanistan strategy, spelling out how it meshes with his Iraq plan."

Commenting Monday on the Times' request, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said, "John McCain believes that victory in Iraq must be based on conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables. Unlike Barack Obama, that position will not change based on politics or the demands of The New York Times."

Bounds said the campaign will not submit a revised op-ed.

In a written statement Monday, the Times explained its decision and left the door open to publishing his views:

"It is standard procedure on our op-ed page, and that of other newspapers, to go back and forth with an author on his or her submission. We look forward to publishing Sen. McCain's views in our paper just as we have in the past."

The New York Times endorsed McCain in the Republican primaries, but he has had a testy relationship with the publication.

In February, McCain vigorously denied and denounced the newspaper's report that suggested he had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist. His campaign referred to the article as a "smear campaign" and "gutter politics" in the midst of the presidential race.

McCain's submission comes after the newspaper ran an op-ed written by Obama last Monday. The Illinois senator wrote that as president he would send at least two more combat brigades — about 7,000 troops — to Afghanistan as part of his plan to pull combat troops out of Iraq and focus on al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

The newspaper said it has published at least seven of McCain's op-ed pieces since 1996. "We take his views very seriously," the statement said.

Man convicted of hate crime for accosting Wiesel

By MALIA WOLLAN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jul 21, 9:28 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080722/ap_on_re_us/wiesel_accosted&printer=1;_ylt=Am0Wp8k9aLcN12fuFQVO12dH2ocA

A New Jersey man who once claimed insanity was convicted Monday of a hate crime for accosting Nazi death camp survivor and scholar Elie Wiesel in a hotel elevator.

Eric Hunt, 24, was convicted in San Francisco Superior Court of one felony charge of false imprisonment with a hate crime allegation. Hunt was also convicted of two misdemeanor counts — one for battery and one for elder abuse.

The jury dismissed charges of attempted kidnapping, stalking and a second false imprisonment charge.

He had withdrawn his original not guilty by reason of insanity plea, eliminating the need for a second trial to determine his sanity at the time of the crime.

Hunt shook in his seat after the verdict was read. He could face as long as three years in prison.

"We are pleased with the verdict," said his attorney, John Runfola. "I'm just saddened it took this long to get justice for this young guy who is mentally ill."

During the nine-day trial, Wiesel, 79, testified that he thought Hunt was trying to kidnap him when he was forcefully pulled off an elevator at San Francisco's Argent Hotel on Feb. 1, 2007.

On the witness stand, Wiesel read comments allegedly written on a Web site by Hunt calling Wiesel's accounts of the Holocaust "fictitious."

Wiesel's parents and younger sister died in Nazi death camps during World War II. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 and has written more than 40 books, many of them about the Holocaust and Judaism.

Hunt's lawyers contend that his online statements were the result of a mental illness and not anti-Semitism and that Hunt is being treated.

"He is not a Holocaust denier," Runfola said.

Sentencing is set for August.