Census Scams: The Red Flags

FEBRUARY 28, 2010
By ANNA PRIOR
As the 2010 U.S. Census ramps up in March, you should be on the alert for potential scams. Con artists could use the event to acquire personal information that can lead to identity theft.
Most Census forms will arrive in the mail March 15 to 17. Census workers will then go door-to-door from the end of April to July to households that didn't return the questionnaire.
One thing to watch for is a form or person asking for a Social Security number and financial information, such as bank-account numbers.
Another red flag: email. The Census Bureau won't contact you by email. And the form can't be completed online, says Census Bureau spokesman Michael Cook.
Census takers will carry an ID badge with an expiration date and a Department of Commerce watermark. You also can request contact information for a supervisor or the local Census office for verification. Census takers are trained to do business outside the door, says Mr. Cook. So be wary of people trying to enter your home as well as anyone soliciting donations.
To report a scam, contact your regional Census center, and local law enforcement if necessary. ITSO.Fraud.Reporting@census.gov
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com

Tsunami Threatens Hawaiian Islands

By REUTERS
Published: February 27, 2010 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tsunami was generated on Saturday that could cause damage along the coasts of all the Hawaiian islands, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
"Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property," the center said in a bulletin. "All shores are at risk no matter which direction they face."
The center has issued a Pacific-wide tsunami warning that included Hawaii and stretched across the ocean from South America to the Pacific Rim.
Geophysicist Victor Sardina said the Hawaii-based center was urging all countries included the warning to take the threat very seriously.
"Everybody is under a warning because the wave, we know, is on its way. Everybody is at risk now," he said in a telephone interview.
The warning follows a massive earthquake in Chile that killed at least 78 people and triggered tsunamis up and down the coast of the earthquake-prone country.
The center estimates the first tsunami, which is a series of several waves in succession, will hit Hawaii at 11:19 a.m. Hawaii time (4 p.m. EST).
Sardina said the Hawaiian islands could expect waves of six feet (two meters) in some places. Other estimates have been higher but he could not confirm those were likely.
Sardina said the center was looking at Hilo Bay on Hawaii Island as a worst-case scenario right now.
"The shape of the bay favors the waves gaining in height," he said in a telephone interview.
He said California and Alaska could also be affected, but the impact on those coasts should be minimal.
(Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Van Jones Returns to Spotlight With Posts at Princeton, Think Tank

Updated February 24, 2010
FOXNews.com
After a nearly six-month hiatus out of the public eye following his resignation from the White House last September, Van Jones has been appointed as a fellow with Princeton University and with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
Van Jones is back.
After a nearly six-month hiatus out of the public eye following his resignation from the White House last September, Jones has been appointed to posts at Princeton University and with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.
The controversial former green jobs adviser is also receiving an award from the NAACP Friday and plans to attend a forum on jobs creation with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., next month in New York City.
The sudden flurry of activity appears to mark the end of Jones' retreat from public life after a short stint as adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He resigned under pressure in early September due to mounting criticism over controversial remarks and positions, including his calling Republicans "assholes," making racially charged statements and signing a petition in 2004 supporting the "9/11 truther" movement, which believes the Bush administration may have been involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The petition was the breaking point, and his resignation came shortly afterward.
But Jones, in an interview with The Washington Post, defended himself against the withering attacks he endured last year and distanced himself from the "truthers." Jones said he believes Al Qaeda and Usama bin Laden, and "nobody else," were behind the Sept. 11 attacks. He said his name showed up on the petition because he expressed verbal support for a group that came up to him six years ago and said they represented "911 families" without realizing what they represented.
"Unfortunately, I didn't know what their agenda was," Jones said. "So then they went and added my name, without my knowledge, to this awful, abhorrent language they had on their Web site."911Truth.org has disputed this explanation. 911Truth.org spokesman Mike Berger said last fall that Jones "did agree with that statement and he did sign on to it."
But Jones told The Washington Post that he made a "big mistake" in not doing his "homework" on the organization before offering "support of any kind."
He said he doesn't have "any bitterness or anger" about his past.
Princeton University announced Wednesday that Jones has been appointed as a visiting fellow at the Center for African American Studies and at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs' program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy. During the one-year appointment, Jones will teach a spring course on "environmental politics."
In a statement put out by Princeton University, Jones said he looks forward to using his term at the Ivy League university to explore "green solutions" to help America's economy.
"We're looking forward to a year of intense engagement with Van," Eddie Glaude, chairman of the Center for African American Studies, said in a statement.
The Center for American Progress announced Wednesday that Jones would be a senior fellow and leader with its Green Opportunity Initiative.
CEO John Podesta called Jones a "pioneer" in the movement to create a clean energy economy.Before Jones ran into the wall of controversy last year, he was considered somewhat of a wunderkind in environmental circles.
In addition to writing "The Green Collar Economy," he has co-founded and worked with several groups dedicated to helping low-income and minority communities -- often through green jobs and better environmental policy. He got his start as a San Francisco-area activist, and in 2009 was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people.
But some of his past comments had given critics pause about his fitness for a White House-level office, pointing to his radical activities a decade ago as well as more recent controversial stances.
Jones was a self-described "communist" during the 1990s and previously worked with a group dedicated to Marxist and Leninist philosophies. His comments, even in recent years, were often racially charged. He's blamed "white polluters and white environmentalists" for "steering poison" to minority communities. In 2005, he drew a distinction between white and black youths involved in shooting incidents by referencing the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.
"You've never seen a Columbine done by a black child. Never," Jones said. "They always say, 'We can't believe it happened here. We can't believe it's these suburban white kids.' It's only them!" he said. "Now, a black kid might shoot another black kid. He's not going to shoot up the whole school."
Such statements did not draw widespread attention until after a February video surfaced showing him calling Republicans "assholes" during an address in Berkeley, Calif. Jones apologized, but faced down his past again when it was discovered that he signed the 2004 "truther" petition.
Now that he's returning to prominent positions, several high-profile organizations are backing him up.
Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, called Jones an "American treasure" in an online opinion piece. The NAACP plans to honor Jones with an Image Award Friday.
The Sierra Club also issued a statement congratulating Jones on his recent appointments.

Glenn Beck to Republican Party: Repent

By Christi Parsons 2-21-2010 LAtimes
Reporting from Washington - Talk show host Glenn Beck poked and prodded the Republican hierarchy Saturday night in a raucous address to fellow conservatives, comparing the party to an alcoholic who hasn't hit bottom and to golfer Tiger Woods before his public repentance.Calling himself a recovering alcoholic in that context, Beck said he believes in the concept of redemption but that he doesn't think the GOP has taken the first step toward achieving it."I have not yet heard people in the Republican Party admit they have a problem," Beck told a packed ballroom in Washington. "I have not seen a come-to-Jesus meeting. . . . 'Hello, my name is the Republican Party and I've got a problem. I'm addicted to spending and big government.' . . . They need that moment."The irreverent speech drew cheers, laughter and several standing ovations from the majority of the crowd gathered for the keynote address of the Conservative Political Action Conference, which organizers say drew 10,000 people over three days before closing Saturday night.During that time some of the best-known figures of the Republican Party -- members of Congress, governors, presidential hopefuls -- trooped through to rail against the Obama administration and to woo conservatives. The political figures were greeted by the audiences mostly as kindred spirits.Still, when hosts announced the results of the conference's presidential straw poll late Saturday, the audience went wild to hear the name of the winner: Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former GOP candidate for the White House and prominent leader of the grass-roots libertarian movement. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in second, almost 10 percentage points behind.The poll was by no means scientific and only tested the temperature of about 2,400 of the conference's attendees.As a snapshot of those who traveled from the 50 states to attend the conference, though, organizers think it offers a hint about what's going on at the grass-roots level.More than half of respondents believe Republicans are within striking distance of taking back Congress, pollster Tony Fabrizio said, but participants are not necessarily happy with Republican Party leadership nor thrilled with the bench of presidential candidates.The crowd that came out for the Beck speech was clearly skeptical of the party establishment, exuberantly applauding the radio and Fox television talk show host throughout his address.According to Beck, the main villain is "progressivism," a word he wrote in big letters on a large chalkboard and labeled "a cancer" eating away at American ideals."Progressivism was designed to press past the Constitution," Beck said, charging that Republicans aren't giving Americans much of an alternative."Dick Cheney was here a couple of days ago," he said, "and he says it's going to be a good year for conservative ideas."That may be true, he said, but Republicans should know that it's not good enough to "not suck as much as the other side," Beck said.

Judge upholds expulsion of convicted NY senator

The Associated Press Friday, February 19, 2010; 12:19 PM

NEW YORK -- A federal judge has rejected an attempt to temporarily block the expulsion of a New York state lawmaker.
Colleagues voted to remove Hiram Monserrate (MAHN'-sur-aht) because of a misdemeanor assault conviction.
Judge William Pauley refused Friday to block the Democrat's expulsion.
A civil rights suit filed last week asked Pauley to reverse the lawmaker's removal and stop a March 16 special election to replace him.
He's backed by the New York Civil Liberties Union. Monserrate says the state Senate denied him due process and his constituents their right to representation.
Washington Post

Top Taliban commander captured in Pakistan: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top military commander of the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has been captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret raid by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence forces, The New York Times reported on Monday.--2-15-2010
Citing U.S. government officials, the Times said Mullah Baradar, described as the most significant Taliban figure captured since the start of the Afghanistan war, had been in Pakistani custody for several days and was being interrogated by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence.
The White House and CIA declined comment on the report and the Pentagon also had no immediate comment.
The Times cited officials as saying the operation to capture Mullah Baradar was conducted by Pakistan's military spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, which was accompanied by CIA operatives.
The newspaper said U.S. officials described Mullah Baradar as ranking second in influence in the Taliban only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, and that he was a close associate of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before the September 11 attacks.
The newspaper said it was not clear if he was talking, but it quoted the officials as saying his capture could lead to other senior Taliban officials. The officials voiced hope he would provide the location of Mullah Omar.
U.S. Marines are currently leading ---WORLD

Airborne Laser zaps in-flight missile

by Jonathan Skillings
February 12, 2010 8:48 AM PST
Score one for the Airborne Laser.

In a milestone for the ambitious directed-energy project, now dramatically downsized, the Pentagon's Airborne Laser prototype weapons system destroyed a ballistic missile that was in flight. The shootdown took place February 11 off the central coast of California.
"The Airborne Laser Testbed team has made history with this experiment," said Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, in a statement released Friday. Boeing is the prime contractor for the Defense Department project.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency was equally enthusiastic about the results. "The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense," the agency said in a statement, "with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers, and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies.

Unfortunately for proponents, the achievement is rather bittersweet. Where the Pentagon once had plans to build as many as seven of the one-of-a-kind Airborne Laser aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400F, the high cost and technical uncertainties of the program prompted Defense Secretary Robert Gates last spring to cancel plans to build a second plane. The Pentagon kept the existing one around as an R&D platform.
But as a proof of concept, the Airborne Laser most certainly crossed a threshold when it KO'd the missile earlier this month.
On the evening of February 11, an "at-sea mobile launch platform"--the MDA didn't specify whether it was surface ship or submarine--fired a short-range "threat representative" liquid-fueled ballistic missile while the 747 was in the vicinity.

This sequence of infrared images shows a missile breaking up when zapped in flight by the Airborne Laser on February 11.(Credit: U.S. Missile Defense Agency)
Within seconds, the agency says, the aircraft detected the missile as it lifted off and used a low-energy laser (the Track Illuminator) to track it, followed by a second low-energy laser (the Beacon Illuminator) to assess and adjust for atmospheric disturbance. Then it engaged the powerhouse of the system, the megawatt-class High Energy Laser--Boeing calls it "the most powerful mobile laser device in the world"--which fires through a telescope located in the nose of the aircraft.
Within two minutes of the launch, while the missile's rocket motors were still firing, the chemical-derived High Energy Laser had heated a pressurized segment of the missile to "critical structural failure," the MDA said. The Track Illuminator and Beacon Illuminator are kilowatt-class solid-state lasers.
A short while later, a second, solid-fueled short-range missile took off from solid ground on San Nicolas Island, Calif., and the ABL likewise engaged it with the High Energy Laser, though it stopped firing the laser before destroying that missile. The MDA says that the ABL had met all test criteria, and besides, it had destroyed a similar missile in flight a week earlier.
Catching a missile during the boost phase has always been a central tenet of the ABL program--it's those first seconds and minutes, when the missile is moving most slowly and predictably, that make for the most vulnerable target. But that also was a significant argument against the system: How could the U.S. count on having a laser-laden aircraft in the right place at the right time to catch an enemy missile at take-off? Indeed, in canceling the second aircraft, Gates called the program's proposed operational role "highly questionable."
Last fall, the separate Airborne Tactical Laser aircraft, a modified C-130, hit a moving remote-controlled vehicle on the ground.
Jonathan Skillings is managing editor of CNET News, based in the Boston bureau. He's been with CNET since 2000, after a decade in tech journalism at the IDG News Service, PC Week, and an AS/400 magazine. He's also been a soldier and a schoolteacher. E-mail Jon.

Wall Street's Race to the Bottom

By ELIZABETH WARREN 2-9-10
Banking is based on trust. The banks get our paychecks and hold our savings; they know where we spend our money and they keep it private. If we don't trust them, the whole system breaks down. Yet for years, Wall Street CEOs have thrown away customer trust like so much worthless trash.
Banks and brokers have sold deceptive mortgages for more than a decade. Financial wizards made billions by packaging and repackaging those loans into securities. And federal regulators played the role of lookout at a bank robbery, holding back anyone who tried to stop the massive looting from middle-class families. When they weren't selling deceptive mortgages, Wall Street invented new credit card tricks and clever overdraft fees.
In October 2008, when all the risks accumulated and the economy went into a tailspin, Wall Street CEOs squandered what little trust was left when they accepted taxpayer bailouts. As the economy stabilized and it seemed like we would change the rules that got us into this crisis—including the rules that let big banks trick their customers for so many years—it looked like things might come out all right.
Now, a year later, President Obama's proposals for reform are bottled up in the Senate. The same Wall Street CEOs who brought the economy to its knees have spent more than a year and hundreds of millions of dollars furiously lobbying Washington to kill the president's proposal for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).
Within the thousands of pages of print in the "Restoring American Financial Stability Act" now before the Senate, the consumer agency is the only proposal that would help families directly. Even those most concerned about the role of personal responsibility concede that it is hard for families to make smart decisions and to compare products when the paperwork on mortgages, credit cards and even checking accounts has morphed into reams of incomprehensible legalese.
The consumer agency is a watchdog that would root out gimmicks and traps and slim down paperwork, giving families a fighting chance to hang on to some of their money. So far, Wall Street CEOs seem determined to stop any kind of watchdog. They seem to think that they can run their businesses forever without our trust. This is a bad calculation.
It's a bad calculation because shareholders suffer enormously from the long-term cost of the boom-and- bust cycles that accompany a poorly regulated market. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently explained this brave new world, saying that crises should be expected "every five to seven years."
He is wrong. New laws that came out of the Great Depression ended 150 years of boom-and-bust cycles and gave us 50 years with virtually no financial meltdowns. The stability ended as we dismantled those laws and failed to replace them with new laws that reflected modern business practices.
The reputations of Wall Street's most storied institutions are evaporating as the lack of meaningful consumer rules has set off a race to the bottom to develop new ways to trick customers. Wall Street executives explain privately that they cannot get rid of fine print, deceptive pricing, and buried tricks unilaterally without losing market share.
Citigroup learned this the hard way in 2007, when it decided to clean up its credit card just a little bit by eliminating universal default—the trick that allowed it to raise rates retroactively, even for consumers that did nothing wrong. Citi's reform resulted in lower revenues and no new customers, triggering an embarrassing public reversal.
Citi explained sheepishly that credit cards were now so complicated that customers couldn't tell when a company offered something a little better. So Citi went back to something a little worse. Without a watchdog in place, the big banks just keep slinging out uglier and uglier products.
With their reputations in tatters, the CEOs have decided to go on the offensive in Washington. They might have had some thoughtful suggestions for how to better shape a consumer agency. Instead, they have unleashed lobbyists who are determined to do anything to kill the consumer agency.
The latest lie is that the CFPA is "big government." The CEOs all know that the current regulatory structure, which they support, is big government at its worst: bureaucratic, unaccountable and ineffective. The CFPA will consolidate seven separate bureaucracies, cut down on paperwork, and promote understandable consumer products. In the process, it will stabilize the industry, rebuild confidence in the securitization market, and leave more money in the pockets of families. Complaining about short, readable contracts and efforts to slim down bureaucracy only further diminishes the banks' credibility.
This generation of Wall Street CEOs could be the ones to forfeit America's trust. When the history of the Great Recession is written, they can be singled out as the bonus babies who were so short-sighted that they put the economy at risk and contributed to the destruction of their own companies. Or they can acknowledge how Americans' trust has been lost and take the first steps to earn it back.
Ms. Warren is a law professor at Harvard and is currently the chair of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel.