Dominican Republic port contract scrutinized, along with senator, eye doctor’s relationship

SANTO DOMINGO — When the U.S. Embassy set out to press the Dominican government over a long-stalled contract to provide port security, American officials took on some tough opponents. The deal had languished for more than a decade amid stiff resistance from the American Chamber of Commerce, which represents the interests of American and local businessmen in the Dominican Republic, and the country’s customs authorities.

Ambassador Raul Yzaguirre’s team pushed the government to enforce the contract — which calls for operating X-ray scanners to screen cargo at the country’s ports — despite objections over its merits and its price tag.

The port deal has come under heightened scrutiny in the United States in recent weeks because of its chief investor, a wealthy Florida eye doctor named Salomon Melgen who stood to gain a windfall if the contract was enforced, and his close friend Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

Menendez, whose relationship with Melgen is the subject of a Senate ethics inquiry, was a major beneficiary of the doctor’s generosity, repeatedly flying on his private plane to the Dominican Republic, staying as a guest at his seaside mansion and receiving large campaign contributions. Melgen donated $700,000 to Menendez and other Senate Democrats last year. The senator was also the most powerful champion of the port deal, publicly urging U.S. officials to pressure Dominican authorities to enforce the contract.

Menendez pointed to the port security deal at Yzaguirre’s confirmation hearing to become ambassador, an aide to the senator said, asking him to put a priority on security efforts aimed at countering drug trafficking through the Dominican Republic. Melgen, too, sought Yzaguirre’s help in enforcing the contract.

Yzaguirre, for his part, received help from both men in becoming ambassador. They had provided a crucial boost to his nomination when it ran into trouble.

The details of efforts by Yza­guirre and embassy staff on behalf of the port security contract remain sketchy. But the ambassador spoke approvingly of stepping up drug interdiction measures when Dominican reporters specifically asked him about the port deal. And embassy officials told the American Chamber of Commerce that they were seeking a resolution of the contract favorable to an American investor, according to William Malamud, the chamber’s executive vice president.

Though it was unusual for a U.S. Embassy to cross swords with the local American chamber, embassy officials said they were doing what U.S. diplomats around the world do when American investors get ensnared in legal or bureaucratic problems.

But this was no routine case because of the relationship among the three men: the senator, the eye doctor and the envoy.

When Yzaguirre’s nomination in 2009 to become ambassador to the Dominican Republic was held up by Republicans in Congress over other disputes with the State Department, Melgen and Menendez came to his aid. At the time, Menendez chaired the subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that handled Caribbean affairs. With the nomination stalled, Melgen spoke with the senator and registered once again his support for Yzaguirre being confirmed, according to Melgen’s lawyer.

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More youths doing volunteer work in North West District

SINGAPORE: More youths have stepped up to do volunteer work in Singapore's North West District. Last year, the number more than doubled, from about 470 to some 1,000.

Volunteers' Night was held on Sunday evening to show appreciation to those who have helped.

Members of Parliament from Holland-Bukit Timah GRC were present to show their support.

This year, the district aims to boost the number of volunteers of all ages from the current 2,880 to 4,000.

Programmes to assist the needy and bond residents will be beefed up, with a focus on building a caring and healthy community.

Mayor of North West District Dr Teo Ho Pin said: "We'll be engaging a lot of volunteers, especially from companies and the community to come forward to help our needy families, especially (those living in) rental blocks, so we're expecting about maybe 500, 600, or even 800 volunteers in that area."

The district had 1,250 volunteers across various age groups in 2011, which doubled in the following year.

- CNA/xq

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Delay in justice a major challenge, Chief Justice of India Kabir says

AHMEDABAD: Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir said on Sunday a major problem being faced in delivery of criminal justice was delay "where the entire process takes almost 15-16 years".

Delivering Justice P D Desai memorial lecture here on 'Administration of Criminal Justice', Justice Kabir said, "Today a major problem is delay where the entire process, from the time when an offence is registered to the stage of final conviction, takes almost 15 to 16 years."

"I hope everybody involved in the process would perform their duty to expedite the wheels of justice," he added.

"....this (delay) is the main thing which bothers judiciary. And because of inordinate delay, sometimes we see angry reaction from public feeling that something should be done immediately," he said while elaborating the challenges in administration of criminal justice.

"One such incident took place on December 16 last year in Delhi. First reaction was let us set up fast track courts for the offences against women and girls," he said citing the incidence of gang rape in a moving bus which created widespread outrage.

"On January 2, first fast track court was set up in one of the district in New Delhi to take up such cases. Then you might have come across media reports that trial in one case was completed in 9 days and trial completed in another case in 13 days," he added.

"Something like this happens and people start reacting. It is a knee jerk reaction...But one can not blame any one part of the system. Look at the large population we have, which is at present 1.20 billion and it is increasing," he added.

"Where do we stand in regards to the judge population ratio? In USA, there are 125 judges for 1 million citizens and in India we have 6 judges for 1 million," he said while highlighting the ground reality of the country.

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Picture Archive: Making Mount Rushmore, 1935-1941

Photograph from Rapid City Chamber of Commerce/National Geographic

There's no such thing as Presidents' Day.

According to United States federal government code, the holiday is named Washington's Birthday, and has been since it went nationwide in 1885.

But common practice is more inclusive. The holiday expanded to add in other U.S. presidents in the 1960s, and the moniker Presidents' Day became popular in the 1980s and stuck. It may be that George Washington (b. February 22, 1732) andAbraham Lincoln (b. February 12, 1809) still get the lion's share of attention—and appear in all the retail sale ads—on the third Monday in February, but the popular idea is that all 44 presidents get feted.

Mount Rushmore is a lot like that one day a year writ large—and in granite. It's carved 60 feet (18 meters) tall and 185 feet (56 meters) wide, from Washington's right ear to Lincoln's left.

The monument's sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, grew up in Idaho, a first-generation American born to Danish parents. He studied art in France and became good friends with Auguste Rodin. Borglum mostly worked in bronze, but in the early 1910s he was hired to carve the likenesses of Confederate leaders into Stone Mountain in Georgia.

He was about to be fired from that job for creative differences about the same time that a South Dakota historian named Doane Robinson had an idea. Robinson wanted to have a monument carved into the Black Hills of South Dakota, maybe Western historical figures like Chief Red Cloud and Lewis and Clark, each on their own granite spire. (Plan a road trip in the Black Hills.)

Robinson hired Borglum and gave him carte blanche. Borglum was looking for something with national appeal, so he chose to depict four presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

Borglum wanted to represent the first 150 years of the nation's history, choosing four presidents as symbols of their respective time periods. He took a tour of western South Dakota, searching for an ideal canvas.

The sculptor was looking for three things: a surface strong enough to sculpt, a mountain big enough to hold several figures, and a mountain face that received morning sunlight. Mount Rushmore fit the bill and was already part of a national forest, so it was easy to set aside as a national memorial.

Work started in 1927. Calvin Coolidge attended the dedication ceremony. It took 14 years to finish the carving, conducted mostly in summertime because of the area's harsh winters.

There were approximately 30 workers on the mountain at any give time. In total about 400 had worked on it by the time the monument was finished. Though the project involved thousands of pounds of dynamite and perilous climbs, not a single person died during the work.

Borglum himself died of natural causes in 1941, though, just six months before the project was declared "closed as is" by Congress that Halloween. His son Lincoln—named for his father's favorite president—took over.

In the photo above, a worker refines the details of Washington's left nostril.

About 90 percent of the mountain was carved using dynamite, which could get within 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 centimeters) of the final facial features. For those last few inches, workers used what was known as the honeycomb method: Jackhammer workers pounded a series of three-inch-deep holes followed up by chiselers who knocked off the honeycomb pieces to get the final shape. Then carvers smoothed the "skin's" surface.

—Johnna Rizzo

February 16, 2013

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Gun Ban Would Protect More Than 2,200 Firearms

Congress' latest crack at a new assault weapons ban would protect more than 2,200 specific firearms, including a semi-automatic rifle that is nearly identical to one of the guns used in the bloodiest shootout in FBI history.

One model of that firearm, the Ruger .223 caliber Mini-14, is on the proposed list to be banned, while a different model of the same gun is on a list of exempted firearms in legislation the Senate is considering. The gun that would be protected from the ban has fixed physical features and can't be folded to be more compact. Yet the two firearms are equally deadly.

"What a joke," said former FBI agent John Hanlon, who survived the 1986 shootout in Miami. He was shot in the head, hand, groin and hip with a Ruger Mini-14 that had a folding stock. Two FBI agents died and five others were wounded.

Hanlon recalled lying on the street as brass bullet casings showered on him. He thought the shooter had an automatic weapon.

Both models of the Ruger Mini-14 specified in the proposed bill can take detachable magazines that hold dozens of rounds of ammunition. "I can't imagine what the difference is," Hanlon said.

President Barack Obama has called for restoring a ban on military-style assault weapons and limiting the size of ammunition magazines.

Gun Owners Rally State Capitals Across Country Watch Video

A bill introduced last month by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. would ban 157 specific firearms designed for military and law enforcement use and exempt others made for hunting purposes. It also would ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

Yet there are firearms that would be protected under Feinstein's proposal that can take large capacity magazines like the ones used in mass shootings that enable a gunman to fire dozens of rounds of ammunition without reloading.

Feinstein said in a written response to questions from The Associated Press that the list of more than 2,200 exempted firearms was designed to "make crystal clear" that the bill would not affect hunting and sporting weapons.

The December shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 students and educators dead forced Washington to focus on curbing gun violence, a risky political move not tried in decades.

The gun industry, which is fighting any sort of ban, says gun ownership in the U.S. is the highest it's ever been, with more than 100 million firearms owners.

Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden have traveled around the country in an effort to gain support for new laws. Feinstein's proposal is the only sweeping piece of legislation designed to ban assault weapons currently being considered.

But some gun experts say the lists of banned and exempted firearms show a lack of understanding and expertise of guns.

"There's no logic to it," said Greg Danas, president of a Massachusetts-based expert witness business and firearms ballistic laboratory. "What kind of effect is it going to have?"

Feinstein's bill defines an assault weapon as a semi-automatic firearm with a detachable magazine that has one of several military characteristics that are specified in her legislation. Examples of those characteristics include a pistol grip, which makes a firearm easier to hold, and a forward grip, which makes the firearm easier to stabilize to improve accuracy. The definition is similar to the one in Congress' original ban on assault weapons, which went into effect in 1994 and was widely criticized for outlawing firearms based on cosmetic features.

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PM Lee urges couples to have confidence in S'pore's future

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said it is important for couples to have confidence in Singapore's future and ultimately want Singapore to be the best place to settle down and raise children.

He was speaking at the Lunar New Year dinner at his Teck Ghee ward on Saturday evening.

He said: "Here, your children will get good education, will have good opportunities, that here we can build a home together. A home where we feel Singaporean, a home where we can have opportunities, a home where we can help look after one another, and make tomorrow better than today."

The government recently announced a Marriage and Parenthood package that aims to help Singaporeans settle down and raise children.

However, Mr Lee noted that parents are worried about childcare arrangements.

He said: "It's not easy because a lot of couples now, both parents are working and cannot always rely on grandparents to look after their kids because the grandparents may be older, may no longer be in good health, may not have the strength to take care of the grandchildren anymore. So, we need infant care and childcare facilities."

Mr Lee said building more childcare facilities will take time. He also said the centres can be set up quickly, but good teachers take time to train.

He added what is most important is to make it easier for parents to spend time with their children.

Mr Lee said: "So, we have paternity leave, we have shared parental leave, and these are big steps forward. We are also promoting good work-life balance, flexible work arrangements, and I think if we can do that, then that's the best hong bao which parents can give their children - our love and attention. I hope these measures will encourage couples to marry and to have more children."

Mr Lee said he is confident that Singapore can be transformed into a better place and next generation will do its part to improve it.

- CNA/xq

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Veerappan's aides move SC against execution of death sentence

NEW DELHI: Four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the execution of their death penalty in connection with a landmine blast that had killed 22 policemen in Karnataka nearly 20 years ago.

Veerappan's elder brother Gnanaprakash, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran were awarded death sentence in 2004 in connection with a landmine blast at Palar in Karnataka in 1993 in which 22 police personnel were killed.

Their mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on February 13 and according to sources, their hanging has been fixed for Sunday.

The four convicts are lodged in a jail in Belgaum in Karnataka.

A TADA court in Mysore had in 2001 sentenced them to life term which was enhanced to death sentence by the apex court.

Gang leader Veerappan was killed in an encounter with the Tamil Nadu police in October 2004.

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Why the Dog Show Winner Looks Like a Monkey

Standing less than a foot tall and easily cradled in one of trainer Ernesto Lara's arms, Banana Joe made big news for a small dog when he became the first affenpinscher to win the Westminster Kennel Club dog show on Tuesday.

His short stature and flattened face might not make Banana Joe look like a typical winner: The name "affenpinscher" is German for "monkey terrier," and its mug is definitely simian in appearance. Now this lesser known breed is basking in the spotlight, monkey face and all. (Read "How to Build a Dog" in National Geographic magazine.)

Why the Flat Face?

People like dogs whose faces kind of look like people, with a squished-in nose and forward-facing eyes: Pekinese, bullmastiffs, and affenpinschers, to name a few. "It's mimicking the way humans appear," said Jeffrey Schoenebeck, a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health who has analyzed the development of shortened canine snouts. Several centuries ago, breeders probably sought out parents with a flat face. (Genetics note: Gene BMP3 likely contributes to a flat face in toy breeds.)

And so Banana Joe's mug reflects centuries of genetic manipulation. There's no advantage for the dog, Schoenebeck notes, except that humans would crave it more as a companion. (Related: Gallery of Dog Pictures.)

What About That Tongue?

Banana Joe sticks out his little pink tongue a lot. Maybe more than your run-of-the-mill canine. The reason may be the flat face. "There's probably less room in their mouth" for the tongue, said Schoenebeck. "It's hanging out."

Why so Small?

"The Affenpinscher comes from a terrier background," explained NIH senior staff scientist Heidi Parker, and like all terriers, it was bred to chase. The early affenpinschers' specialty was hunting down rats and other vermin for its owners. Breeding for a small size came later, as ladies started bringing affenpinschers into the home as lap dogs-and to keep away vermin that might otherwise hide in corners or under long skirts. Today's affenpinschers are in the 6-to-13 pound (3-to-6 kilogram) range.

But the dog's size hasn't given it an inferiority complex. "Most of these little guys do not realize they're as small as they are," Parker says. Toy dogs have been known to chase birds and other animals that rival them in size.

What Comes After Westminster?

Dog lovers may crave an affenpinscher. And that could cause problems if breeders try to produce more pups.

"You'll see some breeds go through sudden explosions, where they'll go from small numbers to really large numbers," says Parker. "Usually that means an increase in genetic diseases." There aren't a lot of potential parents for a purebred litter, so the odds of inbreeding, and its related diseases, go up.

And What About Banana Joe?

Now that he's made us aware of his breed, Banana Joe will retire from competition and live with his Dutch owner, free to fulfill his heritage as a lap dog.

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Budget Cut Warnings Harsher Than Reality?

Get ready for two weeks of intensifying warnings about how crucial, popular government services are about to wither — including many threats that could eventually come true.

President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans made no progress last week in heading off $85 billion in budget-wide cuts that automatically start taking effect March 1. Lacking a bipartisan deal to avoid them and hoping to heap blame and pressure on GOP lawmakers, the administration is offering vivid details about the cuts' consequences: trimmed defense contracts, less secure U.S. embassies, furloughed air traffic controllers.

Past administrations have seldom hesitated to spotlight how budget standoffs would wilt programs the public values.

When a budget fight between President Bill Clinton and congressional Republicans led to two government shutdowns, in 1995 and 1996, some threats came true, like padlocked national parks.

Others did not.

Clinton warned that Medicare recipients might lose medical treatment, feeding programs for the low-income elderly could end and treatment at veterans hospitals could be curtailed. All continued, thanks to contractors working for IOUs, local governments and charities stepping in and the budget impasse ending before serious damage occurred.

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Imag

This time, at stake is not a federal shutdown but a so-called sequester. Between March 1 and Sept. 30 — the remainder of the government's budget year — it would mean reductions of 13 percent for defense programs and 9 percent for other programs, according to the White House budget office.

The cuts, plus nearly $1 trillion more over the coming decade, were concocted two years ago. Administration and congressional bargainers purposely made them so painful that everyone would be forced to reach a grand deficit-cutting compromise to avoid them.

Hasn't happened.

A look at the sequester and the chilling impact the administration says it would have, based on letters and testimony to Congress:

—A key reminder: Social Security, Medicare and veterans' benefits, Medicaid and a host of other benefit programs are exempted. The cuts take effect over a seven-month period; they don't all crash ashore on March 1. And if a bipartisan deal to ease them is ever reached, lawmakers could restore some or all of the money retroactively.

—On the other hand: Left in effect, these cuts are real even though their program-by-program impact is unclear. The law limits the administration's flexibility to protect favored initiatives, but the White House has told agencies to avoid cuts presenting "risks to life, safety or health" and to minimize harm to crucial services.

—Defense: Troops at war would be protected, but there'd be fewer Air Force flying hours, less training for some Army units and cuts in naval forces. A $3 billion cut in the military's Tricare health care system could diminish elective care for military families and retirees. And, in a warning to the private defense industry, the Pentagon said it would be "restructuring contracts to reduce their scope and cost."

—Health: The National Institutes of Health would lose $1.6 billion, trimming cancer research and drying up funds for hundreds of other research projects. Health departments would give 424,000 fewer tests for the AIDS virus. More than 373,000 people may not receive mental health services.

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President Obama and Jay-Z: strange bedfellows during gun ban debate

It is going to take more than requiring universal background checks, banning military-style assault weapons and showcasing families hurt by gun violence to impact the urban areas where gun violence is at its worst. In the black community, that means serious efforts to change a culture that for too many say it is okay to carry and use a handgun.

Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce Knowles, greet guests as they arrive for the 57th Presidential Inauguration Ceremony at the United States Capitol on Monday, Jan. 21.
(Ricky Carioti - THE WASHINGTON POST)
The task is daunting — so much so that people from all levels have to do things differently, from friends to family to the most recognizable member of the black community, President Obama.

For starters, the president, who is to be in Chicago Friday to talk about gun violence, needs to take care to whom he gives his stamp of approval.

I thought it odd, for example, that as the president and his family made their way to his public swearing-in on Jan. 21 that not far behind the Obamas were singer Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z, the former Brooklyn drug dealer-turned­successful, legitimate businessman.

In his 2010 book “Decoded,” Jay-Z explains how in the 1980s and early ’90s drug gangs from Brooklyn spread south, “and the competition turned the game bloody from Brooklyn to Baltimore to D.C. to the Carolinas.” Later in the book, Jay-Z writes: “Maryland ended badly, too — shootouts in clubs, major police investigations, whole crews arrested. I got out of there just in time.”

For those who do not recall that time period or did not live through it, here’s a bit of history. Crack exploded in the D.C. and Baltimore areas in the late 1980s. Battles over drug turf, especially outdoor drug markets, fed a spiraling homicide rate in both cities.

Let’s be clear; Jay-Z has never been accused of or been charged with killing anyone or shooting anyone other than his brother, whom Jay-Z wounded when he was 12. In recent interviews Carter has said he is not advocating violence but offers a look at issues in urban America.

But is Jay-Z a person to whom the President, who is in a battle to pass gun control legislation, should give an imprimatur?

Just look at a small sampling of gun crimes that have occurred in predominantly black communities since the President’s historic second inauguration.

Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago girl, was fatally shot in the back in a park in Chicago about one mile from the Obamas’ home. Days before, the girl performed with her high school as a drum majorette during inaugural festivities in D.C. The man charged used a handgun. Her slaying was one of 42 recorded in Chicago last month.

In Prince George’s where four seniors from different high schools have been shot and killed since the start of the school year, the principal of Eleanor Roosevelt, considered the best public high school in the county, sent a note home to parents informing them that a student brandished a handgun at a school bus stop near the school in Greenbelt.

Handguns accounted for 72 percent of all gun-related homicides in 2011, according to a CNN report. So it is easy to understand that legislation focused on banning military-style assault rifles would have little impact in reducing gun violence in urban areas.

And that brings me back to president Obama and Jay-Z at the Inauguration. It is not just that the president stood with an artist who has glorified the use of handguns. Their pairing at such an historic event also desensitizes our young people to how life really works: they need to know that if you live in a world that gets “bloody” and “messy” you are not likely to end up hanging out with the president of the United States.

I asked 30 young African Americans recently whether they questioned Jay-Z’s presence with the president. Only one of them saw a problem.

Suppose Jay-Z had shot or killed a person? “He’s an icon,” one member of group said. “He turned his life around,” another offered. “He’s a role model,” said a third.

The lone dissenter in the groups was a young person whose brother had been shot and wounded by a gunman who was charged but acquitted at trial. “What happened messed up my brother, and messed up my family,” the young person said. “Having Jay-Z at the inauguration, they should have given that some more thought.”

Keith Harriston formerly covered criminal justice issues and public safety policy at The Washington Post. He teaches journalism at Howard University, where he edits www.hunewsservice.com.

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