January 06, 2010

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to clarify whether Islamic head scarves, or hijab, will now automatically trigger additional security measures for Muslim travelers. CAIR made that request after a Muslim woman traveler taking a flight Tuesday from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Los Angeles (LAX) reported that TSA personnel first requested that she take off her hijab, then put her through a "humiliating" public full-body pat-down search when she refused. After the pat-down, the Muslim traveler's luggage, coat, shoes, laptop, and cell phone were searched and tested for bomb-making chemicals. When the traveler, a resident of Maryland, questioned TSA staff about the way she was being treated, she was allegedly told that a new policy went into effect that morning mandating that "anyone wearing a head scarf must go through this type of search." In a letter to TSA Acting Administrator Gale D. Rossides, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote in part: "First, I would like to commend you on your efforts to maintain the safety of the travelling public. I would also like to offer the American Muslim community's cooperation and support in preserving that safety and security... Full release.

The Justice Department announced that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian national, was charged today in a six-count criminal indictment returned in the Eastern District of Michigan for his alleged role in the attempted Christmas day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Detroit. Count one of the indictment charges Abdulmutallab with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Count two of the indictment charges him with attempted murder within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Count three of the indictment charges him with willful attempt to destroy or wreck an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Count four of the indictment charges Abdulmutallab with willfully placing a destructive device on an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, which was likely to endanger the safety of such aircraft. This violation carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Count five of the indictment charges him with use of a firearm/destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence, which carries a consecutive mandatory 30 years in prison. Full release.

Clinical Care Options® (CCO) and Scienta Healthcare Education® announced today a collaboration for the development of a new online portal to deliver comprehensive continuing medical education (CME) programs and information in neurology for physicians and other healthcare professionals. "We look forward to leveraging CCO's exceptional online technologies and proven innovative educational models to dramatically enhance and expand Scienta's rich neurology CME offerings," said Sherri Foster, CCMEP, President of Scienta. "This joint effort will allow us to more effectively reach clinicians and support their continuing medical education to improve patient care here in the United States and around the world." Scienta will create and certify educational content for the new portal through CCO's proprietary learning models such as Conference Coverage, Journal Options, Interactive Case Challenges, and interactive decision support tools. CCO will host the portal on its clinicaloptions.com Web site and deliver its robust reporting and distribution systems with the same state-of-the-art functionality offered on its existing portals in HIV, hepatitis, and oncology. Full release.

Today, as part of a White House event celebrating the importance of teachers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education, President Barack Obama highlighted the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching Fellowship as a model effort to inspire students to excel in math and science. "America's leadership tomorrow depends on how we educate our students today, especially in science, math and engineering," said President Obama. "That's why I'm pleased to announce the expansion of our 'Educate to Innovate' campaign today and applaud the several new partnerships launched that will help meet our goal of moving American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade." The president recognized the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching Fellowship as one of the new partners of the "Educate to Innovate" campaign. Also announced today are the six universities that have been selected to participate in the Fellowship program - University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, and Wayne State University. Full release.

The Internal Revenue Service has announced sweeping new recommendations to require all paid tax return preparers to register with the IRS and obtain an individual identification number, pass a background check to ensure their own tax history is in order, pass a competency test, fulfill an annual schedule of ongoing continuing professional education, and adhere to ethical standards promulgated in Treasury Department Circular 230. Enrolled Agents, attorneys, and CPAs, who are already subject to oversight, will be exempt from most of the new standards, which will be implemented beginning in 2011. Members of the California Society of Enrolled Agents (CSEA) -- the largest statewide organization of EAs, representing more than 3,700 Enrolled Agents in 19 Chapters across the state -- applaud the new standards, which, according to CSEA President David Shaw of Yuba City, "will equalize the accountability of both credentialed and non-credentialed preparers in America." "This proposal is a huge step in protecting the taxpayers of America," Shaw advises. "All tax preparers should be required to demonstrate competency and maintain education and ethical standards, but currently only EAs, CPAs, and attorneys are required to do so. Full release.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Kaiser Permanente recently launched a pilot medical data exchange program in San Diego using the Nationwide Health Information Network. This innovative pilot enables clinicians from VA and Kaiser Permanente to obtain a more comprehensive view of a patient's health using electronic health record information, including information about health issues, medications, and allergies. "The Department of Veterans Affairs and the entire administration are encouraged by the opportunities that electronic health record interoperability provides for Veterans, Service Members and their dependents," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "We are proud to join in this effort with Kaiser Permanente and to achieve the benefits of health data exchange, including improved quality, patient safety, and efficiency." Led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the NHIN provides a technology "gateway" to support interoperability standards and a legal framework for the secure exchange of health information between treating physicians, when authorized by a patient. Full release.

Throughout the year, PBS invites viewers to explore the vast contributions of African Americans. In honor and celebration of Black History Month, February 2010, PBS presents new and encore programs, beginning in January and continuing through February. Acclaimed Harvard scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. investigates the ancestry of 11 renowned Americans, including poet Elizabeth Alexander, who composed and read the poem at President Barack Obama's inauguration, and writer Malcolm Gladwell, with FACES OF AMERICA, a new four-part series. INDEPENDENT LENS brings race to the forefront with two new films in February. "Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness" explores the often overlooked legacy of Jewish anthropologist Melville Herskovits, whose ideas in the 40s and 50s challenged the accepted assumptions about race and culture. "Behind the Rainbow" unearths once-hidden realities of South Africa's political obstacles on the path to democracy. Full release.

The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Michigan, has thrown its grantmaking support squarely behind the state's efforts to make postsecondary education more accessible, particularly among low-income and/or first-generation college students, by awarding a grant of more than $1 million to the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN), a nonprofit organization that works to increase college participation and success rates statewide. MCAN will use a portion of the grant to help communities set up their own local college-access networks. At the local level, the money will be used to bring together community leaders from education, business, nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and government so they can work together to plan, start up and expand their respective networks. Local college-access networks coordinate a gamut of educational support services, from high-school course planning and ACT test prep to assistance with the college application process and financial aid advising. Within their communities, they will promote a college-going culture and serve as the leader, advocate, and authority on college-access issues. Full release.

The Montana Supreme Court, on December 31, 2009, made Montana the third state allowing physician-assisted suicide. Oregon's voters, in 1994, had created the landmark decision first, surviving legal challenges when the U.S. Supreme Court, using states' rights as the deciding factor, affirmed the voters' wishes legally in 2005. Washington State became the second in 2008. Jerry Dincin, president of Final Exit Network (FEN), accepts the Montana victory enthusiastically but with an important reservation: "While it may seem like we are on a roll toward the final human right of the 21st century for great numbers of our citizens, despite the victories in Oregon, Washington, and Montana and the good works of organizations like Compassion and Choices and Hospice, the needs of mentally competent, suffering patients who have not been declared 'terminal' (having fewer than six months to live) have not been addressed. These individuals still often suffer endlessly from an irreversible condition they can no longer bear, where quality of life is a distant memory and all that remains is the reality of an indefinite and hopeless future. Our organization is their only advocate." Full release.

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine released the following statement in response to the ouster of Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer: "Today's right-wing led coup of Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer is a telling and unsettling sign about the extreme direction of the Republican Party -- a direction that is narrowing the Party ideologically, demographically and, ultimately, electorally. "We're not even a full week into 2010 and the extreme right wing of the Republican Party has claimed another trophy for its wall -- adding Greer to Senator Specter and Dede Scozzafava in its quest to purify the Republican Party, eliminate moderate voices and enact an extreme right-wing agenda. "By deposing the top party official in a state that is virtually unmatched in electoral importance, and that has perhaps the most contested GOP Senate primary race of 2010, the tea party movement has landed a powerful blow squarely on the chin of the Republican Party. "As we saw in 2009, the right-wing's unrelenting drive towards a smaller, narrower Republican Party cost the GOP dearly -- most notably it cost Republicans millions of dollars and a seat in Congress when the extreme right wing forced moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava from the race in New York's 23rd Congressional District. Full release.

The New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to advance the state's genderless marriage bill to the full Senate for consideration. Speaking before the Committee, Julian Bond, chair of the NAACP, claimed it is unconstitutional to deny homosexuals marriage because "like our race, sexuality isn't a preference. It's immutable and unchangeable." "Contrary to Bond's statement equating skin color with homosexual behavior, major scientific studies and mental health associations have stated homosexuality is not innate," said Regina Griggs, director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX). "No replicated scientific study has found a gay gene, gay DNA, or gay center of the brain. No medical test can determine if a person is homosexual. Sexual orientation is a matter of self-affirmation and public declaration. Many African-Americans have come out of homosexuality, proving sexual orientation can change, but skin color does not." "New Jersey State Senator Barbara Buono also endorses gay marriage, but refuses to recognize equal rights for ex-gays and denies their very existence," said Griggs. "During the debate of Buono's bill to revise New Jersey's hate crimes law to include gender identity, Senator Anthony Bucco offered an amendment to include ex-homosexuals." Full release.

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