Keepingitreal

Study shows pot more popular among teenagers

Smoking marijuana is becoming even more popular among U.S. teens and they have cut down on smoking cigarettes, binge drinking and using methamphetamine, according to a federal survey released Monday. More teens also are getting high on prescription pain pills and attention-deficit drugs, according to eighth, 10th and 12th graders surveyed by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The increase of teens smoking pot is partly because the national debate over medical use of marijuana can make the drug's use seem safer to teenagers, researchers said. In addition to marijuana, fewer teens also view prescription drugs and Ecstasy as dangerous, which often means more could use those drugs in the future, said White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske. The "continued erosion in youth attitudes and behavior toward substance abuse should give pause to all parents and policy-makers," Kerlikowske said. "These latest data confirm that we must redouble our efforts to implement a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to preventing and treating drug use," Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in remarks prepared for his Monday speech at the National Press Club in Washington. Marijuana use, while well off peak levels of the late 1990s, has edged up. According to the study of 47,097 students, among this year's 12th graders, 20.6 percent said they used it within the past month, compared with 19.4 percent in 2008 and 18.3 percent in 2006. Among 10th graders, pot use in the past month rose to 15.9 percent this year from 13.8 percent in 2008. "The upward trending of the past two or three years stands in stark contrast to the steady decline that preceded it for nearly a decade," said Lloyd Johnston, who has directed the annual survey since it started in 1975. The percentage of eighth-graders who saw a "great risk" in occasionally smoking marijuana fell from 50.5 percent in 2004 to 48.1 percent in 2008 and 44.8 percent this year. The perceived danger of using Ecstasy once or twice fell among eighth graders, from 42.5 percent in 2004 to 26 percent in 2009. 

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/14/national/a071320S03.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0ZhMOHgRW

Uninvited Pair Met Obama; Secret Service Offers Apology

 WASHINGTON — President Obama and his wife, Michelle, had a face-to-face encounter with the couple who sneaked into a state dinner at the White House this week, White House officials acknowledged on Friday. The revelation underscored the seriousness of the security breach and prompted an abject apology from the Secret Service.A White House spokesman said that the couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi of Virginia, met and shook hands with the president and the first lady in the receiving line in the Blue Room, as the Obamas greeted each of their 400 invited guests Tuesday night before moving to a tent on the South Lawn for dinner.

That disclosure coincided with a statement from the director of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan, saying that his agency was “deeply concerned and embarrassed” by the events. Secret Service officials said the agency wanted to interview everyone connected with the episode, including the Salahis, and had not ruled out criminal charges.

“The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list,” Mr. Sullivan said.“Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely,” Mr. Sullivan said. “That failing is ours.”

On Friday night, the White House released a photograph of the couple in the receiving line, being greeted by Mr. Obama. In the photo, a smiling Mrs. Salahi, wearing a red and gold sari, is clasping Mr. Obama’s hand with both of hers, as her husband looks on. The prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, is standing next to Mr. Obama.

Mrs. Salahi’s Facebook page has photographs of the couple with officials including Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff. It is not known who took the pictures. CONTINUE READING...

Morehouse’s Crossroads Has Nothing To Do With ‘Ghetto Gear’ or Cross-Dressing

• By: Frank Leon Roberts ~  The conversation regarding the new dress-code policy at Morehouse College has been hijacked by a vociferous gang of socially conservative black pundits: some of them simply politically misguided, others merely proud homophobes; a few of them the ideological love-children of Ward Connerly andBill Cosby. In the short week and a half since I became the first writer to report the news of Morehouse’s new policy, the college has become the subject of an intensifying national debate regarding the role that style plays in producing (or constraining) black male substance. By now, there is no need to explain what went “down” at Morehouse. You already know. But while you may have already heard the details of Morehouse’s new “no grills or purses” policy, it’s quite possible that you have yet to hear an impassioned defense of grillz and purses in the spirit of Morehouse’s most illustrious progenitors. There are those who have argued that it is inappropriate to incite a national public dialogue about what’s happening at a private, independently funded college. In the blogosphere, there have been comments in recent days such as “What goes on at Morehouse is a private affair between its students, alumni and administrators. There is nothing illegal about a private school enforcing a dress code. Any student who is unhappy with the dress code has the liberty to leave.” These voices are misguided and unsophisticated. Morehouse College is much more than simply a “private institution;” it is a black cultural pillar. In other words, the institution we call “Morehouse” is quite similar to the institution we call “the black church.” One does not have to be a member of these institutions in order to be affected by what goes on within their walls. Given Morehouse’s stature as a historical pillar, all African-American men (not just those who are students or alumni of the institution) have an ethical obligation to contribute to this national dialogue about the politics of the college’s policies—especially in instances where it promotes a climate of rampant anti-ghetto-culture classism and femiphobia. SOURCE:THE ROOT.COM

Obama Calls Kanye West a ‘Jackass’

President Obama called musician Kanye West a “jackass” during an interview Monday with CNBC, an ABC News anchor reported to his followers on Twitter. But the tweet caused some red faces at ABC, and the network soon apologized for publicizing what had apparently been an off-the-record comment. “Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a ‘jackass’ for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential,” “Nightline” co-anchor Terry Moran wrote Monday evening. Moran has more than 1 million followers on the microblogging service. CNBC objected to the post, which was apparently from a portion of the interview that was supposed to be off the record. Moran quickly deleted the comment (although it still can be accessed online), and an ABC spokesperson apologized for the tweet in a statement first posted on Politico. (Continue Reading…)

“My Girl Got A Girlfriend”

By Kimberley K. McLeod ~ It’s your typical hip-hop and R&B video. Scantily clad women. An outdoor pool. Champagne bottles. Lesbians. Yes, lesbians. These women may not be your typical idea of a music video cameo, but it’s becoming more common for male R&B and hip-hop artists to sing and rap about discovering their girlfriends with other women. In their songs these men aren’t upset about the adulterous discovery; on the contrary, they are requesting (or demanding) that their girlfriends include them!

This male fascination with lesbian and bisexual women is nothing new and certainly not exclusive to hip-hop and R&B. More recent songs by artists, including Omarion (“Think My Girl Is”), Lil’ Wayne and Drake (“Every Girl”) and Ray Lavender (“My Girl Got A Girlfriend”), can now be added to the playlist of songs that mention women being both attracted to and intimate with other women. 

While women (and men) have been critical of hip-hop’s more blatant lyrics and videos that objectify women, some don’t seem to be up in arms about its portrayal of same-sex relations.

“I wouldn’t think two sh*ts about it,” says Modupe Akiwumi, a 25-year-old lesbian from Hyattsville, Maryland.

Akiwumi adds that the women portrayed in these videos do not reflect the type of women she dates so she is unaffected by their depiction. “Some girls are open to that – whether gay or straight – you know the whole ménage [á trios], fulfilling guys’ fantasy type of thing. I just date girls that are into girls,” Akiwumi says.

But should women be concerned about lyrics that declare, “Havin’ two chicks is better than no chicks/I’d rather just join in/Keep my girl and keep the other one too?” Natasha Forrester, a 21-year-old from New York City who considers herself heterosexual, believes they should be.

“Whether the women are gay or straight does not matter. The problem is that they are being objectified and hypersexualized,” Forrester says. CONTINUE READING...

Where Are the Black Bachelor(ettes)?

By: Rachel Skerritt ~ This season of ABC’s reality show The Bachelorette is coming to a close. I would like to thank you for the hours of entertainment you’ve provided over 13 seasons of The Bachelor plus five seasons of The Bachelorette: the overuse of the word “amazing,” the overly tearful women (and men) and the repeated stating of the obvious: “This is your final rose tonight.” As if we can’t see that there’s just one flower sitting on the tray.

The fact that I can count on a good love story with every episode (even though the couple inevitably breaks up before getting down the aisle) keeps me coming back for more. However, I must bring this matter to your attention: In the entire history of the show, there has never been a bachelor or bachelorette of color. Don’t you think it’s time for someone with brown skin to be calling the shots at your rose ceremonies?

Why is it that if an African American wants to humiliate him- or herself on national TV in search of a mate, the only options are I Love New York or For the Love of Ray J? Are we not suitable for major networks? Yes, you do occasionally allow one black contestant on the show at a time, only for that person to be eliminated by the second episode. But if we don’t have a shot at the ring, don’t bother inviting us. Really. It’s like starting a new NFL franchise and telling the team that it will never be eligible to play in the Super Bowl.

You may be wondering why the couples who get together on your show rarely work out in the long term. Well, you’re not exactly picking folks who are feeling tons of urgency to find a spouse. According to a study by the Washington Post, black women are the least likely group in American society to get married (45 percent of us have never been married, compared with 23 percent of white women). So wouldn’t it make sense to cast someone from the group who could most use the assistance? Instead, you picked Deanna, one of the most recent bachelorettes. At 26, she claimed that she couldn’t wait to settle down and raise a family. Seriously? She’s 26. You couldn’t have been that shocked when she chose the professional snowboarder—and then dumped him as soon as the show wrapped.

This season, we’ve watched Jillian keep around a contestant who was on the show to promote his country music album while in the meantime she let go of every guy who expressed an interest in marriage.

I’ll bet some of your concern is that you might lose viewers if you had a black star. But take a lesson from Bravo’s The Real Housewives series. When the show moved from Orange County to Atlanta, its ratings went through the roof. Diversifying your cast of characters would only increase your audience. The dialogue would be more substantive, the family visits more interesting and the stakes much higher. If you don’t start getting creative come season 19, your final rose might turn up sooner than you think. SOURCE: THE ROOTS.COM

Berkeley: crime-infested and dangerous to know?

Berkeley -- the 43rd most dangerous city in the United States? Really? Go figure. But that is the case, according to recently released data by online relocation resource Neighborhood Scout.The university city is seen as being more dangerous than Palm Springs (which places 88th) and North Miami (99), but is beaten to the post for the number one spot by Edinburg, Texas, whose population is just 48,863 and where your chances of becoming a crime victim are 1 in 97, compared to 1 in 177 in the foodie destination on the Bay.You've got to wonder about these rankings though -- particularly given the notable absence within them of Berkeley's neighbors, San Francisco and Oakland. Granted they both have much larger populations, but is it really safer to wander some 'hoods in those two locations -- both of which struggle with higher than average reported crimes -- than in Berkeley?The "dangerous cities" league table shows no other Californian city with more than 25,000 residents as being more dangerous than Berkeley.It's all enough to make you pack your bags and flee to where Neighborhood Scout reports is the safest city in the country -- Jackson, New Jersey, where, according to the numbers, there is effectively zero crime and one's chance of encountering it is a mere 1 in 10,000.Failing that, if you want to stick to California, try Trabuco Canyon, ranked the 19th safest location in the nation -- and where the median home price is $614,700. The full results of the survey can be found here -- liberal pinches of salt advised.

BET Missed the Mark with Michael Jackson Tribute

EXCERPT FROM NEW AMERICA MEDIA ~ Over the past week many of us have sat in seething anger as news show after news show and pundit after pundit have been granted large platforms and an abundance of air time to come and trash Michael Jackson. I’m not talking about raising a couple of controversial issues here and there, but some of the folks who have been dragged out the sewer with the express purpose of going all out not to just to smash on MJ, but to do so in such away that it would hurt us. It was like some diabolical mind sat in a room and said ‘Here’s how you can really totally demoralize Black folks-take their biggest icon and treat him like shit while the body is still warm’ Watching the coverage of Michael Jackson on many of these mainstream news outlets has me wondering if MJ did something personal to some of them. Simply put, OJ Simpson got and gets better treatment. Now if it was just a Michael thing most of us wouldn’t care. Most of us would keep it moving and call it a day, but MJ’s music was the soundtrack for so many people around the world and for a variety of generations from the late 60s up to the 90s and beyond. Jackson’s videos, music, concerts all had deep meaning-and because of that we hoped that the criticism would be toned down and the hatred would be put away for another day. CONTINUE READING...

The Science of The Sexes: Diagnosing Our Differences

EXCERPT FROM CLUTCH MAGAZINEONLINE.COM ~ Man and Woman: Two halves of a whole that form humankind. One cannot exist without the other, but at times it is our intrinsic, but essential differences that cause us to feel locked in a co-dependent alliance filled with anguish and frustration. Countless authors, “relationship experts” and random intimacy Guru’s have profited off of our desire to understand (or merely learn to tolerate) members of the opposite sex. One financially successful franchise went so far as to imply that men and women are from two totally different planets, Mars & Venus.A thought provoking article titled Human Hardware: Men And Women takes a scientific look at some key differences between the two sexes that could possibly explain the eternal struggle men and women face in trying to form a sometimes uneasy union.According to one particular study, there are distinct differences between the male and female brain. Scientists at UC – Irvine found that males have 6.5 times more grey matter in their dome than females, while women have 10 times more white matter than the fellas:“Gray matter is the raw processing material of the brain, and white matter connects the processing centers. That means that men’s brains have a little more horsepower, but women’s brains are better connected. Consequently, men can focus better on tasks that require raw manipulation of data, and women are better at pulling information for multiple sources and synthesizing it. [In addition] the researchers found no significant differences in general intelligence between men and women. Although our brains are wired differently, they seem to work equally well.” CONTINUE READING...

Chuck Creekmur on HIV/AIDS in the Black Community

On Wednesday June 3rd, 2009 ICED Media and Loop21.com hosted a discussion called “The New Silent Killer: AIDS in Black America.” Now you might be wondering what does HIV/AIDS have to do with Internet Week 2009 but the increase on HIV/AIDS amongst this community is still on the rise. And it is with the power that we have to educate through social media and bring about change that we can all help reduce the transmission rates across all communities be they White, Black, Puerto Rican, or Asian. Many sites like Allhiphop.com, Mashable, and others make a strong commitment to community service and bringing about awareness to social issues. Panelist Chuck Creekmur Co-Founder and CEO of the popular site Allhiphop.com gave us the inside scoop on the panel and what was discussed. Click here to Read the full interview.

Is Black Radio Worth Saving?

It's rare to have Rep. John Conyers (Detroit) and Rev. Al Sharpton (Heaven?) publicly split against each other, but a recently-passed bill (H.R. 848), championed by Conyers, just accomplished that. The "Performance Rights Act" has created a full-blown spectacle, even enlisting the megaphone of media mogul, Cathy Hughes, who called it a "bill that could put many black owned radio stations out of business. And force others to abandon their commitment to provide free music, entertainment, news, information, and money losing formats like gospel and black talk." In recent weeks, many, including the inimitable Dick Gregory, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Tom Joyner, have rallied in opposition to it.The bill passed last Wednesday in the House, but not before a rally organized by Ms. Hughes, herself, outside Conyers' office. It should be duly noted that H.R. 848 didn't just spring up like a thief in the night. For months it had been in the works, and for months, faithful public servants like award-winning Hip-Hop journalist, Davey D, had been raising their voices against the dangers it could cause--to Black radio.

As early as January 27, 2009, Davey D had begun sounding the alarm. By February 24, he was convinced that if Conyers greased the wheels for the passage of the bill, "He and his collogues will be regretting their shortsightedness... Conyers and his ilk will one day sadly discover that those outlets will not be able to accommodate them in an effective way because many outlets like mine play music with our talk." At the time, Davey D speculated that perhaps the "esteemed Congressman has been duped and bamboozled. Someone on his staff has given him bad information"; but many of Conyers' opponents aren't so willing to give him that much credit anymore.

Davey D explained, in plain English, the content and character of Conyers' handiwork. It's worth quoting at-length:

If this goes through, what will essentially happen is that we will find ourselves in a situation where it will become real costly to play music. This new coalition is really the same outfit that went and gutted internet radio making it so it costs 18 cent a song per listener. Do the math and ask yourself why we don't have more stations? It's too damn expensive after you reach a certain amount of listeners. The rate is scheduled to go up to 25 cent a song per listener in 3 years.. This means if you have something cracking and you get even half a million listeners it will be impossible for you to pay for it, even with advertising.<

But as much as we've been alerted to the danger involved in a potential loss of this vibrant part of our culture, we must be just as willing to question if this effort, on the part of executives like Cathy Hughes, is even worth it. We should also demand from them what their true motive, in this fight, is. After all, Cathy Hughes, as founder and CEO of Radio One, hasn't been so beneficial to the younger Black community. In 2007, Jahi, the California-based Hip-Hop artist, asked a timely question: "When will Radio One be held accountable for the music they are feeding to our kids, matter of fact, all of us?" Jahi railed against Radio One and Cathy Hughes for promoting a Spring Fest Miami concert series, with artists whose only prerogatives seem to be the pursuit of material wealth and other self-destructive acquisitions. Jahi felt that as much as Don Imus, the disgrace radio jock, was tossed into the lion's den for his "nappy-headed hoes" comment, and justly so, the Black Imus-lites on the airwaves should be met with equal amounts of antagonism, from an irate community: "The date after the controversy broke, I heard an artist say "beautiful hoe's" on the radio (RADIO ONE). Yeah they bleeped out "hoes" but we all know what was said. What does Radio One and Kathy Hughes have to say about that?"

Jahi has a valid point; but the question, in my view, should be broadened and more inclusive: "What do WE, as a people, as a generation, as a culture, have to say about that?" If we'll be frank, and I certainly hope we can, most of what is played on Black or "urban" radio stations across the country is unadulterated bullsh**! Bullsh** in perpetuity.. The same hedonistic, materialistic, misogynistic set of 5 - 10 songs is rotated by slow-witted DJ's, whose sole claim to fame is the ability to read scripts--pre-written by record label executives--about how "ill," "hot," "siccckkk," "phat," "dope," and "crack," a select few of commercial artists are. These fu**ed-up "on-air personalities" couldn't care less what impact their role is having on the collective psyche of the Hip-Hop community. They take pride and joy in a job which trained-robots and machines can do effortlessly and, dare I add, more eloquently. These backbone-less puppets have no depth into which their integrity refuses to dive--as long as the promise of financial solvency abounds. Anyone who doubts the verity of my contention need only switch their radio frequencies to any station with the title "Hot" or "Power" before it. SOURCE:THE DAILY VOICE

Pot proposal's impact depends on federal law

When California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, the federal government responded by closing down pot clubs, prosecuting suppliers, threatening doctors who recommended the drug, and successfully battling co-ops and patients in cases that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. So Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, author of a bill that would make California the first state to legalize personal use of marijuana, is going out of his way to avoid a fight with the feds. If federal law remains unchanged, Ammiano's bill, AB390, would merely repeal California's criminal penalties for personal cultivation and possession of up to 10 marijuana plants. That means no retail sales, no tax revenue and - the assemblyman hopes - no federal raids.Only if, in the bill's language, "federal law permits possession and sale consistent with this program," would the measure legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older, with regulations like those that apply to alcohol.The cautious approach "acknowledges, to some extent, the reality we have right now," said Quintin Mecke, a spokesman for Ammiano."I'm hard-pressed to imagine the (Drug Enforcement Administration) being that interested in what is in someone's private home," Mecke said. "I think they pay attention to major grow operations."Federal officials would probably take a dim view, however, of state legalization of storefront sales that defied U.S. law, Mecke said.Decriminalize personal use, sale, possession and cultivation of marijuana in California.-- If the federal ban on possession, cultivation and sale of marijuana were repealed, the state would allow marijuana growers and sellers and impose a $50-an-ounce tax.

NYC Event: Free Pizza and Snapple May4th-May8th

Snapple is giving away free pizza from the top pizzerias around New York Ciy starting the week of Monday, May 4 and you will also receive a free Snapple.

Here are the locations:

Date: Monday, May 4
Where: Spinelli Pizza at 425 7th Ave., between 33rd & 34th St. (East side of 7th Ave.)
Time: 10:30 a.m. till the first 500 people have been served

Date: Tuesday, May 5
Where: Famous Joe’s Pizza at 7 Carmine St., between Bleeker & 6th Ave.
Time: 10:30 a.m. till the first 500 people have been served

Date: Wednesday, May 6
Where: Silver Spoon Diner at 58-21 Junction Blvd. (Queens)
Time: 10:30 a.m. till the first 500 people have been served

Date: Thursday, May 7
Where: My Little Pizza at 114 Court St, between Atlantic Ave. & State St. (Brooklyn)
Time: 10:30 a.m. till the first 500 people have been served

Date: Friday, May 8
Where: Mezza Lunna Pizza at 98 8th Ave., corner of 15th St.
Time: 10:30 a.m. till the first 500 people have been served

Snapple is also giving away over 150,000 bottle of Snapple throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens during the week of May 4. Try the new recipe with real sugar and reduced calories!

A Matter of Conscience: Officer Down OPD

I felt compelled to write something about last week’s shooting of the (4) police officers, in Oakland,California. If you look in the papers, media, community activists and alike are sharing their views on why this happened. The victim has been portrayed as a monster, and a number of other things that really do not matter at this point. He is dead, and so are the 4 police officers. Living in Oakland at times is infectious; however, you are always cautious when you step out of your home, house, or apartment due to the nature of the climate in Oakland. Almost on a regular basis you pick up the newspaper, see it online, or hear it on television about some type of violence happening in the City of Oakland. Some revelers under the guise of being community activists have compared these events to the "Oscar Grant tragedy" that happened earlier in the year. Shame on you for that! These are two different circumstances.  The genesis of this goes back further than today. Our state has the largest prison population in the United States. Unfortunately, incarceration of people is part of the fabric of our economic system in this state. Locking people up, not only is good for society, and keeps us from criminals, it also makes money for the state. Not to say, people are being locked up for the dollars. If you do the crime then you should do the crime, as the old saying would say. “One of the main contributors to the state's parole numbers is a 1976 law, the Determinate Sentencing Law, that mandated parole for all state inmates after they serve a set number of years in prison. Unlike other states, which allow a parole board to decide if an inmate is ready to return to society, California's law says all inmates, except those serving life sentences, must be paroled after serving their time.” ~ Mercury News ~ Therefore, a person who has been sent to prison knows that when he or she completes the number of years of the sentence, they will get out eventually. Once on the outside, there are no incentives for the prisoner to change unless they want to. The parole systems are so over burdened, that the average parole officer cannot keep up with their case load. Therefore, parolees will slip through the system until the system catches up with them. In most states, prisoners, are not released unless a parole board determines they are ready to be released back to society, either by their exemplary behavior in prison, participation in prison reform programs, etc. We do not have that in California, due to the Legislative laziness, are just an unwillingness to fix the system. As a result we have tragedies that occurred in Oakland, last week. The gun control issue must be addressed in Oakland immediately; it is very disturbing to me when the criminals outgun the Police. How do you expect for Police Officers to do their jobs when the criminals outgun them 2 to 1. So many issues come before the City council, that affects the residents of Oakland, but the main issue is the citizens of this city need to be protected against the violence. We can talk all day long about how flawed the system is. About how flawed the system is will not bring back those brave police officers and the alleged gunman. Let this tragedy, galvanize the community and leaders to enact laws to prevent this from happening again. Traditionally, there have always been blurred lines of communication between the police and the community, particularly the African-American community in Oakland. Write your legislature, your assemblyperson, your congressman and enlist their help in fixing this problem in our state and community.

For Young President, Flecks of Gray

WASHINGTON — Well, that didn’t take long. Just 44 days into the job, and President Obama is going gray. It happens to all of them, of course — Bill Clinton still had about half a head of brown hair when he took office but was a silver fox two years later, and George W. Bush went from salt and pepper to just salt in what seemed like a blink of an eye.But so soon? “I started noticing it toward the end of the campaign and leading up to inauguration,” says Deborah Willis, who, as co-author of “Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs,” pored through 5,000 photographs of the first head over the last year.Mr. Obama’s graying is still of the flecked variety, and appears to wax and wane depending on when he gets his hair cut, which he does about every two weeks. His barber, who goes by only one name, Zariff, takes umbrage with bloggers who alternately claim Mr. Obama, 47, is dyeing his hair gray (to appear more distinguished) or dyeing it black (to appear younger). “I can tell you that his hair is 100 percent natural,” Zariff said. “He wouldn’t get it colored.”And for all of his 16 years giving Mr. Obama his “quo vadis” haircut — black parlance from the 1960s for close-cut locks — Zariff said he is not about to start ribbing Mr. Obama. “We do not tease about the gray at all,” he said.For a guy who prides himself on projecting a stress-free demeanor, the changes above his temples are speckled evidence that perhaps the psychological and physical strains of the job — never mind the long process of winning it — are in fact taking something of a toll. (Experts say stress can contribute to whitening locks.)Mr. Obama seems to have noticed it at least as far back as last summer. “I’ve been running for president for about 19 months now,” he told supporters at a campaign event in Virginia in August. “Folks are noticing that I’ve got a lot more gray hair now than when I started.”But with the economy struggling, two wars raging and countless other pressures facing him, the president is very likely to see additional signs of wear and tear in the mirror each morning.“Presidents age two years for every year that they’re in office,” said Dr. Michael F. Roizen, co-founder of RealAge, a Web site that tells you how much older your body really is because of all that smoking and drinking you have been doing.Rapidly lightening locks are just one sign that the job is getting to America’s presidents. Many of them (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt) also developed hypertension. Mr. Clinton had to have heart surgery after leaving office.Mr. Obama’s aides have not been giving him any grief. But since he has what is probably the most photographed hair in the world right now, noted authorities in coping with his condition are freely offering their advice. SOURCE:NYT.COM

The Rise of America's New Black Overcast

3 news agencies refuse to distribute Obama photo

NEW YORK — Three news agencies refused to distribute White House-provided photos of President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on Wednesday, arguing that access should have been provided to news photographers.The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Presse said the White House was breaking with longstanding tradition in not allowing news photographers to capture the president at work in the Oval Office on his first day."We are not distributing what are, in effect, visual press releases," said Michael Oreskes, managing editor for U.S. news at the AP.The news agencies have used White House-provided images in the past for areas in the White House where media access is generally not permitted, such as the Situation Room or the private residence. But they contend that the Oval Office is the public office of the president and photographers should have access rather than rely on a government handout."Using these photos would be a major break with established precedent and would compromise the long-held tradition of independent photo coverage of the president and the White House by the major news agencies," said Courtney Dolan, spokeswoman for Thomson Reuters.There was no immediate reply to e-mail and phone messages left with Obama representatives.The White House later released a photograph of the president retaking the oath of office with Chief Justice John Roberts, which the AP also rejected.Vincent Amaluy, director of photographer for North and South America for AFP, said he suspected first-day confusion was more at play than an attempt to clamp down on access. "We are hopeful of negotiating an amicable solution," Oreskes said. SOURCE:NEWSVINE.COM

2008 in review: Top 10 stories in the Bay Area

It'll start in two days. The calendar pages will flutter from the windows and the bad-mouthing will commence in earnest.

1. Economic collapse

The delicately balanced house of cards finally toppled over. Suddenly, upstanding borrowers were upside down and half the Central Valley seemed to have a "foreclosed" sign in the front yard. Congress pungled up $700 billion for a bailout and now that seems to be down the rathole, too, along with the average Joe's retirement stash. Brother, everyone seems to be singing, can you spare a dime?

2. Same-sex marriage

Who would have imagined that the two most controversial words in California would turn out to be "I do"? A long, loud and expensive campaign ended with the narrow passage in November of Proposition 8, writing a ban on same-sex marriage into the state constitution after the California Supreme Court overturned the state's previous ban in May. Months before the election, polls showed the proposition seemed doomed, but a well-funded coalition of conservatives, Catholics, Mormons and others came together to put an end, for now, to the wedding ceremonies seen around the world. Meanwhile, supporters of the marriages have been alternately protesting in the streets and kicking themselves for not working harder before election day.

3. Obama gets out the vote

The election campaign that seemed to last forever finally ended, and the guy who once joked that he did not look like the other people on the money came out on top, winning more votes than any presidential candidate in U.S. history. Enthusiasm for Barack Obama's historic run for president resulted in the highest percentage of California voters casting ballots in 32 years. Usually a campaign slogan means hardly anything, but not in 2008. In three weeks, when for the first time an African American takes the oath of office on Inauguration Day, there will no mistaking the meaning of the word "change."

4. Greenhouse gas emissions

California approved the nation's most sweeping plan to reduce global warming by curbing emissions, a move that state regulators hail as a nationwide model for President-elect Obama. The changes are designed to allow the state to reach its legally mandated goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a reduction of about 30 percent. They are expected to be put into effect over the next 12 years.

5. Record gas prices

2008 proved the price of gasoline is more volatile than gasoline. Over the summer, the stuff cost $4.50 per gallon. A lot of people discovered they could get by just fine by driving less, walking more, hopping on a bus or pedaling a bike. Then the economy tanked and now the same gallon costs $1.50. Ridership on public transit has slipped a bit, but it's not clear if lower fuel prices or the rising unemployment rate is to blame.

6. Dry conditions fuel fires

For a while this summer and fall, no part of the state seemed untouched by fire. In November, 1,000 homes were destroyed in a series of devastating blazes in Southern California. Another fire torched 100 homes near Santa Barbara. In October, half of Angel Island went up in smoke. At the beginning of the summer, two dozen homes were lost to a fire in Big Sur, and a huge fire in Butte County barely missed the town of Paradise after forcing 10,000 residents to flee their homes. All told, 1,700 blazes blackened 829,000 acres of California during this year's fire season, keeping firefighters busy. A state of emergency seemed the state's perpetual state.

7. Water rationing

Gasoline and money weren't the only things running out. Two straight years of drought means that California may face water rationing next summer. The causes are complex, but they come down to more people, less rain and fewer smelt - an endangered species protected by strict rules at delta pumping stations. Fish gotta swim.

8. S.F. shields immigrant criminals

After a Chronicle story described how San Francisco was harboring rather than deporting violent youths, the city shifted gears and changed its decades-old policy of offering sanctuary to undocumented juvenile lawbreakers. The policy, which began in the 1980s as a means of protecting political opponents of regimes in El Salvador and Guatemala, wound up protecting alleged gang killers in the Mission District. Some offenders had been getting free flights to their home countries, with San Francisco taxpayers paying the tab.

9. Golden Gate Bridge's anti-suicide net

Extra patrols have been dispatched, pleading signs have been erected and crisis hotlines have been installed. Still, more than 1,000 despondent souls have leaped to their deaths from the Golden Gate Bridge. In October, after hearing years of testimony from psychiatrists, social workers and bereaved relatives, bridge directors voted to install a giant $45 million metal net beneath the bridge to catch the leapers. The actual net could be years away while directors try to figure out how to design it and how to pay for it.

10. Dellums' job performance

In Oakland, residents are grumbling more and more fervently about the job performance of freshman Mayor Ron Dellums, the former 13-term U.S. congressman and icon of the left. Critics say his detached manner and ineffectual decision-making - combined with a widely reported spate of strong-arm restaurant robberies and other city problems - have left voters wondering what's going on at City Hall.

Today's Papers: Bush Shows Off Ducking Skills

The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with, while the Washington Post devotes its top non-local spot to, President Bush's unannounced trip to Iraq. On Bush's fourth, and almost certainly last, visit to the country that will play a key role in defining his legacy, the president praised the new security pact as a sign of progress but warned that the "war is not over." Before flying off to Afghanistan, Bush got a first-hand look at the anger many Iraqis feel toward him, when, during a news conference, an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at the president. The president managed to duck just in time and wasn't injured.The New York Times leads with a look at how states are running out of money to pay the growing number of unemployment claims and some are already turning to the federal government for help or increasing taxes on businesses. Funds to pay unemployment benefits could run out in 30 states over the next few months, while Indiana and Michigan are already borrowing money from the federal government to make up for shortfalls in their funds.To continue reading, click here.

TODAY'S PAPERS: Bailout, With Strings Attached

The two biggest stories in the papers continue to be the U.S.'s economic crisis and the fallout from the terror attacks in Mumbai, with attention increasingly focused on Pakistan. The Washington Post leads with progress made on an auto industry bailout; Democrats are advancing a new plan that would loan $15 billion to automakers while taking broad authority to manage the companies' operations. The Los Angeles Times leads with Barack Obama saying that the country's economic woes "are going to get worse before they get better" and supporting the Democrats' bailout plan. The New York Times leads with U.S. counterterrorism officials taking a closer look at the group behind the Mumbai attacks, which has links both to Pakistan's intelligence service and to al Qaeda. The Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide newsbox with a catchall of Pakistan news, including an attack on a transportation depot in northwestern Pakistan that resulted in the destruction of "scores" of vehicles taking supplies to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. USA Today leads with an interview with the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, who says he needs nearly double the number of troops over several years to stabilize the country. To continue reading, click here.