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Each morning from August 20 through September 3, a sit-in style nonviolent civil disobedience protest action at the White House fences will call on President Obama to veto the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to ports on the Texas Gulf Coast. More than 2,000 people have committed to participate in the action.  Organizers say: “President Barack Obama will decide this Fall whether to light a fuse to the largest carbon bomb in North America. That bomb is the massive tar sands field in Canada’s Alberta province. And the fuse is the 1,700-mile long Keystone XL Pipeline that would transport this dirtiest of petroleum fuels all the way to Texas refineries.”  And: “It’s time to stop letting corporate power make the most important decisions our planet faces.”  James Hansen has said that if we have any chance of backing away from dangerous global climate disruption “the principal requirement is that coal emissions must be phased out by 2030 and unconventional fossil fuels, such as tar sands, must be left in the ground.” He says, “If the tar sands are thrown into the mix it is essentially game over.” The Keystone pipeline is an essential part of the game.  Read on for the full text of the invitation to the action.

Also see:  Letter from scientists calling on Obama to block the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline

Tar Sands Action website

A big rally has been organized for September 3 to end the two-week action. This is an all-comers event for everyone who wants to support the action, including folks who can’t risk arrest. The rally is called for Noon on the 3rd in Lafayette Park, in front of the White house

Invitation to the action re-posted from the Tar Sands Action website:

This invitation was published by a group of environmentalists, indigenous leaders and scientific experts, calling for action to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Dear Friends

This will be a slightly longer letter than common for the internet age—it’s serious stuff.

The short version is we want you to consider doing something hard: coming to Washington in the hottest and stickiest weeks of the summer and engaging in civil disobedience that will quite possibly get you arrested.

The full version goes like this:

As you know, the planet is steadily warming: 2010 was the warmest year on record, and we’ve seen the resulting chaos in almost every corner of the earth.

And as you also know, our democracy is increasingly controlled by special interests interested only in their short-term profit.

These two trends collide this summer in Washington, where the State Department and the White House have to decide whether to grant a certificate of ‘national interest’ to some of the biggest fossil fuel players on earth. These corporations want to build the so-called ‘Keystone XL Pipeline’ from Canada’s tar sands to Texas refineries.

To call this project a horror is serious understatement. The tar sands have wrecked huge parts of Alberta, disrupting ways of life in indigenous communities—First Nations communities in Canada, and tribes along the pipeline route in the U.S. have demanded the destruction cease. The pipeline crosses crucial areas like the Oglalla Aquifer where a spill would be disastrous—and though the pipeline companies insist they are using ‘state of the art’ technologies that should leak only once every 7 years, the precursor pipeline and its pumping stations have leaked a dozen times in the past year. These local impacts alone would be cause enough to block such a plan. But the Keystone Pipeline would also be a fifteen hundred mile fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the continent, a way to make it easier and faster to trigger the final overheating of our planet, the one place to which we are all indigenous.

As the climatologist Jim Hansen (one of the signatories to this letter) explained, if we have any chance of getting back to a stable climate “the principal requirement is that coal emissions must be phased out by 2030 and unconventional fossil fuels, such as tar sands, must be left in the ground.” In other words, he added, “if the tar sands are thrown into the mix it is essentially game over.” The Keystone pipeline is an essential part of the game. “Unless we get increased market access, like with Keystone XL, we’re going to be stuck,” said Ralph Glass, an economist and vice-president at AJM Petroleum Consultants in Calgary, told a Canadian newspaper last week.

Given all that, you’d suspect that there’s no way the Obama administration would ever permit this pipeline. But in the last few months the administration has signed pieces of paper opening much of Alaska to oil drilling, and permitting coal-mining on federal land in Wyoming that will produce as much CO2 as 300 powerplants operating at full bore.

And Secretary of State Clinton has already said she’s ‘inclined’ to recommend the pipeline go forward. Partly it’s because of the political commotion over high gas prices, though more tar sands oil would do nothing to change that picture. But it’s also because of intense pressure from industry. The US Chamber of Commerce—a bigger funder of political campaigns than the RNC and DNC combined—has demanded that the administration “move quickly to approve the Keystone XL pipeline,” which is not so surprising—they’ve also told the U.S. EPA that if the planet warms that will be okay because humans can ‘adapt their physiology’ to cope. The Koch Brothers, needless to say, are also backing the plan, and may reap huge profits from it.

So we’re pretty sure that without serious pressure the Keystone Pipeline will get its permit from Washington. A wonderful coalition of environmental groups has built a strong campaign across the continent—from Cree and Dene indigenous leaders to Nebraska farmers, they’ve spoken out strongly against the destruction of their land.

We need to join them, and to say even if our own homes won’t be crossed by this pipeline, our joint home—the earth—will be wrecked by the carbon that pours down it.

And we need to say something else, too: it’s time to stop letting corporate power make the most important decisions our planet faces. We don’t have the money to compete with those corporations, but we do have our bodies, and beginning in mid August many of us will use them. We will, each day, march on the White House, risking arrest with our trespass. We will do it in dignified fashion, demonstrating that in this case we are the conservatives, and that our foes—who would change the composition of the atmosphere are dangerous radicals. Come dressed as if for a business meeting—this is, in fact, serious business.

And another sartorial tip—if you wore an Obama button during the 2008 campaign, why not wear it again? We very much still want to believe in the promise of that young Senator who told us that with his election the ‘rise of the oceans would begin to slow and the planet start to heal.’ We don’t understand what combination of bureaucratic obstinacy and insider dealing has derailed those efforts, but we remember his request that his supporters continue on after the election to pressure his government for change. We’ll do what we can.

And one more thing: we don’t just want college kids to be the participants in this fight. They’ve led the way so far on climate change—10,000 came to DC for the Powershift gathering earlier this spring. They’ve marched this month in West Virginia to protest mountaintop removal; a young man named Tim DeChristopher faces sentencing this summer in Utah for his creative protest.

Now it’s time for people who’ve spent their lives pouring carbon into the atmosphere to step up too, just as many of us did in earlier battles for civil rights or for peace. Most of us signing this letter are veterans of this work, and we think it’s past time for elders to behave like elders. One thing we don’t want is a smash up: if you can’t control your passions, this action is not for you.

This won’t be a one-shot day of action. We plan for it to continue for several weeks, till the administration understands we won’t go away. Not all of us can actually get arrested—half the signatories to this letter live in Canada, and might well find our entry into the U.S. barred. But we will be making plans for sympathy demonstrations outside Canadian consulates in the U.S., and U.S. consulates in Canada—the decision-makers need to know they’re being watched.

Twenty years of patiently explaining the climate crisis to our leaders hasn’t worked. Maybe moral witness will help. You have to start somewhere, and we choose here and now.

If you think you might want to be a part of this action, we need you to sign up here.
As plans solidify in the next few weeks we’ll be in touch with you to arrange nonviolence training; our colleagues at a variety of environmental and democracy campaigns will be coordinating the actual arrangements.

We know we’re asking a lot. You should think long and hard on it, and pray if you’re the praying type. But to us, it’s as much privilege as burden to get to join this fight in the most serious possible way. We hope you’ll join us.

Maude Barlow – Chair, Council of Canadians
Wendell Berry – Author and Farmer
Tom Goldtooth – Director, Indigenous Environmental Network
Danny Glover – Actor
James Hansen – Climate Scientist
Wes Jackson – Agronomist, President of the Land Insitute
Naomi Klein – Author and Journalist
Bill McKibben – Writer and Environmentalist
George Poitras – Mikisew Cree Indigenous First Nation
Gus Speth – Environmental Lawyer and Activist
David Suzuki – Scientist, Environmentalist and Broadcaster
Joseph B. Uehlein – Labor organizer and environmentalist

P.S. Please pass this letter on to anyone else you think might be interested. We realize that what we’re asking isn’t easy, and we’re very grateful that you’re willing even to consider it. See you in Washington!

Here are some resources to learn more about the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline project:

Canada and Its Tar Sands: What the Country Can Learn From Brazil About Protecting the Environment

Friends of the Earth factsheet

Solve Climate article on recent spills and approval process

National Geographic Photo Essay about the Tar Sands

Natural Resources Defense Council factsheet on Keystone XL

U.S. Climate Protests Shift to Blocking Keystone XL Pipeline Approval

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5 Responses to In support of protest at the White House to call for veto of Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline

  1. Dani Iam says:

    In addition to the protest, a ‘national act’ to call people across the nation not to use cars the weekend of 9/3-4 would really send a unified strong message. There needs to be a lead organization to galvanize this national act. Green energy is where the future jobs lie from the raw material suppliers, to manufacturing, to installation, to reconstruction and new construction, and all subtrades that support and are connected to these green initiative industries, directly and indirectly would create a domino job growth effect across all sectors of businesses. If our efforts here fall short then we should insist that all companies having stakes in the pipe line must contribute into a clean-up/preventive escrow account amounting to what would be the total sum of miles multiple by one million ($1,000,000.00/per mile) because we the public should not be paying to clean up their mess while they make profit off of us. I will be lending my support on the 3rd.

  2. klem says:

    This protest is a great idea.

    There is no such thing as perfectly ethical oil. Not possible. You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet and you have to damage the earth in some way to find oil. But Alberta oil is a lot more ethical that the filthy blood soaked oil coming from the Middle East and Africa. It amazes me how it does not seem to bother people that they are burning blood oil when they drive to church or mosque to worship and prey, they heat their schools and universities with blood oil, they heat their non-profit environmental and social organizations with blood oil, and the gazillions of dollars we pay for foreign blood oil is used to oppress women and murder people all over the world (Including the oil used to fly into the Twin Towers). In my view, not one drop of blood oil should arrive at our shores. Not one drop. Its not perfect but I’ll take Alberta oil any day.

    So go ahead and protest, you’ll raise awareness of the Alberta tar sands oil and just how much better it is than the blood soacked oil from elswhere. I’ll wager this protest is going to backfire on you.

    Like I say this protest is a great idea.

  3. Peter says:

    Some people may think that the attacks against the Keystone XL pipeline construction are based solely on misinformation and partisan politics but the truth is that according to the latest news the government of Canada will not keep its promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a result of excessive oil sand production. We call ourselves an environmentally conscious nation but our government is doing everything to damage this self-stereotype of ours. That’s why the construction of the pipeline has stirred so much controversy in our country.

    • klem says:

      “according to the latest news the government of Canada will not keep its promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a result of excessive oil sand production.”

      And who knows if that news is true or not? If Canada actually did hit the reduction targets, someone out there would question the methodology used to arrive at that conclusion and say it is false. If Canada did not hit the targets someone else will question the methodology. I don’t trust anyone to tell the truth about carbon emissions.

  4. Anne says:

    The White House protest is being live-streamed now (Sat Aug 20) on this link:

Comments are closed.


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Unknown routes near Terminator

New Areas. New routes. Retrobolting. Add-ons. Re-grading. etc.
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Unknown routes near Terminator

Postby shorti » Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:52 am

We climbed 2 nice and easy routes in Cederberg Kloof that we can't find in the RD, but they are so obvious that they surely must have been climbed before. I'll describe them and would appreciate it if someone has info about them.

The first one is a groove just to the right of Skelda. This is on the buttress downstream of Terminator and Lunch. It is quite obvious as it is the first line you'll see when you walk in from the camp site. At the top of the groove is a smooth and pretty much unprotectable little headwall which is surprisingly smooth. We climbed the arrete to the right to the top.

The second route is the chimney on the other side of Calisto Crack. In other words the other side of the crack that separates the Difficult Shapes and Passive Rhythms face from the buttress. It is short, easy, good pro and rather enjoyable. You can either end the climb on the walk off of Difficult Shapes or you can climb to the top (top-out of Dom's Party) on slopy friction holds with a good horizontal crack halfway up. In the chimney is a big wedged rock and you can either climb around it on the outside or if you like spelunking you can try squeeze through on the other side. I got my chest through then decided it wasn't going to be fun to try get my hips through and back down again to climb round the outside.

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Re: Unknown routes near Terminator

Postby marley » Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:37 am

Hey Shorti

Looks like we got 2 first ascents!!! :thumleft:
Not really holding my breath as those route were quite obvious and I'll be surprised of no-one has climbed them before. Perhaps Neil Margetts or Andrew Porter has some info...

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Re: Unknown routes near Terminator

Postby AndrewP » Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:50 pm

Hello Shorti

The route near Skelda is new to me.

The one up the chimney has been climbed before. I have soloed it a number of times to put up top ropes on DSPR and have also down climbed it after successfully climbing DSPR. I have never bothered to write it up, but if you want to do so, I will at least credit you in the next guide.

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Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:13 pm

Re: Unknown routes near Terminator

Postby shorti » Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:35 am

Soloed it eh? Well I used nuts, and cams, and even 2 ropes! So what do you think about that, huh? :lol:

Thanks for the info Andrew, and no I'm not FA hunting :drunken:

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Cycling Montmartre Paris - Place Blanche

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Flickr Python Clone Scripts

Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Show off your favorite photos and videos to the world.

Python is a programming language that lets you work more quickly and integrate your systems more effectively.

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Preview: Unlock the Gates to Social Engagement

In this free preview video, learn how to leverage social media in a practical way, select the right social content mix by listening to your influencers, make social data actionable and create a social data scorecard so you are ready for the future of social data and social engagement. This presentation is by marketing expert George Assimakopoulos, vice president of marketing services at Penton. Assimakopoulos can be reached at [email protected].

The full video, with even more tips and information, is available to our Premium subscribers, who can access the video by logging into our website. If you are not yet a Premium subscriber, you can become one for just $59 per year. The subscription also comes with savings on a special report and access to all of our other Premium videos and content.

This video was filmed at the 2013 Club Industry Conference and Exposition in Chicago as part of the CEO Summit, which was sponsored by Motionsoft.

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Flexibility and Support

We want working at CMFT to be as happy and secure an experience as possible. Outlined below are just some of the ways we try to help our staff enjoy a great quality of life.

Work-life balance

We strongly believe in the principle of flexible working, and try to put it into practice wherever possible. There are currently many different flexible working options in operation. These include flexitime, job share, annualised hours, term-time-only contracts, part-time opportunities and extended days.

Unsurprisingly, the health of our staff is of utmost importance to us. All our employees have access to a full range of occupational health services, most of which are onsite. Flu vaccinations are offered on an annual basis.

There are lots of schemes in place to help you keep fit, including yoga classes and weight-loss workshops. As an NHS employee, you will be able to join any JJB healthclub for free (we also have a no-joining-fee arrangement with a number of David Lloyd leisure centres).

Peace of mind

We recognise that our working environment can be high-pressured and demanding. Confidential support and advice are always available, including one-to-one counselling services. We also have a Chaplaincy Service, offering pastoral and spiritual care.

Chapel facilities and prayer rooms provide spaces for quiet, reflection and peace, and can be found throughout our hospitals.


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These CME webinars are targeted towards all physicians and lawyers who work with healthcare related cases. Whether you are an experienced healthcare lawyer or physician in any practice setting or simply entering the field of healthcare, these courses will provide valuable insight and strategies that can improve your practice.

For registration and a complete list of topics visit:

  • Healing the Healer: Recognizing and Dealing With Impairments that Can Affect a Physician’s Ability to Practice

Identify impairments that can affect a physician’s ability to practice medicine, as well as ways to intervene, and understand their legal implication.

  • Negotiating Managed Care Contracts

This session will guide attendees through the entire managed care negotiating process from preparation to termination. Gain practical insights on some of the most challenging contracting issues facing physicians and their counsel in todays managed care environment.

  • Payer and Provider Initiative under the ACA

The ACA caused a paradigm shift in the working relationships between payers and providers who now see the benefits of working together in a time of hospital consolidation and employment of physicians. This panel presentation will discuss the new “partnerships” being formed between physicians and their payers to address the clinical integration trends and payment challenges in their communities.

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Discuss recent uptick in medical board, FDA, FTC, Medicare, and DEA investigations of telemedicine businesses. This session will address best practices for avoiding government investigations while highlighting the reimbursement and funding models that have proven most successful for maximizing ROI and the patient experience.

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Love in the Air for Sugar Mamas & Boy Toys

Romances between rich older men and beautiful, young women have gone on for centuries. But in 2008, the tables may have finally turned.

In Manhattan Thursday night, a speed-dating event sought to pair wealthy older women with younger, attractive men.

“Older women with younger men is absolutely becoming an emerging trend, says Jeremy Abelson, CEO of Pocket Change, an upscale living e-newsletter, and organizer of the event. (See the CNBC interview at left.) “The reason I feel so good about what we’re doing is because we are supporting the fact that it's the women’s turn.”

The event was held at a posh, intimately lit bar atop a Midtown high rise. Women had to be older than 35 and earn a minimum salary of $500,000--or have at least $4 million in liquid assets. The men, however, were judged solely based on their physical attractiveness.

“All I hear all day long is that ‘Oh, I’d really rather date a guy younger, who can keep up with me,” says Janis Spindel, a professional matchmaker and author. “So you know what, it was really time to give the women a turn.”

Spindel helped Pocket Change narrow down the 6,000 male applicants and hundreds of female applicants to just 15 attractive men and 15 wealthy women.

Women who pursue men more than seven years their junior are sometimes derogatorily referred to as “cougars,” because of the perception that they’re on the hunt. But times are changing.

Well-to-do middle-aged women are tired of seeing male counterparts with girls half their age, so at Pocket Change’s Sugar Mamas & Boy Toys event, these successful women got a shot at seeing how the other half lives.

“At a certain age, the trophy wife syndrome is so prevalent," says Vivian Cha, a 47-year-old physician and speed-dating contestant. "The older man, in his 40s or 50s, goes for the younger blond bimbo, who’s 20 or 30 years old. We older women sort of get thrown to the dust, so I think this is a great idea.”

Attractive young men seeking their own Mrs. Robinson jumped at the chance to meet a woman with more “experience.”

“I’m definitely interested in being surprised or wowed," says Paul Janka, a 32-year-old writer who authored an online guidebook for men called "Getting Laid in NYC."

"If anyone’s going to do it, it’s some of these women who have the assets and the resources to put together exceptional getaway vacations.

"Some of these more mature women have a lot of bedroom experience under their belt, so to speak, so that could be interesting to explore, too,” he adds.

The idea of choosing a mate based on bank accounts or appearance may seem shallow to some, but not to Pocket Change’s Abelson.

“I think any time you imply that money has something to do with love, people get all up in arms about it, but it’s a fact of life,” she said.

For some, it’s a fact of later life.


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A Grant Program for Some Storm-Weary Property Owners

Homeowners Hit by Sandy May Save Thousands of Dollars
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Homeowners in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut whose homes were badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy may want to consider whether filing a claim for repairs under their flood insurance policies is their best option.

In particular, property owners who had damage from last year's Hurricane Irene, and may face another round of insurance claims from Sandy, may have had enough and be ready to move to a less flood-prone area, said Marshall Gilinsky, a lawyer with Anderson Kill & Olick in New York.

In that case, they should look at the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which is made available in major disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The National Flood Insurance Program is intended to compensate homeowners and help pay for repairs. But the hazard mitigation program aims to help communities buy out property owners and help them rebuild or buy on higher ground; the home is demolished and the lot left vacant.

The program uses primarily federal funds and is coordinated through the city or town where the property is located. The idea is to help communities remove structures from risk-prone areas. The municipality agrees to keep it undeveloped in the future.

For details of the program as it relates to properties damaged by Hurricane Sandy, homeowners can see state-specific announcements from FEMA and from their state government, or find local disaster assistance locations from FEMA's disaster information website.

In general, properties may qualify if they are in a high-risk flood zone and if they suffered "substantial" damage from the storm — generally meaning the cost to repair is more than 50 percent of the fair-market value of the house before the storm, Mr. Gilinsky said. (Mr. Gilinsky became familiar with the hazard mitigation grant program while assisting homeowners in Vermont after the state was hit last year by Hurricane Irene.)

Because of the cost-of-repairs criteria, the hazard mitigation program may not be suitable for expensive second homes. But for owners of more modest primary homes that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy — and might also have suffered damage from Hurricane Irene — the mitigation program may be worth considering. "This is an idea of appeal and interest for people who have been through the ringer," he said.

Would you consider relocating from a flood-prone area, if funds were made available?


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Skip to main content /POLITICS

Rumsfeld: Pentagon needs emergency funding

Rumsfeld: Pentagon needs emergency funding

From Barbara Starr
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is warning Congress of dire consequences if it does not approve $14 billion in emergency spending for the Pentagon by July 15.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Rumsfeld said the money is essential for fighting the war on terrorism and keeping the military running through September 31, the end of the 2002 fiscal year.

"The impact of further significant delay in passage would likely include inability to meet military payroll, cancelled training, deferred depot maintenance for ships and aircraft, postponed facililties maintenance and repair, and reduced spare parts and supplies purchases that would hurt future readiness," said the Rumsfeld letter.

The Pentagon previously has claimed it would have to cut back when it doesn't get supplemental funding as the fiscal year winds to a close.

The $14 billion supplemental includes: $7.2 billion to conduct military operations; $4.1 billion for pay for reserve and national guard troops; $1..6 billion for classified intelligence programs; and half a billion dollars for the purchase of precision munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles and special operations weapons.

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Eco-fashionista campaigns for sexy, sustainable fashion

Story highlights

  • Danish fashion chief launches NICE, a social media campaign to make fashion more sustainable
  • Eva Kruse, CEO of the Danish Fashion Institute: Fashion industry one of the "most polluting in the world"
  • Kruse suggested Code of Conduct in conjunction with U.N. to be presented at Rio Summit in June
  • Sustainable fashions already being made by: chain store H&M and labels like Gucci, Stella McCartney and Puma
Be prepared, the next big thing facing a green makeover might just be your closet.
The glitzy world of fashion and design doesn't typically conjure up images of sustainability and social consciousness, but if its up to Eva Kruse, CEO of the Danish Fashion Institute and Chairman of the Nordic Fashion Association, that's all going to change.
In the last month, she has pulled off the largest sustainable fashion summit in the world, and starting this week, she is launching a global social media campaign, aiming to forever change the way we look at our clothes.
Her goal is for all companies in the industry to declare sustainability a key value.
"I have worked in the fashion industry for nearly 20 years, and it is a wonderful and exciting industry, but it is also one of the largest and most polluting in the world," said Kruse.
From the massive consumption of water and fertilizer in cotton production, to the chemical processing at plants, the pollution of local waterways and environments, safety issues for workers, fair wages, child labor and other social concerns -- issues for the fashion industry are enormous, she says.
Sustainability in the fashion industry
Sustainability in the fashion industry

    Sustainability in the fashion industry

Sustainability in the fashion industry 02:59
"That is why it is so important that we address this ... and because of the size of the industry, even a small change can make a big difference," says Kruse.
Kruse, who founded the Danish Fashion Institute as the only employee in 2005, is credited by industry professionals and government ministers for having put Danish design and sustainable fashion on the world map.
Last month, she gathered more than 1,000 people -- including Hollywood celebrities, international designers and other industry professionals -- at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, to explore sustainable solutions.
The culmination was a suggested Code of Conduct for the Fashion and Textile industry, created in conjunction with the United Nations, and to be presented alongside the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil in June.
"It aims to drill into the supply chain," says Soren Mandrup Petersen, Head of Partnerships and Local Networks at U.N. Global Compact, "and if the sector responds, it will have a tremendous impact."
"There is a movement underway," says Kruse. "It is happening, and we can help shed light on it."
That is also the goal of her latest venture launching this week -- an online campaign called NICE, or the Nordic Initiative, Clean and Ethical. It aims to have the industry join forces around change, and to educate consumers to make conscious choices.
"The entire field is so heavily knowledge based that it makes it difficult for companies to get started. The key is to make ... knowledge accessible and to create networks, because there are solutions."
She says new and sustainable fashions are already being made from innovative textiles such as milk fibers, corn, and bamboo.
Among those leading the charge are companies like Swedish chain store H&M with their Conscious Collection, Patagonia, Danish design house Trash-Couture, and the PPR Group with brands like Gucci, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Puma.
H&M's head of sustainability, Helena Helmersson says this is the future. "Customers are becoming more and more aware and want transparency, which makes companies improve their sustainability performance and make more sustainable products." And, she says, "as a big player we can help drive demand."
At Trash-Couture, which boasts a massive list of celebrity clients like Penelope Cruz, Rachel Weisz, Kirsten Dunst, Celine Dion and many others -- ethical fashion and the way they reuse, redesign, respin, and recycle leftover fabric from their own collection and that of other design houses is part of the design.
"As pioneers we feel we have helped set the agenda on an issue that is about much more than just fashion," says managing director, Nanna Lowe. "This way, fashion suddenly gets new meaning, becoming a statement, a value, an act."
Kruse agrees, saying it has the potential to push other industries with it, by making it look smart to consider your choices. "If all the big brands and strong designers care -- and show and tell that they care -- then people could also begin to think differently about how they spend their money.
Her goal: "To have people join forces to help us change the world." And to her, that change starts in our closets.
But don't worry, she says, "the aim isn't for all of us to start wearing brown. Sustainable fashion can be equally sexy, desirable and fantastic in every way. The aim is to create the brilliance with less impact on people and our planet."


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What the Boston Marathon winner and bombers have in common

Story highlights

  • Sally Kohn: Boston Marathon winner was rightly described as "an American"
  • Kohn: Often the term "American" is used to show approval, and withheld to marginalize people
  • Kohn: People of color and immigrants are particularly likely to be stripped of American label
  • Being American is not revocable and not conditional, she says
In 2009, when Meb Keflezighi won the New York City Marathon, The New York Times noted that he was attacked in the media and online for being "not really an American runner."
Although the runner emigrated to the United States as a 12-year-old and has called America home ever since, Darren Rovell, then of CNBC, called the "headline" that an American had won the race "empty," and compared Keflezighi to "a ringer who you hire to work a couple hours at your office so that you can win the executive softball league." (Rovell later apologized for his comments.)
Now, winning the Boston Marathon a year after the bombing, a race longing for nationalist pride, Keflezighi's victory was greeted with onlookers erupting in chants of "U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" It was a wonderful moment.
In its coverage of this year's race, the Boston Globe website said: "Keflezighi is first American to win men's race since 1983." The story on Keflezighi doesn't even note that he was born in Eritrea.
Sally Kohn
A year ago, the finish line of the Boston Marathon was blown up, allegedly by two brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. A Boston Globe story on the Tsarnaev brothers, written a day after their identity was learned, notes in the first paragraph that both are "from Cambridge" but just two paragraphs later, highlights their foreignness -- "ethnic Chechens, born in the former Soviet territory now known as Kyrgyzstan and transplanted to a working-class Inman Square neighborhood."
Keflezighi and the Tsarnaevs: Which of them is more American? Because it turns out that while the geography of our nation is fixed, our identity is treated as malleable -- and, especially for immigrants and people of color, revocable.
What makes someone an American? It's a profoundly complicated and rich question for us, our identity having been forged out of many strands -- some willingly incorporated, others against their will, over generations and generations. But what seems to emerge from the Keflezighi/Tsarnaev example is the ephemeral nature of American identity.
After all, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a naturalized American citizen and his brother had a green card and reportedly hoped to naturalize. Keflezighi is also a naturalized citizen of the United States. On paper, at least, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Meb Keflezighi are the same as far as citizenship goes. But not in terms of fitting the popular conception of what is "an American."
2012: Almost as good as gold
2012: Almost as good as gold

    2012: Almost as good as gold

2012: Almost as good as gold 01:56
When the Tsarnaevs were identified, the Washington Post wrote: "With their baseball hats and sauntering gaits, they appeared to friends and neighbors like ordinary American boys. But the Boston bombing suspects were refugees from another world -- the blood, rubble and dirty wars of the Russian Caucasus," hinting at the idea that the Tsarnaevs resembled dangerous wolflike immigrants in sheepish American clothing.
In a similar vein, although immigration reform advocates call our nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants "aspiring Americans," conservative opponents label these moms and dads and children "criminals" who "broke the law." Immigrants who grew up in the United States, who work day in and day out to contribute to our economy and our communities, are denied their essential American-ness. And worse. Called illegal "aliens." "Cockroaches." Not only not American, but rendered as animals.
The message is clear. Although America the place was forged as a safe harbor for diverse peoples from difficult backgrounds, America the identity is often treated as a ranking, a way of separating the good from the bad, the deserving from the less-than. Who gets to be in which group often eerily tracks according to skin color. It's a practice that stands in direct violation of the values that make our nation great.
When people commit heinous acts, we try to distance ourselves from them, physically and emotionally. If we believe those acts were carried out by people who are nothing like us, not people like our friends and neighbors but "others," it's a psychological attempt at self-protection. That's human. But our culture teaches us to maintain our distance with nationalism, and especially racialized nationalism. In America, we make people we don't like the "other," especially people who commit evil. But some groups of people are more readily dismissed than others.
I'm not saying we should embrace the Tsarnaev brothers as examples of patriotic Americans. Of course not. But to deny their American-ness not only rejects our core values but perpetuates a dangerous blind spot about the realities of home-grown terrorism.
According to a study by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, right-wing American terrorists -- most of whom were white Christian males -- perpetrated 145 ideologically motivated homicides between 1990 and 2010. During the same period, "al Qaeda affiliates, al Qaeda-inspired extremists, and secular Arab nationalists" committed 27 homicides in the United States, "involving 16 perpetrators or groups of perpetrators."
Still, in the moments after news broke this month of yet another shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, before any details were known, conservative filmmaker and Breitbart.com contributor Pat Dollard tweeted, "If there is even one more act of Muslim terrorism, it is then time for Americans to start slaughtering Muslims in the street, all of them." The 2014 Fort Hood shooter was an American (and not of the Muslim faith) -- though news reports routinely noted he was from Puerto Rico. Imagine someone making a remark like Dollard's about conservative Christians or Christians in general.
In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombings, Timothy McVeigh was called many things. But was his American identity stripped away? To the contrary, an autobiography about McVeigh is called "The All-American Monster."
For people of color and immigrants in the United States, the grasp on American identity can be tenuous and temporary. Consider the black man whose citizenship and American-ness were routinely questioned even after he was elected president of the United States of America.
Meb Keflezighi's victory in the Boston Marathon conjured up a sense of national belonging to which all parts of America should be entitled -- in our moments of victory, and our moments of defeat or worse. Rep. Paul Ryan once said, "America is more than just a place. America is an idea." Yes, and that idea -- that identity -- must never be allowed to flicker with discrimination or hate.


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Tom DeLay's Rise to the Top; American Diplomats Under Fire; German Woman Relates Hitler's Last Days

Aired May 4, 2005 - 20:00   ET

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening, everyone. Glad to have you with us.
Tonight, you're going to hear some amazing stories of unsung heroes risking their lives every day to serve the U.S. on foreign soil.

ZAHN (voice-over): They're the top targets for terror.

PRUDENCE BUSHNELL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO KENYA: It didn't take me long before I figured out that the point was that they're trying to kill us.

ZAHN: Americans in a hostile world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was thinking, I'm going to die.

ZAHN: On the front lines without flak jackets, diplomats in the most dangerous places.

And the Hammer, how Tom DeLay quietly became one of the nation's most powerful people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He will destroy you if you don't play ball with him.

ZAHN: From hard drinking and honky-tonks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got the name Hot Tub Tom.

ZAHN: To family values and Christian politics, now in the biggest fight of his life.

ZAHN: And there were some grim reminders today of just how dangerous some parts of the world are for Americans and for the people who help them.

Insurgents in Iraq carried out two deadly attacks. The U.S. military says a suicide bomber killed about 60 people outside a police recruitment center in the Kurdish city of Irbil. Another 150 were wounded. Just hours later, a car bomb went off in Baghdad, killing nine Iraqi soldiers, wounding 17 others. But, along with the attacks, there was a victory in the war on terror. A senior al Qaeda leader has been captured in Pakistan.

U.S. officials say this man, Abu Faraj al-Libbi, is al Qaeda's number three man and his arrest will help in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Al-Libbi is accused of trying to assassinate Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and is thought to be responsible for al Qaeda's global operations, including strikes against U.S. embassies.

The names of more than 200 U.S. diplomats who have lost their lives while working abroad have a place of honor at the State Department. They're among the thousands dedicated to serving our nation in some of the world's most dangerous places.

Tonight, we meet two diplomats who survived terror in Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been a powerful bomb blast at the American Embassy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move out of the way.

BUSHNELL: It didn't take me long before I figured out that the point was that they're trying to kill us.

JOHN LANGE, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION IN KENYA: If I had been sitting at the U.S. ambassador's desk, I could have been killed.

ZAHN: Twin bombings just minutes apart in a corner of the world few people considered a risk for terrorist attack. The 1979 hostage crisis in Iran showed how vulnerable embassy staffs were to political upheaval and raw anger. The Middle East in the 1980s was particularly bloody. The U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, was bombed twice in just over a year.

And violent hijackings were a constant danger. But the emergence of a global al Qaeda terrorist threat has now made diplomats very vulnerable, no matter where they are based.

BUSHNELL: My name is Prudence Bushnell. I was the United States ambassador to Kenya from 1996 to 1999.

LANGE: My name is John Lange. I was the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I arrived in Dar es Salaam in December of 1997 with my wife, Alejandra (ph), and my daughter, Julia (ph). It is a wonderful place. When you drove out of your house each day, there was the ocean.

ZAHN: Life for diplomats in exotic postings wasn't all glamour. But it was exciting and rewarding. Ambassador Bushnell came to Kenya with a personal mission.

BUSHNELL: When I arrived in Nairobi, I had a wonderful press officer who said to me, choose three things for what you want to be known personally. And I chose struggle against HIV/AIDS and women and women's education. I have terrific memories of meeting extraordinary women and girls in rural areas and then being dressed up, so that they could laugh at me.

ZAHN: The American Embassy in Nairobi was a large building with more than 800 employees. It sat exposed on a downtown street. Ambassador Bushnell had expressed concerns about security to her bosses back in Washington.

BUSHNELL: Did we know about the al Qaeda threat? Of course, no, with we did not. But does an ambassador, does an embassy get threats every single day? Yes. We were getting threats. And knowing how very vulnerable we were in that location was what made me insecure.

ZAHN: But Bushnell's requests for more security were denied, she says for budgetary reasons. In contrast, the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania was a small complex with only 80 staffers.

But, in the eyes of terrorists, both embassies were the same, symbols of the power and influence of the United States. For John Lange, Friday, August 7, 1998, started with a routine emergency drill.

LANGE: We heard the drill for fire and bomb and those kinds of normal sirens and rings that went through the building. We had no idea what was to come 39 minutes later.

ZAHN: Four hundred miles away in Nairobi, Prudence Bushnell was at a meeting at the Kenyan Trade Ministry next to the embassy.

BUSHNELL: We heard a noise, a kind of boom. And most of the people in the office got up and started walking up to the window. I had only taken a few steps when the bomb was detonated in the parking lot. The extent of the force made the building move.

On the one hand, I was thinking, I'm going to die. It was rather peaceful. And, on the other hand, every cell in my body was saying, oh, no, you're not.

ZAHN: A delivery truck had driven up to the embassy compound. One of the drivers through a stun grenade that drew curious staffers to the building's windows. Then, seconds later, a more powerful blast, 2,000 pounds of exploding TNT.

BUSHNELL: We went down 21 flights of stairs, crawling over doors that had been blasted in. Now and then, a body would be passed down and over us. We were bleeding all over one another.

ZAHN: Concrete and steel had collapsed on top of hundreds of people. Others had been shredded by flying shards of glass as the windows blew in around them. Bushnell herself was injured, bloodied and dazed. Yet she rushed to take command from a nearby emergency post.

Just minutes later, a second suicide attack. Another 2,000 pounds of TNT went off in front of the embassy in Dar es Salaam. John Lange remembers the terror.

LANGE: We all heard this low rumbling sound for a few seconds. And then the glass from a high window behind me blew in over my head and landed on the people in front of me. I got out of the building and there was one of our security guards who was totally black and charred and in the last gasps for life.

And he had been blown about 75 feet from where the bomb went off.

ZAHN: Back in Kenya, it didn't take long for Bushnell to make sense of what had happened and what it meant.

BUSHNELL: A couple of hours after the bombing, I heard that the embassy in Dar es Salaam had been blown up. And it was clear then that it was a terrorist attack.

ZAHN: Coming up next, how those attacks changed everything.

LANGE: If they tell you to vary your route to work, do it. If they tell you to vary the times, do it, because it is all designed to keep you safe. And as somebody who went to too many funerals, I can tell you, this is real.

ZAHN: A new way of life under threat for American diplomats abroad. And later, how a Texas exterminator became one of Washington's most powerful movers and shakers, but now faces the fight of his political life.

ZAHN: It was just another day at work for our foreign service diplomats in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that is, until terrorists struck with deadly force. The day then turned into sheer horror.

Here's part two of diplomats under fire.

ZAHN (voice-over): When the smoke cleared, more than 220 people had been killed in the double terrorist attacks, 12 of them Americans; 5,000 people were injured. And both embassies lay in ruin. For both Prudence Bushnell in Kenya and John Lange in Tanzania, the need to continue representing the U.S. government was a test of leadership.

LANGE: It was a very intense effort, the most intense period of my life. It is the turning point when I changed from being a manager to a leader, because I had to lead this mission at that point.

ZAHN: It was also a test of personal strength.

BUSHNELL: I deliberately wore the brightest colors possible afterwards, because I didn't need to show my people how much I hurt for them. But, by God, I wanted to show the people who blew us up that I was in pink and I was in red.

ZAHN: For those in the diplomatic corps, the East Africa bombings were their 9/11 that led to a new way of living and a new way of thinking.

LANGE: I wish this were a different world. I wish that we did not have the problems that have been exacerbated in the last 10 years from Osama bin Laden. But I can't change that. And we know that we can't continue with the kind of old think. We have to deal with this new reality.

ZAHN: Both Prudence Bushnell and John Lange completed their assignments, winning great praise. They went on to other postings and have focused on making work safer for those serving on the front lines of diplomacy.

Today, Ambassador Bushnell is a dean at the Foreign Service Institute, which trains diplomats in the skills they need to excel at their jobs and to protect themselves.

BUSHNELL: You have to think about the fact that terrorists are not smarter than we are. They're not. Now, what they want is an easy, risk-free kill that will create a big impact.

ZAHN: Bushnell is determined to make it harder for terrorists to succeed in creating that impact.

BUSHNELL: If they tell you to vary your route to work, do it. If they tell you to vary the times, do it, because it is all designed to keep you safe. And as somebody who went to too many funerals, I can tell you, this is real.

ZAHN: Bushnell hears familiar concerns when she meets with the newest foreign service recruits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no way that my immediate family would do what I'm doing. And they don't really understand. I lived two blocks from a sports club that was bombed. And that was an eye- opening experience.

ZAHN: For them, she has some frank advice.

BUSHNELL: If you have children and you're going to a dangerous or hardship post, have a discussion about who is going to take the kids.

It is too easy to forget the Americans who are on the front lines overseas without flak jackets in civilian clothes, who, out of a fierce patriotism, choose to put themselves and their families in danger on behalf of the American people.

ZAHN: And we all have such enormous respect for that commitment.

The embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania have been linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network. Four men have been sentenced to life in prison for their roles in those attacks. More than a dozen suspects, including Osama bin Laden, are still on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists.

Still ahead tonight, the rise of one of the most powerful men in the country. He flies under the radar and keeps his troops in line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He will feed you. He will fund you. But, in the end, he will destroy you if you don't play ball with him.

ZAHN: So how will Tom DeLay survive a storm of ethics questions?

Stay with us.

ZAHN: Still ahead, from exterminator to power broker, what you don't know about the very powerful House majority leader, Tom DeLay.

And when she was just 3 years old, little Irmgard Hunt sat on Hitler's knee and it changed her life forever. Tonight, she reveals the secret of a lifetime.

But, first, time to check the hour's top stories with Erica Hill at Headline News at just about 20 minutes past the hour.

Hi, Erica.

A milestone today in the Michael Jackson trial. Prosecutors rested their case against the king of pop today, after two sometimes tumultuous months. Now Michael Jackson's lawyers will call witnesses, including actor Macaulay Culkin, to defend him against charges of child molestation.

Just yesterday, Private Lynndie England pleaded guilty to abusing detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison, as shown in this famous photo. But, today, another soldier testified he ordered England to pose for the pictures. So, a military judge declared a mistrial. And that killed England's entire plea-bargain deal. Now her attorney says she will change her plea to not guilty. The military will decide whether to refile charges against her.

And an apology of sorts from runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks today through her lawyer.

LYDIA SARTAIN, ATTORNEY FOR WILBANKS: She is very sincere and is very, very bothered by what has happened and certainly is very remorseful for the pain that she knows she's caused her parents, her fiance and the community.

HILL: Lydia Sartain says Wilbanks, though, is still too upset to speak for herself after she hopped a Greyhound to escape her impending wedding, triggering, of course, a nationwide search. Now, she still faces possible criminal charges, still waiting to hear, though, when that decision will be made.

And that's the latest from Headline News -- Paula, back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks, Erica.

And I guess it's not surprising that her attorney also said that it is very difficult for her even to talk about what transpired over the last week without breaking down.

HILL: Yes.

ZAHN: And then you add on top of that all the scrutiny that she's enduring right now. What a mess.

HILL: Indeed.

ZAHN: Erica, see you in about a half-hour from now.

And it is time for all of you to vote for the person of the day. Your choices, Australia's foreign minister Alexander Downer for going on Al-Jazeera television to plead for the life of an Australian kidnapped in Iraq, the quick-thinking gas station attendant who saved the day when a pump caught fire. Wait until you hear what his actions were, or Travis Reid, the CEO of the Loews movie chain, for the decision to post real movie start times, instead of the times that the endless on-screen ads begin.

Cast your vote at I will reveal the winner a little bit later on in this hour.

Coming up next, though, flying under the radar. He reached one of the country's highest political offices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anyone within his own party disagrees with him, they find an opponent waiting in the wings in the next primary.

ZAHN: We'll show you why Tom DeLay was once known as Hot Tub Tom.

And then, a little bit later on, she is a retired grandmother who is only now revealing a secret of a lifetime, Irmgard Hunt on her meeting with Hitler. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: By any measure, House Speaker Tom DeLay is one of the most powerful men in Washington, but, for most outside the beltway, little more than a name in the news.

DeLay, who was admonished by the House Ethics Committee three times alone last year, faces new questions about alleged ties to lobbyists and overseas trips. The committee could begin its investigation tomorrow.

Well, today, he was mobbed by reporters and photographers as he tried to make his way to his Capitol Hill office. Polls show support for DeLay slipping. According to a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, 38 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the House leader. That's up from 31 percent in April.

Candy Crowley goes behind the scenes for a close-up look at the gentleman from Texas in tonight's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An American patriot, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, Tom DeLay of Texas.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a long way from the limelight to Laredo. But that's where Tom DeLay was born and where his story begins. The book on DeLay's personal life is full of blank pages. Little has been written because little has been said.

BOB BARR, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: It wasn't really as if he hid his personal life from us. But he didn't wear it on his sleeve either.

CROWLEY: Tom DeLay was the second of four children in a family dominated by a man described as a boisterous, domineering alcoholic.

J.D. HEYMAN, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "PEOPLE": Was a terribly demanding parent and had a way of communicating that his sons had always disappointed him.

CROWLEY: After his father died in the late '80s, DeLay stopped talking to his mother and siblings. In a 2001 interview in "The Washington Post" magazine, Maxine DeLay said of the son she calls Tommy: "I see him on TV and it helps. I keep all the tapes."

DeLay says nothing. He is Texas-born and bred, save the five years the family spent in Venezuela, while his father, a wildcatter, worked the oil fields. Charlie DeLay wanted Tommy to be a doctor. And he seemed on track, a top high school student and athlete. But two rambunctious premed years at Baylor were followed by an invitation to leave. LOU DUBOSE, AUTHOR, "THE HAMMER": He got crossways with the administration because something that had happened at Texas A&M. Baylor is a Baptist institution, painting something green, you know, smalltime vandalism involving sports.

CROWLEY: DeLay graduated from the University of Houston, a biology major. He went into pest control.

DUBOSE: He got a job mixing rat bait in Houston and ended up gradually working himself into a position in which he could buy an exterminating company.

CROWLEY: His business drew three separate IRS liens for not paying payroll and income taxes. He tangled with business partners, twice settling out of court.

But the years were most notable as a launching pad. The exterminator grew to loathe regulations. He called the EPA the gestapo of government. Tom DeLay went into politics.

BEVERLY CARTER, PUBLISHER, "FORT BEND SOUTHWEST STAR": He came in and told me that he was running for state representative as a Republican. And I said, oh, yay. I'm a Republican too. And he said, well, you're about the only one out here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most of the legislature probably, all but maybe 20 members, were Democrats. So, when Tom won, it was unusual.

CROWLEY: He was the Republican representative from Sugar Land and he was a lot of fun, able to master both the legislative process and the art of auctioneering.

DELAY: Fourteen thousand dollars. I got a $14,000. Make it $15,000.

CROWLEY: DeLay's stint in the state legislature was unremarkable, but he was well liked by all parties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tom was a good sport. You could tease Tom and he would take it and he would tease back. So, when things would come -- if DeLay got up there, we would start chanting DeLay, DeLay.

CROWLEY: The Texas legislature meets for four months every two years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The House will come to order.

CROWLEY: The pay is so small, few can live on their own in Austin. In 1981, six of them shared a condo. Brewer, DeLay, two more Republicans, two more Democrats. They called themselves the "Macho Manor Group" and hung out at the Broken Spoke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you remember the old TV program called "Cheers," it's kind of a spot like that. But you have got to put it in the country western setting.

CROWLEY: They talked issues, partied, pulled practical jokes, and over time DeLay's antics earned him a rep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tom had a real strong reputation of having a very good time while he was there. In fact, he got the name "Hot Tub Tom."

CROWLEY: After six years as a state lawmaker, Tom DeLay spotted an opening and took his shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He filed for that open seat and grabbed on to Reagan's coattails and he won election to the House.

CROWLEY: Tom DeLay was moving on and up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The House will be in order. Members elect and their guests.

CROWLEY: He arrived in Washington as he left Texas, a true believer in fewer regulations, lower taxes, smaller government and a swaggering party hardy guy.

REP. DAVID DREIER, (R) CALIFORNIA: There were a few times I remember in the '80s when, you know, I was there and Tom was having a very good time and all.

CROWLEY: DeLay by his own account consumed up to 12 martinis a night prowling receptions and fund-raisers that make up social life in the city of politics. And then one day that first term, "Hot Tub Tom" was reborn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; He was converted in the offices of Frank Wolf, a Virginia Congressman who gave him a James Dobson tape, changed his life.

CROWLEY: It was a tape about fatherhood. It moved DeLay to tears. He knocked off the hard liquor, became a regular churchgoer, rededicated himself to his wife and child, developed an unshakable faith.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A deep and profound belief in evangelical Christian ideology and politics. And a feeling that that is the deliverance of this country. And it will make us a better democracy and a better culture.

CROWLEY: Still, there was very little he could affect for most of his decade in Congress. DeLay with a back bencher, a newbie in a minority party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the Republicans are working.

CROWLEY: Things would change with time and cookies.

ZAHN: Cookies? Coming up next, Tom DeLay steps up to the big leagues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every morning when he wakes up, he's trying to figure out a way that the conservatives can win and that the Democrats lose.

ZAHN: How Tom DeLay became known as "the Hammer" when we come back.

ZAHN: During his time on Capital Hill Tom DeLay has been working hard to consolidate his authority. Tonight's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" continues as Candy Crowley follows DeLay's rise, how he turned cookies and political favors into absolute power.

CROWLEY (voice-over): After ten years in the U.S. House, Tom DeLay had earned some seniority.

DELAY: These members have worked very, very hard.

CROWLEY: Learned the ways of the Hill and shown a spot on aptitude for the practice of politics. He had been elected secretary of the Republican conference, but DeLay was looking to trade up. It was 1994.

REP. DAVID DREIER, (R) CALIFORNIA: In his first campaign for Whip, the Republican women in Houston would send to each of the budding campaigns of Republican candidates around the country big boxes. And in it had pencils and papers and home baked cookies. So a candidate for Congress that would be out knocking on doors, meeting with supporters, talking about issues, debating his or her opponent, would come back to the headquarters and they would say, this guy Tom DeLay just sent home baked cookies from Texas.

CROWLEY: The cookies got their attention. The cash from DeLay's political funds to dozens of congressional wanna-bes, won seats and loyalty. When the House opened for business in 1995, Republicans were in charge for the first time in four decades. And Tom DeLay, supported by many a grateful freshman, was elected Republican whip. The person responsible for rounding up votes. He was very good at it.

BOB BARR, (R) FRM. GEORGIA CONGRESSMAN: He's worked for each member to get elected and to be re-elected. That is something that members don't forget or forget at their own peril.

CROWLEY: Supporters say they've never even heard him raise his voice. That DeLay would not be where he is if a blunt instrument were his only tool.

BILL PAXON, (R) FRM. NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN: A kind of person who would always reach out to help, help with your political needs, your congressional needs, your personal needs. He is one of the most caring men of integrity and warmth and sincerity I've known in my 30 years in Republican politics.

CROWLEY: He was once described as a cross between a concierge and a mafia don.

CHARLIE STENHOLM, (D) FRM. TEXAS CONGRESSMAN: If anyone within his own party disagrees with him, they find an opponent waiting in the wings in the next primary, they find a threat to reduce the amount of funding available to them.

CROWLEY: He was eight years the whip, three now as majority leader. They call him "the Hammer."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every morning when he wakes up, he's trying to figure out a way that the conservatives can win and that the Democrats lose.

CROWLEY: The Hammer can pound money out of donors.

DELAY: $8100. Never trust a politician.

CROWLEY: His unofficial network of allies and former staffers so vast and successful, it is called DeLay Inc..

BEVERLY CARTER, PUB. FORT BEND SOUTHWEST STAR: Tom is like a shark. You know how a shark has to keep swimming or he dies, Tom has to keep raising money or he dies. That's how he has consolidated his power in the Republican Party by raising money and giving it to other candidates.

DELAY: We ready?

CROWLEY: The hammer can pound votes out of Republicans, appealing to party loyalty, calling in chips.

ERIK SMITH, FRM. DEM. CONGRESSIONAL AIDE: He always knows exactly what pressure points to hit on people. It is a rare thing to happen that a member of Congress will vote yes and then couple of minutes vote no. He gets it done all the time. And it is really stunning. And it speaks to his power.

CROWLEY: But even as they line up behind him, Republicans worry DeLay's world view may bite them in the rear. The problem with DeLay, said one colleague, is he thinks the entire country is Sugarland, Texas.

After the death of Terri Schiavo, DeLay seemed to threaten judges when he said, "the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior."

DELAY: We will look at an arrogant, out of control, unaccountable judiciary that thumb their nose at Congress and the president. CROWLEY: DeLay may have hurt his party with his unartful, some say menacing, performance in the Schiavo case. He took back of some of what he said about judges, explaining he pops off when he's upset. In the end, he is the puzzle wrapped inside an enigma. He is a loner in a people job, a Washington insider trying to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's never become part of the culture of Washington. For instance, he never spends a weekend in Washington, D.C., so has not become part of the social fabric of Washington, D.C.

CROWLEY: A devoted grandfather, father and husband who does not speak to his mother or siblings, a brass-knuckles politico, called "funny boy" by the children of one friend, plays with the children of another.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The coat's off, the tie's pulled down, he's on the floor, playing with the kids and the dogs.

CROWLEY: But, on the other floor, his reputation has the warmth of a tarantula.

LOU DUBOSE, AUTHOR "THE HAMMER": He will feed you. He will fund you, but in the end, he will destroy you if you don't play ball with him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With all due respect, talk about an odd couple.

CROWLEY: But, he has teamed up with Hillary Clinton on a foster care bill. He's a foster father himself and gets huge props across the political spectrum as a powerful advocate for abused children.

DELAY: These children, many of them have been severely abused and neglected, have been taken from their home. They have issues that they have to deal with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reading of the gospel...

CROWLEY: He is a born-again Christian, warned by the House ethics committee more than any current member of Congress. He has loyal colleagues and salivating critics and they agree to this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, that's the thing about DeLay, is he always wins.

CROWLEY: Tom DeLay wields great power with no apology, few boundaries, and nobody takes odds against him.

(on camera): If the House Ethics Committee proceeds with a new investigation of Tom DeLay, he is promised to turn over a decade's worth of documents. He also says he wants a chance to address the committee directly to try to clear his name.

Still ahead, she was just the perfect-looking German girl, the kind that Adolf Hitler was proud to be with.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People started to shout, screams went up, and he came out and he looked and, you know, I was this little girl, blonde braids, blue eyes. He just thought this is a cute little girl.

ZAHN: But why did Irmgard Hunt wait 60 years to tell her story?

And, the "Person of the Day," will it be Australia's foreign minister for pleading on al Jazeera for the life of an Australian kidnapped in Iraq, the gas station attendant who saved lives when a fire broke out, or the head of the Loews Theater chain for deciding to post real movie start times. Find out when we come back.

ZAHN: Still ahead, when she was just five, she sat on Hitler's knee. We'll hear her story, one she has kept secret for decades. But, first, just about 15 minutes before the hour, time to check the top stories with Erica Hill at Headline News. Erica?

ERICA HILL, HEADLINE NEWS: Paula, it is voting day in Britain, and Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to carry his Labor Party to power for a third time, but by a slimmer margin than ever. He support of the U.S. invasion of Iraq has angered most British voters. One observer calls the vote an anti-war referendum.

It is back to the drawing board for the freedom tower. The 1776 foot replacement for New York's World Trade Center towers is being redesigned and it may actually be scrapped entirely due to security concerns.

A brain-damaged Buffalo, New York, firefighter is no longer communicating in the same startling way he did last Saturday. That's when Donald Herbert astonished doctors and his family by breaking a decade of silence in a flurry of consciousness that lasted 14 hours. His wife says he has since stopped speaking, but the family is still overwhelmed. They are more hopeful than ever.

And, you know, it takes a lot of salami to feed an army, and two New Jersey deli owners are shipping two tons of the spicy sausage to soldiers in Iraq to show their appreciation. Lots of generous volunteers involved in "Operation Salami Drop."

And, that's the latest from Headline News, Paula. Back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks so much, Erica.

"LARRY KING LIVE," straight up at the top of the hour, 14 minutes from now. Hi, Larry. What are you focusing in on tonight?

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Hi, Paula. We're going to focus on one of the most puzzling aspects of human nature, the mind of a psychopath. What makes someone do deeds we would never imagine doing? What makes someone a serial killer? We'll have two psychologists, a psychiatrist, and a veteran of the FBI's behavioral unit. The mind of a psychopath, that's the topic, with your phone calls, at the top of the hour. Paula, should be fascinating.

ZAHN: Should be interesting, and unfortunately, no shortage of cases lately.

KING: No. Not kidding.

ZAHN: See you at the top of the hour. Thanks, Larry.

And, who is our person of the day? Australia's foreign minister who went on al Jazeera to plead for the life of an Australian kidnapped in Iraq, the gas station attendant who saw disaster coming and stopped it, or Travis Reid, CEO of Loews for deciding to post real movie start times, instead of when the ads start. And you choose the quick-thinking gas station attendant.

(voice-over): Whether you pump your own gas or you live in parts of the country where someone else does it for you, filling up is part of everyday life for millions of Americans -- expensive, but routine. But at one Mobil gas station in East Chester, New York, filling up was anything but routine for one motorist.

At first, as captured here on surveillance video, nothing out of the ordinary. A man in a Mercedes stops to fuel up, starts the gas pumping and then goes into the store to buy a pack of cigarettes. He chats, jokes. He leaves the store, gets into his car and then drives away. But, wait, the nozzle is still stuck in the car. In a matter of seconds, the pump it torn out of the ground and a dangerous fire erupts.

MOSES KOUASSI, GAS STATION EMPLOYEE: It was something -- very scary stuff, because everybody was running, you know, all the customers.

ZAHN: But for one quick-thinking employee, whose name the gas station refuses to give out, panic was not an option.

TOM NABER, GENERAL MANAGER: This is the button that my guy pulled.

ZAHN: He triggered the emergency extinguisher, setting off a cloud of fire suppressant foam, and saved the day.

NABER: Everybody, you know, thanking that guy for pulling this switch at the right time, OK, and thinking that, OK, this is the right time to do it.

ZAHN: Because of one man's actions, a potentially explosive situation was narrowly averted, saving lives, saving the station and making him an unsung and unknown hero, as well as the "Person of the Day." (END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): And it seems the man in the mercerdee -- mercerdee? That's really good. Let's try it -- Mercedes, just kept on driving, but police say they have been in touch with him and, you might guess, his lawyer. We'll be right back.

ZAHN: That was Israel marking Holocaust Memorial Day today, just one of many reminders that 60 years ago this month, Germany surrendered, ending World War II in Europe. And while the evil of Adolf Hitler seemed so long ago, it is not really. Just ask someone who came face to face with him.

ZAHN (voice-over): Irmgard Hunt is a proud and loving grandmother, happily retired in Washington, D.C. But she has a secret she's been keeping for decades.

IRMGARD HUNT, AUTHOR: The indoctrination was absolutely all around.

ZAHN: Like most politicians, Hitler wanted to be seen with children. He made it a habit of having his picture taken with them. She was just a 3-year-old living in a tiny village near Hitler's fortress when Irmgard was chosen to sit on the furor's knee.

HUNT: We had walked up to Hitler house a short walk from where we lived, right down the mountain from Hitler's territory. People started to shout, screams went up. And he came out and he looked around and I was this little girl, blonde braids, blue eyes, he just thought this is a cute little girl.

ZAHN: And she became a local celebrity.

HUNT: An aunt came, a visitor came. The teachers, well, you live in Berchtesgaden and did you meet Hitler? You say, yes, and I sat on his knee.

ZAHN (on camera): What's so interesting to me is your parents basked in the glory of you sitting on Hitler's knee. But there was this internal war going on. And your grandfather was adamantly opposed to Hitler. He viewed him as a criminal. Was he upset you got used that way?

HUNT: Yes, he was upset. And I looked up, sort of nervously and on Hitler's lap, my grandfather took his walking pole and sort hit it, hit the air with it. Angrily, turn away, try to find his way out through the crowd. He just had enough of that.

ZAHN (voice-over): Two years later, a Nazi teacher questioned Irmgard about her grandfather.

HUNT: She was an informer it turned out later on. And she wanted to hear what my grandfather was saying at home, because he had been called before the Gestapo once before, because he had talked publicly negatively about Hitler. I didn't know that I would be betraying him. I just thought she had just a real interest in what goes on in families. I didn't. And so what kept me from telling her was that I just didn't like her.

ZAHN (on camera): You proceeded to say he doesn't talk.

HUNT: He doesn't talk, right.

ZAHN (voice-over): In 1941, Irmgard's father was killed fighting for the German Army. She learned in school that the proper reaction was not grief, but pride.

(on camera): So when an ardent fanatical Nazi teacher asked you to get up in front of your class, and explain why the sacrifice of your father's life was worth it.

HUNT: Yes.

ZAHN: It had to be extremely painful for you.

HUNT: It was shocking. Because all you want to do as a child is to cry, and be very sad, be allowed to be sad. And we were not really allowed to be sad.

ZAHN (voice-over): Over the years, she has struggled with her feelings about her father.

HUNT: It is a very finite thing when your father dies. And it became particularly sad when it turned out that he died for a criminal dictatorship, 55 million dead, six million Jewish people just cruelly murdered. And your father fought in that army, and I think that was equally hard to deal with as his actual death. I could only think, well, you know, there's nobody in this whole world who will ever respect him or any German soldier. I didn't know who would ever put a flower on my father's grave.

ZAHN (on camera): How difficult has it been for your own children, and your grandchildren to come to terms with that part of German history?

HUNT: My son when he was a little boy, he was embarrassed that he had a German mother. And I never talked about my past to anybody, not even my ex-husband or to my children about that past until actually my son now, he's a historian. And he said, mom, you have got sit down and write this down.

ZAHN (voice-over): Part of her coming to terms with her past included a visit to her childhood home, once Hitler's Mountain. She went with the man she considers her life partner. He is a Jew.

ZAHN: Irmgard Hunt has put down her painful story in a book called "On Hitler's Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood." And that wraps it up for all of us here tonight. Thank you so much for joining us.

Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" with Aaron Brown, an FBI computer foul up may have left an alleged serial killer go free so that he could kill again.

And a portrait of Dennis Rader, the suspected BTK killer. Hear from a woman who worked closely with Rader over the years.

Again, thanks for joining us tonight. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.

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text:
Ruling near on California same-sex marriage ban

By the Associated Press | February 6, 2012 | 6:25 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court plans to announce whether it thinks California's same-sex marriage ban violates the civil rights of gays and lesbians, and if the trial judge who struck down the voter-approved measure should have revealed he was in a long-term relationship with another man.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a three-judge panel was ready to publish its long-awaited opinions Tuesday on the ban and on the possible conflict-of-interest by former Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker, who ruled that Proposition 8 did not pass constitutional muster.

Walker presided over the first trial in federal court to examine if same-sex couples have a constitutional right to get married.

Even if the 9th Circuit panel agrees with him and overturns the ban approved by voters in November 2008, same-sex marriages are unlikely to resume in California any time soon. Supporters and opponents of Proposition 8 have said they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if they lose in the intermediate court.

Some legal observers believe the written heads-up the court gave Monday indicates it concluded there is no reason why Walker should have disclosed his relationship status while he had the case.

"The notice appears to indicate that the panel will rule on the constitutionality of Proposition 8. That seems to suggest that the court will deny the effort by Prop 8 proponents to vacate Judge Walker's ruling on recusal grounds, and also that it will find that the Prop. 8 proponents had standing to pursue the appeal," University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Tobias Barrington Wolff said.

The panel heard arguments on the ban's civil rights implications more than a year ago but delayed a decision while it sought guidance from the California Supreme Court on whether Proposition 8's sponsors had legal authority to challenge Walker's ruling after the governor and state attorney general decided not to appeal it.

The California court ruled in November that the state's vigorous citizens' initiative process grants official proponents of ballot measures the right to defend their initiatives in court if state officials refuse to do so.

Further complicating the 9th Circuit's consideration was a move in April by lawyers for the coalition of religious conservative groups that put Proposition 8 on the ballot have Walker's ruling vacated because of the now-retired judge's same-sex relationship.

Walker's successor as the chief federal judge in Northern California, James Ware, rejected arguments that Walker was unqualified to preside over the 13-day trial that because he stood to personally benefit from declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

The 9th Circuit held a hearing on that question in December.


text:
At Home in the World

Giulio Giannini e Figlio

Piazza Pitti, 37/r

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People flock to this bookbinding and papermaking company (found in 1856 and still run from the workshop upstairs) for its great selection of leather and paper-bound books and albums, desk accessories, and greetings cards.

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