“AP source: Obama focusing on al-Qaida, not Taliban - San Francisco Chronicle” plus 4 more

---

• AP source: Obama focusing on al-Qaida, not Taliban - San Francisco Chronicle
• A real scene in the ‘onsen’ - Idaho Mountain Express
• Mental-health client deaths raise questions - Charleston Gazette
• Moonstruck: Making one giant thud for mankind - Biloxi Sun Herald
• Pastor tells Metairie 'tea party' that the constitution is in danger - New Orleans Times-Picayune

AP source: Obama focusing on al-Qaida, not Taliban - San Francisco Chronicle Posted: 08 Oct 2009 08:45 PM PDT The sharpened focus by Obama's team on fighting al-Qaida above all other goals, while downgrading the emphasis on the Taliban, comes in the midst of an intensely debated administration review of the increasingly unpopular war. Aides stress that the president's decision on specific troop levels and the other elements of a revamped approach is still at least two weeks away, and they say Obama has not tipped his hand in meetings that will continue at the White House on Friday. But the thinking emerging from the strategy formulation portion of the debate offers a clue that Obama would be unlikely to favor a large military increase of the kind being advocated by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal's troop request is said to include a range of options, from adding as few as 10,000 combat troops to — the general's strong preference — as many as 40,000. Obama's developing strategy on the Taliban will "not tolerate their return to power," the senior official said in an interview with The Associated Press. But the U.S. would fight only to keep the Taliban from retaking control of Afghanistan's central government — something it is now far from being capable of — and from giving renewed sanctuary in Afghanistan to al-Qaida, the official said. The official is involved in the discussions and was authorized to speak about them but not to be identified by name because the review is still under way. Bowing to the reality that the Taliban is too ingrained in Afghanistan's culture to be entirely defeated, the administration is prepared to accept some Taliban role in parts of Afghanistan, the official said. That could mean paving the way for Taliban members willing to renounce violence to participate in a central government — the kind of peace talks advocated by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to little receptiveness from the Taliban. It might even mean ceding some regions of the country to the Taliban. In Kabul on Thursday, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle outside the Indian Embassy and killed 17 people in the second major attack in the city in less than a month. The Taliban claimed responsibility. Obama has talked positively about reaching out to moderates in the Taliban since he first announced a new Afghanistan strategy in March. It would be akin to, though more complicated than, the successful efforts in Iraq to persuade Sunni Muslim insurgents to cooperate with U.S. forces against al-Qaida there. Obama has conferred nearly every day this week on the war, and continued that Thursday afternoon with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. On Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the war launched by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Obama and more than a dozen officials in his war council met for three hours to focus on Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. Another of those larger discussions — the fourth of five currently scheduled — is set for Friday, on Afghanistan. That meeting also could feature the group's first discussion of specific troop options. In the first two of the sessions, which are taking place in the secure Situation Room in the White House basement, Obama kept returning to one question for his advisers: Who is our adversary, the official said. The answer was al-Qaida, as it was back in March. Amid changing circumstances in Afghanistan, the renewed determination has big implications for the current war debate. There now are no more than 100 al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Instead, the U.S. fight in Afghanistan is against the Taliban, now increasingly defined by the Obama team as distinct from al-Qaida. While still dangerous, the Taliban is seen as an indigenous movement with almost entirely local and territorial aims and far less of a threat to the U.S. Obama's team believes some elements in the Taliban are aligned with al-Qaida, with its transnational reach and aims of attacking the West, but probably not the majority and mostly for tactical rather than ideological reasons, the official said. "They're not the same type of group," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "It's certainly not backed up by any of the intelligence." That leaves the primary aim in Afghanistan to deny al-Qaida any ability to regroup there as it did when the Taliban was in power before the U.S. ousted them. A focus on al-Qaida is the driving force behind an approach being advocated by Biden as an alternative to the McChrystal recommendation for a fuller counterinsurgency effort inside Afghanistan. Biden has argued for keeping the American force there around the 68,000 already authorized, including the 21,000 extra troops Obama ordered earlier this year, but significantly increasing the use of unmanned Predator drones and special forces for the kind of surgical anti-terrorist strikes that have been successful in Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere. There also is increasing reluctance among Obama's advisers to commit large additional numbers of troops because of concerns about the impact on already severely strained U.S. forces and the troubled Karzai government. In Pakistan, however, the administration has been encouraged by the government's recent willingness to aggressively battle extremists inside its borders. Getting additional cooperation from Pakistan is delicate, as the anti-extremist operations remain extremely controversial there and the U.S.-backed civilian government in Islamabad is weak. But the administration sees opportunity there nonetheless. Clinton has not revealed how she is leaning in the sessions, according to aides. While she is broadly supportive of building up troop levels — although not necessarily in the bigger numbers favored by McChrystal — she also believes economic and other civilian efforts must be prominent parts of the plan too, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to detail her views. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, long wary of a large troop presence in Afghanistan, appears to have grown more comfortable with the prospect of a moderate, middle-path increase. Many lawmakers from Obama's own Democratic Party do not want to see additional U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan. According to a new Associated Press-GfK poll, public support for the war has dropped to 40 percent from 44 percent in July. Rep. David Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee who led an effort in 2007 to block money for the Iraq war, emerged with deep concerns from an hourlong Capitol Hill briefing Thursday for House lawmakers of both parties by Obama national security adviser James Jones. Obey cited the high cost to the country of a ramped-up war, as well as doubts about the ability of the Afghan and Pakistan governments to be effective partners. Republicans, meanwhile, are urging Obama to heed the military commanders' calls soon or risk failure. "Unnecessary delay could undermine our opportunity for success," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said Thursday. ___ Associated Press writers Anne Gearan, Pamela Hess, Matthew Lee and Ann Sanner contributed to this report.

A real scene in the ‘onsen’ - Idaho Mountain Express Posted: 08 Oct 2009 08:10 PM PDT A real scene in the onsen The onset of the first cold snap of autumn is often greeted by a mélange of regrets, wistful laments and colorful curse words. Inevitably it will feel as if summer had just begun—never a more accurate sentiment than this year—and that it's nowhere near time to put away bicycles, take the boat off Redfish Lake or actually drink a schooner inside Grumpy's. However, unlike the city, where the change in temperature merely heralds in several months of blackened slush and overheated subway cars, winter in the mountains brings with it a Gore-Tex-spangled, moisture-wicking, down-filled silver lining. Baldy continues to beckon, only this time for freshly waxed skis instead of sweat-splattered knobby tires. Tendrils of smoke waft lazily from chimneys across the town and the Sun Valley Suns return as the only setting where Latvians wonder how duck heads' being thrown onto the ice relates to the game of hockey. And of course, one of the best winter pastimes of all—soaking in the hot springs. With a number of hot springs a short drive out Board Ranch, the Sun Valley area has some fantastic offerings for those looking to take advantage of nature's version of a $2 massage on a Thai beach. And while it's hard to complain while sitting in a warm pool surrounded by feet of snow with ice-cold water rushing by, it's just as difficult not to wish we had embraced the Japanese approach, where the natural hot tub is an integral part of the culture. For first-time visitors to Japan, the inaugural experience at an onsen, a natural hot spring pool, or a sento, more like a public bathhouse into which hot spring water is piped, can be simultaneously daunting and humorous. As their country is made up of a string of islands formed by volcanic mountains, hot springs can be found everywhere, from dense cities to mountain passes. Accordingly, the Japanese have made a trip to either an onsen or sento part of the daily routine, many even forgoing the shower at their own house in favor of the opportunity to have a beer in public while naked. Unlike the informal attitude taken toward outdoor bathing in the West, the Japanese, as with most other aspects of life, have instituted a regimented structure that must be followed for fear of being publicly berated without the linguistic skills to apologize for the unintended affront. These days, nearly all of these baths are split by gender, which is a good thing considering bathing suits are strictly off limits and the only allowed covering is a thin towel that would barely wrap around the thigh of an undernourished sumo wrestler. But even once one is in the buff, it's still not acceptable to simply belly flop into the pool, as the other patrons need to know that they will not be sharing your dirty bath water. Thus, it's imperative to make a show of taking a shower, made slightly more difficult by the fact that to do so you need to sit on a stool so short that it would look more in place in kindergarten art class. This step complete, you are now free to bring a superfluously large can of beer, amazingly available from vending machines by the front desk. It's easy to let your guard down, especially whi The onset of the first cold snap of autumn is often greeted by a mélange of regrets, wistful laments and colorful curse words. Inevitably it will feel as if summer had just begun—never a more accurate sentiment than this year—and that it's nowhere near time to put away bicycles, take the boat off Redfish Lake or actually drink a schooner inside Grumpy's. However, unlike the city, where the change in temperature merely heralds in several months of blackened slush and overheated subway cars, winter in the mountains brings with it a Gore-Tex-spangled, moisture-wicking, down-filled silver lining. Baldy continues to beckon, only this time for freshly waxed skis instead of sweat-splattered knobby tires. Tendrils of smoke waft lazily from chimneys across the town and the Sun Valley Suns return as the only setting where Latvians wonder how duck heads' being thrown onto the ice relates to the game of hockey. And of course, one of the best winter pastimes of all—soaking in the hot springs. With a number of hot springs a short drive out Board Ranch, the Sun Valley area has some fantastic offerings for those looking to take advantage of nature's version of a $2 massage on a Thai beach. And while it's hard to complain while sitting in a warm pool surrounded by feet of snow with ice-cold water rushing by, it's just as difficult not to wish we had embraced the Japanese approach, where the natural hot tub is an integral part of the culture. For first-time visitors to Japan, the inaugural experience at an onsen, a natural hot spring pool, or a sento, more like a public bathhouse into which hot spring water is piped, can be simultaneously daunting and humorous. As their country is made up of a string of islands formed by volcanic mountains, hot springs can be found everywhere, from dense cities to mountain passes. Accordingly, the Japanese have made a trip to either an onsen or sento part of the daily routine, many even forgoing the shower at their own house in favor of the opportunity to have a beer in public while naked. Unlike the informal attitude taken toward outdoor bathing in the West, the Japanese, as with most other aspects of life, have instituted a regimented structure that must be followed for fear of being publicly berated without the linguistic skills to apologize for the unintended affront. These days, nearly all of these baths are split by gender, which is a good thing considering bathing suits are strictly off limits and the only allowed covering is a thin towel that would barely wrap around the thigh of an undernourished sumo wrestler. But even once one is in the buff, it's still not acceptable to simply belly flop into the pool, as the other patrons need to know that they will not be sharing your dirty bath water. Thus, it's imperative to make a show of taking a shower, made slightly more difficult by the fact that to do so you need to sit on a stool so short that it would look more in place in kindergarten art class. This step complete, you are now free to bring a superfluously large can of beer, amazingly available from vending machines by the front desk. It's easy to let your guard down, especially while relaxing after a full day of skiing, but there is still the potential for surprise or even humiliation, especially in a sento, where it's common to find a plethora of pools, each with different, possibly dubious, medicinal properties. Given that there is a noticeable lack of English in these situations, it can be quite a shock (wait for it) to accidentally step into a bath with an electric current running through it, strong enough to make all of your muscles contract. And while Frenchmen's hot springs might be safe from nudity—well, at least most of the time—you sure won't get the chance to see a squat Japanese man enduring severe muscle spasms with a broad smile on his face. Jon Duval is a staff writer for the Idaho Mountain Express.le relaxing after a full day of skiing, but there is still the potential for surprise or even humiliation, especially in a sento, where it's common to find a plethora of pools, each with different, possibly dubious, medicinal properties. Given that there is a noticeable lack of English in these situations, it can be quite a shock (wait for it) to accidentally step into a bath with an electric current running through it, strong enough to make all of your muscles contract. And while Frenchmen's hot springs might be safe from nudity—well, at least most of the time—you sure won't get the chance to see a squat Japanese man enduring severe muscle spasms with a broad smile on his face. Jon Duval is a staff writer for the Idaho Mountain Express.

Mental-health client deaths raise questions - Charleston Gazette Posted: 08 Oct 2009 08:53 PM PDT     By Scott Finn West Virginia Public Broadcasting CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Three clients of Northwood Health Systems, one of West Virginia's largest mental health providers, have died while under the agency's care in the last two months. Two of these deaths and other incidents led the state Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification not to renew Northwood's license to operate. Clarice Hausch, director of West Virginia Advocates, said reports from state investigators suggest a pattern of abuse and neglect at Wheeling-based Northwood. "I've been doing this work for more than 30 years, and these are some of the most egregious allegations I've ever seen," she said. "Their lives are being put at risk. There are things in [these reports] that could have, and in some situations may have, caused people to die." A Sept. 8 administrative order from OHFLAC Director John Wilkinson announced that Northwood's license would not be renewed as of Oct. 1 because "the center conducts practices that jeopardize the health, safety, welfare and clinical treatment of consumers." But Northwood still is operating under that license, according to Department of Health and Human Resources spokesman John Law. OHFLAC is a division of DHHR. Law said Wilkinson, who one month ago told Northwood to shut down, has agreed to allow Northwood to stay open. "While those negotiations are going on, the license expiration is stayed," Law said, until the negotiations are complete. In a prepared statement, Northwood spokesman John Culler said the organization takes its responsibility to care for patients very seriously. "Northwood's chief executive officer and board of directors are disappointed, frustrated and angry that the poor judgment of a small number of individuals compromised the quality of care for some of our patients. The employees involved are either no longer working at Northwood, or they have been disciplined," he wrote. Culler said he could not discuss the deaths, because of privacy concerns. "We have privately communicated our thoughts and prayers to the families of the deceased, as well as our support," Culler said. The three clients died in a one-month span, starting Aug. 26, when one woman died in a Northwood staff member's vehicle in Ohio County. According to an OHFLAC report, there was no attempt to do CPR on the client, even though there should have been. Northwood's report of the incident omits the fact CPR was not performed. On Aug. 30, a suicidal woman was found dead at a New Martinsville crisis facility run by Mid-Valley Healthcare, a subsidiary of Northwood. She was supposed to be on "suicide observation," but staff did not know she and six other clients were suicidal, according to an OHFLAC report. Investigators said the residential crisis unit was understaffed, with only two people supervising 15 residential clients. She was supposed to be checked every 15 minutes, but when a staff member found her at 6:45 a.m., she was not breathing and had already turned blue. Her neck was stiff and mouth clenched tightly shut. "The fact that staff ... did not observe Consumer #1 for any sounds and/or movement from 3 a.m. to 6:45 a.m., even though she was listed as 'Suicide Observation,' was a neglectful act," the investigator's report says. A staff member attempted to perform CPR, but failed to do any rescue breathing. Also, the CPR was performed with the woman still in bed, even though that is ineffective, because the two staff members could not lift her and place her on the floor. For most of the night, one staff member was doing laundry and cleaning tasks instead of helping supervise clients. This, investigators said, "poses potential harm considering eight consumers were on a monitoring status of 'Suicide Observation.' " On Sept. 21, a medically fragile woman with a developmental disability died at the Ritz Avenue group home in Wheeling, run by Northwood, according to Hausch. She says she received that information from state regulators, although they have not yet released the investigative report on the death. The woman was supposed to be checked on a regular basis, Hausch said. Hausch said one more thing makes this death particularly egregious - it occurred after the state sent Northwood a letter saying it was refusing to renew its license to operate. Hausch also pointed to several non-lethal but still disturbing incidents in other parts of these OHFLAC reports, most of them conducted starting in May. On May 15, witnesses told police they saw Northwood employee Patricia Wheeler of Wheeling hitting and cussing at a client who is blind and has dementia and Down's Syndrome. According to the criminal complaint filed in Ohio County Circuit Court, one witness saw Wheeler yelling "Get in the f--ing wheelchair" and forcibly hitting the elderly woman's back and arm with the wheelchair, and striking her on her arm with her hand. The alleged victim, Mary Ann Kaib, and four witnesses confirmed the assault, according to the criminal complaint by Officer Sara Throckmorton of the Wheeling Police. But Ohio County assistant prosecutor Shawn Turak said Thursday the charges were dismissed. Turak said Wheeler admitted she was yelling and swearing at Kaib, but she did not hit her. Turak said Wheeler received a good character reference from Northwood, and witnesses gave conflicting statements about what happened. Also, according to OHFLAC investigative records: In March at Northwood subsidiary Mid-Valley Healthcare, an employee used a chair to barricade a man with a developmental disability in his bedroom. While trapped, the report says he ate a portion of his own adult diaper, according to a state investigative report. Northwood denies this, saying in a statement, "There is no evidence our client had anything in his mouth like the material described by the disgruntled former employee." Staff also dressed this male client in a female bathing suit and bra and posted photographs of him in his living area - a place where management visited and therefore "knew or should have known of their existence." One staff member dressed up as a client for a Halloween party. In April, a staff member had one client lick cake icing off his face. Pictures were taken and e-mailed to others. One staff member taught a client to insult other clients with sexual slang. Police responded to a call about a client sitting in a pickup truck that was not his. He had wandered away from his house, where an employee was fixing a toilet. During that time, the employee billed Medicaid as if he were watching three clients, when in fact two of them were at a day program. A client in the Ritz Avenue facility in Wheeling had an MRSA infection, which is contagious and highly resistant to treatment, but the facility failed to treat it properly, and was not taking sufficient precautions to prevent the disease from spreading, according to an OHFLAC report. On July 3, one client was left alone in a Northwood van for an hour as an employee made a personal errand. Employees had been allowed to use company vehicles for personal errands, although a supervisor said she put an end to it - on July 6. Northwood says the client was left alone, but the employee was visiting another client at the hospital, not on a personal errand. On June 17, a Subway employee called Northwood "concerned about how a staff member had treated" a consumer, and that the staff member was yelling and pushing the consumer. Northwood said its internal investigation showed the employee was actually trying to protect the client by preventing her from pulling a rack of potato chips down on top of herself. Hausch received most of those reports Thursday morning, and tears came to her eyes several times as she discussed them later that afternoon. "There's blatant and intentional abuse in some of these allegations of very vulnerable individuals," she said. "At one point I had to stop reading because I was crying. I really wanted to put the whole thing down and not finish reading it because it was so upsetting," she said. Law downplayed the incidents cited in OHFLAC's reports. "I don't know if this is above and beyond the usual concerns. We do OHFLAC surveys all the time. This just happened to come up at a time when their license was to be renewed," Law said. Law said the decision to extend Northwood's license was made by OHFLAC, and that DHHR Secretary Patsy Hardy or other high-ranking DHHR officials did not influence that decision. He says it is common to work with providers "past their licensure period" to correct deficiencies. These deaths and incidents have not been reported in the media before now, although the issue of Northwood's license non-renewal has. Northwood spokesman Culler told WTOV-TV in Wheeling "that the issues the state identified are relatively minor," according to the television station's Web site. "He would not specifically name the problems, but said they can range from physical issues to record keeping to patient care issues," the Web site says. On Thursday, Culler said in a statement, "We take very seriously the three deaths that have occurred at Northwood. "Northwood serves a population that is at risk, often both physically and emotionally. Many of our clients are not in the best of health, and some are elderly and have a wide range of health problems. Based on the information we have, the deaths that occurred were a result of natural causes," Culler said. Hausch said she didn't know if shutting Northwood down would do more harm than good. But she said she wants to hear DHHR and Northwood officials admit there's a serious problem. "The most disturbing thing for me is there is an organizational culture that is seeing the people with disabilities that they are serving as having no right to dignity, no right to privacy and no right to respect," she said. "They're being treated as objects, not as people." West Virginia Public Broadcasting reporter Keri Brown contributed to this story, which is part of a collaboration between WVPB and The Charleston Gazette. To hear an audio version of this story, go to www.wvpubcast.org/news.

Moonstruck: Making one giant thud for mankind - Biloxi Sun Herald Posted: 08 Oct 2009 08:24 PM PDT For more than a century, the idea of Earthlings taking a swipe at the moon has permeated popular culture. The most enduring image is from the 1902 classic movie, "A Trip to the Moon," in which a bullet-like rocket wincingly lodges in the eye of the man in the moon. As much as we like to gaze at the moon, we like stirring things up even more. It's the specialty of the hit show "Mythbusters" and the aptly named show "Destroyed in Seconds." Friday's first smack: a 2.2-ton empty rocket stage crashing into the moon at twice the speed of a bullet, equal to the power of 1.5 tons of TNT, followed four minutes later with a smaller hit. As planned, the probe sent by NASA had separated into the two pieces Thursday night. For those fearing that the crashes like Friday's could cause the moon to shift its orbit or send huge chunks back to Earth, agency scientists have some words of comfort. They say such crashes have no more effect on the moon than an eyelash dropping on a jet. Sure the impact may seem big, but so is the moon. This also is something that happens four times a month to the moon, said Dan Andrews, the head of this NASA lunar crash mission. The only difference is that those hits are from naturally occurring space rocks. No one personifies the blow-'em-up-in-the-name-of-science more than Brown University geologist Peter Schultz, a scientist who worked on NASA's similar purposeful crash into a comet in 2005. He's a regular cosmic crasher in the name of science - and jollies. "Whenever these things happen, the first thing that comes out of your mouth is 'Geez,'" Schultz said. "I've got the neatest job in the world." It's human nature to blow things up and dissect what happens, Schultz said Thursday from the Vertical Gun Range at NASA's Ames Research Center. "There's a reason you drop pumpkins off a 30-story building," he told The Associated Press. He won't say whether he's done that - but he has shot eggs out of jet engines into the ground to see what happens to the shells. And then there's this don't-do-this-at-home moment from his boyhood: He put a firecracker into an ant mound and took pictures of the flying ants during the explosion. Schultz later got a telescope and fell in love with the moon and its craters. He planned to look at the crash with spacecraft cameras capable of 1 million frames per second - getting millisecond-by-millisecond details of the violence. NASA's plan, which often mistakenly was called "bombing the moon," has generated lots of late-night humor and even some outrage. David Letterman, who has dropped watermelons off Manhattan rooftops, has riffed on it repeatedly. He speculated on a counterattack by the moon with his own NASA-like animation and then compared it to the U.S. war in Iraq, as an attack-first, ask-questions-later scenario. Others aren't completely joking about their concerns. Novelist Amy Ephron doesn't understand the hoopla surrounding NASA's moon crash and wondered whether the public would be as excited about the mission if a country like Iran were in charge. Ephron created a "Help Save the Moon" Twitter campaign - part tongue-in-cheek and part serious - to prevent future lunar dustups and to start a debate about who owns the moon. "I really am a pacifist. I don't like the idea of sending a missile to Afghanistan or to Iraq or to the moon," said Ephron, while stressing that she's not against space exploration. Still the moon beckons as an inviting target. NASA's Andrews said his 12-year-old son was out gazing at the sky a couple months ago and came back and told him: "Look, Dad, it's taunting you."

Pastor tells Metairie 'tea party' that the constitution is in danger - New Orleans Times-Picayune Posted: 08 Oct 2009 07:27 PM PDT By Bruce Nolan, The Times-Picayune October 08, 2009, 6:30AM A conservative Texas preacher who defied the Internal Revenue Service by endorsing Sen. John McCain from his pulpit last year sketched a vision of Washington in the hands of socialist ideologues determined to wreck the Constitution and undermine "our Judeo-Christian heritage," because "what's best for America is socialism."   Michael Democker, The Times-PicayuneThe Rev. Stephen Broden at a "tea party" in Metairie Wednesday.In 52 minutes of razor wire rhetoric, the Rev. Stephen Broden, a black pastor from Dallas, drew at least six standing ovations from a mixed but predominantly white audience gathered by the Greater New Orleans Tea Party.   Quoting from the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and conservative authors like Francis Schaeffer, Broden cast the political struggle partly in religious terms.   Without mentioning President Obama -- without naming any Democrats --  he said Washington has passed into the hands of people determined "to replace our Judeo-Christian ethic ...with secular humanism birthed in atheistic Darwinism."   Moreover, he said, "the best place to filter out deception is through the word of God."   Broden, the pastor of the 100-member Fair Park Bible Fellowship, was among several dozen pastors who publicly endorsed Republican candidates, or denounced Obama, from the pulpit last fall, hoping to provoke a free speech court fight with the Internal Revenue Service.   Since then, however, "nothing has happened," to his disappointment, Broden said before  the speech.   Broden has appeared several times on Fox News commentator's Glenn Beck's show, preaching that traditional American freedoms are in danger. One of those appearances led to his appearance at the Metairie gathering.   His audience was largely white, middle aged and older. Some said they came out of curiousity. Some, like self-employed home remodeler John Reeser, said they were already deeply concerned.   Michael DeMocker, The Times-PicayuneThe crowd parys with guest speaker Pastor Stephen Broden during a meeting of the Greater New Orleans Tea Party at the American Legion Hall on Ridgewood Drive in Metairie on Wednesday, October 7, 2009. The crowd prays with the Rev. Stephen Broden during a meeting of the Greater New Orleans Tea Party at the American Legion Hall on Ridgewood Drive in Metairie on Wednesday.Reeser, who described himself as "a guy who never used to get involved," said he has become energized by the Obama administration and its "total, out of control government spending," its alliance with labor against business and the prospect of what he thought might be ruinous health care reform.   Ken Steudler, a retired sales and marketing executive, said he was alarmed chiefly by government spending, but to a lesser extent, by evidence the Obama administration is salted with Marxists. He named as an example Mark Lloyd, the Federal Communication Commission's chief diversity officer, who Steudler said had made remarks sympathetic to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.   To repeated applause during his speech, Broden struck themes well beyond the denunciation of same sex marriage, abortion and other topics that have marked the culture wars for several decades.   His message was deeper: that the banking, credit card, automotive crises of the last year were all "manufactured" by enemies of traditional American values to deliberately overload government and usher in socialism.   "All I have created in the marketplace should not be taken from me and given to someone else. ... That idea is anti-Bible," he said, to strong applause.   In addition, he said "secular humanists" are "are pushing and bludgeoning and butchering our Judeo-Christian heritage."   "If you remove the Christian consensus from the nation, what will determine right from wrong?   Answering questions that lasted another hour, Broden denounced abortion as a form of black genocide, denounced government entitlement programs that he said wrecked the black family and wrote off "the liberal press."   When one woman asked whether the presence of swine flu might be a manufactured epidemic, Broden allowed that he didn't know, but he was suspicious.  He urged her to double up on her Vitamin C.   .........   Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com, or 504.826.3344.

You are subscribed to email updates from cultural - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610