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Pinki brings a smile to the Oscars

While all eyes seem to be on "Slumdog Millionaire" for the Oscars, the eyes of a very courageous little girl will be focused on another India based film at the ceremony.

It’s called “Smile Pinki” and it’s up for an Oscar too — nominated for best short documentary. The little girl watching it from inside the Oscar ceremony has traveled all the way from her small Indian village with her dad — and it has been an incredible journey for little Pinki Sonkar. “Smile Pinki” tells the story of her transformation from a sad outcast to a vibrant 8-year-old with plenty of spunk. Pinki was born with a cleft lip and her impoverished family did not have the money for corrective surgery. Like millions of other children born with the lip deformity in developing countries, Pinki simply had to live with it and suffer the social consequences. Her father Rajendra Sonkar says: “She used to go to school and the kids would not befriend her. She would say I don’t want to go to school.” Watch how Pinki was transformed by the operation »

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“Pinki was a depressed, sad, lonely, shy, young little girl, growing up on the periphery of the society in a little village,” said Satish Kalra, director of Smile Train’s South Asian region, after meeting with Pinki. The little girl’s own family was ashamed of her Kalra says. But all of that has changed. Pinki is now a real pistol, full of energy and confidence, and she has a fantastic smile too — thanks to the Smile Train charity. Smile Train teaches doctors in their own countries to operate on cleft lips, a deformity of up to four million children across the world. Pinki just happened to be one of the chosen candidates for surgery and was also chosen to be the subject of the documentary. The film chronicles Pinki’s transformation, following her from her village to the hospital and home again. The film’s director is Megan Mylan. She has won several awards but not an Oscar. This is her big chance. For Pinki and her dad, being able to see the film’s director win an Oscar would be a thrill.

But they know they already have the greatest prize: Pinki’s new smile. “I am so happy that my daughter’s lips have been repaired,” her dad Rajendra said with a smile.

Former addict gives homeless veterans a second chance

Roy Foster's facility, Stand Down House, has helped about 900 male veterans since 2000.
Following a faint trail through a dense patch of woods in Florida’s Palm Beach County, Roy Foster is a man on a mission.

Foster, 53, is searching for homeless veterans — and he knows where to look. Whether in a vacant lot behind a supermarket or a small clearing off the highway, homeless vets aren’t that hard to find: One in three homeless adults has served in the military, and more than 150,000 veterans nationwide are homeless on any given night, according to the Veterans Administration. Working with the sheriff’s homeless outreach unit, Foster finds vets camped in tents or makeshift lean-tos, where he delivers a message: There’s help for you if you want it. “For our heroes to be living in [these] conditions, it’s totally unacceptable,” said Foster. Since 2000, approximately 900 veterans have found life-changing help at Foster’s facility, Stand Down House. Named for the military command that gives troops time to rest after arduous duty, the program provides homeless male vets food, shelter and a safe place to recover, as well as the tools to conquer their personal problems. “The idea is that they can relax now; we’ll take care of them,” Foster said. Foster’s motivation to help these men is personal: He used to be one of them. Born in rural Georgia, he joined the Army right after high school. During his six years in the military, he began drinking and experimenting with drugs. He was an alcoholic by the time he left the Army in 1980, and his drinking and drug use escalated as he struggled to adjust to civilian life. He spent the next decade battling his addictions, and at his lowest, he slept in flophouses or on the streets. “I was pretty much out of control,” Foster said. “I felt hopeless, helpless, ashamed and inadequate.” While struggling to get clean, Foster had difficulty finding a program that accepted veterans and provided the recovery services he needed, he said. The experience inspired him to design a program specifically for his brothers-in-arms. “That’s when the commitment in my heart was born,” Foster said.

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By the early 1990s, Foster settled into a life of sobriety, becoming a substance abuse counselor. Seeing that many vets continued to fall through the cracks, he joined forces with another vet, the late Don Reed, and established the nonprofit Faith*Hope*Love*Charity. After six years, Faith*Hope*Love*Charity created Stand Down House. Now five buildings in total, Stand Down House provides transitional housing and support services to 45 veterans in different stages of recovery. When vets arrive — through referral by the Veterans Administration, which largely funds the program — they receive meals, housing, clothing, counseling and transportation to the VA hospital for additional medical and mental health care. After 30 to 60 days, eligible veterans must begin to look for work or attend school, but they can continue receiving housing, case management, addiction counseling and life skills classes for as long as two years. Successful veterans are eligible for the program’s final component: permanent, sober-living housing. Watch Foster seek out homeless veterans with the county sheriff » The camaraderie the veterans find with each other at Stand Down House is another vital component of their recovery process. “It was great to realize that other vets had been through similar experiences,” said Matt Robinson, 28, who served in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army National Guard. Watch Robinson describe his experience at Stand Down House » With their past as a common bond, vets often become informal counselors to each other, helping one another stay on track. “We have each others’ backs,” said Joey Elluzzi, a Vietnam veteran. Many graduates find the companionship so valuable that they return as volunteers. As of 2008, Stand Down House reported that 93 percent of its eligible residents found work and 84 percent of graduates went on to live independently. Foster and his staff are now working with other programs around the country, sharing what they’ve learned. Despite his program’s success, Foster said, there’s more work to do. A new wave of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan is appearing at Stand Down House, and Foster said he’s determined to serve — and save — this next generation. When asked why he does this, he simply answers, “It’s my calling.” Watch Foster talk about his mission to help homeless veterans »

But for those Foster has helped, there’s nothing simple about his achievements. “If you could see the people when they come in here — how they look, act and smell — and then see them after, being a positive part of society, I don’t know how you couldn’t call Roy a hero,” veteran Keith Coleman said. “Think of all the lives he’s changed.”

Sri Lanka rebels’ air attack on capital

Tamil residents at a protest at which rebels were denounced for allegedly using civilians as human shields.
Tamil Tiger rebel aircraft on Friday dropped bombs in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, and a rural town, military sources told CNN.

One or two bombs fell near the nation’s air force headquarters, with one striking the Inland Revenue Department building, the sources said. Another fell in the village of Anamaduwa, some 60 miles north of Colombo. Air defense systems were activated and there was a blackout in Colombo in the wake of the raid, the air force said. The attack came as a leading rights group accused both Sri Lankan soldiers and Tamil rebels of breaking international law and abusing civilians. Both sides “appear to be engaged in a perverse competition to demonstrate the greatest disregard for the civilian population,” according to the Human Rights Watch, in a 45-page report dated Thursday about warfare in the Vanni region of northern Sri Lanka. “This ‘war’ against civilians must stop,” said James Ross, legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch. The group said that both sides are “responsible for the dramatic increase in civilian casualties during the past month.” Independent monitors say around 2,000 have been killed and another 5,000 have been wounded. “In the last two months alone, both sides have committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law, the laws of war. While not all loss of civilian life is a laws-of-war violation, the failure of the government forces and the LTTE to meet their international legal obligations has undoubtedly accounted for the high death tolls.” The rebels have been fighting for an independent homeland for the country’s ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. Government troops and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE recently have been locked in a battle over the rebels’ remaining strongholds in northern Sri Lanka’s Vanni region. The Human Rights Watch said Tamil Tiger territory has decreased to “a short, narrow strip on the northeast coast of the island” and “displaced persons under their control have been dangerously forced into a smaller and smaller space.” The report said that “in violation of the laws of war” the rebels have have not allowed “civilians to flee the fighting and repeatedly has shot at those who have tried to reach government-held territory. The LTTE continues to subject civilians under their control, including children, to forced recruitment and deadly forced labor on the battlefield.”

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The report said the Sri Lankan government has “indicated that the ethnic Tamil population trapped in the war zone can be presumed to be siding” with the Tamil Tigers “and treated as combatants, effectively sanctioning unlawful attacks.” Troops have shelled areas with displaced persons, including government-declared “safe zones” and hospitals. The group said the Sri Lankan government should “immediately cease its indiscriminate artillery attacks on civilians and its policy of detaining displaced persons in internment camps.” It called for the Tamil Tigers to permit “civilians to leave the war zone, stop shooting at those who try to flee to government-controlled territory, and cease deploying forces near populated areas.” Humanitarian groups say as many as 250,000 unprotected civilians are trapped in the area where the fighting is taking place. The report is the result of a two-week fact-finding mission to northern Sri Lanka this month. It comes as journalists and human rights monitors have been blocked from going to the battle zone in the Vanni region. The government in September ordered most humanitarian groups out of the region, worsening the situation for the civilians there.

Clinton: North Korea can’t drive ‘wedge’ between U.S., South

North Korea is "badly miscalculating" if it thinks its diplomatic bluster and maneuvering can "drive a wedge" between the United States and South Korea, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday.

“Our alliance is stronger than ever,” Clinton told CNN’s Jill Dougherty in an interview. “And it’s not only about our mutual security, but it’s also about how we’re going to deal with the global economy and so much else.” North Korea’s nuclear program has been the pressing crisis in the region, and Clinton’s visit to Asia comes at a time of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea said Thursday it was ready for an “all-out confrontation” with South Korea, which it accused of kicking up war hysteria. There have been unconfirmed indications that North Korea was gearing up for a launch of a long-range missile. But any saber-rattling toward South Korea should be taken with a grain of salt, Clinton indicated, since “South Korea basically keeps the North Korean economy going with all of the subsidies of food and fuel and medical supplies.” Watch more of Clinton’s interview » Clinton said North Korea’s swings from being bellicose toward its neighbors to behaving rationally and sticking with commitments are a matter of calculated diplomatic maneuvering. “I think the past history proves that North Korea can be either of those, depending on what it’s attempting to achieve,” said Clinton, who has since arrived in China after leaving South Korea.

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“And what’s clear from the six-party process over the years is that when North Korea decides to cooperate and make agreements that it believes are in furtherance of its own interests it will do so. And when it doesn’t, it is always seeking advantage and it uses provocative words and threatened actions to try to get attention in order to make a deal in some way — food and fuel and other kinds of assets.” North Korea is testing the new U.S. administration to see how diplomacy can move forward, she said. “I think you have to respond in kind as you look at the behavior of the day, the week, the month, the year,” Clinton said. “We’re hoping that North Korea will see its way clear to re-engage, and as I’ve said repeatedly, if we can get to the point that their denuclearization is verifiable and complete, a tremendous advantage is waiting for North Korea, not only for a bilateral, normal relationship with the United States, but I think a lot of international support and aid that could come to the people of North Korea.” North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il reportedly had a stroke, and some observers have said he may not be fully in charge of the country. “If there is a succession, even if it is a peaceful succession, then that creates more uncertainty,” she said. “It may also encourage even more provocative action as a way to delegate power.” Clinton acknowledged that such open discussion of potential succession in another country is unusual, but she said “candid conversation” is necessary and appropriate. “That’s on people’s minds, it’s written about,” she said. “We ought to be engaging. We ought to elicit reactions and opinions about that and many other issues.”

She said she is reflecting the Obama administration’s vision for diplomacy. “I also am very deliberately talking about things and trying to open up dialogue and create some space for there to be some sensible discussion about the way forward and some very difficult problems.”

Why March Will Be the Recession’s Tipping Point

Why March Will Be the Recessions Tipping Point

Does the economy get worse from here or do the government programs recently signed into law increase confidence and start to put capital to work to create jobs and build businesses? In a downturn the bottom is only noticed after the fact. Data on employment, consumer spending, and capital expenditures often follow what has actually happened by months.

The Federal Reserve has said that it now expects unemployment to hit almost 9% by the end of the year. But, the point at which the economy begins to turn around is not when joblessness hits its peak. This inflection comes when the rate of the increase in firings begins to slow. The most important moment in a downturn comes not when the damaging contraction’s momentum has come to rest but when its progress has begun to slow.

In March, a number of actions will occur that will be critical to demonstrating whether the economic disaster will get much worse. The first is that the issue of the nationalization of the banks may well be resolved. The debate about the issue has already hit a fevered pitch and if the first quarter is going to bring another series of multi-billion losses, institutions including Citigroup and Bank of America may simply not have the balance sheet strength to remain independent. While having the government seize one or two major banks may ultimately be the key to their survival, the public may instantly suffer a huge loss in its confidence in the rest of the independent banks, brokers, and money managers in the country. There has not been a collapse in confidence in banks since the Depression. While there may not be a great deal of logic to heightened fear about the future of banks if the government ends up owning a few of them, the psychological effects on consumers could be devastating.

The fate of Detroit will probably be determined next month. GM and Chrysler submit their restructuring plans to the Treasury and Congress. The UAW and creditors have not given enough in terms of concessions so far to make the government comfortable. If the GM plan is approved, 47,000 people lose jobs. If the plan is not, the number could be much larger. A bankruptcy of America’s largest car company could not only lead to huge increases in the number of people out of work; it could leave a gaping hole in the confidence people have in the government to solve economic problems.

The housing market’s sharp drop should start to benefit from the approval of a program to funnel $275 billion into mortgage modifications. The simple fact that such a large safety net may be set up under housing prices ought to help arrest foreclosures and substantially slow cascading housing prices.

Taxpayers will also be looking forward to benefits from the drop in the taxes that they pay to the government. One of two things will happen. Most of the money will go to savings and paying debts or it will work its way back into the economy in the form of consumer spending.
A lot of data about car sales, unemployment, exports, capital goods, retail spending, and consumer confidence will come out next month. None of it will say much about the future. It will really only reflect what has happened in the economy since the beginning of the year. But, March is the month when the cement will be poured for much of the balance of the year. If most of the negative trends which have already wrecked the economy continue to accrue, the recession will get much worse and push well into 2010.

— Douglas A. McIntyre

See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.
For constant business updates, go to 24/7wallst.com.

The Case for a Truth Commission

More than 30 years ago, a special Senate investigation peered into abuses that included spying on the American people by their own government.

The findings by Senator Frank Church’s committee, drawn from testimony spanning 800 witnesses and thousands of pages of government documents, revealed how powerful government surveillance tools were misused against the American people. For instance, the FBI’s COINTELPRO operation spent more than two decades searching in vain for communist influence in the NAACP and infiltrated domestic groups that, for example, advocated for women’s rights. The Church committee’s work led to creation of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and later to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act–reforms that largely held until the Bush years. The parallels with today are clear, and so are the lessons. Then, as in recent years, some were willing, in the name of security, to trade away the people’s rights as if they were written in sand, not stone. For much of this decade, we have read about and witnessed such abuses as the scandal at Abu Ghraib, the disclosure of torture memos and the revelations about the warrantless surveillance of Americans. So what is to be done about the abuses of the Bush years Some say do nothing, and a few Senators even tried to make Attorney General Eric Holder promise in his confirmation hearings to launch no prosecutions for Bush-era lawbreaking. At the opposite end of the spectrum, others say that even if it takes many years and divides the country and distracts from the urgent priority of fixing the economy, we must prosecute Bush Administration officials to lay down a marker. The courts are already considering congressional subpoenas that were issued earlier as well as claims of privilege and legal immunities. Those cases will stretch out for some time, as would prosecutions–taking even a decade or longer. Moreover, it is easier for prosecutors to net those far down the ladder than those at the top, who set the tone and the policies. There is another option, a middle ground whose overarching goal is to find the truth: we need to get to the bottom of what happened–and why–to make sure it never happens again. One path to that goal is to appoint a truth-finding panel. We could develop and authorize a person or group of people universally recognized as fair-minded and without an ax to grind. Their straightforward mission would be to find the truth. People would be invited to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments but to assemble the facts. If needed, such a process could involve subpoena powers and even the authority to obtain immunity from prosecution in order to get to the whole truth. During the past several years, the U.S. has been deeply divided. This has made our government less productive and our society less civil. President Obama is right in saying that we cannot afford extreme partisanship and debilitating divisions. As we commemorate the Lincoln bicentennial, there is a need, again, “to bind up the nation’s wounds.” Rather than vengeance, we need an impartial pursuit of what actually happened and a shared understanding of the failures of the recent past. This is not a step to be taken lightly. We need to see whether there is interest for this in Congress and the new Administration. We need to work through concerns about classified information and claims of Executive privilege. Most of all, we need to see whether the American people are ready to take this path. In the meantime, Congress will work with the Obama Administration to fix those parts of our government that went off course. But to repair the damage of the past eight years and restore America’s reputation and standing in the world, we should not simply turn the page without being able first to read it. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll showed that more than 60% of Americans agree that investigating the failed national-security policies of the past eight years should be considered. Two years ago, I described the scandals of the Bush-Cheney-Gonzales Justice Department as the worst since Watergate. They were. We are still digging out from the debris. We need to get to the bottom of what went wrong after a dangerous and disastrous diversion from American law and values. The American people have a right to know what their government has done in their names. Leahy, a six-term Democratic Senator from Vermont, is a former prosecutor and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis. See Who’s Who in Barack Obama’s White House.

Tiger confirms return to action in Arizona

Tiger Woods poses with his family including new son Charlie and dogs Yogi and Taz.
Tiger Woods will make his return to professional golf at next week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

Woods, who has been sidelined since last June after knee surgery, is the defending champion and also won the event in 2003 and 2004. Woods has returned to the PGA Tour soon after the birth of his second child. “Elin and our new son Charlie are doing great. I’ve enjoyed my time at home with the family and appreciate everyone’s support and kind wishes,” Woods said on his Web site. The world’s richest sportsman has not played since beating Rocco Mediate in a playoff to win the U.S. Open Championship at Torrey Pines, his 14th major title, last June. Woods had to go through the pain barrier to secure an epic victory, but shortly afterwards underwent extensive knee surgery which brought his season to an abrupt finish. Speculation has been mounting about a date for his return, with his caddie Steve Williams telling Television New Zealand earlier this week that Woods was “95 per cent fit.” This week, Tiger Woods released the first photos of his new baby boy. Charlie Axel Woods was born on Sunday, February 8, and is the second child for Woods and his wife Elin.

Down day for global markets

Commerzbank shares suffered in Germany.
Major markets across the world were sliding Friday with low confidence leading to near-record lows in the United States.

European stocks were taking a beating as investors become increasingly anxious over the state of the global economy. Mining and banking shares fell sharply with mining giant Anglo-American leading the losses. Anglo-American’s profit fell nearly 30 percent in 2008 and it has anounced 19,000 job cuts this month in an attemp to fight deteriorating conditions. London’s FTSE 100 hit a three-month low. By mid-afternoon it was down about 3 percent. The CAC 40 in Paris was down about 3.5 percent Frankfurt’s DAX 30 slid nearly 4 percent — dragged down by shares in Commerzbank — and Zurich’s SMI was also on the slide. U.S. markets also saw a sharp selloff in the morning session led by a lack of confidence in the financial sector. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial index slumped below the 7500 level Thursday closing at a six-year low — and continued spiraling down Friday. Approaching noon in New York, the Dow and the S&P 500 were both about 1.5 percent down with the latter market nearing recent lows. Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics, said the European markets were down on weak manufacturing data, and Wall Street was following their lead, despite the $787 billion stimulus package that was signed by President Obama earlier this week. “Never have so few spent so much and expected so little,” said Brusca. Asian stocks tumbled to a close Friday, with Tokyo’s Nikkei index down 1.9 percent and the Honk Kong’s Hang Seng falling 2.5 percent. Gold prices, meanwhile, hit $1,000 an ounce for the first time since last March.

Gates: U.S. fighting ‘tough test’ to oust Taliban

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged Friday that the United States is facing a "very tough test" in fighting to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“But I’m sure we will rise to the occasion the way we have many times before,” he told a news conference in Krakow, Poland, where NATO defense ministers are meeting. Gates said the United States hopes other nations involved in Afghanistan will contribute to the anti-Taliban campaign any way they can. “If other countries are unable to strengthen their military commitment, but they are willing to make a contribution on the stability side — on the development, governance side — those contributions would be very welcome,” he said. There is a U.S. review under way to determine the best strategies for success in Afghanistan and how other nations can help, he noted. See an update of the Afghanistan situation » This week’s meeting is a prelude to the meeting of NATO nations’ heads of state in April — the 60th anniversary of the alliance.

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Gates was asked about Friday’s signing by Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of a bill that gives the U.S. military 180 days to withdraw from Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, which the United States uses as a route into Afghanistan for troops and supplies. “I continue to believe that this is not a closed issue, and that there remains the potential at least to reopen this issue with the Kyrgyz and perhaps reach a new agreement,” Gates said. “If we are unable to do that on reasonable terms, then as I have suggested, we are developing alternative methods to get resupply and people into Afghanistan.”

Manas Air Base outside Bishkek is the Americans’ only base in Central Asia. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, two other Central Asian nations that border Afghanistan, have agreed to allow U.S. cargo to be transported to Afghanistan through their countries, Interfax reported Friday. Gates said the Obama administration hasn’t looked comprehensively at its policies with Russia, but he repeated what Vice President Joe Biden has said — that the administration feels it’s “time to reset” the relationship.

Algae: ‘The ultimate in renewable energy’

Plant physiologist Glen Kertz believes algae can some day be
competitive as a source for biofuel.
Texas may be best known for "Big Oil." But the oil that could some day make a dent in the country’s use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is green fuel.

Just over three million tickets are available for next year’s 64-match tournament, the first to be held in Africa, although only half of those will be sold to the public. Requests for tickets can be made on the FIFA.com Web site from February 20 until March 31. Applications will be followed by a random draw for tickets on April 15. Fans around the world can apply for the first 740,000 tickets now. Applications can be made for individual tickets or team-specific ones. There will be four further sales periods, with the second running from May 4 to November 16. Unlike the first-sales phase, applications will be dealt with on a first come first served basis. Are you planning to go to the World Cup in South Africa Let us know your thoughts on the first Africa hosted World Cup Later in the year, 570,000 will be made available to supporters of qualified countries and a further 344,000 will also be made available to those buying tickets through an official tour operator. “Our ticketing policy has been drawn up to reflect our determination to ensure that FIFA’s flagship competition is accessible to all football fans,” said Jerome Valcke, FIFA secretary general. Owing to South Africa’s location, demand for tickets overall is expected to be down on the 20 million requests made for 750,000 tickets at the first stage of the last World Cup in Germany.

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Prices range from $80 for the cheapest ticket in the group stages up to $900 for the most expensive seat in the house to watch the final in Johannesburg on July 11 next year. A special $20 ticket, making up 15-20 percent of the total, can only be bought by South African residents to encourage local attendance. Only South Africa as hosts have so far qualified for the tournament, which kicks off on June 11, also in Johannesburg. The organizers, already beset with problems during construction of stadiums that led to speculation the tournament would have to take place elsewhere, will hoping to avoid a repeat of the empty-seat fiasco of the last two World Cups. Of the 700,000 tickets available for sale overseas for games in Japan, more than 40 percent were reserved for national associations and around 30 percent for sponsors. Only between 50 and 60 percent of these set-aside allocations sold out leading to anger among traveling fans without tickets. And the same thing happened in Germany, when stadium announcers boasts of games being a sell-out were met with ironic cheers from the stands.