Separation of Church and State
by Carlos T Mock, MD
December 12, 2009
The Bible states that hostile questioners tried to trap Jesus into taking an explicit and dangerous stand on whether Jews should or should not pay taxes to the Roman occupation. They anticipated that Jesus would oppose the tax, for Luke’s Gospels explains their purpose was “to hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.” The governor was Pilate, and he was the man responsible for the collecting of Rome's taxes in Judea. At first the questioners flattered Jesus by praising his integrity, impartiality and devotion to truth. Then they asked him whether or not it was right for Jews to pay the taxes demanded by Caesar. Jesus first called them hypocrites, and then asked one of them to produce a Roman coin that would be suitable for paying Caesar’s tax. One of them showed him a Roman coin, and he asked them whose name and inscription were on it. They answered, “Caesar’s,” and he responded “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.” His interrogators were flummoxed by this authoritative answer and left disappointed.
Jesus can be interpreted to be saying that his religious teachings were separate from earthly political activity. This reading finds support in John 18:36, where Jesus responds to Pontius Pilate about the nature of his kingdom, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” This reflects a traditional division in Christian thought by which state and church have separate spheres of influence.
Our forefathers were keen to protect religious freedom as stated in the First Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. “
However, The United States has recently gone from a State in which the balance of separation of Church and State has tipped to a State where religious groups are trying to impose their views on the government. A recent example is the rift between Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island with Thomas J. Tobin, the Roman Catholic bishop of Providence. His eminence proceeded to ask the congressman to refrain from taking communion for his views on reproductive choice.
Now, our President has been hijacked by the U. S. Conference of Bishops who are meddling in the reproductive rights of women in the fight over a universal health-care bill.
The acrimonious debate that surrounded this legislation on the floor of the House, coupled with shortsighted acceptance of the Stupak-Pitts amendment, set the stage for the further erosion of a woman's access to abortion for whatever the reason—rape, incest, poverty, illness—even beyond the limits of the current Hyde Amendment.
Catholic bishops have every right to speak their mind and preach the church's teaching. But they are engaging in outright political lobbying. Helping to write legislation that turns Catholic doctrine into law. Violating the separation of church and state—and Jesus’ own teachings on the subject. The bishops, in accepting vast federal funding for Catholic hospitals and charities, "never question their own ability to lawfully manage funds from separate sources to ensure that tax dollars don't finance religious practices. Yet they reject the idea that others could do the same. This is the very definition of hypocrisy."
Hypocrisy compounded by what the bishops are doing in Washington, D.C., when it comes to the issue of same-sex marriage, their other primary fixation. There, the local archdiocese has threatened to shut down its extensive social service programs for the needy if the city legalizes same-sex marriage.
So much for the stated mission of protecting the vulnerable. Now, the vulnerable are to be used as dice in a political gamble.
The pending bill appropriately exempts religious institutions from having to marry same-sex couples, promote same-sex marriage or rent church property to them for receptions or other affairs. But this bill rightly requires that employers providing spousal benefits to employees extend those same benefits to same-sex partners who marry. This law, which deals with the civic institution of marriage and not religious doctrine, would cover Catholic Charities, an organization that receives public funds and that does extraordinary work feeding and housing the poor in Washington and elsewhere in the country.
Critics of the archdiocese’s position rightly point out that other Catholic leaders have found a way to accommodate same-sex partnerships without compromising their values.
As has been noted by some members of the City Council, Georgetown University, a Catholic university, has written eligibility for its staff and faculty benefits program broadly, so that employees can extend benefits to other eligible adults with whom they may or may not be romantically involved. Lawmakers point to a similar arrangement in San Francisco, where church officials reached an agreement with the city in the late 1990s under which church-related employers allowed employees to designate a member of the household as a “spousal equivalent.” These agreements preserved the beliefs of the church and the legal rights of the employees, without compelling the church to explicitly recognize gay marriages or domestic partnerships.
Another case in point is Maine. The Catholic Church Spent $550,000 to Repeal Gay Marriage Law in Maine—where the Catholic Church actually organized a second collection to raise money to prevent gay people from having civil rights, the situation shifts again. Using a tax-exempt church to raise money to defeat the civil rights of fellow citizens is shocking if one believes in a separation of politics and religion, and if one believes that the Church of Jesus should stand in solidarity with the marginalized, rather than seeking to marginalize and demonize them still further.
It is time to acknowledge that the Catholic Church hierarchy can no longer pretend that it isn’t the active enemy of women, gay people and our families. That this church hierarchy—especially in its more conservative wing—is disproportionately gay itself and waging war against their fellow gays through the cowardly veil of the closet.
It is time to demand that gay priests who are actively fighting against the dignity of gay people own their enmeshment in injustice, stigmatization and cruelty. It is time to reveal them in this respect as the enemies of the Gospels, not the champions.
It is time to tell the Church that we are Gay, Catholic and fed up with The Church's efforts to quash the same-sex marriage movement. It is time to join forces with Phil Attey who has come up with a controversial strategy: outing gay priests who speak out against homosexuality: http://churchouting.com.
And it is time to force the Bishops in the Catholic Church to protect the innocent from pedophile priests. When the Roman Catholic archdiocese in Seattle, WA, declared bankruptcy this week, it began a new phase in the church's effort to put the sexual abuse scandal behind it. Other dioceses—finding themselves with not enough financial assets to settle the legal claims of the victims—will follow suit.
It is time to get the federal government involved in opening the church to greater scrutiny of its finances, facilities, and programs around the country—they need to enforce the important separation of church-state issues.
It is time for The Catholic Church to do an honest evaluation of itself as well as the abuse of authority of centuries-old canon law.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Poll shows Gov. Pat Quinn leading Democrats and former Attorney General Jim Ryan leading Republicans - Many voters in both parties undecided on candid
Poll shows Gov. Pat Quinn leading Democrats and former Attorney General Jim Ryan leading Republicans - Many voters in both parties undecided on candidate for governor
By Rick Pearson
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
December 13, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-gov-poll-13-bdogdec13,0,1579695.story
Gov. Pat Quinn holds a sizable early advantage over state Comptroller Dan Hynes in a Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll that shows Democratic voters satisfied with the governor's performance since the disgraced Rod Blagojevich was booted from the job.
And as Republicans look at Blagojevich's scandalous downfall as a chance to resurrect their fortunes, an old face is leading the field: former Attorney General Jim Ryan, who is seeking redemption after losing to Blagojevich in 2002. Ryan, whose last name proved problematic back then, has the backing of more than a quarter of Republican voters in the Feb. 2 primary, though even more are undecided.
Next year is the first time Illinois voters will pick a governor since Blagojevich was arrested, impeached, removed and indicted amid a swirl of blockbuster federal political corruption charges that for a time riveted the nation and made the state a late-night TV punch line.
Among the 600 likely Democratic primary voters surveyed by telephone Dec. 2-8, Quinn had the support of 49 percent to 23 percent for Hynes, the three-term comptroller. Among other candidates, activist William "Dock" Walls had 3 percent, and attorney Ed Scanlan had 2 percent. An additional 21 percent were undecided; 2 were for others. The poll has an error margin of 4 percentage points.
The gap in political contests traditionally closes somewhat as the election nears. But in a very combative Democratic governor primary, the survey results show the pressure is on Hynes to use what's left of the campaign to persuade Quinn supporters to defect. Indications are that it may not be easy.
Hynes could try to link Quinn to Blagojevich. Quinn served two terms as Blagojevich's lieutenant governor and has refused to apologize for backing Blagojevich. During the 2006 re-election campaign, Quinn defended Blagojevich as someone who has "always been a person who's honest and one of integrity," despite myriad investigations into his administration.
While Republicans already are trying to make the former governor an issue, the poll showed the Blagojevich factor is not looming large in the Democratic primary. More than three out of four Democrats said it made no difference when asked whether Quinn's association with Blagojevich made them more or less likely to cast a ballot for him.
Voters also approve of Quinn's handling of ethics reform in the post-Blagojevich era by a nearly 2-1 ratio and gave him a similar advantage over Hynes when asked which candidate would better eliminate corruption. Moreover, almost a year into office, Quinn's job approval rating is 58 percent, compared with 18 percent who disapprove. Hynes also earns a high approval rating from voters for his performance as comptroller, 51 percent, compared with 11 percent who disapprove.
Hynes' campaign theme is that the state's money problems are worsening under the governor, but Quinn won the approval of 46 percent of voters for his handling of the budget, compared with 27 percent who disapprove.
Quinn and Hynes have called for an income-tax increase to help resolve a $12 billion budget deficit. But Democratic voters are split over whether they believe a tax hike is needed: 45 percent say it's not necessary, and 42 percent say it is. Among Quinn's supporters, 57 percent said they believed a tax increase is needed, while 38 percent of Hynes' backers said they think one is necessary.
"Right now, it seems like the state's in financial trouble and (Quinn) doesn't seem to be afraid if he's not popular," said poll respondent Gennene Johnson, a social worker and married mother of two from West Rogers Park. "He's not worried about the way he's perceived."
On the Republican side, the poll of 600 likely GOP voters found Ryan with the support of 26 percent, to 12 percent for Andy McKenna, the former state party chairman.
At 10 percent was state Sen. Bill Brady, of Bloomington, an unsuccessful 2006 Republican governor candidate, while state Sen. Kirk Dillard, of Hinsdale, had 9 percent. Three other candidates had the support of 6 percent or less of GOP voters.
But 31 percent of Republican voters were undecided, meaning the shape of the GOP governor contest could change rapidly as the campaigns develop and voters hone in on candidates' messages. The findings indicate name recognition is playing the dominant role in the campaign.
McKenna, an unsuccessful 2004 U.S. Senate contender, has been the most visible TV campaigner, billing himself as an outsider.
That appealed to Laura Isaacs, a 50-year-old Vernon Hills resident who said she hasn't done much research yet but thought McKenna seemed less a part of the machine.
"I do not want any incumbent in office at this point, because I think that our government is so corrupt, especially in Illinois," Isaacs said. "I would definitely go with an outsider before I would go for another political hack."
Ryan, one of the last entrants in the race, is known after serving two terms in statewide office. He is getting the support of one-third of collar county primary voters and one in five voters outside the city and suburbs to take the early edge despite a lack of high-profile public campaigning.
McKenna, who had a controversial four-year tenure as state GOP chairman with no statewide Republican victories, was known by two-thirds of primary voters. Brady, the lone candidate from outside the Chicago area, was familiar to two-thirds of Downstate voters but to little more than half of voters in the city and suburbs. Dillard was known by three-quarters of collar county voters but only 42 percent of downstate voters.
Trailing Dillard was Hinsdale transparency advocate Adam Andrzejewski, with 6 percent. Political pundit Dan Proft of Chicago and DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom of Naperville each had 2 percent. An additional 2 percent of the respondents said they supported someone else.
In contrast to Quinn and Hynes, all seven Republican candidates have expressed opposition to raising taxes. Almost 9 of 10 GOP primary voters said opposing a tax hike is important to them in choosing a candidate.
Yet 49 percent of Republican voters said they believe it isn't very likely that the party's candidates can keep their anti-tax promises.
But it is the 31 percent of undecided voters that makes the outcome of the contest far from certain as candidates use the post-New Year holiday period to ramp up TV advertising and telephone pitches. A majority isn't necessary to win the nomination -- in 2006, Judy Baar Topinka won a four-way primary with 38 percent of the vote.
Tribune reporters Cynthia Dizikes and David Heinzmann contributed to this report. rap30@aol.com
By Rick Pearson
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
December 13, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-gov-poll-13-bdogdec13,0,1579695.story
Gov. Pat Quinn holds a sizable early advantage over state Comptroller Dan Hynes in a Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll that shows Democratic voters satisfied with the governor's performance since the disgraced Rod Blagojevich was booted from the job.
And as Republicans look at Blagojevich's scandalous downfall as a chance to resurrect their fortunes, an old face is leading the field: former Attorney General Jim Ryan, who is seeking redemption after losing to Blagojevich in 2002. Ryan, whose last name proved problematic back then, has the backing of more than a quarter of Republican voters in the Feb. 2 primary, though even more are undecided.
Next year is the first time Illinois voters will pick a governor since Blagojevich was arrested, impeached, removed and indicted amid a swirl of blockbuster federal political corruption charges that for a time riveted the nation and made the state a late-night TV punch line.
Among the 600 likely Democratic primary voters surveyed by telephone Dec. 2-8, Quinn had the support of 49 percent to 23 percent for Hynes, the three-term comptroller. Among other candidates, activist William "Dock" Walls had 3 percent, and attorney Ed Scanlan had 2 percent. An additional 21 percent were undecided; 2 were for others. The poll has an error margin of 4 percentage points.
The gap in political contests traditionally closes somewhat as the election nears. But in a very combative Democratic governor primary, the survey results show the pressure is on Hynes to use what's left of the campaign to persuade Quinn supporters to defect. Indications are that it may not be easy.
Hynes could try to link Quinn to Blagojevich. Quinn served two terms as Blagojevich's lieutenant governor and has refused to apologize for backing Blagojevich. During the 2006 re-election campaign, Quinn defended Blagojevich as someone who has "always been a person who's honest and one of integrity," despite myriad investigations into his administration.
While Republicans already are trying to make the former governor an issue, the poll showed the Blagojevich factor is not looming large in the Democratic primary. More than three out of four Democrats said it made no difference when asked whether Quinn's association with Blagojevich made them more or less likely to cast a ballot for him.
Voters also approve of Quinn's handling of ethics reform in the post-Blagojevich era by a nearly 2-1 ratio and gave him a similar advantage over Hynes when asked which candidate would better eliminate corruption. Moreover, almost a year into office, Quinn's job approval rating is 58 percent, compared with 18 percent who disapprove. Hynes also earns a high approval rating from voters for his performance as comptroller, 51 percent, compared with 11 percent who disapprove.
Hynes' campaign theme is that the state's money problems are worsening under the governor, but Quinn won the approval of 46 percent of voters for his handling of the budget, compared with 27 percent who disapprove.
Quinn and Hynes have called for an income-tax increase to help resolve a $12 billion budget deficit. But Democratic voters are split over whether they believe a tax hike is needed: 45 percent say it's not necessary, and 42 percent say it is. Among Quinn's supporters, 57 percent said they believed a tax increase is needed, while 38 percent of Hynes' backers said they think one is necessary.
"Right now, it seems like the state's in financial trouble and (Quinn) doesn't seem to be afraid if he's not popular," said poll respondent Gennene Johnson, a social worker and married mother of two from West Rogers Park. "He's not worried about the way he's perceived."
On the Republican side, the poll of 600 likely GOP voters found Ryan with the support of 26 percent, to 12 percent for Andy McKenna, the former state party chairman.
At 10 percent was state Sen. Bill Brady, of Bloomington, an unsuccessful 2006 Republican governor candidate, while state Sen. Kirk Dillard, of Hinsdale, had 9 percent. Three other candidates had the support of 6 percent or less of GOP voters.
But 31 percent of Republican voters were undecided, meaning the shape of the GOP governor contest could change rapidly as the campaigns develop and voters hone in on candidates' messages. The findings indicate name recognition is playing the dominant role in the campaign.
McKenna, an unsuccessful 2004 U.S. Senate contender, has been the most visible TV campaigner, billing himself as an outsider.
That appealed to Laura Isaacs, a 50-year-old Vernon Hills resident who said she hasn't done much research yet but thought McKenna seemed less a part of the machine.
"I do not want any incumbent in office at this point, because I think that our government is so corrupt, especially in Illinois," Isaacs said. "I would definitely go with an outsider before I would go for another political hack."
Ryan, one of the last entrants in the race, is known after serving two terms in statewide office. He is getting the support of one-third of collar county primary voters and one in five voters outside the city and suburbs to take the early edge despite a lack of high-profile public campaigning.
McKenna, who had a controversial four-year tenure as state GOP chairman with no statewide Republican victories, was known by two-thirds of primary voters. Brady, the lone candidate from outside the Chicago area, was familiar to two-thirds of Downstate voters but to little more than half of voters in the city and suburbs. Dillard was known by three-quarters of collar county voters but only 42 percent of downstate voters.
Trailing Dillard was Hinsdale transparency advocate Adam Andrzejewski, with 6 percent. Political pundit Dan Proft of Chicago and DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom of Naperville each had 2 percent. An additional 2 percent of the respondents said they supported someone else.
In contrast to Quinn and Hynes, all seven Republican candidates have expressed opposition to raising taxes. Almost 9 of 10 GOP primary voters said opposing a tax hike is important to them in choosing a candidate.
Yet 49 percent of Republican voters said they believe it isn't very likely that the party's candidates can keep their anti-tax promises.
But it is the 31 percent of undecided voters that makes the outcome of the contest far from certain as candidates use the post-New Year holiday period to ramp up TV advertising and telephone pitches. A majority isn't necessary to win the nomination -- in 2006, Judy Baar Topinka won a four-way primary with 38 percent of the vote.
Tribune reporters Cynthia Dizikes and David Heinzmann contributed to this report. rap30@aol.com
Poor Children Likelier to Get Antipsychotics
Poor Children Likelier to Get Antipsychotics
By DUFF WILSON
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: December 11, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/health/12medicaid.html?hpw
New federally financed drug research reveals a stark disparity: children covered by Medicaid are given powerful antipsychotic medicines at a rate four times higher than children whose parents have private insurance. And the Medicaid children are more likely to receive the drugs for less severe conditions than their middle-class counterparts, the data shows.
Those findings, by a team from Rutgers and Columbia, are almost certain to add fuel to a long-running debate. Do too many children from poor families receive powerful psychiatric drugs not because they actually need them — but because it is deemed the most efficient and cost-effective way to control problems that may be handled much differently for middle-class children?
The questions go beyond the psychological impact on Medicaid children, serious as that may be. Antipsychotic drugs can also have severe physical side effects, causing drastic weight gain and metabolic changes resulting in lifelong physical problems.
On Tuesday, a pediatric advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration met to discuss the health risks for all children who take antipsychotics. The panel will consider recommending new label warnings for the drugs, which are now used by an estimated 300,000 people under age 18 in this country, counting both Medicaid patients and those with private insurance.
Meanwhile, a group of Medicaid medical directors from 16 states, under a project they call Too Many, Too Much, Too Young, has been experimenting with ways to reduce prescriptions of antipsychotic drugs among Medicaid children.
They plan to publish a report early next year.
The Rutgers-Columbia study will also be published early next year, in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs. But the findings have already been posted on the Web, setting off discussion among experts who treat and study troubled young people.
Some experts say they are stunned by the disparity in prescribing patterns. But others say it reinforces previous indications, and their own experience, that children with diagnoses of mental or emotional problems in low-income families are more likely to be given drugs than receive family counseling or psychotherapy.
Part of the reason is insurance reimbursements, as Medicaid often pays much less for counseling and therapy than private insurers do. Part of it may have to do with the challenges that families in poverty may have in consistently attending counseling or therapy sessions, even when such help is available.
“It’s easier for patients, and it’s easier for docs,” said Dr. Derek H. Suite, a psychiatrist in the Bronx whose pediatric cases include children and adolescents covered by Medicaid and who sometimes prescribes antipsychotics. “But the question is, ‘What are you prescribing it for?’ That’s where it gets a little fuzzy.”
Too often, Dr. Suite said, he sees young Medicaid patients to whom other doctors have given antipsychotics that the patients do not seem to need. Recently, for example, he met with a 15-year-old girl. She had stopped taking the antipsychotic medication that had been prescribed for her after a single examination, paid for by Medicaid, at a clinic where she received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Why did she stop? Dr. Suite asked. “I can control my moods,” the girl said softly.
After evaluating her, Dr. Suite decided she was right. The girl had arguments with her mother and stepfather and some insomnia. But she was a good student and certainly not bipolar, in Dr. Suite’s opinion.
“Normal teenager,” Dr. Suite said, nodding. “No scrips for you.”
Because there can be long waits to see the psychiatrists accepting Medicaid, it is often a pediatrician or family doctor who prescribes an antipsychotic to a Medicaid patient — whether because the parent wants it or the doctor believes there are few other options.
Some experts even say Medicaid may provide better care for children than many covered by private insurance because the drugs — which can cost $400 a month — are provided free to patients, and families do not have to worry about the co-payments and other insurance restrictions.
“Maybe Medicaid kids are getting better treatment,” said Dr. Gabrielle Carlson, a child psychiatrist and professor at the Stony Brook School of Medicine. “If it helps keep them in school, maybe it’s not so bad.”
In any case, as Congress works on health care legislation that could expand the nation’s Medicaid rolls by 15 million people — a 43 percent increase — the scope of the antipsychotics problem, and the expense, could grow in coming years.
Even though the drugs are typically cheaper than long-term therapy, they are the single biggest drug expenditure for Medicaid, costing the program $7.9 billion in 2006, the most recent year for which the data is available.
The Rutgers-Columbia research, based on millions of Medicaid and private insurance claims, is the most extensive analysis of its type yet on children’s antipsychotic drug use. It examined records for children in seven big states — including New York, Texas and California — selected to be representative of the nation’s Medicaid population, for the years 2001 and 2004.
The data indicated that more than 4 percent of patients ages 6 to 17 in Medicaid fee-for-service programs received antipsychotic drugs, compared with less than 1 percent of privately insured children and adolescents. More recent data through 2007 indicates that the disparity has remained, said Stephen Crystal, a Rutgers professor who led the study. Experts generally agree that some characteristics of the Medicaid population may contribute to psychological problems or psychiatric disorders. They include the stresses of poverty, single-parent homes, poorer schools, lack of access to preventive care and the fact that the Medicaid rolls include many adults who are themselves mentally ill.
As a result, studies have found that children in low-income families may have a higher rate of mental health problems — perhaps two to one — compared with children in better-off families. But that still does not explain the four-to-one disparity in prescribing antipsychotics.
Professor Crystal, who is the director of the Center for Pharmacotherapy at Rutgers, says his team’s data also indicates that poorer children are more likely to receive antipsychotics for less serious conditions than would typically prompt a prescription for a middle-class child.
But Professor Crystal said he did not have clear evidence to form an opinion on whether or not children on Medicaid were being overtreated.
“Medicaid kids are subject to a lot of stresses that lead to behavior issues which can be hard to distinguish from more serious psychiatric conditions,” he said. “It’s very hard to pin down.”
And yet Dr. Mark Olfson, a psychiatry professor at Columbia and a co-author of the study, said at least one thing was clear: “A lot of these kids are not getting other mental health services.”
The F.D.A. has approved antipsychotic drugs for children specifically to treat schizophrenia, autism and bipolar disorder. But they are more frequently prescribed to children for other, less extreme conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, aggression, persistent defiance or other so-called conduct disorders — especially when the children are covered by Medicaid, the new study shows.
Although doctors may legally prescribe the drugs for these “off label” uses, there have been no long-term studies of their effects when used for such conditions.
The Rutgers-Columbia study found that Medicaid children were more likely than those with private insurance to be given the drugs for off-label uses like A.D.H.D. and conduct disorders. The privately insured children, in turn, were more likely than their Medicaid counterparts to receive the drugs for F.D.A.-approved uses like bipolar disorder.
Even if parents enrolled in Medicaid may be reluctant to put their children on drugs, some come to rely on them as the only thing that helps.
“They say it’s impossible to stop now,” Evelyn Torres, 48, of the Bronx, said of her son’s use of antipsychotics since he received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder at age 3. Seven years later, the boy is now also afflicted with weight and heart problems. But Ms. Torres credits Medicaid for making the boy’s mental and physical conditions manageable. “They’re helping with everything,” she said.
By DUFF WILSON
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: December 11, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/health/12medicaid.html?hpw
New federally financed drug research reveals a stark disparity: children covered by Medicaid are given powerful antipsychotic medicines at a rate four times higher than children whose parents have private insurance. And the Medicaid children are more likely to receive the drugs for less severe conditions than their middle-class counterparts, the data shows.
Those findings, by a team from Rutgers and Columbia, are almost certain to add fuel to a long-running debate. Do too many children from poor families receive powerful psychiatric drugs not because they actually need them — but because it is deemed the most efficient and cost-effective way to control problems that may be handled much differently for middle-class children?
The questions go beyond the psychological impact on Medicaid children, serious as that may be. Antipsychotic drugs can also have severe physical side effects, causing drastic weight gain and metabolic changes resulting in lifelong physical problems.
On Tuesday, a pediatric advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration met to discuss the health risks for all children who take antipsychotics. The panel will consider recommending new label warnings for the drugs, which are now used by an estimated 300,000 people under age 18 in this country, counting both Medicaid patients and those with private insurance.
Meanwhile, a group of Medicaid medical directors from 16 states, under a project they call Too Many, Too Much, Too Young, has been experimenting with ways to reduce prescriptions of antipsychotic drugs among Medicaid children.
They plan to publish a report early next year.
The Rutgers-Columbia study will also be published early next year, in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs. But the findings have already been posted on the Web, setting off discussion among experts who treat and study troubled young people.
Some experts say they are stunned by the disparity in prescribing patterns. But others say it reinforces previous indications, and their own experience, that children with diagnoses of mental or emotional problems in low-income families are more likely to be given drugs than receive family counseling or psychotherapy.
Part of the reason is insurance reimbursements, as Medicaid often pays much less for counseling and therapy than private insurers do. Part of it may have to do with the challenges that families in poverty may have in consistently attending counseling or therapy sessions, even when such help is available.
“It’s easier for patients, and it’s easier for docs,” said Dr. Derek H. Suite, a psychiatrist in the Bronx whose pediatric cases include children and adolescents covered by Medicaid and who sometimes prescribes antipsychotics. “But the question is, ‘What are you prescribing it for?’ That’s where it gets a little fuzzy.”
Too often, Dr. Suite said, he sees young Medicaid patients to whom other doctors have given antipsychotics that the patients do not seem to need. Recently, for example, he met with a 15-year-old girl. She had stopped taking the antipsychotic medication that had been prescribed for her after a single examination, paid for by Medicaid, at a clinic where she received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Why did she stop? Dr. Suite asked. “I can control my moods,” the girl said softly.
After evaluating her, Dr. Suite decided she was right. The girl had arguments with her mother and stepfather and some insomnia. But she was a good student and certainly not bipolar, in Dr. Suite’s opinion.
“Normal teenager,” Dr. Suite said, nodding. “No scrips for you.”
Because there can be long waits to see the psychiatrists accepting Medicaid, it is often a pediatrician or family doctor who prescribes an antipsychotic to a Medicaid patient — whether because the parent wants it or the doctor believes there are few other options.
Some experts even say Medicaid may provide better care for children than many covered by private insurance because the drugs — which can cost $400 a month — are provided free to patients, and families do not have to worry about the co-payments and other insurance restrictions.
“Maybe Medicaid kids are getting better treatment,” said Dr. Gabrielle Carlson, a child psychiatrist and professor at the Stony Brook School of Medicine. “If it helps keep them in school, maybe it’s not so bad.”
In any case, as Congress works on health care legislation that could expand the nation’s Medicaid rolls by 15 million people — a 43 percent increase — the scope of the antipsychotics problem, and the expense, could grow in coming years.
Even though the drugs are typically cheaper than long-term therapy, they are the single biggest drug expenditure for Medicaid, costing the program $7.9 billion in 2006, the most recent year for which the data is available.
The Rutgers-Columbia research, based on millions of Medicaid and private insurance claims, is the most extensive analysis of its type yet on children’s antipsychotic drug use. It examined records for children in seven big states — including New York, Texas and California — selected to be representative of the nation’s Medicaid population, for the years 2001 and 2004.
The data indicated that more than 4 percent of patients ages 6 to 17 in Medicaid fee-for-service programs received antipsychotic drugs, compared with less than 1 percent of privately insured children and adolescents. More recent data through 2007 indicates that the disparity has remained, said Stephen Crystal, a Rutgers professor who led the study. Experts generally agree that some characteristics of the Medicaid population may contribute to psychological problems or psychiatric disorders. They include the stresses of poverty, single-parent homes, poorer schools, lack of access to preventive care and the fact that the Medicaid rolls include many adults who are themselves mentally ill.
As a result, studies have found that children in low-income families may have a higher rate of mental health problems — perhaps two to one — compared with children in better-off families. But that still does not explain the four-to-one disparity in prescribing antipsychotics.
Professor Crystal, who is the director of the Center for Pharmacotherapy at Rutgers, says his team’s data also indicates that poorer children are more likely to receive antipsychotics for less serious conditions than would typically prompt a prescription for a middle-class child.
But Professor Crystal said he did not have clear evidence to form an opinion on whether or not children on Medicaid were being overtreated.
“Medicaid kids are subject to a lot of stresses that lead to behavior issues which can be hard to distinguish from more serious psychiatric conditions,” he said. “It’s very hard to pin down.”
And yet Dr. Mark Olfson, a psychiatry professor at Columbia and a co-author of the study, said at least one thing was clear: “A lot of these kids are not getting other mental health services.”
The F.D.A. has approved antipsychotic drugs for children specifically to treat schizophrenia, autism and bipolar disorder. But they are more frequently prescribed to children for other, less extreme conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, aggression, persistent defiance or other so-called conduct disorders — especially when the children are covered by Medicaid, the new study shows.
Although doctors may legally prescribe the drugs for these “off label” uses, there have been no long-term studies of their effects when used for such conditions.
The Rutgers-Columbia study found that Medicaid children were more likely than those with private insurance to be given the drugs for off-label uses like A.D.H.D. and conduct disorders. The privately insured children, in turn, were more likely than their Medicaid counterparts to receive the drugs for F.D.A.-approved uses like bipolar disorder.
Even if parents enrolled in Medicaid may be reluctant to put their children on drugs, some come to rely on them as the only thing that helps.
“They say it’s impossible to stop now,” Evelyn Torres, 48, of the Bronx, said of her son’s use of antipsychotics since he received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder at age 3. Seven years later, the boy is now also afflicted with weight and heart problems. But Ms. Torres credits Medicaid for making the boy’s mental and physical conditions manageable. “They’re helping with everything,” she said.
Forward These E-Mail Suggestions From Readers
Forward These E-Mail Suggestions From Readers
By NICK BILTON
Copyright by The New York Times
December 11, 2009, 5:46 PM
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/forward-these-e-mail-suggestions-from-readers/?hpw
Last week I wrote a post titled ‘10 Proposals for Fixing the E-Mail Glut’. I presented an array of ideas like limiting the length of an e-mail, using a smart browsing history and a cold-blooded extermination of the reply-to-all button. The comments generated some great ideas (and a little vitriol), so I wanted to help highlight some of the fun and interesting posts here:
140-Character E-mails
Although originally meant in jest, the idea of limiting emails to 140 characters was taken too seriously by some readers, but I got two fun responses:
First, my personal favorite by David Sanger of California:
Nick. I think limiting email to 140 characters is a superb idea which will reduce unnecessary words. One major problem however, is that ther
Mark of Connecticut already limits his e-mail lengths with the solutions below:
I do about 80% of my e-mails in the subject line. Short and to the point. The nice thing about the message in the subject line - it always gets read.
The End of Reply-to-All
Most readers thought eliminating the reply-to-all button was too drastic. They suggested some great ideas and solutions that might help curb the problem.
Bylo of Waterloo, Ontario:
The message should include the number of potential recipients, as in “Do really want to Reply-to-All 973 users?”
David of Wallingford, Penn.:
One thing I’d add, though: an adjustable sensitivity on the nag, based on the number of recipients. A Reply All to, say, 3 or 4 people would go right through; to 500 might require two or three levels of confirmation.
Chaniacreta:
I tend not to worry about the reply all problem, I simply do not reply in any form to any email with over 6 recipients. I think the problem is not the reply-all but the group mail names.
Some New Suggestions
Jerry W suggests we just use the phone:
I could really use a “just call me” button that would cut off an email chain at the start with my one email and not allow a reply, no more of the endless bounce back and forth readdressing the question.
Daniel Reeves of New York had some interesting ideas too, although an e-mail-snooze button could be bad for the procrastinators out there:
Email Snooze (a snooze button to get a message out of your inbox for 24 hours),
Auto-Expire (automatically archive email after a certain amount of time)
And finally, a fun response was by Olddog Stanley of Virginia, who essentially puts everyone in Spam:
I use Google’s G-Mail. It has a SPAM Filter that I’ve trained over the years to dump messages from those I don’t like too much.
By NICK BILTON
Copyright by The New York Times
December 11, 2009, 5:46 PM
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/forward-these-e-mail-suggestions-from-readers/?hpw
Last week I wrote a post titled ‘10 Proposals for Fixing the E-Mail Glut’. I presented an array of ideas like limiting the length of an e-mail, using a smart browsing history and a cold-blooded extermination of the reply-to-all button. The comments generated some great ideas (and a little vitriol), so I wanted to help highlight some of the fun and interesting posts here:
140-Character E-mails
Although originally meant in jest, the idea of limiting emails to 140 characters was taken too seriously by some readers, but I got two fun responses:
First, my personal favorite by David Sanger of California:
Nick. I think limiting email to 140 characters is a superb idea which will reduce unnecessary words. One major problem however, is that ther
Mark of Connecticut already limits his e-mail lengths with the solutions below:
I do about 80% of my e-mails in the subject line. Short and to the point. The nice thing about the message in the subject line - it always gets read.
The End of Reply-to-All
Most readers thought eliminating the reply-to-all button was too drastic. They suggested some great ideas and solutions that might help curb the problem.
Bylo of Waterloo, Ontario:
The message should include the number of potential recipients, as in “Do really want to Reply-to-All 973 users?”
David of Wallingford, Penn.:
One thing I’d add, though: an adjustable sensitivity on the nag, based on the number of recipients. A Reply All to, say, 3 or 4 people would go right through; to 500 might require two or three levels of confirmation.
Chaniacreta:
I tend not to worry about the reply all problem, I simply do not reply in any form to any email with over 6 recipients. I think the problem is not the reply-all but the group mail names.
Some New Suggestions
Jerry W suggests we just use the phone:
I could really use a “just call me” button that would cut off an email chain at the start with my one email and not allow a reply, no more of the endless bounce back and forth readdressing the question.
Daniel Reeves of New York had some interesting ideas too, although an e-mail-snooze button could be bad for the procrastinators out there:
Email Snooze (a snooze button to get a message out of your inbox for 24 hours),
Auto-Expire (automatically archive email after a certain amount of time)
And finally, a fun response was by Olddog Stanley of Virginia, who essentially puts everyone in Spam:
I use Google’s G-Mail. It has a SPAM Filter that I’ve trained over the years to dump messages from those I don’t like too much.
What’s New, on and Off the Slopes
What’s New, on and Off the Slopes
By LIONEL BEEHNER
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: December 13, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/travel/13journeys.html?hpw
THOSE hoping for shorter lift lines and emptier ski lodges may be disappointed this winter. Sure, the recession may scare off some fair-weather skiers. But cheap flights, discounted passes and fewer blackout days on ski-and-stay packages will lure even the thriftiest of skiers — not to mention the earlier-than-expected snowstorms that buried the West last month. A bad economy may also mean more bankers-turned-ski bums.
Stonegate Resort
Horizon Air serves the Mammoth Lakes Airport in California.
Still, don’t expect your favorite ski mountain to look too different from past seasons. Most resorts did not roll out expensive new lifts and lodges, but rather just tweaked around the margins. New trails or bowls? Not many this winter.
There are exceptions, of course. A few resorts in Utah and Colorado are opening luxury condos and faux Alpine villages with Trump-like aplomb. But those were green-lighted before the economy hit the skids. Not all upgrades require multimillion-dollar investments. Old stalwarts like Jackson Hole, Wyo., for example, have jumped on the iPhone bandwagon with a new app that offers up-to-the-minute ski conditions and GPS tracking.
Here’s a roundup of what else is new at North America’s ski resorts this season.
East
A recession, the thinking goes, keeps skiers closer to home. That is good news for Eastern ski resorts. Though not many new trails were cut, the region still has some tricks up its sleeve.
In New York, Gore Mountain (518-251-2411; www.goremountain.com), an unpretentious resort in the heart of the Adirondacks, is opening a snazzy Ski Bowl Lodge this season to replace a rundown one, but salvaged the original fireplace. The mountain also opens a steeper, wider half-pipe at its Ski Bowl Park.
Up in Tupper Lake, Big Tupper (www.skibigtupper.org) folded in 1999 after financial difficulties. The mountain is set to reopen Dec. 26, thanks to a staff of 60 volunteers. Its $15 lift ticket feels very 1999.
Not since Woodstock has so much holistic therapy hit upstate New York. Zen-minded skiers can relax at Belleayre Mountain’s meditation, yoga and tai chi courses, all part of its new “snow therapy” program to avoid injuries (845-254-5600; www.belleayre.com).
In Vermont, après ski at Stratton (802-297-4000; www.stratton.com) just got sweeter. The day lodge at the Sun Bowl Adventure Center now stays open late for after-parties at its spiffy new Loft bar, which offers nice mountain views. Families, on the other hand, may appreciate the new four-lane snow tubing park at Sun Bowl.
And at Stowe Mountain Resort, expect to be pampered at the new Front Four Private Club (802-760-4700; www.stowemountainlodge.com), a palatial three-story penthouse at the Stowe Mountain Club at Spruce Peak. The club’s 34 luxury suites come equipped with full-service kitchens, flat-screen televisions and a private lounge, with top units fetching a cool $5,519 a night.
Canada
For skiers flying into eastern British Columbia, the runway at the Kelowna Airport was recently extended by 1,700 feet, allowing for larger airplanes to land and thus for travelers from the United States to bypass transfers in Calgary or Vancouver. That’s good news for Big White Ski Resort (250-765-3101; www.bigwhite.com), an out-of-the-way resort with big ambitions. Situated less than an hour’s drive southeast of Kelowna, the mountain opens the second phase of its 96-unit Stonegate Resort (250-491-8200; www.stonegatespa.com), an earthy-chic residence with an attractive, oblong outdoor pool.
Not far from Kelowna, little-known Silver Star Mountain Resort is planning to open new luxury homes at FireLight Lodge (800-663-4431; www.firelightlodge.com). The 96 units have a contemporary feel — outdoor hot tubs, barbecue pit, a movie theater — not to mention impeccable views of the Monashee Mountain range.
Canada’s newest megaresort, Revelstoke, is finally starting to take form. After much fanfare, the Nelsen Lodge (604-730-6600; www.thenelsenlodge.com) opened last March. A new wing goes online this winter, offering 56 pet-friendly suites with private balconies overlooking the mountain. The lodge also houses the Rockford, a new Asian-theme restaurant, and the Revelstoke Outdoors Center, a one-stop shop for daredevil skiers that offers clinics on avalanche survival and tutorials on heli-skiing.
And, of course, there’s Whistler Blackcomb (800-766-0449; www.whistlerblackcomb.com), which is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. The resort is already swarming with world-class athletes and pre-Olympics buzz. Yet, unnoticed amid all the hype, the mountain has quietly begun a renewable energy project that pumps water from Fitzsimmons Creek to power the entire resort year-round. Meanwhile, its ski school has gone Big Brother: Students get a nifty GPS tag slapped on their jackets to prevent them from getting lost.
West
Don’t tell the folks in Park City, Utah, that there is a recession. The Canyons Resort is opening not one but two ski-in ski-out properties this season. The 84-unit Escala Lodges (435-649-5400; www.thecanyons.com) mixes Old World charm — stone fireplaces, knotty alder cabinets — with modern luxuries like whirlpool tubs and heated parking lot. Even nicer is the 175-unit Dakota Mountain Lodge (435-647-5500; www.dakotamountainlodge.com), the first slopeside property in the Waldorf Astoria Collection. It includes a 16,000-square-foot spa, personal ski valet and the Spruce restaurant; an 18-hole golf course is expected to break ground later in 2010.
The St. Regis Deer Crest Resort (435-940-5700; www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis), which just opened in nearby Deer Valley, may be Utah’s most exclusive new resort this winter. Situated in a gated community reachable by funicular, the resort’s 181 guest rooms come with flat-screen TVs, nightly turndown service and, in suites, even a butler — this is a St. Regis, after all — not to mention a split-level infinity-edge heated swimming pool, a 30,000-square-feet spa, and a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant.
Don’t forget to bring your iPhone charger to Jackson Hole (307-733-2292; www.jacksonhole.com) this winter. The ski resort released a nifty JH Tapped app ($6.99), the first of its kind for a major ski area, which allows skiers to track their friends, check the latest snow and weather conditions, and see Web-cam views of trails.
In Truckee, on the northern part of Lake Tahoe, the Ritz-Carlton Highlands Lake Tahoe (530-562-3000; www.ritzcarlton.com/LakeTahoe) scheduled its opening for Dec. 9 with 170 rooms midmountain and offers terry bathrobes, turndown service and a 17,000-square-foot spa and fitness center with two swimming pools.
And finally in California, commercial air service to Mammoth Mountain (760-934-2571; www.mammothmountain.com) is scheduled to begin Dec. 17.Horizon Air (800-547-9308; www.horizonair.com) is running direct flights from San Jose from $69 each way, making the resort accessible to a broader population. To reduce congestion on its Village Gondola, a new trail will link the base lodge to the town of Mammoth.
Colorado Rockies
The greening of America’s ski resorts continues. A LEED-certified hotel, Viceroy (866-326-9765; www.viceroysnowmass.com), opened at Snowmass late last month. With rustic-chic décor and 173 custom-designed suites of reclaimed timber, skiers can kick back on the pool terrace or sip martinis at its cocktail lounge. The condo-hotel is part of a $1 billion development at the Snowmass base village.
By comparison, the upgrades at Crested Butte (800-810-7669; www.skicb.com) are relatively minor. It doubled the size of the Ice Bar restaurant and opened a skating rink at the base area.
Likewise, Steamboat (970-879-6111; www.steamboat.com) may put a few bus drivers out of work after opening its Wildhorse Gondola in February. The lift whisks skiers from the Trailhead Lodge in Wildhorse Meadows to the slopes in just four minutes. Zippier still is a new Web site, www.flysteamboat.com, that makes it easy to visualize and book flights to the resort.
To kick off its 70th season, Winter Park Resort (970-726-5514; www.skiwinterpark.com) put the finishing touches on a new base village that combines modern conveniences (Starbucks; 200 new condos) and old-fashioned charms (soda foundation, gazebo, cabriolet). There’s also a pond for ice-skating and a new play den, the Winter P’arkade, for kids who prefer playing video games to hitting the bunny trails.
Breckenridge may become the Amsterdam of the Rockies, thanks to a new local ordinance that decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana. There are other perks, too. A new, couples-friendly spa called Soothe is adding a touch of romantic luxury to the yet-unfinished Grand Lodge on Peak 7 (866-664-9782; www.grandlodgeonpeak7.com). Next spring, One Ski Hill Place (888-652-9120; www.oneskihillplace.com), the centerpiece of the resort’s Peak 8 renovations, is scheduled to make its debut, offering 88 ski-in, ski-out suites.
Telluride in southwest Colorado is one of the few mountains with new terrain. The resort carved out several chutes along the backside of its Gold Hill Ridge, a 1,600-foot vertical drop that is among North America’s steepest. It is also welcoming new, high-end hotels: lumière (970-369-0400; www.lumierehotels.com/telluride) is a 30-room boutique hotel perched above the village, and Capella Telluride (970-369-0880; www.capellatelluride.com) features 100 stylish suites.
And last but never least, Vail is expected to get even bigger and more glamorous next year with the addition of a Four Seasons, a Ritz Carlton and a luxury complex called Solaris (970-479-6000; www.solarisvail.com), a 79-unit property with a skating rink, shopping plaza and bowling alley. Who said it was all downhill at ski resorts this winter?
By LIONEL BEEHNER
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: December 13, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/travel/13journeys.html?hpw
THOSE hoping for shorter lift lines and emptier ski lodges may be disappointed this winter. Sure, the recession may scare off some fair-weather skiers. But cheap flights, discounted passes and fewer blackout days on ski-and-stay packages will lure even the thriftiest of skiers — not to mention the earlier-than-expected snowstorms that buried the West last month. A bad economy may also mean more bankers-turned-ski bums.
Stonegate Resort
Horizon Air serves the Mammoth Lakes Airport in California.
Still, don’t expect your favorite ski mountain to look too different from past seasons. Most resorts did not roll out expensive new lifts and lodges, but rather just tweaked around the margins. New trails or bowls? Not many this winter.
There are exceptions, of course. A few resorts in Utah and Colorado are opening luxury condos and faux Alpine villages with Trump-like aplomb. But those were green-lighted before the economy hit the skids. Not all upgrades require multimillion-dollar investments. Old stalwarts like Jackson Hole, Wyo., for example, have jumped on the iPhone bandwagon with a new app that offers up-to-the-minute ski conditions and GPS tracking.
Here’s a roundup of what else is new at North America’s ski resorts this season.
East
A recession, the thinking goes, keeps skiers closer to home. That is good news for Eastern ski resorts. Though not many new trails were cut, the region still has some tricks up its sleeve.
In New York, Gore Mountain (518-251-2411; www.goremountain.com), an unpretentious resort in the heart of the Adirondacks, is opening a snazzy Ski Bowl Lodge this season to replace a rundown one, but salvaged the original fireplace. The mountain also opens a steeper, wider half-pipe at its Ski Bowl Park.
Up in Tupper Lake, Big Tupper (www.skibigtupper.org) folded in 1999 after financial difficulties. The mountain is set to reopen Dec. 26, thanks to a staff of 60 volunteers. Its $15 lift ticket feels very 1999.
Not since Woodstock has so much holistic therapy hit upstate New York. Zen-minded skiers can relax at Belleayre Mountain’s meditation, yoga and tai chi courses, all part of its new “snow therapy” program to avoid injuries (845-254-5600; www.belleayre.com).
In Vermont, après ski at Stratton (802-297-4000; www.stratton.com) just got sweeter. The day lodge at the Sun Bowl Adventure Center now stays open late for after-parties at its spiffy new Loft bar, which offers nice mountain views. Families, on the other hand, may appreciate the new four-lane snow tubing park at Sun Bowl.
And at Stowe Mountain Resort, expect to be pampered at the new Front Four Private Club (802-760-4700; www.stowemountainlodge.com), a palatial three-story penthouse at the Stowe Mountain Club at Spruce Peak. The club’s 34 luxury suites come equipped with full-service kitchens, flat-screen televisions and a private lounge, with top units fetching a cool $5,519 a night.
Canada
For skiers flying into eastern British Columbia, the runway at the Kelowna Airport was recently extended by 1,700 feet, allowing for larger airplanes to land and thus for travelers from the United States to bypass transfers in Calgary or Vancouver. That’s good news for Big White Ski Resort (250-765-3101; www.bigwhite.com), an out-of-the-way resort with big ambitions. Situated less than an hour’s drive southeast of Kelowna, the mountain opens the second phase of its 96-unit Stonegate Resort (250-491-8200; www.stonegatespa.com), an earthy-chic residence with an attractive, oblong outdoor pool.
Not far from Kelowna, little-known Silver Star Mountain Resort is planning to open new luxury homes at FireLight Lodge (800-663-4431; www.firelightlodge.com). The 96 units have a contemporary feel — outdoor hot tubs, barbecue pit, a movie theater — not to mention impeccable views of the Monashee Mountain range.
Canada’s newest megaresort, Revelstoke, is finally starting to take form. After much fanfare, the Nelsen Lodge (604-730-6600; www.thenelsenlodge.com) opened last March. A new wing goes online this winter, offering 56 pet-friendly suites with private balconies overlooking the mountain. The lodge also houses the Rockford, a new Asian-theme restaurant, and the Revelstoke Outdoors Center, a one-stop shop for daredevil skiers that offers clinics on avalanche survival and tutorials on heli-skiing.
And, of course, there’s Whistler Blackcomb (800-766-0449; www.whistlerblackcomb.com), which is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. The resort is already swarming with world-class athletes and pre-Olympics buzz. Yet, unnoticed amid all the hype, the mountain has quietly begun a renewable energy project that pumps water from Fitzsimmons Creek to power the entire resort year-round. Meanwhile, its ski school has gone Big Brother: Students get a nifty GPS tag slapped on their jackets to prevent them from getting lost.
West
Don’t tell the folks in Park City, Utah, that there is a recession. The Canyons Resort is opening not one but two ski-in ski-out properties this season. The 84-unit Escala Lodges (435-649-5400; www.thecanyons.com) mixes Old World charm — stone fireplaces, knotty alder cabinets — with modern luxuries like whirlpool tubs and heated parking lot. Even nicer is the 175-unit Dakota Mountain Lodge (435-647-5500; www.dakotamountainlodge.com), the first slopeside property in the Waldorf Astoria Collection. It includes a 16,000-square-foot spa, personal ski valet and the Spruce restaurant; an 18-hole golf course is expected to break ground later in 2010.
The St. Regis Deer Crest Resort (435-940-5700; www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis), which just opened in nearby Deer Valley, may be Utah’s most exclusive new resort this winter. Situated in a gated community reachable by funicular, the resort’s 181 guest rooms come with flat-screen TVs, nightly turndown service and, in suites, even a butler — this is a St. Regis, after all — not to mention a split-level infinity-edge heated swimming pool, a 30,000-square-feet spa, and a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant.
Don’t forget to bring your iPhone charger to Jackson Hole (307-733-2292; www.jacksonhole.com) this winter. The ski resort released a nifty JH Tapped app ($6.99), the first of its kind for a major ski area, which allows skiers to track their friends, check the latest snow and weather conditions, and see Web-cam views of trails.
In Truckee, on the northern part of Lake Tahoe, the Ritz-Carlton Highlands Lake Tahoe (530-562-3000; www.ritzcarlton.com/LakeTahoe) scheduled its opening for Dec. 9 with 170 rooms midmountain and offers terry bathrobes, turndown service and a 17,000-square-foot spa and fitness center with two swimming pools.
And finally in California, commercial air service to Mammoth Mountain (760-934-2571; www.mammothmountain.com) is scheduled to begin Dec. 17.Horizon Air (800-547-9308; www.horizonair.com) is running direct flights from San Jose from $69 each way, making the resort accessible to a broader population. To reduce congestion on its Village Gondola, a new trail will link the base lodge to the town of Mammoth.
Colorado Rockies
The greening of America’s ski resorts continues. A LEED-certified hotel, Viceroy (866-326-9765; www.viceroysnowmass.com), opened at Snowmass late last month. With rustic-chic décor and 173 custom-designed suites of reclaimed timber, skiers can kick back on the pool terrace or sip martinis at its cocktail lounge. The condo-hotel is part of a $1 billion development at the Snowmass base village.
By comparison, the upgrades at Crested Butte (800-810-7669; www.skicb.com) are relatively minor. It doubled the size of the Ice Bar restaurant and opened a skating rink at the base area.
Likewise, Steamboat (970-879-6111; www.steamboat.com) may put a few bus drivers out of work after opening its Wildhorse Gondola in February. The lift whisks skiers from the Trailhead Lodge in Wildhorse Meadows to the slopes in just four minutes. Zippier still is a new Web site, www.flysteamboat.com, that makes it easy to visualize and book flights to the resort.
To kick off its 70th season, Winter Park Resort (970-726-5514; www.skiwinterpark.com) put the finishing touches on a new base village that combines modern conveniences (Starbucks; 200 new condos) and old-fashioned charms (soda foundation, gazebo, cabriolet). There’s also a pond for ice-skating and a new play den, the Winter P’arkade, for kids who prefer playing video games to hitting the bunny trails.
Breckenridge may become the Amsterdam of the Rockies, thanks to a new local ordinance that decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana. There are other perks, too. A new, couples-friendly spa called Soothe is adding a touch of romantic luxury to the yet-unfinished Grand Lodge on Peak 7 (866-664-9782; www.grandlodgeonpeak7.com). Next spring, One Ski Hill Place (888-652-9120; www.oneskihillplace.com), the centerpiece of the resort’s Peak 8 renovations, is scheduled to make its debut, offering 88 ski-in, ski-out suites.
Telluride in southwest Colorado is one of the few mountains with new terrain. The resort carved out several chutes along the backside of its Gold Hill Ridge, a 1,600-foot vertical drop that is among North America’s steepest. It is also welcoming new, high-end hotels: lumière (970-369-0400; www.lumierehotels.com/telluride) is a 30-room boutique hotel perched above the village, and Capella Telluride (970-369-0880; www.capellatelluride.com) features 100 stylish suites.
And last but never least, Vail is expected to get even bigger and more glamorous next year with the addition of a Four Seasons, a Ritz Carlton and a luxury complex called Solaris (970-479-6000; www.solarisvail.com), a 79-unit property with a skating rink, shopping plaza and bowling alley. Who said it was all downhill at ski resorts this winter?
U.S. and Japan Reach Open Skies Deal
U.S. and Japan Reach Open Skies Deal
Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 11, 2009
Filed at 11:51 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/11/business/AP-US-US-Japan-Flights.html?ref=global-home
The U.S. and Japan reached a landmark agreement Friday to relax limits on flights between the two countries, opening up the possibility of broader cross-border airline alliances and more options for air travelers.
Under the agreement, which still must be finalized by both governments, airlines from both countries would be allowed to select routes and destinations based on consumer demand for both passenger and cargo services without limitations on the number of U.S. or Japanese carriers that can fly between the two countries or the number of flights they can operate.
The agreement also would remove restrictions on capacity and pricing, and provide unlimited opportunities for cooperative marketing arrangements between U.S. and Japanese carriers.
Delta and United Airlines are already allowed to serve Japanese cities, and Delta's acquisition of Northwest Airlines last year increased its Asian presence. But U.S. passenger airlines have been generally limited in the routes and number of flights they can operate to Japan.
United CEO Glenn Tilton said his airline soon would file an antitrust immunity application for a trans-Pacific joint venture with All Nippon Airways and Continental Airlines. The U.S.-Japan agreement likely will also prompt Japan Airlines to seek a joint venture with a U.S. carrier.
The U.S.-Japan agreement also would provide opportunities for growth of U.S. carrier operations at Narita Airport near Tokyo and ensure fair competition regarding the new opportunities at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which is close to the city center, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
American Airlines currently has a codesharing agreement with Japan Airlines, while United Airlines has a codesharing agreement with All Nippon Airways. Delta Air Lines is seeking to lure Japan Airlines away from American and into Delta's SkyTeam alliance.
A joint venture allows airlines to share cost and revenue on certain flights regardless of which airline owns or flies the aircraft. It differs from a simple codesharing agreement in which one airline bears all the cost but another airline might get a share of the revenue for booking a customer on a flight.
The DOT said the text of the so-called ''open skies'' agreement between the U.S. and Japan has been set, although there is no specific timetable on when the agreement will take effect.
The U.S. has open skies agreements with other countries, including the European Union and Australia.
Tilton said a joint venture with All Nippon Airways and Continental would strengthen his airline's Pacific network and give passengers access to more seats and cargo capacity.
Continental, based in Houston, said one key part of the open skies agreement is that it provides the U.S. airline industry guaranteed access to Haneda airport for the first time. That could spur sales on U.S. carriers flying to Japan because of how close the airport is to the center of Tokyo.
Atlanta-based Delta said in a statement it has long supported open skies in international markets.
''This agreement opens the door to antitrust immunity, which would enable Delta and Japan Air Lines to engage in deeper and more effective cooperation, producing greater benefits for the carriers and their customers,'' spokesman Trebor Banstetter said.
Delta and its SkyTeam partners have offered $1 billion to lure JAL away from American. In turn, American has offered to lead a $1.1 billion investment in struggling JAL to prevent it from falling into Delta's orbit.
It wasn't immediately clear if the open skies agreement between the U.S. and Japan would lead to higher or lower ticket prices for consumers traveling between the two countries.
American praised the agreement, saying it would replace a system under which some carriers get better access to markets than others. Open skies agreements ''end discriminatory aviation policies and are in the best interest of American and Japanese people as well as the nations' airlines,'' said Will Ris, an American vice president.
American is a unit of AMR Corp., based in Fort Worth, Texas. United is a unit of UAL Corp., based in Chicago.
Koenig reported from Dallas. Weber reported from Atlanta.
Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 11, 2009
Filed at 11:51 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/11/business/AP-US-US-Japan-Flights.html?ref=global-home
The U.S. and Japan reached a landmark agreement Friday to relax limits on flights between the two countries, opening up the possibility of broader cross-border airline alliances and more options for air travelers.
Under the agreement, which still must be finalized by both governments, airlines from both countries would be allowed to select routes and destinations based on consumer demand for both passenger and cargo services without limitations on the number of U.S. or Japanese carriers that can fly between the two countries or the number of flights they can operate.
The agreement also would remove restrictions on capacity and pricing, and provide unlimited opportunities for cooperative marketing arrangements between U.S. and Japanese carriers.
Delta and United Airlines are already allowed to serve Japanese cities, and Delta's acquisition of Northwest Airlines last year increased its Asian presence. But U.S. passenger airlines have been generally limited in the routes and number of flights they can operate to Japan.
United CEO Glenn Tilton said his airline soon would file an antitrust immunity application for a trans-Pacific joint venture with All Nippon Airways and Continental Airlines. The U.S.-Japan agreement likely will also prompt Japan Airlines to seek a joint venture with a U.S. carrier.
The U.S.-Japan agreement also would provide opportunities for growth of U.S. carrier operations at Narita Airport near Tokyo and ensure fair competition regarding the new opportunities at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which is close to the city center, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
American Airlines currently has a codesharing agreement with Japan Airlines, while United Airlines has a codesharing agreement with All Nippon Airways. Delta Air Lines is seeking to lure Japan Airlines away from American and into Delta's SkyTeam alliance.
A joint venture allows airlines to share cost and revenue on certain flights regardless of which airline owns or flies the aircraft. It differs from a simple codesharing agreement in which one airline bears all the cost but another airline might get a share of the revenue for booking a customer on a flight.
The DOT said the text of the so-called ''open skies'' agreement between the U.S. and Japan has been set, although there is no specific timetable on when the agreement will take effect.
The U.S. has open skies agreements with other countries, including the European Union and Australia.
Tilton said a joint venture with All Nippon Airways and Continental would strengthen his airline's Pacific network and give passengers access to more seats and cargo capacity.
Continental, based in Houston, said one key part of the open skies agreement is that it provides the U.S. airline industry guaranteed access to Haneda airport for the first time. That could spur sales on U.S. carriers flying to Japan because of how close the airport is to the center of Tokyo.
Atlanta-based Delta said in a statement it has long supported open skies in international markets.
''This agreement opens the door to antitrust immunity, which would enable Delta and Japan Air Lines to engage in deeper and more effective cooperation, producing greater benefits for the carriers and their customers,'' spokesman Trebor Banstetter said.
Delta and its SkyTeam partners have offered $1 billion to lure JAL away from American. In turn, American has offered to lead a $1.1 billion investment in struggling JAL to prevent it from falling into Delta's orbit.
It wasn't immediately clear if the open skies agreement between the U.S. and Japan would lead to higher or lower ticket prices for consumers traveling between the two countries.
American praised the agreement, saying it would replace a system under which some carriers get better access to markets than others. Open skies agreements ''end discriminatory aviation policies and are in the best interest of American and Japanese people as well as the nations' airlines,'' said Will Ris, an American vice president.
American is a unit of AMR Corp., based in Fort Worth, Texas. United is a unit of UAL Corp., based in Chicago.
Koenig reported from Dallas. Weber reported from Atlanta.
New Incidents Test Immunity to Terrorism on U.S. Soil
New Incidents Test Immunity to Terrorism on U.S. Soil
By SCOTT SHANE
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: December 11, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/us/12assess.html?ref=global-home
WASHINGTON — As the years passed after Sept. 11, 2001, without another major attack on American soil and with no sign of hidden terrorist cells, many counterterrorism specialists reached a comforting conclusion: Muslims in the United States were not very vulnerable to radicalization.
American Muslims, the reasoning went, were well assimilated in diverse communities with room for advancement. They showed little of the alienation often on display among their European counterparts, let alone attraction to extremist violence.
But with a rash of recent cases in which Americans have been accused of being drawn into terrorist scheming, the rampage at Fort Hood, Tex., last month and now the alarming account of five young Virginia men who went to Pakistan and are suspected of seeking jihad, the notion that the United States has some immunity against homegrown terrorists is coming under new scrutiny.
It is a concern that President Obama noted in passing in his address on the decision to send 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, and one that has grown as the Afghan war and the hunt for Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan intensifies.
“These events certainly call the consensus into question,” said Robert S. Leiken, who studies terrorism at the Nixon Center, a Washington policy institute, and wrote the forthcoming book “Europe’s Angry Muslims.”
“The notion of a difference between Europe and United States remains relevant,” Mr. Leiken said. But the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the American operations like drone strikes in Pakistan, are fueling radicalization at home, he said.
“Just the length of U.S. involvement in these countries is provoking more Muslim Americans to react,” Mr. Leiken said.
Concern over the recent cases has profoundly affected Muslim organizations in the United States, which have renewed pledges to campaign against extremist thinking.
“Among leaders, there’s a recognition that there’s a challenge within our community that needs to be addressed,” said Alejandro J. Beutel, government liaison at the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington, and main author of a report by the council on radicalization and how to combat it.
Mr. Beutel, a Muslim convert from New Jersey, said the council started a grass-roots counterradicalization effort in 2005, but acknowledged that “for a while it was on the back burner.” He said, “Now we’re going to revive it.”
F.B.I. investigators were in Pakistan on Friday questioning the five Virginia men. But it remained unclear whether the men would be deported to the United States, and whether they had broken any laws in either Pakistan or the United States.
At a news conference Friday at the small Virginia mosque where the men had been youth group regulars, mosque officials expressed bewilderment at claims that the men wanted to join the jihad against American troops in Afghanistan.
“I never observed any extreme behavior from them,” said Mustafa Maryam, who runs the youth group and said he had known the young men since 2006. “They were fun-loving, career-focused children. They had a bright future before them.”
Also at the press briefing, asked about reports that the five men had contacted a Pakistani militant via the Web, Mahdi Bray, the head of the Freedom Foundation of the Muslim American Society, told reporters that YouTube and social networking sites had become a dangerous recruiting tool for militants.
“We are determined not to let religious extremists exploit the vulnerability of our children through this slick, seductive propaganda on the Internet,” said Mr. Bray, who is organizing a youth meeting later this month in Chicago to address the issue.
“Silence in cyberspace is not an option for us,” he said.
The detention of the Virginia men — ranging in age from late teens to mid-20s — would have prompted soul-searching no matter when it occurred. But it comes after a series of disturbing cases that already had terror experts speculating about a trend.
There were the November shootings that took 13 lives at Fort Hood, with murder charges pending against Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an American-born Muslim and an Army psychiatrist.
There was the arrest of Najibullah Zazi, born in Afghanistan but the seeming model of the striving immigrant as a popular coffee vendor in Manhattan, accused of going to Pakistan for explosives training with the intention of attacking in the United States.
There was David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American living in Chicago, accused of helping plan the killings in Mumbai, India, last year and of plotting attacks in Denmark.
There was Bryant Neal Vinas, a Muslim convert from Long Island who participated in a rocket attack on American troops in Afghanistan and used his knowledge of commuter trains in New York to advise Al Qaeda about potential targets.
There were the Somali-Americans from Minnesota who had traveled to Somalia to join a violent Islamist movement.
And there were cases of would-be terrorists who plotted attacks in Texas, Illinois and North Carolina with conspirators who turned out to be F.B.I. informants.
Bruce Hoffman, who studies terrorism at Georgetown University, said the recent cases only confirmed that it was “myopic” to believe “we could insulate ourselves from the currents affecting young Muslims everywhere else.”
Like many other specialists, Mr. Hoffman pointed to the United States’ combat in Muslim lands as the only obvious spur to many of the recent cases, especially those with a Pakistani connection.
“The longer we’ve been in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said, “the more some susceptible young men are coming to believe that it’s their duty to take up arms to defend their fellow Muslims.”
A few analysts, in fact, argue that Mr. Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan — intended to prevent a terrorist haven there — could backfire.
Robert A. Pape, a University of Chicago political scientist, contends that suicide attacks are almost always prompted by resentment of foreign troops, and that escalation in Afghanistan will fuel more plots.
“This new deployment increases the risk of the next 9/11,” he said. “It will not make this country safer.”
Yet amid the concern about the five Virginia men and the impact of the wars on Muslim opinion, Audrey Kurth Cronin of the National War College in Washington said she found something to take comfort in.
“To me, the most interesting thing about the five guys is that it was their parents that went immediately to the F.B.I.,” she said. “It was members of the American Muslim community that put a stop to whatever those men may have been planning.”
Janie Lorber contributed reporting from Alexandria, Va.
By SCOTT SHANE
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: December 11, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/us/12assess.html?ref=global-home
WASHINGTON — As the years passed after Sept. 11, 2001, without another major attack on American soil and with no sign of hidden terrorist cells, many counterterrorism specialists reached a comforting conclusion: Muslims in the United States were not very vulnerable to radicalization.
American Muslims, the reasoning went, were well assimilated in diverse communities with room for advancement. They showed little of the alienation often on display among their European counterparts, let alone attraction to extremist violence.
But with a rash of recent cases in which Americans have been accused of being drawn into terrorist scheming, the rampage at Fort Hood, Tex., last month and now the alarming account of five young Virginia men who went to Pakistan and are suspected of seeking jihad, the notion that the United States has some immunity against homegrown terrorists is coming under new scrutiny.
It is a concern that President Obama noted in passing in his address on the decision to send 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, and one that has grown as the Afghan war and the hunt for Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan intensifies.
“These events certainly call the consensus into question,” said Robert S. Leiken, who studies terrorism at the Nixon Center, a Washington policy institute, and wrote the forthcoming book “Europe’s Angry Muslims.”
“The notion of a difference between Europe and United States remains relevant,” Mr. Leiken said. But the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the American operations like drone strikes in Pakistan, are fueling radicalization at home, he said.
“Just the length of U.S. involvement in these countries is provoking more Muslim Americans to react,” Mr. Leiken said.
Concern over the recent cases has profoundly affected Muslim organizations in the United States, which have renewed pledges to campaign against extremist thinking.
“Among leaders, there’s a recognition that there’s a challenge within our community that needs to be addressed,” said Alejandro J. Beutel, government liaison at the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington, and main author of a report by the council on radicalization and how to combat it.
Mr. Beutel, a Muslim convert from New Jersey, said the council started a grass-roots counterradicalization effort in 2005, but acknowledged that “for a while it was on the back burner.” He said, “Now we’re going to revive it.”
F.B.I. investigators were in Pakistan on Friday questioning the five Virginia men. But it remained unclear whether the men would be deported to the United States, and whether they had broken any laws in either Pakistan or the United States.
At a news conference Friday at the small Virginia mosque where the men had been youth group regulars, mosque officials expressed bewilderment at claims that the men wanted to join the jihad against American troops in Afghanistan.
“I never observed any extreme behavior from them,” said Mustafa Maryam, who runs the youth group and said he had known the young men since 2006. “They were fun-loving, career-focused children. They had a bright future before them.”
Also at the press briefing, asked about reports that the five men had contacted a Pakistani militant via the Web, Mahdi Bray, the head of the Freedom Foundation of the Muslim American Society, told reporters that YouTube and social networking sites had become a dangerous recruiting tool for militants.
“We are determined not to let religious extremists exploit the vulnerability of our children through this slick, seductive propaganda on the Internet,” said Mr. Bray, who is organizing a youth meeting later this month in Chicago to address the issue.
“Silence in cyberspace is not an option for us,” he said.
The detention of the Virginia men — ranging in age from late teens to mid-20s — would have prompted soul-searching no matter when it occurred. But it comes after a series of disturbing cases that already had terror experts speculating about a trend.
There were the November shootings that took 13 lives at Fort Hood, with murder charges pending against Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an American-born Muslim and an Army psychiatrist.
There was the arrest of Najibullah Zazi, born in Afghanistan but the seeming model of the striving immigrant as a popular coffee vendor in Manhattan, accused of going to Pakistan for explosives training with the intention of attacking in the United States.
There was David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American living in Chicago, accused of helping plan the killings in Mumbai, India, last year and of plotting attacks in Denmark.
There was Bryant Neal Vinas, a Muslim convert from Long Island who participated in a rocket attack on American troops in Afghanistan and used his knowledge of commuter trains in New York to advise Al Qaeda about potential targets.
There were the Somali-Americans from Minnesota who had traveled to Somalia to join a violent Islamist movement.
And there were cases of would-be terrorists who plotted attacks in Texas, Illinois and North Carolina with conspirators who turned out to be F.B.I. informants.
Bruce Hoffman, who studies terrorism at Georgetown University, said the recent cases only confirmed that it was “myopic” to believe “we could insulate ourselves from the currents affecting young Muslims everywhere else.”
Like many other specialists, Mr. Hoffman pointed to the United States’ combat in Muslim lands as the only obvious spur to many of the recent cases, especially those with a Pakistani connection.
“The longer we’ve been in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said, “the more some susceptible young men are coming to believe that it’s their duty to take up arms to defend their fellow Muslims.”
A few analysts, in fact, argue that Mr. Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan — intended to prevent a terrorist haven there — could backfire.
Robert A. Pape, a University of Chicago political scientist, contends that suicide attacks are almost always prompted by resentment of foreign troops, and that escalation in Afghanistan will fuel more plots.
“This new deployment increases the risk of the next 9/11,” he said. “It will not make this country safer.”
Yet amid the concern about the five Virginia men and the impact of the wars on Muslim opinion, Audrey Kurth Cronin of the National War College in Washington said she found something to take comfort in.
“To me, the most interesting thing about the five guys is that it was their parents that went immediately to the F.B.I.,” she said. “It was members of the American Muslim community that put a stop to whatever those men may have been planning.”
Janie Lorber contributed reporting from Alexandria, Va.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
