Elisabeth Semel Says Death Penalty Work Goes on Despite Funder’s Madoff Link

San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 17, 2008 by Andrew S. Ross
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/17/BUK514P25N.DTL&type=printable

Elisabeth Semel, director of the Death Penalty Clinic … would not comment on the disposition of $796,000 worth of current grants dispensed by the JEHT (short for Justice, Equality, Human dignity and Tolerance) Foundation, except to say, without elaboration: “We will be able to continue our work in the lethal injection area, in which we were funded at the present time.”

Mary Ann Mason Asks Obama to Heed Concerns of Young Women

Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 17, 2008 by Mary Ann Mason
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/12/2008121701c.htm

They worry that they will not be able to handle both their chosen profession and their family responsibilities. They know that child care is impossibly expensive and notoriously unreliable. They understand that employers offer some family leave when children are born, or when family members are sick, but it may be unpaid.

Jesse Choper Doubts Off-track Sites Can Rescue Horse Racing

San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 15, 2008 by Charles Burress
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/15/MNU614N4HB.DTL&type=printable

UC Berkeley law school Professor Jesse Choper, a longtime racing fan who sits on the seven-member racing board, also was not optimistic about the income potential of the new off-track sites. “My guess is it (the new off-track sites) will pick it up a little bit. That’s not going to save the industry.”

Jacob Hacker Believes Economic Recovery Depends on Healthcare Reform

The New York Times, Dec. 13, 2008 by Kevin Sack
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/weekinreview/14sack.html?pagewanted=print

“Most Americans are troubled by the lack of universal insurance, but what really frightens them is the prospect that their own insurance won’t protect their health or family finances,” said Jacob S. Hacker … an authority on health care. “That’s a fear that more and more Americans are facing as health costs skyrocket and job security plummets.”

John Yoo Questions Calls to Close Guantanamo

FOX TV, America’s News Headquarters, Dec. 10, 2008 Hosted by Heather Nauert
(Link no longer active)

“It’s very easy to say, ‘Oh, we should shut down Guantanamo Bay, it’s hurting our world image.’ The hard thing is, what do you do when you shut it down?… Where in the United States are we going to house 250 of the worst terrorists, people so bad that we could not convince their own countries to take them back; people who are so bad that … they don’t really care about having a fair trial. They just want to go along and get themselves executed to become martyrs.”