W O R L D / N AT I O N / S TAT E
SALISBURY POST
THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010 • 7A
Give it away: Gates, Buffett tell the wealthy to donate more SEATTLE (AP) — Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett are launching a campaign to get other American billionaires to give at least half their wealth to charity. Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said in a letter introducing the concept that he couldn’t be happier with his decision in 2006 to give 99 percent of his roughly $46 billion fortune to charity. Patty Stonesifer, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Gates and Buffett have been campaigning for the past year to get others to donate the bulk of their wealth.
The friends and philanthropic colleagues are asking people to pledge to donate either during their lifetime or at the time of their death. They estimate their efforts could generate $600 billion dollars in charitable giving. In 2009, American philanthropies received a total of about $300 billion in donations, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The handful of billionaires approached so far have embraced the campaign, said Stonesifer, a close friend of Gates who offered to speak about the effort. Four wealthy couples have already announced their pledges, including Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest of Philadelphia, John and Ann Doerr
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of Menlo Park, Calif., and John and Tasha Mortgridge of San Jose, Calif. In addition to making a donation commitment, Gates and Buffett are asking billionaires to pledge to give wisely and learn from their peers. They said they were inspired by the philanthropic efforts of not just oth-
er billionaires but of the people of all financial means and backgrounds who have given generously to make the world a better place. Their philosophical forebears are the Carnegie and Rockefeller families, who donated most of their wealth back to improve society and were the grandparents of modern philanthropy, said Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Ted Turner’s announcement 13 years ago of a $1 billion gift to United Nations programs also was done in part to inspire other big givers, but did not have a noticeable result, Palmer said. “It’s a stretch to see how they’re going to get to the $600 billion fig-
ure,” she said, noting that only 17 people on the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest people in America are also on the Chronicle’s list of the most generous American donors. Many of these people may be giving anonymously or plan to donate when they die, but the bulk of money raised by charities today comes from non-billionaires giving $5, $10 or $50 at a time, Palmer said. Buffett’s plan will split most of his company between five charitable foundations, with the largest chunk going to the Gates Foundation. He also plans to give to a foundation he and his late first wife started, and to the three foundations run by his three children.
New training rule raining on some fireworks displays
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Volunteer firefighters from Texas and Arkansas search the bank of the Little Missouri River near Langley, Ark.
Search officially ends for flood victims LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Authorities on Wednesday officially called off the search for victims of the flash flooding that killed 20 people at a western Arkansas campground last week, shifting their focus to assessing damage and cleaning up debris from the disaster. Gov. Mike Beebe announced that state agencies had ended their role in recovering victims from Friday’s flash flooding at the Albert Pike Recreation Area in Montgomery County. Police on Tuesday identified the final known victim from the flood. The U.S. Forest Service said it had shifted its attention to assessing damage from the floods and cleaning up debris. Lawmakers continued to focus attention on what steps could be taken to better notify campers in remote campsites of impending emergencies.
Professor accused in slayings indicted in brother’s shooting CANTON, Mass. (AP) — A biology professor charged with killing three of her colleagues at an Alabama university has been indicted in the 1986 shooting death of her brother in Massachusetts, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Authorities had originally ruled that the shooting of Amy Bishop’s brother was an accident, but they reopened the case after Bishop was charged in February with gunning down six of her colleagues at the University of AlabamaHuntsville, killing three. Bishop, 45, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 18-yearold brother, Seth, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said. Keating said he did not understand why charges were never brought against Bishop. “I can’t give you any explanations, I can’t give you excuses, because there are none,” he said. “Jobs weren’t done, responsibilities weren’t met and justice wasn’t served.”
Jobless aid bill hits wall; Democrats eye a few changes WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s renewed call for more stimulus spending as insurance against a double-dip recession hit a roadblock in the Senate, the victim of election-year anxiety over huge federal deficits. A dozen Democrats joined Republicans on a key 52-45 test vote rejecting an Obama-endorsed, $140 billion package of unemployment benefits, aid to states, business and family tax breaks and Medicare payments for doctors because it would swell the federal debt by $80 billion. The swing toward frugality runs counter to the advice of economists who support the bill’s funding for additional jobless benefits and help to states to avoid layoffs of public service jobs. They fear that the economy could slip back into recession just as it’s emerging from
the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned last week that while lawmakers need to come up with a plan for tackling the nation’s long-term deficit crisis, the U.S. recovery is still fragile. It’s too early for large, immediate spending cuts, Bernanke said. “We’ve got to do more to build on the existing jobs momentum and that’s what these targeted measures are about,” said White House economist Jared Bernstein.
Defying sanctions, Iran plans more nuclear reactors TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Defying weekold U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program, Iran promised to expand its atomic research Wednesday as its president vowed to punish the West and force it to “sit at the negotiating table like a polite child” before agreeing to further talks. Tehran, which insists its nuclear work is peaceful, said it will build four new reactors for atomic medical research. The U.S. and some of its allies believe Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and the Islamic Republic’s plans to expand research could encourage calls in the West for more economic pressure against the country. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran will not make “one iota of concessions.” He said he will soon announce new conditions for talks with the West, but first he wants to punish world powers for imposing sanctions. “You showed bad temper, reneged on your promise and again resorted to devilish manners,” he said of those powers. “We set conditions (for talks) so that, God willing, you’ll be punished a bit and sit at the negotiating table like a polite child,” he told a crowd during a visit to the Iranian town of Shahr-e-Kord. The Obama administration took its first step in implementing new sanctions Wednesday, leveling penalties against additional individuals and institutions it says are helping Iran develop its nuclear and missile programs and evade international sanctions.
Poll bolsters Democrats’ hopes for control of Congress WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s encouraging news for Democrats battling to retain control of Congress in this fall’s elections, with the party holding a slender edge in public trust for shepherding the economy and slightly more people saying their finances are healthy, according to a new poll. The reeling economy remains people’s top concern, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll conducted earlier this month, making public attitudes about it crucial for both parties’ hopes in November. The good news for Democrats: By a margin of 47 percent to 42 percent, people trust them more than Republicans to guide the economy, and 64
percent — slightly more than in April — say their household budgets are in good shape. In addition, people want Democrats to win control of Congress by a 46 percent to 39 percent margin. That is the second straight month in which Democrats have held a delicate advantage on that question since April, when 44 percent preferred Republicans and 41 percent picked Democrats. “When Clinton was in office, we were doing exceptionally well. Then Republicans got in office and we are where we are,” said Daniel Lowery, 23, a warehouse worker from Fostoria, Ohio, who wants Democrats to continue leading the House and Senate. Even so, there’s plenty in the poll to encourage Republicans, and nothing that contradicts many analysts’ views that the GOP has a solid shot of capturing majorities of one or both chambers of Congress.
Pill to boost female sex drive falls short of goals, FDA says WASHINGTON (AP) — A pink pill designed to boost sex drive in women — the latest attempt by the drug industry to find a female equivalent to Viagra — fell short in two studies, federal health regulators said Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration is considering Boehringer Ingelheim’s drug flibanserin for premenopausal women who report a lack of sexual desire, a market that drugmakers have been targeting for more than a decade since the blockbuster success of Viagra in men. The search for so-called “female Viagra,” has proved elusive. In its review posted online, the FDA said two Boehringer studies failed to show a significant increase in sexual desire, as recorded by women in a daily journal. Women taking the drug reported slightly more sexually satisfying experiences, but FDA said that was not the primary measure of the study.
Megan Fox, longtime beau Brian Austin Green engaged LOS ANGELES (AP) — Megan Fox is off the market. Again. A spokeswoman for the 24-year-old actress says Fox is engaged to her longtime boyfriend, actor Brian Austin Green. Publicist Dominique Appel declined to elaborate. Fox was previously engaged to Green, 36, whom she has been dating for several years. The two appeared toFOX gether in an online video protesting California school budget cuts earlier this year. Fox can next be seen in the film “Jonah Hex,” opening Friday.
RALEIGH (AP) — A state law passed after the July 4 blast on Ocracoke Island that killed four fireworks handlers mandated safety training for those who prepare the displays, but some warn the rule could limit fireworks shows this Independence Day. North Carolina legislators are considering a onetime exception to the heightened safety training requirements for workers to allow for fireworks shows that may risk cancellation. The new law is causing some towns to struggle to find operators who have completed training to meet the new licensing requirements. “There are some small communities that may not be able to get a display” befitting the holiday tradition, said Jeff Hale, who owns a Lexington fireworks display company. “I’m trying really hard not to cancel any of my shows.” He said his Hale Artificier Inc. has booked 39 fireworks shows over the Independence Day weekend from Morehead City on the coast to Sparta in the mountains, but is struggling to find enough licensed operators to run them all. Hale dropped bids for contracts for three shows because he lacked the manpower. Three hundred licenses have been issued statewide. The problem is that parttime pyrotechnics operators either didn’t know about the new licensing requirement or didn’t follow through with the process within a four-month window during the spring, Hale said. “Human nature is, ’Ah, well, I’ll do that tomorrow,”’ he said. But pyrotechnics professionals aren’t the only ones effected. In Mars Hill, a town of about 1,800 in Madison County, Fire Chief Eddie Fox said he and his deputy got their licenses just last week. The town’s 15-minute show is back on for July 3.
“We were able to literally pass the hat (among businesses) and make it happen. This was an event that was important to the community.” HEATHER HICKS
spa manager in Hot Springs, where the annual fireworks display was in jeopardy
“We’d pretty much told everyone that if we’re not able to get this license, we’re not going to have fireworks,” said Fox, who still supports the law. Down the road in Hot Springs, a vacation town of about 600, Fire Chief Joshua Norton said neither he nor any other firefighter was able to attend the required safety classes offered since February. That forced the department to hire professionals for $5,000 instead of the $500 the department spent to do it themselves last summer. The money will come from businesses that depend on tourists drawn to see the explosions over the lawn of the Hot Springs Resort & Spa. “The rate is very expensive for a very small town,” spa manager Heather Hicks said Wednesday. “But we were able to literally pass the hat (among businesses) and make it happen. This was an event that was important to the community.” The General Assembly is considering legislation that this year only would allow the state insurance commissioner, who is also the state fire marshal, to issue a 30-day operator’s license to adults who have worked on six fireworks displays in the past 10 years. Failing to follow through with safety training and a test puts the license out of reach until September 2011. The House Finance Committee is scheduled to take up the measure today.
Justice Department tells appeals court Blackwater case should have gone to trial WASHINGTON (AP) — There was more than enough untainted evidence to justify a trial for five Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad, the Justice Department told a federal appeals court. In court papers seeking to reinstate criminal charges, the department asserted that some of the evidence tainted by immunized statements in the case was harmless and did not justify scuttling the manslaughter charges against the guards. In December, a federal judge dismissed the case against the security guards, who had opened fire on a crowded Baghdad street. Seventeen people were killed, including women and children, in a shooting that inflamed anti-American
sentiment in Iraq. In the filing released Wednesday by the appeals court, the government said the judge who dismissed the charges lost sight of the key question of whether the defendants’ testimony given under a grant of immunity from prosecution was actually used against them. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina “unjustifiably drew the curtain on a meritorious prosecution,” Justice Department lawyers wrote. Urbina ruled on Dec. 31 that the Justice Department mishandled evidence and violated the guards’ constitutional rights. The Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater, now called Xe Services, has said the guards were innocent, contending they were ambushed by insurgents. Prosecutors said the shooting was unprovoked.