Scottsdale Journal: Neighborly Advice to the Palins: In Arizona, the Sun Burns

And while she’s at it, the former governor of Alaska might want to steer clear of rattlesnakes, especially the green Mohave variety. And be on the lookout for cactus rustlers who occasionally make off with saguaros, the towering, multi-armed Arizona icons that sell for $100 a foot.

Moving from the tundra to the desert will be a dramatic change for the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential nominee, who this week confirmed that she had purchased a $1.7 million property in this remote and exclusive community of ranch homes — real ranch homes — on the outskirts of Phoenix. So her new neighbors have plenty of advice for her.

“There’s snakes, so I’d tell her not to mess with them,” said Monica Rahman, who raises horses across a dirt road from Ms. Palin’s new home. “They’re dangerous snakes.”

Others warned of the scorpions that sometimes come to visit indoors, the coyotes that howl all night and the odd-looking javelina that have been residents of this patch of the Sonoran Desert since long before it became an exclusive refuge for humans seeking to commune, in style, with nature.

Although the multiacre properties here in north Scottsdale are fenced off and private, there is a close-knit community of horse lovers and outdoors people, Ms. Palin’s neighbors say. They wear cowboy boots and hats, not for fashion but because the boots fit in the stirrups and the hats keep the sun out of their eyes.

Those snow machines that Ms. Palin’s husband, Todd, races in Alaska will be useless here, residents said, suggesting that he trade them in for a thoroughbred or a good mountain bike.

Ron Craver, the manager at MacDonald’s Ranch, down the road, said he cares not at all about Ms. Palin’s politics. Mr. Craver, a former rodeo clown and trail guide, has met many political figures over the years and considers them just regular folks. He took former Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter and grandchildren horseback riding in Wyoming and met three former presidents (Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes) while he was on the rodeo circuit. “She can come on over for a horseback ride anytime,” he said of Ms. Palin.

Despite its rustic flair, there is nothing ordinary about Ms. Palin’s new neighborhood, one of the most elite in the Phoenix area and a place that some refer to derisively as “Snobsdale.”

“Scottsdale is a unique combination of cowboy country, open spaces, sophistication, snobbery, resorts, arts, golf, spring training and plastic surgery,” said Jason Rose, a public relations executive who works here.

Its downtown is lined with art galleries and fashionable restaurants, and Scottsdale hosts an Arabian horse show and antique car auction every year. It calls itself “the West’s most Western town,” albeit one with far more Mercedes sedans than mustangs.

“I think she’ll be left alone,” said Sandi Shea, who works near the new Palin home at a nursery that sells cactuses and other desert plants to residents who want to add even more flair to the stunning landscape. “We have a lot of celebrities here, and we live our lives and we let them live theirs.”

Her advice to Ms. Palin is that she drink a lot of water, but not to water the cactuses on her property too much. “Nature takes care of it,” she said.

Ms. Palin is no newcomer to the area, having made regular trips to give speeches and sign books. It was in Phoenix that Senator John McCain conceded his failed bid for the presidency in 2008, with Ms. Palin at his side.

Although Ms. Palin elicits the same range of opinions here — from excitement to exasperation — as elsewhere in the country, Arizona is a Republican stronghold, and analysts said it made sense for her to use it as a political base.

Whether she intends to make a run for the presidency, vie for the Senate seat that will be up for grabs next year upon Senator Jon Kyl’s retirement or forgo politics and maintain her lucrative role as a commentator remains a closely guarded secret.

Jennifer Johnson, the Arizona Democratic Party’s spokeswoman, offered some advice to Ms. Palin. “In Arizona, you’ll find good neighbors, great locally owned businesses and stunning natural wonders,” she said. “You won’t, however, find any successful presidential candidates.”

Logistically, there is a small airport a short drive away, and the expansive six-bedroom home (which has a six-car garage and a large swimming pool and sits on 4.4 acres) has plenty of space for a television studio like the one she has at her place in Alaska. Ms. Palin’s daughter Bristol has a home about an hour away in the city of Maricopa.

The Palins bought the Scottsdale home on May 13 through Safari Investments, a limited liability company that was set up the day before, to shield the transaction from the public.

But now that the word is out, news helicopters are flying overhead and reporters are staking out the property. Ms. Rahman said the commotion was scaring her horses. “I’m excited to have a new neighbor, because that house has been vacant for a long time,” said Ms. Rahman, who plans to bring cookies to the Palins. “The only thing is, I want my neighborhood to stay as calm as it’s always been.”

View the original article here

Senators Say Patriot Act Is Being Misinterpreted

At the same time, Congress and the White House were rushing to enact legislation to prevent a lapse in several of the federal government’s investigative powers under the Patriot Act that were set to expire at midnight. The Senate passed the bill 72 to 23 late in the afternoon, and within hours the House approved it 250 to 153. In an unusual move, a White House spokesman said that President Obama, who was in Europe, would “direct the use” of an autopen machine to sign the bill into law without delay.

During the debate, Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and a member of the Intelligence Committee, said that the executive branch had come up with a secret legal theory about what it could collect under a provision of the Patriot Act that did not seem to dovetail with a plain reading of the text. “I want to deliver a warning this afternoon: When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry,” Mr. Wyden said. He invoked the public’s reaction to the illegal domestic spying that came to light in the mid-1970s, the Iran-contra affair, and the Bush administration’s program of surveillance without warrants.

Another member of the Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Udall, Democrat of Colorado, backed Mr. Wyden’s account, saying, “Americans would be alarmed if they knew how this law is being carried out.”

The Obama administration declined to explain what the senators were talking about. Dean Boyd, a Justice Department spokesman, said that Congressional oversight committees and a special panel of national security judges — known as the FISA Court — were aware of how the executive branch was interpreting and using surveillance laws.

“These authorities are also subject to extensive oversight from the FISA Court, from Congress, from the executive branch,” Mr. Boyd said.

Mr. Wyden has long denounced the idea of “secret law” — classified memorandums and rulings about the meaning of surveillance law developed by executive branch officials and the FISA Court. He and Mr. Udall had proposed requiring the Justice Department to make public its official interpretation of what the Patriot Act means. The chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, agreed to hold a hearing on their concerns next month.

The two had also sponsored a proposal to tighten the circumstances in which one of the expiring provisions, known as Section 215, could be used. It allows the F.B.I. to obtain “any tangible things” — like business records about customers.

Mr. Udall criticized Section 215, saying it lets the government get private information about people without a link to a terrorism or espionage inquiry.

In a 2009 debate over the Patriot Act, another member of the Intelligence Committee, Russell Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, also hinted that Section 215 was being used in a secret way that, he said, “Congress and the American people deserve to know” about. He was defeated for re-election in 2010.

The business records section of the Patriot Act had been set to expire, along with provisions allowing the F.B.I. to obtain “roving” wiretap orders to follow suspects who change phone numbers, and to obtain national security wiretaps against noncitizen terrorism suspects who are not connected to any foreign power.

Congressional leaders had agreed to extend the provisions before they expired. But Senator Rand Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican from Kentucky, initially blocked an expedited vote on the bill because he wanted Senate leaders to allow a vote on several amendments. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, allowed votes on two Paul amendments, which would have offered greater privacy protections for records involving gun sales and banking.

View the original article here

Google Unveils App for Paying With Phone

On Thursday, the technology giant introduced Google Wallet, a mobile application that will allow consumers to wave their cellphones at a retailer’s terminal to make a payment instead of using a credit card. The app, for the Android operating system, will also enable users to redeem special coupons and earn loyalty points.

Starting this summer, the wallet will be available on the Nexus S 4G phone on Sprint and able to hold certain MasterCards issued by Citibank. It will also hold a virtual Google Prepaid MasterCard.

The mobile wallet will work at any of the 124,000 merchants that accept MasterCard’s PayPass terminals, which take contactless payments, and more than 300,000 merchants outside the United States. The wallet is powered by a technology called near-field communications, which is incorporated into a chip in mobile phones and sends a message to the merchants’ terminals.

“Eventually, you will be able to put everything in your wallet,” Stephanie Tilenius, vice president for commerce at Google, said at a news conference.

That grand vision will take a while to come to fruition. Various players have been working on mobile wallets for years, but they have not gained traction because the companies have not been able to agree on how they would be paid or who would control the wallets. Cellular carriers, banks, credit card issuers, payment networks and technology companies all have a stake in this battle.

With its wallet, Google plans to make money by offering consumers promotions as they shop. For instance, it plans to introduce “Google Offers” — advertising deals from local and online businesses that can be found online or sent through the phone. Like Groupon, Google will collect a fee from participating retailers every time a person redeems a coupon. Citibank will collect the same fees as it would in a traditional credit card transaction.

Google Wallet will need some time to become fully functional nationwide. While Google has worked with more than 15 retailers, like American Eagle Outfitters, Bloomingdale’s, the Container Store and Jamba Juice, they all need to upgrade their payment terminals. When they do, consumers will also be able to store and redeem deals with the wallet. Merchants in New York and San Francisco are expected to be ready this summer.

Once the retailers’ technology is in place, consumers will be able to wave their phone at the checkout counter and, in one swoop, discounts will be applied, loyalty points will be awarded and payments made. Someday, Google said, when consumers enter the store, their phones may serve up a list of items they recently bought, and offer them related discounts.

The wallet app itself will require a PIN, as will each transaction. The payment credentials will be encrypted and stored on a chip inside the phone.

Google emphasized that the wallet would be open to all businesses and invited other banks, credit card issuers, payment networks, mobile carriers and merchants to work with it.

“I expect that other payment networks and other banks will join this effort, though in some cases it will be a hedge strategy they employ along with their own mobile payment initiatives,” said Charles S. Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. “Since these payments utilize the same underlying business model as cards today, there is not significant disruption risk for these players.”

Google is also working with First Data, which processes payments and will ensure the security of the transaction.

If the phone was stolen, the credit cards inside could be remotely disabled. Consumers would have the same “zero liability” for unauthorized transactions made with their phones as they would with plastic cards.

Separately, PayPal filed a suit on Thursday against Google and two of its former executives who are now at Google, including Ms. Tilenius. The suit claims that they misappropriated trade secrets from PayPal’s mobile-payment business. A Google spokesman declined to comment because he said they have not yet received a copy of the complaint.

Eventually, Google said, its wallet may be able to hold much more, including car keys and airline boarding passes. But access to such items will still require a fully charged phone.

If the phone battery dies, even Ms. Tilenius of Google conceded, “I think you need to use your plastic at that point.”

View the original article here

Angry Parents in Japan Confront Government Over Radiation Levels

“Do you really care about our children’s health?” one parent shouted. “Why have you acted so late?” said another. Among other concerns: isn’t radiation still raining down on Fukushima? Shouldn’t the entire school building be decontaminated? The entire city? Can we trust you?

“We are doing all we can,” pleaded Tomio Watanabe, a senior official of Fukushima’s education board.

A huge outcry is erupting in Fukushima over what parents say is a blatant government failure to protect their children from dangerous levels of radiation. The issue has prompted unusually direct confrontations in this conflict-averse society, and has quickly become a focal point for anger over Japan’s handling of the accident at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, ravaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

At issue are updated government guidelines that allow schoolchildren to be exposed to radiation doses that are more than 20 times the previously permissible levels. That dose is equal to the international standard for adult nuclear power plant workers.

Adding to the anxiety, there is little scientific knowledge of the sorts of radiation dangers that Japan may now be facing. Scientists say readings in most areas are too low to cause immediate illness — even among children, who are more vulnerable — but they have a limited understanding of how low radiation doses over a long period of time can affect health.

“People in Japan want a simple answer: Is it safe or is it dangerous?” said Kuniko Tanioka, a member of Parliament’s upper house, on a recent visit to Washington. But given the state of radiation science, “there is no such thing” as a simple answer, Ms. Tanioka said.

For two months, the children at the Soramame Children’s House, a day care center about 37 miles from the stricken plant, spent their days indoors, windows sealed shut to keep out radiation, their favorite buckets and spades contaminated and strictly off limits.

But when the local authorities made no effort to decontaminate the area, caregivers took matters into their own hands. On the advice of local environmental groups — they said local officials had none to give — a group of parents and teachers donned makeshift protective suits and masks, took up spades and disposed of the playground’s topsoil.

After the topsoil removal, radioactive materials, which tend to be deposited in the soil, fell from about 30 times the levels naturally found in the environment to twice those levels.

“It breaks my heart that they did nothing for the children,” said Sadako Monma, herself a mother of two, who has run the Soramame center for 15 years. “Our answer was to stop waiting for someone to help us.”

On Monday, a group of angry parents from Fukushima staged a rowdy protest outside Japan’s Education Ministry in Tokyo, bearing signs reading “Save our children” and demanding to speak with the minister. They were rebuffed.

Yoshiaki Takaki, the education minister, later stressed that the government would allow children to remain exposed to the updated levels of radiation.

“We will endeavor to bring radiation levels down,” Mr. Takaki told reporters on Tuesday.

Slow action by the government has set off a revolt among the usually orderly ranks of Japanese bureaucrats.

Some smaller towns and cities in Fukushima Prefecture have spurned orders from Tokyo, declaring their schools unsafe and sending in bulldozers to remove contaminated soil from the school grounds. A handful of individual children’s facilities, like Soramame, have done the same. In April, an adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan resigned over the new radiation guidelines, saying he would not let his own children be exposed to those levels.

Matthew L. Wald contributed reporting from Washington.

View the original article here