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Monday, July 18, 2011
Paint Your Roofs White - Bill Clinton - Business - The Atlantic
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By Bill ClintonJul 18 2011, 9:13 AM ET 20
What's the single best idea to jumpstart job creation?
Look at the tar roofs covering millions of American buildings. They absorb huge amounts of heat when it's hot. And they require more air conditioning to cool the rooms. Mayor Bloomberg started a program to hire and train young people to paint New York's roofs white. A big percentage of the kids have been able to parlay this simple work into higher-skilled training programs or energy-related retrofit jobs. (And, believe it or not, painting the roof white can lower the electricity use by 20 percent on a hot day!)Every black roof in New York should be white; every roof in Chicago should be white; every roof in Little Rock should be white. Every flat tar-surface roof anywhere! In most of these places you could recover the cost of the paint and the labor in a week. It's the quickest, cheapest thing you can do. In the current environment it's been difficult for the mayors to get what is otherwise a piddling amount of money to do it everywhere. Yet lowering the utility bill in every apartment house 10 to 20 percent frees cash that can be spent to increase economic growth.
Follow the debate here. A version of this article appeared in Newsweek's cover story "It's Still the Economy, Stupid." It has been adapted with the permission of the magazine and the former president.
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Jonah Shacknai's son Max dies after accident at mansion where Rebecca Nalepa was hanged | Mail Online
Millionaire's six-year-old son dies after mysterious accident at mansion where his father's lover was found hanging naked
- Girlfriend found hanging naked from balcony with orange electrical cord tied around feet and hands
- Little boy had fallen down staircase days before while in her care
- It emerged she has past conviction for stealing $1,000 worth of jewellery from department store
- She left job last year to spend more time with boyfriend and his children
- Tycoon described as ambitious and driven head of $700million-a-year cosmetic drugs firm
Last updated at 1:17 PM on 18th July 2011
The six-year-old son of a multimillionaire pharmaceutical tycoon has died, just days after his father's girlfriend was found dead hanging naked from a balcony.
Two days before Rebecca Nalepa's bizarre death, Max Shacknai had fallen down the stairs of his father's historic mansion in Coronado while in her care.
He died at Rady's Children's Hospital in San Diego yesterday, Medicis Pharmaceuticals chief executive Jonah Shacknai announced.
Tragedy: Six-year-old Max Shacknai died one week after he fell down the stairs of his millionaire father's mansion
Last Monday, Max fell down the stairs at the Spreckels mansion in what police called a tragic accident. He was not breathing and did not have a pulse when paramedics found him.
On Wednesday, Miss Nalepa, Mr Shacknai's 32-year-old girlfriend of two years, was found dead hanging naked from a balcony at the mansion, her hands and feet bound.
Mr Shacknai's brother, Adam, who was staying in the mansion's guesthouse, cut Miss Nalepa down to try and save her then called 911. Jonah Shacknai was not at home, police said.
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Sheriff's Captain Tim Curran has called the death 'very bizarre.'
Investigators have not established any connection between the two deaths, have not determined if Miss Nalepa was a crime victim and have made no arrests. They said they have not ruled out suicide.
Max's death deepens the tragedy surrounding Mr Shacknai, a multimillionaire known as a highly driven and ambitious player in the pharmaceuticals industry, whose firm has a $700million annual turnover producing cosmetic drugs similar to Botox.
Together: Jonah Shacknai with his 32-year-old girlfriend Rebecca Nalepa, who was found dead hanging nude from a balcony at his mansion
Victim: Rebecca Nalepa, 32, pictured on the left with her son, was found wrapped in cord after apparently hanging at the millionaire's mansion
It also emerged that Miss Nalepa, who has a past conviction for shoplifting, had given up her job as an ophthalmic technician in December to devote her time to Mr Shacknai, Max and his other two children.
In a joint statement with ex-wife Dina Romano, the boy's mother, Mr Shacknai said: 'With great sadness, Dina and I convey the tragic passing of our beloved son, Max (affectionately known as Maxie).
'Despite heroic efforts on the part of paramedics and hospital staff, he was unable to recover from the injuries suffered early last week. His loving, kind and vibrant spirit will be forever in our hearts and those whom he touched every day.'
Miss Nalepa was discovered naked, hanging from a second-storey balcony with her feet and hands bound with orange electrical cord, police have revealed.
She met what officers described as a 'very violent and very suspicious end' at the mansion.
While an autopsy has been completed, police are not releasing the details and have not yet ruled whether her grisly death was murder or suicide.
Speculation mounted it could be connected to the accident just days before, when Mr Shacknai's son fell down the property's grand staircase.
Sprawling: The mansion where Nalepa's body was found, which is owned by pharmaceutical millionaire Jonah Shacknai
Miss Nalepa, a Burmese woman who had been in a relationship with Mr Shacknai for two years, was reportedly looking after the little boy at the time.
The mystery surrounding her death, which police have described as 'bizarre', deepened as it emerged a loud party had been held at the 27-room house on Tuesday night, the day before Miss Nalepa died - and the day after the little boy's accident.
San Diego County Sheriff's Office said Miss Nalepa's naked body was discovered by Mr Shacknai's brother, Adam, early on Wednesday morning.
Adam, who had been staying at a guesthouse on the property, told detectives he found her hanging by her neck from a second floor balcony, with her hands and feet bound.
He cut her down from the balcony to try to save her, before calling 911.
Firefighters tried to revive Miss Nalepa, who they described as being 'in distress', but she was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Multi-Millionaire: Jonah Shacknai is the founder, chairman and CEO of the Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation
When news cameras circled overhead, her naked body was lying sprawled in a grassy courtyard, with what appeared to be orange electrical wire trailing to one side.
Tim Curran, with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, described the circumstances as 'very suspicious', telling NBC San Diego that it appeared the victim had died a 'violent' death.
He refused to rule out suicide, saying: 'That is a possibility. [The] circumstances are bizarre.'
'It appears to be some type of a violent death, and I'm not going to compromise the integrity of the investigation by giving anything more than that at this time,' he added.
THE LANDMARK $17M MANSION
Built in 1908, the luxurious 27-room Spreckels Mansion includes six bedrooms and an unfinished wine-storage room used during Prohibition.
One of the biggest residences in Coronado, it was built in 1908 as a beach home for John D. Spreckels, who owned the nearby Hotel del Coronado.
Mr Curran said Adam Shacknai is not currently being considered a suspect, although he was the only other person believed to have been in the 27-room mansion when Miss Nalepa died.
Both brothers and Mr Shacknai's ex-wife Dina, who is six-year-old Max's mother, are being questioned by police as witnesses, Curran said.
Mr Shacknai, who has been married twice before, is described as a highly-driven chief executive who makes a point of calling 1,500 dermatology customers each year on their birthdays.
Gary Nachman, a Wall Street analyst, told the San Diego Tribune: 'Jonah is very much the blood that runs through Medicis. They are a very meaningful player in the dermatology market.'
Although in Arizona, where his business is based, Mr Shacknai is known as a 'community leader' for his charity work, in Coronado he has has earned a reputation for being arrogant.
When he bought the historic Spreckels mansion in 2007, preservation officials said he agreed not to make any major changes to it. Yet he soon began petitioning to make alterations, including adding a hydraulic roof over part of the property, they claim.
Jeff Alison, a neighbour who went to City Hall meetings on the proposed changes, said: 'I thought he was as arrogant as hell. It was his way or the highway.'
Discovery: Rebecca, left was found hanging from a balcony naked by her boyfriend's brother Adam, right
Violent end: Sheriff's deputies described Rebecca Nalepa's death as "very suspicious and violent"
Crime scene: The cordoned off $17m Spreckels Mansion, on San Diego's exclusive Ocean Boulevard
In May, Miss Nalepa, who had lived with Mr Shacknai for about two years, had successfully petitioned to revert to her maiden name, Rebecca Zahau.
Her ex-husband, Neil, told 10News; 'This is all overwhelming. I'm just trying to wrap my head around it.
A friend told NBC San Diego Miss Nalepa was a 'survivor' who would never have allowed herself to have been seen naked and would not have considered suicide.
Miss Nalepa's brother-in-law Doug Loehner also issued a statement, defending her boyfriend. He said: 'Jonah is a stand-up guy. He was very devoted to Rebecca. She treated his kids as her own,' he said.
THE TWICE-MARRIED TYCOON
Jonah Shacknai founded pharmaceutical giant Medicis and has been chairman and chief executive since 1988.
The company makes dermatological and aesthetic pharmaceutical products and took $700million in revenue last year.
Shacknai has two other children from a previous marriage to Kimberly James, a pharmaceuticals sales representative for rival firm Johnson & Johnson.
The couple married in April 1993 in Bel Air, California, before filing for divorce in 1999.
She later told a psychologist that on their honeymoon he asked her if she thought the marriage was a mistake.
Family Court records show the couple reached a joint-custody agreement in 2001 for two children: a 14-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy.
Shacknai later married Dina Romano, the boy's mother, and the couple divorced in 2008.
It emerged Miss Nalepa has a past conviction for shoplifting.
In 2009, she went into a Macy's store and put more than $1,000-worth of jewellery into different shopping bags. Security officers grabbed her as she was walking out and called police.
Miss Nalepa pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour, agreed to pay a $500 fine and attend a shoplifting 'diversion' course.
But her former boss at Horizon Eye Specialists & Lasik Center in Phoenix has paid tribute to Miss Nalepa, describing her as a dedicated professional who was 'full of life', the San Diego Tribune reports.
Miss Nalepa began working there as an ophthalmic technician in April 2008, but left in December last year to devote more time to Mr Shacknai and his three children.
Michael Trier said; 'We are saddened and troubled by the circumstances of her death. It is our hope that justice can be served for Rebecca.
'She was very good with our patients. She was very committed for several years to her career. She was a personality very much full of life.'
The 27-room Spreckels mansion was built in 1908 in the wealthy seaside suburb of about 24,000 people on San Diego Bay. It is named for its original owner John D. Spreckels, who also owned the majestic Hotel del Coronado and two local newspapers, the San Diego Union and San Diego Tribune.
Coronado had just one homicide last year, and the police department asked the sheriff's department to help with the investigation.
Mr Shacknai founded Medicis, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has been chairman and CEO since 1988.
The company's products include acne treatments Solodyn and Ziana and facial wrinkle treatment Restylane.
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Will Elizabeth Warren jump into U.S. Senate race? - On Politics: Covering the US Congress, Governors, and the 2010 Election
By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY
Updated 39m agoNow that President Obama has passed over Elizabeth Warren to head a new consumer protection agency she helped create, will the Harvard law professor run for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts?
That's the question since Obama over the weekend appointed former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that Warren helped shepherd since its creation through the major Wall Street overhaul law known as Dodd-Frank.
"I would love it if she were interested in joining the race. I would talk to her and encourage her in a heartbeat," John Walsh, Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman, told The Boston Globe last week.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reportedly has talked to Warren about running for the Senate.
There's already a host of Democrats running to challenge GOP Sen. Scott Brown next year. Brown has been a Democratic target since he scored an upset victory in 2009 to serve out the remainder of the late Edward Kennedy's term. Brown has nearly $10 million in his campaign account, far eclipsing the money raised by his Democratic rivals.
Warren has been a lightning rod for Republicans in Congress, stemming in part from her work on a panel that oversees the implementation of the $700 billion bank bailout enacted in 2008. It was her idea to create a consumer protection agency that would help people understand the impact of mortgages, credit cards and other financial tools.
Her exchange with Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., during a congressional hearing in which he called her a "liar" has gone viral on YouTube.
Obama will formally introduce Cordray as his pick to lead the consumer agency today.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee says Democrats have a "lackluster field" challenging Brown and has mocked Warren's potential candidacy as being driven by "party bosses in Washington -- and not Bay State voters."
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