Prayers run high as cash runs low

SNOW blanketed the city most of last week but it is the flailing economy that’s giving New Yorkers the shivers.
Broadway caught the chills, too. Popular shows such as Hairspray, Spamalot, Young Frankenstein, Gypsy and Grease are among the top names that will bow out by next month due to financial distress.Neither had it been a ho-ho-ho Christmas. Santa Claus made fewer appearances, according to news reports, because shopping malls were not hiring men to don the red suit.
People were also buying smaller, shorter Christmas trees this year to cut costs.
Business news website Crain’s New York.com cited data showing that prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs went up the past two months as more New Yorkers looked for ways to cope with the economic meltdown.
Money manager Bernard Madoff’s billion-dollar pyramid fraud has led to deep reflection among the Jewish community, now celebrating the eight-day Festival of Lights (Hanukkah), which ends on Monday. They felt betrayed that Madoff, a Jew, had misled so many Jewish foundations and charities.
These days of economic hell are bringing Americans to their knees. Literally.
Churches have reported bigger attendances. Cries from the fall of Wall Street resonated at the nearby Trinity Church, which responded with programmes such as Faith and Finance: Fresh Takes on the Economy, a video series.
More tellingly, even prayer websites have been deluged by those seeking divine intervention in these dark hours when cash is running low.
“I am desperate. I haven’t been working for a while. I have a lot of bills to pay and I have nowhere to go,” says a note posted on online prayer sanctuary (www.ipraytoday.com). “Please send me prayers in this difficult time.”
Another person said he needed a financial breakthrough, plus help in longtime care for his mother who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. “God is all I have now,” he said.
He isn’t alone in seeking a miracle on Wall Street.
Paige Wheeler, founder of www.ipraytoday.com, said prayer requests had been rising from those struggling to make ends meet.
“The increase of those asking for financial blessings and miracles has started to overshadow those seeking physical healings,” she said.
This was not because fewer people were sick, she explained, “but rather it is hard to be concerned with your ailments when you are worrying about losing your home or putting food on the table”.
Indeed, that was the case with a woman who has been married for 32 years. Her husband needed a hip replacement and she wanted a job badly.
“He’s living on a can of soup and a slice of bread every day,” the anxious wife said. “I am still unable to find work. I have been in the travel industry for over 13 years and am willing to relocate to Florida, Michigan or stay in Arizona.
“Please, pray for my husband and me; for our health, for me finding a job and for our financial needs.”
Then there was the young daughter worried for her mother.
“I am so sad. My mom is hurting – her job is on shaky ground, she is not in good health, finances are really a burden on her. Please God, please show my mom the right path.”
Wheeler’s website is a mere one year old but it has already registered thousands of subscribers to its Prayer Alerts.
“The success of this site for me is bittersweet,” she said in a telephone interview from Scottsdale, Arizona, where she lives.
“I am happy that I have created an arena which allows individuals to reach out to one another in prayer, but it is sad to know that the success of this site is unfortunately tied to an increased amount of pain, struggle, death and destruction throughout the world.”
She believes that the prayer requests sent to her website reflect an accurate snapshot of what many Americans were going through, especially during the tough days of winter.
To cite an example: “It is so cold here. I don’t have the money to heat my apartment properly,” someone wrote, seeking prayers for financial help.
“I am terrified that my old age will find me homeless, living in a cardboard box in an alley somewhere. I am in dire straits. Please pray for me, friends!”
Wheeler, who previously ran a health club but quit her job to become a stay-at-home mother for her two children aged six and eight, was inspired to set up the website while she was figuring out a way to reach out to people.
She grew passionate about it, saying that site evolved into a wonderful tool for people to make connections and acknowledge the healing power of prayer.
“The website,” she said, “respects all religions and faiths and seeks to affirm others by uniting in prayer.”
Another online prayer site, www.ourprayer.org (“a true church without walls”), has devoted a section on financial worries.
“Lift up your concerns in prayer,” it said. Topics include The Truth About Money, How to Find Yourself After Losing a Job and A Spiritual Approach to Financial Worries.
Uneasy about posting prayer requests on the Internet?
Not for those who are already at their wit’s end. Besides, people such as Wheeler believe that “among life’s greatest misfortunes lie our unoffered prayers”.
And there are, as one pastor told a newspaper, many walking wounded these days.

Figures, in whatever form, spell bad news

THE economy is bad news, credit is dwindling, and, for New Yorkers, there’s yet another set of numbers they need to fret over.
Their calorie intake.
“2,000 calories a day is all most adults should eat,” the city Health Department says in a three-month subway advertising campaign that started in October.The series of five advertisements is a follow-up to a May ruling which required restaurant chains here to include calorie count on their menus.
“Read ’em before you eat ’em” – that’s the message sent out by the city Health Department, designed to alert New Yorkers that a seemingly innocent-looking meal could have unimaginable calories.
Example: two pieces of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, biscuit and a fizzy drink would add up to 1,210 calories.
“If this is lunch, is there room for dinner?” the ad asks.
Chain restaurants in New York City are required to list the number of calories of every item on their menus. The practice, which began in May, applies to those operating more than 15 outlets where the menus are standardised.
So, do New Yorkers watch, and worry over, the calorie-count? Apparently, not all do.
“It’s a good ruling,” says Sylvia Kovacs, who has lived in New York City for 10 years. “But knowing the calorie amount doesn’t really influence my decision on what to eat.”
The slim, young actress, devouring a strawberry frosted doughnut (240 calories) at Dunkin’ Donuts near Macy’s one recent afternoon, reasoned that she had not eaten anything yet that day. The doughnut was her first food intake for the day and besides, she seldom patronised Dunkin’ Donuts.
“I eat healthy most of the time,” Kovacs says, recalling her growing up years in Hungary where her family hardly touched fast-food.
Billionaire mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been pushing for a healthier New York City. Trans-fat was banned from restaurants last year. Smoking had been outlawed in bars, restaurants and indoor public spaces since 2003. Smokers now light up at street corners.
Now, the state governor wants an 18% tax on non-diet fizzy drinks. This “obesity tax”, according to reports, is backed up by statistics showing that one out in every four New Yorker is overly chubby.
The introduction of calorie-count on menus led to public resentment initially. Some New Yorkers saw it as another insult to their civil liberties, accusing the Bloomberg administration of turning Gotham into a nanny state.
Others are supportive, like Dr Ming-Chin Yeh, who is assistant professor (Graduate Public Health Nutrition Track) at Hunter College, who says: “Yes, there is a nanny state-like feeling, but I’m glad I’ve got a damn good nanny!”
Criticisms have since quietened down, which Dr Yeh attributes to a tacit nod from the public that it is a good plan, after all.
“The banning of trans-fat here led to a lot of complaints. But now many cities across the US have imposed similar regulations. This is likely to spread to other parts of the world, too,” he says in an e-mail interview.
“I’m glad New York City is leading the way in making its citizens live a healthier life.”
A study by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention last year indicated a need to downsize New York. There had been a dramatic increase in obesity in the US in the past two decades, according to CDCP. Colorado was the only state with a prevalence of obesity less than 20%; New York registered 25%.
When the report was published, the New York Post called their city “New Pork”.
However, Dr Yeh acknowledges that it is still too soon to know whether the calorie display is changing people’s eating habits as there is no concrete data as yet.
“A couple of my students have told me that they now try to buy items with fewer calories,” he says, “and based on my own experience, I now expect to see calorie info on the menus whenever I eat out.”
Dr Yeh, however, believes that the public will eventually adopt better eating habits. “Making them aware of what they are eating is a good first step,” he says. “This is a good tool in raising people’s awareness.”
But numbers are frightening, sometimes. Some consumers went “OMG!” when they saw an apple raisin muffin marked at 470 calories; and a freshly-squeezed orange juice (475ml) sold at Jamba Juice at 220 calories.
How sure can consumers be that the calorie information is accurate?
“Restaurants base nutrition information and calorie counts on a verifiable analysis of the menu items,” says Sheila Weiss, a dietitian and the director of nutrition policy at the National Restaurant Association, which represents about 945,000 restaurants.
“And this can include laboratory testing, use of nutrient databases, and other reliable methods of analysis; all pursuant to the city’s regulations.”

Not so gay now in California

THE pairs of champagne flutes sat inside their boxes, unwrapped on the shelves. Each one was marked “bride”.
They were meant for same-sex couples eager to toast to their nuptial joy in California.
But wedding bells have stopped ringing since last month when residents in the Golden State voted “no” to gay marriages, overturning a Supreme Court ruling in May that sanctioned such unions.
The marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, made it clear that only a “marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California”.
Since Proposition 8 was passed on Nov 4, merchandise for same-sex marriages in bridal and gift shops have had no takers.
“Business is bad,” said Arturo Cobos, the manager of Kard Zone, which specialises in “cards, gifts and fun stuff” in the gay Castro neighbourhood of San Francisco.
The shop has been around for two decades, catering to both straight and gay people looking for birthday or anniversary gifts. Cute bodysuits are available for babies, inscribed with the words “I Love My Dads”.
But with the marriage ban on gays, “his-and-his” stuff (or “hers-and-hers”) remained untouched in the store, which also sells wedding cards depicting two bridal gowns; or a pair of tuxedos linking arms with one another.
“Some people are buying them as souvenirs, but perhaps we will have to move the stock to the store room later,” Cobos said.
A rainbow flag perched outside Kard Zone, which displayed what seemed now an outdated banner congratulating the newlyweds.
“There has been no more weddings since Proposition 8. This has really affected sales,” Cobos said.
A native of Mexico City, Cobos has lived in San Francisco for seven years. He attended the wedding of a good friend when the Supreme Court had allowed such marriages.
“It was a lovely ceremony,” he said, almost wistfully.
“They have been together for donkey’s years, but who knows what happens to those vows now?”
News reports estimated that almost 18,000 same-sex marriages took place in California this year since the court ruling. The legality of such vows is a big question mark now.
When Proposition 8 was passed last month, the streets of San Francisco and other major cities throughout the US witnessed massive demonstrations by supporters of gay marriages.
In the Castro neighbourhood, posters urging people to “Vote No on Prop 8 – Unfair and Wrong” are still seen on the window panes of many buildings.
The group behind Proposition 8, Protect Marriage, a coalition of religious and community leaders and pro-family organisations, thinks otherwise.
Protect Marriage stated on its website that the marriage ban was not an attack on gay couples, and neither did it diminish the rights that same-sex couples have under California’s existing domestic partner law.
“California law already grants domestic partners all the rights that a state can grant to a married couple,” according to Protect Marriage.
“Gays have a right to their private lives, but not to change the definition of marriage for everyone else.”
The group explained, too, that California voters had approved a similar proposition in 2000 by more than 61% in which they had defined that a marriage in California was between a man and a woman.
However, the court battle is far from over. The next action is expected to take place soon to address the question whether the voter-approved Proposition 8 is constitutional.
Massachusetts and Connecticut are the only two states that recognise marriages among couples of the same sex.
At least 30 states ban such marriages, although many others, including California, allows what is termed as civil unions.
New York and Rhode Island, however, have laws which recognise gay couples who get married elsewhere.
Newsweek published a lengthy cover story this week – The Religious Case for Gay Marriage – which showed the complexity of the issue in the United States.
Gay activists viewed Proposition 8 as a huge setback for a state such as California, which is often regarded as a trend-setter and the nation’s most forward-thinking state.
Lonely Planet calls San Francisco “the queerest place on earth”, while Los Angeles has a reputation among the country’s gayest cities.
California, in fact, is home to a number of the top 10 destinations for gays; Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Palm Springs, according to The New York Times.
But in the meantime, things are not looking rosy for stores such as Kard Zone. The economic crunch is another piece of bad news.
“It’s pretty slow,” Cobos said, looking around the store where just a couple of people were browsing at the shelves.
“There is very little foot traffic; it worsened when Tower Records, which was next door to us, closed down two years ago,” he said.
At Kard Zone, one greeting card declared “Let the Bliss Begin!”
Well, not yet.

It’s unbelievable what travellers pack

IT COULD have been a laundry list of unusual discoveries better meant for CSI Miami or CSI New York.
Some travellers do not just pack clothes, gifts and other essentials, as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), whose job it is to screen baggage at checkpoints, often finds out.
Among the amazing finds:
> A kitchen sink.
> Tarantula spiders, which “somehow crawled in and multiplied by the time an officer opened the bag”.
> Hermit crabs (discovered in San Antonio, Texas; a family wanted to take some home from the Gulf of Mexico).
> Fully tanked-up chainsaws and outboard boat engines (a favourite in Florida after the hurricanes).
> A handmade Mexican ceramic sink (purchased in the United States by Mexican nationals on vacation who said it was cheaper than at home).
> Road flares.
And how about 10 human eyeballs floating in liquid detected by airport scanners in Chicago last year? It turned out they were for legitimate medical use.
Weapons of all sorts have been found, too. Just to name a few: a 6ft-long African spear, a cane with a sword built in, and a belt with knives attached.
Several months ago, at Kennedy International Airport in New York, three men were caught for smuggling songbirds such as Chinese Hwamei and Mongolian Lark into the country.
“Also, believe it or not, people still are showing up at checkpoints with prohibited items and even firearms,” a representative from the TSA said.
By the estimates of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, 1.1 million international travellers enter the United States daily by air and through land and sea ports.
The agency utilises the latest technologies to screen travellers to ensure that people “who have ties to terrorism or have a criminal background are barred from entry”.
According to its website, the CBP’s mission is keep terrorists and their weapons out of the United States.
“A lot of people do not understand that we do many random inspections. They think we are picking on them. That’s just not the case,” said Peter J. Smith, the special agent in charge of New York.
Because of that, he said, the CBP got a lot of bad press, with its officers labelled as cowboys or cowgirls.
The CBP, he said, was the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with about 7,000 staff.
“These are the people you see at airports and points of entry at the border,” he said. Their priority is human and narcotics trafficking, and money laundering.
“That is why travellers leaving or entering the US carrying more than US$10,000 must declare it. If not, that money can be seized and the person subject to arrest,” he told a briefing organised by the New York Foreign Press Centre.
“You would need to go through the legal process to get the money back,” he added.
Smith noted, too, that a lot of narcotics were being brought into the country, citing attempts to smuggle in date rape drugs through Kennedy Airport.
“Cocaine has been found in the toilet, meant to be picked up by someone later,” he said.
Aren’t Customs officers going after those openly selling counterfeit goods in New York City, especially in Chinatown?
“We have a very robust enforcement, but we try to get them at the point of the goods coming off the ship or plane,” he said.
To travellers, Smith had this reminder: “Make sure you have the proper documents.
“If you’re allowed into the country for six months, you better leave after that period. With the new system coming in, we know who are supposed to stay just six months.
“And if your visa says you’re a student, you better be a student.”
He warned against using somebody else’s travel documents, “even though that picture of your brother or sister in the passport looks similar to you”.
“We are more thorough, much stricter now,” he said.
The TSA website has a list of permitted and prohibited items on the airplane; www.cbp.gov provides advice for international travellers; and www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/ says it all: “Know Before You Go.”
So, do a little homework before setting off on your dream trip to the land of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.