and unless the commonwealth government recognizes that and has some fairness in commonwealth state relations it is inevitable that the australian federation will weaken. and a line that i often use is that, western australia looks over the horizon to asia, not over the nullarbor to canberra. >>scott: so how productive has your overseas trip been? >>barnett: there's been a number of purposes, i started in dubai and abu dhabi and that is a very important market for meat from western australia and increasingly for grain production. and we are looking at encouraging a more modern commercial arrangement between those importing countries so that we can play a role in producing high quality agricultural produce, and help those countries in that region achieve food security; which is probably their biggest issue. >>scott: and what about tourism? people in the gulf have got a lot of money >>barnett: they do and many people from the gulf region and the middle east region i suppose generally tend to fly across western australia and often holiday in the gold coast; and the gold coast is a great place bu

so he recruited from around boston, around the commonwealth and around the country. he extended the school day for an hour and a half. by the way, i've got the tell you, you know, our calendar is based on farming, right? you get -- i'm not kidding of -- i'm not kidding. you get out in the time to plant, the school day is about getting to chores in the afternoon. he extended the school day. why? because some kids need help with their homework, and their parents don't even speak english at home. and so their opportunity to get that help is in the class room. he brought in city year, you know the program city year? to help with the after school, and they do many of the direct interventions with family. if somebody's later, they go to the house. i mean, a much more active and engaged community right now. everybody has signed on. they've been at this now for seven months. and their achievement schools have gone up 60% in seven months. they have stopped allowing the children and their families to say, well, we're orchard gaddens, what do you expect? they just changed that

. >> you are listening to the commonwealth club of california radio program. we're talking with ed lee, mayor of san francisco. speaking of the police department, one of your first moves was to hire a police chief. the head of the police union was overheard saying that he bought the appointment. others have said he is a member of the old boys' network. was that a political choice, that the union got one of their own as chief, that they might be more amenable to renegotiating the pension and kicking back the money in sour or forgoing raises for a third consecutive year? >> none of that injured into my decision making at all. it occurred so suddenly. they were literally confirming the as the vacancy was created. i asked the very same commission that helped to select the last chief to use the same process to come up with the best group of candidates. i reviewed it things with them about what they went through. i had concerns about whether they had open dialogue with the communities of the city, whether they had contact with all possible candidates. they did a ver

this meeting of the commonwealth, we are adjourning. [applause] >> san francisco is home to a renowned civic art collection that includes a comic works -- iconic works by local and national artists integrated into our public buildings and six basis. the arts commission has struggled to take care of the priceless collection because of limited resources. in an effort to gather more funding for the maintenance of the collection, the art commission has joined forces with the san francisco art dealers association to establish art care, a new initiative that provides a way for the public to get involved. the director of public affairs recently met with the founder and liquor -- local gallery owner to check out the first art care project. ♪ >> many san franciscans are not aware that there is a civic art collection of numbers almost 4000 works of art. preserving the collection and maintaining it is something being addressed by a new program called art care. it is a way for citizens to participate in the preservation of the civic art collection.

listening to the commonwealth of california radio program. we're talking with ed lee, mayor of san francisco. you mentioned the america's cup is coming. it is coming to san francisco in 2013. it is expected to bring over $1 billion of economic benefit to the city. in exchange for paying $55 million along the waterfront, the developers get rights and a 66-year lease at the peeriers. harvey rose the city could wind up paying more than the original deal said. is that report accurate? is this going to be a good deal long term for san francisco? >> the report has been reviewed by economists on all sides. i do think it is a great deal. it is not only for the historic nature of the event. but people are putting up their own money to help us repair dilapidated structures. one of the reasons why the port is not the maritime operation as much as it used to be is because the properties are in bad shape. it is very expensive to repair the underwater structures. i say that as a city administrator involved in reviewing the capital plans. we have not fixed

this meeting of the commonwealth, we are adjourning. [applause] >> i just want to make a public statement to acknowledge that appointments to the police commission and any commission which is a policy-making body is very important. i want to encourage about keep in front of our minds the importance of not only to elect women, but to work to get more women appointed to these bodies that help make legislative decisions for our city and county of san francisco. >> i am from san francisco. i grew up in the local neighborhood. i did my under deprad wait work at fisk university, where i studied political science with a concentration in public administration and worked eight years largely in the public sector. then i earned a master's degree from carnegie melon in pittsburg, pennsylvania. i spent some time as assistant executive director for a non-profit. we did work if a lot of kids in the neighborhood. i have done fundraising for candidates and issues. i have experience with the federal reserve bank of san francisco. when i look around my ne

and he talks at the commonwealth club in san francisco. this is just over an hour. >> the program is presented in partnership with the lafayette library and learning centers, glenn seboring learning consortium and part of the commonwealth's club good lit series underwritten by the bernard hoseher foundation and you can find it on the internet at commonwealthclub.org. i'm -- i'll be your moderator for tonight's program and it's my pleasure to introduce our special gift richard north patterson acclaimed of several novels. mr. partisan has written a new book "the devil's light" which explores the idea of a nuclear threat from al-qaeda. what happens when al-qaeda steals a bomb and tries to detonate it on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. mr. patterson answers that in a thriller that features of lineup of interesting characters including a u.s. intelligence figure named brook chandler who may or may not save the day. mr. patterson was a lawyer before becoming a lawyer serving at one point as an assistant attorney general for the state of ohio. he

citizens, but pay commonwealth taxes to run their own government. and while they don't pay u.s. federal taxes, residents do serve in high numbers in the military and participate in some federal programs, including food stamps and welfare. those programs have been important in recent years, as the territory was particularly hard hit by the recession with unemployment at nearly 17%. the president has promised help. >> we've been trying to make sure that every family can find work, make a living and provide for their children. that's why our economic plan and our health care reform included help for puerto rico. ( cheers and applause ) >> suarez: while in the capital, san juan, the president is meeting with republican governor luis fortuno, who strongly favors the transition to statehood for the island's four million residents. >> decisions are being made in washington and we are not sitting at the table. so if we are citizens-- and we are proud of that-- if we serve in greater numbers than other states, why not participate in the decision making process? >> suarez: the president t

millionaires and billionaires and he's also co-author of several books including wealth and our commonwealth why america should tax accumulated fortunes and the book robin hood was right for questions about the effects of extreme wealth inequality in america he's the guy to talk to that's why i'm pleased to welcome from boston chuck construct welcome to the program thanks tom great to have you with us you are the great grandson if i have my facts right at an area the fortune of the nineteenth century meat packing mobile oscar meyer and you first caught some attention when you gave an inheritance of half a million dollars to several foundations at the age of twenty six what brought that about. well you know i actually grew up in detroit and so i grew up in a city that was very polarized by race and class and when i was seven there was the uprising in detroit the riots and i that kind of woke me up and i and i think that was a little seed that was planted that got me interested in then just over time i began to sort of see those great inequalities how they affected people i became friends with

>> the evening and welcome to this evening's meeting of the commonwealth club of california. you can find this on the internet at commonwealthc lub.org. you can read us online at sf gate.com. now it is my pleasure to introduce our special guest, mayor ed lee. a few months ago, if you mentioned his name, they responded with the question -- "who the hell is ed lee?" unless you're connected to san francisco politics, you would not know he served four mayor's and he had very powerful friends like former mayor willie brown san francisco's often fractured board of supervisors could not agree on at the mayor, then they agreed on the compromise -- ed lee. the board approved him ten to one, and they do not approve of anything ten to one. who is he? his mother was a seamstress. his father died when he was 10. he was so poor, he and his siblings would scrounged around in the basement for something to give each other for christmas. in one box, there would be an old shoe. in another one, a shoelace. he won a scholarship to bottling college in bowdoin college in maine. he returned to the b

president to officially visit the commonwealth in 50 years. the trip was widely seen as a campaign swing courting the 4.6 million puerto rican voters who live on the u.s. mainland. >>> a government investigator tells congress the social security administration made $6.5 billion in overpayments in 2009. most of that money went to supplemental income recipients who underreported their worth. >>> a federal judge in san francisco has upheld last year's ruling by a gay judge that struck down california's same-sex marriage ban. the federal judge ruled the gay judge's sexuality and ten-year same-sex relationship did not affect his ability to be impartial. >>> more flights have been grounded from south america to new zealand as volcano in chile continues to spew ash. the volcano roared to life earlier this month after lying dormant for decades. >>> and starting today, the u.s. army will be sporting a new look. after ten years of complaints from soldiers about their berets being too hot, awkward and unable to block the sun, the army is ditching the bla

we funded publi schoolat the highest vel in the histo of the commonwealth when the bottom was falling out of everything else in the state budget. i think education fir and fomost. it's why you can have a story like mine. mine is a uniquely american story. it doesn't get toldas often as we'd like, but it gets told more often in this country. >> rose: and the telling means something. "a reason toelieve: lessons from an improbableife." the state, sir, in many ways they've seen some incredible challenges. >> they are. we are. but we faced up to our decisions. i told you, we've had to... we've invested in education significantly. we've encouraged those innovation industries where we're getting our highest growth and we've also done the unglamorous work of rebuilding the infrastructure. and at the same time our budgets have been responsible, balanced, and on time every year i've been in office. our bond rating has gotn stronger. our unemployment rate is well below the national average. we've moved up to fifth best place in the nation in which to business do business. young people are moving

i think we can make a big puerto rico and a good puerto rico, with the commonwealth. >> reporter: it issue. and for sure, there will be protests later today. particularly from those seeking independence, a small but vocal minority. in san juan, puerto rico, i'm joe torres, abc news. >>> the seven people on board were not injured, but a world war ii bomber was destroyed after making an emergency landing near chicago. one of the b-17's engines caught fire during the flight. it was on its way to indianapolis, where the public would have had a chance to take flights on it this weekend. the plane's name is liberty bell and was made in 1944. >> how about that? >>> airline fees have fast become the new normal for millions of travelers. figures just out shows that last year alone, passengers shelled out an eye-popping $5.7 billion, this for fees and baggage and reservation changes. steve osunsami shows how airlines are cashing in. >> reporter: for the airlines, the annoying extra fees, the nickel and diming of passengers, have clearly paid off. one industry analyst told us, if it weren't for

this meeting of the commonwealth, we are adjourning. [applause] >> i get really concerned one ip -- hear people say the payroll tax is a job killer. maybe in some industries the payroll tax might be a disincentive on business going forward, but i would not be surprised if we came out of the whole discussion about remaking our tax for next year that it involves a combination of a payroll tax, commercial occupancy tax, and gross receipts tax. all of that could be in a remade form of our business tax structure. >> that is a good question to ask. i will ask this monday. >> i was born in of los angeles. i was in a mexican-american, a chicano town. my dad was a launch your worker. my mother was an office worker at usc. my parents were divorced when i was 10 years old. i moved to the east coast and lived there for six years and then fled back to california after high school. i went to school at uc santa barbara. i have been in san francisco since 1989, have lived in the excelsior since 1999. the difficulty is, muni often sees it as an industri

ofilia claims the commonwealth is not providing adequate medical care to treat a gender identity disorder. a federal lawsuit to force virginia to complete her transition. what do you think about this one? gender identity is a disorder or a mental illness in which people believe they were born the wrong gender. should the state have to pay for that surgery? share your thoughts in mcginty's mail bag. that is mailbag@wusa9.com. >>> well, imagine you just driving down the highway when all of a sudden something slams through your windshield. that is exactly what happened to a new york couple as they were passing through virginia eight years ago today. someone threw a boulder down on to their car and it nearly killed the woman inside. today, daphne gibson spoke with peggy fox about what happened and what happened since. >> to the people that did this, you know who you are, and so do we want we want you to turn yourself in. >> wanda believes it was four teenagers who stood on this bridge and dropped a 70-pound boulder like this off the road overpass on june 7, 2003. it crashed through her daught

this meeting of the commonwealth, we are adjourning. [applause] commissioner mirkarimi: welcome to the san francisco city and county trent titian authority. thank you to sfgtv in their excellence of covering the happenings at city hall. please call roll call. -- transportation authority. >> [roll call] we have a quorum. commissioner mirkarimi: thank you. item two. >> item 2. approval of minutes of may 24, 2011 meeting. this is an action item. commissioner mirkarimi: comments or questions? public comments? public comment is closed. approval of the minutes seconded by commissioner campos, avalos. roll call. >> [roll call] there are nine ayes. commissioner mirkarimi: please read items 3 and 4. >> item 3. chairs report. this is an information item.item 4. executive director's report. this is an information item. commissioner mirkarimi: the region is now in the throes of an important policy discussion about the way that growth will occur in the next two to three decades and the focus is on dealing with climate change and assuring we invest i

this meeting of the commonwealth, we are adjourning. [applause] across america, cities and towns, homes and businesses all depend upon one basic resource. modern civilization and life itself would be impossible without it. woman: okay, so today, we're going to look at how do we get our water? narrator: and today, it's a matter of simply turning on the tap. so often, we forget about the value of water. water is a commodity that is essential to life. 100 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine turning on the tap water. and now, it's an expectation. narrator: over 300 million people live in the united states. and each person uses an average of 100 gallons of water every day. man: what it takes to actually make clean water is somewhat a mystery to most customers. woman: so how does water get from the river into your house, or here at school? woman: somebody has to bring that water to us, and somebody has to take it away when we're finished with it. man: the water infrastructure is vital for disease protection, fire protection, basic s

for russia in the commonwealth of independent states and he says he has seen marked progress over the last few years. there's been some progress i don't think it's enough and personally i think the actually the government also believes that it's not good the job is not complete. they have done some good things like you like the school they have the stably skolkovo they have to ask for politicians to leave the boards of various companies they have extensive privatization program they've established the fund that would look for a good investments so they've done some things but there's more to do. now just to recap a little bit last year's theme was russia's modernization and also how to focus on making moscow a center for global finance now just to give you a sense of the numbers involved in this year's program this is the fifteenth annual st petersburg international economic forum thirty two million dollars budget it's a twelve percent increase over last year's two thirds of that coming from the sponsors now there are many many partners involved here and dozens and dozens of companies

in russia and the commonwealth of independent states he tells us that the investment climate in russia is something that. he's looking forward to addressing and favorable one for business. there's been some progress i don't think it's enough and personally i think the actually the government also believes that it's not that the job is not complete. they have done some good things like you like they've established kolkata they have asked for politicians to leave the boards of various companies they have extensive privatization program they've established the fund that will look for edward investments so they've done some things but there's more to do. are we seeing tangible progress you know i'm very involved with spoke of a foundation and the leadership foundation i can tell you i have a real we have a report card we can demonstrate tangible measurable results today versus one year ago so we're making progress is it perfect no is it is going to see it going well yes we are about to announce a major partnership with one of the top.

i recognize that there could also set some have visited one of the commonwealth, symmetries in normandy recently, the huge amount of work that goes on to make sure that relatives can visit to see their fallen heroes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. millions of pensioners in this country

it's very dwited between state hood and commonwealth or independence.s back. who would trade statehood for having to pay federal taxes? >> it's not about the taxes. the people there are not living cheaply. they have to pay a lot of taxes on the island. food is very expensive. they're not getting a deal farce the economics are concerned. but the economics of it in terms of the united states adopting puerto rico as a state is a real issue. you would have to pour in billions of dollars to get up to the minimal federal levels. so much more poor than even alabama. that's what you have to look at. the united states can't afford it. there's no way you'll get the congress to vote to make another four million latinos and upgrade their citizenship and pour the money in there when the country is broke and there's an an anti latino sentiment unfortunately, that's the case. it's a sad situation. >> all right, bill, i'm glad that we know how you feel. glad you made time for us, professor, you as well. thank you, both. first he tried to shrug it off as a prank by a ha

superintendent reserve a great site for friend -- for a friend or ranking official, we in the commonwealth of virginia are proud that we have been the site of what is hallowed ground for our whole nation. my hope is that the community will act on this small piece of legislation. >> thank you very much, senator warner. i am sure every parent knows who we can turn these problems over to when it comes to technology. [laughter] senator white house. >> thank you. i appreciate your service to our veterans who work for this committee. i am very pleased to join senator snowe and senator warner. i have heard the legislation they have put forward today to protect the integrity and dignity of military funerals and the integrity and dignity of the process to which gravesides or allocated at arlington. i am honored to be in their company to date. i very much appreciate your service. i am here to speak about legislation to improve protection for military families from losing their homes through long "-- a fruit wrongful foreclosure. while operations in afghanistan that around the world have put demands

people tuned in for the commonwealth games in new deli.enes, children as young as seven help build the infrastructure, working in what many would describe as sub human conditions. when we asked for comment, the chief minister told cnn if the government had known then about these allegations, it would have act against subcontractors using child labor. >> you see something about two and a half feet tall with two legs, you know that's child labor. when i say child, we literally mean child, four, five, six years old, with hammers and carting around gravel. >> reporter: that's slavery, too. in european red light districts, often in major cities and capitals, you find women being trafficked from countries like mull dove a and nigeria, forced to sell sex on the streets and in brothels. >> i was just a thing. >> reporter: slavery crosses borders, effects every country. destroys millions of lives. becky anderson, cnn, london. >> this sunday at 8:00 p.m., join cnn's freedom project and demi moore for the premier of nepal's stolen children. the story