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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “The freshman class of 2010 … isn’t following the conventional script about taking time to get to know the institution before throwing your weight around. In a powerful debut, a handful of tea party-backed GOP freshmen pushed the Senate Republicans caucus on Tuesday to impose on itself a voluntary ban on earmarks — member projects often criticized as pork barrel spending — in the new Congress. Senate Republican leadership had long opposed such a move, but yielded to the pressure of outspoken senators-elect, who had campaigned to rein in wasteful spending, notably earmarks.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3agsaqx Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “People convicted of possessing a gun while selling drugs are subject to five-year mandatory minimum sentences on top of most other sentences, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The ruling was the first signed decision of the term, and it was unanimous. But the court’s newest member, Justice Elena Kagan, did not participate, having disqualified herself in light of her work as United States solicitor general. The decision involved two defendants whose cases had been consolidated. One of them, Kevin Abbott of Philadelphia, was convicted of drug trafficking, a related gun charge with the five-year minimum, and under a law requiring a 15-year minimum sentence for career criminals. Only the latter two charges figured in his sentence, and the trial judge added them together for a total of 20 years.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/392c28p Filed under: 2AM News and CANDi News and PND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “Senator John Kerry, the Obama administration’s point man in Congress on foreign policy, is racing to line up the votes for ratification of a key arms treaty with Russia before the newly elected Congress can try to block it next year. Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, shepherded the New START treaty through his committee in September, winning bipartisan support. But Republican holdouts may delay a Senate ratification vote until next year, when the new Congress is sworn in and Democrats’ Senate majority shrinks from 59 to 53. That will make ratification — which requires 67 votes — more difficult.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3xvbebn Filed under: CANDi News and PND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “A new report requested by Congress is raising questions about the safety of a high-security laboratory that the federal government plans to build in Kansas to study dangerous animal diseases. The National Research Council, part of the National Academy of Sciences, found several major shortcomings in a risk assessment conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. The agency is planning to open the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kan. The lab would study a variety of dangerous animal diseases, including the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease, which can sicken cattle, pigs, deer, and other hooved animals.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/36jmo8b Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “In a surprise reversal, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky announced today that he will join House GOP leaders in voting to ban ‘earmarks’ — member projects often criticized as pork barrel spending — thus avoiding an early clash with tea party freshmen committed to ending the practice. The issue was seen as a litmus test of how far the Republican leadership would go to satisfy freshmen lawmakers and the tea party movement that propelled some of them to victory. In the past, Senate Republicans have defended their right to use earmarks, but the process has been a primary tea party complaint.” (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27wed27 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler told Fox News on Monday he is following through with his vow to challenge Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the role of the House’s top Democrat when the party moves into the minority in the next Congress. Shuler said he’s making good on his campaign promise to challenge Pelosi for minority leader, adding that he’s had a respectful relationship with Pelosi but would always be direct with her. It’s an uphill battle, he acknowledged, but the Democrats lost in the recent midterm elections, and he thinks Pelosi is partly responsible for that loss.” [editor’s note: Having watched Shuler fail to beat Florida when he was at UT, then fall short as an NFL QB before moving to politics … I wish him luck! - SAT] (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2enbqhg Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “Federal immigration officials are increasingly imposing thousands of dollars in fines on New England companies — from Fenway Park snack vendors to a Maine blueberry grower — for failing to prove that all their employees are in the United States legally. The fines rose from just $14,534 in fiscal year 2008 to $118,000 this year in New England alone. Those penalties are the result of a major shift last year in the Obama administration’s immigration strategy. Instead of the dramatic, large-scale raids that snagged hundreds of illegal immigrants, including at a New Bedford factory three years ago, federal officials say they are focusing more on the businesses that hire them. The aim is to eliminate the job opportunities that attract illegal workers.” [editor’s note: That’s “failing to prove” not “innocent until proven guilty” like it says in legal presumptions - SAT] (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2c7n8oy Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “Working women are equal to men in a way they’ll wish they weren’t. Female workers with stressful jobs were more likely than women with less job strain to have a heart attack or a stroke, or to have clogged arteries, a large federally funded study found. Worrying about losing a job can raise heart risks, too, researchers found. The study was led by Dr. Michelle Albert, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Results were reported yesterday at an American Heart Association conference in Chicago. … This is the longest major study to look at stress in women, who make up nearly half of the workforce.” (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23ev4sr Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.14.10 by Steve Trinward “The US Postal Service said yesterday that it lost $8.5 billion last year despite cuts of more than 100,000 jobs and other reductions in recent years. The post office had estimated it would lose $6 billion to $7 billion, but a sharp decline in mail took a toll. Increased Internet use and the recession, which cut advertising and business mail, meant less money for the agency.” [editor’s note: And my “progressive” friends still somehow think the institution that can’t deliver the mail should run healthcare - SAT] (11/13/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24xb4j5 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.14.10 by Steve Trinward “Of all the states swept up in the Republican wave that washed across most of the nation this month, New Hampshire may be the most surprising. After trending Democratic for several election cycles, the Granite State was inundated by the great GOP tide. Republicans flipped both the House and Senate by enormous margins, broomed Democrats from both congressional seats, easily held the US Senate seat being vacated by Judd Gregg, and scored a 5-0 wipeout in the Executive Council, which, unlike its counterpart in Massachusetts, has significant power.” (11/13/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25esfcy Filed under: CANDi News | |
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Source: Los Angeles Times Posted on 11.14.10 by Steve Trinward “Fear is a complicated emotion, and scientists have recruited a scary laboratory aide to map out how the feeling is processed in the brain — the Brazilian salmon pink tarantula. Using video of the 8.7-inch-long arachnid, British researchers showed that the brain engages several different systems when evaluating threats. For instance, the part of the brain that engages when a threat is approaching is different than the part that is activated when a threat is receding, they reported Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” (11/14/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2e676gq Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Bloomberg News Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “Demonstrating students broke windows at the complex housing the headquarters of Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party in London to protest plans to cut funding to universities and increase tuition fees. Thirty-five people were arrested, and seven police officers and seven protesters were injured in the demonstration, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said by phone. The protesters smashed glass on the ground floor of the 27-story Millbank Tower on the north bank of the River Thames, close to Parliament, as a planned march turned violent. Demonstrators started a fire outside the building, burning effigies of Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.” (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/39uxp9y Filed under: CANDi News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “A government survey says 1 in 10 US children has ADHD, a sizable increase from a few years earlier that researchers think might be explained by growing awareness and better screening. ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, makes it hard for children to pay attention and control impulsive behavior. It’s often treated with drugs, behavioral therapy, or both. The new study found that about two-thirds of the children who have ADHD are on medication.” [editor’s note: So now they have done it; they’ve turned a legitimate ailment, affecting a very small number of children with severe learning disabilities, into an epidemic-level crisis that almost everyone has, and now can beg billions from the Feds to fund their game - SAT] (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25vmyb5 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “Three Murrah High School [Jackson] basketball players have sued their coach and the school system over alleged whippings. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Jackson by attorney Lisa Ross. Ross contends that a video clip shows a basketball player bent over as a man swings a belt, hitting him three times. The video was made available to Jackson media outlets. Ross says the man in the video, which was recorded on a cell phone, is boys’ basketball coach Marlon Dorsey. In the lawsuit, which gives only one side of the legal argument, the players contend they were physically and verbally abused by the coach.” [editor’s note: So slapping the hand of a student in normal class is grounds for dismissal, but you have to SUE the basketball coach to stop belt-lashing? - SAT] (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/259euwh Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the long-anticipated successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is in serious financial trouble, according to a project review panel. The culprits: bad management and flawed budgets from managers, the panel concludes — not hardware challenges or a tightfisted Congress. Overall, the telescope’s cradle-to-grave budget, currently pegged at $5 billion, will need another $1.5 billion to live up to its scientific promise, the review panel estimated in a report released late Wednesday afternoon.” (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26we9a4 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “The chairmen of President Obama’s bipartisan commission on reducing the national debt outlined a politically provocative and economically ambitious package of spending cuts and tax increases yesterday, igniting a debate that is likely to grip the country for years. The plan calls for deep cuts in domestic and military spending, a gradual 15-cents-a-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax, limiting or eliminating popular tax breaks in return for lower rates, and benefit cuts and an increased retirement age for Social Security. Those changes and others, none of which would take effect before 2012 to avoid undermining the tepid economic recovery, would erase nearly $4 trillion from projected deficits through 2020, the proposal says, and stabilize the accumulated debt.” (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2g8xwjw Filed under: CANDi News | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 11.10.10 by Steve Trinward “Tennessee’s latest revenue figures released Wednesday show monthly sales tax collections grew at their highest rate since April 2007 and that the state’s general fund exceeded projections by $46 million through the first quarter of the budget year. Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz, who is leaving the administration of term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen at the end of this week, said the improved economic performance could mean the cancellation of a call for agencies to cut spending by up to 3 percent.” [editor’s note: OR, it might lead to a rollback on the grocery-tax rate? Just sayin’ … (and to those who claim an income tax is essential to run a state - PFFFFT!) - SAT] (11/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2awan7p Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: AOL News Posted on 11.10.10 by Steve Trinward “Over the years, beer has brought countless people together. But researchers now say beer isn’t just responsible for sparking new friendships and relationships — it might also be responsible for the rise of human civilization. Archaeologists believe that when Stone Age farmers in Southwest Asia began harvesting grain — a process long considered to be a precursor to the advent of civilization — they weren’t doing it to produce food. Instead, they say agriculture’s early seeds were sown in an attempt to brew beer, according to LiveScience.com.” (11/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2ex53c9 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.10.10 by Steve Trinward “It is a happy moment for people who see the Happy Meal as anything but. San Francisco has become the first major American city to prohibit fast-food restaurants from including toys with children’s meals that do not meet nutritional guidelines. The city’s Board of Supervisors voted 8 to 3 in favor of the measure yesterday after giving it preliminary approval last week. That is enough votes to survive a likely veto by Mayor Gavin Newsom. The ordinance, which would go into effect in December 2011, prohibits toy giveaways in fast-food children’s meals that have more than 640 milligrams of sodium, 600 calories, or 35 percent of their calories from fat. The law also would limit saturated fats and trans fats and require fruits or vegetables to be served with each meal with a toy.” (11/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27al7eg Filed under: CANDi News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.10.10 by Steve Trinward “Amazon is selling an e-book entitled The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure, and shocked consumers across the nation now are calling for a boycott of the online retail giant. The e-book, authored by Phillips Greaves, was published late last month, according to product details on Amazon.com. It sells for $4.79 on the company’s Kindle Store. … The content has led to hundreds of tweets criticizing Amazon for allowing the title to be sold. A Facebook page has been created calling for a boycott of the Seattle-based company.” (11/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/235tney Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.10.10 by Steve Trinward “Black male students trail their white counterparts in school by alarming margins and for reasons that often are not well understood, according to a report released yesterday. The report from the Council of the Great City Schools, an advocacy organization for urban education, suggests that poverty is not the only factor behind the black-white achievement gap. Federal test data show that white male students nationwide who come from families poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches outperform black males from large cities whose families are better off economically, according to the report. The report analyzed fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math results from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress.” (11/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28kp7kr Filed under: CANDi News and PND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.09.10 by Steve Trinward “Teens who text 120 times a day or more — and there seem to be a lot of them — are more likely to have had sex or used alcohol and drugs than kids who don’t send as many messages, according to provocative new research. The study’s authors aren’t suggesting that ‘hyper-texting’ leads to sex, drinking or drugs, but say it’s startling to see an apparent link between excessive messaging and that kind of risky behavior. The study concludes that a significant number of teens are very susceptible to peer pressure and also have permissive or absent parents, said Dr. Scott Frank, the study’s lead author.” [editor’s note: No wonder my social life sucks; I hate texting! - SAT] (11/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23ues8x Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.09.10 by Steve Trinward “In the flickering candlelight of Our Lady of Salvation Church, Nagam Riyadh sits against a pillar singing Ave Maria, her voice rising to the shrapnel-marked rafters. ‘We are singing the hymns we couldn’t finish on Sunday,’ says Ms. Riyadh, who was in the choir on Oct. 31 when gunmen stormed the church in an attack that has traumatized the Christian community here and raised questions about its future. On the first Sunday mass after the attack, Nov. 7, she’s one of hundred of survivors and mourners who have gathered here. They light candles in the shape of a cross on the marble floor next to the names of more than 50 dead. At the top are photographs of the two slain priests. ” (11/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/22rmz59 Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.09.10 by Steve Trinward “Boston schools underwent a radical experiment in the past decade: Four large neighborhood high schools were shuttered and replaced with more than a dozen smaller ones. The thinking was that smaller schools could deliver a better education. … Mayor Thomas M. Menino proudly declared it to be ‘a model for the rest of the country.’ But now the approach, championed by former superintendent Thomas W. Payzant, appears to have fallen out of favor with the city’s current school chief, Carol R. Johnson. She sees the small schools as a costly venture in an era of declining city revenue, and believes many have yielded lackluster results.” (11/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/22kmbuu Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “Crewmen and company officials overseeing the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling operation in April misinterpreted a critical ‘negative pressure’ test on the well. They thought it was a success — it was actually a failure. If recognized, it would have revealed the imminent danger of a blowout, reported the chief investigator of the presidential commission looking into the disaster. The blowout of the Macondo well that killed 11 men and wreaked environmental havoc on the Gulf also hinged on the failure of the cementing of the well. That critical process was to have prevented gases from flowing up and around the drill well casing, said Fred Bartlit, chief counsel for the commission.” (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25bo3au Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “Rand Paul, the next Republican US senator from Kentucky, has done an about-face on earmarks even before taking office. In an interview published over the weekend with the Wall Street Journal, Paul signaled a major backtrack on a core campaign promise: cutting federal earmarks. The promise is a hallmark of Republican candidates of all stripes, who advocate that a smaller government is in the national interest and that money doled out for special progress is tantamount to backroom dealing.” [editor’s note: Given that his Daddy’s “porkbarreling” was one of the few things we had problems with there, how is this a surprise? - SAT] [additional editor’s note: Who’s this “we?” Earmarks are at worst an exceedingly minor issue, and at best a way for Congress to more specifically direct the executive branch - TLK] (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/32gnxy8 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “A popular new law that bars Oklahoma courts from considering Islamic law, or Shariah, when deciding cases was put on hold Monday after a prominent Muslim in the state won a temporary restraining order in federal court. Two state legislators were quick to blast the judge’s ruling and the Oklahoma attorney general, who they said did not stand up to support the new law. U.S. District Court Judge Vicki Miles-LeGrange ruled that the measure, which passed by a large margin in last Tuesday’s elections, would be suspended until a hearing on Nov. 22, when she will listen to arguments on whether the court’s temporary injunction should become permanent.” (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/22tqjat Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “Canadian scientists have turned human skin cells directly into blood cells, the first time one kind of mature human cell has been converted into another, according to a study published Sunday in the journal Nature. The transformation was completed without first rewinding the skin cells into the flexible pluripotent stem cells that have most frequently been used to grow tissues. By skipping the pluripotent step, the researchers believe they have skirted the risk that the replacement cells might form dangerous tumors. The team created blood progenitor cells — the mother cells that multiply to produce other blood cells — as well as mature blood cells, according to the report. Both types of cells could be useful in medical treatments, said study leader Mick Bhatia, a stem-cell scientist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.” (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27zwae2 Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “Greece’s prime minister dropped his threat to call an early election yesterday, saying voters in crucial local elections had shown they wanted his government to continue its efforts to pull the debt-ridden country out of a severe financial crisis. George Papandreou had vowed to call snap elections if his socialist PASOK party fared badly in yesterday’s vote for 13 regional governors and 325 mayors, billed as a referendum of the government’s austerity measures. But official projections showed PASOK-backed candidates led in seven of the country’s 13 regional races in the first round of voting. A runoff vote will be held Nov. 14 in areas where candidates do not win outright.” (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28xxeaj Filed under: CANDi News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “Cities and towns across the state are diverting large sums of money to ‘rainy day’ accounts even as they lay off employees and make deep cuts to schools and services, girding for what many believe will be a long period of austerity. Municipal leaders give a variety of reasons — cuts in state aid, anticipated increases in health care costs, dwindling federal stimulus funds — but the financial stockpiling is also a signal they fear the funding enjoyed before the financial collapse will not return anytime soon.” [editor’s note: Ya mean this recession thing has actually caused SOME levels of government to get a clue about creating self-sufficiency? Cool! - SAT] (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/32uonw3 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.07.10 by Steve Trinward “Now that the dust is settling from the midterm elections, President Obama and the newly-dominant congressional Republicans are jockeying for position on the way forward. For both, it’s laser-like attention to the economy — jobs and taxes. Will it include much in the way of compromise between the White House and Congress? Maybe, but not very much according to initial pronouncements from both sides.” (11/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25zuv6p Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.07.10 by Steve Trinward “A British court threw out the results of a parliamentary election yesterday after deciding that the victor had gone too far in distorting his opponent’s positions. Experts warned the ruling clears the way for judges to referee electoral contests — a potentially messy precedent. The two judges decided that the winner, Labour Party incumbent Phil Woolas, had violated election law in May by knowingly making false charges about his opponent in campaign literature. Woolas accused Liberal Democrat opponent Elwyn Watkins of receiving support from Muslim militants who advocate violence. Watkins, who lost the May 6 contest by 103 votes, accused Woolas in court of trying to stir up ethnic and religious divisions. The ruling, the first of its kind in at least 99 years, costs Woolas, a former immigration minister, his seat in parliament, since the judges ruled he cannot sit in the House of Commons for the next three years. He was suspended from the Labour Party yesterday afternoon.” (11/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23wa3kf Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.07.10 by Steve Trinward “Rejecting demands that she relinquish power after her party’s losses in the midterm elections, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday that she will run for minority leader, potentially setting up an ideological battle inside the Democratic caucus. … Many Democrats had hoped Pelosi — a central figure in campaigns that allowed Republicans to capture at least 60 new seats and retake control of the House — would step aside. This would have cleared a path for Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who has support from the Democrats’ diminished moderate-to-conservative ranks.” (11/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cgkaqv Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “Deciphering the constitutional principle that government ’shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion’ is almost always a guarantee of a divided Supreme Court. And so it was again yesterday as the justices reviewed an Arizona program that lets taxpayers send part of their state taxes to organizations that provide millions of dollars in scholarships to private religious schools.” [editor’s note: One only hopes this clarifies that “separation of church & state” stuff once and for all - SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2bgemyj Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: New York Daily News Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “The midterm elections are so yesterday. The eyes of many political insiders are already turning to 2012. President Obama would handily beat Sarah Palin in the next presidential election, despite strong anti-incumbent feelings and the Democrats losing the House to the GOP this week, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll indicates. And while Obama would win against the Tea Party favorite, 52% to 44% among registered voters, pit the President against Mike Huckabee and it’s an entirely different story.” [editor’s note: Altho if Obama continues on his present path, a half-dead monkey should be able to oust him from the throne, one only hopes the GOP comes up with a better contendah by then! - SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2dz4dx3 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “Melissa Taggart says she was delighted that her son was learning a foreign language in the eighth grade — until she learned he was expected to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish. And that he’d receive a zero if he didn’t. … She said she couldn’t begin to understand why her son’s teacher would choose the Pledge for her class. And she was upset that her son was told he would receive a zero if he did not complete the assignment.” [editor’s note: As a special extra-credit project, chosen by some students and not others, this makes some multicultural sense; as a requirement, with a zero if you don’t do it, it’s just another imposed mandate and should be illegal - SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26zj63v Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “Views on the tea party split the Republican Party into thirds, which could cause the GOP difficulty moving into the next election cycle, says a top party strategist. …. Based on the results of questions included in the NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll of which he is co-director, [pollster Bill] McInturff says the GOP breaks into three groups …. ‘You have a third of Republicans who say, ‘I am not a tea party person.’ You have a third who say, ‘I am a Republican and a tea party [person] but I think of myself more as Republican.’ And now you have a third … that says ‘I am a Republican but I really think of myself as a Tea Party person,” McInturff said.” [editor’ s note: It’s hard to tell from this breakdown which group the so-called “libertarian Republicans” belong to -SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2chw7fw Filed under: CANDi News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “Some of the Democratic Party’s heaviest hitters went down in the House on Tuesday, a sign of the breadth and scope of voter discontent with incumbents …. Ike Skelton, a 34-year incumbent and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, lost his central Missouri seat despite a reputation as a conservative Democrat …. In South Carolina, John Spratt, House Budget Committee chairman, lost a hard-fought campaign for a 15th term in a district that had not elected a Republican since 1883. And Jim Oberstar, Transportation Committee chairman and dean of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, succumbed to a political novice after 36 years …” [editor’s note: Funny how all three were allegedly conservative (”Blue Dog”) Democrats, yet were best known for their “pork” abilities! - SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28ywozx Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.03.10 by Steve Trinward “Former President George W. Bush says in his new memoir that he considered running for re-election in 2004 without Dick Cheney as his vice presidential candidate. After much thought, he ultimately decided to keep Cheney on the ticket. Bush said he wanted to put an end to assertions by critics that Cheney was the real decision-maker and to ‘demonstrate that I was in charge.’ He writes that he spent weeks exploring the possibility of replacing Cheney with Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist, who was Senate majority leader. But he says he valued the qualities Cheney brought to their partnership and finally decided to stick with his vice president, who agreed to run again.” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24e4af4 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.03.10 by Steve Trinward “A ballot question to repeal the state sales tax on alcoholic beverages passed by a narrow margin last night, but voters soundly rejected a more sweeping measure to slash the general sales tax rate by more than half. … 52 percent of voters backed Question 1, the repeal of the alcohol sales tax, with 48 percent voting against …. Question 3, which called for lowering the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, was defeated 57 percent to 43 percent, a margin of some 283,000 votes. Question 2, an initiative to repeal the state’s affordable-housing law, was also rejected, with 59 percent opposed.” (11/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cvehlk Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.03.10 by Steve Trinward “Omega-3 pills promoted as memory boosters didn’t slow mental and physical decline in older patients with Alzheimer’s disease, a big disappointment in a multimillion-dollar government-funded study. ‘We had high hopes that we’d see some efficacy, but we did not,’ said Joseph Quinn, an author of the $10 million study and a researcher at Oregon Health and Science University. The results with pills containing DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, highlight ‘the continued frustration over lack of effective interventions’ for the memory-robbing disease, said an editorial published with the study in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.” (11/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2e5pqyc Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “An Oregon man has settled a federal lawsuit over what he says was his First Amendment right to express himself by giving the finger to sheriff’s deputies. The Oregonian reports Robert Ekas settled the suit for $4,000. In his lawsuit, Ekas said that in July 2007, he flipped off a Clackamas County deputy while driving, and the deputy gave him tickets for illegal lane change and improper display of license plates. Ekas was acquitted on the citations. A month later, he gave the finger to another deputy, who detained him but wrote no tickets. Ekas alleged he was being harassed. … County officials say it was cheaper to settle the case than to proceed with defending the suit.” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/255xs4p Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “The new spirit of European austerity reached the French and UK militaries as leaders of the two nations agreed today on joint commands and nuclear testing cooperation. … The Franco-British treaty is apt for ‘a world where resources are tight,’ said British Defense chief Liam Fox. The deal amounts to the first steps in a new Anglo-French military relationship that will mean sharing nuclear secrets and the creation of a rapid-reaction force, the 6,500-strong Combined Joint Expeditionary Force. French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the deal ‘unprecedented … showing a level of trust and confidence between our two nations which is unequaled in history.’” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24gxkde Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “A group opposed to the death penalty filed suit Tuesday to try to prevent a British company from exporting a drug that could be used in the execution of an American inmate. Reprieve, a London-based rights group, and the London law firm Leigh Day & Co. are suing in the hope of forcing the government to regulate the export of sodium thiopental. The sedative, which is part of the three-drug cocktail used in lethal injections in the U.S., was scheduled to be exported from Britain to Tennessee imminently, Reprieve said. The group warned that sodium thiopental would be used in the execution of 56-year-old Edmund Zagorski, who has been convicted of committing two murders in 1983.” (11/02/10) Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/uk-group-suing-execution-drug/ Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “Parkinson’s disease may stem from an energy crisis in the brain, years before symptoms appear. If the research proves true, it could suggest a new approach for Parkinson’s: Giving a boost to a key power switch inside brain cells in hopes of slowing the disease’s inevitable march, instead of just treating symptoms. ‘It could be a root cause’ of Parkinson’s, said Dr. Clemens Scherzer of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University. No one knows what causes the disease. To find genetic clues, Scherzer gathered an international team of researchers to comb studies of more than 300 samples of brain tissue.” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2372p6o Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.01.10 by Steve Trinward “The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up Brandon Mayfield’s challenge to FISA provisions adopted under the Patriot Act that allowed the government to bypass the usual constitutional safeguards and authorize surveillance and covert searches of his home and office. A federal court judge had agreed with Mr. Mayfield’s claim. Mayfield, a lawyer in Portland and a US military veteran, was subjected to an extensive counterterrorism operation after FBI experts matched a Mayfield fingerprint in the FBI database with a single print found on a bag containing detonators near the Madrid terror attack site.” (11/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2aukazb Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.01.10 by Steve Trinward “A Bangor police officer says he wasn’t allowed to cast his ballot when an election warden refused to let him vote while wearing his service revolver. James Dearing said he was patrolling his beat Friday when he stopped to vote at the Bangor Civic Center. He said that’s where warden Wayne Mallar said he couldn’t vote unless he turned over his weapon. Dearing refused, and then wrote a letter to Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap. Dunlap told the Bangor Daily News yesterday there is no state law prohibiting officers from carrying firearms while voting.” [editor’s note: There SHOULD be no law prohibiting ANY law abiding person from walking into a voting booth (or anywhere else?) while packing heat; the fact that this was a gendarme is only an added factor - SAT] (11/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/279fo93 Filed under: 2AM News and CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Chicago Tribune Posted on 11.01.10 by Steve Trinward “Telecommunications company Comcast says massive numbers of automatically dialed political telephone calls are causing service problems in New England. The Philadelphia-based company said Monday that congestion resulting from the calls has forced it to reroute phone traffic as it tries to identify the carrier whose telephone numbers are generating them. Comcast Corp. spokeswoman Kristen Roberts says other local phone carriers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts also may be suffering as a result. The outages come as political campaigns hit the phones to woo voters before Tuesday’s midterm elections.” (11/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28dtmde Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Paducah Sun Posted on 11.01.10 by Steve Trinward “A Cadiz woman has won a lottery prize less than three weeks after her home burned. The Paducah Sun reported Sandra Ramirez claimed an $80,000 jackpot — the grand prize from the Kentucky Lottery’s Gold Bar Bonanza Ultimate Second Chance drawing. On Sept. 20, Ramirez had been called by her father at the Clarksville, Tenn., Sam’s Club where she works. Her mobile home had burned from an electrical fire. She got another call Oct. 7, informing her she’d won the jackpot. At first, Ramirez feared the winning ticket had burned in the home, but found her father had it.” (11/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26bmwxs Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.01.10 by Steve Trinward “The number of children in Massachusetts charter schools has more than doubled over the past decade as parents, worried about the quality of their children’s education, have increasingly sought alternatives to traditional public schools. Charter school enrollment climbed to 27,484 this year, up from 12,518 in 2000, according to data from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Globe examined enrollment trends in more than 380 school districts across the state.” (11/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cmdrqv Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 10.31.10 by Steve Trinward “A choice of ‘none of the above’ remains a potential factor in the dead-heat Nevada Senate race for voters who don’t like Democrat Harry Reid or Republican Sharron Angle. Voters in the Silver State have nine choices on the ballot next week — eight are candidates, including Reid and Angle. The number of voters who choose ‘None of these candidates’ is expected to be small, but in a close race those who boycott the ballot could make the difference. Reid knows the risk: A dozen years ago he pulled off a 428-vote reelection victory over then-Republican Representative John Ensign, while ‘none’ received 8,125 votes.” [editor’s note: How ironic, that in the one state where NOTA is an established voting tradition, it might help decide a major election - SAT] (10/30/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2aoh6dt Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: The Guardian [UK] Posted on 10.31.10 by Steve Trinward “Israel’s Labor party will walk out of the rightwing-dominated coalition government unless serious negotiations with the Palestinians get under way in the coming weeks, according to cabinet minister Avishay Braverman, an expected challenger to Ehud Barak for his party’s leadership. ‘We need to move as soon as possible. The only way to guarantee the state of the Jewish people is to move boldly after the US election,’ Braverman, the minister for minorities, said in an interview. If Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu missed the opportunity, ‘Labor will not be in the coalition government. If there are the beginnings of serious negotiations, Labor stays; if not, Labor leaves.’” (10/31/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2erokrj Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 10.28.10 by Steve Trinward “Don’t hold liberals responsible for their opinion — they can’t help themselves. A new study has concluded that ideology is not just a social thing; it’s built into the DNA, borne along by a gene called DRD4. Tagged ‘the liberal gene,’ DRD4 is the first specific bit of human DNA that predisposes people to certain political views, the study’s authors claim. And the key to it all: Liberals are more open, said lead researcher James H. Fowler, a professor of both medical genetics and political science at the University of California, San Diego. … The paper, which appears in the latest edition of The Journal of Politics, focused on 2,000 subjects from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.” [editor’s note: I had to look twice to make sure this wasn’t just another Onion story - SAT] (10/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2f43kvq Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 10.28.10 by Steve Trinward “Buffalo teachers rang up nearly $9 million worth of taxpayer-covered cosmetic surgery in 2009, according to the state-appointed authority overseeing public school finances. The Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority found that last year’s costs for elective procedures such as chemical peels and other skin treatments were up $8 million over 2004’s $1 million tab for cosmetic surgery. The procedures, provided under the teachers’ union contract, accounted for 9 percent of the district’s total spending on health benefits for employees and retirees, The Buffalo News reported Thursday. About 10,000 school employees are eligible for the benefit. District officials said teachers or their dependents accounted for 90 percent of the approximately 500 people who received cosmetic surgery last year.” (10/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24amb4g Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 10.28.10 by Steve Trinward “While cars smoldered in France following protests over pension reform, across the English Channel, Britain was digesting the harshest cuts in government spending and benefits since World War II, which promise to redefine the state and recast its position in the world. As governments across Europe grapple with deficits following decades of big spending, Britain’s answer is a radical five-year austerity plan that slashes social services, government jobs, welfare benefits, and defense spending. It will retire naval aircraft carriers, trim military ranks, cut about 500,000 public-sector jobs, and drastically reduce spending for the poor and elderly.” (10/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3axvfoz Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 10.27.10 by Steve Trinward “New York City residents who want to own a gun may soon be denied permits if they are litterbugs, if they are bad drivers, or if they have fallen behind on a few bills. Under proposed revisions to the police department’s handgun, rifle and shotgun permit procedures, the NYPD can reject gun license applicants for a number of reasons, including: If they have been arrested or convicted of almost any ‘violation,’ in any state; having a ‘poor driving history;’ having been fired for ‘circumstances that demonstrate lack of good judgment;’ having ‘failed to pay legally required debts;’ being deemed to lack ‘good moral character;’ or if any other information demonstrates ‘other good cause for the denial of the permit.’” (10/27/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2dxyno6 Filed under: 2AM News and CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 10.27.10 by Steve Trinward “After a period of relative freedom, journalists in Egypt have become the targets of the harshest government crackdown in years, apparently aimed at silencing critical voices ahead of parliamentary elections next month and a presidential election next year. The regime of President Hosni Mubarak, a staunch US ally, has shut down a string of television stations and imposed new regulations on newsgathering and telecommunications. Critics say the attempt to muzzle opposition groups and reformists is intended to protect the 82-year-old Mubarak from public scrutiny of his 29-year grip on the Arab world’s most populous nation.” (10/27/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2w8jbtw Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: USA Today Posted on 10.26.10 by Steve Trinward “More than 95 percent of consumer products marketed as ‘green,’ including all toys surveyed, make misleading or inaccurate claims, a report to be released today says. The number of products claiming to be green increased 73 percent since 2009, according to a survey by TerraChoice, an Ottawa-based marketing firm owned mostly by Underwriters Laboratories of Canada. The UL network does independent product-testing and certification. ‘The biggest sin is making claims without any proof,’ said Scot Case of UL Environment, adding that companies want consumers to ‘just trust them.’” (10/26/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2e3txd8 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 10.26.10 by Steve Trinward “President Hamid Karzai acknowledged yesterday that he regularly receives bags of cash from the Iranian government in payments amounting to millions of dollars, as evidence mounted of a worsening rift between his government and its US and NATO supporters. During a rambling and often hostile news conference, Karzai also accused the United States of financing the killing of Afghans by paying private security contractors to guard buildings and convoys in Afghanistan. He has declined to postpone a December deadline he set for ending the use of private security forces despite urgent pleas from Western organizations, including charities, that need protection.” (10/26/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2bhj7jq Filed under: CANDi News and PND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 10.26.10 by Steve Trinward “Democrat Joe Sestak’s cheeky TV ad about dog poop has tails wagging in the fiercely contested Pennsylvania Senate race. In the ad, Sestak compares cleaning up after his family dog Belle to cleaning up the economic mess that he says his GOP rival Pat Toomey and former President George W. Bush played a big part in creating. ‘My family loves Belle, but she can make a mess,’ Sestak says in the ad, which ran for more than a week.” (10/26/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23g677s Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 10.26.10 by Steve Trinward “Scratching an expensive itch to take a pleasure trip to the doorstep of space might come with an unintended consequence: altering the climate back on Earth. A new study suggests that projected increases in so-called suborbital flights — including space tourism launches — will boost the amount of soot in the stratosphere, measurably changing climate. The soot comes from hybrid rocket motors, which burn a rubbery solid fuel, aided by a gas ‘oxidizer’ as a stand-in for oxygen. By contrast, many liquid-fueled rockets burn oxygen and hydrogen, which produces a cleaner exhaust.” (10/26/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/39dtqun Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 10.25.10 by Steve Trinward “Tree lovers are fighting proposed city rules that would remove Seattle’s protections for large, ‘exceptional’ trees and do not include a requirement that property owners get a permit to remove a tree. ‘We’re the Emerald City because of the trees,’ said Cass Turnbull, founder of PlantAmnesty, a Seattle-based nonprofit, who favors a permit system as a way to slow down tree-cutting …. A judge was fined $500,000 for cutting down more than 120 cherry and maple trees in a city park for better views, and residents fought for years to save a mature grove of 100 Douglas firs from being cleared for development.” (10/25/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/256ge5l Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 10.25.10 by Steve Trinward “The ability to taste isn’t limited to the mouth, and researchers say that discovery might one day lead to better treatments for such diseases as asthma. It turns out that receptors for bitter tastes also are found in the smooth muscles of the lungs and airways. These muscles relax when they’re exposed to bitter tastes, according to a report by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore in Nature Medicine. That surprised Dr. Stephen B. Liggett, a lung expert who noted that bitter tastes often are associated with poisonous plants, causing people to avoid them. Liggett said he expected the bitter-taste receptors in the lungs to produce a ‘fight or flight’ reaction, causing chest tightness and coughing so people would leave the toxic environment.” (10/25/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/22l5zh4 Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Technology Review Posted on 10.25.10 by Steve Trinward “Next year, Mazda will sell a car in Japan that gets 70.5 miles per gallon (mpg), or 30 kilometers per liter. The fuel economy rating won’t be nearly this good in the United States because of differing requirements, but even so, the car will likely use about as little fuel as a hybrid such as the Toyota Prius — without that car’s added costs for its electric motor and batteries. The Mazda, a subcompact called the Demio in Japan and the Mazda 2 elsewhere, will include a package of changes that improves fuel economy by about 30 percent over the current model.” (10/25/10) Link: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26613 Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 10.24.10 by Steve Trinward “Like his neighbors, Claude Rwaganje pays taxes on his income and taxes on his cars. His children have gone to Portland’s public schools. He’s interested in the workings of Maine’s largest city, which he has called home for 13 years. There’s one vital difference, though: Rwaganje isn’t a U.S. citizen and isn’t allowed to vote on those taxes or on school issues. That may soon change. Portland, Maine, residents will vote Nov. 2 on a proposal to give legal residents who are not U.S. citizens the right to vote in local elections, joining places like San Francisco and Chicago that have already loosened the rules or are considering it. Non-citizens hold down jobs, pay taxes, own businesses, volunteer in the community and serve in the military, and it’s only fair they be allowed to vote, Rwaganje said.” (10/24/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26o9jq3 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 10.24.10 by Steve Trinward “Many Metro Nashville teachers would jump at the chance to run their schools their way. Whether the district will give them that chance remains to be seen. The district is debating whether to experiment with a teacher-led school, following the lead of other urban areas that have removed the principals and administrators and turned failing schools over to the teaching staff to see whether they can straighten them out. … The state’s latest school reforms put a lot of emphasis on teacher accountability. If test scores don’t rise, if students don’t succeed, the system looks to the teachers for an explanation. Teacher-led schools are a response to that pressure. If they’re going to take on that responsibility, some teachers say, they also should get to take control.” (10/24/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24kwp33 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 10.24.10 by Steve Trinward “By law, Dixon was prohibited from owning a gun. He had spent almost three years in prison for shooting at a man. But three months before the baby-shower killing, he gave his girlfriend $335 and took her to an old brick house on a commercial strip just beyond the District line in Forestville, home to a gun shop called Realco. … Dixon’s Glock was one of 86 guns sold by Realco that have been linked to homicide cases during the past 18 years, far outstripping the total from any other store in the region, a Washington Post investigation has found.” (10/24/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3xon6ej Filed under: 2AM News and CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: AOL News Posted on 10.24.10 by Steve Trinward “Jokes about inaccurate weather forecasts are as popular as jokes about doughnut shops and the police, but advances in satellite data and computers have dramatically improved climate science in the past 50 years. And there will soon be a brand new supercomputer available to government scientists aimed at improving forecasts, whether just a few hours out or decades into the future. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s recent ribbon-cutting ceremony in Fairmont, W.Va., marked the future home of the NOAA Environmental Security Computing Center (NESCC), a $27.6 million, 54,000-square-foot facility expected to be fully operational by fall 2011.” (10/24/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27sknre Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 10.21.10 by Steve Trinward “As the clock counts down to the Oct. 30 ‘Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear’ in Washington, the number of sister events in support of the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert extravaganza is exploding. You can actually go to the event’s websites and watch the number speed upwards in real time. As of this writing, the tally of ‘meet-ups’ … is 801 cities in 67 countries. ‘This is growing faster than any online meet-up we’ve seen,’ says Andres Glusman, vice president of strategy and community for Meetup.com, the firm behind the little widget on the events’ sites.” (10/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3295vx7 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 10.21.10 by Steve Trinward “The Cincinnati Public Schools system ‘expressly denies’ that it did anything wrong when it allowed a group of high school students to be bused during school hours to the Board of Elections, to be shown sample ballots that included only Democrats, and then to vote. And it promises never to do it again. … three van loads of students from Hughes High School were bused on Oct. 13 to the Hamilton County Board of Elections. The students, all registered voters, were given sample ballots that listed only Democratic candidates — ‘clearly with the intention of instructing [them] how to vote,’ according to the complaint — before they cast their ballots.” (10/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2bkyust Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 10.21.10 by Steve Trinward “The British government unveiled the country’s steepest public spending cuts in decades yesterday, sharply reducing welfare benefits, raising the retirement age earlier than planned, and eliminating almost half a million public-sector jobs over the next four years as the nation seeks to free itself of crushing debt from the global financial crisis. ‘Today is the day when Britain steps back from the brink,’ George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, as Britain’s top finance minister is known, told Parliament as he laid out an ambitious and potentially risky plan to reduce debt.” (10/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2c497f8 Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 10.21.10 by Steve Trinward “Spain, famed for its smoke-filled bars, corner cafes, and restaurants, set the stage yesterday for a tough new antismoking law that will rid the country of its status as one of Western Europe’s easiest places to light up. The bill passed by parliamentary commission calls for transforming all bars and restaurants into no-smoking zones, bringing Spain into line with the European Union’s strictest antismoking nations and many US states that bar smoking in enclosed public places. It is expected to pass the Senate and become law on Jan. 2.” (10/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23dfo3t Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 10.21.10 by Steve Trinward “Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center temporarily closed all its cancer trials to new patients last week, after audits found that several researchers had not properly submitted patient data to the committee that oversees oncology research and to trial sponsors. ‘Some of our clinical trials were not running with the high standards that we expect,’ Randy Mason, vice president of research operations, wrote in an e-mail to hospital executives and physician leaders last week. He described the lapses as involving documentation and reporting compliance and said the hospital has not found any ‘issues of patient harm.’ Care for patients already enrolled in the hospital’s 285 oncology trials is continuing without disruption, he said.” (10/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/236kjqd Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 10.20.10 by Steve Trinward “Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam has told a gun rights group he would sign legislation into law to eliminate Tennessee’s requirements for carrying handguns in public. Haslam in a discussion with members of the Tennessee Firearms Association on Monday night noted that the state’s permitting process was used as justification for expanding areas where guns can be carried, such as into state parks or bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. ‘If the Legislature passed that and brought that to me, I said I would sign it,’ Haslam said.” [editor’s note: And if hell freezes over we can all go ice skating! Notice he didn’t say he’d lead the charge, only that he’d sign a bill if the Assembly passed one - SAT] (10/20/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cud4sw Filed under: 2AM News and CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 10.20.10 by Steve Trinward “Boston school officials — under pressure by financial watchdogs to cut operating costs but hesitant to close schools –have not made public the full number of empty classroom seats across the city. Their most recent tally of 5,758 empty seats counts only the excess capacity in classrooms staffed by teachers, officials said in interviews this week. It does not account for the surplus space that exists in no-longer-used classrooms or those that have been converted into storage and meeting rooms as student enrollment has dropped. The accounting is more than an academic exercise for a district that recently proposed vacating four buildings at the school year’s end.” (10/20/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2atf33r Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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