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Source: USA Today Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “A police official says U.S. troops opened fire on a car in western Baghdad, killing an Iraqi journalist and her husband. The official says the incident took place late Wednesday in the Tobchi neighborhood. He says U.S. troops open fire on Aseel al-Obeidi and her husband’s car but gave no further details.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygbw24h Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: New York Daily News Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for a suicide bombing inside a U.S.-Afghan base in eastern Afghanistan that killed two NATO service members. A Taliban operative wearing an Afghan police uniform infiltrated the base Tuesday night and detonated his explosive vest next to a group of soldiers who were warming their hands beside a fire, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press by phone.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ykk2nrm Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Seattle Times Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “A homemade bomb placed outside a store in northwestern Pakistan where locals watch movies exploded Thursday, killing four people, including a child, said officials. The attack, which also wounded 21 people, occurred on the outskirts of Peshawar, a city near the Afghan border that experienced a wave of bombings at the end of last year but has been fairly quiet in recent months.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yjs6d97 Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Philadelphia Inquirer Posted on 03.11.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Congressional opponents of the war in Afghanistan forced a debate yesterday on the House floor on a resolution to bring U.S. forces home and end the eight-year-old war. The measure ended up losing, 356-65, a margin that had been expected. … Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D., Ohio) introduced the resolution, which would have directed the president to remove all U.S. troops from Afghanistan within 30 days of its adoption. If the president deemed that deadline unsafe, he would have had until the end of the year to end U.S. military presence in the nation. Five Republicans joined 60 Democrats in supporting the measure to force a troop withdrawal. Opposing the resolution were 189 Democrats and 167 Republicans.” (03/11/10) Link: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/87313547.html Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: USA Today Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The Pentagon said Thursday the cost to build its next-generation fighter jet has doubled to as much as $113 million per plane since 2001. The bad news about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Progam, delivered Thursday to Congress, was swiftly denounced by lawmakers who said runaway spending on major weapons systems has become all too common.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yfz986q Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “China and Iran have stepped up their abuses of human rights, targeting both anti-government activists and the free flow of information over the Internet, the State Department said on Thursday. In its annual survey of human rights in 194 countries, the State Department also criticized Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Russia, which it faulted for killings of activists and journalists.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yj3a8bv Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Three Army commanders linked to a battle that killed nine Americans in Afghanistan in 2008 been given letters of reprimand for reportedly failing to adequately protect their forces and leaving them vulnerable to attack, U.S. military officials told NBC News on Thursday. The three include the brigade commander, battalion commander and the company commander, Capt. Matthew Myer, who was awarded the Silver Star for bravery for his actions during the battle in the tiny Afghan village of Wanat, near the Pakistani border.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yfosntr Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: South Oregon Mail Tribune Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “He was raised in New Jersey, where he was on the high school wrestling team and earned a black belt in karate. Nearly a decade later, Sharif Mobley is under arrest in Yemen, suspected of being an al-Qaida member and accused of killing a guard in an attempt to break out of a hospital. While some acquaintances were startled by the news out of the Middle East on Thursday, a former classmate said that Mobley had strong religious views in high school, often trying to convert friends to Islam, and became increasingly radical, especially after they graduated in 2002.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yhoj2z2 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: South Oregon Mail Tribune Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The Oregon Supreme Court today kept alive claims by Klamath Basin farmers that the federal government should pay them for shutting off water to crops in 2001 to help protected fish survive a drought. A federal appeals court had asked the state Supreme Court for guidance on a 1905 state law that gave water to the Klamath Reclamation Project, a federal irrigation project. The state Supreme Court decided that while the law does not give farmers a property interest in the federally owned water, it does not preclude it either.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygku349 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: CNN Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The House of Representatives voted unanimously Thursday to impeach Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, making him the nation’s 15th federal judge ever impeached. ‘Our investigation found that Judge Porteous participated in a pattern of corrupt conduct for years,’ said U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yhlmb38 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 03.11.10 by Steve Trinward “State Sen. Mae Beavers said Thursday that she will run for re-election, dropping her bid for Wilson County mayor and setting up a possible primary battle with state Rep. Susan Lynn. Beavers said that she decided to reverse course after deciding that she could continue to advance the Republican agenda if her party wins the governor’s office and holds onto their majorities in the legislature. She denied that personal animosity toward Lynn factored into her decision. ‘That had nothing to do with it,’ she said. Lynn said she had heard rumors that Beavers was considering seeking re-election but did not learn of her decision until this morning. She said she plans to continue with her Senate bid for at least the immediate future, but she would not say whether she is considering a run for re-election in the House.” [editor’s note: The real chaos here is its effect down the political food-chain, where several contenders are preparing to vie for Lynn’s House seat, and so on down the line - SAT] (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycvffoh Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 03.11.10 by Steve Trinward “If you want to know just what your kids are learning from their history books, all you have to do is apply the ‘Reagan test,’ says Professor Larry Schweikart. As the Texas textbook battle continues to simmer, Schweikart says the first thing he does to determine whether a book is politically slanted is to go to any section discussing President Ronald Reagan. What you’ll find there, he says, will tell you everything you need to know, he says. Schweikart says the majority of books he’s examined credit former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev with ending the Cold War, and not Reagan. That’s ‘a joke,’ Schweikart says. ‘I lived through the Reagan years, I remember.’ … Schweikart says the textbooks’ authors bring an inherently liberal viewpoint to their work. … Aside from bias, there are factual errors as well.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/y95ahfq Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 03.11.10 by Steve Trinward “Up to half the food aid intended for the millions of hungry people in Somalia is being diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants, and local UN workers, according to a UN Security Council report. The report blames the problem on improper food distribution by the UN World Food Program in the African nation, which has been plagued by fighting and humanitarian suffering for nearly two decades, according to a UN diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. It calls on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to authorize an independent investigation of the Rome-based food agency’s operation in Somalia. Because of Somalia’s instability, transporters must truck food through roadblocks manned by an array of militias, insurgents, and bandits. Kidnappings and executions are common, and the insecurity makes it difficult for senior UN officials to travel to the country to check on procedures.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yhlw66w Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 03.11.10 by Steve Trinward “A bill that would ban the sale of sugary drinks and junk food in school vending machines and school stores is gaining momentum in the Legislature, as Massachusetts combats a troubling rise in childhood obesity rates. The House passed it in January, after nearly a decade of debate on similar bills that went nowhere. Now, Senate President Therese Murray has thrown her support behind the effort and is optimistic that members will embrace it in a scheduled Senate vote today. ‘We haven’t heard anything negative from members,’ Murray said in an interview. ‘Obviously, everyone is very alarmed about the high level of diabetes and obesity rates. It’s a crisis.’” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yzrsrmo Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 03.11.10 by Steve Trinward “Governors and education leaders on Wednesday proposed sweeping new school standards that could lead to students across the country using the same math and English textbooks and taking the same tests, replacing a patchwork of state and local systems in an attempt to raise student achievement nationwide. But states must first adopt the rigorous new Common Core State Standards, and implementing the standards on such a large scale won’t be easy. Two states, Texas and Alaska, have already refused to join the project, and everyone from state legislatures to the nation’s 10,000 local school boards and 3 million teachers could chime in with their opinions. Since No Child Left Behind became law in 2002, every state has been required to create a set of K-12 grade-level learning goals in math and English. Most often, state standards were developed by committees of teachers, and the quality varied from state to state.” [editor’s note: Having worked a seasonal job for the past near-decade, scoring the results of such “standards” (from about a dozen states), I’ve borne witness to the good, bad and VERY ugly of all of this - SAT] (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ykkvy9y Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 03.11.10 by Steve Trinward “The political fight over the science of global warming took another turn when the United Nations announced Wednesday that it was initiating an investigation into the practices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The probe will be run by an international consortium of national academies of science, the InterAcademy Council. The yet-to-be-staffed panel is charged with developing recommendations on procedural improvements that the global climate-science advisory body should adopt as it prepares a new set of reports on climate science, due out in 2014. The actions are a response to more than three months of embarrassing revelations, beginning with the widespread publication of e-mails either leaked or hacked from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit in England.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yazrcd2 Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: ABC News Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Vice President Joe Biden urged Israelis and Palestinians to take historic steps toward peace during his keynote address at Tel Aviv University today. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, the status quo is not sustainable,’ he warned in his most passionate comment.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ydzzuy2 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: ABC News Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “A federal appeals court upheld the use of the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance and ‘In God We Trust’ on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected two legal challenges by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who said the references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs.” (03/11/10) Link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=10076243 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “In a victory for freedom of the press on campus, the student government of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) voted last night to end an ongoing moratorium on funding for student media. The vote restores funding for student media organizations and makes no changes to the current policy governing student media. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has been working with student media to end the funding freeze.” (03/11/10) Link: http://www.thefire.org/article/11648.html Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Beat The Chip Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Language to HB 234, Utah’s state bill to opt-out of Real ID, was amended recently as a concession to gain Gov. Herbert’s signature. The amendment, authored by Senator Margaret Dayton, limited the state bill’s ability to prohibit all future national identity programs from consideration in the State of Utah. … The bill, if passed as amended, would close the door on any future implementations or benchmark compliance movements in Utah.” (03/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yzsrs85 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Times Online [UK] Posted on 03.11.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Hundreds of Tibetans are being rounded up and detained in Lhasa and armed paramilitary groups are patrolling the streets in advance of the anniversary of fatal riots in 2008, The Times has learnt. Authorities are anxious to avoid a repeat of the anti-Chinese attacks, in which about 20 people were killed when Tibetans rampaged through the city, setting fire to shops and offices. This month marks a particularly sensitive period in the region as March 10 is also regarded by Tibetans as the anniversary of the start of an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 that resulted in the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile in India. Lhasa residents told The Times that as many as 400 to 500 people had been detained in the latest crackdown.” (03/11/10) Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7056345.ece Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: United Press International Posted on 03.11.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “A Mississippi school board has canceled a high school prom after a lesbian student challenged its policy banning same-sex dates. The school board in Itawamba County in northeast Mississippi announced the decision Wednesday. Itawamba County Agricultural High School officials had told 18-year-old senior Constance McMillen last month she could not attend the prom with her girlfriend, a fellow student, and could not wear a tuxedo …. She took her case to the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, which called on school officials on March 2 to reverse their decision and asked for a response by Wednesday …” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygshhwk Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Space.Com Posted on 03.11.10 by Steve Trinward “Score one more for Einstein. A new study has confirmed his theory of general relativity works on extremely large scales. The study was one of the first rigorous tests of this theory of gravity beyond our solar system. The research found that even over vast scales of galaxies and clusters of galaxies, the equations of general relativity predict the way that mass pulls on other mass in the universe. The new work also helps rule out a competing theory of gravity that seeks to do away with the need for bizarre concepts like dark matter and dark energy that have irked some scientists. This research indicates those pesky ideas may be here to stay.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ykjfy83 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 03.11.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Suspected militants armed with assault rifles and a homemade bomb attacked the offices of a U.S.-based Christian aid group helping earthquake survivors in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing six Pakistani employees, police and the organization said. The attack prompted World Vision, a major international humanitarian group, to suspend its operations in Pakistan.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yhftqay Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: AntiWar.Com Posted on 03.11.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Three policemen were wounded during a blast on a highway near Saidiya. Two people were arrested at the scene. A bomb blast in Garma wounded two policemen. In Mosul, a soldier and a civilian were wounded in a blast. A blast at a checkpoint wounded a policeman.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycfp2ft Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: KENS 5 News Posted on 03.11.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Kerrville police said a home’s motion detection lights had gone off in the 1200 block of Jefferson Street, illuminating a strange man in the front yard. The first time happened in January: the lights exposed a masked man peeping through windows. This week, though, it was a strange man exposing himself. So, officers say, the homeowner went to her bedroom, got a pistol, and met him at the door.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yc8h5tr Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Reuters Posted on 03.11.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings dropped for a second straight month in February, and notched the smallest annual increase in four years as housing-rescue efforts contained activity, a report released on Thursday showed. … Foreclosure filings — including mortgage default notices, house auctions and home repossessions by banks — were reported on 308,524 properties in February, down 2 percent from January, but still up 6 percent from the year-ago month, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said.” (03/11/10) Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1014858620100311 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: USA Today Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The top United Nations envoy in Iraq urged election officials Wednesday to release the results of this week’s historic vote as quickly as possible, saying Iraqis “have the right to know” the results as soon as possible. The call by U.N. diplomat Ad Melkert came as Iraqi election officials furiously counted ballot tallies in Sunday’s election that appeared to be coming down to a contest between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, former premier Ayad Allawi and a coalition of conservative Shiites.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yh3tk6n Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “An open diplomatic row during the visit of Vice President Joe Biden has shined a spotlight on the U.S. failure to rein in Israeli settlement ambitions and deepened Palestinian suspicions that the United States is too weak to broker a deal. Biden’s handshakes and embraces gave way to one of the strongest rebukes of Israel by a senior U.S. official in years after Israel’s announcement during his visit that it plans to build 1,600 homes in disputed east Jerusalem.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/y8896kf Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Macon Telegraph Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Journalists have become a prime target in an Iranian government crackdown on the opposition following last June’s disputed presidential election, with 52 of them currently held — making Iran the top jailer of journalists in the world, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The wave of arrests, which has only accelerated recently, has sent a chill through journalists in Iran at a time when the opposition is struggling to maintain its challenge against the government in the face of a heavy crackdown on pro-reform figures.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yzy7avv Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Hartford Courant Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Virginia’s General Assembly became the first in the nation Wednesday to approve legislation that bucks any attempt by President Barack Obama and Congress to implement a national health care overhaul in individual states. The Republican-ruled House of Delegates, with wide Democratic support, voted 80-17 without debate for the largely symbolic step aimed at the Democratic-backed reforms pushed by Obama and stalled in Congress.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ylx98j9 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Hartford Courant Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used a brief visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday to lob insults at the United States and argue that international forces won’t stop terrorism and will only lead to more civilian deaths. Ahmadinejad said the United States was playing a ‘double game’ in Afghanistan, fighting militants it once supported.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yj76q62 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: CNN Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The Pentagon is training people to hack into its own computer networks. ‘To beat a hacker, you need to think like one,’ said Jay Bavisi, co-founder and president of the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants, or EC-Council. His company was chosen by the Pentagon to oversee training of Department of Defense employees who work in computer security-related jobs and certify them when the training is complete.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yh8k6a5 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Bismarck Tribune Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “A federal judge who found it unconstitutional that Congress tried to cut funding to the activist group ACORN has rejected a government request to change her mind and has ordered government agencies to make it clear the funding isn’t blocked. In a written ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon made permanent her conclusion last year that the cutoff of funding was unconstitutional.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yheltxh Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Yahoo! News Posted on 03.10.10 by Steve Trinward “House Democratic leaders announced Wednesday that they will ban the much-criticized practice of using annual spending bills to direct pet projects to companies that often return the favor with campaign contributions. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the Appropriations panel, told reporters that he hopes the step will mean 1,000 fewer earmarks and break the linkage between campaign contributions and earmarks that has sparked intense criticism and resulted in ethics probes of several lawmakers.” [editor’s note: Given that more than a few of the worst offenders in this practice are among their own ranks, this should be mighty interesting - SAT] (03/10/10) Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100310/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_earmarks Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility Wednesday that some of the U.S. forces involved in the Afghanistan surge could leave the country before President Barack Obama’s announced July 2011 date to begin withdrawal. Without giving specifics, Gates said, ‘It would have to be conditions-based.’” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygpxl8s Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 03.10.10 by Steve Trinward “A California lawmaker has stepped into a growing gun rights debate by introducing legislation that would essentially outlaw what’s called the ‘open carry’ of unloaded weapons on public property. The measure, which was first introduced last month but is not expected to have its first hearing until April, is meant to address the growing ‘open carry’ movement, in which some gun owners have taken to meeting in coffee shops, parks and restaurants while wearing holstered weapons to raise awareness about gun rights. ‘People should be free from the fear and the potential for violence firearms represent,’ said Democratic Assembly Member Lori Saldana of San Diego, in a statement. ‘These displays of firearms can create potentially dangerous situations.’” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ydzsqsh Filed under: 2AM News and CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 03.10.10 by Steve Trinward “Senator Scott Brown railed yesterday against President Obama and congressional Democrats for continuing their quest to pass a comprehensive healthcare bill, saying the majority party in Washington has failed to heed the lessons of his own surprise victory in January. ‘I was sent here in a message almost, to the administration and people up on Capitol Hill, that the American people expect us to do better,’ the Massachusetts Republican told a conference of the National Association of Health Underwriters in his most extensive remarks on healthcare since arriving in the capital. ‘Right now the healthcare plan they’re pushing, in particular, and the way they’re trying to do it, is wrong.’” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ylf6efr Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: ABC News Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “A bailout watchdog warned Thursday that the three infusions of federal for troubled lender GMAC could end up costing taxpayers billions of dollars. In a new report, the Congressional Oversight Panel said it is ‘deeply concerned’ that the Treasury Department has not insisted that GMAC ‘lay out a clear path to viability or a strategy for fully repaying taxpayers.’” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ykdtrw9 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 03.10.10 by Steve Trinward “A tax squabble is forcing voters to decide next week whether to dissolve the boundaries of a central New York village known as the birthplace of women’s rights and the inspiration for a classic Christmas movie. The March 16 ballot question in Seneca Falls asks whether the 179-year-old village of 6,600 should be absorbed into the surrounding town of the same name. Even though the name won’t change, some residents expressed concern that a ‘yes’ vote could erode the village’s storied identity. Supporters say the ballot proposal would do away with a costly duplication of governmental services. The village was the site of the first known women’s rights convention, in 1848, and claims to be the model for Bedford Falls, the mythical community depicted in the 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yj6otd7 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Austin American-Statesman Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “United States intelligence agencies misled key allies, including Britain, about its mistreatment of suspected terrorists, the former head of the country’s domestic spy agency, MI5, said Tuesday. Eliza Manningham-Buller, who retired in 2007 and is now a member of the House of Lords, said the U.S. deliberately suppressed details of its harsh handling of some detainees, including accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yh9g6xz Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 03.10.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Burma’s military rulers have issued a law which will bar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in planned elections. The new law prohibits anyone with a a criminal conviction from taking part. Ms Suu Kyi was already excluded from political office by a clause in the constitution which bars people with foreign spouses. She has been detained for most of the past 20 years on various charges, after winning the last elections in 1988.” (03/10/10) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8559048.stm Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: AntiWar.Com Posted on 03.10.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Light violence left at least 12 Iraqis dead and five wounded today. More casualties were reported in an attack in Duluiya. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a vehicular accident a[s] well.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ylz836a Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Billings Gazette Posted on 03.10.10 by R. Lee Wrights “A suicide attack Tuesday at a joint NATO-Afghan base in eastern Afghanistan killed two international service members and wounded several others, the military alliance said. The attack in remote Khost province near the Pakistan border was on a compound used by both international forces and the Afghan Border Police, NATO said.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/l8k4ee Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Los Angeles Times Posted on 03.10.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Using e-mail, YouTube videos, phony travel documents and a burning desire to kill ‘or die trying,’ a middle-aged American woman from Pennsylvania helped recruit a network for suicide attacks and other terrorist strikes in Europe and Asia, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday. … Authorities said [Colleen R.] LaRose solicited funds for terrorist organizations, helped arrange phony passports and other travel records, and used the Internet to recruit women to kill in Europe and men in Asia. LaRose was arrested Oct. 15 in Philadelphia, and the indictment against her was unsealed Tuesday.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycw2aes Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: NBC 15 News Posted on 03.10.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “An 18-year-old Madison man comes home to find an intruder in his house and has no idea if his sleeping parents are OK. When instincts take over he doesn’t wait for police. It’s one of those situations that doesn’t leave you with a whole lot of time to think. When it happened to a high school student earlier this week he says he ‘did what he had to do.’” (03/09/10) Link: http://www.nbc15.com/news/headlines/87111457.html Filed under: 2AM News and RRND News | |
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Source: USA Today Posted on 03.09.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts told an Alabama audience Tuesday that he found the atmosphere ‘very troubling’ at January’s State of the Union Address, during which President Obama criticized the high court. He questioned why justices attend the annual event. ‘To the extent it has degenerated into a political pep rally, I’m not sure why we’re there.’ Roberts’ remarks constituted the latest salvo in criticism between the branches tracing to the court’s January decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which struck down a federal limit on corporate spending in elections.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/y9uhyqf Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 03.09.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “One bride wore a black suit, the other had on a white one with rhinestones. They walked down the aisle to Billy Joel’s ‘Just the Way You Are’ and kissed after the pastor pronounced them ‘legally married.’ The Rev. Darlene Garner, 61, and the Rev. Candy Holmes, 53, were among the first same-sex couples to marry in Washington on Tuesday, when the district became the sixth place in the country to conduct the unions. … The district joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont as places that issue same-sex couples marriage licenses.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yfxqobm Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: USA Today Posted on 03.09.10 by R. Lee Wrights “European officials urged the U.S. to join in a crackdown on speculators who bet against Europe’s currency union, warning they might ban some credit default swaps — opaque financial instruments blamed for worsening the world financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that ‘quick action is needed,’ calling on the U.S. to ‘make a gesture’ and curb the trades. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, in Washington, D.C. to meet with President Barack Obama, is also calling for curbs on speculation which he blames for making his country’s debt crisis worse.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yjd3kgr Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 03.09.10 by R. Lee Wrights “A ring accused of helping people from the Middle East obtain student visas by taking their proficiency exams and classes has exposed vulnerability in the nation’s security tracking system for foreigners who attend U.S. schools, experts said Tuesday. The bust unsettled immigration authorities and federal lawmakers who implemented the sophisticated Foreign Student and Exchange Visitor Information System after learning one of the Sept. 11 hijackers had entered the U.S. on a student visa.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yg67kvz Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Examiner Posted on 03.09.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Guatemala is a step closer to extraditing former President Alfonso Portillo to the United States to face money laundering charges. Chief prosecutor Amilcar Velasquez says the Mexican government approved extradition. The OK was needed under terms of Mexico’s extradition of Portillo back to Guatemala in 2008 to face domestic corruption charges.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ye6w3wb Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle Posted on 03.09.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Legislation to give additional months of unemployment benefits to people who have been out of a job for more than half a year has won key GOP support that means it will soon pass the Senate. The sweeping bill also would prevent doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments and extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed through December.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ykb9rjc Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: CNN Posted on 03.09.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Indonesian authorities killed the suspected mastermind behind the deadly 2002 Bali bombings, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday. Yudhoyono announced the death of terrorist Dulmatin while speaking with reporters during a visit to Australia. The Bali bombings killed 202 people.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yfgpu2a Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: ABC News Posted on 03.09.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Japan confirmed Tuesday secret Cold War-era pacts with Washington that tacitly allowed nuclear warships in Japanese ports in violation of a hallowed postwar principle, effectively acknowledging that previous governments had lied about them for decades. While the move was welcomed as a step toward greater government transparency, atomic bomb survivors expressed disgust that officials kept such agreements hidden for dozens of years.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygvbnop Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Voice of America Posted on 03.09.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “India’s upper house of parliament has passed a landmark bill to reserve one third of seats in parliament and state legislatures for women. The bill was passed following unruly protests by several lawmakers who oppose the controversial legislation. The bill will have to be passed by the lower house of parliament and state assemblies before it becomes law. The chairman of the Upper House of Parliament, Hamid Ansari, announced the passage of the Women’s Reservation bill with 186 out of 248 lawmakers voting in favor of it.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yg7a8qv Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 03.09.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “The Virginia Senate on Tuesday passed Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s proposal designed to expand the number of the state’s charter schools. The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the bill 27 to 12. It had already won approval in the Republican-led House of Delegates. … The bill gives the state Board of Education a role in advising prospective providers on their applications before they go up for approval before local school boards, but local boards would retain ultimate authority to approve such schools.” (03/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yfwc7n9 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Agence France-Presse Posted on 03.09.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Dubai’s police chief accused Israel on Tuesday of ‘vast falsification’ of travel documents, noting that dozens of false passports were uncovered following a Hamas leader’s murder in the emirate. ‘I ring alarm bells. Israel is falsifying Western passports on a large scale. We discover forged passports on a daily basis,’ Dahi Khalfan told AFP. … Dubai police have identified 26 out of 27 suspects from the hit squad murder they say bore the hallmarks of the Mossad. The Hamas man had been drugged and then suffocated. Dubai police say the suspects entered Dubai on fake passports using the identities of 12 people from Britain, six from Ireland, four from France, three Australians and a German, before fleeing the Gulf emirate.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygaom8z Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Computer World Posted on 03.09.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Computerworld - In another move to work its way into the enterprise, Google has unveiled an online store where users can buy cloud-based applications designed to work with Google’s own apps. The Google Apps Marketplace goes live tonight with 50 applications available from third-party vendors, said Chris Vander Mey, a senior product manager for Google.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ye9m7qk Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 03.09.10 by Steve Trinward “The sponsor of a measure that would declare an income tax and payroll tax unconstitutional in Tennessee says it’s necessary because of the poor state of the economy. The proposed constitutional amendment sponsored by Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown was approved 7-3 in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. The earliest it could go before voters is 2014. Even though the state constitution already says an income tax is not allowed in Tennessee, Kelsey said the difficult economic times may prompt lawmakers to try to pass an income tax. … He said the measure would also clarify that a city or county ‘cannot enact any tax that’s not specifically authorized by the constitution and the Legislature.’ Kelsey said the legislation is also necessary because it’s uncertain how the Tennessee Supreme Court will rule in the future.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yd4sd62 Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 03.09.10 by Steve Trinward “Almost until the end, Mary Josephine Ray would take song requests, crooning traditional Acadian tunes from her childhood and Tin Pan Alley standards. From her New Hampshire nursing home, she played cribbage with a youthful zeal, tallying every point herself. At 106, she shrugged off hip replacement surgery like she had skinned her knee. She said the rosary, watched her soaps, and cheered on her beloved Red Sox. … Ray, who died in her sleep Sunday at the age of 114, had been widely acknowledged as the oldest person in the United States and the second-oldest person in the world. … [A] mother of two children who lived most of her life in Maine, also reveled in the attention that came with her advancing age. … [She] was just a few days younger than the oldest person in the world, Kama Chinen of Japan, who is 114 years and 303 days.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yz836q5 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 03.09.10 by Steve Trinward “Nicotine builds up gradually in smokers’ brains rather than spiking after each puff, according to a study that might help point to new ways to help people quit smoking. Dr. Jed E. Rose of Duke University reports in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that nicotine buildup in the brain is gradual over several minutes. Scientists have theorized there is a spike of nicotine about seven seconds after each puff, but almost no measurements had been taken until now, Rose said. ‘We were surprised to find that the rate of uptake was much different from what one commonly hears,’ said Rose, who directs the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yfaubp7 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 03.09.10 by Steve Trinward “The Senate’s The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, the body’s official gatekeeper, said the Drudge Report, a conservative news aggregator, and whitepages.com ‘are responsible for the many viruses popping up throughout the Senate,’ according to an e-mail to the Environment and Public Works Committee. … Another e-mail from a separate office warned that staffers who had visited the Drudge Report or White Pages had experienced viruses on their PCs.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yb9v6oh Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 03.09.10 by Steve Trinward “The Obama administration has proposed using United Nations-guided principles to expand a type of zoning to coastal and even some inland waters. That’s raising concerns among fishermen that their favorite fishing holes may soon be off-limits for bait-casting. In the battle of incremental change that epitomizes the American conservation movement, many weekend anglers fear that the Obama administration’s promise to ‘fundamentally change’ water management in the US will erode what they call the public’s ‘right to fish,’ in turn creating economic losses for the $82 billion recreational fishing industry and a further deterioration of the American outdoorsman’s legacy.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycma8b3 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: AlterNet Posted on 03.09.10 by Steve Trinward “On Monday afternoon, a controversial Utah bill that charges pregnant women and girls with murder for having miscarriages caused by ‘intentional or knowing’ acts, was signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert. Contrary to media reports last week, the ‘Criminal Homicide and Abortion Amendments’ or HB12, which previously also applied to miscarriages caused by ‘reckless’ acts, was never ‘withdrawn’ by its sponsor, Republican Representative Carl Wimmer (who is crafting similar ‘model legislation’ for other states). After the governor expressed concern over ‘possible unintended consequences,’ of the legislation as written, Rep. Wimmer swiftly introduced a new version, titled ‘Criminal Homicide and Abortion Revisions’ (HB462), which omitted the word ‘reckless.’ Gov. Herbert signed the new bill and vetoed the old one.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/y9gnvvk Filed under: CANDi News and RRND News | |
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Source: USA Today Posted on 03.09.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to announce today that it will fully automate how it pays claims for illnesses related to exposure to the chemical Agent Orange to keep an overburdened system from collapse. It is the department’s first effort at automating claims processing in its 80-year history, says VA chief technology officer Peter Levin.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yj29gmu Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 03.08.10 by R. Lee Wrights “A U.S. drone fired two to three missiles at a house in northwest Pakistan, close to the Afghan border, killing at least five people and wounding four others, officials said Monday. The house was located in Miram Shah in North Waziristan. There was no information on who was targeted in the attack, although the U.S., in recent months, has stepped up drone strikes on alleged Taliban and al-Qaida suspects in the region.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yhcgzx3 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: AntiWar.Com Posted on 03.08.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “After yesterday’s spasm of violence, Iraq was unusually quiet. … Six people were wounded by gunfire during post-election celebrations in Kirkuk. In Baghdad, a bomb exploded without leaving casualties in the Adhamiya neighborhood.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ydghmo6 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: CNN Posted on 03.08.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The top U.S. general in Afghanistan vowed that coalition forces ‘are absolutely going to secure Kandahar,’ as security efforts expand in the country’s south. ‘We already are doing a lot of security operations in Kandahar, but it’s our intent — under President [Hamid] Karzai — to make an even greater effort there,’ Gen. Stanley McChrystal told a joint news conference Monday with Mark Sedwill, the NATO senior civilian representative to the country.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yj39kb4 Filed under: RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: ABC Posted on 03.08.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Iraqi forces are on track to assume control of the country’s security, and the United States is on course to draw down its troops to 50,000 by President Obama’s August deadline, U.S. officials said today. Iraqis voted this weekend in a historic parliamentary election that Obama hailed Sunday as an ‘important milestone’ in the country’s history.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yhnl5u2 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Ars Technica Posted on 03.08.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “The US Treasury Department today relaxed export regulations against Iran, Sudan, and Cuba, allowing US companies to provide instant messaging, e-mail, and social networking services to those countries. The goal is to ensure that citizens can ‘exercise their most basic rights,’ said Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin. The new policy provides a general license to tech companies. According to the official rule, they can now export ’services incident to the exchange of personal communications over the Internet, such as instant messaging, chat and e-mail, social networking, sharing of photos and movies, Web browsing, and blogging, provided that such services are publicly available at no cost to the user.’” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yepwgqh Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Southern California Press-Enterprise Posted on 03.08.10 by R. Lee Wrights “The head of the International Monetary Fund on Monday proposed a plan for the world’s governments to pool together to raise money needed to adapt to climate change, a rare step for an organization that normally does not develop environmental policies. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the Fund is concerned about the huge amount of funding needed and the effect that will have on the global economy.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygto44l Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Posted on 03.08.10 by R. Lee Wrights “Despite numerous news reports that Pakistan has arrested an American al-Qaida operative in the port city of Karachi, the U.S. government is unaware that anyone affiliated with the terrorist network, American or otherwise, has been captured in Pakistan recently, U.S. officials said Monday. ‘None of this appears to be fact at this point,’ said a U.S. official who asked not to be further identified because the official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.” (03/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yb8njmf Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Naples Daily News Posted on 03.08.10 by R. Lee Wrights “White House aides are increasingly convinced that accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will never face trial in a civilian court and are trying to cut a deal that would still transfer Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects to the U.S., where many would faces [sic] criminal charges, a senior administration official said Monday. President Barack Obama is trying to keep a campaign pledge to close the U.S. military prison in Cuba, a promise that has attracted criticism from Republicans who say it would jeopardize national security.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yktksbm Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Houston Chronicle Posted on 03.08.10 by R. Lee Wrights “One of two Baptist missionaries still held on kidnapping charges in Haiti was released and flew to Miami on Monday, but the U.S. group’s leader remained in custody. Charisa Coulter, 24, was taken from her jail cell to the airport by U.S. Embassy staff more than a month after she and nine other Americans were arrested for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after the earthquake.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/yfgatl7 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 03.08.10 by Steve Trinward “The police came with bullhorns to impoverished neighborhoods near the epicenter of Chile’s devastating earthquake, warning looters to return what they stole or face police raids. And so they did, depositing everything from mattresses to refrigerators and flat-screen TVs. It took 35 truckloads to recover it all. Together with looted merchandise recovered by police, the material is worth nearly $2 million, officers said. Touring a police gymnasium full of the recovered goods yesterday, President Michelle Bachelet called the looting one of ‘the other aftershocks of this tragic earthquake,’ and vowed that those responsible would feel the full weight of the law: prison terms of two to five years.” (03/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygf5dwh Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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