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Source: CNN Posted on 05.12.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Teenagers who use marijuana put themselves at higher risks for serious mental health problems, including worsening depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and suicide, according to a new White House report. The goal is to ‘correct the blind spot we’ve had in our society that’s caused more young people to suffer,’ Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters said. ‘The short message is: Marijuana’s not safe.’” [editor’s note: Walters’s stormtroopers likely harm more people on any given day than marijuana itself has harmed in the history of its use. The researchers behind findings of correlation between marijuana and depression and other ills have been careful to state that the obvious conclusion — that the problems pre-exist the cannabis use and the cannabis use is a self-TREATMENT attempt — is at least as likely as the ONDCP’s non-obvious conclusion - TLK] (05/09/08) Link: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/09/depression.marijuana/ Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: The Press Association [UK] Posted on 05.12.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “The US is launching its first relief airlift to cyclone-hit Burma after prolonged negotiations with the country’s military rulers. In what is seen as a huge concession by the junta, the US finally got the go-ahead to send a C-130 cargo plane packed with supplies to Rangoon, with two more air shipments scheduled to land on Tuesday. The official death toll from Cyclone Nargis jumped to nearly 29,000 on Sunday. The military junta has been sharply criticised for its handling of the May 3 disaster, from failing to provide adequate warnings about the pending storm to responding slowly to offers of help.” (05/12/08) Link: http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iovFlBHTleVZ_-zE4vuo4EzhSLTQ Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: United Press International Posted on 05.12.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Fighting broke out Sunday east of Beirut between supporters of the Lebanese government and followers of the militant group Hezbollah, officials say. The fighting in the Shouf and Aley districts in the mountains overlooking Beirut followed clashes in the northern city of Tripoli that left at least two people dead and five wounded, The New York Times reported.” (05/12/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/43t7r2 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 05.12.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Fifty-three illegal immigrants found Sunday had been held against their will in a fortified home by suspected smugglers demanding more money, authorities said. The group of rescued immigrants included two 13-year-old girls, three women and a mentally disabled man. The rest were men, Department of Public Safety spokesman Harold Sanders said. Authorities began investigating Saturday after getting a tip that immigrants were being held captive. Sanders said the smugglers wanted an average of $2,500 for each person’s release. … The rescued immigrants were turned over to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.” [editor’s note: Why waste money to rescue them from one gang of kidnappers just to hand them over to another gang that’s even LESS likely to give them their freedom? - TLK] (05/11/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4rve6m Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Agence France-Presse Posted on 05.12.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Pro-Western forces in Serbia claimed victory Monday after general elections gave them a strong mandate to move closer to the European Union despite fears of a nationalist backlash over Kosovo. ‘The citizens of Serbia have undoubtedly confirmed a clear European path,’ President Boris Tadic, the flag-bearer of the pro-European forces, told jubilant supporters overnight. … If confirmed, the election results will be seen as a breakthrough for Serbia, where a series of governments since the ouster eight years ago of late autocratic president Slobodan Milosevic have struggled for unity on the path to EU membership. Those divisions came to the fore in a spiteful campaign in which Tadic and his allies were branded ‘traitors’ after signing a rapprochement accord with the European Union. Most EU members have recognised Kosovo.” (05/11/08) Link: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jmNY5fBsmPoX5HBN3QVTKmmXmh1A Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 05.11.08 by Steve Trinward “A judge has ordered the social networking site Facebook to turn over information identifying the person who set up a fake profile in the name of a high school dean. Marion Superior Court Judge Robyn Moberly issued the order Friday, a day after Roncalli High School Dean of Students Tim Puntarelli sued the Web site, alleging harassment and identity theft by the unidentified creator of the profile. Facebook, based in Palo Alto, Calif., removed the fraudulent profile from its site after Roncalli officials reported it last month. A Facebook spokeswoman declined comment to The Indianapolis Star. The AP sent an e-mail seeking comment from Facebook. Facebook’s privacy policy requires a court order or subpoena before it will release identifying information.” (05/11/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5aj3y2 Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: San Francisco Chronicle Posted on 05.11.08 by Steve Trinward “By declaring bankruptcy, Vallejo has thrust itself into the national spotlight as a test case for thousands of floundering cities desperate to unload their extravagant public employee contracts. ‘There’s a wave of this coming across the U.S.,’ said Sajan George, an adviser to struggling public entities who worked on restructuring Orange County after it declared bankruptcy in 1994. ‘What happens in Vallejo could definitely set a precedent.’ Battered by the plummeting housing market and skyrocketing public employee contracts, Vallejo made dubious history Tuesday night by becoming the largest California city to declare bankruptcy. The North Bay city of 117,000 was on track to start the fiscal year July 1 with a $16 million deficit and no money in reserve.” (05/11/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6bketo Filed under: CANDi News and PND Events and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 05.11.08 by Steve Trinward “Concerns that realistic-looking toy weapons are confusing police and threatening safety have led 15 states to try going beyond gun control and cracking down on fake firearms. Officer Micheal Hoover knows a fair amount about guns as a sniper instructor for a Tennessee SWAT team. He recalls the night two years ago when a car pulled up beside him on a highway and the passenger waved what looked like an Uzi. ‘It scared me,’ he said. ‘If anyone is in their right mind, I don’t see how it wouldn’t.’ Hoover was off duty and called for police help. A 20-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault after police found a black plastic Uzi submachine gun under the car’s passenger seat, but he was acquitted because jurors felt the officer should have been able to tell it was only a toy.” (05/11/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5nxdhe Filed under: 2AM News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 05.11.08 by Steve Trinward “A gang of London teenage girls is suspected of destroying three houses and killing a man with a homemade liquid bomb during an argument over a boy. According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, witnesses say a purple, smelly liquid was poured into a mailbox of one of the homes, which set off a massive explosion. The intended target of the attack, Charlotte Anderson, was injured in the blast and rushed to the hospital with severe burns. Her next-door neighbor, Emad Qureshi, 26, who was at home with his parents, was killed when he was crushed by falling debris, it was reported. Earlier, Anderson had phoned the police with a complaint that a gang of girls was harassing her over a boy outside her home.” (05/11/08) Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354993,00.html Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 05.11.08 by Steve Trinward “Fans compare him to Barack Obama, but Cedomir Jovanovic’s youthful calls for change are not nearly as popular in his native Serbia — especially since he accepts Kosovo’s independence. Though popular among trendy urbanites, Mr. Jovanovic and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have so far mustered only 6 to 7 percent support nationwide, according to polls. But he’s no stranger to altering the course of a nation: A leader of the 1990s student protests against former President Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s, he helped negotiate his surrender in 2001. So ‘Ceda,’ as he is known, has no illusions about toppling the government in May 11 parliamentary elections. Rather, he’s settling in for a long battle.” (05/07/08) Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0507/p04s01-woeu.html Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 05.11.08 by Steve Trinward “The military junta forged ahead yesterday with a constitutional referendum intended to cement its power after a campaign of arm-twisting and intimidation, even as it continued to restrict foreign aid shipments to survivors of last week’s devastating cyclone. The junta is refusing to grant entry to foreign aid workers that relief officials say are crucial to preventing further deaths from disease among an estimated 1.5 million victims. By yesterday, the military had not released two UN World Food Program aid shipments that arrived Friday, according to a spokesman for the program.” (05/11/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5lbn48 Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 05.11.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Nepalese police have arrested some 560 Tibetan women, including many Buddhist nuns, after breaking up demonstrations against China’s crackdown in Tibet. In the first example of all-women protests, three rallies in Kathmandu were quickly stopped by police. It was the biggest round-up since Tibetan exiles began near daily demonstrations in March. Protestors wearing black armbands wept and shouted ‘”We want free Tibet’ as they were dragged to police vans.” (05/11/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7394672.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 05.11.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The outlook for the UK economy has got worse and the Bank of England must act to stop a major downturn, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned. The current economic slowdown will be more prolonged than previously thought, it argued, with consumer spending remaining weak until the end of 2009. The Bank of England must be more ‘pro-active’ in countering the threat to growth and business prospects.The Bank left interest rates on hold at 5% last week.” (05/11/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7394525.stm Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Eyewitness News Posted on 05.11.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Memphis Police say a man caught stealing from a car was shot by the owner of the vehicle and held at gunpoint until police arrived. Police say the incident happened around 3:00 a.m., Friday, May 9, 2008, on Parakeet Drive in the Westwood area of Memphis. The owner of the burglarized SUV says he and his wife woke up to the sound of a big crash and his dogs barking. The man went outside to find out what was going on, and discovered a crook dangling from his SUV trying to steal items from inside. According to the vehicle’s owner, he repeatedly told the accused car burglar to get out of the SUV. He says he was not able to see the burglar’s hands and did not know if the suspect had a weapon, so he shot the crook in the buttocks. Investigators say the man then walked the accused burglar to the front porch of the house and held him there at gunpoint until police and an ambulance arrived.” (05/09/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3tq473 Filed under: 2AM News and RRND News | |
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Source: Las Vegas Now Posted on 05.11.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Police are investigating a shooting at a Las Vegas home that left two people dead Thursday night. Police say a man told them that he and his wife came home and were met by a burglar in their house. According to officers, the burglar shot and killed the woman and the husband then shot and killed the burglar. … Police say the couple returned to their home on Friday night around 9 p.m. and surprised a burglar. Police say the burglar was someone the couple knew and had hired in the past to do work at the home.” (05/10/08) Link: http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=8301163 Filed under: 2AM News and RRND News | |
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Source: Star Tribune Posted on 05.11.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Three small-town eighth-graders in Minnesota were suspended by their principal for not standing Thursday morning for the Pledge of Allegiance, violating a district policy that the principal now says may soon be reworded to protect free speech rights. … The head of the Minnesota American Civil Liberties Union said that the school’s actions against the students are unconstitutional, and his office informed the district of that today in a strongly worded letter.” (05/10/08) Link: http://www.startribune.com/nation/18800444.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Local 10 News Posted on 05.11.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A man who said he thought he was just helping a woman in need is accused of running an illegal taxi service. Miami-Dade County’s Consumer Services Department has slapped Rosco O’Neil with $2,000 worth of fines, but O’Neil claims he is falsely accused. ‘I ain’t running nothing illegal,’ O’Neil said. The 78-year-old said he was walking into a Winn-Dixie to get some groceries when he was approached by a woman who said she needed a ride. ‘She asked me, ‘Do I do a service?” O’Neil said. ‘I told her no. She said, ‘I need help getting home.” O’Neil told the woman if she was still there when he finished his shopping, he would give her a ride. She was, so he did. As it turned out, the woman was an undercover employee with the consumer services department targeting people providing illegal taxi services.” (05/09/08) Link: http://www.local10.com/news/16210168/detail.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Ananova [UK] Posted on 05.11.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Estonian authorities have slapped a flatulence tax on farmers to compensate the country for the methane gas produced by cows. Farmers this week received their first ‘fart tax’ demands asking them to pay for the greenhouse gases their cattle produce. A single cow is thought to produce on average 350 litres of methane and 1,500 litres of carbon dioxide per day from flatulence and burping.” (05/09/08) Link: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2846457.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Agence France-Presse Posted on 05.09.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “The UN food agency on Friday suspended all aid flights into Myanmar over ‘unacceptable’ restrictions by the junta, which has refused to allow foreign relief workers to help desperate cyclone survivors. The World Food Programme’s decision cast new doubt on the regime’s claim to be doing all it can to save the 1.5 million people at risk of starvation and disease after last week’s devastating storm. The situation on the ground is one of horror almost beyond imagining — with starving survivors picking for food in waterways littered with the bodies of the dead — and aid groups agree time is running out. But the military, deeply suspicious of any outside influence that could dilute the tight control it has kept on the nation for 46 years, insists that it will welcome supplies from abroad, but must distribute them itself.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4tncgk Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: San Francisco Chronicle Posted on 05.09.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Administration officials have dashed hopes among farm-state lawmakers from both parties that President Bush will sign a nearly $300 billion farm bill that they finished Thursday. The veto warning sets up an effort by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joined by many farm-state Republicans, to override a veto and defend government payments to farmers earning record incomes even as food prices soar. Administration officials said the bill, which would set U.S. food policy for the next five years, is loaded with budget gimmicks that disguise a $20 billion increase in spending. ‘At a time of record farm income, Congress decided to further increase farm subsidy rates, qualify more people for taxpayer support, and move programs toward more government control,’ Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said.” (05/09/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4qhh53 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: RTT News Posted on 05.09.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “A day after a top al-Sadr politician indicated about a military onslaught on the Shiite strongholds in Baghdad’s Sadr City, U.S. forces have killed 14 militants in the slum area of Sadr City …. U.S. military pounded heavily with air strikes and tanks …. militants attacked the heavily fortified Green Zone in downtown Baghdad with rockets and missiles.” (05/09/08) Link: http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Node=B1&Id=601806 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution Posted on 05.09.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “A former Atlanta police officer testified Thursday that narcotics officers routinely lied under oath when seeking search warrants — a practice that led to police killing a 92-year-old woman. Former Detective Gregg Junnier told a Fulton County jury that detectives would tell judges that they had verified their informants had bought cocaine from dealers by searching them for drugs before the buy took place. … Junnier testified at the Superior Court trial of one of his former partners, Arthur Tesler, who was guarding the back of [Kathryn] Johnston’s Neal Street home on that day, Nov. 21, 2006. Junnier and Smith pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and face up to 10 and 12 years in prison, respectively, depending on their cooperation. Tesler faces 15 years on charges of lying in an official investigation, violating his oath as an officer and false imprisonment, a charge stemming from illegally surrounding Johnston’s house.” (05/09/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4stxqh Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: CNN Posted on 05.09.08 by R. Lee Wrights “A bill that would allow the government to guarantee new mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure passed the House on Thursday, but it faces a veto threat from the White House and an uncertain fate in the Senate. The bill was approved by a vote of 266-154. A companion bill that would send $15 billion to states to buy and fix up foreclosed properties also passed the House by a vote of 239-188.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/64hh3p Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Bloomberg Posted on 05.09.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Gun battles raged across western and southern Beirut, leaving 10 people dead, as fighters from the Shiite group Hezbollah pressed their party’s challenge to Lebanon’s pro-Western government. Masked bands of Shiite gunmen were shown by television networks as they roamed neighborhoods dominated by Sunni Muslims, who largely back Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s administration. The army was deployed in parts of the capital to control the unrest. In addition to the deaths in Beirut in three days of violence, five civilians were hurt as fighting erupted in the Bekaa Valley, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.” (05/09/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4osqou Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 05.08.08 by Steve Trinward “The Archbishop of Westminster has urged Christians to treat atheists and agnostics with ‘deep esteem.’ Believers may be partly responsible for the decline in faith by losing sense of the mystery and treating God as a ‘fact in the world,’ he said in a lecture. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor called for more understanding and appreciation between believers and non-believers. The leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales said that a ‘hidden God’ was active in everyone’s life. The Cardinal’s lecture at Westminster Cathedral comes after a spate of public clashes over issues such as stem-cell research, gay adoption and faith schools.” (05/08/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7390941.stm Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 05.08.08 by Steve Trinward “Americans rank last in a new National Geographic-sponsored survey released Wednesday that compares environmental-consumption habits in 14 countries. Americans were least likely to choose the greener option in three out of four categories — housing, transportation and consumer goods, according to the assessment. In the fourth category, food, Americans ranked ahead of Japanese consumers, who eat more meat and seafood. The rankings, called ‘Greendex,’ are the first to compare the lifestyles and behaviors of consumers in multiple countries, according to the National Geographic Society. It plans to conduct the 100-plus-question survey annually and considers trends more important than yearly scores, said Terry Garcia, executive vice president of National Geographic’s mission programs.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6lmhfn Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: USA Today Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “The acting chief of Mexico’s federal police was gunned down outside his home early Thursday, marking a serious escalation of Mexico’s drug war. Edgar Millan Gómez, 41, was the highest-ranking officer among four senior policemen to be killed across Mexico in the last week. He was ambushed about 2:30 a.m. in the carport of his home near the center of Mexico City, the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) said in a statement.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/68lz5e Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: The Local [Germany] Posted on 05.08.08 by Steve Trinward “A Muslim girl in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia cannot skip co-ed swimming lessons because of religious prohibitions against wearing formfitting clothing, a German court ruled on Wednesday. The administrative court in Dusseldorf ruled that the state’s responsibility to educate the girl outweighed the potential infringement on her religious freedom. The 12-year-old girl’s parents sued her school in the northern German city of Remscheid after the school refused to allow the girl to skip swimming class. Citing religious reasons, the parents said they did not want their daughter to participate because her body would not be covered. The ruling means the girl must participate in swimming lessons starting next week, Sabine Ernst of the Alexander von Humboldt School told German news agency DDP. Ernst declined to state what the consequences could be if the girl declines to attend.” (05/08/08) Link: http://www.thelocal.de/11755/20080507/ Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 05.08.08 by Steve Trinward “Code Pink is now resorting to witchcraft to beef up the number of its supporters protesting Berkeley’s controversial Marine Corps Recruiting Center. The women’s anti-war group has told ralliers to come equipped with spells and pointy hats Friday for ‘Witches, clowns and sirens day,’ the last of the group’s weeklong homage to Mother’s Day. ‘Women are coming to cast spells and do rituals and to impart wisdom to figure out how we’re going to end war,’ Zanne Sam Joi of Bay Area Code Pink told FOXNews.com. The group’s week of themed protests, which included days to galvanize grannies and bring-your-daughter-to-protest, appears to have done little to boost its flagging numbers.” (05/08/08) Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354400,00.html Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “Firing rocket-propelled grenades and heavy submachine guns, Islamist fighters seized the police [sic] headquarters at the heart of the government’s [sic] stronghold in Mogadishu on Thursday in a bold attack that witnesses said killed two soldiers and two policemen. The insurgents have tried many times to attack the heavily guarded K4 district but Thursday’s raid was their first major success. The ambush could not be immediately be verified by Somali officials.” (05/08/08) Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24526442/ Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 05.08.08 by Steve Trinward “When he was laid up recovering from knee surgery, farmer Ralph Dull picked up a notebook dropped off by a friend that detailed how wind generators produce electricity. ‘I had plenty of time to read it,’ Mr. Dull recalls. ‘And I said, ‘That’s something we could do.” Dull has since become an Ohio pioneer in green farming and renewable energy, and his efforts have garnered the attention of Ohio legislators, who turn to him for creative ideas on agriculture’s role in environmental protection. ‘He is demonstrating through his farming practices that you can have a profitable farming operation while caring for the earth,’ says Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who wants the state to rely more on alternative energy and is pushing a stimulus package that would earmark $150 million for advanced energy sources such as solar power, wind, and clean coal.” (05/09/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5wm3cu Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “Seeking to referee a stalemate over how the CIA can interrogate prisoners, a top Senate Republican says Congress should ban waterboarding and seven other abusive methods of interrogation but allow the spy agency some leeway in how it questions detainees. Missouri Sen. Kit Bond, the senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, outlined his proposal in nonbinding language accompanying a bill that sets out the intelligence community’s policies, programs and spending for 2009. An unclassified summary was released Thursday.” (05/08/08) Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24530188/ Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 05.08.08 by Steve Trinward “A major Wall Street firm agreed to return $37 million to 17 cities and towns in the state, as well as to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, after it allegedly misled them into buying investments they thought were as safe as cash. UBS Financial Services Inc. reached an agreement with Attorney General Martha Coakley after she found that the brokerage had not fully disclosed the risks of the investments, known as auction-rate securities. Cities were unable to get their hands on their money when the market for these investments evaporated almost overnight. Winchester, which had invested more than any other town, will receive $6.8 million in the settlement. The turnpike will receive $4.4 million, and the city of Holyoke and its retirement system will get $3.2 million.” [editor’s note: Fascinating, how if someone bilks consumers, all it is a reason to slap their hands, but if they bilk a government entity … it’s payback time? - SAT] [editor’s note: Even more fascinating is that these wise and all-knowing pols would believe that securities are “safe as cash.” Any investment that’s as safe as cash will be as “profitable” as stuffing that cash in your mattress to inflate. Profit comes from RISK - TLK] (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6hybbq Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Yahoo! News Posted on 05.08.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Speeding drivers in south China are getting clear away thanks to machines which switch the numbers on their licence plates in seconds, state media said on Tuesday. ‘More than 50 percent of cars caught on camera for speeding and other offences either cover up their plates or use a fake licence plate,’ a traffic policeman in the Guangdong city of Yangjiang was quoted by the Beijing Youth Daily as saying. ‘Our chances of capturing them is next to nil.’ The price of the remote-control device starts at around 800 yuan ($115), while a more advanced apparatus with the ability to flip over the numbers in less than three seconds costs more than double.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4udhgo Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Gazette Posted on 05.08.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Ohioans should have the ability to use force and, if necessary, deadly force to defend themselves and their family against a violent intruder in their home. That belief is the genesis behind an important bill passed by the Senate in recent weeks. Senate Bill 184, legislation I am proud to cosponsor, would establish Ohio’s ‘Castle Doctrine.’ For centuries, people have respected the idea that a man’s home is his castle, and he should have the right to defend it and those inside from harm. This age-old adage has initiated a push for stronger self defense laws in several states over the years, including Ohio.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4mqth6 Filed under: 2AM News and RRND News | |
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Source: Columbus Telegram Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “When Boris Yeltsin left the Kremlin eight years ago, he gave Vladimir Putin the pen he had used to sign important documents and decrees, a gesture symbolizing the transfer of power to Russia’s new president. When Putin left the Kremlin, he took the pen with him. Putin, who became prime minister Thursday, has signaled that he intends to remain Russia’s principal leader, at least in the short term — and possibly much longer. He is keeping the trappings of his presidency and many of its powers as well.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6ew64a Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Beacon News Posted on 05.08.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A measure supporting residents’ right to own guns is under consideration in some area counties. A group of gun-rights advocates is bringing the non-binding resolution before county boards across the state. The measure would affirm citizens’ Second Amendment protections in order to send a message to state lawmakers. ‘It merely asks the legislators that if they’re going to propose a new law, they uphold their sworn oath by not passing any laws that would infringe on the rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution,’ Oswego Township Trustee Tom Yackley said Tuesday. … The force behind the measure is Illinois Pro 2A Resolution.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4es9ju Filed under: 2AM News and RRND News | |
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Source: Independent [UK] Posted on 05.08.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Gordon Brown and Wendy Alexander, Labour’s leader in Scotland, have been taunted by political opponents over their split on whether Scotland should hold an early referendum on securing independence from the United Kingdom. Ms Alexander was involved in fiery exchanges in the Scottish Parliament with Alex Salmond, First Minister in the Scottish National Party administration north of the border, who ridiculed the public rift between her and the Prime Minister. Mr Brown has declined to endorse her call for an early vote, which could lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom.” (05/09/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4lunl5 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied fresh accusations that he illegally accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from a U.S. citizen, but said Thursday night that he will step down if he is indicted. The latest investigation into corruption allegations involving Olmert has distracted Israel for nearly a week and has the potential to derail delicate peace talks with the Palestinians.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5lv8bs Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Miami Herald Posted on 05.08.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “After Leon Rozio got robbed, he vowed never to let it happen again. Three or four years ago, the 64-year-old owner of Miami-based H&L Wholesale Jewelry Inc. lost some $300,000 in gold and jewelry in a holdup, said his half-brother, Fernando Mirabal. Soon after, Rozio started bringing a gun on his sales runs, which took him and his priceless jewelry to shops across South Florida. About 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, not long after Rozio parked his red Ford Explorer outside St. Moritz Jewelers on Boca Raton’s west side, four men screamed up behind him in a silver car, boxing him in. They surrounded the Explorer, smashing out all four windows to get at the jewelry inside, witnesses said.’ ‘He opened up like I have never seen,’ said Greg Sanderson, manager of a nearby Omaha Steaks shop, who watched the shooting through the store’s plate-glass windows. ‘I couldn’t believe it. It sounded like the Wild West out there.”’ (05/08/08) Link: http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/525249.html Filed under: 2AM News and RRND News | |
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Source: CNN Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “The United States has signed off on a European plan that would offer increased incentives for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, senior State Department officials said Thursday. Leaders from Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany are expected to join European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana — the EU’s normal contact with Iran — at a meeting with Iranian officials to present the offer.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5n2lyk Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Newark Advocate Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “Seven more police officers were taken off street duty Thursday as investigators look into the videotaped police beating of three shooting suspects during a traffic stop. Thirteen of the estimated 15 officers on hand during the Monday incident have been taken off the streets as investigators pore over the television news footage, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a news conference Thursday.” (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6aa2ue Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Wired Posted on 05.08.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning. On November 26, 2007, the FBI served a controversial National Security Letter on the Internet Archive’s founder Brewster Kahle, asking for records about one of the library’s registered users, asking for the user’s name, address and activity on the site. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive’s lawyers, fought the NSL, challenging its constitutionality in a December 14 complaint to a federal court in San Francisco. The FBI agreed on April 21 to withdraw the letter and unseal the court case, making some of the documents available to the public.” (05/07/08) Link: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/internet-archiv.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: International Herald Tribune [France] Posted on 05.08.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Iraqi soldiers for the first time warned residents in the embattled Sadr City district to leave their houses Thursday, signaling a new push by the U.S.-backed forces against Shiite extremist who have been waging street battles for seven weeks. Iraqi soldiers, using loudspeakers, told residents in some areas of southeastern Sadr City, which were virtually abandoned, to go to nearby soccer stadiums, residents said. UNICEF says about 6,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Sadr City, most of them from the southeastern section. U.S. forces have increased air power and armored patrols in an attempt to cripple Shiite militia influence in Sadr City, a slum of 2.5 million people that serves as the Baghdad base for the Mahdi Army led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.” (05/08/08) Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/08/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq.php Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: San Francisco Chronicle Posted on 05.08.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Screaming tabloid headlines have declared her campaign ‘Over!’ and calls for her withdrawal from the race are mounting, but Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — despite lackluster primary results this week — has put out her own steely message: She’s not going anywhere. ‘I’m staying in this race until there’s a nominee and, obviously, I am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee,’ the New York senator said at a Shepherdstown, W.Va., news conference Wednesday. ‘I believe that I’m the stronger candidate against Sen. McCain. And I believe I would be the best president among the three of us running. So we will continue to contest these elections and move forward.’ In the aftermath of a momentum-sapping week that appeared to turn the tide in her 18-month battle against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton acknowledged that she will need some hefty assists to keep her hopes for the White House alive: more campaign cash; more support from critical, uncommitted superdelegates; more wins in the primaries ahead; and a favorable resolution on seating contested delegates from Florida and Michigan.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4lx4et Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Salem Statesman Journal Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “The Rev. Al Sharpton was among dozens arrested Wednesday as demonstrators blocked traffic at the height of the evening rush hour to protest the acquittal of three detectives in the 50-bullet shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding day. Police said 216 people were arrested, including Sharpton, two survivors of the shooting and the slain man’s fiancee.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/65gwqr Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: CNN Posted on 05.08.08 by R. Lee Wrights “Philadelphia city officials said Wednesday the beatings of three suspects, captured on video by a television news crew, were ‘unacceptable,’ and added officers’ emotions are running high after the slaying of a sergeant last week. ‘We certainly are concerned about what we saw on the tape,’ Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told reporters Wednesday afternoon.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5ls5z3 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Independent [UK] Posted on 05.08.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “The first posters warning travellers not to crack open a beer — or anything stronger –– on London public transport network have already been put up. Tickets will be rewritten from 1 June to bar passengers from carrying open bottles or cans of alcohol on buses, the Tube, the DLR or trams as part of the new Mayor Boris Johnson’s drive to crack down on petty crime. Anyone caught drinking alcohol can be asked to stop or even thrown off if they refuse. A new by-law that could impose fines for offenders is expected to be passed next year, making drinking on the transport network a criminal offence. Transport police, unions and alcohol charities welcomed the powers, arguing that most drinkers would comply with the ban.” [editor’s note: Ah, the first major action by the allegedly “libertarian” new mayor - TLK] (05/08/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3zowtu Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: San Francisco Chronicle Posted on 05.07.08 by Steve Trinward “A congressional leader, citing complaints from Bay Area mayors and lawmakers, wants the Drug Enforcement Administration to explain its increased use of ‘paramilitary-style enforcements raid’ and property forfeiture orders against medical marijuana patients and suppliers in California. With drug trafficking and violence from international cartels on the rise, ‘do you think the DEA’s limited resources are best utilized conducting enforcement raids on individuals and their caregivers who are conducting themselves legally under California law?’ House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a letter to the agency. He also noted the DEA’s recent tactic of sending letters to hundreds of property owners who rent to medical marijuana dispensaries, advising them that they could be prosecuted and lose their property under federal law.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/47arp7 Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 05.07.08 by Steve Trinward “Federal agents swooped down on a north Phoenix gun store Tuesday in the biggest weapons bust in years, highlighting Arizona’s major role as an arms conduit to violent drug cartels in Mexico. Authorities said the store was a source for at least 650 high-powered weapons, including 250 AK-47 automatic weapons, smuggled to drug cartels for use in the escalating Mexican drug war. That war left 2,500 dead last year, and Arizona weapons were used to assassinate police and battle army squads near the border, authorities said. The raid on X-Caliber Guns on North Cave Creek Road capped an 11-month investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Phoenix Police Department and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. Agents pored over evidence in the store, seized 1,300 weapons and closed down the business.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3gfyxd Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 05.07.08 by Steve Trinward “The hunt is over for 28-year-old Tadarl Burroughs. Police wanted him after his nephew brought bags of marijuana, crack, and cocaine to Tom Joy Elementary School Monday. Following the incident, police searched the home Burroughs shared with his sister Arthea Burroughs in the 500 block of Joseph Avenue in East Nashville. Police say they found 1.5 grams of marijuana in his room. He was captured Wednesday hiding in his grandmother’s home on Dickerson Pike. The child’s mother, Arthea Burroughs, was arrested Monday.” [editor’s note: They found a whole “1.5 grams of [pot]?” Musta been some killer-weed! Seriously, though, other than being careless enough to leave it lying around for the tyke to find it (which has its own circle of hell?), is there a real crime here? - SAT] (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4dvmbv Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 05.07.08 by Steve Trinward “A House lawmaker says the state should allow gay couples legally united elsewhere to divorce in Rhode Island. Rep. Al Gemma said Wednesday that he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. But he submitted a bill before the House Judiciary Committee that would allow same-sex couples united elsewhere in the U.S. to divorce in Rhode Island courts. Rhode Island has not legalized gay unions. Gemma filed his bill after the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled in December that a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts could not get divorced in Rhode Island, where they live. Gemma says divorce is a civil rights issue and warns that couples who cannot legally separate could be hurt financially. The committee was not expected to vote on the proposal.” (05/07/08) Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354495,00.html Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 05.07.08 by Steve Trinward “With a nationwide housing crisis far from over, the risk of future mortgage losses is rapidly shifting from the private sector toward government — and potentially US taxpayers. This is occurring partly by choice, as policymakers try to stop a wave of foreclosures. It is also happening by circumstance, as the crisis has left government-linked entities as the lenders of last resort in a troubled marketplace. One symbol of rising risks came on Tuesday, as mortgage giant Fannie Mae announced a $2.2 billion loss for the year’s first quarter. The Federal National Mortgage Association, the official name that has been shortened to Fannie Mae for convenience, is not officially part of the government. But its public charter, created in the wake of the Depression, is to help make sure that home loans remain available in bad times as well as good.” (05/08/08) Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0508/p02s01-usec.html Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 05.07.08 by Steve Trinward “As many towns across the state grapple with revenue shortages and skyrocketing costs, voters in two area communities yesterday delivered different verdicts on property tax hikes to support operating budgets: Brookline voters overwhelmingly approved a $6.2 million hike while Shrewsbury voters rejected a $1.5 million increase. The split mirrors statewide trends so far in asking voters to override the state’s property tax cap of 2.5 percent a year. Overrides for operating budgets, prior to yesterday’s votes, had passed in five communities (pending a recount in one), and failed in five others, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/54mxzv Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram Posted on 05.07.08 by R. Lee Wrights “A new poll shows that 63 percent of Wisconsin residents support a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. The poll released Wednesday also shows 55 percent support decreasing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. Only 15 percent support an immediate withdrawal. Forty-five percent say Democrats would do a better job of handling the situation in Iraq compared with 25 percent who say Republicans would.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6z4muw Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Ft. Collins Coloradoan Posted on 05.07.08 by R. Lee Wrights “Undercover agents who posed as college students to bust more than 100 suspected drug dealers at San Diego State University never had to crack a book to gain acceptance on campus. All it took was cash. The federal agents went to one or two parties but never actually went to class or lived in the dorms. Instead, they merely arranged meetings with suspected dealers and asked about buying cocaine, Ecstasy, methamphetamine, marijuana and other drugs, authorities said Wednesday.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/65yg9b Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Baytown Sun Posted on 05.07.08 by R. Lee Wrights “The federal government’s new advice to doctors for helping smokers quit recommends the drug Chantix, which has recently been linked with depression and suicidal behavior. The new guidelines mention the psychiatric risks but also say the popular Pfizer Inc. drug is the most effective at helping people get off cigarettes. The guidelines mention other options, too, and highly recommend combining counseling and medication.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6h3yh4 Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: CNet News Posted on 05.07.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “In a major win for Hollywood studios, a California federal judge has ordered TorrentSpy to pay some $110 million in damages for infringing the copyright of thousands of films and TV shows through its BitTorrent search engine. The Los Angeles judge, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, also issued a permanent injunction against TorrentSpy, which was once one of the most popular indexes of BitTorrent files before it shut down in March after a two-year copyright battle with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The company closed its site on March 24, citing financial hardship and a desire to protect the privacy of its users.” [editor’s note: Under this precedent, I can presumably sue my city’s street department for damages the next time my home is burglarized. After all, the burglars used the streets to get to and from it, right? - TLK] (05/07/08) Link: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9938469-7.html?tag=nefd.riv Filed under: RRND News | |
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Source: Reuters Posted on 05.07.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Argentine farmers announced fresh protests against a tax hike on Wednesday, aiming to put pressure on the government by disrupting grains exports from one of the world’s top suppliers of corn, wheat and soy. Farm leaders said they had decided to break off weeks of tense negotiations with the center-left government because officials were unwilling to reform a new system of grains exports taxes that triggered a three-week strike in March. ‘After 57 days, we haven’t advanced. The government has chosen the road of confrontation. It’s the only reason we haven’t reached an agreement,’ said Eduardo Buzzi, president of the Argentine Agrarian Federation, one of the four groups that led March’s strike. That protest caused food shortages in Argentina’s supermarkets and landed President Cristina Fernandez with her biggest challenge since taking office five months ago.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/45p5yw Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: BBC News [UK] Posted on 05.07.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Cannabis is to be reclassified as a class B drug, Jacqui Smith has said. The home secretary said she wanted to reverse Tony Blair’s 2004 downgrading of the drug because of ‘uncertainty’ over its impact on mental health. The move from class C means the maximum prison sentence for possessing cannabis rises from two years to five years. Her statement to MPs came despite the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ review — commissioned by Gordon Brown — saying it should stay class C.” (05/07/08) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7386889.stm Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Ananova [UK] Posted on 05.07.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A fireman is facing prosecution for flying a skull and crossbones outside his home for his daughter’s pirate-themed birthday party. David Waterman, 41, faces legal action for refusing to remove the Jolly Roger flag he hoisted to celebrate his daughter’s eighth birthday. The father of four left the 5ft by 3ft flag flying after the party but was ordered to take it down after a complaint from a neighbour, reports the Daily Telegraph. Under current laws, any flag flying outside a residential property has to have planning permission unless it is a national flag. Mr Waterman said he is determined to continue flying the Jolly Roger and is paying £95 to apply for advertising consent for the £5 flag at his home in Ashtead, Surrey.” (05/07/08) Link: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2844011.html Filed under: LAND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Shreveport Times Posted on 05.07.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “A Shreveport man remains in critical condition at LSU Hospital in Shreveport this morning after being shot by his estrange wife over the weekend. Gary Young, 34, was shot at least once in the chest on Saturday after he went to the residence in the 5900 block of Candlewood Circle and attempted to drag the woman out of the bed, according to police. The couple began arguing and Frances Young, 33, pulled out a handgun and shot her husband. The woman was questioned by police and released. Police say the couple was separated.” (05/05/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/44par2 Filed under: 2AM News and RRND News | |
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Source: Galesburg Register Posted on 05.07.08 by Mary Lou Seymour “Knox County Sheriff’s Department deputies are investigating a residential burglary in which the homeowner apprehended a suspect after chasing him with a gun. Police were called to a burglary in progress at 7:43 p.m. Monday to 1350 Knox Road 600E. According to police, the resident was in his basement when he heard a knock at the door. When he got to the main floor, he saw two unidentified men on the rear deck. The resident returned to the basement and retrieved a handgun. The resident went upstairs and found the two men standing inside his home. The suspects fled and the resident followed, eventually firing a warning shot into the ground. One of the suspects stopped while the second suspect continued running. Tyrone L. Thompson, 20, Peoria, was detained by the homeowner until police arrived.” (05/07/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4cnuob Filed under: 2AM News and RRND News | |
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Source: US Daily News Posted on 05.07.08 by Thomas L. Knapp “Barack Obama scored an easy win in North Carolina on Tuesday to take a big step toward the Democratic presidential nomination, and Hillary Clinton struggled to a narrow victory in Indiana that kept her faint White House hopes alive. With a double-digit win over Clinton in North Carolina’s nominating contest, Obama rebounded from a rough campaign stretch fueled by his comments on ‘bitter’ small-town residents and a controversy over racially charged comments by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. In Indiana, Clinton led Obama by about 23,000 votes out of more than 1.2 million votes cast with nearly all of the ballots counted early on Wednesday.” (05/07/08) Link: http://www.theusdaily.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=379144 Filed under: |