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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.22.10 by Steve Trinward “As numerous cities get set to levy voter-approved taxes on medical marijuana retailers, some municipalities in Northern California are already moving aggressively toward creating government-sanctioned marijuana farms to help supply them. Cities hope to rake in even more tax revenue from medical marijuana cultivation, which has remained in the shadows although it has been legal in the state since 1996. Today, Oakland will begin the application process for four permits to run industrial-scale marijuana farms within city limits.” (11/22/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2flugvg Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 11.22.10 by Steve Trinward “The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said yesterday that any American proposal for restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations must include a complete halt in Israeli settlement building, including in East Jerusalem. It was not immediately clear whether Abbas’s position, which is consistent with Palestinian policy, would scuttle a proposed deal that the Americans hope will lead to a resumption of the negotiations. In the past Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel have found ways to surmount such difficulties.” (11/22/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2fa6tqb Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.21.10 by Steve Trinward “It’s too early to say for sure, but Oregon Senator Ron Wyden could very well go down in the history books as the man who saved the Internet. A bill that critics say would have given the government power to censor the Internet will not pass this year thanks to the Oregon Democrat, who announced his opposition during a recent committee hearing. Individual Senators can place holds on pending legislation …. The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) would have permitted a blanket takedown of any domain alleged to be assisting activities that violate copyright law, based upon the judgment of state attorneys general.” (11/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23sjhow Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: WSOC-TV Posted on 11.21.10 by Steve Trinward “After recent controversy surrounding the Transportation Security Administration’s security screenings, the director of Charlotte’s airport said he wants a private company to take over the job. Federal law allows airports to replace TSA agents with private security guards. Right now, 17 airports across the country do this, and the Orlando Sanford Airport in Florida plans to be the 18th in January. Charlotte Douglas International Airport Director Jerry Orr said he’s wanted a private firm to do security screenings since 2001, when the TSA was created.” (11/21/10) Link: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/25855378/detail.html Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.21.10 by Steve Trinward “Earlier this year, Representatives Barney Frank, the unabashedly liberal Democrat from Newton, and Ron Paul, an outspoken libertarian Republican from Texas, formed an unlikely alliance aimed at slashing the defense budget to trim the deficit. Initially, their proposed 16 percent cut over a decade got a cold reception on Capitol Hill, where many Democrats and even the most fiscally conservative Republicans view the Pentagon budget as basically off-limits. But now, with talk of deep cuts in Social Security and Medicare, and as a Tea Party-infused strain of the Republican party grows more powerful, their views are gaining traction.” [editor’s note: I added the [sic] for 2 reasons; (1) Frank and Paul are NOT “opposites” on war (nor on ending the War on (Some) Drugs, nor on most other civil liberties matters); (2) a consistent “liberal” (which Frank basically is) SHOULD be on the libertarian side, at least in this arena! - SAT] (11/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28m7976 Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 11.21.10 by Steve Trinward “When Congress passed the health care law, it envisioned doctors and hospitals joining forces, coordinating care, and holding down costs, with the prospect of earning government bonuses for controlling costs. Now, eight months into the new law, there is a growing frenzy of mergers involving hospitals, clinics, and doctor groups eager to share costs and savings and cash in on the incentives. … Consumer advocates fear that the health care law could worsen some of the problems it was meant to solve — by reducing competition, driving up costs, and creating incentives for doctors and hospitals to stint on care, in order to retain their cost-saving bonuses.” (11/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28h7feu Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.18.10 by Steve Trinward “Times might be tough for most Americans but not for the well-heeled lawmakers in Congress. The personal wealth of members of Congress collectively increased 16 percent between 2008 and 2009, even as the broader economic downturn eliminated thousands of jobs for ordinary Americans, according to a study by the Center for Responsive Politics released yesterday. In the House, the study found, median wealth grew to $765,010, up from $645,503 in 2008. In the Senate, median wealth grew from $2.27 million in 2008 to $2.38 million in 2009.” (11/18/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2eyf4eb Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.18.10 by Steve Trinward “Thou shalt not commit adultery. And thou also shalt not use Facebook. That’s the edict from a New Jersey pastor who believes the two often go together. The Rev. Cedric Miller said 20 couples among the 1,100 members of his Living Word Christian Fellowship Church have run into marital trouble over the last six months after a spouse connected with a former flame on Facebook. Because of the problems, he is ordering about 50 married church officials to delete their accounts with the social networking site or resign from their positions. He had previously asked married congregants to share their login information with their spouses and now plans to suggest that they give up Facebook altogether.” [editor’s note: Yeah, that “’til death do you part” thing gotta be enforced at all costs, including even the happiness of the people involved (or, “first they came for the married folks …”) - SAT] (11/18/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24qyqp9 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Reuters Posted on 11.18.10 by Steve Trinward “The Dutch government said on Wednesday it wanted to ban tourists from buying cannabis in ‘coffee shops,’ where hash is on sale legally, as part of a national crackdown on drug use. The Netherlands has one of Europe’s most liberal soft drug policies and its coffee shops are a popular tourist attraction, especially in Amsterdam and border cities near Belgium and Germany. But some cities near the border with Belgium have clamped down on drug tourism, and the Dutch minister for security and justice confirmed Wednesday a wider crackdown after coalition parties agreed to push for a ban in September. The government, which took office last month, has agreed to limit the sale of cannabis to Dutch residents to curb crime linked to its production and trading.” (11/18/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2drn2m4 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.18.10 by Steve Trinward “in a feat akin to capturing lightning in a bottle, physicists have created and for the first time briefly captured antihydrogen, the antimatter counterpart to the simple hydrogen atom. For more than 20 years, physicists have been looking for ways to create and study antihydrogen as a way to gain insights into processes that allowed the universe to evolve from a hot, roiling soup of subatomic particles shortly after the Big Bang some 13.6 billion years ago into the cooler collection of planets, stars, and galaxies astronomers observe today. The experiments yielding the result represent an important step toward designing tools that will create and maintain large numbers of these antimatter atoms long enough for scientists to study them in detail.” (11/18/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25othpn Filed under: CANDi News and PND News | |
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Source: AOL News Posted on 11.18.10 by Steve Trinward “Nearly four in 10 Americans think marriage is becoming obsolete, according to a new survey that reveals changing attitudes on gay marriage, unwed couples and the definition of what a family is. The study, conducted by social scientists at the Pew Research Center in coordination with Time magazine, also shows that Americans’ attitudes toward family issues differ by race, age and social class. It’s based on interviews with 2,691 adults reached on their cell or land-line phones during the first three weeks of October. Pew researchers also analyzed demographic and economic data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Among the biggest changes in Americans’ attitude toward marriage was the number of those who now believe the institution is becoming obsolete. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they believe that’s the case, compared with 28 percent who said that when Time magazine asked the same question in 1978.” [editor’s note: Yet another reason to ban Facebook for its “temptations?” - SAT] (11/18/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/36j7ym3 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.17.10 by Steve Trinward “The head of an anti-gay group is warning travelers that homosexual agents of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) may be getting secret satisfaction out of airport security pat-downs. His warning adds a homophobic spin to the controversy surrounding new security procedures enacted by the TSA, which have been described as little short of molestation. ‘Is it fair to travelers who may end up getting ‘groped’ by homosexual TSA agents who are secretly getting turned on through the process?’ asks Peter LaBarbera, President of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), an anti-gay group based in Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.” [editor’s note: Ummm,= … no, this one’s just too easy! (Though I’m tempted to ask if we could at least choose the “groper” … I’d pick Aniston, or if she’s busy, Angelina) - SAT] (11/17/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2a7a5ut Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 11.17.10 by Steve Trinward “A judge denied a request Wednesday for a temporary restraining order to stop construction at the site of a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro. Rutherford County Chancellor Robert Corlew said after closing arguments that he could not find that the ‘county acted illegally, arbitrarily or capriciously,’ when county planners approved the site plan for an Islamic center. The lawsuit claimed that the Tennessee open meetings law was violated because the planners failed to file adequate public notice of the meeting. But much of the questioning from plaintiffs attorney Joe Brandon Jr. during seven days of testimony since late September was about whether Islam qualified as a religion and pushing his theory that American Muslims want to replace the Constitution with extremist Islamic law.” (11/17/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2fqehkv Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.17.10 by Steve Trinward “An anonymous student at Fresno State University outed student body President Pedro Ramirez — revealing that Mr. Ramirez is an illegal immigrant the day after the state supreme court ruled that illegal immigrants could claim in-state tuition. … Congress continues to consider the DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were brought to the US as children and attend college or join the military. Mr. Ramirez, brought to the US from Mexico when he was 3, says he didn’t know he was not a citizen until he was a senior in high school. Elected student body president last June, Ramirez is working without the $9,000 stipend for his position because he refused to lie on employment papers.” (11/17/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2un3rsc Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 11.17.10 by Steve Trinward “Bidding to restore the reputations of MI5 and MI6 and to rebuild damaged intelligence links with the United States, the British government said yesterday that it had agreed to pay compensation running into millions of dollars to 15 former detainees at Guantanamo Bay and one man still held there who have accused Britain’s intelligence agencies of colluding in their torture in the American-run detention system. The government move followed years of lawsuits by the former detainees in which British officials have been required to hand over to the courts here intelligence information that came from the United States, prompting high-level American warnings that future intelligence cooperation might be curbed. The domestic and overseas British spy agencies have seen their own operations dragged into the headlines, with dozens of officers engaged full time preparing to defend the lawsuits.” (11/17/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2dkeq5d Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Los Angeles Times Posted on 11.17.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Nancy Pelosi will continue leading Democrats in the House of Representatives during the 112th Congress, winning a vote of her caucus, 150-46, on Wednesday. Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, has lead the Democratic caucus for eight years, including the past four as the speaker of the House.” (11/17/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3aj5wbd Filed under: PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “The Transportation Security Administration says airline passengers won’t get out of body imaging screening or pat-downs based on their religious beliefs. TSA chief John Pistole told the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that passengers who refuse to go through a full-body scanner machine and reject a pat-down won’t be allowed to board, even if they turned down the in-depth screening for religious reasons. ‘That person is not going to get on an airplane,’ Pistole said in response to a question from Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on whether the TSA would provide exemptions for passengers whose religious beliefs do not allow them to go through a physically revealing body scan or be touched by screeners.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/386sxwg Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “People convicted of possessing a gun while selling drugs are subject to five-year mandatory minimum sentences on top of most other sentences, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The ruling was the first signed decision of the term, and it was unanimous. But the court’s newest member, Justice Elena Kagan, did not participate, having disqualified herself in light of her work as United States solicitor general. The decision involved two defendants whose cases had been consolidated. One of them, Kevin Abbott of Philadelphia, was convicted of drug trafficking, a related gun charge with the five-year minimum, and under a law requiring a 15-year minimum sentence for career criminals. Only the latter two charges figured in his sentence, and the trial judge added them together for a total of 20 years.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/392c28p Filed under: 2AM News and CANDi News and PND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee repeated a pledge yesterday to rescind an executive order on illegal immigration, but his office said he is discussing with State Police whether they should ask for immigration papers when there is reasonable suspicion that a person is in the United States illegally. The order signed by Governor Don Carcieri, a Republican, sparked outrage in the immigrant and minority communities in part because it instructed State Police to check the immigration status of suspects in the course of investigations.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/33959hf Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “Senator John Kerry, the Obama administration’s point man in Congress on foreign policy, is racing to line up the votes for ratification of a key arms treaty with Russia before the newly elected Congress can try to block it next year. Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, shepherded the New START treaty through his committee in September, winning bipartisan support. But Republican holdouts may delay a Senate ratification vote until next year, when the new Congress is sworn in and Democrats’ Senate majority shrinks from 59 to 53. That will make ratification — which requires 67 votes — more difficult.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3xvbebn Filed under: CANDi News and PND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.16.10 by Steve Trinward “A new report requested by Congress is raising questions about the safety of a high-security laboratory that the federal government plans to build in Kansas to study dangerous animal diseases. The National Research Council, part of the National Academy of Sciences, found several major shortcomings in a risk assessment conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. The agency is planning to open the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kan. The lab would study a variety of dangerous animal diseases, including the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease, which can sicken cattle, pigs, deer, and other hooved animals.” (11/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/36jmo8b Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “In a surprise reversal, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky announced today that he will join House GOP leaders in voting to ban ‘earmarks’ — member projects often criticized as pork barrel spending — thus avoiding an early clash with tea party freshmen committed to ending the practice. The issue was seen as a litmus test of how far the Republican leadership would go to satisfy freshmen lawmakers and the tea party movement that propelled some of them to victory. In the past, Senate Republicans have defended their right to use earmarks, but the process has been a primary tea party complaint.” (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27wed27 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “‘You want to feel up my junk, mister air security worker? Let me help you with that.’ That’s the basic idea behind a clever twist to the ‘National Opt-Out Day’ campaign, which seeks to backlog the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) with as many forced frisks as possible on Nov. 24. Campaigners are calling for the national day of action as a response to the TSA’s use of backscatter x-ray machines that take nude pictures of flyers at security checkpoints. Since the Department of Homeland Security ordered enhanced screening measures, anyone who refuses their random assignment to the backscatter machines has been subject to invasive pat-downs that, in many cases, have seen screeners groping passengers’ genitals and breasts. Not even children are exempt.” (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24eavgw Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “A familiar fight will take on new urgency when lawmakers return to Nashville next year and renew the debate over whether some juveniles who commit the most heinous sex crimes should be added to the state’s sex offender databases. Members of the General Assembly have been asked to add the juveniles each of the last two years under the threat of losing a sizable chunk of federal law enforcement grants. That hasn’t happened yet, but the state has exhausted its ability to request more time to come into compliance with a federal law requiring juvenile registration in limited circumstances. Tennessee will lose millions if it doesn’t comply by July.” (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2bzfc5e Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler told Fox News on Monday he is following through with his vow to challenge Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the role of the House’s top Democrat when the party moves into the minority in the next Congress. Shuler said he’s making good on his campaign promise to challenge Pelosi for minority leader, adding that he’s had a respectful relationship with Pelosi but would always be direct with her. It’s an uphill battle, he acknowledged, but the Democrats lost in the recent midterm elections, and he thinks Pelosi is partly responsible for that loss.” [editor’s note: Having watched Shuler fail to beat Florida when he was at UT, then fall short as an NFL QB before moving to politics … I wish him luck! - SAT] (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2enbqhg Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “Federal immigration officials are increasingly imposing thousands of dollars in fines on New England companies — from Fenway Park snack vendors to a Maine blueberry grower — for failing to prove that all their employees are in the United States legally. The fines rose from just $14,534 in fiscal year 2008 to $118,000 this year in New England alone. Those penalties are the result of a major shift last year in the Obama administration’s immigration strategy. Instead of the dramatic, large-scale raids that snagged hundreds of illegal immigrants, including at a New Bedford factory three years ago, federal officials say they are focusing more on the businesses that hire them. The aim is to eliminate the job opportunities that attract illegal workers.” [editor’s note: That’s “failing to prove” not “innocent until proven guilty” like it says in legal presumptions - SAT] (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2c7n8oy Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.15.10 by Steve Trinward “Working women are equal to men in a way they’ll wish they weren’t. Female workers with stressful jobs were more likely than women with less job strain to have a heart attack or a stroke, or to have clogged arteries, a large federally funded study found. Worrying about losing a job can raise heart risks, too, researchers found. The study was led by Dr. Michelle Albert, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Results were reported yesterday at an American Heart Association conference in Chicago. … This is the longest major study to look at stress in women, who make up nearly half of the workforce.” (11/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23ev4sr Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.14.10 by Steve Trinward “Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the United States must reduce the visibility and intensity of its military operations, especially night raids that fuel anti-American sentiment and could embolden Taliban insurgents. Karzai’s remarks in an interview Saturday with The Washington Post come as the international military coalition has stepped up pressure on insurgents at the same time that the president has set up a peace council in hopes of reconciling with the top echelon of the Taliban. ‘The time has come to reduce military operations,’ Karzai said in the interview. ‘The time has come to reduce the presence of, you know, boots in Afghanistan … to reduce the intrusiveness into the daily Afghan life.’” [editor’s note: Is Karszai + Kucinich > Obama? - SAT] (11/14/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2eyaqj5 Filed under: PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.14.10 by Steve Trinward “Police in the New Zealand capital of Wellington were weighing charges Friday against a group of pro-cannabis protesters who invaded the cop-shop with a cart full of burning marijuana, according to a report from the scene. The activists had been demonstrating on parliament grounds by smoking marijuana openly in front of police and security, as party of an ongoing campaign of civil disobedience. Amid the noisy scene, with a rowdy crowd shouting and cheering in approval, one of the protest organizers declared that he was ‘proud as hell’ to have been a part of the demonstration, telling a reporter that they had ‘declared war’ on their country’s drug laws.” (11/12/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26clhwj Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.14.10 by Steve Trinward “The US Postal Service said yesterday that it lost $8.5 billion last year despite cuts of more than 100,000 jobs and other reductions in recent years. The post office had estimated it would lose $6 billion to $7 billion, but a sharp decline in mail took a toll. Increased Internet use and the recession, which cut advertising and business mail, meant less money for the agency.” [editor’s note: And my “progressive” friends still somehow think the institution that can’t deliver the mail should run healthcare - SAT] (11/13/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24xb4j5 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: The Guardian [UK] Posted on 11.14.10 by Steve Trinward “The Department of Health is putting the fast food companies McDonald’s and KFC and processed food and drink manufacturers such as PepsiCo, Kellogg’s, Unilever, Mars and Diageo at the heart of writing government policy on obesity, alcohol and diet-related disease, the Guardian has learned. In an overhaul of public health, said by campaign groups to be the equivalent of handing smoking policy over to the tobacco industry, health secretary Andrew Lansley has set up five ‘responsibility deal’ networks with business, co-chaired by ministers, to come up with policies.” (11/12/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3y9j5eq Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: CNN Posted on 11.14.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “By a narrow margin of about 4,300 votes, Arizona voters approved a ballot measure that would legalize medical marijuana, state election officials said Sunday. With all precincts reporting, the ‘yes’ votes on Proposition 203 have 50.1 percent of the vote to 49.8 percent of ‘no’ votes, according to unofficial results posted on the Arizona Secretary of State’s website. More than 1.6 million votes were cast.” (11/14/10) Link: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/14/arizona.medical.marijuana/ Filed under: PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Arizona Republic Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “The largest human-smuggling operation ever uncovered by state task-force investigators has been closed down in a joint effort by local and federal authorities because of a routine police check in Goodyear. The smuggling ring, operating out of four sites in the West Valley as well as locations in southern Arizona and on the Mexican side of the border, transported thousands of undocumented immigrants into the country over the past two years. The huge operation, which brought immigrants into Arizona from Central and South America as well as Mexico, was dismantled Wednesday when investigators arrested and charged six men.” (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24zbrgv Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “A government survey says 1 in 10 US children has ADHD, a sizable increase from a few years earlier that researchers think might be explained by growing awareness and better screening. ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, makes it hard for children to pay attention and control impulsive behavior. It’s often treated with drugs, behavioral therapy, or both. The new study found that about two-thirds of the children who have ADHD are on medication.” [editor’s note: So now they have done it; they’ve turned a legitimate ailment, affecting a very small number of children with severe learning disabilities, into an epidemic-level crisis that almost everyone has, and now can beg billions from the Feds to fund their game - SAT] (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25vmyb5 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “Three Murrah High School [Jackson] basketball players have sued their coach and the school system over alleged whippings. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Jackson by attorney Lisa Ross. Ross contends that a video clip shows a basketball player bent over as a man swings a belt, hitting him three times. The video was made available to Jackson media outlets. Ross says the man in the video, which was recorded on a cell phone, is boys’ basketball coach Marlon Dorsey. In the lawsuit, which gives only one side of the legal argument, the players contend they were physically and verbally abused by the coach.” [editor’s note: So slapping the hand of a student in normal class is grounds for dismissal, but you have to SUE the basketball coach to stop belt-lashing? - SAT] (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/259euwh Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.11.10 by Steve Trinward “NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the long-anticipated successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is in serious financial trouble, according to a project review panel. The culprits: bad management and flawed budgets from managers, the panel concludes — not hardware challenges or a tightfisted Congress. Overall, the telescope’s cradle-to-grave budget, currently pegged at $5 billion, will need another $1.5 billion to live up to its scientific promise, the review panel estimated in a report released late Wednesday afternoon.” (11/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26we9a4 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Reuters Posted on 11.10.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “The United States must prosecute former President George W. Bush for torture if his admission in a memoir that he authorized waterboarding holds true, rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday. … Amnesty International’s Senior Director Claudio Cordone said in a statement: ‘Under international law, anyone involved in torture must be brought to justice, and that does not exclude former President George W. Bush.’” (11/10/10) Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A957O20101110 Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Tennessean Posted on 11.10.10 by Steve Trinward “Tennessee’s latest revenue figures released Wednesday show monthly sales tax collections grew at their highest rate since April 2007 and that the state’s general fund exceeded projections by $46 million through the first quarter of the budget year. Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz, who is leaving the administration of term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen at the end of this week, said the improved economic performance could mean the cancellation of a call for agencies to cut spending by up to 3 percent.” [editor’s note: OR, it might lead to a rollback on the grocery-tax rate? Just sayin’ … (and to those who claim an income tax is essential to run a state - PFFFFT!) - SAT] (11/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2awan7p Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: AOL News Posted on 11.10.10 by Steve Trinward “Over the years, beer has brought countless people together. But researchers now say beer isn’t just responsible for sparking new friendships and relationships — it might also be responsible for the rise of human civilization. Archaeologists believe that when Stone Age farmers in Southwest Asia began harvesting grain — a process long considered to be a precursor to the advent of civilization — they weren’t doing it to produce food. Instead, they say agriculture’s early seeds were sown in an attempt to brew beer, according to LiveScience.com.” (11/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2ex53c9 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.10.10 by Steve Trinward “Black male students trail their white counterparts in school by alarming margins and for reasons that often are not well understood, according to a report released yesterday. The report from the Council of the Great City Schools, an advocacy organization for urban education, suggests that poverty is not the only factor behind the black-white achievement gap. Federal test data show that white male students nationwide who come from families poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches outperform black males from large cities whose families are better off economically, according to the report. The report analyzed fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math results from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress.” (11/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28kp7kr Filed under: CANDi News and PND News | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.09.10 by Steve Trinward “The United States is open to the idea of keeping troops in Iraq past a deadline to leave next year if Iraq asks for it, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. ‘We’ll stand by,’ Gates said. ‘We’re ready to have that discussion if and when they want to raise it with us.’ Gates urged Iraq’s squabbling political groups to reconcile after eight months of deadlock. Any request to extend the U.S. military presence in Iraq would have to come from a functioning Iraqi government. It would amend the current agreement under which U.S. troops must leave by the end of 2011.” (11/09/10) Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/break-promise-leave-iraq/ Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.09.10 by Steve Trinward “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says no one cares if you smoke a joint. The Hollywood actor-turned-governor signed a law five weeks ago that made possession of up to an ounce of marijuana the equivalent of a traffic ticket. It carries a penalty of no more than a $100 fine and no arrest or criminal record. He defended the law Monday, telling Jay Leno on NBC’s Tonight Show it is a good idea. According to a transcript of the interview, Schwarzenegger says: ‘No one cares if you smoke a joint or not.’”(11/09/10) Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/smoke-pot-cares-schwarzenegger/ Filed under: PND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.09.10 by Steve Trinward “Teens who text 120 times a day or more — and there seem to be a lot of them — are more likely to have had sex or used alcohol and drugs than kids who don’t send as many messages, according to provocative new research. The study’s authors aren’t suggesting that ‘hyper-texting’ leads to sex, drinking or drugs, but say it’s startling to see an apparent link between excessive messaging and that kind of risky behavior. The study concludes that a significant number of teens are very susceptible to peer pressure and also have permissive or absent parents, said Dr. Scott Frank, the study’s lead author.” [editor’s note: No wonder my social life sucks; I hate texting! - SAT] (11/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23ues8x Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.09.10 by Steve Trinward “Boston schools underwent a radical experiment in the past decade: Four large neighborhood high schools were shuttered and replaced with more than a dozen smaller ones. The thinking was that smaller schools could deliver a better education. … Mayor Thomas M. Menino proudly declared it to be ‘a model for the rest of the country.’ But now the approach, championed by former superintendent Thomas W. Payzant, appears to have fallen out of favor with the city’s current school chief, Carol R. Johnson. She sees the small schools as a costly venture in an era of declining city revenue, and believes many have yielded lackluster results.” (11/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/22kmbuu Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 11.09.10 by Steve Trinward “By endorsing India for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, President Obama yesterday signaled the intention of the United States to create a deeper partnership of the world’s two largest democracies that would expand commercial ties and check the influence of an increasingly assertive China. Obama’s announcement, made during a nationally televised address to the Indian Parliament, came at the end of a three-day visit that won high marks from an Indian political establishment once uncertain of the president’s commitment to the relationship. Even as stark differences remained between the two countries on a range of tough issues — including Pakistan, trade policy, climate change and, to some degree, Iran — Obama spoke of India as an ‘indispensable’ partner for the coming century.” (11/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2d3ot2c Filed under: PND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “Crewmen and company officials overseeing the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling operation in April misinterpreted a critical ‘negative pressure’ test on the well. They thought it was a success — it was actually a failure. If recognized, it would have revealed the imminent danger of a blowout, reported the chief investigator of the presidential commission looking into the disaster. The blowout of the Macondo well that killed 11 men and wreaked environmental havoc on the Gulf also hinged on the failure of the cementing of the well. That critical process was to have prevented gases from flowing up and around the drill well casing, said Fred Bartlit, chief counsel for the commission.” (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25bo3au Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “Rand Paul, the next Republican US senator from Kentucky, has done an about-face on earmarks even before taking office. In an interview published over the weekend with the Wall Street Journal, Paul signaled a major backtrack on a core campaign promise: cutting federal earmarks. The promise is a hallmark of Republican candidates of all stripes, who advocate that a smaller government is in the national interest and that money doled out for special progress is tantamount to backroom dealing.” [editor’s note: Given that his Daddy’s “porkbarreling” was one of the few things we had problems with there, how is this a surprise? - SAT] [additional editor’s note: Who’s this “we?” Earmarks are at worst an exceedingly minor issue, and at best a way for Congress to more specifically direct the executive branch - TLK] (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/32gnxy8 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.08.10 by Steve Trinward “Cities and towns across the state are diverting large sums of money to ‘rainy day’ accounts even as they lay off employees and make deep cuts to schools and services, girding for what many believe will be a long period of austerity. Municipal leaders give a variety of reasons — cuts in state aid, anticipated increases in health care costs, dwindling federal stimulus funds — but the financial stockpiling is also a signal they fear the funding enjoyed before the financial collapse will not return anytime soon.” [editor’s note: Ya mean this recession thing has actually caused SOME levels of government to get a clue about creating self-sufficiency? Cool! - SAT] (11/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/32uonw3 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: MSNBC News Posted on 11.07.10 by Steve Trinward “Hawaii voters opened the way for same-sex civil unions to become state law next year, with an election that gave victory to a pro-gay rights gubernatorial candidate and rejected many church-backed candidates. The state House and Senate retained the Democratic majorities that approved a civil unions bill this year before it was vetoed, and Democratic Gov.-elect Neil Abercrombie has said he will sign a similar law if passed by the Legislature. The move would make Hawaii, long a battleground in the gay rights movement, the sixth state to grant essentially the same rights of marriage to same-sex couples without authorizing marriage itself.” (11/06/10) Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40043693/ns/us_news/ Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.07.10 by Steve Trinward “Now that the dust is settling from the midterm elections, President Obama and the newly-dominant congressional Republicans are jockeying for position on the way forward. For both, it’s laser-like attention to the economy — jobs and taxes. Will it include much in the way of compromise between the White House and Congress? Maybe, but not very much according to initial pronouncements from both sides.” (11/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25zuv6p Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.07.10 by Steve Trinward “Rejecting demands that she relinquish power after her party’s losses in the midterm elections, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday that she will run for minority leader, potentially setting up an ideological battle inside the Democratic caucus. … Many Democrats had hoped Pelosi — a central figure in campaigns that allowed Republicans to capture at least 60 new seats and retake control of the House — would step aside. This would have cleared a path for Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who has support from the Democrats’ diminished moderate-to-conservative ranks.” (11/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cgkaqv Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “Deciphering the constitutional principle that government ’shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion’ is almost always a guarantee of a divided Supreme Court. And so it was again yesterday as the justices reviewed an Arizona program that lets taxpayers send part of their state taxes to organizations that provide millions of dollars in scholarships to private religious schools.” [editor’s note: One only hopes this clarifies that “separation of church & state” stuff once and for all - SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2bgemyj Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: New York Daily News Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “The midterm elections are so yesterday. The eyes of many political insiders are already turning to 2012. President Obama would handily beat Sarah Palin in the next presidential election, despite strong anti-incumbent feelings and the Democrats losing the House to the GOP this week, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll indicates. And while Obama would win against the Tea Party favorite, 52% to 44% among registered voters, pit the President against Mike Huckabee and it’s an entirely different story.” [editor’s note: Altho if Obama continues on his present path, a half-dead monkey should be able to oust him from the throne, one only hopes the GOP comes up with a better contendah by then! - SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2dz4dx3 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “Melissa Taggart says she was delighted that her son was learning a foreign language in the eighth grade — until she learned he was expected to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish. And that he’d receive a zero if he didn’t. … She said she couldn’t begin to understand why her son’s teacher would choose the Pledge for her class. And she was upset that her son was told he would receive a zero if he did not complete the assignment.” [editor’s note: As a special extra-credit project, chosen by some students and not others, this makes some multicultural sense; as a requirement, with a zero if you don’t do it, it’s just another imposed mandate and should be illegal - SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26zj63v Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “Under pressure from US and British officials, YouTube yesterday removed from its site some of the hundreds of videos featuring calls to jihad by Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born, Yemen-based cleric who has played an increasingly public role in inspiring violence directed at the West. … The requests [sic] took on greater urgency after two powerful bombs hidden in air cargo planes were intercepted en route from Yemen to Chicago on Friday, with the prime suspect being the Yemen-based group with which Awlaki is affiliated, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.” (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/22t5ln3 Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.04.10 by Steve Trinward “Some of the Democratic Party’s heaviest hitters went down in the House on Tuesday, a sign of the breadth and scope of voter discontent with incumbents …. Ike Skelton, a 34-year incumbent and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, lost his central Missouri seat despite a reputation as a conservative Democrat …. In South Carolina, John Spratt, House Budget Committee chairman, lost a hard-fought campaign for a 15th term in a district that had not elected a Republican since 1883. And Jim Oberstar, Transportation Committee chairman and dean of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, succumbed to a political novice after 36 years …” [editor’s note: Funny how all three were allegedly conservative (”Blue Dog”) Democrats, yet were best known for their “pork” abilities! - SAT] (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28ywozx Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Los Angeles Times Posted on 11.03.10 by Thomas L. Knapp “Supporters of legalizing marijuana in California spent the day after the election laying the groundwork to rebound from their 54%-to-46% defeat and return to the ballot in two years.” (11/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/275olyp Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.03.10 by Steve Trinward “Former President George W. Bush says in his new memoir that he considered running for re-election in 2004 without Dick Cheney as his vice presidential candidate. After much thought, he ultimately decided to keep Cheney on the ticket. Bush said he wanted to put an end to assertions by critics that Cheney was the real decision-maker and to ‘demonstrate that I was in charge.’ He writes that he spent weeks exploring the possibility of replacing Cheney with Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist, who was Senate majority leader. But he says he valued the qualities Cheney brought to their partnership and finally decided to stick with his vice president, who agreed to run again.” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24e4af4 Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 11.03.10 by Steve Trinward “A ballot question to repeal the state sales tax on alcoholic beverages passed by a narrow margin last night, but voters soundly rejected a more sweeping measure to slash the general sales tax rate by more than half. … 52 percent of voters backed Question 1, the repeal of the alcohol sales tax, with 48 percent voting against …. Question 3, which called for lowering the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, was defeated 57 percent to 43 percent, a margin of some 283,000 votes. Question 2, an initiative to repeal the state’s affordable-housing law, was also rejected, with 59 percent opposed.” (11/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cvehlk Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.03.10 by Steve Trinward “Several Supreme Court justices strongly questioned whether California’s attempt to bar the sale of violent video games to minors could possibly meet constitutional muster, during an animated argument yesterday. But others noted in detail the graphic and sadistic nature of some of the games and wondered how it could be argued that a state could do nothing to keep such material out of the hands of young people. The court will eventually decide whether violent video games, which are estimated to reach into two-thirds of American homes, are protected forms of artistic expression or the latest version of obscenity.” (11/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23ks5sv Filed under: PND News | |
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Source: Bloomberg News Posted on 11.03.10 by Steve Trinward “Britain will allow prison inmates to vote in elections, bowing to a six-year-old ruling from the European Court of Human Rights. ‘There is a need to change the law,’ Cabinet Office minister Mark Harper told Parliament in London yesterday. ‘This isn’t a choice, it’s a legal obligation. Ministers are currently looking at how to implement the judgment.’ Prime Minister David Cameron decided to lift the 140-year-old ban after being advised that failing to comply with the European ruling could leave the government open to legal challenge and compensation claims. In 2004, the Strasbourg-based court ruled the ban was unlawful following a challenge from prisoner John Hirst.” (11/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/29k86pf Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Fox News Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “An Oregon man has settled a federal lawsuit over what he says was his First Amendment right to express himself by giving the finger to sheriff’s deputies. The Oregonian reports Robert Ekas settled the suit for $4,000. In his lawsuit, Ekas said that in July 2007, he flipped off a Clackamas County deputy while driving, and the deputy gave him tickets for illegal lane change and improper display of license plates. Ekas was acquitted on the citations. A month later, he gave the finger to another deputy, who detained him but wrote no tickets. Ekas alleged he was being harassed. … County officials say it was cheaper to settle the case than to proceed with defending the suit.” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/255xs4p Filed under: CANDi News and LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Washington Post Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “The question is not whether Republicans want to repeal the health care overhaul. They do. The question is whether they will succeed. There, the crystal ball gets cloudier. It would be very difficult, if even possible, for them to win a repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Even in their most optimistic of election scenarios — a world in which Republicans take both the House and the Senate — they almost certainly would not have the votes to overwhelm a Democratic filibuster, much less overturn a presidential veto. The law, most likely, is here to stay.” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23krwnq Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Christian Science Monitor Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “The new spirit of European austerity reached the French and UK militaries as leaders of the two nations agreed today on joint commands and nuclear testing cooperation. … The Franco-British treaty is apt for ‘a world where resources are tight,’ said British Defense chief Liam Fox. The deal amounts to the first steps in a new Anglo-French military relationship that will mean sharing nuclear secrets and the creation of a rapid-reaction force, the 6,500-strong Combined Joint Expeditionary Force. French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the deal ‘unprecedented … showing a level of trust and confidence between our two nations which is unequaled in history.’” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24gxkde Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “A group opposed to the death penalty filed suit Tuesday to try to prevent a British company from exporting a drug that could be used in the execution of an American inmate. Reprieve, a London-based rights group, and the London law firm Leigh Day & Co. are suing in the hope of forcing the government to regulate the export of sodium thiopental. The sedative, which is part of the three-drug cocktail used in lethal injections in the U.S., was scheduled to be exported from Britain to Tennessee imminently, Reprieve said. The group warned that sodium thiopental would be used in the execution of 56-year-old Edmund Zagorski, who has been convicted of committing two murders in 1983.” (11/02/10) Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/uk-group-suing-execution-drug/ Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 11.02.10 by Steve Trinward “Parkinson’s disease may stem from an energy crisis in the brain, years before symptoms appear. If the research proves true, it could suggest a new approach for Parkinson’s: Giving a boost to a key power switch inside brain cells in hopes of slowing the disease’s inevitable march, instead of just treating symptoms. ‘It could be a root cause’ of Parkinson’s, said Dr. Clemens Scherzer of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University. No one knows what causes the disease. To find genetic clues, Scherzer gathered an international team of researchers to comb studies of more than 300 samples of brain tissue.” (11/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2372p6o Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Reuters Posted on 11.01.10 by Steve Trinward “Alcohol is a more dangerous drug than both crack and heroin when the combined harms to the user and to others are assessed, British scientists said Monday. Presenting a new scale of drug harm that rates the damage to users themselves and to wider society, the scientists rated alcohol the most harmful overall and almost three times as harmful as cocaine or tobacco. According to the scale, devised by a group of scientists including Britain’s Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) and an expert adviser to the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), heroin and crack cocaine rank as the second and third most harmful drugs.” (11/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27rnhm3 Filed under: PND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 10.31.10 by Steve Trinward “A choice of ‘none of the above’ remains a potential factor in the dead-heat Nevada Senate race for voters who don’t like Democrat Harry Reid or Republican Sharron Angle. Voters in the Silver State have nine choices on the ballot next week — eight are candidates, including Reid and Angle. The number of voters who choose ‘None of these candidates’ is expected to be small, but in a close race those who boycott the ballot could make the difference. Reid knows the risk: A dozen years ago he pulled off a 428-vote reelection victory over then-Republican Representative John Ensign, while ‘none’ received 8,125 votes.” [editor’s note: How ironic, that in the one state where NOTA is an established voting tradition, it might help decide a major election - SAT] (10/30/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2aoh6dt Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News and Twitter-Worthy | |
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Source: Raw Story Posted on 10.31.10 by Steve Trinward “October surprise? The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department wants parents to know about the latest ‘threat’ to public safety: potheads who give their stash away to random children. Bizarre as that may sound, the potential for pot-laced Halloween candy was the subject of a police media briefing on Friday. … Their warning, issued this year for the first time ever, comes just days before Californians will vote on Prop. 19, which would legalize cannabis consumption for adults over 21 and allow municipalities to collect taxes on sales. Possession of under one ounce of marijuana is already decriminalized state-wide, with the maximum penalty set at a fine of $100.” [editor’s note: And if you don’t think there’s a link between stories here, you just ain’t been payin’ attention - SAT] (10/31/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2eouz2b Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 10.31.10 by Steve Trinward “Even in a race packed with peculiar twists, the political endorsement from the Great Beyond stands out. Iconic Alaska statesman Ted Stevens, wearing a fuzzy blue vest and a bolo tie in a television spot, implores voters to back incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski. Stevens, a US senator for 40 years, died in a plane crash in August, but his pitch filmed 10 days before his death lives on for a candidate who has emerged as a contender. The reprise of Murkowski, who is cobbling together a write-in campaign after being beaten in the GOP primary, is the biggest surprise in a series of shocks that have rocked the frontier politics of Alaska. Here, the three-way race for US Senate has the feel of surreal political theater, at times enthralling and baffling voters.” (10/31/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2bzljq4 Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 10.28.10 by Steve Trinward “Buffalo teachers rang up nearly $9 million worth of taxpayer-covered cosmetic surgery in 2009, according to the state-appointed authority overseeing public school finances. The Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority found that last year’s costs for elective procedures such as chemical peels and other skin treatments were up $8 million over 2004’s $1 million tab for cosmetic surgery. The procedures, provided under the teachers’ union contract, accounted for 9 percent of the district’s total spending on health benefits for employees and retirees, The Buffalo News reported Thursday. About 10,000 school employees are eligible for the benefit. District officials said teachers or their dependents accounted for 90 percent of the approximately 500 people who received cosmetic surgery last year.” (10/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24amb4g Filed under: CANDi News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: New York Times Posted on 10.28.10 by Steve Trinward “China’s main Communist Party newspaper bluntly rejected calls for speedier political reform yesterday, publishing a front-page commentary that said any changes in China’s political system should not emulate Western democracies, but instead ‘consolidate the party’s leadership so that the party commands the overall situation.’ The opinion article in People’s Daily, signed with what appeared to be a pseudonym, appeared at least obliquely aimed at Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. He has argued in speeches and interviews that China’s economic progress threatens to stall without systemic reforms, including an independent judiciary, greater oversight of government by the press, and improvements in China’s sharply limited form of elections.” (10/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2aqb4ks Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 10.28.10 by Steve Trinward “Germany’s government yesterday proposed criminalizing forced marriage, a tradition that some Muslim immigrant families impose on their children. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet agreed to a proposal that would make forced marriage a crime that can be punished with up to five years in prison. The legislation still needs to pass Parliament. ‘Forced marriages are a serious problem in Germany,’ Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, adding that by criminalizing them Germany would make clear that this is no longer ‘a tradition from olden times or different cultures that is … tolerable.’ About 4.3 million Muslims live in Germany, and forced marriage is still fairly common.” (10/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/29etuuj Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Associated Press Posted on 10.27.10 by Steve Trinward “Billionaire financier George Soros has thrown his weight behind California’s marijuana legalization measure with a $1 million donation a week before the vote. The contribution reported yesterday by The Sacramento Bee is the single biggest donation from an individual other than Proposition 19’s main sponsor, Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee. The high-profile liberal has long backed a drug law overhaul.” (10/27/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23nzdoz Filed under: LAND News and PND News and RRND News | |
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Source: Boston Globe Posted on 10.27.10 by Steve Trinward “The Town of Framingham has agreed to pay a local antipoverty agency $1 million to settle a lawsuit in which the agency contended that town officials illegally blocked its activities by violating the civil rights of its poor and disabled clients and tried to prevent it from building a center for recovering drug addicts. The settlement brings to a close a lawsuit filed three years ago by the South Middlesex Opportunity Council, the town and the agency said yesterday. The settlement calls for Framingham to train its officials about antidiscrimination laws and to follow civil rights law in considering future building permits, according to Howard Cooper, an attorney representing the council before US District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock.” (10/27/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cs9fel Filed under: PND News and RRND News | |
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