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15 Jun 2011 17:37

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World: Robert Gates: Hamid Karzai will leave power in 2014

  • The long Karzai goodbye: Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that despite previous suggestions he might try to change the Afghan constitution to let him serve a third term, Hamid Karzai is now telling people privately he’ll leave power in 2014. What the nature of America’s presence in Afghanistan would be without Karzai is hard to say; whatever comes of the fight against the Taliban, the government he’s been running is thoroughly corrupt, if much less brutal than the alternative. Neither has his alliance with the U.S. seemed in good faith at times — remember when he threatened to join the Taliban, or admitted his administration was taking literal bags full of cash from Iran? Here’s hoping a different leader can stem the tide of corruption. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 16:49

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Politics: Chinese government covering up lead poisonings, report says

  • Parents, journalists, and community activists who dare to speak out about lead are detained, harassed, and ultimately silenced.
  • Joe Amon, a director for Human Rights Watch • Voicing charges of large-scale deception by the Chinese government in informing its citizens about (and keeping them safe from) lead poisoning. The report comes on the heels of a major lead poisoning incident near a tinfoil factory that struck 103 children; it finds that the Chinese government would tell parents, among other things, that eating eggs and drinking milk was a sufficient treatment for lead poisoning. One parent describes being told his child wasn’t poisoned but not being allowed to actually examine his tests. This sounds like a case of putting an industrial economy above the health and safety of citizens — the level of safety regulation for factories in China is generally very poor. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 16:40

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U.S.: North Carolina moving towards axing Planned Parenthood’s funding

  • veto The Republican-controlled House in North Carolina passed a provision attached to their budget which strips Planned Parenthood of all federal and state funding. Democratic Governor Bev Perdue vetoed the budget to avoid the funding being axed.
  • override The North Carolina GOP has voted to override the veto, sending the budget along to the state Senate, which will likely follow suit. This is horrible news for women’s health concerns, as a funding halt would especially limit health care for low-income women. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 15:26

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U.S.: Obama faces lawsuit over American role in Libya conflict

  • With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated. We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies.
  • Rep. Dennis Kucinich • Expressing anger over the current military presence in Libya. He and a bipartisan group of representatives have brought a lawsuit against President Obama for foregoing Congress on Libya and, in the process, violating the War Powers Resolution, a law meant to stop the President from sending troops overseas without Congressional approval. Kucinich has backing from unlikely allies such as John Boehner and Ron Paul on this matter. Meanwhile, the White House disputes the lawsuit: “The president has acted in a manner that is consistent with the War Powers Resolution,” said Press Secretary Jay Carney. Definitely one to watch. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 14:22

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Biz: FDA takes steps to make sunscreen more consumer-friendly

  • beforeSunscreen was pretty misleading. The SPF only referred to how well the sunscreen protected against UVB rays, completely neglecting the still-harmful UVA rays. There were also a few false claims on those bottles of sunscreen — mainly those calling it waterproof.
  • afterNew requirements will make sunscreens much more consumer-friendly. SPF will tell how well the sunscreen protects against UVA and UVB rays. Sunscreen won’t be called sunblock, nor will it be called waterproof or sweatproof — no sunscreen really is. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 13:47

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U.S.: Living in the U.S. takes a toll on your life, apparently

  • 75.6 average life expectancy, in years, for a man in the United States
  • 80.8 average life expectancy, in years, for a woman in the U.S. source
  • » Not so bad, right? It doesn’t seem like it — until you start comparing us to other countries. Compared to an average of the countries with the 10 best life expectancies, American men live roughly 13 years less and women live 16 years less. Not only does living in the U.S. mean you may not live as long, but if you live in Appalachia, the deep South, or in northern Texas, you can expect a lower life expectancy than anywhere else in the country. People tend to live longest on the Pacific coast and the Northern Plains. What is ironic about all this is that the U.S. spends more money on health per person than any other country in the world — so what’s wrong?
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 11:32

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Tech: Texas Rep. David Simpson gets a high-five over his anti-TSA bill

  • Right now, searches are proceeding under the object of preventing terrorist activities. But we’ve got to draw a line. You’ve got to have reasonable cause to touch people’s private parts.
  • Texas State Rep. David Simpson • Discussing his bill to prevent the TSA from intrusively groping people in the name of national security. (Which, as you might know, is kind of a pet issue for us.) The bill actually went somewhere last month — it passed the state’s legislature. However, it stalled in the senate because the state got pushback from the federal government, who threatened to stop flights into Texas if the bill became law. Simpson (a Republican), however, notes that the law doesn’t prevent these searches, but forces a good reason for them to happen: “But what we’re basically saying is, ‘Show me the law that says you can touch my private parts in order to travel and I’ll let you do it.’” This guy deserves a high-five. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Jun 2011 11:17

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Tech: Facebook’s growing war chest of former presidential aides

They didn’t get Robert Gibbs, but they did get Joe Lockhart (Clinton’s press secretary). And a bunch of Bush aides. Looks like someone’s prepping for a big legislative fight in DC. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 11:03

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Biz, Tech: Tech bubble? Pandora’s IPO kicking butt on Wall Street today

  • $16 the initial public offering price for Pandora, the online radio station that predicts your tastes
  • $20+ its current price on the stock market; it’s a situation that mirrors LinkedIn’s recent IPO source
  • » Another sign of strong investor demand: Pandora’s IPO is more evidence of a growing tech bubble, though Pandora’s on a smaller scale than some of the other companies expected to do an IPO soon. Facebook and Twitter, once they do their IPOs, will likely make this look like a walk in the park. Which makes it understandable why some investors might think that Pandora — which hasn’t turned a profit — might get overshadowed a year or two from now. Pandora also faces some tough business challenges because of their reliance on expensive music licensing — ensuring that that their profit margins remain extremely tight.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 10:25

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Politics: Scott Walker: We always knew we could ignore open meetings law

  • I think it was something that we just believed that the legislature has always had the ability to do no matter if it was Democrats or Republicans in charge.
  • Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker • Reacting to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision (read it here) allowing Walker’s collective bargaining bill to go through because the state’s opening meetings law doesn’t apply to legislators. What did they have the ability to do, Scott, ignore the spirit of the law by holding a vote with two hours notice, because they felt it didn’t cover them, and wait for the state Supreme Court to prove them right? As you might guess, Democrats aren’t exactly thrilled by this decision. Not only the decision itself, but the fact that a law designed to prevent things like this essentially doesn’t apply to legislators, and now the Democrats will have to rewrite the state constitution to put that protection back in. Republicans on the other hand, are thrilled. This situation is a total mess, no matter what way you look at it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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