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05 Dec 2011 10:19

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U.S.: U.S. Postal Service: First-class mail could become second-day affair

  • bad The U.S. Postal Service, facing the worst financial crisis in its history, will likely be forced to shave $3 billion off its budget, in the process dropping half of the country’s 500 mail-processing centers. This would come on the closing of numerous post offices.
  • worse This is the kind of change that consumers will feel. For the first time since 1971, there would be no way for a first-class letter to reach its recipient in a single day. Which means your Netflix will be late and your rent check better get in the mail pretty early. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Dec 2011 22:57

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U.S.: Scandal-plagued megachurch leader Eddie Long steps aside, for now

  • The church needs a cleansing. I’m real disappointed. He was a man we all looked up to.
  • Valencia Miller, a former worshipper at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta • Discussing church leader Eddie Long’s decision to stop preaching at the influential megachurch temporarily, in the wake of a sex scandal involving five young male parishioners, a settlement, and the subsequent announcement that his wife was seeking a divorce. Vanessa Long made the announcement Thursday, wavered Friday, then wavered back that same day. Now Eddie Long is taking a break. For parishioners like Miller, they hope Long (who long preached against homosexuality, making the allegations even more troublesome) leaves the church for good. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Dec 2011 20:40

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U.S.: Occupy DC needed to build wooden structure to draw police scrutiny

  • A rare flash point, in wood form: Unlike most of the Occupy movements across the country, the Occupy DC movement has largely remained fairly quiet, in part because of the city’s protest-heavy history and in part because McPherson Square is managed by the National Park Service, not the city. So, as you might imagine, they would have to do something special to draw police scrutiny. Here it is, according to the movement’s Web site: “A prefabricated wooden structure that had been designed by professional architects and engineers to provide shelter, warmth and space for General Assemblies during the winter months.” If they wanted to draw police scrutiny, it worked. If they were trying to hold General Assemblies, not so much. The structure — and the National Park Police’s attempt to get it removed — has brought about some fairly interesting moments tonight. This is one of the most fascinating moments of the whole Occupy affair. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Dec 2011 08:43

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U.S.: Cash-strapped Detroit could face state takeover bid

  • The entire structure of the city reflects a 1950s model in which the United States was the dominant economy of the world and automobile manufacturing was the core driver. None of that is true anymore.
  • Former Detroit City Council member Sheila Cockrel • Discussing the city’s major financial issues — which are so bad that the state has ordered a review of the city in a move that could lead Michigan to take it over. It would be the largest city of its kind to be taken over by the state government, but one that has fallen the furthest: With a quickly-declining population that has fallen by a quarter in the past decade, a $150 million budget deficit and a $45 million financial shortfall expected for the current fiscal year, options are running slim for a city defined by auto industry culture in good ways and bad. If the state takes over, the council that Cockrel was once a member of and mayor Dave Bing could get sidelined. Ouch. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2011 23:38

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U.S.: Weather weirdness: Snow in the south, winds in the west.

  • Intense wind storms over the west this morning: Strong Santa Ana winds began Wednesday night; they caused damage (as seen above in home footage near Pasadena) and major power outages. Around 25,000 were without power under Southern California Edison’s jurisdiction. The National Weather Service said that the winds will likely continue through Friday, causing more flight delays. As you might imagine, Winds of this strength are causing some concern. Let’s hope that (on top of all this other stuff) one of California’s four seasons doesn’t start soon: Fire, landslides, earthquakes and riots. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2011 22:57

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U.S.: One year later, “Craigslist Ripper” case leaves dark impression

  • A mystery with hard-to-come-by answers: One year ago, police began their search for Shannan Gilbert, a 24 year-old prostitute. During that search, they found the remains of Melissa Barthlemy, another prostitute. In the following days, they found three more bodies along the shores of Long Island. They nicknamed the killer the “Craigslist Ripper” because some of the victims had advertised online. Ten bodies have been discovered over the past year; seemingly all of them worked in the sex industry, though one of the bodies found was the two-year-old daughter of one of the victims.
  • past Officials used to think that this was the work of multiple serial killers. The oldest body was killed way back in 1996. They thought they were looking for “a number of killers who all favored the remote scrub land for dumping bodies.”
  • present According to Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, the police’s view of the events has changed: “It appears that one person, comfortable with the area, comfortable with Long Island, is involved in these crimes.” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2011 10:54

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U.S.: World AIDS Day: Obama boosts U.S. stake in the battle against AIDS

  • $50 million in new funding to continue to fight AIDS source
  • » How that money would help: The Obama administration has a couple of goals for that money. First, they plan to get antiretroviral drugs to 2 million more people by 2013. Second, they plan to give the drugs to 1.5 million more HIV-positive pregnant women, in an effort to prevent the disease from getting passed on to their children. The president, with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush by his side, is announcing the renewed anti-AIDS initiatives (as a part of World AIDS Day) as we write this.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

30 Nov 2011 15:33

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U.S.: Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim explains his defense of Bernie Fine

  • I supported a friend. I’m proud that I did. I think if you know somebody and you work with somebody for 36 years and know them for 48 years, I think you owe a debt of allegiance and gratitude for what he did for the program. That’s what my reaction was.
  • Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim • Explaining his initial defense of former assistant coach Bernie Fine, with whom Boeheim had worked in Syracuse basketball for nearly four decades. Following news of child molestation claims against Fine, Boeheim vociferously leapt to his assistant’s defense, calling the allegations “a bunch of a thousand lies,” and suggesting the accusers had financial motives. This reactionary and tone-deaf response sparked calls for his resignation, among them those of Rev. Robert Hoatson, who works as an advocate for victims of child sex abuse. It was just last night that Hoatsen revealed he’d been contacted by a fourth person bringing molestation claims against Fine, saying that the abuse began when the man was a young teen. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Nov 2011 14:52

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U.S.: One of Bernie Fine’s accusers interviewed by Pittsburgh PD

  • Zach Tomaselli goes on record: The Pittsburgh police department’s Sgt. Joseph Gannon has interviewed the young man, now 23, who alleges former Syracuse basketball associate head coach Bernie Fine molested him in 2002. Tomaselli, one of four people now accusing Fine of child sexual abuse (the two of whom are former SU ballboys), claims Fine arranged for him to ride on a bus to Pittsburgh with the SU athletic department staff, and that upon reaching their destination Fine molested him in a hotel room. Fine was fired from his job at Syracuse on Sunday. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Nov 2011 10:51

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U.S.: Two major Occupy encampments close; protests mostly end peacefully

  • 200+ number of people arrested during the closing of the Occupy L.A. encampment early Wednesday
  • 52 number of people arrested at Occupy Philly when their camp closed at roughly the same time source
  • » However … In a major difference between the end of a number of other protests (most notably Occupy Oakland), police did not have to pull out pepper spray to end these protests. The LAPD was very careful with their strategy in this department. Despite the mayor calling for the closure of the camp early Monday, the police department held off two days, giving protesters time to leave on their own. That thinned out the numbers. As for those that remained, they had some minor scuffles with police at first, but those eventually faded, and protesters only got arrested after they didn’t immediately leave the park. Only a handful of major Occupy encampments remain at this point, most notably in DC and San Francisco. (EDIT: Updated Occupy Philly arrest count; the protesters left the encampment peacefully but were arrested for disturbances outside of the encampment.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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