By MASHA MACPHERSON~Associated Press
Some 25,000 French and German police — and perhaps as many protesters — are taking up positions around three cities on both sides of the Rhine before a NATO summit involving President Barack Obama and 25 other leaders.
French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie called it France’s biggest security operation in years, and warned [...]
By Mark Gimein~MSNBC
Does anyone still remember “Roger and Me?” Michael Moore’s 1989 film chronicled the filmmaker’s attempts to interview GM Chairman Roger Smith, whose efforts to streamline and downsize had shattered GM’s hometown of Flint, Mich. Back then, shutting down plants, cutting benefits, and throwing workers on the proverbial street was depicted as the epitome [...]
By Daniel Taylor~Old-Thinker News
The Council on Foreign Relations, often described as the “real state department”, has launched an initiative to promote and implement a system of effective world governance.
The program, titled “ The International Institutions and Global Governance Program,” utilizes the resources of the “…David Rockefeller Studies Program to assess existing regional and [...]
By James P. Miller~Chicago Tribune
Sun-Times Media Group Inc., reeling from a painful revenue decline and tax liabilities that date back to the looting of the company during the tenure of former CEO Conrad Black, disclosed Tuesday that it has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code.
The publisher of the [...]
~Associated Press
The commander of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and said the group was planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. capital.
Baitullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million bounty on his head from the U.S., said Monday’s attack outside the eastern city of Lahore was [...]
~Daily Mail
T is the first picture of Mark and Michelle Colley who died alongside their three-year-old son in a house fire.
Angry neighbours have said that police held back would-be rescuers.
They said they could see heavily-pregnant Michelle at an upstairs window, screaming ‘please save my kids’.
But police said they had to wait for firemen to arrive.
Michelle [...]
~Think Progress
Last month, The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh revealed in Minnesota that former vice president Cheney presided over an “executive assassination ring.†“Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving,†Hersh explained.
Today, CNN [...]
The accelerating pace of technological progress means that our intelligent creations will soon eclipse us–and that their creations will eventually eclipse them
By Ray Kurzweil~SCIAM
Sometime early in this century the intelligence of machines will exceed that of humans. Within a quarter of a century, machines will exhibit the full range of human intellect, emotions and skills, [...]
March 31, 2009 | Posted in
Sci/Tech |
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By Ana Veciana-Suarez~The Miami Herald
Jose Abrahantes has been working for about half a century – in construction, landscaping, even as a janitor cleaning offices on the night shift. He figured he would eventually enjoy a relaxing retirement.
But at 66, with medical bills piling up after an emergency surgery, Abrahantes has filed for bankruptcy. Retirement isn’t [...]
By Rachael Brown~ABC News
Take a strand of your hair, divide its width by 100,000 and that’s the size of a nanoparticle, a tiny particle with the potential to create a big stir in the food world.
The technology promises to make food look and taste better but little is known about its health impact.
Some food giants [...]
By Meg Marco~The Consumerist
Well, here’s a truly weird story, disorderly conduct charges have been dropped against a Texas woman who dropped an f-bomb at her local Walmart.
According to the Galveston County Daily News the woman was shopping for batteries in preparation for Tropical Storm Edouard when she said aloud:
“They don’t have any fucking more.”
This, apparently, [...]
By JEANNINE KORANDA~Kansas City Star
Next year, Kansans will vote whether to change the state constitution to guarantee individual gun rights.
“It is the law of the land today in every state. They (supporters) would like to make sure it stays that way in Kansas,†said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, an Independence Republican.
Supporters of a resolution [...]
By Paul Lewis~London Guardian
The security operation at this week’s G20 summit was thrown into chaos last night when it emerged that the entire network of central London’s wireless CCTV cameras will have to be turned off because of a legal ruling.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has ruled that Westminster council’s mobile road cameras – a [...]
By David Kelly~Los Angeles Times
Dozens of Ontario police and code enforcement officers descended upon the homeless encampment known as Tent City early Monday, separating those who could stay from those to be evicted.
Large, often confused, crowds formed ragged lines behind police barricades where officers handed out color-coded wristbands. Blue meant they were from Ontario and [...]
By Jordan Lite~Scientific American
All teens should be screened for depression, even if they don’t necessarily show signs of the blues, an influential government panel is recommending, noting that the majority of afflicted teens aren’t diagnosed or treated even though there are effective therapies.
Kids ages 12 to 18 should be routinely screened for the mood disorder [...]
By Meg Marco~The Consumerist
Will sponsored pot holes sell chicken? KFC seems to think so. They’ve asked the City of Chicago if they can fix potholes — in exchange for including a white stencil saying the spot was “Re-freshed by KFC.”
Despite the fact that the ads would be a “distraction and safety hazard,”— both Chicago [...]
March 31, 2009 | Posted in
Headlines |
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By Michael Kranish~Boston Globe
Just months before the start of last year’s stock market collapse, the federal agency that insures the retirement funds of 44 million Americans departed from its conservative investment strategy and decided to put much of its $64 billion insurance fund into stocks.
Switching from a heavy reliance on bonds, the Pension Benefit Guaranty [...]
By DAVID ESPO~AP News
President Barack Obama asserted unprecedented government control over the auto industry Monday, bluntly rejecting turnaround plans by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, demanding fresh concessions for long-term federal aid and raising the possibility of quick bankruptcy for either ailing auto giant.
Obama took the extraordinary step of announcing the government will back [...]
Communication box will reveal vehicle location, speed
By Paul Lewis~London Guardian
The government is backing a project to install a “communication box” in new cars to track the whereabouts of drivers anywhere in Europe, the Guardian can reveal.
Under the proposals, vehicles will emit a constant “heartbeat” revealing their location, speed and direction of travel. The EU officials [...]
By MICHELLE LEDER and JUSTIN ROOD~ABC News
Rick Wagoner will leave his post as CEO of bailed-out General Motors with a $20 million retirement package, the company’s financial filings show.
Although the Treasury Department has barred GM from paying severance to Wagoner or any other senior executive, Wagoner is eligible to collect millions in retirement [...]
