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India ministers quit after caught watching porn in parliament News channels broadcast footage showing Karnataka state Minister for Cooperation Laxman Savadi sharing a porn clip with his colleague C.C. Patil, the minister for women and child development, while sitting in the state assembly. The owner of the phone, state Minister for Ports, Science and Technology Krishna Palemar, also quit. "We are requesting the honorable Speaker of the House to conduct an inquiry and we'll come out with a clean chit," Patil said, denying that they were deliberately looking at porn. The three men said they did not want to cause any embarrassment for
their party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which
rules the state and is in opposition at a national level. There has
been outrage over the incident not just from rights activists and right-wing
Hindu groups in conservative India, but also from the riling Congress
party which called for the assembly to be dissolved. More
Labor unions primary recipients of Obamacare waivers Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama‘s signature legislation since June 17, 2011. By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers. The Department of Health and Human Services revised the rules governing
applications for health reform waivers June 17, 2011, amid a steady
stream of controversial news reports, including The Daily Caller’s story
that nearly 20 percent of last May’s waivers went to businesses in House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s district in California. More
Gingrich vows to establish a colony on the moon Gingrich, the former House speaker, told an overflow crowd gathered on Florida's space coast Wednesday that he wants to develop a robust commercial space industry in line with the airline boom of the 1930s. He also wants to expand exploration of Mars. The pronouncements appeared to thrill the crowd of roughly 700 people.
Florida's space coast is still suffering from a recent round of federal
cuts to the space program. But how would Gingrich pay for it? The Republican
presidential contender says he wants to offer prizes to help stimulate
investment by the private sector. More
A Fine for Not Using a Biofuel That Doesn’t Exist But there was none to be had. Outside a handful of laboratories and workshops, the ingredient, cellulosic biofuel, does not exist. In 2012, the oil companies expect to pay even higher penalties for failing to blend in the fuel, which is made from wood chips or the inedible parts of plants like corncobs. Refiners were required to blend 6.6 million gallons into gasoline and diesel in 2011 and face a quota of 8.65 million gallons this year. “It belies logic,” Charles T. Drevna, the president of the National
Petrochemicals and Refiners Association, said of the 2011 quota. And
raising the quota for 2012 when there is no production makes even less
sense, he said. More
Scorching Corruption Complaint in Philly The scheme, carried out as part of a purported anti-blight initiative called the Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP), "has so far resulted in at least nine felony convictions" on charges that include perjury, theft and gun running, according to Steven Tengood, a longtime civilian worker in the Armed Forces who says the home he's lived in for nearly 45 years was plundered by CLIP workers. Tengood, 62, says one of the stolen guns was later used in a homicide. He says he was forced to put his 96-year-old mother in a nursing home,
because as a Holocaust survivor, she was disturbed "by the continual
presence of City officials serving additional notices and bills [related
to supposed property-code violations], and removing items from the exterior"
of his home, according to the 60-page complaint. More
Safeway fires guard for banning 4-year-old girl “She grabbed a bag of apricots – dried apricots – opened them, ate a couple, put it back and the security guard watched her do it,” according to Savannah’s mother, Alissa Jones. “He proceeded to tell them, ‘Your daughter stole and she’s banned
from the store, and we’re pressing charges. And she needs to sign this
form saying she understands she can’t come into any Safeways,’” Jones
recalled. More
Porn, prostitution will be rampant if women allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia Academics at the country's highest religious council submitted a report to the legislative assembly warning of the dangers of letting women behind the wheel, reports the Daily Telegraph. If the only country in the world that still bans women from driving were to change its rules, there would be "a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce." Within 10 years of the ban being lifted, the report claimed, there
would be "no more virgins" in the country, according to the paper. More
Colorado schools sell advertising space on report cards That seems like a drop in the bucket for the school board, which last year slashed its spending by $US40 million in the face of reduced state and federal government support and a slump in revenue from school property taxes. But school board spokeswoman Melissa Reeves said: "We're obviously looking for revenue generators and taking them where we can find them." Headlined "Savings tip: Time is on your side", the ads invite parents
to salt away money for their youngsters' university tuition through
Collegeinvest, which is run by the Colorado state education department.
More
State Demands Chemo Treatments For Cancer-Free Boy Jacob Stieler, from Michigan, was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, last March. After a number of treatments he was found to be cancer free. His mother Erin Stieler told WLUC-TV on Monday that she believed further treatments for her son, Jacob, were unnecessary. She said of the chemo her son already received: 'It's the most horrible
thing, most horrific thing. He was sick, he was nauseous, he was extremely
depressed. He told me numerous times he wished he could fall asleep
and never wake up.' More
EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month. Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large. “The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true. “If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.” NHS health guidelines state clearly that drinking water helps avoid
dehydration, and that Britons should drink at least 1.2 litres per day.
More
Fannie, Freddie execs score $100 million payday The top five executives at Fannie Mae received $33.3 million in 2009 and 2010, while the top five at Freddie Mac received $28.1 million. And each company has set pay targets of as much as $17 million for its top managers for 2011. That's a total of $95.4 million, which will essentially be coming
from taxpayers, who have been keeping the mortgage finance giants alive
with regular quarterly cash infusions since the Federal Home Finance
Agency (FHFA) took control of the companies in September 2008. Fannie
CEO Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Charles Halderman, each received
about $5.5 million in pay for last year, and they could receive more
when their final deferred compensation for 2010 is set. All the executives
receive a significant portion of their pay in the year or years after
they earn it. More
Dad Fights Zoning Board's Order to Destroy Backyard Tree House Mark Grapin thought his two sons would love the treehouse. He called Fairfax County before starting to find out the rules for the Broyhill Park neighborhood in the Falls Church area of the county. "The guy in building permits laughed me off the phone," Grapin says. He was told it's a treehouse and not built to any code. So Grapin went to the local home improvement store, bought $1,400 worth of supplies and spent six weekends building the treehouse. It has red clapboard siding, shingles, a slide, a pull-down ladder, two climbing ropes, closed windows and shutters. It is wrapped around the tree but stands free, not touching the tree. It stands to the side of his house. Grapin says his immediate neighbors had no complaints, but someone did complain anonymously to Fairfax County. Grapin was told he had to treat it like an addition to his house and get a zoning variance. He spent more than $1,800 getting the proper forms and going through a hearing. The home sits on a corner lot and Zoning Board Chairman John Ribble
says that means what Grapin thought was a side lot is actually the front
lot. The variance was rejected. More
TSA finds a new way to waste your money You know how at the entrance to the security line there’s that agent who makes sure the name on your boarding pass is the same as the one on your photo ID? Apparently that guy’s job is too hard. According to CNN, the TSA has contracted with three companies to produce
machines to “match a traveler’s boarding pass with his or her government-issued
ID, while verifying that both documents are authentic.” More
CEO Tells Congress He Was Fined For Hiring Too Many People In my own business, securities regulations have prohibited me from hiring brokers for more than three years. I was even fined fifteen thousand dollar expressly for hiring too many brokers in 2008. In the process I incurred more than $500,000 in legal bills to mitigate a more severe regulatory outcome as a result of hiring too many workers. I have also been prohibited from opening up additional offices. I had a major expansion plan that would have resulted in my creating hundreds of additional jobs. Regulations have forced me to put those jobs on hold. More
Obama "green jobs" cost over $5 million each The program — designed to jump-start the nation’s clean technology industry by giving energy companies access to low-cost, government-backed loans — has directly created 3,545 new, permanent jobs after giving out almost half the allocated amount, according to Energy Department tallies. President Obama has made “green jobs” a showcase of his recovery plan,
vowing to foster new jobs, new technologies and more competitive American
industries. But the loan guarantee program came under scrutiny Wednesday
from Republicans and Democrats at a House oversight committee hearing
about the collapse of Solyndra, a solar-panel maker whose closure could
leave taxpayers on the hook for as much as $527 million. More
N.J. state trooper suspended without pay for a year after caught drinking, driving three times Her suspension, ordered by Supt. Rick Fuentes, is tougher than the seven-month suspension recommended by an administrative law judge. "He believed this was warranted given the facts of the case," said Sgt. Stephen Jones, a State Police spokesman. McKaig was pulled over by local police three times in three months
in 2008 in Atlantic County’s Hamilton Township. Police suspected she
was under the influence but never tested her blood-alcohol level, arrested
her or issued any tickets, according to a report issued by Administrative
Law Judge Ronald Reba in April. More
Hungary introduces 'fat tax' to boost nation's health Initially called 'the hamburger tax', the measure was dubbed 'crisps tax' or 'fat tax' after the Hungarian government decided that it would not affect fast food restaurants. The plan is to impose a 10 forint (3.7 eurocent) levy on products that contain "too much" salt, sugar, or fat, while increasing the tax on liquor and soft drinks by 10%, according to the Global Post news website. The proceeds, estimated to be worth up to 30 billion forint (111 million euro), would pay for state-funded health care, which has a deficit of about 100 billion forints (371 million euro). Hungary is among the most severely indebted countries in Eastern Europe. If Hungary does proceed with its 'fat tax', as seems likely, it would
be the first country in the world to do so. More
Gibson CEO Says Feds Told Him Problems Would ‘Go Away’ if Labor Was Outsourced to Madagascar In an interview with Beck radio affiliate KMJ 105.9 in Fresno, California, Juszkiewicz told host Chris Daniel that the government made the point “explicitly:” CHRIS DANIEL: Mr. Juszkiewicz, did an agent of the US government suggest to you that your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of American labor? HENRY JUSZKIEWICZ: They actually wrote that in a pleading. CHRIS DANIEL: Excuse me? HENRY JUSKIEWICZ: They actually wrote that in a pleading. CHRIS DANIEL: That your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of our labor? HENRY JUSKIEWICZ: Yes, yeah. They said that explicitly. Family Facing $90,000 in Fines for Selling Bunnies John Dollarhite, who ran Dollarvalue Rabbitry from April 2008 to December 2009, said he didn’t know he needed a license to sell bunnies. He was told that if he didn’t pay the penalty by last Monday he could face possible litigation and civil penalties up to $10,000 for each violation. His attorney has told the agency Dollarhite rejects the proposed penalty
and wants a hearing. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat
who grew up in a rural area, has taken up Dollarhite’s cause. She told
the Springfield News-Leader the proposed fine “defies common sense.”
More
Michigan Woman Faces 93 Days in Jail for Planting a Vegetable Garden Her crime? Planting a vegetable garden in the front yard. Bass says that she planted the garden after her front yard was torn up for some sewer repairs. Rather than wasting the opportunity to start with a clean slate by planting a lawn, she decided to really put the area to use, and plant a vegetable garden. Her garden consists of 5 raised beds, where she grows a mix of squashes,
corn, tomatoes, flowers, and other veggies. Bass received a warning
from the city telling her to remove the vegetable garden, because it
doesn't adhere to city ordinances (more on that later.) When she refused,
she was ticketed and charged with a misdemeanor. Her trial, before a
jury, is set to begin on July 26th. If she is found guilty, she can
be sentenced to up to 93 days in jail. More
One more headache for border crossers U.S. officers have been conducting random southbound checkpoints more frequently at border crossings and that has resulted in long waits, particularly at the busy San Ysidro Port of Entry. Business leaders don’t know yet the economic impact of the waits to enter Mexico but estimate the northbound waits into the United States alone are costing the region billions of dollars annually. The people affected the most by the checkpoints are those heading to Mexico to visit, conduct business or return home. “We’re used to waiting to enter the U.S., not to return to Tijuana,” said Sylvia Ferrero, who works in Chula Vista and lives in Tijuana. Ferrero, 25, recalls waiting three hours to cross into Tijuana earlier
this year and arriving an hour late at a meeting. “My hope is never
to run into one so that I can get home early.” More
Injunction to move by the end the of month Stig and Dinah Mason bought Muxbeare Orchard after a sudden windfall allowed them to quit their impoverished lives on a Hertfordshire council estate two years ago. The Masons have transformed what they described as a derelict four-acre plot into a haven of self-sufficiency boasting a 400 sq m allotment, a polytunnel and greenhouses to grow fruit and vegetables, chickens for egg production and an orchard they have regenerated by planting around 14 new apple trees of various species. The couple, who have two boys, aged eight and nine, say because they moved onto the site in order to work the land, Mid Devon District Council is turfing them off as officers do not consider them to be conserving an agricultural area. They faced magistrates on March 31 when they were served with an injunction
to leave within 28 days from June 1. More
Alameda police, firefighters watch as man drowns Alameda police received a call shortly before noon on Monday from a woman saying her son wanted to kill himself. Raymond Zack, 53, then walked out into the water off Crown Beach. "I thought it was kind of weird that they weren't going out to bring the guy in, you know, he was out there, his head was above water, he was looking at everybody, there was plenty of time for them to react," witness Perry Smith said. For more than an hour, Zack stood up to his neck in the frigid surf off of Crown Beach in Alameda. "Well, we expected to see at some point that there would be a concern for him and somebody would go out there and pull him in," witness Gary Barlow said. About 75 beachgoers could not understand why Alameda police officers and firefighters stood idly by and watched the man slowly succumb to the 60 degree water. The Alameda Fire Department says budget constraints are preventing
it from recertifying its firefighters in land-based water rescues. Without
it, the city would be open to liability. More
Canadian Couple raising a 'genderless baby' When Storm was born four months ago, they sent an e-mail to friends and family reading: "We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now - a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place?)" There is nothing physiologically ambiguous about Storm's sex. However, whether he or she is a girl or a boy is known only to the couple's sons, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, a close family friend and the two midwives who helped to deliver the baby. The parents say that it will be up to Storm to decide whether he or
she decides to live as a boy or girl but their plan has led to them
being labelled the "world's most PC parents". More
Church fined $100 per branch for excessive tree pruning But this year, the city of Charlotte cited the church for improperly pruning its trees. "We always keep our trees trimmed back because you don't want to worry about them hanging down in the way," said Sales, a church member. The church was fined $100 per branch cut for excessive pruning, bringing the violation to $4,000. "I just couldn't believe it when I heard about it," Sales said. "We trim our trees back every three years all over our property, and
this is the first time we have been fined." More
Michigan man still on food stamps despite winning $2M Leroy Fick, 59, of Bay County admitted he still uses the state-issued debit card called a Bridge Card at stores, nearly a year after winning a jackpot on "Make Me Rich!" He told WNEM-TV in Saginaw: "If you're going to ... try to make me feel bad, you aren't going to do it." Fick's attorney, John Wilson of Midland, said Fick told the Department of Human Services he'd won $2 million but was told he could keep using the Bridge Card issued to him to buy groceries. Food stamps are paid with tax dollars and are meant to assist low-income families. Fick, who according to the Secretary of State drives a 2008 Audi A4, could not be reached for comment. "I am not going to sit and debate the ethics of this," Wilson said.
"But he did what he was supposed to do — he informed the state, and
the state said he could keep using the card. More
Bin Laden’s Death Won’t End His Toll on American Taxpayers The U.S. government spent $2 trillion combating bin Laden over the past decade, more than 20 percent of the nation’s $9.68 trillion public debt. That money paid for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as additional military, intelligence and homeland security spending above pre-Sept. 11 trends, according to a Bloomberg analysis. This year alone, taxpayers are spending more than $45 billion in interest on the money borrowed to battle al-Qaeda, the analysis shows. The financial bleeding won’t stop with bin Laden’s demise. One of every four dollars in red ink the U.S. expects to incur in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 will result from $285 billion in annual spending triggered by the terrorist scion of a wealthy Saudi family. Without bin Laden, “we would have accumulated less debt, be spending
less on interest and we would be on a lower spending path going forward,”
said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research,
a research organization in Washington. More
The Real Housewives of Wall Street Most Americans know about that budget. What they don't know is that there is another budget of roughly equal heft, traditionally maintained in complete secrecy. After the financial crash of 2008, it grew to monstrous dimensions,
as the government attempted to unfreeze the credit markets by handing
out trillions to banks and hedge funds. And thanks to a whole galaxy
of obscure, acronym-laden bailout programs, it eventually rivaled the
"official" budget in size — a huge roaring river of cash flowing out
of the Federal Reserve to destinations neither chosen by the president
nor reviewed by Congress, but instead handed out by fiat by unelected
Fed officials using a seemingly nonsensical and apparently unknowable
methodology. More
Seattle school renames Easter eggs 'Spring Spheres' Jessica, 16, told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson Show that a week before spring break, the students commit to a week-long community service project. She decided to volunteer in a third grade class at a public school, which she would like to remain nameless. "At the end of the week I had an idea to fill little plastic eggs with treats and jelly beans and other candy, but I was kind of unsure how the teacher would feel about that," Jessica said. She was concerned how the teacher might react to the eggs after of a meeting earlier in the week where she learned about "their abstract behavior rules." "I went to the teacher to get her approval and she wanted to ask the
administration to see if it was okay," Jessica explained. "She said
that I could do it as long as I called this treat 'spring spheres.'
I couldn't call them Easter eggs." More
Dire Straits 'Money For Nothing' Unacceptable In Canada The body launched an investigation after a listener complained that an unedited version of the song had been played on St. John's radio station CHOZ-FM last February. The complaint said the song, written by Mark Knopfler and Sting, was “extremely offensive” to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. In its ruling, the council said that ‘Money For Nothing’ would only
be acceptable for broadcast if it had been edited, reports the Winnipeg
Free Press. More
Milwaukee Teachers Fight for Viagra Coverage The union has asked a judge to order the school board to again include Pfizer Inc.'s erectile dysfunction drug and similar pills in its health insurance plans. The filing is the latest in a two-year legal campaign in which the union has argued, so far unsuccessfully, that the board's policy of excluding erectile dysfunction drugs discriminates against male employees. The union says Viagra, Cialis, Levitra and others are necessary treatment for "an exclusively gender-related condition." But lawyers for the school board say the drugs were excluded in 2005
to save money, and there is no discrimination because they are used
primarily for recreational sex and not out of medical necessity. The
filing last month comes as the union, the Milwaukee Teachers' Education
Association, is also protesting hundreds of layoff notices issued to
teachers for the coming school year. Citing a "financial crisis" caused
by exploding benefit costs and revenue shortfalls, the district's outgoing
superintendent proposed laying off 682 employees in April. More
Taco Bell sued for selling adulterated "meat" Taco Bell, based in Irvine, Calif., fired back in a statement Tuesday, saying that the suit is "absolutely wrong" and that it planned legal action of its own. The dispute revolves around how much can be mixed in with beef and still be called beef. In its raw or frozen form, ground beef "shall not contain more than
30 percent fat, and shall not contain added water, phosphates, binders,
or extenders," according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
It can include seasonings or not. More
San Diego can now ticket people sleeping on streets The city now, though, plans to make a handful of downtown beds available each night, in hopes of giving police some power to enforce illegal lodging laws. "For the first time in three years, the city has some clear direction allowing us to enforce the law during the late evening and early morning hours when shelter is available," said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. In 2007, the city stop ticketing the homeless to settle a suit brought against it. Homeless advocates had argued that the homeless had little option
but to bed down on the streets because shelters were crammed. More
Laptop containing possible cancer cure stolen in Oklahoma Sook Shin and her husband, who work as cancer researchers at the Oklahoma University, decided to take a break from their work on Sunday to get some dinner. When they returned to their car they found it had been broken into and their Macbook had been stolen. Unbeknownst to the thieves was that the device contains years of research into prostrate cancer, some of which can never be replicated, while others will take up to two years to redo. Worse than that, the couple never made a backup of their data, which
means that someone out there has the only copy of the valuable information,
if it hasn't been wiped already. Why researchers would fail to make
a backup boggles the mind, considering how easily a laptop can be stolen
or how often hard drive failures occur, but even the brightest minds
in science can make a fatal mistake. More
Peter King's proposed bill would ban guns near lawmakers In addition to giving him and his colleagues protection, King told POLITICO that his purpose is also to protect constituents who want to meet with public officials and might be hesitant to do so in wake of the shootings in Arizona. “It would give law enforcement the weapon they need to protect federal
officials, and just as importantly, it would provide a large measure
of security for those who want to meet with their federal elected officials,”
said King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
More
Brady Wants 'Target' Websites Banned That map was taken down by Palin's web editors from the Web site Sarahpac.com on Saturday soon after Rep. Gabriel Giffords was shot in Arizona. On Sunday, Palin's spokespeople said the images on map of Palin's "target list" were directional locators, and not gun sight crosshairs. Palin also offered her condolences on Facebook. "My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle
Giffords and the other victims of today's tragic shooting in Arizona,"
she said. "On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims
and their families, and for peace and justice." More
Obama's car czar vows fast selloff of government GM stock The government sold 45 percent of its 61 percent stake in GM in November, during the company's initial public stock offering, and can't sell additional shares until a six-month lockup expires in May. "We are determined to exit as soon as practicable, but we're not going to do a fire sale," Bloom said after touring exhibits of the Detroit automakers at the North American International Auto Show. "We have unequivocally demonstrated that the president of the United States doesn't want to be CEO of a car company. I hope we can put that foolish 'Government Motors' stuff to bed once and for all." The government's remaining stake in GM, 500 million shares, is worth nearly $20 billion at current trading. It is not the "proper role of government over time" to hold a large
stake in a private company, Bloom said. More
Mom defies doctor, has baby her way It was her obstetrician wanting to know where the heck she was. Did Aneka forget that today was the day for her cesarean section? How could she have forgotten? No, Aneka hadn't forgotten. She hadn't shown up intentionally. "She told me, 'You're being irresponsible. Your baby could die. You could die,'" Aneka recalls. Then the doctor hung up. Aneka (she doesn't want her last name used) had already resolved to not have a C-section, even though the doctor told her it was absolutely necessary. She wasn't going to be opened up surgically, no matter what her doctor said, no matter what any doctor said. In some online communities, Aneka is a hero who defied the obstetrical
establishment and gave birth her way. To many doctors, however, she's
a risk-taker who put her and her baby in peril by giving birth at home.
More
Misbehaving teens may be at risk for major adulthood problems
TThe study looked at more than 3,500 people , beginning in the teen years and following them for 40 years. The data came from a national survey of health and development from the Medical Research Council, an organization in the United Kingdom. Teachers assessed these individuals at age 13 and 15, comparing them with their peers with respect to a number of behaviors. Problematic behaviors included disobedience, lying, lack of punctuality, restlessness, truancy, daydreaming in class and poor response to discipline. "This research suggests that adolescent conduct problems are indicative
of more serious problems in creating and maintaining positive social
relationships, and this has a long-term effect on the young adult's
ability to maintain good mental health, stable employment, and a happy
family life," said Ian Colman, assistant professor at the University
of Alberta's School of Public Health. More
|
NEW
DELHI - Three Indian politicians from a morally conservative party,
including a women's affairs minister, resigned on Wednesday after being
caught watching pornography on a mobile phone during a session of state
parliament.
Labor
unions continued to receive the overwhelming majority of waivers from
the president’s health care reform law since the Obama administration
tightened application rules last summer.
Newt
Gingrich is promising to establish a permanent base on the moon by 2020
if he's elected president.
WASHINGTON
— When the companies that supply motor fuel close the books on 2011,
they will pay about $6.8 million in penalties to the Treasury because
they failed to mix a special type of biofuel into their gasoline and
diesel as required by law. 
PHILADELPHIA
(CN) - A federal racketeering complaint accuses high-ranking Philadelphia
code-enforcement officials of looting the residences of elderly and
disabled citizens "under the fraudulent pretenses of needing to clear
the homes of various code violations."
For
one security guard at a Washington state Safeway, 4-year-old Savannah
Harp was just another criminal. During a recent shopping trip to the
Everett grocery story, the cute little girl opened a box of dried fruit
while her dad wasn’t paying attention. But one eagle-eyed security guard
spotted the “shoplifting” tot and was determined to make her face justice.
Allowing
women to drive in Saudi Arabia would cause rampant sex, porn and homosexuality,
according to some of the country's scholars.
Jefferson
County Public Schools expects to make $US90,000 over three years from
Collegeinvest, a college savings plan, for the 5cm ads on report cards
issued by its 91 primary schools.
The
parents of a ten-year-old boy are being taken to court for refusing
to continue gruelling chemotherapy and radiation treatments despite
the fact he is now cancer-free.
EU
officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there
was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.
Mortgage
finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received the biggest federal
bailout of the financial crisis. And nearly $100 million of those tax
dollars went to lucrative pay packages for top executives, filings show.
FALLS
CHURCH, Va. - It seemed like a great idea -- build a treehouse on his
property for two growing boys. But for one local man, it's turning into
a big, expensive lesson in government red tape.
IN THE LATEST ATTEMPT to prove they’re “protecting you from yesterday,
tomorrow,” the TSA has announced plans to insert yet another extravagantly
expensive, questionably effective machine into the airport security
screening process.
From Peter Schiff's prepared remarks to Congress. Schiff is the CEO
of Euro Pacific Capital.
A $38.6 billion loan guarantee program that the Obama administration
promised would create or save 65,000 jobs has created just a few thousand
jobs two years after it began, government records show.
State Police Trooper Sheila McKaig, who was caught drinking and driving
three times without getting a ticket, has been suspended without pay
for a year.
Food considered to be unhealthy, including crisps, soft drinks and chocolate
bars, are now subject to a new tax in Hungary. The new law is aimed
at "improving the health of the nation".
The
tale of the Gibson guitar raid — the one focused on the legendary guitar
maker’s alleged importation and use of illegal wood — has taken an odd
turn. Now CEO Henry Juszkiewicz is claiming the Feds told him that some
of his problems “would go away” if the company used Madagascar labor.
NIXA, Mo. | A southwest Missouri man who said he made about $200 selling
rabbits has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay
more than $90,000 for doing business without a license.
Julie Bass of Oak Park, Michigan -- a mother of 6, law-abiding citizen,
and gardener -- is facing 93 days in jail after being charged with a
misdemeanor.
Crossing into Mexico from San Diego has become a major challenge since
last year when U.S. authorities began cracking down on the weapons and
cash flowing into the hands of drug cartels.
A COUPLE living an "off-grid" lifestyle say they face prison unless
they move from their own land in Willand and return to an existence
in the benefits trap.
ALAMEDA, Calif. - Alameda police and firefighters stood by and watched
as a man drowned off Crown Beach in Alameda on Monday. Authorities are
now trying to explain why they had no choice but to stand on the shoreline.
Kathy Witterick, 38, and David Stocker, 39, who live in Toronto, believe
that a child's sex should not determine his or her place in the world.
Every two to three years, Eddie Sales trims and prunes the crape myrtles
at his church, Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church.
Auburn — A man who won $2 million on a lottery show continues to collect
food stamps 11 months after winning the jackpot.
Even in death, Osama bin Laden will be taking revenge on American taxpayers
for years to come.
America
has two national budgets, one official, one unofficial. The official
budget is public record and hotly debated: Money comes in as taxes and
goes out as jet fighters, DEA agents, wheat subsidies and Medicare,
plus pensions and bennies for that great untamed socialist menace called
a unionized public-sector workforce that Republicans are always complaining
about. According to popular legend, we're broke and in so much debt
that 40 years from now our granddaughters will still be hooking on weekends
to pay the medical bills of this year's retirees from the IRS, the SEC
and the Department of Energy.
A sophomore at a local private high school thinks an effort to make
Easter politically correct is ridiculous.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council said it was too offensive for
Canadian broadcasts because it includes the word “f*ggot” three times.
With the district in a financial crisis and hundreds of its members
facing layoffs, the Milwaukee teachers union is taking a peculiar stand:
fighting to get its taxpayer-funded Viagra back.
When it's served in a Taco Bell taco, alleges a California woman in
a class-action lawsuit. The suit, filed Friday, claims that the fast-food
giant uses so much other ingredients in its meat that it no longer qualifies
as beef.
The city of San Diego can now ticket homeless people who sleep on street
corners and doorways, but there's one significant catch: There has to
be beds available for them. There hasn't been - for years.
Researchers in Oklahoma are offering a $1,000 reward for the return
of a stolen laptop which they claim contains a possible cure for prostate
cancer.
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), one of the few pro-gun control Republicans
in the House, wants to make it illegal for someone to knowingly carry
a gun within 1,000 feet of certain high-ranking federal officials, including
members of Congress.
PHILADELPHIA
- Congressman Bob Brady (D-Pa., 1st) says he'll introduce a law to make
it a crime to publish Web site that places "crosshairs" on a Congressional
member, in a reaction to a map that appeared on Sarah Palin's Web site.
Obama
administration auto czar Ron Bloom vowed Tuesday to sell off the government's
remaining 33 percent stake in General Motors Co. as quickly as possible,
saying it was "important for the broader economy."
On
Thursday, December 2, as Aneka sat at home nine months pregnant, the
phone rang.
People who displayed behavioral problems as teenagers were likely to
develop mental or personal problems in adulthood, according to a new
study published in the British Medical Journal.