Archive for the 'Newz' Category

California ban on same-sex marriage struck down

Published by
elophan
May 15, 2008 in Human Interest/Society, Human Rights, Newz and The Courts. 0 Comments

From Bill Mears, CNN Senior Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) — In a much-anticipated ruling issued Thursday, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional.

Several gay and lesbian couples, along with the city of San Francisco and gay rights groups, sued to overturn state laws allowing only marriages between a man and a woman.

“There can be no doubt that extending the designation of marriage to same-sex couples, rather than denying it to all couples, is the equal protection remedy that is most consistent with our state’s general legislative policy and preference,” said the 120-page ruling.

It said that the state law’s language “limiting the designation of marriage to a ‘union between a man and a woman’ is unconstitutional, and that the remaining statutory language must be understood as making the designation of marriage available to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples.”

With the ruling, California becomes the second state to allow same-sex couples to legally wed. Massachusetts adopted the practice in 2004, and couples don’t need to be state residents to wed there.

Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Connecticut permit civil unions, while California has a domestic-partner registration law. More than a dozen other states give gay couples some legal rights.

Seven other jurisdictions around the world have legalized same-sex marriage: Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. More…

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Biden Calls ‘Bullsh#t’ On Bush

Published by
elophan
May 15, 2008 in Newz. 0 Comments

From CNN Congressional Producer Ted Barrett

(CNN) — The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joe Biden, D-Delaware, called President Bush’s comments accusing Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats of wanting to appease terrorists “bulls–t” and said if the president disagrees so strongly with the idea of talking to Iran then he needs to fire his secretaries of State and Defense, both of whom Biden said have pushed to sit down with the Iranians.

“This is bullsh**t. This is malarkey. This is outrageous. Outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset…and make this kind of ridiculous statement,” Biden said angrily in a brief interview just off the Senate floor.

He quoted Secretary of Defense Robert Gates saying Wednesday that we “need to figure out a way to develop some leverage and then sit down and talk with them.” More…

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New study amplifies warning on climate change

Published by
Gene Shinai
May 15, 2008 in Environmental Disaster, Government, Newz, The Environment and sci-tech. 1 Comment

From AFP Via Rawstory:

A wide-scale study published Wednesday has strengthened warnings, spelt out last year by UN scientists, that climate change is already on the march.

The paper, published in Nature, goes beyond the scope taken by a landmark report issued by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in February 2007.

In that document, the IPCC said man-made global warming was “likely” — within a probability of 66-90 percent — to have had a “discernible” effect on many physical and biological systems.

The new study, published in the British journal Nature, is written by many of the people who wrote the so-called Working Group I report, the first of a trio of major assessments released last year by the IPCC.

Its approach widens the net of data for making a fresh analysis.

It concludes “significant changes” are already occurring among natural systems on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica, and in most oceans.

“Humans are influencing climate through increasing greenhouse gas emissions,” said lead author Cynthia Rosenzweig of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Columbia Center for Climate Systems Research.

“The warming world is causing impacts on physical and biological systems attributable at the global scale.”

The analysis is based on a trawl of hundreds of papers published in peer-reviewed journals, on data stretching back to 1970s.

These investigations covered phenomena as varied as the earlier leafing of trees and plants; the movement of species to higher latitudes and altitudes in the northern hemisphere in response to warmer weather; the shrinkage of glaciers and melting of permafrost; and changes of bird migrations in Europe, North America and Australia.

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Alaska first state to hit $4 a gallon gasoline: AAA

Published by
Gene Shinai
May 15, 2008 in Gas Prices, Newz, Resources and State/Local Government. 0 Comments

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Alaska hit a milestone on Wednesday that could be a sign of things to come around the United States this summer — it became the first state where the average price for regular gasoline reached $4 per gallon.

 

“It wasn’t totally unexpected,” said Geoff Sundstrom, spokesman for the travel and auto group AAA which issues a daily gasoline price report.

“Oil prices recently brushed against $127 per barrel so certainly, $4 gasoline could be in the cards for other states as well this summer,” said Sundstrom.

At $4 per gallon, filling up a 15-gallon tank will cost $60.

Alaskans using self-service regular gasoline paid $4.006 per gallon, said the AAA Wednesday report.The U.S. average for regular gasoline hit a record $3.758 per gallon, the same report showed.

A year ago, the U.S. average price was $3.3354 a gallon and in Alaska, the average price was $2.946 a gallon.

Gasoline price analysts will have a better handle on how many states are likely to reach $4 a gallon this summer once the Memorial Day weekend passes, said Sundstrom. That holiday weekend is May 23-26.

“Memorial Day weekend is a little to the gasoline industry what Christmas is to retailers,” said Sundstrom. “It’s one of the highest demand weekends for fuel and is a barometer for what can be expected in summer driving season demand.”

 

 

The AAA will issue its summer travel forecast on Thursday. 

 

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Food Prices See Greatest Monthly Increase in Nearly 20 Years

Published by
elophan
May 14, 2008 in Economy, Food and Newz. 1 Comment

By Howard Schneider, Washington Post Staff Writer

Rising global grain prices helped spark the largest increase in monthly food costs in nearly 20 years, as consumers paid more in April for cereals, baked goods, and the dairy, meat and other animal products that rely on feedstocks, the government reported today.

Food prices have risen 6.1 percent in the past three months on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. The one-month rise between March and April of 0.9 percent was the biggest since January 1990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The rise in prices covered all categories of food but was most severe among such staple goods as grains and oils — goods where inflation has touched off food riots in some less developed countries and led to concerns about supply shortages.

The costs of cereal and bakery products increased 1.4 percent from March to April and have risen nearly 20 percent in the past three months on a seasonally adjusted basis. Prices for fats and oils jumped more than 5 percent in April, on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, and have increased more than 26 percent in the past three months. Prices for sugars and sweets increased more than 10 percent during that same period.

Along with food, rising gas prices have caused concern that consumers will have to shift their dollars toward staples and spend less elsewhere.

Excluding the seasonal adjustment, gas prices rose about 4.2 percent over the month. More…

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E-Mail Shows Racial Jokes by Secret Service Supervisors

Published by
elophan
May 14, 2008 in Government, Newz and assassination. 0 Comments

By DAVID JOHNSTON, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Secret Service supervisors shared crude sexual jokes and engaged in racially derogatory banter about blacks, and passed around an anecdote about a possible assassination of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, according to internal e-mail disclosed in a federal court filing on Friday by lawyers for black Secret Service agents.

The filing includes 10 e-mail messages that were among documents the agency recently turned over to lawyers for the black agents as part of an increasingly bitter discrimination lawsuit. The messages were written mainly from 2003 through 2005, and were sent to and from e-mail accounts of at least 20 Secret Service supervisors.

The messages offer a glimpse into the darker recesses of an agency known for protecting presidents and other dignitaries but whose culture is regarded as one of the most insular in federal law enforcement.

The disclosure of the messages follows an incident last month in which a noose was found in a room used by a black instructor at a Secret Service training facility in Beltsville, Md. Agency officials said that episode was under internal investigation.

A March 3, 2003, message describing Mr. Jackson as the “Righteous Reverend” was passed among several Secret Service supervisors. The message, about a missile striking an airplane in which Mr. Jackson and his wife were traveling, concludes, it “certainly wouldn’t be a great loss and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.”

The legal skirmishing in the discrimination suit has heated up in recent months, with Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson rebuking the Secret Service for failing to produce documents and for destroying relevant records and e-mail. More…

Everyone remember when the Secret Service let people into an Obama event in Dallas, without checking people for weapons? I’ll be holding my breath during the rest of the campaigning, and Barack’s terms as president, with the hope that none of us will wake up to the news that he’s been assassinated. This is absolute bullsh#t! -Sue

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House panel probes neocon phone jamming in New Hampshire election

Published by
elophan
May 14, 2008 in Election Fraud, Newz, The Congress and The GOP. 1 Comment

By ANDREW MIGA, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A House panel is probing the Election Day 2002 phone-jamming plot by GOP operatives against New Hampshire Democrats.

Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., wants the panel to focus on key “unanswered questions” about whether the White House played a role in the plot — and whether the Justice Department dragged its feet on the case for political reasons.

“I want to know what the connection was between the White House, the Republican National Committee and the conspiracy to jam phones,” said Hodes, who was scheduled to testify Wednesday before a joint panel of two Judiciary Committee subcommittees.

Hodes said the public deserves to know whether political interference delayed prosecution of the case until after the 2004 elections and President Bush’s re-election. The controversy over the alleged political firings of eight federal prosecutors underscores the need to hold the Justice Department accountable, he said.

The phone-jamming scandal has led to at least three criminal prosecutions and a lawsuit that was settled with Republicans paying the Democrats $135,000.

Allen Raymond, a Republican consultant who served three months in prison for his role organizing the jamming, will also testify. He wrote a book entitled “How to Rig an Election.”

Charles McGee, former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party, pleaded guilty and served seven months in prison for his role in the scheme. More…

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Democrats plan surtax on high income earners to pay for veterans’ education

Published by
elophan
May 14, 2008 in Education, Military, Newz, The Congress and Veterans. 0 Comments

NEW YORK (Reuters) - House Democrats are proposing a surtax on high-income earners as a way to fund an expansion of education benefits for veterans, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.

Under the proposal, a surtax of 0.5 percent will be levied on couples earning more than $1 million a year, and individuals earning more than $500,000 a year, the Journal said, citing Democratic aides. More…

If shrub vetoes it, that would once again prove how much he HATES the members of our military. -Sue

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US foreclosure filings surge 65 percent in April

Published by
elophan
May 14, 2008 in Economy, Housing and Newz. 0 Comments

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES - More U.S. homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments last month, driving the number of homes facing foreclosure up 65 percent versus the same month last year and contributing to a deepening slide in home values, a research company said Tuesday.

Nationwide, 243,353 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in April, up 65 percent from 147,708 in the same month last year and up 4 percent since March, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida were among the hardest hit states, with metropolitan areas in California and Florida accounting for nine of the top 10 areas with the highest rate of foreclosure, the company said.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

One in every 519 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in April. Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but eight states.

The combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and a slowing U.S. economy has left financially strapped homeowners with fewer options to avoid foreclosure. Many can’t find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can’t get refinanced into an affordable loan.

Efforts by government and the mortgage industry to stem the tide of foreclosures aren’t keeping up with the rising number of troubled homeowners.

The April data show nearly half of the properties received an initial notice of default, suggesting many homes were new entrants to the foreclosure process.

The U.S. House passed a bill last week that would offer government insurance on $300 billion in new mortgages to refinance loans for an estimated half-million borrowers facing foreclosure, particularly those who now owe more than their houses are worth because of declining values.

House lawmakers also passed a bill that would send $15 billion to states to buy and fix foreclosed homes.

Still, should the homeowner aid package clear the Senate, it faces a potential hurdle in the White House, which has threatened to veto the plan, arguing it’s too risky and amounts to a lender bailout.

Even if a legislative compromise is reached, it could come too late for homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages scheduled to reset to higher rates this month and the next.

More than 1 million home foreclosures are forecast for 2008. More…

Damn, 1 million foreclosures. Why is it OK for taxpayers to fund the bailout of Bear Stearns, but when the taxpayers need help just keeping a roof over their heads, they’re told to shove off? Screw you, shrub! -Sue

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Federal Letters Tell Students They’re Security Threats

Published by
elophan
May 13, 2008 in Education, Foreign, Government, Human Interest/Society and Newz. 1 Comment

By SCOTT SHANE, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A German graduate student in oceanography at M.I.T. applied to the Transportation Security Administration for a new ID card allowing him to work around ships and docks.

What the student, Wilken-Jon von Appen, received in return was a letter that not only turned him down but added an ominous warning from John M. Busch, a security administration official: “I have determined that you pose a security threat.”

Similar letters have gone to 5,000 applicants across the country who have at least initially been turned down for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, an ID card meant to guard against acts of terrorism, agency officials said Monday.

“I was pretty much speechless and quite intimidated,” said Mr. von Appen, whose research is supported by a $65,000-a-year grant from the National Science Foundation.

A British student at M.I.T. who was rejected, Sophie Clayton, 28, said that at first she was amused at what appeared to be a bureaucratic absurdity. But as she pondered the designation, Ms. Clayton said she grew worried. “The two words ‘security threat’ are now in the files next to my name, my photograph and my fingerprints,” she said.

Ellen Howe, a security agency spokeswoman, said she did not believe the denial letters would cause students any problems with visa renewal or airport security checks. They will even be able to enter secure ports and ships for their work as long as they are accompanied by someone with the new ID, Ms. Howe said. More…

What planet is Ellen Howe living on? Elderly American citizens with no criminal record can’t even get past airport security, and they’ve not been labeled a security threat! These foreign students will be lucky to not end up in Gitmo! Geesh! -Sue

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