News of the Week
*************** Christians worry Egypt being hijacked by Islamists By Sami Aboudi CAIRO (Reuters) - Last January, Nazih Moussa Gerges locked up his downtown Cairo law office and joined hundreds of thousands of fellow Egyptians to demand that President Hosni Mubarak step down. *************** Four killed in Syria protests as world pressure grows By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian security forces shot dead four people on Friday, rights campaigners said, as protesters defied a nationwide crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad which world leaders condemned. *************** Yemen on brink of civil war as clashes spread By Samia Nakhoul and Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni tribesmen said they wrested a military compound from elite troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh outside the capital Sanaa on Friday as fighting spread, threatening to tip the country into civil war. *************** War & Terror *************** China to US: Hands off Pakistan Barack Obama says that if the US has another chance to get a high-value terrorist target like Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, he’ll make the same call as he did earlier this month. Not so fast, says China. According to a report from India a few days ago, China has warned that an “attack” on Pakistan will be taken as an attack on China *************** As Obama Ignores Latin America, Foes Rush In The parlous state of U.S. influence is showcased by the fate of a Colombian drug lord. *************** Pakistan turns to China for naval base By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad and Kathrin Hille in Beijing Pakistan has asked China to build a naval base at its south-western port of Gwadar and expects the Chinese navy to maintain a regular presence there, a plan likely to alarm both India and the US. *************** Militants storm Pakistan naval air base, five dead by Hasan Mansoor KARACHI (AFP) – Gunmen armed with rockets and explosives stormed a major Pakistani naval air base, triggering gunbattles that killed five military personnel, three weeks after the US killing of Osama bin Laden. National *************** Clark County School District (Nevada) spends $1 million on iPads Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - More than $1 million in just six months: That's what the Clark County School District has spent buying iPads, all at a time of massive budget cuts that will likely result in more than 1,800 layoffs, crowded classes, and students without enough basic supplies. *************** Transgender Clownfish Controversy Class lessons sure to cause controversy By Mathew Luschek Redwood Heights Elementary School, in Oakland, is in the hot-seat after the school decided to education students about gender diversity. *************** Video: Hey, wanna ban Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh from the radio in the name of free speech? From the folks at Exposing Leftists. Only one guy in the video steps up and says “This is America” and mouths support for free speech — right before declaring “But I hate them bastards” and signs the petition to ban them anyway. Everyone else eagerly goes along with signing away Beck’s and Limbaugh’s, and therefore eventually their own, free speech rights. Several don’t even seem to know what the First Amendment is or how it relates to freedom of speech. / *************** USDA Closes Rabbit Show Loophole Not really; what the USDA has done is come down like a hammer on unlicensed rabbit sales *************** So You Say You're Broke? Hearing that the University of California system had $2.5 billion in “unrestricted net assets” on hand in 2010 could make anyone question the necessity of the 32 percent tuition hike that has been proposed, or the 11 to 26 furlough days that more than 100,000 employees were forced to take in 2009. *************** 'Business death penalty' for hiring illegal workers is upheld by Supreme Court The 5-3 decision gives states more authority to act against illegal immigrants. Justices rule that states can take away the business licenses of companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. *************** Dane County judge strikes down collective bargaining law By Jason Stein, Don Walker and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel Madison - A Dane County judge Thursday struck down legislation repealing most collective bargaining for public employees, but the measure could still gain new life from the state Supreme Court or a fresh vote by lawmakers. *************** Call for lithium to be added to drinking water *************** Indiana Attorney General seeks reconsideration of Fourth Amendment ruling The ruling is far too broad. As noted here, the Indiana Supreme Court recently went far beyond the situation before it in Barns v. Indiana and said “there is no right to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police officers. (emphasis added).” Perhaps seeking to emphasize this, the court said, “In sum, we hold that [in] Indiana the right to reasonably resist an unlawful police entry into a home is no longer recognized under Indiana law.” Economy
& Taxes *************** What happens when Greece defaults By Andrew Lilico It is when, not if. Financial markets merely aren’t sure whether it’ll be tomorrow, a month’s time, a year’s time, or two years’ time (it won’t be longer than that). Given that the ECB has played the “final card” it employed to force a bailout upon the Irish – threatening to bankrupt the country’s banking sector – presumably we will now see either another Greek bailout or default within days *************** "The China Domino Has Fallen!", Big-Time Inflation Coming All Around The World China is about the export inflation to the rest of the world in a process that will resemble the fall of three dominos, one of which is already fallen, according to Societe Generale. *************** International *************** Severed head of genital disease saint for sale in Ireland By Jerome Reilly A decapitated head, said to be that of St Vitalis of Assisi, the patron saint of genital diseases, will be sold at an auction in Co Meath next Sunday. *************** 'Evil' drunk birds are falling from the sky in Darwin DRUNK lorikeets are falling out of the sky in Darwin. Despite tough laws on alcohol consumption across the Northern Territory, a vet was preparing for another season of alcohol-fueled avian vertigo. *************** China used prisoners in lucrative internet gaming work Labour camp detainees endure hard labour by day, online 'gold farming' by night *************** Italy earthquake experts charged with manslaughter Risks commission members to face trial over failure to give sufficient warning about L'Aquila earthquake in 2009 *************** Spain's Socialists Trounced Amid Economic Turmoil Spain's ruling Socialists suffered a crushing defeat to conservatives in local and regional elections Sunday, yielding power even in traditional strongholds against a backdrop of staggering unemployment and unprecedented sit-ins by Spaniards furious with what they see as politicians who don't care about their plight. *************** Putin decides to retake presidency Mark Franchetti RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has decided to run for the presidency next year, raising the possibility of a power struggle with his protege Dmitry Medvedev, the incumbent Kremlin leader, say highly placed sources. *************** Opinion *************** Prop 8 Opponents’ Anti-Black Bigotry Against Judge Deciding Motion to Vacate Walker’s Ruling? By Ed Whelan Vaughn Walker’s successor as chief judge of the Northern District of California, Judge James Ware, will decide Prop 8 proponents’ motion to vacate Walker’s anti-Prop 8 ruling on the ground of Walker’s improper failure to recuse himself from the case. *************** Stop bullet train before it starts By MARK LANDSBAUM For only $43 billion, or maybe $66 billion, or maybe more, plus another billion a year for three decades, Californians might someday, although not real soon, be graced with what variously has been described as: "the bullet train to bankruptcy"; "the train to nowhere"; "the train almost to Bakersfield"; and assorted other epithets or, perhaps more appropriately, epitaphs. What a deal, eh? Not exactly. *************** |
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