PHILLY.COM / AP: The man who will take over next week as the state’s next chief justice comes from a small town in western Pennsylvania and worked as a prosecutor and a lawyer in private practice before becoming a judge more than two decades ago. Justice Thomas G. Saylor will be sworn in as chief […]
Year: 2014
The disappearing skilled construction workers
According to Crone, the average age of a carpenter is 49; welder, 55; plumber, 56; and stonemason, 69 and, in five years, 20 percent of skilled laborers in the industry will have retired, with few trained workers to take their place…
Cloak of anonymity will hamper full evaluation of Freeh report
HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS OP-ED: …As events unfolded in 2011 and 2012, the PSU Board of Trustees engaged the services of former FBI director Louis Freeh to conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding this sad chapter in our school’s history – so that steps could be taken to prevent anything remotely similar from ever happening […]
House Republicans move to contain fallout from Scalise, Grimm controversies
WASHINGTON POST: Republican leaders moved forcefully on Tuesday to control the damage from a pair of scandals that have suddenly disrupted the party as it prepares to take full control on Capitol Hill. In back-to-back moves, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) pushed out Rep. Michael G. Grimm (R-N.Y.), who pleaded guilty last week to […]
Retirement: Is the 4% rule still relevant
USA TODAY: …In short, it’s a guideline that helps retirees determine how much money they should take from their nest egg each year. The goal is to help make sure the money lasts. In other words, if you adhere to the rule and have a nest egg of $500,000, you should limit your withdrawals for […]
Cancer Death Rate Drop Spares 1.5 Million Americans
NBC: The pace of cancer deaths is falling in every state, but Southern states have generally posted the smallest decreases (15 percent) while Northeastern states have marked the biggest reductions (25 to 30 percent), according to the data, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Between 2007 and 2011 – the most recent five […]
Mike Gravel to Head Marijuana Company
POLITICO: …Parent company Cannabis Sativa, Inc. announced that the Alaskan Democrat and former presidential long-shot contender will run its subsidiary, KUSH, as CEO. Among other cannabis products, KUSH will make a lozenge called “Kubby.”… Gravel has been an outspoken advocate for the legalization of marijuana and against the war on drugs. “It’s so controversial because […]
Success of Kentucky’s Health Plan Comes With New Obstacles
NEW YORK TIMES: … But as the first year of coverage ends, potential obstacles to the law’s success are also coming into sharp relief here. Relatively few people have signed up for private health plans offered through the state’s new online marketplace, Kynect. People earning between 138 and 400 percent of the poverty level — […]
Greek Patience With Austerity Nears Its Limit
NEW YORK TIMES: …Nowhere have austerity policies been more aggressively tried — and generally failed to live up to results promised by advocates — than inGreece. After more than four years of belt tightening, patience is wearing thin, and tentative signs of improvement have not yet trickled down into the lives of average Greeks… In […]
It’s time to look pragmatically at Harrisburg’s flawed state bailout
ROCK THE CAPITAL: As part of the smoke and mirrors of the Corbett Administration’s state-imposed bailout of 2013, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is supposed to give Harrisburg at least $10 million a year in subsidies for years ahead to keep the city afloat.
Justice Correale Stevens will run to retain seat on Pa. Supreme Court
SCRANTON TIMES-LEADER: Justice Correale Stevens will make a bid to retain his seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2015. Stevens, 68, of Mountain Top, said in a phone interview Monday evening that he will formally announce his decision in the coming weeks. He planned on waiting until the new year to make the announcement […]
PA Supreme Court throws out child sex-offender registration
ABC27 / AP: Pennsylvania’s highest court says a law that requires lifetime registration for juvenile sex offenders isn’t constitutional. The Supreme Court ruled 5-to-1 on Monday that the state’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act doesn’t allow juvenile defendants the necessary ability to challenge the presumption they’re likely to reoffend. Marsha Levick with the Juvenile […]
Tsukerman on Russia Index
Index of articles written by Slava Tsukerman Shocking inauguration of Vladimir Putin Protest meetings in Moscow brutally suppressed Putin’s Cult Unexpected European Sensation The New Russian Government to rewrite history (again) The March of Millions Why was the scandal created by the Russian Government? St. Petersburg’s Scarlet Sails Festival Russian police attitude towards demonstrators Flood […]
New Wave of Anti-Americanism in Russia
As the result of the government propaganda, anti-American and anti–Western sentiments have became very popular in Russia. An ordinary Russian deeply believes that the war in Ukraine and most of the wars were started by USA.