From USA TODAY / AP: Whole Foods Market said Friday that it will stop selling fish caught from depleted waters or through ecologically damaging methods, a move that comes as supermarkets nationwide try to make their seafood selections more sustainable…
Month: March 2012
Canada Eliminates Penny Costing Penny-and-a-Half to Make
BLOOMBERG: Canada will withdraw the penny from circulation this year, saving taxpayers about C$11 million ($11 million) annually and forcing retailers to round prices to the nearest nickel, the government announced in its budget today. The Royal Canadian Mint, which has produced 35 billion pennies since it began production in 1908, will cease distribution this […]
Apple responds to critical report on Foxconn
FINANCIAL TIMES: Apple sought to stem long-running criticism of its failure to ensure adequate conditions for Chinese workers making its iPhone and iPad as it threw its weight behind an independent report that detailed multiple abuses of labour codes. Hours after Tim Cook, Apple chief executive, toured a Chinese production line of Foxconn, a main […]
Canadian Report: Need for evidence-based policies on illegal drugs
OPEN MEDICINE: ….Law enforcement has a critical role to play in community safety. However, as was observed with the emergence of a violent illegal market under alcohol prohibition in the United States in the 1920s, the vast illegal market that has emerged under drug prohibition has proven remarkably resistant to law enforcement efforts, while unintended […]
Investigator: Prosecutors’ actions in Sen. Ted Stevens case illegal
From USA TODAY:…. The court-appointed investigator who found rampant misconduct in the corruption prosecution of former Alaska senator Ted Stevens said during a Senate hearing Wednesday that federal prosecutors’ actions were “illegal,” but he stopped short of suggesting they should be charged with crimes….
Economy grew 3% in 4Q 2011, jobless claims still falling
USA TODAY/ AP: …In a separate report, initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to 359,000 for the most recent week measured. The four-week moving average of claims for jobless benefits also fell to 365,000, more evidence of an improving labor market. Despite the economy’s solid fourth-quarter pace, fastest pace since the spring of 2010, […]
Corbett’s budget cuts jeopardize progress made with mental illness
HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS Op Ed: While we have made great strides, our continued work is in severe jeopardy should Gov. Tom Corbett’s recent 2012-13 budget move forward as proposed. The governor recommends the most significant changes and cuts to the community mental health system since its inception more than 50 years ago. Among other mental health-related […]
FL shooter would have been charged under PA law
From the PENNSYLVANIA INDEPENDENT: The Florida stand-your-ground law may be preventing authorities from charging the man accused of shooting teenager Trayvon Martin. But under the same circumstances in Pennsylvania, which has a similar law, charges would have been filed.
Iran says expects nuclear talks on April 13
REUTERS: Iran expects to reopen talks with world powers that could defuse mounting tensions over its disputed nuclear program on April 13, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday. Turkey has offered to host the talks and the location will be decided in the next few days, Salehi said, after greeting Turkish Prime Minister […]
Why the Solicitor General Actually Did a Great Job Defending Obamacare
THE NEW REPUBLIC: Making a persuasive legal argument in a hotly contested case is just like making a persuasive political argument in a confrontational campaign. The key is simple: Come up with a clear, smart message, and stay on it, without sounding so inflexible or extreme that crucial centrist voters are alienated. By that standard, […]
Nuclear Power Faces Domestic, International Challenges
NEWSMAX: Jim Ferland, who takes over at Westinghouse April 1, said the nuclear industry is in the middle of a renaissance, but not quite as ready to compete as it was 18 months ago, reports the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Last year’s tsunami in Japan created several problems for the nuclear power industry, Ferland said at […]
Pa.’s Graying State Police Face Manpower Issues
NEWSMAX: Many of Pennsylvania’s state police officers are coming close to retirement age, meaning the department could be facing a serious manpower shortage unless the state finds money to train and hire more troopers. Anticipated retirements could reduce the number of troopers to 3,924 in 2015, or 75 fewer than the department’s authorized 4,689 troopers, […]
Threat to Assad remains despite claims of victory
FINANCIAL TIMES: Bashar al-Assad is acting victorious, marching under the gaze of state television crews into the ruins of the Baba Amr district of Homs, the city bombarded by his forces for nearly a month. In TV footage this week, the Syrian leader is seen surrounded by loyalists described as residents, though most of the […]
LETTER: How many policy disasters can one nation tolerate before imploding?
A recent survey confirming that teen use of both alcohol and cigarettes has declined substantially since 1996 was greeted with predictable satisfaction by NIDA Director Nora Volkov MD. However, true to form, Volkow also complained that the same surveys showed adolescent use of “marijuana” had increased substantially during the same interval.