NEWSLANC EDITOR: The below is a tragic account of how well meaning but usually ineffective 12 –step programs and their like are foistured on heroin addicts rather than providing them with a combination of effective medicines and professional counseling. HUFFINGTON POST: …. Anne’s thoughts raced to her days at the methadone clinic. So many of […]
Blizzard 2015: What Went Wrong With the Forecasting?
WALL STREET JOURNAL: National Weather Service experts misjudged the path and impact of the blizzard that struck the Northeast on Monday and Tuesday, in large part because they trusted the wrong forecasting model, several independent meteorologists said. Rather than rely on their own forecasting system—upgraded in recent weeks—the federal experts placed their faith instead on […]
Gov. Wolf Vows To Support Pa. Senate’s Medical Marijuana Bill
Tuesday’s greeting in Wolf’s Capitol offices followed a news conference at which Sens. Daylin Leach and Mike Folmer said they plan to broaden their legislation that overwhelmingly passed the Senate last fall.
It is time for Viktor Orbán to resign
Whatever the economic merits of Hungary’s opening to the East, by clearly allying himself and Hungary economically with Putin’s Russia (Paks II, Southstream, MET), he has emboldened Russia’s president to up the stakes in the Ukraine in the hope that the EU can be bullied into removing economic sanctions against Russia which, by all account, have brought the latter to its knees.
U.S. and India Share Sense of Unease Over China
He agreed to sign a joint statement with Mr. Obama chiding Beijing for provoking conflict with neighbors over control of the South China Sea. He suggested reviving a loose security network involving the United States, India, Japan and Australia. And he expressed interest in playing a greater role in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, where India could help balance China’s influence…
Budget Office Slashes Estimated Cost of Health Coverage
“The newest projections indicate that those provisions will cost $571 billion over that same period, a reduction of 20 percent,” he said.”
Gallup: Obama’s 50 Percent Approval Rating Highest Since June 2013
NEWSMAX: President Barack Obama’s job approval rating has rebounded from historic lows just three months ago and is now at 50 percent for the first time since June 2013, Gallup reports. Obama reached the Gallup Daily tracking approval number immediately after his Tuesday State of the Union speech in which he touted the country’s economic […]
Russia knocked down to ‘junk’
USATODAY: Russia’s credit rating was slashed to “junk” Monday as the country’s financial system is “weakening,” says ratings agency Standard & Poor’s… Russia is in a world of hurt as falling oil prices crush the nation that relies heavily on energy exports. Sanctions placed on the country by the U.S. following President Vladimir Putin’s military […]
Federal deficit falling to lowest in Obama presidency
USATODAY: The federal government’s 2015 budget deficit will fall slightly this year to $468 billion, the lowest since President Obama took office, according to the annual budget outlook released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office… “In CBO’s estimation, increases in consumer spending, business investment and residential investment will drive the economic expansion this year […]
Study suggests sleeping drugs can increase risk of Alzheimer’s
GUARDIAN: Over-the-counter sleeping aids and hayfever treatments can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a study has found. The sleeping medication Nytol and anti-allergy pills Benadryl and Piriton all belong to a class of drug highlighted in a warning from researchers. Each of these drugs has “anticholinergic” blocking effects on the nervous system that are […]
Innocent US prisoners exonerated in 2014 at highest levels in 25 years
“If the number of conviction integrity units keeps on increasing they will still only touch on a fraction of the prosecutorial offices in the US,” [Samuel Gross, a professor at the University of Michigan law school] said…
Kochs to double election spending in 2016
FINANCIAL TIMES: The conservative political network overseen by Charles and David Koch has earmarked nearly $900m to spend on the 2016 election cycle, in one of the starkest signs yet of the influence outside spending groups are wielding on US politics. The vast spending goal revealed to donors on Monday and first reported by the […]
Star-chamber justice in Pennsylvania
It’s time to unseal and make public the presentment against PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane.
Robert Samuelson: The economy’s Achilles’ heel
WASHINGTON POST: President Obama has declared the economic crisis over — and for the United States, maybe it seems that way. But for most other countries, not so much. Their recoveries are faltering. The obvious question is whether the global weakness will infect the U.S. expansion. This is a crucial footnote to Obama’s optimism… Think […]