HUFFINGTON POST: Attacks by the New York City police unions on Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) may have backfired. New York City voters across racial lines disapprove of recent protests in which police officers turned their backs on de Blasio at the funeral of two police officers slain in the line of duty, a new […]
Truth-seeking runs into the fog of war in suit against Penn State’s NCAA sanctions
“Some people spoke in favor of it (a death penalty), or that it should be part of the package; others said they weren’t so sure. Others didn’t speak up at all,” [Oregon State University President Ed Ray] testified…
Applying for Pa. Medicaid expansion? Wait in line
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Only an estimated 55,000 of 163,968 people who applied for the program by Jan. 1 have been enrolled in the Medicaid expansion, said Kait Gillis, spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services…
Pennsylvania casino revenues drop for second year
CENTRE TIMES / AP: Pennsylvania’s casino industry has suffered its second straight year of declining revenue, a reflection of increased competition as East Coast states try to keep their own gamblers at home. Gross revenue at the state’s 12 casinos dropped 1.44 percent in 2014 to just over $3 billion, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming […]
GOP makes U-turn on net neutrality
POLITICO: …The language Republicans are using to talk about their proposed bill illustrates just how far the GOP has come on the issue. The principles embrace and even bolster ideas that were once controversial in Republican circles, like banning “paid prioritization,” the practice of charging content companies for an online fast lane. Thune’s principles also […]
Defense contractor pleads guilty in massive bribery case
WASHINGTON POST: A Malaysian defense contractor pleaded guilty Thursday in a corruption scandal of epic proportions, admitting that he bribed “scores” of U.S. Navy officials with $500,000 in cash, six figures’ worth of sex from prostitutes, lavish hotel stays, spa treatments, Cuban cigars, Kobe beef, Spanish suckling pigs and an array of other luxury goods… […]
US eases Cuba embargo by loosening trade, travel restrictions
ALJAZEERA: …Only Congress can end the five-decade embargo. But the measures give permission for U.S. residents to use credit cards in Cuba and U.S. companies to export telephone, computer and Internet technologies. Investments in some small business are permitted. General tourist travel is still prohibited, but Americans authorized to visit Cuba need no longer apply […]
Swiss stun markets and scrap franc ceiling
FINANCIAL TIMES: …The Swiss currency surged as much as 39 per cent against both the euro and the dollar, one of the sharpest appreciations in recent history, after the Swiss National Bank said it would no longer maintain its SFr1.20 threshold… The European Central Bank is next week expected to embark on a sovereign bond […]
Taking a tough line with hospital errors
That’s why the federal government has started keeping track of those mistakes and other preventable errors and penalizes hospitals with the worst records. Make too many mistakes (known as “hospital acquired conditions”), and a hospital loses 1 percent of the money it is due from Medicare, the federal health coverage for senior citizens…
Judge’s ruling in Penn State cover-up case brings final chapter of Jerry Sandusky scandal into view
HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS: Three former Penn State administrators suffered a big defeat Wednesday in their fight to free themselves of charges that they lied about their early knowledge of and responses to allegations of child sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky.
Crisis in France Is Seen as Sign of Chronic Ills
Nearly everyone agreed that the fallout from the Charlie Hebdo attacks, including a heightened security response by France and its allies, was a distraction from a larger problem: a sense of increasing social and economic marginalization that many cited as a root cause of young people drifting toward extremism…
Good idea but still with LNP ‘Double Speak’
Maybe it has just become part of the Lancaster Newspapers’ DNA, but the front page article “LNP print operation moving” manages to obscure almost as much as it tells.
Carlos Slim Becomes Top NY Times Shareholder
NEWSMAX / REUTERS: Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has become the largest shareholder of New York Times Co after exercising warrants to double his stake in the publisher to 16.8 percent… New York Times, controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger family through Class B shares, paid back the loan in 2011. New York Times, which has been under […]
Caesar’s unit files Chapter 11 in bid to trim debt
USA TODAY: A cash-strapped division of casino giant Caesars Entertainment Corp. said early Thursday that it filed for bankruptcy protection in Chicago, hoping the court agrees to its plan to get out from under $18.4 billion of debt. The division Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. owns and operates most of Caesars’ 50 properties worldwide. Caesars CEO […]