by Phillip Smith, September 16, 2014 DRUG WAR CHORNICLE: For years, observers have noted the SWAT mission creep, where sending paramilitarized police units to deal with rare mass attacks and hostage-taking events has transmuted into the routine use of SWAT for things like serving drug search warrants. A recent ACLU report documented this trend, finding […]
Bill Clinton’s overview of our half century in transition
LETTER: Bill Clinton kicking OV’s ass on the Daily Show at about 2.45 secs EDITOR: This is of even greater interest because of President Clinton’s overview of what is taking place in the world than just about his comment about the kleptocracy in Hungary.
Is N.F.L. to be a separate criminal justice system?
So let’s be clear about the issue here: It does not necessarily have to do with the action of a player but rather the financiial interests of the team and league, as determined by the zeitgeist of the moment.
Household Net Worth Has Rebounded
NEW YORK TIMES: THE net worth of American households is now 20 percent higher than it was before it began to decline in 2007, the Federal Reserve reported this week. It said the households together were worth $81.5 trillion at the end of the second quarter, higher than ever and up 10 percent from a […]
Pa. transportation system ranks 41st in nation, study shows
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE: “Pennsylvania has a tough hand to play with its weather, terrain and the sheer size of its system. Ohio’s situation isn’t as complex or difficult,” said lead author David T. Hartgen, transportation professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Pennsylvania unemployment rises in August for second consecutive month
…Economists warn against judging the health of the economy by a single month, but for the last three months the unemployment rate has held steady or gone up, which is a reversal of a trend of steady or decreasing unemployment since November 2012.
Panel Urges Overhauling Health Care at End of Life
Leonard D. Schaeffer, a panel member who founded the insurance company WellPoint and is a professor at the University of Southern California, said the committee’s most “radical conclusion” was that there should be a more pronounced shift away from fee-for-service medicine, which promotes an emphasis on medical interventions in part by reimbursing doctors based on procedures rather than for talking with patients.
F.T.C. Wary of Mergers by Hospitals (Lancaster General take note)
Hospitals often say they acquire other hospitals and physician groups so they can coordinate care, in keeping with the goals of the Affordable Care Act. But the agency, the Federal Trade Commission, says that mergers tend to reduce competition, and that doctors and hospitals can usually achieve the benefits of coordinated care without a full merger…
Rethink executions
It’s already well-established that death row is inordinately more expensive than the more reasonable alternative of sentencing the worst criminals to life in prison without parole. The cost of interminable appeals, much of it borne by taxpayers on behalf of indigent defendants, runs into the millions for every death-penalty case…
Corbett must take charge and Wolf shouldn’t be too cute at first debate: analysts
HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS: …[Tom] Corbett needs to be “aggressive and evocative” while finding a message that will make voters rethink his tenure, said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll and professor of Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College.
After 9 Months, Federal Probe of GWB Closure Finds No Link to Christie, Federal Sources Say
NBCNewYork: The U.S. Justice Department investigation into Gov. Chris Christie’s role in the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal has thus far uncovered no evidence indicating that he either knew in advance or directed the closure of traffic lanes on the span, federal officials tell NBC 4 New York. The September 2013 closures — where […]
Scotland Rejects Independence
HUFFINGTON POST / REUTERS: * Unionists to secure 55 percent of vote – Reuters calculations * Cameron says delighted, promises more powers to UK’s parts…. * Pound, stocks rise (Adds Cameron comments, EU referendum)… (more)
‘City Day’ holiday in Moscow
Moscow’s City Day is an annual city festival celebrated on the first Saturday of September. There are folk festivals and concerts all over the city. City Day was celebrated for the first time in 1847 on the 700th anniversary of the city. A hundred years later, in 1947, Stalin ordered the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Moscow in a big way.
Bill giving immunity to overdose witnesses who seek help advances
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: A bill to give prosecutorial immunity to drug overdose witnesses who call for help appears to be on a fast track to Gov. Corbett’s desk. The measure, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware), was unanimously approved Wednesday by the House of Representatives. Although it needs to go back to the […]