THE GUARDIAN: …Just as they were officially launching Ready For Warren, a grassroots group trying to lay the groundwork “for a leader who’s fighting on our side for a change”, it was disclosed that Clinton would receive $200,000 to stand in for former president George W Bush and address a conference of financial services executives […]
Russians tell different stories concerning who downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
The most fantastic of them: Ukrainians downed Malaysian airliner by mistake, thinking it was the Vladimir Putin’s plane, bringing Russian President back to Russia from Latin America.
Largest US sentence reduction in history approved for drug offenders
Their decision came after the commission studied the results of a similar 2007 vote that affected only those serving time for crack cocaine offenses and found that inmates released early posed no greater risk of committing another crime than those who served their full terms…
City endangers pedestrians with faded / confusing cross walks
Just as importantly, all of the cross walks all so faded that they are hard to see except near the curb lines. And that portion is often blocked from view until the last minute by parked cars.
The Missile That Likely Shot Down MH17
DAILY BEAST: …It’s a sophisticated surface-to-air anti-aircraft system with a range of up to 25 kilometers high, putting Flight MH17 easily within range. Unlike the powerful, extremely long-range and much-feared Russian S-300 (also know as the SA-10 or SA-20) surface-to-air missile, the Buk is not tied into a national air defense system. The system’s operators […]
FedEx charged with trafficking drugs for Web pharmacies
USA TODAY: FedEx is facing drug-trafficking charges after a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted the overnight shipping company, accusing it of conspiring to deliver prescription drugs for illegal Internet pharmacies. The indictment says FedEx knew for a decade that such pharmacies used their services. FedEx took steps to protect its business by setting […]
US uses capital markets sanctions to cut deep into Russian economy
FINANCIAL TIMES: For weeks, the Obama administration has been searching for “scalpel” sanctions that will cut deep into Russia’s companies and economy as punishment for its actions in Ukraine but avoid significant blowback against American businesses. The latest package of sanctions on Russia, which were unveiled on Wednesday, make use of a new weapon in […]
Jetliner Explodes Over Ukraine; Struck by Missile, Officials Say
NEW YORK TIMES: A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 298 people aboard exploded, crashed and burned on a flowered wheat field Thursday in a part of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists, blown out of the sky at 33,000 feet by what Ukrainian and American officials described as a Russian-made antiaircraft missile. Ukraine accused the […]
Poor Sanitation in India May Afflict Well-Fed Children With Malnutrition
NEW YORK TIMES: ….It is a question being asked about children across India, where a long economic boom has done little to reduce the vast number of children who are malnourished and stunted, leaving them with mental and physical deficits that will haunt them their entire lives. Now, an emerging body of scientific studies suggest […]
Revamped Opera “Crimea” has small launch in St. Petersburg
Can an opening of a production in a small theater, attended mostly by invited guests with only 25 people in audience who bought their tickets at the box office and with 30% of the seats empty, become a major event, covered and discussed by most of national media?
The Trials of Graham Spanier, Penn State’s Ousted President
The case against Spanier is at best problematic, at worst fatally flawed. More than 20 months after the state branded him a criminal, he still awaits a trial. He continues to live in State College but in limbo. Where once he strode confidently along campus pathways, saying hello to everyone in sight, he now stays within a narrow band of comfort, mixing mostly with close friends and a few trusted former colleagues.
Federal judge rules California death penalty is unconstitutional
LOS ANGELES TIMES: U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, ruled on a petition by death row inmate Ernest Dewayne Jones, who was sentenced to die nearly two decades ago. Carney said the state’s death penalty has created long delays and uncertainty for inmates, most of whom will never be executed… Carney, an appointee of former […]
CBO: Taxes to Rise Slowly, Steadily to Beyond Historical Averages
In practical terms, Politico notes, the value of the mortgage interest deduction will be cut by nearly half, many more Americans will owe taxes on their Social Security benefits, and Obamacare taxes aimed at the well-to-do will begin hitting a lot more taxpayers…
D.C. marijuana decriminalization law takes effect
USA TODAY: A marijuana decriminalization law passed by the D.C. Council in the spring took effect Thursday at 12:01 a.m. after a Congressional review process passed. The new law, like others around the country, eases punishments for minor marijuana offenses. Now, unless someone is discovered carrying more than an ounce of marijuana, officers can only […]