From the INQUIRER: …Despite several years of legislative back-and-forth, Pennsylvania remains a holdout among only a handful of states that have yet to impose stricter limits on first-time drivers. Some proposals would strengthen seat-belt requirements, although they stop short of the needed reform of allowing police to ticket motorists solely for driving without belts…

From the INQUIRER: A leading environmental group has written to the National Park Service alleging that Pennsylvania is violating federal law by allowing natural gas drilling activity on protected state lands. The Sierra Club says the state should halt all drilling and permitting in state parks and forests until it complies with review requirements under a federal law that dates to the mid-1960s, the Land and Water Conservation Act.

From the ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SERVICE (ENS): Humanity is near to breaching the sustainability of Earth, and needs a technological revolution greater and faster than the industrial revolution to avoid “a major planetary catastrophe,” warns a new United Nations report.

INQUIRER: The dizzying variation in toll charges levied on motorists whose cars all seem to carry the same E-ZPass transponder is becoming more than an annoyance…

As the special deals proliferate, motorists will be confused as to which E-ZPass issuer to get their transponder from. Some may even decide the annoyance outweighs the convenience of paying tolls electronically, and bypass the system altogether. That wouldn’t be good for anyone.

HEALTH DAY NEWS: Cuddling and caressing help boost satisfaction in long-term relationships, according to a new study of middle-aged and older couples.

The study also found that tenderness is more important to men than to women, that men are more likely to report being happy in their relationship, and that women are more likely to be satisfied with their sexual relationship, said the researchers from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University.

The study included more than 1,000 couples from the United

From USA TODAY: To curb rising Medicaid costs, about a dozen states are starting a new budget year by reducing payments to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers that treat the poor. “Further depressing payment rates can only worsen the situation,” says Sara Rosenbaum, chair of the health policy department at George Washington University. She says some states cutting rates — such as South Carolina— already have severe Medicaid physician shortages.

From the NEW YORK TIMES: Obama administration officials believe that Pakistan’s powerful spy agency ordered the killing of a Pakistani journalist who had written scathing reports about the infiltration of militants in the country’s military, according to American officials.

By Kevin Zeese It is a shame to have to ask whether democracy is a mirage in the United States, no doubt most Americans would rather be celebrating U.S. democracy than questioning it. But the reality of the disconnect between government and the people has become so stark it is impossible to ignore.

From NEWSMAX: Without a bipartisan agreement this summer to reduce the federal deficit and raise the debt limit, the economy could suffer a horrendous blow, leaders of both parties say. If that happens, some will point fingers at a bearded, slightly disheveled man who’s barely known outside political circles in Washington.