ROBERT, La. – Anger grew along the Gulf Coast as an ooze of oil washed into delicate coastal wetlands in Louisiana, with many wondering how to clean up the monthlong mess – especially now that BP’s latest try to plug the blown-out well won’t happen until at least Tuesday. ‘It’s difficult to clean up when you haven’t stopped the source,’ said Chris Roberts, a councilman for Jefferson Parish, which stretches from the New Orleans metropolitan area to the coast. ‘You can scrape it off the beach but it’s coming right back.’ Roberts surveyed the oil that forced officials to close a public beach on Grand Isle, south of New Orleans, as globs of crude that resembled melted chocolate washed up. Others questioned why BP PLC was still in charge of the response. ‘The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP’s word,’ declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Fla., an avid diver who worries about the spill’s effect on the ecosystem. The government is overseeing the cleanup and response, but the official responsible for the oversight said he understands the discontent. ‘If anybody is frustrated with this response, I would tell them their symptoms […]
In a move that has potential national impact, the Texas State Board of Education has approved controversial changes to social studies textbooks – pushing high school teaching in a more conservative direction. The Dallas Morning news reports that the curriculum standards adopted Friday by a 9-5 vote along party lines on the elected board have ‘a definite political and philosophical bent in many areas.’ ‘For example, high school students will have to learn about leading conservative groups from the 1980s and 1990s in U.S. history – but not about liberal or minority rights groups that are identified as such. Board members also gave a thumbs down to requiring history teachers and textbooks to provide coverage on the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy while the late President Ronald Reagan was elevated to more prominent coverage in the curriculum. In addition, the requirements place Sen. Joseph McCarthy in a more positive light in U.S. history despite the view of most historians who condemn the late Republican senator’s tactics and his view that the U.S. government was infiltrated by Communists in the 1950s.’ Students would learn about the ‘unintended consequences of Title IX, affirmative action, and the Great Society, and […]
Despite a chorus of voices claiming otherwise, we aren’t Greece. We are, however, looking more and more like Japan. For the past few months, much commentary on the economy – some of it posing as reporting – has had one central theme: policy makers are doing too much. Governments need to stop spending, we’re told. Greece is held up as a cautionary tale, and every uptick in the interest rate on U.S. government bonds is treated as an indication that markets are turning on America over its deficits. Meanwhile, there are continual warnings that inflation is just around the corner, and that the Fed needs to pull back from its efforts to support the economy and get started on its ‘exit strategy, tightening credit by selling off assets and raising interest rates. And what about near-record unemployment, with long-term unemployment worse than at any time since the 1930s? What about the fact that the employment gains of the past few months, although welcome, have, so far, brought back fewer than 500,000 of the more than 8 million jobs lost in the wake of the financial crisis? Hey, worrying about the unemployed is just so 2009. But the […]
PHOENIX — John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commented this week that ICE will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities, according to published reports. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona called it encouraging. ‘I think what it means is that they have some doubts themselves about the constitutionality of SB 1070, and I think that they doubt, as many of us do, that this law will ever take effect, said Roberto Reveles, of ACLU of Arizona. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio — who’s now staged more than a dozen controversial immigration and crime sweeps — said he wasn’t surprised. ‘I think that will hurt somewhat. I think it shows they are gearing toward amnesty — shows people that are here illegally we have no way of taking them off the streets, said Arpaio. ‘I’m going to enforce all the laws regardless of the roadblocks put up by Washington or certain politicians in this state. When asked about Morton’s comments, Matt Chandler, deputy press secretary of the Department of Homeland Security issued this statement: ‘This administration has dedicated unprecedented manpower, technology, and […]
A new proposal by the American Academy of Pediatrics would have doctors assisting families in the ritual of female circumcision, but activist and Nomad author Ayaan Hirsi Ali says they’d just be complicit in perpetuating a grave injustice. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently put forward a proposal on female genital mutilation. They would like that American doctors be given permission to perform a ceremonial pinprick or ‘nick on girls born into communities that practice female genital mutilation. Female circumcision is a custom in many African and Asian countries whereby the genitals of a girl child are cut. There are roughly four procedures. First there is the ritual pinprick. This is what Pediatrics refers to as the ‘nick option. To give you an idea of what that means, visualize a preteen girl held down by adults. Her clitoris is tweaked so that the circumcizer can hold it between her forefinger and her thumb. Then she takes a needle and pierces it using enough force for it to go into the peak of the clitoris. As soon as it bleeds, the parents and others attending the ceremony cheer, the girl is comforted and the celebrations follow. The majority […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
