Breaking News Events

[SoNotHer]

U.S. Bans Mining Claims Near Grand Canyon

by The Associated Press
January 9, 2012



The Obama administration announced Monday a 20-year ban on new mining claims on more than 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, among the most well-known and visited natural wonders in the United States. The area is known to have large reserves of high-grade uranium ore, and critics contend the ban. The decision ignored pressure from congressional Republicans and mining industry figures who wanted a policy change to open the area for additional mining claims. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the 20-year ban at an event Monday in Washington.

Temporary bans had been imposed twice by the Obama administration. Salazar said uranium remains an important part of a comprehensive energy strategy but said the Grand Canyon is a national treasure that must be protected. The vast canyon in northeastern Arizona attracts more than 4 million visitors a year and generates an estimated $3.5 billion in economic activity, Salazar said. Millions of Americans living in cities including Phoenix, the Arizona capital, and Los Angeles, California, rely on the Colorado River for clean drinking water.

"A withdrawal is the right approach for this priceless American landscape," Salazar said in a speech at the National Geographic Museum. "People from all over the country and around the world come to visit the Grand Canyon. Numerous American Indian tribes regard this magnificent icon as a sacred place, and millions of people in the Colorado River Basin depend on the river for drinking water [and] irrigation."

As Interior Secretary, he has been "entrusted to care for and protect our precious environmental and cultural resources," Salazar said, adding that he has chosen "a responsible path that makes sense for this and future generations." Conservation groups call the 20-year ban a crucial protection for an American icon. The mining industry and some Republican members of Congress say it is detrimental to Arizona's economy and the nation's energy independence.

Republican members of Arizona's congressional delegation have lambasted the temporary bans imposed by Salazar in 2009 and again last year. They say a permanent ban on the filing of new mining claims would eliminate hundreds of jobs and unravel decades of responsible resource development. Rep. Jeff Flake, an Arizonan, and other Republican lawmakers had backed legislation that would prevent Salazar from moving forward with the 20-year ban.

"The secretary's decision to rule out mining on more than one million acres of federal land deprives the United States of energy and minerals critically important to its economy and does so without compelling scientific evidence that is necessary for such a far-reaching measure," said Hal Quinn, president and CEO of the National Mining Association.

Environmental groups call the ban a long-awaited but decisive victory, noting that the Colorado River, which runs through the Grand Canyon, is the source of drinking water for 26 million Americans. "Secretary Salazar has defended the Southwest's right to plentiful, clean water and America's dedication to one of our most precious landscapes," said Dusty Horwitt, senior counsel for the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based advocacy group.

"Despite significant pressure from the mining industry, the president and Secretary Salazar did not back down," said Jane Danowitz, U.S. public lands director for the Pew Environment Group. Salazar said the ban would not affect more than 3,000 mining claims already staked in the area near the Grand Canyon. The administration of former President George W. Bush had opened the land to new mining claims. Salazar reversed the Bush policy in 2009 and put in set up a two-year moratorium on new mining claims around the canyon. He followed up with a six-month extension last year.

Supporters of the ban say any increase in mining jobs is not worth risks to the Colorado River, lands considered sacred by American Indian tribes or wildlife habitat. A mining mishap also could be disastrous for tourism in a park that ranks among the nation's most-visited by Americans and foreign tourists alike.

[MsDemeanor]

Originally Posted by UofMfan

Kristy McNichol Officially Comes Out to Help Bullied Kids.


About time!

Really. Like everyone didn't already know.

[ButchEire]

Seriously. Shocker. Not. Move along people, nothing to see here.

Originally Posted by MsDemeanor

Really. Like everyone didn't already know.

[LeftWriteFemme]

Gay marriage a threat to humanity's future: Pope



http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8081RM20120109

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

Gay marriage a threat to humanity's future: Pope



http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8081RM20120109

Pope Benedict said Monday that gay marriage was one of several threats to the traditional family that undermined "the future of humanity itself."

If only gay marriage and us gay folks WERE actually that powerful.........maybe we should start really acting like we have that kind of power........

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by MsDemeanor

Really. Like everyone didn't already know.

I'm shocked..............I did not know.......I am crushed.............

(did you believe the above?????)

[Cin]

Why Is Public Education Being Outsourced to Online Charter Schools?
Virtual charter schools are educating kids on computer screens, instead of in classrooms.
January 8, 2012 |

Virtual charter schools, which offer classes online instead of in a classroom, have become the fastest-growing segment of the charter school industry. And while data on their effectiveness is scarce, state legislators across the country are passing laws to expand cyber schools at the behest of privatization advocates and online education companies at an alarming rate, with little regulation.

The Associated Press reports that more than 200,000 kindergarten to 12th grade students are enrolled in full-time “virtual charter schools” in at least 40 states. That number soars to two million schoolchildren nationwide when one takes into account students who are enrolled in at least one course...

...Just like brick-and-mortar charter schools, online charter schools receive public education funding per each student they enroll. A recent New York Times investigation that focused specifically on K12 Inc.’s online schools revealed that the company “tries to squeeze profits from public school dollars by raising enrollment, increasing teacher workload and lowering standards” among other things:

"Despite lower operating costs, the online companies collect nearly as much taxpayer money in some states as brick-and-mortar charter schools. In Pennsylvania, about 30,000 students are enrolled in online schools at an average cost of about $10,000 per student. The state auditor general, Jack Wagner, said that is double or more what it costs the companies to educate those children online."

One of the more creative schemes the company employs to boost revenue is to set up shop in poverty-stricken school districts that could potentially, depending on the state, collect higher public education subsidies. The Times references a school K12 recently established in Union County, Tennessee, where 25 percent of the population is plagued by poverty.

Complete article here:http://www.alternet.org/education/15...s/?page=entire

[Cin]

New Study Shows Child Abuse Rate in Homes With Lesbian Parents Is Zero

On the one hand, it's an extreme shame that we have to post stories that tell people, "don't worry, queer people can raise kids -- here's the proof," but the sad truth is that queer parents are still discriminated against legally (not to mention socially) and studies like a recent one from the Williams Institute at UCLA from their U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) shows some interesting stuff.

The study is "the longest-running study ever conducted on American lesbian families (now in its 24th year)." Huff Po reports, "In an article published today in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, the 17-year-old daughters and sons of lesbian mothers were asked about sexual abuse, sexual orientation, and sexual behavior."

Here's what they found:

The paper found that none of the 78 NLLFS adolescents reports having ever been physically or sexually abused by a parent or other caregiver. This contrasts with 26 percent of American adolescents who report parent or caregiver physical abuse and 8.3 percent who report sexual abuse.

According to the authors, "the absence of child abuse in lesbian mother families is particularly noteworthy, because victimization of children is pervasive and its consequences can be devastating. To the extent that our findings are replicated by other researchers, these reports from adolescents with lesbian mothers have implications for healthcare professionals, policymakers, social service agencies, and child protection experts who seek family models in which violence does not occur."

Moral of the story: lesbian parents rock (but you probably already knew that).

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews...rents_is_zero/

[Cin]

Eric Boehlert calls out media for failing to cover SOPA

Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert appeared Monday on The Young Turks to discuss the fact that the highly controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was absent from mainstream television news coverage.

Major media outlets, including ABC, CBS, Comcast/NBC, Viacom, News Corporation and Time Warner, support the legislation. It would allow authorities to block websites accused of copyright infringement.

“There’s a clear conflict of interest,” Boehlert pointed out. “And that’s fine, news companies often have to deal with these conflicts of interest.”

“They’re part of a larger corporate entity and their is going to be these conflicts. So if you have a conflict you think you’d go out of your way to tell everyone about the conflict and to report on it.”

“In this case, unfortunately what we’ve seen is basically that there has been no coverage,” he said, adding that the only coverage has appeared online.

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Eric Boehlert calls out media for failing to cover SOPA

Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert appeared Monday on The Young Turks to discuss the fact that the highly controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was absent from mainstream television news coverage.

Major media outlets, including ABC, CBS, Comcast/NBC, Viacom, News Corporation and Time Warner, support the legislation. It would allow authorities to block websites accused of copyright infringement.

“There’s a clear conflict of interest,” Boehlert pointed out. “And that’s fine, news companies often have to deal with these conflicts of interest.”

“They’re part of a larger corporate entity and their is going to be these conflicts. So if you have a conflict you think you’d go out of your way to tell everyone about the conflict and to report on it.”

“In this case, unfortunately what we’ve seen is basically that there has been no coverage,” he said, adding that the only coverage has appeared online.

I'm glad you posted this article about SOPA.

I bet a fav professor of mine is hot on the trail of this issue: I have a good idea why they're being so tight lipped about it but when I do a bit more research on this subject, I think I will find out some things that will piss me the f^ck off.

You know what really upsets me most about things like this?
People are in this industry for a reason; and they collect a salary that keeps them from falling off the grid in society and when your ability to earn a living is threatened, more than likely, in my estimation, the ordinary person will not call them out on what they're doing.

I'll be quiet for now, but I promise to come back when I learn a few more things. ~D

[UofMfan]

Originally Posted by MsDemeanor

Really. Like everyone didn't already know.

Well of course that was not the breaking news. It was how long it took her.
And in my opinion, how useless it is at this time since those she is trying to "help out" do not even know who she is/was.

Too little, too late.

I am thinking she is looking for publicity.

[Kobi]

Reuters) - A Texas law requiring that an ultrasound image be shown to a pregnant woman and the sound of the fetal heartbeat be played before an abortion is performed does not violate the Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

The appeals court overturned a federal judge's decision to block the law. The ultrasound requirements do not infringe on abortion providers' free speech rights, it said.

"The required disclosures of a sonogram, the fetal heartbeat, and their medical descriptions are the epitome of truthful, non-misleading information," Chief Judge Edith Jones wrote for the three-judge panel.

The Texas law, enacted in 2011, requires abortion providers to display the ultrasound images and describe them in detail. Women cannot decline to hear the physician's description of the image unless they qualify for an exception including rape, incest or an abnormal fetus.

A coalition of abortion providers sued to block the law in June 2011, arguing that the law made doctors a "mouthpiece" for the state's ideological message. The First Amendment includes protections against compelled speech.

The challengers, represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, also argued that disclosure of the sonogram and fetal heartbeat was not "medically necessary" and therefore beyond the state's power to regulate the practice of medicine.

A federal judge in Austin granted the providers' request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that the law violated physicians' free-speech rights. But the appeals court disagreed.

The appeals court cited a 1992 Supreme Court decision allowing a law requiring abortion providers to inform pregnant women of relevant health risks and the gestational age of the fetus. The high court ruled that doctors could be required to provide information that is truthful, not misleading and relevant to the decision to have an abortion.

The president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Nancy Northup, said in a statement that the appellate decision, "clears the way for the enforcement of an insulting and intrusive law whose sole purpose is to harass women and dissuade them from exercising their constitutionally-protected reproductive rights."

The Texas law is among the most detailed of the ultrasound requirements in the country. Similar laws requiring the presentation of an ultrasound image to pregnant women have been blocked in Oklahoma and North Carolina. Six other states also require abortion providers to perform an ultrasound and provide women with an opportunity to view the image, according to the Guttmacher Institute. But unlike Texas, those states don't require women to hear a description of the image.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who championed the law and is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. president, praised the ruling.

"This important sonogram legislation ensures that every Texas woman seeking an abortion has all the facts about the life she is carrying," he said.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/court-allow...191145225.html

[CherylNYC]

Originally Posted by UofMfan

Well of course that was not the breaking news. It was how long it took her.
And in my opinion, how useless it is at this time since those she is trying to "help out" do not even know who she is/was.

Too little, too late.

I am thinking she is looking for publicity.

Perhaps, but I'm inclined to be less judgemental in her case. She dropped out of the entertainment industry nearly twenty years ago in order to manage her bipolar disorder.

While it would be really nice if all the good role models, (and none of the bad ones), came out when it's ideal for the rest of us, we're each on our own journey.

[UofMfan]

Originally Posted by CherylNYC

Perhaps, but I'm inclined to be less judgemental in her case. She dropped out of the entertainment industry nearly twenty years ago in order to manage her bipolar disorder.

While it would be really nice if all the good role models, (and none of the bad ones), came out when it's ideal for the rest of us, we're each on our own journey.

I agree that we are each on our journey and I respect that. However, I do not respect coming out for the sake of being put back into the limelight, which is in my opinion, what I think she is doing.

It may be judgmental, but it is based on the many "celebrities" who have come before her and done something similar.

[Semantics]

Originally Posted by Julien

I find this completely over the top. The Catholic church once again telling LGBT people that their privacy is the church's business.



http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#...ogram-gay.wfsb

There were protesters there last Thursday when I drove by.
The Archdiocese is known for being relatively liberal and people are upset by their new "therapy" program.

[Semantics]

Exclusive: U.S. Redefines Rape, Updating an 80-Year-Old Characterization of the Crime


In a sweeping victory for survivors of rape and their advocates, the Justice Department has officially changed the definition of rape used by the FBI to track the crime. The new definition includes male victims for the first time and more closely follows existing criminal codes and state statutes.

The FBI has used the old definition of rape—“the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will”—to track the crime since 1927. Now, more than 80 years later, Attorney General Eric Holder has announced the Uniform Crime Report will define rape as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

The old definition was “narrow, outmoded, steeped in gender-based stereotypes, and seriously understated the true incidence of serious sex crimes,” a Women’s Law Project Press Release stated.

Link

[1QuirkyKiwi]

KD Lang and Jamie Price split after 8 years.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...-together.html

[Cin]

Not enough jobs to go around? Here's an idea, let's increase the labor pool. How will that help you ask? Well, since they are just kids it's legal to pay them less than minimum wage, not to mention no benefits. Also by increasing the hours kids are allowed to work they can go to their after school jobs after we have them clean their own schools. At least until we outsource it all to online charter schools.

That's how it helps. Oh did you mean how will it help the unemployed and underemployed? I thought you meant how will it help the important segment of the population, the 1%, you know the job creators.

States Attempt to Instill 'Work Ethic' by Rolling Back Child Labor Protections

http://www.thenation.com/article/165...or-protections

[SoNotHer]

Doomsday Clock Updates 'Minutes To Midnight'

First Posted: 1/10/12 12:09 PM ET Updated: 1/10/12 01:38 PM ET



UPDATE: The 'Doomsday Clock' has been moved forward. We're now 5 'minutes from midnight.' View a live stream of the announcement and rationale here.

Humanity will soon be getting an update on how close we are to catastrophic destruction, as scientists and security experts decide whether to nudge the hands of the famous "Doomsday Clock" forward toward midnight — and doom — or back toward security and safety. The clock, in use as a symbol of imminent apocalypse since 1947, now stands at six minutes to midnight. On Tuesday (Jan. 10), the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) will announce whether they will nudge the minute hand forward or backward to reflect current trends in world security. The last time the clock hand moved was in 2010, when the group moved the hand from five minutes to midnight back to six.

In making the decision, the Bulletin considers the current state of nuclear weapons, climate change and biosecurity, along with other issues that could influence humanity's survival. The closest the clock has been to midnight has been 11:57 p.m., set in 1984 when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were in a diplomatic stand-off and tensions were high. The farthest humanity has ever been from destruction, according to the clock, was in 1991, when the Doomsday Clock stood at 17 minutes to midnight. That year, the Cold War over, the U.S. and Russia began cutting their arsenals.

The clock ticked back toward midnight at the next update in 1995, however, when hopes of total nuclear disarmament began to fade. That update set the hands at 14 minutes until midnight. In recent years, the clock has ticked closer to destruction as the Bulletin has focused on concerns about nuclear terrorism and climate change. The 2010 shift away from doomsday was due to nuclear agreements between the U.S. and Russia and productive climate talks at Copenhagen. The announcement of the new "doomsday time" will come at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday. The Bulletin is expected to consider factors ranging from Iran's nuclear program to the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster to the state of policy on climate change.

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1196789.html

[Library_girl]

Originally Posted by 1QuirkyKiwi

KD Lang and Jamie Price split after 8 years.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...-together.html

They broke up because kd lang wants me so badly, she couldn't deny it anymore.......LOL Ok, a girl can dream, here!!!