Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party |
- D.C. Council members use non-profit to fund favored charities
- U.S. Stock Futures Advance Following Increase in Retail Sales
- Delight and Unease Over Law on Student Vaccinations
- Plymouth Rock Tea Party spreads the word on Cape Cod
- Proposed rule on farms called ‘absurd’
- Ron Paul spars with other candidates over foreign policy
- MARK OF THE BEAST? Electronic tattoo has medical, gaming, spy uses
| D.C. Council members use non-profit to fund favored charities Posted: 12 Aug 2011 10:09 AM PDT By Isaac Arnsdorf, WashingtonPost.com D.C. Council members have used an independent nonprofit organization to steer millions of taxpayer dollars to favored charities, often with ties to friends or campaign donors, a Washington Post review shows. The organization, the D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corp., was created by the council to decide independently which local charities best address problems facing city youths. But The Post's review found that council members often influence those decisions, sometimes without public bids and despite a council ban on earmarks. The trust was the go-between used by council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), who recently settled a city lawsuit that had alleged he used trust grants for a luxury sport-utility vehicle and personal travel. Although there is no indication that other council members have financially benefited, some critics say the council members have used the trust in ways the council did not intend when it created the trust in 1999. Several private donors have become so disenchanted with the trust that they have stopped participating in it. The trust's board members are appointed by city officials, and it uses a combination of city funds and private donations, with most coming from taxpayers. City officials directed more than $15 million in the past four years to the trust through earmarks or designated grants. The earmarks, which were standard practice until last year, specified a group without bidding. Under the ban on earmarks, designated grants specified only a purpose that required bidding, but some officials helped choose the recipients. ●Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) secured $387,000 from the trust for an ice arena whose board over time donated more than $13,000 to 10 city officials, including $550 to Alexander's 2007-08 campaign. To read more, visit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-council-members-use-nonprofit-to-secure-money-for-favored-projects/2011/07/20/gIQAepYn9I_story.html |
| U.S. Stock Futures Advance Following Increase in Retail Sales Posted: 12 Aug 2011 10:04 AM PDT By: Michael P. Regan, Washington Post with Bloomberg Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stock-index futures extended gains, signaling benchmark indexes may trim a third straight weekly drop, after government data showed retail sales climbed in July by the most in four months. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September added 0.7 percent to 1,176.9 at 8:33 a.m. in New York after earlier falling as much as 1.9 percent. The benchmark gauge for American equities jumped 4.6 percent yesterday, trimming this week's decline to 2.2 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 83 points, or 0.8 percent, to 11,167 today. The 0.5 percent increase in sales reported by the Commerce Department matched the median forecast of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed a 0.3 percent increase in June that was larger than previously estimated. Excluding auto sales, purchases rose more than projected. The S&P 500 is down 14 percent from a three-year high at the end of April after plunging as much as 18 percent through Aug. 8. About $2.3 trillion was erased from U.S. equity values in the last three weeks as Europe's debt crisis, signs the economy is slowing and S&P's downgrade of the government's AAA credit rating left the benchmark gauge for U.S. shares within 11 points of a bear market. Both European shares and the Russell 2000 Index of small U.S. companies entered a bear market this week, falling at least 20 percent from their previous highs. To read more, visit: http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-LPTEWQ6K50XV01-2RR7KCTKH37T5IG4L6SGSH46UG |
| Delight and Unease Over Law on Student Vaccinations Posted: 12 Aug 2011 10:00 AM PDT By REEVE HAMILTON, NYTimes.com Among the things 22-year old Jamie Schanbaum could not have anticipated three years ago was standing two inches taller, winning a national Paralympic gold medal in cycling and reveling in the Texas Legislature's passage of two bills in her honor. Those gains, however, came after significant losses — most noticeably of both legs below the knee and much of each finger, the result of a bout with meningococcal septicemia in her sophomore year at the University of Texas. Commonly known as bacterial meningitis, meningococcal disease is a potentially fatal bacterial infection that saddles about one-fifth of its survivors with lifelong effects. Texas had 336 cases in 2009, according to the Department of State Health Services, 34 of them in people ages 15 to 29. Ms. Schanbaum underwent numerous operations during months in the hospital, where the onset of a flesh-eating bacteria ultimately necessitated the amputations. "It could have been worse," Ms. Schanbaum said. "I could have been blind. I could have been deaf. I could have had brain damage. I could have died. I wouldn't say I feel unlucky at all. I would say I consider this significant." So does Texas, which — after Gov. Rick Perry signed the second bill named for Ms. Schanbaum into law in May — became the first state to require every college student to be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis. (The Jamie Schanbaum Act of 2009 already required students living in campus dorms to be vaccinated.) The new law, which will take effect at the start of 2012, expands that provision to apply to any new student under 30 taking on-campus classes even if they live off campus. While the tweak sounds deceptively simple, it has colleges and universities scrambling to raise awareness of such a broad policy and to figure out how to put it into effect. To read more, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/us/12ttvaccine.html?_r=2&ref=health |
| Plymouth Rock Tea Party spreads the word on Cape Cod Posted: 12 Aug 2011 09:53 AM PDT By Gerald Rogovin, CapCodToday.com The Tea Party is coming! The Tea Party is coming! Coming to the Cape and Islands to establish chapters of the movement, and spread its word. In an organizing meeting held in an overheated restaurant with very limited seating on Route 151 in Mashpee Wednesday evening, members of the Plymouth Rock Tea Party Patriots in southeastern Massachusetts outlined the group’s objectives for chapters they hope to establish on the Cape. Chapters are being planned in Chatham, where 25 members have been recruited, Sandwich and Yarmouth, where the group’s outreach committee has detected interest. As with established chapters, they will be independent. In an atmosphere illustrated by bumper stickers proclaiming “Tax It All, Deval” and “Perry in 2012″ and t-shirts labeled “I love America, it’s the government I don’t trust”, about 50 people crowded into the restaurant to find out about the Tea Party Patriots in Massachusetts. Moderator Michael Petrell of Pembroke, a founder of the Plymouth Rock Patriots, told them, “Although we don’t collect dues, we want donations. But not for candidates. We’re non-partisan. We have some Republican members. I’m not certain about any Democrats. But there are tons of Independents.” “All politics are [sic] local, someone said. Despite that, we have a very intrusive government in Massachusetts. Why then do we need layers of government at the federal level or the United Nations butting in?” Petrell asked. “The chapters we establish on the Cape will be discussing issues of importance to the Cape.” To read more, visit: http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2011/08/11/tea-party-spreads-the-word-on-cape-cod?blog=53 |
| Proposed rule on farms called ‘absurd’ Posted: 12 Aug 2011 09:42 AM PDT WRITTEN BY SONNY RIDDLE, Gazettevirginian.com A new rule being proposed by the federal Department of Transportation would require farmers to get commercial drivers licenses. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is a part of DOT, wants to adopt standards that would reclassify all farm vehicles and implements as Commercial Motor Vehicles, officials said. Likewise, the proposal, if adopted, would require all farmers and everyone on the farm who operates any of the equipment to obtain a CDL, they added. The proposed rule change would mean that anyone who drives a tractor or operates any piece of motorized farming equipment would be required to pass the same tests and complete the same detailed forms and logs required of semi-tractor trailer drivers. Drivers would keep logs of information including hours worked and miles traveled. Vehicles would be required to display DOT numbers. A CDL in Virginia costs $64 for eight years, or $8 per year, not including the cost of an instructional class and the written test. If the DOT reclassifies farm vehicles and implements as commercial vehicles, the federal government will have regulatory control over the nation's farm workers, estimated at over 800,000, by requiring them to have commercial drivers licenses. That possibility worries county farmers and others in Halifax County interested in agriculture. "I have a CDL, but very few farmers have one," said Nathalie farmer Ronnie Waller. "This is just another bureaucratic hurdle for the farmer. To read more, visit: http://www.gazettevirginian.com/index.php/news/34-news/3739-proposed-rule-on-farms-called-absurd |
| Ron Paul spars with other candidates over foreign policy Posted: 12 Aug 2011 09:38 AM PDT By: MARY STEGMEIR, DesMoinesRegister.com After getting scant air time early on Thursday, Ron Paul's foreign policy views took center stage during the debate's second half in a heated exchange about U.S. relations with Iran. While Sen. Rick Santorum and U.S. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said the Middle Eastern nation posed a clear threat to American security, Paul encouraged a policy of "respect" toward the country. "Iran is a threat because they have some militants there, but believe me … Iran does not have an air force that can come here — they can't even make enough gasoline for themselves," Paul said. "And here we are…we're building up this case against them, just like we did with Iraq." Sanctions and other measures taken against countries that have not attacked the U.S. undermine free trade and put America at risk of becoming a target of future hostile actions, he said. The response noticeably irked Santorum, who said Iran extremists are currently targeting U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Paul, who has said one of his first acts as president would be to withdraw troops from overseas, stood firm. "It's trillions of dollars we are spending on these wars," he said, earning applause from the audience. To read more, visit: http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/08/11/ron-paul-spars-with-other-candidates-over-foreign-policy/ |
| MARK OF THE BEAST? Electronic tattoo has medical, gaming, spy uses Posted: 12 Aug 2011 09:30 AM PDT From: BreitBart.com A hair-thin electronic patch that adheres to the skin like a temporary tattoo could transform medical sensing, computer gaming and even spy operations, according to a US study published Thursday. “It’s a technology that blurs the distinction between electronics and biology,” said co-author John Rogers, a professor in materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Our goal was to develop an electronic technology that could integrate with the skin in a way that is mechanically and physiologically invisible to the user.” The patch could be used instead of bulky electrodes to monitor brain, heart and muscle tissue activity and when placed on the throat it allowed users to operate a voice-activated video game with better than 90 percent accuracy. “This type of device might provide utility for those who suffer from certain diseases of the larynx,” said Rogers. “It could also form the basis of a sub-vocal communication capability, suitable for covert or other uses.” The wireless device is nearly weightless and requires so little power it can fuel itself with miniature solar collectors or by picking up stray or transmitted electromagnetic radiation, the study said. To read more, visit: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.6e1e2ad90e2d94b12b6258b7e9c5b33d.611&show_article=1 |
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