Army Corps of Engineers Blamed for Katrina Flooding

Nov 19, 2009 - Corps' operation of MR-GO doomed homes in St. Bernard, Lower 9th Ward, judge rules By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune November 19, 2009, 6:00AM   Source       In a groundbreaking decision, a federal judge ruled late Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers' mismanagement of maintenance at the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet was directly responsible for flood damage in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina. - 12 Comments

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah

Nov 09, 2009 - WEST ALLIS, Wis. – Sarah Palin rallied thousands of abortion opponents Friday night with a a stark warning that the same philosophy that allows abortion rights could soon be invoked to allow the government to cut off health care for the elderly or children with special needs. Speaking to a fund-raising banquet of Wisconsin Right to Life, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee asserted that if policy-makers don’t believe a child in the womb is valuable, then “perhaps the same mind-set applies to other persons.” “What may they feel about an elderly person who doesn’t have a whole lot of productive years left,” Palin asked an audience of about 5,000 who paid $30 each to hear her speak in an airplane hangar-like exhibition hall at the Wisconsin state fairgrounds just outside of Milwaukee. - 9 Comments

Baby abducted by knife-wielding attacker found

Oct 03, 2009 - NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A newborn boy abducted by a knife-wielding woman posing as an immigration agent was safe in the care of a foster family Saturday and awaiting a family reunion as authorities charged a woman with his kidnapping. Nashville police said week-old Yair Anthony Carillo was found in good health at a home in Ardmore, about 80 miles south of Nashville near the Tennessee line. - 1 Comment

New HIV strain discovered in woman from Cameroon

Aug 03, 2009 - WASHINGTON – A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS has been discovered in a woman from the African nation of Cameroon. It differs from the three known strains of human immunodeficiency virus and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers report in Monday's edition of the journal Nature Medicine. The finding "highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence for new HIV variants, particularly in western central Africa," said the researchers, led by Jean-Christophe Plantier of the University of Rouen, France. - 4 Comments

Court rules 5-4 for white firefighters over promotions

Jun 29, 2009 - I posted about this a while ago, and the Court made their decision in favor of the white firefighters who were denied promotions. This ruling could potentially change employment practices nationwide. Court rules for white firefighters over promotions By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer Mark Sherman, Associated Press Writer – 12 mins ago WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge. - 13 Comments

Oklahoma druggist arrested for killing holdup man

May 30, 2009 - OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Confronted by two holdup men, pharmacist Jerome Ersland pulled a gun, shot one of them in the head and chased the other away. Then, in a scene recorded by the drugstore's security camera, he went behind the counter, got another gun, and pumped five more bullets into the wounded teenager as he lay on the floor. Now Ersland has been charged with first-degree murder in a case that has stirred a furious debate over vigilante justice and self-defense and turned the pharmacist into something of a folk hero. - 31 Comments

What Will Change Look Like in White House Décor?

Dec 18, 2008 - By PENELOPE GREEN EVER since Mary Todd Lincoln overshot the White House decorating budget by $6,700 (a third of her $20,000 appropriation), infuriating her husband and delighting a press corps that had already turned against her, the redecoration of the president’s house has been a public relations minefield. Some new administrations tiptoe through it unscathed; others are less nimble, and bombs explode. “It’s an old maxim that you can build a billion-dollar highway that’s the biggest pork barrel in the world and no one will say anything,” said William Seale, a White House historian, “but if you’re in public office and you try and change your desk, you’re going to end up on the front page. - 5 Comments

From The London Times

Dec 21, 2008 - The Sunday Times December 21, 2008 Britain has lost the stomach for a fight Michael Portillo Last week Gordon Brown announced a date for Britain’s withdrawal from Iraq. Most troops will be back in time for a spring general election. The prime minister posed with soldiers and expressed his sorrow over yet more fatal casualties in Afghanistan. - 5 Comments