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Latest Articles: United States News
Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery
Post Date: 2010-10-07 07:50:40 by war
25 Comments
DENVER — It has been one of the great murder mysteries of the garden: what is killing off the honeybees? Since 2006, 20 to 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States alone have suffered “colony collapse.” Suspected culprits ranged from pesticides to genetically modified food. Now, a unique partnership — of military scientists and entomologists — appears to have achieved a major breakthrough: identifying a new suspect, or two. A fungus tag-teaming with a virus have apparently interacted to cause the problem, according to a paper by Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana in the online science journal PLoS One. Exactly how that combination ...
Report Slams Administration for Underestimating Gulf Spill
Post Date: 2010-10-07 07:43:36 by war
0 Comments
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration failed to act upon or fully inform the public of its own worst-case estimates of the amount of oil gushing from the blown-out BP well, slowing response efforts and keeping the American people in the dark for weeks about the size of the disaster, according to preliminary reports from the presidential commission investigating the accident. The government repeatedly underestimated how much oil was flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and how much was left after the well was capped in July, leading to a loss of faith in the government’s ability to handle the spill and a continuing breach between the federal authorities and state and local officials, ...
New Yorkers' Income Falls for 1st Time in 70 Years
Post Date: 2010-10-06 22:03:28 by WhiteSands
2 Comments
The recession put a 3.1 percent dent in the personal incomes of New York state residents, who endured their first full-year decline in more than 70 years, according to a report released Tuesday. Paychecks or net earnings tumbled 5.4 percent, while dividends, interest and rent slid 8.4 percent, to a grand total of nearly $908 billion, the state comptroller's report said. Not only did New Yorkers' personal incomes fall "almost twice" as much as they did in the nation as a whole, but they have yet to recover to pre-recession levels, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. The drop occurred even though the job-destroying recession was milder in New York than in the rest of the ...
(CA) Pension crisis worse than suspected, report says (Could bankrupt the state)
Post Date: 2010-10-06 20:06:53 by Nebuchadnezzar
4 Comments
Pension crisis worse than suspected, report says California’s public pension crisis is a lot worse than anyone suspected and threatens to bankrupt the state if investment rates fail, says a report released today by the California Center for Public Policy. The report says that the state’s tax-paid pensions have made defacto millionaires out of most of California’s employees by the time they reach their late 50s. Meanwhile, public safety and other employees frequently pay less than half or none of their retirement benefits, says the report, “Reforming Public Employee Pensions and Compensation.” * Well-paid city manager agrees to pay cut * Dana Point city exec ...
Donald Trump may run for US President
Post Date: 2010-10-06 18:34:27 by jwpegler
15 Comments
Mr Donald Trump, the property magnate and reality television host, has declared his interest in running for President of the United States, saying that "somebody has to do something, because we are losing this country". The 64-year-old is tempted to spend a hefty portion of his estimated US$2 billion ($2.6 billion) fortune on a White House bid. "For the first time in my life, I'm actually thinking about it," Mr Trump, who declared himself a Republican, told Fox News Channel. He did not rule out the possibility of running under the banner of the Tea Party, the conservative movement that so far has been seen as a sub-group of the Republican Party. The early ...
Seasonal Retail Hiring Outlook: "Dim"
Post Date: 2010-10-06 16:42:30 by Nebuchadnezzar
3 Comments
Seasonal Retail Hiring Outlook: "Dim" by CalculatedRisk on 10/06/2010 03:30:00 PM Typically retail companies start hiring for the holiday season in October, and really increase hiring in November. Here is a graph that shows the historical net retail jobs added for October, November and December by year and a forecast for 2010. Seasonal Retail Hiring Click on graph for larger image in new window. This really shows the collapse in retail hiring in 2008 and the weak recovery in 2009. This also shows how the season has changed over time - back in the '80s, retailers hired mostly in December. Now the peak month is November, and many retailers start hiring seasonal workers in ...
Panel: Gov't thwarted worst-case scenario on spill (Lies, Deciet and Obfuscation-Liberal Obama's Playbook)
Post Date: 2010-10-06 16:12:26 by Nebuchadnezzar
19 Comments
Panel: Gov't thwarted worst-case scenario on spill WASHINGTON – The White House blocked efforts by federal scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could have been. That finding comes from a panel appointed by President Barack Obama to investigate the worst offshore oil spill in history. In documents released Wednesday, the national oil spill commission reveals that in late April or early May the White House budget office denied a request from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make public the worst-case discharge from the blown-out well. BP estimated the worse scenario to be a leak of 2.5 million gallons per day. The government, ...
Black judge rejects plea deal for 'white boy'
Post Date: 2010-10-06 15:04:21 by Happy Quanzaa
10 Comments
Says three months of probation for fighting with a cop is 'ridiculous' PITTSBURGH — A black judge from western Pennsylvania rejected a plea agreement for a man accused of fighting with police during a traffic stop, saying it was "a ridiculous plea that only goes to white boys." The plea agreement was for a sentence of three months probation. Allegheny County Judge Joseph Williams said on Tuesday that a black defendant in that situation would not have been treated as leniently. In court, Williams told Assistant District Attorney Brian Catanzarite that he "for some reason comes up with I think ridiculous pleas whenever it's a young white guy," ...
Palin Could Hurt GOP Senate Candidate In CA
Post Date: 2010-10-06 15:02:37 by war
1 Comments
Nearly six of 10 California voters have a negative view of Sarah Palin, whose endorsement could be dragging down the state’s GOP Senate nominee, according to a new Field Poll. The former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee has a 58 percent unfavorable rating in the Golden State, compared to a 33 percent favorable rating. Only 9 percent of the registered voters polled had no opinion. Palin’s polling woes could have coattails as well. Carly Fiorina, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, has frequently touted her endorsement from Palin, but the survey shows Palin may be a drag on Fiorina’s numbers. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said ...
Meg Whitman spending hits $140M [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2010-10-06 13:27:55 by war
80 Comments
[NB: Isn't Halloween In Three Weeks?] Republican Meg Whitman has now spent $140 million on her bid to become governor of California, most of it from her own pocket. According to campaign disclosure documents filed Tuesday night, Whitman spent $39.7 million from the beginning of July to the end of September and raised $38.7 million — $28 million of which came from her own funds. Over the same period Democrat Jerry Brown spent $10 million and raised $9.4 million. Brown’s campaign actually has more money on hand heading into the final stretch of the campaign, banking $22.5 million to Whitman’s $9.1 million. But Whitman’s cash-on-hand number is essentially ...
Obama’s Cocaine Monkeys: Report On Stimulus Waste Released - With Video
Post Date: 2010-10-06 13:12:49 by Happy Quanzaa
0 Comments
ABC News: The Obama administration has credited its $862 billion stimulus program with pulling the economy out of the worst recession since the Great Depression. But a new report by two Republican senators argues the stimulus is riddled with wasteful projects that do not create jobs. The report, released by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and John McCain, R-Ariz., highlights 100 stimulus projects that they say have “questionable goals,” are “being mismanaged or were poorly planned” and are even “costing jobs and hurting small businesses.” The Coburn-McCain report takes issue with stimulus spending on projects like one that entailed research on how cocaine ...
Whitman Ex-Nanny Backs Up Housekeeper
Post Date: 2010-10-06 12:54:16 by Brian S
3 Comments
For what it’s worth: A former nanny for California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman says she believes the story of Nicandra Diaz Santillan, an illegal immigrant who worked for the former eBay CEO for nine years and is suing her for unpaid wages. “I totally believe” Diaz, says Jill Armstrong. "I know the family. I know what it was like.” Armstrong, who had a W-2 tax form showing she worked for Whitman, quit after two months in the summer of 1998, saying she’d “had enough.” She then had trouble getting paid money owed for her work. Armstrong, a grandmother of two with 20 years as a “full service” nanny, said Whitman made her feel ...
Poll Shows O'Donnell Trailing In Del. Senate Race
Post Date: 2010-10-06 12:35:51 by Brian S
0 Comments
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new poll shows Republican Christine O'Donnell badly trailing Democrat Chris Coons in a Delaware Senate race that Republicans were heavily favored to win until the tea party-backed O'Donnell pulled off an upset in the GOP primary last month. The survey released Wednesday by Fairleigh Dickinson University-PublicMind found Coons leading O'Donnell 53 percent to 36 percent. It shows O'Donnell struggling within her own party, with only about two-thirds of Republicans saying they support her. It also found that O'Donnell's primary opponent, Rep. Mike Castle, would have a strong lead if he were the GOP nominee. The statewide survey of 801 likely ...
Middle Class Slams Brakes on Spending
Post Date: 2010-10-06 12:30:39 by Nebuchadnezzar
1 Comments
Middle Class Slams Brakes on Spending By SARA MURRAY Middle-class Americans made their deepest spending cuts in more than two decades, slashing spending on such discretionary items as restaurant meals and alcohol during the recession. Households in the middle fifth of the population sliced their average annual spending to $41,150 in 2009, the Labor Department said Tuesday in its annual spending breakdown. That was down 3.1% from 2007 and 3.5% from 2008, the steepest one-year drop since records began in 1984. The drop came even as those households' after-tax income remained relatively stable over the two years, at an average $45,199. Making Do With Less How the recession has ...
Frightening Charts Show Record Low Revenue, Worst-Ever Austerity Measures For US Cities
Post Date: 2010-10-06 12:16:09 by Nebuchadnezzar
7 Comments
Frightening Charts Show Record Low Revenue, Worst-Ever Austerity Measures For US Cities 87% of cities are Less Able to meet fiscal needs compared to last year >static.businessinsider.com/image/4cac8ef97f8b9ae8656a0200-352-264/chart.gif"> Image: National League of Cities Municipal pain is at its worst level on record, according to annual report from the National League of Cities. Revenue is 3.2% lower than last year, which was already at record lows. It may get worse next year as property taxes decline to reflect fallen property values. Cutbacks in government spending are also at record levels. The fiscal bloodshed you hear about in Los Angeles and New York -- not to ...
AP-GfK Poll: Working-class whites shun Dems
Post Date: 2010-10-06 12:02:07 by Nebuchadnezzar
0 Comments
AP-GfK Poll: Working-class whites shun Dems Oct 6, 7:26 AM (ET) By ALAN FRAM WASHINGTON (AP) - Desperate for jobs and cool toward President Barack Obama, working-class whites are flocking to Republicans, turning a group long wary of Democrats into an even bigger impediment to the party's drive to keep control of Congress. An Associated Press-GfK poll shows whites without four-year college degrees preferring GOP candidates by twice the margin of the last two elections, when Democrats made significant gains in the House and Senate. The poll, conducted last month, found this group favoring GOP hopefuls 58 percent to 36 percent - a whopping 22 percentage-point gap. In 2008, when ...
BOMBSHELL: White House Blocked Worst-Case-Scenario Estimate Of Oil Spill Disaster (Spin, Spin, Spin. All politics, all of the time with this White House)
Post Date: 2010-10-06 11:57:30 by Nebuchadnezzar
20 Comments
BOMBSHELL: White House Blocked Worst-Case-Scenario Estimate Of Oil Spill Disaster Gus Lubin | Oct. 6, 2010, 11:47 AM | 150 | comment 3 * obamaBack in April, the White House blocked the worst case scenario estimate of the oil spill, according to the federal oil spill commission. The White House kept NOAA from announcing a spill rate higher than the 5,000 bbl (originally 1,000 bbl) figure that came from BP. Keeping a much higher figure out of the press may have slowed national response to the disaster, the commission said. More details from Times Picayune: In four separate draft working papers, the commission staff suggests that "over optimism" about the size of the spill ...
Mass Layoffs Coming In Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities, Says Tipster
Post Date: 2010-10-06 11:54:12 by Nebuchadnezzar
1 Comments
Mass Layoffs Coming In Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities, Says Tipster Courtney Comstock | Oct. 6, 2010, 9:10 AM Citadel Securities was Ken Griffin's big dream -- he wanted to make the next Goldman Sachs. Now an anonymous tipster tells us that the business is slowly being dismantled and there will be a series of mass layoffs in the fixed income department in next few days. The tipster didn't give too many details, and we're still waiting to hear back from Citadel's media rep, so for now let's just talk about why this might be happening. At its launch in 2008, Citadel Securities received glowing reviews from the business press heralding Citadel Securities the next ...
ADP: Private Employment decreases by 39,000 in September
Post Date: 2010-10-06 11:34:46 by Nebuchadnezzar
4 Comments
ADP: Private Employment decreases by 39,000 in September by CalculatedRisk on 10/06/2010 08:15:00 AM ADP reports: Private-sector employment decreased by 39,000 from August to September on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report® released today. The estimated change of employment from July to August was revised up from the previously reported decline of 10,000 to an increase of 10,000. The decline in private employment in September confirms a pause in the economic recovery already evident in other data. A deceleration of employment occurred in all the major sectors shown in The ADP Report and for all sizes of payroll. ... Unlike the ...
Credible Deniability.
Post Date: 2010-10-06 10:16:50 by Skip MacLure
8 Comments
It’s a little early for Oscar nominations, perhaps, but the performance of Nicandra Diaz Santillan should be worth consideration. More commonly referred to as Nicky Diaz, she was employed as a housekeeper by California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. A lot of things don’t add up in this case, or rather, they do make sense if you assume the worst in people’s character. A claim for $6,210 should be dealt with swiftly by the local small claims court, or even by Judge Judy if the parties involved want their fifteen minutes of fame. Not this time, however. Diaz is represented by top Hollywood lawyer, Gloria Allred. Given the financial hardship claimed by Ms Diaz, it was ...
VP Biden says he'll strangle GOP reps who complain about Dem plunder
Post Date: 2010-10-06 09:25:19 by Happy Quanzaa
22 Comments
Biden Says He'll 'Strangle' Republicans Oct. 4: Vice President Joe Biden at a campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio DAYTON, Minn. -- Vice President Joe Biden has told Democrats at a Minnesota fundraiser that he'll "strangle" members of the GOP who complain about the federal budget. According to a pool report from Tuesday's event in Dayton, Biden was telling the crowd that Democrats know how to balance the budget. He said, "If I hear one more Republican tell me about balancing the budget, I am going to strangle them." He quickly added: "To the press, that's a figure of speech." Biden joined former Vice President Walter Mondale at the ...
Rasmussen Employment Index Moves to Two-Year High
Post Date: 2010-10-06 09:19:17 by go65
10 Comments
The Rasmussen Employment Index jumped six points in September to reach a two-year high of 75.3. The index is up nine points from January and is up 10 points from it's a level a year ago. The index, which measures confidence of workers in the employment market, is at its highest level since September 2008. Now, 20% of workers report their firms are hiring, up one point from last month. Twenty-three percent (23%) of working Americans say their firms are laying workers off, down two points from August. The latest results represent the smallest gap between hiring and lay offs found in two years. But September is the 24th straight month during which the number of workers that reports ...
60 Percent Disapproval Of GOP Leaders
Post Date: 2010-10-06 09:09:22 by go65
4 Comments
Republican congressional leaders have sought to frame the upcoming midterms as a referendum on Democrats and their ability to govern, but six in 10 Americans have a negative view of the very GOP chiefs making the argument. That level of GOP unpopularity leaves the Democrats some campaign leverage against their GOP critics with less than a month to go before Election Day. The latest Society for Human Resource Management/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, conducted with the Pew Research Center, shows that Republican leaders on Capitol Hill drew a spare 24 percent approval rating, down from 33 percent in July, while their disapproval figure had climbed up 7 points from 53 ...
Mom of Murdered Obama Gay Lover Speaks Up
Post Date: 2010-10-06 08:51:15 by Happy Quanzaa
1 Comments
Donald Young In late May, Wash. DC-based investigative journalist Wayne Madsen had a bombshell revelation about Obama’s membership in a Chicago gay club, Man’s Country. Madsen also reported on Obama’s sexual relationships with other men, including named D.C. politicians and Donald Young, the openly-gay choir-director of the church in Chicago of which Obama was a member for some 20 years — Jeremy Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ black liberation theology. Obama’s relationship with Young was confirmed by Larry Sinclair, who claims to have had two sex-cocaine trysts with Obama. Larry Bland There were two other openly gay men in Wright’s church: ...
An open letter to my body man, Reggie Love
Post Date: 2010-10-06 08:17:43 by Happy Quanzaa
1 Comments
By Barack ObamaBio & Blog It’s time we had a talk, Reggie, man to body man. I’ve learned a lot from you, about Jay-Z, basketball, and what “sizurp” is, and I’d like to think that you’ve grown a lot in the months you’ve been my personal assistant. I mean, when I hired you, you were just another Division I athlete whose pro football career was over before it began, and now The New York Times is writing cover stories about you and when you go back home to Charlotte people start chanting your name. Feels pretty awesome, right? Well, to paraphrase my Uncle Ben (not the guy on the rice box, racists, my white uncle), “With great publicity must come ...
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