Category: News

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Education News

Trustee: Howard U Could ‘Not Be Here in 3 Years’

Howard University students compete in the 2012 Honda Campus All-Star Challenge.

Ominous news for the nation’s second-ranked historically black college: A vice chairwoman of Howard University’s board of trustees recently told the board of the Washington, D.C., school that the institution “is in genuine trouble,” the Washington Post reports.

“Howard will not be here in three years if we don’t make some crucial decisions now,” Renee Higginbotham-Brooks wrote in a letter dated April 24 and published on the Chronicle of Higher Education website.

h/t – thegrio

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News

Crane Operator had Drugs in His System after Philadelphia Building Collapse

Sean Benschop, 42, was operating a crane on the site of Wednesday’s deadly building collapse. Sources say blood and urine tests found illegal drugs and prescription narcotics in his system. (NBC Philadelphia)

Sean Benschop, 42, had marijuana and prescription painkillers in his blood hours after the outer wall of 2136 Market Street tumbled down onto the Salvation Army Thrift ShopWednesday morning, sources said.

The Center City collapse buried nearly two dozen people under brick, cement and wood. Six people were killed and 13 hurt in the collapse. One woman was buried for 13 hours under rubble before being rescued.

 

h/t/ – thegrio

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Nelson Mandela News

Nelson Mandela Hospitalized: Former South African President in ‘Serious But Stable Condition’

Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, is in “serious but stable condition” after contracting a lung infection, South Africa officials said.

The 94-year-old Nobel Peace prize winner’s “condition deteriorated and he was transferred to a Pretoria hospital,” early Saturday morning according to statement from the office of South African President Jacob Zuma.

“The former President is receiving expert medical care and doctors are doing everything possible to make him better and comfortable,” the statement said. “President Jacob Zuma, on behalf of government and the nation, wishes Madiba a speedy recovery and requests the media and the public to respect the privacy of Madiba and his family.”

 

h/t – ABCNEWS

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Bush Dick Cheney Domestic Policies News Politics Technology

And This Is A Surprise, Why?

Yes, I try to be a good liberal every chance that I can, but honestly, I can’t help but think that this NSA surveillance business is a big yawn. We live in an electronic, connected world. We provide information via phone, cable TV, Internet, e-mail, texts, check boxes (especially after we’ve all thoroughly read the 28 page privacy statement that all website provide us with), billing address is same as mailing address online forms when we buy something, credit card information (stored on a third party server), Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Tumblr, picture sharing sites and on and on and on.

Now we learn that the government, in the name of national security and with the acquiescence of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, has gathered this data (I believe that “scooped” is the reigning cool-person way to describe it) and could use it to discover patterns in our behavior. If they wanted to. It’s disturbing, but I cannot share the outrage. I saw it coming, and when I was a corporate technology trainer in the 1990s, I made a point of warning every student who sat in my class that everything they did on a computer, whether on the Internet or in a Word document, was fair game for any eyes that wanted to pry. This is ever more true today. People ignored or minimized this at their peril. And this was before September 11, when the corporations and government had even less of an excuse to watch us.

Okay, perhaps I’m being naive and obtuse and blind and I’m ignoring dangers that other can clearly see, but I don’t think so. Maybe this article is absolutely wrong, but again, I don’t think so.  Yes, I understand that there’s a difference between willingly giving your data and the government mining for it, and I certainly don’t want the government to get used to taking data that citizens have not freely given it, but in a way, we have.

This is also part of our history, and has been going on since the Alien and Sedition Acts. And the 1917 Espionage Act. When we signed on to Truman’s Doctrine of containing Communism, we tacitly agreed that the government could check that we were loyal. Joseph McCarthy went too far and was too reckless. Richard Nixon did similar things, but he was elected VP and president and had J. Edgar Hoover to both support and threaten him. When they went too far, the Congress reined them in. So it will be today.

The problem now is that the threat of attack is too real and the consequences too terrible to let our guard down for even a second. The Chinese and Iranians are conducting cyberattacks that threaten our systems. How would you like the government to respond? By only following the bad people? That’s like asking the police to only shoot or arrest bad guys. Most times it happens, but when it doesn’t we react with a fury that sometimes ignores facts or circumstances. The same is true today. The NSA’s job is to conduct information-gathering and use that data to find patterns of behavior that might lead to terrorism. To say that they should not be gathering all of the data that they can is counterproductive.

That the press has reported this story based on a whistle-blowers actions shows that our system still works. The government will be held accountable. At this point, that’s good enough for me.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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college News shooting

Santa Monica College Shooting Reportedly Leaves Several Wounded

Santa Monica College was placed on lockdown Friday after reports that a suspect fired a gun inside a campus building just before noon.

There are several victims, including the shooter, confirmed Santa Monica police Sgt. Rudy Flores to the Associated Press.

Flores also said that the police fielded several reports of a man on a street corner shooting at vehicles.

In all, there are four people being treated for injuries at UCLA hospitals. Three people are receiving care at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, said a hospital spokesperson to The Huffington Post. Two are in critical condition and one is in serious condition.

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Featured News Videos

Jamaican Police Beating School Girl Caught On Tape

The below video captured a Jamaican police officer manhandling a young girl who reportedly attends Spalding High School.

The video is going viral online and has sparked an outcry from Jamaicans both at home and abroad.

Watch the video and weigh in below in comments.

h/t – URBANISLANDZ

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China Foreign Policies News Politics

Xi Loves You Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

Yes, that would be the number one hit on Radio Beijing this week as Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the United States on Friday to meet with President Obama. Their agenda will not be full of arms control or contentious issues like North Korea, Iran or who owns which teensy islands in the South China Sea, but rather, personal diplomacy. That’s right; President Xi (or is it her…I can never remember) is traveling thousands of miles to meet the chilliest, most standoffish, least huggable American leader since Richard Nixon in order to establish a personal connection on the superpower stage.

Further, Mrs. Xi (is that redundant? OK, I’ll stop) won’t be accompanying the Mr. to the Republican Dude Ranch, which is a shame because I’m sure there are many Americans who would like to meet her. Mrs. Obama also won’t be in attendance because it’s getting near the end of the school year and the Obama girls surely have some last minute exams to take. So, it will just be the guys at the Sunnylands retreat, where Ronald Reagan and other GOPers used to sun themselves and cavort with wealthy people who loved them.

As with all meetings between key world leaders, both sides will need to measure the success of the summit. It will be difficult to tell if Xi achieves his goal of making friends with Obama, but I give him credit for making the personal, instead of the political, his particular goal. China isn’t ready to take the lead on the world stage. Their economy is large and growing, but subject to volatility brought on by too much state meddling and the ever-present threat of shoddy, or even deadly products. Militarily, they could rival the US in sheer numbers, but their eyes are too big for their stomachs when it comes to how much they can push or bully other countries to do their bidding. At this point, they can’t even dissuade North Korea to make significant changes to their behavior. How are they going to challenge more savvy, well-connected and wealthier countries to take them seriously? Xi is most likely aware of this and is taking a slow growth approach to the United States.

Xi is also a member of the generation that came of political age at the time of the June 4th democracy movement in Tienanmen Square. The military crackdown on democracy protesters was a critical turning point, and presumably today’s Chinese leadership has learned the dangers of allowing too much freedom along with the warning that too much repression brings. Letting people to get rich in return for agreeing to a one-party state is a risky proposition because the truth is this: Not everyone can get rich, but everyone will be subject to the censors, the police and the Internet trackers. Xi must be looking at Turkey, Syria and Egypt and wondering how he can keep the lid on his country. In the end, it’s only a matter of time.

Let’s hope that  President Obama can establish a connection with our main rivals in the world, and engage Mr. Xi in a productive dialogue that the two men can use when relations get difficult, because they ultimately will. Then both of them can say that they found success.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Featured Health News

Doctor Claims Tongue Patch Can Help Shed Pounds

A Long Beach doctor said he’s created a weight-loss procedure where a patch of mesh is sewn into the tongue.

Dr. Nicholas Chugay told Medstar Television — a news subscription service that NBC LA subscribes to — that there are only a few physicians who offer this procedure. He charges $1,500, plus $200 a month for a supply of liquid nutrition formula.

First, the tongue is injected with a local anesthetic, then the mesh is sewn into the top front of the tongue.

The patch makes “chewing of solid foods very difficult and painful, limiting the patient to a liquid diet,” according to the doctor’s website.

As of yet, there are no comparative or long-term studies on the procedure, but Chugay claims his patients may lose up to 25 pounds with the patch, which can be removed and then replaced at a later date.

“Your tongue does feel like if you want to chew, it’ll get stuck, so you won’t be able to eat it,” said Erica Renteria.

Renteria, who had the patch in for three weeks, said it helped her shed pounds. She had it removed but plans to have another patch sewn into her tongue in the near future

Read more: World Time

Categories
News Politics Texas

Tesla Loses Its Battle In Texas

Perhaps you have heard of the automotive company Tesla Motors and their CEO Elon Musk. Well for those who have not Tesla Motors is a start up automotive company that is focused on revolutionizing the automobile and bringing the entire automotive industry into the 21st century. The company was founded in 2003 by Elon Musk, Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning, JB Straubel, and Ian Wright. The companies first vehicle was called the Tesla Roadster which was a an all electric sports car; their following car is pictured above, called the Model S it is an all electric sedan and is currently leading the way in EV vehicles.

Tesla’s futuristic approach also appeared in how they went about selling their cars. You can travel in any direction and you will find multiple car dealerships for various auto companies that are privately owned by a family or as a group venture. Tesla though has established company owned stores to eliminate the middle man in car purchases and to bring forth a more efficient and cheaper way for anyone to purchase a car.

This radical way to sell cars though has caused quite a stir in Virgina and Texas where state laws do not allow a company to own the dealerships let alone sell their own cars. Today it was reported that Texas has shot down Tesla’s appeal to state laws to allow the company to sell their own cars through company owned dealerships.

Elon Musk personally pleaded his case before the Texas State Legislature during their meetings but was greeted with a stone wall when trying to change the laws and in return refused to budge when Texas Auto Dealers Association President Bill Wolters tried to compromise saying that Tesla could maintain some control over the dealerships but not all, of course Musk refused to give in. Word circulating around the story says that Elon Musk plans to take this fight to the federal courts where he hopes to have much more success.

Categories
Chrysler News

Chrysler Pushes Back on US Call for Jeep Vehicle Recall

The U.S. government today called for a major recall of nearly 3 million Chrysler sport utility vehicles based on what its experts say is a deadly fire hazard that has left an estimated 51 people dead.

“This will be the biggest recall [in terms of impact] since the Ford Pinto,” said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, which requested a U.S. probe into the SUVs in 2010.

The automaker is refusing, however, saying that its vehicles are safe and not defective.

The government says that initial findings show a safety defect in older model Jeeps — the Jeep Grand Cherokee from 1993 to 2004, and the Jeep Liberty 2002 to 2007.

The government also says the fuel tanks are vulnerable to rupture in rear-end collisions.

Photo credit: Jenelle Embrey 

h/t – ABCNEWS

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News sandy hook

Sandy Hook Parents Petition to Block Release of Grisly Photos


Parents of Sandy Hook massacre victims are petitioning the state of Connecticut to prevent the public release of graphic photos and audio taken of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

“We feel very strongly that we need to protect that scene,” said Nicole Hockley, who lost her 6-year-old son Dylan in the shooting rampage. “Once these images are on the internet they are out there forever and I don’t want my 8-year-old son to see these photos of his brother’s corpse when he is older.”

Nicole and her husband Ian Hockley, Mark and Jackie Barden, and Jimmy Greene and Nelba Marquez-Greene filed the petition on the website www.change.org on June 1. They are all parents of children who were murdered when Adam Lanza, 20, opened fire in Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, killing 20 children six adults.

h/t – ABCNEWS

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News Transgender

Transgender Navy SEAL ‘Warrior Princess’ Comes Out

Kristin Beck, formerly Chris, penned her story of going from an elite Navy SEAL to a woman in the book “Warrior Princess.” (“Warrior Princess”/Advanced Press)

A former member of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs has come out to say she’s now a woman.

Kristin Beck, formerly Chris, served 20 years as a SEAL and fought on some of the most dangerous battlefields in the world, but after she left the service she realized she wasn’t living the life she wanted.

“Chris really wanted to be a girl and felt that she was a girl and consolidated that identity very early on in childhood,” said Anne Speckhard, co-author of Beck’s biography “Warrior Princess,” which was published over the weekend. Speckhard told ABC News Beck suppressed that secret for decades, however, through the trials of SEAL training and the harrowing missions that followed, growing a burly beard as she fought on the front lines of American special operations.

Brandon Webb, a former SEAL who served on a different SEAL team than Beck, said that Beck’s reputation in the SEALs was a good one and said she was, by all appearances, the “consummate guy’s guy.”

But the book says that Chris “had considered living as the woman he felt himself to be for a very long time, but while he was serving as a SEAL he couldn’t do it.”

h/t – ABCNEWS

 

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