Goodwill is paying some of its disabled workers just 22 cents an hour, while the charity’s executives make six figure salaries. A labor law loophole enables the practice.

Some Pennsylvania Goodwill workers who are disabled made as little as 22, 38 and 41 cents per hour in 2011, according to Labor Department documents reviewed by NBC News. That’s because a 1938 law, called the Special Wage Certificate Program, aimed at encouraging employers to hire disabled workers, …

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TAUNGGYI, Myanmar — After a ritual prayer atoning for past sins, Ashin Wirathu, a Buddhist monk with a rock-star following in Myanmar, sat before an overflowing crowd of thousands of devotees and launched into a rant against what he called “the enemy” — the country’s Muslim minority.

“You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog,” Ashin Wirathu said, referring to Muslims.

“I call them troublemakers, because they …

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An underground tank holding some of the worst radioactive waste at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site might be leaking into the soil.

The U.S. Energy Department said workers at Washington state’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation detected higher radioactivity levels under tank AY-102 during a routine inspection Thursday.

Spokeswoman Lori Gamache said the department has notified Washington officials and is investigating the leak further. An engineering analysis team will conduct additional sampling and video inspection to determine the …

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Reuters) – Twelve of the 14 judges who have served this year on the most secret court in America are Republicans and half are former prosecutors.

One is a former director of the Illinois State Police. Another helped direct the White House war on drugs. One served as a prosecutor in the Whitewater case involving the Clintons’ real estate investments. Another forced President Bill Clinton to testify during the same scandal.

But judges of the Foreign …

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In a little-known case called American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant, the Supreme Court today issued yet another decision making it easier for big corporations to use their market power to screw over consumers and small businesses. Thursday’s 5-3 decision affirmed the right of big corporations to use mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts to force small businesses to challenge monopolistic practices in private arbitration rather than through class actions in court. The case shows once …

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A panel of federal judges ordered California on Thursday to ease overcrowding in state prisons by reducing the number of inmates by about 10,000 this year, and criticized what they described as foot-dragging in dealing with the matter.

California has been under court orders to reduce the population in its 33-prison system since 2009, when the same three-judge panel ordered it to relieve overcrowding that has caused inadequate medical and mental healthcare.

Earlier …

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HONG KONG — As pollution in Singapore soared to record levels on Thursday, local officials pressed Indonesia to curtail the widespread burning of forests, which they say is causing the stubborn haze enveloping the city-state.

The Pollution Standards Index, a uniform system used by Singapore to measure pollution, hit 371 at 1 p.m., topping the previous record of 226, which was set in 1997. Health officials consider any level above 300 to be hazardous to …

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Six jurors have been picked to decide George Zimmerman’s fate in a Seminole County, Florida court. All six are women; at least four are mothers. Five are white and one is a woman of color (somehow, in a case that’s central to the way we think about racial justice, no one seems to be exactly sure whether she is black or Latina). Four alternate jurors have also been chosen, and can step in if needs …

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Honoring our grandparents, our elders—in these divisive times, at least we hold this value in common, right?

As children, we dutifully sat through long visits or lectures from older relatives, teachers, neighbors or family friends; and then wised up to learn that some of these relationships would prove our most enduring.

It’s enough to make you think that maybe—just maybe—this shared experience would lead to a steadfast commitment from policymakers to ensure that those who cared for …

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Before you read this blog post, navigate to your favorite search engine, type in “Detroit petroleum coke,” and peruse the results for a moment (don’t forget to come back and keep reading).

If you’re new to this issue, you might be able to quickly piece together a story about a “…three-story pile of toxic by-product…” that has helped “…Detroit’s riverfront gain national attention” amidst “growing outrage, and calls for action…” from “worried residents.” You may see …

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