May
28
2013
It’s no surprise to regular readers I am quite concerned about climate change. My concern on this issue is two-fold: one consists of the actual global consequences of the reality of global warming, and the other is the blatant manipulation of that reality by those who would deny it.
These two issues overlap mightily when it comes to Arctic sea ice. The ice around the North Pole is going away, and it’s doing so with alarming …
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May
28
2013
U.S. Department of Justice investigators found a number of unconstitutional practices at the Escambia County Jail facility in northwest Florida that “constitute serious risks to prisoner safety,” according to the Justice Department’s findings letter. Among those problems were insufficient access to mental healthcare for the inmates, and racial segregation of black prisoners. Said the U.S. Department of Justice in a release:
Specifically, the department concluded that known systemic deficiencies at the facility, …
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May
28
2013
By Ingrid Melander and Nicholas Vinocur
PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) – Europe must urgently tackle youth unemployment, the French, German and Italian governments said on Tuesday, urging action to rescue an entire generation who fear they will not find jobs.
Ministers called for a mixture of measures including helping small companies and boosting apprenticeships.
Some 7.5 million Europeans aged 15-24 are neither in employment nor in education or training, according to EU data. Youth unemployment in the EU …
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May
28
2013
Walmart employees are on strike in Miami, Massachusetts and the California Bay Area this morning, kicking off what organizers promise will be the first “prolonged strikes” in the retail giant’s history. The union-backed labor group OUR Walmart says that at least a hundred workers have pledged to join the strikes, and that some workers walking off the job today will stay out at least through June 7, when Walmart holds its annual shareholder meeting near …
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May
28
2013
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to nominate three judges to a critical federal court in a move that The New York Times says “will effectively be daring Republicans to find specific ground to filibuster all the nominees.”
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is considered nearly as powerful as the Supreme Court and is known as a proving ground for potential high-court nominees. The three vacancies are part of …
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May
28
2013
HOUSTON — As a partner and chief diversity officer at Thompson & Knight, Pauline Higgins was not afraid to press the issue of hiring minorities at the 126-year-old Texas law firm. But when she left in 2008, she was replaced by an associate with less influence.
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T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
Pauline Higgins was a partner who served as the chief diversity officer at a 126-year-old law firm in Texas. When she …
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May
28
2013
A New York Times Op-Ed from Eyal Press Monday highlighted a little-known but important government memo, which threatens the rights of whistleblowers. In line with this administration’s unprecedented crackdown on government employees who blow the whistle, Eyal notes that the document, issued by the Obama administration in January, “instructs the director of national intelligence and the Office of Personnel Management to establish standards that would give federal agencies the power to fire employees, without appeal, …
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May
28
2013
While the activities of the Agriculture Department don’t always garner a lot of attention, a highly questionable decision it recently made to help wealthy speculators could, over time, cost anyone who buys food. But while the decision — a big win for high-frequency traders at the expense of farmers, food companies, and the public — is consequential, its effects have hardly been reported.
First, some history is in order. In 1905, a government statistician was caught …
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May
28
2013
WE like the idea that food can be the answer to our ills, that if we eat nutritious foods we won’t need medicine or supplements. We have valued this notion for a long, long time. The Greek physician Hippocrates proclaimed nearly 2,500 years ago: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Today, medical experts concur. If we heap our plates with fresh fruits and vegetables, they tell us, we will come …
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May
25
2013
Chicago-based commodities trader Prime International Trading named the companies in a suit on Wednesday, accusing them of misreporting trades for the Brent oil benchmark.
It is seeking civil damages, arguing that it would have its conducted trades based on the inaccurate prices.
The EC is investigating whether the companies colluded to distort the benchmark of oil and other products by reporting distorted prices to agency Platts for more than a decade.
The Brent benchmark is used as …
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