In a largely symbolic gesture, voters in Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s hometown on Tuesday rejected a proposal to seize his 200-year-old farmhouse as payback for a ruling that expanded government’s authority to take property.Even though voters overwhelmingly agreed to leave Souter’s home alone, it would have been safe whatever the outcome.The vote was prompted by activists angered by the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision last year in a property rights case from Connecticut. Souter sided with the majority in holding that governments can take property and turn it over to private developers.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com censor News |
Editor - 22:48:00 03-14-06 |
Creative efforts ensure parents pay |
States, armed with better technology, are finding innovative ways to collect child support, from acquiring the cellphone records of deadbeat parents to withholding their moose-hunting licenses.Nearly 500 bills are pending in statehouses to improve child support collections, which have jumped in the past decade, says Stephanie Walton, program manager at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Maine and Missouri are considering bills enabling them to get the cellphone records, primarily addresses, of deadbeat parents. Iowa approved such legislation last year."It's a gold mine. Everyone has a cellphone in America over the age of 4, and cellphone companies are good at finding you," says Nick Young, director of Virginia's Child Support Enforcement Division. ... http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-14-states-child-support_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 22:07:00 03-14-06 |
Pentagon's new weapon - cyborg flies that are spies |
The Pentagon is trying to develop "insect cyborgs" able to sniff out explosives, or "bug" conversations by lurking unseen in enemy hideouts with micro-transmitters strapped to their bodies.The cyborgs - half insect, half robot - would be created by inserting tiny devices into the bodies of flying, hopping or crawling insects while in their larva or pupa stage, so that the mechanisms become part of their bodies and ultimately allow them to be moved by remote control. Their most immediate task could be spotting and identifying the location of roadside bombs in Iraq. George Bush announced on Monday that the administration was spending more than $3bn (£1.7bn) this year to combat the threat of "improvised explosive devices". Some of that money, the president said, would be used to bring together the country's best minds to think up new ideas.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1731037,00.html
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Editor - 20:27:00 03-14-06 |
Conflict over Milosevic burial Questions continue about circumstances of death |
The body of Slobodan Milosevic is to leave Amsterdam for Belgrade, where a funeral for the former Yugoslav leader will be held, one of his lawyers said Tuesday night.Attorney Branko Rakic told a news conference that the body was scheduled to leave Schiphol Airport, where it was staying overnight, at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday (12:15 p.m. GMT) and arrive in Belgrade at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. GMT).Rakic provided no details on the funeral and burial, but said, "He will have a grave that a former president should have."Serbian Socialist Party Vice President Milorad Vucelic later confirmed the body would be taken to the Serbian capital for funeral services. Milosevic's son Marko left his Russian exile Tuesday to go to the Netherlands to accompany his father's body. ... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/03/14/milosevic.main/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 20:12:00 03-14-06 |
Gaza: A Field of Ruins? Sealed Border Crossing Spoils Veggies and Gaza Farmers' Livelihood |
Muhammad El Masrek's tomatoes are ruined, his strawberries are rotting, and his dreams of earning a decent living have vanished. El Masrek's berries usually sell at $45 a crate in markets in Israel and around the world. But the only way to get his produce to market is through Gaza's Karni Crossing. Dozens of Palestinian produce trucks now sit idle, waiting for the crossing to open. Karni has been sealed shut with Israel controlling the crossing, saying that it cannot be opened because there is a security threat. After intense lobbying, patrols briefly let trucks transporting humanitarian goods cross the border on Thursday. Farmers still have no right of passage. So El Masrek can't sell his produce. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=1708774&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
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Editor - 20:01:00 03-14-06 |
11 Dead in Texas Fires; Cattle Burn Alive |
The charred bodies of four oilfield workers were found a short distance from their car. A cow that had tried to push through a barbed wire fence was discovered burned alive. And 10,000 other cattle and horses were feared dead across the smoking landscape. The grisly toll from one of the state's worst outbreaks of wildfires became ever clearer Tuesday as the blazes continued to burn across the dry Texas Panhandle. At least 11 people have died and 1,900 others have been forced to evacuate since the weekend. The fires, propelled by winds as high as 55 mph, have raced across more than 1,000 square miles. Firefighters reported making progress Tuesday, but optimism was guarded, with winds forecast to gust to 30 mph Wednesday. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5686411,00.html
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Editor - 19:43:00 03-14-06 |
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post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
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