MB Civic

[Today’s categories: Eyebrow-Raising Stories of the Week, Environment, Health/Food, Economics, Politics/Elections/Voting, Legal/Law Enforcement, Privacy/Surveillance, Hot-Button Issues, Miscelllaneous, Foreign Affairs.  As always, my thanks to MB-Civic as a source, and for their support of this weekly post.]

Eyebrow-Raising Stories of the Week:

2-year-old taken from parents because they smoked pot is killed by foster parents (!):

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/taken-pot-smoking-parents-2-year-old-murdered-foster-care

Fracking company wants “gag” rule to cover children…forever!:

http://www.alternet.org/drilling-company-bans-young-children-talking-about-fracking-forever

After years of trying everything else, parents find that marijuana stops child’s near-continuous seizures:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/health/charlotte-child-medical-marijuana/index.html?hpt=hp_c4

CNN’s Sanjay Gupta openly and strongly reverses position on pot, saying he “misled” the public (!):

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/dr-sanjay-gupta-reverses-opposition-weed

What’s wrong (economically) in America?  This image says alot:

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/12/american-decline/

Very strange bedfellows, as Fox may produce Clinton biopic for NBC:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/business/media/fox-may-produce-clinton-biopic-reviled-by-gop.html

Japan’s debt is (ready for this?)…1 quadrillion yen.  That’s 1,000,000,000,000,000.  (For comparison, there are only 100 trillion cells in a human body):

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/world/asia/japans-debt-reaches-new-milestone.html

Environment:

Leak at Alberta oil sands project spells trouble:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/business/global/leak-at-oil-sands-project-in-alberta-heightens-conservationists-concerns.html

Will “costly clean-ups” finally scuttle Keystone?:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/us/amid-pipeline-debate-two-costly-cleanups-forever-change-towns.html?pagewanted=all

As new leaks at Fukushima are revealed…:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/world/asia/leaks-into-pacific-persist-at-japan-nuclear-plant.html?pagewanted=all

…the Japanese government finally decides to take a greater direct role:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/world/asia/fukushima-nuclear-plant-radiation-leaks.html

Deaths of manatees, dolphins and pelicans cause concern in FL:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/us/deaths-of-manatees-dolphins-and-pelicans-point-to-estuary-at-risk.html

What is killing dolphins off VA coast?:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/us/dolphin-deaths-off-east-coast-worry-federal-wildlife-officials.html

Capitol Power Plant, just miles from White House, continues to pollute:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/us/politics/just-across-town-a-test-of-obamas-emissions-goals.html?pagewanted=all

Health/Food:

Young adults and stimulants are an increasingly deadly mix:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/health/sharp-rise-among-young-in-emergency-care-after-stimulant-use.html

CDC says obesity rate in children is declining:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/health/broad-decline-in-obesity-rate-seen-in-poor-young-children.html?pagewanted=all

As e-cigs take off, the three S’s – smoke, smell, stigma – disappear:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/fashion/smoking-is-back-without-the-stigma.html

Economics:

“Did We Waste A Crisis?”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/magazine/financial-crisis.html?pagewanted=all

As backlash to new wave of anti-unionism, a new form of “unionizing” unfolds:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/business/the-workers-defense-project-a-union-in-spirit.html?pagewanted=all

New jobless claim drop to lowest level since 2007:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/business/economy/new-claims-by-jobless-are-lowest-since-2007.html

How the lottery sucks you in:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/your-money/win-a-lottery-jackpot-not-much-chance-of-that.html

Politics/Elections/Voting:

No surprise as FL uses recent SCOTUS decision on Voting Rights Act to scrub voter rolls:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/us/ruling-revives-florida-review-of-voting-rolls.html?pagewanted=all

Obama uses Snowden as excuse to cancel meeting with Putin:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/world/europe/obama-cancels-visit-to-putin-as-snowden-adds-to-tensions.html

Tea Party moves further toward “irrelevance” over immigration stand:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/opinion/the-tea-partys-path-to-irrelevance.html

Register to vote?  In NYC, there’s an app for that!:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/nyregion/registration-as-a-voter-to-be-easier-via-phone.html

Stringer and Spitzer in no-holds-barred first debate for NYC comptroller position:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/nyregion/stringer-and-spitzer-go-on-the-attack-in-first-debate.html

NYC Campaign Finance Board votes to withhold public financing from John Liu’s mayoral campaign:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/nyregion/campaign-finance-board-denies-liu-public-funds.html

NYC mayoral candidate Bill DeBlasio focuses on something different as he continues rising – actual issues:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/nyregion/despite-citys-progress-de-blasio-campaigns-on-pledge-to-lessen-inequities.html

Texas filibuster darling may run for governor:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/us/politics/celebrated-texas-state-senator-says-bid-for-governor-is-possible.html

Legal/Law Enforcement:

Outrage as grand jury refuses to indict officer who shot unarmed black youth in controversial case:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/nyregion/grand-jury-declines-to-indict-officer-in-death-of-unarmed-youth.html?hpw

In FL, seeking answers after skateboarding youth dies following police tasing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/us/seeking-answers-after-youths-death-in-police-stop.html

Federal judge denies Lynne Stewart’s request for “compassionate release” on technicality:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/nyregion/judge-denies-ill-lawyers-plea-to-be-freed-from-prison.html

In NYC, deaf patrons sue Starbucks:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/nyregion/suit-accuses-new-york-starbucks-of-discriminating-against-deaf-patrons.html

Privacy/Surveillance:

NSA “data sifting” is seen as broader than claimed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/us/broader-sifting-of-data-abroad-is-seen-by-nsa.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/opinion/breaking-through-limits-on-spying.html

Canada’s equivalent of NSA programs are equally horrific:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/desmog-canada/modern-surveillance-in-canada_b_3713975.html

Obama talks of “new openness” re surveillance (right…):

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/us/politics/obama-news-conference.html?pagewanted=all

NYC and NYPD agree to expunge “innocents” from SQF database:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/nyregion/city-to-trim-a-database-on-police-stops.html

Even the U.N. is in on the “big data” game:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/technology/development-groups-tap-big-data-to-direct-humanitarian-aid.html?pagewanted=all

Hot-Button Issues:

Gun event at Newtown Starbucks is shut down early:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/nyregion/gun-rights-celebration-at-starbucks-not-in-newtown.html

In CO, legalized marijuana leads to hemp farming:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/us/groundwork-laid-growers-turn-to-hemp-in-colorado.html

Miscellaneous:

Amazon owner buys Washington Post, ending an era:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/business/media/amazoncom-founder-to-buy-the-washington-post.html?pagewanted=all

A-Rod suspended for 211 games:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/sports/baseball/a-big-name-back-in-the-lineup-but-crossed-off-baseballs-list.html

Who is Nick Beef, and is he really buried next to Lee Harvey Oswald?:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/us/mystery-from-the-grave-beside-oswalds-solved.html

Foreign Affairs:

In Egypt, an unintended consequence of upheaval – a “lawless Sinai”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/world/middleeast/lawless-sinai-shows-risks-rising-in-fractured-egypt.html

In Syria, journalists face a rising rate of abduction:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/world/middleeast/journalists-in-syria-face-dangers-of-war-and-rising-risk-of-abduction.html?pagewanted=all

In Iran, new president shocks U.S. by calling for nuclear talks that might include U.S.:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/world/middleeast/irans-new-president-says-nuclear-talks-could-succeed.html

In Russia, Kremlin critic goes from “jail to campaign trail”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/world/europe/for-kremlin-critic-out-of-jail-and-into-politics.html?pagewanted=all