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Parents say girl made up Palos Heights rape story
The parents of a 17-year-old Palos Heights girl who claimed she was abducted and raped last month released a statement today saying their daughter made up the whole story, The parents of a 17-year-old Palos Heights girl who claimed she was abducted and raped last month released a statement today saying th... more
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Witness alleges frequent sexual abuse by priest
Donald McGuire's lawyer peppered the defrocked priest's accuser with questions today about why years passed without the young man seeking help or confiding his allegations of sexual abuse to anyone.
The witness, identified only as Dominick, told the jury he kept quiet for years because he felt intimidated by McGuire's stature in Catholic circles.
During the cross-examination, Stephen Komie, McGuire's lawyer, honed in on Dominick's lawsuit seeking money from McGuire and the Jesuit religious order. Donald McGuire's lawyer peppered the defrocked priest's accuser with questions today about why years passed without the youn... more -
Elmhurst student had been target of anti-Muslim graffiti
he father of a Muslim student at Elmhurst College who said she was attacked by a masked gunman Thursday night in a campus bathroom said someone scrawled a swastika and anti-Muslim graffiti on her locker about a week ago. Authorities labeled the incident a hate crime today. he father of a Muslim student at Elmhurst College who said she was attacked by a masked gunman Thursday night in a campus bathroom sai... more
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McCain and The Evil Empire
Pepe Escobar: McCain insists on demonizing Russia - he's not even listening to his own heroes.
At the second US presidential debate, Senator John McCain once again raised the specter of a renewed Cold War, displaying a very confrontational position towards Russia. Even Senator Barack Obama accused Russia of promoting "mischief around the world". McCain don't seem to be listening to his own heroes - certified Cold Warrior Henry Kissinger, who advises him, and counterinsurgency ace Gen. David Petraeus.
Pepe Escobar, born in Brazil is the roving correspondent for Asia Times and an analyst for The Real News Network. He's been a foreign correspondent since 1985, based in London, Milan, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, and Bangkok. Since the late 1990s, he has specialized in covering the arc from the Middle East to Central Asia, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has made frequent visits to Iran and is the author of Globalistan and also Red Zone Blues: A Snapshot of Baghdad During the Surge both published by Nimble Books in 2007. Pepe Escobar: McCain insists on demonizing Russia - he's not even listening to his own heroes. ... more -
Rat droppings close Bar Louie
A Bar Louie restaurant in the West Loop still was closed this morning after being shut down Thursday by city health inspectors.
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Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life' by John Adams
JOHN ADAMS is the voice of America. His instrumental music, and particularly that for the orchestra, conveys the American experience broadly. He is generous in his interests, which include the maverick Yankee-isms of Charles Ives, the populist strains of Bernstein and Copland and the classical jazz of Ellington and Benny Goodman, as well as the more progressive styles of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Pop music -- be it the Beach Boys, Frank Zappa, electronica or grunge -- is on his radar. He has experimented with experimental music and championed Minimalism. Sibelius looms large. JOHN ADAMS is the voice of America. His instrumental music, and particularly that for the orchestra, conveys the American experience b... more
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US War Resister faces deportation from Canada
Canada Border Services Agency, continues to routinely effect deportation orders of US Iraq War resisters.
Iraq War Resister Sergeant Patrick Hart and his family were informed this week that they must voluntarily leave Canada or face deportation to the United States on October 30th. The Hart’s refugee application was rejected by the Canadian Immigration Refugee Board. It is estimated that there are at least 200 war resisters living in Canada. In July of this year the Canadian parliament passed a non binding motion in support of Iraq War resisters being allowed to stay in Canada. Despite this, Canada Border Services Agency, continues to routinely effect deportation orders of US Iraq War resisters. Canada Border Services Agency, continues to routinely effect deportation orders of US Iraq War resisters. ... more -
The campaigns to stop Harper
Rick Salutin: Canadian Web sites promote strategic voting as Conservative lead narrows.
Senior Editor Paul Jay sat down with Rick Salutin to discuss the sudden rise in the polls of the Liberal Part, just days before the Canadian election. Salutin talked about the fact that the Conservative Party of Stephen Harper has never really represented a majority of Canadians' values and as such many Canadians have been looking for a reason not to give them a mandate to see-through their vision of the country. Rick also talked about the vote-splitting which allows the Conservatives to get into office in the first place and summarizes some of the innovative ways that Canadians are organizing to overcome this electoral phenomenon that the Canadian party system presents.
Rick Salutin is an novelist, playwright and freelance journalist based in Toronto, Canada. He has written columns for Canadian Business, Toronto Life, TV Times, Rabble.ca and This Magazine, of which he is a founding editor, as well as a series of plays, novels and books. He was The Globe and Mail media columnist from 1991 to 1999 and is now an op-ed columnist with that paper. Rick Salutin: Canadian Web sites promote strategic voting as Conservative lead narrows. ... more -
Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky by Los Angeles Philharmonic and Yefim Bronfman
Never underestimate hero worship as a factor in a musician's life. Stravinsky's childhood hero was Tchaikovsky, and Esa-Pekka Salonen has made no secret of his deep admiration for Stravinsky.
And, as it happens, both Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky were extraordinarily well served Thursday by Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall in a night that began with Stravinsky's "Fireworks," an early piece, and concluded with "The Firebird," the ballet that established his fame. Never underestimate hero worship as a factor in a musician's life. Stravinsky's childhood hero was Tchaikovsky, and Esa-Pekk... more -
25% of teen girls vaccinated for cervical cancer, U.S. says
About a quarter of the nation's teenage girls received the controversial cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil last year in its first full year of distribution, federal authorities said Thursday. About a quarter of the nation's teenage girls received the controversial cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil last year in its first ... more
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Financial crisis II: Credit card companies cut back on TV ads
Here’s more fallout from the credit crisis: There might soon come a time when you miss those incessant Capital One TV ads that showed Visigoths storming quiet suburban neighborhoods. Nielsen Monitor-Plus released numbers today showing that credit card companies such as Capital One, Discover and Visa drastically reduced the number of TV ads they’re buying these days. And when TV advertising spending goes down, networks have less to spend on quality TV shows. Here’s more fallout from the credit crisis: There might soon come a time when you miss those incessant Capital One TV ads that showed ... more
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The roots and remedies of the financial crisis
Leo Panitch: It's time to make banking a public utility. Part 4
In the last segment of Senior Editor Paul Jay's discussion with Leo Panitch, Leo describes the various decisions on the part of the US government which led to the crisis. In short, Leo claims that the effort to house the poor without mobilizing large public expenditure is what created the conditions for the crisis. As a result, the only way to resolve the situation is to return this role to the state itself, as funded by progressive taxation and a sharp decline in military spending.
Leo Panitch is the Canada Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy and a Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science at York University in Toronto. Panitch is also the author of "Global Capitalism and American Empire" and his most recent release "American Empire and the Political Economy of International Finance". Leo Panitch: It's time to make banking a public utility. Part 4 ... more -
Letterman calls McCain's attempts to return 'squirrely'
As anyone within shouting distance of David Letterman knows, two weeks ago Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain ditched the "Late Show" host in order, the senator said, to help fix the financial crisis. As anyone within shouting distance of David Letterman knows, two weeks ago Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain ditched th... more
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Still undecided? Then just don't vote
Don't vote. People will try to guilt you into it, but stay strong and resist. I'm talking to all of you who don't feel strongly about either presidential candidate, not just those 80 undecided idiots seated at Tuesday's town hall-style debate. Those people just crave attention and are way too proud of skimming enough Google News headlines to formulate a question. Give each a hug and a Debate Attendee diploma and I bet they'll pick a candidate real fast. Don't vote. People will try to guilt you into it, but stay strong and resist. I'm talking to all of you who don't feel ... more
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No on Measure A
Los Angeles was once a great place to grow up, and it wasn't just because of the sunshine and the beach. Kids here enjoyed a great public school system, true, but it was more than that. They had an infrastructure of first-rate libraries, organized after-school activities, safe parks, job-training programs and community service projects. The city's best-known contributions to the world were healthy, well-educated, successful young people. Gang life beckoned to some, but youths who wanted to stay out of that life generally could. There were options. Los Angeles was once a great place to grow up, and it wasn't just because of the sunshine and the beach. Kids here enjoyed a grea... more
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US: New Bill Targets Rogue Druggists On The Internet
President Bush is set to sign legislation that will help the federal government crack down on hundreds of rogue Internet pharmacies that peddle controlled substances like the painkiller Vicodin or the stimulant Ritalin.
The bill reflects growing concern among parents and public-health experts that certain online pharmacies enable almost anyone to purchase drugs with a few mouse clicks and without seeing a doctor or getting a valid prescription. Experts believe the Web sites are fueling an increase in the abuse of prescription drugs, especially among teenagers.
The legislation, approved by Congress last month, aims to make it harder for people to obtain the drugs by prohibiting online pharmacies from dispensing medications to anyone without a valid prescription from a doctor who has examined the purchaser in person at least once. It would have little effect on legal online pharmacies, such as drugstore.com and the sites of pharmacy chains Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Corp. that already impose such rules on their customers.
Regulators say the new law is intended in part to strengthen the federal government's ability to enforce existing statutes and make clear how they apply to the Internet. "This is really making explicit what has been implicit," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and the bill's lead sponsor in the Senate. "We've tried to close this loophole by essentially addressing this problem of controlled substances being sold without any medical oversight or prescription."
The bill has limitations, however. For one, it's not aimed at online pharmacies based outside the country. Also, the bill also doesn't address non-controlled prescription drugs, such as the erectile-dysfunction drugs Viagra and Cialis, hair-loss drug Propecia, painkiller Celebrex and muscle relaxant Soma that are popular on rogue sites. Finally, the bill does not create new requirements for Internet search engines, credit-card companies or package-delivery concerns whose services are used in online pharmacy transactions.
Abuse of prescription medicines is beginning to rival that of illegal drugs as a public health worry. From 1992 to 2006, the number of people who admitted abusing controlled prescription drugs doubled to 15.8 million, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. That is more than the combined number of people who reported abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin.
Teenagers are especially vulnerable. In 2006, 2.2 million teens between ages 12 and 17 admitted abusing a prescription drug in the past year. While the role of rogue online pharmacies is hard to quantify, Joseph Califano, president of the center at Columbia, says they are a "significant" part of the problem, in part because college students can get online orders sent to their mailboxes without parents' knowledge. Teenagers also get drugs out of their parents' medicine cabinets, he says.
The Drug Enforcement Administration says that a relatively small percentage of people get controlled drugs illegally over the Internet, but that they frequently get them in large quantities -- 100 to 120 pills at a time, compared to just a handful from friends or pilfered from pill bottles at home. The DEA also believes these pharmacies are an "upstream" source of the drugs, meaning they sell them to individuals who then deal them to others. Potential for Abuse
Controlled substances are policed by the DEA because of their potential to be abused or lead to addiction. Those popular on the Internet include stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin, painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin, depressants such as Xanax and Valium, and the weight-loss drug phentermine.
more@link President Bush is set to sign legislation that will help the federal government crack down on hundreds of rogue Internet pharmacies th... more -
Air New Zealand touts being green, quirky
n Air New Zealand flight to test fuel- and time-saving measures touches down at San Francisco International Airport last month.
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Global warming will hurt tropical species too, scientists say
WASHINGTON -- Although the most significant harm from climate change so far has been in the polar regions, tropical plants and animals may face an even greater threat, say scientists who studied conditions in Costa Rica.
"Many lowland tropical species could be in trouble," the team of researchers, led by Robert K. Colwell of the University of Connecticut, warn in today's edition of Science. WASHINGTON -- Although the most significant harm from climate change so far has been in the polar regions, tropical plants and animals... more -
Sarah Palin under intense fire from animal rights groups
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has never hidden the fact that she's a proud hunter from her home state of Alaska, first with a famous photo (below) through which many Americans initially came to know of her with a caribou she shot, to Wednesday's photo (above) of the governor carrying a tote bag with the slogan "Real Women Hunt Moose." Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has never hidden the fact that she's a proud hunter from her home state of Ala... more
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