News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Mayor Bloomberg Styrofoam Ban — Reader Tom C informs us that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is now seeking to ban Styrofoam.
Very unwise. What will the people of Staten Island use to store their food the next time they lose power for a month or so?
By William W. Lawrence Sr
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Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.
Will Rogers
Rubio State Of The Union Response — Here’s the speech that was worth watching last night:
Note that it was 16 minutes long. And then he did it again in Spanish.
Aqui lo es en Espanol:
Pennsylvania Encourages Organ Donations — The Pennsylvania House unanimously passed a measure last week to offer tax credits to employers who offer paid leave to workers who choose to donate an organ or bone marrow to someone in need, reports state Rep. Jim Cox (R-129). House Bill 46 would institute the tax credit as one step in removing obstacles that may deter living donors.
The tax credits offered under the bill would be equal to the amount paid out in wages while an employee donor undergoes a transplant procedure and recovery – up to five days. Currently, more than 8,000 Pennsylvanians are in need of an organ or bone marrow transplant.
The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
By William W. Lawrence Sr
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Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem!
Chesty Puller
The Pennsylvania House approved last week a child protection bill that would require school districts to incorporate a Child Exploitation Awareness Education program into existing curriculum, reports state Rep. Jim Cox (R-129)
House Bill 19 would require the Department of Education to develop an age-appropriate child exploitation awareness education program for grades K-8. The curriculum would focus on such topics as the definition of child exploitation, types of child exploitation, including abduction and sexual abuse, awareness of warning signs of child exploitation, and strategies for students to avoid potential exploitation.
The bill was endorsed by the state’s Task Force on Child Protection, which was formed in the wake of the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal to study the state’s laws and identify changes that could be made to better protect children.
The measure now heads to the Senate for consideration.
By William W. Lawrence Sr
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Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.
Louisa May Alcott
A story is flying around the web that John Brennan, the man President Obama wants to lead the CIA, is a secret Muslim.
John Brennan joined the CIA after seeing an recruitment ad while riding a bus to classes at Fordham University in the 1970s. He rose through the ranks becoming station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the Clinton years and was picked by George Bush to become deputy executive director of the CIA in 2001. He then became director of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center and National Counterterrorism Center before leaving government in 2005 for private security sector.
Obama made him deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism after taking office in 2009.
During the Bush years he supported waterboarding terrorist suspects. During the Obama years he supported the massive increase in drone attacks.
He is fluent in Arabic.
AlJazeera doesn’t like the choice.
And in other CIA news, the U.K. Daily Mail is reporting that David Petraeus, the man Brennan is tapped to replace, was brought down by his own bodyguards and high ranking CIA agents who objected to his style of management. The claims are based on a book by former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb and former Green Beret Jack Murphy.
The article notes that Peatraeus was unaware of unilateral operations in Libya orchestrated by Brennan which are believed to be the motive for the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks that killed four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens and Special Force members who were friends of the authors, and hence failed to take precautions he would have otherwise made.
Meanwhile, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the filmmaker the Obama administration claims motivated the attack, remains in prison.
Members of the House Gaming Oversight Committee this week approved a measure to make further updates to the Small Games of Chance Act, reports state Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).
House Bill 290 would make it clear in state law that an entity operating solely in the public interest, such as a volunteer fire company, has the ability to retain 100 percent of its revenue from small games for its own charitable purposes.
The bill also would call for the addition of several new games, such as Chinese auctions and Night at the Races events, and would permit the Department of Revenue to approve new small games of chance through the regulatory process. The permissible games would be only those that have been operating for years in local communities.
House Bill 290 also would make annual reporting forms available in a paper format that can be filed by mail, instead of only online options.
The bill now heads to the full House for consideration.
By William W. Lawrence Sr
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Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me, a foreigner?
Ruth