A black bear that wandered onto a field next to a Portland-area elementary school has been tranquilized and removed. (June 2)
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A Los Angeles shelter recently began charging those who want to use the shelter a modest fee to stay overnight. The move not only underscores new economic realities, but also a changing philosophy toward helping the homeless. (June 2)
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When, in a recent New York Times interview, Comedian Chelsea Handler expressed disgust with the MTV show “16 and Pregnant,” pro-lifers (and fans of traditional morality) might have had reason to hope. “Getting rewarded for being pregnant when you're a teenager?” she fumed, “Are you serious? I mean, that makes me want to kill somebody.” Unfortunately, that somebody is a fetus. She went on to speak proudly of her own experience. “I had an abortion when I was 16,” she stated. “Because that's what I should have done. Otherwise I would now have a 20-year-old kid. Anyway, those are things that people shouldn't be dishonest about it.” This should come as no surprise to defenders of life, since for years now the media and those in the spotlight of American fame have contributed to the continued undermining of a culture of life, and have downplayed or simply ignored unpleasant stories that undermine the pro-abortion position. In February, the pro-life group Live Action released a hidden-camera video of a New Jersey Planned Parenthood employee giving advice to a man posing as a pimp about obtaining abortions and birth control for the underage foreign prostitutes he traffics. The networks ignored the story for a week. During the subsequent House of Representatives effort to defund the organization, only ABC mentioned the Live Action video as a cause. In fact, the networks during that month preferred to cover the Charlie Sheen's meltdown 20 times more than the Planned Parenthood scandal, the Culture and Media Institute found . While the news media prefer to ignore the debate over Planned Parenthood's federal funding, many celebrities haven't. Actress Scarlett Johansson came out swinging in support of Planned Parenthood, taking time out of her acting career to put on a show for Planned Parenthood's supporters, and filming an ad that urged the public to contact Congress and tell them not to cut funding. In her ad she desperately pleaded, “Every year, Planned Parenthood provides essential care to millions of women, men, and teens. For many people – especially those with low incomes – Planned Parenthood is their only source of health care. Let your Members of Congress know where you stand. Go to IStandWithPlannedParenthood.org . Sign the petition.” Johansson ignored the 8,000 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC's) that offer many of the same health services as Planned Parenthood, including others Planned Parenthood does not, at little or no cost. Johansson also mourned the lack of money for things like breast exams if funding was to be cut, but failed to mention that mammograms are not actually offered by Planned Parenthood. Singer Katy Perry, in a recent article in Vanity Fair , talked about her strict religious upbringing and how it supposedly tainted her view of Planned Parenthood: “Growing up, seeing Planned Parenthood, it was considered like the abortion clinic … I was always scared I was going to get bombed when I was there … I didn't know it was more than that, that it was for women and their needs. I didn't have insurance, so I went there and I learned about birth control.” Perry claims her upbringing misled her about Planned Parenthood, but Planned Parenthood is doing some misleading of its own. According to its 2011 fact sheet , with figures from 2009, abortion only makes up three percent of its services. However, the same fact sheet noted that Planned Parenthood served three million people and performed 332,278 abortions. This means 11 percent of its patients received an abortion, not three percent. Johansson and Perry are not the only stars rushing to Planned Parenthood's side. During the budget cutting debate, many others spoke out . Lisa Edelstein of “House M.D.” cut an ad for the left-wing group MoveOn.org that featured lies and scare tactics to oppose Planned Parenthood's defunding. Singer Hayley Williams, Oscar-winner Gweneth Paltrow and actress Julianne Moore did their part parroting the group's talking points. Still, there are some celebrities coming out on the side of life. Supermodel Kathy Ireland recently told FOX411's Pop Tarts, “I think Planned Parenthood needs to reassess and look at what their values are, what their mission is, what their goals are, and do they deserve government funding?” But the most surprising recent exception to the pro-abortion celebrity echo chamber came from rock n' roll. Rock star and Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler revealed in Aerosmith's autobiography Walk This Way , just how gut-wrenching his own personal experience with abortion was. In the mid-70s, Tyler had become the legal guardian of his teenaged girlfriend and eventually conceived a child with her. Friends persuaded Tyler abortiona was necessary and he persuaded his reluctant girlfriend to have an abortion in the fifth month of pregnancy, a decision that would come to haunt them both. He reflected in Walk This Way: “It was a big crisis. It's a major thing when you're growing something with a woman, but they convinced us that it would never work out and would ruin our lives … You go to the doctor and they put the needle in her belly and they squeeze the stuff in and you watch. And it comes out dead. I was pretty devastated. In my mind, I'm going, Jesus, what have I done?” The abortion of his first child affected Tyler in ways noticeable even to others; his friend Ray Tabano remembers “it really messed Steven up because it was a boy. He was there, he saw the whole thing and it [messed] him up big time.” Tyler faced guilt and trauma that he tried to escape through his use of drugs. Like so many men and women who have faced the reality of an abortion, the guilt followed him: “It affected me later when I tried to get my real wife pregnant. I was afraid. I thought we'd give birth to a six-headed cow because of what I'd done with other women. The real-life guilt was very traumatic for me. Still hurts.” Obviously Tyler was not the only one affected by this abortion. Julia Holcomb, the teenager who carried Tyler's first child for five months and then was persuaded to abort, has also recently come out to speak about the event . Though she and Tyler seem to disagree about some of the specifics of the events surrounding their relationship, the share a deep regret for the abortion. She wrote: “It was a horrible nightmare I will never forget. I was traumatized by the experience. My baby had one defender in life; me, and I caved in to pressure because of fear of rejection and the unknown future. I wish I could go back and be given that chance again, to say no to the abortion one last time. I wish with all my heart I could have watched that baby live his life and grow to be a man.” The story of Tyler and Holcomb demonstrates the reality of abortion, the pain, the guilt, the trauma, and the killing which accompanies the procedure which so many celebrities laud as necessary and freeing. There's good news for the pro-life movement: more Americans than ever see abortion as morally wrong. But, highlighting their cultural disconnect from their audiences, celebrities are rallying around Planned Parenthood and the culture of abortion.
Continue reading …An Oakland man has been reunited with his stolen laptop thanks to an app which took pictures of the slack-jawed suspected thief and captured his email address. Joshua Kaufman started a blog— This Guy Has My MacBook —after police told him that they couldn’t follow up the case because of…
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SPOONFoundation says: RT @SeattleMamaDoc : Sensible! I talk about using plate as piechart RT @Mtnmd , @beRt_MD Government replaces food guide pyramid with a plate http://zite.to/lhPwfp
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Prime minister secures more time in office to focus on the post-tsunami recovery operation in north-east Japan The Japanese prime minister, Naoto Kan, has comfortably survived a no-confidence motion after offering to resign as soon as plans for Japan’s recovery from the tsunami and nuclear crisis are in place. MPs in the 480-seat lower house of Japan’s parliament voted down the motion on Thursday afternoon by 293 votes to 152. By offering to quit, possibly in the autumn, Kan has bought himself a few more months in office. The move will enable him to oversee the operation to stabilise the nuclear plant – which is expected to take several months – and to secure emergency funding for the reconstruction of the country’s battered north-east coast. The fate of Thursday’s motion, submitted by the main opposition Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and other opposition parties, was sealed after Kan’s main rival in his own Democratic party of Japan (DPJ), Ichiro Ozawa, indicated he would abstain along with 50 of his supporters, having earlier threatened to side with the opposition. Although he survived the motion, Kan faces a difficult few months, during which he is expected to struggle to reach deals on emergency budgets in a deeply divided parliament, and to introduce a controversial tax rise. The no-confidence motion has exposed divisions inside his own party, with DPJ executives vowing to take action against rebel MPs who voted with the opposition. Kan, who has been in office for almost a year, managed to pre-empt his opponents earlier in the day when he pledged to resign once his disaster mission was complete, and suggested it was time the political elite made way for a new generation. “I would like the younger generation to take over various responsibilities once I have finished fulfilling certain roles as a I work on handling the disaster,” he told DPJ MPs. “The nuclear crisis is ongoing, and I will make my utmost efforts to end the crisis and move forward with post-quake reconstruction work.” His offer to resign convinced his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, who also leads a large DPJ faction, to withdraw his support for the no-confidence motion. Kyodo News reported that Ozawa, a longtime Kan nemesis and notorious power broker, would abstain. At one stage it had looked possible that opposition parties would come tantalisingly close to securing the votes of the 80 or so governing party MPs they needed to force Kan to resign or call a general election. Kan, Japan’s fifth prime minister since 2006, remained vague about when he would step down. Shizuka Kamei, the leader of a minor partner, said he should resign as soon as the nuclear crisis has been resolved. Kan’s success in buying time to oversee the start of Japan’s reconstruction, which could cost up to £113bn, has all but ruined the prospects for a grand coalition comprising the DPJ and the LDP, whose leader, Sadakazu Tanigaki, was behind the no-confidence motion. “Among possible scenarios the best one would be Kan voluntarily resigning and the DPJ forming a coalition with the LDP to stabilise politics,” said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at the Mizuho research institute in Tokyo. “Unstable politics would weigh on stock prices and delay reconstruction after the disaster. “From both Japanese and foreign investors’ point of view, now is not the time for political turmoil. Japan has various issues it needs to address swiftly – not only reconstruction but also tax and social security reform, TPP [a transpacific free trade agreement] and energy policy, which requires political initiative.” The return to business as usual in Nagatacho, Tokyo’s political nerve centre, has been met with anger and disbelief in the country’s north-east, where about 100,000 people are still living in evacuation shelters and construction of temporary housing is behind schedule. The damage to the region’s administrative infrastructure would have made it all but impossible for some communities to take part in a general election had the no-confidence motion succeeded. “We are in a situation of having to delay the prefectural assembly election because elections cannot be held in our prefecture right now,” Miyagi prefecture’s governor, Yoshihiro Murai, told reporters. “It will be difficult to hold a lower house election, especially in the municipalities along the coast.” An 82-year-old resident of Kamaishi who was living in a local school told the Asahi Shimbun: “Once things become more settled in the region struck by the disaster, they can go ahead and dissolve the lower house as many times as they like. If they dissolve it now, I will abstain from voting.” A day of political turmoil in Japan coincided with a visit by the British business secretary, Vince Cable, who offered British help with the operation to remove waste from the nuclear plant and to decommission its reactors once they have achieved “cold shutdown”. “We can help with strategic planning, technical help with various aspects of decommissioning and waste disposal – we have a lot of experience in that field – and independent verification, if that’s what the Japanese need,” Cable said. “But the most important contribution we’re making on the nuclear issue at the moment is being scientifically rational. This whole issue is in danger of getting out of control. “The fact that [UK chief nuclear adviser] John Beddington has been here and looked at this scientifically has an impact on UK public opinion. It’s about perception.” The Fukushima nuclear accident prompted Japan to abandon plans to build new reactors and Germany to announce it would close all of its atomic plants by 2022. But Cable said British energy policy, which envisions a key role for nuclear, remained unchanged. “There were periodic outbursts in the newspapers at the time [of the accident] and you’ve seen what’s happened in Germany with a sudden switch of policy. We’re not changing our policy. “There’s a continuing emphasis on safety – that’s got to be scientifically based – and we don’t believe in subsidisation of the industry. But we’ve got no fundamental, theological objections. “In the UK we’ve committed ourselves to these very ambitious low-carbon budgets, and it’s explicit that nuclear power has a significant role to play, provided safety issues are properly addressed and the government isn’t called upon to offer subsidies.” Cable, who is the first cabinet minister to visit Tokyo since the 11 March disaster, pledged British support for Japan as it attempts to put its economy back on track. “One of the main reasons I’m here is to show solidarity with the Japanese,” he said. “Britain has given a lot of practical help with humanitarian assistance and our companies have pitched in in various ways. “But one of the most useful ways we can help is to show that Japan is safe and that there is no reason why business people shouldn’t come here. “The message is that Japan is a country we want to do business with. Come here and get on with it.” Japan disaster Japan Natural disasters and extreme weather Nuclear power Energy Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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Homeless charity Crisis says young disabled people who can no longer afford flats could end up being forced to live on the streets Controversial government changes to housing benefit could see 11,000 young disabled people forced out of their flats, putting them at risk of homelessness, according to campaigners. The homeless charity Crisis says the government’s own figures (pdf) show that almost one in five of the 62,500 people in England, Scotland and Wales affected by the proposed extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) have a disability. From 1 January 2012, single people aged 25-34 will only be able to claim housing benefit based on the cost of a room in a shared house rather than a modest one-bed flat, bringing them into line with existing rates for people under 25. The average loss will be £41 a week. This will force many disabled people into housing that is inappropriate for their condition, said Crisis. Although 4,000 of the most vulnerable disabled claimants will be exempt because they need help through the day or night, most ill and disabled people will be forced to move into cheaper accommodation, often outside the area where they live. In a survey of housing professionals published by Crisis last month, 87% said they already had problems finding appropriate properties for people on SAR and 72% believed there was not enough shared accommodation in their area. Leslie Morphy, chief executive of Crisis, said: “This disturbing cut will force people suffering serious physical disabilities or mental illness to share with strangers, even if it damages their health. “Government claims that discretionary funding will be able to support those who need it just don’t add up. “We are deeply concerned that some of the disabled people affected by this will end up homeless, and in the worst cases rough-sleeping.” James, 31, from Coventry, who is on incapacity benefit, faces a cut of £43 a week in his benefit, which will force him to leave the small one-bedroom flat he has lived in since 2008. He has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism; a hereditary condition that results in severe mobility problems; and has suffered from ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease. He says his Asperger’s makes it hard for him to live with strangers, and he fears that the stress of moving from his home will trigger health problems. He says there are no affordable one-bedroom flats where he lives. “I think it’s going to be horrific. I just won’t have the money to stay where I am. It will basically be ‘look for the least terrible option’.” James says he is frustrated by being unable to work. He says he has applied for jobs without success. “One of the things I’m most frustrated by is people saying I’m workshy. This is not a ‘lifestyle choice’. I’m not living in luxury at the taxpayer’s expense, I’m living in penury at the taxpayer’s expense, and I hate it, I hate living on handouts.” According to an equality impact assessment carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions, the average loss per week is £41, rising to £45 a week in the south east and £87 a week in London. The highest losses will be incurred by young people renting in Camden (a loss of £116 a week), Brent (£111), Islington (£109), Tower Hamlets (£109) and Westminster (£108). The Department for Work and Pensions said the measure, which it hopes will save £200m a year, was to ensure greater fairness so that people on housing benefit face similar “affordability choices” to those not on benefits. Disability Housing benefit Communities Housing Patrick Butler guardian.co.uk
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Residents along the Missouri River are sandbagging and packing up belongings as rivers continue to swell. (June 2)
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Heavy sandstorms blanketed Iraq’s capital Baghdad and other provinces on Thursday, causing traffic chaos and closing shops. (June 2)
Continue reading …I read Jake Tapper’s article on the meeting between the President and the House Republicans with bated breath. Republicans described the meeting as being “frosty, good group therapy, nice conversation, frank and productive and even non-confrontational.” Wow, who could have guessed that? This is my favorite part, and it features Eric “The Tornado” Cantor: Cantor also criticized Democrats’ “Medi-scare” attacks, saying that the charges that the GOP is taking medicine from grandma to pad the pockets of the rich isn’t helpful. Oh, but they are doing exactly that , but that’s beside the point. The President replied: The president added that he is all for a reduction of demagoguery, an issue he understands since he is the ‘job killing, death panel, probably-wasn’t-born-here president.’ Eric Cantor, who heartlessly has been refusing to help the tornado victims in Joplin, MO, unless they are first paid for with politically-motivated spending cuts, is openly complaining to the president about how mean they’ve been treated. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that if Congress passes an emergency spending bill to help Missouri’s tornado victims, the extra money will have to be cut from somewhere else. “ If there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental ,” Mr. Cantor, Virginia Republican, told reporters at the Capitol. The term “pay-fors” is used by lawmakers to signal cuts or tax increases used to pay for new spending He doubled down on those comments about tornado victims on Face The Nation and he’s crying to the Commander in Chief. You can’t make this up. Republicans get elected by fearmongering anything and everything — from “death panels” to incipient Marxism — so it just makes me smile when I see a wimpy Eric Cantor openly complain to the president about how mean they’ve been treated while residents of Joplin and other regions hit by these marauding tornadoes are the ones who are really suffering.
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