| News That Matters "Remember - everyone seems normal until you get to know them." Good Tuesday Morning, Minnesota is still down one US Senator. The race between incumbent Norm Coleman and Al Franken (Mr. Franken still leads by 225 votes) has been in the courts time and again and they keep telling Mr. Coleman the same thing: "Give it up, dude. It's over." But he's not paying attention. Blackwater Worldwide, the security organization many on the political Left were afraid would take over the world via fiat during the Bush Administration has changed it's name to Xe (pronounced "zee"). The organization, faulted for mistreatment, abuse and several murders, aims to clear its name and rebirth itself as "those really nice guys in black". Utah's Republican Governor Jon Huntsman has endorsed civil unions and that has created quite a stir in the Beehive state. “I believe in traditional marriage. I always have. But I also believe there's more we can do in terms of enhancing those individual rights for others," said the Governor during a television interview this past weekend. Mormons in Utah have sworn to marry only one wife until the Governor is run out of state. Website Watch:
And now, The News:
Borkowski announces candidacy for Putnam SheriffTerence Corcoran Cost of New (NY) Taxes: $3300 Annually, Says State GOP LeadersThe 137 tax and fee increases proposed by Gov. David Paterson to close a budget hole would cost a middle-class family of four $3,300 a year, according to computations by Senate Republicans. Such a hit would “not only exhaust any monthly savings for emergencies, but (also) force families to reduce spending to pay for additional taxes and fees,’’ Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said today. Skelos wants the governor, who proposed the increases to help close a $13 billion state budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts April 1, to hold off on any tax-hike ideas until the state knows how much it is getting from the federal government’s stimulus package, which is being debated this week in Congress. There was no immediate response to the GOP calculations from Paterson’s Budget Division. Longtime Cold Spring mayor faces a re-election challengeBarbara Livingston Nackman EPA Grants Bring Green Education to New York Teachers and StudentsContact Information: Teresa Ippolito (212) 637-3671, ippolito.teresa@epa.gov (New York, N.Y.) Green education is flourishing in New York and will grow with support from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency environmental education grants. Youngsters will learn how to protect themselves from asthma triggers while enjoying a lively interactive life. Teachers will explore energy, ecology, and conservation activities that will engage their students. High school students will green their school building, while other students and teachers study forestry in urban parks. These environmental stewardship projects were all made possible through EPA grants totaling more than $106,000. Will Obama Jumpstart Home Gardening and Local Farming? |
| The stimulus has "$30 million in there to protect mice in San Francisco." There is a provision in the economic stimulus plan that means that "students cannot meet together in their dorms, if that dorm has been repaired with this federal money, and have a prayer group or a Bible study." |
From: Politifact
By Angie Drobnic Holan
Many Republicans definitely don't like the stimulus bill. They've called it wasteful and pork-laden.
But they've also said it had money to protect San Francisco mice, and that it could prevent college students from holding Bible studies in their dorms.
We found both claims to be False.
• Several Republicans claimed this week that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi put $30 million in a bill to protect the salt marsh harvest mouse. We looked into the issue, though, and found that was not the case. There's no money for mice in the bill. There might -- or might not -- be money for a major coastal restoration project in California that could help out the mice. And a state agency submitted the project, not Pelosi. We rate the claim, made most plainly by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, as False.
• Sen. Jim DeMint said a clause in the stimulus bill "would make sure that students could never talk openly and honestly about their faith." We looked into this and found the bill contained standard language that says money can go to colleges for buildings, but not buildings for "sectarian instruction or religious worship; or in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission." We rated DeMint's statement False as well.
Net threat to minors less than feared
by Larry Magid
WASHINGTON -- A long awaited report from the Internet Safety Technical Task Force concludes that children and teens are less vulnerable to sexual predation than many have feared. The report also questions the efficacy and necessity of some commonly prescribed remedies designed to protect young people.
| What the task force did find is that "bullying and harassment, most often by peers, are the most salient threats that minors face, both online and offline." |
The task force was formed as a result of a joint agreement between MySpace and 49 state attorneys general.
Over the past couple of years, several state AGs have been looking into potential dangers to youth, and some have called for social-network sites to use age verification technology to confirm the ages of users in an attempt to prevent adults from or interacting online with minors. The task force includes representatives of Internet and social-networking companies, security and identity authentication vendors, and nonprofit advocacy organizations. It's chaired by John Palfrey of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
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