Tonight's OND is brought to you by Oke, whose daily diary limit was already reached:
*material posted with saildude's permissions
Continuing Oke's excellent OND for Friday, July 3, 2009:
Reading Of The Declaration Of Independence
Morning Edition, July 3, 2009 · Twenty-one years ago, Morning Edition launched what has become an Independence Day tradition: hosts, reporters, newscasters and commentators reading the Declaration of Independence. |
Gay marriage case will go to Supreme Court: attorney
By Alexandria Sage
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The attorney representing two same-sex couples who were denied a right to wed in California said on Thursday he expected the case to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to hear a case on the gay marriage issue.
"When it does get to the United States Supreme Court, we expect to win," Theodore Olson, who was solicitor general under former President George W. Bush, told reporters after the first hearing on federal lawsuit that was filed in May. |
Putin rejects Obama criticism before meeting
By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected U.S. President Barack Obama's charge that he was mired in Cold War thinking, setting the scene for a stormy first meeting at a Moscow summit next week.
In a pre-trip interview, the U.S. leader told the Associated Press that Putin needed to "understand that the Cold War approach to U.S.-Russian relationship is outdated" and that Putin had "one foot in the old ways of doing business." |
U.S. parents think twice about sending kids to camp
By I-Ching Ng
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Since its opening last week, camp counselors at New Jersey's Liberty Lake Day Camp disinfect door knobs, take the temperatures of children as they arrive and remind the campers not to share canned sodas.
Many of the 12,000-plus summer camps in the United States are ramping up their efforts to guard against the spread of the new H1N1 swine flu, which has caused the first pandemic of the 21st century. |
Americans take to road but cautious after gas shock
By Ed Stoddard
GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) – Robert Neal will take to the road this Independence Day holiday the same as millions of other Americans. But there's a difference in their road-trip ritual this Fourth of July.
The price of gasoline, while down sharply from last year's peak, means the 74-year-old owner of a motor home may not venture as far as he has in the past. |
Plant disease hits eastern US veggies early, hard
By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. – Tomato plants have been removed from stores in half a dozen states as a destructive and infectious plant disease makes its earliest and most widespread appearance ever in the eastern United States.
Late blight — the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s — occurs sporadically in the Northeast, but this year's outbreak is more severe for two reasons: infected plants have been widely distributed by big-box retail stores and rainy weather has hastened the spores' airborne spread. |
U.S. marshals seize Madoffs' $7 million NY apartment
By Grant McCool
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. marshals seized the luxury $7 million New York City penthouse apartment of imprisoned fraudster Bernard Madoff and his wife, Ruth, officials said on Thursday.
A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service said Mrs. Madoff was present when agents took possession of the four-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's East Side under court orders and then she left. It was not known where she would live and her lawyer could not be reached for comment. |
Medici lawyer says Kohn didn't get Madoff payments
By Martha Graybow and Boris Groendahl
NEW YORK/VIENNA (Reuters) – Austrian fund manager Sonja Kohn did not receive any kickbacks from Bernard Madoff to steer Bank Medici customer funds to the swindler's investment business, a Medici lawyer said on Friday.
"There were no Madoff payments to Kohn. There were no kickbacks," lawyer Andreas Theiss told Reuters.
Theiss reiterated prior statements that Kohn, whose Bank Medici ran several funds that funneled at least $3.3 billion to Madoff, was one of Madoff's biggest victims. |
Serial killer has South Carolina residents on edge
By MITCH WEISS, Associated Press Writer
GAFFNEY, S.C. – Terrified residents canceled Fourth of July plans and holed up in their homes Friday as investigators hunted a serial killer believed to have shot four people to death.
Tanya Phillips had been looking forward to a backyard barbecue at her brother's house but instead planned to stay home with her doors locked. |
NYC Muslims push to add holidays to school year
By SUZANNE MA, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK – Moneeb Hassan remembers having to choose between a final exam in American history or celebrating the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha. In the end, he chose both.
Hassan, 17, is one of thousands of Muslim students in the city who must perform a balancing act between his academic and religious obligations during his holidays. But the nation's largest school district hasn't sanctioned official Muslim holidays. |
Much-needed tax refunds delayed from Ga. to Calif.
By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA – Colin Daymude was out of work last year after his business failed and eagerly filed his taxes in mid-January, figuring he'd get his refund sooner. He was wrong.
It took the 44-year-old entrepreneur more than six months to get his $1,300 check — money that he needed to pay living expenses while he worked a few side gigs. |
Education secretary challenges NEA on teacher pay
By LIBBY QUAID, AP Education Writer
WASHINGTON – Education Secretary Arne Duncan challenged members of the National Education Association Thursday to stop resisting the idea of linking teacher pay to student achievement.
It was Duncan's first speech at the union's annual meeting, a gathering at which President Barack Obama was booed when he mentioned the idea of performance pay last year. By contrast, Duncan drew raucous applause and only a smattering of boos. |
*hope student achievement isn't linked to this teacher's pay
Calif. students get X-rated version of class DVD
ELK GROVE, Calif. – A Northern California elementary school teacher sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch.
Officials at the Elk Grove Unified School District asked families of the teacher's 24 students to get rid of the DVD after the unintended clip was found spliced in a scene where children were sharing stories in class.
"Just destroy them," said spokeswoman Torrey Johnson.
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Bedwetting, being overweight linked to sleep apnea
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children who are overweight and wet the bed at night may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), researchers report.
Both being overweight and wetting the bed are associated with the nighttime breathing disorder, they found. However, overweight and bedwetting are not associated with each other.
In a "case-control" study, Dr. Joseph G. Barone, of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues performed overnight sleep studies in 149 children between the ages of 5 and 15 with OSA, and 139 matched control children. |
New Drug Could Work Against Leukemia
THURSDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- A new targeted therapy shows promise in treating acute myeloid leukemia, a highly treatment-resistant blood cancer, according to a new study.
Researchers created an antibody (7G3) that recognizes and binds to a molecule called CD123, which is expressed at high levels on leukemia stem cells (LSCs), but not on normal blood cells. LSCs are cells that can cause acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are critical for its long-term growth. |
Vatican newspaper praises French Protestant John Calvin
VATICAN CITY (AFP) – The Vatican newspaper Friday praised influential French Protestant John Calvin, a critic of the Roman Catholic Church, hailing him an "extraordinary" figure.
The Osservatore Romano, on the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth, said it recognised the theologian as a Christian who had a major impact on European life. |
U.S. orders suicide warnings on two anti-smoking drugs
By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. health officials on Wednesday ordered Pfizer Inc and GlaxoSmithKline PLC to add strong "black box" warnings on their anti-smoking drugs to highlight the risk of serious mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts.
The warnings, which must be added to Pfizer's Chantix and Glaxo's Zyban, follow more than five thousand reports of depression, hostility and other behavioral changes, the Food and Drug Administration said. |
Iranian cleric: British Embassy staff to be tried
By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer
EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.
_
A powerful cleric said Friday that Iran will put British Embassy staffers on trial for fomenting postelection turmoil, a step that would likely increase Iran's isolation and alienate Western nations that have been trying to keep options open with Tehran despite its crackdown on protesters.
The announcement fueled calls in Europe for tougher action against Tehran. Britain is pressing for members of the European Union to pull their ambassadors out of Tehran to protest the staffers' arrests last week.
The standoff is a test of how far Iran's clerical rulers are willing to go to shore up their position at home after the wave of protests — even if they risk wrecking possibilities for dialogue between Tehran and the West, a major policy goal of President Barack Obama that Tehran cautiously welcomed.
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VP Biden urges Iraqis to make political progress
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD – Vice President Joe Biden pressed Iraqi leaders Friday to do more to foster national reconciliation and offered U.S. assistance in achieving that, as concerns grow that a lack of political progress is fueling violence in Iraq.
He stressed that America wanted to "build up" its partnership with Iraqi leaders even as it draws down its forces, starting with Tuesday's deadline for pulling back combat troops from cities. |
U.S. taking cautious approach to Honduras political crisis
By Lesley Clark, McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — When the ousted president of Honduras hit Washington this week demanding a return to power, he got meetings with a White House adviser and a top U.S. diplomat.
To be sure, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton already had condemned the coup d'etat that ejected President Manuel Zelaya from his Central American nation. However, the second-tier meetings signaled the new administration's cautious and nuanced management of its first full-blown crisis in Latin America . |
Nigerians from diaspora heading home to work
By Sophie Mongalvy
LAGOS (AFP) – Many Nigerian professionals who grew up, studied and worked abroad are returning to career opportunities back home in a trend that has gathered pace with the global economic crisis.
And some specialists say now-democratic Nigeria, still battling corruption, crime and pockets of armed militancy, will reap the benefits. |
Israeli sub sails Suez, signaling reach to Iran
By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An Israeli submarine sailed the Suez Canal to the Red Sea as part of a naval drill last month, defense sources said on Friday, describing the unusual maneuver as a show of strategic reach in the face of Iran.
Israel long kept its three Dolphin-class submarines, which are widely assumed to carry nuclear missiles, away from Suez so as not to expose them to the gaze of Egyptian harbormasters. |
North Korea fires short-range missiles: reports
TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea has test-fired two short-range missiles, Japan's Kyodo and Jiji news agencies said on Saturday, quoting South Korea's Yonhap, stoking regional tensions after its nuclear tests and threats to boost its nuclear arsenal in response to U.N. sanctions. |
Uganda to outlaw female circumcision
KAMPALA (AFP) – Uganda will pass a law banning female genital mutilation, which is rampant among pastoralist tribes in the country's eastern region, the president said in a statement Friday.
"The way God made it, there is no part of a human body that is useless," President Yoweri Museveni told a gathering in the eastern Karamoja district.
"Now you people interfere with God's work. Some say it is culture. Yes, I support culture but you must support culture that is useful and based on scientific information," he added. |
If you are interested in environmental issues, please join DK GreenRoots, a new environmental advocacy group created by Meteor Blades. DK GreenRoots is comprised of bloggers at Daily Kos and eco-advocates from other sites. We focus on a broad range of issues. We alert each other to important eco-stories in the mainstream media and on the Internet, promote bloggers at one site to readers at other sites and discuss crucial eco-issues. We are in exciting times now because for the first time in years, significant environmental legislation will be passed by Congress. DK GreenRoots can also be used to apprise members of discussions and strategy sessions happening in Meteor Blade’s Green Diary Rescue thread, which is also our workroom. |
Plants’ Internal Clock Can Improve Climate Change Models
ScienceDaily (July 2, 2009) — The ability of plants to tell the time, a mechanism common to all living beings, enables them to survive, grow and reproduce. An international team has studied this circadian clock from a molecular viewpoint and has found an ecological implication: it makes climate change scenarios and CO2 level figures more accurate. |
Small Heat-Shielded Habitats Could Help Threatened Species Survive Climate Change
ScienceDaily (July 3, 2009) — Intelligent countryside management could improve the survival chances of animal and plant species threatened by climate change. The creation of small heat-shielded habitats and better links between habitats would counteract a moderate temperature increase and give threatened species more time to adapt better and/or to migrate to cooler regions. |
Reusable packaging in the UK: cost the major factor
Eifion Rees
When it comes to reusable packaging and the environment, consumers are keen to do the right thing, but it seems sparking a refill revolution in Great Britain means getting the price right first
With recycling, as with so many other green initiatives, the Europeans are way ahead of us. In the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland respectively, 80, 90 and 98 per cent of all soft drink and beer packaging is refillable. |
San Francisco Mandates Separating Biodegradables for Composting
By Bob P. July 1, 2009
On June 10, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved what may be the toughest recycling law in the nation, adding mandatory composting of food scraps and biodegradables to its already acclaimed recycling program.
Beginning this fall, residences and businesses will be required to sort their refuse into three, color-coded containers: blue for recycled items, green for compost, and black for trash. The proposal, introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom, is part of the city’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, by 2020, send nothing to landfills or incinerators. |
QuikScat Finds Tempests Brewing In 'Ordinary' Storms
ScienceDaily — "June is busting out all over," as the song says, and with it, U.S. residents along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts begin to gaze warily toward the ocean, aware that the hurricane season is revving up. |
Change farming to cut CO2 emissions by 25 per cent
Eifion Rees
A new report has revealed that a change in the way we manage agricultural land could help sequester a quarter of the world's carbon dioxide emissions every year
How to remove carbon from the atmosphere and put it back in the ground? Although the Government might like its big-ticket solutions such as unproven carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies for coal-fired power plants, a more effective answer may lie right beneath our feet. |
Volcano's Eruption Creates Colorful U.S. Sunset
By Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Staff Writer
Many people in the United States and Europe are seeing gorgeous lavender sunsets lately thanks to the eruption more than two weeks ago of Russia's Sarychev Peak volcano.
The volcano blew its top June 12, generating a remarkable shock wave in the atmosphere seen in a photo taken by astronauts. It also hurled massive plumes of sulfur dioxide into the air, and that material has been circling the globe.
Deep purple hues and ripples of white characterize the spectacular views the past few evenings. |
Mississippi River Delta to "Drown" by 2100?
Rebecca Carroll for National Geographic News
The Mississippi River Delta is drowning, according to new research that predicts the surrounding coastline will be inevitably reshaped in coming decades.
"There's just not enough sediment to sustain the delta plain," said study author Michael Blum of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Deltas are coastal landmasses created from a river's sediment deposits as the water flows out to sea. |