Please Rec this diary instead of OND tonight.
EMERGENCY continues: Summary of Dakota Rez links
This week navajo brought us the news of the emergency situation on the Reservations in South Dakota. The action has brought awareness and assistance from this community, a much needed resource since even CNN wouldn't cover the disaster.
Enjoy the articles and share your own but please help keep the action diary on the Recommended list.
The Arrogance of Ignorance:Hidden Away, Out of Sight and Out of Mind
Hidden away, out of sight but dotting the landscape of America, are the little known or forgotten Reservations of the Indigenous People of our land. Sadly, the average U.S. mainstream resident knows almost nothing about the people of the Native American reservations other than what romanticized or caricaturized versions they see on film or as the print media stereotypes of oil or casino-rich Indians. Most assume that whatever poverty exists on a reservation is most certainly comparable to that which they might experience themselves. Further, they assume it is curable by the same means they would use.
But that is the arrogance of ignorance. |
Goldman CEO bonus only $9 million in nod to public ire
NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a sign it is concerned about Main Street anger over bankers' compensation, Goldman Sachs Group Inc decided to give its CEO Lloyd Blankfein and other top executives lower bonuses than many had expected.
Goldman, which reported a record profit for 2009, will pay the executives bonuses in stock worth $9 million each, far below what they got in the previous record profit year of 2007. Blankfein received $67.9 million for that year.
The bonus, which was less than the roughly $16 million that rival bank JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon was rewarded with earlier in the day, was far below the $100 million that at least one British newspaper had predicted. |
Anthem Blue Cross dramatically raising rates for Californians with individual health policies
California's largest for-profit health insurer is moving to dramatically raise rates for customers with individual policies, setting off a furor among policyholders and prompting state insurance regulators to investigate.
Anthem Blue Cross is telling many of its approximately 800,000 customers who buy individual coverage -- people not covered by group rates -- that its prices will go up March 1 and may be adjusted "more frequently" than its typical yearly increases. |
China: Big powers should talk with Iran, not punish
The U.S. State Department said senior officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia held a conference call on the issue.
"They discussed both tracks, both the pressure track and the (negotiating track)," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters, referring to the twin policy of diplomacy and sanctions which the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany have deployed with Iran.
Western members of the group have been discussing a possible fourth round of U.N. sanctions in response to Iran's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment work as demanded by five Security Council resolutions. |
E-mails detail Todd Palin's role in Alaska decision-making
During the 2 1/2 years that his wife, Sarah, was governor of Alaska and then a vice presidential candidate, Todd Palin inserted himself into a host of state decisions, including judicial nominations and gas pipeline bids, according to e-mails released Friday.
Before Sarah Palin resigned her office in July, the "First Dude," as Todd Palin became known, weighed in on appointments to state boards, labor disputes and the use of government aircraft, according to the documents, which were obtained by MSNBC.com under Alaska's public records law.
He also forwarded confidential financial information about his longtime employer, the oil and gas company BP, to a state attorney, e-mails posted online by MSNBC show. |
Powerful snowstorm hits East Coast
Forecasts calling for 20 to 30 inches of snow and near-blizzard conditions from Virginia to southern New Jersey prompted U.S. government offices in the Washington area to close their doors four hours early.
President Barack Obama, who previously has made fun of the reaction in Washington to small amounts of snow, was not taking this storm lightly.
"I think even a transplanted Hawaiian to Chicago has sufficient respect for a forecast of nearly two feet of snow," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. |
Judge orders ex-Edwards aide to turn over sex tape
(CNN) -- A judge ordered an ex-aide to former Sen. John Edwards on Friday to turn over a sex tape said to depict Edwards and his former mistress, an official in a North Carolina court said.
Judge Abraham Penn Jones found former Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri, in civil contempt of court, said Tammy Keshler, a judicial assistant in Chatham County Superior Court.
He ordered them to give the court the tape and other materials they may have by 2 p.m. Wednesday, she said. The judge said he could jail the Youngs if they do not comply, she said. |
Twitter to Major Tom: NASA Lets Public Tweet Astronauts
Ever wanted to ask an orbiting astronaut what it's really like up there? Is the food any good? Can you sleep well in zero-g? And, of course, is that urine recycler still acting up?
Well, now's your chance. NASA astronaut Mike Massimino is accepting questions via Twitter for the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 7 on a 13-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Massimino, better known as @Astro_Mike on Twitter, will take questions from users of the micro-blogging service until Thursday, Feb. 11. At 2:24 a.m. CST on that date, he'll host an interactive event with the Shuttle crew from NASA's Mission Control in Houston, where he will be based during the mission. |
For GOP, No Experience Is No Problem
Scott Rigell is best known around Virginia Beach as a car dealer. Come January, he is hoping to be known by another title: congressman.
Seeking to tap into growing anti-establishment discord among voters, the Republican Party is actively seeking candidates who have never before held elected office.
Bruce O'Donoghue owns a company that makes traffic-light systems; he is challenging Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson. Jon Runyan, a former player for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers, is running in southern New Jersey. |
Sills: USC is 'dream school'
The whirlwind journey of David Sills from a 13-year-old middle school quarterback to the most talked about college recruit in the nation continued late Friday night as he boarded a train with his mother, Denise, father, David Sills IV and his two older sisters, Emma, 17, and Abby, 14, from their home in Wilmington, Del. for an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America.
Less than 24 hours ago Sills, who is a seventh-grader at Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Del., verbally committed to play at USC despite not being able to officially sign his letter of intent until 2015. |
Centralia, Pa., coal fire is one of hundreds that burn in the U.S.
The fire burning deep below Centralia, Pa., is just one of numerous coal fires burning in at least 20 states today, with thousands more worldwide. They gobble up resources, spew dangerous emissions, and scar the land. Yet little is known about their impact on climate change or human health due to carbon dioxide and mercury emissions, say experts.
Approximately 200 underground coal fires burn in about 20 states, according to Glenn Stracher, a researcher at East Georgia College in Swainsboro, Ga., A separate tally shows 112 fire sites in 21 states, according to Office of Surface Mining data analyzed by Dr. Stracher and fellow researcher Ann Kim. |
Too early for Census results? Not if you're interested in galaxies!
The past six billion years of the universe's 13.8-billion-year history may have been more exciting than people thought.
If an international team of astronomers is correct, galaxy collisions and mergers happened far more frequently during that period than previous research has indicated.
The team, led by Paris Observatory astronomer Francois Hammer, found that 6 billion years ago, the universe contained far more "peculiar" galaxy shapes than appear in more recent times. In effect, the population of these oddballs declined at the same time the proportion of spiral galaxies like the Milky Way increased significantly. |
Dodd, Shelby hit impasse, imperiling financial system legislation
The divide between Republicans and Democrats over how to protect borrowers from abusive lenders continues to jeopardize the prospects for legislation to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system -- a top priority for President Obama.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate banking committee, said Friday that he and the committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (Ala.), had once again "reached an impasse" in negotiations over the bill. But Dodd said he would press on. |
Health Buzz: New Device May Help Control Type 1 Diabetes
A new device may change the way type 1 diabetics manage their disease. While regulating glucose levels at night can be done manually, the new device automates the process, working like the pancreas. Participants in a study that was published in the journal Lancet used the artificial pancreas system to control their glucose levels while they slept, HealthDay reports. Results showed that when using the device, participants spent twice as much time during the night at targeted glucose levels than when they used the manual approach. In a Lancet news release, lead researcher Roman Hovorka of the University of Cambridge in England said the system could improve quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes and their families. |
Teen aggression tied to expectant mom’s blues
Women who are depressed while pregnant may be more likely than other expecting moms to have kids who are physically aggressive as teens, a new study finds.
In addition, women in the study who were themselves aggressive as teens were more likely to get depressed during pregnancy. |