Skyline Arch, which had an event in the historical record. See comments for details.
Welcome to Overnight News Digest Saturday! Here is where the OND crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors jlms qkw, maggiejean, wader, Oke, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, ScottyUrb, and BentLiberal, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with today's news.
Domestic Issues in general tonight, International tomorrow. I tend to take only one story per source.
For Review:
Happy Origin of Species Day! (November 24)
Tomorrow, November 24, 2012, marks the 153rd anniversary of a day that quietly changed all of science, should have changed much of theology, and brought much of the world into the future, though many people don’t know it yet.
It’s a Saturday this year — so let’s be a day early, to get informed and involved the people who don’t check their calendars on the weekends.
On November 24, 1859, Charles Darwin’s book was published, On the Origin of Species.
How to celebrate? You could read a summary of Ernst Mayr’s shorthand version of Darwin’s theory, and understand it really for the first time (I hope not the first time, but there are a lot of people who really don’t understand what Darwin said — especially among critics of evolution):
The summary of Mayr's shorthand follows in the blog post. And he has links for us.
AROUND THESE UNITED STATES
There’s No Escaping the 40th Parallel
For the past 14 years, Bruce Myren has been photographing an imaginary line. That line, the 40th parallel north, runs across the United States, from the New Jersey shoreline to Northern California. The line is historically significant, as it delineates the Kansas/Nebraska border, which demarked disputed areas—slave and free—during the Civil War. It’s also the line that 19th-century photographer Timothy O’Sullivan helped survey on three famous geological expeditions.
Myren, whose father was a surveyor and a civil engineer, says he’s always been “obsessed with the idea of location.” His series aims to capture every point of intersection between the 40th parallel and a full degree of longitude: 52 sites in the United States. For every location, Myren composes a triptych with the best panoramic view of the intersection, identified through GPS.
Myren started snapping shots in 1998, when he was able to buy an affordable GPS navigation system for the first time. Last summer, he ran a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising more than $17,000 to finish his project. He only has two states left to cover (Indiana and Illinois), which after a decade of work will give him a tangible record of an “imaginary” path.
Utterly fascinating - please click through, and perhaps look at a map.
Internment Camp Letters Found In Denver Building
Sam Terasaki was in the service then and doesn't remember his brother talking about taking orders from internment camps. He said his brother may have gotten involved because of his longtime participation in the Japanese American Citizens' League, a national group dedicated to protecting Japanese-Americans' civil rights. He said his brother's wife worked as a secretary to Gov. Ralph Carr, who took the politically unpopular stand of welcoming Japanese-Americans to the state.
Some writers noted seeing ads for the pharmacy. One letter from a man who said he arrived at the Poston, Ariz., camp "half dead" addressed his letter directly to "Tak" and asked for chocolate. "I had to wait twenty hours in the middle of the desert at (illegible) Junction, no place to go, just wait," he wrote.
The other camps the letters came from included Heart Mountain in Wyoming, Gila River in Arizona, and others in McGehee, Ark., Topaz, Utah and Granada in southern Colorado.
This is a peek into a darker aspect of our history. Sunlight helps, of course. The articles goes on to say that "Japanese-Americans who lived in Colorado and elsewhere in the interior West weren't interned." I'm unsure of this, I thought Japanese people from Salt Lake City and Ogden were sent to Topaz.
Electing black statewide officeholders remains elusive milestone for Democrats in Ohio
For Ohio Democrats, a streak of confounding futility continued this month, lost amid presidential politics and the more obvious nuances of a Supreme Court shakeup.
Never has the party elected a black candidate to statewide office.
Justice Yvette McGee Brown became the latest failure, losing by double digits her bid to remain on the court. As had been the case for past black Democrats, not even the head start of a midterm appointment could help her change history.
The long record of defeat stands out in a state where most voters supported the election and re-election of the nation's first black president, Democrat Barack Obama. It stands out especially when factoring in victories by rival Republicans who, despite their larger deficiencies among minority voters, have elected blacks to statewide office five times.
Nina Turner has a guest column at the Plain-Dealer right now on voting rights issues.
Congressmen: Jackson Jr. suffering tremendously
U.S. Reps. Danny Davis and Bobby Rush joined about 200 people for the weekly service at the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago. The service included a special prayer for Jackson Jr., and his family.
Jackson did not attend the service Saturday, and has barely been seen in public since taking a leave of absence in June to seek medical treatment.
After Saturday's service, Davis and Rush said they have not seen Jackson and don't know where he is. But they said they understand why he has not yet spoken publicly about his resignation.
"He can't take the pressure," Rush said.
This is my second AP-sourced article.
Florida's vanishing springs
A century ago Florida's gin-clear springs drew presidents and millionaires and tourists galore who sought to cure their ailments by bathing in the healing cascades. Now the springs tell the story of a hidden sickness, one that lies deep within the earth:
• The water in many springs no longer boils up like a fountain, the way they have for centuries. The flow has slowed. In some places it has even stopped or begun flowing backward.
• The water that does come out is polluted by nitrates.
• The pollution fuels the growth of toxic algae blooms, which are taking over springs and the rivers they feed and putting human health at risk.
• Finally, the fresh water coming out of many springs is showing signs of a growing saltiness, according to a study by the Florida Geological Survey.
The author also tweets, on Florida, and eco-issues:
Craig Pittman
Register Exclusive: Iowa's debt hits a record $14.4 billion
Iowa’s government debt has reached a new all-time high and is now the equivalent of $4,704 for each resident, a state report that will be released Monday shows.
State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald and Iowa State University economist Dave Swenson note examples where borrowing makes sense to help a government provide essential and long-term services including water purification plants and schools. And Iowa has the 48th-lowest per-capita level of government debt in the country, according to Moody’s Investors Services.
The driver of Iowa’s debt is cities, which account for 35 percent of the $14.4 billion tab, followed by schools, which account for almost 21 percent of the state’s debt. Those two areas of government added nearly $560 million in debt in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
State agencies and counties, however, collectively reduced their debt by more than $73 million in the past fiscal year, the state data show.
The article goes on with some deeper analysis on state & county expenditures & debts.
Jim Schultz, Chicago Zoological Society
Wolf from Brookfield Zoo sent to New Mexico to be prepared for release
She may have not been born free, but Ernesta, a 4-year-old Mexican gray wolf from Brookfield Zoo, might be able to live out the rest of her life roaming the wilds of New Mexico.
Ernesta was transferred from the west suburban zoo to the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility near Socorro, N.M., on Oct. 27 and is now attending "wolf boot camp" with two other male wolves that arrived when she did. The goal is to prepare them for release into the wild as part of an effort to increase the wolf population in the area.
"She is doing well (in her enclosure) and is adapting with the other wolves," said Maggie Dwire, a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "She doesn't like to be around people, but that is a good quality for a wolf in the recovery program."
from kirbybruno friend.
Medical marijuana for a child with leukemia
Mykayla Comstock's family says marijuana helps her fight an especially aggressive form of leukemia, keeps infection at bay and lifts her weary spirit. Twice a day she swallows a potent capsule form of the drug. Some days, when she can't sleep or eat, she snacks on a gingersnap or brownie baked with marijuana-laced butter.
Mykayla is one of 2,201 cancer patients authorized by the state of Oregon to use medical marijuana.
She is 7.
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program serves 52 children who have a qualifying medical condition, parental consent and a doctor's approval. Like adults, most cite pain as a qualifying condition, though many list multiple health problems, including seizures, nausea and cancer.
Further in the story, there is a child custody issue. Sadly. Also, courtesy of sallycat friend.
L.A.'s revamped teacher evaluation system getting mixed grades
Third-grade teacher Kelly Vallianos wanted to find an engaging way for her students to learn about measuring perimeters. One idea — to have students design a restaurant floor plan — was too difficult, she feared.
But with the help of colleagues, she found a way to tailor that fifth-grade idea to her younger students at Dominguez Elementary School, who excitedly sketched out an imaginary pizzeria.
Vallianos credits the Los Angeles Unified School District's new teacher evaluation system for sparking deeper and more collaborative conversations with administrators, who she said gave her ideas to make the lesson work.
The district's new performance reviews have come under fire by United Teachers Los Angeles, which opposes the controversial element of using student test scores as one factor in measuring teacher effectiveness.
Shipments of Christmas trees to stores statewide have stopped
Christmas trees shipped from Oregon and Washington state brought an unwanted present this holiday season.
Shipments of Christmas trees to stores statewide have stopped after the Department of Agriculture found slugs and other pests inside the shipping containers. Each container holds about 300 trees, and now almost all of them need to be treated.
"We've been finding (them) more often now, especially now because it's been raining, so the slugs have been more commonly in the shipments for this year," said Glenn Sakamoto with the Department of Agriculture.
The non-native pests can have a devastating impact on the crops here and the agriculture department said the slugs could also carry parasites that can cause severe illness if touched.
Maybe the re-usable, "artificial" trees are eco, if these trees are being shipped from the Northwest.
PAUSING IN UTAH
How will lower mission ages change Mormon marriage?
Before the historic announcement, it was possible Richards, 17, would have returned from his mission just as his girlfriend, now 18, left for hers. Under this courting calculus, the two Cottonwood High seniors might not have seen each other for more than three years.
Now, with women able to leave at 19 and men at 18, the two likely will serve missions around the same time. Before the change, women couldn’t go until 21 and men 19.
"We can date when we get back again," Sturt said.
Added Richards: "She’s a really sweet girl. I was thinking there’s a good chance she’ll get married while I’m on my mission. Now, I don’t have to worry as much about that."
During the next few years, countless young Mormons will feel the romantic ripple effects of the new mission ages — though no one yet knows exactly how. Now that men and women can go on missions around the same ages, perhaps more young couples, such as Richards and Sturt, will stay together. Or knowing their missions are just around the corner, teens may avoid serious relationships.
This was the Thanksgiving Day feature story. I LOL'd. 65% of the population here in Utah is LDS. This is the paper famous for not endorsing Romney.
Utahns join protests against Walmart on Black Friday strike
Utah chapters of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and Campaign for a Mass Party of Labor (CMPL) organized the rally in Salt Lake City at the Wal-Mart located at 300 W. and 1300 S.
About 60 people gathered to demonstrate at the Salt Lake City Wal-Mart against what they are calling unfair treatment of Wal-Mart employees by the corporation. However, none of the Wal-Mart employees have currently joined in the walk out.
"It's the biggest day of shopping and people need to know when they are going to shop at Wal-Mart what they're actually buying," said protestor, Michael Broumas. "Which is cheap labor, cheap products and the reality is the majority of it is subsidized by them. And that's why it's even cheaper."
The protestors continued to picket for their cause for several hours.
"Right to work makes people think that it sounds great," said protestor Raphael Cordray. "But, really it strips the workers from their own protections and abilities to organize or file grievances in certain instances."
Even in Utah.
Romney's Utah supporters upset with how he's being treated by GOP
Unlike the Republicans now eager to forget Romney, Wright said, the Utahns who traveled by bus to battleground states in the weeks before the election or who dug deep to give him millions of dollars haven't given up on their candidate.
"A lot of people were pretty invested," he said. "We weren't just going through the motions. We believed. I'm just not capable of turning that off a week after the election."
The GOP chairman said Romney's statement that Obama won over voters with free health care and other incentives may have been "less than eloquent" but was no reason for party members to turn their backs on the candidate.
"Does that make him a bad guy? No," Wright said. "He made me proud to be a Republican. I'm not going to judge someone over one bad statement over a six-year run for president. I'm more loyal than that."
"One bad statement" : I LOL again.
OTHER
Actor Larry Hagman highlighting benefits of solar energy
College Football Scores On this so-called Rivalry weekend, #1 is winning, #2, #3, #4 have already won.
Paranormal Hurricane Sandy fundraiser