Thursday, November 2, 2006

Winter Haven, Florida police chief Paul Goward was tired of seeing fat hanging out over the belts of some of his officers. So he posted a memo to encourage the so-called ‘jelly bellies’ to get in shape.

The memo, entitled ‘Are You A Jelly Belly?’ didn’t single anyone out, and, apart from the title, didn’t call anyone names.

Goward, a former deputy police chief in Wichita, wrote “If you are unfit, do yourself and everyone else a favor. See a professional about a proper diet and a fitness training program, quit smoking, limit alcohol intake…Don’t mean to offend, this is just straight talk. I owe it to you.”

It provided a list of 10 reasons cops should get fit. Goward said that overweight cops poorly represent the profession, are liable to ‘poop out’ when chasing suspects, and may have to use a higher degree of force.

In the end, Goward resigned from his position as police chief.

[edit]

Thursday, September 25, 2008

United States President George W. Bush addressed the nation on the economic financial crisis from inside the White House saying the economic situation is “serious” and is “in danger” of becoming “a long and painful recession.”

“We are in the midst of a serious financial crisis and the federal government is responding with decisive action,” Bush said in his televised speech.

Bush called for the United States Congress to pass a US$700 billion bill intended to keep struggling companies afloat. He asked the two presidential candidates along with leaders from both parties of Congress to join him for a conference on Thursday.

Last Friday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called for a bailout plan that would allow for the United States government to purchase devalued mortgage backed securities, resulting from the subprime mortgage crisis, from troubled financial institutions. Paulson has said that the plan could cost up to $700 billion. Congressional leaders have said that some form of the plan will pass; however, there is considerable debate over several key issues.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that Bush “believes it is important for the American people to fully understand the depth of the crisis in our financial markets, how that crisis affects them, and the urgent need to agree on a solution.” Bush has been criticized for waiting too long to speak in prime time.

John McCain suspended his campaign to return to Washington and work on the bailout bill. Barack Obama has called for another form of the bill to pass and said that Congress should not package the bailout bill with any other bills — such as an economic stimulus plan.

Meanwhile, Congress has held a second round of hearings on the proposed bailout bill. Paulson and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee. They felt it was a serious problem in need of an immediate solution.

Rep. Barney Frank, Chairman of House Financial Services Committee, says it is “clear” that the financial bailout bill will pass.

Director of the Congressional Budget Office Peter R. Orsza said while testifying before Congress that “ironically, the intervention could even trigger additional failures of large institutions, because some institutions may be carrying troubled assets on their books at inflated values.”

The bailout plan has been called a “blank check” by many, with members of both parties divided on the issue.

Monday, June 23, 2008

2008 COMPUTEX Taipei, the largest trade fair since its inception in 1982, featured several seminars and forums, expansions on show spaces to TWTC Nangang, great transformations for theme pavilions, and WiMAX Taipei Expo, mainly promoted by Taipei Computer Association (TCA). Besides of ICT industry, “design” progressively became the critical factor for the future of the other industries. To promote innovative “Made In Taiwan” products, pavilions from “Best Choice of COMPUTEX”, “Taiwan Excellence Awards”, and newly-set “Design and Innovation (d & i) Award of COMPUTEX”, demonstrated the power of Taiwan’s designs in 2008 COMPUTEX Taipei.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007File:Nadine Strossen 5 by David Shankbone.jpg

There are few organizations in the United States that elicit a stronger emotional response than the American Civil Liberties Union, whose stated goal is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States”. Those people include gays, Nazis, women seeking abortion, gun owners, SPAM mailers and drug users. People who are often not popular with various segments of the public. The ACLU’s philosophy is not that it agrees or disagrees with any of these people and the choices that they make, but that they have personal liberties that must not be trampled upon.

In Wikinews reporter David Shankbone’s interview with the President of the ACLU, Nadine Strossen, he wanted to cover some basic ground on the ACLU’s beliefs. Perhaps the area where they are most misunderstood or have their beliefs most misrepresented is their feelings about religion in the public sphere. The ACLU categorically does not want to see religion disappear from schools or in the public forum; but they do not want to see government advocacy of any particular religion. Thus, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s placement of a ten ton monument to the Ten Commandments outside the courthouse is strenuously opposed; but “Lone Ranger of the Manger” Rita Warren’s placement of nativity scenes in public parks is vigorously defended. In the interview, Strossen talks about how certain politicians and televangelists purposefully misstate the law and the ACLU’s work in order to raise funds for their campaigns.

David Shankbone’s discussion with Strossen touches upon many of the ACLU’s hot button issues: religion, Second Amendment rights, drug liberalization, “partial-birth abortion” and whether or not George W. Bush should be impeached. It may surprise the reader that many ideas people have about the most visible of America’s civil libertarian organizations are not factually correct and that the ACLU often works closely with many of the organizations people think despise its existence.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

A supposed “pregnancy pact” at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Massachusetts has drawn international attention to the small Massachusetts fishing city which is considered to be one of the oldest settlements (1623) in the American continent.

The story, which was broken by TIME magazine and the Boston Globe, involved the fact that 17 girls, all sixteen years old or younger, got themselves pregnant as part of a “pregnancy pact”, so that the teenage mothers could raise their babies together.

According the magazine article, school officials at the 1,162 student school became concerned starting as far back as October when a uncommonly large amount of girls began to enter the school’s health clinic to see if they were pregnant.

As of earlier this May, seven girls returned more than once seeking pregnancy tests and upon hearing results, “Some girls seemed more upset when they weren’t pregnant than when they were,” according to James Sullivan, the principal of the school. Some smiled, others cried, and one declared, “Sweet!”, according to the Globe upon hearing their results.

Local officials, including the mayor, are uncertain whether there really was a “pact”, however. Mayor Carolyn Kirk called it a “blip” in the pregnancy rate and noted many factors playing into it, such glamorization of teen pregnancy including the announcement around the same time that Britney Spear’s sister, Jamie Lynn Spears had given birth to a baby, and last year’s critically acclaimed movie, Juno, a comedy about a 16-year-old girl who gets pregnant and other movies, such as Knocked Up.

There is some concern over what might be statutory rape, as it has been reported that most of the men who are the fathers are older, including one report that one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless man. In Massachusetts, the age of consent is 16, therefore it is illegal for anyone to have sexual intercourse with anyone under 16.

Other teen mothers however have criticized the new mothers. Two such girls are Alivia Fidler and Meaghan Orlando, childhood friends and sophomore students at the high school, the girls were 16 years old when they became pregnant unexpectedly.

Orlando noted, “If I could go back in time I would want to wait and have the same baby later. You can’t do stuff that normal teens do,” who is now 17 and has a 3-month-old son named Jayden, “They don’t know what they’re getting themselves into.”

Meaghan’s friend, Alivia, also now 17, said the pact idea is “ridiculous.” Noting, “They’re not going to be friends very long. You have to take care of your baby. It’s frustrating. I don’t have a lot of support.” Fidler is no longer with the father of the baby, 5 month-old Xavier Fidler-Aguiar and recently lost her job at McDonalds.

One other teen mother, Amanda Ireland, who recently graduated from the school, also gave a warning to the mothers, “Don’t try to get pregnant. People say they know what it’s like because they have younger siblings, but they really have no idea.”

Ireland also noted, “They’re so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally. I try to explain it’s hard to feel loved when an infant is screaming to be fed at 3 a.m.”

46 year-old Gloucester resident Lori Mitchell, whose daughter dropped out of high school at 16 to raise a child said there are worse things than being a teenage mother, “They could be junkies or prostitutes. You try to protect them as much as you can, but it’s up to them to do the right thing.”

Greg Verga, the chairman of the Gloucester School Committee called the pact, “disturbing”, as he himself was once a teen father.

“They are going to have a rude awakening. It was no picnic. People don’t realize there’s 3 a.m. feedings … it’s a lifestyle change. It’s not a possession you can play with and stick on the shelf. That’s why I fear for these girls.”

Friday, December 12, 2008

A US$14 billion bailout package deal for the “Big Three” United States automakers — Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors — has been rejected in the United States Senate after failing a procedural vote.

The bill was rejected after bipartisan discussions on the bailout broke down when Republican Party leaders insisted that the United Auto Workers (UAW) union agree to increase wage cuts by next year in order to bring their pay into line with those of Japanese automobile companies in the United States. The UAW refused to meet the demands.

The final vote count in the Senate was 52-35, eight short of the 60 needed to pass. Only ten Republicans joined forty Democrats and two independents in voting for the bill. Three Democrats voted with thirty-one Republicans against it.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said that he was “terribly disappointed” by the failure of the bill to pass. “I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It’s not going to be a pleasant sight,” Reid said. “Millions of Americans, not only the auto workers but people who sell cars, car dealerships, people who work on cars are going to be directly impacted and affected.”

Republican Senator Bob Corker was also unhappy about the rejection. “We were about three words away from a deal. We solved everything substantively and about three words keep us from reaching a conclusion,” he said.

Some Democrats now want U.S. President Bush to reserve a portion of the $700 billion bailout package earmarked for Wall Street to assist the flagging car industry.

Stock markets worldwide fell dramatically on the news, with Japan’s Nikkei average losing 484.68 points, or 5.6 percent, reaching a level of 8253.87 points. Shares in the auto companies Toyota, Nissan and Honda all dropped by no less than 10 percent apiece. European stocks, such as those in the United Kingdom and Germany, also lost ground, with the FTSE-100 index of leading shares falling 176.3 points to a level of 4,211 at midday.