I want freedom for the full expression of my personality. -Gandhi

Graham pulls support for major Senate climate bill

Seeded on Sat Apr 24, 2010 8:49 PM EDT (The New York Times)

Lindsey Graham, angry at reports that Sen Harry Reid is planning to take up the issue of immigration before dealing with the climate bill Graham has been working on with Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Joe Lieberman, has pulled his support from the climate bill.

immigration, politics, climate, lindsay-graham, climate-bill, seante

Giant Statehouse rally calls for tax hike, but lawmakers unmoved

Seeded on Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:15 AM EDT (SJ-R.COM)

Fifteen thousand people gathered at the Illinois State Capitol building yesterday in a "Save Our State" rally for higher taxes in a state that is budgetarily worse off than any other state except California.

politics, budget-cuts, tax-hike, illinois-legislature, illinois-budget, illinois-budget-crisis

A Republican may test odds as an outsider

Seeded on Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:06 AM EDT (The New York Times)

Gov. Charlie Crist of Forida is seriously condiering leaving the republican party to run as an Independent for Unites States Senate. His primary opponent Marco Rubio is a magnet for the Tea Partiers and the Republican party establishment in Florida.

politics, rubio, charlie-crist, florida-politics, crist, florida-senate-race, mark-rubio, independent-senate-run

Indian tribe wins fight to limit research of its DNA

Seeded on Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:55 AM EDT (The New York Times)

The Havasupai Indian tribe has won a $700,00 settlement from Arizona State University in a case that alleged improper use of samples of blood donated by tribe members in an effort to elucidate reasons for the tribe's hig rate of diabetes.

privacy, science, dna-research, dna-research-responsibilities

Woman sells small town on eBay

Seeded on Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:32 AM EDT (MSN)

A once-homeless woman has acquired and is now selling Wauconda, WA on eBay. The town has a gas pump, a restaurant, a small store, a 4-bedroom house, and its own zip code. A couple from Bothell WA have put down a 5% deposit.

ebay, odd-news, wauconda-washington, selling-towns

Supreme Court sharply divided on campus Christian case

Seeded on Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:44 PM EDT (msnbc.com)

Arguments in the case of the Christian Legal Society against Hastings Law School suggest that Supreme Court justices are sharply divided on whether the intent of the Christian group to exclude non-Christians and gays is illegal. A ruling is expected this summer.

discrimination, politics, supreme-court, christian, anti-gay, federal-funding, supreme-court-arguments

Mother of bride delivers by-passer's baby

Seeded on Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:33 PM EDT (Yahoo! News)

You're not losing a daughter, you're gaining a son- and also delivering someone else's son! In Milwaukee, the mother of the bride gave her daughter away, then delivered the baby of a by-passer.

baby, emergency, odd-news, pregnancy

State of CA to investigate legality of state university officials' refusal to disclose details of contract

Seeded on Mon Apr 19, 2010 11:26 AM EDT (ABC News)

Officials at a California state university campus invited Sarah Palin to give a speech, but when community activists asked for details of the contract, officals refused. It is alleged that this violates state law.

politics, california, freedom-of-information, sarah-palin, illegal-use-of-state-university-funds

California will investigate campus foundation's dealings related to Palin speech

Seeded on Wed Apr 14, 2010 10:36 AM EDT (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

How far should freedom of information go? Alternatively, is three hotel rooms and two bendy straws excessive?

politics, california, palin

Liberals find world less scary than do conservatives...

Seeded on Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:02 PM EDT (msnbc.com)

Five traits seem to defeine us politically- or, at least to predict where we are likely to fall along the conservative-liberal line.

politics, behavior, morality

Tell Party by a glance!

Seeded on Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:18 PM EST (The Monkey Cage)

Apparently, Republicans look "powerful" and Democrats look "warm".

politics, physiognomy

Why minority students don't graduate

Seeded on Thu Feb 25, 2010 5:50 PM EST (Newsweek)

Minority students graduate from college at rates much lower than Caucasian and Asian students. The key to increasing their graduation rates may be specific support services.

college, education, higher-education, minorities

Newsvine - Health care reform a serious misnomer: call it what it is.

Seeded on Thu Feb 25, 2010 5:35 PM EST (Newsvine)

The debate over health care reform misrepresents the actual crux of the matter.

health, healthcare-reform

Get that banana peeling feeling!

Seeded on Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:27 PM EST (Mechanical Bull: Red Bull's Conceptual Bike - Geekologie)

Liked the bubble pop calendar? Try the pretend banana you can peel over and over. But it won't be available until March...

ocd, obsessive-compulsive, repetitive-action

Blagojevich appoints Obama senate successor

Seeded on Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:32 PM EST ()

Blagojevich has appointed former IL Attorney General Roland Burris to fill President-elect Obama's Senate seat. However, IL Secy. of State Jesse White has said he will not certify the appointment, and US Senate leaders have said they will not seat a Blagojevich appointee.

obama-senate-seat, blagojevich-scandal, illinois-political-scandals

Wal-mart settles 63 lawsuits over wages

Seeded on Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:06 PM EST (The New York Times)

Wal-mart settles all but 12 of dozens of outstanding suits against the low-price retail giant after years of legal wrangling over allegations of forcing workers to work "off the clock", erasing work hours from employee time cards, and preventing workers from taking breaks they we …

labor-unions, walmart, workers-rights, fair-wages

Face transplants for the "socially crippled"

Seeded on Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:17 PM EST (Slate)

How should non-medically necessary procedures that risk someone's life be viewed?

transplant, medicine, medical-ethics, cosmetic

Cholera is raging, despite denial by Mugabe

Seeded on Fri Dec 12, 2008 2:37 PM EST (The New York Times)

Robert Mugabe has stated that the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe is over. Health experts warn that the curretn 12,000 cases could balloon to 60,000. Fundamental public services in Zimbabwe - water, sanitation, hospitals - are shutting down.

world-news, zimbabwe-robert, mugabe-cholera-africa

Report blames Rumsfeld for detainee abuses

Seeded on Fri Dec 12, 2008 2:23 PM EST (The New York Times)

A report released Thursday by the Senate Armed Services Committee said top Bush administration officials, including former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, bear major responsibility for the abuses committed in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and other military detention centers.

bush, guantanamo, politics, war, bay, w, donald, ghraib, abuses-war, atrocities-abu

Sorry, We're Booked, White House Tells Obamas

Seeded on Fri Dec 12, 2008 2:15 PM EST (The New York Times)

In a classic Scrooge move, the White House of lame duck, unpopular outgoing George Bush has told the Obama family that they cannot move into Blair House in early January to allow the Obama girls to start school before the inauguration of their father, citing "previously scheduled …

bush, politics, obama, washington-dc, scrooge, blair-house