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Older News Archivescom0116
NEWS FRIDAY, JULY
3, 2009 NEWS
EARLY EDITION
Senate
Bill Fines People Refusing Health Coverage
Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit
with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled
Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's
top domestic priority. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines
will raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties
would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes
a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage.
Under the federal legislation, families would pay higher penalties than
individuals. Las
Vegas Sun
Job
Cuts In June Deeper Than Forecast
Employers in the U.S. cut more jobs than forecast in June and the unemployment
rate rose to the highest in almost 26 years, offering scant evidence the
Obama administration’s stimulus package is putting Americans back to work.
Payrolls declined by 467,000 last month following a 322,000 drop in May,
according to Labor Department figures released today in Washington. The
jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983, from 9.4
percent. Bloomberg
VOA VIEW: The government's false forecasts
are being trumped with false reports - unemployment is actually over 12%.
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White
House To Hold H1N1 Flu Summit
Members of President Obama's cabinet will hold a H1N1 Flu Preparedness
Summit next week to prepare for the possibility of a more severe outbreak
of H1N1 flu. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and
Homeland Security Adviser John Brennan will host the all-day event on Thursday
at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. CBS
Obama
Says Civil Rights Act Of 1964 Opened Doors For Freedom, More Work Remains
President Barack Obama says the Civil Rights Act opened doors for freedom
but inequities remain on the legislation's 45th anniversary. On Thursday,
Obama released a statement praising the 1964 law that ended legal discrimination.
Obama says Americans must continue to break down barriers to equality and
fulfill the promises of that legislation. Obama says the act won passage
because Americans of all backgrounds "stood up, sat down, and marched in
freedom's cause" together. Newsday
VOA VIEW: The the barriers to equality
are now holding back white males.
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Cash-Strapped
California Sets Interest Rate On "IOUs"
California officials, facing a cash crisis without a state budget agreement,
approved on Thursday a 3.75 percent interest rate and an October 2 maturity
date for registered warrants, or "IOUs," the state will issue in lieu of
payments to vendors, local agencies and individuals. The first tranche
of IOUs will be printed Thursday afternoon and will be sent primarily to
taxpayers owed tax refunds, according to State Controller John Chiang's
office. Reuters
Obama
Health Czar Directed Firms In Trouble
Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Barack Obama’s health policy czar, served
as a director of corporations that faced scores of federal investigations,
whistleblower lawsuits and other regulatory actions, according to government
records reviewed by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.
Several of the companies were investigated for alleged kickbacks or engaging
in other illegal billing schemes, while others were accused of serious
violations of federal quality standards, including one company that failed
to warn patients of deadly problems with an implanted heart defibrillator.
Several of the cases ended with substantial fines paid to the federal government,
even though the companies admitted no wrongdoing. MSNBC
VOA VIEW: Most of Obama's appointees are
rogues and misfits.
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Cancer
Victim Who Told Sad Story To Obama Is Democrat Party Volunteer
President Barack Obama wanted to put a human face on his plans to overhaul
health care, and a Virginia supporter did just that Wednesday. Fighting
back tears, Debby Smith, 53, told Obama of her kidney cancer and her inability
to obtain health insurance or hold a job. The president hugged her -- she's
a volunteer for his political operation -- and called her "exhibit A" in
an unsustainable system that is too expensive and complex for millions
of Americans. CNS
News
VOA VIEW: Exhibit "A" is unrealistic promises.
U.S.
Home Prices Seen Down Over 40 Percent
U.S. housing prices will fall by a double-digit percentage from already
beaten-down levels, resulting in an overall 40 percent plunge by the time
foreclosures peak in the second half of 2010, Barclays Capital economist
Michelle Meyer said. Meyer issued her forecast two days after the Standard
& Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes showed for April an 18.1 percent
year-to-year decline, compared with 18.7 percent in March, in the rate
of home price declines in 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas. The indexes
have tracked the prices of U.S. single-family homes since 1987.
Reuters
U.S.
Won’t Close CIA ‘Black Sites’ For Now
The government will not dismantle overseas locations where a former
Guantanamo detainee claims he was interrogated by the CIA before he was
brought to the United States for trial on terrorism charges, a prosecutor
said Thursday. David Raskin told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan that
the United States would preserve the locations for now even though it does
not plan to use at trial any statements Ahmed Ghailani made while he was
in the custody of any other government agencies. MSNBC
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VA
Silent On Compensating For Endoscopic Mistakes
An attorney for veterans potentially exposed to HIV and other infections
by colonoscopies at three Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals said
his clients are waiting to hear if they will be compensated for mistakes
that led to congressional hearings and new VA spending on patient safety.
A spokeswoman for the VA declined to comment about prospects for compensation.
Katie Roberts said the more than 10,000 veterans who have been getting
follow-up blood checks since February have the option of filing a complaint
in a claim just like other VA patients. Las
Vegas Sun
FDIC
Says Buyers Should Hold Banks For Three Years
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said private-equity firms acquiring
failed banks should hold them for three years, double the time imposed
in the latest transaction, to prevent “flipping” them for short-term profit.
The proposal was among a half-dozen announced today by the FDIC as buyout
firms such as Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group seek a bigger role
in the banking industry. Bloomberg
Missing
U.S. Soldier Sold To Clan
A missing U.S. soldier thought to have been captured in southeastern
Afghanistan has been sold to a militant clan, a U.S. military official
said Thursday. The unidentified senior military official told CNN the soldier,
whose name was not released, was captured along with three Afghan soldiers
and then sold to a militant group led by warlord Siraj Haqqani. UPI
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Biden
Makes Surprise Trip To Iraq
Vice President Joe Biden has landed in Iraq for an unannounced, two-day
visit with U.S. troops and the Iraqi leadership. According to a pool report,
Biden plans to "try to reestablish contact with Iraqi leaders and try to
help foster efforts at political reconciliation" during the trip. Biden
will meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
and Speaker of the Council of Representatives Ayad al-Samarrai. CBS
Treasury
Seizes Assets Of Extremist Organization
The Obama administration on Thursday authorized the seizure of assets
belonging to an extremist organization in Iraq and an Iranian backer of
insurgents, saying both are responsible for deadly attacks in Iraq. The
Treasury Department is targeting Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and the Iraq-based
group Kata'ib Hizballah for committing, directing or supporting acts of
violence in Iraq against U.S. and Iraqi forces. In a separate move Thursday,
the State Department designated Kata'ib Hizballah as a foreign terrorist
organization. Newsday
Congressional
Travel Tab Swells In Recent Years
Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply
in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows,
involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such
as the Galápagos Islands. The spending on overseas travel is up
almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according
to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers
traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50 percent
jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago. Fox
News
VOA VIEW: Democrats like to spend taxpayer's
money on anything.
U.S.
'Hits The Pause Button' On Aid To Honduras
The United States put some teeth in its diplomatic signals to Honduras
Thursday, stopping some aid programs temporarily to the Latin American
country as it grapples with its two-president crisis.State Department spokesman
Ian Kelly said the United States already "hit the pause button" on some
aid programs, even before State Department lawyers make a final ruling
on whether to halt assistance. CNN
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Judge
Dismisses Case Against Cyber Bully
A federal judge in Los Angeles Thursday dismissed charges against Lori
Drew, the Missouri woman whose online deception had been blamed for a teenager's
suicide. U.S. District Judge George Wu said the three misdemeanor counts
Drew was convicted of would apply to anyone who violated a Web site's terms
of service statement, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. UPI
In
Possible Signal To Iran, Israel Sends Subs Through Suez Canal
After a long hiatus, the Israeli Navy has returned to sailing through
the Suez Canal, recently sending one of its advanced Dolphin-class submarines
through the waterway to participate in naval maneuvers off the Eilat coast
in the Red Sea. IDF sources said the decision to allow navy vessels to
sail through the canal was made recently and was a definite "change of
policy" within the service. In 2005, then OC Navy Adm. David Ben-Bashat
decided to stop sending Israeli ships through the canal due to growing
threats in the area. Jerusalem
Post
Obama
'Not Reconciled' To Iranian Nukes
"I'm not reconciled with [Iran's possession of nuclear weapons], and
I don't think the international community is reconciled with that," US
President Barack Obama said Thursday in an interview with the Associated
Press, ahead of a trip to Moscow. Scheduled to depart next week on a trip
to Russia, Italy and Ghana, the US leader praised Moscow for its cooperation
in attempting to persuade North Korea and Iran to abandon their nuclear
development programs. Jerusalem
Post
WHO Warns
Swine Flu 'Unstoppable'
The UN's top health official has opened a forum in Mexico on
combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is
now unstoppable. World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that
the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which
has been hard hit. The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people
recovering unaided. As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more
than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer. BBC
US Urges
Russian Break From Past
President Barack Obama has said Russia must understand that "old Cold
War approaches" to relations with the US belong in the past. The president
said he would convey this to Vladimir Putin during talks in Moscow next
week. Mr Obama said the former Russian president - now prime minister -
"still has sway" in Russia. Earlier Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said
he was hopeful of finding new ways to co-operate with the US. BBC
Brown
Finally Admits That There Will Be Cuts In Public Spending
Gordon Brown changed his tune on public spending last night, admitting
Labour would have to cut Government programmes, as he tried to refocus
his attack on the Conservatives. The Prime Minister insisted that Labour
would secure economic growth, efficiency savings, asset sales and public-sector
reforms to protect frontline services which would be at risk under a Tory
Government. But he said it would be "fine" for other programmes to be "cut"
and that Labour would face "hard choices". Independent
Britain's
Banks Are On Life Support, Says Miles
News of modest improvements in the availability of credit in the economy
were accompanied yesterday by warnings from Bank of England policymakers
about the fragility of the recovery, and the success of the Bank's policy
of quantitative easing. David Miles, a recent appointment to the Bank's
Monetary Policy Committee and a former adviser to the Government on housing,
told the Treasury Select Committee that any economic growth was likely
to be "anaemic" and that the banks were on "life support". Independent
US
Marines Pour Into Helmand In Biggest Offensive Against Taliban For Five
Years
The US poured 4,000 marines into Afghanistan's Helmand province today
in its biggest operation for five years to try to wrest the poppy-filled
river valley permanently from the Taliban. In helicopters, armoured vehicles
and on foot, the marines fanned out to Afghan villages in two districts
previously dominated by insurgents in a mission codenamed Operation Khanjar
(Sword Strike). Guardian
Obama's
Hardline Stance On Settlements Could Be A Game Changer For Israel
Barack Obama chose his battleground carefully. Americans may seem to
instinctively support what they regard as plucky little Israel besieged
by terrorism, and Congress may still be the Jewish state's best political
shield. But even in the US there are not many who are prepared to publicly
defend the ever-expanding Jewish colonies annexing chunks of the West Bank
and sealing off East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied territories
as Israel seeks to put its control of the city beyond negotiation. Guardian
Anger
Really Does Cause A Rush Of Blood To The Head
The claim that anger provokes a rush of blood to the head is more than
just an old wives' tale, according to new research. Blood flow to
the brain increased significantly in people experiencing mental stress,
according to a series of experiments at the University of Southern California.
During the experiments, 58 volunteers were put through a series of tasks
designed to cause mental strain, including recalling moments where they
felt anger, reading and arithmetic tests. Ultrasound imaging techniques
showed that arteries in and around the brain dilated when volunteers became
stressed, causing a rush of blood to the head. Telegraph
US
Says North Korean Missile Launches Are 'Provocative Act'
"The North Koreans said they were going to launch these missiles. I
don't I don't think that's surprising that they've launched these missiles,"
Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. said. "I take the North Koreans
at their word that they're going to continue their provocative actions."
North Korea fired a barrage of short-range missiles off its east coast
on Thursday, a possible prelude to the launch of a long-range missile toward
Hawaii over the US Independence Day holiday. Telegraph
New
Class Of Black Holes Discovered
Only two sizes of black holes have ever been spotted: small and super-massive.
Scientists have long speculated that an intermediate version must exist,
but they’ve never been able to find one until now. Astrophysicists identified
what appears to be the first-ever medium-sized black hole, pictured in
an artist’s rendition above, with a mass at least 500 times that of our
Sun. Researchers from the Centre d’Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements in France
detected the middling hole in a galaxy about 290 million light-years from
Earth. Wired
Japanese
Official Chosen To Head UN Atomic Watchdog
A Japanese diplomat with a lengthy record of working on disarmament
and non-proliferation issues will be the next chief of the United Nations
nuclear watchdog after winning a secret ballot today against two other
candidates. The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
meeting at the IAEA’s headquarters in Vienna, chose Yukiya Amano as Director
General to succeed Mohammed ElBaradei when he steps down at the end of
November. UN
News
Human
Rights Experts Join Chorus Of UN Condemnation Over Coup In Honduras
Four independent United Nations human rights experts today voiced serious
concern over the situation in Honduras following last weekend’s coup d’état,
calling for the immediate restoring of democracy in the Central American
country and the lifting of curbs on fundamental freedoms. The experts said
they were especially disturbed by reported arrests, threats and acts of
harassment against human rights defenders, journalists and social leaders.
UN
News
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