April 10, 2013

Arkansas Senate Votes To Axe Planned Parenthood, Sex Ed Funding

The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that defunds Planned Parenthood and effectively kills a comprehensive sex education program in the state's public high schools.

Arkansas Senate Bill 818, introduced by state Rep. Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch), would block all state funds from going to any entity that provides abortions or refers patients to other abortion providers. The bill would also prohibit any organization that contracts with an abortion provider or referrer, including power companies, water companies, health insurers or medical suppliers, from receiving any state money. Supporters of the bill argue that it prevents taxpayer money from indirectly paying for abortion and abortion referrals.

Planned Parenthood does not receive any family planning money from the state, but the bill will end a state-funded HIV and STI prevention program that Planned Parenthood administers in Arkansas public high schools. Darrell Seward, the assistant football coach and health education teacher at Little Rock Central High School, said the program is invaluable to his students.

"I would challenge any legislator or politician in the state of Arkansas or higher to set foot in my classroom and listen to the curriculum and walk out and say it's a bad program," he told The Huffington Post in a phone interview. "This program has been one of the most well-received programs that our students have ever been engaged in. I am a Republican, but this is one issue I feel very strongly about, because I see the benefit for our kids." ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/arkansas-planned-parenthood-sex-ed_n_3047024.html

April 9, 2013

The Fast and the Furious, with a twist.......

AlterNet / By Alex Kane

Former Tennessee Official Caught Masturbating Out of Car Window While Driving 90 Miles an Hour
Three women testified that William Blakely, the former vice mayor of Mount Carmel, Tennessee, honked at them and then masturbated while behind the wheel.

April 9, 2013 |


The claims made by three women already conjure up a bizarre scene: a man speeding in a car was masturbating. What makes it weirder is that the man is a former lawmaker in Tennessee.

Last Thursday, three different women gave independent--and similar--accounts of the incident, which was highlighted by Talking Points Memo. William Blakely, the former vice mayor of Mount Carmel, Tennessee, honked at three women to get their attention and then proceeded to masturbate while behind the wheel. The women accusing Blakely range in age from 16-65.

One witness said he was “waving, grabbed his shirt, kind of pulled it up,” while another said that “he was taking his hand, wetting his mouth, and masturbating,” according to WJHL. All of this occurred while Blakely was driving at 90 miles per hour.

"At over 90 miles per hour, he had his penis out (the window)... he was masturbating... and that's when it got really, really bad. I wouldn't look over any more, and I wrote his tag number down on my hand, which I believe he noticed, and he exited very quickly,” witness Kelly Street said. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/former-tennessee-official-caught-masturbating-out-car-window-while-driving-90

April 9, 2013

Doggie needs to lay off the sauce

April 9, 2013

London: Docklands Light Railway breaks ridership record

DLR breaks ridership record
08 Apr 2013 ? by Marc Johnson


The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) has carried one-hundred-million passengers in the past year, breaking all previous records for passenger numbers on the system.

The figures, which cover the financial year April 2012 to March 2013, include the 7.2 million passengers who used the service during the Olympic Games.

At the height of the competition, 500,000 people used the DLR in just 24 hours – the railway’s busiest day ever.

The DLR’s head of planning, Robert Niven, said: “This significant milestone caps a magnificent year for the DLR which saw us carry 7.2m people during the 2012 Olympic Games – double what we would normally carry during that time. .......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.rail.co/2013/04/08/dlr-breaks-ridership-record/

April 9, 2013

Copenhagen: Light rail touted as cure for city's congestion

Light rail touted as cure for city's congestion

Peter Stanners
April 6, 2013 - 07:58

A city-wide network of light rail could plug public transport gaps and reduce congestion according to a Technical University of Denmark report


[font size="1"]Light rail could fill gaps in the city's public transport network according to a report from the Technical University of Denmark (File photo: Colourbox)[/font]


Copenhagen’s public transport network would benefit from the addition of a network of light rail lines, a report from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) concludes.

The report identifies several transport corridors that have the potential to draw significant passenger numbers at a reasonable cost, though not all would be expected to turn a profit.

Electrically driven light rail would fill in gaps in Copenhagen’s public transport network, particularly in suburban areas not served by the Metro or above-ground S-trains.

Copenhageners living in these areas typically use public transport for only five percent of their travel, compared with 25 percent for those living in close proximity to a station. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://cphpost.dk/local/light-rail-touted-cure-citys-congestion

April 9, 2013

Amtrak: Ridership increased in first half of 2013 fiscal year

Amtrak ridership increased in the first six months of the 2013 fiscal year, the company said Tuesday.

Ridership on the company’s trains increased by one percent from the record 31.2 million passengers that were carried in 2012, according to Amtrak.

Amtrak said 26 of its 45 routes saw ridership increases in the period between the beginning of October and the end of March.

Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman said the early 2013 ridership numbers showed the need for more rail funding from Congress. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/railroads/292567-amtrak-ridership-increased-in-first-half-of-2013-fiscal-year

April 9, 2013

Bush Debt Load Endorsed by Republicans Now Rejected

(Bloomberg) When Republicans and Democrats describe each other’s budgets, a person could be forgiven for thinking the plans are as far apart as possible.

Republicans say putting the budget into balance by 2023 is necessary to help get the economy on track, with spending reductions alone and not raising taxes. Democrats say the cuts would hurt growth and instead want to stabilize the deficit in proportion to the size of the economy.

Not long ago -- and seemingly forgotten in the current debate about spending programs and tax reform -- Republicans said the deficits under George W. Bush were sustainable and in proportion to the size of the economy, while Democrats criticized Republicans and Bush for not reducing the deficit more quickly, Bloomberg BNA reported.

With the deficit-to-GDP ratio in fiscal 2012 at 7.0 percent, the switch in tone begs the question: Have times changed or have only the political winds shifted, reflecting the difference in control of the White House? ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-09/bush-debt-load-endorsed-by-republicans-now-rejected-taxes.html

April 9, 2013

Excellent discussion on what college economics depts. are teaching, featuring Richard Wolff

Listen: http://www.democracyatwork.info/radio/2013/03/economics-and-capitalism/


Economics and Capitalism

Updates on Cyprus’s extreme austerity, equal justice and markets,falling job quality, and capitalism’s impact on China. In-depth discussions of how worker coops can get needed capital and on basic flaw in economic education at college and university levels. Response to listeners’ questions on printing money and inflation and on teachers’ self-directed schools.

April 9, 2013

New Jersey police investigate shooting of boy, 6, by brother, 4

Authorities are deciding whether to charge anyone after police say a six-year-old was shot in the head by a four-year-old.

The older boy is in serious condition.

Authorities are still investigating how the younger child obtained the .22-caliber rifle from his family's home in Toms River on Monday night.

Police chief Michael Mastronardy says the children were outside the four-year-old's home when the boy went inside, got the rifle and shot the six-year-old about 15 yards away. It's not clear if the four-year-old pulled the trigger or if the rifle accidentally discharged. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/09/new-jersey-gun-control

April 9, 2013

The GOP’s Big Yellow Taxi Syndrome

from In These Times:


The GOP’s Big Yellow Taxi Syndrome
Now that sequester cuts have kicked in, Republicans are realizing they’ve paved paradise.

BY Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers President


Republicans are suffering grievously from the syndrome that singer Joni Mitchell memorialized in the hit “Big Yellow Taxi” in 1970. The chorus says it all:

Don’t it always seem to go

That you don’t know what you’ve got

Till it’s gone

They paved paradise

And put up a parking lot

Republicans bellyached for years that government must shrink. It had to be smaller. Cut the budget come hell or high water, they yammered. Well, darn if the sequester hasn’t brought hell and high water to Republican districts across America. Now Republican lawmakers can’t stop carping about how small government shouldn’t occur in their districts. Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till you vote to kill it?

Paradise was among the first to go. Specifically, the paradise of American parks. The National Park Service, complying with the mandate that it slash about 9 percent of its budget through September, reduced hours, cut staff and stopped providing some services such as campgrounds, based on recommendations from each park superintendent.

Among the campgrounds shut down are those at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. The state’s Republican Senator John Thune is feeling particularly grumpy about that. He accused the Park Service of closing his campgrounds instead of cutting wasteful and duplicative spending, examples of which he neglected to offer. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/14809/gop_suffers_big_yellow_taxi_syndrome