|
Dear readers, Up to this point, I've kept our fundraiser updates infrequent (every 2-4 weeks), and off the web site (only email readers got them). Time to escalate a bit. Our fundraiser goal is to reach either total contributions of $10k, or subscribing contributor revenues of $1,000/month, by December 23rd (our 10th anniversary as RRND). To be on track for that cash goal, we should be at somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,100 by now. We're at $2,392.50. Contributing subscriber revenues are at $490 -- but they were around $450 at the beginning of the year. We aren't getting there. And while we've avoided "The World Will End!" hype for the last nine years and just kept on plugging, this time there will be consequences if we don't make our goal (the most likely one being my "retirement" from RRND/FND). That's the long and short of it; I won't belabor it further. Thanks to all of you who have supported this publication financially. To those who have never returned value to us for value received (at whatever valuation YOU would place on the product if it was "cash up front"), now's the time to consider doing so. Here's the handy-dandy link: http://rationalreview.news-digests.com/support-rrnd Yours in liberty, ----- |
|
"A bomb blast on a crowded street in Colombia Tuesday reportedly killed several people and injured 19 others. NBC News said there were reports that the attack in northern Bogota was aimed at former Colombian Minister of Interior and Justice Fernando Londono and that two of his bodyguards were among the dead." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/ccg24go ----- |
|
"European anti-piracy troops carried out their first ever air attack against Somali pirates' equipment on land, strafing a series of skiffs with small arms fire during an early morning helicopter raid. ... The attack involved troops from several of the European navies currently patrolling off Somalia, from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal. " (05/15/12) http://tgr.ph/KrxCjf ----- |
|
"Iraqi officials say a suicide bomber who drove an explosives-rigged fuel truck into the front gate of an army post has killed five soldiers in the country's north. Officials at the scene in the city of Mosul said another 15 people were wounded in Tuesday's attack. Three of them were soldiers." (05/15/12) http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=750794&vId= ----- |
|
"According to a statement released by Afghan defense ministry at least 2 Afghan national soldiers were killed following a roadside bomb explosion at eastern Paktia province and another Afghan national army soldier was killed at southern Helmand province. The statement further added another Afghan national army soldier was injured in a separate incident at western Herat province of Afghanistan." (05/15/12) http://bit.ly/IWZsQs ----- |
|
"NATO on Tuesday announced that Pakistan would be invited to the alliance's Chicago summit on the future of Afghanistan this weekend, following signs from Pakistani authorities that they would end their nearly six-month blockade on Afghanistan-bound NATO supply routes through their country. President Asif Ali Zardari's spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh-Rasmussen phoned the Pakistani leader Tuesday to extend the invitation." (05/15/12) http://lat.ms/IWZjfU ----- |
|
"During the just completed hearing, prosecutors did not argue Hopler should not have guns because he is blind. Been there, done that. And without success. So they argued the seized guns should not be returned and Hopler's firearm license revoked, because he was a drunk. Hopler said at most, he had two drinks a day. But prosecutors had a witness who testified differently. According to Kenneth Struck, Hopler sometimes put away as much as 30 beers in a day. Struck just happens to be the ex-tenant who stole the guns from Hopler's safe and later pleaded guilty to burglary." (05/14/12) http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/324845 ----- |
|
"Defense teams in the Sept. 11 case at Guantanamo are asking a military judge to order senior U.S. government officials to testify at the U.S. base in Cuba as part of a motion to dismiss charges, a lawyer for one of the defendants said Tuesday. The motion to dismiss includes a request to compel testimony from eight 'top officials' from the administrations of President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush, said Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz, who represents Saudi defendant Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/blqpzuj ----- |
|
"Greece will hold new elections in response to a political stalemate that left the debt-racked country unable to form a government, the office of President Karolos Papoulias said Tuesday. The announcement comes as the Greek debt crisis threatens the stability of the European Union's single currency. Papoulias has called for all parties to meet with him Wednesday to set up a caretaker government that will conduct the new vote, his office said." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/d2vmya7 ----- |
|
Australia: Gillard pledges $300 million of other people’s money to Afghan forces
Source: Newnan Times-Herald "Australia has announced it will contribute $100 million annually for three years beginning in 2015 to support Afghan National Security Forces after they take responsibility for their country's security. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Defense Minister Stephen Smith said in a joint statement on Wednesday they will take this commitment to the NATO and U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force summit in Chicago on Sunday and Monday." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/chvb9lh ----- |
|
"The legal battles of Argentine Vice President Amado Boudou grew more complicated on Monday when a federal prosecutor asked a judge to open an illegal enrichment probe. Also named were Boudou's girlfriend Agustina Kampfer, his longtime friend and business partner Jose Maria Nunez Carmona, and another businessman, Alejandro Vandenbroele, who allegedly served as Boudou's proxy in a series of business deals." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/c8ozp9m ----- |
|
"North Carolina's failure to appeal a federal judge's ruling that struck down the state's emergency power to ban firearms and ammunition outside the home during a declared emergency adds one more Second Amendment victory to the court record being established by the Second Amendment Foundation." (05/15/12) http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=7609 ----- |
|
"A Detroit groundskeeper turned in a loaded handgun he found hidden in weeds while working, [and] was fired by the city's Department of Public Services [for gun possession on the job]. ... John Chevilott ... found the loaded snub-nosed revolver on May 3 when he and his crew were mowing a lawn in Wayne County. Chevilott [called] the police, but ... the Detroit police never did pass by, so Chevilott finished his work, drove the gun home and [then] turned it into his local police department. ... However, Chevilott's superiors at the Department of Public Services ... fired Chevilott (after 23 years on the job) for violating department policies." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/d63bkyw ----- |
|
"The US says it will seek an effective treatment for Alzheimer's by 2025, as it faces an ageing population and spiraling health costs. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the goal as part of the first National Alzheimer's Plan. An additional $50m will be added to research funding during 2012. About 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer's or related dementias, a number expected to reach 16 million by 2050, at a cost of $1 trilion." (05/15/12) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18076186 ----- |
|
"Cancer treatment is changing: Increasingly, pills are the drug of choice rather than intravenous chemotherapy that drips into a patient's vein. In contrast to conventional IV chemotherapy, which often kills both cancer and healthy cells alike, many of the new oral oncology drugs target specific biologic processes in cancer cells and block their growth. In addition to being highly effective, they're convenient, especially for patients who live far from a treatment facility. ... At least 25 percent of the drugs in the oncology pipeline are oral medications." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/bpc84j7 ----- |
|
"He was the spitting image of the killer, had the same first name and was near the scene of the crime at the fateful hour: Carlos DeLuna paid the ultimate price and was executed in place of someone else in Texas in 1989, a report out Tuesday found. Even 'all the relatives of both Carloses mistook them,' and DeLuna was sentenced to death and executed based only on eyewitness accounts despite a range of signs he was not a guilty man, said law professor James Liebman." [editor's note: Now there's a solid argument against the death penalty if I've ever heard one - SAT] (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/d2mhlkn ----- |
|
"A Democratic congressman is trying to give the federal government the power to regulate pizza in public school lunches, following a failed attempt last year. The legislation proposed by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., would end pizza being counted as a vegetable in school lunches and allow the government to set nutritional standards." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/7dhryvm ----- |
|
"Author Nancy French had to do a little extra mothering on a pre-Mother's Day shopping excursion to Books A Million in Spring Hill. She was steering her children -- ages 13, 11 and 4 -- down the military history aisle when saw something that shocked her. She told them to freeze and turn around. There, on a shelf labeled 'Sexuality,' was the book 365 Sex Positions, complete with a cover photo featuring a nude couple demonstrating one." [editor's note: Ya know, they shoulda known better than to put Love so close to War ... - SAT] (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/c34pgga ----- |
|
"To avoid a 'fiscal cliff' at year's end, House Speaker John Boehner is going to rely on an old road map. If President Obama and congressional Democrats want to raise the debt ceiling, Mr. Boehner will say in a speech later on Tuesday, they're going to have to hew to what might be called the Boehner principle: Every dollar of new debt must be paid for by at least a dollar of reduced government spending." (05/15/12) http://tinyurl.com/clz45j7 ----- |
|
"Ukraine's High Court on Tuesday postponed the appeal of ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko against her seven year jail sentence until well after the Euro 2012 football tournament gets under way, to the fury of her defence. ... Tymoshenko's supporters have accused President Viktor Yanukovych of pursuing the case in an act of revenge against his arch political rival while the European Union has also objected that the case is politically motivated." (05/15/12) http://bit.ly/Krzybm ----- |
|
"Former New York state Senate majority leader Pedro Espada Jr. was convicted of swindling nearly $500,000 from the taxpayer-funded Bronx health clinic he founded to finance his lavish lifestyle. A Brooklyn federal court panel on Monday convicted Espada of four counts of stealing from the nonprofit Soundview Healthcare Network between 2005 and 2008." (05/15/12) http://bit.ly/KrqJhN ----- |
|
"A man set himself on fire Tuesday outside the court in Norway's capital, Oslo, where Anders Behring Breivik is on trial over terrorist attacks last summer that killed 77 people. 'We don't know much about his motives, but he set himself alight outside the courthouse. Police were quick to put the fire out, and he has now been taken to hospital,' Unni Groendal, head of media for Oslo police, told CNN." (05/15/12) http://bit.ly/KrnBm9 ----- |
|
"Yuma police have confirmed the deaths of 27-year-old Jason Snelling and 26-year-old Glenn Curry following the Friday night shooting. Police have identified the shooter as 23-year-old Daniel Dillman. Officers say it appears Dillman shot the two men in self-defense, and he has been released from police custody." (05/13/12) http://bit.ly/KrgfyU ----- |
|
"Thousands of Palestinians have attended demonstrations to commemorate what they refer to as the 'Nakba' or Catastrophe. It marks the day after the anniversary of Israel's independence in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes or were displaced." (05/15/12) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18073381 ----- |
|
"Rebekah Brooks, a close confidante of Rupert Murdoch, was charged on Tuesday with interfering with a police investigation into a phone hacking scandal that has rocked the tycoon's media empire and sent shockwaves through the British political establishment. Brooks, 43, was charged with concealing material from detectives, conspiring to remove boxes of archive records from Murdoch's London headquarters, and hiding documents, computers and other electronic equipment from the police." (05/15/12) http://reut.rs/Kr7a9s ----- |
|
"The Marine resident's wife opened the front door to find Darling standing there naked and talking about a lighter and a cigarette. ... Darling began yelling for the Marine resident to let him in the house. Darling was ramming the front door with his shoulder. The Marine resident told Darling to leave, and that he had a gun. Darling then punched the screen out of the window by the front door and then quickly thereafter jumped, diving head first through the screened portion of the window into the living room. The Marine resident used a 1911 .45-caliber handgun to shoot Darling three times in the back as Darling dove through the window, Lee said." (05/11/12) http://www.jdnews.com/articles/darling-103808-death-killed.html ----- |
COMMENTARY
|
"'Competition' today is no more than a clash between rich, monolithic global corporate titans who would rather use the legal system to ban competitors than actually compete. Competition between Samsung and Apple may be fierce enough in the courtroom, but what would happen in a real free market, one where no one was entitled to special privileges through IP?" (05/15/12) http://c4ss.org/content/10338 ----- |
