Monday, February 16, 2009
'One hundred billion trillion'..............
Life on Earth used to be thought of as a freak accident that only happened once. But scientists are now coming to the conclusion that the universe is teeming with living organisms. The change in thinking has come about because of the new belief there are an abundant number of habitable planets like Earth. Alan Boss, of the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC, said there could be as many Earths as there are stars in the universe - one hundred billion trillion. Because of this, he believes it is "inevitable" that life must have flourished elsewhere over the billions of years the universe has existed. "If you have a habitable world and let it evolve for a few billion years then inevitably some sort of life will form on it," said Dr Boss....Link
Religious Discrimination Policy............
Proving he’s no amateur when it comes to tacking as far right or left as necessary to capture some vital constituency, President Barack Obama recently upheld a key Bush administration policy allowing groups receiving federal dollars to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion....Link
Former Gitmo Guard Tells All................
Army Private Brandon Neely served as a prison guard at Guantánamo in the first years the facility was in operation. With the Bush Administration, and thus the threat of retaliation against him, now gone, Neely decided to step forward and tell his story. “The stuff I did and the stuff I saw was just wrong,” he told the Associated Press. Neely describes the arrival of detainees in full sensory-deprivation garb, he details their sexual abuse by medical personnel, torture by other medical personnel, brutal beatings out of frustration, fear, and retribution, the first hunger strike and its causes, torturous shackling, positional torture, interference with religious practices and beliefs, verbal abuse, restriction of recreation, the behavior of mentally ill detainees, an isolation regime that was put in place for child-detainees, and his conversations with prisoners David Hicks and Rhuhel Ahmed. It makes for fascinating reading....Link
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Homeless student numbers on the rise....
The number of homeless students in area schools has skyrocketed since 2006, as more families face foreclosure and job loss, and schools are growing more aware of their obligations under federal law. The homeless "have always been there," said Melissa Romero, a program coordinator for the Lake County regional office of education. "I think that the climate now just makes it so that it is undeniable and recognizable." Across the Chicago suburbs, a 67 percent increase in homeless students during the two years that ended in June reflects a faltering economy. Some districts are reporting their first homeless students. In Chicago, the schools expect to top last year's record number of 10,642 homeless students...Link
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