http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7840-Welfare-drug-testing-signed-into-law-by-Fla.-Gov.-Scott
Floridians must submit urine, blood or hair samples for drug testing before receiving cash benefits from the state under a bill Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Tuesday.
“The goal of this is to make sure we don’t waste taxpayers’ money,” Scott said. “And hopefully more people will focus on not using illegal drugs.”
The new law fulfills a campaign pledge from Scott, but has raised legal questions. The ACLU of Florida has signaled it might sue over the law.
“Once again, this governor has demonstrated his dismissal of both the law and the right of Floridians to personal privacy by signing into law a bill that treats those who have lost their jobs like suspected criminals,” said ACLU of Florida director Howard Simon.
The law, which goes into effect on July 1, will mean about 4,400 drug tests per month, according to the Department of Children & Families. Taxpayers will reimburse welfare applicants for negative drug tests, which can cost between $10 and $25.
Positive tests will carry an immediate six-month ban on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. A second positive test will result in a three-year ban on state assistance.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Canadian government plans to outlaw internet anonymity By Mark Fournier
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7839-Canadian-government-plans-to-outlaw-internet-anonymity-By-Mark-Fournier
Clause11: The existing provisions of the Code regarding the offences of sending a message in a false name and sending false information, indecent remarks or “harassing” messages (the French term “harassants” currently used in subsection 372(3) of the Code is replaced by “harcelants” in the bill) refer to certain communication technologies used to commit those offences, such as telegram, radio and telephone. Clause 11 of the bill amends those offences by removing the references to those specific communication technologies and, for some of those offences, substituting a reference to any means of telecommunication. As a result, it will be possible to lay charges in respect of those offences regardless of the transmission method or technology used.
Clause11: The existing provisions of the Code regarding the offences of sending a message in a false name and sending false information, indecent remarks or “harassing” messages (the French term “harassants” currently used in subsection 372(3) of the Code is replaced by “harcelants” in the bill) refer to certain communication technologies used to commit those offences, such as telegram, radio and telephone. Clause 11 of the bill amends those offences by removing the references to those specific communication technologies and, for some of those offences, substituting a reference to any means of telecommunication. As a result, it will be possible to lay charges in respect of those offences regardless of the transmission method or technology used.
Drop in U.S. birth rate is the biggest in 30 years
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7838-Drop-in-U.S.-birth-rate-is-the-biggest-in-30-years
March 31, 2011|By Shari Roan, Los Angeles TimesThe maternity business has experienced a recession, too, it appears. Births fell 4% from 2007 to 2009, the biggest drop for any two-year period since the mid-1970s, according to federal government data released Thursday.
The rate, 66.7 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, isn't the lowest in recent memory. The 1997 rate was an all-time low of 63.6. But the authors of the report say preliminary data show the birth rate continued falling through the first half of 2010.
March 31, 2011|By Shari Roan, Los Angeles TimesThe maternity business has experienced a recession, too, it appears. Births fell 4% from 2007 to 2009, the biggest drop for any two-year period since the mid-1970s, according to federal government data released Thursday.
The rate, 66.7 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, isn't the lowest in recent memory. The 1997 rate was an all-time low of 63.6. But the authors of the report say preliminary data show the birth rate continued falling through the first half of 2010.
The Obama File - What To Believe
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7837-The-Obama-File-What-To-Believe
Obama -- A Kenyan? -- All Of These Sources Say So
The only thing we KNOW about Barack Hussein Obama II is we don't KNOW a damned thing about him.
The very, very liberal, National Public Radio, described Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born."
The Associated Press (AP) declared that "Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations."
Kenya Sunday Standard headline -- "Kenyan-born Obama all set for US Senate"
The Kenya Standard -- "It seems Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America (via a sleepy village in Kenya called Nyang’oma K’Ogelo) can do no wrong."
Obama -- A Kenyan? -- All Of These Sources Say So
The only thing we KNOW about Barack Hussein Obama II is we don't KNOW a damned thing about him.
The very, very liberal, National Public Radio, described Barack Obama as "Kenyan-born."
The Associated Press (AP) declared that "Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations."
Kenya Sunday Standard headline -- "Kenyan-born Obama all set for US Senate"
The Kenya Standard -- "It seems Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America (via a sleepy village in Kenya called Nyang’oma K’Ogelo) can do no wrong."
Pill could erase painful memories, study shows
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7836-Pill-could-erase-painful-memories-study-shows
What if you could take a pill and erase painful memories? Most of us would probably choose not to lose parts of our past, but for those with post-traumatic stress disorder, such a pill might bring welcome relief.
In a study that sounds very much like a scene from the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” researchers have shown that the right medication might actually help rub out wrenching remembrances.
For the new study, researchers rounded up 33 university students and asked them to watch a video presentation that told the story of a little girl who has a horrible accident while visiting with her grandparents. While the girl and her grandfather are constructing a birdhouse, one of the little girl’s hands gets caught in a saw. One of the pictures shown to the study volunteers is of her mangled hand.
Though the girl’s hand is eventually saved at the hospital and the story ends fine, the presentation is tough to sit through and tends to cause viewers emotional distress, explains the study’s lead author Marie-France Marin, a doctoral student at The Center for Studies on Human Stress at the University of Montreal. “It’s not fun to watch,” she says. “It induces a lot of emotion.”
What if you could take a pill and erase painful memories? Most of us would probably choose not to lose parts of our past, but for those with post-traumatic stress disorder, such a pill might bring welcome relief.
In a study that sounds very much like a scene from the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” researchers have shown that the right medication might actually help rub out wrenching remembrances.
For the new study, researchers rounded up 33 university students and asked them to watch a video presentation that told the story of a little girl who has a horrible accident while visiting with her grandparents. While the girl and her grandfather are constructing a birdhouse, one of the little girl’s hands gets caught in a saw. One of the pictures shown to the study volunteers is of her mangled hand.
Though the girl’s hand is eventually saved at the hospital and the story ends fine, the presentation is tough to sit through and tends to cause viewers emotional distress, explains the study’s lead author Marie-France Marin, a doctoral student at The Center for Studies on Human Stress at the University of Montreal. “It’s not fun to watch,” she says. “It induces a lot of emotion.”
Houston police officer struck by car, killed
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7835-Houston-police-officer-struck-by-car-killed
A Houston police officer was killed early Sunday when a man drove around a police barricade and struck the officer as he was investigating a traffic accident, investigators said.
Johoan Rodriguez, 26, was charged with intoxication manslaughter of a peace officer, felony evading in a motor vehicle and possession of a controlled substance, police said. Investigators said the substance was cocaine.
Officer Kevin S. Will, 38, was hit around 3:45 a.m. when Rodriguez passed through a barricade on North Interstate Highway 610, police said. Police pursued Rodriguez, but they couldn't stop his vehicle before he fatally hit Will. The officer died at the scene, Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland said.
Will, a married father of two, was sworn in as an officer in September 2009 and would have celebrated a year in the vehicular crimes department Sunday, McClelland said.
A Houston police officer was killed early Sunday when a man drove around a police barricade and struck the officer as he was investigating a traffic accident, investigators said.
Johoan Rodriguez, 26, was charged with intoxication manslaughter of a peace officer, felony evading in a motor vehicle and possession of a controlled substance, police said. Investigators said the substance was cocaine.
Officer Kevin S. Will, 38, was hit around 3:45 a.m. when Rodriguez passed through a barricade on North Interstate Highway 610, police said. Police pursued Rodriguez, but they couldn't stop his vehicle before he fatally hit Will. The officer died at the scene, Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland said.
Will, a married father of two, was sworn in as an officer in September 2009 and would have celebrated a year in the vehicular crimes department Sunday, McClelland said.
Lonely death of a gentle giant who washed up on an English beach
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7834-Lonely-death-of-a-gentle-giant-who-washed-up-on-an-English-beach
Stretched out on the sand beneath scudding clouds, the majesty of this 44ft sperm whale cannot be denied.
Frantic efforts were made to save the 20-ton creature after the gentle giant became stranded on Redcar beach but to no avail.
Lost and disorientated it had headed towards the shore where it beached itself shortly after dawn.
Tragic: Volunteers try to save the 44ft sperm whale, which eventually died after it became washed up on Redcar beach in Cleveland
Stretched out on the sand beneath scudding clouds, the majesty of this 44ft sperm whale cannot be denied.
Frantic efforts were made to save the 20-ton creature after the gentle giant became stranded on Redcar beach but to no avail.
Lost and disorientated it had headed towards the shore where it beached itself shortly after dawn.
Tragic: Volunteers try to save the 44ft sperm whale, which eventually died after it became washed up on Redcar beach in Cleveland
WHO warns of possible link between cell phone use, brain cancer risk
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7833-WHO-warns-of-possible-link-between-cell-phone-use-brain-cancer-risk
WHO takes different position from last year, when its study on cell phone and cancer link proved inconclusive
The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that radiation from cell phones can possibly increase brain cancer risk – a change in thinking for an organization that previously has denied evidence of any such link.
WHO takes different position from last year, when its study on cell phone and cancer link proved inconclusive
The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that radiation from cell phones can possibly increase brain cancer risk – a change in thinking for an organization that previously has denied evidence of any such link.
E.coli cucumber scare: Cases 'likely to increase'
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7811-E.coli-cucumber-scare-Cases-likely-to-increase
A deadly E.coli outbreak linked to cucumbers is expected to worsen in the coming days, a scientist says.
Fourteen people have died in Germany and hundreds are ill from infections linked to contaminated vegetables.
"We hope the number of cases will go down but we fear it will worsen," said Oliver Grieve, of the University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, where many victims are being treated.
It is thought cucumbers from Spain were at the origin of the outbreak.
A deadly E.coli outbreak linked to cucumbers is expected to worsen in the coming days, a scientist says.
Fourteen people have died in Germany and hundreds are ill from infections linked to contaminated vegetables.
"We hope the number of cases will go down but we fear it will worsen," said Oliver Grieve, of the University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, where many victims are being treated.
It is thought cucumbers from Spain were at the origin of the outbreak.
Approaching the Big Data Singularity
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7832-Approaching-the-Big-Data-Singularity
VI. How Satellite Data Paralyzed the CIA
Beginning in the early 1970s the CIA began relying more on global satellite reconnaissance imagery for its intelligence operations. But according to one history, this massive, rich data didn’t accelerate the pace of US intelligence: it slowed it down.
Why? Because confronted with this firehose, CIA leaders attempted to analyze every image, chase every half-formed hypothesis, simply because it was possible. The few good leads were washed out by the many mediocre. The CIA didn’t adjust their decision-making to this new scale, and they were drowned by it.
VI. How Satellite Data Paralyzed the CIA
Beginning in the early 1970s the CIA began relying more on global satellite reconnaissance imagery for its intelligence operations. But according to one history, this massive, rich data didn’t accelerate the pace of US intelligence: it slowed it down.
Why? Because confronted with this firehose, CIA leaders attempted to analyze every image, chase every half-formed hypothesis, simply because it was possible. The few good leads were washed out by the many mediocre. The CIA didn’t adjust their decision-making to this new scale, and they were drowned by it.
iSteve: Monarchism Vindicated
http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7831-iSteve-Monarchism-Vindicated
The Un-PC wit of Prince Philip:
Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip has a job that consists solely of socializing, and he's had Elderly Tourette's Syndrome since he was young. Fortunately, being Prince Consort is one of the few jobs that that won't get you fired from. From the U.K. Independent:
Ninety gaffes in ninety years
From Papua New Guinea to Stoke-on-Trent, Prince Philip has left his mark around the world. As his 90th birthday looms, Hannah Ewan recalls the soundbites that could only have come from one man
The Un-PC wit of Prince Philip:
Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip has a job that consists solely of socializing, and he's had Elderly Tourette's Syndrome since he was young. Fortunately, being Prince Consort is one of the few jobs that that won't get you fired from. From the U.K. Independent:
Ninety gaffes in ninety years
From Papua New Guinea to Stoke-on-Trent, Prince Philip has left his mark around the world. As his 90th birthday looms, Hannah Ewan recalls the soundbites that could only have come from one man
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