Man on the Spot 41: Poverty hits back, terrorist watch lists

Posted by bob on May 18, 2014 in Events | 0 comments

50 Years Into the War on Poverty, Hardship Hits Back …

By TRIP GABRIEL APRIL 20, 2014

“I was as backward as these kids are,” she said in the office of her school, one of few modern buildings in town. “We’re isolated. Part of our culture here is we tend to stick with our own.” In her leaving for college, she said, “you’d think I’d committed a crime.”

Terror Watch Lists Run Amok – NYTimes.com

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD APRIL 18, 2014

After eight years of confounding litigation and coordinated intransigence, the Justice Department this week grudgingly informed Rahinah Ibrahim, a Malaysian architecture professor, that she was no longer on the federal government’s vastly overbroad no-fly list.

Merely Rich and Superrich: The Tax Gap Is Narrowing …

APRIL 17, 2014

But it is an interesting fact that our current tax system assures that — year after year — the superrich, those who report adjusted gross incomes of more than $10 million, have tax rates that are significantly lower than those of the very rich, those earning more than $500,000 but less than $10 million.

Jeb Bush’s Rush to Make Money May Be Hurdle – The New

By MICHAEL BARBARO APRIL 20, 2014
Mr. Bush sat on the board of Swisher Hygiene, a soap maker, at a time when, its executives acknowledged, their financial statements were unreliable and their accounting practices inadequate. That admission contributed to a plunge in stock price that has wiped out more than three-quarters of Swisher’s value and touched off a wave of shareholder lawsuits. Several have named Mr. Bush as a defendant, accusing him and fellow board members of insufficient oversight.

David Grimm’s ‘Citizen Canine‘ Looks at an Evolving Status …
Books of The Times | By MICHIKO KAKUTANI

In 2007, a 13-year-old golden retriever named Alex, who was the subject of a contentious custody suit, was given a court-appointed lawyer to look after his best interests. …social status of dogs and cats has been rapidly evolving. Dog and cat ownership has quadrupled since the mid-1960s, he says, and last year Americans spent “a staggering $55 billion” on their companion animals. At the same time, he argues, “an equally dramatic transformation has taken place in the legal system”: While early American laws dismissed cats and dogs “as worthless objects that didn’t even warrant the meager legal status of property”

New York Police Reach Out on Twitter but Receive a Slap in …

By J. DAVID GOODMANAPRIL 22, 2014

When the New York Police Department asked Twitter users on Tuesday to share their photographs with police officers, they were perhaps expecting a few feel-good neighborhood scenes or tourists with police horses in Times Square. A few posted pictures of themselves with officers, smiling. Most did not.

Covert Inquiry by F.B.I. Rattles 9/11 Tribunals – NYTimes.com

By MATT APUZZO APRIL 18, 2014

Thirteen years after 9/11, nobody has been convicted in connection with the attacks and, because of the F.B.I. visit, a trial could be delayed even longer. But it was only the latest in a string of strange events at Guantánamo Bay that, coupled with the decade-long delay, have undermined a process that was supposed to move swiftly, without the encumbrances of the civilian legal system and its traditional rules of evidence.

‘Smart‘ Firearm Draws Wrath of the Gun Lobby – NYTimes.co

By JEREMY W. PETERS APRIL 27, 2014

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Belinda Padilla does not pick up unknown calls anymore, not since someone posted her cellphone number on an online forum for gun enthusiasts. A few fuming-mad voice mail messages and heavy breathers were all it took.

Attack on Journalist Starts Battle in Pakistani Press – The …

By DECLAN WALSH APRIL 26, 2014

For reporters, however, it has been a perilous time: Some 34 journalists have died in the line of duty since democracy was restored in 2008, said Mustafa Qadri of Amnesty International, whose report on media freedom is due to be published April 30. “It is supremely dangerous to be a reporter in Pakistan,” he said.

LinkedIn CEO cashes in to tune of $179 million – USA Today

Gary Strauss, USA TODAY 3:34 p.m. EDT April 30, 2014

CEO Jeffrey Weiner gained nearly $180 million, including $169.8 million from stock options and $9.4 million from vested shares. Weiner also received compensation valued at about $49 million, the business-networking website said Monday in its annual proxy. Weiner’s pay package and combined gains from stock and options were among the biggest of any CEO in Corporate America in 2013, according to a USA TODAY analysis of corporate filings.