A central question about the Endangered Species Act was behind the legal wrangling Wednesday in a federal courtroom: What, if anything, can be done to save polar bears as the earth warms and sea ice recedes?
Courts have done plenty in the past to protect endangered or threatened species, including putting a halt to logging or construction, noted U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan. But, he asked, what should be done when the primary threat to polar bears is the loss of their sea ice habitat?
How can polar bears be saved, court asks?
Three-quarters of world's coral reefs in danger of dying
Three-quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk from overfishing, pollution and climate change, according to a report.
By 2050 virtually all of the world's coral reefs – from the waters of the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean to Australia – will be in danger, the report warns. The consequences – especially for countries such as the Philippines or Haiti which depend on the reefs for food – will be severe.
Ban on Muslim law proposed in Tennessee
Some Tennessee legislators want to make it a felony, punishable by 15 years in prison, to follow Muslim religious law.
Republicans in both chambers introduced a bill last week that declares Shariah law a threat to the nation and authorizes the state attorney general to investigate complaints of people practicing it, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported.
Dark Matter, Bright Stars: New Evidence on How Galaxies Are Born
Decades ago, a few astronomers began to suspect that the universe was swarming with some mysterious, invisible substance that was yanking galaxies around with its own powerful gravity. And for those same decades, most of those astronomers' colleagues dismissed the notion as pretty much nuts.
But the evidence kept mounting, and nowadays dark matter is a firmly established concept in modern astrophysics. It pretty much has to exist, in fact, to explain why individual galaxies spin as fast as they do without flying apart, and why groups of galaxies move the way they do in relation to one another.
Nat'l Autism Assoc. Lashes Out Against Supreme Court DTP Vaccine Decision
The National Autism Association responded firmly in regards to Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, in which the parents of Hannah Bruesewitz sued the Pfizer company, saying that its DTP vaccine caused her seizure disorder in 1992, and that the company knew it could produce a safer shot but chose not to. The Bruesewitzes took their claims to vaccine court first, but were denied, so they sued. They also recently lost this case in the Supreme Court.
National Autism Association (NAA) board chair Lori McIlwain stated: "This ruling is a crushing blow not only to families struggling to provide care for their vaccine-injured children, but also to the rights of every US citizen. No other industry enjoys such complete protection from liability for harm caused to people injured by their products."
Scott Walker Gets Punked By Journalist Pretending To Be David Koch
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been lured into a conversation about his strategy to cripple public employee unions by a prank caller pretending to be a billionaire Republican donor.Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie confirms the governor is on audio of the call posted Wednesday on the website of the Buffalo Beast, a left-leaning New York newspaper.
The governor believes the caller is conservative businessman David Koch. He talks about plans for layoff notices and what can be done to punish lawmakers who've left the state.
More...
NYC outdoor smoking extinguished from May 23
Smoking in New York City's parks, beaches, boardwalks, pedestrian plazas and other public spaces will be banned from May 23 despite complaints about excessive meddling by government in people's private lives.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the legislation on Tuesday after the city council voted 36 to 12 in favour of the smoking restrictions earlier this month. The law extends the city's existing ban on smoking in restaurants and bars.
Indiana Official: "Use Live Ammunition" Against Wisconsin Protesters
From my own Twitter account, I confronted the user, JCCentCom. He tweeted back that the demonstrators were "political enemies" and "thugs" who were "physically threatening legally elected officials." In response to such behavior, he said, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force." He later called me a "typical leftist," adding, "liberals hate police."
Only later did we realize that JCCentCom was a deputy attorney general for the state of Indiana.
The American President - Actor, Chauffeur, Salesman, Puppet
Thirty Years of War and Peace and Best Actor Awards for Our American Presidents
Unlike Barack Obama, the previous presidential actor, GW Bush never betrayed his core audience. Instead he simply betrayed the country as a whole for eight long years. An aggressive chauffeur, he seemed to want to drive the country, I mean car, off the road. Happily for his handlers he had a man named Cheney as designated driver, while the "war president" as he liked to be called, posed by the limousine (or aircraft carrier) for photo opportunities. However the important driving was left to DC. Chiefly a puppet, rather than actor or salesman, president Bush was handed the country after the fraudulent 2000 elections. Asleep at the wheel, GWB had that slightly deranged look of a sociopathic hit-and-run driver on the morning of 9-11, aware the limo had swerved and struck a million innocent bystanders (and counting) and so awaited his owners to vouch for him during the following eight years. I wrote more about GWB in my column (Google) A Tale of Two AWOLS.
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