Threat Assessment: November 7-11
AGAINST US
Jefferson County, Alabama, goes bust
Alabama's Jefferson County has declared the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, with investors now facing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. [Bloomberg ]
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AGAINST US
Loose EPA regulations for kilns allow pollution
Kilns, used nationwide for the manufacture and processing of cement are permitted to emit toxic air pollution thanks to lax EPA standards regulating their use, a new report says. hazardous-waste incinerators. [NPR]
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WITH US
Teens come to defense of online bullying victims
A majority – 84 percent – of teens who use social media have seen people rise to the defense of a victim of online bullying, with 27 percent seeing people do so frequently, according to a new Pew Internet study. [Pew Internet]
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WITH US
Promising vaccine may combat breast and ovarian cancers
A breast/ovarian cancer vaccine called Panvac has showed "promising" results in lab tests, according to the Center for Cancer Research, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Cancer Institute. [The Week]
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AGAINST US
Washington Nationals catcher kidnapped in Venezuela
Wilson Ramos, catcher for the Washington Nationals, was abducted by gunmen Wednesday from his home in his native Venezuela, possibly in an attempt to secure a ransom for his return. [NPR ]
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WITH US
Obama cuts down on federal "swag"
Taxpayer dollars will no longer fund federal agencies' promotional freebies — clothes, pens and the like, as well as "information technology devices" for employees. [Politico]
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AGAINST US
In post-Qaddafi Libya, revenge attacks commonplace
The death of the dictator hasn't yet brought peace to Libya: revenge attacks and militia rivalries have slowed the building of a new way of life across the country. [NPR ]
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WITH US
Ohioans vote to protect labor rights
Ohio voters repealed a Republican-backed law that would have severely curtailed the collective bargaining power of public workers. [Washington Post]
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AGAINST US
Guantanamo detainees: cleared for release, but nowhere to go
Despite the Obama administration clearing 126 Guantanamo Bay detainees for transfer in 2009, restrictions in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act has kept 32 in limbo; they have been cleared for release, but the U.S. government has yet to find a place to transfer the detainees. [Washington Post]
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WITH US
"Personhood" amendment fails in Mississippi elections
An extreme anti-abortion initiative, which would have defined a fertilized egg as a person, failed to attract enough votes to pass in generally conservative Mississippi. [Washington Post]
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AGAINST US
Military lost war dead's remains
An Air Force investigation into the military's main mortuary found that the facility grossly mishandled the remains of war dead – including losing body parts and wrongfully removing the limb of a deceased marine. [Reuters ]
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AGAINST US
AMERICA’S CYBER DEFENSES ARE PATHETIC
Critical computer networks are so vulnerable to attack that U.S. should think twice before going to war with other nations, since former cybersecurity czar, Richard Clarke. [AP]
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WITH US
ASTEROID WON’T SMASH INTO EARTH
An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier will zip by the Earth Tuesday. The last time a chunk of rock this size came this close to Earth was in 1976 and it won't happen again until 2028. [NYT ]
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AGAINST US
SODA BANS DON'T WORK
State laws that ban soda in schools — but not other sweetened beverages — barely affect the amount sugary drinks kids drink, a new study shows.[NYT ]
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WITH US
MAGIC JOHNSON IS STILL BEATING AIDS
The basketball legend says if he'd known how well he could live with HIV, he wouldn't have quit the Lakers on Nov. 7, 1991. [AP ]
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AGAINST US
CHINESE COUNTERFEIT PARTS IN U.S. WEAPONS
A congressional probe found at least 1,800 examples, with the total number of suspect parts upwards of 1 million. [Washington Post]
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WITH US
WALL STREET BONUSES SET TO SHRINK
They're expected to drop by an average of 20 to 30 percent from last year, owing to fears about the U.S. economy, the European debt crisis in Europe and volatile equity markets. [WSJ ]
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AGAINST US
Wall Streeters Have Made Out Better Under Obama Than Under Bush
Firms earned more in the first 2 1/2 years of Obama than during the eight years of the George W. Bush administration. [ThinkProgress ]
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WITH US
Anti-Pipeline Protesters Encircle the White House
Thousands of activists urged President Obama to scrap plans for the 1,700-mile, Canada-to-the-Gulf Keystone oil pipeline. [USA Today]
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AGAINST US
Poverty in U.S. hits record high
The number of Americans living in poverty reached a record 49.1 million in 2010. [Reuters]
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WITH US
Public Getting Wise to GOP Stonewalling
Majorities of independents and moderates agree that Republicans are shutting down Obama’s job-creation efforts for political reasons. [Washington Post]
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AGAINST US
Young-Old Wealth Gap Wider Than Ever
The wealth of older Americans is 47 times that of young adults, according to new Census numbers. [Washington Post]
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WITH US
SOLAR POWER IS BOOMING
Solar powered-electricity is approaching the price of of coal-fired kind, writes Paul Krugman. "And if we priced coal-fired power right, taking into account the huge health and other costs it imposes, it’s likely that we would already have passed that tipping point." [NYT via ThinkProgress]