A Tackle Box Full of Race Bait
Of all the poisonous, ugly and intellectually vapid controversies ginned up in my lifetime, the current breakout of St. Vitus’ Dance over the “racist” opposition to Barack Obama may be the most egregious. Al Sharpton tells CNN’s Larry King that decent and racially sensitive Americans shouldn’t let a small minority make health care into a [...]
New UFL Out to Break All The TV Rules
New sports leagues figure they can survive by hooking a fraction of a sport’s existing fan base. So football, as the American sports’ great white whale, is the most obvious spawning ground. Since any new pro football league will be seen as inferior to the NFL, you supposedly need an angle. The American Football League [...]
Census: Floridians Driving More and Earning Less
Floridians drive more, earn less and pay about the same percentage in property taxes compared to residents of other states, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest compendium of data. The bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey, a massive annual compilation of demographic and financial information, was released Tuesday. Among its findings: Florida’s property taxes are [...]
Swine Flu Panic Worse Than Outbreak?
With all the warnings and preparations, dire predictions and hastily ordered vaccines, could the growing worry about H1N1 swine flu prove more disruptive than the actual outbreak? That notion is weighing on the minds of more than a few infectious-disease experts as the fall and winter flu season looms. Not only does societal panic not [...]
Georgians Faced with Flood Toll
AUSTELL, Ga. – On a Tuesday finally filled with welcome sunshine, flood-ravaged Georgians returned home to survey the damage and begin wrestling with insurance issues. For some, homecoming was heartbreaking. Chris Payne, 43, a construction company superintendent, was shocked when he saw the rooftop of his house on Powder Springs Road in Austell. “My house [...]
Long After 9/11, Stadiums Playing Defense
Former FBI agent Jim McGee will visit Texas A&M University starting today for an audit of its stadium security planning. “This was already scheduled, but the timing is good,” said McGee, programming director for the Center for Spectator Sports Security Management at the University of Southern Mississippi. Federal counterterrorism officials issued a bulletin to police [...]
Firms Urged to Prep for Swine Flu
Swine flu hasn’t hit his business yet, but Pedro Alfonso is nervous nonetheless. “We’re running scared,” says the president of Dynamic Concepts, an 80-person telecommunications company in Washington, D.C. “If we can’t generate revenue because everyone is sick, then we’re jeopardizing everyone’s livelihood. So we’re going to do our fair share of preparedness.” Only one-third [...]
Banks Take Another Look at Overdraft Fees
As Congress considers legislation to crack down on bank overdraft fees, the industry is starting to scale back some controversial practices. Next month, Bank of America will stop charging consumers who overdraw by less than $10 a day and will lower the number of times, to four from 10 a day, that consumers can get [...]
Parental Bypasses Spur Call for More Abortion Guidelines
A new Florida Senate report shows that close to 600 girls turned to state courts for permission to have an abortion without telling their parents last year, with almost all the requests granted. Critics say the findings underscore the need for stricter guidelines for judges to follow while administering the state’s 2004 parental notice law, [...]
Margulies Balances ‘Good Wife’ and Being One
NEW YORK – Julianna Margulies never thought she’d understand Silda Spitzer or Jenny Sanford. Until she landed the role of Alicia Florrick, the wife of a politician who is busted in a sex scandal. He is shipped off to prison. She goes back to work to keep the family, and herself, afloat, in the CBS [...]
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