Iodide Pills for Americans Living Near Nuclear Reactors

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Massachusetts congressman, Rep.
Ed Markey, asked the federal
government Tuesday to distribute
potassium iodide pills to
Americans living near nuclear
reactors. A preventive step one
expert warns might do more harm
than good.

The compound can be used to block
the thyroid gland's absorption
of radioactive iodine.

The idea is to give it to every
household within a 20-mile radius
of a United States nuclear power
plant "in recognition of the
probability that rapid evacuation
during a nuclear melt-down will
be difficult and time consuming."

Markey explained that the battle to
stop a suspected melt-down at a
Japanese plant should spur the
Obama administration to action.

"Despite more than 30 years of
clear and unequivocal evidence
that potassium iodide protects
people, especially young
children, who are most vulnerable,
from cancer causing releases of
radioactive iodine that would
happen if a nuclear disaster
occurred, the nuclear industry
has continued to fight its use,"
Markey at a press conference.

A 2002 law requires the United
States government to stock-pile
potassium iodide, and make it
available to state/local
governments in preparation for a
possible nuclear accident, but
the congressman explained the
provision has not been enforced.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110330101454writ.nb/topstory.html

President Obama Talks Up Values in Libya Speech

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President Obama affirmed America's
responsibility as a world leader
to prevent atrocities Monday, as
he maintained why he authorized
intervention in Libya despite
critics' concerns with the cost of
military action and involvement
in another war.

"To brush aside America's
responsibility as a leader and,
more profoundly, our responsibilities
to our fellow human beings under
such circumstances would have been
a betrayal of who we are. Some
nations may be able to turn a blind
eye to atrocities in other countries.
The United States of America is
different. And as president, I refused
to wait for the images of slaughter
and mass graves before taking action,"
President Obama said at the National
Defense University in Washington, D.C.

Military action launched by the United
States that led the international
coalition was crucial and necessary
to stop Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi,
who is accused of using violence
against his own people, the President
said.

"Innocent people were targeted for
killing. Hospitals and ambulances
were attacked," the president continued.
"Journalists were arrested, sexually
assaulted, and killed. Supplies of
food and fuel were choked off."

Obama explained that America's security
was not threatened, but the country's
"interests and values" were at risk.

Critics have complained that the United
States should not use military
intervention or "police the world."

The American military cannot be deployed
"wherever repression occurs," President
Obama said.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110329062433writ.nb/topstory.html

A New Turn to Wisconsin's Collective Bargaining Rights

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The fight in Wisconsin over
collective bargaining rights
has a new turn which is the
publishing of the law despite
a judge's order against it.

Lawmakers and observers
speculated Saturday if the
law had taken effect.

It started Friday afternoon
when the state's Legislative
Reference Bureau published the
controversial act that
restrains the collective
bargaining rights of most
employees.

The Legislature's web site
Saturday referenced the
publication of the law and
mentioned two points.

Dane County Circuit Court
Judge Maryann Sumi on March
18 stopped enactment of the
law and forbade Secretary of
State Douglas La Follette from
publishing it.

Wisconsin law requires the
Legislative Reference Bureau
to publish every act within
10 days of its passage.

The state's Department of Justice,
headed by Attorney General J.B.
Van Hollen, issued a statement
Friday, "no action by the
Secretary of State is required
by this section for the
legislative reference bureau to
publish an Act."

Monday, Van Hollen asked the state's
4th District Court of Appeals to
lift Sumi's temporary restraining
order stopping enforcement of the
act.

Sumi's injunction was in response
to a suit filed by a Democratic
district attorney alleging that
Republican legislators violated
the state's open meetings law by
calling a committee meeting to
amend GOP Gov. Scott Walker's
budget bill without providing
the public 24-hour advance notice.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110328071947writ.nb/topstory.html

Comfortable Writer

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Writer

Comfortable writing and I have
been on a first-name-feeling
since my early teen years. It
was comfortable, easy for me
to write paragraphs and create
word pictures.

My writing wasn't always
grammatically correct, but
I enjoyed the act of writing.
If a teacher gave an assignment
relating to writing, I
comfortably had it ready before
the due date.

I hadn't been published at the
time or planned on it.

The journey through school
continued. In high school, a
teacher praised an assignement.
She remarked on my word creativity.

"Thank you." I responded.

Years crawled by before I
appreciated my writing ability.
Still, the idea of writing as
a career didn't dawn. My mind
focused on academics.

Off to college, I went. I looked
forward to those years ending
and they did.

The degree and I found a job,
wanted to retire from it. Life
had other plans for me. I was
terminated from the job.

An array of emotions engulfed me.

I tired of the tears, decided to
find employment. The jobs ranged
from stuffing envelopes to
telemarketing. For one reason or
the other, the jobs and I departed.

My mind wondered to what happened
the months prior to being fired
from the job I wanted to retire
from.

I turned to writing a detailed
account through teary eyes. The
idea of writing a book came to
mind.

Doubts stirred. Can I write it?
Write well enough? Would I be
taken as a serious writer? Was
I comfortable enough with writing?
Publisher? I curbed those
writing-crushers to a corner of
my mind.

I found someone to edit it, but
her rates were too expensive.

"I'm cheap compared to others,"
she said.

"No funds." I smiled. "My elderly
mother shares her food with me."

"Good luck."

I trashed paragraphs, improved the
plot and peppered it with more
suspense. The editing process
went on for years.

I crossed paths with an agent,
sent him the manuscript. He
returned it with a note: 'Work
on it.'

I did. A telephone call or two
with him convinced me that he
didn't hold much hope for
publishing my manuscript.

It was up to me, the comfortable
writer.

I read books, honed my writing
skills. My goal was to make my
manuscript acceptable.

The writing, re-writing, of my
manuscript `lasted for years.

Finally, the publication of my
manuscript happened. Listen to
my interview.

Grave Street House Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO1oed6AlM4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Comfortable-Writer

Google's Digital Library Rejected

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Google's idea of creating the
world's largest digital library
and bookstore has stumbled into
a 300-year-old copyright.

Google wanted to digitize every
book published and make them
accessible but was stopped on
Tuesday when a federal judge
in New York rejected a $125
million legal settlement the
company had worked out with
groups representing authors
and publishers.

The project is that of Larry
Page, the Google co-founder
who is to become its chief
executive next month. It has
lots of support inside the
company, whose corporate
mission is to organize all
of the world's information.

"It was very much consistent
with Larry's idealism that
all of the world's information
should be made available
freely," Ken Auletta, author
of "Googled- The End of the
World as We Know It."

Judge Denny Chin pointed-out
copyright, antitrust and
mentioned that the settlement
went too far. It would have
granted Google a "de facto
monopoly" and the right to
profit from books without
the permission of copyright
owners.

Judge Chin recognized that
"the creation of a universal
digital library would benefit
many," but explained that the
suggested agreement was "not
fair, adequate and reasonable."
He left open the possibility
that a substantially revised
agreement could pass legal
muster.

Judge Chin was recently elevated
to the United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit,
but handled the case as a
district court judge.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110323062847writ.nb/topstory.html

Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey Sent Out The World's First Tweet 5 Years Ago

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Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey
sent out the world's first Tweet,
five years ago in 2006 on March
21st. It read: "just setting up
my twttr." Today, it's used to
archive lives, cultures and
breaking news in real-time.

Dorsey set-in-motion the idea
for Twitter while working with
Biz Stone and Evan Williams at
the podcasting company Odeo.

"As much fun as we were having,
there was always, I think, in
the back of our heads the idea
of the potential of something
important coming from it," Stone
shared feelings from the start-
up's early days.

It was laughed at by some as a
platform for telling the world
what one had for lunch or when
one cleaned house, but Twitter
has become respected as an one-stop
during disasters like the
earthquake in Japan.

Twitter was an invaluable for
information collection and
communication the moment cell-phone
service became available in Japan,
for example.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110322085716writ.nb/topstory.html

Understanding State Department Travel Alerts

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The State Department's web site
explained that a travel alert
is issued for short-term events
like political demonstrations
or a health issue- the H1N1
outbreak.

The State Department issues
travel warnings "when we want
you to consider very carefully
whether you should go to a
country at all." A travel warning
might be issued for a country
in the middle of a civil war,
on-going violence or frequent
terrorist attacks. "Travel
warnings remain in place until
the situation changes," the
State Department. "Some have
been in effect for years."

Usually, travel companies, tour
companies and travel agencies
will follow the advise of a
travel alert or warning at
first. In the case of Egypt,
travel companies worked to
get their clients out of the
country.

Tour companies are starting
up trips to Egypt again while
the State Department's travel
warning is still in effect. In
an attempt to re-start tourism
business, tour operators will
collect their own intelligence
about whether it is safe to
return to a destination, give
clients that information and
let them decide.

"Our decision to head back to
both Egypt and Tunisia came
after extensive meetings with
our ground operators, community
leaders and tourism officials,"
Alan Lewis, chairman of Grand
Circle Corporation, which owns
the travel brands Grand Circle
Travel and Overseas Adventure
Travel.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110321072452writ.nb/topstory.html

Help With Comma Usage

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with me? Leave me your opinion.

How To Use Commas
Comma usage is misunderstood and
at times over-used.The correct
usage of commas will help you
write better hubs, blogs,
non-fiction, fiction and business
projects. This hub will supply
some answers to the right and
wrong ways of common usage.

Commas are used after introductory
words, clauses or phrases. Look-over
the examples.

1. The Center turned-down the program,
and staff members applauded.

2. Their parents insisted, they
washed the car clean on try three.

3. On July 4th, Mira was born.

Commas separate two sentences
connected by and, but, or, for,
yet, nor or so.

1. I lost Mike's cell number,
and no one else had it.

2. I would have gone to the party,
but I couldn't find the house.

3. Joe fell-out the window, or
was pushed.

Commas separate items in a list.

1. The cats laid around, curled-up,
one snored and they woke-up when
it was time to eat.

2. Being candles, paper cups,
plastic spoons and ginger-ale.

3. The game took them two blocks
north, three streets south, cross
a river and through the woods.

Commas set-off groups of words at
the beginning of a sentence.

1. Without money for rent, the
family was forced to move.

2. The month of January supplied
tons of snow, we made a snow-person
for the first time.

3. Because his gun had no bullets,
he couldn't fire.

Commas come into play after a
person's name.

1. Bill, take the dog for a walk.

2. Sally, who called.

3. Rose, you had several messages.

On using commas with quotation
marks. Use a comma after said as
a direct quotation is introduced.

1. Larry said, "I have to buy some
socks."

2. Brenda said, "Not this time."

3. "Listen, he said, "I'm not going
to repeat myself."

Let's look at when comma usage isn't
necessary.

Common Error: A comma used before the
conjunction at the end of a series
unless the meaning is confusing.

1. The United States provided shelter
to people from Britain, China and
varous other countries.

2. Terry, Judy and Valerie left for
the party.

3. Brian used blue, Sandy grabbed
green, and then Barb screamed for
the blue plus green.

Commas are used before quotation
marks.

1. "The gloves fell-out of my
pocket," Rala said.

2. "Maria ran through the red
light," Molly told the police.

3. "No way," he sneered.

The right usage of commas saves
time on writing projects.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Help-With-Comma-Usage

Man Sues for Being Detained At The Airport

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Aaron Tobey, 21-year-old, is
the Virginia man who wrote an
abbreviated version of the
Fourth Amendment on his body
and stripped to his shorts at
an airport security screening
area is demanding $250,000 in
damages for being detained on
a disorderly conduct charge.

Tobey's civil rights lawsuit
maintains that in December he
was handcuffed, held for about
90 minutes by the Transportation
Security Administration at the
Richmond International Airport
after he removed his clothing
to show on his chest a magic
marker protest of airport
security measures.

"Amendment 4: The right of
the people to be secure against
unreasonable searches and seizures
shall not be violated," Tobey's
chest and stomach read.

The University of Cincinnati
student didn't want to go
through the advanced imaging
technology X-ray machines that
are at airports nationwide.
Rather, when it was his turn
to be screened, he was going
to pick the pat down while
taking-off most of his clothing.

Per the suit, while under
interrogation on December 30,
the authorities wanted to know
"about his affiliation with, or
knowledge of, any terrorist
organizations, if he had been
asked to do what he did by any
third party, and what his
intentions and goals were."

Tobey was on his way to Wisconsin
for his grandmother's funeral.
He made the flight.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110315080908writ.nb/topstory.html

Crowley Suddenly Quits as State Department Spokesman

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P.J. Crowley suddenly resigned
Sunday as State Department
spokesman over questionable
comments he made about the
Bradley Manning case.

Sources close to the situation
stated the resignation, first
reported by CNN, came under
fire from the White House,
where officials were not happy
about his suggestion that the
Obama administration is
mistreating Bradley Manning,
Army private who is being held
in solitary confinement in
Quantico, Virginia, under
suspicion that he leaked highly
classified State Department cables
to the web site WikiLeaks.

Crowley was asked by a small group
at MIT last week about allegations
that Manning is being tortured and
his answer was, what is being done
to Manning by Defense Department
officials "is ridiculous and
counter-productive and stupid,"
started a back-lash.

"The unauthorized disclosure of
classified information is a
serious crime under U.S. law,"
Crowley explained in a statement
Sunday. "My recent comments
regarding the conditions of the
pre-trial detention of Private
First Class Bradley Manning were
intended to highlight the broader,
even strategic impact of discreet
actions undertaken by national
security agencies every day and
their impact on our global standing
and leadership.

"The exercise of power in today's
challenging times and relentless
media environment must be prudent
and consistent with our laws and
values," Crowley continued. "Given
the impact of my remarks, for which
I take full responsibility, I have
submitted my resignation."

Crowley shared with friends that
he's concerned that mistreatment
of Manning could undermine the
legitimate prosecution. Crowley
clarified that he has the Obama
administration's best interests
at heart because he thinks any
mistreatment of Manning could be
damaging around the world to
President Obama, who has tried
to end the perception that the
United States tortures prisoners.

Manning recently had to sleep in
the nude because defense officials
thought there was a suicide threat
and decided to take away his boxer
shorts, Manning's lawyer.

He leaves with "great admiration and
affection" for his colleagues, Crowley.

Published: March 08, 2011

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with me? Leave me your opinion.

Conservative legal watch-dog group,
Judicial Watch, filed a lawsuit
Monday against Florida Democratic
congressman Alcee Hastings, accused
him of sexually harassing a one
time female staffer during an
assignment to Vienna, Austria.

"My comments will be limited since
I have not seen the complaint filed
in U.S. District Court by Judicial
Watch. I have seen a draft complaint
prepared by my accuser that contains
numerous inaccuracies and untruths.

"I have never sexually harassed
anyone. In fact, I am insulted that
these ludicrous allegations are being
made against me. When all the facts
are known in this case, the prevailing
sentiment will be, 'How bizarre!'

"I will win this lawsuit. That is a
certainty. In a race with a lie, the
truth always wins. And when the truth
comes to light and the personal
agendas of my accusers are exposed,
I will be vindicated," Alcee Hastings.

Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch president,
during a news conference announced the
lawsuit, stated the alleged harassment
took place for more than two years, and
ended in early 2010 when she left a
staff job with a panel- the Helsinki
Commission, based in Vienna, Austria.

Hastings was chairman of that group at
the time, formally known as the United
States Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110308112342writ.nb/topstory.html

Egypt's New Government Expected To Be Tougher

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On Sunday, Egypt received its second
new government in less than six
weeks, including a new foreign
minister who is expected to be
tougher with Israel than the
government of the ousted
president Hosni Mubarak was.

Essam Sharaf, the newly
appointed prime minister,
disclosed his new cabinet
while tensions heightened
between pro-democracy
protesters and the army in
downtown Cairo.

Troops fired live ammunition
to scatter civilians armed
with knives/sticks, and
stopped demonstrators who
wanted to enter a key
security building.

Sharaf was named Thursday as
part of an effort by the Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces,
the military council now in
charge of Egypt, to satisfy the
country's impatient democracy
activists and their demands to
remove Mubarak era faces. The
previous cabinet was named by
Mubarak in late January in a
desperate attempt to curtail
the uprising calling for his
resignation.

"We need to give the new
government a chance," Mahmoud
Salem, blogger
and activist present at the
scene but left when the armed
civilians appeared. "Some people
are bitter and angry, and it could
lead to hostility later. Ordinary
people want things to move on."

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110307060135writ.nb/topstory.html

Learn To Use Dialogue

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with me? Leave me your opinion.

Dialogue Is Learned By Listening
To Speech Patterns

Talk or dialogue surrounds us,
no matter where we go. Dialogue
lives in markets, train stops,
malls and family get-togethers.
Listening is an excellent way to
learn how to use dialogue in
writing.

At the market, two people engage
in conversation.

"Hey, Mack." A male greets.
"Whatcha doin' here?"

"Picking-up couple things for
the old lady."

"Cool. I'm gettin' stuff 'cause
my fridge is empty."

The two laugh.

Take note of how one male drops
the g on ing word endings.

Let's observe a situation at the
train station.

"Why did you push me?" A lady
shouted at the female standing
near her.

"I ain't touch you."

"You did."

"I don't know ya, wouldn't touch
ya."

The accusing lady curled her hand
into a fist...

One of the females used ya instead
of you, and ain't instead of didn't.

Start thinking. What character can
your imagination mix together based
on the above example?

Perhaps, you're at the mall scanning
for bargains. You over-heard a
conversation between two people on
the order of:

"Get the lady in aisle five, just
the earrings."

What could you create with that sentence?

Family get-togethers offer all kinds
of possibilities. People from different
generations, various accents and speech
patterns.

Save moments by texting yourself, leave
a voice mail on your phone or a tape
recorder works well too.

Don't be afraid to experiment with
observation in learning how to use
dialogue in writing.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Learn-To-Use-Dialogue

Newt Gingrich's Political Team Clarifies Former House Speaker's Goals

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Newt Gingrich's political team
rushed to clear-up the former
House Speaker's goals late
Tuesday after multiple news
organizations reported that
Gingrich planned to announce
the establishment of a
presidential exploratory
committee during a trip to
Georgia on Thursday.

Joe Gaylord, Gingrich's
political adviser, shared
with the Des Moines Register
that the establishment of an
exploratory committee is a
certainty.

"It is exactly that, an
exploratory committee,"
Gaylord explained to the
newspaper. "But you can't say
that this is tantamount to an
announcement of candidacy. It
is the announcement of an
exploratory committee that says,
'is it really feasible for me to
do this, and let me check this out
in the next six or seven weeks,
because I want to find out if it's
real before I do it."

Gingrich spokesman, Rick Tyler,
circulated a statement to reporters
Tuesday night contradicting Gaylord's
statement.

"Gingrich is not traveling to Georgia
to announce that he will form 'an
exploratory committee' as stated in
the Des Moines Register," Tyler refuted.
"To be clear, while Speaker Gingrich
is in Georgia on Thursday, he will not
announce the formation of an
exploratory committee."

It's not clear if Gingrich will
explore a presidential bid.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110302073742writ.nb/topstory.html

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Reveals His New State Budget

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In an effort to control the
collective bargaining rights of
most public workers, Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker is scheduled
to reveal his new state budget
on Tuesday.

The spending plan is being displayed
as protesters enter a third week of
demonstrations at the state capitol,
and Democratic law-makers stay away.

The state's 14 Democratic senators
went to neighboring Illinois to stop
a quorum of 20 votes needed for a
budget repair bill that would require
public employees, with the exception
of police and firefighters, to cover
more of their retirement plans and
health care premiums.

The budget repair bill would apply to
the current spending plan, and limit
collective bargaining for wages. Any
pay increases beyond the rate of
inflation would be subject to voter
approval.

"There are plenty of states that do
not have collective bargaining,"
Republican Governor Scott Walker
stated Monday. "We have a right to do
this with the statutes and that's
what we're doing."

Union leaders agreed to pay more for
benefits, but resisted limiting
bargaining rights that the governor
argues is needed for meaningful
fiscal reforms.

The governor defended his budget
repair bill, said the measures are
needed to head off a $3.6 billion
budget gap by 2013 that could result
in thousands of layoffs.

The state faced a suggested Friday
deadline to balance the budget, but
the important date is March 16, per
officials.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20110301054541writ.nb/topstory.html