Category — America

The recession has triggered a new gold rush in the United States. Office workers who have last everything are becoming prospectors. They’re taking to the hills of California to pan for gold – not in hope of making their fortunes – but making ends meet.

You know that this is all but inevitable all over the country.

Can Private Security Guards Act As Cops?
That’s Exactly What They May Soon Be Doing On The Far South Side

They’re private security guards, already on patrol, but they may soon have the powers of Chicago Police officers.

…the private security officers now on patrol on the city’s Far South Side are expected to have their powers expanded as part of a citywide ordinance now being prepared.

But officials are questioning whether this means public safety is being outsourced.

Mayor Richard M. Daley has already privatized many city functions. The Chicago Skyway has been leased to a Spanish conglomerate. Midway Airport is run by a Canadian company. The parking meters were sold to a firm run by Morgan Stanley, and as a result, the cost of parking in the city has skyrocketed.

But the question is whether another foreign firm providing cops on patrol may be privatization gone too far.

A single squad car, marked “special patrol,” cruises up and down a small commercial strip on far south Michigan Avenue tonight. Its patrol area is between 100th and 116th streets, and area merchants have their doubts.

The cost of government at every level has become nearly unsustainable. Let the citizens protect themselves. They’d often be far more adept than the police, who in more and more instances are like an occupying military force rather than a servant of the public.

…down, down & down we go.

Reuters

United States soldiers in Helmand Province near where a bomb reportedly killed two American service members on Sunday. An Afghan policeman was also killed.

A year after it was installed, Luis Jimenez’s “Mustang” sculpture has become a hot topic of conversation.AP

Rearing 32 feet high, the metallic blue mustang sculpture demands the attention of every traveler through Denver International Airport.

But the wild look of “Mustang” is prompting some to wonder if the sculpture installed just a year ago should be moved somewhere less prominent. Alternate monikers suggested for the horse with the glowering eyes include “Bluecifer,” “Satan’s Steed” and “Blue Devil Horse.”

AWESOME!!!

The eternal night is beginning, and it is going to be terrible.
-Gérard de Nerval

Get ready for the show.

Jerry Franklin / University of Washington

Trees dying in the West at record rate – San Francisco Chronicle

Trees are dying faster than ever in the old-growth forests of California and the mountains of the West, a phenomenon scientists say is linked to rising regional temperatures and the destructive forces of early snowmelt, drought, forest fires and deadly insect infestations brought on by global warming.

Over the past 17 years in some regions – and 25 to 37 years in others – the death rates of mature trees have doubled, the scientists said, raising concerns that the problem goes well beyond tree deaths alone.

Supreme Court refuses to revive Child Online Protection Act
by: Lauren Weinstein – reprinted here with kind permission

Greetings. The U.S. Supreme court has again refused to revive COPA –
the Child Online Protection Act.

I expect that Congress may try to go down this politically popular,
but unwise and unworkable path once again by narrowing its scope. For
now though, the Supreme Court’s attitude (even though a past key
decision was a tight 5-4) is encouraging.

Such censorship attempts are not the path to protecting our children,
or anyone else for that matter.

Justices Reject Pornography Law – New York Times

Lauren Weinstein’s Blog

We couldn’t agree more.