Bush vs. Gay Marriage
Laurie Kellman, Associated Press
Published: Monday, June 05, 2006 Article tools
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Font: * * * * WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush rallied support Monday for a ban on gay marriage as the Senate opened a volatile, election-year debate on a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex weddings that has little chance of passing Congress but is popular with Bush's conservative base.
"Changing the definition of marriage would undermine the structure of the family,'' said Bush, who raised the issue's profile with an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
As the president spoke for the amendment, the Senate opened three days of debate. As an amendment to the Constitution, the proposal requires for passage two-thirds yes votes in each chamber of Congress, then approval by three-fourths of the 50 states. Neither chamber is likely to pass the amendment. The 217-year-old document has been amended only 27 times.
Weld urged to drop out of N.Y. gov. race
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The state Republican chairman said Monday that former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld should drop out of the race for the GOP nomination for governor of New York.
Stephen Minarik - who up to now has been Weld's biggest supporter in the race for governor - said Weld should instead throw his support to his Republican rival, former state Assembly Minority Leader John Faso.
Minarik told The Associated Press that he had personally conveyed his feelings to Weld and that the former governor was "placing it under consideration."
At the state GOP convention last week, Faso won a surprising 61 percent of the delegates' weighted vote and held Weld, a New York native, to 39 percent.
Justices to Rule on Race and Education
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By DAVID STOUT
Published: June 5, 2006
WASHINGTON, June 5 — The Supreme Court agreed today to consider an issue of enormous importance to parents and educators across the country: the extent to which public school administrators can use racial factors in assigning children to schools.
The court accepted cases from Seattle and Louisville, Ky., for its next term. The school districts in both cities defeated challenges to their assignment procedures in the lower courts.
"Looming in the background of this is the constitutionality of affirmative action," Davison Douglas, a law professor at William and Mary, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is huge."
The enormous interest in the issues raised by the cases accepted by the court has already been reflected in California, where parents of students in the Capistrano Unified School District sued the district last month, contending that in using race to determine school-attendance boundaries the school administrators are violating the state Constitution.
Arthur B. Mark 3rd, a lawyer for the Pacific Legal Foundation, said the procedure amounts to "racial gerrymandering," and that the victims are "students who are pulled from their local schools for no good reason." The foundation issued a statement today saying it was pleased that the justices will hear the Seattle and Louisville cases.
nytimes(above)
Studies show that strict parenting leads to fat children
By Ron Swerdfiger
US research has come to light that emphasizes the fact that children raised by strict parents are at a higher risk of becoming obese than those raised by less strict parents. The study delves into the possibility that children that are raised by an iron hand, turn to food for comfort thus are 6 times more likely to become obese than their counterparts.
872 families were used for the study, in which their family relationships and body types were observed. Two years later the same was done leading to the released data that showed that 17% of children raised in authoritarian house holds were overweight, compared to 3.9% of children raised in a more relaxed home environment.
Dr Kay Rhee authored the study and states; "These results provide evidence that a strict environment lacking in emotional responsiveness is associated with an increased risk of childhood overweight."
http://www.dogflu.ca/06052006/14/strict_parents_equal_fat_kids
Why are men so keen to ask their dates in for coffee? We already know the main reason, of course, but scientists now believe caffeine makes people more likely to say 'yes'.
Moderate amounts of the drug can increase the chance of someone changing their mind in the face of persuasive arguments, Australian researchers found.
In an experiment, scientists gave students who agreed with voluntary euthanasia and abortion the equivalent of two cups of coffee.
After waiting 40 minutes for the caffeine to enter their bloodstream they were presented with strong arguments against the two contentious issues.
They were then tested again on their attitudes to the topics. Most students who had caffeine were persuaded to reverse their views after they were given the new information.
Project leader Dr Pearl Martin, from the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, said: 'If the argument is strong, forceful and convincing, then people are more likely to see the strength of the argument and be persuaded by it.
http://www.metro.co.uk/home/article.html?in_article_id=14706&in_page_id=1&ct=5
No relief for reporters seeking to shield sources
By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON - Four journalists have lost their bid to reverse a judge's order to either disclose their confidential sources or face $500 per day in fines.
The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the reporters' cases to examine whether a generally recognized "reporters' privilege" against revealing sources should extend to a civil lawsuit brought by former nuclear-weapons-lab scientist Wen Ho Lee.
The action marks the second time in a year that the justices have let stand a judicial order seeking to force members of the media to renege on professional pledges of confidentiality made to government officials to obtain information for their news reporting.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0606/p02s01-usju.html
Chertoff gets the message on cuts
By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 5, 2006
New Yorkers are sending a message to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in response to budget cuts he made affecting the city targeted by terrorists in 1993 and 2001 -- "Wish you were here!"
New York lawmakers are urging their constituents to mail postcards depicting New York City landmarks -- including the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Shea Stadium and Brooklyn Bridge -- to protest an $83 million cut for the city from last year.
Leading the bipartisan campaign are Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, and Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Both sent their own postcards that read, "Just a quick note from one of New York's many national monuments and icons. Wish you were here! Hillary and Pete."
Lawmakers in several cities, including Washington, are protesting the millions of dollars in cuts from last year -- cuts to which they agreed to in this year's budget.
What members of Congress did not expect were major slashes in the top terrorist target cities of New York or Washington, which will suffer a $32 million cut, or cuts to 26 other cities that total $204 million.
Of the 46 cities that receive funding, 18 will receive part of the $85 million in funding increases.
In a letter to Mr. Chertoff on Friday, Mr. King said he is "gravely concerned" about the "dramatic reduction" to New York and the Washington area and demanded classified and unclassified materials that show how the funding decisions were made.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060605-121936-7287r.htm
Close primary races could make Election Night a long one
AARON C. DAVIS
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - It could be a very late night - or early morning - before California voters learn whether eBay millionaire-turned-state Controller Steve Westly or developer-turned-state Treasurer Phil Angelides wins Tuesday's Democratic gubernatorial primary - and with it the right to face Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in November.
With millions of voters still undecided, recent polls show Westly and Angelides in a statistical dead heat as they crisscross the state in a last-minute fury to win over voters.
Meanwhile, a voting machine problem that surfaced late last week in a heavily Democratic San Francisco Bay area county, threatened to keep election workers counting ballots into Wednesday.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14746750.htm
Laurie Kellman, Associated Press
Published: Monday, June 05, 2006 Article tools
Printer friendly
Font: * * * * WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush rallied support Monday for a ban on gay marriage as the Senate opened a volatile, election-year debate on a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex weddings that has little chance of passing Congress but is popular with Bush's conservative base.
"Changing the definition of marriage would undermine the structure of the family,'' said Bush, who raised the issue's profile with an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
As the president spoke for the amendment, the Senate opened three days of debate. As an amendment to the Constitution, the proposal requires for passage two-thirds yes votes in each chamber of Congress, then approval by three-fourths of the 50 states. Neither chamber is likely to pass the amendment. The 217-year-old document has been amended only 27 times.
Weld urged to drop out of N.Y. gov. race
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The state Republican chairman said Monday that former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld should drop out of the race for the GOP nomination for governor of New York.
Stephen Minarik - who up to now has been Weld's biggest supporter in the race for governor - said Weld should instead throw his support to his Republican rival, former state Assembly Minority Leader John Faso.
Minarik told The Associated Press that he had personally conveyed his feelings to Weld and that the former governor was "placing it under consideration."
At the state GOP convention last week, Faso won a surprising 61 percent of the delegates' weighted vote and held Weld, a New York native, to 39 percent.
Justices to Rule on Race and Education
Sign In to E-Mail This Print Reprints Save
By DAVID STOUT
Published: June 5, 2006
WASHINGTON, June 5 — The Supreme Court agreed today to consider an issue of enormous importance to parents and educators across the country: the extent to which public school administrators can use racial factors in assigning children to schools.
The court accepted cases from Seattle and Louisville, Ky., for its next term. The school districts in both cities defeated challenges to their assignment procedures in the lower courts.
"Looming in the background of this is the constitutionality of affirmative action," Davison Douglas, a law professor at William and Mary, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is huge."
The enormous interest in the issues raised by the cases accepted by the court has already been reflected in California, where parents of students in the Capistrano Unified School District sued the district last month, contending that in using race to determine school-attendance boundaries the school administrators are violating the state Constitution.
Arthur B. Mark 3rd, a lawyer for the Pacific Legal Foundation, said the procedure amounts to "racial gerrymandering," and that the victims are "students who are pulled from their local schools for no good reason." The foundation issued a statement today saying it was pleased that the justices will hear the Seattle and Louisville cases.
nytimes(above)
Studies show that strict parenting leads to fat children
By Ron Swerdfiger
US research has come to light that emphasizes the fact that children raised by strict parents are at a higher risk of becoming obese than those raised by less strict parents. The study delves into the possibility that children that are raised by an iron hand, turn to food for comfort thus are 6 times more likely to become obese than their counterparts.
872 families were used for the study, in which their family relationships and body types were observed. Two years later the same was done leading to the released data that showed that 17% of children raised in authoritarian house holds were overweight, compared to 3.9% of children raised in a more relaxed home environment.
Dr Kay Rhee authored the study and states; "These results provide evidence that a strict environment lacking in emotional responsiveness is associated with an increased risk of childhood overweight."
http://www.dogflu.ca/06052006/14/strict_parents_equal_fat_kids
Why are men so keen to ask their dates in for coffee? We already know the main reason, of course, but scientists now believe caffeine makes people more likely to say 'yes'.
Moderate amounts of the drug can increase the chance of someone changing their mind in the face of persuasive arguments, Australian researchers found.
In an experiment, scientists gave students who agreed with voluntary euthanasia and abortion the equivalent of two cups of coffee.
After waiting 40 minutes for the caffeine to enter their bloodstream they were presented with strong arguments against the two contentious issues.
They were then tested again on their attitudes to the topics. Most students who had caffeine were persuaded to reverse their views after they were given the new information.
Project leader Dr Pearl Martin, from the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, said: 'If the argument is strong, forceful and convincing, then people are more likely to see the strength of the argument and be persuaded by it.
http://www.metro.co.uk/home/article.html?in_article_id=14706&in_page_id=1&ct=5
No relief for reporters seeking to shield sources
By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON - Four journalists have lost their bid to reverse a judge's order to either disclose their confidential sources or face $500 per day in fines.
The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the reporters' cases to examine whether a generally recognized "reporters' privilege" against revealing sources should extend to a civil lawsuit brought by former nuclear-weapons-lab scientist Wen Ho Lee.
The action marks the second time in a year that the justices have let stand a judicial order seeking to force members of the media to renege on professional pledges of confidentiality made to government officials to obtain information for their news reporting.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0606/p02s01-usju.html
Chertoff gets the message on cuts
By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 5, 2006
New Yorkers are sending a message to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in response to budget cuts he made affecting the city targeted by terrorists in 1993 and 2001 -- "Wish you were here!"
New York lawmakers are urging their constituents to mail postcards depicting New York City landmarks -- including the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Shea Stadium and Brooklyn Bridge -- to protest an $83 million cut for the city from last year.
Leading the bipartisan campaign are Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, and Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Both sent their own postcards that read, "Just a quick note from one of New York's many national monuments and icons. Wish you were here! Hillary and Pete."
Lawmakers in several cities, including Washington, are protesting the millions of dollars in cuts from last year -- cuts to which they agreed to in this year's budget.
What members of Congress did not expect were major slashes in the top terrorist target cities of New York or Washington, which will suffer a $32 million cut, or cuts to 26 other cities that total $204 million.
Of the 46 cities that receive funding, 18 will receive part of the $85 million in funding increases.
In a letter to Mr. Chertoff on Friday, Mr. King said he is "gravely concerned" about the "dramatic reduction" to New York and the Washington area and demanded classified and unclassified materials that show how the funding decisions were made.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060605-121936-7287r.htm
Close primary races could make Election Night a long one
AARON C. DAVIS
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - It could be a very late night - or early morning - before California voters learn whether eBay millionaire-turned-state Controller Steve Westly or developer-turned-state Treasurer Phil Angelides wins Tuesday's Democratic gubernatorial primary - and with it the right to face Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in November.
With millions of voters still undecided, recent polls show Westly and Angelides in a statistical dead heat as they crisscross the state in a last-minute fury to win over voters.
Meanwhile, a voting machine problem that surfaced late last week in a heavily Democratic San Francisco Bay area county, threatened to keep election workers counting ballots into Wednesday.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14746750.htm
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