THE HEADLINES

DO RESTLESS KIDS NEED PLACE TO HANG OUT IN LARGE CROWDS AT NIGHT; OR DO THEY NEED ENGAGING THINGS TO DO DURING THE DAY?

(Kansas City Star)

This question has gone on the agenda of public discussion in Kansas City, as a recent incident in which 3 children were shot in a night-time hang-out has put to the forefront the idea that what children really need is not to be corralled at night but to have daytime opportunities in play, study and athletics on the principle that a “tired child” (from such activities) is a better-behaved child.

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IS IT “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” FOR NATO IN LIBYA?

(Antiwar.com)

Apparently not, as NATO continues to bomb Libyan cities which have no air defenses if they are “hold out” areas from the Libyan rebel forces that supposedly had secured “control” of the country. This time at least Obama did not go to an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea to declare a “victory” as Bush did for Iraq for a conflict that continues 8 years after it was “ended.”

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BLACK VOICES ARE JUST MORE WHITE NOISE ON CORPORATE MEDIA.

(Black Agenda Report)

Bruce Dixon notices how the increasing presence of black voices (and faces) in the mass media is not necessarily an indication that the problems of African-Americans are getting any better airing to the white public. Even where one might expect this to happen, as with a new black blog instituted by the liberal Huffington Post, this seems not to be the case. HuffPo has contracts to sell user information to purveyors of consumer products, and these corporate supporters are not interested in hearing about the plight of poor and often incarcerated black Americans.

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ATLANTA: WANT TO ARREST ME? LET ME SEE YOUR TRAINING ACADEMY CERTIFICATE.

(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Audit of Atlanta PD shows that “at least 85″ officers are deficient in the completion of required training to the point that they may have lost their legal authority to make arrests, resulting in failures of prosecutors to convict anyone whom they had arrested.

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FLORIDA IS (FINALLY) CRACKING DOWN ON ILLEGAL PILL MILLS IN THE STATE.

(New York Times)

Generally known as the Oxydone capital of the world, south Florida is losing some of that distinction as a new Attorney General (Pam Bondi) is leading a statewide effort to close down “pain clinics” and prosecute pharmacists who illegally dispense drugs with more than a “slap on the wrist.” As usual the enforcement effort has some side effects that are not necessarily desirable: the street price of Oxycodone has doubled, and more of the traffic is moving to central and north Florida, where enforcement efforts have so far been relatively lax.

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Quote of the day…

He thought he was a NATO partner. Now NATO wants to blow his head off. What kind of partnership is this?

Pepe Escobar, commenting on the irony that Muammar Gaddafi had caste his lot in 2003 with NATO’s imperialist aims in the Middle East, only to get “red flags” that sidelined him from this partnership and made him an enemy.

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