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Calista241's JournalSlidell vet declines award 'tainted' by NFL protests; Saints call his decision 'sad and divisive'
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune
The head of a Slidell-based military veterans' organization has declined to accept a senior citizen award that was to have been presented during Sunday's (Nov. 5) New Orleans Saints game in the Superdome, citing the ongoing demonstrations by players before and during the national anthem at NFL games.
Retired Navy Cmdr. John Wells, executive director of the national Military Veterans Advocacy, was named a Peoples Health Champion, an award given by the Medicare health insurance advantage organization to citizens over 65 who have made significant accomplishments after reaching "senior citizen" status.
But on Wednesday, Wells told the organization he was unable "in good conscience, to enter an NFL stadium" while some players "disrespect" the American flag by kneeling or sitting during the anthem. Some Saints players in recent weeks have kneeled before the anthem, then stood while the anthem is sung.
A disabled veteran who served in the Navy from 1972 until 1994 and later became an attorney specializing in military and veterans law, Wells said he is dismayed by the NFL's refusal to disallow the protests
Read more: http://www.nola.com/northshore/index.ssf/2017/11/slidell_veterans_advocate_decl.html
Trump's Twitter account briefly 'inadvertently deactivated' by Twitter employee, company says
Source: ABC News
The Twittersphere lit up Thursday night when President Donald Trump's Twitter account was briefly deactivated -- an action "inadvertently" caused by a Twitter employee, the social media company said.
"Sorry, that page doesn't exist!" was the message that greeted visitors to Trump's Twitter page, @RealDonaldTrump, for eleven minutes around 7 p.m. ET.
The president has 41.7 million Twitter followers.
Twitter said in a statement, "Earlier today @realdonaldtrump's account was inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee. The account was down for 11 minutes, and has since been restored. We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again."
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-twitter-account-briefly-critics-seize-chance-ridicule/story?id=50897711
U.S. Passports of Child Sex Offenders Will Note Their Convictions
Source: New York Times
The passports of Americans convicted of sex offenses against a child will soon bear a mark of their crimes.
The State Department announced this week that a sentence noting their conviction would be added to the back inside cover of offenders’ passports.
...
Smaller passport cards, which can be used only for very limited international travel, will not be issued to such offenders because they lack room for a similar message. It was not immediately clear how many passport holders would be affected.
The policy, which went into effect on Tuesday, was required under legislation passed in 2016 known as “International Megan’s Law.” It is named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old girl from New Jersey whose rape and murder in 1994 inspired a slew of namesake laws that allow neighbors to be notified when a sex offender moves to their community. Her attacker, a neighbor, had previous child sex offense convictions.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/us/passports-child-sex-offenders.html
Corals eat plastic because weve made it tasty, study suggests
Source: Washington Post
Ocean plastic is an indiscriminate hazard. It harms fish and kills seabirds, which wash up with bellies full of trash. Turtles swallow it because, the thinking goes, they mistake the floating waste for jellyfish. Less well known are the ways plastic damages the ocean's smaller inhabitants, plankton and corals, which sometimes are found with particles wedged in their teeny guts.
For years, biologists and conservationists assumed that most sea creatures ate plastic by accident, said Alexander Seymour, a geographic information systems analyst and marine researcher at Duke University in North Carolina. Marine life, it seemed, was too confused or too hungry to avoid the junk.
A small but growing number of studies suggests another more disturbing reason. Humans may have invented plastic that is appetizing.
“Plastics may be inherently tasty,” said Austin Allen, a Duke marine science doctoral student. Allen and Seymour are the lead authors of a study just published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin. Along with Duke marine ecologist Daniel Rittschof, they demonstrated that corals respond to microplastic fragments as though they were food.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/10/30/corals-eat-plastic-because-weve-made-it-tasty-study-suggests/?utm_term=.fde19de481c8
Historic Virginia church to relocate Washington, Lee plaques
Source: Washington Post
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A historic Virginia church is relocating two plaques in its sanctuary honoring George Washington and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who worshipped there.
Leaders of Christ Church in Alexandria sent a letter to congregation members Thursday explaining the decision. It says the leaders decided the plaques create a distraction and “may create an obstacle to our identity as a welcoming church.”
The Rev. Noelle York-Simmons, rector of the Episcopal church, told The Washington Post the plaques’ fate had been discussed for years. The decision also comes after white nationalists descended on Charlottesville for rallies that erupted into violence.
Those events have sparked debate about symbols of the Confederacy and the legacy of slavery. The letter says church leaders thought it was important for both plaques to be considered together.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/historic-virginia-church-to-relocate-washington-lee-plaques/2017/10/29/4949822e-bcc1-11e7-9294-705f80164f6e_story.html?utm_term=.ef0281d127a2
UPDATE: GDP grows at stronger-than-forecast 3% rate in third quarter
Source: Morningstar
The numbers: The U.S. grew at a solid 3% annual pace in third quarter despite damage from two hurricanes, according to Commerce Department data (https://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp). That's above economist expectations of a 2.7% growth rate, according to a MarketWatch survey, and only slightly below the 3.1% growth rate in the second quarter.
The last time the economy had two consecutive quarters of above-3% growth was in 2014. The government said it couldn't say exactly how much hurricanes Harvey and Irma sliced from growth in the July-September quarter. Because Puerto Rico is not a state, hurricane Maria does not factor in the government's GDP calculations.
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Nonresidential, or business, investment rose 3.9%. Inventories added 0.73 percentage points to growth and the trade sector added 0.41 percentage points. Excluding those volatile categories, final sales for domestic product rose 2.3% in the third quarter, down from a 2.9% rate in the prior period. Government spending was also up after the hurricane. Housing investment slumped for the second straight quarter.
Core inflation as measured by the PCE price index increased at a 1.3% annual rate, up from 0.9% in the second quarter.
Read more: http://www.morningstar.com/news/market-watch/TDJNMW_20171027285/economy-grows-at-3-rate-in-third-quarter-despite-negative-impact-from-hurricanes.html
Visitor from Far, Far Away: Interstellar Object Spotted in Our Solar System
Source: Space.com
A visitor from interstellar space has likely been spotted in our solar system for the first time ever.
The object, known as A/2017 U1, was detected last week by researchers using the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii.
"We have been waiting for this day for decades," Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.
"It's long been theorized that such objects exist — asteroids or comets moving around between the stars and occasionally passing through our solar system — but this is the first such detection," Chodas added. "So far, everything indicates this is likely an interstellar object, but more data would help to confirm it."
Read more: https://www.space.com/38580-interstellar-object-spotted-comet-asteroid-mystery.html
California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes proposal to codify federal regulations on campus sexual harassmen
Source: Washington Post
To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 169 without my signature.
This bill would codify a combination of federal regulations and guidance on sexual harassment — some of which has been repealed, some of which is still in effect — as well as some language from model policies that have been developed by California universities.
This is not a simple issue. Sexual harassment and sexual violence are serious and complicated matters for colleges to resolve. On the one side are complainants who come forward to seek justice and protection; on the other side stand accused students, who, guilty or not, must be treated fairly and with the presumption of innocence until the facts speak otherwise. Then, as we know, there are victims who never come forward, and perpetrators who walk free. Justice does not come easily in this environment.
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Since this law was enacted, however, thoughtful legal minds have increasingly questioned whether federal and state actions to prevent and redress sexual harassment and assault — well-intentioned as they are — have also unintentionally resulted in some colleges’ failure to uphold due process for accused students. Depriving any student of higher education opportunities should not be done lightly, or out of fear of losing state or federal funding.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/10/16/california-gov-jerry-brown-vetoes-proposal-to-codify-federal-regulations-on-campus-sexual-harassment/?utm_term=.22c3e9013ebf
California lowers penalty for knowingly exposing partners to HIV
Source: CNN
Starting January 1, 2018, it will no longer be a major crime in California to knowingly expose a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation on Friday that lowers the offense from a felony to a misdemeanor.
The California legislature passed SB 239 on September 11.
The law previously punished people who knowingly exposed or infected others with HIV by up to eight years in prison. This new legislation will lower jail time to a maximum of six months.
The new law also reduces the penalty for knowingly donating HIV-infected blood from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/07/health/california-hiv-bill-signed/index.html
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