Security, at what price? Privacy concerns abound in DOJ power moves
May 25, 2013

The Department of Justice's controversial intrusion into AP reporters' records revealed a forgotten truth: we're being watched. Host Melissa Harris-Perry and her panel discussed on Saturday just how much of our personal information the government can collect.

The "scandals" that surfaced in Washington, D.C., last week may have nothing on the one that is currently brewing.

The Washington Post reported Monday that in addition to the Department of Justice's controversial move to secretly seize the phone records of the Associated Press reporters, the DOJ is now moving on to target Fox News correspondent James Rosen. The Justice Department seized "two days' worth of Rosen's personal e-mails, documents, and attachments stored in a Gmail account," the Post reports. This investigation was reportedly conducted to find the source of yet another leak for Rosen's 2009 piece on North Korea.

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IRS official Lois Lerner placed on administrative leave
May 25, 2013

The Internal Revenue Service official overseeing the unit that targeted conservative groups for several years beginning in the spring of 2010 has been placed on administrative leave, according to Congressional sources in both parties.

Lois Lerner was the director of exempt organizations when the agency filtered applications for tax exempt status for words such as "patriot" and "tea party."

She publicly revealed the targeting two weeks ago in her answer to a planted question at a bar association event in Washington shortly before an inspector general report on the matter was made public.

The agency's new acting director announced late Thursday he was appointing Ken Corbin, who was deputy director of unit which processes tax returns and payments, to oversee the exempt organizations unit.

Lerner appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday and stated she had not broken any laws or agency regulations. She then invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions.

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Kids, teachers from devastated school reunite after Oklahoma tornado
May 25, 2013

Students from a suburban Oklahoma City elementary school destroyed by this week's tornado reunited with their teachers Thursday and collected whatever could be salvaged from the ruins.

Some children carried thank-you cards. A first-grader was eager to see her favorite gym teacher and for a chance to say goodbye for the school year.

It was one of many difficult goodbyes for the city of Moore. Family and friends attended the funeral of a 9-year-old girl who died at Plaza Towers Elementary School - the first since Monday's storm, which killed 24 people.

Students who survived the storm's onslaught at the school and those whose parents had pulled them out of class just before it hit gathered with their teachers at another Moore school that wasn't damaged. Seven children died at Plaza Towers.

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March Against Monsanto
May 24, 2013

On May 25, activists around the world will unite to March Against Monsanto.

Why do we march?

Research studies have shown that Monsanto's genetically-modified foods can lead to serious health conditions such as the development of cancer tumors, infertility and birth defects.

In the United States, the FDA, the agency tasked with ensuring food safety for the population, is steered by ex-Monsanto executives, and we feel that's a questionable conflict of interests and explains the lack of government-led research on the long-term effects of GM products.

Recently, the U.S. Congress and president collectively passed the nicknamed "Monsanto Protection Act" that, among other things, bans courts from halting the sale of Monsanto's genetically-modified seeds.

For too long, Monsanto has been the benefactor of corporate subsidies and political favoritism. Organic and small farmers suffer losses while Monsanto continues to forge its monopoly over the world's food supply, including exclusive patenting rights over seeds and genetic makeup.

Monsanto's GM seeds are harmful to the environment; for example, scientists have indicated they have contributed to Colony Collapse Disorder among the world's bee population.


What are solutions we advocate?

Voting with your dollar by buying organic and boycotting Monsanto-owned companies that use GMOs in their products.

Labeling of GMOs so that consumers can make those informed decisions easier.

Repealing relevant provisions of the US's "Monsanto Protection Act."

Calling for further scientific research on the health effects of GMOs.

Holding Monsanto executives and Monsanto-supporting politicians accountable through direct communication, grassroots journalism, social media, etc.

Continuing to inform the public about Monsanto's secrets.

Taking to the streets to show the world and Monsanto that we won't take these injustices quietly.

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Morgan Freeman dozes off during TV interview
May 24, 2013

Being a movie star may seem glamorous, until you see this interview Michael Caine, 80, and Morgan Freeman, 75, gave to Fox's Seattle-Tacoma affiliate TV station, Q13, on Wednesday.

As anchors Kaci Aitchison and Bill Wixey discussed magic tricks with Caine to promote Now You See Me, Freeman showed he was in serious need of a nap. His eyes closed at times. And when the camera came back from showing a clip, his head was drooping way down on his chest.

It didn't prevent Caine from merrily explaining the tricks in the film. Freeman woke to nod now and then. And when he asked the question: "What is the key to being a great narrator?," Freeman responded with, "Uh, probably just being a good reader."

UPDATE: Freeman sent USA TODAY a statement about his interview: "I wasn't actually sleeping. I'm a beta tester for Google Eyelids. I was merely updating my Facebook page."

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Nearly 300 police stand in for fallen officer at daughter's kindergarten graduation
May 24, 2013

Tatum Raetz graduated from kindergarten this week, just three days after her police officer father was killed while investigating a drunk driving case.

But the 5-year-old girl definitely felt her father's presence at her ceremony, thanks to nearly 300 uniformed officers standing in his place at her Phoenix elementary school.

The officers lined the school's sidewalk on Wednesday morning to greet Tatum and her mother as they arrived for the graduation.

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Terrafugia to develop vertical takeoff flying car
May 24, 2013

Frustrated commuters may soon get some good news from Terrafugia, the maker of the Transition flying car.

The company on Sunday said it has begun feasibility studies of a four-seat, vertical takeoff and landing plug-in hybrid-electric flying car, the TF-X. The vehicle will "further increase the safety, simplicity, and convenience of personal aviation" by using state-of-the-art intelligent systems and other technology, Terrafugia said.

"This is the right time for us to begin thinking about the future of the company beyond Transition development," Carl Dietrich, Terrafugia's chief executive and chief technology officer, said in a press release. "We are passionate about continuing to lead the creation of a flying car industry and are dedicating resources to lay the foundations for our vision of personal transportation."

Terrafugia was founded in Woburn, Mass. by pilot-engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company's entire focus revolves around building practical flying cars. An earlier vehicle, the Transition, currently is undergoing test flights and drive tests to evaluate its durability.

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Costa Concordia captain ordered to face trial
May 23, 2013

A judge in Italy has ordered the captain of the Costa Concordia to stand trial in the shipwreck of the cruise liner, which struck a reef off Tuscany last year, killing 32 people.

Francesco Schettino will be the only defendant in the trial, which begins on July 9 in the Tuscan town of Grosseto. The indictment was announced on Wednesday.

Five other defendants successfully sought plea bargains in their cases, which are now being handled separately.

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Doctors Save Life Of Ohio Boy By 3-D 'Printing' Him An Airway Tube
May 23, 2013

In a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day.

It's the latest advance from the booming field of regenerative medicine, making body parts in the lab.

In the case of Kaiba (KEYE'-buh) Gionfriddo, doctors didn't have a moment to spare. Because of a birth defect, the little Ohio boy's airway kept collapsing, causing his breathing to stop and often his heart, too. Doctors in Michigan had been researching artificial airway splints but had not implanted one in a patient yet.

In a single day, they "printed out" 100 tiny tubes, using computer-guided lasers to stack and fuse thin layers of plastic instead of paper and ink to form various shapes and sizes. The next day, with special permission from the Food and Drug Administration, they implanted one of these tubes in Kaiba, the first time this has been done.

Suddenly, a baby that doctors had said would probably not leave the hospital alive could breathe normally for the first time. He was 3 months old when the operation was done last year and is nearly 19 months old now. He is about to have his tracheotomy tube removed; it was placed when he was a couple months old and needed a breathing machine. And he has not had a single breathing crisis since coming home a year ago.

"He's a pretty healthy kid right now," said Dr. Glenn Green, a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where the operation was done. It's described in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Independent experts praised the work and the potential for 3-D printing to create more body parts to solve unmet medical needs.

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Charles Ramsey, Cleveland Kidnapping Hero, Offered Free Burgers For Life
May 23, 2013

Local hero and burger enthusiast Charles Ramsey will never have to pay for a beef patty in Cleveland again, thanks to a special free burger card good at more than a dozen area restaurants, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Ramsey became a national sensation this month after giving a colorful account of the rescue efforts that helped free Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight earlier in May.

"I heard screaming," Ramsey told reporters after the rescue on May 6. "I'm eating my McDonald's, I come outside, I see this girl going nuts trying to get out of her house. So I go on the porch and she says, 'Help me get out, I've been here a long time.'"

The Internet quickly latched onto Ramsey's McDonald's detail, and the fast food chain was soon swamped by people asking the company to honor the burger-loving neighbor.

While he has said he would give any reward money back to the victims, restaurants in and around Cleveland have signed on to provide Ramsey with burgers whenever he wishes, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The "Chuck Card," which is "good for life," was the brainchild of Scott Kuhn of the Driftwood Restaurant Group.

"We want to honor our local hero with local food," Kuhn told the news outlet. "He stopped his meal midway through to help those women. We're now making sure he has other opportunities to go out and fully enjoy his burger."

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