tagged w/ Reform
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The Asamankese Circuit Court presided over by Mr Kofi Akrowiah, on Monday sentenced two young men to a total of 18 years in prison for drug offences.
Eric Owusu, 20, charged with possessing Indian hemp received 13 years while Jerry Appoh, 22, had five years for smoking the hemp.
Both pleaded not guilty.
Police Chief Inspector Ben Brew told the court that on January 11, 2007 Suhum Police had information that a group of young men had converged on the field near the Suhum Secondary Technical School smoking wee.
The police moved to the area and on seeing them they took to their heels but Owusu and Appoh were arrested.
Owusu had in his possession a small bag containing 47 wrappers of the hemp while Appoh was caught smoking the wee.The Asamankese Circuit Court presided over by Mr Kofi Akrowiah, on Monday sentenced... more
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At least two metro Atlanta colleges are bowing out of a nationwide debate about lowering the legal drinking age.
Morehouse College and Emory University confirmed Thursday they are not taking part in the the Amethyst Initiative, a nationwide effort to get college presidents talking about urging lawmakers to lower the drinking age.
“While we welcome and encourage spirited public debate about appropriate standards of behavior, we do not support policies that would have the effect of encouraging or making it more likely that younger citizens would use alcohol or drugs,” Morehouse president Robert M. Franklin said.
Emory released a similar written statement: “Emory University has decided not to join the Amethyst Initiative. Emory will continue its long-standing commitment to educate students about the dangers of abusing alcohol and other drugs.”
College presidents from about 100 well-known U.S. universities — including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State — support of the issue, according to the Amethyst Initiative. The group plans to call on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.
The movement began quietly recruiting presidents more than a year ago to provoke national debate.
“This is a law that is routinely evaded,” said John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College in Vermont who started the organization. “It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory.”
Choose Responsibility, a national non-profit organization that promotes safe drinking, supports the Amethyst Initiative. Organizers say the initiative is to get people talking about underage drinking.
“The Amethyst Initiative is not calling for a lower drinking age, it’s not calling for an 18-year-old drinking age,” said Grace Kronenberg, assistant to the director of Vermont-based Choose Responsibility. “It’s a group of leaders in higher education are speaking out on an issue they know a lot about.”At least two metro Atlanta colleges are bowing out of a nationwide debate about... more
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More and more people are finding themselves able to kick sometimes long-term, damaging and expensive alcohol habits without any of the uncomfortable symptoms of withdrawal which normally comes with long-term addictions, and they are doing it thanks to cannabis.
Ninety-two Northern Californians using cannabis as an alternative to alcohol obtained letters of approval from the author - Physician Tod Mikuriya MD.
Their records were reviewed to determine characteristics of the cohort and efficacy of the treatment —defined as reduced harm to the patient.
All patients reported benefit, indicating that for at least a subset of alcoholics, cannabis use is associated with reduced drinking.
The cost of alcoholism to individual patients and society- at-large warrants testing of the cannabis-substitution approach and study of the drug-of-choice phenomenon.
I kicked a 20 year drink habit which cost me two wives, two houses, two children, and many tens of thousands of pounds sterling, and I did it thanks to cannabis. If you've had a positive experience as a result of cannabis use, we would love to hear about it, on the Canna Zine cannabis forums . Drop by, say "high".
The story goes on:
Joint the conversation by commenting below.More and more people are finding themselves able to kick sometimes long-term, damaging... more
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"Benefit claimants will have to take part in a new "work for dole" plan as part of a package of welfare reforms to be unveiled next week that will aim to get millions back to work."
I have to say I am a firm believer in this even though it is a touchy subject for some. I hate being idle and would generally do any job rather than no job. Too often unemployment becomes a habit that is hard to shake. If you can live off your benefit why would you even look for work? Perhaps this will break the cycle whilst at the same time providing much needed staff to those in need.
What are your thoughts?
"Benefit claimants will have to take part in a new "work for dole" plan... more
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Immigration arrests from worksite raids have increased tenfold in the last five years. As politicians on both sides of the aisle grapple with the issue, families are caught in the middle. ANP went to Annapolis, Maryland to see how people were coping in the aftermath of the state's largest immigration roundup in years.Immigration arrests from worksite raids have increased tenfold in the last five years.... more
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lagan
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3 years ago
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A group of conservative Anglicans have decided to create a new global network in opposition to what they see as the "false gospel" interpreted by modern Anglicans; particularly in the 'liberal' wings of the US and Canadian Churches.
The controversy largely surrounds the issue of same sex marriages in Anglican churches, and the ordination in the US of an openly gay bishop. The conservatives are advocating "a more orthodox reading of the bible", and will form the new group today: the last day of the "Global Anglican Future Conference" being held in Jerusalem.
The 'reform group', chaired by Reverend Rod Thomas, have long criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, over his unwillingness to act over the US Episcopal Church's ordination of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson, in 2003. Rev. Thomas accused the Anglican Church, lead by Dr. Williams, "is being destroyed by false teaching of the Bible on issues such as sexuality". However the conservatives are quick to point out that this rift is not specifically about homosexuality, but simply how Anglicans should interpret the Bible.
Rev. Thomas also disagrees with what he says is the US Episcopal Church's suggestion that Jesus Christ is not the only way to salvation, saying that " there is nothing in the Bible which supports that view."
A group of conservative Anglicans have decided to create a new global network in... more
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rwylie
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added this
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3 years ago
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South Korea's president apologised on Thursday for a U.S. beef import deal that sparked mass street protests against his new government and will sack close aides to try to halt a dramatic slide in public support.
Lee Myung-bak, who eased to victory in a December election with pledges of pro-business reforms and growth for the world's 13th largest economy but now has an approval rating of less than 20 percent, said he wanted to start a new chapter for his four-month-old government.
Analysts said they expect large parts of Lee's reforms, which include privatizing state firms, tax cuts for companies and mortgage relief for low-income households, to be stalled unless he can win back public support.
A parliament in which Lee's conservative Grand National Party holds the majority has yet to begin sitting because of a boycott by the left-of center opposition angered at the beef deal.
Hundreds of the 13,000 striking South Korean truckers, whose protest has paralyzed ports and cost export firms billions of dollars, reached deals with employers and returned to work on Thursday, easing a little pressure on Lee.South Korea's president apologised on Thursday for a U.S. beef import deal that... more
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Legendary journalist Bill Moyers electrified an audience of more than 3,500 in Minneapolis this morning calling the media reform movement "the most significant citizens' movement to emerge in this new century."Legendary journalist Bill Moyers electrified an audience of more than 3,500 in... more
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As President Paul Biya scrambles to figure out how to curb corruption and embezzlement of state funds, the disenfranchised poor, working and middle class Cameroonians, who are the immediate and most affected by corruption, consider themselves mere spectators of this choreographed fight.
As President Paul Biya scrambles to figure out how to curb corruption and embezzlement... more
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As card games go, this one's a bit half-hearted. No one's concentrating, there's not a poker face in sight and everyone's got a terrible case of the fidgets.
But that could be because it's a teeny bit tricky to focus on royal flushes and full houses when three yards away from the spindly red table there's 2,000 lb of angry bull - snorting, pawing and revving up to charge.
Oh yes, and thousands of spectators chomping through popcorn and hot-dogs, and clapping, cheering and yelling very loudly: "Yee-haa!", "Come on! Sit it out!", "Don't be chicken!"
Welcome to rodeo day at Angola Prison, Louisiana, where "Convicts' Poker" - the winner is the last man sitting as the bull stampedes the table - is just one of a raft of events in which prisoners are trampled, gored and flung in the air before a braying crowd.
As card games go, this one's a bit half-hearted. No one's concentrating,... more
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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao unveiled today a bureaucratic revamp he hopes will foster greener, more efficient government, but experts said it was unlikely to end turf wars over industry, energy and pollution.
The reforms herd together dozens of agencies, creating "super-ministries" for industry, transport, housing and construction and the environment, and bring food and drug safety back under the Health Ministry after a series of damaging scares.
Anyone think that these "super-ministries" may actually be a more efficient way to run a government?! Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao unveiled today a bureaucratic revamp he hopes will foster... more
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""Obama on Ethics and Lobbying Reform""
http://obama.senate.gov/issues/ethics_and_lobbying_reform/
Throughout his political career, Barack Obama has fought for open and honest government. As an Illinois State Senator, he helped pass the states first major ethics reform bill in 25 years. And as a U.S. Senator, he has spearheaded the effort to clean up Washington in the wake of numerous scandals.
In the first two weeks of the 110th Congress, Senator Obama helped lead the Senate to pass the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, a comprehensive ethics and lobbying reform bill, by a 96-2 vote. This landmark bill was signed into law by the President in September 2007.
PART OF ARTICLE INCLUDED
""Alone among the U.S. Presidential candidates"", Barack Obama is confronting the question of how to produce more accountable and effective politics in our democracy.
His just-released Tech Plan (Download Obama Tech Plan) uniquely understands that the time, expertise and enthusiasm that ordinary people invest in making Wikipedia better, for example, can be transformed into practices to make government work better and more accountably. So he doesn't just call for making information more transparent to citizens; he wants to hear what we have to say and enable us to participate. The Plan calls for citizen engagement in the work of federal agencies and demonstrates respect for the intelligence and expertise of the American people. He calls for opening up the closed practices of government and using new technology to enable genuine citizen participation and engagement in our democracy. This is a major and unprecedented step.
No other candidate gets it. They pay lip service to transparency. He proposes making government data available online as well as ensuring that agencies do their work in public. They talk about citizen congresses that would deliberate in quaint town hall meetings having nothing to do with real world politics or power.
He proposes engaging citizens in the actual and ongoing work and decision-making of government -- not Americans talking to elected officials but Americans genuinely participating. They talk about technology and innovation. He offers a comprehensive broadband strategy, commitment to media diversity, and a proposal to improve patent quality, including the practice of rigorous, public peer review like Peer-to-Patent. They talk about strong IP. He balances his support of strong IP with recognition of the need to promote collaboration and innovation.
I am excited about Obamas Tech Plan. In fact, it should be called the Democracy Plan. He alone does what a President should do, namely articulate a vision for democracy in the digital age.
CLICK LINK TO SEE WHAT He wants to DO: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/danielleclarke/Cx84
""Obama on Ethics and Lobbying Reform""... more
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US prisons have become big business, housing 25% of all the people in the world behind bars, the largest prison population on the planet. In a frenzy of criminal justice, we have turned our backs on the founding principles of this nation to produce state and federal prisons at an alarming rate--in the 1990s, opening 1 every 15 days in depressed rural towns and communities.
Private correctional companies are entering the industry, appearing on the NY stock exchange, with an eye on the bottom line. Under this prison-industrial complex, we are locking up 1 in 3 young black men in this nation, moving them far from home, and stripping them of the right to vote, the possibility of holding decent jobs and the dignity of supporting themselves and their families. US prisons are holding the strangest of reunions: grandfathers, fathers and sons behind bars. There is no paying of their debt to society, no clean slate. One Nation Under Guard can inspire change by presenting the big picture of a US prison system that values the bottom line more than it does solutions, at enormous cost.
Most people are unaware that this is happening. Current TV viewers will begin to see the real need for restorative justice, and will be moved toward supporting and joining those who are working for it. They will begin to demand change to create a prison system that delivers justice for all, not injustice for a marginalized minority.US prisons have become big business, housing 25% of all the people in the world behind... more
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lkrost
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added this
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5 years ago
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Protesters in New York City recreate the passion of Christ in front of the Federal Building to persuade Congress to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants.Protesters in New York City recreate the passion of Christ in front of the Federal... more
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