Gov. Pat Quinn proposes to close the Illinois Youth Center, part of the state?s juvenile justice system, to save money, and that is not a bad move.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=a3b22527451e19d0c7e821d44c51dd33

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Senate Republicans abruptly passed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's plan to sharply curtail collective-bargaining rights for public employees Wednesday night, using a legislative maneuver to approve the measure without 14 Democratic senators who fled the state in an effort to block it.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030900299.html?wprss=rss_politics

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The thing about a corporation committing widespread fraud is that it tends to involve a lot of people, some of whom will not be enthusiastic about committing fraud and may even try to stop it. Michael Hudson at iWatch News reports on how Countrywide Financial Corp. protected its ability to commit fraud by firing whistleblowers, behavior that continued after Countrywide was bought by Bank of America. In fact, they fired the person in charge of fraud investigations; recently, "the U.S. Department of Labor ruled that Bank of America had illegally fired her as payback for exposing fraud and retaliation against whistleblowers. It ordered the bank to reinstate her and pay her some $930,000."

But Countrywide/Bank of America didn't just get in the way of investigations at the top. At least 17 other former employees allege that they were demoted or fired for raising the alarm about fraud they witnessed. For instance:

Mark Bonjean, a former operations unit manager in Arizona, complained to a divisional vice president, according to a lawsuit in state court in Maricopa County. Within two hours of sending the VP an email about what he believed were violations of the state?s organized crime and fraud statutes, the suit said, he was placed on administrative leave. The next day, according to the lawsuit, he was fired.

And:

Lupe Manegdeg, a loan specialist at a Countrywide office in Glendale, Calif., claimed that, in early 2007, she discovered that loan officers in her branch were defrauding borrowers in a variety of ways ? including forging their signatures on documents and lying to them about the type of loans they were getting.

She reported this, she said, to her supervisors, to Countrywide human-resources officials and to the company?s fraud hotline. The company responded, her lawsuit in state court in Los Angeles said, by firing her.

Corporate corruption of the pervasive kind that helped bring on the mortgage crisis and victimized so many homeowners comes from the top. But here it succeeded by involving employees throughout the company?and by penalizing those who resisted. Neither was Countrywide alone in abusing its employees in order to sign more and more dubious loans, as Hudson's book The Monster details. Strong protections?whether through government oversight or unions?for workers who push back on troubling or outright illegal actions by employers don't just protect the workers, they protect us all.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/uKAfZqUVzJs/-At-Countrywide,-protecting-mortgage-fraud-involved-firing-whistleblowers

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Research into human aging has found many potential causes. One of the most exciting is in the field of stem cells. It looks like as adult stem cell populations age and become depleted, the traditional signs of aging  accelerate. There's a lot of promise there: learning how to manipulate all kinds of stem cells could even potentially result in the first scientific version of the fountain of youth for adult stem cells and by proxy, us adults:

Scientists at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and Georgia Institute of Technology demonstrated how the aging process for human adult stem cells can be reversed. This breakthrough will open many new avenues for innovative therapies that could impact a wide range of disease, including anything requiring the repair of damaged tissues.

That would be one giant leap for mankind. Of course there are people intent on taking one giant step backward for womenkind. Like this simmering wingnut obsession which could cripple stem cell research and comes with other horrifying consequences.

• For all you former radio control model builders and operators (I'm included!), TPM has posted two really cool videos of where the hobby has gone with modern electronics and old-fashioned craftsmanship.
• NASA's Messenger and Dawn Mission to Vesta & Beyond are competing with each other this week to return the most interesting images of Mercury's baked wastelands and Vesta's frozen surface.
• Will we ever conquer -- for lack of a better word -- the solar system? I took a shot at reviewing one proposed method in Train tracks in space.
• The video reportedly shows 29 year-old Sarah Churman hearing with the benefit of a newly installed implant for the very first time:
  

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/y90-TQslFYY/-This-week-in-science:-One-step-forward,-one-step-back

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Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says that he would not support rival Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) if he was named the Republican presidential nominee, especially in light of reports of a rock near the entrance of Perry's family hunting lodge that had a black racial slur written on it. The slur has been painted over, but Cain says he finds this use of the word "insensitive."

Source: http://feeds.abcnews.com/click.phdo?i=273817b8da0949465516ec8a54f6ea28

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/m69gjeCbFp8/competition_1.php

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For "60 Minutes" producer Jeff Newton, shooting Alex Honnold's death-defying rock climbing was only part of the challenge. Jeff and the whole crew also had to learn Alex-speak, where everything is "chill."

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsMain/~3/0V31-J7PqPE/8301-504803_162-20114456-10391709.html

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The Energy Department on Friday approved four more solar energy loan guarantees worth nearly $5 billion, hours before a controversial loan program was set to expire.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44736382/ns/us_news-environment/

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Thursday's hearing could mark a key moment in the way America talks about Muslims as the conversation shifts from the fringes to the center of American politics.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030902061.html?wprss=rss_politics

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/02/herman-cain-hail-to-the-chief_n_991017.html

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