Data for graphic drawn from “A Tale of Two Disasters”, by Paul Rubin, Wall Street Journal,  June 22,2010

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On our radio show yesterday TJ Hart told us a rather heart warming story about the kindness shown to a family that met with a disturbing event while passing through Gainsville, Florida. In these days of madness and mayhem taking center stage in the news I find it comforting that there are occasional random acts [...]

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Cole Puffinburger, 6 years old, was allegedly kidnapped Wednesday when two men pretending to be police officers entered the family home and searched the place. They tied up the boy’s mother and her boyfriend and took off with Cole when they apparently couldn’t find any money. Cole is described to have blond hair and blue [...]

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For most of us Katrina was just another news story, and while the videos of the destruction were horrific, it was quickly forgotten when the news services moved on to the next hot story. Hurricane Katrina happened three years ago, so what new could possibly be written about it? Actually the answer is lots, there [...]

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Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans has announced that he has issued a mandatory evacuation beginning first with the Westbank at 8 am and then the East bank by noon Sunday. “You need to be scared. You need to be concerned,” Nagin said Saturday at a news conference. “You need to get your butt out [...]

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Jumping off a sinking ship and jumping on the bandwagon are just doing what comes naturally, right? Not for Hillary Clinton’s supporters in KY, who stuck by their candidate, despite the certainty that Barack Obama’s win in OR would push him past her in pledged delegates. And as in WV and other states in which [...]

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New Jersey art dealer, George Wieschenberg of Lambertville, was sentenced to six years of prison for being a marijuana “farmer.” According to MSNBC, Wieschenberg, pleaded guilty to “operating a marijuana production facility,” in which he grew marijuana plants, said State Attorney General Anne Milgrim. Back in October of 2007, New Jersey State Police officers saw [...]

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This is the last in the three part series on a worldwide probelm By Gina Burgess Originally published in the Picayune Item Behavior that offends or harms someone is a broad definition of workplace bullying. Mary tells Sandra that Betty is sleeping with the boss, when in fact the rumor isn’t true. Spreading gossip or [...]

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Part 2 of a 3 part series By Gina Burgess Originally published in the Picayune Item “For two years 13 year-old Johnny was a human plaything for some of his classmates. The teenagers badgered him for money, forced him to swallow weeds and drink milk laced with detergent, beat him up in the restroom, and [...]

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(London, UK) The Autism Awareness Campaign UK is urging the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rt.Rev. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of York, Rt.Rev.Dr.John Sentamu, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormack Murphy O’Connor and other senior church leaders to speak out on the suffering of some parents, carers and people with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome on Autism Sunday [...]

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The Carnival of Hurricane Relief has posted its 103rd edition this week, noting the two-year anniversary of the first of three big hurricanes to pound the Gulf Coast. Beyond its usual collection of links to blog posts and news stories related to Gulf Coast hurricane recovery, there are two items of special note included with [...]

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After Hurricane Katrina hit, relief came pouring in from donors and charity organizations to help rebuild the city as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, nearly two years later, the process of rebuilding is still underway and just now beginning to pick up the pace. Also, the billions of dollars raised has been needed for [...]

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Pickin’ Up the Pieces Relief Corps has a chance to help build new homes for two families made homeless by Hurricane Katrina. Yes, that Hurricane Katrina. Almost two years ago. Pickin’ Up the Pieces has a donor lined up to purchase materials for the house — but the donation has strings. The money has to [...]

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The barbarians may or may not be at the gates, but the barbarians are certainly lose within them. The evils of racial prejudice, of fear of the other, are alive and well.  The charging of a former Ku Klux Klan member in the kidnapping and murder of two black Mississippi teenagers more than forty years [...]

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Mercury in fish is now recognized as a major health threat, especially for children, but surveys show that only about two-thirds of the public know which fish are high in mercury. The EPA and FDA issued a joint advisory in 2004, warning women of childbearing age, expecting and nursing mothers and young children to not [...]

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The new identity theft protection and recovery service by Truston is live. The service is unique because it doesn’t require you to give up your personal information, which could be stored in a database, and used to commit identity theft if it falls into the wrong hands. In case you’ve missed the weekly stories, databases [...]

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First gypsies impersonate Dr. Phil and now someone is selling tickets to the Oprah show that smell a little “phishy.” Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan warned the public in a official statement: In this case, e-mail recipients are asked to submit personal information and told they will receive tickets to The Oprah Winfrey Show after [...]

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I’ve had the opportunity to look at a lot of identity theft services, but until now – I’ve never run into one I considered “victim friendly.” I’ve written off most of the services I’ve seen — either because they were financial services products (created by those who had compromised victims themselves) — or they were [...]

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