Bill Chappell

Google Files First-Amendment Request With FISA Court

Bill Chappell — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:13:00 +0000

Google has filed a legal motion asserting its "First Amendment right to publish aggregate information about FISA orders," asking the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to remove the gag order that keeps the company from issuing that information. Google and other big U.S.

Perk Backlash: Do Surprise Upgrades Make Us Uneasy?

Bill Chappell — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:34:00 +0000

Whether it's a free upgrade on a hotel room or skipping ahead in the check-in line, many businesses give preferential treatment to some customers, hoping to make them more loyal. The practice often works — but a new study suggests that when we get perks we didn't earn, negative feelings can result.

'Days Of Rambo Are Over': Pentagon Details Women's Move To Combat

Bill Chappell — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:22:00 +0000

Women in America's armed services will have new options for what units they can join in coming years, the Pentagon says. The military said in January that it will end its combat exclusion that set a minimum size for units in which women could be deployed; the limit kept many women away from front-line combat units. The shift means women could join elite forces such as the Army Rangers and Navy SEALs.

Depending on the job, women could begin training to join combat units in the next one to three years, according to several military officers who spoke at a Pentagon briefing Tuesday afternoon.

Woman Freed In Indiana Was A Convict On Death Row At 16

Bill Chappell — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:15:00 +0000

Paula Cooper, 43, left prison Monday morning, decades after she became America's youngest resident of death row at age 16. She had confessed to the 1985 murder of Bible studies teacher Ruth Pelke, 78, in Gary, Ind.

FTC Can Sue Firms In 'Pay For Delay' Drug Deals, Court Rules

Bill Chappell — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:59:00 +0000

When the maker of a brand-name drug pays a maker of generic drugs to not produce a lower-priced version of their product, the Federal Trade Commission can challenge the arrangement on antitrust grounds, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The ruling may end the era of what regulators call "pay-for-delay" deals.

The justices voted 5-3 to allow a case to go forward in which the FTC is challenging one of many such deals.

'Immigrants Are More Fertile,' Jeb Bush Says In Reform Speech

Bill Chappell — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 03:50:31 +0000

Jeb Bush has created a stir with remarks he made during a speech on immigration, in which he said that women who immigrate to America are more fertile than women who are born in the country.

"Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans, over the last 20 years," Bush said. "Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population.

Australian General's Frank Talk On Sexual Abuse Wins Fans

Bill Chappell — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:27:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaqpoeVgr8U

In Gay America, Optimism Abounds As Stigma Persists, Pew Says

Bill Chappell — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:05:00 +0000

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans say they feel more accepted in society than they did 10 years ago, and they're overwhelmingly optimistic that the trend will continue. But a sweeping new Pew Research Center survey also finds persistent levels of stigmatization and secrecy in the community.

"The Pew Research Center finds some 90 percent of LGBT people feel more accepted now than a decade ago, and believe that will continue," reports NPR's Jennifer Ludden.

Egyptian Author Sentenced To Prison For Book 'Where Is God?'

Bill Chappell — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:46:00 +0000

Egyptian author and human rights activist Karam Saber has been sentenced to five years in prison, after a court found his writings to have insulted religion, reports the Egyptian news website Aswat Masriya.

The complaint against Saber and his book Ayn Allah (Where Is God?) was initially filed in 2011, months after the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Huge System Of Storms Predicted To March East From Midwest

Bill Chappell — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:55:00 +0000

The National Weather Service warns of a massive storm system that will make its way eastward from Iowa to Maryland in the next 24 hours, as strong winds, thunderstorms, and hail are predicted to hit areas from the upper Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic beginning Wednesday and continuing Thursday.

The weather service's Storm Prediction Center is predicting "widespread damaging winds and a few strong tornadoes" in parts of the middle Mississippi Valley, the upper Ohio Valley and lower Great Lakes area Wednesday evening.

Egypt Said To Be In Talks With Ethiopia Over Nile Dam Plan

Bill Chappell — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:14:00 +0000

Egypt's leaders are negotiating with Ethiopia over a Nile River dam project the Ethiopians have begun building, according to reports. The news comes after a week of forceful talk about the dam project, including one session with Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi in which politicians discussed armed intervention, apparently not aware their words were being broadcast on live television.

"We are in the midst of negotiations," an anonymous Egyptian official tells Agence France-Presse.

Google Asks Permission To Publish Info About FISA Requests

Bill Chappell — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:24:00 +0000

As Google and other large tech companies cope with the aftermath of recent reports that the National Security Agency has had broad access to their users' data, the search giant is asking the U.S.

World War II-Era German Bomber Raised Near English Coast

Bill Chappell — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:44:00 +0000

A rare Dornier 17, an aluminum-skinned German bomber that flew in the Battle of Britain, has been salvaged from the murky waters of the English Channel. The plane was shot down more than 70 years ago near the coast of Kent.

"The Royal Air Force Museum is pleased to announce the successful lift of the only known example of the Dornier Do17," said the RAF Museum's director general, Peter Dye, Monday.

'I'm Not Satisfied': Family's First Graduate Has Bigger Goals

Bill Chappell — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:45:00 +0000

When Denver teenager Dajina Bell graduated from high school last week, she celebrated a remarkable academic and personal comeback. Bell's high school years, marked early on by her brother's death and a host of other troubles, ended with her becoming her family's first graduate.

Bell's story got our attention after she appeared in two Colorado Public Radio stories.

BP Ends Oil Spill Cleanup In Gulf, Except For Louisiana

Bill Chappell — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:50:00 +0000

BP is ending its cleanup of the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in three Gulf Coast states this month, leaving Louisiana as the only state with ongoing cleanup linked to the company's Deepwater Horizon Response effort. Reports of oil sightings in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida will soon be the U.S.