Provides the latest RSS feeds for General Editorials. For more headlines on Breaking, National, Business, Finance, Sports and World News, visit our home page Perth Herald.com http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/cat/45d771c7290844e9/ en-us Mon, 20 May 2013 01:32:51 -0400 Mon, 20 May 2013 01:32:51 -0400 30 Beacon Hill seems to have entered its "don’t just stand there, do something" season.The problem is that most of the "somethings" are the kind of micro-managing that state government just shouldn’t be doing.First case, two bills that would needlessly burden ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214623793/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Mon, 20 May 2013 00:07:09 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214623793/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Photo credit: Angela Gaul Council Speaker Christine Quinn last week announced a plan to double -- from $5 to $10 -- the price cap on items that can be sold at sidewalk newsstands. Her proclamation amazed more than a few New Yorkers: Who knew that streetcorner newsstand owners have to petition the City Council to sell a useful $10 umbrella -- instead of the water-soluble $4 version -- here in ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214623205/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 23:27:47 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214623205/scat/45d771c7290844e9 LEGISLATORS in Olympia show every sign of delaying agreement on a two-year state budget until the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council releases its revenue forecast on June 18. The feeling is that the economy is improving, revenue collections are up, so the revenue forecast for the coming biennium will be up, too. It may well be. The extra money, however, is not likely to be all that much. The ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214622702/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 22:38:41 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214622702/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are essential to democracy and a key way for people of all political views to band together to influence public debate. But once more, the Egyptian government is threatening to restrict NGOs that receive foreign funds. Exercised about criticism from some of these groups, the ruling party is pushing a bill that would empower the government to decide which ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214622703/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 22:13:31 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214622703/scat/45d771c7290844e9 In the past two weeks, Americans were confronted with the fact that their government engaged in activities repugnant to democratic societies — cover up of mistakes in protecting foreign diplomats, IRS probes of conservative political organizations and secret seizure of more than 100 journalists' phone records. We offer insightful examination (in other words, LaVarr needling Frank, ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214621782/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 21:43:37 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214621782/scat/45d771c7290844e9 If the Hague initiative is going to make a real difference in the lives of women, it needs to take a broader view of the problem and address the full spectrum of women's needs during conflict. It should also consider what happens to women when the wars end and the soldiers go home - violence against women doesn't automatically end with the ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214621702/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 20:31:33 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214621702/scat/45d771c7290844e9 China Sea. Ten days ago, a Philippine coast guard ship went too far in chasing off a Taiwanese fishing vessel in disputed waters. Such actions involve water cannons and the damage is nothing worse than a few broken portholes. This time the coast guard ship loosed off 54 rounds into the side of the Taiwanese boat and killed a fisherman. ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214620138/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 18:58:31 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214620138/scat/45d771c7290844e9 The world is worried about Syria. But the United States (or at least Washington) is more focused on Libya. Not about that country’s lawless disintegration in the post-Gadhafi era, but about Benghazi, and the timeline of events before, during and after four Americans were slain there last Sept. 11. What to some is modern media’s version of a smoking gun ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619054/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 17:41:47 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619054/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Ezekiel Allen’s weary voice and his long list of medical challenges - schizophrenia, a back injury, bipolar condition, high blood pressure, brain polyps, dental troubles, migraine headaches - make him sound far older than his 45 years. Homeless for a number of years, Allen didn’t see a doctor regularly for far too long. When the pain of his conditions became overwhelming, ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619057/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 17:41:46 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619057/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Here is a surprising hypothesis: The 2012 referendum that rejected labeling marriage as being only between one man and one woman in the state Constitution was not the real referendum that propelled gay marriage toward being legalized in Minnesota. The key vote came in 2010, disguised as a gubernatorial race. It was a multiple contest between three candidates -- Independence Party nominee Tom ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619056/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 17:41:45 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619056/scat/45d771c7290844e9 The Responsibility to Protect doctrine adopted by the United Nations guides the way. It feels like there’s renewed hope. The R2P doctrine offers a way ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619473/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 17:41:43 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619473/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Over the past two years, Burma has been emerging from 50 years of brutal military rule at a breathtaking pace. The country has made some impressive and unprecedented changes, including the release of many political prisoners, the rolling back of censorship and the lifting of restrictions to allow opposition political parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, to ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619117/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 17:13:42 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619117/scat/45d771c7290844e9 The last time Amina al-Rabeii video conferenced from Yemen with her brother Salman, a detainee at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, she barely recognized the skeletal man on the screen. "His eyes were sunken into dark recesses," al-Rabeii told me when we met recently in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital. "He was slumped in his chair and he could barely keep his head up. He ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619474/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 17:13:42 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619474/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Diana T. worked full-time for a large retail store in the US when she became pregnant. Her manager was unhappy about her pregnancy and about Diana’s six-week unpaid maternity leave. Her employer refused to pay her accrued sick time during leave. Diana’s baby was born with asthma, and doctors suspected she had cystic fibrosis. Diana had severe post-partum depression. Diana’s ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619475/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 17:13:40 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214619475/scat/45d771c7290844e9 , claimed that "so-called human rights organisations" are "largely administered by ex-ideologists and even terrorists". It continued: "As much as beasts cannot be left to roam freely, so in human society the feral element’s freedom should be under control." In fact, it is well documented ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214618605/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 16:23:49 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214618605/scat/45d771c7290844e9 David Cameron was in a tricky enough spot last week, forced to pretend it was, if not desirable, then at least acceptable that more than 100 obstreperous backbenchers voted their "regret" at his Government's legislative programme. Between the high-profile grandees (Lord Lawson, Michael Portillo) and the existing cabinet ministers (Michael Gove, Philip Hammond) all voicing their ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214618125/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 15:48:52 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214618125/scat/45d771c7290844e9 One lives a superficial life and hence one is in chaos. Most people live life on the periphery and hence the sweetness at the depth -- wise living -- is never tasted. This is the sad part of ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214618071/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 14:58:17 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214618071/scat/45d771c7290844e9 The staging of a Volvo Ocean Race stopover, a world triathlon championship and the V8 Supercars at Pukekohe have made Auckland a more vibrant city. Photo / Greg BowkerSometimes it takes an outside eye to reveal the full extent of a change in circumstance. So it was with the report by Britain's SportBusiness Group which showed Auckland had overtaken Sydney as a host of premier sporting events in ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214617228/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:30:00 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214617228/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Jeffrey Selingo New Harvest, $26, 256 pagesIt’s not hard to see that the $490 billion higher-education industry is failing America. One study showed that only 45 percent of students demonstrate any cognitive gains by the middle of their sophomore year. Only about 50 percent of students enrolling in a four-year college graduate within six years. Yet more students are enrolled than ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214616965/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 13:28:59 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214616965/scat/45d771c7290844e9 (CBS News) When the burglars broke into Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate, a lot of us back then found it hard to believe. Why would anyone break into a political headquarters? What did they hope to find? Bumper stickers? Yard signs? Nobody is dumb enough to pull a stunt like that. But they were! I admit I had about the same reaction when I first heard the IRS had gone after the ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214616445/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 12:14:02 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214616445/scat/45d771c7290844e9 To learn more about the Tsarnaev brothers, better known as "the Boston bombers," we can dig into their family histories in strife-torn Dagestan, or examine, once again, the lethal appeal of Islamist radicalism. But I doubt that this would be enlightening. The elder brother, Tamerlan, who died in a gun battle with the police, appears to fit perfectly the profile of what the German ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214615330/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 10:34:03 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214615330/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Since the 2008 financial crisis, most industrial economies have avoided anything like the collapse that occurred during the Great Depression of the 1930s. But despite large-scale fiscal and monetary stimulus, they are not experiencing any dramatic economic rebound. Moreover, the pre-crisis trend of rising income and wealth inequality is continuing in marked contrast to the post-Great Depression ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214615331/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 10:34:00 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214615331/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Peoples' first question when they hear that I've just returned from a winter in Moscow is usually: "What on earth drove you to go there?" The answer is not an easy one. I landed at Sheremetyevo Airport in January with dreams of balalaikas, samovars and golden domed churches. It did not take me long to realize that living in Moscow was less about folklore and literary ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214614884/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 09:43:52 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214614884/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Many will no doubt be tempted to sit this one out. Voters show up at the polls when they are convinced that the election will make a difference in their lives, and in this campaign, the candidates have done little to differentiate themselves or to demonstrate why the city would be better off with them than without them in charge. Both are liberal Democrats whose records show too much ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214614126/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 08:03:02 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214614126/scat/45d771c7290844e9 1913 America Losing Trade in China PEKING ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214614226/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 07:34:45 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214614226/scat/45d771c7290844e9 The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories. I'd seen the movies before reading the stories -- Nicolas Roeg's masterful version of "Don't Look Now" featuring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie; and Alfred Hitchcock's strangely flat-footed and clunky version of "The Birds" -- so I thought I knew what to expect from Daphne du Maurier's fiction. I was, in ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214613523/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 07:29:25 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214613523/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Beijing-based economist Michael Pettis has carved out through his "China Financial Markets" blog a distinct position with his commentaries on the Chinese economy, notably with his consideration of the difficulties it faces with its necessary rebalancing towards a more consumption-based model. Asia Times Online here draws the attention of Pettis' latest insightful analysis to a ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214613131/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 05:17:58 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214613131/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Life through the eyes of a child is often thought to be innocent and colorful. But, that life isn't the same experience for kids who are blind and visually impaired. That's why every year, ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214612370/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 04:11:10 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214612370/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Nazi Germany ended in military defeat in 1945. The Soviet Union ended in political collapse in 1991. Both nations used concentration camps that resulted in the deaths of millions. Few camps in the USSR were designed to be actual death camps, but the same millions died from 1918 to about 1960. They were victims of cold, hunger, disease and also bullets. Both camp systems required staffing in the ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611171/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:46 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611171/scat/45d771c7290844e9 It's not often I agree with columnist Richard Davis, but I concur with the BYU professor regarding the need for Utah Attorney General John Swallow to be the subject of a special investigation or even impeached ("Cloud over Swallow needs to be resolved soon," May 15). There is enough smoke swirling around the embattled official to reasonably believe there is also some fire that ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611172/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:46 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611172/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Thomas Cobb's unique collection of 29 snakes, which is kept in a special room in his Cottonwood Heights basement, is in jeopardy. He has been cited for failing to have an exotic pet permit and given one week to get rid of all but one snake. He has spent more than two decades amassing his private collection and prides himself in being a good snake owner. Each snake costs about ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611170/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:45 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611170/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, accompanied by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, gestures as he speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon, Friday, May 17, 2013, to discuss sexual assaults in the military and the promotion of Lt. Gen. Curtis "Mike" Scaparrotti to command U.S. troops in South Korea, among other ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611174/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:44 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611174/scat/45d771c7290844e9 President Barack Obama speaks on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday May 15, 2013. Obama announced the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, the top official at the ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611173/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:44 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611173/scat/45d771c7290844e9 WASHINGTON — Note to GOP re Benghazi: Stop calling it Watergate, Iran-Contra, bigger than both, etc. First, it might well be, but we don't know. History will judge. Second, overhyping will only diminish the importance of the scandal if it doesn't meet presidency-breaking standards. Third, focusing on the political effects simply plays into the hands of Democrats desperately ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611175/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:43 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611175/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Across this great land, patriotic Americans are behaving subversively. We're quoting from our pocket Constitutions, starting reading groups to discuss our founding documents, even gathering together to "petition the government for a redress of grievances." Uncle Sam is not ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611176/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:42 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611176/scat/45d771c7290844e9 In this March 28, 2012 file photo, supporters of health care reform rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on the final day of arguments regarding the health care law signed by President Barack ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611177/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:42 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214611177/scat/45d771c7290844e9 With political control in the hands of one party for the first time in decades, Minnesotans had a historic legislative session in store. Democrats delivered that. "If you were going to design a session with a goal to push businesses out of Minnesota and create disincentives for new business to come here, they succeeded in doing that," said Charlie Weaver, executive director of the ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214610917/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 01:11:51 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214610917/scat/45d771c7290844e9 President Thomas S. Monson and his wife, Frances, wave to the crowd after the Sunday morning session of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 181st Annual General Conference Sunday, April 3, 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Tom Smart, Deseret ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214609280/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 22:55:30 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214609280/scat/45d771c7290844e9 THE last time the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) was significantly revised, brick-sized cellphones cost $3,000, email was mostly limited to academics and the military. The World Wide Web was still just a gleam in the eye of Tim Berners-Lee. The law, passed in 1986, set forward-looking standards for government monitoring of cellphone calls and emails. But advances in technology have ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214609605/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 22:54:28 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214609605/scat/45d771c7290844e9 EARLY-learning programs offer a cost-effective way to prepare young learners for success in school and in life. Preschool is a benefit that trickles up. Research shows high-quality preschool saves school districts about $3,700 per child over the K-12 years. The National Institute for Early Education Research annual look at states’ early-learning efforts gives Washington high marks for ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214609190/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 22:01:43 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214609190/scat/45d771c7290844e9 The refugee burden that Syria’s neighbors are shouldering is heavy and should not be borne alone. But keeping people fleeing for their lives in buffer zones inside Syrian borders risks trapping rather than protecting ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214609191/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 21:38:44 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214609191/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Even by the standards of Syria's ever-worsening stream of atrocity and massacre videos, the latest footage from the country cannot fail to shock for its sheer savagery. ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214608687/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 20:45:27 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214608687/scat/45d771c7290844e9 It is always hard for an American president in the second term, but both his country and the world need Obama to show strength and courage and put scandal behind ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214607695/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 20:00:32 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214607695/scat/45d771c7290844e9 That means being as aggressive and imaginative as - and preferably more aggressive and imaginative than - the tax specialists who work for accountancy firms and the companies they advise. Inevitably, this is a competition at which lower-paid public servants are always going to be at a disadvantage to their rivals in the private sector, but HM Revenue & Customs have one thing in their favour, ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214607400/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 19:10:19 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214607400/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Shaquonica Johnson was comforted by fellow home-care worker Rochelle Turan while testifying at a hearing on the possible unionization of home-based care ... http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214606496/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 18:31:55 -0400 http://www.perthherald.com/index.php/sid/214606496/scat/45d771c7290844e9