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Brown’s proposal: a 4-day week for state workers

Cures For Stuff — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:45:15 +0000

(05-14) 18:06 PDT Sacramento —

Gov. Jerry Brown proposed significant cuts to state courts and state worker pay – including reducing state employees’ work week to four days – to help close a $15.7 billion gap between revenues and expenses for California’s fiscal year that begins July 1.

In announcing his revised budget proposal, which he called both “difficult” and “real, increased austerity,” the governor also pressed his case for voters to approve a tax initiative that he is pushing in the November election.

The governor’s plan already counts the revenue the tax initiative would bring in – and if voters reject the taxes, then even deeper cuts would be required, Brown said. those would include mid-year cuts to public schools, community colleges and the University of California and California State University systems.

Brown spoke at the Capitol and immediately flew to Los Angeles, where he also made his case for his $91 billion general fund spending plan. The general fund pays for most state services.”I said at the beginning when I ran for this job that it’s taken a long time, more than a decade, to get into this mess. We’re not going to get out of it in a year, or even two years. but we’re getting there. We’re making progress,” Brown said.

Overall, the budget plan relies on $8.3 billion in spending reductions and other cuts, nearly $6 billion from the taxes that would be collected if the November ballot measure passes, and $2.5 billion in “other” solutions including putting off the repayment of some loans.

But even while counting on the increase in taxes, which are far from certain to pass, the governor projects the state will have a $7.7 billion deficit in two years. still, Brown said the state’s chronic deficits will remain a top issue for him.

“I think you can be confident that before I leave here we will be in solid fiscal balance and we can look forward to a very stable future,” he said.

The bulk of the cuts, nearly $2.5 billion, come from health services and welfare, which Democrats in the Legislature have opposed. The federal government and courts also have already blocked similar reductions in services, but it appears the governor is going to try again to get approval on those, including In-Home Supportive Services and co-payments for Medi-Cal.

The proposal seeks to make reductions in what the state pays to hospitals and nursing homes for treating the poor, along with adding limits on who qualifies for welfare. The $879 million proposed cut to CalWORKS, the state’s welfare to work program, is actually smaller than what the governor first proposed in January, but Democrats have said the reduction would lead to homelessness and that they oppose it.

“There is of course a balance between making necessary cuts, which we will do, and maintaining and preserving essential servicers for people, especially people most in need,” said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

Brown said he expects the budget negotiations, which must conclude by the June 15 deadline, will be “difficult,” and Steinberg agreed.

The largest and newest pieces of the revised plan include taking $1.4 billion that was left from the dismantling of the state’s redevelopment agencies and using it for the general fund. Steinberg and others had initially wanted that money to help create affordable housing.

Brown also has proposed a $544 million cut to the courts, which have been reduced significantly in recent years. That money would come from the reserves of local courts, along with delaying construction of new courthouses.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye criticized the plan, saying, “The proposed cuts to the judicial branch are both devastating and disheartening. They will seriously compromise the public’s access to their courts and our ability to provide equal access to justice throughout the state.”

She said she would hold an emergency meeting with leaders in the court system this week to address the plan.

Cures For Stuff.com

Brown’s proposal: a 4-day week for state workers

Female bodies found in Detroit shallow grave likely to be two missing friends

Cures For Stuff — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:30:13 +0000

The bodies of two women were discovered in a shallow grave in Detroit following an intense search for two missing Michigan women.

Police believe the bodies may be those of 18-year-old Abreeya Brown and 22-year-old Ashley Conaway.

“On the surface, they fit the description of the two missing ladies … The families have been notified,” Chief Ralph Godbee told reporters at the scene Sunday. “We’re going to be out here a long time.”

Brown was abducted at gunpoint in late February along with her best friend and housemate, Conaway, in front of their home in Hamtramck, Mich.

The two had just returned from a restaurant when two men came after them. one of the men allegedly was Conaway’s ex-boyfriend, 26-year-old Brandon Cain.

Relatives said one of the women was able to send text messages for a short time from inside the trunk of a vehicle, but the women had not been heard from since then.

No one has been charged in connection with the case.

Cain and 24-year-old Brian Lee were charged earlier this month with attempted murder for a shooting Feb. 8 that involved Brown and Conaway.

Relatives previously claimed Conaway had tried to end a relationship with a boyfriend several weeks earlier. they also told police that the boyfriend became angry and fired shots at the women.

Cain and Lee are in custody but have not been formally accused in the women’s disappearance.

Click for more on this story from MyFoxDetroit.com

Newscore contributed to this report.

Cures For Stuff.com

Female bodies found in Detroit shallow grave likely to be two missing friends

Lover pleads guilty to aiding Mass. mobster Bulger

Cures For Stuff — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:00:18 +0000

U.S. Marshals Service / Reuters

Catherine Greig, long time girlfriend of former mob boss and fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger, who was arrested in Santa Monica, California on June 22, 2011, is seen in a booking mug photo released to Reuters on Aug. 1, 2011.

By The associated Press

BOSTON — The longtime girlfriend of former mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges she helped Bulger evade capture during 16 years on the run.

In a deal with prosecutors, Catherine Greig pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud and conspiracy to commit identity fraud.

Bulger, who was captured with Greig last year in Santa Monica, Calif., has pleaded not guilty to charges of participating in 19 murders.

Each of the three charges Grieg pleaded guilty to carries a maximum sentence of five years, but prosecutors told families of people believed killed by Bulger that Greig could face less than three years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Greig’s plea agreement doesn’t require her to testify against Bulger, and prosecutors have agreed not to charge her with anything else. They also won’t make a sentencing recommendation to a judge.

Sentencing is set for June 12.

Steven Davis, who says his sister, Debra David, was killed by Bulger, was allowed to give a victim impact statement in court Wednesday. He called Greig a “monster,” and said she delayed the families’ their opportunity to get justice for more than 16 years.

Greig didn’t look at Davis as he spoke but stared straight ahead.

Before Greig entered her plea, Judge Douglas Woodlock questioned her about her background and whether she understood she was giving up her right to defend herself at a trial.

When Woodlock asked whether she had received any psychological counseling, Greig broke down in tears and composed herself before responding that she received counseling in 1984 after a family member’s suicide.

Patricia Donahue, who says her husband, Michael, was killed by Bulger, said afterward that Greig’s tears didn’t make up for hiding Bulger.

“Where was she when I was crying?” Donahue said. “I don’t think she’s a monster. I think that she just made a lot of bad choices, and those choices hurt a lot of people.”

In a statement of facts filed in court Monday, Greig acknowledged that she agreed to join Bulger on the run beginning in early 1995.

She also acknowledged that she agreed to conceal him from authorities for 16 years, used aliases and unlawfully obtained identification documents and repeatedly helped him obtain prescription medication from a pharmacy by claiming to be his wife.

“I engaged in conduct that was intended to help Bulger avoid detection from law enforcement and to provide him with support and assistance during his flight from law enforcement,” the document states.

Bulger, now 82, headed Boston’s notorious Winter Hill Gang and also was a longtime FBI informant who gave the agency information on the rival new England Mafia. Bulger’s former FBI handler, John Connolly Jr., was convicted of warning him that he was about to be indicted, prompting him to flee Boston in late 1994.

Bulger and Greig were caught in June, just days after the FBI began a new publicity campaign focusing on Greig and aimed at a female audience. The FBI said on Greig’s wanted poster that she frequented beauty salons and had well-kept teeth and multiple plastic surgeries. The Boston Globe has reported that the tipster who reported the couple’s whereabouts was a woman from Iceland who spent months at a time in Santa Monica and had bonded with Greig over a stray cat.

The 60-year-old Greig, a former dental hygienist, has been held in jail since her arrest. during a bail hearing in July, her lawyer described her as a subservient woman who was in love with Bulger and unaware of the extent of his crimes when she fled with him.

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Lover pleads guilty to aiding Mass. mobster Bulger

Golf Balls

Cures For Stuff — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:45:24 +0000

When golfers meet, the common discussion are about clubs, putters, greens and other style accessories used during the game. however, most of the money a typical golfer spends in a year of golf would be on golf balls your clubs and putters will last you for a long time. Balls will keep disappearing into sand traps and into the lakes. so, it is worth reading a bit about golf balls.

According to the prescribed set of rules, a golf ball weighs about 46 gms, and has a diameter of about 43 mm. there are dozens of popular golf ball manufacturers in the United States and all around the world, and different competitions and clubs subscribe to different manufacturers.

For you to choose your golf balls, there are a few generic things such as your swing speed, and your purpose of playing that should be considered. for instance, if you are a beginner, or an amateur player not too serious about your game, you will most probably benefit from choosing recreational golf balls. Since they are made with two layers, they suit the players whose swing is slower – like less than 80 miles per hour. however, if you are a pro or play on a serious circuit, you need to pick the advanced balls – made of three or more layers, which require a much greater swing speed.

Golf is one of those games that stays with you till you grow really old. unlike sports like Football and Tennis that simmer down with age, Golf time increases as you grow old, and hence it is worth it to get golf training during the initial phase of your playing the sport.

There are several international players who have not had professional golf training, and that is fine too, but few things that you would love to get trained about would be the swing, the putt, and the selection of equipment. as time goes on, every player will develop his own technique in playing the game, and golf is one of those games which allow a wide range of techniques to be implemented. You can’t say that this is right and that is wrong, as there have been players with extremely unconventional techniques going on to win the best international titles over the years.

If you are starting late into the golfing fraternity, however, you would do well to get golf training of some sort. That way, you can cover up some of the lost years (in which you did not play the game), and can catch up with your contemporaries. That is an important thing to do, as golf forges bonds that last a long time, and you don’t want to be left behind when your friends are all moving up in their quality of the game.

There are several golf training courses on offered – ranging from on-course training by real pros, to online courses that take you through the basics and show you videos. Take your pick, and you will see a lot of difference in your game.

One little piece of advice would be to stay away from trick balls in the learning phase of the sport. That would help you do well later as you play more. Take care while you buy the balls, so that your game develops faster.

Golf Balls

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Golf Balls

Crowds get early peek at King memorial

Cures For Stuff — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:45:12 +0000

A powerful voice, moving words and a fearless message catapulted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. into the American spotlight, but in 1958 it was his mild-mannered demeanor that Anna Simkins said she remembers having the most profound affect on her as she drove the civil rights activist to an event at her college in Greensboro, N.C.

As the 85-year-old mrs. Simkins spent a few moments Monday in the shade at the newly opened memorial dedicated to King, she spoke about the civil rights leader as “a very quiet man.”

“I remember getting a copy of his book and he was kind enough to autograph it for me,” she said.

Mrs. Simkins was one of hundreds of D.C. residents, employees and tourists who by midmorning had already taken advantage of Monday’s “soft opening” of the memorial, the last of its kind to be built on the national Mall and the only dedicated to someone who was not a former president.

The memorial, built along the western end of the Tidal Basin, will be officially dedicated on Sunday by President Obama. but the National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall and its memorials, pulled back the curtains on Monday to allow the public an early glimpse.

“It’s history, and to me, it’s a long time coming,” said D.C. resident Davie Feaster, who came to the memorial bearing a white crocheted bag filled with fried chicken to give out like his uncle did for civil rights supporters during the 1963 March on Washington.

Anticipating a large crowd, Southeast resident Michael Berry arrived at the Independence Avenue entrance nearly two hours before the opening but found only one other person in front of him.

Mr. Berry said he had seen pictures of the enormous boulders and curving granite walls etched with King’s quotes and was anxious about what the memorial would really look like.

“It just blew me away,” he said with a relieved smile.

Staring up at the towering figure emerging from stone, longtime D.C. resident Annette Martin said she expected King’s visage to turn his gaze from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and say, “You: Do something.”

Growing up in Iowa City, Ms. Martin said she remembered “the sadness” when she was 10 years old and was told that King had been assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.

Ms. Martin said she visited the memorial Sunday. with the sun shining brightly off the water and the new granite of the memorial, King appeared alive, Ms. Martin said, and ready to unfurl a potential checklist and say, “There’s lots to complete. … I’ll tell you some stuff that needs to be done.”

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Crowds get early peek at King memorial

Cushing’s syndrome treatment?

Cures For Stuff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:09:28 +0000

I’m 21 this year. I started taking prednisone in late 2006 to treat ulcerative colitis. During this time I had developed a lot of disorders caused by prednisone side effects. these include joint pain, hair loss, facial hair growth, fattening of face and neck, mood swing, and bruising on the legs that would not cure for long time.

I stopped taking prednisone in late 2007 and had not taken it again since then. now it’s been nearly 2 years since i got off prednisone but some of those synptoms still exist on me. i still frequently have joint pain, and there are still a few bruises on my legs that i got from those days and still hadn’t cured.. and my face is still slightly bloated around the lower cheek, even though the neck had slimmed down.. and my facial hair still grows at a very rapid rate. but my ulcerative colitis has flared up a few times since i stopped prednisone.

i recently learnt about Cushing’s syndrome and realised that my symptoms seem to remsemble the disorder. but I don’t know what I can do to treat it. most of the websites out there emphasise on stopping prednisone intake, but i’ve already stopped taking it. what else should i do? any ideas?

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Cushing’s syndrome treatment?