Little Rock, Arkansas, US: The federal government is considering closing dozens of courtrooms, many of which are located in small, rural communities, as part of an effort to cut costs.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show 60 federal court facilities in 29 states could be on the chopping block. Most of the courtrooms are in buildings that house other federal agencies including post offices and many are located in remote areas. Critics say closing them could make it more difficult for people to get to court proceedings.
Six of the 60 court sites that could be closed are located in Arkansas. Texas and Georgia each have five sites on the list of possible closures. Officials are even considering shuttering the location where judges hold federal court in Alaska's capital city, Juneau.
Society's Child
Students at several Miami high schools stage walkouts for slain teen
Hundreds of students at several South Florida high schools staged walkouts Friday morning in a massive protest against the lack of an arrest in the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Students from Miami Central, Miami Edison, Miami Norland, American Senior, William H. Turner High and Southridge High in Miami and Blanche Ely High School in Broward held walkouts.
Click here for a complete list of Miami-Dade County schools that held walkouts.
Meanwhile, the walkouts got some star power when LeBron James tweeted out a photo of the Miami Heat wearing hoodies.
At Miami Central and Turner, students were seen pouring out of the school buildings and into the streets just after 9 a.m.
© NBC News
Students in Cutler Bay in south Miami-Dade County formed a TM in support of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford.
Students in Cutler Bay in south Miami-Dade County formed a TM in support of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford.
Hundreds of students at several South Florida high schools staged walkouts Friday morning in a massive protest against the lack of an arrest in the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Students from Miami Central, Miami Edison, Miami Norland, American Senior, William H. Turner High and Southridge High in Miami and Blanche Ely High School in Broward held walkouts.
Click here for a complete list of Miami-Dade County schools that held walkouts.
Meanwhile, the walkouts got some star power when LeBron James tweeted out a photo of the Miami Heat wearing hoodies.
At Miami Central and Turner, students were seen pouring out of the school buildings and into the streets just after 9 a.m.
Geraldo Rivera thinks Trayvon Martin should have examined his clothing choices before heading out for a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.
In an appearance on Fox & Friends on Friday, the Fox News contributor said that George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman who shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, was only partially to blame for the tragic incident.
"I believe that George Zimmerman, the overzealous neighborhood watch captain, should be investigated to the fullest extent of the law and if he is criminally liable, he should be prosecuted," he said. "But I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters particularly to not let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was."
The hoodies have become a symbol of protest in Trayvon's death, and was the inspiration for one in New York City, the One Million Hoodie March.
But Rivera said that the hoodies have become a symbol of crime and spark a reflexive action in people.
Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman
George Zimmerman, 28, has not been arrested, something that has put him and the Sanford Police Department at the center of a firestorm. Critics say Trayvon, who was visiting family from his home in Miami, was a victim of racial profiling.
Zimmerman's father, 64-year-old Robert Zimmerman of Lake Mary, delivered a one-page letter to the Sentinel on Thursday, saying that the depiction of his son in the media has been cruel and misleading.
George Zimmerman is Hispanic and grew up in a multiracial family, the statement says.
"He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever ...," the letter says. "The media portrayal of George as a racist could not be further from the truth."
The letter does not provide details about what happened Feb. 26 on a walkway in the gated community where George Zimmerman lives and where Trayvon was visiting. But it does challenge one basic assumption of the family's lawyers: that Zimmerman's intent when he got out of his sport utility vehicle was to confront Trayvon after calling police to report a suspicious person.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has been among the vocal voices weighing in on calls for justice for Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old who was gunned down last month while walking home in Sanford, Florida. On Wednesday, a march was held in New York City in support of the teen's family, as federal and local authorities launch investigations into how the incident unfolded and why the state's "stand your ground" law applied to the shooter in this case.
On Twitter yesterday and today, Farrakhan sent some curious tweets regarding peace, justice and retaliation that could be interpreted as a veiled threat.
"Where there is no justice, there will be no peace. Soon the law of retaliation may very well be applied," Farrakhan wrote, including the hashtag #Trayvon to clarify the subject of his angst. "Let us see what kind of justice will come for his bereaved family and our bereaved community," he said in the previous social media message:
On Twitter yesterday and today, Farrakhan sent some curious tweets regarding peace, justice and retaliation that could be interpreted as a veiled threat.
© The Detroit News/Clarence Tabb, Jr.
Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Leader, Nation of Islam is seen during his speech.Rosa Parks Funeral at Greater Grace Temple Church.Detroit, Mi, November 2, 2005, Detroit, MI.
Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Leader, Nation of Islam is seen during his speech.Rosa Parks Funeral at Greater Grace Temple Church.Detroit, Mi, November 2, 2005, Detroit, MI.
"Where there is no justice, there will be no peace. Soon the law of retaliation may very well be applied," Farrakhan wrote, including the hashtag #Trayvon to clarify the subject of his angst. "Let us see what kind of justice will come for his bereaved family and our bereaved community," he said in the previous social media message:
© Twitter
US: West Monroe, Louisiana - At a campaign stop at a firing range, while Rick Santorum was firing off some rounds, a woman shouted, "pretend it's Obama."
Santorum, who was far from the woman, couldn't hear the comment as he proceeded with his target practice. Neither could his staffers.
But the yell - the identity of the yeller is not clear, although the words were clearly audible - was in close proximity to journalists traveling with the candidate.
© Gerry Kahrmann/PNG/The Province
Marcie Moriarty of the B.C. SPCA said they are investigating after as many as 15 cats were found mutilated and killed in the Maple Ridge area over the past several months.
Marcie Moriarty of the B.C. SPCA said they are investigating after as many as 15 cats were found mutilated and killed in the Maple Ridge area over the past several months.
The society says the incidents began in June 2011 and the most recent was on almost two weeks ago on March 11 when a black and white cat as found almost completely severed in half.
SPCA spokeswoman Marcie Moriarty says in many of the cases, cats were found severed almost perfectly in half by a sharp object.
She says the actions appear to be deliberate and the society is anxious to find whoever is responsible for the mutilations.
Moriarty says the BC SPCA and the Ridge Meadows RCMP have been working together on this file for several months but have been unable to locate a suspect.
She says the society is asking for the public's help before more innocent animals are killed.
"It is sickening that anyone would do this and once again we urge anyone with information to please call us so that we can put a stop to this cruel behaviour," said Moriarty.
© The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson
A masked student confronts a police officer as they try to block the access to the Port of Montreal during a demonstration against tuition hikes in Montreal on Thursday.
A masked student confronts a police officer as they try to block the access to the Port of Montreal during a demonstration against tuition hikes in Montreal on Thursday.
The chanting, placard-waving throng is snaking its way along downtown streets and is headed for Old Montreal.
There are no immediate reports of any incidents.
The protest comes two days after the provincial budget and a blunt refusal by Premier Jean Charest's government to back down on the hikes.
The province is nearly doubling tuition fees over five years, to about $3,800. It will reach its target with a series of $325-a-year increases. However, the tuition fees in the province will still be among the lowest in Canada even after the hikes.
Students have been staging almost daily protests for the last several weeks and blocked a major commuter bridge on Tuesday. Police have also ramped up tactics and have used chemical sprays against the demonstrators.
The government has toughened its own tone lately.
Le lycée Gustave Flaubert de Rouen, where a teacher has been suspended for calling Sarko out on his evil deeds
Education Minister Luc Chatel called for the teacher to be suspended after her class reported she had called Merah a "victim" and said his links to Al-Qaeda were invented by the media and "Sarko", referring to President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Student representatives in the final year class in the northern city of Rouen wrote to the principal to voice "shock" at being urged in an English lesson to pay respect to a self-declared Al-Qaeda militant who killed seven people.
Most of the class walked out, though some remained "to try to understand what she was talking about," their letter said.
© Associated Press
Truckers fill up at a truck stop last month in Rye, N.H.
Truckers fill up at a truck stop last month in Rye, N.H.
Shortage in quality drivers
Trucking companies are struggling to find qualified drivers even as the U.S. unemployment rate remains at the highest level in almost 30 years.
Driver turnover rose to 89 percent in the third quarter of 2011, the highest since 2008 and the fourth consecutive quarter of increases, according to data from the American Trucking Associations.
That's mostly because new regulations and job prospects in other industries are creating a "quality shortage" of available workers, said Bob Costello, chief economist for the Arlington, Va.-based group.
Comment: Update: The teacher has now been suspended, with the likelihood of being dismissed for good.
The woman is described by French daily L'Express as a "psychologically fragile woman", precisely the 'scientific' basis upon which French Witch-Hunters-in-Chief, the MIVILUDES organisation, cites its insane activities (persecuting non-existent 'cultic deviances').
So it seems that from now on in France those who cannot be labelled 'terrorists' or 'political extremists' for calling out the French government on its lies will instead be labelled crazy, lose their jobs and be excommunicated from the community.
France, say hello to MIVILUDES, Fenech's GMO dinners and magic pills.
Big Agri-Business, Big Pharma, Arms Trafficking, Suicide Cults and MIVILUDES - The Truth Behind France's Cult-Hunting Policies Exposed