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Vizina shares 2012 data with commission
Prosecutor Daryl Vizina presented the 2012 annual report for the Cheboygan County Prosecutor's Office to the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
Vizina said 2012 was a success in his office.
"The office continued to improve with office development and community education programs," Vizina said. "Additionally, we worked with the Circuit, District and Probate courts to get the three specialty courts [Drug Court, Sobriety Court and Juvenile Independence Court] running. The largest negative was the steep rise in sex crimes and methamphetamine labs. Fortunately, our office secured convictions and long incarceration terms in nearly every one of those cases."
Vizina reported that his office handled 1,170 cases in 2012, not including child support cases. That caseload is comparable to other years, he noted.
Of the felony cases, 36.8 percent were drug or alcohol-based crimes, Vizina explained. Property crimes made up the next highest percentage of cases at 31.4 percent, and sex crimes were 14.5 percent of the cases. Crimes against a person represented 10.1 percent of the caseload in 2012.
Vizina noted that because many of the property crimes and crimes against a person cases involved alcohol or drugs, he could say as much as 80 percent of the felony caseload in 2012 was either directly or indirectly related to drugs or alcohol.
Of the 185 felony drug charges in 2012, 77 of them involved methamphetamine. That doesn't mean that 77 meth labs were discovered, since there were often separate charges stemming from one bust. Vizina said there has been a steady climb in meth-related charges in the past few years.
Prescription drug abuse charges have also held steady, and they seem to be a problem in the community as well, Vizina said.
He also noted statistics for Cheboygan County's 2011 convicted felons, of which 61 percent were high school dropouts, 72 percent had a "documented" drug/alcohol history beginning in their teen years and 77 percent had no work history. The 2011 felons of Cheboygan County also had a total of 91 children who were minors.
Vizina said his office prosecutes child abuse and neglect petitions on behalf of the Department of Human Services. In 2012, 29 petitions were prosecuted in Probate Court, involving 73 minor children. There has been an average of 34 petitions per year since 2000.
Twenty felonies and 58 misdemeanors were reported as making up the 2012 juvenile delinquency caseload.
Vizina also noted that his office, in conjunction with local police agencies, the Women's Resource Center and the Violence Against Women federal grant, developed an updated domestic violence policy. The new policy is intended to improve investigation techniques, increase the likelihood of a conviction and provide victims with appropriate services.
"It gives us more tools and a quicker response to get these victims into counseling," Vizina said.
He also noted that in regards to paternity and support establishment, there were 2,491 Cheboygan County children receiving benefits from the state.
Vizina also noted that his office has less attorneys and staff than it has in many years, and continues to strive to become more efficient and fiscally responsible.
The office has scanned all of its closed files and saved them electronically to free up office space; it is working toward becoming paperless; the utilization of on-call pay to handle arrests on weekends has been eliminated; and Vizina said he has never used a county car.
Cheboygan County Sheriff Dale Clarmont said he is pleased with Vizina and his office, which his deputies can access at any time when they need to.
"He's firm, but fair; I commend him and his office," Clarmont said.
Vizina also noted a significant jump in older sex crimes that took place 10 or 15 years ago, which county officials suggested could be attributable to people feeling comfortable enough with the current system to come forward.


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19 Nov 2012
Triclosan – an antibacterial chemical found in toothpaste and other products – can contribute to an increased risk of allergy development in children. This comes from the Norwegian Environment and Childhood Asthma Study, in which the Norwegian Institute of Public Health is involved. Similar results are reported in the USA.
Triclosan has been in use for decades, but was recently associated with allergies in children in an American study, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The new Norwegian study found similar associations between allergies and triclosan levels measured in children's urine.
The study found that triclosan levels measured in urine were associated with elevated levels of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) and rhinitis (blocked nose/hay fever) in 10 year-olds.
623 urine samples were collected and measured at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, USA. Approximately 50 per cent of the Norwegian children had detectable levels of triclosan, while 80 per cent of American children had measurable levels. The children had approximately the same amount of triclosan exposure.
Triclosan can change the bacterial flora on the skin, in the mouth and in the intestines. A change in the bacterial composition of "good" bacteria can cause an increased risk of developing allergies (hygiene hypothesis). Therefore, increased use of triclosan and antibacterial products has generally been associated with an increased incidence of allergies.
Reduce consumption
For many years, the health authorities in Norway have called for a reduction in the use of antibacterial products to prevent the development of resistant bacteria.
In a study of triclosan use in Norway in 2001, it was found that 85 per cent of the total amount of triclosan came from cosmetic products, of which 75 per cent were toothpaste. Since this study, triclosan has been removed from a variety of products.
The extent to which Norwegian children are exposed to triclosan is today uncertain. In the USA, where they have annual sampling and monitoring of chemical exposure, there is little evidence that exposure to triclosan is being reduced.

subset: commoncrawl


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Soon, the jeep-size rover Curiosity will trace its first six-wheeled tracks over the Martian surface. Over the next 23 months, Curiosity will scoop dust and drill into rocks for clues to the Red Planet's past. Although those samples won't make it back to Earth, some Martian rocks are already catalogued and preserved here as part of NASA's astromaterials collection.
Astromaterials are fragments and particles from planets, asteroids, stars and other extraterrestrial bodies. Scientists gather the materials during manned and unmanned space missions or after they naturally land on Earth as meteorites.
"About one in one thousand of the meteorites that fall on Earth was actually knocked off Mars by ancient impacts," says Carlton Allen, the collection curator based at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. He coordinates the efforts of more than 30 people to document, preserve and distribute the samples for researchers around the world. These samples help scientists understand the formation and development of the solar system.
The collection includes lunar rocks gathered by the Apollo astronauts, particles of cosmic dust collected by special aircraft swooping through the stratosphere, and atoms carried by the solar wind.
Chemical and physical analyses can trace rocks that end up on Earth back to their extraterrestrial sources. Scientists crush small pieces of meteorites to a fine powder and analyze how the particles bend light when suspended in oil. Or, they microscopically view thin sections of the rocks and classify their structures. Then, they compare the results with what they already know about the moon, Mars, asteroids and comets.
View the Heaven on Earth slide show.
The extraterrestrial samples require special laboratories and handling practices to keep their otherworldly purity. For example, during the six Apollo moon-landing missions astronauts photographed lunar rock and soil samples, packaged the materials in uniquely marked, vacuum-tight containers, and returned them to Earth in sterile conditions free from contamination by terrestrial gases. "The Apollo collection comprises some of the most carefully documented geologic material in the world," wrote Allen and colleagues in an article about NASA's extraterrestrial bounty, published in February 2011.
Another NASA mission to return extraterrestrial samples to Earth was the Genesis probe, launched in 2001. The spacecraft circled at one of the Earth–sun Lagrangian points for almost two and a half years, where the combined gravitational pull of the two bodies provides a stable position. The spacecraft's circular arrays gathered solar-wind ions streaming from the sun with wafers made of silicon, germanium and gold-on-sapphire, along with films of diamond-like carbon on silicon and other materials. Despite a crash landing in the Utah desert, which breached the spacecraft's container of over 400 samples of charged particles, some of the collected astromaterials proved pure enough for research. Genesis' data from the captured solar wind helped researchers rethink their understanding of the sun's and early solar system's composition.
Other successful sample return missions include NASA's Stardust spacecraft, which collected dust samples from Comet Wild 2 and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa probe, which gathered asteroid samples in 2010. In the future Allen and his colleagues may preside over samples collected during planned missions to other asteroids and Mars. In addition to providing a window to other worlds and the distant past, these exotic, otherworldly artifacts are simply beautiful.


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Here Comes the 2019 HPC National Home Performance Conference & Trade Show!
Jim Gunshinan
In less than a week, close to 2,000 members of the home performance community, including novices and experts in their fields, will gather in Chicago for the 2019 HPC National Home Performance Conference and Trade Show. No promises about the weather, though Chicago is hard to beat in the Spring, most of the time. But Chicago, that "toddling town", is known for its entertainment offerings and restaurants, not to mention its parks and places to ... [continue reading]
Data Standards, Energy Efficiency and the Digital Data Economy
Greg Thomas
Digital data is so big that politicians are starting to talk about the need to break up the companies that manage and profit from much of our data, like Google, Facebook and Amazon. These companies know what to sell you and when you are interested in buying. The better they are at using data, the more efficient they are, the more money they make, and the faster they grow. If data is so valuable and ... [continue reading]
Soffit & Energy Efficiency: Everything You Need To Know
Mandy Lee
Are you aware that a crucial part of your roof, the soffits, are vital to establishing energy efficiency throughout your home? In this article, we'll take a look everything you need to know about about soffits and energy efficiency. [continue reading]
...and the workforce to build it: H.R. 1315. The Blue Collar to Green Collar Jobs Act
Leslie Jackson
There is cause for celebration this week not just for the Home Performance Coalition, (HPC) but for all players in the home performance industry, as H.R. 1315 was introduced to the 116th Congress. [continue reading]
Be "Smart on Smart" - A Smart Home Workshop for Contractors at HPC19
Home Performance Coalition
Sponsored by Google (Nest) and ecobee, join this unique contractor training workshop and make home performance, smart performance. [continue reading]
Updating Existing Windows with Window Film Offers More Immediate Benefits
Darrell Smith, IWFA
To save money on a building's energy costs, window replacement may not be a smart move, according to conclusions from government agencies indicating it may take decades to recoup the cash outlay for the installation of new, energy-efficient windows. [continue reading]
100,000 Home Energy Scores So Far And Counting!
US DOE's Home Energy Score
DOE's Home Energy Score™ is a tool for homeowners, homebuyers, and renters that estimates home energy use, home energy costs, and provides cost-effective solutions to improve home energy efficiency. This score was developed after research showed the need for a low-cost, reliable method for homeowners and buyers to understand their homes' energy efficiency. As of December 2018, more than 100,000 homes have been rated using the tool by organizations partnering with DOE nationwide! [continue reading]
The Power of Standardized Data for Arizonas Home Performance Market
Chris Baker
On December 13, 2013, Arizona Public Service (APS) moved one of its first HPXML compliant Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) jobs from the energy audit stage to the retrofit stage. Two participating home performance contractors worked on the project. The first contractor sealed the ductwork, which reduced the leakage in two separate duct systems by over half. The second contractor (referred to the customer by the first contractor) air sealed and insulated the home, increasing the ... [continue reading]
Busting Window Film Myths
Darrell Smith
With 2019 underway I thought a good place to start the year would be to separate myths from facts when it comes to window films. [continue reading]
EERE Success StoryMinnesota Offers Residents a Tip Sheet for Hiring Solar Installers
Kayla Dewitt of DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
When considering installing solar in your home, it can be difficult to decide who to trust. There are many companies who offer solar installation services and finding a credible installer will ensure proper and safe installation. The Minnesota Department of Commerce Division of Energy Resources (DER), which receives funding from the Energy Department's State Energy Program, sought to assist solar customers. In order to assure quality installation and protect residents from poorly performing ... [continue reading]


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LONDON (AP) -- Destinee Hooker scored 19 points and the U.S. women's volleyball team clinched the top spot in its pool with a preliminary-round victory over Serbia in straight sets on Friday at the Olympics.
The top-ranked U.S. has won all four of its matches in London, dropping just two sets. The team, which has never won Olympic gold in volleyball, is among the favorites to medal in London.
Logan Tom had 12 points as the Americans posted a 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 sweep. The team will wrap up the preliminary round with a match against Turkey on Sunday.
There are two six-team pools in the preliminary round. The top four in each advance to the quarterfinals.
The U.S. women brought the silver home from Beijing after falling in the final to Brazil. In an early round rematch in London, the U.S. came away with a 3-1 victory over the second-ranked Brazilians.
Coach Hugh McCutcheon, who led the American men to the gold medal in Beijing before shifting to the women's team, led the U.S. to the top spot in the international rankings late last year to end Brazil's four-year run at No. 1.
"I know we've clinched, but we look at it as another step. We're on a roll and if we can continue the roll it will be amazing," U.S. captain Lindsey Berg said.
China, Serbia, Turkey and South Korea are also in the pool with the U.S. and Brazil, which is unexpectedly fighting to advance to the quarterfinals.
Japan, Russia, Italy, Algeria, the Dominican Republic and Britain make up the other pool.
The U.S. team was workmanlike in its victory over seventh-ranked Serbia, which finished fifth in Beijing. It was eliminated with the loss.
McCutcheon says he likes what he has seen from his team.
"They understand it's the Olympic Games. Every set, every point, every play matters," he said. "They treat the game with the right amount of respect and that's important too."
Brazil stayed alive in the preliminary round with a 3-2 victory over China on Friday morning. Now 2-2, Brazil has one match left against last-place Serbia on Sunday.
"It was a difficult match, but we knew the difficulties," Brazilian captain Fabiana Oliveira said after the 25-16, 20-25, 25-18, 28-30, 15-10 victory. "We had a lot of pressure because we knew that if we lose, we could have been out of the Olympic Games."
The Chinese women, who are also 2-2 but have the points advantage over the Brazilians because of sets won, were hampered by an injury to 6-foot-2 spiker Wang Yimei, who hurt her ankle during the games and played just the opening set against Brazil.
Brazil wasn't helped by Turkey's 3-2 victory over South Korea in a later match on Friday. Neslihan Darnel had 27 points to lead Turkey, which improved to 2-2 and edged ahead of Brazil in the points standings for the fourth spot in Pool B.
Turkey won despite missing middle blocker Eda Erden, who injured her ankle earlier in the competition.
Making its first Olympic appearance in women's volleyball, Turkey faces a challenge against the U.S. in its final match of the preliminary round Sunday.
Russia defeated Japan 27-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19 to improve to 4-0 in Pool A. Japan falls to 2-2.
Ekaterina Gamova, Russia's 6-foot-8 opposite, had 29 points. The Russians had already clinched their place in the next round.
Italy also is 4-0 after sweeping winless Algeria 25-11, 25-12, 25-17 in the late match on Friday.
The victory for the Italians sets up a showdown with Russia for the top spot in the pool on Sunday.
The Dominican Republic won its first match of the Olympics with a sweep of Britain. Bethania de la Cruz de Pena had 12 points in the 25-9, 25-18, 25-19 win.
Britain, playing in the Olympics as the hosts, surprised everyone by defeating Algeria earlier in the competition. Ranked 69th in the world, the British were not expected to win very many sets, let alone a match.


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Gross rights abuses committed by both sides in South Sudan conflict, UN report finds
"Based on thorough documentation and investigations, there are reasonable grounds to believe that gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law have been committed by both parties to the conflict," warned a report prepared by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which cites the conflict's "devastating" impact on civilians, who have suffered mightily through attacks on hospitals and churches, and acts of sexual violence perpetrated against women of different ethnic groups.
The report provides a comprehensive account of human rights violations and atrocities perpetrated during the hostilities that engulfed South Sudan since 15 December 2013 and follows up on the interim report released by the Mission on 21 February.
Primarily based on more than 900 interviews with eye witnesses and victims, the report provides a succinct timeline of the conflict, which was sparked by a political dispute between President Salva Kiir, who belongs to the Dinka ethnic group, and former vice-president Riek Machar, who belongs to the Lou Nuer, and finds that "from the very outset…gross violations of international law…occurred on a massive scale."
These findings were echoed by UNMISS chief Hilde Johnson in an interview earlier today with UN Radio, in which she said "grave violations and atrocities" have been committed by both sides as the fighting has spread through the country's four states. She cited two "particularly horrific" incidents covered in the report – a mass killing early on in the conflict in a police station near Juba, and the killing of some 200 people in Bentiu two weeks ago.
In both instances, the killings were "clearly ethnically motivated," she said, underscoring that "the need for accountability is absolutely essential…the perpetrators of such acts need to be held to account."
Ms. Johnson said the report also tells the story of the conflict's impact on the civilian population. "It shows attacks against women, children, the elderly and disabled," she said, decrying not only "the ferocity of the abuses but the fact that incidents have been perpetrated where these vulnerable are being targeted equally – if not more than – fighting forces."
"This is what is so sad and so enraging," she said, reiterating the report's call for an immediate end to the violence, and urging both parties to shoulder their responsibility to make this happen.
The report goes on to note that South Sudan has never undertaken a comprehensive, independent, and effective accountability process since it attained independence. As such, long-standing impunity and failure to treat killings, sexual and gender-based violence, and other gross human rights and humanitarian law violations as crimes, reinforces the cycle of conflict.
"Accountability is critical to end the legacy of impunity in South Sudan and prevent similar atrocities in the future. There can be no reconciliation without accountability. We call for a credible peace process that will lead to national healing and reconciliation," said Ms. Johnson.
The conclusions call for further investigations and UNMISS welcomes both national and regional initiatives along these lines. Such investigations must move quickly and lead to the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators. They must also be conducted independently and in a transparent manner consistent with international standards and principles, the report concludes.


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An "Exact" Repeat with Small Changes
July 3, 1997 09:30 a.m. CDT
In the pictures below,HiPac video images captures some of the work aboard MSL-1 during the early hours of July 3. The payload crew works at both end of the Spacelab module, a metal sample levitates in TEMPUS, and a water droplet bobbles at the end of its deployment string in preparation for a bubble dynamics test - IFFD.
While the MSL-1 reflight is billed as identical to the original mission plan attempted back in April, a number of small changes were inevitable. Among the differences are variation in the samples flown for the protein crystal growth (PCG) experiments that have become an important "frequent flyer" on Space Shuttle missions.
The PCG experiments cover a range of interests, from basic crystal physics to improving an antibody that fights a lung disease fatal to 3,000 American infants each year.
MSL-1 carries three sets of PCG hardware, the second-generation Vapor Diffusion Apparatus, the Handheld Diffusion Test Cell, and the Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity (PCAM). The hardware is identical to what MSL-1 carried in April, but as is often the case in science, the specimens have been changed slightly to take advantage of results from the earlier 4 day mission.
"Despite our early termination, we had one crystal that gave wonderful results," said Dr. Dan Carter, the PCAM principal investigator and the chief executive officer of New Century Pharmaceuticals in Madison, Alabama. The crystal was parvalbumin, a protein involved in the transport of calcium in fish. It is of interest in understanding fundamental biochemistry.
PCAM grows crystals by holding a solution in a small well in a plastic tray. The top of the well is sealed by a rubber gasket until after the apparatus is in orbit; then an astronaut works a crank to ease the gaskets off all the trays in the cylinder. This was done Tuesday afternoon, soon after Columbia started operations in orbit. With the well unsealed, the solution will evaporate and into a reservoir, leaving behind an ever richer solution where a crystal forms because there is no room left for the protein to remain in solution.
While the first MSL-1 flight was intended to fly for 16 days, the scientists studied the samples anyway since the history of science is full of discoveries made in specimens that someone might have thrown out.
In the case of the parvalbumin, Carter said, the investigator, Dr. Jean-Paul Declerq of the University of Louvain in Belgium, found a highly refined crystal that is better than what his instruments can study. Protein crystals are X-rayed to produce patterns that can be decoded to reveal the internal structure. Carter said that Declerq's sample became the first protein to be pushed into the ultrahigh resolution range. Declerq was able to resolve structures down to 0.9 Angstrom, the very edge of what his instruments could do. By comparison, 0.9 Angstrom is about 1/5,000th as long as a single wave of visible light, and several times finer than the best resolution achieved on most other crystals.
At least one other specimen achieved good results on the first MSL-1 flight, Carter said. Dr. John Rosenberg of the University of Pittsburgh achieved better structure and size on crystals of E. coli Gro EL than he did on a longer mission in 1995. E. coli Gro EL is a virus that attacks bacteria, such as the E. coli normally found in the human intestine. Carter said that such studies are fundamental to understanding life processes so we know better how viruses attack any organism.
Even for those who did not get outstanding crystals, some knowledge was gleaned from the first flight.
"You're able to see what improvements you can make in the crystallization process and rapidly incorporate that into your next experiment," he explained. "You see what worked best, and you hope on this one to get an even better result." The changes include subtle variations in the makeup of the protein solution to test variation on the mixture that gave the best results on the previous flight.
Ironically, a couple of investigators are not able to take advantage of the reflight. The Transcription Initiation Factor, which helps start DNA replication, yielded good results, but the protein is so difficult to refine that the German investigators did not have time to make a new batch for the reflight. They are scheduled for a later shuttle mission.
Carter's own samples are reflying. With Intracel, he is investigating the structure of respiratory syncitial virus (RCV) antibody. RCV is a virulent flu-like infection that can sweep through a daycare center in a few days, Carter said. "It's the most serious infant respiratory disease on Earth," he continued, hospitalizing 100,000 babies a year in the U.S., and killing 3,000.
Intracel is testing a therapy based on RCV antibody.
"We are trying to gain an improvement in the protein crystal structure to improve our understanding of its design," Carter said, "to get details of how the antibody attaches to the virus."
For the next 14 days, you can follow along and learn about the science being performed on the mission through activities on this WWW site, as well as the "Liftoff" Mission Home Page, and the Shuttle Web Site.
- Check out the twice daily Mission Status Reports prepared by Marshall's Public Affairs Office.
- More Science Updates
| More Microgravity Headlines | research | earth science | sun/earth | astronomy | space processing |
Author: Dave Dooling
Curator: Bryan Walls
NASA Official: John M. Horack


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Science (journal): A weekly journal concerning science. Science was founded in 1880 by one of the world's most famous scientists, Thomas Alva Edison, inventor of the light bulb.
Science is the world's general scientific publication with the largest circulation. For the sake of comparison, Science's only competitor, the prestigious English journal Nature, has one third the number of subscribers worldwide.
Science is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (the AAAS). An online was version is now also available (at sciencemag.org).
Science provides an unusual blend of two very different kinds of editorial material -- the most important news of the week in science and in science policy and a selection of scientific papers reporting the most significant breakthroughs in research (including many that are important to medicine). In this sense, Science is both a news magazine and a traditional scientific journal wrapped together under one cover.
In addition, Science often publishes special in-depth sections on a specific topic. Some are about scientific careers. Other are on research areas -- for example, the latest developments in biotechnology, parasitology, or the genome project.


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Day after day the markets climb higher. Recession in Europe, worries over China's growth, even the skyrocketing price of oil have no power over these markets. The bears are in full retreat and only sunny skies are allowed on Wall Street.
Despite an increasing number of predictions that the market has run too far, that stocks are heading for a correction, investors still use any minor dip in the markets as an opportunity to get in. On Friday we touched 12-month highs on the S&P 500 Index while the Dow flirted with the 13,000 mark for most of the week.
It seems to me that it is time for a little profit-taking, if you haven't already. My suggestion would be to pare back on your most aggressive equity holdings and keep the proceeds in cash for now. I know that money markets are yielding next to nothing but I don't expect your cash to sit there for long. Any correction should be short-lived and if it isn't, well, you could always put the money into something higher yielding if necessary.
There are plenty of signs that the averages are "crusin for a brusin" from the dissipation of volume, the continued decline in the market's breadth, to the fact that markets usually have trouble when they approach certain technical areas of resistance (like now).
Fundamentally, the rise in oil prices is a real threat to the markets. I outlined the causes for oil's rise in this week's column ("Gas Prices Going Higher"). At $109/bbl for West Texas Crude and gasoline above $3.60/gallon nationally, consumers are starting to feel the pressure. The higher energy prices climb, the worse the impact on economic growth. Although investors are aware of this threat, most are assuming that sometime soon (when speculators least expect it), the Commodity Mercantile Exchange (CME) will announce an increase in margin requirements.
The same thing happened last year when oil prices rose above $112/bbl. Speculators, forced to pay much more for their short-term futures holdings in oil, gasoline and heating oil, dumped their positions, sending energy prices plummeting over night. At some point soon, something must give: either oil prices or the stock markets.
Now that Greece has largely faded from the headlines, Europe faces the aftermath of two years of a festering debt crisis. The European Union overall is now in recession with the Southern European nations suffering the worst. Most nations now face the need to reduce their deficits and are doing so with a combination of reduced government spending and increased taxes.
In Europe, it is much easier to raise taxes than reduce spending thanks to the politically difficult nature of laying off government workers or cutting back on their pensions and benefits. Of course, raising taxes and cutting spending while an economy is in recession is exactly what happened in this country in 1933, and we all know how that ended. Maybe this time will be different, but I'm not counting on that.
As I wrote last fall, the problems in Europe were blinding investors to the positive news coming out of our own economy. By October it had become obvious to me that our stock market did not adequately reflect the stronger growth in the U.S. As predicted, investors have finally realized the truth and prices now reflect the facts, so its time to take some profits.


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A chlorine plant in Iraq that was once the CIA's "best example" of a disguised weapons program. (AP Photo/Greg Baker.)
This story originally appeared at Truthdig. Robert Scheer is the author of The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street (Nation Books).
It is a staple of our widely trumpeted Judeo-Christian heritage that the acknowledgment of sin is a prelude to redemption. So how is it that there is no palpable sense of soul-searching associated with the tenth anniversary of a war based on officially concocted lies and a policy of torture? It is because the presumption of a unique American claim to an original and enduring innocence perseveres, no matter the death and destruction.
Indeed, some of our most celebrated publicists defined moral deceit as virtue in justifying the Iraq War. "As far as I am concerned, we do not need to find any weapons of mass destruction to justify this war," New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in April 2003, when U.N. inspectors had clearly established that the proclaimed basis for invading Iraq was a lie. "Mr. Bush doesn't owe the world any explanation for missing chemical weapons (even if it turns out that the White House hyped this issue)."
The big lie, that bane of human existence when embraced by obvious dictators elsewhere, is perceived as merely hyping when employed by an American president. Lyndon Johnson hyped the nonexistent second Gulf of Tonkin attack on American ships to justify the US war in Vietnam, and George W. Bush hyped the fraudulent WMD issue when his fabrication of a connection between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 attack was proven factually absurd.
Even though Iraq never threatened the security of life in the United States, the Bush administration launched a genocidal civil war replete with a systemic policy of torture directed by US officials at the highest level.
Just weeks ago, a devastating documentary produced by The Guardian newspaper and the BBC provided all the evidence needed for any decent person to demand trials for the perpetrators of an extensive system of Iraqi torture centers, operated and financed by the US government. It was part of a policy of stoking a genocidal war of Shiite extremists against Sunnis that was directed by US government veterans of similar efforts in Latin America and elsewhere. As the lead on the Guardian story put it:
"The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the 'dirty wars' in Central America to oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq that set up secret detention and torture centres to get information from insurgents. These units conducted some of the worst acts of torture during the US occupation and accelerated the country's descent into full-scale civil war."
This effort, conducted with the full knowledge of then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. David Petraeus, utilized the most violent Shiite militias including the savage Badr Brigade to wreak vengeance on their Sunni opponents.
The BBC/Guardian investigation exposed our propensity for moral turpitude, with no thanks to the Obama administration, which brazenly closed the door to any serious investigation of the war crimes of the Bush era, and much credit to Pfc. Bradley Manning and his WikiLeaks trove.
As The Guardian reported, its "investigation was sparked by the release of classified US military logs on WikiLeaks that detailed hundreds of incidents where US soldiers came across tortured detainees in a network of detention centres run by the police commandos across Iraq. Private Bradley Manning, 25, is facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years after he pleaded guilty to leaking the documents." There are no trials or prison time for Americans who directed the torture camps that Manning's documents exposed.
But such revelations will not likely puncture the sanctimonious stance of presumed American virtue. We make mistakes; we don't commit war crimes. And if word leaks out that we do, it is handled by throwing out a few bad apples from the otherwise pristine bushel.
Yes, a majority of Americans, 53 percent according to this week's Gallup poll, think it was "a mistake sending troops to fight in Iraq" ten years ago. But the lessons of our folly will likely not stick for long. The memories fade as we now see in that same Gallup poll with perceptions of the Vietnam War. A majority of Americans ages 18-29 believe sending US troops to Vietnam was "not a mistake." By contrast, 70 percent of those 50 and older, the generation with contemporary knowledge of the war, think it was.
That the young now approve of an irrational conflict in which 3.4 million Indochinese and 58,000 Americans died suggests that even the madness that was Iraq will come to be viewed by this fatally jingoistic nation as a good war.
Activists and bloggers recently discussed the destruction and disillusionment of the Iraq War on OpinionNation.


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The Coronavirus pandemic has caused devastation across the globe. Besides the tragic toll on human life, with countries shutting their borders and quarantines, economies have taken a huge hit. The tragedy has just begun to unfold in India and the job losses are mounting, especially among the daily wage workers. Experts say the effect on this group will be catastrophic.
Coronavirus is an international disaster on the scale of the Second World War. We have launched this campaign as an emergency response - to help provide a safety net to casual labour families. We aim to directly support these families by providing a minimum wage in cash, hopefully with your support till the virus abates and they are in employment again.
These unemployed individuals have been duly verified by Give. The whole world is suffering - and is trying to cope with huge losses. But those without any job security or savings are the most vulnerable. Give generously to those hardest hit by COVID-19.
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I often hear longtime platformer fans complain they don't make 'em like they used to, and bemoan the perceived "selling out" of their favorite mascot franchises, when all they want is the great gap-skipping of old that they remember from their younger days.
Most of us were kids during the 3D platformer heyday. So maybe, though, just maybe, if any of those games were to be released today, we'd say they looked like children's games. Brash Entertainment's upcoming Space Chimps film tie-in platformer is a kids' game, and giving it a whirl today was what made me think about days of yore.
It doesn't look too fancy, and it's aimed to be friendly to the younger set. But it sure took me back a bit, which was a surprisingly fun experience.
Space Chimps is hitting Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PS2 on July 15th, just a bit ahead of the film. I was only vaguely aware there was a film - it's summertime, after all, and between Kung-Fu Panda and Wall-E, I asked the rep if Brash was a little bit concerned about the release timing. Why not wait until there's a bit more of a lull in the mascot-led, kid-friendly animated flicks?
"I do think with school out, we'll be in good shape," she told me.
The game's based on the upcoming film, and features animated cutscenes from it, which looked adorable on the Xbox 360. The basic premise is that a pair of NASA chimps, descendants of the very first space monkeys, find themselves on an alien planet, tasked with rescuing its citizens from the rule of an evil overworld.
The Space Chimps game lets you play as either Ham the Third, the male monkey, or Luna, his female cohort, depending on what sequence you're playing through. Ham can brawl and do a sort of diving headbutt, while Luna soon picks up a little lizard buddy (exclusive to the game) who can ride on her sleeve and act as a first-person gun. There are also little exploding red dudes called Plodeys that you can pick up to hurl at walls to open new doors and solve puzzles.
After clearing an area with Ham, by beating up some spear-toting hostile aliens and opening my way forward with a Plodey, I got to navigate Luna through a cavern of rivers and floes. Leaping on chunks of stone as they fell down a waterfall (that was either hot, or poisonous, or just generally hazardous enough to induce death) reminded me of the simplicity of the early 3D platformers - and the frustration, too, which was not necessarily a bad thing.
With Luna, I knocked off the head of a statue and carried it to a button, which would keep the platform I needed from sinking. The whole works was old-school, and nothing real snazzy to look at, but the chimps look cute, the film looks like it could be lots of fun, to the extent that those character flicks always do, and I was surprised at how long I spent playing it.
Maybe I miss my roots? What do you guys think - do you miss the old 3D platformers? Think your current age has anything to do with it? Would you play a "kids' game" if it reminded you of what you used to enjoy?


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*As originally published in the Weekly Dig on December 2, 2011 by PINK LADY
If we told you that we sometimes plan what we're going to drink a month ahead of time, would you hold it against us? This week, we have New Year's Eve Cocktails on the brain. We know, we know—it's too soon! But if you're thinking of making up a batch of your own, homemade liqueur, planning must begin at least a month out.
With DIY ingenuity and surprisingly little effort, you can wow friends and family this New Year's Eve by serving them sparkling cocktails made with pomegranate liqueur. This recipe is courtesy of LUPEC pal A.J. Rathbun's book, Luscious Liqueurs. Making your own liqueur is simple, but serving a cocktail that features your own, homemade stuff is bound to impress. Bottling it as a host gift for whomever is throwing the party on New Year's Eve? That will land you on the A-list at parties for years to come.
Excerpted from Luscious Liqueurs, by A.J. Rathbun. (c) 2008, used by permission from The Harvard Common Press.
2 pomegranates
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups vodka
.5 cup Simple Syrup
Remove the seeds from the pomegranates using a spoon or any other process you think works best. Put the seeds in a bowl and, using a muddler or wooden spoon, crush them to release the juice.
Put the juice and seed bits, orange zest, cinnamon, and vodka in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid. Seal and place the container in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. Let sit for 2 weeks swirling occasionally.Add the simple syrup, stir, and reseal. Return to its spot. Let sit for 2 more weeks.
Carefully strain liqueur through a double layer of cheesecloth into a pitcher or other easy pouring vessel. Strain again through 2 new layers of cheesecloth into another pitcher or bottle. Check that the liqueur is free of debris (the little seed particles can slip through). If it isn't, repeat this step until it is. Pour the liqueur into one large bottle or several small bottles.
For a great New Year's Cocktail, pour 1.5 ounces of Persephonia in a flute and top with chilled Champagne.


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© 2023 Hootsuite Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Morning Minutes: March 1
Word of the Day
Effulgence ih-FULL-junss (noun) Radiant splendor : brilliance -- www.merriam-webster.com
Web Site of the Day
This online pronunciation dictionary will help you perfect your pronunciation of English words as well as words in different languages. It's a great resource for those learning a new language, or to make sure you're saying words correctly.
Number to Know
1,136: Pages in the recently released book "Three Days Before the Shooting," a release of Ralph Ellison's unfinished novel – and it still doesn't encompass the whole of Ellison's book. Today is Ellison's birthday; he was born in 1914.
This Day in History
March 1, 1961: President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
Today's Featured Birthday
Director Ron Howard (56)
Daily Quote
"America is woven of many strands. I would recognize them and let it so remain. Our fate is to become one, and yet many. This is not prophecy, but description." - Ralph Ellison


text: It's here! Get the Jerks' take on the College Football Playoff, Pete Rose's non-reinstatement, Conor McGregor's big win, and, of course, Star Wars: The Force Awakens! Plus, the new Star Trek trailer, the 12 Days of Deadpool, and a LOT more. Those Two Jerks: it's better than that ugly sweater your Aunt Agnes sent you this year!


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Mount Washington hiker found safe after getting lost
Michael Niles of Bradford, Mass., was reported missing Friday
A 31-year-old Bradford, Mass., man was found safe Saturday after being reported missing while hiking Mount Washington.
Michael Niles had planned to meet his wife Friday. When he didn't show up, she told the Appalachian Mountain Club, which contacted New Hampshire Fish and Game. Rescue crews began looking for Niles Saturday morning with the assistance of a National Guard helicopter.
A team of Conservation Officers picked up Niles' tracks and followed them into the Dry River drainage and an old shelter where Niles spent the night.
At 4:36 p.m., Niles walked into the AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch. He was in good condition. He told officers he lost his bearings in white-out conditions and tried to hike below the tree line as temperatures dropped.
Niles was unable to build a fire and hiked through the night to keep warm. He found a hut and stayed there for several hours. At sunrise, he hiked out to U.S. Route 302, where he hitched a ride to the AMC Highland Center.
Two conservation officers were still in the Dry River Drainage, working their way out and were not expected to make it out until the morning. Temperatures, like the previous night, were expected to be in the teens.


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SAN FRANCISCO, ANZ, AND SOUTHEAST ASIA – July 24, 2018 – gumi Inc has announced that fans of the award-winning anime My Hero Academia will be able to summon their favorite characters from July 26th to August 22nd! Summon these Pro Heroes-in-the-making into your Squad and help them achieve their true heroic potential!
The highlights of this collaboration are as follows:
Collaboration Units
Summon these Pro Heroes-in-the-making from the Number 1 Hero Academy in Japan, U.A. High School:
- Izuku Midoriya
A helpful yet somewhat timid young man, Izuku thought his dreams of becoming a hero were destined for failure after discovering that he was Quirkless. Despite this, he continued to be diligent in his studies in hopes of someday becoming worthy of being called a hero. Soon, he acquired the legendary Quirk One For All.
- Ochaco Uraraka
A bubbly, vivacious young lady with an unexpected fierceness when it comes to protecting her friends, Ochaco always tries to see the good in those around her. Her Quirk is Zero Gravity, which allows her to make any object she touches float in mid-air.
- Katsuki Bakugo
Arrogant and aggressive, Katsuki is supremely confident in both his martial abilities and his explosive Quirk. Although he is known for being reckless and brash, Katsuki can be surprisingly kind when he wants to be.
- Tsuyu Asui
Calm and levelheaded, Tsuyu can be counted on to be straightforward with her opinions no matter the situation. She is very kind and observant, regardless of how people may ostracize her for her odd appearance. With her Quirk Frog, she has shown herself to be a tremendous asset when fighting alongside other heroes.


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My Son Wears Dresses; Get Over It
A lot of marriages don't survive raising a gender-creative son who is, statistically speaking, most likely going to be gay or transgender as an adult. I wish I could to talk to those men. I wish I could be there for their kids.
I've been a police officer for more than 15 years. I've been a detective and now I'm a senior officer who trains the new recruits out on the street. Before that I was a firefighter. Before that I played football in college after playing baseball and football in high school, and lettering my sophomore year. I like beer, classic trucks, punk music, riding my motorcycle and catching the game with my buddies. I'm a stereotypical "guy's guy" and hyper-masculine to a lot of people, I guess. Which may be why it surprises them when they find out that my son wears dresses. And heels, and makeup. It surprises them even more when they learn that I'm cool with it. And at this point, I wouldn't want him to change. Because, if my son liked boy stuff and dressed like a boy, he wouldn't be my boy, he'd be like a stranger.
I grew up in a sports-oriented family. My father was a high school football and baseball coach and my mother was a professional surfer. I had one brother. Growing up, I don't remember homosexuality or gender being discussed in my house. No negative talk. No positive talk. No talk about it at all. My brother and I are straight. It appeared that all of my extended family and my parents' friends were straight. I thought that that's how it went. Then, at 18, I met my future wife and she introduced me to her brother. He was the first openly gay person I had ever met. He was cool, and who he chose to love or get physical with was none of my concern. That didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that I thought his sister was hot. I focused on that.
But, being an athlete, a firefighter, and a cop, I have spent a lot of time in locker rooms and around guys who dish out homophobic slurs like turkey on Thanksgiving. Faggot. Queer. Gay. Homo. Cocksucker. I started to notice the slurs more after I met my future brother-in-law. Then, I had a son who—as he describes himself—only likes girl stuff and wants to be treated like a girl, and those insults started to get under my skin in a new way.
Sometimes I'll call people out when they use them.
"Bro, I was just joking. You know I was kidding. What's your problem?"
Those are the responses I get.
Here's the thing. When you use those words as a way to degrade or get the upper hand on someone, you are implying that to be a man who is gay or effeminate is to be "lesser than." Now, when I hear those words, I feel like you are calling my son and people like him "lesser than." I won't stand for that. Get a dictionary. Learn some new words.
I don't tell most of the guys who I work with at the police department about my son. It's none of their business and I don't trust them with the information. I don't trust what they might think or say behind my back when they should just say it to my face. I don't trust them with a kid as kick-ass and special as mine.
My close friends know. And I know that they are my close friends because they don't give a shit. They don't care what toys my son likes or how he chooses to dress. They just care that he is happy and healthy and that I'm being a good dad.
I've slipped at times and told some of the other guys in my life.
"Man, how do you deal with that? I couldn't do it. Not in my house," they've said.
What does all of that mean? You couldn't parent a kid like mine? You'd be his first bully and "make him a man?" To me, that makes you less of a man. Much of the time when I confront such people they immediately begin to backpedal and try to move on. I'm not afraid of this discussion and many don't choose to argue with me or defend their position.
To me, loving a child who is different, a target and seen as vulnerable is my role as a father and decent human being. He's just as special to me and loved by me as my oldest son, whose most prized possession is a pocketknife, who plays football, likes fart jokes, and is starting to notice girls.
I'm a father. I signed on for the job with no strings attached, no caveats, no conditions. I can name every Disney Princess and her movie of origin. I've painted my son's nails and rushed to remove it when he was afraid that he would get teased for wearing it. I didn't want to remove it, I wanted to follow him around and stare down anybody who even thought about teasing him. I only removed it because he started to have a panic attack. It was his decision and if he wants to edit himself to feel safer, I'll do it. Every time. No questions asked.
My wife started a blog about raising our son who is a girl at heart. At first, I didn't really think anybody would read it. They did, and she started to get emails from parents who are raising a son like ours. My wife calls C.J. "gender creative." Most people choose the more negative connotation and call him gender non-conforming or gender dysphoric.
Some of the emails she gets come from dads who are struggling. I feel bad for every single one of them. I've been there. I've struggled. A lot. But I've also evolved. A lot.
She's gotten emails from more moms than I can count who are now raising an effeminate boy alone because the dad couldn't deal. It pisses me off, but I know that it's the reality. A lot of marriages don't survive raising a gender-creative son who is, statistically speaking, most likely going to be gay or transgender as an adult. I wish I could to talk to those men. I wish I could be there for their kids.
My wife also gets a load of emails from people asking where our son's father is, as though I couldn't possibly be around and still allow a male son to display female behavior. To those people I say, I'm right here fathering my son. I want to love him, not change him. My son skipping and twirling in a dress isn't a sign that a strong male figure is missing from his life, to me it's a sign that a strong male figure is fully vested in his life and committed to protecting him and allowing him to grow into the person who he was created to be.
I may be a "guy's guy," but that doesn't mean that my son has to be.


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Say: pim-pul
Your skin has many tiny holes called pores. When you go through puberty, your skin makes a lot of extra oil that might clog up those pores. Too much oil may combine with dead skin and bacteria to create a pimple. But don't worry because everyone gets pimples. And once you're past puberty, there's plenty of smooth skin ahead!


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"How was the tent?" was one of the first questions my husband asked me during my time at the Flinders Uni Mallala Field Methods Field School (ARCH 8801). The question arose because of the minor dilemma I had suffered when deciding whether or not to lug my tent to Malalla from Sydney. The Archaeology Department kindly offered one of the Uni tents to aid my plight and, despite my immediate vision of a 2 man pup tent over used by successive generations of Uni students, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I would be comfortably housed in a brand new 3 man dome tent. Excellent! Dilemma over.
Our 'Tennis Court tent society' at Mallala was a delightful conglomerate of shapes and sizes, all forming a temporary society consisting of strangers sleeping next to one another, separated by the merest of thin nylon walls. One of the largest tents, occupied by gentleman Matt, was a suitably impressive family size tent, allowing the luxury of a full standing position (see picture 1). Gentleman Matt appeared quite proud of his comparatively king-like structure as seen by his Napoléonesque poise for the photo.
Next door to 'de Palais Matto' and previously lived in by Jessica, stood the saddest member of the Tennis Court tent society. A pup tent of dubious nature which had been 'borrowed' (see picture 2). Not only was this tent the smallest tent on the block but it failed its prime directive; to stay up and provide shelter. The disappointment is obvious on Jessica's face.
Jessica was able to abandon the premises within a couple of nights of our arrival thanks to the preparedness of Rhiannon. Thankfully, as picture 3 shows, a newer, roomier abode at the other end of the street put a smile on Jessica's face.
The Tennis Court tent society was not without its famous residents. Temporary refuge was sought by visiting ABC Radio journalist, Ann. Embracing the spirit of BYO ideology, Ann's imported lodgings brought lightness and colour, as did her very presence, to the tennis court society (with the possible exception of her fashion choices in pull overs)(see picture 4).
Regretfully, the assigned word limit of this blog prevents me from further espousing my thoughts on the Tennis Court tent society, but special mention must be made of Bob's true blue, real man swag (picture 5) and, of course, I must assure you that my lodgings, courtesy of Flinders, were extremely comfortable. However this doesn't stop me from pondering an upgrade next time round. Where did you get your tent from Mick?


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Jan. 28, 2013— -- A bipartisan group of senators has agreed to an immigration reform framework that includes a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented, a significant step toward a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration system.
The group of eight senators -- four Democrats and four Republicans -- identified broad ways to address the core issues facing the country's immigration laws in a four-plus page document, which Senate aides provided to ABC/Univision on condition of anonymity.
See Also: Transcript: Framework for Immigration Reform
The principles agreed upon by this "Gang of Eight" include enhancing border security and cracking down on businesses that employ undocumented immigrants. The outline also proposes making it easier for foreigners to come to the United States legally to work or join their families.
The senators behind the framework include John McCain (R-Ariz.), who helped lead a failed reform effort in 2007, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
"Our legislation acknowledges these realities by finally committing the resources needed to secure the border, modernize and streamline our current legal immigration system, while creating a tough but fair legalization program for individuals who are currently here," the outline states. "We will ensure that this is a successful permanent reform to our immigration system that will not need to be revisited."
The "Gang of Eight" plan provides the most concrete outline yet for immigration reform, but it also leaves many questions unanswered, such as the amount of time the pathway to citizenship would take and how exactly the border would be deemed secure. Those details and others not included in the plan "would all be subject to negotiation," a Senate aide said.
Since last November's election, the senators have met five times in order to flesh out the plan, according to a Senate aide. That election, in which more than seven in 10 Latino voters supported President Barack Obama over his Republican opponent Mitt Romney, served as a tipping point on the issue of immigration, which has stalled on Capitol Hill for some time.
Republicans have generally dismissed a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as "amnesty," and President Obama failed to present a comprehensive immigration reform bill during his first term, despite pledging to bring up a proposal during his 2008 campaign. But his re-election might have shaken the political dynamics underlying the immigration issue enough to allow lawmakers to reach an agreement this year.
"First, Americans support it in poll after poll. Secondly, Latino voters expect it. Thirdly, Democrats want it. And fourth, Republicans need it," Menendez said on ABC's "This Week."
Senate staff from both parties characterized the document as a broad statement of principles rather than concrete legislative language, and one aide said that the group aims to have an actual piece of legislation ready as early as the end of March.
The senators' announcement comes one day before President Obama will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, to unveil his own immigration reform plan, which also includes an earned pathway to citizenship and many other elements of the Senate plan. The president met with a group of Hispanic Democratic lawmakers to discuss his plan on Friday, and afterward the White House reiterated that the issue remains "a top legislative priority."
Arguably the most significant detail is the inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for many of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, but the process of obtaining citizenship is neither easy nor short.
Under the "Gang of Eight" plan, undocumented immigrants would be required to register with the federal government. Those without a criminal record would be eligible for "probationary legal status" if they pass a background check and pay fines and back taxes. The status would allow them to live and work legally in the U.S., but they would remain ineligible for federal benefits such as welfare of Medicaid.
At the same time, the government would spend more to prevent illegal border crossings in part by increasing the use of unmanned drones and hiring more border agents. It would also implement a new system to prevent people from overstaying their visas, a main source of illegal immigration. Those undocumented immigrants with criminal records would be subject to deportation.
The U.S. government already spends a hefty amount on border security. The nearly $18 billion in federal funds that went toward border and immigration enforcement agencies in fiscal year 2012 topped the total amount spent on all other federal law enforcement agencies combined, according to a recent Migration Policy Institute report.
Still, many Republican lawmakers have said they would not support an immigration reform proposal without bolstered border security efforts.
The plan would also establish a committee of governors and other public figures from states along the Southwest border to present a "recommendation regarding when the bill's security measures outlined in the legislation are completed." Once the border is deemed secure, undocumented immigrants on probationary status would be permitted to seek green cards, which provide permanent legal residence and the eventual opportunity to apply for full citizenship.
In order to earn a green card, those with probationary legal status would have to go through a second background check, learn English and American civics, continue to pay taxes, and provide proof of employment. These immigrants would then be sent to the "back of the line," meaning that they would only be eligible for a green card once all others waiting for a green card at the time of the law's passage have obtained one.
This system would not apply to all undocumented immigrants. For example, those brought to the country as minors, also known as DREAMers, "will not face the same requirements as other individuals in order to earn a path to citizenship." Undocumented workers in the agricultural sector would also be eligible for their own path to citizenship "because of the role they play in ensuring that Americans have safe and secure agricultural products to sell and consume," the framework says.
The proposal would also make the legal immigration system more attractive by reducing visa backlogs and simplifying the visa process for those seeking to work in the U.S. or reunite with their families.
Foreigners who earn Ph.Ds or master's degrees from American universities in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields would get green cards upon graduation under the new law.
All that said, employers would be mandated to use an employment verification system to determine the legal status of job applicants. Businesses that knowingly hire undocumented immigrants would also face stiffer criminal penalties under the new law. It remains unclear whether the Senate framework would keep the existing E-Verify system, which has been criticized by business groups for being inefficient, or scrap it and create a new one.
The plan would establish programs for agricultural businesses and others in that industry to hire legal, low-skilled immigrant laborers based on need. It would also provide "labor protections" as well as a path to citizenship for some. Both of these are key given that as many as 80 percent of field workers in the U.S. are undocumented, according to a 2011 Associated Press report.
Lawmakers involved in the group indicated on Sunday that they would prefer to accomplish immigration reform in one, comprehensive bill rather than a series of individual pieces of legislation.
"We are committed to a comprehensive approach," Durbin, the second ranking member of the Senate, said as much on "Fox News Sunday." McCain reiterated that sentiment on ABC's "This Week."
Still, some members of the group have voiced support for a piecemeal approach, including Rubio. But a Republican aide said that a comprehensive approach would not be a "line in the sand" for the Cuban-American senator, whom many believe could run for president in 2016.
Rubio was asked to join the group in December and recently, he released his own set of immigration reform principles. The freshman senator has pitched his plan to conservative media figures like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly and several of his agenda items made it into the "Gang of Eight" outline, including a program to track exit visas and conditioning green cards for undocumented immigrants on border security.
Lawmakers spent Sunday preparing for the announcement. Schumer informed White House officials on the group's progress and plans for a Monday announcement, a Senate aide said.
In a statement, White House spokesman Clark Stevens said President Obama is "pleased that progress is being made with bipartisan support. At the same time, he will not be satisfied until there is meaningful reform and he will continue to urge Congress to act until that is achieved."
Schumer also spoke with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), whose panel has jurisdiction over immigration laws. The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, have also been apprised of the talks for some time, aides said.
"We have the bones of this thing, now we have to put on the meat and the muscles," a Senate aide said.