There’s a growing backlog of U.S. military veterans’ disability claims, which has stoked congressional anger, has dipped in recent weeks, however tentatively. Neither the Department of Veteran Affairs or the Pentagon has fixed the problem, that has left veterans waiting – sometimes for years – to get answers from the U.S. government about their disability claims.
Obama Failing Veterans Caught in Benefits Backlog
Posted by Janet on 05/25/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/obama-failing-veterans-caught-in-benefits-backlog/
If Detroit has a money crisis, why did 4 trustees hang out in Hawaii?
The city of Detroit Michigan has been in a deep financial crisis but that sure didn’t stop 4 trustees of its public pension funds from spending $22,000 of retirement system funds to attend a conference in Hawaii this week. The trip to the 4 star resort on the world-famous Waikiki Beach in Honolulu doesn’t sit well with the top officials now running Detroit’s finances under an emergency order from the state of Michigan.
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has not ruled out a bankruptcy as the city struggles under a $15 billion debt burden, which is being strained further by its hefty pension obligations.
Posted by Janet on 05/25/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/if-detroit-has-a-money-crisis-why-did-4-trustees-hang-out-in-hawaii/
Dispute over budget causes rift with senate Republicans
The Republicans in the senate are locked in a widening internal dispute over future budget negotiations, splitting along generational and ideological lines on the party’s approach to the central issue that drove the conservative surge in the Obama era: how to deal with the federal debt.
Senators John McCain of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine jousted with a new generation of conservatives — Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky — over the party’s refusal to allow the Senate to open budget talks with the House despite Senate Republicans’ long call for Democrats to produce a budget.
Posted by Janet on 05/25/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/dispute-over-budget-causes-rift-with-senate-republicans/
UK – The Anti Muslim Backlash
Ever since 2 Muslims murdered a British soldier the other day, there’s been a huge increase in anti-Muslim incidents since the murder of a British soldier in Woolwich. Faith Matters, which runs a helpline, said they had received 162 calls since Wednesday’s attack, up from a daily average of six.
A number of people have been charged after allegedly offensive comments were made on social media websites. On Wednesday, Drummer Lee Rigby was killed near Woolwich Barracks.
Posted by Janet on 05/25/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/uk-the-anti-muslim-backlash/
Nearly 70 percent of adoption credit claims were audited by IRS
The IRS mishandled tax returns of adoptive families, flagging for further review 90% of those who claimed the adoption tax credit for the 2012 filing season. And a report by the federal agency’s Taxpayer Advocate Service also found that nearly 70% of adoptive families — more than 35,000 — had at least a partial audit of their tax return. By contrast, just one percent of all returns are audited.
“The IRS’s misguided procedures, and its failure to adequately adjust these processes when it learned its approach was seriously flawed, have caused significant economic harm to thousands of families who are selflessly trying to improve the lives of vulnerable children,” according to the report.
Posted by Janet on 05/24/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/nearly-70-percent-of-adoption-credit-claims-were-audited-by-irs/
Tornado insured losses estimated at $2 billion-$5 billion
About 76 tornadoes struck across 10 states over a three-day period, said Eqecat, whose models are used by the insurance industry to forecast losses. The worst of it was in Moore, where the firm said about 13,000 structures were damaged. John Doak, Oklahoma’s insurance commissioner said earlier this week he expected damage from the Moore tornado to exceed $3 billion on its own.
And the insurance companies that will have to foot most of the bill are State Farm and Farmers Insurance Group, which together have an aggregate market share of nearly 29 percent in the state. Over the past 2 years, tornadoes have become a huge loss driver for the insurance industry. The German reinsurer Munich Re has estimated tornadoes caused about $40 billion in insured losses in the United States in 2011 and 2012.
Since 1980, average thunderstorm losses, including tornadoes, have risen sevenfold.
Posted by Janet on 05/24/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/tornado-insured-losses-estimated-at-2-billion-5-billion-2/
Fox Won’t Be Intimidated by Attempts to ‘Criminalize’ Reporting
Roger Ailes, Fox News President fired back at the DOJ Thursday for targeting journalists as if they were criminals and said the government’s seizure of reporters’ emails and phone records would not stand “the test of law.”
“The recent news about the FBI’s seizure of the phone and email records of Fox News employees, including James Rosen, calls into question whether the federal government is meeting its constitutional obligation to preserve and protect a free press in the United States,” Ailes, a former media and political consultant to President Ronald Reagan, wrote in a “memo of support” to Fox News employees.
Posted by Janet on 05/24/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/fox-wont-be-intimidated-by-attempts-to-criminalize-reporting/
Brave woman tried to reason with London attackers
Yesterday, Britain stood by helplessly, as 2 men hacked a British soldier to death, but the carnage could have been much worse, if not for the bravery of one lone woman. This woman prevented further devastation, as she confronted one of the men, bloodied and holding a cleaver and knife. Ingrid Loyau-Kennett got off a bus and tried to reason with the two attackers after she tried to help the man lying on the street but found he had no pulse and was already dead.
Posted by Janet on 05/23/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/brave-woman-tried-to-reason-with-london-attackers/
Faith Healing Death: First Century Gospel Church, Case 6
For awhile, we haven’t heard much of these cases. In Philadelphia, a couple convicted of manslaughter for denying medical care to a child who died were charged Wednesday with the murder of another child. Catherine and Herbert Schaible surrendered at police headquarters, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. They were being held pending a bail hearing.
Posted by Janet on 05/23/2013
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/faith-healing-death-first-century-gospel-church-case-6/
