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FILE - This June 24, 2009 file photo shows age progression sculptures at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va. Child-pornography offenders are now the focus of an intense debate within the legal community as to whether the federal sentences they face have become, in many cases, too severe. On one side of the debate, many federal judges and public defenders say repeated moves by Congress to toughen the penalties over the past 25 years have badly skewed the guidelines, to the point where offenders who possess and distribute child pornography can go to prison for longer than those who actually rape or sexually abuse a child. On the other hand, some prosecutors and members of Congress, as well as advocates for sexual-abuse victims, oppose any push for more leniency. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Debate Rages Over Severity Of Child-Porn Sentences

Archives for April 2012

SF Bar Pilots Run Into Political Turbulence

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Since the days of Mark Twain, the San Francisco Bar Pilots have had it good. Thanks to outsized political clout and highly specialized training, this elite cadre, currently numbering 56 ship captains, has enjoyed monopoly control over the San Francisco Bay since 1850. State law requires a bar pilot to guide […]

Associated Press
By Associated Press
In this photo taken Wednesday April 25, 2012, Capt. Bruce A. Horton, president of the San Francisco Bar Pilots, watches as a tanker passes beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Since the days of Mark Twain, the pilots have had it good. Thanks to political clout and highly specialized training, this cadre of 60 ship captains has for more than a century had control over guiding oil tankers and cargo ships in, out and around the San Francisco Bay. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Since the days of Mark Twain, the San Francisco Bar Pilots have had it good. Thanks to outsized political clout and highly specialized training, this elite cadre, currently numbering 56 ship captains, has enjoyed monopoly control over the San Francisco Bay since 1850. State law requires a bar pilot to guide every large

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Study: Heavy Teens Have Trouble Managing Diabetes

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New research sends a stark warning to overweight teens: If you develop diabetes, you’ll have a very tough time keeping it under control. A major study, released Sunday, tested several ways to manage blood sugar in teens newly diagnosed with diabetes and found that nearly half of them failed within a […]

Associated Press
By Associated Press
A syringe gets filled in preparation for an injection, Sunday, April 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New research sends a stark warning to overweight teens: If you develop diabetes, you'll have a very tough time keeping it under control. A major study, released Sunday, tested several ways to manage blood sugar in teens newly diagnosed with diabetes and found that nearly half of them failed within a few years and 1 in 5

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More Families Building Their Own Tornado Shelters

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — When deadly twisters chewed through the South and Midwest in 2011, thousands of people in the killers’ paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time: adding tornado shelters to their homes. A year after the storms, sales of […]

Associated Press
By Associated Press
In this April 23, 2012, photo Freddie Wooten stands in front of the storm shelter he built at his own expense in Henager, Ala., following the 2011 tornado. When deadly twisters chewed through the Midwest and South in 2011, thousands of people in the killers' paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time: adding tornado shelters to their homes. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — When deadly twisters chewed through the South and Midwest in 2011, thousands of people in the killers' paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time: adding tornado shelters to their homes. A year after the storms, sales of small residential shelters known as

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Suicide blasts kill 9 in Syrian city of Idlib

BEIRUT (AP) — Two suicide bombers blew up cars rigged with explosives near a military compound and a hotel in a city in northwestern Syria on Monday, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 100, state media said. The powerful blasts, which tore two craters into the ground and ripped the facade off a […]

Associated Press
By Associated Press
idlib

BEIRUT (AP) — Two suicide bombers blew up cars rigged with explosives near a military compound and a hotel in a city in northwestern Syria on Monday, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 100, state media said. The powerful blasts, which tore two craters into the ground and ripped the facade off a multistory building, marked the

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NATO confident about missile shield

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO’s top official on Monday defended the alliance’s plan for a shield against ballistic missiles in Europe, insisting the system is on track despite two U.S. reports that describe it as over budget and plagued by technical problems. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in an interview with The Associated Press the military […]

Associated Press
By Associated Press
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks with the Associated Press at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, April 30, 2012. NATO's top official is vigorously defending the alliance's plan for a shield against ballistic missiles, despite two U.S. reports which cast doubt on project's technical and financial feasibility. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO's top official on Monday defended the alliance's plan for a shield against ballistic missiles in Europe, insisting the system is on track despite two U.S. reports that describe it as over budget and plagued by technical problems. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in an interview with The Associated Press the

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Police Brutality And Racial Tensions Better, But Constant 20 Years After Rodney King Riots

(MintPress)-Twenty years after the infamous Los Angeles riots erupted following the acquittal of four officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, Americans continue to struggle with racial inequality and police brutality. Racial tensions soared in Los Angeles when three white officers and one Hispanic […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
In this Friday April 20, 2012 photo, James Oh, right, owner of Tom's Liquor on the corner of Florence and Normandie, greets a customer in his store in South Los Angeles. In the 20 years since the 1992 riots, residents of the city’s largely black and Hispanic South Side complain that the area still is plagued by too few jobs, too few grocery stores and a lack of redevelopment that would bring more life to the area. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

(MintPress)-Twenty years after the infamous Los Angeles riots erupted following the acquittal of four officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, Americans continue to struggle with racial inequality and police brutality. Racial tensions soared in Los Angeles when three

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