Shorts (left)
Where Rev. King once stood, a tempest in a tea party rally
WASHINGTON — It seems the ultimate thumb in the eye: that Glenn Beck would summon the Tea Party faithful to a rally on the anniversary of the March on Washington, and address them from the very place where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I have a dream” speech 47 years ago. After all, the Tea Party and its critics have been facing off for months over accusations of racism.
But many of the busloads of Tea Party activists expected in Washington this weekend do not see any irony or offense. In fact, they have come to see the Tea Party as the aggrieved — its loosely affiliated members unfairly characterized, even persecuted, as extremists.
Bernanke tamps expectations for Fed’s role in recovery
JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING — Federal Reserve officials and economists appear increasingly united in their view that the partisan gridlock on fiscal policy in Washington has clouded the prospects for a faster and stronger recovery.
The Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, who has assiduously avoided taking sides in fiscal debates, said Friday that the central bank stood ready to use a variety of tools to forestall deflation, a broad decline in prices. But he made clear that the Fed could not simply conjure up a recovery by manipulating interest rates and the money supply.
Bernanke has told Congress that some additional fiscal stimulus could be helpful in supporting the recovery, as long as it was accompanied by a credible plan to gradually bring deficits under control and stabilize the ratio of debt to gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output.
Medical use of marijuana costs some a paycheck
Residents in 14 states and Washington can now appeal to their doctors for prescriptions for medical marijuana to help them with their pain.
In some cases, workers have been fired for failing drug tests despite having prescriptions saying, in effect, that what they are doing is legal according to the laws of their states.
Though the number of such cases appears to be small, they are exposing a new legal gray area, with workers complaining of rights violations and company officials scratching their heads over how to enforce a uniform policy.
Thousands protest handling of Manila bus siege
HONG KONG — Drawn by a mixture of anger and grief, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents poured into the streets Sunday to protest how the Philippine government handled a bus siege in Manila last Monday that ended in the shooting deaths of eight Hong Kong residents and the dismissed police officer who had taken them hostage.
Many marchers seemed to be fairly apolitical, soft-spoken members of the middle class who said they had never attended a demonstration before but were offended that the Philippine government had failed to protect the Hong Kong residents aboard the bus.
Demonstrators demanded a full investigation.