http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/index/ en kestrel@americankestrel.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-03T18:41:02+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/had_days_like_this/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/had_days_like_this/#When:18:41:02Z 2012-02-03T18:41:02+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/adding_some_substance_to_the_stock_act/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/adding_some_substance_to_the_stock_act/#When:18:14:07Z It’s another week in the Senate, and there’s another battle over earmarks.  Senators Toomey and McCaskill are proposing an amendment to the STOCK Act (“insider trading bill”S. 2038) to permanently ban earmarks in the Senate.  Not surprisingly, there is pushback from Harry Reid…and a number of Republicans as well. 2012-02-03T18:14:07+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/so_what_was_the_cost/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/so_what_was_the_cost/#When:18:09:25Z The Democrat’s ‘TEA Party’. 2012-02-03T18:09:25+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/geez_89/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/geez_89/#When:18:05:17Z A new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute on the United States K-12 state science standards reports that “the majority of the states’ standards remain mediocre to awful.” Several states around the northwest scored F’s, while only seven states scored and A- or higher. 2012-02-03T18:05:17+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/no_idea_what_to_do._which_is_o.k._if_you_have_the_taxpayer_always_there_to_/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/no_idea_what_to_do._which_is_o.k._if_you_have_the_taxpayer_always_there_to_/#When:17:33:55Z So do Fannie and Freddie actually help homeowners? And why can’t the government force their hand? ... ... The two aims of Fannie and Freddie are continually at odds — policies encouraging refinancing and forgiveness for more mortgage holders can increase costs to the taxpayer-owned companies. While the administration has made relief for homeowners their priority, DeMarco says his agency’s priority is to protect Fannie and Freddie’s profits, aka taxpayers’ assets. Of course, many taxpayers are those same struggling homeowners, and that is at the heart of the dilemma over Fannie and Freddie’s future. 2012-02-03T17:33:55+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/oh_goody7/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/oh_goody7/#When:17:30:59Z Reported concerns among some U.S. officials that Iran may have essentially freed a group of al Qaeda militants held for almost a decade under house arrest in the Islamic Republic are adding Friday morning to the escalating war-rhetoric pouring out of Washington and Israel. According to The Wall Street Journal, some government officials believe Iran’s move to allow the men greater freedom - which may include permission to leave the country - suggests the nation’s hardline rulers are trying to bolster a link between themselves and the radical Muslim terror group as Western pressure mounts on both entities. 2012-02-03T17:30:59+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/day_by_day1/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/day_by_day1/#When:08:19:57Z 2012-02-03T08:19:57+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/hmmmm_9/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/hmmmm_9/#When:16:59:48Z Google+ Is Growing Much Faster Than Facebook Did In The Early Days 2012-02-02T16:59:48+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/i_think_that_this_is_a_wonderful_idea/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/i_think_that_this_is_a_wonderful_idea/#When:16:27:30Z Let’s make sure that the press thinks that this is a great story that deserves weeks of in depth coverage. The more coverage the better. 2012-02-02T16:27:30+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/evolution_in_action/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/evolution_in_action/#When:16:23:06Z Spotted salamanders exposed to contaminated roadside ponds are adapting to their toxic environments, according to a Yale paper in Scientific Reports. This study provides the first documented evidence that a vertebrate has adapted to the negative effects of roads apparently by evolving rapidly. 2012-02-02T16:23:06+00:00