In the book "Bad Money," author Kevin Phillips makes the case that the U.S. is a global power on the skids, thanks to a rapidly eroding financial sector in league with politicians that have "bet the nation's future on finance." Phillips appears in Seattle next Wednesday at two locations.http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/searc...

I've seen rumors, the last two days, that Andy Dillon will kill Senate Bill 776 or that the thing will be brought to a vote this morning. The bit about Dillon killing it, I read on RightMichigan, so I naturally don't give it a great deal of credence. But, I'm also told that Democrats will meet in caucus today, and that the bill could be brought up in discussion (meetings have already been held, I understand). Whether that means anything ... I have no idea. There's also word on the street thathttp://www.michiganliberal.com/showDiary.d...

Highlighting a severe national shortage of nurses, DeKalb Medical plans to hold a career fair Thursday for nurses and other health care professionals, vowing that all qualified applicants will get an interview â€" and possibly hired â€" for positions starting at $47,000 for new RNs to $80,000 for veterans with 15 years experience. Most major hospitals in the Atlanta area also are hiring nurses, ...http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/searc...

Sports minister M S Gill on Wednesday provided men's hockey in the country a new lease of life by upgrading it to the 'Priority' category, along with seven other disciplines. He also named former Olympians Ajit Pal Singh and Zafar Iqbal as 'Government Observers' in the selection committee of the Indian Hockey Federation.http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url...