Photo Credit: European Pressphoto Agency
- Seattle Times: As far back as 1999, a report filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, warned of slide danger and “the potential for a large catastrophic failure’’ in Snohomish County in rural Washington state, which left 14 dead, with 176 reports of missing persons. http://goo.gl/fCnzhT
- WSJ: Live Streaming of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, despite hard evidence that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 plunged into the southern Indian Ocean, strong gales and rough seas forced a delay in the search. http://goo.gl/SPqcH9
- American Action Forum Release New Report: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposed more than $27.2 billion in total private sector costs, $8 billion in unfunded state burdens, and more than 159 million paperwork hours on local governments and affected entities. In addition, the law has created only $2.6 billion in annualized benefits, compared to $6.8 billion in annualized costs. Conclusion? The ACA has imposed 2.5 times more costs than it has produced in benefits. http://goo.gl/MgxyDA
- Kaiser Health News: FAQ: What Are The Penalties For Not Getting Insurance? http://goo.gl/5sXPPm
- State Capital Journal: With Congress unable to pass any immigration reform, the Obama administration is deporting unauthorized immigrants at record rates and in the process putting pressure on the states. Congress, in fact, hasn’t passed comprehensive immigration legislation since the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which President Ronald Reagan signed into law. ``That measure granted permanent residence to 2.7 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States; the actual number may be higher since some of these immigrants later brought in family members. http://goo.gl/69DDxA ‘’
- PolicyMic: Following Russia's absorption of Crimea, many wonder which region is vulnerable to another Putin land grab? General Philip Breedlove, NATO's supreme allied commander, argues Russia’s next target may be the tiny, unrecognized state of Trans-Dniester, which borders Ukraine. ``If Russia decides to go through with annexation, and uses peacekeeping as an excuse (as it did in Crimea), it could send troops to Trans-Dniester and effectively cut off Ukraine on both sides.’’ Russia already has 2,000 troops in the region; if Putin grabs Trans-Dniester, while it may not be the most celebrated annexation, it may very well represent a springboard to increase Russia's dominance in the region. http://goo.gl/OXWI6d
- The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst : Russia's annexation of Crimea could have a domino effect elsewhere in the former Soviet countries, especially regarding the Georgian breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. ``Their limited and illusory political independence could be scrapped and they may officially become part of Russia, therefore further deepening the crisis in the South Caucasus and in relations between Russia and the West. The creation of another semi-recognized territory and a change of official borders signifies a crisis in the post-Soviet world that threatens to develop further, undermining the existing status-quo in variety of ways.’’ http://goo.gl/ANBP2Y
- WP: National Geographic announced recently that in its mapping, Crimea will be "shaded gray", designating it a ``disputed area’’ to show that it was now an "Area of Special Status." According to National Geographic's Atlas of the World (ninth edition), there are a number of other countries in gray areas.. http://goo.gl/QDyb52
- USA Today: 20 Ways Americans are Blowing their Money. http://goo.gl/jjxSds
- ESPN: If the NBA had a Sweet 16 bracket, what would it look like? -http://goo.gl/2exa61
This and STAT
- Entering the NCAA tournament, Dayton had a 2.8% chance to advance to the Elite 8. Today, the Flyers have a 45% chance to beat Stanford and reach the Elite 8.
- G-7 leaders will meet in June in Brussels without Russia, the first time Russia has been excluded since it won full membership in 1998.
- Market Watch: The fastest and slowest housing markets in the U.S http://goo.gl/TxLY95
- Twitter Glossary: List of common terms and acronyms found on Twitter. For example TIL-Acronym for "Today I learned." #FF stands for "Follow Friday." http://goo.gl/78PHR1
- Air pollution kills about 7 million people worldwide every year, with more than half of the fatalities due to fumes from indoor stoves, according to a new report from the World Health Organization
- According to the research firm comScore, fully 65% of all mobile users in the U.S. already own smartphones. At 156 million consumers, that's roughly half the U.S. population.
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