Provides the latest RSS feeds for General Editorials. For more headlines on Breaking, National, Business, Finance, Sports and World News, visit our home page Sacramento Sun.com http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/cat/45d771c7290844e9/ en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 06:42:37 -0400 Sun, 19 May 2013 06:42:37 -0400 30 Life through the eyes of a child is often thought to be innocent and colorful. But, that life isn't the same experience for kids who are blind and visually impaired. That's why every year, ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214612370/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 04:11:10 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214612370/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Nazi Germany ended in military defeat in 1945. The Soviet Union ended in political collapse in 1991. Both nations used concentration camps that resulted in the deaths of millions. Few camps in the USSR were designed to be actual death camps, but the same millions died from 1918 to about 1960. They were victims of cold, hunger, disease and also bullets. Both camp systems required staffing in the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611171/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:46 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611171/scat/45d771c7290844e9 It's not often I agree with columnist Richard Davis, but I concur with the BYU professor regarding the need for Utah Attorney General John Swallow to be the subject of a special investigation or even impeached ("Cloud over Swallow needs to be resolved soon," May 15). There is enough smoke swirling around the embattled official to reasonably believe there is also some fire that ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611172/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:46 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611172/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Thomas Cobb's unique collection of 29 snakes, which is kept in a special room in his Cottonwood Heights basement, is in jeopardy. He has been cited for failing to have an exotic pet permit and given one week to get rid of all but one snake. He has spent more than two decades amassing his private collection and prides himself in being a good snake owner. Each snake costs about ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611170/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:45 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611170/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, accompanied by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, gestures as he speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon, Friday, May 17, 2013, to discuss sexual assaults in the military and the promotion of Lt. Gen. Curtis "Mike" Scaparrotti to command U.S. troops in South Korea, among other ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611174/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:44 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611174/scat/45d771c7290844e9 President Barack Obama speaks on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday May 15, 2013. Obama announced the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, the top official at the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611173/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:44 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611173/scat/45d771c7290844e9 WASHINGTON — Note to GOP re Benghazi: Stop calling it Watergate, Iran-Contra, bigger than both, etc. First, it might well be, but we don't know. History will judge. Second, overhyping will only diminish the importance of the scandal if it doesn't meet presidency-breaking standards. Third, focusing on the political effects simply plays into the hands of Democrats desperately ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611175/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:43 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611175/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Across this great land, patriotic Americans are behaving subversively. We're quoting from our pocket Constitutions, starting reading groups to discuss our founding documents, even gathering together to "petition the government for a redress of grievances." Uncle Sam is not ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611176/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:42 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611176/scat/45d771c7290844e9 In this March 28, 2012 file photo, supporters of health care reform rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on the final day of arguments regarding the health care law signed by President Barack ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611177/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:42 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214611177/scat/45d771c7290844e9 With political control in the hands of one party for the first time in decades, Minnesotans had a historic legislative session in store. Democrats delivered that. "If you were going to design a session with a goal to push businesses out of Minnesota and create disincentives for new business to come here, they succeeded in doing that," said Charlie Weaver, executive director of the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214610917/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sun, 19 May 2013 01:11:51 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214610917/scat/45d771c7290844e9 President Thomas S. Monson and his wife, Frances, wave to the crowd after the Sunday morning session of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 181st Annual General Conference Sunday, April 3, 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Tom Smart, Deseret ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214609280/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 22:55:30 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214609280/scat/45d771c7290844e9 THE last time the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) was significantly revised, brick-sized cellphones cost $3,000, email was mostly limited to academics and the military. The World Wide Web was still just a gleam in the eye of Tim Berners-Lee. The law, passed in 1986, set forward-looking standards for government monitoring of cellphone calls and emails. But advances in technology have ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214609605/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 22:54:28 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214609605/scat/45d771c7290844e9 EARLY-learning programs offer a cost-effective way to prepare young learners for success in school and in life. Preschool is a benefit that trickles up. Research shows high-quality preschool saves school districts about $3,700 per child over the K-12 years. The National Institute for Early Education Research annual look at states’ early-learning efforts gives Washington high marks for ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214609190/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 22:01:43 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214609190/scat/45d771c7290844e9 The refugee burden that Syria’s neighbors are shouldering is heavy and should not be borne alone. But keeping people fleeing for their lives in buffer zones inside Syrian borders risks trapping rather than protecting ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214609191/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 21:38:44 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214609191/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Even by the standards of Syria's ever-worsening stream of atrocity and massacre videos, the latest footage from the country cannot fail to shock for its sheer savagery. ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214608687/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 20:45:27 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214608687/scat/45d771c7290844e9 It is always hard for an American president in the second term, but both his country and the world need Obama to show strength and courage and put scandal behind ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214607695/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 20:00:32 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214607695/scat/45d771c7290844e9 That means being as aggressive and imaginative as - and preferably more aggressive and imaginative than - the tax specialists who work for accountancy firms and the companies they advise. Inevitably, this is a competition at which lower-paid public servants are always going to be at a disadvantage to their rivals in the private sector, but HM Revenue & Customs have one thing in their favour, ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214607400/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 19:10:19 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214607400/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Shaquonica Johnson was comforted by fellow home-care worker Rochelle Turan while testifying at a hearing on the possible unionization of home-based care ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214606496/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 18:31:55 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214606496/scat/45d771c7290844e9 One late Minnesota afternoon, as summer sanctified the northern latitudes, Secret Lake was inspirited with relentless light. Eleven days before the summer solstice - our seasonal pentecost - my wife, Pam, and I hiked down to the water, paddles in hand. It was 8:30 p.m., but the forest path was warm and enriched, sunlight still penetrating the canopy of leaves and needles at the edge of the bog. ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605968/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:37:18 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605968/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Mark Dayton signed the bill that makes same-sex marriage legal in Minnesota after Aug. 1. But this was supposed to be the tax reform session - or so I thought in January. Back then, DFLer Dayton cast himself as a tax-policy modernizer, willing to expend some personal political capital to retrofit the state tax code for today’s economy. In today’s economy, the rich get richer while ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605967/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:37:17 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605967/scat/45d771c7290844e9 When groups representing educators discuss the achievement gap, they often say, "We know what works.’’ Far too often, though, that knowledge fails to produce results. Minnesota schools in general - ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605966/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:37:16 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605966/scat/45d771c7290844e9 This handout released by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority and the Minnesota Vikings shows the new Minnesota Vikings stadium in this rendering done by HKS Sports and Entertainment Group and released Monday, May 13, 2013. The yet-to-be-named facility, which will open in 2016 and replace the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis, will have a translucent roof and louvered front windows to let as ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605965/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:37:15 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605965/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Best Buy and other stores could be more expensive in the Twin Cities because of an additional sales tax. And the list goes on. Democrats promised that they were going to "tax the rich." But in the final few days of session, we're finding out that what they actually intend to do is tax nearly everybody and everything. Democrats have announced a plan to raise taxes and fees by ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605964/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:37:15 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605964/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton delivered his State of the State address before a joint session of the Minnesota Legislature in the House Chambers at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. on ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605963/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:37:14 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605963/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Word is that both Israel and Turkey are seriously entertaining the notion of constructing an undersea pipeline to deliver Israeli natural gas to Turkey and, perhaps, hence to Europe.The Turks reportedly have expressed willingness to foot part of the estimated $2 billion bill. Such pipelines exist elsewhere in the world, most notably from Russia and from Norway.It is becoming evident that a ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605900/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 16:36:36 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605900/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Contributed by : Carol Gould I thought I would re-publish this article from a year ago as local UK elections loom on 2 May. The present hysteria surrounding the rise and rise of UKIP, the United Kingdom Independence Party, fascinates me as an American because the Tea Party rose from disatisfaction with both Democrats and Republicans. The Tea Party now has six US senators and helped shift the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605901/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 16:13:24 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214605901/scat/45d771c7290844e9 To ensure that gold businesses in Dubai respect and protect rights, due diligence procedures should be made mandatory and include measures to check for child ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214604511/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 14:15:06 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214604511/scat/45d771c7290844e9 On April 29, just ahead of International Workers' Day, Iranian authorities summoned Behnam Ebrahimzadeh to discuss the terms of his temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison. Ebrahimzadeh, a labor activist and blogger who is almost three years into a five-year prison sentence, was given leave from the prison after many pleas to care for his ailing son, who suffers from a ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214603740/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 13:15:27 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214603740/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Uzbekistan: A Massacre That Should Not Fade Into History Eight years after the Andijan massacre, Uzbekistan remains a human-rights disaster. When will the EU change its strategy towards ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214603759/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 13:15:25 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214603759/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Enlarge A series of newspaper clippings that a father of two sons has collected over the years. The two sons are listed on the public sex offender registry for offenses committed when they were ages 9 and 11, and they were often publicly named in the local ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214603563/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 12:13:37 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214603563/scat/45d771c7290844e9 If Home Secretary Theresa May thinks the Jordanian government can be trusted not to torture its prisoners, she needs to look a little harder at the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214602482/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 11:13:26 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214602482/scat/45d771c7290844e9 On May 19, African countries will kick off a special summit to celebrate 50 years of unity, first under the Organisation of African Unity and, since 2000, under the African Union. This is an opportune time for the AU to set the record straight on its support for accountability, especially the atrocities during Kenya’s 2007-08 post-election violence. Indeed, Kenyan government sources ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601887/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 10:12:30 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601887/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Steve King of Iowa, Benghazi alone was worse than Watergate and Iran-Contra combined, "times maybe 10." So far, though, the three imbroglios don't add up to another Watergate; not even close. But there are enough unanswered questions to keep any administration tied up for months in congressional hearings, and that's exactly what's about to happen. Let's take the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601238/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 08:18:03 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601238/scat/45d771c7290844e9 If you're like many people, contemplating your newfound wealth would probably make you think about one thing above all else: yourself. A growing body of research shows that the mere whiff of money draws out our selfish sides, focusing us on what that money can do for us, and us alone. Perhaps you imagined buying a raft of new possessions: a faster car, a high-end gas grill with rear ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601237/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 08:18:02 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601237/scat/45d771c7290844e9 My nomination for American hero of the 20th century is someone who lived half his life in disguise and the other half as the world's most recognizable man. He appeared on more radio broadcasts than Ellery Queen and in more movies than Marlon Brando, who once played his father. He helped give America the backbone to wage war against ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601236/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 08:18:02 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601236/scat/45d771c7290844e9 But there is also ample reason for caution. The U.S. has a long history of "betting on the come," of unwarranted optimism that the transfer of billions in unconditional aid will influence Pakistan to withdraw its support for the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601235/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 08:18:01 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601235/scat/45d771c7290844e9 We have once again entered the college commencement season, which means we'll soon be reading about uplifting graduation speeches delivered by prominent Americans. Or at least by prominent liberal ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601239/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 08:18:00 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214601239/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Eight years have passed after one of the worst massacres in the former Soviet Union since its collapse. On May 13, 2005, security forces in the city of Andijan, Uzbekistan, opened fire on protesters, the vast majority unarmed, killing hundreds of men, women and children as they tried to flee. No one has been held accountable, and the authoritarian president, Islam Karimov, has defied calls for an ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214600911/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 08:07:31 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214600911/scat/45d771c7290844e9 , the protagonist, an American in her 20s, moves to Moscow shortly after the Cold War. After a few months, she returns to the U.S. a changed woman. Holt, who is 39, also lived in Moscow where she worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency as well as in London and New York. Currently, she resides in Washington, D.C. and writes full time. I asked Holt to make a list of her favorite books about ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214600377/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 07:35:52 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214600377/scat/45d771c7290844e9 After a half-year mission at the International Space Station, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield lands in central Kazakhstan on May ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214599437/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 05:30:32 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214599437/scat/45d771c7290844e9 America's trust in key public and private institutions has been sliding steeply for the past 20 years. The latest IRS, justice department and Benghazi scandals raging in Washington follow years of declining faith in Congress, banks and news ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598919/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 04:22:26 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598919/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Has the war on poverty been lost because we hired professional soldiers to fight, but never involved the civilians, the poor, in having a say in their ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598305/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 03:18:01 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598305/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Winner: The window washer who dressed as Spider Man on Thursday in order to thrill the children who are patients at Primary Children's Medical Center deserves an award. Mimicking the movements of the popular fictional character, he washed the windows of the tall structure and gave the children a thrill, which was, no doubt, exactly what many of them needed that ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598306/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 03:18:00 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598306/scat/45d771c7290844e9 In a move that likely is unprecedented, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will close all of its public operations on five separate days between now and Aug. 30, telling its employees to stay home on unpaid furlough days. These closings will severely impact taxpayers and IRS employees. On these days, taxpayers will not be able to get help from the IRS on the telephone, nor will the agency's ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598308/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 03:17:59 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598308/scat/45d771c7290844e9 As a member of America's communities, please stop and take a moment today, Armed Forces Day, to reflect on the sacrifices made, on your behalf, by our troops. Then, reach out and demonstrate your thanks personally or through a troop-support organization. You can donate in-kind goods for care packages, or ask what they need to continue support of America's military, veterans and the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598307/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 03:17:59 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598307/scat/45d771c7290844e9 In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598309/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 03:17:58 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214598309/scat/45d771c7290844e9 It eventually comes down to who - who at the IRS was responsible for targeting conservative and Tea Party groups for special scrutiny.Because, after all, you can’t put a "system" in jail. You can’t put a report in prison. You can’t indict a department for corruption. At the end of the day it’s people who are responsible for using the enormous powers of the ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214597552/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 00:51:27 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214597552/scat/45d771c7290844e9 "No nation has more opportunity to advance the cause of democracy, " said then-Sen. John Kerry at his recent confirmation hearing to become U.S. secretary of state. "And no nation is as committed to the cause of human rights as we are." This weekend, ... http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214597011/scat/45d771c7290844e9 Sat, 18 May 2013 00:43:29 -0400 http://www.sacramentosun.com/index.php/sid/214597011/scat/45d771c7290844e9