Clinton: We need Assad's consent to put troops in Syria
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US government looks to mine social media to combat terrorist attacks, uprisings
The U.S. government is seeking software that can mine social media to predict everything from future terrorist attacks to foreign uprisings, according to requests posted online by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Hundreds of intelligence analysts already sift overseas Twitter and Facebook posts to track events such as the Arab Spring. But in a formal "request for information" from potential contractors, the FBI recently outlined its desire for a digital tool to scan the entire universe of social media - more data than humans could ever crunch.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...cks-uprisings/
Gov. Jerry Brown handing out more pardons
Andre Mouton plans to write Gov. Jerry Brown a thank you. He might like to run for elected office one day, and the pardon Brown gave him - one of 21 granted last year - could make his years-old burglary conviction less awkward to explain. "It's kind of like a degree," said Mouton, 51, a youth mentor in Oakland. "You've been forgiven." Brown is more inclined than previous governors to forgive. Pardons announced by the Democratic governor this week total more in one year than Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger granted in seven. Schwarzenegger's predecessor, Gray Davis, granted none.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/11/425...e-pardons.html
Prison press policy stirs debate; state's approach changed after shift of inmates
A Redding.com story about a homeless ex-prisoner who died last month behind a local liquor store didn't sit well with state prison officials. A few hours after the story was posted on the Web, a prison spokeswoman called the Record Searchlight to complain. She said its online headline, "Homeless man found dead in alley was one of first ex-inmates released under realignment," was unfair. Although no connection between realignment and the death was made in the story, she said the state's plan that transfers responsibility of thousands of recently released inmates and prisoners to county officials was not responsible for the man's death.
http://www.redding.com/news/2012/feb...-stirs-debate/
Inmate on hunger strike dies at California State Prison, Corcoran
An inmate on a hunger strike at California State Prison, Corcoran has died after refusing food for four days. A spokesman with California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirms that Christian Gomez died Feb. 2. That's just four days after Gomez began to refuse prison meals to protest conditions in the Administrative Segregation Unit at Corcoran. Inmates in an isolation unit at Corcoran have been refusing food since December to protest existing conditions at the prison, according to prison officials.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2012/02/13/...-state-prison/
Billionaire George Soros donates $500,000 to three-strikes drive
Billionaire investor George Soros has given a half-million dollar boost to efforts to overhaul California's three-strikes law. Soros' $500,000 donation to the "Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012" was reported Friday by the ballot drive's fundraising committee, sponsored by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, records show. Stanford University professor David Mills, the measure's proponent, invested an additional $250,000 last week.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalert...kes-drive.html
California 'underemployment' among worst in nation
California was among five U.S. states with the highest "underemployment" rate for 2011, according to a new Gallup poll. California and four other states - Nevada, Florida, Michigan and Mississippi - all ranked in the above-average underemployment category of 21 percent to 24 percent. Gallup defines underemployment as someone who is out of work or employed part time (less than 30 hours per week) who would prefer to be working full-time.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_19957456?source=rss
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Daniel Mihailescu / AFP - Getty Images
Eastern Europe digs out after massive snowfall
California economic reports forecast modest growth
Things are looking up for California's beleaguered economy as the recovery from the recession hits a period of slow, modest growth this year and next, according to two economic reports. Over the next two years, the state is poised to add nearly half a million jobs and drive the current 11.1% unemployment rate down to nearly 10%, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. said in an annual forecast released Wednesday.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,4683057.story
CalPERS report undermines Gov. Jerry Brown's pension overhaul plan
CalPERS has a new report that says California Gov. Jerry Brown's idea to alter pensions with 401(k)-style plans won't help new workers and won't save California money, either. The California Public Employees Retirement System is the nation's largest public pension fund, and its new report undermines Brown's efforts to change California's pension system.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/cali...rown-plan.html
Dept. of Homeland Security 'concerned' over threats from Iran
As federal and local law enforcement plan to boost their communications with Jewish groups in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Wednesday told a House panel she is "concerned" over potential threats to the U.S. homeland from Iran or its surrogates and it's "a situation that bears watching." Napolitano said her department is "conducting a lot of outreach" to Jewish communities across the country to address any concerns after car bombs in two countries overseas targeted Israeli officials and Iranian nationals set off explosions in Thailand.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...ats-from-iran/