tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:16:25 +0000http://danielharju.blogspot.com/daniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)Blogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-2895807928704718907Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:02:00 +00002009-11-07T16:02:29.936-08:00Daniel Harju: Threat To Public Safety: A Position Paper On Eliminating Inmate Rehabilitation Programshttp://danielharju.blogspot.com/2009/11/daniel-harju-threat-to-public-safety.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-1565530032529680032Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:29:00 +00002009-11-07T16:01:09.257-08:00Los Angeles, November 7, 2009As California finds itself nearly bankrupt, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to drastically cut inmate rehabilitative programs. This budget crisis has led state officials to disregard common sense and long-term strategy as guiding principles for prison policy-making.Already few and far between, http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2009/11/threat-to-public-safety-position-paper.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-1052473196032270274Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:32:00 +00002008-12-10T03:39:18.038-08:00featuresWith circumcision rates declining, men and women are organizing to ban circumcisionsThe two day-old naked infant boy was strapped down and spread eagle on a restraining board in a Marin General Hospital surgery room. He screamed and struggled as the doctor inserted a Plastibell without anesthesia, a surgical device used to forcefully separate the boy's foreskin from his penis gland so that the http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/to-be-crushed-and-cut-or-left-intact-is.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-8366157473716577034Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:27:00 +00002008-02-19T12:42:53.866-08:00editorialsWhen 4-year-old Selah Shaeffer developed a cancerous tumor and needed extensive medical treatment, her health insurance coverage was cancelled and her mother and father ended up with a medical bill exceeding $60,000 and the prospect of losing their home. The mistreatment of the Shaeffer family, described in a Sept. 17 article of the Los Angeles Times, is only one of more than 70 cases in which http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-are-students-still-offered-blue.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-6812155561391234904Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:25:00 +00002008-02-19T12:45:53.582-08:00arts and entertainmentIn a dreamy gallery environment turned upside down, carpeted with a blue sky dotted by puffy clouds and decked with freeway intersections on the ceiling, Belgian surrealist René Magritte's work is playfully featured in a current exhibit that looks at the pop-culture icon's impact on American and European post-war artists.As visitors enter the exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, they http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/ren-magrittes-treacherous-images-at.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-7494683524134102850Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:21:00 +00002008-02-19T12:43:20.448-08:00educationThe latest online phenomenon is the much-hyped virtual world Second Life, a vibrant social outlet that resembles a mixture between a happy version of the Matrix and the networking site Myspace.com. Second Life has attracted the interest of millions of people around the world, including educators, corporations, artists and entrepreneurs, who help create a parallel universe, which may revolutionizehttp://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/business-mixes-with-pleasure-in-second.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-4700284830267892789Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:15:00 +00002008-02-19T12:43:33.986-08:00educationSalaries can differ by as much as $30,000Entry-level salaries for tenure-track professors in different disciplines at CSUN vary by as much as $30,000, the 2005-2006 salary report suggests, a trend that reflects market forces largely outside of the university's control. Accounting, business, economics and mechanical engineering are among the highest paying disciplines, whereas faculty in the http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/starting-professor-pay-varies-greatly.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-4723629133103661361Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:09:00 +00002008-02-19T12:43:40.329-08:00educationIn 2004, CSUN instructors assigned twice as many As as Cs in upper division classes. The overall percentage of A grades at CSUN increases every year, which does not necessarily mean students are performing better. On the contrary, it gives cause to believe that academic standards are being lowered.CSUN faculty has a reason to be concerned about widespread grade inflation, based on information http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/grade-inflation-rife-on-campus-students.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-2719805630178218633Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:06:00 +00002008-02-19T12:45:53.583-08:00arts and entertainmentOnce in a while a band comes along that sweeps people off their feet through sheer talent and charisma. Swedish glam-rockers the Ark have attracted a small but religiously committed group of American fans who are sure to embrace "Prayer For the Weekend," their fourth album.The Swedish glam-rock sextet have been churning out a string of hits and number-one albums since 2000 and have cult-like http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/swedish-arks-glam-rock-gospel-of-love.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-8103144110659772041Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:58:00 +00002008-02-19T12:45:53.583-08:00arts and entertainmentThe iconic Tower Records is preparing to close its doors forever in Los Angeles and around the country in the continuing systematic shift of the music industry from high-priced music stores like Tower Records, Wherehouse Music and Sam Goody to online sales and large discount stores.With posters and banners proclaiming "Everything Must Go" and "Sale on Everything," 89 Tower Records stores are http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/another-one-bites-dust-tower-records-to.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-8529582161921966042Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:29:00 +00002008-02-19T12:45:53.584-08:00arts and entertainmentEarlier this month, Alexander Antebi, a young Jewish man from Los Angeles, came out of left field to beat the Germans and the rest of the European old guard of the World Beard and Moustache Championships at their own game. With long hair and a waxed handlebar moustache four years in the making, Antebi, 26, became the youngest, and the first American, to win the imperial moustache title at the http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/la-man-wins-world-moustache-award.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-2365761355624069957Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:57:00 +00002008-02-19T10:21:42.348-08:00news On Father's Day, a group of young activists from the anti-prisons group Critical Resistance stood in the midday sun outside the Twin Towers Correctional Facility with a huge card for visitors to sign. As echoing commands from the inmate reception center boomed from loudspeakers around them, the activists told a steady stream of visitors to the downtown L.A. jail that they could send a http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/reversing-reform-californias-prison.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-5682890138684202920Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:48:00 +00002008-02-19T10:21:49.425-08:00newsLast week, an unprecedented collaboration among federal, state, and local agencies began a well-publicized blitz campaign in northern California's Shasta County to root out illegal marijuana gardens hidden in national parks and forests - a phenomenon that occurs statewide and is partly the result of stepped-up eradication efforts and tighter border security. At a news conference in Redding, http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/harvesting-secret-gardens-operation.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-6083834773279976632Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:41:00 +00002008-02-19T10:21:58.539-08:00newsWhen a working group of city officials and medical marijuana advocates first met in February to decide how Los Angeles should regulate its medical marijuana market, they were surprised to learn that nobody could say how many dispensaries are in the city. No one was keeping track. Within the next few weeks, the L.A. City Council is expected to unanimously pass a moratorium on new medical marijuanahttp://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/regulating-reefer-as-city-works-to.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-2762562785128833125Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:26:00 +00002008-02-19T12:46:26.545-08:00environmentMoments after accusing his employer of intimidation, Rene Estrada looked afraid as he stood proudly in front of TV cameras between a pastor and a reverend, who held up his arms like a boxing champion. Estrada, 46, a truck driver for three years, is one of many independent contractors working in the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports who long to become regular employees because they lack benefits. http://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/running-on-empty-drivers-seek-benefits.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-6543026416301851281Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:51:00 +00002008-02-19T10:23:48.806-08:00newsCalifornia condor No. 245, one of only 147 free-flying members of the species in the world, died this month at the Los Angeles Zoo where it was being treated for lead-poisoning at levels 56 times of what is considered at risk for children. The majestic bird was trapped by L.A Zoo wildlife biologists in Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge and given two drugs in an effort to flush the lead out ofhttp://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/condors-call-ban-on-lead-bullets-might.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4469690006138523980.post-2554118783445908149Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:17:00 +00002008-02-19T12:46:26.546-08:00environmentFilipe Lopez rolls across the Vincent Thomas Bridge in his metallic green 1997 Freightliner, and points down toward a blanket of smog covering the Port of Long Beach. "Do you see that contamination? We are breathing that." The 36-year-old Lopez, a Long Beach resident from Nicaragua who has hauled containers to and from Long Beach port terminals ports for 13 years, wants port officials to pass thehttp://danielharju.blogspot.com/2008/02/hope-for-truckers-view-of-port-cleanup.htmldaniel.harju@gmail.com (Daniel Harju)0