changing times

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-- In Russia, a mayor has banned toys in a demonstration for clean elections. Their inclusion of toys was an activist effort to get around unsanctioned demonstrations. 200 toys had been expected to take part.

-- In the United States, funding that would allow for the screening of toxic produce has been slashed. If enough people get sick, perhaps they won't swell the ranks of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

-- Interracial marriage is on the rise. Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan must be spinning in their graves. Suddenly "race" is not so clear-cut.

-- And Moody's, one of the credit rating agencies whose credibility was thrown into dubious relief during the 2008 financial crash, has warned that it may cut the credit ratings of 17 global and 114 European financial institutions. How Moody's warnings today are more credible than they were when it was pointed out that the institution was making money by dealing in the instruments it rated beats the shit out of me.
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