Daily News Feed 4.14.2009/Vocab: labile

Foster Advocate Rowell Born for the Role
Actress Victoria Rowell, who made her name on the daytime drama “The Young and the Restless,” today leads a life that would be better titled “All My Children.” Raised in foster care, Rowell has devoted herself to foster advocacy. She’ll speak about that and her book, “The Women Who Raised Me: A Memoir” (Amistad, $15) Tuesday at the Aronoff Center as part of the Smart Talk lecture series. “My primary hope is to encourage listeners to not self-edit themselves, to understand that in their corner of the world they can be mentors, guardians, foster parents, any number of roles,” Rowell says. “For example, people don’t know about respite care-giving, where a single parent who can’t commit full-time can offer a week or a weekend of care to give a primary foster family a rest.” (Continue Reading…)

U.S. Weighs Fate of Surviving Somali Pirate
Federal law enforcement authorities are discussing what to do with the lone surviving pirate captured Sunday off Somalia’s coast after a successful military rescue abruptly ended a five-day hostage standoff at sea. According to sources familiar with the case, U.S. government officials are weighing potential legal hurdles they may face if the young Somali captive is flown to New York or Washington to face federal criminal charges. Officially, the government is virtually mum on the discussions. “The Justice Department continues to review the evidence and other issues to determine whether to seek prosecution of this individual in the United States,” said Dean Boyd, spokesman for the Justice Department National Security Division. (Continue Reading…)

New Project to Study and Combat Unconscious Racism
The election of President Obama shows how far America has progressed in overcoming the racial divides that for so long scarred this country. But while overt racism is less and less acceptable in America, unconscious racial bias still plays a large role in our politics and society, as a new project launched today by the Institute for America’s Future seeks to explore. The new project, called “Americans for American Values,” will research the effects of unconscious racial bias on decision making and will develop strategies to support decision-making based on consciously held American values rather than on racial anxiety and stereotypes. The project commences this week with the release of a series of educational videos and a set of research studies. (Continue Reading…)

labile \LAY-byl\, adjective: