Northwestern University may have caused a stir with its football players asking for a union.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-union-qa-northwestern-football-spt-0406-20140406,0,1371315.story

While I concede that lots of things are going on here, this story gives a short synopsis of the what to expect in the near future. I do believe that this is indeed a 'landmark' decision, and there are lots of issues at stake here. For anyone who thinks this is just about 'paying players', you need to bone-up on your reading and comprehension skills. There was a really good interview with Jay Bilas of espn on this, and I think he makes a lot of sense on many of the issues.... But NOT all.

Many issues surrounding college athletics are being discussed on many levels, and in many locations. While this may have the effect of escalating those discussions that possibly will produce good outcomes, it could also have many adverse effects. Those unintended consequences that happen across all spectrum's of life.

At the center of all this is the mess that is the NCAA. Founded in scandal, it has been embroiled in same ever since. Massive reform is needed, IF we want to sustain the allure of amateur athletics at the university level. If good decisions aren't made soon, we may find the four power conferences forming a new alliance that would bolt the NCAA entirely. It all boils down to money, and who has it. Isn't that the story of life.

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"Senior officials have sometimes suggested that government agencies do not deliberately read Americans' emails, monitor their online activity or listen to their phone calls without a warrant," Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado said in a joint statement. "However, the facts show that those suggestions were misleading, and that intelligence agencies have indeed conducted warrantless searches for Americans' communications."

http://news.yahoo.com/us-confirms-warrantless-searches-americans-213242088--politics.html

Plus this:

'President Barack Obama has promised to review some of these programs to determine whether the government should be conducting this type of surveillance at all.'

He's been promising this for nearly a year. How long do you think this will take, Mr. 'I'm a Constitutional Lawyer' President ?

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This is daring, to say the least...

http://news.yahoo.com/countrys-air-polluted-panasonic-giving-workers-hazard-pay-175426766.html

Socialists not paying their bills.... wow...

http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-warns-airlines-not-cut-flights-amid-debt-201758165--finance.html