QUES: California lags far behind comparable states in funding legal services for the poor, a situation so dire that only 28 percent of the civil legal needs of the state's poor and lowerincome residents are being addressed. That figures translates into 2 million people without the ability to access the justice system, according to a new study by the California Commission on Access to Justice, which also found that despite increased spending, the gap between need and services remains substantial. "As a practical matter, in most cases there can be no access to justice without access to legal assistance," said Jack Londen, past commission chair and a partner with Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. "Whether we like it or not, sometimes landlords illegally evict tenants, children with disabilities are denied proper care, veterans don't get services guaranteed to them, and elderly people need legal assistance to escape the abuse of a caregiver." California has the highest number of people in poverty in the nation - 6.4 million, including nearly one in five children. Half the nation's increase in poverty in the 1990s, when the number of poor jumped 30 percent, occurred in California, and nearly 25 percent of the nation's poverty increase occurred in Los Angeles County alone. Even those with jobs are suffering: 26 percent of California workers earn poverty level wages. The commission's report, "The Path to Equal Justice: A Five-Year Status Report on Access to Justice in California," examined how the legal needs of the state's poor have changed in the last five years as well as both the shortcomings of the justice system and the improvements during that period. Despite increases in state funding to meet the legal needs of the poor, low interest rates (which have reduced the IOLTA fund), high unemployment and the present economic downturn have threatened any gains.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Increases in state funding were made in an effort to meet the legal needs of the poor in which state?

QUES: Earthquakes seemed to outline a special feature of earth's crust. Earthquakes let scientists know where the crust was moving. This led to the discovery that the Earths crust was broken up into regions, or plates. Earthquakes happen most often along these plate boundaries. This was evidence that continents can move. The movements of the plates are called plate tectonics. The Earths crust is divided into plates. There are about a dozen large plates and several small ones. Each plate is named for the continent or ocean basin it contains. Scientists know he plates are in motion. They now know the direction and speed of this motion . Plates dont move very fast. They move only a few centimeters a year. This is about the same rate fingernails grow. So you might wonder, what could cause this motion? What supplies the energy to cause this change?
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Earthquakes happen along plate boundaries, which scientists believe is evidence that what moves?

QUES: Dam Good Luck: From the beginning, Las Vegas was built to serve travelers. The railroad needed a way station, and Las Vegas was the place. Growth continued for ten years, and by 1915 the town had telephones, round-the-clock electricity, and a growing populationmany of whom worked in the railroad repair shop. But such heady progress would soon come to a halt. The growing competition in rail transport resulted in Union Pacific buying the Los AngelesSalt Lake line. Union Pacific then consolidated its operations, eliminating the Las Vegas repair facility. Additionally, Las Vegas had been made a part of Nevada's new Clark County in 1909, a year when the legislature also outlawed gambling. These unfortunate circumstances threatened to relegate Las Vegas to the status of a small desert community that could no longer support its 3000 residents. But the southwest's growing need for water, combined with Las Vegas's fortuitous proximity to the Colorado River, would give Las Vegas a second chance to achieve prosperity. Construction on Hoover Dam (originally Boulder Dam, subsequently renamed for the president who authorized the project) began in 1931 in a canyon 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Las Vegas. Providing an influx of $165 million to the southwestern economy, Hoover Dam played a major role in preventing Las Vegas from drying up, both financially and literally. Not only did it create jobs, but it also created Lake Mead, the massive reservoir that today provides water to all of southern Nevada. More Government Help: The construction of Hoover Dam did not single-handedly save Las Vegas, however. The state legislature helped as well, by legalizing gambling in 1931 and thus solidifying the future of the town, though legislators and residents could never have known this at the time. The hordes of people who attended Hoover Dam's 1935 dedication set the city's now-formidable public relations machine into action. They went to work on what has become one of the lengthiest citywide tourism campaigns ever attempted. It didn't take long for the city to establish itself as a wild-West town with an "anything goes" attitude. Vices outlawed or heavily controlled elsewhere were legal here, available any hour of any day (or night).
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Who worked at making the lengthiest city wide tourism campaigns ever made?

QUES: In 1964 , in the peak of Beatlemania , a reluctant John Lennon is persuaded by manager Brian Epstein to meet Freddie Lennon , the father who abandoned him seventeen years earlier , with the press in attendance . When they meet , John accuses his father of abandoning him , but his father says that '' he left it up to John . '' John and Brian quickly leave the meeting . The movie then jumps to 1967 , after Brian Epstein has died . The Beatles are giving a press conference about their new film , Magical Mystery Tour . John is skeptical about the film , but Paul convinces him to go through with the idea . John then invites his father to his mansion to live with him . Freddie Lennon arrives and meets his grandson , Julian . Sitting with his wife , John reads the criticism of Magical Mystery Tour , while comparing his wife to Brigitte Bardot , whom he says he will meet after he returns from India . John finds a letter addressed to him , with the word '' Breathe '' written on it . Later , after finding his father in a neighbor's house , Freddie reveals that he has a 19 year old girlfriend named Pauline , with whom he wants to live . Lennon accuses his father of leaving him again , and then leaves , after telling his father that he wo n't live with him anymore . After meeting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , the Beatles quickly return to London , and in a press conference they say they made a mistake when they trusted Maharishi . The journalists are curious about the Beatles new business -- Apple Records .
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Why does John accuse his father of leaving him again?