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17 May 2010 21:50

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U.S.: Arizona asks illegal immigrants for ID. Trenton, NJ gives them IDs

If illegal immigrants can make it all the way from Mexico to Trenton, N.J. and back to Arizona, there’s a good chance this ID won’t do anything for them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 21:49

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Culture: TNT can’t get enough “Law & Order,” so they might gank it from NBC

  • 32 number of hours of “Law and Order” reruns TNT shows each week
  • maybe the chance that TNT could pick up the show for season 21 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 21:14

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Culture: That was quick: The Internet vets the new Miss USA, finds stuff

  • stripping Rima Fakih took part in a “Stripper
    101” contest for a local radio
    station. She didn’t strip, just danced
    sexy (and stuffed bills in her bra).
  • movies Fakih was an actress in the
    raunchy 2008 short film “Throbbing
    Justice,” by Mantastic Films. No
    nudity, just schlock. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 11:18

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Offbeat: Local news hits the spot when it comes to unfortunate dirty jokes

  • First question: Why were they even covering this particular topic on the local news in the first place? Second question: Is this funnier than “Keep ducking that chicken” or not? (Note: The above clip features kind of “adult” humor. Don’t show it to kids.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 11:09

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U.S.: Key Supreme Court decision No. 2: Limiting life sentences for juveniles

  • 5-4 the Supreme Court’s decision, which says that juveniles can’t be sentenced to life in prison for non-murder crimes
  • 111 number of juvenile prisoners with sentences of this nature nationwide; 77 of them are in Florida alone source
  • » Quick analysis: Despite the fairly tight vote breakdown, this may be the less controversial of the two decisions announced today. (It was nearly 6-3, but Chief Justice John Roberts disagreed with the categorical ban of the sentences.) Most of the sentences of this nature were happening in one part of the country, and the prisoner at the center of the case, Terrance Jamar Graham, was sentenced to life in prison on a 2005 parole violation after he took part in an armed robbery – a harsh sentence for a case of that nature.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 10:53

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U.S.: Key Supreme Court decision No. 1: Holding sex offenders indefinitely

  • The federal government, as custodian of its prisoners, has the constitutional power to act in order to protect nearby (and other) communities from the danger such prisoners may pose.
  • Justice Stephen Breyer • Writing the majority opinion on the case, which the court decided 7-2. This does not affect all sex offenders, but ones who could remain “sexually dangerous” to the community after their release. Which means that sex offenders, who already have been zoned out of many jurisdictions in areas throughout the country, will likely lose even more rights thanks to this decision. (Good, the commenters on the CNN article we linked to say.) There are some heavy issues with this decision and are curious how controversial it will prove. Will it overcrowd the prison system further? Will it encourage more rehabilitation of sex offenders within prison? Either way, this is a heady case. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 10:41

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U.S.: The Supreme Court is making some major rulings; Twitter reacts



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 May 2010 10:36

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Biz: Don’t expect credit companies to give up the war on card fees

  • They plan to keep fighting for them. The interchange fees, which merchants often complain about as being too high for certain transactions, could put a big crimp in Visa and MasterCard’s bottom line if regulated as part of a broader financial reform package. “We lost this battle. It’s a big battle,” said MasterCard’s President for U.S. Markets Chris McWilton. “But the war wages on and we’ll be working really hard over the next week or so to stop this.” If you own a small business, watch this battle. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 10:18

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Politics: Did the mass media fly over the Nashville floods?

  • You get Tennessee pride and the feeling that if there was looting here, the national media would be all over it. I think that’s unfair, but that’s the way some people view it.
  • Tennessean editor Mark Silverman • Regarding the way that the mainstream media mostly glossed over a huge story – a massive flood in Nashville that killed 30 people. But why? The simple answer is that there were seemingly bigger, more nuanced stories happening that week, and a major flood seems old hat. It’s absolutely the worst way to think about it, but it seemingly couldn’t compete with terrorism (the failed Times Square bombing, where nobody died) or a slightly-more-epic disaster (the BP oil spill). The truth is, though, the story got underplayed by the usual suspects, to the point where Anderson Cooper took his crew down there later in the week and apologized for not getting down there sooner. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 09:52

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World: Thailand set a deadline for the Red Shirts to leave. Did it work?

  • NO around 5,000 protesters are
    still in the streets source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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