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22 Sep 2011 19:02

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U.S.: A local government cracks down on … wait for it … Bible study

  • San Juan Capistrano, calif. claims it’s a zoning issue. A couple in California has held a number of twice-weekly Bible study meetings in their home, but the city says that went against city zoning codes. So they fined them $300. A spokeswoman for the city says that it was to stop them from “transforming a residential area into a place where people regularly assemble” — but emphasizing that the city was in fact not trying to block people from being able to hold Bible studies. Pacific Justice Institute (a “religious legal non-profit group” which sounds like the ACLU, except for issues of Christian faith) is fully prepared to take this to the Supreme Court “if necessary.” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Sep 2011 17:57

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Politics: Join us for the GOP debate tonight!

  • Live from Orlando, Florida: We’ve got another rousing GOP presidential debate tonight, this time presented by Fox News and Google, and we figured we’d make an evening of it again! We’ll be liveblogging the debate along with DC Decoder, so by all means check out our coverage — you can follow along with the “GoogleDebate” tag. Maybe we’ll get to see these two handsome devils go head-to-head? This is a big night for Jon Huntsman, on the heels of a surge in the New Hampshire polls which landed him in third place behind Mitt and Ron. Look for him to make an impact tonight. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Sep 2011 12:47

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Biz: Meg Whitman reportedly on track to become HP’s new CEO

Many people compared Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman during the 2010 election, due to their tech executive backgrounds and their high-profile rookie political campaigns. Soon, they’ll have another reason. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Sep 2011 00:24

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U.S.: Jamey Rodemeyer: 14-year-old’s suicide stirs emotions

  • I didn’t realize how many people he touched. He was the sweetest, kindest kid you’d ever know. He would give all his heart to you before he gave any to himself.
  • Tracy Rodemeyer • Discussing her 14-year-old son Jamey, who took his own life this week. He was bullied in school for many years for his perceived homosexuality; he recorded his own “It Gets Better” video and was called “outwardly upbeat and extroverted” by his peers. But clearly, this wasn’t enough. Buffalo News writer Sandra Tan asks aloud the one question that needed to be asked: “Given Jamey’s prolific writings and raw commentaries online, could someone have intervened sooner and saved him?” source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2011 22:34

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U.S.: Man involved in infamous James Byrd Jr. hate crime executed

  • Hopefully, today’s execution of Brewer can remind all of us that racial hatred and prejudice leads to terrible consequence for the victim, the victim’s family, for the perpetrator and for the perpetrator’s family.
  • Clara Taylor, the sister of James Byrd, Jr. • Speaking of the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer, one of the men responsible for the infamous hate crime that took her brother’s life. “We’re making progress,” she said. “I know he was guilty so I have no qualms about the death penalty.” This is in contrast to Taylor’s nephew, Ross Byrd, who felt it wasn’t the right move prior to the execution. Brewer was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m. local time — or 7:21 EDT. His final words: “No. I have no final statement.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2011 21:24

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U.S.: Troy Davis execution delayed as Supreme Court mulls over case

  • yeah … The U.S. Supreme Court has stepped in to render a decision on the ultra-controversial Troy Davis death row case, which delayed his execution past 7 p.m. EDT.
  • … butAll they’ve forced right now is a delay — there is a chance that the court might let the execution go forward. His supporters are in a frenzy this evening. source
  • » A last gasp: The Supreme Court’s decision is Davis’ final option — today alone, he’s offered to take a polygraph, he’s tried to appeal to the Georgia pardons board, he’s gone to the Georgia Supreme Court … and the U.S. Supreme Court’s move was a hail-mary play which had no guarantee of working. The court likely knew it was coming, though. Davis has knocked on their door before, and they’ve answered at least once — back in 2008, they gave Davis an opportunity for a new trial, but a federal judge didn’t go for it.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2011 17:14

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Politics: Rick Santorum wants Google to help clean up his search results

  • I suspect if something was up there like that about Joe Biden, they’d get rid of it. If you’re a responsible business, you don’t let things like that happen in your business that have an impact on the country. To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can’t handle, but I suspect that’s not true.
  • Rick Santorum • Decrying the fact that, as you quite possibly already know, typing “Santorum” into Google yields a pretty surprising first search result. This has been true for some time, but it’s now become a renewed thorn in Santorum’s side because of his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. His answer? Call on Google to censor the offending definition, it seems. What we like most about this quote, though, is the “have an impact on the country” part. Confidence can be admirable, but what odds would you put on Rick Santorum really believing he has a chance to be President? This guy is campaigning hard, and for no apparent reason. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

21 Sep 2011 10:58

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U.S.: Death penalty: One of James Byrd Jr.’s killers will be executed tonight

  • With all the hubbub over Troy Davis’ probable execution, there’s another death penatly case that’s about to hit a head tonight, and this one was probably far more notorious at the time. In 1998, James Byrd, Jr. (right), was murdered in one of the worst hate crimes in modern times — dragged behind a pickup truck that was moving at full-speed. Lawrence Russell Brewer, left, is an avowed white supremacist and one of two men on death row for the attack. Brewer is scheduled to die tonight, but Byrd’s own son doesn’t want that. “You can’t fight murder with murder,” Ross Byrd said about the case. “Life in prison would have been fine. I know he can’t hurt my daddy anymore. I wish the state would take in mind that this isn’t what we want.” The execution is set for 6 p.m. local time tonight. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2011 10:04

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Culture: Tony Bennett’s September 11 remarks draw strong scrutiny

  • They flew the plane in, but we caused it. We were bombing them, and they told us to stop.
  • Tony Bennett • Discussing September 11, 2001 with Howard Stern on Monday night. As you might guess, the legendary singer regretted saying this after the fact, because it drew a ton of controversy. “There is simply no excuse for terrorism and the murder of the nearly 3,000 innocent victims of the 9/11 attacks on our country,” he said in a statement released Tuesday night. “My life experiences — ranging from the Battle of the Bulge (in World War II) to marching with Martin Luther King — made me a lifelong humanist and pacifist, and reinforced my belief that violence begets violence and that war is the lowest form of human behavior.” So, in other words … he stands behind his basic point (violence begets violence), but admits he worded it really poorly. Check. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2011 09:49

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World: American hikers freed from Iranian prison … finally

  • what After a process delayed by a judge’s vacation, American hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were reportedly freed from an Iranian prison this morning.
  • how The two men were freed on a $500,000 bond — each — but the source of the bond money is being kept a secret by the lawyer for the men. Anonymous donor?
  • why The Iranian government jailed the men (and a woman who was with them) on spying charges, but their main crime seems to be trespassing. Crisis over. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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