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01 Oct 2011 20:38

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U.S.: NYPD: 400 arrested on Brooklyn Bridge during protests

  • Some complied and took the walkway without being arrested. Other locked arms and proceeded on the Brooklyn-bound vehicular roadway. The latter were arrested.
  • A NYPD police spokesman • Discussing the arrests of 400 protesters (EDIT: This number jumped significantly from an earlier version of this story — from 50 to 400) on the Brooklyn Bridge earlier today, during the Occupy Wall Street protests, which are starting to pick up some steam (along with union support). Witnesses say that police used orange netting to surround and control the movements of protesters, and those arrested were taken away on three separate buses. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2011 20:08

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Politics: Human Rights Campaign: No surprises from Obama, but a victory lap

  • There was no open support of gay marriage in tonight’s speech, but Obama did speak out in favor of more equality for gays. The president, fresh off his success with the full repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” continued pushing for his view on the Defense of Marriage Act — “It should join ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ in the history books,” he said — and emphasized the hard work that he’s done for the gay rights movement over the past three years. (He also, when bringing up his jobs bill, dropped a couple of government-related lines that will anger those on the right, such as “I believe in a big America”.) While Obama has yet to come out in support for gay marriage (perhaps his most puzzling view), he has done more for gay rights than any president, ever. Still, his view on gay marriage is one that was likely on the minds of many listening to Obama. Here’s how his views have changed on the still-controversial issue over the years:
  • 2004 While he was still in the Illinois State Senate and running for U.S. Senate, a former aide claims that Obama he supported gay marriage at the time.
  • 2008 When he ran for president, however, Obama made it clear that while he supported civil unions, he did not support gay marriage.
  • 2010 Obama’s views on gay marriage began evolving; as of 2011, the Obama administration no longer enforces the Defense of Marriage Act. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2011 16:43

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U.S.: Labor unions slowly latching onto Occupy Wall Street

  • I think it’s a tactic and a valid tactic to call attention to a problem. Wall Street is out of control. We have three imbalances in this country—the imbalance between imports and exports, the imbalance between employer power and working power, and the imbalance between the real economy and the financial economy. We need to bring back balance to the financial economy, and calling attention to it and peacefully protesting is a very legitimate way of doing it.
  • AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka • Talking on C-SPAN Friday about mass protests in general and Occupy Wall Street in particular. Trumka’s endorsement of the protests shadows the growing support the movement is getting from such labor unions as the Transport Workers Union. If the movement grows among labor unions, that will help swell the growth of the movement significantly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2011 16:16

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U.S.: Why the anti-Bank of America “Take Back Boston” protests worked so well

  • Much credit to these protesters: In some ways, these protests were arguably more effective in one quick burst than the Occupy Wall Street protests have been in one long, slow-moving one. With a specific target (Bank of America) and a specific reason (their overly harsh handling of foreclosures) the result is a protest that plays well for the cameras and effectively encapsulates the point of what’s going on. People got arrested, but they did peacefully. It took a while to draw some reaction from Occupy Wall Street; Bank of America was forced to dismiss the protests as a PR stunt right away. But the fact they had to say anything at all is a big deal. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2011 15:35

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Politics, Tech: Eric Schmidt on Google’s antitrust case: We’re not that bad, really

  • So we get hauled in front of the Congress for developing a product that’s free, that serves a billion people. Okay? I mean, I don’t know how to say it any clearer. I mean, it’s fine. It’s their job. But it’s not like we raised prices. We could lower prices from free to…lower than free? You see what I’m saying?
  • Google Chairman Eric Schmidt • Proving to be a bit cagey in an interview after taking questions at a Senate hearing a week ago. Google is facing antitrust questions that they’re abusing their power in the search market, and Schmidt claims that there’s a disconnect at play between Washington and the tech culture of Silicon Valley. “The press is so young, they don’t understand the history here,” he said. “We’re still a small component of what a whole bunch of other companies have done, and certainly most other industries. So I reject all such charges.” Think he’s right about all this? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2011 11:27

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World: Amanda Knox trial: A farce no matter what happens Monday

  • Where does the victim fall into this whole mess? With a verdict in the Amanda Knox trial coming on Monday, we’d like to express our frustration with this case. The entire case — on both sides — seems more obsessed with creating attention for itself, rather than finding any true sense of justice for the victim, Meredith Kercher. With prosecutors seemingly obsessed with ratcheting up the heat on Knox (they asked that she and suspect Raffaele Sollecito receive life sentences, despite the fact their sentences were far less than that the first time around), rather than focused on the facts of the case, it’s likely justice has not been served. Even Knox’s own family has had to put up a giant PR campaign around her, which almost feels like necessity given the insane press coverage around the case. The media coverage feels particularly weird and invasive. The result? Whatever happens Monday will not be justice — it’ll be a bastardization of the word. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Oct 2011 10:13

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World: Pakistan: Security guard in Salman Taseer killing sentenced to death

  • then In January, Pakistani governor Salman Taseer was assassinated under bizarre circumstances — Taseer, who had tight security, was assassinated by one of his own security guards, who admitted to the crime immediately and pointed to Taseer’s opposition to a controversial blasphemy law.
  • now That security guard, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, was sentenced to not one, but two death sentences. “Nobody can be given a license to kill on any pretext,” the judge reportedly said about the case, which is still a bit of a touchy subject. Qadri’s lawyer plans to appeal the decision. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
 
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