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30 Mar 2011 18:05

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U.S.: Ohio House passes anti-union bill, abortion next big fight

  • labor war The Republican-led Ohio House approved their much publicized anti-public union bill, adding payments for health care and pensions, and restricting collective bargaining for 360,000 or so people. The bill will now head to the Senate.
  • culture war The Ohio “heartbeat” bill heads to the House. It would make abortion illegal if a fetal heartbeat is detected (normally about six weeks into pregnancy). The doctor would be guilty of a felony and could be sentenced to a year in prison. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Mar 2011 12:46

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U.S.: From the chamber: Senator Dick Durbin’s Muslim rights hearing

  • …it is incumbent upon all Americans who love this nation and the values our Constitution protects to make it clear to defend the civil rights of our Muslim neighbors are as important as the rights of Christians, Jews and non-believers.
  • Senator Dick Durbin • On his Senate hearings on anti-Muslim discrimination, broadly viewed as a counter-weight to Rep. Peter King’s hearings on radicalized Islam in the House. For what it’s worth, King’s anti-terrorism zeal wasn’t beyond the scope of his responsibility, nor could it not have been handled tastefully as a hearing on terrorism writ large. The standard of tacitly condemning an entire community for the actions of the very few, however, was and is unpleasant, and its given Durbin a chance to shine some light in the other direction. Also, isn’t it cool that non-believers get a shout out, too? The first time we can recall that was during  Obama’s inauguration, and it’s a welcome and overdue addition to the public discourse on faith. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jul 2010 21:11

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Tech: The Library of Congress made iPhone jailbreakers’ collective days

  • yes They’re now allowing people to legally jailbreak their spiffy phones without fear of retribution. iPhone users win.
  • no That doesn’t mean Apple has to make it easy for you to jailbreak it. They can still void your warranty.
  • yes They’ve also made cracking and ripping DVDs totally legal, and expanded unlocking rights. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2010 21:26

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Tech: Mark Zuckerberg: My lawyer isn’t “unsure” about anything

  • If we said that we were unsure, I think that was likely taken out of context. Because I think we were quite sure that we did not sign a contract that says that they have any right to ownership over Facebook.
  • Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg • Responding to the widely-reported claim that Zuck’s lawyer is unsure that Zuckerberg signed a contract with Paul Ceglia. Despite this, he did reportedly have a contract with the wood fuel salesman. Just not one that gave the sketchy dude the right to 84 percent of Facebook. On a funny side note, Facebook has a lawyer named Lisa Simpson. Which is what we expected her to be all along. Right? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Apr 2010 20:50

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U.S.: Obama orders added hospital visitation rights for gays, lesbians

  • He says they’re “uniquely affected” by relatives-only policies at hospitals. The Obama administration today asked the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a rule to make sure that gays and lesbian partners have the same rights of visitation as straight partners do. “There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital,” he said on the memo, “Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 6 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2010 12:53

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Politics: Bono’s busy schedule: Stop file-sharing, defeat AIDS, save Africa

  • Perhaps movie moguls will succeed where musicians and their moguls have failed so far, and rally America to defend the most creative economy in the world, where music, film, TV and video games help to account for nearly 4 percent of gross domestic product.
  • U2 lead singer Bono • Regarding file-sharing’s danger to the content industries. As crazy as this quote is, it starts out even crazier: “But we know from America’s noble effort to stop child pornography, not to mention China’s ignoble effort to suppress online dissent, that it’s perfectly possible to track content.” This guy is just as arrogant and full of it as the glasses and haircut (and crappy recent music) suggest. He compared file sharing to child porn and free speech. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2009 21:24

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U.S.: Obama signs a hate-crimes bill eleven years in the making

  • Through this law, we will strengthen the protections against crimes based on the color of your skin, the faith in your heart, or the place of your birth. We will finally add federal protections against crimes based on gender, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation.
  • President Barack Obama • On signing a hate-crimes bill that, for the first time, protects people based on their sexual orientation. The bill is something that’s been fought for since the dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. (who was black) and beating death of Matthew Shepard (who was gay) shined light on the issue in 1998. Critics of the bill say it just adds further regulations to a highly-regulated process. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Sep 2009 17:48

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Culture: Annie Liebovitz gets a second chance to pay her massive bill

  • In these challenging times I am appreciative to Art Capital for all they have done to resolve this matter and for their cooperation and continued support. I also want to thank my family, friends, and colleagues for being there for me and look forward to concentrating on my work.
  • Famous magazine photographer Annie Leibovitz • Discussing the agreement she made with Art Capital Management to avoid losing ownership to her photography and homes. Leibovitz faced a Tuesday deadline to repay a $24 million loan. The new terms mean she has a new deadline to pay off the loan, but that deadline hasn’t yet been set. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Sep 2009 13:51

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Tech: Daily poll: Facebook, Twitter, and your social-networking rights

  • Biz Stone says your tweets are yours. Yesterday, the Twitter CEO updated the site’s blog and told users that while Twitter can distribute as it would like, “they are your tweets and they belong to you.” As Facebook has faced lots of criticism from users about privacy issues (and MySpace has a rep as a place for sex predators), social networking often runs into issues with the rights of its users. So, that’s what this poll is about. Have an opinion? Vote. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Sep 2009 09:01

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Culture: Celebrity photog Annie Leibovitz could lose her photos today

  • $24 million debt to repay, by today, or her images aren’t hers source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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