Breaking News Events

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by Kobi

When the heck did this happen?


SOMERVILLE - Despite Gov. Deval Patrick’s concerns that it might be used to “identify and police” undocumented immigrants, the Registry of Motor Vehicles will be able by January to implement a new law requiring that vehicles be registered only by someone with “proof of legal residence,” according to Registrar Rachel Kaprielian.

Gov. Deval Patrick unsuccessfully sought to amend and then vetoed legislation with the new requirement, but the Legislature rejected his amendment and then overrode his veto, 24-10 in the Senate and 135-19 in the House. The plan was inserted into the fiscal 2013 state budget and while proponents said that it was a common sense safety measure, Patrick said it veered too far into stringent immigration enforcement.

The law says anyone registering ownership of a motor vehicle at the Registry of Motor Vehicles must have “proof of legal residence” though Kaprielian will be empowered to write “exemptions for out-of-state students, military personnel, senior citizens and disabled persons,” as well as other exemptions.

Under the law, people seeking to register a motor vehicle or trailer would need to provide a driver’s license, a state identification card, Social Security number or “other proof of legal residence.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/reg...60197&srvc=rss

This does not bode well.....

[Andrea]

California man accused of ESPN post about killing kids arrested

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/18...#ixzz270tbMneE

"A California man accused of posting comments on ESPN's website that claimed he was watching kids and wouldn't mind killing them is in jail on $1 million bail after he was arrested for investigation of making terrorist threats."

Stupid: YES
Scary person: YES
Troll: YES
Terrorist: NO

I don't like it and the posting scares me but we can't lock up people for this type of thing. Think if the precedence it sets.

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Andrea

California man accused of ESPN post about killing kids arrested

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/18...#ixzz270tbMneE

"A California man accused of posting comments on ESPN's website that claimed he was watching kids and wouldn't mind killing them is in jail on $1 million bail after he was arrested for investigation of making terrorist threats."

Stupid: YES
Scary person: YES
Troll: YES
Terrorist: NO

I don't like it and the posting scares me but we can't lock up people for this type of thing. Think if the precedence it sets.

I am suspecting there is more to this story than is being reported at the moment.

I thought it was odd myself and went looking for other stories on it. Seems there was more than one posting but there is no elaboration on the content aside from this headline grabber.

I am more concerned as to what ESPN's criteria is for reporting postings on their web site to authorities.

[Corkey]

Actually we can lock people up for this, it's called a credible threat of bodily harm. We have no way of knowing if it's a stunt, or if he means it. If he truly meant to kill children, and the investigators find evidence that he had means to carry out his threat, then yep they can arrest him and charge him as they did. I think they are using the legal meaning of terroristic threat for the charge.

[macele]

espn forums, comments, etc. ... the outlets they give for people to express their thoughts, are abused. tremendously. this sort of threat and so many others ... just meanness, are done on a daily basis ... on the boards/comments. espn doesn't police very well.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by Corkey

Actually we can lock people up for this, it's called a credible threat of bodily harm. We have no way of knowing if it's a stunt, or if he means it. If he truly meant to kill children, and the investigators find evidence that he had means to carry out his threat, then yep they can arrest him and charge him as they did. I think they are using the legal meaning of terroristic threat for the charge.

If evidence was found, I would agree but I don't see anywhere that evidence was found. As Kobi said there may be more to the story.

I do find it interesting that the bail is $100,000 for a threat but someone with actual evidence of child porn has bail at $50,000. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/09/12...of-child-porn/

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Andrea

If evidence was found, I would agree but I don't see anywhere that evidence was found. As Kobi said there may be more to the story.

I do find it interesting that the bail is $100,000 for a threat but someone with actual evidence of child porn has bail at $50,000. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/09/12...of-child-porn/

We aren't always privy to the case, and that is for good reason.

[Kobi]

Reuters) - Three U.S. states have joined a lawsuit against federal regulators, challenging the constitutionality of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that overhauled U.S. financial oversight and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The attorneys general of Michigan, Oklahoma and South Carolina are challenging a portion of Dodd-Frank that empowers the Treasury secretary to order the liquidation of failing financial institutions, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday.

The states joined a suit filed in June by conservative think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Texas bank and a senior citizens group.

Dodd-Frank, passed by Congress in response to the 2007-2009 U.S. financial crisis, gives regulators broad authority to oversee financial institutions.

It has since drawn criticism from Republicans and industry groups who say the new regulations go too far and could strangle businesses and restrict credit. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pledged to repeal Dodd-Frank, but few see that promise turning into a reality.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/three-state...3--sector.html

[LeftWriteFemme]

Minister's email to gay community sparks privacy complaints




http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stor...ian-email.html

[Canela]

U.S. immigration to recognize same-sex partners
September 29, 2012 Ronnie Cohen


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Obama administration has directed immigration officials to recognize same-sex partners as family members in deportation cases, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Friday.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Pelosi in a letter that she had ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to notify its field offices "that the interpretation of the phrase â??family relationships' includes long-term, same-sex partners."

To read the entire article click link below...


http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...tion-officials

[MsTinkerbelly]

California governor signs ‘ex-gay’ therapy ban into law
By Jacob Combs

California is now the first state to prohibit the use of so-called gay ‘conversion’ therapy on minors after Governor Jerry Brown signed a ban into law this Saturday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. From the Chronicle:

The bill, SB1172 by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), bars mental health practitioners from performing so-called reparative therapy, which professional psychological organizations have said may cause harm. Gay rights groups have labeled them dangerous and abusive.

“This bill bans non-scientific ‘therapies’ that have driven young people to depression and suicide. These practices have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery,” Brown said in a statement to The Chronicle.

Brown approved the ban after the public release of two other lists of bills signed and vetoed earlier Saturday. Lieu’s bill is expected to appear on a new list to be released Sunday.

The new law will take effect on January 1 and will prohibit mental health providers from practicing therapy with an aim “”to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.”

The Courage Campaign, which sponsors P8TT, was among the groups spearheading the push to pass SB 1172 through the legislature and encourage Governor Brown to sign the bill. Rick Jacobs, Courage’s founder and chair, issued the following statement the bill was signed:

“Governor Brown has shown courage for enacting the first law in the nation to ban ‘conversion therapy’ for gay people. The Governor’s action will protect thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth of California. This law will save lives here and across the nation by ending the torture of young people through the quackery that suggests that gay people can decide somehow not to be gay, which is akin to white people deciding not to be white. Once again, California is a model for the nation.”

[Okiebug61]

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-livin...193700343.html

[Kobi]

When Jennifer Livingston, the morning news anchor for WKBT-TV in La Crosse, Wisconsin, got the email last week, she was stunned.

"Now those of us in the media get a healthy dose of critiques from our viewers throughout the year, and we realize that it comes with having a job in the public eye," she said. "But this email was more than that."

Tuesday morning, when she took a took a deep breath and, her voice was trembling just a little, read the email out loud. On air.

"Hi, Jennifer," she read. "It's unusual that I see your morning show, but I did so for a very short time today. I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical conniption hasn't improved for many years. Surely you don't consider yourself a suitable example for this community's young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain. I leave you this note hoping that you'll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle."

She didn't identify the writer of the email, saying only that she received it on Friday from a La Crosse Man, and that the subject was "Community Responsibility."

October is National Anti-Bullying month, she pointed out to her viewers. "It is a major issue in the lives of young people today, and as the mother of three young girls, it scares me to death," she said. While the cruel words "mean nothing to me," what angers her is the fact that kids are bullied, in person and via email and social media, every day.

"This behavior is learned. It is passed down from people like the man who wrote me that email," she pointed out. "If you are at home and you are talking about the 'Fat News Lady,' guess what? Your children are probably going to go to school and call someone fat."

"We need to teach our kind to be kind, not critical, and we need to do that by example," she added, thanking viewers and Facebook fans for taking a stand against a bully. "We are better than that email. We are better than the bullies which try to take us down."

She wrapped up her editorial with a word to kids who find themselves facing bullies of their own.

"To all of the children out there who feel lost, who are struggling with your weight, with the color your skin, your sexual preference, your disability, even the acne on your face. Listen to me right now: Do not let your self-worth be defined by bullies," she said. "Learn from my experience that the cruel words of one are nothing compared to the shouts of many."

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-livin...193700343.html

[Okiebug61]

http://news.yahoo.com/court-wont-hea...135227504.html

[Nat]

Married Lesbian Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

[Kobi]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - Republicans in Arkansas are struggling to get past the controversy generated by a state lawmaker who wrote that slavery might have benefited blacks and a candidate who has advocated expelling Muslims from the United States.

The Republican politicians' comments have been roundly criticized and have created an opportunity for Democrats ahead of the November 6 election. Arkansas has a Democratic governor but has voted Republican in the past three presidential elections.

In his self-published 2009 book titled "Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative," state Representative Jon Hubbard of Jonesboro, Arkansas, writes that "the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise."

Hubbard, a retired teacher and Vietnam veteran who was elected to the statehouse in 2010, also wrote, "Wouldn't life for blacks in America today be more enjoyable and successful if they would only learn to appreciate the value of a good education?"

His book also says that blacks "are likely much better than they ever would have enjoyed living in sub-Saharan Africa."

Charles Fuqua of Batesville, Arkansas, is currently seeking a House of Representatives seat. His e-book "God's Law: The Only Political Solution" came out in April on Amazon.

"I see no solution to the Muslim problem short of expelling all followers of the religion from the United States," he writes in his book, according to The Arkansas Times newspaper.

Fuqua, an attorney, served as a state representative from 1995 to 1998 before losing a state senate race.

Neither Hubbard nor Fuqua could be reached for comment. Both are running for election in November.

The Republican Party of Arkansas denounced their comments and distanced itself from the two candidates.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/arkansas-re...235129440.html

[Kobi]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Debate about the idea of creating a separate budget for euro zone countries is intensifying in the run-up to an EU summit later this month, with less opposition to the proposal than many officials first expected, diplomats say.

While conceptually it may make sense for the countries that share one currency to also create a single budget, it immediately raises thorny questions about sovereignty, budget discipline and long-term ambitions.

Germany's precise ideas about how a single budget would be financed, managed and employed are likely to be vastly different from Portugal's, Estonia's, Italy's or France's once leaders and finance ministers get into the nitty-gritty of the concept.

Yet there are already some broad proposals doing the rounds, including the idea -- backed by France -- that the budget could be financed by revenue from a financial transactions tax (FTT).

Germany and France are already driving an initiative to establish an FTT among nine euro zone, the minimum number permitted to do it alone. There is already support from eight countries and a ninth could come on board as soon as next week, giving added impetus to the plan.

But other euro zone countries that might like a single budget, such as Finland, are lukewarm on the idea of an FTT, underscoring just how complex negotiations could become.

There are also differences of opinion about why a single budget is desirable. Germany sees it as a means of building solidarity and tightening budget rules without moving to the more extreme suggestion of mutualising all euro zone debt.

France sees a single budget more as a means of ironing out divergences in social and employment policy, arguing that it could be used to help underwrite unemployment benefits in a country suffering from much higher joblessness than the rest.

While many countries are voicing quiet support for the idea, it is also clear that most have a conflicting take on what it would involve if it were ever to become a reality.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/single-euro...--finance.html
-----------------------


This is scary news. One the one hand it can be seen as desperate times call for desperate measures. On the other hand, it can be seen as advancing the new world order of one currency and one economy.

[Kobi]

According to a new report in The Washington Post, the median net worth of the current Congress rose 5% during the recession while it fell 39% for the average American. The wealthiest one-third of lawmakers saw their net worth rise 14%.

The Washington Post disclosed these statistics in a recent story on the wealth gap between Congressional members and the American public.

"These are supposed to be our representatives," says The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task. "If they're not living the same lives or understanding the lives that the average American is living, how can they really represent our interests?"

The Post analyzed the financial disclosure forms and public records for all Congressional members from 2004 to 2010. Some key findings of the report are:

By 2010, the median estimated wealth for members of the House of Representatives was $746,000; for senators it was $2.6 million.
There was virtually no difference between the wealth of Republicans and Democrats in 2010. Just six years earlier, the net worth of Republicans was 44% higher than the net worth of Democrats.
28% of Congress, or 150 members, reported earning more income from outside jobs and investments than from their Congressional salary of $174,000.
27% of Congressional members saw a decline in their net worth between 2004 and 2010.
Lawmakers acquired their wealth in a variety of ways but real estate, institutional funds and the wealth of their spouses were the top three sources.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi increased her wealth by an estimated $60 million between 2004 and 2010. The gains primarily came from the commercial real estate holdings of her husband, according to The Post. Representative Darrell Issa made his reported $448 million in commercial real estate as well as other financial investments.

"We have this huge disparity that's only getting worse in terms of inequality in this country," says The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget. "If it continues, the country will begin to break apart and get more and more antagonistic class warfare. It's something we have got to solve not only in Congress but in the American public at large."

Is Congress pursuing policies that benefit middle and lower income Americans? The Washington Post found that 73 lawmakers sponsored or co-sponsored legislation that could benefit businesses or industries that involved those Congressional members or their families.

"It's just outrageous that our legislators could be profiting directly from the legislation that they're making," says Aaron Task.

Top 10 Wealthiest Members of Congress (by household assets, 2010) according to The Washington Post:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) $448.1M
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) $380.4M
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) $231.7M
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) $143.2M
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) $136.2M
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) $101.1M
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. VA) $99.1M
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) $85.6M
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) $73.2M
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) $69.0M

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily...164000800.html

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by Kobi

According to a new report in The Washington Post, the median net worth of the current Congress rose 5% during the recession while it fell 39% for the average American. The wealthiest one-third of lawmakers saw their net worth rise 14%.

The Washington Post disclosed these statistics in a recent story on the wealth gap between Congressional members and the American public.

"These are supposed to be our representatives," says The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task. "If they're not living the same lives or understanding the lives that the average American is living, how can they really represent our interests?"

The Post analyzed the financial disclosure forms and public records for all Congressional members from 2004 to 2010. Some key findings of the report are:

By 2010, the median estimated wealth for members of the House of Representatives was $746,000; for senators it was $2.6 million.
There was virtually no difference between the wealth of Republicans and Democrats in 2010. Just six years earlier, the net worth of Republicans was 44% higher than the net worth of Democrats.
28% of Congress, or 150 members, reported earning more income from outside jobs and investments than from their Congressional salary of $174,000.
27% of Congressional members saw a decline in their net worth between 2004 and 2010.
Lawmakers acquired their wealth in a variety of ways but real estate, institutional funds and the wealth of their spouses were the top three sources.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi increased her wealth by an estimated $60 million between 2004 and 2010. The gains primarily came from the commercial real estate holdings of her husband, according to The Post. Representative Darrell Issa made his reported $448 million in commercial real estate as well as other financial investments.

"We have this huge disparity that's only getting worse in terms of inequality in this country," says The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget. "If it continues, the country will begin to break apart and get more and more antagonistic class warfare. It's something we have got to solve not only in Congress but in the American public at large."

Is Congress pursuing policies that benefit middle and lower income Americans? The Washington Post found that 73 lawmakers sponsored or co-sponsored legislation that could benefit businesses or industries that involved those Congressional members or their families.

"It's just outrageous that our legislators could be profiting directly from the legislation that they're making," says Aaron Task.

Top 10 Wealthiest Members of Congress (by household assets, 2010) according to The Washington Post:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) $448.1M
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) $380.4M
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) $231.7M
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) $143.2M
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) $136.2M
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) $101.1M
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. VA) $99.1M
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) $85.6M
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) $73.2M
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) $69.0M

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily...164000800.html

The only way to solve this is to get private money out of political campaigns. Public financing of all campaigns and all elections. That way the regular man or woman of any socioeconomic class can run for office and get elected.........

You always hear that the Republicans are the filthy rich ones.........yet the top 10 is 7 Democrats and 3 Republicans.......mmmmmm

[LeftWriteFemme]

'Every trip is unique': Expedia releases groundbreaking same-sex marriage advert
Find Your Understanding advert has been watched more than a million times on YouTube
Poignant advert shows a father travelling across the U.S. to attend his daughter's same-sex wedding
Some viewers have branded the clip 'sinful' and 'sexually deviant'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ge-advert.html