ABC News reports that the "Oklahoma County District Court...ruled that a law passed by the legislature in 2009 that imposed restrictions on abortion is unconstitutional, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which had challenged the law. The court ruled that bill 1595 addressed too many topics, and therefore violated the Oklahoma constitution's "single-subject" rule. One of the most contentious parts of the law was the creation of a Web site whereby any woman who had had an abortion would have been required to provide personal details pertaining to her choice, including her relationships, financial situation and motivation for seeking an abortion." However, as the Tulsa World points out, "the information would not have identified the woman." Tweet
Saturday, February 20, 2010
"Family Guy" Creator Responds To O'Reilly And Palin's Criticism Of Down Syndrome Jokes
Aside from what is seen in the above Bill Maher clip, here is the "Down Syndrome Girl" musical from Family Guy, as Stewie sings to Chris before he goes on his date with the girl:
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Friday, February 19, 2010
UN Nuclear Agency Said It Is Worried Iran Is Currently Working On Making A Nuclear Warhead
The AP reports that the "U.N. nuclear agency on Thursday said it was worried Iran may currently be working on making a nuclear warhead, suggesting for the first time that Tehran had either resumed such work or never stopped at the time U.S. intelligence thought it did. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency appeared to put the U.N. nuclear monitor on the side of Germany, France, Britain and Israel. These nations and other U.S. allies have disputed the conclusions of a U.S. intelligence assessment published three years ago that said Tehran appeared to have suspended such work in 2003."
ABC News reports that senior "officials from the Obama administration called a new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s nuclear program 'disturbing,' and suggested Iran's leaders are more determined than ever to pursue a nuclear weapon... The report states in relatively stark terms that 'outstanding issues' that remain unresolved raise 'concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile. These alleged activities consist of a number of projects and sub-projects, covering nuclear and missile related aspects, run by military related organizations.' This is the first time the IAEA has referred to possible “ongoing activities” related to nuclear weaponization, a senior administration official observed."
"The fact that they have increased the level of non-cooperation indicated to me that unless we can mount the international pressure to stop it, that this program is heading more and more in the direction of seeking a weapons capability," a senior administration official. "The pattern of behaviors is one that I think is very disturbing.”
“There is less and less credibility to the Iranian statement that their program is peaceful and much stronger international recognition that we are facing a country that is seeking a nuclear weapons capability," the official said.
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Man Infatuated With Joe Biden Breaches The VP's Olympics Security
That a man breached security is not that surprising, but that anyone could be infatuated with Joe Biden is shocking. Then again, he did have "mental health issues":
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More Jobless Claims And Inflation
CNBC reports that the "number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance unexpectedly surged last week, while producer prices increased sharply in January, raising potential hurdles for the economic recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 31,000 to 473,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That compared to market expectations for 430,000. Another report from the department showed prices paid at the farm and factory gate rose a faster than expected 1.4 percent from December after a 0.4 percent gain in December, as higher gasoline prices and unusually cold temperatures helped boost energy costs."
Yet this is what the President said about the stimulus yesterday:
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Senate Candidate Marco Rubio's CPAC Speech: “The Senate Already Has One Arlen Specter Too Many"
The following is the full speech:
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Erwin Chemerinsky: Arrested Students At UC Irvine Heckling The Israeli Ambassador To The U.S. "Can't Claim 1st Amendment Rights"
To read the article which appeared in the Los Angeles Times visit http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-chemerinsky18-2010feb18,0,2972313.story.
In the article, UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains that "[f]reedom of speech, on campuses and elsewhere, is rendered meaningless if speakers can be shouted down by those who disagree. The law is well established that the government can act to prevent a heckler's veto -- to prevent the reaction of the audience from silencing the speaker. There is simply no 1st Amendment right to go into an auditorium and prevent a speaker from being heard, no matter who the speaker is or how strongly one disagrees with his or her message. The remedy for those who disagreed with the ambassador was to engage in speech of their own, but in a way that was not disruptive. They could have handed out leaflets, stood with picket signs, spoken during the question-and-answer session, held a demonstration elsewhere on campus or invited their own speakers... Within the university, the punishment should be great enough to convey that the conduct was wrong and unacceptable, but it should not be so severe as to ruin these students' educational careers. As a matter of 1st Amendment law, this is an easy case. It would be so no matter the identity or views of the speaker or of the demonstrators. Perhaps some good can come from this ugly incident if the university uses it as an occasion to help teach its students about the meaning of free speech and civil discourse."
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Obama Appoints Controversial Islamic Envoy Who Defended Sami Al-Arian, A Man Tha Pleaded Guilty In 2006 To Conspiracy To Aid Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Fox News reports that "President Obama's new envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, Rashad Hussain, is at the center of a controversy over remarks attributed to him defending a man who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid a terrorist group. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs quoted Hussain in 2004 as calling Sami al-Arian the victim of 'politically motivated persecutions' after al-Arian, a university professor, was charged in 2003 with heading U.S. operations of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The United States has designated the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a foreign terrorist group as far back as 1997. At the time of al-Arian's arrest, then Attorney General John Ashcroft called it 'one of the most violent terrorist organizations in the world.' Al-Arian pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to aid Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was sentenced to more than four years in prison."
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Robert Gibbs: Military Option Is Still On The Table With Iran
Reuters reports that the "White House on Tuesday would not rule out any options, including the military option, for dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: 'I wouldn't rule out anything.' He said Iran's rejection of every attempt by the Obama administration for diplomatic engagement is proof that its nuclear program is 'not of the means and type that they have tried to convince others that's it's for.'" Tweet
CNN Poll: Majority Of Americans Do Not Think Obama Deserves A Second Term
The Hill reports that "52 percent of Americans said President Barack Obama doesn't deserve reelection in 2012, according to a new poll. 44 percent of all Americans said they would vote to reelect the president in two and a half years, less than the slight majority who said they would prefer to elect someone else. Obama faces a 44-52 deficit among both all Americans and registered voters, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll released Tuesday. Four percent had no opinion." Tweet
Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah: "We Will Destroy Buildings In Tel Aviv"
Ynetnews.com reports that "Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah delivered a televised speech in Beirut on Tuesday, saying that Israel 'needs no excuse' to attack Lebanon. 'If Israel wants to, it initiates an excuse,' he noted, warning the Jewish state that 'if you destroy buildings in Dahiya (Beirut quarter known as Hezbollah's stronghold) – we will destroy buildings in Tel Aviv.'"
Nasrallah further threatened to attack infrastructures on the shoreline. "I am saying to the Israelis, if you attack the international airport in Beirut, we will strike Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. If you attack our ports, we will attack your ports, and if you attack our oil terminals, industrial zones and power stations – we will do the same to you," he threatened.
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Monday, February 15, 2010
Top Taliban Commander Captured
The AP reports that the "Taliban's top military commander has been captured in Pakistan in a joint operation by Pakistani and US intelligence forces, the New York Times reported overnight Monday. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been in Pakistan's custody for several days, the newspaper reported on its Web site, quoting US government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a raid by Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, with CIA operatives accompanying the Pakistanis, the Times reported. Pakistan has been leading the interrogation of Baradar, but Americans were also involved, it said. The Times described Baradar as the No. 2 behind Taliban founder and Osama bin Laden associate Mullah Muhammad Omar. Baradar has been running the battlefield command for the Taliban since the 2006 death of Taliban military chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Usmani." Tweet
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Scientist At Center Of Climategate Controversy Admits That There Has Been No Global Warming Since 1995
The Daily Mail reports that "the academic at the centre of the ‘Climategate’ affair, whose raw data is crucial to the theory of climate change, has admitted that he has trouble ‘keeping track’ of the information. Colleagues say that the reason Professor Phil Jones has refused Freedom of Information requests is that he may have actually lost the relevant papers. Professor Jones told the BBC yesterday there was truth in the observations of colleagues that he lacked organisational skills, that his office was swamped with piles of paper and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’. The data is crucial to the famous ‘hockey stick graph’ used by climate change advocates to support the theory. Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon. And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming. The admissions will be seized on by sceptics as fresh evidence that there are serious flaws at the heart of the science of climate change and the orthodoxy that recent rises in temperature are largely man-made."
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Netanyahu Lobbying Russia To Support Iran Sanctions
Reuters reports that "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will push for urgent 'crippling sanctions' against Iran over its nuclear program during talks in Moscow on Monday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. 'We will discuss a number of issues. First and foremost the Iranian issue,' Netanyahu said on Sunday at the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting. He flies to Moscow later in the day. 'Israel believes that heavy pressure must be applied on Iran --- above all very severe sanctions, which were referred to by the U.S. secretary of state as 'crippling sanctions',' Netanyahu said. Iran's announcement this week that it had begun making higher-grade nuclear fuel has heightened Western suspicions that Tehran is trying to develop atomic weapons. The United States, Britain, France and Germany are mulling a fourth round of U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran to persuade it to rein in its nuclear program." Tweet
Former Congressman Charlie Wilson, Who Played A Key Role In Funding And Arming The Mujahadeen In Afghanistan To Drive Out The Soviets, Dies At 76
The Washington Post reports that former "U.S. representative Charlie Wilson, a flamboyant 12-term East Texas Democrat who used his control of CIA purse strings to finance and arm an Afghan insurgency that drove out the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, died Feb. 10 at a hospital in Lufkin, Tex. He was 76 and had a history of heart ailments. Mr. Wilson's epic overseas engagements outlive him. The power vacuum left in Afghanistan when the Soviets exited in 1989 contributed to the rise of the Taliban, and the weapons that Mr. Wilson helped bring to that country were probably in use when the United States went to war there in 2001. 'We were fighting the evil empire,' he told Time magazine in 2007. 'It would have been like not supplying the Soviets against Hitler in World War II. . . . Anyway, who the hell had ever heard of the Taliban then?' If Gust Avrakotos was the CIA agent who got the mules that carried automatic weapons, antitank guns and satellite maps from Pakistan to the Afghan mujaheddin, Mr. Wilson was the congressman who used his position on the Appropriations Committee to supply the cash to make it all happen. Beginning in the early 1980s, he orchestrated the secret effort to funnel billions of dollars to the Afghan battles that would later take his name: Charlie Wilson's War. Published in 2003, investigative journalist George Crile's book of that title told what was then the largely unknown story of Mr. Wilson's key role in a decisive Cold War battle zone. In the 2007 film adaptation, Tom Hanks portrayed Mr. Wilson and Philip Seymour Hoffman played Avrakotos. Mr. Wilson, who served in the House from 1973 until declining to seek reelection in 1996, was not a particularly prominent legislator. Nicknamed 'Good Time Charlie,' he was better known for his penchant for wild parties and wilder women. Tall, sinewy and with matinee idol looks, he frolicked in hot tubs with Vegas showgirls and staffed his office with a parade of young female assistants of dubious qualifications, who were dubbed 'Charlie's angels.'" To read the full article visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/10/AR2010021003848.html?hpid=topnews.
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51% Of Active-Duty Military Oppose Repeal Of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that "a Military Times survey of 3,000 active-duty readers of the specialized weekly newspapers it publishes" revealed that "about 51 percent said they oppose repeal of the policy. Marines were most likely to be against open service by gays, with 64 percent taking that position. Fifty-two percent of Army soldiers, 48 percent of Air Force airmen and 45 percent of Navy sailors shared that point of view." Tweet
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