Study: Only 40 Percent of Liberals Are ‘Proud to Be American’

I blame the patriarchy..

(washisngtonfreebeacon) - If you are a “solid liberal” in the United States, you are unlikely to be “proud to be American,” according to a new Pew Research poll.

The Washington Post explains:

According to a new Pew Research Center study, only 40 percent of consistently liberal Americans say they often feel proud to be Americans.

The other 60 percent say that doesn’t describe them. [...]

By contrast, more than seven in 10 “steadfast conservatives” and eight in 10 “business conservatives” say they are generally proud to be Americans.

The poll results also show that only half of liberals see themselves as “typical Americans.”

The poll also shows many liberals don’t liken themselves to your average American. Just 51 percent say they feel as though they are ”typical Americans” — as compared to three-quarters of conservatives and at least two-thirds of all the other groups.

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Supreme Court rules ObamaCare provision can't force some employers to cover contraception

(foxnews) - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that certain "closely held" for-profit businesses can cite religious objections in order to opt out of a requirement in ObamaCare to provide free contraceptive coverage for their employees.

The 5-4 decision, in favor of arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby and one other company, marks the first time the court has ruled that for-profit businesses can cite religious views under federal law. It also is a blow to a provision of the Affordable Care Act which President Obama's supporters touted heavily during the 2012 presidential campaign.

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Oopsie: Kansas Woman Charged With Arson After Igniting Home to Kill Spider

Bush's fault

Hutchinson, Kan. (AP) -- A 34-year-old Hutchinson woman who says she lit a fire to kill a spider has been charged with aggravated arson after firefighters had to put out a small blaze in her half of a duplex.

The Hutchinson News (http://bit.ly/1qVWdCP ) reports the woman was arrested early Friday after five Hutchinson Fire Department trucks responded at 1:36 a.m. to extinguish the fire. Deputy Fire Chief Doug Hanen says firefighters found light smoke coming from the woman's half of the duplex and some clothing smoldering inside the doorway.

They also found multiple points of origin for the fire, but the duplex sustained only minor smoke damage.

A police summary of the incident says the woman told officers she used a cigarette lighter to ignite some towels to kill a spider.

The aniversary of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, as it happened

On Sunday June 28 1914 in Sarajevo, Gavrilo Princip fired the shot that killed the Archduke and started the train of events that led to global war. Here is a step by step account of how the dramatic day unfolded

North Carolina: Students Can Now Pray At School, Mention G-d In Assignments

(yahoonews) - North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, has signed legislation that will explicitly allow students in public schools across the state to engage in voluntary student-led prayer.

The new law permits students to create religious clubs and coordinate prayer groups, reports North Carolina Fox affiliate WGHP.

The three-page law also allows students to pray by themselves or in groups — aloud or silently — in exactly the same way they can discuss or think silently about any other issue.

Additionally, students will be able to communicate their religious beliefs in written assignments and artwork under the new law without fear of censorship from teachers or school officials.

The legislation does set limits on prayer and G-d talk at taxpayer-funded schools. Religious students won’t be able to interrupt other students who are trying to learn, for example. They also can’t harass nonreligious students.

The law, which takes effect immediately, sailed through North Carolina’s House and Senate chambers with overwhelming support. In the Senate, the vote was 48-1. In the lower chamber, it was 106-9.

Advocates for religious freedom are happy with the outcome. They are also calling for laws allowing voluntary student-led prayer across the union.

“The North Carolina bill is the kind of legislation that is needed in every state,” said Bill Donohue, who heads the Catholic League, in a press release. “To that end, we are contacting the governors in the other 49 states asking them to adopt the North Carolina law as a model in their own state. We are also sending them a copy of the law that Governor McCrory signed.”

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Related - Why do Right Wing Christians think religious freedom means forcing their faith you

Report: Mexican Military Chopper Crosses Into US, Shoots At Border Agents

TUCSON, Ariz. (CBS Las Vegas/AP) — Border Patrol agents in Arizona were reportedly fired upon by a Mexican military helicopter that traveled across the border.

Mexican authorities were conducting a drug interdiction operation when the incident happened early Thursday morning on the Tohono O’odham Indian Nation. The Mexican chopper fired at the agents and then flew back into Mexico.

However, Mexican authorities have denied shooting at agents and say they were under attack during a mission to find smugglers on the border.

Tomás Zerón, the director of the Mexican attorney general’s office investigative office, said that Mexican military and federal police who were conducting an operation on a ranch in Altar, Sonora, were shot at by criminals. Mexican authorities never fired any weapons and in fact never crossed into the U.S. side of the border, he said.

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Lithuania: Russia offered Baltics cheaper gas for NATO exit, says president

(baltictimes)- Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite says that Russia, in an effort to maintain influence over territories that were once part of the Soviet Union, has set out to make the Baltic states “unreliable partners” for NATO and the European Union.

In an interview with Germany’s Focus magazine, Dalia Grybauskaite said that according to her sources, there have been Russian offers to reduce oil and gas prices for Estonia and Latvia, if they were to terminate their NATO membership.

According to Grybauskaite, the offer was part of a broader effort by Moscow to discredit the Baltic states as tensions between Russia and the West escalate over Ukraine, Voice of America reports.

In the interview, Grybauskaite compared Russian president Vladimir Putin with the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin and Germany’s Adolf Hitler.

“[Putin] plays the nationality card as a pretext for military conquest,” said Grybauskaite, adding that " this is exactly what Stalin and Hitler did. Such comparisons are right on the mark.”

Not only Ukraine, but also the Baltic states and Poland have been victims of Russian aggression, she said.

US: Federal court strikes down "No Fly" list as unconstitutional

A federal court in Portland, Oregon has ruled the federal government’s “No-Fly” list is unconstitutional because it violates the right to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

(infowars) - “Without proper notice and an opportunity to be heard, an individual could be doomed to indefinite placement on the No-Fly List,” the court ruled on Tuesday. “[T]he absence of any meaningful procedures to afford Plaintiffs the opportunity to contest their placement on the No-Fly List violates Plaintiffs’ rights to procedural due process.”

The case was brought to court four years ago by the American Civil Liberties Union after 13 American Muslims were added to the list without explanation or ability to seek redress.

“For years, in the name of national security the government has argued for blanket secrecy and judicial deference to its profoundly unfair No Fly List procedures, and those arguments have now been resoundingly rejected by the court,” a lawyer in the case, ACLU National Security Project Director Hina Shamsi, said in a press release issued by the ACLU.

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Washington's militarized land-grabs: Targeting the Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota

here we go again..

In the wake of a Bundy Ranch crisis sparked by a militarized federal land-grab effort in Nevada, it seems that the Department of Interior has set its sights on a new prize - this time targeting once protected Indian reservation land on Pine Ridge in South Dakota.

The Oglala Sioux and Lakota Sioux of the reservation have been told by the Federal Government that the National Parks Service will be taking land that comprises the South Unit of the Badlands National Park as a new 'Tribal National Park', only the wording in the bill clearly indicates that it will be a federally managed national park under the Department of Interior, giving mere lip service to its tribal title.

The Congressional bill has already been written, and if passed through Congress, both tribal members and non tribal members will be stripped of their deeded land - at a price set by the federal government. If owners do not accept Washington's offer (expected to be a meager one), the land can be acquired at no cost because the measure has waived all appraisal rights and stipulates that Washington can simply take Indian land by force under 'eminent domain'.

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3 Ways 'Checking Your Privilege' Never Fixed Anything

Via Cracked.com:

"Check your privilege" has become the standard refrain of people who accuse others of holding opinions that are somehow hostile to the underprivileged or, at least, outside of the ruling class. It's a way of saying: "You, sir, come from a place that has predisposed you to see the world in a self-centered and incorrect way." It is meant to fight the abuses of the rich white patriarchy and point them to the proper path. And the worst thing about the "check your privilege" movement is it does none of that. It helps no one. It fosters no understanding. It fails horribly to move society forward in any way.

Read more: HERE

Oops: Man Sues Airline for Sending Him to Grenada (the country) Instead of Granada (Spain)

This may be the best reason yet to avoid calling to book an airline ticket.

(mashable.com) - Edward Gamson, a dentist from Bethesda, Maryland, thought he had booked a first-class ticket to Granada, Spain, on British Airways. But when Gamson asked a crew member why the plane was heading west from a short layover in London — when Spain was to the east — he got a surprise.

Gamson was on a plane headed to the Caribbean island of Grenada — about 4,000 miles from his intended destination.

It's a mistake unlikely to happen on any online-booking service, but Gamson had called to make the reservation. "Grenada" and "Granada" is easy to mix up, although he claimed to have told theBritish Airways booking agent he was going to Spain.

British Airways initially offered him and his travel companion $376 each, plus 50,000 miles, but Gamson told NBC News that the cost of the missed trip, including hotels, trains and tours, cost more than $34,000.

Gamson is now suing the airline. A spokesperson for British Airways said the airline was unable to comment on active litigation.

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US: Mexican Army Routinely Crosses Undefended Border

- It isn’t just defenseless urchins who are exploiting the undefended border to invade sovereign US territory. The Mexican Army has been doing it too. For some reason this explosive story from last April never got any traction.. Read more

Iraq Has Split Into Three, Says Kurdish Official

(aina.com) - The Iraqi army has effectively disintigrated and the country has now split into three - Kurdish, Sunni and Shi'ite - controlled areas, claims Fuad Hussein the Chief of Staff for Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Anadolu Agency reported

Hussein said that Iraq's oil-rich city of Kirkuk is under the control of Kurdish region.

"Kurdish region is not in the favor of a war. Turkey do not want a war either," he added.

Hussein stressed that the sale of oil from northern Iraq through Turkey's Ceyhan Port will continue. Hussein added that the sales are accordance with the constitution.

"Baghdad's only purpose is to prevent the sale. Baghdad does not want the Kurdish region to take its rights. Turkey has helped the Kurdish region to take this right," he added.

Northern Iraqi oil began shipment from Turkey's southern Ceyhan Port to international markets on May 22, without the agreement of the Iraqi government. The third ship is planned to sail on June 22.

Meanwhile as part of a restructuring of the Iraqi army all generals will be retired, according to a statement from the Iraqi Prime Ministry on Friday.

The Iraqi government claims senior officers fleeing their posts during Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) seizure of Mosul on June 10, were responsible for the city falling into the hands of the militants.

Reserve generals and officers are to be deployed to support the remaining Iraqi forces, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Australia sends troops to Iraq, six months after pulling them out after eight years in the Iraqi War, to protect the country's embassy in Baghdad, stated spokesman for the defence minister David Johnston.

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Berlin House of One: The first church-mosque-synagogue?

Insane.

(BBC) - Berlin thinks it is making religious history as Muslims, Jews and Christians join hands to build a place where they can all worship. The House of One, as it is being called, will be a synagogue, a church and a mosque under one roof.

An architecture competition has been held and the winner chosen. The striking design is for a brick building with a tall, square central tower. Off the courtyard below will be the houses of worship for the three faiths - the synagogue, the church and the mosque. It is to occupy a prominent site - Petriplatz - in the heart of Berlin.

The location is highly significant, according to one of the three religious leaders involved, Rabbi Tovia Ben Chorin. "From my Jewish point of view the city where Jewish suffering was planned is now the city where a centre is being built by the three monotheistic religions which shaped European culture," he told the BBC.

Can they get on? "We can. That there are people within each group who can't is our problem but you have to start somewhere and that's what we are doing."

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Canada: Woman stops for ducks; guilty in 2 deaths

ducks kill people..

MONTREAL (AP) — A Canadian woman who parked her car on a highway to help a group of ducklings on the side of the road was found guilty Friday of causing the deaths of a motorcyclist and his passenger daughter who slammed into her car.

Emma Czornobaj was convicted by a jury on two counts of criminal negligence causing death, a charge that carries a maximum life sentence, and two counts of dangerous driving causing death, which comes with a maximum of 14 years in jail.

Presbyterians Vote to Divest Holdings to Pressure Israel

I wonder where they stand on Kashmir..

(newyorktimes) DETROIT — After passionate debate over how best to help break the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted on Friday at its general convention to divest from three companies that it says supply Israel with equipment used in the occupation of Palestinian territory.

The vote, by a count of 310 to 303, was watched closely in Washington and Jerusalem and by Palestinians as a sign of momentum for a movement to pressure Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and to end the occupation, with a campaign known as B.D.S., for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

New York: Teen stabs to death bully in brief altercation.

Reverse hate crime?

- An altercation between two 14-year-old teens from Joseph Wade Middle School in Morris Heights, New York, led to a fatal incident where Noel Estevez was accused of stabbing fellow student and alleged bully Timothy Crump to death at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

After being constantly bullied and beaten, and even robbed, Estevez finally decided to fight back, but probably did not expect revenge to end up like this.

Harley-Davidson to introduce new electric motorcycles

que conservative outrage..

(washingtonpost) MILWAUKEE — Would a Harley still be a Harley if it didn’t have that out-of-my-way rumble and those fat, hydrocarbon-belching exhausts?

Motorcycle enthusiasts are about to find out as Harley-Davidson rolls out an electric bike — a sleek, futuristic version that sounds like a jet airplane taking off.

The public will get its first look at handmade demonstration models at an invitation-only event Monday in New York. The company will then take the models on the road for riders to try and provide feedback. Harley will use the information to refine the bike, which might not hit the market for several more years.

US: Obama Calls Soccer “Football”

The HORROR!

(moonbattery) - Never mind the dubious birth certificate. Here is how we know that Barack Hussein Obama is no American in any meaningful sense:

President Obama referred to the sport of soccer as “football” during a press conference in Brussels…, raising questions about his commitment to America.

Soccer is the sport of socialists. See here, here, and here for some of the many reasons why. It is also the sport of liberal elitist weenies who think American sports can’t possibly be good enough for them. The most obnoxious of these weenies will even call it “football,” as if that name had not already been taken in this country by a real sport that requires opposable thumbs, where something actually happens.

Further reading: The origin of the Word "Soccer"

Canada: Girl With Face Studded Up on Crusade To Force Employers To Hire People Regardless of Body Modifications

Do Conservatives dislike piercings as much as they dislike tattoos?

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Conservatives have some nerve to put her down like this. It's discrimination! In the US, rehabilitated (released) criminals can't get jobs based on their past criminal history. Talk about a human rights catastrophe this side of the Missouri..

Brave New USA: In a First, Senate Confirms Two Gay Federal Judges

(advocate) - The U.S. Senate confirmed two out nominees to federal judgeships today, marking the first time that two openly gay judicial nominees have been confirmed to the federal bench on the same day.

The action was history-making in several ways. Judge Darrin Gayles, confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is the first openly gay African-American man to be confirmed as a lifetime-appointed federal judge, according to a White House press release. He was previously a circuit judge in Florida.

Staci Yandle, confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, is the first African-American to serve on her court and the first openly gay lifetime-appointed federal judge in Illinois. Yandle, who has practiced law for more than 20 years, is only the second out African-American lesbian confirmed to a federal judgeship. The first was Deborah Batts in the Southern District of New York, nominated by President Clinton 20 years ago. With Yandle’s confirmation, President Obama has appointed more women judges than any other president, breaking the record set by Clinton.

Also confirmed today was a straight nominee, Salvador Mendoza, who becomes the first Hispanic judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Obama has now also appointed more Hispanic judges than any other president, breaking the record previously held by President George W. Bush. Obama had already nominated more African-American judges and openly gay and lesbian judges than any of his predecessors.

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US: Doctor: Deadly diseases crossing border with illegals

(WND) - A flood of illegals has massively surged at our southwestern borders. The economic impact of medical care, education and incarceration for illegals forced on taxpayers is bankrupting Arizona.

Why are such swarms entering the U.S. illegally NOW, particularly children? Newspapers in Mexico and Central and South America are actually describing U.S. “open borders,” encouraging people to come with promises of food stamps or “amnesty.” It is textbook Cloward-Piven strategy to overwhelm and collapse the economic and social systems, in order to replace them with a “new socialist order” under federal control.

Carried by this tsunami of illegals are the invisible “travelers” our politicians don’t like to mention: diseases the U.S. had controlled or virtually eradicated: tuberculosis (TB), Chagas disease, dengue fever, hepatitis, malaria, measles, plus more. I have been working on medical projects in Central and South America since 2009, so I am aware of problems these countries face from such diseases.

A public health crisis, the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime, is looming. Hardest hit by exposures to these difficult-to-treat diseases will be elderly, children, immunosuppressed cancer-patients, patients with chronic lung disease or congestive heart failure. Drug-resistant tuberculosis is the most serious risk, but even diseases like measles can cause severe complications and death in older or immunocompromised patients.

Read more at HERE

Whooping cough at epidemic levels in California, warn officials

(straitstimes.com) SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS) - Public health officials warn that whooping cough poses the greatest risk to young children as California deals with its worst outbreak of the respiratory disease since 2010, with nearly 3,500 reported victims so far this year.

"Prevention of pertussis is particularly important in young infants because they are the ones at risk for severe disease and death," Dr Gil Chavez, state epidemiologist and deputy director of the California Department of Public Health, said on Monday.

Infants, in particular, are the most vulnerable to the disease which causes severe, uncontrollable spasms of coughing that can make breathing difficult, and public health officials urged parents to make sure their youngsters are properly vaccinated.

Vaccines also are recommended for pregnant women and adults who have increased contact with young children.

- See more HERE

At least one dead, 16 injured by tornadoes in Nebraska

(Reuters) - A swarm of tornadoes, some appearing two at a time, struck several farming communities in northeastern Nebraska on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 16 others in one town that was especially hard hit, officials said.

The tornadoes, part of a super-cell thunderstorm system, appeared to be class EF-2 or EF-3 twisters, meaning they packed cyclonic winds of up to 165 miles per hour (265 kph), said Rich Thompson, the lead forecaster for the National Storm Prediction Center.

US: 4 in 10 Teens Admit Texting While Driving

quick, start a hashtag movement

(Time) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found kids are still engaging in a range of risky behaviors, despite a reported drop in cigarette use.

This is in spite of the often horrifying commercials and campaignsaimed at keeping teen drivers’ eyes on the road while behind the wheel. The findings, published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey, are especially daunting given the fact that the bulk of teen deaths are the result of motor vehicle crashes.Today’s teens are distracted behind the wheel, according to a new survey. Though they aren’t smoking cigarettes in high rates, or regularly driving drunk, about 41% of America’s driving teens reported that they had texted or emailed while driving.

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Of course the commercials don't even work, yet they keep saying  texting and driving is bad! 

California: 11 year old student student forced to clean toilets as punishment, contracts whooping cough

At least it wasn't Herpes..

BERKELEY (KCBS) – The Berkeley Unified School District will no longer make students clean up bathrooms as a form of discipline, after complaints from the parents of a fifth grade boy.

11-year-old Ishmael Perry said he was just an innocent bystander when a classmate at LeConte Elementary used bullying language in the afterschool programme, but he was threatened with suspension anyway.

Instead, he chose to clean up the school bathrooms for two weeks, until his mother found out, six days into the punishment.

* * * *

The student should check his privilege next time..

Bush Says He Still Believes Iraq War Was The Fun Thing To Do

(TheOnion) - WASHINGTON—Despite harsh criticism from both sides of the political aisle, the U.S. populace, and former members of his own administration, President Bush once again defended his 2003 decision to invade Iraq, saying that, in the end, it was the fun thing to do.

"On Sept. 11, 2001, we as a nation faced a difficult decision, an important decision, a decision between what was fun and what was wrong," Bush said during a speech before Pentagon officials Wednesday. "We could have backed down and allowed the terrorists to win. But instead, we stood up to the challenge before us, and we said, 'Bring it on—bring the good times on!'"

"Mark my words," Bush continued. "When the dust settles and the smoke clears, history will look back on the Iraq War as a total blast."

Pennsylvania: Mother, jailed for truant kids, found dead in cell.

READING, PA --A Pennsylvania mother of seven died in a jail cell where she was serving a two-day sentence for her children's absence from school, drawing complaints from the judge that sent her there about a broken system that punishes impoverished parents.

Eileen DiNino, 55, of Reading, was found dead in a jail cell Saturday, halfway through a 48-hour sentence that would have erased about $2,000 in fines and court costs. The debt had accrued since 1999, and involved several of her seven children, most recently her boys at a vocational high school.

"Did something happen? Was she scared to death?" said District Judge Dean R. Patton, who reluctantly sent DiNino to the Berks County jail Friday after she failed to pay the debt for four years.

He described her as "a lost soul," and questioned Pennsylvanian laws that criminalize such lapses as truancy or failing to pay a trash bill.

New York: Employees sue company claiming they were forced to say “I love you”

Odd..

(YahooNews) - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of three former employees, against a Syosset, New York company claiming that workers were forced to participate in religious activities at work and fired if they refused.

As reported by Reuters, United Health Programmes of America and its parent company, Cost Containment Group, made employees pray, thank God for their jobs, and tell managers and colleagues, “I love you.” The practice followed a belief system called “Onionhead,” which was a doctrine created by the aunt of the company’s owner.

The EEOC press release says other activities “…included group prayers, candle burning, and discussions of spiritual texts… Employees were told wear Onionhead buttons, pull Onionhead cards to place near their work stations and keep only dim lighting in the workplace. None of these practices was work-related.” The EEOC noted that the company has practiced this ongoing coercion since 2007. "Individuals are free to practice religion or not in line with their own personal beliefs,” Robert D. Rose, regional attorney of EEOC's New York District Office said. “Employers are not permitted to dictate this area of workers' lives. Workplace pressure to conform to the employers' spiritual or religious practices violates federal employment law."

Reuters reports that in 2010, one employee told the management that she was Catholic and did not want to take part in the Onionhead religious practices. One month later that employee was moved from her office and “relocated to an open customer service area, while a large statue of a Buddha was placed in her former office.” After she protested, saying that the move was equivalent to a demotion, she was fired.

The lawsuit asks that fired employees get back pay with interest and receive unspecified damages. It also seeks an injunction against the company from their religious requirements. The EEOC said that efforts to negotiate a settlement with United Health Programs of America through its conciliation process were unsuccessful.

The New York Daily News reports that David Sutton, the attorney representing United Health Programs of America said, “The EEOC lawsuit is completely devoid of merit and we expect that it will be summarily dismissed.”

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UK rules out taking military action in Iraq

It's Bush's fault...

(BBC) - The UK will not be getting militarily involved in Iraq, despite Islamist militants gaining control of more of the country, William Hague has said.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK was considering sending humanitarian aid from "our very large" budget.

But militarily "it is for the Iraqi leadership primarily to respond".

Deputy PM Nick Clegg also opposes action, referring to the 2003 war: "I don't think having made one mistake you repeat it by making a second one."

Hyundai's Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Car Makes US Debut

I wonder if conservatives hate electric vehicles as much as they hate SMART cars..

Los Angeles:
- A Southern California motorist drove off the lot of a Hyundai Motor Co dealership on Tuesday in a zero-emissions car touted by the automaker as marking the commercial debut of mass-produced hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in the United States.

State energy and air-quality officials hailed the occasion in Tustin, California, about 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Los Angeles, as a milestone in efforts to curb tailpipe pollution that accounts for about a third of California's greenhouse gas emissions.

Independent industry analysts were less breathless about the announcement, noting that other automakers, including Honda Motor Co Ltd and Mercedes-Benz, have already put fuel cell vehicles on the road, albeit in very limited numbers.

They said the relatively high cost of building the cars and extremely low number of hydrogen refueling stations would constrain the market for such vehicles for years to come. But they credited South Korean-based Hyundai with making a high-profile commitment to a promising technology.

U.S. Watches As Iraq Speeds Toward Disaster

War, what is it good for?

(cnn) - Fighters for the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took Mosul today, giving the militant group control of Iraq’s second largest city and setting the country on a path toward chaos.

ISIS militants already control Fallujah, a city that American Marines took in 2004 in what was the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War. Now, with both Mosul and Fallujah under their control, nearly half of Iraq is in the grips of a group that is a formal affiliate of a terrorist group.

Equally troubling are the circumstances under which the city fell. Iraqi security personnel simply abandoned their posts, according to reports.

This is problematic for a host of reasons. First, it shows that the American-trained Iraqi military is not adequate. Second, Iraqi soldiers left their weapons behind – giving ISIS a huge cache of equipment.

But the most disturbing aspect of the desertion is what Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki proposed to replace the missing troops. In an address to the nation Tuesday, he called on Iraqi citizens to take up arms against ISIS in an attempt to retake the city.

Full Story.

Not again! 13-year-old Ohio girl stabs mother in 2nd ‘Slenderman’ attack

(washingtontimes) - An Ohio teen attacked her mother with a knife in the second stabbing linked to the fictional horror character “Slenderman.”

A Hamilton County mother, who asked to not be identified, told a local NBC affiliate that her 13-year-old daughter became obsessed with the Internet meme before she stabbed her.

Read more: HERE

Related: 2 12 year old Wisconsin Girls Charged in Stabbing Allegedly Tried to Kill for 'Slender Man'

First grader suspended and facing expulsion after finding toy gun in backpack and even turning himself in

A Pennsylvania 7-year-old was suspended and faces possible expulsion after accidentally bringing a toy gun to school, despite turning himself in.

Arizona: Phoenix woman told to keep her feet on the ground, stop doing cartwheels at public meetings

PHOENIX – A Phoenix woman will have to keep both feet on the ground if she wants to speak at any public meetings.

Sixty-five-year-old Dianne Barker told KSAZ-TV this week) that she's been banned from doing cartwheels at meetings held by the Maricopa Association of Governments.

An attorney for the association that oversees regional transportation projects said in a letter to Barker last month that she must "immediately cease performing cartwheels."

Agency spokeswoman Kelly Taft tells The Associated Press that Barker's cartwheels are disruptive and a public safety liability.

Barker says she will obey the association's request. She was a cheerleader in college and says the cartwheels are a way for her to show her passion.

Taft says the association appreciates Barker's enthusiasm, but she should show it verbally.

GB: Hundreds of foreign criminals escape deportation on human rights grounds

(Telegraph) - More than 630 foreign criminals have escaped deportation since 2011 purely on human rights grounds, Home Office figures show.

In two thirds of these cases, involving some 410 individuals, the criminals successfully fought against the Government’s attempts to deport them in the courts.

In the other 220 cases, the Home Office gave up trying to deport them after learning that they intended to launch a human rights legal challenge.

Foreign criminals are liable to be deported automatically if they have been sentenced to one year or more in prison. However, they are free to lodge an appeal if they believe they should be exempt from deportation.

Many such appeals are brought under human rights laws which offer protection against sending individuals back to their home countries if there is a threat that they would face torture or other mistreatment. A significant proportion however, are brought under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which gives individuals the right to a “private and family life”.

Most offenders appealing against deportation are also entitled to legal aid because they are unemployed after serving a prison term.

Ian Austin, the Labour MP for Dudley North, said voters would want to be reassured that “dangerous foreign offenders are being deported wherever possible”.

Full Story.

We the people? Wisconsin judge overturns same-sex marriage ban

DEMOCRACY!

- MADISON - A federal judge has ruled that Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

Wisconsin's voters passed a constitutional ban against same-sex marriages in 2006, but the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Wisconsin, and the law firm of Mayer Brown filed a lawsuit on behalf of eight Wisconsin couples challenging the ban.

Part of Friday's ruling reads:

"It is DECLARED that art. XIII, § 13 of the Wisconsin Constitution violates plaintiffs' fundamental right to marry and their right to equal protection of laws under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constiution."

Pakistani woman survives after being shot for marrying for love

(Reuters) - An 18-year-old Pakistani has survived being shot and thrown in a canal by her family for marrying the man she loved, police said, weeks after the "honor killing" of another woman drew worldwide condemnation.

Ali Akbar, a local police official, said Saba Maqsood had been attacked and shot by her father, uncle, brother and aunt and thrown into the waterway in the city of Hafizabad in Punjab province.

"It is an honor-related incident," Akbar told Reuters.

"The victim, Saba ... married her neighbor Muhammad Qaiser for love five days ago against the wishes of her family. They took her to Hafizabad, shot her twice and threw her in the canal after putting her in a sack, presuming that she was dead."

#ProudToPlay: Celebrating equality for all athletes

Because soccer is a racist & xenophobic sport lacking in diversity apparently..

#WorldCup2014 go team go!

The United States is deemed one of the worst countries to be a worker

- The United States hasn't fared well in a ranking of the worst places in the world to work.

A report made by the International Trade Union Confederation revealed how efficiently each country upheld workers' rights such as access to legal protections, join unions and freedom from violent conditions, ranking them on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst.

At the very top of the pile was Denmark, the only country in the world to achieve a perfect score, which upheld all 97 workers' rights.

However, the US scored a 4 in the rankings, making it only one spot away from being classified as one of the very worst places in the world to work, due to "serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers" and "systematic violations".

Wal Mart Workers to go on strike, demand better jobs & wages

Let the revolt begin..

(csmoniter) - The current struggle of low-wage workers across America echoes the civil rights struggle of the 1960s.

Today, as then, a group of Americans is denied the dignity of decent wages and working conditions. Today, just as then, powerful forces are threatening and intimidating vulnerable people for exercising their legal rights. Today, just like fifty years ago, people who have been treated as voiceless and disposable are standing up and demanding change.

Although Walmart is no Bull Connor, it’s the poster child for keeping low-wage workers down. America’s largest employer, with 1.4 million workers, refuses to provide most of them with an income they can live on. The vast majority earns under $25,000 a year, with an average hourly wage of about $8.80.

2 12 year old Girls Charged in Stabbing Allegedly Tried to Kill for 'Slender Man'

Wisconsin is one F*ed up place..

(ABCNews) - Prosecutors say two 12-year-old southeastern Wisconsin girls stabbed their 12-year-old friend nearly to death in the woods to please a mythological creature they learned about online.

Both girls were charged as adults with first-degree attempted homicide Monday in Waukesha County Circuit Court; they each face up to 60 years in prison if convicted. A court commissioner set bail at $500,000 cash per child. According to a criminal complaint, the girls had been planning to kill their friend for months and finally made the attempt in a park on Saturday morning, after a slumber party.

One of the girls told a detective they were trying to become "proxies" of Slender Man, a mythological demon-like character they learned about on creepypasta.wikia.com, a website about horror stories and legends. They planned to run away to the demon's forest mansion after the slaying, the complaint said.

Debauchery! Seattle approves $15 minimum wage as conservatives decry fascism

This is why the US can't have nice things...

(CNN) - Seattle's city council on Monday unanimously approved an increase in the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour, making it the nation's highest by far.

The increase was formally proposed by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, and his spokesman said he intends to sign the ordinance on Tuesday.

Washington already has the nation's highest state-level minimum wage, at $9.32. That rate also applies to the city.

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, and Democrats in Congress have been pushing for a gradual increase to $10.10, but so far to little effect.

Spanish King Juan Carlos to abdicate throne

(telegraph) - King Juan Carlos has announced his desire to abdicate in favour of his son, the Crown Prince Felipe, telling Spaniards that it was time for “a new generation” to take over.

"I have decided to end my reign and abdicate the crown of Spain," he said in a televised address on Monday.

The 76-year-old monarch said his son was ready to take the crown in what would "open a new era of hope combining his acquired experience and the drive of a new generation."

Speaking from his office in the Zarzuela Palace, he said it was time for "a drive for renewal, to overcome and correct mistakes and open the way to a decidedly better future".

New state of Telangana is born in southern India

(BBC) - India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh has formally split in two, with its northern area carved out to create a new state called Telangana.

The move followed prolonged protests by residents of Telangana, who felt the region had long been neglected.

Telangana, which officially came into existence at midnight local time, will become the country's 29th state.

With a population of 35 million, it comprises 10 former districts of Andhra Pradesh and the city of Hyderabad.