Calista241
Calista241's JournalAnti-Abortion Groups Condemn Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood Attack
Source: Huffington Post
David Daleiden, the head of the Center for Medical Progress, the group that released controversial and heavily edited videos of Planned Parenthood employees earlier this year, said that he did not support violence against the organization.
“The Center for Medical Progress condemns the barbaric killing spree in Colorado Springs by a violent madman. We applaud the heroic efforts of law enforcement to stop the violence quickly and rescue the victims, and our thoughts and prayers are with the wounded, the lost, and their families," he said in a statement.
snip
Jim Daly, the president of Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group in Colorado Springs, said the shooting was "deplorable."
“Today’s violence at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood facility, just miles from our ministry headquarters, is tragic and deplorable. It is to be condemned," he said in a statement. “Our hearts break for the families of the three individuals killed, a University of Colorado police officer and two civilians. As a community, we share in their sorrow and in their grief."
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/colorado-springs-attack_565a0758e4b079b2818a8f35
It seems some of them do have a conscience.
Bill Gates Expected to Create Billion-Dollar Fund for Clean Energy
Source: NY Times
WASHINGTON — Bill Gates will announce the creation of a multibillion-dollar clean energy fund on Monday at the opening of a Paris summit meeting intended to forge a global accord to cut planet-warming emissions, according to people with knowledge of the plans.
The fund, which one of the people described as the largest such effort in history, is meant to pay for research and development of new clean-energy technologies. It will include contributions from other billionaires and philanthropies, as well as a commitment by the United States to double its budget for clean energy research and development, according to the people with knowledge of the plans, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the fund.
The announcement of the fund, which has the joint backing of the governments of the United States, China, India and other countries, the people said, is intended to give momentum to the two-week Paris climate talks.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/28/us/politics/bill-gates-expected-to-create-billion-dollar-fund-for-clean-energy.html?_r=0
Jen Welter Hired by Cardinals, Believed to Be 1st Female Coach in NFL
Source: Bleacher Report
The Arizona Cardinals are believed to be the first team in the NFL to hire a female coach after adding Jen Welter to their staff Monday as a training camp and preseason coaching intern.
Darren Urban reported the news via the Cardinals' official website, which featured comments from head coach Bruce Arians on the landmark decision to welcome Welter into the fold.
The NFL may traditionally be a man's league, but Welter has the background to handle the spotlight. She played football professionally for 14 years and most recently served as an assistant coach for the Indoor Football League's Texas Revolution.
Read more: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2532774-jen-welter-hired-by-cardinals-believed-to-be-1st-female-coach-in-nfl?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial
Woot!
Jameis Winston did not violate code
Source: ESPN
Attorney David Cornwell confirmed to ESPN's Joe Schad that Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston was ruled to have not violated university conduct code.
A woman had accused Winston of sexually assaulting a former FSU student in his off-campus apartment in December 2012.
During the conduct hearing held earlier this December, Winston declined to answer questions about whether he sexually assaulted the woman, but did read a five-page statement in which he detailed his account of the events on the night of Dec. 7, 2012 and declared his innocence.
At the hearing, Winston repeatedly declined to answer questions from Major Harding, a former Florida State Supreme Court Chief Justice who oversaw the case, and during cross-examination by his accuser, according to people familiar with the case.
Read more: http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls14/story/_/id/12062132/jameis-winston-florida-state-seminoles-did-not-violate-school-code
So here's what I think could actually pass Congress and be signed into law:
1. Decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. Dealers still go to jail, users get a ticket and a summons to court. Even Repubs think we have too many blacks / minorities in jail, and it's a huge waste of money. And convicts face substantial hurdles when re-entering the workforce.
2. They'll probably rewrite the corporate tax code. Obama and other Dems have been for this since forever, and this will probably get done. This means they'll lower the rate and eliminate some loopholes.
That's assuming the forthcoming changes to immigration don't cause 2/3 of Washington to spontaneously combust. Other than that, I think the veto pen gets a workout.
So when does it count as "boots on the ground?"
All i keep hearing from everyone is that we won't have any boots on the ground in our confrontation with ISIL. Yet, somehow we also have almost 2000 troops in Iraq. Some of them are protecting our embassy in Baghdad. Some of them are defending our interests in Kurdistan.
I've even heard on CNN this morning that some of our troops are acting as forward observers, coalition liaisons, and trainers. Do these troops not count as boots on the ground? Are they getting combat pay?
Abbas rejects Egyptian offer to settle refugees in Sinai
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected an Egyptian proposal to resettle Palestinian refugees in a large tract of land in the Sinai Peninsula to be annexed to the Gaza Strip.
Speaking to a gathering of his Fatah party in Ramallah Sunday, Abbas said that an unnamed senior Egyptian official recently approached him and suggested settling Palestinians in an area 1,600 square kilometers (618 square miles) large adjacent to Gaza, reviving an idea originally proposed by former Israeli national security adviser Giora Eiland.
“They [the Egyptians] are prepared to receive all the refugees, [saying] ‘let’s end the refugee story’,” Abbas was quoted by Ma’an news agency as saying.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-rejects-egyptian-offer-to-settle-refugees-in-sinai/
Police investigating the Police
Currently it's this nebulous "internal affairs" division that investigates incidents and cops. They say they're a separate, independent department, but ultimately they all answer to the same person, usually a police chief or some politician.
I believe we need a separate agency, probably federal (but i'm not sure that'd fly in individual states), that investigates all police incidents that result in a fatality. And maybe even a separate court that reviews these cases.
This would accomplish two things. One it would reduce the "thin blue line" and hopefully police whitewashing of these incidents. And two, I believe that ultimately it will increase confidence of the citizenry in the police force.
I know several cops, and all of them say it's a very easy job to fired from. That being said, many citizens clearly do not have confidence in their police force to protect them or treat them fairly.
Comments?
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