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Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 12, 2016 16 Comments
California's Santa Monica police may have prevented West Coast mass shooting today, by arresting a armed man with explosives heading to the areas's gay pride parade.
Authorities in Santa Monica found possible explosives as well as a cache of weapons and ammunition Sunday in the car of a man who told them he planned to look for a friend at the L.A. Pride festival in West Hollywood, a law enforcement source said. Federal and local law enforcement decided against canceling the annual parade, which went forward Sunday morning under tightened security. Investigators are now trying to piece together what happened but said they don’t believe there is any connection between the incident and the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., that killed at least 50 people overnight. Early Sunday, Santa Monica police received a call about a suspected prowler near Olympic Boulevard and 11th Street. Patrol officers responded and encountered an individual who told officers he was waiting for a friend, according to a law enforcement source familiar with details of the arrest. That led officers to inspect the car and find several weapons – including three rifles, one of them an “assault rifle” -- and a lot of ammunition as well as tannerite, an ingredient that could be used to create a pipe bomb, said the source. The car had Indiana plates.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 12, 2016 12 Comments
California is now beginning to implement its new right-to-die law, so terminally ill patients with six months or less to live can ask their doctor for life-ending medication.
The law requires terminally ill patients to submit three requests to their doctor for life-ending drugs. Two of them are verbal requests and must be at least 15 days apart. Patients must submit the third request in writing. Doctors and pharmacists can refuse to issue lethal medications without any fear of consequences. Patients can also opt out at any time. California will become the fifth state to allow medical aid in dying, and it's estimated that some 1,500 lethal prescriptions will be written in the state each year.
When Californians passed a medical marijuana measure, marijuana dispensaries began opening. In the wake of the new physician assisted suicide law, the first "right to die" clinic has been created.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 11, 2016 9 Comments
Riot police had to break up a huge clash between England and Russia fans only hours before the countries met at Euro 2016. The violence left a 51-year-old England supporter fighting for his life. Pictures show him on the "ground with blood pouring from a head wound while a French police officer tried to revive him." https://twitter.com/DailyMailUK/status/741721515239059456 The attacks occurred in France's port city of Marseille at 3PM local time. It took the police four years to disperse the crowd.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 11, 2016 13 Comments
The House has voted to condemn a carbon tax as "detrimental to American families and businesses." The Hill reports:
The House voted Friday to condemn a potential carbon tax, closing the door on a climate change policy popular in some conservative circles. Lawmakers passed, by a 237-163 vote, a GOP-backed resolution listing pitfalls from a tax on carbon dioxide emissions and concluding that such a policy “would be detrimental to American families and businesses, and is not in the best interest of the United States.” Six Democrats voted with the GOP for the resolution. No Republicans dissented. The non-binding resolution is first and foremost a defensive measure, to get lawmakers on the record against a carbon tax, in case it’s part of a future proposal, perhaps part of a comprehensive tax reform package or in return for repealing certain regulations. President Obama has not proposed a carbon tax, and while many Democrats support the idea, it has not taken hold as a serious legislative proposal in years.
Obama has, in fact, proposed carbon taxes, the most recent being the $10 per barrel tax on oil; a fact noted in this Hill article: "The House also voted 253-144 to condemn Obama’s proposal from earlier this year to impose a $10.25 tax on each barrel of oil, an idea that never got much support in Congress."

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 10, 2016 9 Comments
Gawker Media filed for bankruptcy protection due to the $140 million verdict to Hulk Hogan after they published a video of him having sex with his best friend's wife. I saw people celebrating the bankruptcy news, but this action allows Gawker to delay any payment to Hogan. The bankruptcy also allows the company "to continue operating and paying its staff" with a $22 million loan. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy claim actually puts Gawker under federal protection so they can reorganize and pay their debts:
Under Chapter 11, a debtor can restructure its finances through a plan of reorganization approved by the bankruptcy court. By reducing obligations and modifying payment terms, a Chapter 11 plan can help a debtor balance its income and expenses, regain profitability, and continue in operation. Under Chapter 11, a debtor also can sell some or all of its assets so it can downsize its business if necessary or pay down claims that it owes.
The company "listed estimated assets of $50 million to $100 million and liabilities of $100 million to $500 million." Gawker includes Deadspin and Jezebel.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 10, 2016 4 Comments
Over 200 people attended WWII veteran Serina Vine's funeral after word spread on social media she did not have any living relatives. Vine passed away on May 21 at the Community Living Center in DC. Only a few people planned to attend the funeral, but that changed when Army Mj. Jaspen Boothe received a message on Facebook and retired Marine William Jones organized the funeral:
Army Maj. Jaspen Boothe, who addressed the crowd in a dress and combat boots, said she received a Facebook message Friday stating just four people had RSVP’d for the funeral. So she reached out to various organizations to tell them about the woman she described as homeless but not hopeless. She said Vine was her sister because both swore to defend the Constitution. “We are all a testament to what we do when we are called to honor our fellow brothers and sisters,” said Boothe. She is president of the nonprofit Final Salute Inc., which assists homeless female veterans. Boothe, who is now in the Army Reserve, said she was homeless for about a year in 2006.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 07, 2016 5 Comments
Police suspect Islamic militants killed an elderly Hindu priest in Bangladesh, the latest in attacks on non-Muslims in the Asian country. Three men on a motorcycle attacked Anando Gopal Ganguly, 68, as he rode his bike "in an isolated rural area nor far from his home" in Jhenidah:
“It seems the attackers were following the priest from his home and killed him at a convenient place,” Mr. Kanjilal said. Mr. Ganguly’s throat was slit, and he was “almost beheaded,” said Mr. Kanjilal, who said he suspected that Islamist militants were responsible.
Jhenaidah lies about 100 miles west of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Kanjilal said farmers found Ganguly's "body in a rice field." The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the murder, but police said "all the recent attacks were the work of domestic extremists."

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 07, 2016 3 Comments
Today host Savannah Guthrie announced her pregnancy this morning, but also said she won't travel to Rio due to Zika concerns. She said:
“I’m not going to be able to go to Rio ... The doctors say that we shouldn’t because of the CDC, because of the Zika virus, so I’ll miss it,” she said. “You’re going to have to go to female beach volleyball without me, Matt (Lauer). Try to carry on,” she joked. “You guys will have a great time, and I’ll hold down the fort.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended pregnant women not travel to Zika hot spots. Experts have linked the virus to microcephaly, a birth defect that occurs when the brain does not form properly during pregnancy snd results in a small head.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 06, 2016 22 Comments
Mike Rowe teamed up with Prager University to deliver their official video commencement address. You can forget the platitudes about following your dreams and passions, because Rowe keeps it real; practical too. Rowe challenges the oft-repeated triteness that following your passion is always the best life decision and dishes out a hard truth -- just because you're passionate about something, doesn't mean you're good at it:

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 06, 2016 1 Comment
Police suspect radical Islamists murdered a top Bangladesh officer's wife who has investigated numerous murders of bloggers. In Chittagong, three men shot Mahmuda Khanam Mitu in the head at 7AM local time as she walked their son to a bus stop. Then the men stabbed her nine times before they sped away on a motorbike. The police promoted her husband Babul Akter "after leading a slew of raids against banned Islamist extremist groups, such as Jamaat ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)." The groups have claimed responsibility for the murders of many anti-secularist and gay bloggers in Bangladesh.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 06, 2016 8 Comments
The Canadian parliament wants to make the English-only version of its national anthem gender neutral. The bill will change the lyric "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command." Why the change? Because it's 2016, you guys!! From MRC-TV:
New Democrat MP Christine Moore said, “We are in 2016. The Canadian population will understand why we want to make the change. It is not a big change, and there will not be a big difference in the national anthem, but the difference is significant for women all across Canada.” “It is the right time to do it. Let us make our national anthem inclusive,” she continued. Liberal MP Greg Fergus, who also supports the bill, said, “This year, 2016, marks the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote. Next year we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation. It would be nice if we stopped excluding women from their national anthem.”

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 06, 2016 14 Comments
We've been hearing a lot about the movement toward a cashless world, and Sweden now appears to be leading the race to become completely cashless. The Guardian reports:
“I don’t use cash any more, for anything,” said Louise Henriksson, 26, a teaching assistant. “You just don’t need it. Shops don’t want it; lots of banks don’t even have it. Even for a candy bar or a paper, you use a card or phone.” Swedish buses have not taken cash for years, it is impossible to buy a ticket on the Stockholm metro with cash, retailers are legally entitled to refuse coins and notes, and street vendors – and even churches – increasingly prefer card or phone payments. According to central bank the Riksbank, cash transactions made up barely 2% of the value of all payments made in Sweden last year – a figure some see dropping to 0.5% by 2020. In shops, cash is now used for barely 20% of transactions, half the number five years ago, and way below the global average of 75%.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 05, 2016 5 Comments
U.S. cyclist Tejay van Garderen has decided not to attend the 2016 Rio Olympics this summer due to the Zika virus. Van Garderen has concerns he could contract the disease and give it to his pregnant wife and unborn daughter:
“If Jessica were not pregnant right now, assuming I was selected, I would go,” van Garderen told CyclingTips. “But the fact is, she is pregnant. If we were just going to start trying, I’d say we could start trying six months after the Olympics. But when she has a baby in her belly, I don’t want to take any chances.”
His statement comes a week after 150 of the world's top doctors demanded the Olympic Committee either move or postpone the games.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 04, 2016 21 Comments
As a proponent of serious scientific review of environmental policies, I have been blessed to share news related to climate change with Legal Insurrection readers. Little did I realize this might have made me a criminal in my home state! Fortunately, it looks like I have dodged a bullet...legally. California Senate just sidelined a bill to prosecute climate change skeptics.
Senate Bill 1161, or the California Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act of 2016, would have authorized prosecutors to sue fossil fuel companies, think tanks and others that have “deceived or misled the public on the risks of climate change.” The measure, which cleared two Senate committees, provided a four-year window in the statute of limitations on violations of the state’s Unfair Competition Law, allowing legal action to be brought until Jan. 1 on charges of climate change “fraud” extending back indefinitely. “This bill explicitly authorizes district attorneys and the Attorney General to pursue UCL claims alleging that a business or organization has directly or indirectly engaged in unfair competition with respect to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic induced climate change,” said the state Senate Rules Committee’s floor analysis of the bill.

Posted by New Neo on June 04, 2016 13 Comments
Muhammed Ali's death is the sort of news that will be covered in the media for weeks, with tributes and reminiscences. He styled himself "The Greatest," and boxing aficionados say that he certainly was one of the greatest, or maybe even the greatest, just as he had always claimed. People like me, who never followed boxing and can hardly bear to watch it, still know a lot about Muhammed Ali, because he has been a huge celebrity and unique personality ever since he burst on the scene as Cassius Clay. Brash and talkative, he went through many transformations---his name, his women, his religion, the form his religion took (from racial- and anger-focused Black Muslim to more conventional Islam and a far more mellow outlook)---as well as the terrible transformation wrought comparatively early in his life by Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's is a progressive disease, and Ali's diagnosis came at the age of 42---although, looking back, his trainer Angelo Dundee thought he might have shown signs as early as the age of 38. It is commonly assumed that his Parkinson's was the result of his boxing career and all the blows he took, and although that may be true it is not necessarily the case for Ali:

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 03, 2016 5 Comments
Devastating floods have forced officials to shut down the Louvre and evacuate priceless works of art. The Louvre houses the Mona Lisa, but workers assured people she will remain protected on her upper floor. But the most visited museum in Europe must shut down:
"Due to the level of the river Seine, the Musée du Louvre will be exceptionally closed to the public on June 3, 2016 to ensure the protection of the works located in flood zones. We apologize for any inconvenience caused," the museum said on its website.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 01, 2016 29 Comments
So, this is pretty gross, but to each her own (placenta smoothie). ::shudders:: After extensive research, pregnant Jordan Thiering decided she wanted to take the afterbirth (placenta) and whip it up in a smoothie. When she talked to her OBGYN, she was told to check with the delivering hospital. The hospital told her she would need a court order. “I grew my baby, I grew my placenta,” Thiering said. “There should be no one that can tell me what I can or can’t do with it.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 31, 2016 18 Comments
Katie Couric has changed her mind and finally decided to take responsibility for an edit in her "Under the Gun" documentary that made a pro-gun rights group look idiotic. She released this statement last night:
As Executive Producer of “Under the Gun,” a documentary film that explores the epidemic of gun violence, I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL). My question to the VCDL regarding the ability of convicted felons and those on the terror watch list to legally obtain a gun, was followed by an extended pause, making the participants appear to be speechless. When I screened an early version of the film with the director, Stephanie Soechtig, I questioned her and the editor about the pause and was told that a "beat" was added for, as she described it, “dramatic effect," to give the audience a moment to consider the question. When VCDL members recently pointed out that they had in fact immediately answered this question, I went back and reviewed it and agree that those eight seconds do not accurately represent their response.
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