Month: January 2014

Categories
Politics Texas

Judge Orders Pregnant Brain – dead Woman By Taken Off Life Support

It was her wish, and that of her family that she be taken off life support if that decision had to be made, but thanks to the “small government” Republican controlled state of Texas, she was kept on life support against the wish of her family.

Chalk this one up for the Republican’s idea of small, non intrusive, government.

A federal judge ordered Friday night that Marlise Muñoz, the Texas woman who has been kept on life support against her and her family’s will, be removed from her ventilator and respirator.

Muñoz has been legally dead since she collapsed on her kitchen floor in November, but the state has kept her on a ventilator because she was pregnant. Lawyers for the John Peter Smith Hospital, where Muñoz is being kept, cited an obscure state law that stipulates that hospitals are required not to remove “life-sustaining treatment” from pregnant women to argue that such life support was necessary.

However, lawyers both for Muñoz’s family and for John Peter Smith Hospital acknowledged Friday that the fetus was “non-viable.” Earlier, attorneys simply had indicated that the fetus suffered “abnormalities,” but did not say whether it could viably live outside of the womb.

Muñoz’s case has sparked a conversation about the bodily autonomy of pregnant women when it comes to end-of-life wishes. Texas is one of 12 states that invalidates a woman’s wishes if she is pregnant.

Categories
Gun Control gun control Music Politics

This Artist Turns Guns into Musical Instruments

Pedro Reyes says being Mexican is like living in an apartment where an upstairs neighbor has a leaking swimming pool.

“Just what is leaking,” says Reyes, “is hundreds of thousands of guns.”

He wants people to think about the availability of guns in the United States, and the impact that has in Mexico.

At the University of South Florida in Tampa, he recently held a series of workshops and a performance, using theater to encourage a discussion about guns. It’s called “Legislative Theater,” a style of performance pioneered in Latin America in the 1960s to influence social change.

In Tampa, Reyes called his project “The Amendment to the Amendment.” Specifically, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to bear arms. Reyes asks his actors and the audience to consider if there are possible changes that might improve the amendment

Reyes believes art should address social issues like gun violence, even when they’re difficult and controversial. “We have to be allowed to ask questions,” he says. “If you are not allowed to ask questions, you are not free.”

Reyes also addresses the issue of gun violence in another way, by using guns themselves. His first project began in 2007 in the Mexican city of Culiacan. As part of a campaign to curb shootings, the city collected 1,527 guns. He used them to create art.

“Those 1,527 guns were melted and made into the same number of shovels,” he says. “So for every gun now, there’s a shovel. And with every shovel, we planted a tree.”

Now Reyes is working on a new project. It is one that transforms guns into something more musical.

An exhibition of the work is on display at the University of South Florida’s Contemporary Art Museum. It’s called “Disarm,” and consists of guns that have been turned into musical instruments.

Categories
Featured News shooting

Teenage mom, 17, shot dead ‘by her 14-year-old brother because she accidentally bleached his clothes’

The relatives of a teenage mother say she was shot and killed by her 14-year-old brother because of an argument over laundry.

Justice Toliver, 17, was allegedly killed by her younger brother Mario because she bleached his clothes.

The shooting took place just after noon on Thursday in Oakland, California, according to police spokeswoman Johnna Watson.

Justice Toliver, 17, was allegedly killed by her 14-year-old brother because she bleached his clothes

JusticeToliver, 17, was the mother to a three-year-old daughter and had just got a new job, her family said

The girl was discovered in a Chinatown apartment with a fatal gunshot wound. The victim was pronounced dead by emergency medical workers.

The teenage suspect is now on the run with relatives pleading for him to hand himself into police. They say that they have no idea how he got a gun.

Family members told KTVU-TV that Miss Toliver had a three-year-old daughter and had just started a new job.

The suspect’s grandmother begged her grandson to hand himself in. She told ABC7: ‘So once again, grandson, grandma is asking you, please do the right thing, please. And I love you, I love you with all my heart.’

Police have not confirmed a motive. The investigation is ongoing.

Rell Toliver, who is believed to be a relation of Miss Toliver, posted grief-stricken messages on Twitter following the young woman’s death.

He wrote: ‘I know you gon watch over me Baby Girl. I love you so much. I was just witchu on New years this s*** gotta be a dream. Watch over me Justice ily.’

Miss Toliver was allegedly killed by her 14-year-old brother after she spilled bleach on his clothes

Mario Toliver, the teenagers’ father, reacted with complete shock over the news that his son had allegedly killed his daughter

Read more: DailyMail

Categories
Politics

Lamar Alexander’s Former Chief of Staff Commits Suicide

Jesse Ryan Loskarn, a former chief of staff to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), was found dead Thursday in Carroll County, Md., following charges that he possessed and distributed child pornography. The Maryland medical examiner’s office confirmed Friday afternoon that the cause of death was suicide.

“At approximately 12pm yesterday, Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a private residence … for a report of an unconscious male, believed to be deceased,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Friday. “Family members reported finding 35-year old Jesse Ryan Loskarn unresponsive in his basement where he’d been residing with family since this past December.”

Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Maryland medical examiner’s office, told the Los Angeles Times that Loskarn had died by hanging himself.

Loskarn had been arrested in December by U.S. Postal Service investigators on charges that he possessed and distributed child pornography after a raid on his home.

As a grand jury began its proceedings, Loskarn was released from custody and was residing at his parents’ home in Maryland. He was ordered not to use the Internet and to wear an ankle bracelet to track his movements.

The complaint filed against him alleged that he possessed a hard drive filled with “hundreds of videos depicting underage boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”

Loskarn had served as Alexander’s chief of staff for two years. The senator said in a December news release that he was “stunned, surprised and disappointed” by the allegations. On Friday, Alexander said, “For everyone involved, this is a sad and tragic story from beginning to end.”

Loskarn’s parents, Chuck and Gay Loskarn, also released a statement Friday.

“We loved our son very much, and we’re devastated by his death,” they said. “Please respect our privacy at this difficult time and let us grieve in peace. Pray for him, his family and friends.”

Prior to joining Alexander’s office, Loskarn had served as communications director for Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) from 2003 to 2007. In a statement to HuffPost, Blackburn said, “We received the news with sadness and are keeping his family in our thoughts and prayers.”

This story has been updated with comments from the medical examiner’s office, Loskarn’s parents, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn.

Categories
Politics

Virginia Legislature Prohibits American Flags on Sticks – Allows Guns

What is the bigger risk inside a state capitol building: openly carrying an American flag or an assault rifle?

In Virginia, visitors to the state legislature cannot bring American flags and signs affixed to sticks, because capitol security considers sticks a public threat. Firearms, however, are allowed.

A group of gun violence prevention activists discovered this when they arrived on Monday to attend a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event. According to Virginia Capitol Police, the groups were informed beforehand of the restriction barring sticks at permitted rallies, because they can be used as weapons.

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’s Gena Reeder said they were aware of the rules, but “certainly not in our wildest imagination thought that could apply to the American flag.”

While the moms tore out the dowels of their flags, capitol grounds visitors with firearms were ushered through the entrance. That day, Virginia Citizens Defense League and other gun rights groups organized a “Guns Save Lives” day. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that about half of the crowd was armed, packing weapons that ranged from handguns to assault rifles.

The anti-gun violence activists couldn’t reconcile this conflicting message in their heads, Reeder explained. “We are sending a message that you cannot hand carry an American flag into a state capitol, but you can bring a loaded weapon,” Reeder told ThinkProgress. “Are guns becoming more patriotic than an American flag?

h/t ThinkProgress

Categories
MSNBC Politics

Priorities – MSNBC Interrupted Congresswoman for Justin Bieber News – Video

What is wrong with these people?

Categories
Politics

New Poll: The Christie Ship is Sinkin’

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Following a second week of revelations about “Bridgegate,” Gov. Chris Christie’s job approval and favorability ratings have dropped dramatically among New Jerseyans, with Democrats driving the decline, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Following more than a year of strong bipartisan support, Christie’s favorability rating is now 46 percent favorable to 43 percent unfavorable, down from 65 percent favorable just before his landslide re-election. This drop in support is led by a 26-point decline among Democrats.

Voters are slightly more positive about Christie’s performance as governor, with 53 percent approving how he handles the job. But this is down 15 points since November; well below the 66 to 73 percent support Christie had enjoyed throughout the year since Superstorm Sandy. Asked to grade the Governor, 43 percent now award Christie an A or B – down 16 points– and 29 percent assign either a D or F, compared to just 18 percent two months ago.

Christie’s ratings drop is driven by a very large decline among Democrats while most Republicans – and many independents – continue to stand by the Governor. In November, 45 percent of Democrats were favorable, but with new challenges to Christie’s bipartisan leadership, only 19 percent of Democrats are now positive. Democratic approval of Christie’s job performance has dropped  from 51 percent to 29 percent. While noticeably down from November, Republicans are still very positive: 78 percent feel favorable, and 83 percent approve of the job Christie is doing. Independent support has also dropped, but a majority continues to favor Christie.

Categories
Politics

Another Republican Activist Leaves The Republican Party

Gay political activist and longtime Republican, Jimmy LaSalvia, did not merely leave the GOP last week. He loudly denounced his former party for its “culture of intolerance” and predicted it will never “win another Presidential election.”

LaSalvia, who founded GOProud, and now plans to become independent, came to the inescapable conclusion that the party is just hopelessly “out of touch with life in America.”

“The changes the Republican Party is implementing really amount to nothing more than lipstick on a pig,” LaSalvia said on Yahoo! and ABC News program Top Line, echoing President Obama’s observation in 2008. “It’s a culture of intolerance that I just don’t think any amount of policy changes can fix.”

The 2012 election that sealed the deal for LaSalvia.

“It was the Romney campaign that really got me to understand just how severe the problem is,” LaSalvia told Top Line. “And after [that], I just thought, ‘I don’t know if [the GOP] will ever win another Presidential election again.’”

HIs analysis was as practical as it was brutal. The GOP is doomed because it continues to cater to intolerant people rather than tell them the word has changed and they need to get with it.

“The object of political parties is to win elections, and I’ve determined that the Republicans can never win a national election again, and so at that point, what’s the point?” While LaSalvia still identifies as a conservative, he feels he won’t be alone as an independent.

Categories
Politics

John Boehner Blames The Republicans for The Government Shutdown – Video

The House Speaker and leader of the Republicans went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night, and explained that the government shutdown of 2013 was a wrong move, and that the blame was squarely on the backs of the Republicans.

Boehner also explained that he told his “colleagues” not to shut down the government, but the chose not to listen.

“I told my colleagues in July that I don’t think shutting down the government over Obamacare was going to work, because the president ‘I’m not going to negotiate.’ So I told them in August, ‘Probably not a good idea.’ Told ‘em in early September.”

“But when I looked up,” he told Leno, “I saw my colleagues going this way. And you learn that a leader without followers is simply a man taking a walk. So I said, ‘You want to fight this fight? I’ll go fight the fight with you.’ But it was a very predictable disaster.”

“So the sooner we got it over with the better. We were fighting for the right thing, but I just thought tactfully it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

“Some members,” he continued, “I have to be the big brother figure. Some, I have to be the father figure. Others, I have to be the dean of students or the principal. Some of them, I have to be the Gestapo.”

“There’s nothing I could do that was ever conservative enough for them.”

Categories
New Jersey New York Sports Super Bowl

Super Bowl: Bracing For Subzero Weather in an Open-air Stadium

America is set for the coldest month of the century as weather forecasters predict yet another freezing blast of Arctic air – putting Super Bowl Sunday in jeopardy.

Teams have been warned to stay on high alert for changes to the scheduling of the first Super Bowl to be played in an open-air stadium.

Temperatures have already hit record lows, at times making parts of the U.S. colder than the North Pole, and are expected to plunge in the coming days.

The timing could not be worse for one of the biggest global sporting events, which will be exposed to the full force of the elements at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on February 2.

Eric Grubman, NFL vice president of business operations, told the Denver Post: ‘We are advising teams to prepare in case a contingency plan goes into effect.’

The game could be moved to the preceding Friday or Saturday or the following Monday if authorities decide the weather will constitute a danger to public health.

Broncos coach John Fox and Seattle coach Pete Carroll will be the first to know if the event is rescheduled.

Matt Rogers, president of Commodity Weather Group LLC, said: ‘The crazy thing is that the current cold snap this week look to be a bit more modest in the face of next week’s outbreak.

‘The cold coming for the end of January is sufficient to make this the coldest month of the century so far and the coldest the Lower 48 has felt in the last 20 years.’

Categories
Politics

Poll: Republicans Know Nothing about The Poor and They Don’t Care

They think Americans are poor because they’re too lazy.

Findings released Thursday by Pew showed that most Republicans think rich people are largely responsible for their socioeconomic status. They also feel the same way about poor people.

Fifty-seven percent of GOP voters said that a person is rich because “he or she worked harder than others,” while just 32 percent attribute it to advantages they enjoyed. The results are almost completely flipped among Democrats.

Overall, 51 percent of Americans said that people are wealthy due to advantages in life, while 38 percent said it had more to do with hard work.

Pew also found that 51 percent of Republicans believe that people are poor due to a lack of hard work, compared with just 32 percent who attribute it to circumstances beyond their control.

Those results also put Republicans out of step with the rest of the country.

Categories
Politics

Conservative Commentator Dinesh D’Souza Indicted – Arraignment on Friday

He’s been after president Obama for a while now, manufacturing a bunch of lies and conspiracies about the president of the United States. Now, it seems the conservative nut has found himself in some trouble.

According to reporting by USA Today, Dinesh D’Souza has been indicted on charges of violating federal election laws and could face up to seven years in prison if found guilty, according to documents released Thursday by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.

According to a notice emailed to the press, authorities charge D’Souza made illegal contributions to a U.S. Senate campaign in the names of others and caused false statements connected with those contributions to be made to the Federal Election Commission.

Authorities did not name the U.S. Senate candidate. In 2012, D’Souza campaigned for Wendy Long, a Republican who challenged Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand to represent New York in the U.S. Senate. Long’s campaign website appeared to no longer be operating, and Reuters reported she could not be reached. Gillebrand won the election.

D’Souza, 52, a former policy analyst in the Ronald Reagan White House, will be arraigned Friday in federal court in Manhattan, according to the statement.

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