Category: Uncategorized

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Rutgers Dharun Ravi found guilty in Tyler Clementi case

A former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate’s love life was convicted of all counts Friday in a case that exploded into the headlines when the victim of the snooping committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge.

Dharun Ravi, 20, shook his head slightly after the guilty verdicts were read for all 15 counts, including bias intimidation — a hate crime that was based on the victim’s sexual orientation — and invasion of privacy. He was also found guilty of tampering with evidence,witness tampering and hindering prosecution.

The most serious charges in the Rutgers case centered on whether Ravi’s actions had constituted bias intimidation, meaning that he was motivated to inspire fear in the Ridgewood, New Jersey, native because of his sexual orientation. Those charges carry jail time of up to 10 years and possible deportation back to India.
(source)

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Rick Santorum says he will ban pornography

Rick Santorum said that “America is suffering from a pandemic of harm from pornography,” and accused the Obama administration’s Justice Department of favoring “pornographers over children,” in a statement on his campaign website.

The former Pennsylvania senator argues that “current federal ‘obscenity’ laws prohibit distribution of hardcore [obscene] pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier.”

The statement said that if elected, Santorum would appoint an attorney general who would vigorously enforce federal obscenity laws.

“The Obama administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography and has refused to enforce obscenity laws,” the statement read in part. “While the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers over children and families, that will change under a Santorum administration.”

“A wealth of research is now available demonstrating that pornography causes profound brain changes in both children and adults, resulting in widespread negative consequences,” the statement noted.
(source)

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Melrose Place vet to play Mark Salling’s father on GLEE

Melrose Place vet Thomas Calabro will play the estranged father of Mark Salling‘s underachiever in this season’s 18th episode, which is slated to air in April.

Family reunions have been a major theme of Glee‘s third season, during which we’ve met the parents of Rachel, Mike, Sam and Emma.

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Today in shady doings…

A New Jersey jury unanimously decided that Americo Lopes had cheated his coworkers out of their share of a $38.5 Mega Millions jackpot lottery pool on Wednesday.

The panel rejected the 52-year-old’s claims that he had won the jackpot on a personal ticket and not with the ticket that he had bought as part of the lottery pool.

Attorney Rubin Sinins, who represented the five men, said each was awarded $4 million because the jackpot was worth $24 million after Lopes chose the cash option.

The men began playing the lottery together in 2007 while they worked for Berto Construction Inc.

When Lopes hit the Mega Millions Jackpot in Nov. 2009, he told his boss he wouldn’t be returning because he needed foot surgery, which he never reportedly received. He also filed for unemployment benefits after claiming the $17,433,966 prize after taxes.
(source)

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Obama leads all GOP candidates in head-to-head contests

President Barack Obama is leading all of the Republican presidential candidates in head-to-head match-ups, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

• A national survey taken March 7-11 showed Obama leading Romney by 12 percentage points (54-42) and even further ahead of Santorum with 57 percent of support to Santorum’s 29 percent.

• For the first time since shortly after Osama bin Laden was killed, half of all Americans (50 percent) say they approve of Barack Obama’s job performance.

• Mitt Romney currently holds a 33-24 lead over Santorum among registered Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters, with 20 percent backing Newt Gingrich and 14 percent favoring Ron Paul.

• By a 59-32 margin, most Americans think Barack Obama will win the election if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee. That margin is far wider if Rick Santorum is the GOP nominee: 68 percent think Obama would win, while just 24 percent predict a Santorum presidency.

• In the current survey, just 29 percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of Romney, while 51 percent say they have an unfavorable impression.

• Women favor Obama over Romney by 20 points—virtually unchanged from a month ago.
(source)

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Rick Santorum makes up a law saying Puerto Rico must adopt English as official language to join US

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said Wednesday that Puerto Rico should only gain statehood if the territory makes English its main language.

In an interview with a San Juan newspaper, El Vocero, Santorum said English would have to be the “main language” if Puerto Rico were to become a state.

“As in any other state, you have to comply with this and any federal law. And that is that English has to be the main language,” Santorum told the paper. “There are other states with more than one language as is the case in Hawaii, but to be a state in the United States, English has to be the main language.”

There is no federal law designating English as the country’s official language, although some states and local governments have adopted such “English only” laws.

Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution spells out how states can be admitted to the union, making no mention of language requirements. The passage states: “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”

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Michael Fitzgerald confirmed by Senate – 4th ‘out’ federal judge in the nation

Michael Fitzgerald, an out gay California lawyer, received overwhelming approval today from the U.S. Senate, with a 91-6 vote, for his nomination to serve as a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California – making him the fourth out LGBT federal, lifetime-tenured judge in the nation.

The vote, which began a little after 2:24 p.m. today, came after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday, March 12, announced that he would be forcing debate and votes on 17 of Obama’s judicial nominees if no deal was reached. On Wednesday, March 14, an agreement was reached between the parties’ leaders to have the Senate vote in the coming weeks on 14 of President Obama’s judicial nominees — including Fitzgerald.

No one spoke in opposition to the nomination.

Senators voting “no” were Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and David Vitter (R-La.).

Fitzgerald, who was nominated by President Obama on July 20, 2011 for the judgeship, had a hearing in October 2011 and was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee to the full Senate without opposition on Nov. 3, 2011.
(source)