Minn. Supreme Court hears Norm Coleman's appeal to overturn election results today
Thursday, June 25, 2009
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PDF Al Franken should be sitting in the United States Senate today. But, instead, he's got one more court hearing -- this one is the big one. The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear Norm Coleman's last-ditch effort to win in the courts what he couldn't win at the ballot box:
Now it comes down to five votes.
Almost seven months after a U.S. Senate election that was too close to call, five justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether problems with absentee ballots justify reversing a lower-court ruling that declared DFLer Al Franken a 312-vote winner over Republican Norm Coleman.
Partisans across America will be watching, pronouncing judgment on a thousand blogs. The case may cast a blinding national spotlight on the state Supreme Court.
A decision upholding the lower-court ruling could end the protracted struggle and allow Franken to join the Senate, giving Democrats an invincible majority. A ruling for Coleman wouldn't return him to the Senate, but could keep his hopes alive and delay a final decision for months.
Minnesotans want the dispute to end, recent polls show. Most people say Coleman should concede. Nearly two-thirds believe that Franken ultimately will be declared the winner.
Coleman is fighting this battle at the behest of Republican leaders in D.C. They don't want Democrats to have a 60th vote. That matters to the GOP and they've been funding Coleman and his lawsuits for the past seven months.
Coleman should have conceded already. He has the burden of proof to show the lower courts were wrong. It's a high hurdle. We'll monitor what the court watchers are saying after oral arguments and hope for a good decision soon.
Minn. Supreme Court hears Norm Coleman's appeal to overturn election results today
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Minn. Supreme Court hears Norm Coleman's appeal to overturn election results today
[Source: News]
Minn. Supreme Court hears Norm Coleman's appeal to overturn election results today
[Source: Sun News]
posted by 71353 @ 4:08 PM,
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Who's to blame for Boyle's distress?
PrintEmailPDF Who is responsible when reality TV contestants crack under the strain? It's easy to pick on the media or the shows' producers, but in my opinion a large part of the responsibility lies with us, the general public.
When Susan Boyle admitted herself to a clinic over the weekend, we saw the sour end of the misconceptions we hold about how to achieve happiness. We're clinging to two false beliefs, and they're leading us badly astray.
The first belief is that happiness comes from outward success, from a certain number of hits on YouTube or a fabulous salary. It doesn't. Watch Susan Boyle's initial performance on Britain's Got Talent again, because that's the one that really moved us all. When she's singing, she's singing because she
simply loves to sing. She hasn't yet thought much about what she'll "get" from her singing. You can hear that in her voice.
The second mistaken belief is that instant happiness is the same as lasting happiness.
Instant happiness disappears as quickly as it arrives, and it only leaves you wanting more. Lasting happiness, on the other hand, is a process, and it's that process rather than any resulting "reward" that creates happiness.
This can be particularly devastating when parents push their children to appear on these shows. Children are unlikely to understand fully what's happening, and if they don't win - and most won't - they often feel they've let their parents down. This can lead to low self-esteem and feelings of helplessness.
So, as we prepare for yet another series of Big Brother, should production companies take more care when it comes to selecting applicants? We expect psychological "experts" to assess in advance who can and can't cope with the stresses that sudden fame will bring. I think that's nonsense. No one - not even the candidates themselves - can know how they'll react to instant fame until they have it.
Contrary to what many think, psychologists don't have reliable tests or techniques that, in one interview, can predict how someone will react under very different circumstances in the future. Unless you establish a relationship with someone over a substantial period of time and in a number of different circumstances, there's little anyone can suggest about another person's ability to cope under enormous pressure. That's why I have repeatedly declined to participate in the selection procedures for reality TV.
No one can survive constant scrutiny without feeling stressed. We know from the laws of physics that even the tiniest particle is affected by being observed. So, the fault with reality TV? It lies largely within ourselves, with our desire for easy and instant answers.
guardian.co.uk � Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Who's to blame for Boyle's distress?
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Who's to blame for Boyle's distress?
[Source: News Coverage]
posted by 71353 @ 3:55 PM,
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Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
PrintEmailPDF Controversy sharpens as man arrested in connection with shooting revealed to have links to rightwing militias
The US ordered increased security for abortion doctors and clinics todayas details emerged of close links between the man held for the murder of one of the country's most prominent abortion ?doctors and rightwing militias with strong anti-government views.
The killing of Dr George Tiller at his ?Kansas church on Sunday, and the arrest of 51 year-old Scott Roeder as he fled the scene, has added fresh impetus to the abortion debate shortly before congressional hearings begin for Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama's nominee to the supreme court, at which she is certain to be pressed for her views on the issue.
In Washington the attorney general, Eric Holder, ordered the US marshals service to step up protection of abortion doctors and their clinics, many of which have routine protection after years of being ?targeted by extremists and mainstream anti-abortion groups. Nine abortion ?doctors, clinic workers and others have been murdered in recent years. Tiller was wearing a bulletproof jacket when he was shot in the head, and frequently travelled with bodyguards after he was wounded in an earlier assassination attempt.
Obama denounced the killing. ?"However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence," he said.
But some prominent anti-abortion activists came close to justifying it. ?Randall Terry, founder of the largest anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, issued a statement that fell short of condemning the murder and tried to shift attention to the political fight by warning that Obama would now use it to pressure organisations which describe themselves as "pro-life".
"George Tiller was a mass murderer.We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God," he said."I am more concerned that the Obama administration will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions. Abortion is still murder. And we still must call abortion by its proper name: murder."
Dave Leach, editor of an anti-abortion newsletter, Prayer and Action News, to which Roeder occasionally contributed told the New York Times he had once met the alleged killer. "To call this a crime is too simplistic," Leach said. "There is Christian scripture that would support this."
Roeder's family said in a statement they were "shocked, horrified and filled with sadness at the death of Dr Tiller". "We know Scott as a kind and loving son, brother and father who suffered from mental illness at various times in his life," the family said. "However, none of us ever saw Scott as a person capable of or willing to take another person's life."
Others painted a picture of a more extreme man. Roeder has been identified as the likely poster of questions about Tiller on Operation Rescue's website. Among other things, a man with his name suggested going to Tiller's church to confront him and other members of the congregation over his work.
"Blaess (sic) everyone for attending and praying in May to bring justice to Tiller and the closing of his death camp," he wrote. "Sometime soon, would it be feasible to organize as many people as possible to attend Tillers church (inside, not just outside) to have much more of a presence and possibly ask questions of the Pastor, Deacons, Elders and members while there?"
In 1996, Roeder was convicted over the discovery of explosives and bomb-making equipment, along with a military rifle, gas mask and ammunition, in his car and sentenced to two years in prison. But his conviction was overturned on appeal on the grounds that the police had illegally searched his car.
The FBI identified Roeder as a member of the anti-government Freemen group, which described itself as made up of Christian patriots, whose leaders were sentenced to prison terms after a three month armed stand-off with law enforcement forces in Montana 13 years ago.
The Kansas City Star newspaper quoted a man identified as commander of the Kansas Unorganized Citizens Militia in the mid-1990s, Morris Wilson, as saying he knew Roeder at the time. "I'd say he's a good ol' boy, except he was just so fanatic about abortion," Wilson said. "He was always talking about how awful abortion was." Operation Rescue denounced the killing as "vigilantism" and cowardly.
It said it instead wanted to see Tiller "brought to justice" for what it regards as the murder of the unborn.
guardian.co.uk ? Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: News Argus Gazette]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: State News]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: Online News]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: Broadcasting News]
Security stepped up at abortion clinics in US after killing of Dr George Tiller
[Source: Daily News]
posted by 71353 @ 2:41 PM,
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Obama Makes Another Republican Appointment
PrintEmailPDF Leach, a Republican, endorsed Obama last year and had a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Obama Makes Another Republican Appointment
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Obama Makes Another Republican Appointment
[Source: Stock News]
posted by 71353 @ 1:48 PM,
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