Threat Assessment: December 5th – 9th
WITH US
Newt's gay half-sister to vote for Obama
Newt Gingrich's half sister, gay rights activist Candace Gingrich-Jones, says the GOP presidential candidate is "definitely on the wrong side of history" with his conservative, anti-gay marriage views. Gingrich-Jones said in an interview with MSNBC that, although she and Newt “mutually respect” one another, she would "work really, really hard to make sure that President Obama is re-elected next year no matter who the Republican candidate is."[Guardian]
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AGAINST US
Japan using Fukushima aid to fund whale hunting
The Japanese government is using 2.3 billion yen, or $29 million, from its 18 trillion yen tsunami reconstruction fund to help pay for the country's annual whale hunt. A Japanese Fisheries Agency defended this spending, saying that the money will help Japan's whaling industry and economy in general. Greenpeace slammed the allocation of funds, saying that disaster victims would suffer as a result. [AP]
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WITH US
End of the road for Central Park’s horse-drawn carriage rides?
After the deaths of seven carriage horses this year, a non-profit organization called NY-Class has collected more than 55,000 signatures to back legislation banning the inhumane use of horses for the famous Central Park rides. The ban is supported by the American Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, celebrities such as Lea Michele and Calvin Klein, and politicians like Manhattan borough President Scott Stringer. “Horses frighten very easily,” the New York director of advocacy group Friends of Animals told reporters. “The noises of New York City, the chaos – it is all just an inherently dangerous environment, and they don’t belong here.” [New York Times]
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AGAINST US
Texting while driving up 50 percent last year
More drivers than ever are texted at the wheel in 2010, according to a government study. The dangerous practice, which caused an estimated 3,000 deaths last year, increased 50 percent from 2009, with two out of ten drivers saying they've texted while driving. [AP]
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WITH US
Blagojevich gets 14 years in the clink
Despite apologizing repeatedly for his crimes, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to a 14-year prison sentence for 18 corruption convictions, including trying to sell or trade a Senate seat (in this case, Barack Obama’s). “The harm here is not measured in the value of property or money,” Judge James B. Zagel told Blagojevich before announcing his sentence. “The harm is the erosion of public trust in government.” [New York Times]
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AGAINST US
Health secretary blocks morning-after pill
Kathleen Sebelius overruled the FDA in a decision to prevent emergency contraceptives from being sold without a prescription to girls 16 and under. Sebelius is the first health secretary to override an FDA decision. [New York Times]
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WITH US
Russians diss Putin's party in elections
All-powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party will lose as many as 60 of the 300 seats it holds in Russia's parliament, amounting to a significant (and, for Putin, unaccustomed) loss of power. [CNN]
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AGAINST US
Romney staffer admits campaign ad was 'propaganda'
The Romney campaign ads in which Obama quotes were taken totally out of context aren't deceitful, one top Romney operative told the New York Times; rather, the ad was merely "propaganda." He went on to share his view that campaign ads are, by their nature, "manipulative pieces of persuasive art." [Washington Post]
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WITH US
Kentucky church nixes ban on interracial couples
The Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Pike County, Kentucky, has reversed course after banning interracial couples from its congregation. Under heavy criticism for the ban, chuch members passed a resolution welcoming worshipers "into our fellowship regardless of race, creed or color." [Huffington Post]
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AGAINST US
Zuccotti Park owners are behind on their taxes
Here's some new fodder for the Occupy Wall Street protesters: Brookfield US Corp., the owners of Zuccotti Park, owe the city about $139,000 in back taxes from 2006 onward. [ThinkProgress]
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WITH US
Man arrested for criticizing Cheney may get Supreme Court case
Steven Howards, who was arrested in 2006 after meeting Dick Cheney at a mall and voicing his criticism of the Iraq war, may get his case heard by the Supreme Court; if so, the court will hear an appeal from the Secret Service agents who say they should be shielded from Howards' suit, which alleged that his free speech rights had been violated in the arrest. [Huffington Post]
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AGAINST US
Presidential pardons favor whites
White criminals have been four times more successful at obtaining presidential pardons than minorities over the past decade, a ProPublica analysis finds. [ProPublica]
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AGAINST US
NYPD officers disparaged paradegoers on Facebook
New York City police officers detailed to September's West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn, which celebrates Caribbean Culture, took to Facebook vent their feelings about the assignment. In postings obtained by the New York Times, cops call the parade-goers "animals" and "savages," with one writing that “if the cops sneeze too loud they get investigated for excessive force but the ‘civilians’ can run around like savages and there are no repercussions." [New York Times]
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WITH US
Eight-year-old boy sticks it to Michele Bachmann
In a video making the Internet rounds, an eight-year-old boy Elijah stuns GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann into silence at a Myrtle Beach, North Carolina, campaign stop on December 4. His simple but powerful words: "My mommy's gay, but she doesn't need fixing." [New York Magazine]
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AGAINST US
Anti-gay groups vastly outspending LGBT ones
The top-ten anti-gay groups in the U.S. spend three times as much money as the top 40 LGBT advocacy groups – $330.4 million versus $126.8 million, money they spend on legal services, advocacy, research, organizing and more, according to a new report. Even worse, the number of individual donors to LGBT-friendly groups comprises barely three percent of the estimated total LGBT population. [ThinkProgress]
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WITH US
Mumia Abu-Jamal not to be executed
He won't be freed, but at least former Black Panther and journalist (and lefty cause celebre) Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted for killing a Philadelphia cop in 1981, will not face the death penalty. Instead, the state of Pennsylvania has decided, he'll spend the rest of his life in jail. [Los Angeles Times]
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AGAINST US
American Kids getting fatter and sicker
More kids are suffering from obesity and/or diabetes this year than last, and that's canceling out health improvements by other measures across the U.S. (such as quitting smoking and preventable hospitalizations). So says a big new report. Overall, the nation's health did not improve between 2010 and 2011, in sharp contrast to the 0.5 percent average yearly rate of improvement over the last decade. [America's Health Rankings]