NBC Philadelphia: Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was found guilty on three counts of first-degree murder on Monday.
The jury also found Gosnell guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a former patient of his.
Prosecutors alleged that Gosnell delivered four different babies alive during abortion procedures before later killing them. First-degree murder convictions can result in death penalty sentences.
Returning from combat to find their jobs are gone
Troops returning home often have a litany of problems on their plate - one of the most prominent being joblessness. Though employers are forbidden from penalizing service members for performing their military duties, that doesn’t mean soldiers don’t end up losing their jobs or benefits.
So who’s holding back on their obligations to troops coming home?
Government agencies are among the most frequent offenders, accounting for about a third of the more than 15,000 complaints filed with federal authorities since the end of September 2001, records show. Others named in the cases include some of the biggest names in American business, such as Wal-Mart and United Parcel Service.
Find out more about the crisis, with a particular focus on the large veteran community in California, in reporter Alexandra Zavis’ story here.
Photos: Tomas Ovalle / Los Angeles Times
(via dellbby)
HOUSTON (AP) — The incoming leader of the National Rifle Association has a long history with the powerful gun rights lobby and a penchant for bold statements that are sure to enflame an already explosive national debate over gun control.
James Porter, an Alabama attorney and first vice president of the NRA, assumes the presidency on Monday after the group’s national convention wraps up in Houston. He didn’t wait until then to ignite a new furor over gun control, telling the NRA grass-roots organizers on Friday they are the front line of a “culture war” that goes beyond gun rights.
“(You) here in this room are the fighters for freedom. We are the protectors,” Porter said.
Porter, 64, whose father was NRA president from 1959-1961, is part of the small, Birmingham, Ala., law firm of Porter, Porter & Hassinger. The firm’s website notes its expertise in defending gun manufacturers in lawsuits.
Porter takes over the organization as the NRA finds itself in a national fight over gun control in Washington, D.C., and state capitols around the country. The NRA had a major victory regarding gun control with the defeat in the U.S. Senate of a bill that would have expanded background checks for gun sales. But it lost ground in some places as several states passed laws expanding background checks and banning large ammunition magazines after December’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.
Porter has called President Barack Obama a “fake president,” Attorney General Eric Holder “rabidly un-American” and the U.S. Civil War the “War of Northern Aggression.” On Friday, he repeated his call for training every U.S. citizen in the use of standard military firearms, to allow them to defend themselves against tyranny.
Gun control advocates say Porter makes outgoing NRA President David Keene look like a moderate on gun issues, even though Keene had said the NRA would try to punish lawmakers who voted in favor of expanded background checks and other gun control measures.
Keene had worked to offer a softer, if equally staunch voice for the gun lobby’s ideas when compared with Wayne LaPierre, the fiery executive vice president who remains the NRA’s most prominent voice on the public stage.
Porter as president, “pulls (the NRA) more into the extremist camp,” said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “With Jim Porter, they’ve gone full crazy.”
New President, same extremist agenda at the NRA.
H/T: TPM
Could You Wait 163 Years to be Reunited With Your Family?
Click the image for the full size infographic, via the Asian Law Caucus and Colorlines
(via polkadotaurora)
Mr. Brainwash’s Brain-dead Copyright Defense
Andy Warhol and Ulli Lommel on the set of Cocaine Cowboys (1979) (image via Wikipedia)
Warhol…
Two years ago today, President Obama told the nation that Navy SEALs had killed Osama Bin Laden.
Here’s our front page from the next morning.
(Source: USA Today)
To Mirandize or not to Mirandize? A 1984 court ruling is key to answering this question.
A line from The Hangover comes to mind here: You[Fox News] are literally too stupid to insult.
Yeah, Fuck you Bill O’Riley and Up yours Fox
(via californiaism)
FBI releases photos of two suspects in Boston Marathon bombing
The FBI released photos and video Thursday of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing and asked for the public’s help in identifying them, zeroing in on the two men on surveillance-camera footage less than three days after the deadly attack.
FBI agent Richard DesLauriers said the photos of the two men came from surveillance cameras near the explosion sites. One man is seen wearing a light-colored baseball cap, the other a dark cap. The man in the dark cap set down a backpack at the site of one of the blasts, DesLauriers said. (FBI)
