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marble falls's JournalZimmerman’s Attorney: If Jury Rules Trayvon Was Aggressor, Is That A ‘Loss For Civil Rights’?
Zimmermans Attorney: If Jury Rules Trayvon Was Aggressor, Is That A Loss For Civil Rights?
by Evan McMurry | 1:24 pm, June 1st, 2013 video » 555 comments
Following a judges ruling on Tuesday to not admit elements of Trayvon Martins past, including drug use and prior incidents of fighting, as evidence in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, CNNs Victor Blackwell interviewed Zimmermans attorney Mark OMara on this decisions potential ramifications to the defenses argument, especially given the loaded racial connotations of the case.
Parks and Crump, Blackwell asked, referencing the Dickensian-named law firm representing Martins family, have said a lot about how this is a landmark in justice as it relates to African Americans, and racial injustice. How do you keep this trial limited to a few minutes on one night in February?
Well, let me ask you this. If they acquit George because the jury says Trayvon was the aggressor, if they make that decision, is that going to be a loss for civil rights? Is it? If the jury decides hes acquitted because Trayvon was the aggressor, is that a civil rights event? I would suggest not. If they convict George because they think he was the aggressor, is that a benefit to civil rights? Some might say maybe, because at least a young black male victim of a homicide was justified, or his loss was not in vain. So they might say, If you get the conviction then at least he wasnt a lost life. Maybe. But the real decision is going to be who was the aggressor and whether or not George acted reasonably. Those two decisions have nothing to do with rights. They just dont.
Now, had the case never gone to trial, maybe. Had they said, Were not going to prosecute this guy because he killed a black kid, then, okay, maybe thats a civil rights issue. But the jury decides what theyre going to decide, I just dont see the civil rights connotation to it. I know civil rights, not as well as many of my compatriots, but I know it pretty well. And I grew up in the Sixties and Seventies, so I get a feel for this stuff, and I dont see civil rights in this day today.
Was today a loss for you? Blackwell asked.
No! OMara said. I like the idea that were limiting the evidence to what it should be. It was five to six minutes that happened from the time of the non-emergency call to the time of the gunshot and afterwards with the emergency call. If we limit it to that, whatever that jury decides has to be the proper verdict, as long as they follow the evidence and the law, and then were done.
Watch the whole interview here: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/george-zimmermans-attorney-if-jury-rules-trayvon-was-the-aggressor-is-that-a-loss-for-civil-rights/
Marsha Blackburn: Women 'Don't Want' Equal Pay Laws
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/02/marsha-blackburn-equal-pay-laws_n_3375167.htmlRepublican congresswoman Marsha Blackburn said on Sunday that women "don't want" equal pay laws.
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"I think that more important than that is making certain that women are recognized by those companies. You know, Ive always said that I didnt want to be given a job because I was a female, I wanted it because I was the most well-qualified person for the job. And making certain that companies are going to move forward in that vein, that is what women want. They dont want the decisions made in Washington. They want to be able to have the power and the control and the ability to make those decisions for themselves."
Blackburn voted against the 2009 Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a landmark bill for women's rights in the workplace. The law makes it easier for women to file wage discrimination suits against employers. She also voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act of 2009.
Blackburn is hardly the only female politician to oppose laws aimed at discouraging the gender wage gap. In 2012, a new Paycheck Fairness Act failed in the Senate after receiving nay votes from Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
The gender pay gap has expanded in recent years. In 2012, women earned approximately 80.9% of what men earned. According to a recent analysis, the average U.S. woman now stands to lose out on $443,000 over 40 years.
Video clip at Huffington.
George Zimmerman's attorneys apologize for mischaracterizing evidence
Source: NBC News
By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News
Attorneys for George Zimmerman apologized Sunday for mischaracterizing evidence they said boosted their theory that Trayvon Martin was the aggressor in his fatal meeting with their client last year.
Lawyer Mark OMara said during a hearing last Tuesday that the defense had obtained video footage of three fights, including one in which he said two of Martins friends "were beating up a homeless guy."
But Zimmerman's defense team corrected that statement on Sunday, saying O'Mara had unintentionally "misstated the nature" of the footage.
In a statement posted on Zimmermans website, the defense lawyers said the footage actually showed "two homeless guys fighting each other over a bike."
More at the link
Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/02/18702011-george-zimmermans-attorneys-apologize-for-mischaracterizing-evidence?lite
I think all the games are winding down and nothing good for Zimmerman is going to come of it.
Florida police use Taser to subdue, capture escaped llama
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., June 2 (UPI) -- Police in Tallahassee, Fla., said they had to use a Taser to capture a 6-foot-tall llama that had escaped from its owner's pen and spit in officers' faces.
Leon County Sheriff's Office deputies said they began hearing reports of a llama on the loose running through Killearn Lakes and on Bannerman Road at about 11 p.m. Friday night.
"There was some sightings, but we were never able to get our hands on it," said Deputy Tony Drzewiecki, of the sheriff's department.
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"I've been doing this 20 years and they said there is going to be a lot of excitement in this job, but no one ever told me I would get spit in the face by a llama and trampled by one," Drzewiecki said.
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Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/06/02/Florida-police-use-Taser-to-subdue-capture-escaped-llama/UPI-64851370183259/#ixzz2V6JeB3wx
I am shocked they didn't shoot it.
Ex-Congressman Weiner gaining ground in New York mayoral race
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/28/us-usa-politics-newyork-mayor-idUSBRE94M18920130528http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20130528&t=2&i=735980573&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE94R1HWR00
(Reuters) - Disgraced former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner is gaining ground on his Democratic rivals in the race for New York City Mayor, according to a new poll.
Weiner, who resigned from office two years ago in a sexting scandal, had the support of 19 percent of Democrats in a Marist poll released on Tuesday. That puts him six points behind early frontrunner City Council speaker Christine Quinn, who had support of 25 percent of Democrats.
A separate poll released on May 22, the day that Weiner formally declared his candidacy, had shown Quinn, who would be the city's first female and lesbian mayor, with a wider 10 point lead.
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More than half of registered voters said Weiner deserves a second chance, while nearly 40 percent said Weiner does not have the character to be mayor, the poll found.
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(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Scott Malone and Nick Zieminski)
Berlin company specializes in autistic IT experts
By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, June 2, 2013 8:42 EDT
When German software giant SAP said last month it plans to employ hundreds of autistic people as IT experts, the news was welcomed especially at a small Berlin computer consulting firm.
The pioneering company, Auticon, already employs 17 people who live with autism, the disorder characterised by difficulties with social interactions and exceptional abilities in specific fields.
Many people say that if a company like SAP said it makes sense
its very good for us, said its chief Dirk Mueller-Remus. That means its something serious, solid.
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Its goal is that by 2020, people with autism will make up one percent of its worldwide workforce of 65,000.
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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/02/berlin-company-specialises-in-autistic-it-experts/
Vinegar cancer test saves lives, India study finds
MUMBAI, India<snip>
Doctors reported the results Sunday at a cancer conference in Chicago. Experts called the outcome "amazing" and said this quick, cheap test could save tens of thousands of lives each year in developing countries by spotting early signs of cancer, allowing treatment before it's too late.
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Pap smears and tests for HPV, a virus that causes most cervical cancers, have slashed cases and deaths in the United States. But poor countries can't afford those screening tools.
This study tried a test that costs very little and can be done by local people with just two weeks of training and no fancy lab equipment. They swab the cervix with diluted vinegar, which can make abnormal cells briefly change color.
This low-tech visual exam cut the cervical cancer death rate by 31 percent, the study found. It could prevent 22,000 deaths in India and 72,600 worldwide each year, researchers estimate.
Read more: Vinegar cancer test saves lives, India study finds - The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/healthcare/ci_23372863/vinegar-cancer-test-saves-lives-india-study-finds#ixzz2V4BChTdS
Rupert Murdoch is now an old man on a lonely throne

By Peter Preston, The Observer
Sunday, June 2, 2013 7:37 EDT
In his 80s, with no clear successor, the media mogul and his spun-off newpaper operation are in a precarious position
Matthew Parris went to the Orwell prizegiving the other day and suddenly saw red. Chris Mullin MP was giving a speech lauding fine investigative journalism like that of this years winner, Andrew Norfolk of the Times which he firmly asserted was achieved despite the efforts of newspaper proprietors. What sneery, snivelling, ignorant, leftie rubbish, wrote Parris.
Who does he think pays for Norfolks investigations, or for my columns? Does he know nothing about the losses being clocked up by quality newspapers all over the world? Does he realise how precarious now is the whole future of daily newspapers in Britain? Call it, on second thoughts, a Rupert red mist.
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Theres a balance-sheet bonne bouche of $2bn and a wiping away of debts that will help News Corp mark two ride briefly high when it goes solo and public though no longer listed in London at the end of June. But there will also be no more lush, adjacent pastures of satellite TV or Hollywood blockbusters to assure US shareholder peace when loss-making papers have to be supported. 21st Century Fox wont be indulging the bosss little foibles any longer. Once the presses roll, hes on his own.
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/02/rupert-murdoch-is-now-an-old-man-on-a-lonely-throne/
Citizen Murdoch.
How to Think About Guns: A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast
http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/02/14/how-to-think-about-guns-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/
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This episode is a straightforward conversation between Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt, keeping in mind recent events like the Newtown, Ct., school massacre and long-standing traditions like the American embrace of guns.
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whether deterrents like capital punishment and sentence enhancements actually work.
We begin this episode with some basic data. In the U.S., there are roughly 11,000 gun homicides and 20,000 gun suicides a year. (Our podcast The Suicide Paradox looked into why we hear so much less about the suicides than the homicides.) What we hear about more than anything are the relatively rare but extremely disturbing mass shootings. From the podcast:
Mother Jones magazine recently built a database of mass shootings four or more fatalities over the past 30 years. Not everyone likes this database it excludes, for instance, all gang shootings and armed robberies. But here are those numbers: since 1982, there have been 62 mass shootings with 513 fatalities, or an average of 2 mass shootings and 16.5 fatalities a year. (Now, remember, keep in mind there are 11,000 gun murders each year in total.) Over just the past 10 years, those numbers are a bit higher about 3 shootings a year, with 26 fatalities. But 2012 was a very bad year: 7 shootings with 72 fatalities, more than 4 times the average number of victims in a year from mass shootings.
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So what could diminish gun violence? Weve asked that question before; good answers are hard to come by. Levitt says mandatory sentence enhancements work. Youll also hear about Geoffrey Canadas book Fist Stick Knife Gun, which might change the way you think about violence in general.
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