Tag Archives: Minnesota

May 10, 2013 · 11:32 AM

10 things you need to know today: May 10, 2013

The Week

Prosecutors consider seeking the death penalty for Cleveland abduction suspect, hackers loot $45 million from ATMs, and more

1. HACKERS LOOT $45 MILLION FROM ATMS
A global gang of cyber thieves stole $45 million from thousands of ATMs in a matter of hours, authorities in New York said Thursday. The thieves allegedly withdrew $2.4 million from 2,904 machines in New York City alone after hackers wiped out withdrawal limits on stolen prepaid debit cards. The details were revealed when federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against eight members of a street crew that allegedly went around the city withdrawing cash and stuffing it into backpacks. [New York Times]

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2. PROSECUTOR MIGHT SEEK DEATH PENALTY FOR ARIEL CASTRO
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, prosecutor Thomas McGinty said Thursday he might seek the death penalty against Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man accused of kidnapping three women, then raping and imprisoning them at his home for a decade. Castro, who’s being held on $8 million bail, could face hundreds of charges — even thousands. McGinty says he might file charges of aggravated murder, a capital offense, because the women say Castro beat them when they were pregnant to force them to have miscarriages. [CBS News]

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3. BOMBING SUSPECT TAMERLAN TSARNAEV BURIED
The body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with police, has been buried following a lengthy search for a cemetery willing to take his remains. Worcester, Mass., police declined Thursday to disclose the location of the grave, although they said it was not in their city. “A courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance to properly bury the deceased,” said Worcester Police Sergeant Kerry Hazelhurst. [Boston Globe]
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4. FEDS YANK ONLINE BLUEPRINT FOR 3D PRINTED GUNS
State Department officials on Thursday ordered Defense Distributed, a Texas nonprofit, to take down online instructions on making its 3D-printed plastic gun, which can evade metal detectors. Government regulators argued that making plans for the pistol available worldwide amounted to illegal weapon exports. Defense Distributed complied — but not before the blueprint for the fully functional firearm, The Liberator, was downloaded more than 100,000 times. [New York Daily News]
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5. MINNESOTA HOUSE PASSES GAY-MARRIAGE BILL
Minnesota’s Democrat-led House of Representatives approved a bill legalizing gay marriage on Thursday. State senators plan a vote on Monday, and supporters of the proposal say they have the votes to pass it. If they succeed, Democratic Governor Mark Dayton has vowed to sign the bill into law. Minnesota would become the 12th state to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples, and the third state to do so this month, after Delaware and Rhode Island. [Reuters]
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6. SURVIVOR FOUND 17 DAYS AFTER BANGLADESH BUILDING COLLAPSE
Rescuers pulled a woman alive from the rubble of a Bangladesh factory building on Friday, 17 days after the structure collapsed. The death toll has climbed to 1,038, and crews are still searching for more bodies. Hundreds of relatives remain camped out around the Rana Plaza complex, which housed four garment factories, awaiting word on workers still missing in the worst industrial accident since India’s 1984 Bhopal disaster. [Associated Press, Reuters]
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7. SEARCH SUSPENDED FOR MISSING AUSTRALIAN CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS
Rescuers in Australia suspended a search on Friday for two Carnival Australia cruise ship passengers who fell overboard on the last night of a Pacific islands tour on Wednesday. Footage from security cameras reportedly shows the couple — Paul Rossington, 30, and Kristen Schroder, 27 — going over the side of the Carnival Spirit one after the other at 8:50 p.m., although they weren’t discovered missing until the ship docked in Sydney 12 hours later. [The Australian]
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8. NORTH KOREA LASHES OUT AFTER U.S.-SOUTH KOREA SUMMIT
North Korea on Friday resumed its bellicose rhetoric after a brief lull, calling this week’s meeting between President Obama and his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye,”a curtain-raiser to a dangerous war to invade” the North. Pyongyang called Park’s visit to Washington a “despicable sycophantic trip to please her master.” Obama and Park urged Pyongyang to join talks on dismantling its nuclear program, as a nuclear-powered U.S. carrier headed to South Korea for joint naval exercises. [Associated Press]
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9. SAILOR KILLED WHILE PRACTICING FOR AMERICA’S CUP
A 36-year-old British sailor was killed on Thursday when the high-tech catamaran he was on capsized in San Francisco Bay while he was practicing for this summer’s America’s Cup, sailing’s most prestigious trophy. Andrew “Bart” Simpson, an Olympic gold medalist who was serving as race strategist for the Swedish team, was trapped underwater for 10 minutes by the capsized yacht’s platform. One other sailor in the crew of about a dozen suffered minor injuries. [Associated Press]
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10. IDOL‘S LAST ORIGINAL JUDGE SAYS HE’S LEAVING
Randy Jackson, the last original judge remaining on American Idol, says he’s leaving next season. The announcement comes following reports that Fox wants to replace all four judges on the reality singing competition TV show, which suffered a 25 percent ratings drop this season. Jackson, who helped launch the once-hot show on a panel with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, says he plans to focus on his record label, Dream Merchant 21, and other projects. “It is time to leave,” he said. [E Online]

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March 2, 2013 · 6:01 AM

Sean Hannity Launches Islamophobic Attack Against Keith Ellison

It appears Rep. Keith Ellison was right about Sean Hannity.

Hannity’s behavior and attack on Ellison, a few days after a heated exchange between the two is just like Ellison’s description of Hannity’s on-air dramatics.

Think Progress

Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity launched an Islampophobic attack against Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) during his Fox News show on Thursday night, implying that the Muslim Congressman is a racist and an anti-Semite. The segment came just days after Ellison and Hannity engaged in a  confrontational interview on Tuesday night. “We decided to take a closer look at the man who called me immoral and a liar,” Hannity began. “Now it didn’t take long to prove his hypocrisy, as his past reveals a host of radical connections primarily to Louis Farrakhan and The Nation of Islam.”

The Fox host dug up attacks from Ellison’s 2006 Congressional campaign, criticizing the Minnesota lawmaker for defending Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam in his law school newspaper from charges of anti-Semitism and appearing on stage with Farrakhan aide Khalid Muhammad.

Watch it:

In the late 1990s, Ellison worked with the group to organize the Million Man March, but apologized for failing to “adequately scrutinize the positions and statements” of the Nation of Islam and Farrakhan six years ago in a letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas.

“I wrongly dismissed concerns that they were anti-Semitic,” he wrote, adding, “They were and are anti-Semitic and I should have come to that conclusion earlier than I did.” “I have long since distanced myself from and rejected the Nation of Islam due to its propagation of bigoted and anti-Semitic ideas and statements, as well as other issues.”

After the accusations first surfaced in 2006, Ellison’s Jewish law school colleagues said that “they never got the impression that Ellison himself was anti-Semitic” and American Jewish World, the newspaper for Minnesota’s Jewish community, endorsed him.

The Jewish Community Relations Council has since defended him from anti-Muslim attacks. “Representative Ellison is a friend to the Jewish community and we have enjoyed a strong working relationship with him since he assumed office in 2007,” the group said in a statement released last year.

UPDATE 

At one point during the segment, while discussing Khalid Muhammad, Hannity asked, “What is the difference, I mean, do we have somebody then in Congress that is the equivalent of one side of what the Klan is?”

UPDATE 

After Ellison was sworn in on the Quran in 2006, Hannity compared it to Mein Kampf: “[Y]ou know, would you have allowed him to choose, you know, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, which is the Nazi bible? In other words, where does this stop? Is there any limitations whatsoever?”

UPDATE 

Religious leaders are coming to Ellison’s defense. Here is Rabbi Marc Schneier, president and Co-founder of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding: “Congressman Ellison has been a valued friend to the American Jewish community. He has been a partner in strengthening Muslim Jewish relations. As an example, he was responsible for organizing the letter by Muslim Americans to Khaled Meshal, head of Hamas, in demanding the release of Gilad Shalit.”

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November 1, 2012 · 5:48 PM

Audience Roars In Laughter During Michelle Bachmann’s Debate

Michele Bachmann and a host of other conservatives lie with impunity.  However, last night Bachmann got her just dessert…

Voice 4 America

Republican Michelle Bachmann had the first of three debates against her Democratic challenger Jim Graves earlier this week. One of the statements she made during the debate was, “It’s insulting to say that these are political speech, because that’s one thing I do not do, is political speech”, which caused the audience members to erupt in laughter. Bachmann’s next two debates will be on Nov 1st and 4th.

Here is the full video of the debate.

 

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September 23, 2012 · 1:12 AM

West Wing Week: 09/21/12 or “The Dignity and Freedom That Every Person Deserves”

 

The White House

This week, the President, Vice President and Secretary of State attended the Transfer of Remains Ceremony for the four Americans killed in Libya, while the White House welcomed Olympians and Paralympians, WNBA champions the Minnesota Lynx, new foreign Ambassadors, and the Children’s Miracle Network. That’s September 14th to September 20th or “The Dignity and Freedom That Every Person Deserves.”

Friday, September 14th:

  • The President, Vice President, and First Lady welcomed the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams to The White House.
  • The White House hosted a “Safety Datapalooza,” which highlighted innovators from the private, nonprofit and academic sectors who have utilized freely available government data to build products, services, and apps that advance public safety in creative and powerful ways.
  • Friday Afternoon, President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary Clinton attended a Transfer of Remains Ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base which marked the return to the United States of the remains of the four brave Americans who were killed this week in Benghazi, Libya.

Monday, September 17th:

  • The White House launched “Developers“ which is a a one-stop resource for anyone who wants to use the tools provided by the White House technology program – including all the open data and open source software we’ve released so far.

Tuesday, September 18th:

  • The President welcomed the WNBA Minnesota Lynx to the White House to honor the team and their 2011 WNBA championship.

Wednesday, September 19th:

  • Foreign Ambassadors recently posted in Washington arrived at the White House to mark the formal beginning of their service in Washington.  The Ambassadors represented the Republic of Seychelles, the Union of Comoros , the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Saint Lucia, the Republic of Colombia, the Slovak Republic, and the Hellenic Republic.
  • The President greeted the 52 Champions of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, their families, and their national spokeswoman, Laura Kaeppeler, the current Miss America.
  • Friday afternoon, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Burmese Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi, arrived at the White House to meet with the President, while on her first trip to the United States in more than 20 years.
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June 12, 2012 · 3:26 PM

Good News, Liberals: ‘Crazy’ Michele Bachmann Is Back

Michele Bachmann

Hey, we’re just “sorting out the crazies”…

The Huffington Post

The Atlantic:

Remember when Michele Bachmann was the crazy right-wing congresswoman liberals loved to hate? The one who could be counted on to make inflammatory, nutty-sounding accusations on a regular basis, like when she said the media should investigate and expose the “anti-American views” of congressional liberals?

Read the whole story at The Atlantic

 

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June 9, 2012 · 6:05 AM

West Wing Week: 06/08/2012 or “Roll Up Our Sleeves and Never Quit”

The White House

This week, the President traveled to Honeywell International in Minnesota to highlight efforts to help veterans find good paying jobs and urged Congress to support the Paycheck Fairness Act and to not let interest rates double on student loans on July 1.

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June 2, 2012 · 7:26 PM

President Barack Obama Writes Fifth-Grader An Awesome Absence Note

Now honestly, how cool is that?

HyperVocal

President Barack Obama hosted six separate fundraisers in Minnesota and Chicago on Friday. But before he counted his new-found cash, Obama made an official presidential visit to a Honeywell factory in a Minneapolis suburb.

There, he was introduced by Ryan Sullivan, a new employee at the factory. Ryan’s son Tyler missed school to see his dad introduce the president, so Obama wrote him what just may be the best absence note ever collected by a 5th grader. Try punishing the kid for truancy now.

 

FOX Nation must be positively freaking out about that Big Government Liberal interfering with our children’s education.

The text, if you prefer non-cursive:

Mr. Ackerson-
Please Excuse Tyler … he was with me!
Barack Obama

Look at how perfect that ellipsis is! That’s why he’s the president.

[Image via AP]

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February 10, 2012 · 4:52 PM

Romney’s CPAC Speech Has An Epic Stagecraft Fail

TPM2012

The awkward elements of Mitt Romney’s speech at CPAC Friday began even before the GOP frontrunner opened his mouth.

Like all the high-profile speakers before him, Romney delivered his address from the CPAC main stage at a Marriot hotel in Washington, DC. That means he stood behind a pair of teleprompters and in front of a pair of fake Grecian columns.

Just the other night, when he was giving his address amid the defeats in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado, Romney took a shot at the man he’s trying to oust from the White House for – well – using teleprompters and standing in front of fake columns. Here’s part of the transcript from Romney’s Colorado speech on February 7):

Three years ago, Barack Obama came to Colorado to accept his Party’s nomination. He rented out a huge stadium. He hauled in some Styrofoam Greek columns and two giant screens to set the mood. On that big stage in Denver, he made some even bigger promises.

At either side of Romney while he spoke at CPAC?   Two giant screens. Of course, all the other speakers had appeared with the same stagecraft, but they hadn’t just recently attacked President Obama for using that exact set-up.

Continue reading…

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February 9, 2012 · 4:13 AM

Holy Rick Santorum, Batman!

As usual, Mario Piperni pegs yet another conservative!

Mario Piperni

No two ways about it, Rick Santorum had a good night. Not only did he sweep Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri but he also got off the best line of the night.

“I don’t stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.”

A slap to the side of the head of Romney while pushing him aside and casting himself as the one and only true conservative who has the creds to take on the Kenyan guy – and he did it with a single sentence. Impressive.

Is there more to this Santorum fellow than any of us give him credit for?

Not really. He’s still the bigoted, narrow-minded, gay-bashing, religious zealot you always knew him to be. The only reason people are still talking about Santorum at this stage of a Republican primary is that he’s fortunate enough to be running at a time when the GOP decided to put on a clown show instead of a true presidential nomination race where thinking adults articulate intelligent ideas based on strong conservative ideals.

Instead, the GOP has offered the likes of Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich who have embarrassed themselves and insulted the intelligence of Americans with…

  • Wanting to do away with the minimum wage. (Bachmann)
  • Wanting to build a 20 foot high electrified fence at the border that would kill Mexicans attempting to cross it. (Cain)
  • Wanting to eliminate Dept. of Education/Energy/Health and Human Services, the Federal Aviation Administration, IRS and implement a $1 trillion budget cut in the first year. (Paul)
  • Wanting to deregulate the oil industry further because the Gulf oil spill was simply an “act of God”. (Perry)
  • Wanting to colonize the moon. (Gingrich)

You could fill pages with stuff like this. Whatever world Republican candidates are hoping to make better, it sure as hell isn’t the one we’re living in.

And into this field of misfits, loons, pretenders and grifters comes a Rick Santorum whose main appeal is to social conservatives who agree with Santorum that:

“Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

Fear not. Rick Santorum will not be the Republican nominee. While he may be the anti-Romney flavor of the week, he lacks the the organization and money to take on Mitt Romney nationwide. He also lacks the support of the Republican establishment which is putting its money on Romney. They understand that selling Romney to the masses in a general election will not be an easy task but selling a hardcore crazy evangelical like Rick Santorum would be an impossible task.

Enjoy the moment, Rick, as fleeting as it may be.

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November 18, 2011 · 5:26 PM

Bachmann: A Seven-Foot Doctor Told Me Obamacare Requires The IRS To Pre-Approve Medical Treatments

Michele Bachmann is bat-crap crazy…

Think Progress

Michele Bachmann prides herself for pressing Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but during an appearance at Webster City, Iowa Wednesday night, the Minnesota congresswoman proved that she’s also leading the charge in developing outrageous new attacks against the legislation. At the town hall, Bachmann complained that undocumented immigrants are exempt from paying for the law, claimed that a seven-foot doctor told her the IRS had to approve medical procedures, and reiterated her long-standing view that doctors and hospitals would provide free care to the uninsured if they were shielded from malpractice claims:

– “Under Obamacare illegal aliens don’t have to pay for Obamacare. Only American citizens pay for Obamacare. [...] Illegal aliens have the possibility of getting the care, but they have no requirement to pay for the care. Only the citizens do.”

– “One man stood up, he was over 7-feet tall. He was a physician in the community. And he said, ‘I had a little lady in my office and because of Obamacare, I had to call the IRS and I had to get a number to put on a form before I could see her.’”

– “When I was a little girl…There were people who could not pay [for health care]. I mean they just did not have any money at all. And so the doctor would just write it off. [...] It’s very different today. Now, doctors don’t feel like they can do that…they worry about liability.”

Watch it:

Continue reading here…

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