Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Overnight News: Wednesday to Thursday

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Judge May Not Cut Amish Hair-Shearing Culprits A Break

NPR.org; David Barnett

Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Entin doesn’t think the judge will buy that argument.

“It’s hard to just say that this was just a conflict within the group and we should just let it pass,” he says. “Something really bad happened here, and whatever the appropriate criminal sentence ought to be, it’s hard to say we should just look the other way.”

Since the assaults involved forcible restraint of the victims, Entin says, federal sentencing guidelines give the judge a great deal of discretion in determining the appropriate punishment.

The young woman in the interview – daughter of the “bishop” –  sounded like an escapee from a polygamous community to me – very eerie.  There is a link to a recording at the site.  

Stolen Puppy Returned

Fox13.com(SLC); Zach Whitney and Brittany Green-Miner

On Monday, the couple took the dog to a veterinarian and had it checked out.

After seeing the story on FOX 13, neighbors reportedly told the couple that they had the stolen dog.

The veterinarian also saw the story and worked with police to get the couple’s names, but the couple returned the dog before police contacted them.

The Godins were on their way to reunite with the puppy on Wednesday afternoon.

I want to remember the original headline forever:  “Autistic boy’s puppy stolen at gun show”  

Speaker voids Va. Senate GOP redistricting effort

AP: Bob Lewis

Virginia’s Republican House speaker on Wednesday ruled against a measure muscled through by Senate Republicans to redraw all 40 state Senate districts, defusing a partisan dispute that had threatened to stymie progress on major legislation.

House Speaker Bill Howell announced Wednesday that the vast Senate redistricting plan included in a Senate-passed amendment was not germane, or relevant, to the bill’s limited intent of making minor, technical changes to 39 House of Delegates districts.

Lucy Lawless gets fined for protest

New Zealand Herald; Matthew Backhouse

Actor Lucy Lawless and seven other Greenpeace activists have been sentenced to community work and ordered to pay reparation for boarding a drilling ship contracted to Shell Todd during a protest last year.

The group were arrested last February after they boarded the Noble Discoverer at the Port of Taranaki and spent 77 hours up a 58m tower, in protest against Shell’s oil exploration operation in the Arctic.

Tunisia PM to form new government

Tunisia’s prime minister has said that he will dissolve the Islamist-led government and form a national unity administration, following the killing of prominent secular opposition leader Shokri Belaid in front of his home.

Hamadi Jebali announced during a speech to the nation on Wednesday that he will form a cabinet of technocrats to run the country until elections are held.

“After the failure of negotiations between parties on a cabinet reshuffle, I decided to form a small technocrat government,” Jebali said.

Will the new government be more or less Islamic than the previous one?  I just hate it when the opposition leader is killed, and my government falls . . .

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44 comments

  1. slksfca

    …an adorable puppy was stolen from a rescue org’s adoption event at a local mall. It was on the news last night or the night before. Brazen thieves indeed.

    Thanks as always for the news!

  2. princesspat

    Traditionally, he said, Boeing’s in-house experts created detailed specifications for every part of the plane made by suppliers, and had the in-house technical capability to closely monitor whether the work came up to spec.

    “They needed complete knowledge of what was going on,” said Hart-Smith. “I warned that if they outsourced too much work, the day would eventually come when there wouldn’t be enough in-house capability to even write the specs.”

    The senior Boeing engineer with indirect knowledge of the battery and electrical system troubles believes that’s what happened.

    “Internally, we may not have the engineering horsepower required to understand the depths of the (battery system) problem as quickly as we prefer,” he said. “We let too much capability slip away from us.”

    ~snip~

    But the 787 electrical engineer said that when the battery problem is resolved and the Dreamliners fly again, more power panel problems will likely surface, and could lead to more diversions that would further damage the jet’s reputation.

    “To the public, it’s still electrical,” he said.

    He said the company has been to focused on individual, narrow fixes.

    “We have not done a real redesign,” he said. “We should be examining the entire electrical system.”

    The Dreamliner was hyped as both the airplane of the future, and as the new way to manufacture airplanes of the future. Interesting that  the Boeing executives who made the outsourcing decisions don’t seem to be being held accountable.  

  3. Moozmuse

    of themes. Personally, I’m interested in the one concerning indigenous peoples, and will be following that closely.

    Berlin Film Festival

    The 63rd Berlin International Film Festival kicks off on Thursday with a martial arts epic from Hong Kong. The festival’s director says this year’s selection pays particularly close attention to women, indigenous peoples and life in Eastern Europe.

    The Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale for short) is an operation of superlatives. No other festival in the world receives as many visitors: In 2012, nearly 300,000 tickets were sold, more than 3,800 journalists covered the event and some 16,000 accredited industry specialists were in attendance. This year’s festival, taking place Feb. 7 to 17, is screening 404 films, 19 of which are competing for the coveted top prize, the Golden Bear.

  4. From Oil Fields To REI, Interior Nominee Has Outdoorsy Cred

    … Jewell’s oil career is far behind her. Nowadays, she runs a company with a more granola image – REI still calls itself a cooperative. In 2009, she gave a talk at the University of California, Berkeley about her belief in environmental sustainability, as long as it’s economically viable.

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    Five Reasons Why Fewer People Trust Fox News Than Ever Before

    A poll released Wednesday by Public Policy Polling shows that fewer people than ever trust Fox News as a source for accurate news and reporting. Just 41 percent expressed trust in the network – down from 49 four years ago – while 46 percent said they distrust Fox.

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    Thanks To Congressional Incompetence, Saturday Mail Delivery Is History

    Under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, Congress has for years forced the USPS to pre-fund 75 years’ worth of pensions for its employees, a requirement not made of any other public or private institution. That means that the Postal Service is footing the bill for employees it hasn’t even hired yet. […]

    An analysis in July showed that the USPS, without its pension requirement, would have a $1.5 billion surplus.

  5. Forcible Confinement is one of the most heinous and fundamental crimes (as it should be), and mutilating someone’s self-image compounds that. Given the cultural context it is particularly extreme.

    Yes, the hair will grow back, but the crime is an outrageously violent attack against another person. I hope the judge throws a very large book.

  6. Bruce Braley ‘Ready’ For Senate Run In Iowa

    Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) said he’s “ready” to run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tom Harkin in a fundraising email Thursday, announcing that he is forming a campaign committee, the Quad-City Times reports. Braley is expected to be a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.

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    Conservatives in a purity battle with Karl Rove

    We, the free men and women of this great nation, affirm everyone’s natural right to speak their mind, but we cannot and will not abide the unjust, personal broadside your aide Jonathan Collegio leveled against a man whose family has dedicated itself to advancing the cause of liberty for over half a century.

    Mr. Collegio calling Mr. Bozell a “hater” publicly on WMAL radio this morning reflects the language of the establishment Republicans. It is the divisive language of the Left.

    Signed, Those Who You Shall Not Diss including:

    – Tony Perkins, noted gay hater

    – Phyllis Schlafly, noted “everyone who is not Phyllis Schlafly” hater

    – Mark Levin, not really noted hater from talk radio — but he sure writes some swell prose.

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    Westboro Baptist church key member Megan Phelps-Roper leaves

    We’ve done things that hurt people’ says 27-year-old, who is leaving anti-gay organisation with her sister Grace

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    Nearly Half of All US Farms Now Have Superweeds

    Last year’s drought took a big bite out of the two most prodigious US crops, corn and soy. But it apparently didn’t slow down the spread of weeds that have developed resistance to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup (glyphosate), used on crops engineered by Monsanto to resist it. More than 70 percent of all the the corn, soy, and cotton grown in the US is now genetically modified to withstand glyphosate. […]

    So where do farmers go from here? Well, Monsanto and its peers would like them to try out “next generation” herbicide-resistant seeds-that is, crops engineered to resist not just Roundup, but also other, more toxic herbicides, like 2,4-D and Dicamba. Trouble is, such an escalation in the chemical war on weeds will likely only lead to more prolific, and more super, superweeds, along with a sharp increase in herbicide use.

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    Diet Drinks Get You Drunk Faster

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