Yes, he’s technically an alleged thief, but here’s the act caught on tape. $465 was stolen from 16-year-old Beverly Reed.
What kind of despicable brute steals from a teenager selling cookies for her troop?
The March Equinox will occur on the 20th. This also marks the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. (On a somewhat related note, it’s been fascinating to see the changing pattern on the World Sunlight Map. )
The word “equinox” derives from the Latin words meaning “equal night” and refers to the time when the sun crosses the equator. At such times, day and night are everywhere of nearly equal length everywhere in the world.
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The March equinox is the movement when the sun crosses the true celestial equator – or the line in the sky above the earth’s equator – from south to north, around March 20 (or March 21) of each year. At that time, day and night are balanced to nearly 12 hours each all over the world and the earth’s axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the earth and the sun.
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During the equinox, the length of night and day across the world is nearly, but not entirely, equal. This is because the day is slightly longer in places that are further away from the equator, and because the sun takes longer to rise and set in these locations. Furthermore, the sun takes longer to rise and set farther from the equator because it does not set straight down - it moves in a horizontal direction.
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Moreover, one day does not last for the exact same 24 hours across the world and due to time zone differences, there could be a small difference in the daylight length between a far-eastern and far-western location on the same latitude, as the sun moves further north during 24 hours….
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The vernal equinox occurs in the spring while the autumnal equinox occurs during fall (autumn). These terms are derivatives of Latin. It is important to note that the northern hemisphere’s vernal equinox is in March while its autumnal equinox is in September. In contrast, the southern hemisphere’s vernal equinox is in September and its autumnal equinox is in March.
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The days here have been warmer and sunnier the past week, which I appreciate. The birds have been much more vocal and our mimosa tree is showing the first hint of buds. Allergies aside I can’t think of any reason to not celebrate the beginning of Spring.
A video examined by police investigators has discovered 11 more potential victims of the three Hayward Cousins who allegedly shot a man on February 26 because they believed he was gay.
A video made by three cousins from Hayward charged with an alleged anti-gay shooting with a BB rifle last month in San Francisco shows 11 other attacks in a single night, authorities said Friday.
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The three were freed on $50,000 bail soon after their arrest. But on Friday, Mohammad Habibzada, Shafiq Hashemi and Sayed Bassam, all 24, appeared in court and were immediately rearrested. They were all being held late Friday on $450,000 bail.They were returned to custody after prosecutors viewed a video that police found in the three men’s car when they were arrested.
Brian Buckelew, spokesman for District Attorney Kamala Harris, said the video showed the 16th Street attack and BB rifle shootings aimed at 11 other men. Police say the video depicts the suspects laughing as they fire.
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As I noted yesterday, the Itawamba Agricultural High School prom was canceled because Constance McMillen wanted to take her girlfriend and to wear a tuxedo. The school board encouraged community members to host a private prom. The American Humanist Association has met their challenge, though not in the way they likely anticipated. The AHA will host an LGBT inclusive prom.
For Immediate Release
(Washington, DC, March 12, 2010) The American Humanist Association (AHA) stepped forward today and offered to plan and fund a prom for the Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Mississippi. The Itawamba County School District made headlines earlier this week by cancelling their prom rather than letting a lesbian student, Constance McMillen, bring her girlfriend as her date.
“It’s shameful that closed-minded members of the school board are prepared to deprive an entire class of students their prom over their outdated religious mores.” said Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director of the AHA. “People can hold to any belief or no belief in this nation, but the school board misuses their position when they try to impose their beliefs on the student population in Itawamba.”
McMillen was barred from the prom after making it known that she intended to bring a same-sex date. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi became involved and demanded the school reverse its policy. The school board responded by cancelling the prom.
“The ACLU is doing good work in Mississippi, and we humanists can also bring resources to the table that will defend students from a repressive school board,” added Speckhardt. “Prom is a special event for teens across America; we’ll make sure it’s a special night for these students as well.”
AHA members Todd and Diana Steifel made a $20,000 grant available to the AHA for the purpose of holding a prom in Itawamba County. The AHA will be discussing logistics with the pertinent parties today.
Humanists and freethinkers have a history of speaking up for the rights of all. The AHA was among the first to support civil rights, equal pay for equal work, and the right of same-sex couples to marry. Recently the AHA launched the LGBT Humanist Council to advance equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families.
The American Humanist Association advocates for the rights and viewpoints of humanists. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., its work is extended through more than 100 local chapters and affiliates across America.
Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.
I can’t wait to see the photos. And kudos to the American Humanist Association for their generosity!
This really doesn’t surprise me considering it took until 2008 for Charleston, MS, to have a racially integrated prom (and for all I know there are still towns in MS that are holding racially segregated proms). But now an Itawamba school has not only refused to allow a lesbian couple to attend the prom, they’ve actually canceled the prom to keep the girls from attending as a couple.
JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi county school board announced Wednesday it would cancel its upcoming prom after a gay student petitioned to bring a same-sex date to the event.
“Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year,” school board members said in a statement.
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Apparently LGBT students standing up for their rights are now “distractions”.
In the announcement, the school board encouraged the community to organize a private prom. “It is our hope that private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes anyone,” the statement concluded. School officials did not respond to calls seeking comment.The announcement alarmed McMillen.
“Oh, my God. That’s really messed up because the message they are sending is that if they have to let gay people go to prom that they are not going to have one,” she said. “A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this.”
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Of course they want the other students to blame the victims, for then they’ll be absolved of any guilt for their own actions. But then that’s pretty much the RRRW way–do something then pin the blame on someone–anyone–else. Blame the victim, Satan, God, demons or anyone but themselves.
ACLU of Mississippi issued a letter demanding the district change its policy. The letter gave it until Wednesday to decide on a course of action.
The ban on same-sex dates is a violation of McMillen’s constitutional rights, said Sun, the ACLU’s senior attorney on gay rights. “We believe the law is pretty clear,” Sun said. “The school just can’t arbitrarily say you have to bring an opposite date to the prom.”
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The ACLU has filed suit against the school.
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In today’s legal complaint, the ACLU asks the court to reinstate the prom for all students and charges that the First Amendment guarantees students’ right to bring same-sex dates to school dances and cites cases holding that other parties’ objections don’t justify censorship. The ACLU also said that the school further violates McMillen’s free expression rights by telling her that she can’t wear a tuxedo to the prom.“It’s shameful and cowardly of the school district to have canceled the prom and to try to blame Constance, who’s only standing up for herself. We will fight tooth and nail for the prom to be reinstated for all students,” said Christine P. Sun, Senior Counsel with the ACLU national LGBT Project, who represents McMillen along with the ACLU of Mississippi.
The ACLU will ask the court in the next few days to grant McMillen a preliminary injunction ordering the school to reinstate the April 2 prom, let McMillen and her girlfriend go to the prom together, and let McMillen wear a tuxedo to the event.
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I wish them success. Constance and her girlfriend deserve the right to attend their prom along with everyone else.
The RRRWers are constantly screaming about children being “taught gay marriage” in schools. They go into a frenzy any time a school implements a non-discrimination program that attempts to teach students that it’s bad to bully LGBT people. For at least two months before the annual Day of Silence they rend their garments and make outrageous claims about the student’s silence “disrupting” classes and indoctrinating others into the “homosexual lifestyle”. Why do they do all of this?
It’s that simple. Children who haven’t been taught to hate aren’t bigots. It’s only when they are indoctrinated with lies like “god says gays are bad” and “there’s only one acceptable type of family” that the bigotries take root. And, of course, the RRRWers don’t want all of their hard work undone by some lib’rul school system that teaches crazy things like “do unto others”. That’s not something Jesus would have espoused.
So while they rant about the schools “indoctrinating” their children into homosexuality they actually fear just the opposite. They fear their children will be un-indoctrinated, and begin to reject the dogma they’ve been fed from the time they were born. They fear their children will see through all of the lies they’ve been told about LGBT people and their families. And then the children will begin to wonder what other lies their parents have told them…
Update: Due to a barrage of hateful comments from YouTube users the owners of the video have decided to make it “private”. However a transcript of the video is available.
No More Ms. Nice Gay for her, and for that I heartily commend her.
Haim was a staple in the 80s teen movies I grew up on. I’m not entirely surprised at this news, though I rather expected Corey Feldman to be the first to go.
The Lost Boys actor Corey Haim has died aged 38, the Los Angeles coroner’s office has confirmed.A spokeswoman said he passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning at Providence St Joseph Medical Centre.
A post-mortem will determine the cause of death and no other details have been released as yet.
The Canadian-born star’s first role was in the 1984 hit Firstborn. In recent years, he appeared in reality TV show The Two Coreys.
The series, which also starred Haim’s friend Corey Feldman, was cancelled in 2008 after two series.
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In recent years, Haim had spoken to press about his battle with addiction.
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This sort of predation truly angers me. (Via Fetid Fruit)
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49-year-old Richard Chotiner arrived in a Tampa courtroom with Bible in hand. He’s been out on a post-conviction bond since early 2009. That’s when Judge J. Rogers Pagett sentenced Chotiner to 15 years in the Florida State Prison.
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Nice touch, bringing a Bible to court. Was he hoping the Judge would see how “religious” he was and let him off?
The appellate court re-affirmed Chotiner’s conviction. Judge Chet Tharpe on Monday morning revoked Chotiner’s appeal bond and ordered deputies to take him into custody.
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Detectives say in May of 2007, Chotiner befriended a 23-year-old mentally disabled man at Adventure Island. Investigators say Chotiner then lured the man to his home on 39th Street, where he sexually battered him.
The sick piece of scum should never have been allowed to roam free while appealing his case. At least now he’s where he belongs.
I don’t understand why these men are facing any charges. I’m sure they were only acting in accordance with their deeply held religious beliefs. Their freedoms are at stake here!
SAN FRANCISCO — Three Hayward cousins are facing hate crime charges after a man was shot in the face with a BB gun because the attackers believed he was gay, according to San Francisco authorities.
A video of the assault and other similar crimes was recorded by the attackers and is being held as evidence, assistant district attorney Brian Buckelew said.
Mohammad Habibzada, 24, Shafiq Hashemi, 21, and Sayed Bassam, 21, were arrested about 15 minutes after the shooting, when police spotted a car in the area that matched a description given by the victim. The suspects have addresses in Hayward.
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All three suspects are facing three felony counts and one misdemeanor. They include assault with a deadly weapon with a hate crime enhancement, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, and attempted mayhem.“Here we have a guy, shot in face with BB gun, who could have easily been shot in the eye,” Buckelew said.
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Bucklew said “multiple” other victims are on the confiscated video, and the crimes appear to have happened in San Francisco. He said they have not had anyone else come forward, but more charges may be filed if someone does.
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