[WizardofOz]

I am sure we all read plenty of news stories that we find interesting but do not necessarily merit a thread dedicated to it.

Post these news stories here for discussion.

[WizardofOz]

Fired after affair, Minn. pol threatens payback

Michael Brodkorb once was the bane of Minnesota Democrats, a savvy and aggressive operative whose scorched-earth approach to politics — showcased on a blog called "Minnesota Democrats Exposed!" — fueled his rise to dual roles as deputy chairman of the state GOP and chief spokesman for Senate Republicans. Today, he's as toxic to his own party as he ever was to Democrats. Fired late last year from his Senate job after an adulterous affair with the majority leader — his boss — Brodkorb is now threatening a $1.5 million wrongful termination lawsuit that his attorney says could expose more than a dozen other Capitol affairs. Ludeman fired Brodkorb without public explanation in late December, one day after Sen. Amy Koch abruptly quit her leadership post. When Koch later admitted she'd had an affair, widespread speculation had Brodkorb as the other half. But that wasn't confirmed until this week when Brodkorb's attorney said the two, both married to other people, had been in an intimate relationship. Brodkorb's potential lawsuit rests on a gender discrimination claim that even his attorney called "new and creative:" that he was treated differently as a man who had an affair with a female superior, in contrast to numerous female legislative employees he claims never lost their jobs despite affairs with male legislators. "He intends to depose all of the female legislative staff employees who participated in intimate relationships, as well as the legislators who were party to those intimate relationships, in support of his claims of gender discrimination," according to a legal document Brodkorb's lawyers filed this week with the state. Brodkorb's attorney, Philip Villaume, told The Associated Press on Friday that Brodkorb has evidence of "10 to 15" such affairs. He wouldn't describe the evidence.

Should we support his efforts to expose other adulterers in MN or be happy when he fades into obscurity?

Are women who have affairs with their male boss treated differently than males who have affairs with their female boss?

Frivolous or juicy and interesting?

[WizardofOz]

Romney’s Planned Parenthood comment makes waves

"Is the program so critical that it is worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And on that basis, of course you get rid of ObamaCare, that's the easy one. But there are others: Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrak, I would eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, both excellent programs, but we can't afford to borrow money to pay for these things."

I am going to have to defend Romney on this one. The article goes on to say "The Romney campaign clarified that he did not mean that he would want to see the organization eliminated, just its federal funding".

That's what I got out of it. How would Romney "end Planned Parenthood" if elected president?

Of course, PP pulled out the victim card: "the organization's president Cecile Richards said, "Really what that means, is he wants to get rid of preventive health care for 3 million folks every year who come to Planned Parenthood for reproductive health care, for cancer screenings, for birth control.""

Did Romney say that?

Planned Parenthood affiliates receive about $487.4 million in federal aid, which last year provided clients with 750,000 breast exams and 770,000 Pap tests, along with contraception and STD testing. "It would not be getting rid of the organization," Eric Fehrnstrom, a campaign adviser said. "They have other sources of funding besides government appropriations, but in order to achieve balance, we have to make some tough decisions about spending." The written statement added that it is morally irresponsible "to borrow money from China to fund our nation's leading abortion provider."

Is it time to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood?

I think so.

If people love PP so much, let them donate their own money to them rather than force people who morally object to their practices fund them.

Cecile Richards

[Thunder's Muse]

This is pretty big news here in Australia right now.

Sydney Police attended a call regarding a shop being robbed in the CBD. When they arrived, they found no one there but did spot a man walking nearby. When they tried to arrest the man, he resisted so they used Capsicum Spray and the Tazer.

The man stopped breathing and despite efforts from the Police Officers, died at the scene.

Now, it looks like the man wasn't even involved with the robbery.


http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/man-who-di...318-1vczf.html

[annabenedetti]

Mother Saves Daughter From Shark Attack in Florida

[Dena]

Originally Posted by Thunder's Muse

This is pretty big news here in Australia right now.

Sydney Police attended a call regarding a shop being robbed in the CBD. When they arrived, they found no one there but did spot a man walking nearby. When they tried to arrest the man, he resisted so they used Capsicum Spray and the Tazer.

The man stopped breathing and despite efforts from the Police Officers, died at the scene.

Now, it looks like the man wasn't even involved with the robbery.


http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/man-who-di...318-1vczf.html

Oops. Will the police be fired?

[Thunder's Muse]

Originally Posted by Dena

Oops. Will the police be fired?

There will of course be an inverstigation if it turns out he was inncocent. But, yes. Heads will roll for this one.

[WizardofOz]

Originally Posted by Thunder's Muse

This is pretty big news here in Australia right now.

Sydney Police attended a call regarding a shop being robbed in the CBD. When they arrived, they found no one there but did spot a man walking nearby. When they tried to arrest the man, he resisted so they used Capsicum Spray and the Tazer.

The man stopped breathing and despite efforts from the Police Officers, died at the scene.

Now, it looks like the man wasn't even involved with the robbery.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/man-who-di...318-1vczf.html

This reminds me of a recent story.

Zimmerman is the neighborhood watch volunteer in the Central Florida town of Sanford who on Feb. 26 shot and killed Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman claimed the teen started an altercation, and then -- in fear for his life -- Zimmerman pulled a weapon from his waistband and fired. He has not been charged.

Details are coming in about Zimmerman. He was following this kid thinking that he was suspicious. He is a habitual cop-caller. Some analyzing the tapes thinks he sounds intoxicated.

Sounds more and more like vigilantism gone too far. Should be interesting to follow whether charges are filed. I feel for Martin's family.

story

Originally Posted by annabenedetti

Mother Saves Daughter From Shark Attack in Florida

Go mom! That's awesome!

[rexlunae]

Originally Posted by WizardofOz

That's what I got out of it. How would Romney "end Planned Parenthood" if elected president?

Of course, PP pulled out the victim card: "the organization's president Cecile Richards said, "Really what that means, is he wants to get rid of preventive health care for 3 million folks every year who come to Planned Parenthood for reproductive health care, for cancer screenings, for birth control.""

Did Romney say that?

Given that the vast majority of PP's business is reproductive health care, cancer screenings, and birth control, and that many of the people who use their services have few or no other options for those services, that's exactly what he advocating, whether he knew it or not.

Originally Posted by WizardofOz

And there's nothing political about his choice to single out PP for budget cuts. Right?

Of course, this is Romney. He's really just pandering. He probably doesn't mean a word of it.

Originally Posted by WizardofOz

Is it time to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood?

I think so.

If people love PP so much, let them donate their own money to them rather than force people who morally object to their practices fund them.

Or, perhaps we could see through the partisan rhetoric and recognize that they do a lot of good work that's in the public interest, and they don't deserve to be singled out like this.

[WizardofOz]

Originally Posted by rexlunae

Given that the vast majority of PP's business is reproductive health care, cancer screenings, and birth control, and that many of the people who use their services have few or no other options for those services, that's exactly what he advocating, whether he knew it or not.

Do you really think that Romney wants to get rid of preventive health care for 3 million folks every year who come to Planned Parenthood for reproductive health care, for cancer screenings, for birth control?

Would the end of government funding spell the end of PP?

Originally Posted by rexlunae

And there's nothing political about his choice to single out PP for budget cuts. Right?

Well of course it's political. Romney is a politician running for President. However, PP was not singled out. Check his quote.

Romney's comment came at a Missouri television station where he said, "Is the program so critical that it is worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And on that basis, of course you get rid of ObamaCare, that's the easy one. But there are others: Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrak, I would eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, both excellent programs, but we can't afford to borrow money to pay for these things."

Obamacare, Amtrack, National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities were all mentioned in succession.

Is it likewise political for Romney to mention......Amtrack?

He wasn't attacking PP for the sake of it, he was talking deficits, economics and borrowing from China for domestic program funding. He even said "both excellent programs" about the two endowments. I guess he thinks some tough choices will have to be made. I agree.

Do you think cuts need to be made? What would you cut?

Of course, this is Romney. He's really just pandering. He probably doesn't mean a word of it.

On this, we agree

Or, perhaps we could see through the partisan rhetoric and recognize that they do a lot of good work that's in the public interest, and they don't deserve to be singled out like this.

Is Amtrack in the public interest? Is borrowing excessive amounts of money from China in the public's best interest?

[mighty_duck]

Originally Posted by Thunder's Muse

This is pretty big news here in Australia right now.

Sydney Police attended a call regarding a shop being robbed in the CBD. When they arrived, they found no one there but did spot a man walking nearby. When they tried to arrest the man, he resisted so they used Capsicum Spray and the Tazer.

The man stopped breathing and despite efforts from the Police Officers, died at the scene.

Now, it looks like the man wasn't even involved with the robbery.


http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/man-who-di...318-1vczf.html

Wow, police brutality! Unnecessary use of force. You know what they call that here?

Tuesday.


On a more serious note, It's hard to know without more details, but it sounds like the police had probable cause to question him, and when he resisted they were probably just following protocol in using non-lethal means to subdue him. Mostly non-lethal, I should probably say...

[mighty_duck]

Originally Posted by WizardofOz

Do you think cuts need to be made? What would you cut?

Cuts absolutely need to be made. But if you look at the budget, cutting aid to arts and humanities, Amtrack and PP won't make a big difference to that 1.1 trillion deficit (or 1.3 trillion if you remove SS income and expenditure hoax). It sure sounds nice to conservatives though, who can shake their heads at the silly liberal programs, and think they're doing something to fight the deficit.

OTOH, the defense budget is over 700 billion. The rest of the world's defense budgets combined? 900 billion. Something stinks in those numbers.

[WizardofOz]

Originally Posted by mighty_duck

Cuts absolutely need to be made. But if you look at the budget, cutting aid to arts and humanities, Amtrack and PP won't make a big difference to that 1.1 trillion deficit (or 1.3 trillion if you remove SS income and expenditure hoax). It sure sounds nice to conservatives though, who can shake their heads at the silly liberal programs, and think they're doing something to fight the deficit.

OTOH, the defense budget is over 700 billion. The rest of the world's defense budgets combined? 900 billion. Something stinks in those numbers.

Cut from all of the above, absolutely. Not cutting the smaller bits because the hole is so big is backwards thinking.

[Stripe]

Originally Posted by rexlunae

Given that the vast majority of PP's business is reproductive health care, cancer screenings, and birth control, and that many of the people who use their services have few or no other options for those services, that's exactly what he advocating, whether he knew it or not.

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/02/w...do-mammograms/

[rexlunae]

Originally Posted by Stripe

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/02/02/w...do-mammograms/

Ok, so they don't do mammograms...I don't see the problem with that.