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This should come as fantastic news to former President Bill Clinton, or on a smaller scale the serial molester Vito Lopez and his enabler Sheldon Silver. Via the New York Post: It’s bad enough that unpaid interns can’t earn wages — but now a federal judge has ruled they’re not even protected from being groped by their bosses. Manhattan federal Judge Kevin Castel determined that Lihuan Wang, a former intern at Phoenix Satellite Television US, couldn’t bring a sex-harassment claim against the Chinese-language broadcasting company and her former supervisor there because unpaid interns aren’t employees — so they’re not covered...

Special Immigrant Visas legislation passes House, becomes law On Wednesday, October 2, the House passed legislation co-introduced by Rep. Kinzinger to provide special visas for Iraqi translators who risked their lives during the Iraqi war to assist American troops. With an estimated 2,000 visas remaining unprocessed, the bill, H.R. 3233, extends the Special Immigrant Visa Program for Iraqi interpreters, contractors, and others who aided the US effort. H.R. 3233 passed the Senate by voice vote and was signed into law on October 4, 2013.

Link to slides only: http://iccf18.research.missouri.edu/files/day3/Distributed_Power_Source.pdf

Conservatives are grabbing popcorn and lining up to catch a new historical drama with modern connections. “Copperhead,” the new film from director Ron Maxwell, focuses on the Northern opponents of the American Civil War and stars Billy Campbell, Angus MacFadyen and Peter Fonda. At least one conservative — Richard Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com — emailed his audience to tell it about the movie “that every conservative needs to see.” “[W]hile Copperhead is about the Civil War, believe me, it will hit close to home for every conservative fighting to preserve our Constitution and our American way of life,” Viguerie wrote....

Beginning Saturday, the FOX network will air a number of animated shows that contain sexually explicit and profanity-laced content never before shown on network television during its “Animation Domination High-Def” (ADHD) programming block. The X-rated cartoons, some of which feature full frontal nudity and cartoon characters engaging in sexual activity, are modeled after Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” and will also be available on the internet. FOX Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly stated in an interview with Daily Variety that “I’d like to find the next ‘Family Guy’ out of this block.” But The Parents Television Council (PTC) strongly denounced the programming....

Russia has not received extradition request for Snowden from the United States, the Justice Ministry said Thursday. The ministry did receive a letter from Eric Holder explaining some aspects of the U.S. position on the status of Snowden... The "document did not contain (a) request for the extradition or deportation of this individual," the statement said.

Sen. John McCain has a wish for any exotic dancers who might feel the pinch from legislation he’s backing that would do away with the dollar bill and replace it with a dollar coin: Shake what your momma gave you and make more moolah. … When pressed about the predicament facing scores of the country’s skin-baring and bill-collecting women, McCain responded without missing a beat, “Then I hope that they could obtain larger denominations.” …

So, George Zimmerman was scared the night he shot Trayvon Martin through the heart. Know who else was probably pretty scared that night? Trayvon Martin. Surprised I’m asking? Me too. But it seems like a lot of people haven’t thought much about that. Obviously, Trayvon isn’t here to tell us how he felt. He’s dead. And a lot of folks disregarded Rachel Jeantel’s account of him being afraid even though she was the last person to hear Trayvon speak (besides Zimmerman). She heard his fear through the phone. She heard him try to run away. He was scared. And yet...

On Tuesday, an official in Pennsylvania's Montgomery County made a decision that he said would put him "on the right side of history and the law." He decided that he would issue a same-sex marriage license to anyone who wanted it. In Pennsylvania, same-sex marriage is illegal, but Register of Wills Bruce Hanes said in a press release that he made his "own analysis of the law." He also noted that the state's attorney general announced on July 11 that she would not defend that state's gay marriage ban against a legal challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union. At...

I’ve had many infuriating conversations with my incredibly conservative, Republican stepdad. He’s laughed in my face for pointing out with facts the inadequacy of Mitt Romney during the 2012 election. We argued over the political reputation of Obama in 2008. We’ve also silently disagreed about immigration reform, birth control, gun control, and health care reform, because we both know how that conversation will end. Every time I turn on the television in his and my mother’s home it’s already on Fox News. Every time I get in his car the sexually frustrated, diabetic voice of Rush Limbaugh rattles the dash...

Her words, not mine. Alice Walker is the author of The Color Purple, The Color Purple, The Color Purple, and probably some other books. She also has some really awesome ideas about science. But first things first. Last week, Walker wrote about her deliberately factless, emotion-based reaction to the George Zimmerman verdict. It was on the Guardian‘s “Comment Is Free” blog, because of course it was: "I deliberately watched none of the Zimmerman trial, just as I have deliberately not read a draft of a new book by Jen Marlowe and others, soon to be published: I Am Troy Davis,...

Listening to the lead prosecutor’s final argument in the Zimmerman case, it’s hard to believe he really wanted a conviction. Lead prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda lost focus from the moment he opened his mouth and began: “A teenager is dead. He is dead through no fault of his own. He is dead because another man made assumptions….” Not only is de la Rionda’s voice flat, his tone subdued and resigned, he begins by presenting the victim as an abstraction, characterizing him in a neutral, almost dismissive way as “a teenager,” who also happens to be dead, which everyone knew...

People need to shut up about Zimmerman being found “Not-Guilty.” It might have been sh*tty, but it wasn’t a “Miscarriage” of justice. Rodney King was a “Miscarriage” of Justice (even though he was a dirt-bag). Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination was a “Miscarriage” of justice. What happened to Malcolm X was a “Miscarriage” of justice. This whole thing was just a sh*tty fiasco inflated by the media that left one young man dead, and ruined the life of the other. Both sides of this issue are stupid, and I’m outraged at the social media posts from both. Martin’s side for...

A Far Rockaway man was arrested last week for making a Facebook status update with the hashtag "killallwhites," which a nervous NYPD interpreted as "making a terroristic threat," a felony. In the aftermath of the George Zimmerman verdict, Remel Newson's status update caught the eye of an NYPD officer monitoring Facebook; it read: "BLAC NIGGAS CNT GET NO TYPE OF JUSTICE FU**IN WIT DESE CRACCER'S #KILLALL WHITES DATS DA TYPE OF SH*T I'M ON F**K DIS BEEF SH*T LET'S KILL COPS ND NEIGHBO RHOOD WATCHER #FACTS DAT." Cops were at Newson's door with hours. According to investigators, Newson, 20, admitted...

Oh, Craigslist. You are so helpful for finding last-minute tickets, used vinyl records, and perfectly good furniture. You’re also good for reminding us that ridiculous people exist. In this case, specifically, people who enjoy watching actors role-play the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin altercation at a birthday party on Long Island. “HI MY FRIENDS AND I ARE HAVING A PARTY THIS WEEKEND AND WE ARE LOOKING TO HIRE TWO ACTORS TO COME IN AND ROLE PLAY THE TREVYON MARTIN/GEORGE ZIMMERMAN ALTERCATION,” the spelling-error-laden advertisement reads screams in all-caps. The ad doesn’t specify whether the actors should be lookalikes or just people of...

The moment the NAACP, the Reverend Al Sharpton and other civil rights organizations publicly demanded that the Justice Department conduct a federal probe into the Trayvon Martin slaying and George Zimmerman’s acquittal for killing him with a view toward bringing civil rights charges against him, volumes were written and spoken as to why the department supposedly couldn’t or shouldn’t prosecute him. There’s one problem with all this. Most argue that charging Zimmerman with a hate crime in the Martin killing won’t fly because there’s no basis for that from the apparent evidence. But that’s not the only reason, in fact...

Sen. Ted Cruz rejected questions Sunday over his eligibility to be president, saying that although he was born in Canada “the facts are clear” that he’s a U.S. citizen. “My mother was born in Wilmington, Delaware. She’s a U.S. citizen, so I’m a U.S. citizen by birth,” Cruz told ABC. “I’m not going to engage in a legal debate.” The Texas senator was born in Calgary, where his mother and father were working in the oil business. His father, Rafael Cruz, left Cuba in the 1950s to study at the University of Texas and subsequently became a naturalized citizen. President...

A new system for human organs harvest will soon go into operation nationwide. Haihua, of NHFPC, said patients currently on organ waiting lists will (also) be ranked as harvest candidates. The system will be used in line with organ (collection and) worldwide distribution. NHFPC rules for obtainment, distribution will make the distribution process more transparent...and make the new system compulsory, Deng said. China has about 3,000,000 patients suffering from missing organ(s) each year, but only around 10,000 organ are found. It is no secret, executed prison (donated human organs) supply 96% of the American dental, jaw-bone / tooth-bone, soylent smile...

It’s been difficult to write anything about the George Zimmerman trial verdict that doesn’t begin and end with profanity-laced diatribe topped with rage. As if the reality that there is Florida legislation — and similar laws in some 20 other states — that effectively protects prejudice-holding vigilantes like George Zimmerman and their hunting and slaughtering of Black children wasn’t infuriating enough, making it even worse is the smug behavior of the cast of characters who serve as a support system for that murderer. At their press conference, Zimmerman’s attorneys Mark O’Mara and Don West practically threw their win in the...

How is it that in this day and age, a man can kill an unarmed teenager in cold blood, get acquitted and then get his gun back a few days later? How is it that a man who cannot pass the tests necessary to become a police officer—possibly due to failing the psychological portion of the testing—can get a gun permit? How is it possible that George Zimmerman can walk this earth today legally armed, while Trayvon Martin is buried six feet under due to a bullet that came out of Zimmerman’s gun? Only in America. The Kel Tec PF-9...