CNN, Esquire Blame the 'Right Wing' For Boston Marathon Bombing

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By Victor Medina. In the early hours after the Boston Marathon was attacked with multiple bomb blasts, both CNN and Esquire Magazine indulged in speculation that right wing extremists may be responsible for the attacks. In one instance, Esquire Magazine’s Charles P. Pierce attempted to link the bombings to right wing extremists similar to Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. In another, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen speculated that the type of bomb device could link it to right wing extremist groups:

Esquire’s Charles P. Pierce wrote in an online post on the magazine’s website that we should not jump to conclusions and blame foreign terrorists, then blames it on right-wing domestic terrorists. He stated “remember that this is the official Patriots Day holiday in Massachusetts, celebrating the Battles at Lexington and Concord, and that the actual date (April 19) was of some significance to, among other people, Tim McVeigh, because he fancied himself a waterer of the tree of liberty and the like.” Read more from this story HERE.

Boston Marathon bombing: The latest Patriots Day tragedy

By Emanuella Grinberg. It didn’t take long Monday for speculation to ramp up online over the timing of the Boston Marathon bombings, which came on Patriots Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine marking the anniversary of the opening battles of the American Revolutionary War.

The American uprising against British authority in Lexington, Massachusetts, was on April 19, 1775, but Patriots Day is celebrated on the third Monday in April, falling this year on April 15.

“It’s a day that celebrates the free and fiercely independent spirit that this great American city of Boston has reflected from the earliest days of our nation,” President Obama said Monday, a few hours after a pair of bombs rocked the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing at least three and injuring dozens more.

For many New Englanders, it is a day of pride that comes with historical re-enactments, the Boston Marathon, baseball and a day off for schools and government employees.

It’s now a day that will go down in history along with other violent U.S. incidents in April, including the 1993 FBI siege of David Koresh’s compound in Waco, Texas, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, a mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 and the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Man Attacks Uniformed Military Officer in Walmart, Charged with Hate Crime

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Video surveillance footage from an Albany Wal-Mart store shows a uniformed U.S. Army officer being attacked by a man who police say verbally harassed the soldier for his military service.

Albany police released the footage after charging 47-year-old Yiqiang Wu of Schenectady with assault as a hate crime for Thursday’s fight at a checkout line.

Capt. Andrew McClure of the New York Army National Guard told police that a man behind him in line began to yell derogatory comments about the United States and his service to the nation. Police say Wu then struck the officer several times in the face. The officer was treated at the scene.

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NY Times Columnist Kristof Slams ‘Senate Republicans’ after Boston Explosions

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New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof responded to the explosions that blasted the Boston Marathon on Monday with an eyebrow-raising comment about Republicans on Capitol Hill.

In a tweet during the aftermath of the apparent attacks, Kristof wrote, “Explosion is a reminder that ATF needs a director. Shame on Senate Republicans for blocking apptment.”

The columnist linked to a Feb. 1 article in the Washington Post about Republicans not supporting President Obama’s nominee to lead the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bureau.

Watch video of the explosions here:

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Alaska-Based Soldier Gets 16 Years in Spy Case

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Photo Credit: U.S. Army Alaska

An Alaska-based military policeman will serve 16 years in prison and will be dishonorably discharged for selling military secrets to a Russian agent, who was an undercover FBI agent, a military panel decided Monday.

A panel of eight military members from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage recommended a 19-year sentence for Spec. William Colton Millay, but that was dropped to 16 years because of a pretrial agreement. He will receive credit for the 535 days he’s been jailed since his Oct. 28, 2011, arrest. The panel also reduced him in rank to private and he will forfeit all pay and allowances.

Millay pleaded guilty last month to attempted espionage and other counts. A sentencing panel of male military members began deliberations late Monday afternoon.

Military prosecutors painted Millay as a white supremacist who was fed up with the Army and the United States, and was willing to sell secrets to an enemy agent, even if that would cost his fellow soldiers their lives. Defense attorneys said Millay was emotionally stunted, was only seeking attention and was a candidate for rehabilitation.

Millay’s attorney, Seattle-based Charles Swift, said they understand and accept the sentence. However, “We do intend to seek further clemency as this case goes forward for the reasons that were set forth in the trial: his mental state, his emotional age, and the motivation for it, and the circumstances.”

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Jury Told Gosnell Kept 47 Aborted Babies in Cat Food and Drink Containers

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[T]he most shocking portion of today’s hearing revolved around Gosnell’s habit of storing the bodies of babies he butchered in abortions.

“This morning’s testimony from the medical examiner discussed remains of 47 babies found in cat food and cherry lime ade containers,” says Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue, who is in the courtroom listening to the trial. “All containers contained bloody fluid and human remains.”

She said it took the medical examiner, Dr. Gulino, five days just to catalog the containers of fetal parts and the examiner also examined feet and lower extremity found in jars of formaldehyde belonging to five babies Gosnell killed. The ages of the unborn children ranged from first trimester to 22 weeks and the latter baby was possibly viable.

“Most fetuses he examined were found in cat food, other containers. Frozen in red plastic bags,” Sullenger said. “He never encountered situation before and attempted to get guidance. This case was ‘unprecedented’ he said”…

Gosnell faces 43 criminal counts, including eight counts of murder in the death of one patient, Karnamaya Monger, and seven newborn infants. Additional charges include conspiracy, drug delivery resulting in death, infanticide, corruption of minors, evidence tampering, theft by deception, abuse of corpse, and corruption. Gosnell could face the death penalty if convicted and he faces a mandatory minimum 20 years.

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Judge: Lesbians' Right to Sleep Together Trumps Bed and Breakfast Owner's Religious Rights

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The Hawaii First Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of a Southern California couple who sued Aloha Bed & Breakfast for discrimination in 2011, Lambda Legal announced Monday. In 2007, Diane Cervelli and Taeko Bufford tried to book a room at the bed and breakfast because it’s in Hawaii Kai, the same east Honolulu neighborhood where the friend they were visiting lived.

When Cervelli specified they would need one bed, the owner asked if they were lesbians. Cervelli responded truthfully and the owner said she was uncomfortable having lesbians in her house because of her religious views, the lawsuit said.

The bed and breakfast violated the state public accommodations law and is ordered to stop discriminating against same-sex couples, according to the ruling dated April 11.

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New York's Assault Weapon Registration Begins

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Key measures of New York’s tough new gun law kicked in Monday, with owners of firearms now reclassified as assault weapons required to start registering the firearms and new limits on the number of bullets allowed in magazines.

As the new provisions took effect, New York’s affiliate of the National Rifle Association planned to file a court request for a federal injunction to immediate halt to the magazine limit.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls those and other provisions in the state’s new gun law common sense while dismissing criticisms he says come from “extreme fringe conservatives” who claim the government has no right to regulate guns.

“Yes, they are against it, but they are the extremists and the extremists shouldn’t win, especially on this issue when it is so important to the majority,” Cuomo said in a radio interview last week. “In politics, we have to be willing to take on the extremists, otherwise you will see paralysis.”

New York’s new gun restrictions, the first in the nation passed following December’s massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, limit state gun owners to no more than seven bullets in magazines, except at competitions or firing ranges.

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Reid Warns of ‘Unreasonable Extremists’ in Gun Debate

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Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, kicked off Monday’s session by saying the victims of December’s Connecticut shooting rampage deserve a vote on gun legislation and warning of “unreasonable extremists” who may try to derail or delay the process.

Mr. Reid said protecting citizens’ Second Amendment rights and working to prevent gun violence are “both worthy goals, and they should not be mutually exclusive goals.”

The Senate on Monday begins debate on a gun-control bill, the expected centerpiece of which is a amendment that would expand gun-purchase background checks to gun sales online and to all vendors at gun shows…

Presently, only licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct background checks.

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Anti-Gun John Kerry in Japan: Foreign Students 'Scared' to Study Abroad in U.S. Because of Gun Violence

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Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN Monday that foreign students are increasingly “scared” of studying abroad in the United States because of gun violence.

America’s top diplomat has been in Asia to confront North Korea’s increasing aggression but, speaking from Tokyo, he pivoted to American politics.

In “quiet conversations” with officials, Kerry said he has discussed “how safe it is over here in this country [Japan], where people are not running around with guns.”

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Obama, Who Supported Infanticide as State Senator, is Supposedly Following 'House of Horrors' Murder Trial

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President Obama is following the murder trial of a Philadelphia abortionist, but the White House wouldn’t say Monday whether he’s drawn any conclusions from the gruesome testimony. [Obama, as a state senator, supported the killing of newborns who survived failed abortions]

“The president is aware of this,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in response to a reporter’s question of whether Mr. Obama is paying attention to the trial of Kermit Gosnell.

But asked if Mr. Obama had reached any public policy lessons from the trial, Mr. Carney said, “The president does not and cannot take a position on an ongoing trial.”

Dr. Gosnell is on trial on murder and other charges in Philadelphia stemming from his 2010 arrest for conducting an alleged “house of horrors” abortion clinic in a poor inner-city Philadelphia neighborhood.

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