Homosexuals Flock to California City Halls for Marriages; Last Minute Appeal Filed to Stop Ceremonies (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Same-sex couples dressed in jeans, shorts, white dresses, and the occasional military uniform filled San Francisco City Hall on Saturday as clerks resumed issuing marriage licenses one day after a federal appeals court removed the last obstacle to making gay marriage legal again in California.

But lawyers for the sponsors of California’s same-sex marriage ban have filed an emergency motion asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule the federal appeals court.

Attorneys with the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom said they submitted the petition on Saturday to Justice Anthony Kennedy, who handles motions dealing with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Senior Counsel Austin Nimocks says a three-judge 9th Circuit panel acted prematurely and unfairly when it lifted the hold on same-sex marriages it had put in place while a challenge to the ban made its way through the courts.

Nimocks says the Supreme Court’s consideration of the case is not done yet because his clients still have 22 days to ask the justices to reconsider their decision holding that Proposition 8′s backers did not have legal authority to defend the ban.

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Doctors Perform Thousands of Unnecessary Surgeries (+video)

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Photo Credit: Kevin Moloney

Photo Credit: Kevin Moloney

Tens of thousands of times each year, patients are wheeled into the nation’s operating rooms for surgery that isn’t necessary, a USA TODAY review of government records and medical databases finds. Some … fall victim to predators who enrich themselves by bilking insurers for operations that are not medically justified. Even more turn to doctors who simply lack the competence or training to recognize when a surgical procedure can be avoided, either because the medical facts don’t warrant it or because there are non-surgical treatments that would better serve the patient.

The scope and toll of the problem are enormous, yet it remains largely hidden. Public attention has been limited to a few sensational cases, typically involving doctors who put cardiac stents in patients who didn’t need them.

In fact, unnecessary surgeries might account for 10% to 20% of all operations in some specialties, including a wide range of cardiac procedures — not only stents, but also angioplasty and pacemaker implants — as well as many spinal surgeries. Knee replacements, hysterectomies, and cesarean sections are among the other surgical procedures performed more often than needed, according to a review of in-depth studies and data generated by both government and academic sources.

Since 2005, more than 1,000 doctors have made payments to settle or close malpractice claims in surgical cases that involved allegations of unnecessary or inappropriate procedures, according to a USA TODAY analysis of the U.S. government’s National Practitioner Data Bank public use file, which tracks the suits. About half the doctors’ payments involved allegations of serious permanent injury or death, and many of the cases involved multiple plaintiffs, suggesting many hundreds, if not thousands, of victims.

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Blackout: Defense Department Blocks All Articles About NSA Leaks From ‘Millions’ of Computers (+video)

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Photo Credit: US News

Photo Credit: US News

By Steven Nelson. The Department of Defense is blocking online access to news reports about classified National Security Agency documents made public by Edward Snowden. The blackout affects all of the department’s computers and is part of a department-wide directive.

“Any website that runs information that the Department of Defense still considers classified” is affected, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart told U.S. News in a phone interview.

According to Pickart, news websites that re-report information first published by The Guardian or other primary sources are also affected.

“If that particular website runs an article that our filters determine has classified information… the particular content on that website will remain inaccessible,” he said.

Pickart said the blackout affects “millions” of computers on “all Department of Defense networks and systems.” Read more from this story HERE.

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Snowden’s father attempts to broker deal for son with Justice Dept.

By Ralph Z. Hallow. The father of suspected National Security Agency leaker Edward J. Snowden is seeking a deal with the Justice Department that would allow his son to remain free prior to a trial in exchange for his surrender to face espionage charges.

It also requests that the younger Mr. Snowden would not be subject to a gag order and that he be allowed to pick the venue of his trial, and says that if any of the agreements were violated the case would be dropped.

Mr. Snowden’s father, Lon, made the proposal in a letter sent to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. The Justice Department said it has received the letter, written by well-known Washington attorney Bruce Fein, and is still considering its response.

“Mr. Snowden is reasonably confident that his son would voluntarily return to the United States if there were ironclad assurances that his constitutional rights would be honored, and he were provided a fair opportunity to explain his motivations and actions to an impartial judge and jury in the above-referenced prosecution,” according to the letter, obtained by The Washington Times. Read more from this story HERE.

Rush Limbaugh: ‘Wait Until the Republican Party Hears About This’ (+video)

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daily rushA caller from Lubbock, Texas, on Friday told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh that some illegal immigrants in his area don’t want amnesty because it means federal income tax and fiercer competition for cheap labor.

“Today I went out and was doing some ag’ work on some of the farms out here and got to talking to some of these guys, asking them about what they think about this. And they’re very, very concerned,” the caller said. “A lot of them were telling me, ‘Well, we really don’t want to become United States citizens.’”

He went on: “There’s two things that they brought up that really scared me. They do not want to become United States citizens. I said, ‘Why not?’ They’re afraid that the United States government is going to take so much taxes out of their paychecks once they have to pay into the federal income tax.”

“Are you kidding me on this?” Limbaugh replied.

“I am dead serious. They do not want to become American citizens,” the caller said.

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Witness Describes Zimmerman’s Injuries, Phone Call to Wife (+video)

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

A resident of the Florida community where George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin last year told jurors Friday afternoon how he encountered a bloodied Zimmerman immediately after the confrontation and took pictures of the murder defendant’s injuries.

State witness Joe Manalo testified that he took the photos with his cell phone that showed blood on Zimmerman’s lip and scalp.

“He had blood running down his nose from both nostrils and over his lips,” Manalo told Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda.

Manalo said Zimmerman asked him to call his wife, Shellie, and tell her that he just shot someone as cops arrived on the scene.

“He had a cell phone in his hand and he tossed it on the ground asking if I could call his wife,” Manalo testified. “He gave me her number. I had a connection right away and said, ‘Your husband has been involved in a shooting. He’s detained by Sanford police.'”

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Bert and Ernie Come Out in New Yorker Magazine (+video)

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

In the hotly contested debate over whether “Sesame Street” characters Bert and Ernie are homosexual, the iconic puppets have apparently come out of the closet on the latest cover of the New Yorker magazine.

The famous characters are depicted snuggling up together in front of a TV while looking at an image of the Supreme Court justices in their black robes.

“It’s amazing to witness how attitudes on gay rights have evolved in my lifetime,” said Jack Hunter, the artist behind the cover. “This is great for our kids, a moment we can all celebrate.” Hunter calls the image, “Moment of Joy.”

There have long been rumors about the nature of Bert and Ernie’s relationship.

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‘Absolutely Incredible’: Canadians Outraged After Flooding Prompts Involuntary Firearm Confiscation (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Canadians in the High River area of Alberta – many already “irate” at not being able to return to their homes after massive flooding last week – were shocked to learn late Thursday that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have seized a “large quantity of firearms” from their evacuated houses.

RCMP Sergeant Patricia Neely said that “Firearms that were unsafely stored in plain sight were seized for safekeeping,” but Sgt. Brian Topham told the National Post that officers forced their way into many of the homes because of “urgent need.”

“We just want to make sure that all of those things are in a spot that we control, simply because of what they are,” Sgt. Topham said. “People have a significant amount of money invested in firearms … so we put them in a place that we control and that they’re safe.”

They will be returned to residents with proof of ownership after the evacuation order — which is now into its eighth day — is lifted, authorities say.

Business owner Brenda Lackey told the Globe and Mail: “Now what they’re doing is looking for firearms and ammunition. How do they have the right to do that? What does that have to do with the disaster? …This is martial law. What has happened to our country?”

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Intolerant Oregon Muslims Bully College Republicans Out Of Their Own Event (+videos)

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college republicansThe ever accepting, open minded socialists and Islamists at Portland State University have taken their bullying tactics to a new level. (Remember last year’s uber fail of a “protest” at Erick Stakelbeck’s presentation?)

The College Republicans hosted a showing of the film “Obsession”, which focuses on radical Islam’s obsession with western civilization. Several people from PSU’s muslim and socialist groups, such as Students United For Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER) and the International Socialist Organization (ISO), decided they would crash the event. And crash iScreen Shot 2013-05-31 at 3.42.37 AMt they did.

Before the event even started, they began to shout and tried to take over. The film played as planned, with a few random heckles, but immediately afterward, the counter attendees began to shout down, intimidate, and bully the College Republicans out of the room. Despite the fact that the documentary specifically said several times that it only focused on the radical Islamists, and even featured a segment where the moderates who denounced the terrorists were praised, the played out shouts of “Shame!” and “Hate speech!” rang through the room, as the Republicans fled, feeling their personal safety was in jeopardy.


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Zimmerman Murder Trial: State’s Key Witness Damaged; Trayvon Friend Says Screams on Tape Weren’t His (+video)

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Photo Credit: orlando sentinel

Photo Credit: orlando sentinel

From the witness stand Wednesday, the state’s star witness in the George Zimmerman murder trial, Rachel “Diamond” Jeantel, gave her account of Trayvon Martin’s last seconds — and they were dramatic.

While on the phone with Trayvon, he told her a man was following him, someone he described as a “creepy-ass cracker,” Jeantel said. He got close enough to Trayvon that she could hear the man say, “‘What are you doing around here?'”

Jeantel then heard a “bump,” followed by something she described as “grass sound.” Trayvon said, “Get off. Get off,” then the phone went dead, she testified.

Jeantel’s account, though, was nearly lost amid the problems and spectacle she created. She used street slang, was sometimes defiant and talked so fast and so softly that it was often impossible to make out her words.

The court reporter interrupted her a dozen times, asking her to repeat herself. Jurors interrupted, too, although not as often, and stopped when Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson told them, “You can’t ask questions. If you can’t understand, just raise your hand.”

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Gay Marriage Rulings Make MSNBC Sad Because They Gut ‘Power Of Federal Government’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: Mediaite

Photo Credit: Mediaite

Well, at least she’s consistent.

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry joined anchor Thomas Roberts on Wednesday to react to the Supreme Court’s rulings on the cases relating to gay marriage rights in the United States. Harris-Perry threw cold water on the celebrations ongoing at 30 Rock when she lamented the Court’s decision to not rule in the case against Proposition 8. She said that this ruling, along with other decisions the Court handed down this session, “gut the power of the federal government” and prevent Washington D.C. from declaring gay marriage the law in all 50 states.

“It’s been kind of a rocky week for rulings from the Supreme Court,” Roberts opined.

Harris-Perry agreed and apologized for being the cautious voice in the room and interrupting the “celebratory” atmosphere on MSNBC.

“As much as those of us who are allies of this movement, and those of us how’ve been working hard on the question of marriage equality would like to read this in the broadest sense,” Harris-Perry began. “What they did, all week long – from the beginning to the end of this week so far – is to gut the power of the federal government.”

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