Perkins Newsgroup

Sotomayor – overruled

perkinsnewsgroup — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:35:04 +0000

New Haven, Connecticut firefighters had a test to determine promotions, a test that only whites and Hispanics passed; so the city canceled promotions.

Lead by firefighter Frank Ricci, those that passed the test fought against the city’s decision to nullify the promotion. US Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor (pictured to the left) ruled against the firefighters, so the group of firefighters who came to be known as “New Haven 20″ took the case to the supreme court.

This morning, by a narrow margin, the New Haven 20 won their case. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shows that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was violated for the 19 whites and 1 Hispanic that did well on the exam.

The act states: “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 USC 2000e, makes it unlawful for an employer to hire or discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his/her compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, because of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This covers hiring, firing, promotions and all workplace conduct. “

Bernard Madoff sentenced 150 years

perkinsnewsgroup — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:04:06 +0000

Bernard “Bernie” Madoff, who is known for the largest Ponzi scheme in history, making away with 65 billion dollars, got sentenced this morning.

Cheers and applause erupted in the courtroom upon U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin’s decision. The judge rejected leniency and said $13 billion cost to victims was a conservative estimate when also accounting for feeder funds.

Some of the worst-hit victims of Madoff included Fairfield Greenwich Advisors, who lost $7.5 billion; Tremont Group Holdings, who lost $3.3 billion; Banco Santander, who lost $2.87 billion; even New York University, who lost $24 million. Madoff swindled about 110 victims including Hollywood screenwriters, Swiss banks, Jewish charities, individual investors, even actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. For a full list of Madoff’s victims, click here.

The picture above is Bernard Madoff’s mugshot, taken just a few hours ago.

Laura Bush speaks against Burma

perkinsnewsgroup — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:20:21 +0000

Laura Bush, former first lady, who has been out of the public eye since the end of hubby’s administration, has something to say. In an interview released in the Washington Post today, she asks the United Nations (UN) to press the ruling regime there to end human rights abuses.

“In the past 21 months, the number of political prisoners incarcerated by the junta has doubled,” says Mrs. Bush. “Within the past 10 days, two Burmese citizens were sentenced to 18 months in prison. Their offense: praying in a Buddhist pagoda for the release of the jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. That is only the tip of the regime’s brutality.”

“With U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon planning to visit Burma this summer, it is crucial that he press the regime to take immediate steps to end human rights abuses, particularly in ethnic minority areas,” Laura Bush says. “There have been 38 U.N. resolutions condemning these abuses, yet the horrors continue unabated. Under the junta’s brutal rule, too many lives have been wasted, lives whose talents could have helped all of Burma prosper.”

Billy Mays – Dead at 50

perkinsnewsgroup — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:24:42 +0000

The infomercial king, Billy Mays, was found unresponsive this morning by his wife Deborah in his Florida home. Tampa Fire Rescue pronounced him deceased at 7:45 a.m. The cause of death is unknown, Tampa police say that there were no signs of forced entry or suspected foul play. According to Tampa officials, an autopsy is expected to be completed by Monday afternoon.

“Although Billy lived a public life, we don’t anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days,” said Deborah Mays in a statement release Sunday morning.

Exorcising Gay Demons

perkinsnewsgroup — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:29:12 +0000

A video posted on YouTube by Manifested Glory Ministries shows a rather disturbing scene.

The church says that they are trying to exorcise the “homosexual demons.” The pastor of the church, Patricia McKinney, the woman in the video wearing the yellow top agreed to an interview with CNN’s Ali Velshi:

AV: Pastor, that scene that you just heard or saw, that’s what happened. When did that happen?
PK: Um, I’m not too really sure. I think it was maybe about six/seven months ago, sir.
AV: Tell me what happened. Did you invite this young man to come up, or did he volunteer to come up, how did this happen?
PK: No, he came into our church, and it happened on one of our Sunday morning worships and alls we do is come in on Sunday and we begin to worship God. Um, for many people who don’t know, we are a non denominal church. We are holiness church, we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. So it was just on one of our Sunday morning worships where everybody begin to worship the Lord, we begin to reverend his spirit, and you has some people worshiping God, you has some people singing, you has some people dancing.
AV: Typically do you have people come up and say “I’ve got this problem, this illness, this issue, and I need you to solve it?”
PK: No, what happened was, every Sunday we call people up to the alter that want to be delivered from any spirit that causes them to not be able to function. So on this particular Sunday, we were just beginning to worship the Lord, and all of a sudden, he hit the floor.

Some other interesting points in the interview; Patricia claimed that her church is not against homosexuality, then saying that gays cannot live the gay lifestyle in their church, then saying that they welcome everyone in their church, and just a few seconds later saying that for gays to come into their church, the must be delivered.

The full interview is here.

National HIV Testing Day

perkinsnewsgroup — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:06:14 +0000

Today, June 27, is the fourteenth National HIV Testing Day (NHTD).

“By knowing your HIV status, you can take control,” said Barack Obama in a video posted this morning on the White House website.

For more HIV/AIDS information, please check out the following websites:

Avert
Center for Disease Control
Mayo Clinic
Teens Health

Gov. Palin fires back at Sen. Kerry

perkinsnewsgroup — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:52:13 +0000

That’s right, the lipstick pitbull had something to say about Kerry’s recent cheap shot.

Earlier this week, Senator John Kerry joked about how he wishes Palin would have disappeared; click here for full story.

Friday evening, while speaking to U.S. troops in Kosovo, Governer Palin had something to say about Kerry;

“Then Sen. John Kerry makes this joke, I don’t know if you saw this, but he makes this joke saying, ‘Aw shoot, of all the governors in the nation who disappeared, too bad it couldn’t have been that governor from Alaska…But the way he said it, he looked quite frustrated, and he looked so sad, and I just wanted to reach out to the TV and say, ‘John Kerry, why the long face?’”

She is currently visiting Alaska National Guard troops on a peacekeeping mission.

Green Energy Bill – passed

perkinsnewsgroup — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:15:20 +0000

The Waxman-Markey Bill that has been under much scrutiny was passed just minutes ago – June 26.

The vote was 219 to 212.

The American Petroleum Institute conducted a study with the results that “the bill will cost Americans billions of dollars in higher costs, kill jobs and will not deliver the environmental benefits promised.” The estimate is that 2 million jobs would be cut a year. The study also estimates annual drops in GDP of $170 billion in 2015, $350 billion in 2030 and $730 billion in 2050. In short, the API describes the bill as “fundamentally flawed.”

The Heritage Foundation also had some undesirable predictions, claiming that the bill will reduce GDP through 2035 by $9.4 trillion, reduce jobs by 1.1 million, and also raise the average household energy-bill to $1,241.

It is obvious that the Americans paying for these higher energy costs are in strong opposition, but the real shocker is that environmental groups are on the same side of the debate, such as Greenpeace.

Greenpeace USA Deputy Campaigns Director Carroll Muffett today released a statement calling the proposed climate legislation “weak” and insufficient.

“Despite President Obama’s assurance that he would enact strong, science-based legislation,” Greenpeace’s Muffett explained, “we are now watching him put his full support behind a bill that chooses politics over science, elevates industry interests over national interest…”

Sen. Kerry cracks joke about Gov. Palin

perkinsnewsgroup — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:47:27 +0000

“Too bad if a governor had to go missing it couldn’t have been the governor of Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin.’’ said Kerry.

It was during a meeting of left-winged business and civic leaders that Kerry joked himself into this foot-in-mouth situation. The meeting was about the disappearance of GOP Gov. Mark Sanford, who is rumored to be in Argentina with his mistress.

The lipstick pitbull has not yet publically responded to this, but it will just be a matter of time before she fires back.

This is not the first time Kerry has made a joke that has gotten him into a bit of trouble; when speaking to a group of students in California, Kerry said that people who do not study hard and do their homework will likely “get stuck in Iraq.”