Snapzu Politics: September 2015

Wednesday 30 September 2015

Pope: Workers have 'human right' to refuse gay marriage licenses

Pope Francis appeared to weigh in on the side of anti-gay-marriage clerk Kim Davis, saying government workers have a “human right” to refuse to carry out a duty if they have a “conscientious objection.” While returning from his visit to the U.S., the pontiff told reporters aboard the papal plane Monday that anyone who prevents others from exercising their religious freedom is denying them a human right.
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Artist fatally shot while working on anti-violence mural in Oakland

A mural artist was fatally shot Tuesday while working on a community art piece under a freeway overpass in Oakland, police said. By Veronica Rocha.
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Germany prints its constitution in Arabic for refugees to learn

Germany has translated the first 20 articles of the country's constitution, which outline basic rights like freedom of speech, into Arabic for refugees to help them integrate.
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CMPD considers no-go areas for criminals

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and Charlotte City Council are discussing whether to create “public safety zones,” city areas where people with past arrests would be prohibited from entering. By Steve Harrison.
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US supreme court: conservatives set to retake reins after year of liberal wins

After a spate liberal decisions on gay marriage and Obamacare, experts predict the court’s conservative majority will reassert itself ahead of the 2016 election
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Weed Wars

ResponsibleOhio’s effort to legalize marijuana in Ohio has been mired in controversy, hindered by court battles, and attacked by government officials and cannabis advocates alike. And it might win anyway.
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Bad Air: Pollution, Sin, and Science Fiction in William Delisle Hay’s "The Doom of the Great City" (1880)

Deadly fogs, moralistic diatribes, debunked medical theory - Brett Beasley explores a piece of Victorian science fiction considered to be the first modern tale of urban apocalypse.
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National Education Association Says ‘Bernie Can’t Win’: We Will Endorse Hillary: Members Furious

As the first Democratic debate approaches, members of the National Education Association – the largest labor organization in the US – is split over which candidate they should support in the upcom
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Tired of capitalism? There could be a better way.

Governments have typically dealt with capitalism’s more misery-inducing tendencies by creating institutions of labor protection — such as the right to organize unions — and by building out modern welfare states. Although these policy programs have been fairly successful, especially in the countries that have pushed them the furthest, they have not fully eliminated coercion and deprivation.
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US-backed Syrian rebels claim Russian planes have hit their positions

A US-backed Syrian rebel group has claimed that Russian warplanes have hit its positions in central Syria. The group, known as Tajamu Alezzah, wrote with heavy sarcasm on Twitter on Wednesday that “eradicating terrorism appears to begin with attacks” on its locations in the central city of Latamna in the province of Hama, according to the Associated Press.
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The Coal Baron Who May Be Responsible for 29 Deaths Is Finally Facing Justice

At 9 a.m. on Oct. 1, former coal baron Donald Leon Blankenship will stand before a judge at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston, West Virginia, for what promises to be a lengthy, complex, and historic criminal trial.
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Women and the World of Dime Novels

Full of romance and adventure, dime novels were a variety of melodramatic fiction that was popular in the United States from about 1860 until the early 1900s. Published as cheap paperbacks (most cost only ten cents), they were generally regarded as low-quality fiction. The characters fought, fell in love, got married, and occasionally killed each other (or sometimes themselves). The goal of this exhibit is to highlight some of these female characters.
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Millions More Need H.I.V. Treatment, W.H.O. Says

Everyone who has H.I.V. should immediately be put on antiretroviral triple therapy and everyone at risk of becoming infected should be offered protective doses of similar drugs, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday as it issued new H.I.V. treatment and prevention guidelines.
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Seven killed after series of bombs in Chinese city of Liuzhou

Official news agency says 15 explosions in Guangxi region hit buildings including a hospital. Police say it is a criminal act not terrorism
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Surgeons test possible stem cell cure for blindness

Surgeons test possible stem cell cure for blindness. Surgeons in London have used human embryonic stem cells in a pioneering attempt to cure blindness. Cells derived from a donated early embryo were implanted into the retina of a 60-year-old woman with age-related macular degeneration - the most common cause of blindness in the UK.
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Truck Hauling Bees Rolls Over on Oklahoma Highway

Photos from the scene show what is estimated to be millions of bees swarming and encasing emergency vehicles that responded to the scene
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What maps reveal about ourselves

Cartography has produced beautiful works of art – but are they as objective as we think? Alastair Sooke explores the unreliable history of map-making.
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An Incredibly Detailed Map of the Roman Empire At Its Height in 211AD

The map above is one of the most detailed and interesting maps of the Roman Empire you'll likely find online. It shows what the Empire looked like in 211 CE (aka 211 AD) at the end of the reign of Septimius Severus.
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Russian Airstrikes Inside Syria Include Areas Controlled By Western-Backed Rebels

Moscow claims Syrian-piloted Russian jets are targeting ISIS but Syrian activists post video showing attacks in areas controlled by rebels opposed to Bashar al-Assad.
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3,000-year-old skeleton of dog found around Van Fortress, Turkey

The new finds offer insights into the reign of the Urartu as well as what daily life was like back then.
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Buried Treasure Amongst the Stacks

This is what buried treasure looks like in a library: This book, which is a collection of two perfectly respectable but not very rare tracts by Vatican Librarian Agostino Steuco, has acted as a vessel, a treasure chest, for the bits and pieces that went into its binding and physical construction.
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Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe shouts 'We are not gays' during UN address

Zimbabwe's infamously outspoken President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the country for over three decades, went on a tirade against extended human rights to gay people in his country during a speech at the UN General Assembly on Monday. "We reject attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs," said Mugabe, rallying against perceived international interference in his country's affairs.
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Salmon Population Plummeting in Lake Michigan

A smaller population of Michigan's premier game fish may be necessary, as invasive mussels change the lake environment.
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2200 year old walrus bones suggest the most famous medieval chess set might be Icelandic in origin

Carbon dating of walrus bones found in Snæfellsnes peninsula indicates that the bones are at least 2000 years old.
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Feds say your hard drives are for the government’s keeping

Does Constitution demand return of computer files outside a search warrant's scope?
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Swiss TV Station Replaces Cameras with iPhones and Selfie Sticks

iPhones may not be very good at photographing lunar eclipses, but apparently they're just fine for television news broadcasts.
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Russians In Syria Building A2/AD ‘Bubble’ Over Region

Russian forces flowing into Syria don’t look like counter-terrorists out to stop the Islamic State, which Vladimir Putin has said is his highest priority.
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FBI and DEA under review for use of NSA mass surveillance data

A 'staggering' amount of data, one judge said.
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6 Ways Brazil is Saving the Amazon

Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have plummeted 80% in the last decade thanks to the establishment of new protected areas, satellite monitoring of deforestation, cooperation by agricultu...
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Inside The Mermaid Economy

It’s not easy being a mermaid. Just ask Rachel Smith, the head mermaid at Dive Bar, a plush lounge in downtown Sacramento. Every night, she and a dozen other professional mermaids perform elaborate routines to entertain patrons in a 40-foot aquarium populated by fish and filled with 7,500 gallons of saltwater. While Smith, who has been working at Dive Bar since it opened in January 2011, describes her job as a dream come true...
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Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Munir Uwaydah alleged ringleader in $150 million insurance scam

An orthopedic surgeon is charged as the ringleader in one of California's biggest health fraud schemes, which included unnecessary operations by an untrained assistant that scarred patients forever, according to indictments unsealed Tuesday. Dr. Munir Uwaydah and 14 associates, including another doctor and a lawyer, bilked insurance companies out of $150 million in the scheme, Los Angeles District...
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Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini deny wrongdoing over £1.35m payment

The Fifa and Uefa presidents, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, have issued almost simultaneous statements denying any wrongdoing relating to the £1.35m paid to Platini in February 2011, for which Blatter is subject to a Swiss criminal investigation.
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New York Police Roll Out Stop-And-Frisk 'Receipts'

An effort to rein in a controversial program the New York Police Department has formally introduced the “receipt” cops will be required to issue when they stop-and-frisk people in the street, as part of the city’s increasing oversight of police. Police will be required to give the “What Is A Stop?” slip to those who are stopped but not arrested, the New York Daily News reports.
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RWW News: Bryan Fischer Says All Immigrants Are Welcome, Provided They Convert To Christianity

Tuesday 29 September 2015

How Lin-Manuel Miranda Shapes History

Works of art have long informed how people understand the past, and Hamilton is no exception. Edward Delman speaks with the show's writer, composer, and star about the process of translating history onto the stage; the ways in which Hamilton could alter our perception of history; and the role artists play in shaping historical narratives.
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Ralph Lauren Leaving CEO Post

The fashion industry saw one of its iconic figures step aside Tuesday when Ralph Lauren said he is is giving up the title of CEO of the company bearing his name.
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Snapshots from Space History

UCL is the only UK host of a NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility (RPIF). On top of this, it has a long tradition in astronomy, geology and planetary science.
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One Million Moms’ Tax-Exempt Outrage Industry

The online arm of the American Family Association is making crazy money—and paying no taxes—off of their campaigns against Chobani, the Muppets, and rainbow Doritos.
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The EPA Is Set To Issue Rule Curbing A Dangerous Form Of Air Pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to release its final rule on ozone levels by October 1, a regulation that will seek to reduce the amount of ozone in the air.
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Russia's Lost Princesses - Beyond the portraits

Meet the real princesses behind the pretty dresses and chocolate-box image.
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Bacteria in ancient flea may be ancestor of the Black Death

About 20 million years ago a single flea became entombed in amber with tiny bacteria attached to it, providing what researchers believe may be the oldest evidence on Earth of a dreaded and historic killer – an ancient strain of the bubonic plague.
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Painting Stolen by Nazis Recovered in Central Ohio, Returned to Poland

“It’s not every day we get a phone call from the FBI."
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Rep. Carolyn Maloney Slams GOP Attack on Planned Parenthood President’s Salary

Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards testifying today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform... committee chair Jason Chaffetz (a Utah Republican) took a shot specifically at Richards' salary
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Burlesque dancers stage 'wild striptease protest' outside Barnes & Noble

Bombshells blew up Broadway when a gang of burlesque dancers took to the streets in a "wild striptease protest" outside an Upper West Side Barnes & Noble. The group was unhappy because the bookstore agreed to let them perform in its storefront windows to promote a new book, "Goddess of Love Incarnate: The Life of Stripteuse Lili St Cyr," only to lose its nerve and withdraw the offer at the last minute because their outfits would be “too revealing.”
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