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US, Ohio: 'Craigslist killings' suspect is innocent of murders, says his mother

Meena Hartenstein
New York Daily News
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:12 UTC
Yvette Rafferty says her son was exploited by his mentor, 52-year-old pastor Rich Beasley

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The teen charged in connection with a spate of Ohio "Craigslist killings" is innocent and being exploited by his mentor, his mother says.

Yvette Rafferty told ABC's Good Morning America that her son Brogan, 16, was not involved in the murders of at least three men who were found dead after responding to a Craiglist ad purporting to seek laborers for a cattle farm.

She claims her son simply "made a bad decision hanging around the wrong person," 52-year-old pastor Rich Beasley, who was also taken into custody when cops discovered at least three bodies in shallow Ohio graves.

"Brogan looked up to Chaplain Rich Beasley," Yvette Rafferty said. "For 10 years now he's been taking the church and Bible studies...I know one thing, my son told me that he didn't do it. And I believe it. There is a monster here. But it's not my son.
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Newspaper

Egypt's Voters Begin Historic Ballot

Charles Levinson, Tamer El-Ghobashy and Matt Bradley
The Wall Street Journal
Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
Day One of Post-Mubarak Election Goes Smoothly After Days of Unrest

Egyptians turned out in large numbers for the first round of what are expected to be the freest elections so far in their lifetimes, to launch what many have hoped to be a new era following the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

Despite numerous organizational snafus in the parliamentary poll, there were few reports of violence or widespread vote rigging that characterized most past Egyptian elections.

But a week of protests against military rulers, arguing the election process is deeply flawed, has left 42 people dead and more than 3,000 injured. Egypt remains divided, between Islamist parties and more secular and liberal parties - and between powerful military leaders and a protest movement calling for an immediate end to their rule.

There is also a long way to go before the elections can be declared a success for democracy. Elections for both houses of Parliament aren't due to wrap up until March; presidential elections are slated to be held before July. And it remains uncertain how much say the incoming Parliament will have in Egypt's governance.
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Heart - Black

US: Georgia Woman Claims 13-Year Affair with Herman Cain

Dale Russell
My Fox 5
Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:02 UTC
Ginger White's exclusive interview with the I-Team


An Atlanta businesswoman is breaking her silence, claiming she has been involved in a 13-year-long affair with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, FOX 5 senior I-Team reporter Dale Russell sat down with Ginger White, who had a story to tell.

"I'm not proud," White told Russell. "I didn't want to come out with this. I did not."

White was worried a political tsunami was headed her way. So, she decided to head it off, by confessing she was involved in a 13-year-long affair with presidential hopeful Herman Cain.

"It was pretty simple," White said. "It wasn't complicated. I was aware that he was married. And I was also aware I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship."
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People

UK: With millions set to strike, Michael Gove accuses militant union bosses of 'trying to sabotage recovery'

James Chapman and Becky Barrow
The Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:49 UTC
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© PANot true: The Education Secretary said it was a 'myth' that he wanted to force every teacher to stay in the classroom until they were 68
  • Education Secretary says hardliners are 'itching for a fight'
  • Labour leader Ed Miliband says he does not support strikes because they were 'always a sign of failure'
  • At least 90% of schools due to close and airport chaos expected
  • Army on standby to deal with impact of 2m workers striking on Wednesday
Hardline trade union leaders were yesterday accused of a deliberate attempt to sabotage the economic recovery as they threatened a programme of industrial action to continue throughout next year.

In the strongest ministerial attack on the unions for a generation, Education Secretary Michael Gove blamed the strike on 'militants' who were 'itching for a fight' - and warned more than nine in ten schools will be closed as a result of tomorrow's walkout of up to two million workers.

'They want scenes of industrial strife on our TV screens, they want to make economic recovery harder, they want to provide a platform for confrontation just when we all need to pull together,' Mr Gove said.
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Wolf

US: Utah Professor Charged With Watching Child Porn On Flight To Boston


CBS News, Boston
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:57 UTC

A professor at the University of Utah pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he viewed child pornography on his laptop during a flight from Salt Lake City to Boston.

47-year-old Grant Smith of Cottonwood Heights, Utah was arraigned in East Boston District Court. Bail was set at $75,000.

If he is released, Smith will not be allowed to have any contact with children without supervision.

State police say Smith was sitting in first class on a Delta flight Saturday afternoon when another passenger saw the pornographic images and alerted the flight crew.
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Laptop

Feds Seize 150 Websites in Counterfeit Crackdown

Alicia A. Caldwell
The Associated Press
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
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© unknown
Federal authorities have shut down 150 websites accused of selling knock-off or pirated merchandise to unsuspecting online bargain hunters.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer announced the results of the ICE and FBI three-month investigation on "Cyber Monday," the day that for many shoppers kicks off the online holiday shopping season.

The government seized the domain names for the sites that sold everything from fake replica NBA jerseys to replica Louis Vuitton handbags and imitation Ugg boots.

"This is straight crime," Morton said. "This is people being duped into buying a counterfeit."
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Heart - Black

US: Parents Say to Sue After Florida Band Drum Major Dies

Michael Peltier
Reuters
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
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© ABC News/Good Morning America Robert Champion, 26, died Nov. 19 after being rushed to a hospital following a performance by the internationally renowned Florida A&M Marching "100" band at the annual Florida Classic football game against Bethune-Cookman University in Orlando.
The parents of the Florida A&M University drum major who died after suspected hazing said on Monday they will file a lawsuit against the school to stop what they say is a violent initiation rite.

"This is not going to go away like other incidents," said the family's attorney, Christopher Chestnut. "The culture of hazing within the FAMU band has got to be eradicated."

Robert Champion, 26, died November 19 after being rushed to a hospital following a performance by the internationally renowned FAMU Marching "100" band at the annual Florida Classic football game against Bethune-Cookman University in Orlando.

Champion, a music major from Atlanta who served as one of six drum majors for the 375-member Marching "100" band, vomited and complained that he could not breathe in a band bus in the parking lot of a hotel after the game.

The medical examiner's office said a cause of death will not be known for about 10 weeks, but local law enforcement officials suspect that Champion died following a hazing incident aboard the bus.
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Pistol

Canada: Manitoba Girl, 4 Shot and Injured by Five-Year-Old Brother

Deborah Mensah-Bonsu
CTV News
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© unknownThe four-year-old girl was rushed to hospital following the shooting in the RM of Whitewater.
A five-year-old boy shot his little sister in southwest Manitoba on the weekend. The four-year-old girl was rushed to hospital in Winnipeg where she remains in the intensive care unit.

On Monday, the children's father spoke about the shooting.

"Apparently, it was about a millimetre away from hitting a major blood vessel right by her kidney that would have killed her instantly," said Dan Lachapelle.

He said his son got a hold of a 22-caliber gun after the boy's mother was putting it away in storage, but stopped to change her baby's diaper.

"You worry about the electrical plug-ins and the child locks on the poison cupboards, but you never really think your kid's going find a bullet, load a gun and shoot his baby sister by accident," said Lachapelle.
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Info

Creative Thinkers More Likely to Cheat

Remy Melina
Live Science
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:57 UTC
SAT Test
© Aspen Photo | shutterstockCreative individuals were significantly more likely to cheat during experiments that involved standardized tests than those who were less creative, according to the study.

When it comes to money, creative people are more likely to cheat to get it than the less-imaginative crowd, a new study suggests.

The reason? Creative types may be more skilled at coming up with reasons for their less-than-ethical actions, according to the researchers.

In the new study, scientists measured the intelligence and creativity of 97 students from local universities in the southeastern United States by asking them to complete a series of recognized psychological tests. The participants then took part in five experiments to determine whether creative people are more likely to cheat under circumstances where they can justify their dishonest behavior.

In one experiment, participants looked at drawings with dots on two sides of a diagonal line and had to figure out which side had more dots. However, in half of the 200 trials, it was virtually impossible to tell by looking if one side of the drawing contained more dots than the other.

The participants were told that they'd receive 10 times as much for each "right side" decision as for a "left side" decision, or 5 cents vs. 0.5 cents. Participants who had scored highest on creativity on the psychological tests were significantly more likely to give the answer that paid more, despite how ambiguous it was.
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Bizarro Earth

Black Friday Violence Worse Than Ever As American Consumers Fight Over Deals Like Crazed Animals


The Economic Collapse Blog
Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:12 UTC
black friday
© n/a
We all knew that this was coming, didn't we? Each year Black Friday violence just seems to get worse and worse. What does it say about American consumers when they are willing to fight like crazed animals just to save a few bucks on cheap plastic crap made in China? Not that retailers are innocent in any of this. It certainly seems as though many of them purposely create wild situations on Black Friday where customers will rush like crazy people into their stores and nearly riot as they fight over discounted merchandise. The more Black Friday madness there is, the more of an "event" it becomes, and the higher the profits of the retailers go.

This year there was more Black Friday hype than ever and there was also more Black Friday violence than ever. It is being projected that this year a record-setting 152 million Americans will go shopping between Thanksgiving and Sunday night. That may be good news for the big corporate retailers, but the shocking lack of character being displayed by American consumers all over the country this weekend is very bad news for the future of this nation.

Most Americans would agree that there is a tremendous amount of selfishness and greed on Wall Street, but as the videos posted below demonstrate, there is also a tremendous amount of selfishness and greed on "Main Street" as well.

This year, Black Friday violence included robberies, gunfire and shootings, but the most shocking incidents actually happened inside the big retail stores.
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