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Gay marriage foes mobilize for ban in California
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2008/08/25 07:03
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| Michael Bumgarner says he's never campaigned for a political cause before, but his strong opposition to same-sex marriage has prompted him to join thousands of volunteers going door-to-door in support of a ballot initiative that would ban gay nuptuals here.pI've never stumped before, but I want to be a part of this, Bumgarner said. The retired insurance executive and devout Mormon said his late mother would turn over in her grave if she knew that gays and lesbians could marry./ppWith less than 11 weeks until Election Day, supporters of Proposition 8 are ramping up their field organization and refining their message as they seek to persuade California voters to shut the door on same-sex marriage. It's the first time voters will be asked to weigh in on the issue in either California or Massachusetts — the states where gays have won the right to wed./ppAn estimated 15,000 backers of the measure, most of them members of Mormon, Catholic and evangelical Christian churches, knocked on doors and distributed campaign literature to registered voters throughout the state this weekend and last, according to Jennifer Kerns, spokeswoman for the Yes on 8 campaign./ppThe initiative is a constitutional amendment, similar to ones already enacted in 26 other states, that would overturn the California Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage. It needs a simple majority of votes to pass./p |
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Russian oil tycoon's parole bid rejected
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2008/08/22 08:36
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| A Russian court rejected jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky request for parole on Friday.pThe judge said Khodorkovsky was ineligible for early release from a sentence for tax evasion and fraud because he had refused to undertake professional training at his prison, which specializes in sewing, and because of an incident in which he flouted prison rules./ppKhodorkovsky reacted by shaking his head as the decision was announced in the courtroom in the Siberian city of Chita./ppKhodorkovsky — who headed the Yukos oil company and was once Russia's richest man — has spent almost five years in jail. He was sentenced in 2005 to an eight-year term and has been eligible for parole for the past 10 months./ppKhodorkovsky's parole hearing was seen as a test of new President Dmitry Medvedev's commitment to reforming the judiciary./ppThe prosecution of the oligarch was widely viewed as an attempt to silence a Kremlin opponent and consolidate control over Russia's strategic energy sector./ppThe charges and subsequent demand for huge back taxes led to the effective renationalization of Yukos, which was taken over by the state oil company Rosneft./ppKhodorkovsky also faces new charges of embezzlement and money laundering, brought in June against both the former billionaire and his business associate Platon Lebedev. /p |
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Federal judge unseals FBI anthrax investigation documents
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2008/08/07 07:32
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Judge Royce Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of hundreds of documents related to the FBI's probe into the 2001 anthrax attacks. Among other papers, the released documents include 14 search warrants issued against government scientist and biodefense researcher Bruce Ivins, who had recently emerged as a suspect in the mailings. Last week, Ivins apparently committed suicide after learning that the Department of Justice planned to prosecute him in connection with the attacks. Officials close to the investigation said that the documents were first released in briefings made to victims' families and that the investigation into the crime has all but ended.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice announced that it will pay former US Army germ-warfare researcher Dr. Steven Hatfill $2.8 million to settle his claim that the DOJ violated the US Privacy Act by providing information about him to journalists during its investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks, in which he was at one point named a person of interest. The DOJ initially agreed to seek a settlement in late June after Hatfill filed his lawsuit. The settlement may moot a contempt case against former USA Today reporter and past JURIST student staff member Toni Locy, who is now awaiting a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Locy had refused to disclose her related sources in discovery, and Hatfill lawyer Christopher Wright later stated that Locy's evidence was no longer needed by his client. |
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'Mini Me' Sues Ex-Girlfriend Over Sex Tape
Headline Topics |
2008/08/04 07:32
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Verne Troyer, the actor who played Mini Me in the Austin Powers movies, wants $20 million from his ex-girlfriend, who allegedly leaked part of their sex tape leaked to gossip Web site TMZ.com before trying to sell the entire tape to the highest bidder.
Troyer says his former girlfriend, Renee Schriber, insisted that the couple make the explicit tape last year. Troyer claims that the tape was only supposed to be for personal use, but last June he heard that a portion of it was playing on the front page of TMZ.
According to the federal complaint, Schriber called Troyer in tears, expressing her absolute horror that a portion of the videotape was being broadcast on the internet. Schriber said that the tape must have been stolen from the couple's house.
But the story Schriber allegedly told the press was a little different. Schriber gave interviews to any news agency and television outlet that would listen to her, the lawsuit states, claiming that Troyer had filmed her having sex with him in secret, that she had no idea the tape existed, and did not know how it had gotten into the hands of the public.
Based on Schriber's story, Troyer sued TMZ, and got a temporary restraining order. However, TMZ submitted Schriber's declaration, given under oath and penalty of perjury, admitting that she had filmed the video herself, with her own equipment. Schriber also admitted that she co-owned the copyright to the tape and had given it to TMZ, along with a license to display a clip of the tape. Troyer says Schriber probably leaked the clip as a trailer for the whole tape, which he says she intended to sell all along. |
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