R. Zinsmeister: Das Eckfenster

A lesbian couple was married in Massachusetts and cannot get a divorce in their home state of Rhode Island, it was ruled Friday in the state's highest court, Boston WCVB reported.

The Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that the family court can not grant a divorce because the state of Rhode Island does not define marriage as anything other than between a man and a woman.

This is the courts first case of dealing with a same-sex divorce.

Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chamers were married in Massachusetts in 2004 and filed for divorce last year, citing irreconcilable differences.

A divorce could be issued in Massachusetts if one of the two moved there for a year.

WCVB said, Nancy Palmisciano, Ormiston's lawyer, said couples married in other states and other countries are routinely granted divorces in Rhode Island, and that the same freedom should apply in this case.

Gov. Don Carcieri, who opposes same-sex marriage, said previously he favored the divorce, because the court did not need to rule if the marriage was valid, and it avoids the larger debate about same-sex unions.

But in a written statement Friday, he supported the courts decision.

Karen Loewry, a staff attorney for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said "You're essentially asking these women to move to access justice. The door of the courthouse has been barred for them."

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CNN reported, that a man that claimed to have a bomb strapped to his chest took several people hostage Friday at the Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire.

Lee Eisenberg, 47, walked into the office around 1 p.m. Maj. Michael Hambrook of the New Hampshire State Police said.

One of the hostages contacted CNN Washington and put Eisenberg on the phone, calling multiple times.

The calls were not broadcast at the time, CNN said, because they did not want to compromise the safety of the hostages.

Eisenberg said he had mental problems and had no one to help him,.

Adjacent officrs were evacuated, which included other campaign centers for democrats.

The Star Tribune reported that a Eisenberg walked in and demanded to talk to Hillary Clinton.

Clinton was in Washington during the confrontation, but security precautions were increased for her and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, the Star Tribune said.

During the standoff ended, Eisenberg released a woman with an infant and another woman.

The hostage situation lasted nearly six hours, before Eisenberg peacefully surrendered. No one was injured during the standoff.

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stagehands in theaters on Broadway in New York went on strike Saturday after three months of negotiations, the BBCreported.

The stagehands union, Local One, and the producers failed to work out an agreement about pay and working conditions and no talks are scheduled. This is the first strike that this union has called on Broadway.

"All but eight Broadway shows have been shut down," and is not clear how long the strike will last, the BBC said.

Those who have bought tickets will receive a refund, producers of the plays said.

The struck comes at one of the busiest times of the year for Broadway and could cause problems for shows with actors on short contracts and without advanced sales.

During a previous strike four years ago by musicians the city of New York lost about $ 7 million a day.

The League of American Theaters and Producers wants more flexibility in rules, so they do not end up paying workers for doing nothing. The stagehands what rules in place to say how many stagehands must be called, how long they work, and what tasks they can perform.

The strike of stagehands follows the screenwriters' strike that began in Hollywood last week.

Nation Public Radio reported that picket lines began forming around 10 a.m. on Saturday in front of Broadway theaters.

The stagehands have been working without a contract since July.

Leaflets from the Local One union said that "theater owners and producers are demanding a 38 percent cut in our jobs and wages."

NPR said that including other businesses that make money off of the people brought in by Broadway shows $17 million a day may be lost.

Some actors have joined the stagehands in solidarity.

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times reported that, an 18-year-old has been charged with murder in the shooting of a security man on Monday, police said.

The security man was confronting vandals who were throwing eggs outside the building he was guarding on Halloween when he was shot.

Nyanda Charley was arrested Saturday and is charged with second-degree murder and weapons possession, Commissioner David Chong said.

Neville Webb, the security guard, was a 52-year-old jamaican immigrant, who was working outside a building in Mount Vernon, north of New York City, when he was shot in the head and chest. Webb died Nov. 1.

The investigation is continuing, despite having the person who shot Webb, the police commissioner said.

Webb's organs have been donated to help others, as he would have wanted, Webb's family said.

Webb was a prison guard in Jamaica for 25 years before coming to the United States.

WCBS said, that Webb died at the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. The shooting took place in front of the Oakwood Garden Apartment building on East Lincoln Avenue.

Detectives are looking at security videos from the building, Chong said.

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More than one in 10 high schools in America are known as a "Dropout factory," meaning no more than 60 percent of students who start as freshman make it to their senior year, NBC reported.

NBC said, "There are about 1,700 regular or vocational high schools nationwide that fit that description, according to an analysis of Education Department data conducted by Johns Hopkins for The Associated Press."

The most schools that are "Dropout Factories" are in the South and Southwest, in large cities or in high-poverty rural areas and high percentages of minority students. Florida and South Carolina have the highest percentages.

Utah is the only state without a "dropout factory" and has low poverty rates and fewer minorities than most states.

Part of the problem is said to be that states like South Caroline use to have good textile jobs and a high school degree was not necessary to get a good job, which is unavailable today, said Jim Foster, a spokesman for the South Carolina department of education.

The No Child Left Behind Act has not been helpful in this problem, because it focuses on funding younger education, but there is a plan for changing the legislation upon renewal to support high schools more with federal money.

ABC had the same article available from the AP.

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CNNreported that the woman suspected to have killed an expecting mother in 2004 was convicted Monday. Lisa Montgomery, 39, who had argued that she was delusional when she kidnapped Bobbie Jo Stinnett, a 23-year-old expecting mother, cut the baby from her womb and took the baby home.

Jurors did not accept the defense of insanity, and prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty.

Defense attorneys said Montgomery suffered from pseudocyesis, which would have caused the woman to believe she was pregnant and have outward signs of pregnancy. They also said she had post-traumatic stress disorder from mental physical and sexual abuse when she was a child.

Montgomery had a tubal ligation in 1990 after her fourth child, CNN reported, and then afterwards started falsely reporting being pregnant. In 2004 she said she would be due in December.

Montgomery choked Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, with a rope, prosecutors said. Stinnett was conscious and tried to defend herself when Montgomery cut her baby from her, prosecutors said. Montgomery was arrested the next day after showing off the baby as her own.

The baby is healthy and is living with Stinnett's family.

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a prison in Richmond, Texas a faith-based program is used to try and reduce violence and rehabilitate the prisoners, CNN said. The Carol Vance Unit founded the program in 1997 and the program today is one of the oldest and is growing in facilities across the nation.

The proof that the program helps to rehabilitate and detour future criminal activity is uncertain. The program faces criticism, because skeptics question whether the evangelical tones discriminate against other inmates and beliefs and promote and mainly conservative Christian outlook.

Evidence does show that violence has been reduced in the prison since the program was begun.

The inmates describe the program as positive and said they have hope and feel they are treated with respect.

Former inmate Anzetta Smitta said that the program showed the prisoners love, which many inmates lacked in growing up.

Twelve other faith-based dorms have been opened in Texas, with 1,300 inmates, Texas officials said. Infractions among the inmates dropped over 90 percent after entering the program, in a dorm in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The program depends on volunteers and donations. The program is open to inmates that have less than two years in their sentence. Sex offenders and inmates with bad disciplinary records are excluded.

The inmates leave prisoner with a volunteer mentor who gives counseling and assists in hunting for a job and a house. There is also a graduation ceremony for inmates who complete the program.

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 14-year-old student shot and killed himself Wednesday after going on a shooting spree at his school in Cleveland, Ohio, the city's mayor said. (The BBC)

Nine people were injured by the attacker as he entered SuccessTech Academy, said Mayor Frank Jackson. Local media said that the attacker was unhappy about being suspended. SuccessTech Academy is an alternative high school specializing in business and technology with a student body of 250.

Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath said that the attacker had killed himself by the time police arrived. The student was believed to have been carrying two guns. The student is thought to have entered the school Wednesday morning police said. A student at the school said the attacker was a goth and wore a trench coat, boots and a chain.

reported that McGrath did not believe that the shooting was random. "It may have been the teachers he went to the school looking for. ... I believe they disciplined him in some manner" McGrath said.

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A woman, going by the name Jane Doe, in Ashland, Oregon, is fighting to be able to carry a gun to school for her personal safety said The Christian Science Monitor. Doe, who works at a high school in Medford, Ore., is licensed to carry a concealed weapon. She has a restraining order against her ex-husband, based on threats he is alleged to have made against her and her children.

The school district only allows law-enforcement oficers to carry weapons on school property. Doe intends to challenge this policy this week. The case is being watched by gun activists across the country. Doe was not a right to bear arms activist until her abusive relationship with her husband. Doe said the reason she is concerned about carrying a gun is for her personal safety, but Doe does endorse the idea that armed teachers could prevent such tragedies as Columbine.

Police have said that adding guns to a situation of violence just makes the situation more dangerous. 37 states have laws that ban guns at schools the national Conference of State Legislatures said. There has been opposition to the states that have tried to pass laws allowing guns on school grounds.

The only state that allows guns on schools grounds is Utah, but the University of Utah, opposed this move.

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Protests came from the faculty and students at Standford University after the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld, former defense secretary, as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution said The New York Times.

Around 2,100 professors, staff members, students, and alumni have signed a petition protesting the appointment. The faculty say he doesn't deserve the position because of his role in the Iraq war in the Bush administration.

Philip G. Zimbardo, a professor of psychology said that the values of Rumsfeld don't fit an academic setting.

On the other side, John rasian, the director of the Hoover Institution, said that Rumsfeld was an expert on topics that would be discussed and his experience and was therefore chosen.

The university has no plans to ban potential objectors because they want to maintain free speech.

Rumsfeld would not be teaching, but would likely visit the campus three to five times to be apart of the panel, Raisian said.

The BBC said that Rumsfeld resigned in November following the election of the Democrats control of Congress. Rumsfeld is also noted as an architect of the global "war on terror". The BBC states that more than 2,200 people have signed the petition, which says, "fundamentally incompatible with the ethical values of truthfulness, tolerance, disinterested enquiry, respect for national and international laws and care for the... lives of others to which Stanford is inalienably committed."

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Almost 2,000 people evacuated their homes dues to wildfires, which started in San Bernardino Forest on Friday, September 14 target="_blank">ABC said. Atleast 15,433 acres have been burned. Officials said the fire is headed northwest and cooler temperatures are expected, which will help the firefighters combat the fire.

The cause of the fire is unknown. 1,080 firefighters, 12 fixed-wing aircraft, 27 hand crews and 15 bulldozers have been fighting the fire. ABC said, "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for San Bernardino County on Saturday, clearing the way for state government assistance with costs related to the fire."

Another fire started on Saturday in eastern San Diego County and about 400 people were evacuated there. The fire is expected to be under control this week.

(only one news source appears, as the AP article was repeated by ABC, NBC, and CNN news sources)

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 9:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CNN http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/05/loose.nukes/index.htmlconfirmed last week that nuclear missiles had been flown from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. This mistake violated a treaty from the Cold War that prohibited the flying of nuclear weapons and raised security concerns among both military and governmental officials and included the notification of the president.

Although according to the Air Force the missiles were safe at all times, the BBC reported that an investigation has begun to solve how the nuclear missiles were temporarily misplaced. http://news.bbc.uk/2/hi/americas/6980204.stm
Lt Col Ed Thomas has been appointed to investigate and find how the mistake occurred. The loading crew is under investigation and will be retrained.

One commander has already been fired and the overall mistake is being regarded as a very serious issue reported NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14179367
NPR quoted Defense Secretary Robert Gates stating "at all times they [the missiles] were in the custody and control of the Air Force personnel and at no time was the public in danger." Nothing like this has previously happened and the Air Force stated that there was minimal danger to the public as the missiles are designed to withstand an impact and would not accidentally detonate.

Posted by Ruth Zinsmeister at 12:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)