Black Philadelphia police sue over message board, say it’s racist

A group of black Philadelphia police officers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against their department, alleging an online forum geared toward city police is "infested with racist, white supremacist and anti-African-American content." The suit alleges white officers post on and moderate the privately operated site, Domelights.com, both on and off the job. Domelights’ users “often joke about the racially offensive commentary on the site … or will mention them in front of black police officers,” thus creating “a racially hostile work environment,” according to lawyers for the all-black Guardian Civic League, the lead plaintiff in the suit

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Pete Hoekstra: Internet Meme

Pity Pete Hoekstra. His only crime was to make the oh-so-obvious comparison between oppressed Iranians and the GOP. “Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House,” the Michigan Congressman, who is running for governor, tweeted June 17

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Court gives would-be assassin John Hinckley more freedom

The man who tried to kill President Ronald Reagan is now allowed to visit his mother more, to get a driver’s license and spend more time away from the mental hospital where he lives, a federal judge ruled. The ruling, released Tuesday, expands the freedoms of John Hinckley Jr

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Setanta faces switch-off as BSkyB refuses lifeline

UK broadcaster BSkyB said Wednesday that it had refused a request for a £50 million ($82 million) lifeline from troubled Irish sports pay-TV broadcaster Setanta, as it seeks to avoid administration. BSkyB, which is part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, was offered the live rights to 46 English Premier League football matches next season as an add-on option to its Sky Sports service

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Researchers Hail Creation of Stem Cells Safe for Human Use

Stem-cell science is a fast-moving field. Just three years since a Japanese researcher first reprogrammed ordinary skin cells into stem cells without the use of embryos, scientists at a Massachusetts biotech company have repeated the feat, only this time with a new method that creates the first stem cells safe enough for human use

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Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful

The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey. More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Only 42 percent of people who “seldom or never” go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

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‘Era of open government’ behind information policy reversal

To expand openness and transparency, the Obama administration has rescinded a Bush administration standard on withholding government documents, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday. All Obama administration departments and agencies will release documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act unless doing so is forbidden by law or would harm a government interest, Holder said.

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Cricket banker charged in ‘global fraud’

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged businessman Robert Allen Stanford with orchestrating an $8 billion fraudulent investment program. Stanford is the tycoon who bankrolled the Twenty20 Super Series cricket competition in the West Indies last year

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