Update: Suspect in police ambush murders trapped and shot in Seattle house
November 30, 2009
(ChattahBox) — The man suspected of gunning down four uniformed officers in Tacoma, Washington, was allegedly shot early Monday morning after a siege, and is perhaps dead, after being surrounded by police in a Seattle home. Acting on a tip-off, police had sealed off part of the Leschi area of Seattle and armed Swat team decended. Gunshots were exchanged through the neighborhood early morning, but it was not clear whether the suspected Maurice Clemmons had been shot by police, or had turned a gun on himself.
Update: ABC News is now reporting that police have cleared the house and do not know where Maurice Clemmons is, though he is believed to have been injured in the shooting.
Defiant Iran announces plans for 10 new nuclear plants
November 29, 2009
(ChattahBox) — In case you were wondering how Iran would respond, after endlessly patient International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) finally passing a resolution condemning the country for developing a uranium enrichment site in secret, here’s your answer. Iran’s has now announced plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants, on the scale of the industrial-size 50,000-centrifuge in the town of Natanz. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said they would start immediately on 5 of those plants and it would provide eventually Iran with enough enriched uranium to produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity within six years, by incorporating new, more efficient centrifuges that have yet to be employed by Iran. Read more
Swiss Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Mosque Minaret Ban
November 29, 2009
(ChattahBox)—Today, an overwhelmingly majority of Swiss citizens voted in favor of a ban on the construction of Muslim Mosques having the distinctive architectural features of tall spires and conical crowns, called minarets. The citizen’s referendum was launched by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), a far-right political party, which stoked fears of an “Islamic conquest” of Switzerland, suggesting that the spread of mosques with minarets would lead to the practice of radical Sharia law and ideology. Read more
Medical Marijuana Class Opens In Detroit, Michigan
November 29, 2009
Michigan (ChattahBox) – A Detroit man has opened up the state’s first official medical marijuana class at his “Med Grow Cannabis College”.
Woman Supposedly Murdered By Husband Actually Killed By Elk?
November 29, 2009
Sweden (ChattahBox) – A Swedish man who was suspected of killing his wife has been cleared after police say they believe she was actually killed by an elk.
MIT Report: Senate Health Reform Bill Will Lower Costs for Better Coverage
November 29, 2009
(ChattahBox)—As Senate lawmakers consume the last of their Thanksgiving turkey this weekend, their thoughts will be on the upcoming debate of the health care reform bill. And amid Republican criticisms of the bill that it would not lower costs, comes a new report issued by a leading MIT economist concluding, that the Democratic Senate health reform plan would not only significantly lower costs, but would also provide Americans more bang for their buck. Read more
L.A. Times Transgender Sports Writer Dead of Suspected Suicide
November 29, 2009
(ChattahBox)—Mike Penner, a popular sports beat writer for the L.A. Times for a quarter of a century, was found dead at his Los Angeles home, the day after Thanksgiving, of an apparent suicide. Penner shocked his readers in an April 2007 column when he announced that he was a transsexual and that he planned to transition to living his life as a woman, named Christine Daniels. Penner wrote for a short time under the byline Christine Daniels, but then quietly returned to Mike Penner, without explanation. Read more
Senate Report Lays Blame on Osama bin Laden Escape from Afghanistan
November 29, 2009
(ChattahBox) — According to a new Senate Foreign Relations Committee report Osama bin Laden was within reach of US troops in Afghanistan but military leaders were doubtful and made the decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force. The Senate report examines Osama bin Laden’s escape through the mountains of Tora Bora in December 2001, laying the blame for the terrorist leader’s getaway at the feet of Gen. Tommy Franks and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for the lack of troops in the area. Read more
Jenny Sanford is Moving On: ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’
November 28, 2009
(ChattahBox)— Jenny Sanford, wife of the famously cheating Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford is not sitting at home crying tears over her husband’s very public extramarital affair with an Argentine woman, he told the world was his “soul mate.” And Jenny Sanford is definitely not standing by her man, like many political wives before her. Jenny Sanford is moving on and she is creating a new life for herself. Read more
Does Gov. Schwarzenegger Owe the IRS $79,000?
November 28, 2009
(ChattahBox)—TMZ, a celebrity gossip site, is reporting that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger owes the IRS nearly $80,000 in back taxes. The Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office shows an active tax lien on all properties owned by the former body builder and action-movie star. Read more