“Probably no stars will physically hit each other. There’s just so much space between the stars, but when Andromeda collides with us it’ll have a huge impact on the Milky Way. Some things will get thrown into the black hole in the middle, some stars will get ripped off and thrown away into space, so it’ll be dramatic. And the entire night sky will change.” - The Universe S1E9 Alien Galaxies

(via cognitivedissonance)

Source: galactic-centre

kileyrae: “If the current laws that govern federal taxes and spending do not change, the budget deficit will shrink this year to $642 billion, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, the smallest shortfall since 2008. Relative to the size of the economy, the deficit this year—at 4.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—will be less than half as large as the shortfall in 2009, which was 10.1 percent of GDP. Because revenues, under current law, are projected to rise more rapidly than spending in the next two years, deficits in CBO’s baseline projections continue to shrink, falling to 2.1 percent of GDP by 2015.” The Congressional Budget Office announces revised deficit productions, cutting 2013 deficit predictions by more than $200 billion and deficits over the next decade by more than $600 billion. The media hardly notices.
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kileyrae:

“If the current laws that govern federal taxes and spending do not change, the budget deficit will shrink this year to $642 billion, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, the smallest shortfall since 2008. Relative to the size of the economy, the deficit this year—at 4.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—will be less than half as large as the shortfall in 2009, which was 10.1 percent of GDP. Because revenues, under current law, are projected to rise more rapidly than spending in the next two years, deficits in CBO’s baseline projections continue to shrink, falling to 2.1 percent of GDP by 2015.”

The Congressional Budget Office announces revised deficit productions, cutting 2013 deficit predictions by more than $200 billion and deficits over the next decade by more than $600 billion. The media hardly notices.

(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)

Source: mediamatters.org

covenesque: excitablehonky: “Timely Justice,” my ass: For a state with 24 death row exonerations under its belt (the highest in the country), you would think Florida might want to slow down its execution process to avoid putting innocent people to death. But Florida lawmakers are doing just the opposite The Miami Herald calls the bill “unacceptable”: As Mark Elliott, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, points out, “That’s one exoneration for every three executions.” That should give every Floridian pause. Frank Lee Smith died of cancer on Death Row after 14 years in prison. Sadly, after his death, DNA testing proved he was innocent and also identified the real killer. What kind of justice did Mr. Smith get? Natasha Lennard, writing for Salon, calls it “ill-named”: In a most perverse admission, flagged by Khalek, Republican Senator Rob Bradley said “this is not about guilt or innocence, it’s about timely justice.” So long as proceedings through the Kangaroo court are swift, Bradley seems to admit, the lives of inmates are expendable. Chris Hedges calls it “cynically named”: William Van Poyck … is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. June 12 at Florida State Prison. He is a writer who has spent years exposing the cruelty of our system of mass incarceration. On June 12, if Gov. Rick Scott has his way, Van Poyck will write no more. And that is exactly how our political class of murderers wants it. The New York Times calls it “grotesquely named”: As the American Bar Association explained in a scathing 2006 report on the state’s death penalty system, Florida is one of the few states that allows a jury to recommend a sentence of death based on a majority vote rather than a unanimous one. Defendants charged with capital crimes often have woefully unqualified counsel, and are much more likely to be convicted and sentenced to death if the victim is white — a sign of racial disparity that is clearly unconstitutional. The flaws in Florida’s system, which soaks up huge amounts of resources, cannot be fixed. It is long past time to abolish capital punishment. An MSN headline appropriately summarizes, “Florida’s death row Timely Justice Act is cool, unless you’re innocent“—which Juan Melendez can understand since he spent 18 years on death row before being exonerated in 2002:  The “Timely Justice Act” would speed up a system we know has already sent innocent men, like myself, to death row. Some of these prisoners may be men like me, who have exhausted their legal appeals, yet keep trying to find a way to prove their innocence. In multiple cases of current death row prisoners, we don’t know exactly what the legal claims are. Some of the men on Florida’s death row ran out of legal options simply because their attorneys missed filing deadlines. In those instances, no court had the opportunity to evaluate the claims and determine whether they have merit. How can we possibly justify speeding up the execution of prisoners in those cases? According to logic of the “Timely Justice Act,” any prisoner who has exhausted his appeals and been through a clemency process has had every opportunity and is ready for an execution date, regardless of the specific questions and issues that surround his case. I am living proof that each case is unique and that the system must allow ample time for the truth to emerge. Given Florida’s troubling track record on wrongful convictions, this legislation ensures the unthinkable — the execution of an innocent person. There needs to be more outrage about this. Dood is unpopular as hell. Rather than making up the millions lost during that drug testing welfare debacle, or making up the tourist revenue lost bc you decided to pass a driver’s license bs directed at brown ppl but pissed off much of canada (the biggest source of tourism Florida has), figuring out what to do with millions of empty foreclosed homes, fixing the shittiest public school system in the US, having a plan b after turning down free money to build a light rail system that would have brought millions in jobs and tourism revenue…he decides he can fix his image by killing prisoners, mostly poor, nonwhite ppl Someone pls curbstomp this baldhead, thieving sack of shit
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covenesque:

excitablehonky:

“Timely Justice,” my ass:

For a state with 24 death row exonerations under its belt (the highest in the country), you would think Florida might want to slow down its execution process to avoid putting innocent people to death. But Florida lawmakers are doing just the opposite

The Miami Herald calls the bill “unacceptable”:

As Mark Elliott, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, points out, “That’s one exoneration for every three executions.”

That should give every Floridian pause.

Frank Lee Smith died of cancer on Death Row after 14 years in prison. Sadly, after his death, DNA testing proved he was innocent and also identified the real killer. What kind of justice did Mr. Smith get?

Natasha Lennard, writing for Salon, calls it “ill-named”:

In a most perverse admission, flagged by Khalek, Republican Senator Rob Bradley said “this is not about guilt or innocence, it’s about timely justice.” So long as proceedings through the Kangaroo court are swift, Bradley seems to admit, the lives of inmates are expendable.

Chris Hedges calls it “cynically named”:

William Van Poyck … is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. June 12 at Florida State Prison. He is a writer who has spent years exposing the cruelty of our system of mass incarceration. On June 12, if Gov. Rick Scott has his way, Van Poyck will write no more. And that is exactly how our political class of murderers wants it.

The New York Times calls it “grotesquely named”:

As the American Bar Association explained in a scathing 2006 report on the state’s death penalty system, Florida is one of the few states that allows a jury to recommend a sentence of death based on a majority vote rather than a unanimous one. Defendants charged with capital crimes often have woefully unqualified counsel, and are much more likely to be convicted and sentenced to death if the victim is white — a sign of racial disparity that is clearly unconstitutional. The flaws in Florida’s system, which soaks up huge amounts of resources, cannot be fixed. It is long past time to abolish capital punishment.

An MSN headline appropriately summarizes, “Florida’s death row Timely Justice Act is cool, unless you’re innocent“—which Juan Melendez can understand since he spent 18 years on death row before being exonerated in 2002: 

The “Timely Justice Act” would speed up a system we know has already sent innocent men, like myself, to death row. Some of these prisoners may be men like me, who have exhausted their legal appeals, yet keep trying to find a way to prove their innocence.

In multiple cases of current death row prisoners, we don’t know exactly what the legal claims are. Some of the men on Florida’s death row ran out of legal options simply because their attorneys missed filing deadlines.

In those instances, no court had the opportunity to evaluate the claims and determine whether they have merit. How can we possibly justify speeding up the execution of prisoners in those cases?

According to logic of the “Timely Justice Act,” any prisoner who has exhausted his appeals and been through a clemency process has had every opportunity and is ready for an execution date, regardless of the specific questions and issues that surround his case.

I am living proof that each case is unique and that the system must allow ample time for the truth to emerge.

Given Florida’s troubling track record on wrongful convictions, this legislation ensures the unthinkable — the execution of an innocent person.

There needs to be more outrage about this.

Dood is unpopular as hell. Rather than making up the millions lost during that drug testing welfare debacle, or making up the tourist revenue lost bc you decided to pass a driver’s license bs directed at brown ppl but pissed off much of canada (the biggest source of tourism Florida has), figuring out what to do with millions of empty foreclosed homes, fixing the shittiest public school system in the US, having a plan b after turning down free money to build a light rail system that would have brought millions in jobs and tourism revenue…he decides he can fix his image by killing prisoners, mostly poor, nonwhite ppl

Someone pls curbstomp this baldhead, thieving sack of shit

(via thepoliticalfreakshow)

Source: excitablehonky

nbcnews: Sisters, separated for 17 years, find each other at high school track meet (Photo: NBC Nightly News) Robin Jeter, 18, and Jordan Dickerson, 17, grew up quite differently in the nation’s capital. But it’s hard to ignore the similarities: They’re smart, pretty and fashion-forward, and both are also athletic and have double-jointed thumbs. A coincidental encounter at a track meet brought the long-separated sisters together. Read the complete story.
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nbcnews:

Sisters, separated for 17 years, find each other at high school track meet

(Photo: NBC Nightly News)

Robin Jeter, 18, and Jordan Dickerson, 17, grew up quite differently in the nation’s capital. But it’s hard to ignore the similarities: They’re smart, pretty and fashion-forward, and both are also athletic and have double-jointed thumbs. A coincidental encounter at a track meet brought the long-separated sisters together.

Read the complete story.

(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)

Source: nbcnews.to

myownequilibrium:

awkwardsituationist:

98 year old dobri dobrev, a man who lost his hearing in the second world war, walks 10 kilometers from his village in his homemade clothes and leather shoes to the city of sofia, where he spends the day begging for money.

though a well recognized fixture around several of the city’s chruches, known for his prostrations of thanks to all donors, it was only recently discovered that he has donated every penny he has collected — over 40,000 euros — towards the restoration of decaying bulgarian monasteries and churches and the utility bills of orphanages, living entirely off his monthly state pension of 80 euros and the kindness of others.

Wow.

(via super1eklectic)

Source: awkwardsituationist

Texas House Passes Charter School Expansion Bill

sinidentidades:

Each of the last two sessions, House members shot down the Senate’s proposals for raising Texas’ cap on charter schools—but a vote this afternoon put an end to the curse.

With a 105-34 vote, House members tentatively approved Senate Bill 2, a much different bill than Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) introduced in February, but one that would still let the state issue many more charters than it does today.

The House version approved today would increase the cap, currently at 215, by 10 a year, up to 275 charters in 2019. The Senate version goes further, bumping the cap to 305 by 2019. Lawmakers will now have to sort out the differences in conference committee.

While opening the door to new charters, the bill also makes it easier to close low-performing ones. Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) introduced an amendment to delay expansion for a year, to give the state more time to close the low-performing charters first.

“Let’s put quality first, quantity second, and let’s make sure that the money follows quality charter schools,” Turner said on the House floor today. Rep. Abel Herrero (D-Robstown) chimed in to remind lawmakers there are still six open slots under the state cap today.

Charter supporters like the Texas Charter School Association have made it hard for lawmakers to forget about the 100,000 families they say are on charter school waiting lists right now, and could use a spot in a new school. Turner’s amendment went down 52-86.

That was the afternoon’s most substantive debate on the bill, as lawmakers tacked on a dozen more amendments. Freshman Rep. Bennett Ratliff (R-Coppell) added an amendment allowing charter schools geared specifically toward special needs students. Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) added another requiring charter schools to post their check registers online. Grand Prairie Democrat Chris Turner added one requiring charter school teachers to have a college degree (only a high school degree is currently required).

In another major change, SB 2 would also curtail nepotism within charter schools; till now, charter administrators have had much more leeway than traditional public schools to hire and do business with family members. A floor amendment from Rep. James Frank (R-Wichita Falls) would exempt current charter school employees from the anti-nepotism requirements.