Dr. Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of murder on Monday, for killing three babies during supposed late-term abortion procedures he performed at a clinic which serves low-income women in Philadelphia. He was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and 21 counts of performing an abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Gosnell faces the death penalty for his crimes, and sentencing is expected next week. (Update: Clarified wording based on newer version of the story. — Scott @ SFB; Photo via MicahFries.com) source
Have to admit, this is a really fresh take on the op-ed headline. Really honest about the contents of the piece. (ht Charles Apple)
Recently, a Pennsylvania newspaper started using Pinterest to post pictures of wanted criminals in the area. It worked.
A Pennsylvania electronic voting machine has been taken out of service after being captured on video changing a vote for President Obama into one for Mitt Romney, NBC News has confirmed.
http://tv.msnbc.com/2012/11/06/machine-turns-vote-for-obama-into-one-for-romney/
(Photo by J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)
This situation was directly affected by a video posted to Reddit — which had initially pinpointed it as fraud. It appears to have been a mis-calibrated machine. Anyone else see stories like this today in their neck of the woods?
— Ernie @ ShortFormBlog
Today in the internet having a direct effect on the election.
Former Penn State president Graham Spanier will face perjury charges, as a result of the testimony he gave during the Jerry Sandusky trial, according to a new report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Unidentified sources told the paper that Spanier, who was fired from Penn State after 16 years as president, has been under investigation for statements he made before a grand jury in 2011. Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and state Police Commissioner Frank Noonan will hold a press conference this afternoon to discuss the case in more detail. (Photo via AP/Gene J. Puskar/ABC News) source
We’re still waiting for the full impact of Hurricane Sandy. But we’ve got at least a sense for what lies ahead in the next hours and days.
The National Weather Service has issued a series of warningsup and down the East Coast.
Below, we take a geographical look at the five most politically important areas in the path of the storm:
1. Philadelphia: This is where Democrats win elections in Pennsylvania, and it’s smack-dab in the middle of where the hurricane is supposed to make landfall. There is currently a flood warning in place for Philadelphia. The question is whether whatever happens over the next week hurts turnout in this vital area of the state. There is no early voting, so Democrats won’t be losing votes before Election Day, but they’ll need this area to come out strong on Nov. 6. If it doesn’t, that could give Republicans a better chance in a blue-leaning state (and a huge electoral vote prize).
The Post’s list of potentially affected regions also includes Boston, southwest Virginia, western and coastal North Carolina, as well as both northern and eastern Ohio. The storm is expected to leave tens of thousands, possibly even millions, of residents without power, and has already forced the cancellation of early voting in some parts of North Carolina. Could all this bad weather have an effect on the final results?
— Scott @ ShortFormBlog
Our first post on Election. We tried to make it count.
I believe that my duty is to follow my conscience and vote what I think is in the best interest of the country, and the political risks will have to abide.Sen. Arlen Specter • On his decision to switch parties and support the Affordable Care Act, a switch he made in 2009 amidst controversy. The change cost him another term in the Senate — he lost a challenge to Rep. Joe Sestak in 2010, and Sestak lost to Pat Toomey in the general election. Specter managed to become the longest-serving senator in Pennsylvania history despite suffering numerous health problems — including two benign brain tumors in the 1990s, and two separate bouts of Hodgkin’s disease in the 2000s. Specter died of complications from non-Hodgkins lymphoma on Sunday.
This is a big win in that no one will be turned away on Election Day because they don’t have the new strict voter ID. The state has a large budget to spend on advertising this fact, and we want to make sure it does it.Benjamin D. Geffen, lawyer with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia • Speaking on the decision by a Pennsylvania judge today to delay implementation of the state’s new voter I.D. law until after the election. Judge Robert Simpson ruled that identification will be requested at Pennsylvania ballots, but will not be required — it was he who’d upheld the law back in August, but the state Supreme Court ordered further hearings, narrowing the examination to whether easy access to forms of I.D. had been provided. source
You can literally put facts in front of people, and they will just ignore them.Mark Lubell, the director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior at the University of California-Davis • Discussing the nature of the debate over “fracking” in recent months, where both sides have been known to use questionable facts to support their arguments for or against the practice. Example: Protesters claim that the air pollution threats caused by fracking are significant, despite the evidence that the popularity of the practice cuts back on the production of far-more-damaging-to-the-atmosphere coal energy. On top of this, EPA regulations have helped to limit air pollution from fracking. Honestly, environmental issues are emotional. But let’s be honest when bringing up said emotional issues.
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
BREAKING: Jerry Sandusky found guilty of 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse
Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky found guilty of 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse, NBC News reports.
More updates and live video of reaction outside the courthouse on breakingnews.com: http://bit.ly/zCOSsx
Photo: Jerry Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, arrive Friday night at Centre County Court in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. (NBC News)XxMore updates and live video of reaction outside the courthouse on breakingnews.com.
Photo: Jerry Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, arrive Friday night at Centre County Court in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. (NBC News)
The Second Mile said it has been financially crippled by the child-sex abuse scandal involving its founder and onetime public face and concluded after a six-month internal review that it had no other option but to close.
The State College-based charity began the legal process of dissolving itself Friday, submitting a plan to Centre County Court that would transfer its programs and millions of dollars in assets to Arrow Child & Family Ministries Inc., a $36 million charity that operates in Texas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California and Honduras.
Sandusky, a former Penn State coach, is accused of using his role with The Second Mile to target children for abuse.
EDIT: A statement from the founder of the charity taking over their assets.
Props for mad writing skills: 7-year-old Pennsylvania first-grader Annie Clark didn’t let her disability — she was born with no hands — limit her ability to write clearly. Clark won a national award for penmanship skills from Zaner-Bloser, a company that specializes in language arts. Clark learned of her award, offered to disabled students for the first time this year, in an assembly held in her honor. She won $1,000 and a giant trophy, and on top of that has better chicken scratch than we do, which is a major honor in and of itself.
» The problem? People know him: Nearly six years after Rick Santorum lost a Senate election by an embarrassing margin, his perception in his home state of Pennsylvania has never really recovered. The AP story at the source link explains how Santorum really blew it at a meeting with conservative leaders in the state back in 2006, and how the encounter has come to haunt him. Also of note — few Pennsylvania politicians have publicly endorsed anyone, and the few that have are backing Romney. Santorum, by some estimates, needs to win 80 percent of the delegates to even have a shot at winning.
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