Nine Dead in SC Church, The Return of Brian

Nation: Police in Charleston, S.C. are on the hunt for a white gunman who shot and killed nine black people during a prayer service inside a church in the city’s historic downtown last night. Police are calling it a hate crime. Surveillance cameras captured images of a young man leaving the church.

Investigators said the shooting started at about 9pm inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Initial reports say the gunman was in the church for an hour before he opened fire. He killed six women and three men, among them Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator.

Storytime: NBC’s Brian Williams is returning to air on the news network, but not in the primary evening anchor chair according to several sourced news reports. He may end up in a considerably diminished position at MSNBC.

Lester Holt, the man who has covered all bases at NBC, is expected to stay on as the permanent anchor of Nightly News.

Through leaks to reporters in recent weeks, it’s become clear that NBC was preparing the ground for Williams to return in some capacity. The bosses were locked in negotiations with Williams over money and position while also facing demands from Holt. Williams had no intention to resign, and NBC was unwilling to pull the trigger and fire him.

Williams had been suspended for six months for telling made up tales about his experiences as a travelling anchor, including that he rode in a helicopter hit by ground fire in the Iraq invasion. CNN’s Brian Stelter reports that part of the negotiations has been over where and how Williams will apologize for his fabulist stories.

The Science Pope: In his newest encyclical tackling global warming, Pope Francis condemns consumerism and warns about the dangers of ignoring “the ecological crisis.” Francis took somewhat of a neutral stand, saying that some natural phenomena including the sun and volcanoes contribute to climate change, although scientists generally agree that it’s all because of human activity and the release of greenhouse gases.

Mobilizing Your World: The FCC says it’s going to fine AT&T $100 million for tinkering with the Internet speed of its customers who have so called “unlimited” data plans. The federal agency says that after wireless customers had burned through a certain threshold of data, AT&T slowed down their net speed, effectively denying them the unlimited data they paid for.

New Rules!: Drivers for the smartphone-dispatched Uber ride service are employees, not freelancers, according to a ruling by the California Labor Commission that will force changes in Uber’s operation. Uber may have to pay Social Security, workers’ comp, and unemployment insurance for its drivers.

The ruling has implications for other “crowdsourced” companies like the chore service TaskRabbit, and the house cleaning Homejoy. The real world of government regulations is catching up with the Internet wunderkinds.

Drawbridge: Fantasy becomes reality. A Dutch 3-D printing company is making plans to “print” a small bridge over a canal in the heart of Amsterdam. The company’s robotic printer would “draw” the bridge with thin lines of molten steel creating a strong decorative structure.

“Save Money, Live Better”: The discount behemoth Walmart is hiding $76 billion in assets overseas, allowing the company to shave $3.5 billion off its income taxes in the last six years, according to a report issued by Americans for Tax Fairness.

The report was researched by the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, which got its information from public records. They say, for instance, that Walmart’s 3,500 stores in China, Central America, Britain, Brazil, Japan, South Africa and Chile are under ownership in tax havens like the British Virgin Islands, Curacao and Luxembourg. 

The Ten Spot: The Treasury announced that at long last the portrait of a woman will appear on paper money. A yet to be named woman will bump Alexander Hamilton from center stage on the $10 bill. The Treasury appears to be ignoring a recent petition to replace noted Indian killer Andrew Jackson on the 20.

Monday, December 23, 2024

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It's Been Said

"Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

  • Donald Trump courting the vote of the Christian right

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