Tabloid Trial Shock!, Mormon Excommunicated

We Knew That: Flame-haired former newspaper editor Rebekah Brooks has been found not guilty of hacking the cellphones of celebrities and news subjects for Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World. Her former deputy Andy Coulson was found guilty on one charge. The 130-day trial gave an inside look at the tawdry inner workings of British tabloid journalism. There’s no doubt cellphones were hacked on behalf of the newspaper but Brooks, the woman in charge, was found not responsible.

Nation: A woman who urged the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to ordain women into its male-only priesthood has been excommunicated by a bishop in Virginia. Kate Kelly formed a group called Ordain Women and led a feminist uprising with the Mormon Church. According to an email quoted by the NY Times, Kelly was told that to be re-admitted to the church, “You will need to demonstrate over a period of time that you have stopped teachings and actions that undermine the Church, its leaders, and the doctrine of the priesthood.” Kelly says she is a faithful follower who never said anything against the church.

World: Syria has released for destruction the last of its known chemical weapons, according to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The organization is careful to say they don’t know whether Syria has given up all its chemical weapons, just the ones that have been identified. And Syria has yet to destroy a dozen facilities for making them. > Ukraine separatists say they will respect the government’s unilateral ceasefire and stop shooting until Friday morning. Last week Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko announced a 15-point peace plan and announced a truce. Peace talks have begun including representatives of several breakaway factions, Russia, and the government.

The Supremes: The Supreme Court yesterday upheld most of the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of large sources of air pollution such as factories and power plants. Justice Antonin Scalia said the EPA got most of what it wanted, writing for the majority that the EPA “sought to regulate sources it said were responsible for 86 percent of all the greenhouse gases emitted from stationary sources nationwide. Under our holdings, EPA will be able to regulate sources responsible for 83 percent of those emissions.” The court did rule that the EPA does not have the authority to force power plants and factories to reduce carbon emissions when they expand their facilities. The ruling somewhat hampers the EPA’s ability to curtail large sources of pollution. The ruling does not affect the Obama administration’s effort to reduce greenhouse gases 30 percent by 2030.

The Obit Page: Steve Rossi, the crooner who played straight man to Marty Allen in the 1960s comedy team Allen & Rossi, has died at age 82. Their act was based on an interview format with Allen playing a character like a politician or an astronaut, or in this case, a sex therapist. Rossi: Is it true you have the answer to birth control? Allen: Yes. Rossi: What is it? Allen: No.

Oxford Style: Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight blog polled more than one thousand Americans and found 57 percent favor use of the Oxford comma. That’s the comma that comes in a series before the word “and”. Earth, wind, and fire. FiveThirtyEight found that the Oxford gets heavier use among people who believe their grammar is excellent. The Rooney Report, which is admittedly spotty on grammar and punctuation, uses the Oxford comma on the advice of a junior editor who just graduated from high school.

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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."

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