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Los Angeles race riots: Pictures show how much LA has changed in 20 years | Mail Online : 'via Blog this'

Exclusive Dispatch from Madison! http://shout.lt/a8WT

Sun Sentinel News: Lauderdale Air Show canceled due to relentless rain http://vbs.cm/V0U0EK |

Hundreds rally to back hard-line Arizona sheriff http://reut.rs/JJmbUP

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is entrusting his White House aspirations to a 1993 Saratoga Springs High School graduate. Matt Rhoades, 37, is Romney's low-profile but highly influential national campaign manager, meeting daily with the candidate and engineering his bid to become the nation's 45th chief executive. After Saratoga High, Rhoades graduated from Syracuse University in 1997, got heavily involved with GOP politics and spent two years in the White House under former President George W. Bush before becoming Romney's communications director during the 2008 campaign. "I'm always working in the Boston headquarters now," Rhoades said. His father, Paul, grew up on Clinton Street in Saratoga Springs and now lives in Virginia. However, Rhoades' aunt, Carole Cogan, still lives on Caroline Street. "I had Matt in a U.S. history class," said Dave Paterson, a Saratoga Springs High School teacher. "He was...

By Chris Francescani SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A pit bull named Big Boi began menacing George and Shellie Zimmerman in the fall of 2009. The first time the dog ran free and cornered Shellie in their gated community in Sanford, Florida, George called the owner to complain. The second time, Big Boi frightened his mother-in-law's dog. Zimmerman called Seminole County Animal Services and bought pepper spray. The third time he saw the dog on the loose, he called again. An officer came to the house, county records show. "Don't use pepper spray," he told the Zimmermans, according to a friend. "It'll take two or three seconds to take effect, but a quarter second for the dog to jump you," he said. "Get a gun." That November, the Zimmermans completed firearms training at a local lodge and received concealed-weapons gun permits. In early December, another source close to them told Reuters, the couple bought a pair of guns. George picked a Kel...

Facebook Comments Reportedly Trigger Large Female Fight « http://ping.fm/rpnwV

Quote: A more nuanced portrait of [George] Zimmerman has emerged from a Reuters investigation into Zimmerman's past and a series of incidents in the community in the months preceding the [Trayvon] Martin shooting.... Though civil rights demonstrators have argued Zimmerman should not have prejudged Martin, one black neighbor of the Zimmermans said recent history should be taken into account. "Let's talk about the elephant in the room. I'm black, OK?" the woman said, declining to be identified because she anticipated backlash due to her race. She leaned in to look a reporter directly in the eyes. "There were black boys robbing houses in this neighborhood," she said. "That's why George was suspicious of Trayvon Martin".... By the summer of 2011, Twin Lakes was experiencing a rash of burglaries and break-ins. Previously a family-friendly, first-time homeowner community, it was devastated by the recession that hit the Florida housing mar...

And poverty will be defeated, not with a government check, but with respect and achievement that is taught by parents, learned in school, and practiced in the workplace.

3 more Secret Service employees forced out, two cleared in male prostitution scandal, lawmaker says. More @ http://wpo.st/p7Q5

Hollande beats Sarkozy in French vote, both in round 2 - Hindustan Times :

Mia Love didn’t just win the nomination for Utah’s 4th, she ran away with it winning 70.4 percent of the vote with her opponent, an establishment guy, netting a paltry 29.6 percent. In her address, Love said: “Jim Matheson should be pretty frightened right now. He should be pretty scared,” she said after clinching the nomination. “He’s never gone against a candidate like me.” —- “Today we have an opportunity to do something very special. Today we can start breaking a pattern,” Love exhorted delegates before the final vote. “Today we can start bringing Jim Matheson home. Elect one nominee today, so we can take this fight to Jim Matheson tomorrow.” Love, the Mayor of Saratoga Springs, was offhandedly termed a “novelty” during the GOP convention by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff who was supporting Love’s rival, Carl Wimmer. Needless to say, after Wimmer was crushed by party faithful, Shurtleff rushed to apologize to Love for the remark. You can follow Mia Love (and donate t...

Jennifer Hudson made it clear she wasn't happy about being patted down by a TSA officer as she went through LAX Airport on Tuesday. The 30-year-old singer and Oscar-winning actress stuck out her tongue in a facial expression better suited for her 2-year-old son David. Still, we hear you, J-Hud!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy video platform video management video solutions video player The female Secret Service officer responsible for disciplining 11 agents caught in a fight with Colombian prostitutes has been revealed as one of the agency's rising stars. Paula Reid, 46, recently became the Secret Service's South American chief after 21 years on the force. Her crucial role in uncovering the scandal came to light as a senior congressman predicted that nearly all the agents implicated in the embarrassing incident would have to leave their jobs.                     Taking charge: Paula Reid, chief of the Secret Service Miami office, investigated the prostitution scandal     Flaunt: In these Facebook images Dania Suarez, one of...

The Anti-Defamation League condemned Urban Outfitters for selling a t-shirt with a symbol that looks like the yellow Star of David Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Europe. “We find this use of symbolism to be extremely distasteful and offensive, and we are outraged that your company would make this product available to your customers,” Barry Morrison, regional director of the ADL, wrote in a letter e-mailed to Richard A. Hayne, President and CEO of Urban Outfitters. Morrison said this “…represents a new low.” The t-shirt, called the Kellog Tee, was designed by the Danish label Wood Wood and costs $100. Urban Outfitters did not immediately respond to requests from ABCNews.com for comment. The clothing company is no stranger to controversy. In March, the company sold a line of Irish-themed clothing and accessories that U.S. Congress said portrayed “severe and negative stereotypes.” One of the women’s tank-tops says, “Irish I Were Drunk” with a shamrock and another t-shirt says, “...

Two brothers accused of beating a black teenager while patrolling an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood watch are set to go on trial Monday in a case with similarities to the Trayvon Martin shooting. The brothers, who are white and Jewish, have claimed self-defense, saying the teen was holding a nail-studded board. Local civil rights activists hope the Martin case will draw more attention to what they believe was racial profiling by neighborhood watch vigilantes. Eliyahu and Avi Werdesheim are accused of beating a 15-year-old boy who was walking through a Baltimore neighborhood in November 2010. The brothers pulled up next to the teen in a vehicle, then got out and "surrounded him," according to charging documents. The passenger threw the teen to the ground and the driver hit him in the head with a hand-held radio and patted him down. The teen remembered the driver yelling, "You wanna (mess) with us, you don't belong around here, get outta here!" according to ...

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