Saturday, August 03, 2013

CA prisons must reduce inmate population by 9,600 and other eye-catching headlines

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to delay implementation of an order from a lower court that California reduce prison overcrowding by more than 9,600 over the next five months.  The state is already housing 9,000 prisoners in other states and this will continue.  At least 900 of the prisoners who will be released early are those who are chronically or terminally ill.

If you were planning on watching any of the reruns airing tonight on CBS and you're a Time Warner Cable subscriber, you may be out of luck.  TWC has taken CBS, TMC and Showtime off the air in a number of large cities as of 5:00 PM EDT.   Here in Los Angeles, this means that both CBS 2 and KCAL 9 are off the air.  This is part of an ongoing dispute over licensing fees.

In local news, this just in...the resident who has been causing so many problems where your intrepid reporter/news anchor resides was taken away by police and paramedics on a "5150".

Police have made an arrest in the case of the man who might have been a witness in the Whitey Bulger trial in Boston.  Stephen "Rippo" Rakes appeared to have died mysteriously.  Now police allege that William Camuti poisoned Rakes' coffee to avoid paying a large sum of money he owed him.

Secretary of State John Kerry announced today that same-sex spouses will now get the same preferential treatment in visa applications that opposite-sex couples currently receive.  The change comes in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning part of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Did Raven-Symone step out of the closet when she tweeted about being able to marry now that same-sex marriage is legal?  Some say yes, some say no.  Her clarification was only a statement that she has no immediate plans to get married.

A report from CNN claims new revelations about the presence of CIA personnel in the annex in Benghazi during the attack that killed four Americans, and that they are being polygraphed monthly to keep them from disclosing details of the incident.  But the report is just a rehash of information previously seen from CNN itself and other media outlets.

Acting manager of the Seattle Mariners Robby Thompson learned a painful lesson about the importance of knowing the difference between left and right.  During a game he signaled to the bullpen with his left arm, even though he wanted the right-handed pitcher warming up.  Since there was also a left-hander getting loose, the umpire ruled that he'd signaled for the leftie and he had to bring that pitcher in first.  Oops.

Did former President Warren G. Harding die of natural causes in that San Francisco hotel room 90 years ago?  Or did something else cause his death?  There was never an autopsy, so we'll never know for certain.

60 military personnel in positions as drill instructors, military recruiters and victims counselors have been removed from those positions based on screenings ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.  Hagel's order followed an annual report showing a 37% jump in cases of unwanted sexual contact in the various branches of the military.

Republicans in the Texas legislature want State Senator Wendy Davis to reimburse the state for the cost of the extra special session they were forced to hold after her filibuster prevented abortion legislation from being passed on the first attempt.

A Silicon Valley executive had an idea.  He liked buying expensive Legos, so he printed up his own barcodes, put them on the packages and paid a lot less at the register.  He has agreed to plead guilty and will spend 30 days in jail and three years on probation.  Thomas Lagenbach lived in a million-dollar home at the time of his scheme and only netted about $30,000 from it.  The firm he was working for says he is no longer employed there.

Yes, that's a little girl inside of that arcade-type claw machine.  No, she wasn't intended to be a prize.

Sharon Stone had actually put down a deposit on a facelift before deciding against having the procedure.

A man in New Jersey wrote a letter to President Obama on November 18, 2012.  And he's written and sent one each day since.  Francis M. Del Vecchio says he didn't vote for President Obama and wants to express his views on the problems plaguing America.  He also told the president that he didn't transgress when he commented on the beauty of California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

A 21 year old Australian woman paid $1,200 for what she thought were two new iPhones.  She didn't bother to check the boxes before heading for home.  When she got there, she did find an Apple inside each box.  Two fresh apples in fact.

Ellen will host the Oscars, again.  Yes, that Ellen.  :)

TNA Wrestling superstar Kurt Angle was arrested for DUI for the 4th time in six years recently and now he will be entering rehab.