ONTD_Political

Raquel Nelson is sentenced to community service and given the option of a new trial

Raquel Nelson will not be going to jail — at least not anytime soon.

The single mother from Marietta, Ga., who potentially faced more prison time for jaywalking than the man convicted for the hit-and-run accident that killed her 4-year-old son, was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and 12 months probation in Cobb County State Court, but then also given the option of a new trial in an unusual decision.

“One year probation, it was better than jail time, of course,” a relieved Nelson told Ann Curry in an exclusive live interview Wednesday. “I was just happy to be walking out of the courtroom.”

“I'm not familiar with this ever happening,“ Nelson’s attorney, David Savoy, told NBC News regarding the option for a new trial. But, he added, “I was very pleased with the decision and I think she [the judge] made the right decision.”

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Sauce.

A video has surfaced of a boy trying to get one of the new Wisconsin Voter ID's that were ushered in by the signing of new a voting law in the state. Shot by the boy's mother with the clear intention of indicting the process, the video shows the pair going from station to station at the DMV, asking all of the right questions as to why there are so many hurdles to acquiring this constitutionally guaranteed ID card.

It is a shame the video is not edited more briskly -- at almost ten minutes in length its viral spread will certainly be thwarted -- but it nonetheless lends itself to breath-holding drama because of this fact.

The first station clerk determines that the boy's bank account does not display enough "activity" to constitute a proof of address form. This is not only absurd ("does he use it?") but a clear privacy infringement as is the follow up question of whether or not the account is of the "checking" or "savings" variety. "Oh, it's just a savings," the clerk remarks. The mother throws a subtle jab, countering that "he's unemployed."

Good one, mom.

The mother-son hidden camera team manages to satisfy the bank account busting first clerk and eventually makes it to the third clerk where they discover that unless you explicitly specify that you have come to the DMV for a Voter ID, you will be charged $28. The clerk admits that there is no difference between the Voter ID and the non-Voter ID -- they're literally the same physical object -- but that it's the policy of the establishment to leave the onus for making this distinction on the customer: no signs, no warnings, just a box on the form you have to hope you notice and check.

The mother asks for the clerk's superior who is somewhat helpful. She then asks for the superior's superior which we can assume the mother gave hell to when the camera was off.

Watch in awe/disgust below and then read about the closure of DMVs in highly Democratic districts.

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America to Embrace Mad Max Wonderland, a Libertarian Paradise.

Boehner: ‘A Lot’ Of Republicans Want To Force Default, Create ‘Enough Chaos’ To Pass Balanced Budget Amendment

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said today that some members of his own caucus who are refusing to agree to a compromise debt ceiling deal are hoping to unleash “chaos” and thus force the White House and Senate Democrats to make bigger concessions than they’re already offering. As many as 40 House Republicans, especially Tea Party members and freshmen, have demanded nothing short of changing the Constitution to include a balanced budget amendment before they would vote to raise debt ceiling, even though that has zero chance before the U.S. faces potential default on Aug. 2.

Speaking on conservative radio host Laura Ingraham’s show this morning, Boehner agreed that failing to raise the limit before the deadline would be devastating, and said the “chaos” plan won’t work when asked by Ingraham what’s motivating the recalcitrant Republicans:

BOEHNER: Well, first they want more. And my goodness, I want more too. And secondly, a lot of them believe that if we get passed August the second and we have enough chaos, we could force the Senate and the White House to accept a balanced budget amendment. I’m not sure that that — I don’t think that that strategy works. Because I think the closer we get to August the second, frankly, the less leverage we have vis a vis our colleagues in the Senate and the White House.

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Walker Guy Stabs Protester’s Balloon and Bloodies Himself

Monday afternoon, as Governor Scott Walker was signing into law a bill that turns the legislative and Congressional redistricting process and any appeals to it upside-down, and as Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch was reassuring the public that Wisconsin has enough cash on hand to survive for three months in the event of a federal government default, Capitol Facilities Manager Ron Blair was tackling a more pressing problem: heart-shaped balloons.

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AP - When Anders Behring Breivik launched his assault on the youth campers of Utoya Island, he expected Norway’s special forces to swoop down and stop him at any minute.

Instead, Delta Force police officers made the 25-mile journey by car - they have no helicopter - then had to be rescued by a civilian craft when their boat broke down as it tried to navigate a one-minute hop to the island.

It took police more than 90 minutes to reach the gunman, who by then had mortally wounded 68 people. Breivik immediately dropped his guns and surrendered, having exceeded his wildest murderous expectations.

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Source

Pa. man jailed after drunken cooking led to fire
Source - AP News

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania man is jailed on charges of reckless endangerment and resisting arrest after police say he passed out drunk while cooking, causing a small fire that forced the evacuation of his public housing apartment building.

Online court records show the Cambria County Public Defender is representing 25-year-old Avery McCall, who was arrested about 3 a.m. Tuesday at his apartment in the Solomon Homes public housing complex in Johnstown. That's about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown is reporting that firefighters had to use a pass key to enter the smoky apartment, where they found McCall on the couch as food burned on his stove.

McCall's attorney did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.

Nobody else was hurt in the fire.

Britain bans 2 misleading makeup ads
Source - AP News

LONDON — Britain's advertising standards council banned two makeup advertisements featuring actress Julia Roberts and model Christy Turlington on Wednesday, ruling the ads — which used digitally altered photographs — were misleading.

The Advertising Standards Authority found that the airbrushed images used by L'Oreal in magazine ad campaigns exaggerated the results women could expect from using the beauty products.

The watchdog said the ads could no longer be used.

The decision was seen as a step forward in an ongoing campaign to limit the retouching of photos in beauty-related ads in Britain.
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Girl gets charity wish met after death in crash
Source - AP News

SEATTLE — In honor of her 9th birthday, Rachel Beckwith asked friends and family to donate money to bring clean water to an African village. Rachel was close to meeting her goal of raising $300 when she died last week after a car accident.

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A lesbian couple dodged bullets to save as many as 40 people who became the target of the shooter in Norway, who is being detained for killing at least than 76 people on Friday.

Hege Dalen and her partner, Toril Hansen, were having dinner at a campsite opposite Utöyan Island when they heard screaming and gunshots coming from the island. The couple hopped in their boat and drove across the water, picking up groups of fleeing young people, according to Finnish news site HS.fi.

Because they could not help all of the people at once, the couple made four trips and were able to rescue an estimated 40 people as bullets hit the side of their boat.

"We did not sleep last night at all," Dalen said in a translated version of the article.

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I couldn't find the tag for Queer Rescue Heroes