Why did Dharun Ravi only get 30 days in prison? That is a question being pondered and debated on social sites this morning. One of the top tweets comes from @GreggyBennett (Real Housewives fame) who wrote, "Michael Vick got a 23 month sentence for dog fighting. Dharun Ravi
gets 30 days, and hasn't said he's sorry once. Pretty gross." While
Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman starkly admonished Ravi for his
actions revolving around the webcam spying case that ended with the
suicide of Tyler Clementi, Berman then handed down a lenient sentence.
Berman gave us his rationale during the sentencing, pointing to the existing bias laws. "The legislature was not envisioning this behavior, regardless of how reprehensible," he said. Berman found that most bias statues across the country were for violent behavior. "That’s what I believe the (New Jersey) Legislature had in mind when they adopted this statute," he said. And in sentencing Ravi, he stopped short of using the word hate. Berman said Ravi's actions were "cold, calculated and methodically conceived," but then added "the jury essentially convicted you of lying." So the sentence has little to do with the bias crime, and more to do with the cover-up that followed. Prosecutors are appealing the sentence, but many legal experts agree that it will be difficult to overturn.
Two countries are among the hot topics on Twitter - Iran and Japan. Japan's sovereign credit rating was lowered by Fitch because of the country's "leisurely" efforts to tackle the world's biggest public debt burden. Japan's currency grade fell from AA to A+ with a negative outlook - that means more cuts are possible. Meanwhile, Iran is buzzing on two fronts. The U.S. Senate approved tougher sanctions on Iran's oil sector. The sanctions are aimed at shrinking Iran's oil revenues to force a halt to a nuclear program that the West suspects is being used to build an atomic bomb. Meanwhile, a report that Russia says the West (at least some western nations) is considering military action against Iran is among the most re-tweeted stories.
While most of us were sleeping, the first commercial rocket bound for the International Space Station blasted into orbit. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is packed with 1,000 pounds of provision for the crew of the space station. Only major governments have done these sorts of missions until now. Falcon 9 will do some test maneuvers on Thursday before attempting to dock with the space station on Friday.
Cory Booker is still a hot topic today following his comments criticizing the Obama campaign’s assault on Mitt Romney’s job creation record at Bain Capital, which he then back-tracked. The Romney camp followed up with this "I stand with Cory Booker" email: “Do you know what Obama does with people who stand up for job creators? He silences them. That’s right. By Sunday evening the Obama campaign had pressured Booker into taking back his support of the free market … Don’t let the White House silence free enterprise! If you agree, then please sign our petition: I STAND WITH CORY BOOKER” And if you missed the email, the landing page for www.GOP.com currently reads: ‘I stand with Cory.’” Cory Booker responded by saying he and his staff were "fit to be tied" over the email.
What's out is trending in the NBA. The Lakers are out of the playoffs after losing to Oklahoma City, which now has the unenviable task of taking on San Antonio - a team that may never lose another game (18 straight wins for those not following). Stan Van Gundy is out as head coach in Orlando after a tumultuous season in which star player Dwight Howard and Van Gundy starred in an off-court drama of finger-pointing and accusations. The Magic exited from the playoffs in the first round.
A sneak peek at Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master has hit the web. The film explores the origins of a religion that sounds like Scientology and features a creepy looking Joaquin Phoenix.
Berman gave us his rationale during the sentencing, pointing to the existing bias laws. "The legislature was not envisioning this behavior, regardless of how reprehensible," he said. Berman found that most bias statues across the country were for violent behavior. "That’s what I believe the (New Jersey) Legislature had in mind when they adopted this statute," he said. And in sentencing Ravi, he stopped short of using the word hate. Berman said Ravi's actions were "cold, calculated and methodically conceived," but then added "the jury essentially convicted you of lying." So the sentence has little to do with the bias crime, and more to do with the cover-up that followed. Prosecutors are appealing the sentence, but many legal experts agree that it will be difficult to overturn.
Two countries are among the hot topics on Twitter - Iran and Japan. Japan's sovereign credit rating was lowered by Fitch because of the country's "leisurely" efforts to tackle the world's biggest public debt burden. Japan's currency grade fell from AA to A+ with a negative outlook - that means more cuts are possible. Meanwhile, Iran is buzzing on two fronts. The U.S. Senate approved tougher sanctions on Iran's oil sector. The sanctions are aimed at shrinking Iran's oil revenues to force a halt to a nuclear program that the West suspects is being used to build an atomic bomb. Meanwhile, a report that Russia says the West (at least some western nations) is considering military action against Iran is among the most re-tweeted stories.
While most of us were sleeping, the first commercial rocket bound for the International Space Station blasted into orbit. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is packed with 1,000 pounds of provision for the crew of the space station. Only major governments have done these sorts of missions until now. Falcon 9 will do some test maneuvers on Thursday before attempting to dock with the space station on Friday.
Cory Booker is still a hot topic today following his comments criticizing the Obama campaign’s assault on Mitt Romney’s job creation record at Bain Capital, which he then back-tracked. The Romney camp followed up with this "I stand with Cory Booker" email: “Do you know what Obama does with people who stand up for job creators? He silences them. That’s right. By Sunday evening the Obama campaign had pressured Booker into taking back his support of the free market … Don’t let the White House silence free enterprise! If you agree, then please sign our petition: I STAND WITH CORY BOOKER” And if you missed the email, the landing page for www.GOP.com currently reads: ‘I stand with Cory.’” Cory Booker responded by saying he and his staff were "fit to be tied" over the email.
What's out is trending in the NBA. The Lakers are out of the playoffs after losing to Oklahoma City, which now has the unenviable task of taking on San Antonio - a team that may never lose another game (18 straight wins for those not following). Stan Van Gundy is out as head coach in Orlando after a tumultuous season in which star player Dwight Howard and Van Gundy starred in an off-court drama of finger-pointing and accusations. The Magic exited from the playoffs in the first round.
A sneak peek at Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master has hit the web. The film explores the origins of a religion that sounds like Scientology and features a creepy looking Joaquin Phoenix.
No comments:
Post a Comment