Senate takes up hate crimes bill covering gays

Steve Rothaus reports: Legislation to extend federal hate crimes protections to gays and the disabled reached the Senate floor Wednesday with the best prospects in years to become law.

The measure, which also makes it easier for federal prosecutors to get involved in hate crimes cases, passed the House in a similar version in April and enjoys solid support in the Senate. And for the first time since Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., first introduced the bill in 1997, pro-bill Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House.

President Barack Obama, unlike his predecessor, George W. Bush, backs the legislation. Attorney General Eric Holder has urged Congress to act so the government can prosecute cases of violence based on gender and sexual orientation.

"Hate crimes are a sad and tragic reality in America," Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in urging approval of the measure.

Passage was not a certainty. The bill was offered as an amendment to a $680 billion bill approving defense programs, a move that Sen. John McCain of Arizona, top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said was "highly inappropriate."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has called for a vote, requiring 60 supporters, to move forward on the hate crimes measure. That vote could come as early as Thursday, but timing for a final vote on the amendment was uncertain.

Most Republicans oppose the legislation, saying it infringes on states' rights or could lead to the criminalization of religious expressions of opposition to homosexuality.

Davi Costa & Pedro Cavalca forStone Bonkers

(Via Homotography)

The Funnies

By RJ Matson

Madonna's "Rain"

Sears Tower now named Willis Tower

Sears Tower is history. As of today, the iconic Chicago skyscraper is now named Willis Tower.

At least that's what the owners of the 110-story skyscraper now call it after its new main tenant, the London, England-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings. However, there are plenty of people who refuse to call it that.

More than 90,000 people have joined the group "People Against the Sears Tower Name Change," on the social networking Web site Facebook.

"This name change is absurd," one member wrote. "Would Paris change the name of the Eiffel Tower? Or London change Buckingham Palace? Or New York, the Statue of Liberty? I believe the Illinois Congress needs to proclaim the Sears Tower a recognizable landmark that is known all over the world by people who have traveled to Chicago."

The group has gathered more than 34,000 signatures on an online petition against the name change. The name change seemed to be a fait accompli, though.

A renaming ceremony was scheduled for today with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

"Having our name associated with Chicago's most iconic structure underscores our commitment to this great city, and recognizes Chicago's importance as a major financial hub and international business center," Willis CEO and Chairman Joseph J. Plumeri said in a news release.

(Via CNN)

Pick Me Up of the Day

David Sciola as featured on DNA.

Emmy nominations announced

There was news for nearly every broadcast and cable television network to celebrate at this morning’s announcement of the primetime Emmy Award nominations: a recent rule change by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences increased the number of nominees in major categories to allow for new faces and series to share the spotlight with Emmy veterans.

Last year’s winner for outstanding comedy series, “30 Rock,” picked up another 22 nominations this year, including nominations for its stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. And “Mad Men,” which won outstanding drama, received 16 nominations, including nods for its stars Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss. Critical mainstays like “Breaking Bad,” “Damages” and “Dexter” also garnered nominations.

Some of the bigger surprises were to be found in the comedy categories: Sarah Silverman, the star of Comedy Central’s “Sarah Silverman Program,” was nominated for lead actress in a comedy series, alongside previous winners Julia Louis-Dreyfus of “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and Ms. Fey of “30 Rock.” The HBO series “Flight of the Conchords” also received nominations for outstanding comedy series and its co-star Jemaine Clement. And the Fox animated series “Family Guy” was nominated for outstanding comedy — a category usually reserved for live-action shows.

The entire lisr of nominations can be found here. The Emmys will be handed out in Los Angeles on Sept. 20. Neil Patrick Harris will host the program.

(Via ArtsBeat)

Clinton addresses US role in the world

The NYT reports: When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped back to center stage here on Wednesday to present an ambitious blueprint for America’s role in the world, the State Department billed it as a major foreign policy address.

But with its muscular tone and sweeping scope, it was also an effort to recapture the limelight after a period in which Mrs. Clinton has nursed both a broken elbow and the perception that the State Department has lost influence to an assertive White House.

Declaring that “no nation can meet the world’s challenges alone,” Mrs. Clinton said the United States was pursuing multifront diplomacy with a host of countries and other players, even adversaries like Iran. She condemned Tehran for cracking down on postelection protests, saying its actions were “deplorable and unacceptable.”

With a few exceptions — during the presidential primary campaign, she had derided the idea of engaging Iran — the speech sounded like one Mrs. Clinton might have given as a candidate, when she sought to make her foreign policy credentials a trump card over the rival who is now her boss.

She even marshaled a cheering section of special envoys and other senior American diplomats in the first few rows at the Council on Foreign Relations. Faced with a White House that has tended to centralize control over policy, Mrs. Clinton is defending her prerogatives as an influential, but loyal, member of the president’s team.

New video of Michael Jackson's 1984 Pepsi commercial accident

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Moonwalk video gets a makeover

A side-by-side comparison shows a frame from NASA's archival video of Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong making his way down the lunar module's ladder to the moon's surface at left, and a restored version of the same frame at right. Click on the image to watch restored highlights.

It's one small step for a man, one giant leap for video restoration.

Forty years after the fact, some of the most historic moments of Apollo 11's televised moonwalk have been brought into sharper focus using computerized image processing techniques.

The black-and-white video still pales in comparison with today's high-definition space extravaganzas, but the experts behind the restoration project emphasize that this is a work in progress. NASA promises that when the restoration of the moonwalk video is complete, the public will see "the highest-quality video of this historic event."

Samples of the restored video - including Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong's climb down the lunar module's ladder, his "one small step" onto the lunar surface and the raising of the American flag - were released today at the Newseum in Washington to commemorate the 1969 moon mission. Today marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's launch, and on Monday it will be 40 years to the day since Armstrong and crewmate Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

The restoration brings out additional details in the fuzzy video that Americans saw on their TV sets on July 20, 1969, and at the same time smooths out the electronic "snow" in the picture.

Click here for the video.

(Via MSNBC)