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POPSJudge tosses Blackwater case, cites gov't missteps
"We're obviously disappointed by the decision," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said. "We're still in the process of reviewing the opinion and considering our options." Prosecutors can appeal the ruling. Blackwater contractors had been hired to guard U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The guards said insurgents ambushed them in a traffic circle. Prosecutors said the men unleashed an unprovoked attack on civilians using machine guns and grenades. The shooting led to the unraveling of the North Carolina-based company, which since has replaced its management and changed its name to Xe Services. The five guards are Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn., and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas. Defense attorneys said the guards were thrilled by the ruling after more than two years of scruti
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POPSCarvings From Cherokee Script’s Dawn more (at source): It may be, as is often noted, that his achievement is the only known instance of an individual’s single-handedly creating an entirely new system of writing. An archaeologist and explorer of caves has now found what he thinks are the earliest known examples of the Sequoyah syllabary. The characters are cut into the wall of a cave in southeastern Kentucky, a place sacred to the Cherokee as the traditional burial site of a revered chief. The archaeologist, Kenneth B. Tankersley of the University of Cincinnati, said in an interview recently that this was “one of the most fascinating and important finds in my career,” yielding likely insights into “the genius of Sequoyah.”
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POPSTenn lawmaker's son indicted in Palin e-mail hacking case The indictment against David Kernell alleged that on Sept. 16 he reset the password to Palin's personal e-mail account to gain access to it. Authorities say Kernell then read the contents of the account and made screenshots of the e-mail directory, e-mail content and other personal information, later posting some of the information to a public Web site. The Justice Department said the case was being prosecuted by section chief Michael DuBose and trial attorney Mark Krotoski of the criminal division's computer crime and intellectual property section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Weddle of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The FBI's Anchorage and Knoxville field offices investigated the case.
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POPSMan attacks Congregation over Liberal Views From the article: "Knoxville's police chief says the man accused of a shooting that killed two people at a Tennessee church targeted the congregation because of its liberal social stance." Do we blame the Limbaugh, O'Reillys and Coulters of the world for inciting violence like this?
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POPSMan Killed Is A Hero In The Shotgun Attack In Tennessee Church
Police had cordoned off the church with yellow and red tape, and were taking statements and collecting video cameras from church members who were taping the performance. Owen said the FBI also was assisting in the investigation. The church's minister was on vacation in western North Carolina at the time of the shooting but returned Sunday afternoon. "We've been touched by a horrible act of violence. We are in a process of healing and we ask everyone for your prayers," the Rev. Chris Buice said in a statement outside the church. The Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church is a community that meets to worship and work together for social change, according to the church's Web site. Since the 1950's, the congregation has worked for desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women's rights and gay rights, according to the Web site. The congregation also has provided sanctuary for political refugees, fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the ACLU.