We’re inundated by news stories every day and with a 24/7 news cycle, it’s nearly impossible to keep up. But thanks to GlobalGrind’s Think Tank, you’ll be quickly in the know, and then good to go.
From what’s going on in the Capitol to what’s happening oversees, we have it all.
Today we see that the New York Assembly passed a bill to legalize same0sex marriage, while Al-Qaeda has a new leader.
Inside the Capitol
Where: New York
Who: Assembly
What Happened: The Assembly Wednesday passed a bill to legalize gay marriage, while Senate Republicans battled over whether to let the measure come to a floor vote. The measure passed 80 to 63, the lowest margin in the four times it has been approved by the Assembly since 2007.
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GlobalGrind’s Global Mind
Where: Al-Qaeda
What Happened: Al-Qaedahas selected its longtime No. 2 to succeed Osama bin Laden following last month’s U.S. commando raid that killed the terror leader, according to a statement posted Thursday on a website affiliated with the network. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who will turn 60 next week, is believed to be operating from somewhere near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
He is the son of an upper middle class Egyptian family of doctors and scholars. His father was a pharmacology professor at Cairo University’s medical school and his grandfather was the grand imam of Al-Azhar University, a premiere center of religious study.
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Take It in the Ring
Contenders: Anthony Weiner vs. the Democrats
Match: House Democratic leaders could begin the process of taking away Rep. Anthony Weiner’s committee assignments today as part of a final push to force him from office, even as a minor backlash calling for his resignation has emerged from one corner of the caucus.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her leadership team plan to meet at noon Thursday to confer about plans to increase pressure on the scandal-scarred New York Democrat to give up his seat. Democratic sources familiar with earlier discussions say they may choose to call for a caucus vote on the matter next week.
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Shame On You
Who: David Tyree
Where: New York
What Happened: Former New York Giant wide receiver David Tyree has come out vocally against gay marriage, recording a video for anti-equality organization NOM. He talks about how children need fathers and mothers. His only argument behind his position is based on God, Jesus and religion.
“If they pass this gay-marriage bill … this will be the beginning of our country sliding toward, it’s a strong word but, anarchy … A marriage is honorable in the sight of God between a man and a woman meant so that you can continue to procreate…”
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Hero of the Day
Who: Cedric Walton
What Happened: Cedric Walton has not lived a charmed life. It has been him and his grandmother against the world, weathering what most people couldn’t even if they lived 10 lifetimes. A mother dead of AIDS when Cedric was 3, a father nowhere to be found, an aunt who drowned before his eyes two years ago – and living in one room in an East Harlem homeless shelter. And then a diagnosis of lung cancer at age 17. It is a miracle the soft-spoken Harlem kid is still standing, let alone graduating from Frederick Douglass Academy high school next week, and on his way to SUNY Albany on a full scholarship in the fall.
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Better Than Fiction
Character: Hackers
Plot Line: The homepage of the Central Intelligence Agency, http://cia.gov/, appeared to have suffered an attack from a hacker group on Wednesday evening. The CIA site would not load properly and website DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com confirmed that the site was down. LulzSec, a hacker group that has attacked the Senate website twice in a week, claimed responsibility for the outage in a tweet.
“Tango down – cia.gov – for the lulz,” @LulzSec tweeted around 5:48PM ET.
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Numbers Game
Number: 30,000
Where: Manhattan
What Happened: If the flat screen TV is a bit old and the sofa needs to be replaced, there is always another option to spruce up your living room ― a 30,000 gallon swimming pool.
A luxurious apartment has gone on sale complete with a 30ft long swimming pool in the space where the lounge should be.
Guests can get a drink at the bar, float around on an inflatable raft or jump off a swing attached to the ceiling without even going out the front door.
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This Day In History
Year: 1965
What: Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces that 21,000 more U.S. troops are to be sent to Vietnam. He also claimed that it was now known that North Vietnamese regular troops had begun to infiltrate South Vietnam.
