What We've Found: Flood in SW Philly, Brazilian blackout, Vatican studies aliens, Mormons support gay rights laws, Blackwater bribery and predatory towing companies prowling Philly

Julia Harte with your morning fix.

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What We've Found: Flood in SW Philly, Brazilian blackout, Vatican studies aliens, Mormons support gay rights laws, Blackwater bribery and predatory towing companies prowling Philly

POSTED: Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 3:18 PM
Filed Under: What We've Found

Julia Harte with your morning fix.

Water cascaded through the streets of the Southwest Philly Eastwick neighborhood for three hours after a 30-inch water main broke around 3 a.m. this morning.

After an enormous 17,000-megawatt hydroelectric dam abruptly went off the grid last night, large parts of Brazil, including its two major cities, underwent a blackout for two hours.

The Vatican commissioned scientists from around the world to study the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the universe, and its implications for the Catholic Church.

For the first time, the Mormon Church has announced its support for gay rights legislation, specifically Salt Lake City laws that prohibit discriminating against gays in jobs and housing.

To mollify Iraqi officials upset about the fatal shooting of 17 civilians in 2007 in Baghdad's Nisoor Square, the security contractor group Blackwater tried to pay off those officials with about $1 million in bribes, according to former executives of the corporation.

"Predatory towing" companies are marauding the streets of Philadelphia, according to the City Controller, charging residents exorbitant fees to get their vehicles back.


Greg Delaney
Posted 2009-11-11 22:13:39
it's pretty scary to think that computer hackers have causes such a sweeping blackout
Posted by Julia Harte @ 3:18 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
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