On Friday morning, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was a protection granted by the Constitution, legalizing same-sex marriage across the country.

Many will see this as a victory for freedom and democracy, while others will see it as an over reach of the Federal government and a loss of states' rights. Either way you feel, its a historic decision on a hot-button topic that's been debated for years now.

How do you feel about this landmark decision? Do you see it as a win for freedom and marriage equality or a loss for states' sovereignty and what some opponents call "family values"?

A 10-year-old mutt named Quasi Modo, whose spinal birth defects left him a bit hunchbacked, is the winner of this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog contest.

The pit bull-Dutch shepherd mix and his owner took the $1,500 prize Friday night, besting 25 other dogs competing in the contest that applauds imperfection, organizers said.

Quasi Modo was abandoned at an animal shelter before being adopted by a veterinarian in Loxahatchee, Florida, according to his biography posted on the contest’s website.
Related

    Lennox 'put to sleep' after 2-year legal fight
    Julia,dogs like her have same tracking,fighting skills as those used in military units like Navy Seal Team 6
    She fought off bomber in Afghanistan,but a mistake put her to sleep at shelter in the US

“My appearance can be a little unsettling to some (I have had grown men jump on top of their cars to get away from me because they thought I was a hyena or Tasmanian devil) but once they get to know me I win them over with my bubbly personality,” his biography said.

Two Chinese crested and Chihuahua mixes named Sweepee Rambo and Frodo took the second- and third-place prizes, respectively.

An 8-year-old Chihuahua named Precious received the “spirit award,” honoring a dog and owner who have overcome obstacles and/or are providing service to the community. Precious, who is blind in one eye, is trained to monitor smells related to low blood sugar levels and alert her owner, a disabled veteran, of the problem, her biography said.

The contest, held at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, California, is in its 27th year.

The dogs are scored by a three-judge panel in several categories, including special or unusual attributes, personality and natural ugliness.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-others/this-is-the-worlds-ugliest-dog-wins-1500-in-contest/?ref=yfp#sthash.6fMMMJ9Q.dpuf

Forty years ago on this day India was gagged and muzzled. The night between 25 and 26 June, 1975 was one of midnight knocks and arbitrary arrests of almost the entire opposition leadership. Destruction of personal liberty on such scale had not been seen since the British left. For that reason, and because one individual was blamed for these events, the impression of the Emergency remains one of India coming close to a dictatorship.
That has not changed. Since then, India has touched safer waters and the danger of one person, or even a clique, taking over power is remote. The facts of that time are incontrovertible. The personal accounts (and suffering) of a large number of Indians who were incarcerated, the mass sterilization campaign and the extensive censorship of the press are illustrative of what happened in those years.
The havoc wreaked by Sanjay Gandhi—Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s son—is well known.
The reasons for breakdown of democracy are, however, contested hotly.
The personal ambition story of Emergency pins the blame on Indira Gandhi and her love for Sanjay Gandhi. This version of events comes close to the Great Man strain of history. This is, at best, a partial rendering: It leaves many questions unanswered. For example, how did one person come to assume near dictatorial authority? There is no evidence for a German-style seizure of power.
© LiveMint Illustration: Jayachandran/Mint If one examines events preceding the Emergency, going back at least five years, one finds overwhelming evidence that India found itself in an abnormal state in the years 1969-1975. One can draw an almost straight line from the nationalization of banks in 1969 to the events of 25 June, 1975. Each incident provided the cue for the next one, until India found itself in historical wreckage.
Few remember the economic problems that preceded the Emergency. India’s economic hardships went hand-in-hand with the political moves that ushered Emergency. The failure of the monsoon for two years in a row was accompanied by the quadrupling of international oil prices between October 1973 to March 1974. Tight controls on economic activity as well as rapid money supply growth made matters worse. Average consumer price inflation was above 20% for two consecutive years, as price increases were passed on to citizens. This broke the dam of public anger, making the government nervous.

A simplified version of the story begins in July 1971 when three amendments to the Constitution were moved in Parliament. The 24th, 25th and 26th amendments were pivotal in India’s move towards authoritarianism.
The 24th amendment gave overriding powers to Parliament to destroy fundamental rights by simply amending the Constitution.
The 25th amendment finally destroyed the right to property.
The 26th amendment abolished privy purses of Indian rulers—a promise that had been given to these erstwhile rulers by independent India’s first government. Logically, it was the first application of the ending of right to property.
The statement of objects and reasons behind these Bills clearly states that these amendments were essential to give shape to the socialistic directive principles of state policy. In undertaking this emasculation of the Constitution, Indira Gandhi had the overwhelming support of the Left wing of her party—Mohan Dharia, Mohan Kumaramangalam and others—and also the communist parties.
Matters did not stop there, as they often don’t in a march to dictatorship.
Soon after these changes to the Constitution were made, the distinction between socialism and personal power was lost. The Left radicals in the Congress began talking about the necessity of crafting a new Constitution. In a forgotten chapter of history, the legislative assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab passed resolutions demanding the convening of a new Constituent Assembly.
In a parallel move, a committee under Swaran Singh—a Congress veteran—began examining the changes in the Constitution demanded by the so-called Young Turks. This report, in turn, was taken over by law minister H.R. Gokhale and what he drafted became the 42nd amendment to the Constitution which ended any democratic pretensions India had left at that time.
In doing all this, leftists thought they were furthering socialism, while sycophants like Bansi Lal, the strongman from Haryana, were clear that they wanted Indira Gandhi to wield executive authority for life. It was this historical process, spanning several years that ultimately allowed Indira Gandhi to do what she pleased.
From a contemporary perspective these events are nearly impossible to replicate. Governments in the last quarter century have often found it hard to get simple Bills passed in Parliament; to imagine the momentous Constitutional changes of those years is to forcibly imagine nightmares.
If one adds the layer of a far stronger judiciary to this matrix, one can safely rule out any Emergency-like adventure.

This man took everyone by surprise through his shameless act.
In a shocking incident, a man was caught relieving himself inside a coach of Delhi Metro.
The said incident took place a few days ago and now the video has surfaced on internet and is going viral.
The video, shot by a fellow passenger, shows the man relieving himself in a cold drink bottle. When the passengers questioned, he blatantly said, "This was the last metro, so I could not afford to miss it."

Reportedly, the person who had filmed the incident, had informed the DMRC officials.

Recently, some shocked villagers in the Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh witnessed an truly weird sight. Along with the regular monsoon rain, came down showers of fish.

According to The Telegraph:

Friday's "fish-fall" came with the second downpour of the monsoon this year in Gollamudi and Pallagiri, two villages in the agriculturally rich Nandigama mandal of Krishna district in coastal Andhra. "I thought it was a joke but when I went out I too found fish in my backyard and also on the road," said one of the villagers, Lalita Kona.

Here is the TV report from ABN:

But as strange as it may sound, this is not the first time something like this has happened. In the United Kingdom, there have been reports of frogs, even worms falling from the sky. If that is not enough to make your skin crawl, there have also widely reported coverage of spiders and even jellyfish rain.

Scientists have not been able to fully explain the phenomenon, but there is one likely reason, water spouts; sea tornadoes that pick up marine life from the ocean and release them with rain. Here is one explanation:

 

No matter what the explanation, first we had red rain (or blood rain as some call it), giant sinkholes appearing out of nowhere and more often, and now fish and frogs falling randomly from the sky.

Is that freaky or what?