January 27, 2013

This Sen. Cruz from Texas seems like a real piece of work.....

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) dismissed the military credentials of two of President Barack Obama's cabinet nominees Saturday despite the fact that both are veterans.

"Okay, we've got two pending nominations, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel," he said in responding to a question at the National Review Institute summit in Washington. "Both of whom are very prominently -- "

Cruz took a pregnant pause. "Anti-us?" said a moderator.

"Less than ardent fans of the U.S. military," he continued. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/ted-cruz-john-kerry-chuck-hagel_n_2558491.html?1359230214&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

January 27, 2013

Foodie Fascism

As Restaurants Ban Photos, Some Worry About The End Of Food Porn

The Huffington Post | By Dominique Mosbergen
Posted: 01/24/2013 6:08 pm EST | Updated: 01/24/2013 6:34 pm EST


Have you ever snuck a snap of a sumptuous cupcake or stolen a shot of an exquisitely plated entree? If you have, we've got bad news for you: Your "foodstagramming" days may be numbered.

In the aftermath of a recent New York Times report, entitled "Restaurants Turn Camera Shy," food porn enthusiasts everywhere have begun to cower in fearful anticipation of the potential demise of "foodstagram." According to the report, which quoted several New York City chefs, some restaurants around town are banning customers from taking photos of their meals and uploading the pics to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Rules discouraging restaurant patrons from foodstagramming may soon become the norm, some social media lovers fear. Mashable's Stan Schroeder, for one, laments such standards as the "Death of Foodstagram."

But photography bans in restaurants are not a new phenomena. In 2008, New York magazine's Grub Street blog noted that famed chef David Chang had enacted a no-photography policy at his hotspot NYC restaurant, Momofuku Ko. The Times report notes that the likes of New York chef Daniel Boulud and high-end London restaurant Fat Duck have long discouraged the practice, as well. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/restaurant-photo-ban-death-of-food-porn_n_2543306.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=4157027,b=facebook

January 26, 2013

A ski lift you might want to avoid......

January 26, 2013

Return of ‘Three-Fifths’ of a Person

from Consortium News:


Return of ‘Three-Fifths’ of a Person
January 26, 2013

Exclusive: Stung by back-to-back defeats to Barack Obama, the Republican Party is undertaking a national strategy to devalue the votes of blacks and other minorities, a partial revival of the infamous clause in the U.S. Constitution rating African-American slaves as “Three-Fifths” of a person, says Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry


Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Old Confederacy, is a fitting place for the neo-Confederates who now control the Republican Party to reinstate a version of the slave-era provision counting African-Americans as “Three-Fifths” of a person for the purpose of representation.

This revival of the infamous “Three-Fifths” clause of the U.S. Constitution is part of a Republican scheme to give lesser value to the votes of African-Americans and other minorities who tend to cluster in cities than to the votes of whites in rural, more GOP-friendly areas. The goal is to give future Republican presidential candidates a thumb-on-the-scale advantage in seeking the White House, as well as to assure continued Republican control of the House of Representatives.

The scheme is a direct Republican response to the emergence of Barack Obama’s coalition, which pulled together the votes of African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and young urban whites (who are more comfortable with a multi-cultural future for the United States).

The racist and right-wing white males, who now dominate the Republican Party, have seemingly concluded that they can only continue to dominate American politics if they can devalue the votes of Americans who are inside this Obama coalition. If the Republican schemes prevail, those votes may well be worth even less than three-fifths of the vote of a rural white. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/01/26/return-of-three-fifths-of-a-person/

January 26, 2013

A-Rod possibly out for the season?

Could Alex Rodriguez miss all of the 2013 season recovering from hip surgery? Sure, and during an appearance on WFAN radio Friday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman acknowledged as much.

"Best-case scenario, yeah, he should be back," Cashman said. "Worst-case scenario, he won't be back, or there might be something in between."

Initially, the Yankees had forecast something in between, a six-month recovery period that would have Rodriguez rejoining the Yankees sometime after the All-Star break. But Cashman said the nature of the injury offers few guarantees, meaning that surgery could cost Rodriguez the entire season.

Said Cashman: "I think because (of) the serious nature of the surgery and the condition that he's trying to recover from, you know, there is that chance." ........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/brian-cashman-no-guarantee-alex-rodriguez-plays-in-2013-1.4511470

January 26, 2013

Bill Moyers: Amgen's Sweet Senate Deal

http://vimeo.com/58170994


U.S. Rep. Peter Welch on Amgen’s Sweet Senate Deal
January 25, 2013

A recent article in The New York Times reported on a cost-control exception provided to Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology firm. According to the report, the sweetheart deal — hidden in the Senate’s final “fiscal cliff” bill — will cost taxpayers half a billion dollars. Bill talks to U.S. Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) about the bi-partisan bill he recently sponsored to repeal that giveaway, and the political factors that allow such crony capitalism to occur.

“When there is this back room dealing that comes at enormous expense to taxpayers and enormous benefit to a private, well-connected, for-profit company, we’ve got to call it out,” Welch tells Bill. “Those members of Congress who are concerned about the institution, about our lack of credibility, about the necessity of us doing things that are in the public good as opposed to private gain, we’ve got to call it out.”


http://billmoyers.com/segment/u-s-rep-peter-welch-on-amgen%E2%80%99s-sweet-senate-deal/

January 26, 2013

Rick Snyder admits that he's a lying piece of sh*t

Snyder admits making Michigan a Right to Work state was never about creating jobs
By Eclectablog on January 26, 2013


Remember when Governor Snyder and his Republican colleagues were telling us all how important making Michigan a Right to Work state was for improving our economy? “It’s freedom to work!” they said. “It will make us competitive with other states!” they claimed. “It will create more and better jobs!” they told us.

Turns out that even Governor Snyder doesn’t believe that tripe. Less than a month after his Economic Development Corporation spent $144,000 on a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal touting our new Right to Work status as one of the attractive benefits of setting up shop in Michigan, this week Snyder admitted it’s all a damn lie.



I’m not sure which is more galling, the fact that he is admitting the Right to Work isn’t an economic issue (which it is not) or his suggestion that, after all of the attacks on union members and the poor and the middle class in Michigan, we should all just go lie down by our bowl and be quiet. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/01/snyder-admits-making-michigan-a-right-to-work-state-was-never-about-creating-jobs.html

January 26, 2013

Struggling dolphin dies in polluted New York City canal

NEW YORK—A distressed dolphin died Friday after wandering into a notoriously polluted New York City canal, according to a marine research group that was monitoring the animal.

The animal, a common dolphin, died in the shallow waters of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, said Valentina Sherlock, an employee at The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, whose biologists were keeping watch over the dolphin on behalf of police and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

A decision on what to do with the carcass would likely be made on Saturday, Sherlock said.

Earlier in the day, the animal appeared to be disoriented and seemed to be struggling to avoid getting stuck in the muddy floor of the shallow canal, said Mendy Garron, a marine mammals response coordinator from NOAA. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1320351--struggling-dolphin-dies-in-polluted-new-york-city-canal

January 26, 2013

Ice Ice Baby

Prior to the return of warmer weather, an ice storm will affect areas from northern and eastern Missouri to Michigan, southern Ontario and the mid-Atlantic spanning this weekend into the start of next week.

A storm bringing rain to Southern California to end this week will roll into a zone of departing Arctic air and cold ground over the Midwest.

As AccuWeather.com Staff Writer Grace Muller alluded to on Thursday, a broad area of freezing rain and sleet is in store, lasting from a couple of hours in some locations to an entire day in others.

Major cities that have the potential for a period of freezing this weekend include Omaha, Neb.; St. Louis, Mo.; Des Moines, Iowa; Madison, Wis.; Chicago, Ill.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Detroit, Mich.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and London, Ontario. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/new-ice-storm-brewing-for-the/4847232#.UQMwIYBf3sU.facebook

January 26, 2013

Orange Menace

As hundreds of thousands of people braved sub-freezing temperatures in Washington, D.C., on Friday to join the anti-abortion protest March for Life, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) took the opportunity to reiterate his commitment to banning abortion in America for good.

Addressing the crowd at the National Mall via video broadcast, Boehner said it's time for anti-abortion activisits to "commit ourselves to doing everything we can to protect the sanctity of life." Step one, he said, is making permanent the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal dollars from being used to pay for abortions except in cases of rape or incest.

"For the new Congress, that means bringing together a bipartisan pro-life majority and getting to work," Boehner said. "In accordance with the will of the people, we will again work to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, formally codifying the Hyde Amendment."

Boehner said he will make it a national priority to "help make abortion a relic of the past."

"Let that be one of our most fundamental goals this year," he said. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/john-boehner-abortion-march-for-life_n_2552597.html