Revealed: Chamber lobbied against 9/11 health bill to save foreign members on taxes | Raw Story
The US Chamber of Commerce lobbied to kill a bill that would have helped cover medical expenses and compensation for first responders and survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to documents available online.
'Holly' the coyote rescued from Lake Michigan - Chicago Breaking News
A Fire Department boat rescued a coyote spotted floating on a patch of ice hundreds of yards out on Lake Michigan this morning.
House Republicans Block Child Marriage Prevention Act
WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, the House took up the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010. The bill would ensure that child marriage is recognized as a human rights violation, and develop comprehensive strategies to prevent such marriages around the world....But last night, the bill was voted down in the House by Republicans who argued the bill is too costly and could lead to increased abortions....
The Gingrich Who Stole Christmas - NYTimes.com
Yes, the race for the White House is practically under way. Already, there are at least seven Republican presidential primary debates on the schedule. The way this is going, the Republican presidential hopefuls will eventually be on television every single minute. Possibly they can be convinced to do something more entertaining than talk about earmarks.
"It [is] well known that Marvel is a company that advocates for leftwing ideologies and causes."
And, oh yeah...
Portable North Pole - PNP Communication Console
Santa Claus and his amazing PNP (Portable North Pole) console will be online during the entire holiday season.
(H/T Michael)
Naomi Klein: Beware of Obama's Chicago School of Economics boys | Comment is free | The Guardian
Barack Obama waited just three days after Hillary Clinton pulled out of the race to declare, on CNBC: "Look. I am a pro-growth, free-market guy. I love the market." Demonstrating that this is no mere spring fling, he has appointed the 37-year-old Jason Furman, one of Wal-Mart's most prominent defenders, to head his economic team.
Bachmann gets on Intelligence Committee | StarTribune.com
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, vying for a leadership position in the new Republican-controlled Congress, was given a new spot on the House Intelligence Committee on Friday.
Congress Passes Tax Cut and Unemployment Package - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — Congress at midnight Thursday approved an $801 billion package of tax cuts and $57 billion for extended unemployment insurance.
(This bill is considered a compromise. Can you spell "compromise"?)
Without much notice or debate, the Obama administration has greatly expanded the outsourcing of key parts of the U.S.-led counterinsurgency wars in the Middle East and Africa, and as a result, for its secretive air war and special operations missions around the world, the U.S. has become increasingly reliant on a new breed of specialized companies that are virtually unknown to the American public, yet carry out vital U.S. missions abroad.
Bernie Sanders Puts Barack Obama to Shame | Rolling Stone Politics
Week after week, month after month, we watch politicians who disappoint us, not just as leaders but as people, failing to achieve the basic life-competency standard we expect of most grown-ups, doing things we wouldn’t tolerate from 15-year-olds. Whether it’s Mark Foley writing sexy letters to little boys, or Charlie Rangel or Duke Cunningham or Jerry Lewis doing the pay-for-play game, or even assholes like Orrin Hatch roaring with partisan excitement when the individual mandate – his own idea – was recently declared unconstitutional by a federal judge (who himself has financial stake in the health care business), these guys fail the common decency/honesty test with unnerving regularity. It’s sad but true, but in 99.9% of all cases, you wouldn’t think of looking up to an elected official as a moral role model.
Report: Walmart Jacks Up Toy Prices Just In Time For The Holidays - The Consumerist
According to a Nov. 30 e-mail obtained by Bloomberg News, Walmart HQ instructed store managers to immediately jack up prices on 1,800 different toys "to better enable your store and the company to have a successful financial month."
Yea, business! Rah rah!
Icy roads making for dangerous driving in South - Yahoo! News
ATLANTA – Ice-slicked roads created treacherous driving conditions that caused a fatal accident Thursday and delayed school openings across a swath of the country, mainly in the South, while the East Coast braced for more snow.
...is say the word ice and traffic gets snarled. This accident reported above was not in Atlanta but I'm just saying. When I lived in Atlanta - which was a long time ago so maybe things have changed - they closed the schools when the temp got to 32º. That's plus 32. In Duluth it was minus 30, but that was even longer ago when I used to walk two miles to school barefoot and uphill both ways. But maybe things have changed.
Nevertheless we have some ice here from a big rain earlier in the week, but mercifully little of it, and hardly any snow and only "possible" snow in the weekend forecast, so for now at least the really evil stuff (sure it's cold, but so what) hasn't reached us yet here in our pleasant valley. Sooner or later it will but there's no rush.
"I want to dispel any notion we want to inhibit your success,” President Obama told 20 CEOs this morning, according to a source in the room. “We want to be boosters because when you do well, America does well."
In 2007, he cried while delivering a speech on the floor of the House, in support of funding for the war in Iraq. “After 3,000 of our fellow citizens died at the hands of these terrorists, when are we going to stand up and take them on?” he sobbed.
Then this year, he voted against providing money to take care of our fellow citizens who became ill while doing rescue and reclamation work at ground zero after the terrorist attack.
Twice.
Who?
The 13 Most Common Gawker Passwords Exposed
It is startling to note that over 3,000 users chose "123456" as their login password, according to the Journal. Almost as jarring: Nearly 2,000 people went with "password," and more than 1,000 users decided that "12345678" was a secure choice.
Emanuel testifies in Chicago residency hearing | Raw Story
Rahm Emanuel told elections officials on Tuesday that when he went to work as the White House chief of staff almost two years ago, he left his family's "most valuable possessions" at his Chicago home, showing he always intended to move back....
He said he left behind baby clothes, his wife's wedding dress, photo albums and family china.
...you can't be mayor if you don't live there. If this guy Emanuel is not smart enough to figure that out, WTF?
Holbrooke's Last Words On Afghanistan Downplayed As Joking Exchange By Obama Administration
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is trying to dismiss the reported last words of veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke, its point person on Afghanistan and Pakistan who passed away this week, as a joke.
Administration officials said Tuesday that Holbrooke's final words, "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan," were part of a jovial back-and-forth with the medical staff.
UNDERNEWS: Insects enjoy genetically modified corps in India
Telegraph, India - Insects expected to drop dead after feeding on genetically modified cotton plants have instead been found for the first time in India to be thriving and even successfully breeding on the plants.
Axelrod predicts passage of tax cuts legislation - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON – A senior White House adviser predicted Sunday that President Barack Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans will pass by year's end, and a Democratic leader said the House won't "hold this up" despite anger over some parts.
Guess so.
Quote Of The Year 20120: Christine O'Donnell's 'I'm Not A Witch' Takes Top Honor
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Christine O'Donnell's TV ad declaration "I'm not a witch" during her U.S. Senate campaign topped this year's best quotes, according to a Yale University librarian.
Now perhaps the president can convene a one-day summit of the unemployed and the working poor to ask them what they think, for a change.
Higher IQ Scores Found in Cold Weather States | Smart Journalism. Real Solutions. Miller-McCune.
It turns out those benumbed residents of Maine, Montana and Minnesota have something to brag about. A paper recently published in the journal Psychological Reports concludes that of the 48 contiguous United States, those with cooler average temperatures tend to have populations with higher IQs.
Minn. Metrodome collapses in Midwest blizzard - Yahoo! News
Eastern Minnesota's Oakdale area got 20 inches of snow Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was moving eastward, where it dumped about a foot of snow in Chippewa County in northwestern Wisconsin and was expected to drop 20 to 24 inches by Sunday morning in the Eau Claire area.
Post-Meltdown, Banks Still Rule Derivatives Trade - NYTimes.com
On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan.
The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives...
The banks in this group...have fought to block other banks from entering the market, and they are also trying to thwart efforts to make full information on prices and fees freely available.
