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Entries posted by Breaking News Online
Today in History for February 28th

Highlights of this day in history: Scientists discover DNA’s double-helix structure; The Branch Davidian standoff begins in Waco, Texas; Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme assassinated; U2 releases its ‘War’ album. (Feb. 28) Subscribe to the Associated Press: bit.ly Download AP Mobile: www.ap.org Associated Press on Facebook: apne.ws Associated Press on Twitter: apne.ws Associated Press on Google+: bit.ly

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Bill Maher Explains His $1 Million Donation to Obama Super PAC

Click here to view this media Bill Maher visited the set of Hardball this Monday to discuss why he gave his donation to the Obama Super PAC last week. Despite the weak field on the Republican side and Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney’s series of gaffes, with the money pouring into the PACS on the other side, Maher doesn’t feel anyone who supports President Obama should be taking the upcoming election for granted. Maher said he was “trying to throw a snowball to create an avalanche here to let the liberals who do think that this is already in the bag” since not all of the country sees it that way and thinks the upcoming is going to be close. He missed a couple of other points besides the money to be concerned about in regards to the integrity of the next election, which are the massive voter disenfranchisement which is going on across the country in every state where Republicans control the state governments with the passage of these voter ID laws and those electronic voting machines and tabulators.

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San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, a Democrat, is pushing a ballot measure that would cut city employee pensions and is basing his case on a pension liability number that was made up, he was told not to use, and overstates the real liability by nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Reed based his claims of a crisis on a figure of a $650 million city contribution to pension costs for the next five years on a comment from Russell Crosby, director of retirement services for the city of San Jose. Crosby has since said that he made the number up off the top of his head and that he told Reed not to use the number. The number overestimates the actual costs by more than $200 million. The San Jose Police Officers’ Association, San Jose Firefighters Local 230, and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21 have since filed an ethics complaint against Reed and others for misleading the public. Affected San Jose workers and citizens have already given up pay and benefits that will save the city more than $340 million over the next four years. They have already proposed a solution that would save the city nearly half a billion dollars more. Reed and the city council are ignoring the proposed solution and Reed has refused to back down from his support for the $650 million lie. Instead they are focused on a ballot initiative that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees say is unconstitutional. Reed and the council can withdraw the initiative at their March 6 meeting. Those who oppose Reed’s scheme can take action .

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Brownback: ‘Go Work Somewhere Else’ If You Want Contraception

Click here to view this media Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) has a simple solution for women who work for religious institutions that refuse to cover birth control: Find a new job. During a call-in show on C-SPAN Monday morning, a woman named Doris from Osawatomie, Kansas told Brownback that she was worried that he wanted to turn back the clock on women’s rights. “No, goodness,” Brownback replied. “That’s not true.” “I am concerned that — along with lots of other red states — Gov. Brownback feels that we should be the reddest state in the country,” Doris explained. “Women’s rights are being trampled. He was talking about what President Obama is requiring insurance companies to do, to cover birth control. You know you are taking away the individual woman’s right to decide if they need birth control.” “Ninety-eight percent of women have used birth control in their lives,” she added. “Now, we can pay for vasectomies, we can pay for Viagra, but we cannot pay for birth control for women? I think it’s a shame.” Brownback immediately disagreed. “What the president basically said is if you are church that does not believe in this — and the Catholic Church has problems with, the official Catholic Church, amongst other institutions, have problems with paying for contraceptives,” the Kansas governor explained. “You have a number of religious groups who saying, ‘We don’t want to pay for so-called abortifacients, these have morning after pill-type effects. And this is against our religious beliefs.’ And the president was saying, ‘You got to pay for it.’ And they were saying, ‘This is against our view life is sacred.’” “That’s not denying women’s rights,” he insisted. “If a woman then wants birth control, go work somewhere else.” A coalition of rights groups including Planned Parenthood, MainStream Coalition and the American Civil Liberties Union recently criticized Brownback for an “assault on women’s health.” “In 2011, 5 bills limiting access to abortion services and affordable contraception were passed by the Kansas Legislature and signed by Governor Brownback and the legislature spent over 25 public hours on these bills,” MainStream Coalition board member Gail James said in a media advisory. “This divisive social agenda does not reflect the values or priorities of the majority of Kansans.” For his part, Brownback on Monday denied wanting to limit the rights of women. “Having three very good, strong daughters that are doing quite well, I — and I want them to have every opportunity and every possibility in this country and they’re going to have it,” he said. (H/T: Don’t Cut Me Off )

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One of the greatest difficulties for progressives these days is imagining how we can possibly win elections when the 1% has uncapped a fire hose full of money into our politics. It’s a daunting prospect, to be sure. Their gusher of cash is so overwhelming that it’s hard to see how average people can possibly compete. But that’s why Blue America is so enthusiastic about progressive candidates around the country who are coming up with creative strategies and tactics to meet the challenge. Turns out that big money ads may be able to tear someone down but it still can’t buy you love the way a one on one conversation can. One of the most inventive progressive grassroots strategists in the country is Ken Aden of Arkansas’ 3rd district. Ken is one of those rare politicians with both the common touch and a long term vision who has sat down and thought through how to wage his campaign on the ground, one on one. With a combination of high-tech micro-targeting savvy and a sophisticated field operation using dedicated volunteers to walk the district and meet every possible voter, this strategy shows how progressives can overcome the odds. As you can see from the video above, Ken is a man with grassroots organizing experience, empathy and intelligence. And he knows his constituents as neighbors and friends. Ken says: Because a legitimate campaign effort has never been mounted by a Democrat running for Congress, voters have never had the opportunity to be introduced to a Democratic candidate who believes what they believe. Incumbent Steve Womack is a Tea Party Republican who believes Social Security and Medicare must be cut and changed. However, the residents of the district don’t feel the same way. In Benton County alone, more than $600 million in Social Security payments, Medicare funding, and Medicare prescription drug coverage was utilized by residents. Districtwide, that figure tops $1 billion dollars in combine Medicare and Social Security Payments. The people who depend upon these programs don’t want to see them cut, but they’ve never had a Democratic congressional campaign knock on their door and make them aware that there is an option other than a Republican. Check out the reaction he gets on that subject: “If you even think of cutting Medicare, if you even think of cutting Social Security, you’re a criminal.” Words progressive Democrats should live by. Ken’s making some waves, that’s for sure. You may have read in the national news that his campaign manager came home a few weeks ago to find that someone had murdered his family cat and scrawled the word “liberal” on it . Aden is a former combat soldier and doesn’t scare easily and neither does his campaign. In fact, it propelled them to double their efforts to get out and talk to the people and let them know who it is that’s on their side when it comes to protecting their livelihoods, their economic security and their futures. (Hint: it isn’t cowards who would kill a defenseless animal.) Blue America endorsed Ken with great enthusiasm and we are spreading the good word about his grassroots strategic vision to progressive challengers across the country. We believe that this kind of creativity and energy can pay off. But he needs all the help we can give him to keep the campaign funded. He won’t be able to match a corrupt Republican incumbent, not even close. But he has a good chance to win if he can put this plan into practice and defeat him with sharp grassroots tactics and hard work. Please donate here if you can. And please welcome Ken to Crooks and Liars. .

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Charges Dismissed in Pennsylvania Prosecution for Attack on “Zombie Mohammed” Atheist Parader

PennLive.com reports on this case, in which Talaag Elbayomy was accused of attacking a man who was marching in a Halloween parade (alongside a “zombie Pope”), and shouting “I am the prophet Mohammed, zombie from the dead” [UPDATE: and apparently carrying a sign that said “Muhammed of Islam” on one side and “only Muhammed can Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Volokh Conspiracy Discovery Date : 20/02/2012 04:44 Number of articles : 9

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Every Actor Ever Stars In Jimmy Kimmel’s “Movie: The Movie”

Jimmy Kimmel Live hosted their annual post-Oscars theme show last night, and in the spirit of last year’s Tom Hanks Toddlers & Tiaras video, they put together another cameo-filled opening sketch, only this one is nine minutes long and features EVERY ACTOR IN HOLLYWOOD appearing together in the first film in history attempting to combine every aspect of every type of movie simultaneously. Below, the… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : VH1′s Today In Music Discovery Date : 27/02/2012 07:00 Number of articles : 7

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Kate Upton’s Carl’s Jr. Spot Joins The Questionable History Of Smutty Food Ads

Is it hot in here, or is that just the steam coming off all this cheesy beef? Kate Upton‘s Carl’s Jr. add is here, and we are wondering how anyone in that drive-in theater can pay attention to the movie. The Sports Illustrated model must eat her meals in the privacy of her own home, Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : VH1′s Today In Music Discovery Date : 24/02/2012 09:20 Number of articles : 8

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Red Carpet Dictator: Sacha Baron Cohen Defies Academy ‘Warning,’ Spills Kim Jong Il’s Ashes on Ryan Seacrest at Oscars (Video)

Admiral Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) on the red carpet The funniest moment of last night’s almost tearfully boring Academy Awards had nothing to do with Billy Crystal ‘s hosting duties, which were apparently ripped from a Catskills comedian back in the 70s. No, the best moment was Sacha Baron Cohen showing up on the red carpet, fully in character as Admiral Aladeen of Wadiya to promote his upcoming… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The New York Observer Discovery Date : 27/02/2012 02:53 Number of articles : 8

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Wyoming lawmakers are ready for anything—even the apocalypse. House legislators advanced a bill Friday to prepare for a possible nationwide economic or political meltdown, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. The legislation would create a task force to consider steps such as issuing a state currency, drafting a statewide army, and…

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