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Spring Break Vacation – Best Vacation Package Deals In Orlando, FL Offered More reasons for you to visit Orlando this spring. Escape now to Orlando Florida With springtime fast approaching, reservations at Orlando hotels are in high demand. To help spring break travelers make the most of their Orlando vacation, Orlandoescape.com—the Internet’s #1 Web site for Orlando, Florida—is currently listing some of the best vacation package deals in town. “ Even though springtime is a peak travel season, Orlando hotels are still competing for those tourist dollars ” said Sunil Govind, president of Orlandoescape.com. “Orlando vacation packages are just one incentive to get travelers to make a reservation, and the guests get the benefit of lower prices.” For the months of March and April, here are some of the Orlando hotels that are offering special spring break vacation packages on Orlandoescape.com: Waldorf Astoria Orlando: Guests receive a complimentary breakfast for two and a $50 resort credit for each night of their stay. Rates are from $319 per night. Gaylord Palms Orlando: For a limited time the Gaylord Palms is offering a $100 resort credit for dining, shopping or a spa experience. Rates are from $249 per night; offer valid through April 30, 2011. Holiday Inn Maingate East: Two guests can enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast for every morning of their stay. Sheraton Safari Resort: 2011 Arnold Palmer® Invitational: This golf invitational package includes rates from $89 per night and two drink coupons upon arrival. Available for stays during March 21 – 27, 2011. Orlando Marriott hotels: There are several spring break deals at Orlando Marriott hotels, including a $25 credit at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Orlando Lake Buena Vista and the opportunity to earn a free night at the SpringHill Suites Orlando Lake Buena Vista. Seralago Orlando Hotel: Florida residents can enjoy special rates and a complimentary breakfast for two at the Vineyard Café every morning of their stay. Quality Inn Spring Break Package: Celebrate Mardi Gras at Universal Studios and stay at the Quality Inn at the special rate of $64.99 plus tax with breakfast for two included. Buena Vista Suites: Choose from a variety of four-day vacation packages for Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica, Discovery Cove and Busch Gardens Tampa. “Visitors to Orlando shouldn’t have to pay full price for accommodations, even during peak travel seasons,” said Govind. “By booking one of these special vacation packages at Orlando hotels, travelers can enjoy the best that Orlando has to offer this spring.” For more details about these packages, visit Orlandoescape.com . About Orlandoescape.com Launched in 2001, Orlandoescape.com is the #1 Internet site for Orlando, Florida, featuring Top 20 Orlando vacation package deals, travel articles, and links to related sites. Contact: Sunil Govind Orlandoescape.com 407-448-1480 Source : Star Global Tribune

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Exodus Tyson

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Mike Tyson gears up for the premiere of his pigeon racing show ‘Taking on Tyson’ Mike Tyson says he’s had a passion for pigeons ever since he was a boy growing up in Brooklyn. The former Boxer’s latest venture, an Animal Planet reality show called ” Taking on Tyson ,” documents his fondness for the animal and shows him trying his hand at the pigeon racing world in his old neighborhood haunts over New York and New Jersey. “People are going to see what they want to see — they make their own images and perceptions,” Tyson said told the Associated Press last fall. “I can’t make anybody have an opinion about me. Only thing I can do is treat them the way they’d want to treat me.” Tyson has had an image problem over the years. Though his status as a pop culture icon was cemented last year with a role in the hit comedy film “The Hangover,” he has faced multiple criminal and financial problems. He was convicted in 1992 of raping an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant and served three years in prison. In 2003, he declared bankruptcy and he retired from professional boxing in 2006. In the past four years, Tyson was also arrested on drug and alcohol-related charges. ” Best thing that happened to me was to retire from boxing ,” tells the wire service. ” I just didn’t want that no more in my life. It was just too chaotic .” The boxer told ESPN Radio in August that he used money he made off his cameo in “The Hangover” to buy drugs. Tyson also opened up on how the accidental death of his 4-year-old daughter Exodus in May of 2009 helped changed his life for the better. ” Tyson’s passion for his pigeons takes my breath away ,” Animal Planet President Marjorie Kaplan , told the Associated Press . ” For years, he has been inspired by these birds. ‘Taking on Tyson’ peels back new layers of the remarkable persona and deep humanity of Mike Tyson while also showing us a whole world we never knew existed right on the rooftops of New York City .” Tyson says he’s making some headway in the pigeon racing world but progress is slow. ” Slowly but surely, I’m gaining a name in the business, and I’m very grateful for that as well. It’s competitive, but it’s all in love ,” he told the wire service. He adds, ” I just want to entertain ,” he says. ” Whether it’s boxing, acting, being a comedic, edgy — it’s what I’ve been doing my whole life. I just want to entertain people .” Mike Tyson’s ” Taking on Tyson ” premieres on Sunday, March 6 at 10 p.m. on Animal Planet . Source : OTRC

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US Marshal Shot in Head in St. Louis Gunfight

A US marshal is in critical condition after he was shot in the head during a gunfight in St. Louis. (March 8)

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US Marshal Shot in Head in St. Louis Gunfight

A US marshal is in critical condition after he was shot in the head during a gunfight in St. Louis. (March 8)

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Rescuers Work to Net ‘Sacred Turtle’

An immense crowd gathers by a lake in Vietnam, hoping to catch a glimpse of a rare giant turtle in need of medical help. Some consider the creature sacred. (March 8)

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Rescuers Work to Net ‘Sacred Turtle’

An immense crowd gathers by a lake in Vietnam, hoping to catch a glimpse of a rare giant turtle in need of medical help. Some consider the creature sacred. (March 8)

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Newt Gingrich Kicks Off the Crazy in Iowa

Click here to view this media I’m becoming more and more convinced that Newt Gingrich is the Glenn Beck of 2012 Presidential candidates. Knowing he cannot hope to be a viable candidate, Newt just spews the crazy to make the others look sane. From last night’s appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum, we get this gem. Keep in mind, this forum featured Herman Cain, Newtie, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer and Rick Santorum. With the exception of a few nods toward faux populism by Roemer, the others said the same thing in a sort of boring and predictable way. But Newt kicked it up and out a few notches. Transcript of the clip above: But for me, the real turning point was when the 9th Circuit court decided in 2002 to…that it was unconstitutional to say “one nation under God” as part of the Pledge of Allegiance in a school. And I decided — in some ways it was very parallel to Lincoln responding to the Dred Scott decision about slavery. I decided that if we now have judges so fundamentally out of touch with America that they have no clue what this country was based on, we need a political change so deep and so profound that nothing we have seen in our lifetime is comparable to the level of depth we have to go to get this country back on the right track again. [applause] Let me be very clear about this. Since 1952, we have won 9 presidential elections for Republicans and Democrats won 6. But despite the fact that Republicans were in the White House for 50% more time than Democrats, we did not at a fundamental level change the power of the left. We didn’t change the bureaucracies, we didn’t change the biases of the judiciary. And over that period, they have all gotten worse, moved further to the left and become more alienated from the American system. There’s so many dogwhistles in that little clip it’s a veritable symphony. He sort of drops the thing about Dred Scott in there, which of course led to the Civil War just before saying we need political change so deep and profound it hasn’t been seen in our lifetime? And then for good measure, claims the judiciary and bureaucracies have moved farther left? In what world? Yes, of course a ‘secular socialist left’ judiciary gave us Citizens United. Of course it did. And it was that secular socialist left that dropped troops in Iraq, too. Sure it was. But wait, there’s more. Here’s Newt describing the first day of his fantasy Presidency. Click here to view this media I was accused of overreacting to this on Twitter last night when I said “These people really want a dictatorship.” Tell me if you think I was. Here’s the transcript: Now how fast could we in fact turn the country around if we had a President who shared our values instead of the values of the secular socialist left ? Start on the very first day. There’s a system called an executive order which allows the President to interpret the application of the law. Imagine just four examples. What if, on the very first day, we had a President who said, we are now abolishing as of this minute every single czar in the White House and their offices, including spending? [applause] What if we said, on the very first day, we are reinstating Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City policy and no American tax money will go to any abortion anywhere outside the United States, period? [louder applause] What if we said, on the very first day, that George W. Bush’s implementation of conscience protection will be reinstated so the government will actively protect those who as a matter of conscience refuse to do things that the left wants done? [applause] And finally, what if we said on the very first day that the State Department will be instructed as of this date to recognize the right of every sovereign nation to define its own capitol and the United States embassy will be in the capitol of the country that defines it, which would mean that for the first time we would put the capitol in Jerusalem. The only country — think about this — the only country in the world where the United States government refuses to allow the local government to define its capitol is Israel, which is a democracy, an ally of ours, and it is profoundly wrong to discriminate against Israel, the government of Israel, the people of Israel and we should stop it on the very first day. [wild applause] Now, I’m not yet a candidate, I’m in the process of exploring as you know, and you can go to newtexplore.com — I thought I’d put that plug in — but let me say that every person who’s going to speak tonight is a friend of mine. We’re all going to have to be on the same team after this is over. It’s going to take all of us to defeat the left because — and I agree with what Steve said — we can’t just defeat the left in Washington. We need 40 more house seats in Washington, we need a dozen more US Senators, we need to pick up the State Senate here, we need to strengthen the hand that the governor has, we need to across the board recognize there are 513,000 elected officials at the state and local level and only 537 at the federal level. We need, for the first time in 80 years to replace the governing structure of the left with a governing structure that is center right and then we need, from the very first day, to implement decisively the re-establishment of an American exceptionalism that recognizes that the power starts with you and eventually goes to Washington when necessary. Power does not start in Washington with a bunch of judges and bureaucrats dictating to you what you do. Thank you, good luck and God bless. Ignore the reference to center right. That’s just silly. There is no center right, only hard John Birch-style right now. The center is dead. If that’s not a call for a right wing revolution, I don’t know what would be. Newt Gingrich knows he won’t get elected. He has way too much baggage. But he managed, in this short little speech, to further de-legitimize President Obama ( “…if we had a President who shared our values… ) and to push all the buttons stoking far-right morals voters’ anger while making the Santorums, Pawlentys and Cains look like sane human beings. 2012 will be all about wedge issues if we “secular socialist leftists” can’t manage to put together a message and enough unity to push forward. Last night’s speakers made that abundantly clear.

Continue reading …
Newt Gingrich Kicks Off the Crazy in Iowa

Click here to view this media I’m becoming more and more convinced that Newt Gingrich is the Glenn Beck of 2012 Presidential candidates. Knowing he cannot hope to be a viable candidate, Newt just spews the crazy to make the others look sane. From last night’s appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum, we get this gem. Keep in mind, this forum featured Herman Cain, Newtie, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer and Rick Santorum. With the exception of a few nods toward faux populism by Roemer, the others said the same thing in a sort of boring and predictable way. But Newt kicked it up and out a few notches. Transcript of the clip above: But for me, the real turning point was when the 9th Circuit court decided in 2002 to…that it was unconstitutional to say “one nation under God” as part of the Pledge of Allegiance in a school. And I decided — in some ways it was very parallel to Lincoln responding to the Dred Scott decision about slavery. I decided that if we now have judges so fundamentally out of touch with America that they have no clue what this country was based on, we need a political change so deep and so profound that nothing we have seen in our lifetime is comparable to the level of depth we have to go to get this country back on the right track again. [applause] Let me be very clear about this. Since 1952, we have won 9 presidential elections for Republicans and Democrats won 6. But despite the fact that Republicans were in the White House for 50% more time than Democrats, we did not at a fundamental level change the power of the left. We didn’t change the bureaucracies, we didn’t change the biases of the judiciary. And over that period, they have all gotten worse, moved further to the left and become more alienated from the American system. There’s so many dogwhistles in that little clip it’s a veritable symphony. He sort of drops the thing about Dred Scott in there, which of course led to the Civil War just before saying we need political change so deep and profound it hasn’t been seen in our lifetime? And then for good measure, claims the judiciary and bureaucracies have moved farther left? In what world? Yes, of course a ‘secular socialist left’ judiciary gave us Citizens United. Of course it did. And it was that secular socialist left that dropped troops in Iraq, too. Sure it was. But wait, there’s more. Here’s Newt describing the first day of his fantasy Presidency. Click here to view this media I was accused of overreacting to this on Twitter last night when I said “These people really want a dictatorship.” Tell me if you think I was. Here’s the transcript: Now how fast could we in fact turn the country around if we had a President who shared our values instead of the values of the secular socialist left ? Start on the very first day. There’s a system called an executive order which allows the President to interpret the application of the law. Imagine just four examples. What if, on the very first day, we had a President who said, we are now abolishing as of this minute every single czar in the White House and their offices, including spending? [applause] What if we said, on the very first day, we are reinstating Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City policy and no American tax money will go to any abortion anywhere outside the United States, period? [louder applause] What if we said, on the very first day, that George W. Bush’s implementation of conscience protection will be reinstated so the government will actively protect those who as a matter of conscience refuse to do things that the left wants done? [applause] And finally, what if we said on the very first day that the State Department will be instructed as of this date to recognize the right of every sovereign nation to define its own capitol and the United States embassy will be in the capitol of the country that defines it, which would mean that for the first time we would put the capitol in Jerusalem. The only country — think about this — the only country in the world where the United States government refuses to allow the local government to define its capitol is Israel, which is a democracy, an ally of ours, and it is profoundly wrong to discriminate against Israel, the government of Israel, the people of Israel and we should stop it on the very first day. [wild applause] Now, I’m not yet a candidate, I’m in the process of exploring as you know, and you can go to newtexplore.com — I thought I’d put that plug in — but let me say that every person who’s going to speak tonight is a friend of mine. We’re all going to have to be on the same team after this is over. It’s going to take all of us to defeat the left because — and I agree with what Steve said — we can’t just defeat the left in Washington. We need 40 more house seats in Washington, we need a dozen more US Senators, we need to pick up the State Senate here, we need to strengthen the hand that the governor has, we need to across the board recognize there are 513,000 elected officials at the state and local level and only 537 at the federal level. We need, for the first time in 80 years to replace the governing structure of the left with a governing structure that is center right and then we need, from the very first day, to implement decisively the re-establishment of an American exceptionalism that recognizes that the power starts with you and eventually goes to Washington when necessary. Power does not start in Washington with a bunch of judges and bureaucrats dictating to you what you do. Thank you, good luck and God bless. Ignore the reference to center right. That’s just silly. There is no center right, only hard John Birch-style right now. The center is dead. If that’s not a call for a right wing revolution, I don’t know what would be. Newt Gingrich knows he won’t get elected. He has way too much baggage. But he managed, in this short little speech, to further de-legitimize President Obama ( “…if we had a President who shared our values… ) and to push all the buttons stoking far-right morals voters’ anger while making the Santorums, Pawlentys and Cains look like sane human beings. 2012 will be all about wedge issues if we “secular socialist leftists” can’t manage to put together a message and enough unity to push forward. Last night’s speakers made that abundantly clear.

Continue reading …
D.C. PBS Station Insists Its ‘Call Congress’ Ad Doesn’t Take Sides — As It Warns of ‘Devastating Effect’ on Kiddie Shows

The Washington Times took up the issue today of how PBS and NPR stations exploit their own airwaves to lobby against Republican budget-cut proposals. Reporter Seth McLaughlin and Stephen Dinan reported that spokesmen for PBS superstations WGBH in Boston and WETA in Washington “said their appeals never told their audiences which way to lobby Congress, but only to call and let their feelings be known.” A look at WETA’s ad (which we recorded after the February 22 Frontline) shows this is simply and obviously untrue. The announcer clearly insists the House Republicans are putting kiddie programs at risk and cuts “will have a devastating effect on WETA and the television programs you and your family rely on.” Do they really expect people to agree this isn’t an advocacy ad? Do they think someone would say “I'm so glad they've inspired me to call and say “I hate WordGirl and Sid the Science Kid. Please defund those little jerks.'” Here’s the whole script: (video, audio and transcript after the jump) (MP3 audio) ANNOUNCER: As you may know the House of Representatives has passed a bill to eliminate all federal funding of public broadcasting. They want to completely eliminate the federal funding that supports educational and commercial-free children's programs. [Over images of children’s TV characters comes the exploitative graphic: “Eliminate special children’s funding." ] Shows like Sesame Street, WordGirl, and Sid the Science Kid are at risk. These cuts will have a devastating effect on WETA and the television and radio programs you and your family rely on – like Masterpiece. Mystery! NOVA. And the PBS NewsHour. Do your elected officials know how you feel about funding for public broadcasting?Call your representatives in Congress today and let them know where you stand. And for more information visit our Web site at WETA.org. The 2009 CPB Annual Report shows WETA’s combined radio and television efforts received over $7.5 million from CPB. There was no line item for “special children's funding.” All the aforementioned shows are made by profitable private entities: Sesame Street by Sesame Workshop, WordGirl by Scholastic, and Sid the Science Kid by the Jim Henson Company. McLaughlin and Dinan added that some stations are more blatant in arguing against budget cuts on their taxpayer-funded airwaves: WQED in Pittsburgh urges on its website to “Stop the Senate From Cutting Funding for Public Broadcasting and WQED!” The station's also airing a TV ad featuring historic footage from a 1969 hearing in which Fred [Mister] Rogers testified for Lyndon Johnson's original $20 million grant for the new CPB. Rogers died in 2003. [Hat tip to MRC's Geoffrey Dickens for finding the ad.]

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D.C. PBS Station Insists Its ‘Call Congress’ Ad Doesn’t Take Sides — As It Warns of ‘Devastating Effect’ on Kiddie Shows

The Washington Times took up the issue today of how PBS and NPR stations exploit their own airwaves to lobby against Republican budget-cut proposals. Reporter Seth McLaughlin and Stephen Dinan reported that spokesmen for PBS superstations WGBH in Boston and WETA in Washington “said their appeals never told their audiences which way to lobby Congress, but only to call and let their feelings be known.” A look at WETA’s ad (which we recorded after the February 22 Frontline) shows this is simply and obviously untrue. The announcer clearly insists the House Republicans are putting kiddie programs at risk and cuts “will have a devastating effect on WETA and the television programs you and your family rely on.” Do they really expect people to agree this isn’t an advocacy ad? Do they think someone would say “I'm so glad they've inspired me to call and say “I hate WordGirl and Sid the Science Kid. Please defund those little jerks.'” Here’s the whole script: (video, audio and transcript after the jump) (MP3 audio) ANNOUNCER: As you may know the House of Representatives has passed a bill to eliminate all federal funding of public broadcasting. They want to completely eliminate the federal funding that supports educational and commercial-free children's programs. [Over images of children’s TV characters comes the exploitative graphic: “Eliminate special children’s funding." ] Shows like Sesame Street, WordGirl, and Sid the Science Kid are at risk. These cuts will have a devastating effect on WETA and the television and radio programs you and your family rely on – like Masterpiece. Mystery! NOVA. And the PBS NewsHour. Do your elected officials know how you feel about funding for public broadcasting?Call your representatives in Congress today and let them know where you stand. And for more information visit our Web site at WETA.org. The 2009 CPB Annual Report shows WETA’s combined radio and television efforts received over $7.5 million from CPB. There was no line item for “special children's funding.” All the aforementioned shows are made by profitable private entities: Sesame Street by Sesame Workshop, WordGirl by Scholastic, and Sid the Science Kid by the Jim Henson Company. McLaughlin and Dinan added that some stations are more blatant in arguing against budget cuts on their taxpayer-funded airwaves: WQED in Pittsburgh urges on its website to “Stop the Senate From Cutting Funding for Public Broadcasting and WQED!” The station's also airing a TV ad featuring historic footage from a 1969 hearing in which Fred [Mister] Rogers testified for Lyndon Johnson's original $20 million grant for the new CPB. Rogers died in 2003. [Hat tip to MRC's Geoffrey Dickens for finding the ad.]

Continue reading …