Just days after New York legalized gay marriage, Rhode Island has passed its own law approving civil unions among same-sex couples. “From hospital visitation rights, medical decision making powers, equal state tax treatment, we have moved one step in the right direction to ensuring that individuals receive equal rights and…
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Click here to view this media ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel announced Tuesday a new educational film by Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. The Minnesota Republican has recently mistaken John Wayne for John Wayne Gacy and insisted John Quincy Adams was a Founding Father. “I like when politicians who screw up go find like a single sentence in the back of a high school history book and then use that as their defense, as if that’s what they meant the whole time,” Kimmel said. “And that’s what she’s doing. And not only is Michele Bachmann sticking to this Founding Father thing, she’s working on — I don’t know if it’s a documentary or some sort of educational film, but it’s something to teach kids about American history.” “In 1775, Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams set sail across the Delaware River to tell the King of England they had enough of his liberal agenda,” an actor posing as Bachmann explained in the film. “King James called Napoleon and together they decided to kill America.” “They sent the Nina, the Piñata and the Santa Maria to fight. But then, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln gathered an army to turn back the big government dictators. They told Paul Revere to ride his horse to Frodo. But then, John Wilkes Booth showed up and killed Lincoln. But there was still hope, because Jesus appeared on the face of the Liberty Bell and he froze John Wilkes Booth in carbonite. And the liberal homosexuals sailed back to their gay country, while Americans claimed their land and drank beer. And that’s how freedom was born.”
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Google is betting that its new social network, Google+, will fix what it calls the “awkward” state of online sharing–but Google isn’t sharing invitations to its latest project with everyone. Users have been clamoring for invitations to Google+, which Google launched as a limited “field trial,” noting “you may find some rough edges.” Access to the project is currently by invitation only, and a limited number of users were given 15 invitations apiece to bring others on board. If you’re eager to begin trying out Google+ and can’t find someone with a spare invitation, you can sign up to request a Google+ account here. Google has created an entry form that asks people to submit their first name and email address so they can stay posted as the service is rolled out more fully. “We’re still ironing out a few kinks in Google+, so it’s not quite ready for everyone to climb aboard,” Google wrote. “But, if you want, we’ll let you know the minute the doors are open for real. Cool? Cool.” Google has also created a Twitter account, GooglePlus, that has been tweeting out information about the new service. (UPDATE: The account as been suspended and was allegedly not an official Google account.) This is hardly the first time that Google has created a buzz by limiting a new service to a select group of initial users. Like Google+, Google Wave was at first available only by invitation, as was Gmail. Check out 9 things you need to know about Google+ here, then take a visual tour of the new social network here.
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We all know about and have eaten eggs. They are one of the more ubiquitous ingredients in cooking and are also healthy and easy to cook. But recently, more eggs than just those from standard hens have been frequenting markets and restaurant menus (think duck and quail eggs in omelettes or cracked on top of pizzas). For those of you who aren’t familiar with the wide variety of eggs available, we put together a guide for the eggs you are most likely to encounter at your local farmers market. Hopefully the notes below will spruce up your egg knowledge and maybe even encourage you to mix up your cooking and shopping practices. – Yasmin Fahr, The Daily Meal More from The Daily Meal: The Best Easter Brunches Across the Country An Authentic Italian Easter Menu When Good Easter Bunnies Go Bad 10 Best Easter Egg Hunts for All Ages Easter and Passover Traditions Around the World
Continue reading …WaPo’s Obama Presser Adjectives: ‘Tougher,’ ‘Combative,’ ‘Commanding,’ and ‘Rather Feisty’
June 30, 2011 No Comment
The Washington Post's adjectives in Thursday's coverage of the Obama press conference signaled their approval. “Obama takes tougher tone on economy, foreign policy” was the headline at the top of Page One. Post reporters Peter Wallsten and Zachary Goldfarb led off with how Obama “belittled” congressional Republicans for taking vacations during debt-limit talks and contrasted their work effort with his young daughters. But his mission was to “reassert a commanding presence” on the issues. He was not “petulant” or “whiny,” he was “showing a combative side that Americans rarely see.” The front-page promo underneath hailed Dana Milbank's “Washington Sketch” full of praise. “The pugilist in chief: A press corps gathered to hear our regularly scheduled president meets a rather feisty gentleman instead.” Online, the headline was “Obama uses combative new tone to retake reins on economic, foreign policy issues”. Inside, on A4, the headline was “Obama asserts himself on top issues.” Wallsten and Goldfarb cooed: Throughout the news conference, he spoke with more vigor and specificity than he has at any point before about the potential dangers Americans face if Republicans don't agree by a
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Given the number of apps Google’s made available for smartphones, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that it’s taken its suite of social networking services direct to the mobile world as well. As soon as Google+ was officially announced , an app was ready for download in the Android Market and a web app became available for Safari for iOS (with its full offering to the App Store coming soon). As usual, we couldn’t resist the urge to play around with it , but how does the mobile iteration fare against the competition? Continue past the break to get a peek of the larger-than-life service squeezed into a 4.3-inch (or smaller) display. Continue reading Google+ for Android app (hands-on) Google+ for Android app (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …US drones have moved into yet another nation, this time targeting two men linked to al-Qaeda in Somalia. The strike last week succeeded in wounding the men who are among leaders of the insurgent Islamist group al-Shabab who are collaborating closely with al-Qaeda to organize operations beyond Somalia, according to…
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When we reviewed the HP TouchPad we found it to feel a little hollow, as if it were rather more cavernous inside than the immediate competition. Now we’re getting to peek beneath the screen and, look at that, it’s “built more like a PC than an iPad” according to the screwdriver-meisters at TechRepublic . This means you can easily take the thing apart with just a Phillips screwdriver (and a little prying) should you wish. Or, you know, you can just look at the pictures on the other end of the source link and keep yours in one piece. They tend to work better that way. HP TouchPad torn asunder, no palms found hiding within originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Fears of further civil strife in Lebanon as special tribunal for 2005 car bomb names senior Hezbollah men Lebanon’s senior prosecutor has received criminal indictments for four members of the Shia militant group Hezbollah, who are accused of assassinating the country’s former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri, in a car bomb attack six years ago. The move is a significant step in an investigation into the attack that killed Hariri and 21 others on the Beirut waterfront on 14 February 2005 . Security was immediately tightened in the city after investigators from the Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon visited the offices of Prosecutor General Sayyed Merza, who now has the discretion to name the suspects. Within minutes of the meeting finishing, Lebanese media outlets named the men as Assad Sabra, Hassan Issa, Salim Ayachhe and Moustaf Badredine, all senior members of Hezbollah. Hariri’s son, Saad, welcomed the indictments and called it a “historic moment”. Hezbollah did not respond immediately to the indictments, which if the they lead to convictions, would pose a serious threat to the group’s claim as a nationalist resistance movement. One senior official said this morning that Hezbollah felt it had done enough to prepare for the indictments with a lengthy and vocal campaign to discredit the investigation. Elsewhere, members of Hariri’s political bloc called on the Lebanese parliament to continue support for the tribunal, which Lebanon partly funds. Hezbollah and its supporters, who comprise roughly half the country’s Druze and Christians, had been trying to force a government led by Saad Hariri, to withdraw support for the tribunal and stop funding it. After realising Hariri would not agree, Hezbollah and its allies quit the cabinet in January, causing the collapse of the unity government . The bloc now has a slim majority in government, which it will likely use to target the tribunal. Lebanon’s cabinet will distribute a policy statement on Friday on how to deal with the tribunal. Regardless of its stance, the tribunal will hold hearings in the Hague later this year. The legitimacy of its claims will likely first be contested in districts of Lebanon, which remain deeply split and seemingly implacably aligned behind sectarian banners. Lebanon Middle East Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
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Greece’s parliament is to hold a second vote on its austerity programme, which it needs to implement to secure the country further financial support. The vote is about…
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