Haggard and unshaven after a weekend in jail, the chief of the International Monetary Fund was denied release on bail on charges of trying to rape a hotel maid as allegations of other, similar attacks by Dominique Strauss-Kahn began to spill out. (May 16)
Continue reading …The Vatican told bishops around the world Monday that it was important to cooperate with police in reporting priests who rape and molest children and said they should develop guidelines for preventing sex abuse by next May (May 16)
Continue reading …The Vatican told bishops around the world Monday that it was important to cooperate with police in reporting priests who rape and molest children and said they should develop guidelines for preventing sex abuse by next May (May 16)
Continue reading …The Vatican told bishops around the world Monday that it was important to cooperate with police in reporting priests who rape and molest children and said they should develop guidelines for preventing sex abuse by next May (May 16)
Continue reading …So earlier today we wondered whether Speaker John Boehner is going to directly lobby his Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate to walk with him on Paul Ryan’s road to recession. As everyone knows, things are not going too well for Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” debacle . Apparently Ryan was so much on the defensive during his speech at the Economic Club of Chicago that he ended up conceding the point that it was President George W. Bush who wrecked America’s economy. With this backdrop it is going to be interesting to see which Senate Republicans will step up to embrace Ryan’s roadmap to recession. We have heard that Senator Susan Collins does not want any part of it . Senators Rob Portman and Lamar Alexander backed off from it as well. So which Senate Republican is going to embrace Ryan? Enter Senator Scott Brown. Apparently Scott Brown is saying “Thank God” for Paul Ryan’s budget plan : “Finally we had congressman Ryan come forth with a budget proposal, thank God, because we haven’t had one in a couple years and that now has forced the debate and forced the President actually to come forth with his budget proposal,” Brown said. There is no going back for Brown at this point. His words, blessing Ryan’s plan to gut Medicare should be tagged on his forehead from here on out. As Steve Benen wonders in amusement : Are Massachusetts voters aware of this? Keep in mind, we’re talking about a right-wing budget agenda that, among other things, ends Medicare, cuts taxes on millionaires, eliminates safeguards on Wall Street, and guts funding on everything from food stamps to infrastructure to education. Brown could easily oppose this — his centrist GOP colleague, Susan Collins, already has — but he’s nevertheless defending it. Also note, just two months ago, Brown, an alleged moderate, also voted for the House Republican budget for the current fiscal year, which, among other things, cut funding on medical research, job training, health care, and homeland security. Scott Brown does realize that Massachusetts isn’t Mississippi, doesn’t he? “Dan Quayle in a barn coat” is looking more and more apt all the time. It looks like Massachussets Democrats to their credit are already on Brown’s case . Now the question becomes: What about other guys? What about Senator Bob Corker from Tennessee? What about Mark Kirk from Illinois? What about Lisa Murkowski from Alaska? How about Olympia Snowe? Are they also going to step out and offer Paul Ryan a bear hug in public or are they going to hide from the public? How about Boehner? While the country is grappling with the expiration of debt ceiling is he going to be relaxing in yet another recess or is he going to walk the walk of talking up supporting “Path to Prosperity” ? I mean Boehner shares the same state with Senator Portman, who as mentioned above is unsure about the Ryan plan. It shouldn’t be that hard for Boehner to publicly call out Portman through the Ohio press that he should embrace the Ryan plan. No? The traditional media should not let Boehner hide during this recess. If they want to track him down, they can probably just look for him at the local golf courses or tanning salons.
Continue reading …So earlier today we wondered whether Speaker John Boehner is going to directly lobby his Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate to walk with him on Paul Ryan’s road to recession. As everyone knows, things are not going too well for Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” debacle . Apparently Ryan was so much on the defensive during his speech at the Economic Club of Chicago that he ended up conceding the point that it was President George W. Bush who wrecked America’s economy. With this backdrop it is going to be interesting to see which Senate Republicans will step up to embrace Ryan’s roadmap to recession. We have heard that Senator Susan Collins does not want any part of it . Senators Rob Portman and Lamar Alexander backed off from it as well. So which Senate Republican is going to embrace Ryan? Enter Senator Scott Brown. Apparently Scott Brown is saying “Thank God” for Paul Ryan’s budget plan : “Finally we had congressman Ryan come forth with a budget proposal, thank God, because we haven’t had one in a couple years and that now has forced the debate and forced the President actually to come forth with his budget proposal,” Brown said. There is no going back for Brown at this point. His words, blessing Ryan’s plan to gut Medicare should be tagged on his forehead from here on out. As Steve Benen wonders in amusement : Are Massachusetts voters aware of this? Keep in mind, we’re talking about a right-wing budget agenda that, among other things, ends Medicare, cuts taxes on millionaires, eliminates safeguards on Wall Street, and guts funding on everything from food stamps to infrastructure to education. Brown could easily oppose this — his centrist GOP colleague, Susan Collins, already has — but he’s nevertheless defending it. Also note, just two months ago, Brown, an alleged moderate, also voted for the House Republican budget for the current fiscal year, which, among other things, cut funding on medical research, job training, health care, and homeland security. Scott Brown does realize that Massachusetts isn’t Mississippi, doesn’t he? “Dan Quayle in a barn coat” is looking more and more apt all the time. It looks like Massachussets Democrats to their credit are already on Brown’s case . Now the question becomes: What about other guys? What about Senator Bob Corker from Tennessee? What about Mark Kirk from Illinois? What about Lisa Murkowski from Alaska? How about Olympia Snowe? Are they also going to step out and offer Paul Ryan a bear hug in public or are they going to hide from the public? How about Boehner? While the country is grappling with the expiration of debt ceiling is he going to be relaxing in yet another recess or is he going to walk the walk of talking up supporting “Path to Prosperity” ? I mean Boehner shares the same state with Senator Portman, who as mentioned above is unsure about the Ryan plan. It shouldn’t be that hard for Boehner to publicly call out Portman through the Ohio press that he should embrace the Ryan plan. No? The traditional media should not let Boehner hide during this recess. If they want to track him down, they can probably just look for him at the local golf courses or tanning salons.
Continue reading …So earlier today we wondered whether Speaker John Boehner is going to directly lobby his Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate to walk with him on Paul Ryan’s road to recession. As everyone knows, things are not going too well for Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” debacle . Apparently Ryan was so much on the defensive during his speech at the Economic Club of Chicago that he ended up conceding the point that it was President George W. Bush who wrecked America’s economy. With this backdrop it is going to be interesting to see which Senate Republicans will step up to embrace Ryan’s roadmap to recession. We have heard that Senator Susan Collins does not want any part of it . Senators Rob Portman and Lamar Alexander backed off from it as well. So which Senate Republican is going to embrace Ryan? Enter Senator Scott Brown. Apparently Scott Brown is saying “Thank God” for Paul Ryan’s budget plan : “Finally we had congressman Ryan come forth with a budget proposal, thank God, because we haven’t had one in a couple years and that now has forced the debate and forced the President actually to come forth with his budget proposal,” Brown said. There is no going back for Brown at this point. His words, blessing Ryan’s plan to gut Medicare should be tagged on his forehead from here on out. As Steve Benen wonders in amusement : Are Massachusetts voters aware of this? Keep in mind, we’re talking about a right-wing budget agenda that, among other things, ends Medicare, cuts taxes on millionaires, eliminates safeguards on Wall Street, and guts funding on everything from food stamps to infrastructure to education. Brown could easily oppose this — his centrist GOP colleague, Susan Collins, already has — but he’s nevertheless defending it. Also note, just two months ago, Brown, an alleged moderate, also voted for the House Republican budget for the current fiscal year, which, among other things, cut funding on medical research, job training, health care, and homeland security. Scott Brown does realize that Massachusetts isn’t Mississippi, doesn’t he? “Dan Quayle in a barn coat” is looking more and more apt all the time. It looks like Massachussets Democrats to their credit are already on Brown’s case . Now the question becomes: What about other guys? What about Senator Bob Corker from Tennessee? What about Mark Kirk from Illinois? What about Lisa Murkowski from Alaska? How about Olympia Snowe? Are they also going to step out and offer Paul Ryan a bear hug in public or are they going to hide from the public? How about Boehner? While the country is grappling with the expiration of debt ceiling is he going to be relaxing in yet another recess or is he going to walk the walk of talking up supporting “Path to Prosperity” ? I mean Boehner shares the same state with Senator Portman, who as mentioned above is unsure about the Ryan plan. It shouldn’t be that hard for Boehner to publicly call out Portman through the Ohio press that he should embrace the Ryan plan. No? The traditional media should not let Boehner hide during this recess. If they want to track him down, they can probably just look for him at the local golf courses or tanning salons.
Continue reading …We’ve heard of turning yesterday’s lunch into tomorrow’s electricity , but a new energy converter coming out of Oak Ridge National Laboratory harnesses the power of a different type of hot waste. The as-of-yet unnamed thermal waste-heat converter has the potential to cool electronic devices, solar cells, and computers while generating electricity from excess heat. Its creators see the new conversion process being used to reduce the massive amounts of heat generated by petaflop computers. The converter employs up to one thousand tiny cantilevers attached to a one square inch surface (e.g. a computer chip) to produce between one and ten milliwatts of electricity — admittedly a very small amount of energy. However, it’s creators are quick to point out that a slew of these converters could generate enough power to perform small tasks in the heat-generating device — things like sensing when a server room gets too hot for comfort. Sure it’s a small step, but if they can get this stuff to save our future babies from cooking, we’re all in. Full PR after the break. Continue reading ORNL energy harvester turns heat waste into electricity, converts hot machines into cool customers ORNL energy harvester turns heat waste into electricity, converts hot machines into cool customers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Irish militants called in a bomb threat targeting central London today, a day ahead of Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Ireland—the first visit by a British monarch in more than a century, Reuters reports. A source says the threat has some credibility because the caller uttered a codeword known to…
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