The White House jolted budget negotiations back to life yesterday, getting Senate Democrats to agree to $33 billion in cuts in the hopes of finding middle ground with John Boehner and Co., Politico reports. Joe Biden met with Democratic leadership yesterday evening, and emerged saying that the Senate and president…
Continue reading …When it’s not busy tempting the nation’s men with free vasectomies , PETA is hard at work trying to right the country’s lexical injustices. It’s currently pushing San Francisco’s city leaders to change the name of the Tenderloin District to something a little less meaty: the Tempeh District. In a letter…
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Michael Jordan Best Slam Dunk Contest Ever ( VS Dominique Wilkins ) Dominique Wilkins attacked by a Fan!! – HIPHOPNEWS24-7.COM DOMINIQUE WILKINS ATTACKED!! (NEWS REPORT) – HIPHOPNEWS24-7.COM Dominique Wilkins Attacked After Hawks-Magic Game ATLANTA — Hall of Famer and Atlanta Hawks televsion analyst Dominique Wilkins was attacked by a fan after the team’s victory Wednesday night over the Orlando Magic, the team said. Wilkins is also a vice president with the team. Dominique Wilkins Allegedly Attacked on Court Following Hawks … NBA Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins was allegedly attacked by an unidentified fan near the Phillips Arena floor following his customary television duties after. Dominique Wilkins Attacked By Former NBA Referee Following Hawks … SB Nation is a collection of over 290 individual communities, each offering high quality year-round coverage and conversation led by fans who are passionate about their favorite teams, leagues or sports. By empowering fans, SB Nation … Dominique Wilkins Attacked By Former NBA Ref After Hawks Game … Atlanta police arrested a former NBA ref who assaulted former Atlanta Hawks star Dominique Wilkins following the Hawks game at Phipps Arena Wednesday. Rashan S. Michel Arrested After Attacking Dominique Wilkins After … Rashan S. Michel is an Ex-NBA ref who I guess sells suits on the side in the Atlanta area who is claiming that Nique owes him some money Dez Bryant style. VaTalent says: RT @jemelehill : RT @Dynamo_Diva : If Dominique Wilkins got attacked about some suits, then Steve Harvey & Deion Sanders needs to go in witness protection.
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Data from Europe’s gravity-mapping satellite Goce is being used to investigate the geological processes that cause earthquakes A European spacecraft that skims the upper reaches of the atmosphere has mapped Earth’s gravity with unrivalled precision. The map shows how the pull of gravity varies minutely over the surface of the Earth, from deep ocean trenches to majestic mountain ranges. The measurements have allowed scientists to create a computer model called a geoid that reveals what Earth would look like if its shape were altered to make gravity equal at every point on the surface. Researchers unveiled the latest data from the European Space Agency ‘s Gravity and Ocean Circulation Explorer, or Goce , at a workshop in Munich on Thursday . The map shows areas of strongest gravity in yellow and weakest in blue. Data from the five-metre-long spacecraft will be crucial for understanding sea level changes, shifts in ice flows and how ocean currents – which are driven by gravity – respond as the planet warms over the next few decades. The spacecraft circles the Earth at an altitude of 150 miles (250km) and uses an ion rocket to prevent it losing height as it flies through wisps of atmosphere. Described by project manager Andrea Allasio as “the Ferrari of space probes”, Goce maps Earth’s gravitational field by recording its exact position with GPS and detecting variations in the pull of gravity accurate to one part in ten million million. Earth’s gravity is subtly influenced by all manner of changes in the structure and topography of the Earth. The planet is not a perfect sphere, instead bulging around the equator, making gravity weaker there than at the poles. Gas fields, mineral deposits, aquifers and rock formations also affect the pull of gravity. Information from Goce is already being analysed to get a deeper understanding of the geological processes that cause earthquakes. The recent quake that brought devastation to Japan was triggered by the sudden movement of tectonic plates beneath the ocean. These dramatic movements in rock leave signatures in gravity data that could provide fresh insights into how they occur. The satellite was launched in March 2009 and has now collected more than a year’s worth of gravity data. The probe has enough fuel to fly until the end of 2012, a doubling of its intended mission life. “At its early conception, Goce was more like science fiction. Goce has now clearly demonstrated that it is a state-of-the-art mission,” said Volker Liebig, director of Esa’s Earth Observation Programmes. Geology Satellites European Space Agency Space Space technology Climate change Climate change Natural disasters and extreme weather Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
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Detectives question intended target of gang hit as five-year-old Thusha Kamaleswaran remains in critical condition Police hope the intended target of a gang hit could lead them to the teenage gunman whose botched assassination attempt led him to fire into a shop, critically wounding a five-year-old girl. Thusha Kamaleswaran was critical but stable in hospital after a bullet struck her in the chest as she visited relatives who ran the Stockwell Food and Wine shop in Lambeth, south London. Even in a borough that has suffered a high degree of teenage gang related violence, the gunning down of an innocent child has caused great shock. A reward of £50,000 has been offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction of those behind the shooting. It happened after three youths on bicycles chased two others, who fled into the shop. Shots were then fired, injuring the girl and a 35-year-old man, Roshan Selvakumar, who was shot in the face. He is recovering in hospital. One of the two youths believed to be the intended target of the teenagers on bicycles has now contacted police. A police source said: “He’s probably realised he’ll be safer with us.” Detective Chief Inspector Tony Boughton, leading the inquiry, said: “One of the youths who first ran into the shop has come forward and is assisting us with our inquiries. We are still trying to trace the other individual and appeal to him to come forward.” The youths behind the shooting are believed to have continued cycling around the area for up to 45 minutes after gunning down the innocent pair. Thusha was visiting relatives at the shop along with her mother, sister, three, and brother, 12, who were unhurt. Detectives are studying CCTV from neighbouring shops and streets to build up a picture of what happened before, during and after the shooting. In a statement, police said: “One of these youths had been chased from Broomgrove Road, across Stockwell Road, and into the shop by three other males, described as black youths, on bicycles. Once the youths on bikes were outside the shop, one of them fired shots into the shop front.” The shootings are being investigated by the Metropolitan police’s Trident unit, which specialises in tackling gun crime, particularly in London’s African-Caribbean communities. Claudia Webbe, chair of Trident independent advisory group, said: “Although incidents like this are isolated, they have a huge impact locally. This is a societal problem; once the bullet has been fired, it affects us all. The whole community is united in bringing these violent and cowardly criminals to justice.” Gail Brannan, headteacher of Fairlop primary school in Ilford, which the injured child attended, said: “Thusha is a cheerful girl who loves school and involves herself happily in everything. Our thoughts are with her and her family and we hope that she makes a full recovery soon.” Gun crime Crime London Gangs Communities Young people Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk
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Chancellor under pressure from cabinet to abandon plans to impose a £2bn levy on the region’s oil and gas companies George Osborne, the chancellor, is under pressure from within his cabinet to back down on his unexpected plans to impose a £2bn windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies. Fellow ministers are frustrated that they were given no long-term warning by the Treasury of the plan in advance of the budget and that the oil companies were given no chance to be consulted. It is also being argued that the sudden change in the tax regime ran counter to a series of pledges Osborne gave to the North Sea oil industry in opposition. He told the Aberdeen Press and Journal in 2009 that one of his earliest budget commitments would be to set up a parliament-long stable tax regime for the oil industry. The Treasury minister Justine Greening went to a bruising meeting with oil companies attended by other government ministers in which she was told that the industry has lost trust in government promises to maintain a stable tax regime in the North Sea. One witness said she was “grilled alive”. At a meeting described as cold and pointed, attended by the Scottish secretary, Michael Moore, and the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, she was told she had put 40,000 jobs at risk. Greening was told by oil companies including Total and Shell that Statoil was suspending a $10bn (£6.2bn) project at the Bressay and Mariner oil fields – two of the most valuable deposits left in the North Sea – to review whether the investment is still worthwhile. The oil companies said they were responsible for a quarter of private sector capital investment in the UK, and were quite prepared to pull the plug on a large part of this investment unless the tax regime were changed. They pointed out that as reserves are slowly depleted, companies need better incentives to pump the remaining, harder-to-reach resources. There were also claims that senior cabinet ministers with a direct involvement in the industry were not informed more than 48 hours before the budget of the plan to make the tax raid on the profits of the oil industry. Late representations were made in an attempt to introduce some flexibility based on the price of oil, and ministers opposed to the rise are urging the Treasury to raise the price at which the higher tax kicks in. Supporters of the chancellor claim the principles were discussed between the Treasury chief secretary, Danny Alexander, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, Osborne and David Cameron. Last Wednesday’s budget increased by 12 percentage points the tax levied on North Sea companies, on top of corporation tax, in order to raise £2bn a year to pay for a 1p reduction in the duty on petrol and diesel and scrap a further 5p increase due under plans agreed by the last government. The oil and gas industry’s tax bill for the next financial year is expected to be £13.4bn, compared with £8.8bn this year. In a sign of the problems developing over the issue, Alexander who represents a Scottish constituency, denied the tax raid had been his idea. “We don’t expect this tax change to have a significant effect on production and investment and therefore on jobs in the coming years,” he said. The Scottish National party has already described the oil grab as Alexander’s political epitaph, but what will worry him more is the lack of support from key cabinet allies and normally loyal Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs, such as Malcolm Bruce. Bruce accused Alexander of being “economically illiterate for coming up with a “populist move” that could kill off investment in the North Sea. George Osborne Tax and spending Oil and gas companies Energy industry Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
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Laurent Gbagbo faces bloody overthrow as he loses general and rebels advance on main city of Abidjan Ivory Coast’s president, Laurent Gbagbo, is facing a bloody deposition after his top general deserted and rebel forces advanced into Abidjan, his seat of power. Heavy weapons and machine-gun fire were heard in the centre of Ivory Coast’s main city. And French troops were deployed as the four-month political crisis appeared to near its endgame. Ivorian sources in South Africa said they heard rumours that Gbagbo could be about to step down, possibly turning to South Africa for a diplomatic channel to end his 10-year rule. Officials in Pretoria denied there had been any approach. The speculation was begun by the abrupt departure of Phillippe Mangou, Gbagbo’s army chief of staff, to take refuge with his wife and five children at the South African ambassador’s residence in Abidjan. “We’ve seen a regime collapse,” said one western diplomat, who could hear gunfire and explosions from his residence. “The army is no longer an effective body. It has defected and deserted, and has no leadership now the general has gone into hiding. It lacks any command and control.” He added: “There’s very little to keep Gbagbo in power and he must know it. I just hope he’s not one of those men who fight to the death, because it will be a bloodbath.” Rebels fighting to install Alassane Ouattara as president have swept hundreds of miles over three days. On Wednesday they took the official capital, Yamoussoukro, doing a victory lap in vehicles as people cheered and clapped, and the seaport, San Pedro. But aid workers estimated that the casualties ran into thousands. Ouattara is the internationally recognised winner of last November’s election. He said the rebels will “re-establish democracy and enforce the choice of the people”. There were reports of Gbagbo’s troops downing weapons and uniforms, and in some cases going to join Ouattara at the UN-protected Golf hotel. Ouattara’s prime minister, Guillaume Soro, told French radio that a government of national unity was still possible if Gbagbo stepped aside in the “coming hours”, but otherwise it would be “winner takes it all”. Officially there was defiance from Gbagbo, a Sorbonne-educated professor who in 2004 defended his inability to control rioting mobs by asking: “When the French were looking for Louis XVI to cut his head off, would it have been fair to ask him if he controlled the streets?” Members of his guard deployed near the presidential palace in the Plateau area. Analysts believe a core of 2,500 troops might be willing to fight to the end. A Gbagbo adviser, Toussaint Alain, suggested the president was prepared to make a last stand. “He will not resign in the wake of this attack,” he told the Associated Press. “He is not going to abdicate. He is not going to lay down his arms. “He will stay in power to lead the resistance to this attack against Ivory Coast organised by France, the United States and the United Nations.” Abidjan was a war zone yesterday. The streets were deserted. Foreign nationals had been advised to stock up with five days of food and water. Salvatore Sagues, of Amnesty International, warned: “Abidjan is on the brink of a human rights catastrophe and total chaos. Cote d’Ivoire is facing a major humanitarian crisis. The international community must take immediate steps to protect civilians.” Jacques Seurt, of the International Organisation for Migration in Ivory Coast, said: “You can’t go out in Abidjan. We can hear shooting outside, close to a big military camp and the state TV station. It’s not safe in this part of the city. “We are a little bit nervous. There is no way to get out to reach a safe haven. It’s too dangerous, too exposed. I think the Forces Nouvelles [pro-Ouattara rebels] are coming into Abidjan. After the capture of the town, I’m afraid there will be a lot of looting.” Reuters reported that soldiers from the 1,000-strong French Licorne force in Ivory Coast had been deployed in the south of the city. A western military source said others were sent to rescue some French nationals attacked in the Deux Plateaux neighbourhood by youth supporters of Gbagbo. Rebels in control of several northern districts of the city attacked a prison and freed the inmates, a rebel commander said. The rebels also advanced into Yopougon, a district of Abidjan that fervently supports Gbagbo, according to witnesses. Advancing on foot, the rebels set up roadblocks on one of Yopougon’s main thoroughfares and battled with police, a resident told the AP. Across town in the predominantly pro-Ouattara Adjame district, several residents reported firing by pro-Gbagbo militiamen. A close aide to Ouattara said of the rebels: “They will enter the city on multiple fronts, from multiple directions.” Overnight, the rebels also took Gbagbo’s home town, the village of Mama, where the former president had a villa, the aide told the Associated Press. “The rebels slept in Gbagbo’s bed,” he added. At least 462 people have died and up to one million have fled their homes. The true figure is likely to be much higher. Pierre Kraehenbuehl, of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told a press conference in Geneva: “Casualty numbers, killed and injured, is running into the thousands. That is our indication. “The country is now in the throes of a full-fledged internal armed conflict.” The rebels have controlled northern Ivory Coast since the 2002-03 civil war effectively split the country in two. Ivory Coast France United States United Nations David Smith guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Is Trump just trying to make the rest of the Republican field look sane and intelligent?
March 31, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media It’s obvious that Donald Trump’s recent bout of Birtherism is primarily about garnering Trump some free pub — but considering how readily they’re airing it at Fox News, it’s starting to look like a combination of Swift Boat/Clinton-scandals type of Republican tactics, where just having the smears “out there” helps keep their targets’ negatives high. It’s also obvious, after Trump’s appearance last night on Bill O’Reilly’s Fox News show, that he really isn’t a serious candidate. Instead, Trump is being a stalking horse who can make the rest of the Republican field look sane and serious by comparison. Consider this exchange : O’REILLY: Now, when you were on “The View” and they didn’t walk out, which they should have because they walked out on me and they should have stayed. You were way, way worse than I was on “The View.” You were hammering the birth certificate. Now, we very early on did an investigation about Barack Obama’s birth certificate. What “The Factor” found out was there were two announcements the week he was born in both Honolulu newspapers saying that he was born, OK. That is impossible — that is impossible to make happen if he had not been born in the hospital. So therefore, I just put it to bed. I said he was born in Honolulu. The two newspapers documented it. His mother was a hippy. His father was a guy from Kenya who split. There couldn’t have been a sophisticated — what is he, Baby Jesus? — there was a sophisticated conspiracy to smuggle this baby back into the country? So I just dismissed it. But you made a big deal of it. TRUMP: Bill, I grew up with Wall Street geniuses. What they do in terms of fraud and how they change documents and I will tell you something. If you notice those dates were three days later. Here is what I ask people. Who puts announcements? Here are two poor people, a man and a woman with no money, they have a baby. There’s announcements in the newspaper? O’REILLY: The grandparents did it. TRUMP: Excuse me. The grandparents. Nelson Rockefeller doesn’t put announcements. O’REILLY: Sure, there are birth announcements all the time. TRUMP: I have never seen one. O’REILLY: Really? They are common. TRUMP: I’ve never seen one. O’REILLY: But why is this important to you? TRUMP: Because if you are going to be president of the United States you have to be born in this country. And there is a doubt as to whether or not he was born… O’REILLY: Oh come on. Do you really feel this about him? TRUMP: You know, I started off by saying — and I always do and I did on the “The View.” I’m a very smart guy. I went to the best college. I had good marks. I was a very smart guy, good student and all that stuff. Because what they do to the birthers, which is a term I hate because a lot of these birthers are just really quality people that just want the truth. What they do to the birthers is unbelievable to a point where people are afraid to talk about this subject. They are afraid to confront you or anybody about this subject. O’REILLY: Do you think it’s an important subject? TRUMP: Listen, I have a birth certificate. I have my birth certificate. And in fact, they said the one I gave yesterday wasn’t good enough. So I actually got the one from the Health Department, which is the perfect one. Because they were saying the one I gave yesterday wasn’t good enough, so I got the other. People have birth certificates. He doesn’t have a birth certificate. He may have one but there’s something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim. I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want that. Or he may not have one. But I will tell you this. If he wasn’t born in this country, it’s one of the great scams of all time. O’REILLY: Absolutely. But I don’t think that’s the case. TRUMP: You don’t, but I’m starting to think. O’REILLY: I don’t think you believe that either. I think it’s provocative, you get a lot of attention raising the question. But I don’t think you believe it either. TRUMP: Two weeks ago I felt like probably he was born in the country. Today it’s possibly. I’m telling you it’s changed. I have seen too many things. The business with the newspaper birth announcement really reveals just how deliberately obtuse Trump is being. As we noted already : This isn’t an advertisement — rather, this is a standard newspaper birth announcement. You see, in the old days, before large corporations took over newspapers and forced them to gradually eviscerate their newsgathering functions, newspapers sent out their cops-and-courts reporters about once a week to collect all the previous week’s birth listings from local hospitals. (This practice has long since fallen by numerous newsroom-budget-cutting waysides.) In other words, the Advertiser announcement was collected by the paper itself and stands as independent corroboration that Obama was born in a Honolulu hospital. The fact that Trump doesn’t know of anyone who has their birth listed in the paper by anything other than an ad indicates how out of touch this rich man really is. O’Reilly knows this and pointed it out to Trump. Did this have any effect on the man whatsoever? None! He just kept rambling and ranting. The fact that Trump is so adamant about embracing something so thoroughly proven to be false tells you plenty about the American Right — because he has so many other right-wingers (see, e.g., Sean Hannity ) playing along as though he were making Birtherism credible. These people don’t really believe in it, but they see all kinds of tactical advantages in having someone out there flinging this poo on Obama’s wall. Why not the helmet-hair guy who’s not really running?
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An early prank this isn’t. Based on our sources (and the pictorial evidence above), Sprint’s fixing to whack a full Benjamin from the current $299.99 asking price on its Samsung Galaxy Tab starting on Sunday, making it one of the more affordable ways to get your hands on a 3G-enabled tablet of any kind — let alone a Froyo-based slate that’s received its fair share of compliments . Granted, the original Tab is aging at this point, and we still aren’t sure we’d be down for selling our cellular soul for two years just to get a spiffy up-front discount, but hey — at least you know the option awaits you. Oh, and if spending $429.99 sound a lot better than $199.99 in addition to 24 months of obligation, that’ll apparently also be possible. [Thanks, Anonymous] Continue reading Sprint dropping Galaxy Tab to $200 on contract starting April 3rd Sprint dropping Galaxy Tab to $200 on contract starting April 3rd originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Tokyo Electric Power Co. had a disaster plan in place at its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, but certainly not a very thorough one: It only involved one stretcher, and relied heavily on a satellite phone and fax machine for emergency communications. In a look at the plan, the Wall Street…
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