Click here to view this media Here are some of the things your House of Representatives did early this morning: Voted to strip funding from just about every EPA project, including air quality, emissions, and water pollution monitoring. Defunded NOAA Stripped funds to administer the Affordable Care Act. Eliminated funds for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Continued $53 billion in oil subsidies Tried to eliminate Davis-Bacon rules for government projects (that failed) Stripped federal workers of their salaries in positions within agencies targeted for defunding Of course, yesterday they defunded Planned Parenthood, FCC allocations for enforcement of Net Neutrality rules, and the entire Affordable Care Act. They also managed to pass a budget 235-189 after the sorriest bunch of bullsh*t debate this writer has ever observed. The vote was down party lines, with the exception of 3 Republicans who voted against it. The most entertaining part of the whole entire screwed-up process was watching Republicans make love to Big Oil while the whole world watched. Oh, note to the Tea Party…hahahahaha!!!! They only managed to cut $60 billion. Broken promises, broken promises. And so soon in your young reign of terror. I hope it was good for them. I felt screwed without even so much as a kiss on the cheek. With that said, all props to Rosa DeLauro for her 3AM rant with energy, passion and focus. Enjoy that moment. There weren’t all that many.
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Poverty, repression, decades of injustice and mass unemployment have all been cited as causes of the political convulsions in the Middle East and north Africa these last weeks. But a less recognised reason for the turmoil in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan and now Iran has been rising food prices, directly linked to a growing regional water crisis. The diverse states that make up the Arab world, stretching from the Atlantic coast to Iraq, have some of the world’s greatest oil reserves, but this disguises the fact that they mostly occupy hyper-arid places. Rivers are few, water demand is increasing as populations grow, underground reserves are shrinking and nearly all depend on…
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The National Christmas Tree is no more. The Colorado blue spruce that stood on the White House grounds since 1978 was toppled Saturday morning by high winds. (Feb. 19)
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Here’s a quick heads-up, if you had your heart set on Samsung’s Galaxy S 4G : T-Mobile says it’ll actually cost $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. That means you’re paying $250 out the door for an HSPA+ capable Vibrant, not counting taxes and related fees. T-Mobile says the original $150 price was a mistake on its part, and while you’re welcome to bring as many false advertising lawsuits as you’d like, we doubt you’ll get very far. Samsung Galaxy S 4G will actually cost $200, unfortunately originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 20:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The eastern Libyan city of Baidah has been a scene of death and violent clashes. Hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of patients and people are worried about more chaos ahead. Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh reports on recently obtained video footage from Baidah, where protesters are refusing to bow down to government intimidation.
Continue reading …Ed Schultz Exposed for Exaggerating How Much Wisconsin Governor’s Plan Costs Employees
February 20, 2011 No Comment
As NewsBusters reported Saturday, Rachel Maddow wasn't the only MSNBC commentator last week that lied to viewers about the budget battle in Wisconsin. Having misrepresented the same nonsense as Maddow about the Badger State having a surplus instead of a deficit Friday, Ed Schultz was exposed by Politifact for dramatically exaggerating how much Gov. Scott Walker's repair plan would cost public employees (video follows with transcript and commentary): ED SCHULTZ, TUESDAY's “THE ED SHOW”: Now, I think really what is happening in Wisconsin is bigger than any inside the Beltway story and we are the place for politics, no doubt about this. But this isn't about some lobbyist at lunch with a senator shaking him down or trying to convince him on a vote. These are real American people who want a future and feel like they're being deprived of it. People who earn $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 a year might have a 20 percent of their income just disappear overnight. Ten thousand bucks isn't really going to hurt anybody on Wall Street, but it will absolutely devastate middle class families in the state of Wisconsin. And what do you have? You have the governor who is basically giving an ultimatum. Is that 20 percent reduction claim accurate? Not according to Politifact: Schultz said in the broadcast that he had been given figures that show a 20 percent impact. We asked his staff for that information and they said they would attempt to provide it.
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Twelve months ago, Marjah was a ghost town, deep in rural Helmand province and deep in the grip of the Taliban. The bazaar was closed and those who could run had fled; the rest cowered in their homes. It was never going to be easy to take from the Taliban. More than 120 Taliban and at least 60 coalition and Afghan troops paid the price with their lives. Today, the Afghan national flag flies over the town, the schools are open and the opium trade is under attack. Marjah is crawling back to something approaching normality. “Security is good now. Life is better,” Gul Ahmed, a wheat farmer, told the Kansas City Star. “Bad people like the Taliban cannot come here now. They took money from us….
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Twelve months ago, Marjah was a ghost town, deep in rural Helmand province and deep in the grip of the Taliban. The bazaar was closed and those who could run had fled; the rest cowered in their homes. It was never going to be easy to take from the Taliban. More than 120 Taliban and at least 60 coalition and Afghan troops paid the price with their lives. Today, the Afghan national flag flies over the town, the schools are open and the opium trade is under attack. Marjah is crawling back to something approaching normality. “Security is good now. Life is better,” Gul Ahmed, a wheat farmer, told the Kansas City Star. “Bad people like the Taliban cannot come here now. They took money from us….
Continue reading …Twelve months ago, Marjah was a ghost town, deep in rural Helmand province and deep in the grip of the Taliban. The bazaar was closed and those who could run had fled; the rest cowered in their homes. It was never going to be easy to take from the Taliban. More than 120 Taliban and at least 60 coalition and Afghan troops paid the price with their lives. Today, the Afghan national flag flies over the town, the schools are open and the opium trade is under attack. Marjah is crawling back to something approaching normality. “Security is good now. Life is better,” Gul Ahmed, a wheat farmer, told the Kansas City Star. “Bad people like the Taliban cannot come here now. They took money from us….
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In Bahrain, thousands of people have returned to Pearl Roundabout, the centre of anti-regime protests and the scene of two separate attacks by security forces. But police and soldiers have now left the area and the government says talks with opposition groups are under way. Al Jazeera’s James Bays reports from Manama where many protesters say they won’t be attending.
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