41 and 43 To Throw Out the First Pitches for Tonight’s World Series Game
October 31, 2010 No CommentHow will this moment play out to the millions watching? ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush will throw out ceremonial first pitches before Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night. The San Francisco Giants lead the Texas Rangers 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. George W. Bush was managing general partner of the Rangers from 1989-94 and maintained partial ownership of the club until 1998, two years before he was elected the 43rd president. A year ago Democrats would have loved to have this happen two days before an important election. Bush was a bogeyman to them and his ratings with the rest of the country weren’t that good either. Reminding voters of Bush might have helped them. However, today Bush is polling five points better than Obama when people are asked who is the better president.
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One of two powerful bombs mailed from Yemen to Chicago-area synagogues traveled on two passenger flights within the Middle East. The US said the plot bears the hallmarks of al-Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen and has vowed to destroy the group. (Oct. 31)
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An investigation by National Public Radio has brought to light the fact that Arizona’s controversial immigration law SB 1070 was drafted by prison companies that were set to make significant gains from the criminalization of immigrants in the state. The NPR report claims that “[w]hat they show is a quiet, behind-the-scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona Senate Bill 1070 by an industry that stands to benefit from it: the private prison industry.” Check out the NPR story here . The Orange County Register: Prison companies helped draft and pass controversial Arizona’s immigration law SB1070, a National Public Radio investigation shows. The law is currently tied up in the courts after a judge blocked some of the most contentious provisions of the bill from taking effect. It would allow police to ask people to prove they are in the country legally during a lawful stop. If the law is upheld, it could mean a windfall for the prison industry, according to a National Public Radio investigation. Read more Related Entries October 30, 2010 SB 1070’s Day in Court October 23, 2010 Arizona Lawmaker Fights Boycott Backlash
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Brazilians are again going to the polls to elect a successor to the popular President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Workers’ Party candidate Dilma Rousseff is expected to win Sunday’s runoff between herself and Social Democrat Jose Serra. —JCL The BBC: Brazilians are voting to choose a new president to succeed the popular Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Opinion polls suggest the governing Workers’ Party candidate Dilma Rousseff has a clear lead over Jose Serra of the opposition Social Democratic Party. Ms Rousseff has enjoyed the full support of President Lula, who is leaving office after two terms with record popularity ratings. Read more Related Entries October 30, 2010 SB 1070’s Day in Court October 23, 2010 Arizona Lawmaker Fights Boycott Backlash
Continue reading …Looks like there’s a child in Ohio that will share my daughter’s birthday: Ohio Rep. John Boccieri ran offstage Saturday during a speech by Bill Clinton after the congressman received word that his pregnant wife had gone into labor. Boccieri quickly left the podium while the former president addressed a crowd of about 1,000 people in Canton, about an hour south of Cleveland. “The baby is now being born!” Clinton announced as the crowd erupted with cheers. “You’d be amazed how many times I take a picture with a very pregnant woman and then she immediately gives birth.” Boccieri, a Democrat, is locked in a closely watched race with Republican Jim Renacci. Congrats to the family.
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From earthquakes to cholera, Haiti can’t seem to get a break. Geologists have now reported that the decimated country may be in serious risk of additional devastation. Scientists posit that “not all the geological strain that triggered the original quake” last Jan. 12 has been released. —JCL The Guardian: Haiti is at serious risk of further devastation from earthquakes in the near future, geologists have warned. Their research, to be published in next month’s issue of Nature Geoscience, indicates that not all the geological strain that triggered the original quake in January has been released as had been thought. More than 230,000 people died in the magnitude 7.0 quake on 12 January and more than one million were left homeless. Now geologists are warning that Haiti faces the prospect of further devastation. “The January earthquake only unloaded a fraction of the seismic energy that has built up over time in Haiti,” Eric Calais, a geologist at Purdue University, Indiana, who is also a science adviser for the UN development programme in Haiti, told Nature. “Other earthquakes are therefore inevitable.” Read more Related Entries October 30, 2010 SB 1070’s Day in Court October 23, 2010 Arizona Lawmaker Fights Boycott Backlash
Continue reading …Better Place’s electric taxis coming to SF Bay Area, thanks to $7 million grant
October 31, 2010 No Comment
San Francisco, San Jose and Palo Alto, California were all too happy to endorse Better Place’s electric vehicle infrastructure two years ago, but now the powers that be have invested some cash to get this show on the road. The Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission has dropped $6.9 million to purchase and build 61 electric taxis and four robotic battery swap stations to put freshly juiced cells in place — just like Better Place has been doing with Tokyo taxis since April 26th. Yellow Cab Cooperative and Yellow Checker Cab will operate the zero-emission vehicles, though CNET reports that they’ve yet to choose a particular type — perhaps we’ll finally see Mitsubishi’s i MiEV with a steering wheel on the left-hand side? PR after the break. Continue reading Better Place’s electric taxis coming to SF Bay Area, thanks to $7 million grant Better Place’s electric taxis coming to SF Bay Area, thanks to $7 million grant originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Oct 2010 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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With either renewed purpose for peace in the Middle East or due to more base political motivations of power, Israel’s Labor Party has threatened to walk out of the country’s coalition government unless negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis substantially proceed in the coming weeks. —JCL The Guardian: Israel’s Labor party will walk out of the rightwing-dominated coalition government unless serious negotiations with the Palestinians get under way in the coming weeks, according to cabinet minister Avishay Braverman, an expected challenger to Ehud Barak for his party’s leadership. “We need to move as soon as possible. The only way to guarantee the state of the Jewish people is to move boldly after the US election,” Braverman, the minister for minorities, said in an interview. If Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu missed the opportunity, “Labor will not be in the coalition government. If there are the beginnings of serious negotiations, Labor stays; if not, Labor leaves.” Read more Related Entries October 24, 2010 Israeli Settlers Destroying Palestinians’ Olive Trees October 22, 2010 Israeli Officers Under Investigation
Continue reading …Jimmy Carter: Fox News Implants ‘Completely False Images’ of President Obama
October 31, 2010 No Comment
Former President Jimmy Carter on Sunday claimed that Fox News implants “completely false images” of Barack Obama while also distorting the facts about legislation before Congress. Speaking to Howard Kurtz on CNN's “Reliable Sources,” Carter practically blamed all of the current president's problems in the polls on the cable news network (video follows with transcript and commentary): read more
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People from a dozen countries who were raped and molested by priests as children are gathering in Rome for a candlelit march on the Vatican intended to let survivors know they’re not alone. (Oct. 31)
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