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The Perfect Valentine’s Day Outing
Looking for somewhere to take the love (or potential love) of your life? After all, Valentine’s Day only comes once a year and you want it to be super special and sure to be remembered and talked about until the next Valentine’s Day rolls around in 2013. Well, here is the perfect place if you are in New York City tomorrow.
It may not smell like a rose but a New York City sewage plant is offering tours for lovers on Valentine’s Day.
The tour host and superintendent of the Newtown Creek Wastewater treatment plant in Brooklyn tells the Daily News (http://nydn.us/xEFu6I) it’ll be a unique date, and one that special someone will never forget.
Jim Pynn says the highlight of the tour will be the plant’s giant egg-shaped digesters, which break down the noxious waste into harmless sludge and gas.
Pynn says each Valentine’s Day visitor will get a Hershey kiss – and at least something to talk about.
Go HERE.
(alas, I will not take my lovely wife there, as she said no way would she want to ever go to a sewage plant)
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As anticipated, Kate Upton has been revealed to be the chosen cover model for this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue after a few copies of the magazine accidentally arrived early at a gas station in Michigan.
Scans of the cover surfaced online shortly thereafter. A billboard with Upton’s cover was originally set to be unveiled during tonight’s Late Show.
This is quite an accomplishment for the 19-year-old model who made her debut appearance in SI’s Swimsuit Issue just last year.
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This looks depressing as hell. And really, all the buildings seem to be deserted with no lights, no people, nothing. Hey, just the place I tell you to send all our occupier dirtbags!
Thailand-based Reuters photographer Damir Sagolj captures the oppressive bleakness of everyday life in Pyongyang with his prize-winning photo of a solitary, illuminated picture of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung, haunting the capital city’s decaying Brutalist apartment blocks at night.
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I found this damn hilarious!
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Another give away of our money by our president! Just to help his union buddies keep their jobs.
The White House intends to boost government subsidies for wealthy buyers of the Chevy Volt and other new-technology vehicles — to $10,000 per buyer.
That mammoth subsidy would cost taxpayers $100 million each year if it is approved by Congress, presuming only 10,000 new-technology autos are sold each year.
But the administration wants to get 1 million new-tech autos on the road by 2015. The subsidy cost of that goal could reach $10 billion.
The planned giveaway will likely prompt populist protests from GOP legislators, but it will likely also will be welcomed by auto-industry workers in the critical swing state of Michigan.
The new subsidy level represents a 33 percent jump from the current $7,500 government payout for each Volt buyer, even though the Volt’s buyers are already among the wealthiest Americans. It will be offered to buyers of any new-technology autos, including battery-powered autos and cars powered by natural gas, said a White House official.
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The latest scheme that the House of Representatives came up with to delegate their power-of-the-purse responsibilities is the line-item veto. This essentially allows the President to “rescind all or part of any dollar amount of funding for discretionary spending items in enacted appropriations bills.” The House passed its line-item veto bill (H.R. 3521) on February 8 by 254-173. The Senate is expected to take action on its line-item veto bill soon, most likely by trying to attach the bill to a “must-pass” piece of legislation.
Wait a minute! Doesn’t the Constitution (Article 1, Section 7) grant the power of enacting laws that raise revenue to the House of Representatives? The power the President has is merely to sign it or veto it. He doesn’t get the option to cross anything out to fit his fancy.
A similar line-item veto law was passed when Clinton was president. That one was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. So this time around, the current line-item veto bill includes a provision that Congress has the power to disapprove any presidential line-item vetoes.
Still, even with Congress retaining the power to disapprove line-item vetoes, why would the House want to give up some of its constitutionally vested powers and further upset the checks and balances of power among the three branches of government? Surely this must be a ploy by Democratic congressmen to grab more power for President Obama. However, it was sponsored by Republican Representative Paul Ryan and Democratic Representative Chis Van Hollen, and only opposed by 41 Republicans.
More here from The New American
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His pandering has reached new lows with this one!
Obama Begs Voters Not To Make His Daughters Switch Schools
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Haniyeh: No compromise, only armed resistance…
Hamas PM wraps up Iran visit, saying the “gun is our only response” and that “the path of resistance continues.”
Only arms and no compromise should be used in dealing with the “Zionist regime,” the Iranian news agency ISNA quoted Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as saying Monday.
The “Gun is our only response to Zionist regime [sic]. In time, we have come to understand that we can obtain our goals only through fighting and armed resistance and no compromise should be made with the enemy,” Haniyeh said.
Read MORE.
(at what point in time will the non-islamic people of the world realize that the only enemy on this planet are there damn ragheads?)
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(LA Times) — One of California’s showcase solar energy projects, under construction in the desert east of Los Angeles, is being threatened by a deadly outbreak of distemper among kit foxes and the discovery of a prehistoric human settlement on the work site.
The $1-billion Genesis Solar Energy Project has been expedited by state and federal regulatory agencies that are eager to demonstrate that the nation can build solar plants quickly to ease dependence on fossil fuels and curb global warming.
Instead, the project is providing a cautionary example of how the rush to harness solar power in the desert can go wrong — possibly costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and dealing an embarrassing blow to the Obama administration’s solar initiative.
Genesis had hoped to be among the first of 12 approved solar farms to start operating in Southern California deserts. To do so, it had to meet certain deadlines to receive federal assistance. The 250-megwatt plant, being built on federal Bureau of Land Management land 25 miles west of Blythe, is backed by an $825-million Department of Energy loan guarantee.
Native Americans, including the leaders of a nearby reservation, are trying to have Genesis delayed or even scuttled because they say the distemper outbreak and discovery of a possible Native American cremation site show that accelerated procedures approved by state and federal regulators failed to protect wildlife and irreplaceable cultural resources.
(somehow, ever since Solyndra? this green initiative by our president keeps getting worse and worse)
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Letterman keeps coming up with jokes about Mitt and his dog. Now the democrats want to harness all dog owners in the country.
“Dogs Against Romney”? Democrats Say Unleash the Hound! — ABC News
Tomorrow outside the Westminster dog show at Madison Square Garden at noon the group “Dogs Against Romney” will protest “to ensure pet lovers are aware that Mitt Romney is mean to dogs,” according to the group’s press release.
While it may seem silly to some, Democrats are have every intention of making sure – if Romney wins the GOP nomination – that every voting American knows about the story of Romney putting his family dog Seamus in a kennel on top of his roof and driving from Boston to Canada, with said canine Seamus making his displeasure known in a rather scatological way. “I have a yellow Lab named Winston,” Fox News’ Chris Wallace said to Romney. “I would no sooner put him in a kennel on the roof of my car than I would one of my children. Question: What were you thinking?” “This is a completely airtight kennel, mounted on the roof of our car,” Romney replied. “He climbed up there regularly, enjoyed himself. He was in a kennel at home a great deal of the time as well. We loved the dog. It was where he was comfortable.” “When Seamus crapped all over the car I’m fairly certain he wasn’t expressing pleasure,” one top Democrat told ABC News.
“31 million dog-owners vote,” said another.
Democrats are still trying to figure out the best way to bring this up. Certainly it wouldn’t be done by President Obama or any top surrogates. But given the world of social media, not to mention shadowy third-party groups, there is no shortage of ways for Seamus Romney to become a household name.
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Now she is starting to act and sound like her two best buddies, Barach and Michelle! Going for the desperation vote! Wonder how long before she uses the race card and says that white people don’t like her?
(NY Daily News) — Oprah Winfrey may be feeling the pressure over her fledgling network’s sputtering ratings.
A tweet from the talk show host’s Twitter account asked followers, “Every 1 who can please turn to OWN especially if u have a Nielsen box,” in what seems to be a plea to boost ratings numbers.
Winfrey publically apologized for the tweet, which was subsequently deleted — after being informed that the move may have violated Nielsen policy prohibiting networks from influencing ratings.
“I removed the tweet at the request of Nielsen,” Winfrey said in a statement Monday. “ I intended no harm and apologize for the reference.”
A Nielsen representative told The New York Times that an asterisk will be attached to OWN’s ratings
around the time the offending tweet was sent to account for possible bias.
At the time of the tweet, an episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” the Oprah Winfrey Network’s signature show, was airing that featured the TV mogul visiting Hassidic Jewish families in Brooklyn.
She was almost immediately hit with a backlash: Several followers accused her of “being desperate.”
“The word ‘please’ is used as courtesy not a beg … ‘desperate’ not ever a part of my vocab … ,” Winfrey responded, according to EW.com
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And now this in closing: Why did the Japanese Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Okay, first they did not wear helmets, no pilots did back in WWII. Instead, like all pilots of all nations, they word leather caps. This was a hold over from the open cockpit days and was worn to protect the head from the wind and the cold. And also, so the pilot was in radio contact with his base or wing leader.
So there, kamikaze pilots can rest easy now.
Coming Soon, Mandate to Buy a Chevy Volt
President Obama spent more than $85 billion bailing out General Motors and Chrysler three years ago. Now he claims credit for saving the industry, noting GM’s recent return to the top sales spot among automakers worldwide, Ford’s record profits (albeit achieved without federal funds), and the recent revival of Chrysler, (though Italy’s Fiat owns it). Regardless whether you supported or opposed the government bailouts, the reality is the Big Three’s assembly lines are humming again. Too bad Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is preparing yet another killer hike in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, only this time instead of merely inflicting massive costs on the industry and consumers, the coming regulation could very well demolish the Big Three for good.
Here’s why: The CAFE rule is the fleet-wide average fuel economy rating manufacturers are required by Washington to achieve. The new rule — issued in response to a 2010 Obama directive, not to specific legislation passed by Congress — would require automakers to achieve a 40.9 mpg CAFE average by 2021 and 54.5 mpg by 2025. In case you’re wondering whatever happened to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it has been supplanted in the CAFE process by the EPA. The proposed regulation was designed, according to the EPA, “to preserve consumer choice — that is, the proposed standards should not affect consumers’ opportunity to purchase the size of vehicle with the performance, utility and safety features that meets their needs.” But the reality is that consumer choice will be the first victim.
Getting from the current 35 mpg CAFE standard to 54.5 can be achieved by such expedients as making air conditioning systems work more efficiently. We have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to anybody who thinks that’s even remotely realistic. There is one primary method of increasing fuel economy — weight reduction. That in turn means automakers will have to use much more exotic materials, including especially the petroleum-processing byproduct known as “plastic.” But using more plastic will make it much more difficult to satisfy current federal safety standards. The bottom-line will be much more expensive vehicles and dramatically fewer kinds of vehicles.
Finish reading HERE.
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Barack Obama: the Second Lady of the United States Very disturbing pictures at this site!
Just before Christmas, American workers got a rare gift from Washington politicians – the current payroll tax cut would be extended for two more months.
At the time, both President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner lauded the move to avoid a tax increase for millions of working Americans.
But there’s something the politicians weren’t bragging about – the fact that they’re paying for the two-month tax cut with what has turned into a brand new fee on home buyers.
The new fee is a minimum of one-tenth of 1 percent on Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed loans, and is likely to go much higher.
It will be imposed for the next 10 years on most mortgages and refinancings and it lasts for the life of the loan.
For every $200,000, it amounts to an extra $15 dollars a month.
It’s bad news for Patty Anderson, who’s buying a home in Virginia.
Anderson will save a couple hundred dollars from having her payroll tax cut extended but her mortgage broker told her the new fee would cost her almost $9,500.
“I was absolutely startled that it would add up to that much,” she said.
The $35.7 billion collected in fees won’t go into the Social Security fund to replace the lost payroll tax. It goes to the general treasury where Congress can spend it however they please.
Bill Burnett, Anderson’s broker and president of the Virginia Association of Mortgage Brokers, said you won’t see Congress’ new charge in the paperwork, but it’s there.
“It’s actually built into this [interest] rate. You would never see the fee as a cost to you,” he said.
Burnett said the fee will affect a “very large number” of homeowners.
“Your pocketbook is being raided in order to pay for a tax policy issue decided at the last minute by probably people who didn’t understand fully what they were legislating on.”
CBS News went to Capitol Hill ask what Congress was thinking when they passed the mortgage fee hike. Boehner pointed the finger at the Senate.
“As you’re well aware, this bill came over from the Senate. I don’t know how they justified it. We would rather have offset that two-month extension with reductions in spending,” he said.
But the Senate blamed the House. And Democrats and Republicans blamed each other.
One congressman, Florida Republican Allen West, said he tried to blow the whistle on the whole thing before Christmas.
Read it all HERE.
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(NewsOK) — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained that the number of people dropping out of the work force, which artificially depresses the unemployment rate, can be regarded as an “economic positive.”
“A lot of that is due to younger people getting more of an education, which is an economic positive,” Carney said. He had been asked what would happen when people “inevitably” raise the unemployment rating with their return to the work force.
He also noted that “an aging population” going into retirement has contributed to the number of people dropping out of the work force.
Carney suggested that the focus on the number of people dropping out of the work force is politically motivated.
(does this guy have a freaking brain? or is he highly paid to spout what obama says to spout off?)
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“Our Founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes.”
(see how this guy works? he is doing all he can to destroy our constitution and our country)
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JERUSALEM — The rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have agreed that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will head a joint government that will prepare for new elections, ending a prolonged stalemate over how to mend their bitter split.
The deal announced Monday removed a major stumbling block to implementing a reconciliation accord signed last year. The deal was reached during talks between Abbas and Khaled Meshal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, brokered in Doha, Qatar by Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
In a statement, both sides said Abbas would lead an interim government “of independent technocrats … whose task will be to facilitate presidential and parliamentary elections and begin the reconstruction of Gaza.”
Fatah and Hamas had been deadlocked for months over who would be prime minister for the interim government. Hamas rejected Salam Fayyad, the Western-backed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, on the grounds that he had led a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank.
Having Abbas at the helm of the joint government, holding the title of prime minister as well as president, means the Palestinians stand a good chance of preserving the Western financial aid and other support that the Fatah-governed Palestinian Authority currently receives.
(wait, hamas is a designated terror group. they can not get money from us. but i doubt that this will stop obama and the other islamics in his regime. now our tax dollars will again go to terrorists!)
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Obama campaign releases new Web ad trumpeting “jobs growth”
Niall Ferguson Deconstructs Arguments Made For Not Attacking Iran
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