Jury slams outta-control Skip Intro!!!

Capt. Mark Kelly Breaks News of Pheonix Shooting During Gun Violence Hearing (Video at link)

Captain Mark Kelly, husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, took a moment during a long and contentious gun violence hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee to break news of yet another shooting in his home state of Arizona.

According to the latest reports, three victims are in critical condition and another three have minor injuries after a workplace shooting. Phoenix Police Sargent Tommy Thompson said that the shooting does not appear to be random.

Kelly, whose wife was critically injured in the Tucson shooting that took six lives two years ago this month, advocated for stronger background checks in his testimony. NRA chief Wayne LaPierre continued to argue against that or any other gun regulation.

Giffords herself gave brief testimony this morning in which she argued that “too many children” have died and that it’s time for Congress to “Be bold. Be courageous.”

More: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/30/watch-capt-mark-kelly-breaks-news-of-phoenix-shooting-during-gun-violence-hearing/

Why are mayoral elections held in off years?

Jerramiah Healy, the mayor of Jersey City, is a corrupt machine politician that many people who follow Jersey City politics would like to see voted out of office. Pay to play, double dipping, pandering to developers, you name it. He does it all.

The problem is that the election for mayor of Jersey City is held the year after the presidential election, when most people are electioned-out and not paying attention. The Democratic primary election is even worse. Worse than that is that we have no local TV stations and only a small paper that no one subscribes to. So most in Jersey City know little about our mayor and even less about his opponents.

Steven Fulop is a local politician who has fought against pay to play. He's running for mayor this year. The problem is that Healy's machine is good at getting people who benefit from his machine to the polls. Not easy pushing him out of office.

I can't believe I made 10,000 snarky posts

Oh well...

How racist is the Republican base?

This vile, despicable thread spells it out quite clearly:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2976911/posts

Rupert Murdoch apologises for 'grotesque' Middle East cartoon

Source: The Telegraph

Rupert Murdoch has offered a “major apology” for a “grotesque” cartoon in The Sunday Times, after the newspaper was accused of anti-Semitism.

The media chief took to Twitter to distance himself from the picture by Gerald Scarfe, even after the newspaper had issue a defence of the work.

“Gerald Scarfe has never reflected the opinions of The Sunday Times. Nevertheless, we owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon,” Mr Murdoch said.

The Sunday Times was criticised by a Jewish lobby group after it printed the cartoon, which showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall using what appeared to be the blood of Palestinians as cement. The picture carried the strapline: “Will cementing peace continue?”.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/9832768/Rupert-Murdoch-apologises-for-grotesque-Middle-East-cartoon.html

Daimler, Ford, Nissan Agree To Share Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Costs For 2017 Or Later

By Antony Ingram
The Washington Post
January 28, 2013

The speculation is over, as Daimler has signed a three-way agreement with Ford and the Renault-Nissan Alliance to jointly develop future hydrogen fuel-cell technology.

The technology, expensive to develop and not without its drawbacks, has been explored by each company in the past, and the agreement brings together 60 combined years and millions of miles of fuel-cell experience.

As recetly as last week, Daimler was said to be in talks with Ford, and the Franco-Japanese duo of Renault and Nissan, over the development of fuel-cell vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz had put development of the B-Class F-Cell, its own fuel-cell vehicle, on hold pending the agreement--reasoning that it couldn't be sold at a competitive price.

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/cars/daimler-ford-nissan-agree-to-share-hydrogen-fuel-cell-costs-for-2017-or-later/2013/01/28/ad9c03be-6983-11e2-9a0b-db931670f35d_story.html

Revolt of Egypt’s Canal Cities: An Ill Omen for Morsi

By Ashraf Khalil
Time
Jan. 29, 2013

Memory is implacable in Egypt’s three major cities on the Suez Canal: Port Said in the north, Ismailia in the middle and Suez in the south. There is still vestigial rancor from British colonial days; and there is a hardened sense of honor and neglect from being at the front lines of the wars with Israel in the 1960s and ’70s. Those emotions have often turned inward, against Egypt itself and whoever rules from Cairo. The first martyrs in the January 2011 revolt against Hosni Mubarak were from the canal cities, and their blood fed a nationwide cry for vengeance. Now President Mohamed Morsi finds his greatest popular challenge not in the huge urban centers of Cairo or Alexandria but in the three troublesome cities.

It was no surprise that Egyptian police lost control of Port Said almost immediately after a Cairo court handed down death sentences on Jan. 26 to 21 residents from the canal city for their alleged role in a February 2012 soccer riot that killed 72 people. In the aftermath of the verdict, relatives of the condemned laid siege to the local prison and would have breached it if Morsi hadn’t called in the army. At least 30 people were killed in the mayhem — a toll that easily eclipsed the police action visited upon the more cogently political protests in Tahrir Square in Cairo. The bloodshed simply contributed to the local sense of outrage and marginalization. As one Port Said resident screamed to the cameras of al-Jazeera: “We bled for this country! We died for Egypt’s freedom! Why is our blood so cheap now?”

The President imposed a 30-day state of emergency and nightly curfews in Port Said, Suez and Ismailia. The residents were unfazed; indeed they took to Morsi’s declaration of a 9 p.m. curfew with a rebellious gusto, making a point of scheduling their protest marches to start at 8:45 p.m.

For decades, the cities have been a tribe apart within of Egypt. The last British battalion left Egypt in 1956 but, way into the 1990s, citizens of Ismailia would mark an annual spring holiday by burning effigies — the older residents would sort of recall that burning man was supposed to be Lord Edmund Allenby, who led British forces in the Sinai in 1917 and 1918. The tradition persisted for so long that younger residents had no idea who “Limby” was and took to burning effigies of more modern enemies of Egypt, like Ariel Sharon.

More: http://world.time.com/2013/01/29/revolt-of-the-egypts-canal-cities-an-ill-omen-for-morsi/

International Donors Pledge Aid for Mali Force

Source: VOA News

Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore says the international response to the crisis in his country shows the only way to resolve the situation is through unity and using all available resources.

He spoke Tuesday in Addis Ababa, where representatives of the African Union, United Nations and European Union gathered for a conference aimed at raising $500 million to support an African-led intervention force.

The call for aid comes as French and Malian troops continue their drive to recapture the north from Islamist rebels.

The African Union said it would give $50 million for the African-led International Mission to Mali (AFISMA). The West African bloc ECOWAS and South Africa each pledged $10 million, while others, including Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia, promised aid.

Read more: http://www.voanews.com/content/international-donor-pledge-aid-for-mali-force/1592760.html

France fears Islamist rise in Syria unless opposition helped

Source: Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - France's foreign minister said on Monday Syria risks falling into the hands of Islamist militant groups if supporters of the Syrian opposition do not do more to help it in a 22-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

Addressing the opening of a conference in Paris with senior members of the Syrian National Coalition, Laurent Fabius said the meeting must focus on making the opposition politically and militarily cohesive to encourage international assistance.

"Facing the collapse of a state and society, it is Islamist groups that risk gaining ground if we do not act as we should," he said. "We cannot let a revolution that started as a peaceful and democratic protest degenerate into a conflict of militias."

Western concern over the growing strength of jihadist militants fighting autonomously in the disorganized ranks of anti-Assad rebel forces is rising. This has hindered international aid to the moderate Syrian National Coalition opposition and may push it more into the arms of conservative Muslim backers, diplomatic sources say.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/us-syria-crisis-talks-idUSBRE90R0D720130128