May 16, 2015

Basketball MVP Stephen Curry Sinks 60-Foot Shot At The Buzzer

Unreal.

Stephen Curry is magic, and especially so in the playoffs.

With the basket more than a half-court away, the Golden State star launched a missile from 62-feet down court as the third-quarter buzzer sounded on Friday night in Memphis.

It went in, dropping jaws and putting the Warriors on their way to the Western Conference finals after their Game 6 win over the Grizzlies.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/15/stephen-curry-shot-buzzer_n_7295934.html

May 16, 2015

Wasserman Schultz to Jeb: 'I Had Cancer. There's No App For That'

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) took aim at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) for linking apps on the Apple Watch to why Obamacare should be repealed.

While bashing Obamacare on Thursday, Bush predicted that in a few years the Apple Watch would offer apps that "allow me to manage my healthcare in ways that five years ago were not even possible."

Bush added that "it will be able to guide our healthcare decisions in a way that make us health and ultimately, we have to get to a health system, away from a disease system."

On Friday, Wasserman Schultz shot back at Bush's comments.
Follow

D Wasserman SchultzVerified account
?@DWStweets
.@jebbush I had cancer. Thee's no app for that.

To be clear, Bush did not say that Apple Watches should replace Obamacare. But as Sarah Kliff notes, Bush's comments are peculiar for how he described how the watch will help people stay healthy. Bush said there would be an app that monitors people's blood sugar closely.



http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wasserman-schultz-jeb-bush-obamacare

May 15, 2015

Bill Nye: GMOs are a great benefit

Bill Nye the Science Guy has always been a virulent defender of science, taking pseudo-science supporters to task on issues including climate change, evolution and vaccinations. However, he maintained that genetically-modified organisms posed a serious risk to the Earth’s ecosystem, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. However, in March, after a visit to Monsanto, Nye changed his mind about the controversial practice.

Last week, in an interview with HuffPost Live, Nye explained the rationale behind his new support for GMOs.

“GMOs are not inherently bad. My concern was always, you don’t want these… unintended consequences, where you’ve done something, created a species that does something to the ecosystem, doing something that you didn’t anticipate it doing,” Nye said.

“We are able to feed 7.2 billion people, which a century and a half ago you could barely feed one and a half billion people, and it’s largely because of the success of modern farming. And genetically modified foods where you put the herbicide and the pesticide in the plant rather than spraying it on them and having it run down into the stream– but you do not want unintended consequences.”


http://www.salon.com/2015/05/11/bill_nye_explains_why_he_changed_tune_on_gmos_theyre_actually_a_great_benefit/

May 15, 2015

Jeb is toast.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on Thursday offered yet another answer on the Iraq war saying that, given what he knows now, he would not have authorized an invasion of Iraq.

Those comments strongly contrast ones he made on Monday to Fox's Megyn Kelly when he said he would have authorized an invasion. A day later, he backtracked, saying he misheard the question and did not know what he would have done. On Wednesday, Bush said he refused to answer as it would be a disservice to American troops.

But at an event in Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday, Bush gave yet another answer.

"I would have not engaged. I would not have gone into Iraq," Bush said.

Bush's initial comments sparked criticism from likely and declared 2016 candidates. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who's strongly hinted at a White House bid, said he would not have gone into Iraq given what we know today. Declared candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said "of course not" when asked the question.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jeb-bush-iraq-not-gone-in

May 14, 2015

When do we stop excusing Alan Grayson's behavior?

Grayson Fund Ltd. and Grayson Master Fund were incorporated in 2011 in the Cayman Islands, a well known tax Haven that Romney used as well, records show.. That was the same year he wrote in the Huffington Post that the IRS should audit every Fortune 500 company because so many appear to be "evading taxes through transfer pricing and offshore tax havens."

In a phone interview Wednesday, Grayson said the funds were incorporated in Grand Cayman at the advice of an attorney he declined to name. It was a vehicle for foreign investors to invest in his funds while limiting their tax liabilities, he said, but no money had been invested in them yet.

"There are no investors in those funds or that fund as the case may be," said Grayson, who said he thought only one fund was incorporated in the Caymans.

"When I set up my investment funds I set it up like everyone else," Grayson said, complaining about the Tampa Bay Times looking for "some stupid, bull---- story. ... You want to write sh-- about it, and you can't because not a single dollar of taxes has been avoided," he snapped.

Grayson's financial disclosure statements indicate he has between $5-million and $25-million invested in the Grayson fund, and he lists no income from it.

Asked whether it was appropriate for a member of congress and potential U.S. Senator to set up an investment fund with an eye toward soliciting foreign investments in the future, Grayson scoffed.

"Are you f------- kidding? I set up a fund that might solicit foreign investors....I have no present intention of soliciting foreign investors," he said. "Your perception issue is bull----."

"This is even worse than Grayson's girlfriend might run for congress 18 months from now," referring to a recent Politico story attributed to no named sources. "This is a whole nother level of bull----....Are are you some kind of sh-----g robot? You go around sh----g on on people?"


http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/potty-mouthed-alan-grayson-and-his-offshore-investments/2229497

May 13, 2015

Loretta Sanchez Likely to Run for U.S. Senate in California

Update: Loretta Sanchez campaign changes course, says she hasn’t decided to run

Rep. Loretta Sanchez will announce her candidacy for the U.S. Senate at a gathering Thursday in Santa Ana.

The Santa Ana Democrat plans to hold a press conference at 11 a.m. at the Santa Ana Train Station, joined by her husband, family and friends.

“Together we will win,” Sanchez wrote in an email to supporters Tuesday obtained by The Sacramento Bee.

The announcement will come a day before California Democrats are scheduled to hold their annual convention in nearby Anaheim. So far, Attorney General Kamala Harris has been the only Democrat to enter the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.


http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article20778651.html#storylink=cpy

May 12, 2015

Christie racked up $82,594 food bill at sports stadium

Chris Christie racked up an $82,594 bill from the concessions operator at MetLife Stadium during the 2010 and 2011 football seasons, the New Jersey Watchdog reported on Monday as part of a broader look at how the New Jersey governor spent $360,000 of his state allowance over five years.

Christie spent $300,000 of that amount on food and alcohol, the report said, pointing to the stadium bill as the most notable spending spree.

The governor used a debit card on 58 occasions to pay Delaware North Sportservice, which handles concessions operations at MetLife Stadium during New York Giants and Jets games, according to the report.

It noted that according to the state budget, the governor receives $95,000 a year in expense advances, which is characterized as “an allowance of funds not otherwise appropriated and used for official receptions on behalf of the state, the operation of an official residence, for other expenses.”


http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/chris-christie-bill-sports-stadium-metlife-117808.html#ixzz3Zst6anBc

May 12, 2015

Naked Lawmaker Confronted Ex Before Shooting

Detroit — State Sen. Virgil Smith told police his ex-wife stormed into his house and assaulted his girlfriend before he did “the most stupid thing in his life” — opening fire at the ex-wife’s Mercedes Benz with a rifle — according to a police report obtained by The Detroit News.

He was naked when he met her at the front door, the senator’s ex-wife claims in a second police report, beat her with his fists, chased her outside and shot at her four or five times.

Police arrested Smith, D-Detroit, in connection with the shooting early Sunday morning outside his house in the 18000 block of Wexford on the city’s west side. Police Chief James Craig said police expect to seek charges of aggravated assault with a gun and malicious destruction of property. Craig said police are investigating the incident and will turn over their findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

The Prosecutor’s Office released a statement Monday saying prosecutors are “returning the matter back to the Detroit Police Department (for) further investigation.”


http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2015/05/11/state-sen-virgil-smith-arrest-shots-fired/27113485/

May 12, 2015

Texas Bill Would Identify Those With Obamacare Subsidies

House Bill 1514, which would add a special label to the health insurance cards of people receiving financial assistance under the Affordable Care Act, tentatively passed the Texas House on Friday afternoon.

After Democrats unsuccessfully sought to derail the bill — authored by J. D. Sheffield, R-Gatesville — the bill cleared the House with a 90-46 vote. It now heads to the Senate.

Roughly a million Texans with government-subsidized health coverage could see a new label on their health insurance cards, and critics say the designation is akin to a “scarlet letter.”

But instead of Hester Prynne’s infamous “A,” insurance cards for Texans with coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act would bear the letter “S,” for subsidy.



https://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/08/lawmakers-consider-health-plan-scarlet-letter-bill/

May 10, 2015

The Bush alliance with the Religious Reich is alive and well

Jeb Bush on Saturday made a major overture to evangelical voters, seeking to reassure a skeptical voting bloc that when it comes to core beliefs about religious freedom and Christianity’s role in the world, he’s with them.

The former Florida governor and likely presidential candidate made his pitch at a commencement address at Liberty University, a prominent symbol of evangelical Christianity in Lynchburg, Va., that has become a routine campaign stop for presidential hopefuls. Bush aimed to connect with evangelical voters — many of whom have been wary of his potential candidacy — by decrying progressives who, in his characterization, see no role for religion in public life.

“I am asked sometimes whether I would ever allow my decisions in government to be influenced by my Christian faith,” Bush said, building on a spirited defense of the First Amendment and the importance of free exercise of religion. “Whenever I hear this, I know what they want me to say. The simple and safe reply is, ‘No. Never. Of course not.’ If the game is political correctness, that’s the answer that moves you to the next round. The endpoint is a certain kind of politician we’ve all heard before – the guy whose moral convictions are so private, so deeply personal, that he even refuses to impose them on himself.”

Bush, a convert to Catholicism, is personally devout, and his record as Florida governor is regarded as a conservative one. But nationally, he hasn’t discussed religion as openly or as frequently as several other 2016 competitors, like Ted Cruz, for example, who launched his presidential campaign at Liberty. The former governor has been seeking to change that recently.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/jeb-bush-courts-evangelicals-at-liberty-university-117776.html#ixzz3ZlkM0Xsr