April 29, 2015

Candidate Profile: Hillary Clinton

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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to officially announce her candidacy for the 2016 presidential election on Sunday, putting an end to months of speculation about her plans. Here are some key things to know about the first Democrat to declare her candidacy:

Campaign Slogan: “I deserve this”

Campaign Strategy: Overwhelming tide of inevitability

Spouse: Former Arkansas attorney general William Jefferson Clinton

Wingspan: 7 feet, 6 inches

Ideal Running Mate: Primary opponent who knows how to gracefully step aside when the time comes

Biggest Scandals: Deaths of four Americans at Benghazi, use of private email account for government emails, choice of Nina McLemore dress at a 1998 presidential function

Grandchildren: One, but pushing Chelsea for one more before Iowa caucus

Stance On Abortion: Supports a woman’s right to choose for her husband’s mistress

Birthplace: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming

Number Of Times Teeth Gritted To Date: 489,346

Things She Personally Understands As A Grandmother: Hope, faith, future, education, children, all that crap

Greatest Fear: Charismatic young senators from the Midwest

Number Of Big Macs That Fit In Mouth At One Time: 2

Biggest Challenge: Not completely blowing it

http://www.theonion.com/articles/candidate-profile-hillary-clinton,38414/

April 28, 2015

After decades, NFL decides to give up tax-exempt status

WASHINGTON — Every so often, in a bid to sound threatening, a member of Congress has vowed to revoke the NFL's tax-exempt status. Now Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league will give it up voluntarily to "eliminate this distraction."

One result is that Goodell's compensation — about $35 million 2013, and approximately $44 million in 2012 — will no longer need to be made public.

In a memo to all 32 teams Tuesday, he wrote that "a change in the tax status will not alter the function or operation of the league office or Management Council in any way."

NFL relinquishing tax-exempt status photo
FILE - In this March 25, 2015, file photo, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the media at a news conference at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix. The National Football League is giving up its tax-exempt status. In a letter to team owners, Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league office and its management council will file tax returns as taxable entities for the 2015 fiscal year. Goodell says the NFL has been tax-exempt since 1942, though all 32 teams pay taxes on their income. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
A business of about $10 billion in annual revenues, the NFL has held tax-exempt status since the 1940s, and so was required to file a publicly available IRS form listing compensation for the highest-paid employees. Individual NFL teams do not have tax-exempt status.

http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/top-news/nfl-relinquishing-tax-exempt-status/nk46c/

April 28, 2015

Official: Massive East Baltimore building fire

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April 27, 2015

Decline in science spending threatens US economy and security: MIT

Warning of an “innovation deficit,” scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say declining government spending on basic research is holding back potentially life-saving advances in 15 fields, from robotics and fusion energy to Alzheimer’s disease and agriculture.

Science funding is “the lowest it has been since the Second World War as a fraction of the federal budget,” said MIT physicist Marc Kastner, who led the committee that wrote “The Future Postponed” report, issued on Monday. “This really threatens America’s future.”


The report lands at a time when federal spending on research has become unusually politicized.

Cuts mandated by the White House’s and Congress’s failure to reach agreement on reducing the federal deficit have chipped away at the budgets of the National Institutes of Health and other science agencies; legislation on research spending is tied up in debates over, among other things, climate change.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/decline-in-science-spending-threatens-us-economy-and-security-mit/

April 27, 2015

Rival Bloods and Crips gangs teaming up to ‘take out’ Baltimore cops: authorities

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Police say they have received a "credible threat" that rival gangs have teamed up to "take out" law enforcement officers.

Police said in a statement that they have received information that members of "various gangs" — including the Black Guerrilla Family, the Bloods and the Crips — have "entered into a partnership" to harm police.

"Law enforcement agencies should take appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of their officers," police said.

Capt. Eric Kowalczyk, the agency's chief spokesman, said he could not immediately elaborate on how the information was received or why police found it credible. He would not say whether it was believed connected to the ongoing demonstrations regarding the death of Freddie Gray, who suffered a severed spine while in police custody and died.

In December, the Baltimore FBI office issued a memo that the Black Guerrilla Family gang was targeting "white cops" in Maryland, an agency spokeswoman confirmed.


http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/rival-bloods-and-crips-gangs-teaming-up-to-take-out-baltimore-cops-authorities/

April 27, 2015

Oklahoma lawmaker threatens to set himself on fire over abortion issue

Last week, Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Oklahoma City, got animated during debate on Senate Bill 548, which would provide 6 percent raises, paid from court fees, for Supreme Court justices and other appellate court judges and employees.

Photo - Oklahoma State Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Oklahoma City, the bill's author.
Oklahoma State Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Oklahoma City, the bill's author.
The bill ended up passing and returns to the Senate for final consideration.

Calvey is upset with court rulings that have gone against efforts to restrict abortions and said that withholding the pay increase would be effective in punishing the justices.

He loudly said that if he were not a Christian, he would go across the street to the state Supreme Court building, douse himself in gasoline and set himself on fire to “protest the evil in that building.”


http://newsok.com/oklahoma-lawmaker-threatens-to-set-himself-on-fire-over-abortion-issue/article/5414125?utm_source=NewsOK.com&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=NIC-Facebook
His Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevin-Calvey-For-Congress/108156455907112?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

(My question is, will it be on Pay-per-view?)

April 26, 2015

A Friend Heeds Help Desperately

(I've contributed and hoping others can help too)

I've been officially severed from employment with my employer due to a work related injury that has left me with a permanent partial disability in my right arm. Since I could no longer perform some of the essential functions required of my position, my company 'severed' me, aka terminated, my employment.

I have yet to finalize a settlement with the overseeing insurance company. I am receiving disability payments that equal about half of my previous salary.

On top of all this, I haven't been able to find a new job.

Right now I'm just trying to raise enough money to get through April 1st which should give me enough time to finalize a settlement with the insurance company.

I'm just an ordinary person that has hit a real hard time right now.

http://www.gofundme.com/myqu8o

April 26, 2015

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence hires Koch Industries spokesperson as his approval ratings collapse

Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who has seen his approval rating in his state go into a death spiral following the signing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), has hired the communications director from Koch Industries to help him stop the bleeding as he gears up for re-election next year.

The IndyStar is reporting that Pence is bringing back former spokesperson Matt Lloyd to replace his current communications director Christy Denault who announced she is stepping down to spend more time with her family.

According to Pence chief of staff Jim Atterholt, Denault’s departure “has nothing to do with the RFRA issue. It was her decision to leave, made before RFRA, in order to attend to the needs of her young family, including a set of triplets.”

Lloyd served as Pence’s spokesperson when he launched his first gubernatorial bid four years ago and, with his re-election prospects next year looking grim, Lloyd is expected to bring his Koch connections along to help the embattled governor.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/indiana-gov-mike-pence-hires-koch-industries-spokesperson-as-his-approval-ratings-collapse/

April 26, 2015

Christian bakers blame Satan when crowdfunding to pay for discrimination fine gets spiked

GoFundMe shut down a fundraiser created by anti-gay Christian bakers in Oregon after they raised approximately $110,000 to pay for a court ordered fine, the Gaily Grind reports.

Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, were fined $135,000 on Friday by an Oregon court because they refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple who planned on tying the knot.


Following the verdict, the bakers set up a GoFundMe page and shared the link with their Facebook friends and followers. In just four hours, the campaign raised approximately $20,000. Within a day — as the total climbed to nearly $110,000 — GoFundMe canceled it, saying that the fundraiser violated Oregon law and was therefore in violation of the website’s Terms and Conditions.

“The money raised thus far will still be made available for withdrawal,” said GoFundMe in a statement.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/christian-bakers-blame-satan-when-crowdfunding-to-pay-for-discrimination-fine-gets-spiked/

April 26, 2015

How To Channel Your Road Rage Into Cold, Calculating Road Revenge