Hillary Clinton Hits The Public Speaking Circuit, Writes Memoir, Plans Presidential Run

Does the “Guinness Book of World Records” have a category for “shortest retirement EVER?” Less than a month after “retiring” as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state, word is out that Hillary Clinton’s hitting the paid speaking circuit this spring.

-snip-

Clinton also quipped that she plans on “catching up on about 20 years of sleep deprivation.” The memoir will focus on Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, during which she traveled to a record 112 countries and flew 956,733 air miles to implement U.S. foreign policy and heal wounds caused by George W. Bush’s administration. Clinton has also written two best-sellers, “It Takes a Village” (1996) and “Living History” (2003). Clinton’s new book and public speaking engagements will highlight her many accomplishments and keep her in the public eye, as she prepares for the presidential race in 2016. Although Clinton still won’t officially comment on that, one of her top donors confirmed last week that she plans to run.

Link: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/02/18/hillary-clinton-hits-public-speaking-circuit-writes-memoir/

Straight Rapper Pens Great Song About Hate & Homophobia

Powerful & meaningful words. Breaking down stereotypes.

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS - SAME LOVE feat. MARY LAMBERT

Australia's Minimum Wage is $15.96/hr - $606.40/wk - 5.3% unemployment

Higher minimum wage would not only stimulate the economy but also lower the rate of public assistance, which is basically subsidizing corporate profits.

http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/pages/default.aspx

Yep. We have a spending problem. We're not spending enough.

Janet Yellen Vice-Chair of the San Francisco Federal Reserve has a big new speech out about how slow this recovery has been, and why.

One of the culprits for the slower recovery?

Fiscal policy.

Specifically? Were not spending enough.

Government spending, which usually provides a boost to the economy in the quarters following the recession, has been a net drag this time because the government is spending less than it normally does.

As this chart shows, in the initial 4 quarters since the start of ths recovery, government spending provided its standard boost to GDP.

But in the 8 quarter and 12 quarter period after that, fiscal policy has been a drag, as spending growth has been a lot slower than in past recoveries.

So yes, spending is the problem. We just need to crank it up.




Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/janet-yellen-chart-shows-how-fiscal-policy-has-been-a-huge-drag-2013-2#ixzz2KcFxBquE

The Tea Party alternative to Facebook is attracting some real "intellectuals"

Young, Liberal and Open to Big Government

MISSOULA, Mont. — This funky college town, nestled along two rivers where five mountain ranges converge, has long been a liberal pocket, an isolated speck of blue in a deeply red state. Now Montana is electing more politicians who lean that way, thanks to a different-minded generation of young voters animated by the recession and social issues.

-snip-

It is no secret that young voters tilt left on social issues like immigration and gay rights. But these students, and dozens of other young people interviewed here last week, give voice to a trend that is surprising pollsters and jangling the nerves of Republicans. On a central philosophical question of the day — the size and scope of the federal government — a clear majority of young people embraces President Obama’s notion that it can be a constructive force, a point he intends to make in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

“Young people absolutely believe that there’s a role for government,” said Matt Singer, a founder of Forward Montana, a left-leaning though officially nonpartisan group that seeks to engage young people in politics. “At the same time, this is not a generation of socialists. They are highly entrepreneurial, and know that some of what it takes to create an environment where they can do their own exciting, creative things is having basic systems that work.”

Here in Montana, a state that backed John McCain in 2008 and Mr. Romney last year, voters under 30 have helped elect two Democratic senators and a new Democratic governor. Nationally, young voters have since 2004 been casting their ballots for Democrats by far wider margins than previous young generations — a shift that could reshape American politics for decades.

The rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/us/politics/in-montana-young-liberal-and-open-to-big-government.html?

Medieval Tea Party vs. Medieval Liberals

Funniest* Rightwing Headline of the Year (*delusional)

Want to Buy a Gun Without a Background Check? Armslist Can Help.

In 2007, US Air Force Academy graduate Jon Gibbon saw a television interview about Craigslist that got him thinking. The online classifieds site had decided to reject ads for firearms, and Gibbon thought he had spotted an opportunity. "When I heard them say that they decided to ban all gun-related ads because a few users cried out for it, it inspired me to create a place for law-abiding gun owners to buy and sell online without all of the hassles of auctions and shipping," he told Human Events in 2010.

So Gibbon hooked up with his academy buddy Brian Mancini, and two years later the pair launched a website they thought was destined to fill a natural void in the online marketplace: Armslist, a website devoted specifically to the private sales of guns and related gear. The site allows private sellers to offer guns for sale to other private purchasers. Buyers can contact sellers via phone or email to set up the sale, and avoid going through a federal background check or even leaving a paper trail. Such transactions are more anonymous than purchasing a weapon at a gun show, where people who can’t pass a background check can buy large quantities of guns.

Armslist quickly took off. By 2011, it was one of the largest online gun sites in the country, with more than 13,000 active listings for firearms. The site also had another, more dubious distinction: Weapons obtained through the site have been tied to the murders of four people and one suicide. An undercover New York City investigation (PDF) found that the site likely was a major conduit for illegal gun sales. Investigators discovered that 54 percent of the sellers they contacted through the site were openly willing to sell firearms to people who admitted they couldn't pass a background check (which is a felony, incidentally).

Armslist isn't the only online gun site in the country, but it's by far the biggest, especially after KSL.com, a news site owned by the Mormon church, stopped taking gun ads after the Newtown shooting. These sorts of online operations are a primary target of proposals from President Obama that would require background checks for every gun sale, even private ones. When New York City took a look at the online gun marketplace in 2011, it found more than 25,000 weapons for sale on just 10 websites, making the internet a significant component of gun industry. The report suggested that the internet sales were likely tied to a fair amount of crime.

The rest: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/want-buy-gun-without-background-check-armlist-can-help
--------------------------------------------

Shutting down the secondary markets would make a huge difference.

45 Totally Superficial Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Run For President In 2016.