Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party |
- Facebook and Google join the Tea Party
- Boehner calls GOP deficit plan a ‘fair offer’
- Senators introduce “STOCK Act” to stop “insider trading” in Congress
- CCTV taxi plan ‘a staggering invasion of privacy’
- Lab-Grown Meats Face Long Road to Supermarket
- Obama Nominee for Social Security Board Favors Rationing Health Care
- Illinois Waitress, Claims She Was Fired For Wearing Tea Party Bracelet
- New poll shows 4-way tie in Iowa as Ron Paul moves to top tier
| Facebook and Google join the Tea Party Posted: 16 Nov 2011 04:10 AM PST
Google, Facebook and other technology companies are aligning with the Tea Party to defeat copyright legislation championed by movie studios and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Tech companies are seen as the underdog in the lobbying battle over the Stop Online Piracy Act, which would allow the government or copyright holders to obtain court orders to force search engines and online advertising networks to cut ties with "rogue" websites using pirated material. The measure is sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and is backed not only by the entertainment industry but also powerful interests like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and organized labor. The bill also has significant support from members of both parties on Smith's panel and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed a companion bill earlier this year. On the other side stand Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, eBay and Google, which will testify Wednesday morning at a House Judiciary hearing on the measure. The tech companies argue the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding firms to new liabilities and requirements that they monitor websites. To read more, visit: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/193863-facebook-google-join-tea-party |
| Boehner calls GOP deficit plan a ‘fair offer’ Posted: 15 Nov 2011 04:05 PM PST From: USAToday.com WASHINGTON (AP) – The top Republican in the House says a recent proposal by GOP members of a special deficit committee is a “fair offer” despite criticism from conservatives who say it breaks the party’s pledge on taxes. “It’s important for us in my opinion to reform the tax code,” said Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, adding that a tax overhaul would “make America more competitive and produce economic growth.” And a top GOP member of the panel got some words of support from House Republicans Tuesday morning after briefing rank-and-file Republicans on last week’s GOP proposal, which called for a net tax revenue increase of almost $300 billion in exchange for significantly lowered tax rates. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, co-chairman of the deficit panel said the badly divided group is still working in hopes of reaching an agreement. “They haven’t thrown me out, so I guess I got a good reception,” Hensarling said of how House Republicans reacted to his status report on supercommittee talks. “I gave them an update, I told them we haven’t lost hope yet but … this week is crucial.” The panel faces an official target of next Wednesday to approve a plan, but sometime this week is a more realistic deadline, given the realities of drafting proposals into legal language and getting them “scored” by congressional analysts to measure their impact on the deficit. To read more, visit: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-11-15/supercommittee-deficit-boehner-reid/51217948/1 |
| Senators introduce “STOCK Act” to stop “insider trading” in Congress Posted: 15 Nov 2011 04:00 PM PST By Stephanie Condon, CBSNews.com A bill to stop “insider trading” in Congress is gaining momentum with two new Senate supporters. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., today introduced the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2011, which would prohibit members or employees of Congress, as well as executive branch employees, from using nonpublic information obtained through their public service for investing or any attempt at personal financial gain. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is introducing a slightly different version of the legislation on Wednesday. Like everyone else, members of Congress are subject to current insider trading laws. However, current insider trading laws do not apply to nonpublic information about current or upcoming congressional activity — that’s because members of Congress aren’t technically obligated to keep that information confidential. So, for instance, if a lawmaker learns an upcoming bill will grant a company a large government contract, which could boost that company’s stock, he or she is free to buy that stock ahead of the bill’s public introduction. This form of “insider trading” is one of the reasons why there are so many wealthy members of Congress, CBSNews.com reported earlier this year. Democratic Reps. Louise Slaughter of New York and Tim Walz of Minnesota introduced legislation in the House to stop this practice — but the bill, which has been introduced before, has never had more than 14 congressional sponsors. Now, however, there is more interest in the bill after a “60 Minutes” report shedding new light on congressional “insider trading.” CBSNews.com Series: United States of Influence “Members of Congress should live under the same laws as everyone else,” Brown said in a statement today. “If they trade on inside knowledge to line their own pockets, they should be punished. Serving the public is a privilege and honor, not an opportunity for personal gain.” To read more, visit: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57325280-503544/senators-introduce-stock-act-to-stop-insider-trading-in-congress/ |
| CCTV taxi plan ‘a staggering invasion of privacy’ Posted: 15 Nov 2011 03:55 PM PST By: JEROME TAYLOR, The Independent Plans to fit all taxis operating in the city of Oxford with audio recording devices have been branded a "staggering invasion of privacy" prompting calls for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to investigate how widespread the use of microphones on public transport has become. Taxi drivers in the university town have been told that they need to install the £460 devices by 2015 or face having their licenses revoked. The microphones, accompanied by CCTV cameras, will activate once the ignition in the car is turned on and will remain recording for 30 minutes after the engine is turned off. The council says the recording equipment is necessary to protect drivers and passengers as well as deal with any disputes over fares. Recorded information would only be accessible to the police or council officials. But privacy campaigners say the plans represent a significant "ramping up" of surveillance culture in Britain and may well be in breach of Government guidelines. "This is a staggering invasion of privacy being done with no evidence, no consultation and a total disregard for civil liberties," said Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch. "To my knowledge this is the first time a council has brought in audio recording equipment like this in taxis." James Welch, legal director for Liberty added: “Local Authorities have fallen foul of public anger and the law in relation to CCTV before – we urge anybody concerned about the legal position to get in touch with Liberty” Big Brother Watch has since complained to the ICO which confirmed last night that it was investigating the proposals. To read more, visit: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cctv-taxi-plan-a-staggering-invasion-of-privacy-6262221.html |
| Lab-Grown Meats Face Long Road to Supermarket Posted: 15 Nov 2011 03:51 PM PST By Ars Technica, Wired.com On Friday, Reuters ran a story about a Dutch scientist who is attempting to make the first synthetic animal meat, starting with nothing more than stem cells. In it, the reporter focused on some of the grim numbers that make our current trajectory of livestock-based agriculture unsustainable, and suggested that the economics of meat from a tissue culture dish would eventually cause it to win out. But that eventually might be a long way away, as the first burger-sized samples of artificial meat are estimated to cost about a quarter of a million euros. Can artificial meat's price eventually come down? Absolutely. But there are a lot of technical hurdles that will need to be cleared out of the way first, and some of them might not be all that easy to clear. It might be possible to overcome these hurdles. Stem cells for blood and fat have been identified, and culturing them and getting them to differentiate into mature tissues is probably not much more complex than getting muscle fibers to grow in a dish. But this comes back to cost: getting any cells to grow into mature tissues is ferociously expensive, and adding additional cell types will increase the complexity and cost. Show me the money Our bodies expend lots of energy creating an environment in which a variety of cell types can flourish. Tissues are bathed in appropriate combinations of fuel, salts, minerals, hormones, and signaling molecules. They're in contact with neighbors and various beds of proteins that the neighboring cells create. Without all of this extensive support, most cells get very sick very quickly. Recreating this sort of environment is really difficult. Some things, like reasonable concentrations of salts, are easy. Others, like the right mix of growth factors, is phenomenally challenging — so challenging, in fact, that the first work with stem cells didn't even bother. The first stem cells were cultivated on a layer of feeder cells that provided them the right kind of surface to grow on. Instead of trying to get the right mixture of proteins in the growth medium, researchers turned to a natural source: the serum of blood obtained during the slaughter of livestock. To read more, visit: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/11/artificial-meat-economics/ |
| Obama Nominee for Social Security Board Favors Rationing Health Care Posted: 15 Nov 2011 03:45 PM PST BY JEFFREY H. ANDERSON, The Weekly Standard Is it just a coincidence that the people that President Obama nominates to fill high-level governmental posts tend to favor government-directed health care rationing? Last year, Obama nominated Donald Berwick to head Medicare and Medicaid. Now he's nominated Henry J. Aaron to head the Social Security Advisory Board. Berwick, to whom Obama issued a dubious recess appointment to circumvent the usual Senate confirmation, has become notorious for statements like, "The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open" — and, in progressive-speak, "The social budget is limited." Aaron, a recent Obama nominee, has expressed similar views. He wrote a piece earlier this year called, "The Independent Payment Advisory Board — Congress’s 'Good Deed.'" The grisly IPAB, one of the most underreported of Obamacare's myriad of liberty-sapping features, would have the power to cut Medicare spending each year — if Obamacare isn't repealed first. The dictates of its 15 unelected members would effectively become law. In fact, Congress couldn't even overturn the IPAB's decrees with a majority vote in each house and the President's signature. To read more, visit: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-nominee-social-security-board-favors-rationing-health-care_609011.html |
| Illinois Waitress, Claims She Was Fired For Wearing Tea Party Bracelet Posted: 15 Nov 2011 01:26 PM PST
Tea Party members gathered outside a suburban Chicago Outback Steakhouse over the weekend after a waitress at the restaurant claimed she was fired for wearing a Tea Party bracelet to work. Megan Geller, 23, claims a couple dining at the Crystal Lake, Ill. steakhouse was offended by her “Don't Tread On Me” bracelet in early October. They allegedly complained to management, and she was fired shortly after, Geller’s mother told the Northwest Herald. Tonya Franklin, Geller’s mother, told the Herald that she gave her daughter the yellow bracelet after receiving it at a Tea Party event. Franklin joined protesters in calling the firing a violation of Geller’s free speech. "They stirred up the wrong hornet's nest and messed with the wrong mama," Franklin told the Herald. "When mamas get mad, mamas get to work." To read more, visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/15/megan-geller-fired-for-te_n_1094690.html |
| New poll shows 4-way tie in Iowa as Ron Paul moves to top tier Posted: 15 Nov 2011 01:21 PM PST
The Iowa caucuses are just seven weeks away, but Republican voters in the nation’s first presidential nominating state seem as torn as ever over the GOP field. A new Bloomberg poll of likely caucus participants shows a four-way tie in Iowa, with Rep. Ron Paul joining Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain in the top tier of candidates. Underscoring the uncertainty in the race, 60 percent of respondents said they could be persuaded to back someone other than their first choice for the nomination. The poll, conducted November 10 – 12 by the West Des Moines-based firm Selzer & Co, shows Cain in the lead with 20 percent, while Paul comes in at 19 percent. Romney wins 18 percent support, and Gingrich earns 17 percent. The margin of error is 4.4 percent. While Christian conservatives have more influence in Iowa than they do in the rest of the nation, only a quarter of likely caucus-goers say social issues are more important this year than economic issues. As many as 71 percent say they’re voting on issues like jobs and taxes. The focus on economic issues has likely advantaged Paul, who is known for his strong libertarian views. The Texas congressman wins the most support, 32 percent, from likely caucus-goers who say they’ve made up their minds. Romney wins 25 percent of those who are decided, followed by Gingrich at 17 percent. On top of that, 69 percent of Iowa voters who supported Paul in 2008 are once again supporting him. To read more, visit: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57324938-503544/new-poll-shows-4-way-tie-in-iowa-as-ron-paul-moves-to-top-tier/ |
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