Superwoman - Stevie Wonder">
"More Than a Game" Soundtrack
15 years ago
"Let me get straight to it... Common has a new album titled "Universal Mind Control" that's in stores now! If you haven't picked it up yet, make sure you go do that! In celebration of his album, my guy Just-N-Credible and I put together a mixtape along with Common titled "Elec-sick Circus". So if you're a fan of good music, you have no choice but to download this. I promise you its worth the 10 minutes it will take to download it... Let us know what you think!"
1:25 PM Eastern Time, today, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. During the warm-up act by a Red Meat Congressional Candidate aptly named Chris Hackett, Hackett mentions Obama and a Palin audience member shouts "Kill Him."
And Gov. Palin, as usual, does nothing about it says nothing to these thugs and psychos. She may not have heard this one. It is impossible to believe that by now she has not heard about the other ones. Her silence is deafening. Just as, Sen. McCain, you have done nothing when violence has been asserted. Correction. You have done one thing.
Asked why in real time you do not repudiate this hatefulness you act as if you are the victim. Speaking today to our NBC Station in Washington.
McCain: "Sure and I repudiated it as I have on several occasions. Unfortunately, Congressman John Lewis is an American hero who I admire who made the worst, most unacceptable statement a couple days ago that I have ever heard. He accused me and Sarah Palin of being involved in segregation, George Wallace and even made reference to a church bombing where children were killed. Senator Obama has not repudiated that statement. Senator Obama should do so immediately. Its the most outrageous thing that I have heard since in politics...it is disgraceful."
Disgraceful?
Obviously, Senator, you haven't heard your own speeches, and Gov. Palin's, and what people shout during them. And you haven't heard your state GOP Chair in Virginia, Jeffrey Frederick, giving talking points to 30 of your field-operatives heading out to canvass voters in Gainesville, Virginia. With a reporter present, telling them to try to forge a connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden to emphasize bombings and terrorism. And you haven't heard those volunteers, your volunteers Sen. McCain, shout back "and he won't salute the flag" and "we don't even know where Sen. Obama was really born."
Sen. McCain, these people are speaking for you! And how dare you try to claim Congressman Lewis was linking you to Gov. George Wallace's segregation. He was linking you, aptly, to Gov. George Wallace's lynch-mob mentality.
"As public figures with the power to influence and persuade," said Congressman Lewis, "Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all."
Sen. McCain, your supporters, at your events, are calling Obama a terrorist and traitor and are calling for him to be killed. And yet you keep bringing back these same rabid Right Wing nuts to deliberately stir these crowds into frenzies. And then you take offense when somebody who remembers the violence in our political past, calls you on it. You, sir, are responsible for a phalanx of individuals who are shouting fire in a crowded theatre. There are some things to respect and honor about you, Sen. McCain.
But on this, you're not only a fraud, Senator but you are tacitly inciting lunatics to violence. If you want to again grand-stand and suspend your campaign here's your big chance. Suspend your campaign now, until you, or somebody else, gets some control over it and it ceases to be a clear and present danger to the peace of this nation.
Adding to their massive roster for 2008, the Jordan camp introduces two new colorways for their timeless Jordan 1 silhouette. Mixing it up from the more toned down releases, one of the models gets a full red upper alongside contrasting laces and army green accenting, sharing similarities to modern gucci motifs. The second pair combines a black and khaki colorway with the signature laser etching technique along the front and toe panels. Both offer a unique and distinct look gravitating the brand into a territory of fashion geared pieces rather than its roots in basketball performance sneakers. They have hit select Asia accounts including Shoe Planet Japan, with a US release rumored to be in November of this year.
by Michael Mathes
Thu Oct 9, 9:50 AM ET
SAINT LOUIS, Missouri (AFP) - When Barack Obama's campaign bus made a swing through Missouri in July, the unlikeliest of supporters were waiting for him -- or rather two of them, holding the banner: "Rednecks for Obama."
In backing the first African-American nominee of a major party for the US presidency, the pair are on a grassroots mission to bridge a cultural gap in the United States and help usher their preferred candidate into the White House.
Tony Viessman, 74, and Les Spencer, 60, got politically active last year when it occurred to them there must be other lower income, rural, beer-drinking, gun-loving, NASCAR race enthusiasts fed up with business as usual in Washington.
Viessman had a red, white and blue "Rednecks for Obama" banner made, and began causing a stir in Missouri, which has emerged as a key battleground in the run-up to the November 4 presidential election.
"I didn't expect it would get as much steam and attention as it's gotten," Spencer told AFP on the campus of Washington University in Saint Louis, the state's biggest city and site of last week's vice-presidential debate.
"We believe in him. He's the best person for the job," Viessman, a former state trooper from Rolla, said of Obama, who met the pair briefly on that July day in Union, Missouri.
The candidate bounded off his bus and jogged back towards a roadside crowd to shake hands with the men holding the banner.
"He said 'This is incredible'," Spencer recalled.
It's been an unexpectedly gratifying run, Viessman said.
Rednecks4obama.com claims more than 800,000 online visits. In Denver, Colorado, Viessman and Spencer drew crowds at the Democratic convention, and at Washington University last Thursday they were two of the most popular senior citizens on campus.
"I'm shocked, actually, but excited" that such a demographic would be organizing support for Obama, said student Naia Ferguson, 18, said after hamming it up for pictures behind the banner.
"When most people think 'redneck,' they think conservatives, anti-change, even anti-integration," she said. "But America's changing, breaking stereotypes."
A southern comedian, Jeff Foxworthy, defines the stereotype as a "glorious lack of sophistication".
Philistines or not, he said, most rural southerners are no longer proponents of the Old South's most abhorrent ideology -- racism -- and that workaday issues such as the economy are dominating this year's election.
"We need to build the economy from the bottom up, none of this trickle down business," Spencer said. "Just because you're white and southern don't mean you have to vote Republican."
To an important degree, however, race is still the elephant in the polling booth, experts say, and according to a recent Stanford University poll, Obama could lose six points on election day due to his color.
Racism "has softened up some, but it's still there," Viessman acknowledged from Belmont University, site of Tuesday's McCain-Obama debate in Nashville, Tennessee.
Despite representing the heartland state of Illinois, and having a more working-class upbringing than his Republican rival John McCain, Obama has struggled to shoot down the impression that he is an arugula-eating elitist.
Surely he alienated many rural voters earlier this year when the Harvard-educated senator told a fundraiser that some blue-collar voters "cling to guns or religion".
But Viessman, who says he owns a dozen guns, said Obama "ain't gonna take your guns away."
The South traditionally votes Republican -- victories for southerners Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were exceptions -- but with less than a month to election day, four states in or bordering the South are considered toss-ups: Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia.
Viessman says he'd like to think his grassroots movement could sway enough people in small-town America to make a difference.
"There's lots of other rednecks for Obama too," he said. "And the ones that's not, we're trying our best to convince them."
by Prashant Gopal
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Golden State, which recently scrambled to fill a $15 billion budget gap, still may not be able to meet its payroll without help.
California is going to Washington, D.C., to ask for $7 billion to cover its budget shortfall. Otherwise it won't be able to pay for its teachers, cops, firemen, and other essential services. Unfortunately, California won't be alone. A number of other states are experiencing a huge dive in tax revenue and could be going cap in hand to Uncle Sam alarmingly soon. How bad could it get? The potential cost for all the 31 states facing both major and minor shortfalls could be as much as $53.4 billion.
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The data is based on a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released at the end of September and shows the states that have seen the biggest shortfalls in tax revenue in their fiscal 2009 budgets.
California
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 22%
Gap: $22.2 billion
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger warned this week that the state might need to borrow $7 billion from the federal government, if credit markets don't ease, to pay for salaries and other operating costs. The state, which has been battered by falling home prices and foreclosures, enacted a budget that imposed cuts to the state's health insurance program for the poor and other social service programs.
Arizona
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 19.9%
Gap: $2 billion
Arizona was hit hard by the subprime crisis, and its economy has slowed significantly since mid-2006. Lawmakers, who had to make up a $2 billion budget shortfall for fiscal 2009, reduced the Medicaid rolls, put a freeze on hiring, and cut funding for community health centers and state universities.
Florida
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 19.9%
Gap: $5.1 billion
The Florida housing slump is one of the worst in the nation and only appears to be getting worse. The $66 billion Florida budget for the coming year is about $6 billion less than the one approved the previous year. It includes a $332 million reduction in public school spending and cuts to state hospitals, nursing homes, and various social programs.
Nevada
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 16%
Gap: $1.2 billion
Nevada has the worst foreclosure rate in the nation, and its economy has slowed dramatically this year. The governor capped the state's children's health program and increased children's health-care premiums, and cut funding for K-12 education, higher education, and welfare.
Rhode Island
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 13.1%
Gap: $430 million
Rhode Island's economy has been weakened by its housing market, one of the worst in the nation. Lawmakers are trying to make up for a $430 million shortfall in their budget with proposed cuts to the public college system and aid for municipalities, as well as tighter limits on welfare benefits.
New York
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 9.8%
Gap: $5.5 billion
New York, which had a $4.9 billion budget gap, faced an additional $630 million shortfall after the budget was enacted. The state made cuts to the health insurance program for low-income families, froze hiring, and enacted tax and fee increases.
Alabama
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget):
9.5%
Gap: $784 million
Alabama closed some corporate tax loopholes, and made cuts to colleges and universities.
Georgia
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 8.7%
Gap: $1.8 billion
The state's economy has been impacted by a slowing housing market. The governor has asked state agencies to cut 4% to make up an expected shortfall in the $21 billion budget for the coming fiscal year.
New Jersey
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 7.7%
Gap: $2.5 billion
The state's economic slump is due to the weak housing market and rising inflation. The state legislature passed a $32.8 billion budget that is $600 million less than last year's budget. New Jersey plans to trim the budget by offering early-retirement incentives for state employees and through attrition.
Maryland
Budget gap (as a % of the total budget): 7.2%
Gap: $1.1 billion
Maryland enacted a $1.35 billion tax increase in late 2007, which (along with $277 million in budget cuts passed by the General Assembly) is designed to help address the state's deficit. However, a continuing economic weakness has led to an additional $270 million gap, which is likely to be addressed by further spending cuts.
Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Editor's note: The budget gaps include the shortfalls before the budget was adopted, along with any additional midyear gaps.
Copyrighted, Business Week. All rights reserved.
Ex Mr Gay UK 'killed and ate dinner pal in cannibal horror', court told
By Ian Key 7/10/2008
A former Mr Gay UK killed a man he cooked dinner for and tried to eat his flesh, a jury heard yesterday.
Ex-chef Anthony Morley is said to have seasoned bits of thigh with fresh herbs then fried them in olive oil.
Police found six pieces of cooked flesh on a chopping board and a chewed piece in the kitchen bin.
Morley, 36 – the first Mr Gay UK in 1993 – denies murdering advertising salesman Damian Oldfield.
He claims the 33-year-old homosexual tried to rape him, the court was told.
Morley is said to have walked to a nearby takeaway in a blood-stained dressing gown and flip-flops. He asked staff to call the police then sat outside waiting to be arrested.
Mr Andrew Stubbs, QC, prosecuting, told the jury of eight women and four men at Leeds crown court that Morley was unsure of his sexuality.
But he had arranged to meet Mr Oldfield, who worked for the publishers of a gay magazine called Bent, in Leeds last April.
They exchanged text messages earlier in the day and in one of them Morley wrote: “Never been really properly gay. Tried being bi, tried being straight but never been a hundred per cent happy. Maybe one day I will find happiness.”
The pair later went back to Morley’s house in Leeds, where Morley made them both a meal.
Afterwards they went up to his bedroom and that is where the alleged attack happened, the court heard. Mr Oldfield had his throat cut while he was under the duvet and collapsed on the floor where he was stabbed numerous times, including several times after he was already dead.
Police found a nine-inch piece of skin and flesh, including a nipple, had been cut from his chest and left alongside the body with a bank card put over the gaping wound. Another eight-inch slice was cut from his thigh.
Mr Stubbs said officers found six pieces of cooked flesh from the dead man on a chopping board.
He added: “A further piece of cooked flesh which appeared to have been chewed was later found in a bin bag in the kitchen.”
Saliva on the flesh matched Morley’s DNA profile.
He allegedly told police: “Someone tried to rape me and I have killed that person.”After his arrest, he is said to have mumbled: “I cooked him a nice meal. I said to take it slow, why did he do that?”
The trial continues today.
Times Are Hard And So Is This Investment Banker Auctioning Off His Gay Virginity
A 27 year-old man is seeking to auction off his “gay virginity” to the highest bidder to help pay off his $32, 000 credit card debt after losing his job on Wall Street. We really can’t make this any funnier than it already is so here is the quote:
I am a 27-year-old straight white male living in New York City. I’m currently unemployed, having recently lost my position as a Business Analyst at a big 5 investment bank on Wall Street.
I am looking to LEGALLY give my “gay virginity” to the highest bidder while retaining anonymity for both myself and the winner of the auction.
The two celebrities that people most frequently say I look like are “Adam Brody” from the show “The OC” and a guy who started (sic) in a movie I’ve never seen called “Spanking The Monkey”
So what exactly does the winner get for his money?
What I am explictly offering as part of this auction is the following - I will wear the same suit that I wore at my job interview at my ex-firm. I will meet the winner in a 100% LEGAL setting such as either at a licensed brothel in Nevada or Rhode Island, and I will spend some time having a drink with them, hanging out with them, laughing, breaking the ice, and so on.
Afterwards, I will deliver what I would consider to be the ideal blowjob / handjob combination until the winner has an orgasm or 30 minutes passes whichever comes first.
Sorry but no anal activity of any kind is part of this offer!
Sorry, Cohen, but you’re going to be yanking a lot of wankies to pay off that much debt. Perhaps you should rethink the anal decision.
New Aston Martin One-77 details surface
The era of epic supercars is certainly not over at Aston Martin, following the recent release of an official teaser for a new flagship model codenamed the 'One-77' that is set to enter production next year.
More details for the One-77 have now emerged, including several new teaser shots and a 'Direct Customer Sales Contract' with some of the expected specs of the car. However, Aston Martin is yet to confirm if the latest images are official and some of the proposed specs are contrary to information released earlier.
According to the leaked sales doc, which appeared on 925.nl, the One-77 will feature a 7.3L V12 engine with 'more' than 700hp (522kW) and 533lb-ft (750Nm) of torque. The first official teaser said the car would feature a 7.0L V12 engine.
The drivetrain is also said to feature dry-sump lubrication and a rear-mounted six-speed automated manual transmission. Other leaked details include both left and right-hand-drive availability, a carbon-fiber monocoque body structure with hand crafted aluminum panels, active aerodynamics, and a kerb weight around the 1,500kg mark. Expect to see 0-60mph (96km/h) runs of 3.5 seconds and a top speed in excess of 200mph (320km/h).
Since the car is still more than a year away from being launched, some of the final specs could change before then but until Aston confirms the leaked details they will have to remain purely speculation.
Speaking with previously with AutoExpress, a spokesman for Aston Martin explained that an extensive customization program will ensure that no two models are the same. Buyers will be able to customize every single part of the car, from the gearbox to the interior trim elements. Even the seats will be tailored to fit the driver and passenger's individual curves. The spokesman also confirmed that a concept version will be shown to a select group of customers by the end of the year, with the finished version ready by the end of next year.