From Mark McKinnon, at Daily Beast, ” Obama’s Super PAC Hypocrisy: Giving Blessing to Priorities USA Action ,” and from Sissy Willis, ” How Obama learned to stop worrying and love the super PAC ” (via Linkmaster Smith ). And at yesterday’s New York Times , ” Obama Yields in Marshaling of ‘Super PAC’ “: WASHINGTON — President Obama is signaling to wealthy Democratic donors that he wants them to start contributing to an outside group supporting his re-election, reversing a long-held position as he confronts a deep financial disadvantage on a vital front in the campaign. Aides said the president had signed off on a plan to dispatch cabinet officials, senior advisers at the White House and top campaign staff members to deliver speeches on behalf of Mr. Obama at fund-raising events for Priorities USA Action, the leading Democratic “super PAC,” whose fund-raising has been dwarfed by Republican groups. The new policy was presented to the campaign’s National Finance Committee in a call Monday evening and announced in an e-mail to supporters. “We’re not going to fight this fight with one hand tied behind our back,” Jim Messina, the manager of Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign, said in an interview. “With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules. Democrats can’t be unilaterally disarmed.” Neither the president, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., nor their wives will attend fund-raising events or solicit donations for the Democratic group. A handful of officials from the administration and the campaign will appear on behalf of Mr. Obama, aides said, but will not directly ask for money. Freakin’ asshats.
Read more from the original source:
Obama’s Super PAC Hypocrisy
It may make you laugh, and may even jerk some tears coming out out of the holiday season, but this pair of pugs is sure to warm you heart. White-coated blind pug Elly was found by U.K. rescuers who have noticed that she relies on dark-coated pal Franky, who willingly leads her everywhere from walks to water to finding food.
(Photo: Wales News Service) Elly (top), the blind pug, relies on her best friend Franky (bottom) to help her to find her way around
Originally posted here:
Blind Love? Meet the Blind Pug That Has Her Own Seeing-Eye Dog
Everybody loves dinner and a show. Habachi-style Japanese restaurants have been very popular in the United States because they marry these two activities and get the whole table to participate. One cook in Ohio appears to have taken things a little too far, however, as he has been charged with serving alcohol to a minor. What do we mean? Well, the child’s parents claim their two-year-old become sick after having Saki squirted in his mouth. The parents of 2-year-old Karl Preusser, nicknamed KJ, were furious after the chef squirted Japanese rice wine into their son’s mouth after offering a free squirt to adults at the table. KJ’s mother, Brittany Winter, told WJW-TV that the chef had jokingly asked if the two-year-old was 21. The boy said yes and opened his mouth where the chef shockingly squirted a “mouthful” of alcohol. The parents said following the squirt KJ began giggling and “his eyes got all watery,” then began to spit up. CBS News reports that the cook told police he intended to make a motion like he was going to give the child some alcohol, but accidentally squirted some in his mouth. The restaurant backed up his claims. KJ’s parents however told WOIO that before going to the police they complained to the manager, who said he would let the cook go that night. The cook was charged with one count of furnishing intoxicating liquor to a minor, a first degree misdemeanor, and was summonsed to appear later this month in Massillon Municipal Court. (H/T: The Consumerist )
Excerpt from:
Mich. Chef Charged for Squirting Alcoholic Saki Into Toddler’s Mouth
HuffPo reports (emphases mine): Zuccotti Park is more of a granite-clad pedestrian plaza than a park. On a normal weekday, pre-protest, the area would be crowded with “suits” eating their lunches or drinking their coffees, courtesy of the nearby food trucks, sandwich shops and pizzerias. Today, it’s difficult to navigate the area moving north to south, as pedestrians and onlookers encounter human roadblocks once they hit the Liberty Street and Broadway intersection. Double-decker tour buses roll by the park to allow patrons to snap pictures of a “real New York City protest,” while clogging crosswalks and slowing traffic . These days, the sidewalks opposite the park are empty except for camera crews setting up their shots, and the few people walking by have their backs to the businesses, their eyes fixed on the growing commotion across the street. For Tzortzatos, the “occupation” has resulted not just in a loss in business . “I’ve had a lot of damage from the protesters,” she said. “I’ve had to put a $200 lock on my bathroom because they come in here and try to bathe. The sink fell down to the ground, cracked open, pulled the plumbing out of the wall and caused a flood. It’s a no-win situation. If I open the restroom for one, 30 people line up outside, disrupting my business.” A manager at the nearby Essex World Cafe — who asked to remain anonymous — shared similar complaints. Referring to three young men waiting at the end of the counter, he explained, “They want to use the toilet, the phones, we give them free water and free ice. They sit here and don’t buy anything, but they recharge their phone batteries with our plugs, and I tell them, ‘Hey, if you guys are going to come, I need to do some business here. We are suffering, too!’ And then they start with their own words, going against you.” The three young men eventually left the cafe, each carrying large containers the staff had filled with hot and cold water for them. This manager also cited damages, including graffiti on his restroom walls. “For eight and a half years, there was nothing on those walls,” he said. “Now it says ‘Viva la Revolucion’ everywhere. Yes, ‘Viva la Revolucion,’ but don’t write it on my toilet. I let you use my facilities without being a customer and this is what I get?” Mayor Bloomberg should ask himself: WWRD — What would Rudy [Giuliani] do?
See original here:
‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters are a headache for Main Street
I wrote about it at my old blog , and it’s the funniest thing, but when my mom came to visit a few weeks back, she brought back a couple of the business cards we picked up in New York in 2007. She was using them for bookmarks. My son and I loved Airways Pizza in Queens . My mom also had a card for Dean’s Pizzeria, in Manhattan, not far from the U.N. My son really liked that one. It was a little upscale and we were dressed casually. I asked my son if he wanted to go somewhere else and he said no, he liked Dean’s and wanted to eat there. Anyway, I’m thinking of New York pizza again after reading the front-page story at NYT , ” Ray’s Pizza, the First of Many, Counts Down to Its Last Slice “: It did not call itself the flagship Ray’s Pizza because it never really had a fleet. It was not Original Ray’s or Famous Ray’s or Original Famous Ray’s or Real Ray’s or Ray’s on Ice or any of the other cloned shops sprinkled like shredded mozzarella all over town. It was simply Ray’s Pizza, and in the great pizza wars of New York City, it was respected as having been the first, standing more or less above the fray at 27 Prince Street in Little Italy, with tree limbs holding up the basement ceiling and an owner whose name wasn’t even Ray. And now, it seems, barring any surprises, Ray’s Pizza — the original that was so original it did not have the word “original” in its name — appears doomed to close at the end of the month. This is not a popular topic at Ray’s right now. “I don’t want you to put that this is the end,” said Helen Mistretta, the manager who, seven months before her 80th birthday, is in no mood for weepy nostalgia. “It’s the end of 27 Prince, not the end of Ray’s of Prince Street.” The closing, long story short, follows a legal dispute among heirs with various interests in the building at 27 Prince, which includes apartments and the two sides of Ray’s: the pizzeria and an Italian restaurant, each with its separate entrance, but sharing a kitchen and the corporation name, Ray’s of Prince Street. When the Ray in Ray’s, one of the owners of the building, died in 2008, a row arose over whether the restaurant’s lease was valid and whether it should pay rent. A lawsuit was filed in 2009 and settled this year. Now Ray’s Pizza is moving out amid a lot of head-shakes and shrugs and what-are-you-gonna-do Little Italy resignation. You could say Ray’s on Prince Street kept to itself, perfectly content with its place in the constellation where others burned brighter. Just a block away, tourists line up on the sidewalk for a seat in Lombardi’s, waiting for a hostess wearing a microphone headset to call their names from loudspeakers. Wait for a pizza? This was not the Ray’s way, where pies come whole or by the slice, hot from the oven, enjoyed without hurry in a humble booth beneath a hand-painted “Ray’s Gourmet Pizza” board. The closing of Ray’s would seem to remove from the neighborhood any vestige of the late Ralph Cuomo, its first owner, who once loomed large. Keep reading . My wife just walked in with pizza for dinner, from the local Lamppost, which is good, but nothing like New York pizza. RELATED : At NYT , ” New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year .” P.S. Checking the link to the old blog , turns out Repsac3 was commenting way back then. He wasn’t banned. He might still be a commenter here had he not freaked out and turned stalker. I’ll welcome progressives if they’re cool. Repsac3 once was, but no longer. Too bad too. I had to go to moderation and all that.
Link:
Original Ray’s Pizza Serving its Last Slice in New York’s Little Italy
The pain and suffering has become so unbearable for Saba and Farah Shakeel that their father, Mohammed Shakeel, is petitioning the government for a “mercy killing” (also known as euthanasia or doctor assisted suicide). Sadly, the 15-year-old girls are conjoined; they have been connected at the skull since birth. As a result of this tragic disability, they allegedly have headaches, joint pain and slurred speech. Judging from video footage, the young women are also unable to walk and travel with ease. But, the situation wasn’t always this terrible. Five years ago, the girls caught the world’s attention after they turned down Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi’s offer to pay for the surgical procedures needed to separate them. The Telegraph has more : They were examined at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, where a team under Benjamin Carson, an American conjoined twins specialist, found they shared a vital blood vessel in the brain, and that Farah had two kidneys while Saba had none. The separation would have required five or six operations over nine months, but each stage held a one in five chance that either of the girls might die. Being unable to fathom one or both of the young girls dying, the family decided to decline treatment. Since turning down the surgery, the family has purportedly not been able to afford the medical expenses that would be incurred by seeking basic medical assistance (Shakeel only makes $105 per month). As a result, no doctor has been able to diagnose or pinpoint the root cause of the girls’ pain. Five years ago, aside from their obvious barrier, Saba and Farah seemed happy and healthy. CBS News reports : “The girls want to live and enjoy life as others do but when they are in pain, they cry and ask for help,” Shakeel said. “All we want is either the government should come and help us treat them or allow them to die, because they are in a miserable condition.” Below, watch video of the young girls as they offer prayers at a shrine in hopes that they will receive some relief: Interestingly, the girls’ father is a Muslim. While mercy killing in Islam is accepted in some limited situations, it does not appear as though the girls’ qualify. DNAIndia.com writes : According to religious experts, Islam allows ‘passive’ mercy killing. If a person is dying and is being kept alive on machines like a ventilator, then it is allowed to offer the person the option of mercy killing. If a person is suffering from cancer or a terminal illness or pain, he cannot be offered a means to kill himself. “This would be active killing, and is haram and forbidden in Islam,” said [Dr Shoaib] Sayyed, [a doctor who in his capacity as the manager for Islam and Comparative religions at the Islamic Research Foundation.] Perhaps the government will intervene again to provide the young women with medical care — or grant their euthanasia wishes. Regardless of their father’s religious affiliation, he is petitioning to ease his daughters’ pain by any means necessary.
Read more:
Impoverished Conjoined Twins Pray Fervently For Financial Help or…a Mercy Killing
Loyal readers know how blessed I feel to be a resident of Colorado Springs. After three years, I’ve grown used to the frequent attacks on our fair city for its citizens’ proud and stubborn rejection of bigger and bigger government. Those attacks have increased over the last 12 months — and I’ve called attention to the liberal media/blogosphere’s Colorado Springs Derangement Syndrome (see here and here ). Now comes stunning word from the Colorado Springs Gazette that the now-former city manager reportedly ordered bad publicity as retribution against voters who rejected tax increases. Another government worker has blown the whistle on the vengeful local bureaucrat’s edict: The city’s public relations department, run by Sue Skiffington-Blumberg, has come under criticism in recent years for allowing — even seemingly promoting — routine attacks on Colorado Springs by the national and international press. After voters rejected a major tax increase in 2009, all major TV networks and most major newspapers made Colorado Springs the country’s symbol of failure. Even the BBC and other international media jumped on board. Reporters told of darkened streets, closed pools and dilapidated parks. Even some locals bought into the despair. Most stories mentioned the refusal of conservative voters to raise their own taxes, failing to report that few other cities raised taxes during the great recession and some made similar cuts. …In talking to The Gazette, Skiffington-Blumberg was careful not to express disrespect for her former employer, former City Manager Penny Culbreth-Graft. After much probing by us, it became clear that Skiffington-Blumberg was given direct orders, after the defeat of the proposed tax increase, to tell the outside media about the most negative aspects of Colorado Springs. The campaign may have cost our city countless tourists and jobs. The Gazette was unable to reach Culbreth-Graft for comment. “Our strategic plan was to paint a picture of the dire straits of our city budget. If we could not do so locally, we would do so in the regional and national press — though I’d have preferred that it not play out with Diane Sawyer,” Skiffington-Blumberg said, referring to one of several media giants who blasted Colorado Springs. “I hated it. I grew up here. My family has been in this community since 1892. But when given a task, it is my obligation to get on board. If you give me a task, don’t expect me not to succeed.” With “friends” like Penny Culbreth-Graft (and go-along cogs like Skiffington-Blumberg, for that matter), who needs enemies? Taxpayers around the country may want to be on alert. If job-sabotaging, back-stabbing public servants like this come knocking on your city’s door for a job, tell ‘em to go where they’re more welcome: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington D.C.
More here:
Vengeful local bureaucrat of the day
One of the first British punk bands I listened to back in the day. Poly Styrene, RIP. At New York Times , ” Poly Styrene, Punk Singer of X-Ray Spex, Is Dead at 53 “: Marianne Elliot-Said, who as Poly Styrene, the pioneering, braces-wearing frontwoman of the 1970s British band X-Ray Spex, made a place for feminine brashness in punk, died on Monday in East Sussex, England. She was 53. Her death was reported on her Web site, and confirmed by her manager. She had been treated for cancer at a hospice in East Sussex, near her home in St. Leonards-on-Sea, in the south of England. Ms. Said (pronounced sah-EED), the daughter of a Somali father and a British mother, who raised her alone, began performing as a free-spirited teenager, leaving home at 15 and ending up in London, where she studied to be an opera singer, said her manager, Shirin Koohyar. In 1976 she released a pop-reggae single under the name Mari Elliot on the GTO label. But after stumbling upon an early performance by the Sex Pistols, she was inspired to place an ad in a British music magazine, searching for “young punx who want to stick it together.” After a handful of rehearsals, the X-Ray Spex — whose early lineup included Jak Airport, Paul Dean, Rudi Thomson, BP Hurding and Lora Logic — quickly became fixtures on the 1977 London music scene. They performed in Chelsea and at the Roxy, the Covent Garden club that served as a punk incubator, adding a new instrument, the saxophone, to the chopping guitars and brazen lyrics of the genre. More at the link above.
Visit link:
Poly Styrene, X-Ray Spex Singer, Dead at 53
