At New York Times : PLANO, Tex. — A crowd of well-wishers and autograph-seekers surrounded Rick Santorum at an event hall here this week. The place was packed; dozens of men, women and children stranded outside stood in the cold just to catch a glimpse of him. People approached him with tears in their eyes. They gave him cowboy hats, personal notes, quilts sewn for his seriously ill 3-year-old daughter and envelopes with checks inside. His campaign had raised $1 million online in 24 hours. Earlier, at a nearby hotel, he had to apologize to those hoping to have their pictures taken with him, explaining that he had a television show to get ready for. But as Mr. Santorum made his way through the crowd, he was asked if anything felt new. “No, no,” he said. “The same old, the same old.” Of course, that was hard to believe: This was the Santorum campaign, post-trifecta. On Tuesday night, Mr. Santorum stunned the political world by winning the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a nonbinding primary in Missouri, reviving his flagging candidacy. On Wednesday and Thursday, at a series of campaign stops in the suburbs north of Dallas and in Oklahoma, Mr. Santorum took advantage of a burst of momentum and campaign donations that have followed his three victories. Though overtaking Mitt Romney, the Republican front-runner, is still a formidable challenge, Mr. Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, has become as much of a political rock star as he has ever been in his life. Continue reading . PREVIOUSLY : ” Donors Turn to Santorum ‘Super PAC’ After Upset Victories .”
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Santorum Adjusting to Star Treatment on Trail
Back in October, I brought you a quick bite story about how PETA planned to get killer whales constitutional rights, saying that keeping them violated the 13th Amendment (slavery). The lawsuit against Sea World has now gone to a judge (LA Times) A federal judge appeared dubious Monday about a lawsuit filed by People for the
AP – People rarely pick a fight with Dirty Harry. But Chrysler’s “Halftime in America” ad featuring quintessential tough guy Clint Eastwood has generated fierce debate about whether it accurately portrays the country’s most economically distressed city or amounts to a campaign ad for President Barack Obama and the auto bailouts.
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‘Halftime in America’ ad creates political debate
(AP)
Donald Trump officially endorsed Mitt Romney for president, quelling conflicting media reports about which candidate the business mogul would back: Romney or former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Standing beside the former Massachusetts governor at his luxury Las Vegas hotel Thursday, Trump called it his “honor and privilege to endorse Mitt Romney.” “Mitt is tough, he’s smart, he’s sharp. He’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we love,” Trump said. Earlier in the day, Trump had said it was Romney’s performance during the GOP debates and his tough stance on China that won him over, the Associated Press reported. “Governor Romney? Go out and get ‘em. You can do it,” Trump said. Taking the podium following Trump’s announcement, Romney said, “There are some things that you just can’t imagine happening in your life. This is one of them.” “Being in Donald Trump’s magnificent hotel and having his endorsement is a delight,” he said. “And of course I’m looking forward to the endorsement of the people of Nevada.” In an interview on Fox News Channel immediately following the announcement, Trump told host Neil Cavuto Romney has “really stepped up” on the issues during the campaign. Asked whether his endorsement means there is officially no chance of Trump seeking his own presidential bid, Trump said it depends on whether Romney gets the GOP presidential nomination. Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of seeking the presidency himself as a third-party candidate. “If for some reason something happens [and Romney doesn't get the nomination] then it’s open season,” he said. “[But] I don’t see that happening.” This post has been updated since it was first published.
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Donald Trump Officially Endorses Mitt Romney for President
Protesters surround a vehicle the convoy of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as it enters the Gaza Strip Thursday. (Image source: Reuters)
A shoe is thrown at the convoy of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as it enters the Gaza Strip Thursday. (Image source: Reuters)
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Palestinian Protesters Hurl Shoes at Visiting UN Chief, Accuse Him of Bias Toward Israel
This lady needs help. It’s too bad too — she’s very beautiful, but that “cougar” thing is bad for your health. At Los Angeles Times , ” Demi Moore plot thickens: Pursuing Zac Efron, fountain of youth? “: Demi Moore isn’t having the best week, as far as newsstands are concerned. The actress has reportedly been battling massive insecurity with age and weight, as well as chasing young things like Zac Efron. After her January hospitalization, allegedly thanks to a bad reaction to nitrous oxide and a smoke inhalant, reports are charging the “Margin Call” star with massive insecurities surrounding the breakdown of her marriage — all leading to this current crisis. “She’s been really down, and she’s surrounding herself with young people to make her feel better,” Us magazine cites one source as saying. And by “surrounding” the report suggests Moore “tracked down” 24-year-old actor Zac Efron for companionship. This proposed hunt led to a party in L.A.’s Venice Beach neighborhood, prior to Moore’s medical treatment. “As Demi got older, she convinced herself that she needed to stay young and skinny to remain attractive to her husband,” People magazine added to the party, via their own inside source. Well, I guess there’s a way to grow old gracefully, and then there’s not…
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Demi Moore’s Desperate Attempt to Shag Zac Efron
People want jobs and for the government to take more from the wealthiest minority of Americans, big surprise. A new poll conducted by United Technologies and The National Journal surveying the American people’s support of key ideas laid out in President Obama’s State of the Union address last week found that the commander in chief could rely on overwhelming support for his proposal to tax American companies operating abroad, and more than average encouragement to tax anyone who earns at least $1 million at a minimum rate of 30 percent of their annual income. “By a whopping 76-percent-to-19-percent margin, Americans agreed with Obama’s proposal to ‘impose a minimum tax on money American companies earn from their operations abroad to discourage them from creating jobs overseas and encourage them to create jobs in the U.S.’ When it comes to the so-called Buffett Rule—named for billionaire investor Warren Buffett—65 percent surveyed agreed with the proposition that Congress should “establish a new rule that anyone who earns at least $1 million annually must pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes,’ while just 31 percent disagreed. ” While the President can hang his hat on public support to increase taxes on millionaires and businesses exporting jobs abroad, those surveyed were unhappy with the President’s decision to snub the Keystone XL pipeline and the thousands of jobs it could create, due to environmental concerns. “One thing the president did not mention in his speech was his position on the Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil from Canada to the United States. Supporters of the pipeline say it will ease America’s dependence on Mideast oil and create jobs. Opponents fear the environmental impact of building a pipeline. What about you—do you support or oppose building the Keystone XL pipeline?’ Sixty-four percent of respondents favored its construction, while only 22 percent opposed it.” The two populist issues both promise to create jobs and offer political gain for each party, support for the Buffet Rule taxing the rich to aid Democrats, support of the pipeline to aid Republicans. Either way, respondents are in agreement that the issues are likely not going to be solved any time soon, with an eye-popping 70 percent of those surveyed saying it was not too likely or not at all likely that the president and Congress would agree on the major ideas Obama presented.
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Poll shows strong support for both ‘Buffett rule’ and Keystone XL pipeline
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has conducted an extensive survey of the websites of pro-Palestinian activists in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East and has published a guide to events planned for 2012. Some activities are focused on public relations, others have the potential to cause violence, and yet other activities seem aimed at further destabilizing Israel’s already shaky neighborhood. The Center reports : The networks waging the campaign to delegitimize Israel are planning a series of propaganda displays for 2012, some of them in the upcoming months. They intend to hold marches (promoted by Hamas), a protest fly-in to Ben-Gurion International Airport, a flotilla and propaganda events for the “Israeli apartheid week.” The most high profile event on the horizon is the Global March to Jerusalem , which is encouraging activists worldwide to gather in convoys and head together to Jerusalem on March 30th, or “Land Day” a day Palestinians mark the killing of six Israeli Arabs over a land dispute with Israeli authorities in 1976. Upon entering its website, the Global March’s logo says a lot: a map of Palestine including all territory from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, with Israel completely wiped off the map. The map is painted in green, the signature color of Islam, suggesting organizers view their struggle as a religious one. Activists plan to gather in areas bordering Israel, including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority. The Meir Amit Center reports: The organizers of the marches plan to send groups from several countries to Arab states bordering on Israel. The participants will attempt to cross the border and invade Israeli territory. Global March organizers describe combating the “Judaization of Jerusalem” as a key objective: The march will demand freedom for Jerusalem and its people and to put an end to the Apartheid, ethnic cleansing and Judaisation policies affecting the people, land and sanctity of Jerusalem… The march will confirm that the policies and practices of the racist Zionist state of Israel against Jerusalem and its people are a crime not only against Palestinians but against all humanity. According the Global March’s North American website , endorsers include a mix of Palestinian and anti-war groups, as well as “United Progressives,” an anti-war group that promotes various progressive causes. Individual endorsers include Lauren Booth, a British broadcaster for Iran’s Press TV who has called Gaza a “concentration camp” and Richard Falk, an expert on the UN Human Rights Council who was derided for publishing an anti-Semitic cartoon on his blog last year depicting Jews as a bloodthirsty dog urinating on Lady Justice. Falk has also suggested that the U.S. government was behind 9/11 and that the media covered it up. While American and European activists purporting to be peaceful are endorsing the Global March to Jerusalem, it is simultaneously being promoted by Hamas, a group committed to Israel’s destruction which the U.S. and European Union categorize as a terror group. Gaza’s Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced the march at a December 14th rally as seen in the video organizers posted: Hamas frequently invokes its goal of “saving” Jerusalem from the “impurity of the Jews” painting the issue as a religious struggle. These hard-core Islamists decry what they call the “Judaization” of Jerusalem without any regard to the historical fact that Jews have lived for millennia in the city holy not only to Islam, but to Christians and Jews. A YouTube video promoting the Global March includes images equating Israel with “cancer” and suggesting Israel’s founding was a “great plundering.” It calls Jerusalem “a Holy City inhabited by Palestinians for centuries.” The Meir Amit Center assesses that so far, response from the West has been small. Another obstacle: activists need permission to hold marches in neighboring countries. Besides the Global March, Pro-Palestinian activists are planning protests from the sea. The Meir Amit Center reports on a planning meeting that took place in Italy in November aimed at learning lessons from the past failed flotillas whose goal is to break Israel’s sea blockade of Gaza. It reports: …the coalition sending the flotillas is also apparently examining the possibility of sending a large flotilla from several different European ports. […] The flotilla organizers are also busy raising donations for the funds necessary to purchase a large number of ships. Another protest aims to enter Israel by air. Last summer, international activists flew to Ben-Gurion Airport for demonstrations, but most were arrested and sent home on outbound flights. The Meir Amit Center examined activists’ websites and reports that this year’s “fly-in” is scheduled for April 15th, during the Passover holiday and a week after Easter: The objective of the fly-in was described by its organizers as challenging the “policy of isolation” Israel imposes on the West Bank. Fly-in participants have been requested to arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport but to keep a low profile, apparently to make it difficult for Israel to prevent them from entering the country. All these activities are being described as peaceful protests, but as history shows, there are potential flash-points. Israeli police are aware of the chance of violence, as occurred last spring when pro-Palestinian protesters marking the anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War tried to storm the Israeli border from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. The Israel Defense Forces called it a Syrian-government “provocation.” As it is, tensions are high, especially with the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks not showing any signs of progress. It’s also worth keeping an eye on Jordan — the launching point for some of the Global Marchers — a country where the “Arab Spring” has not arrived. With a majority Palestinian population living under minority Hashemite rule, it’s not unfathomable that a march ostensibly aimed at Israel could take on a life of its own to air grievances against King Abdullah’s regime. So far, demonstrations bringing together Palestinians and international activists have not been game-changing events. The Free Gaza Flotilla failed to break the sea blockade, and “Boycott Israel” activists have not impacted Israel’s economy. It remains to be seen if this spring’s “Global March” will recruit “massive” throngs as advertised, or not. Organizers say they are banking on “the spirit of the Arab spring revolutions and the determination of young people who were able to overthrow dictatorships.” Israeli police and border patrols are no doubt preparing for the worst.
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‘Global March to Jerusalem’: Pro-Palestinian Activists Planning Protests from Land, Air, & Sea
While getting ready to participate in a taping of GBTV’s “For the Record” roundtable last Thursday, THE BLAZE’s tech editor Liz Klimas and I had an in-depth conversation about the TSA. I don’t remember all the sticky details, but I do remember that Klimas wasn’t aware that a pat-down by a TSA agent is much more intimate than a simple over-the-clothes feel-up. Then today our front page editor Jon Seidl has a story about some TSA workers getting suspended following accusations of stealing and sleeping on the job . Fortunately BLAZE writers haven’t had any serious Rand Paul -like run-ins with TSA agents. It’s mostly been minor annoyances. Assistant Editor Chris Santarelli told me it’s a “pain in the ass” to have to take his shoes off when going through security. I asked if he’s ever worried that his shoes smell. “Absolutely not, I just dont like getting rushed,” he said. THE BLAZE magazine editor Chris Field said he hates waiting on everyone else to get “their crap” onto the conveyer belt and through the line. He continued, “Add the fact that Flo running the x-ray machine can’t tell the difference between a toothbrush and a pen in my carry-on bag, and it makes for a painfully long wait.” I asked Becket Adams , our business editor, about his experience with TSA. “You mean the people who grope me?” he asked. “No, those are your parents,” I dutifully reminded him. Kidding. For real, he said, “the worst part [about airport security] is having someone run their hand up and down the inner thigh without so much as a drink or ‘I’ll call you in the morning.’” Liz Klimas, a total airport goodie-goodie, considers herself an expert when it comes to maneuvering airport security. “I make sure I get to the airport at the allotted 2 hours ahead of time. I will take off all metal (even little earrings) because I don’t want to set off the machine,” she told me. “I pride myself on being faster than others at getting ready to go through with my bins (including taking computer out of bag).” As for me, I hate the TSA. Agents have thrown away perfectly good toothpaste tubes simply because they were too big to fit in places I suspect they’d like to search.
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Becket Adams gets upset when TSA agents touch his ‘inner thigh’
