Politics

JOPLIN, Mo (Reuters) – Having the president of the United States speak at commencement would normally be the most memorable day in the life of a high school senior. But not in Joplin, Missouri, where President Barack Obama’s commencement address on Monday will come one year after the deadliest tornado in the United States in six decades killed 161 people. “I’m pretty sure we will remember the tornado more than Obama’s speech,” said graduating senior Ethan Ritschel. …

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-visit-marks-trials-resilience-graduates-tornado-hit-192053999.html

Barbara Boxer War Barbara Mikulski Feds will spend Does an October surprise still linger? Carl Levin Malia and Sasha

Hi I’m Pakinam Amer and I’m very happy to be here today at World Have Your Say at 1100GMT broadcasting from Cairo, Egypt.

I am a journalist who’s passionate about investigations, current affairs, travel and positive psychology and quite recently our very own Tahrir square, and where it has taken Egypt. Personally my love for this country has been renewed there during the 18 days of the first revolt, but since then, quite frankly it has been a roller coaster of emotions.

The joy at toppling a dictator that has been ruling by an iron fist for almost three decades has given way to hope, that soon became muddled by fear and doubt as political forces and even voices on the streets became divided, and as the military rulers who took over following former President Hosni Mubarak overstayed their welcome. Many of the ideals that the revolution have called for — freedom and dignity — have not been realized. And the utopia that Tahrir has brought was short-lived.

If anything, voices of dissent were stifled, more men and women were beaten up and even killed for demonstrating for legitimate demands in Tahrir square, female protesters were sexually assaulted, and some political groups, like the Islamists, have broken ranks with the revolutionaries and chose to play politics instead, wavering between positions sometimes, and abandoning Tahrir at others.

The future is as uncertain as ever. The layman, who can barely make ends meet in a country where over half the population is drenched in poverty, has become disenchanted with a revolution that has seemingly threatened security and dragged on far longer than anticipated. The revolutionaries want their basic human rights and want to keep protesting, while many Egyptians just want food on the table and things to go back to “normal.”

The road ahead is full of possibility but also fear. What is happening to our revolution? Is it failing? Has Tahrir lost its power? Could it be salvaged? What do you think Egypt should do at this sensitive juncture? What actually can be achieved? You can post here or at facebook.com/worldhaveyoursay and do call during the show country code plus 44 20 70 83 72 72 and we have set up a special hashtag for this week #mywhys

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldhaveyoursay/2011/12/on_air_at_11gmt_has_the_revolu.html#302105

War Barbara Mikulski Feds will spend Does an October surprise still linger? Carl Levin Malia and Sasha Mitch McConnell

As usual, when it comes to the left, you can get more people in a room to tell others what to do and how to do it, then you can find on the street doing anything. That’s not to dismiss the danger to America from leftist groups constantly meeting, planning and plotting ways to undermine American liberties; however, here is an interesting contrast.

As both Breitbart and the Washington Free Beacon reported yesterday, a number of anti-liberty loving groups came together in D.C. on May 10 to plot the future of their ongoing assault on small government advocate the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). There were plenty of left tilting hats in the room. Attacking ALEC is a stated priority for them.

Leading progressive organizers met on May 10 to coordinate their attack plan against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), discussing ways to pressure corporations into abandoning the group for its small-government advocacy and turn against what they call the “vast, right-wing conspiracy.”

The participants, including representatives from such far-left groups as Common Cause, Color of Change, and ProgressNow, met for lunch in a conference room at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C.

But this weekend, when it came time to do something besides plot in Charlotte, N.C., although the media seems to be providing some cover by claiming it was “about 50 protesters,” photos from the effort doesn’t appear to quite meet that number. Of course, that didn’t stop them from trying to disrupt a WellPoint meeting in an attempt to shout down others exercising their right to free speech.

Protesters disrupt WellPoint annual meeting

Union representatives and other protesters repeatedly interrupted Chairwoman and CEO Angela Braly after she opened the meeting and introduced proposals for shareholder voting. One person presented a petition she said was signed by 15,000 people asking the Indianapolis company for more disclosure.  

Here’s what all that planning in D.C. and infringing on the rights of others actually produced when it took time for them to hit the street.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BigGovernment/~3/snb6GKD5EWw/Anti-ALEC-Effort-All-Hat-And-No-Cattle

John Kerry Poll says Bill Nelson bill dies in Senate auto bailout Republican senators CNN.com

CNN's Drew Griffin uncovered yet another charity that asks you to help veterans by opening your wallets but then uses only a very small percentage of it to actually help veterans. One reason is because of a contract they have with a private company that sells fundraising and marketing for non-profits.

Source: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/17/kth-should-charity-marketers-be-avoided/

Mike Johanns Palin ethics law Lieberman with Dems Jim Webb Trade Regulators: Bailout program is working Middle-class tax cut

Sixty years after their country came under military dictatorship, Egyptians are for the first time freely electing their president.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/secular-islamist-egypt-chooses-president-170845298.html

Nuclear Power GOP, not conservatives, lost election Franken seated Herb Kohl Jon Tester Tom Harkin Pat Toomey

World Have Your Say TV is live on BBC World News. It’s discussing the piracy story. Megaupload.com was shut down overnight, accused of violating piracy laws in the US. More on that story in The New York Times.

This came just a day after a massive protest against a bill designed to tackle online copyright theft.

The Sopa and Pipa bills triggered a Wikipedia blackout, supported by other sites like Google, Flickr and Facebook.

So why are some people so desperate to see Sopa succeed – and others so keen to stop it?

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldhaveyoursay/2012/01/the_sopa_pipa_debate.html#302870

Jim Risch Richard Blumenthal Obamas stimulus plan Palin campaign trail Kelly Ayotte GOP warned Emanuel

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel kind of bad for rich people. Money, the media repeatedly remind us, is terrible, particularly when it’s in the hands of the fabled 1 percent — like, say, Mitt Romney, who reportedly has $250 million jangling around in his undoubtedly fancy pants.
Pundits remind us that earning this much money is an obvious sign of sheer, out-of-touch cluelessness. (If Romney were to win, the only president richer than him in the history of the United States would be George Washington, and we all know what an abysmal, slipshod job that guy…

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/05/17/its_not_easy_being_rich__114171.html

Does an October surprise still linger? Carl Levin Malia and Sasha Mitch McConnell secretary of state Citigroup U.S. on wrong track

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) – Alabama’s governor signed into law revisions to the state’s controversial immigration statute on Friday, despite his earlier suggestions he might veto the measure because it did not make enough changes to the toughest state crackdown against illegal immigrants. Republican Governor Robert Bentley had publicly urged lawmakers to modify sections of the law that took effect last year and which sparked lawsuits by the Obama administration and immigrant rights groups that argued it is unconstitutional. …

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alabama-governor-signs-bill-tweaking-immigration-law-040237047.html

Jay Rockefeller Palin most popular Republican resolution supporting Israel WMD How Obama can fix the economy Scott Brown Obama threatens veto

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – A gorilla known for being the patriarch of a renowned gorilla surrogacy program at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio died on Friday at an estimated age of 47, the zoo said. The popular gorilla, Mumbah, was eating breakfast with his family when he collapsed, the zoo said in a statement. The animal care team was unable to resuscitate him. Mumbah was born in equatorial Africa around 1965 and brought to the Columbus zoo from England in 1984. He was well past a male gorilla’s average life expectancy of 31 years. …

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gorilla-patriarch-columbus-zoo-surrogacy-program-dies-215336805.html

Dear Obama: Send loans fast Mary Landrieu Jay Rockefeller Palin most popular Republican resolution supporting Israel WMD How Obama can fix the economy

Will Chelsea prevail without John Terry, Ramires, Branislav Ivanovic and Raul Meirelles? Will  Bayern  Munich  benefit from the blind luck of home field advantage?

Source: http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/05/19/champions-league-final-open-thread-2/

bill dies in Senate auto bailout Republican senators CNN.com How U.S. should respond Claire McCaskill Pat Roberts