67 House Republicans Voted “NO” on Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Reps. Paul Ryan, Louis Gohmert and Joe Wilson voted ‘No’ on Hurricane Sandy relief

67 House Republicans voted “no” on the badly needed Hurricane Sandy relief bill.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin who was Mitt Romney’s running mate led the pack of idiots. While Reps. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Louie Gohmert of Texas and Trent Franks of Arizona had absolutely no problem voting for a $50 billion disaster aid bill after Hurricane Katrina and increasing the flood insurance pool by $2 billion in 2005.

Republican Sen. Al D’Amato, whose 98-year old mother was displaced by Hurricane Sandy, tore into the 67 reps who voted against the $9.7 billion funding package saying:

“They’re a bunch of jackasses. This country is about coming to the aid of regions in need,” he said. “We don’t say, ‘Oh no, this money is for Louisiana, I don’t live there so what do I care?”

Listed below is the entire list of the 67 House Republicans who voted against Sandy relief. Their phone numbers are included. If you feel inclined, please call their offices and let them know how you feel about their callous and heartless behavior.

Justin Amash (MI) (202) 225-3831
Garland Barr (KY) (202) 225-4706
Dan Benishek (MI) (202) 225-4735
Kerry Bentivolio (MI) (202) 225-8171
Marsha Blackburn (TN) (202) 225-2811
Jim Bridenstine (OK) (202) 225-2211
Mo Brooks (AL) (202) 225-4801
Paul Broun (GA) (202) 225-4101
Steve Chabot (OH) (202) 225-2216
Doug Collins (GA) (202) 225-9893
Michael Conaway (TX) (202) 225-3605
Tom Cotton (AR) (202) 225-3772
Steve Daines (MT) (202) 225-3211
Ron DeSantis (FL) (202) 225-2706
Scott DesJarlais (TN) (202) 225-6831
Sean Duffy (WI) (202) 225-3365
Jeff Duncan (SC) (202) 225-5301
John Duncan (TN) (202) 225-5435
Stephen Fincher (TN) (202) 225-4714
John Fleming (LA) (202) 225-2777
Bill Flores (TX) (202) 225-6105
Virginia Foxx (NC) (202) 225-2071
Trent Franks (AZ) (202) 225-4576
Louie Gohmert (TX) (202) 225-3035
Bob Goodlatte (VA) (202) 225-5431
Paul Gosar (AZ) (202) 225-2315
Trey Gowdy (SC) (202) 225-6030
Tom Graves (GA) (202) 225-5211
Sam Graves (MO) (202) 225-7041
Andy Harris (MD) (202) 225-5311
George Holding (NC) (202) 225-3032
Richard Hudson (NC) (202) 225-3715
Tim Huelskamp (KS) (202) 225-2715
Randy Hultgren (IL.) (202) 225-2976
Lynn Jenkins (KS) (202) 225-6601
Jim Jordan (OH)(202) 225-2676
Doug Lamborn (CO) (202) 225-4422
Kenny Marchant (TX) (202) 225-6605
Thomas Massie (KY)  (202) 225-3465
Tom McClintock (CA)  (202) 225-2511
Mark Meadows (NC) (202) 225-6401
Markwayne Mullin (OK) (202) 225-2701
Mick Mulvaney (SC) (202) 225-5501
Randy Neugebauer (TX) (202) 225-4005
Steven Palazzo (MS.) (202) 225-5772
Steve Pearce (NM) (202) 225-2365
Scott Perry (PA) (202) 225-2565
Tom Petri (WI) (202) 225-2476
Mike Pompeo (KS) (202) 225-6216
Tom Price (GA) (202) 225-4501
Phil Roe (TN)(202) 225-6356
Todd Rokita (IN) (202) 225-5037
Keith Rothfus (PA) (202) 225-2065
Ed Royce (CA) (202) 225-4111
Paul Ryan (WI) (202) 225-3031
Matt Salmon (AZ) (202) 225-2635
David Schweikert (AZ) (202) 225-2190
Jim Sensenbrenner (WI) (202) 225-5101
Marlin Stutzman (IN) (202) 225-4436
Mac Thornberry (TX) (202) 225-3706
Randy Weber (TX) (202) 225-2831
Brad Wenstrup (OH) (202) 225-3164
Roger Williams (TX) (202) 225-9896
Joe Wilson (SC) (202) 225-2452
Rob Woodall (GA) (202) 225-4272
Kevin Yoder (KS) (202) 225-2865
Ted Yoho (FL) (202) 225-5744

Crybaby Boehner Narrowly Reelected Speaker

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Crybaby Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) was narrowly reelected Speaker of the House on Thursday after heated public criticism from fellow Republicans and a week of rumors that he would face a GOP revolt.

Boehner won a tiny majority of votes that saw nine Republicans vote for other GOP members while still others abstained from voting or voted “present.” Two years ago, Boehner won all 241 available GOP votes.

At the end of the day, Boehner received 220 votes with fourteen members voting for other candidates or present. Boehner needed 218 votes to win reelection as Speaker.

U.S. Conducts Secret “Tsunami Bomb” Test Designed to Destroy Coastal Cities

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

U.S. attempted to develop a ‘tsunami bomb’ in 1945 to use in war

No wonder so much of the world thinks the United States is insane.

According to the UK Telegraph:

The United States and New Zealand conducted secret tests of a “tsunami bomb” designed to destroy coastal cities by using underwater blasts to trigger massive tidal waves.

The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city.

The top secret operation, code-named “Project Seal”, tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland.

Ray Waru, who examined military files, buried in the national archives said:

“Presumably if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might have been tsunami-ing people. It was absolutely astonishing. First that anyone would come up with the idea of developing a weapon of mass destruction based on a tsunami … and also that New Zealand seems to have successfully developed it to the degree that it might have worked.”

Leave it to the good ole, US of A to try and develop a bomb to wash your enemies out to sea.

The tests were carried out in 1945.

Hillary Clinton Hospitalized with Blood Clot

Monday, December 31, 2012

Mrs. Clinton has been hospitalized for a blood clot in New York City

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hasn’t been seen in public since early December, was admitted to the New York-Presbyterian Hospital for a blood clot.

Clinton, who is known for her grueling travel schedule, flying as many as 400,000 air miles a year as secretary of state, was appointed by President Obama in January 2009.

She is the most traveled secretary of state in history, having visited 112 countries while in the job, according to the Associated Press.

Flying this much certainly puts her at risk for a DVT, or a Deep Vein Thrombosis. A potentially life-threatening condition that requires a doctor’s close monitoring as well as blood thinners to prevent the clot from moving to the heart or brain.

Her spokesman, Philippe Reines said:

“She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours. They will determine if any further action is required.”

I’m sure I speak for all Americans in wishing Mrs. Clinton a quick and complete recovery.

Gun Control Support Soars In New Gallup Poll

Friday, December 28, 2012

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and the ambush on the Webster, NY firefighters, a new Gallup poll shows Americans want stricter gun control laws.

Gallup finds 58% of Americans in favor of strengthening the laws covering the sale of firearms, up from 43% in 2011. Current support for stricter gun laws is the highest Gallup has measured since January 2004, but still not nearly as high as it was in the 1990s.

 

Firefighters Shot and Killed Responding to House Fire

Monday, December 24, 2012

Firefighters shot dead responding to a house fire in Webster, NY, a suburb of Rochester

Less than 24 hours after the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre appeared on Meet the Press and refused to support stricter gun control laws, two firefighters responding to a house fire shortly before 6 a.m. in Webster, NY, were shot and killed.

In all, four firefighters were ambushed and shot responding to the blaze. Two died, while two sustained serious. They’re expected to survive.

Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering, his voice breaking at times, said:

“It appears they were the victims of a trap. People who get up in the middle of the night to fight fires, they don expected to get shot and killed.”

Webster is a small, middle-class town northeast of Rochester. According to the 2010 U.S. census, Webster has a population of 42,000.

The Webster Police Department’s public information officer said the dead are Lt. Mike Chiapperini, 43, a volunteer firefighter, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19.

New York Newspapers Take a Stand on Wayne LaPierre

Sunday, December 23, 2012

When the conservative New York Post rejects the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre’s rants, you know a change is in the air.

Celebrities Lend Their Voices to “Demand a Plan” to End Gun Violence

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Hollywood lends its voices to the Demand a Plan. A grassroots effort for common sense legislation to end gun violence.

Discovery Channel Discovers Ted Nugent is a Liability

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Ted Nugent Holds a Firearm Up While Pretending to be Rocker

In light of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre when a lone gunman killed 20 children as they sat in their classroom, the Discovery Channel decided to pull the plug on the lowly viewed Ted Nugent reality series Ted Nugent’s Gun Country.

You may recall, Nugent supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential campaign. He was also interviewed by law enforcement for making what was seen as threatening comments about President Obama.

In addition to cancelling its popular “American Guns” reality show, The Discovery Channel confirmed to Raw Story on Tuesday that firearms enthusiast Ted Nugent will also not be returning to the channel in any form or fashion.

Speaking to Raw Story in remarks specified as “not for attribution,” a spokesperson admitted that In addition to cancelling its popular “American Guns” reality show, The Discovery Channel confirmed to Raw Story on Tuesday that firearms enthusiast Ted Nugent will also not be returning to the channel in any form or fashion.

Speaking to Raw Story in remarks specified as “not for attribution,” a spokesperson admitted that “Ted Nugent’s Gun Country” didn’t do very well when it aired in October, even with fellow firearms fashionistas. Nielsen Ratings placed the viewership at about 864,000 people in all. But the network’s decision is not just about the numbers.

After Friday’s devastating massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the spokesperson said that Nugent would definitely not be returning to the Discovery Channel.

School Massacre Gunman Raised by Gun Nut Mother

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Nancy Lanza was obsessed with firearms

The Sandy Hook Elementary School gunman, Adam Lanza, who killed 20 children and seven adults Friday was raised by a mother with a fatal attraction to firearms and kept a large arsenal of guns and rifles at home.

The New York Times reports:

Nancy Lanza loved guns, and often took her sons to one of the shooting ranges here in the suburbs northeast of New York City, where there is an active community of gun enthusiasts, her friends said. At a local bar, she sometimes talked about her gun collection.

Ms. Lanza’s fascination with guns became an important focus of attention on Saturday as investigators tried to determine what caused Mr. Lanza to carry out one of the worst massacres in the nation’s history.

Investigators have linked Ms. Lanza to five weapons: two powerful handguns, two traditional hunting rifles and a semiautomatic rifle that is similar to weapons used by troops in Afghanistan. Her son took the two handguns and the semiautomatic rifle to the school. Law enforcement officials said they believed the guns were acquired legally and were registered.

Ms. Lanza, 52, had gone through a divorce in 2008 and was described by friends as social and generous to strangers, but also high-strung, as if she were holding herself together.

The Facts about Firearms in America

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Carnage in Connecticut

Friday, December 14, 2012

Two terrified Sandy Hook Elementary School students react to the school massacre

A masked man clad in black and carrying two guns, entered Sandy Hook Elementary School elementary school in Newtown, CT and opened fire on a classroom.

Twenty students — all under the age of ten, were shot and killed. Seven adults were also killed by the shooter including a teacher and the school’s principal.

The Hartford Courant newspaper said many of the victims were in a kindergarten classroom.

Various media sources report the dead teacher is the shooter’s mother.

Unconfirmed media sources have identified the gunman as Adam Lanza, 20, of New Jersey.

The motive for the shooting was unknown.

Today’s unfathomable carnage at Sandy Hook Elementary School is, according to law enforcement officials, the second-worst school massacre in U.S. history.

Unexplained Light Formation Spotted Above San Francisco’s Mission District

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

First was the epochal Phoenix Lights event in 1997. Now, there’s the San Francisco Lights phenomena.

According to CBS San Francisco:

A viewer told CBS 5 about some surprising video captured early Sunday morning in San Francisco’s Mission District.

In the video, a series of lights fly in formation above the city before appearing to take a diamond shape and eventually disappearing.

Several commenters on the Mission Mission blog said that they had also noticed the aircraft.

“Looked like flame, you know, fireballs in the sky,” Barrios said in an interview with CBS 5.

David Shelley took pictures as the lights hovered over him early Sunday Morning. “Kind of looked like a fiery, floaty thing,” he said.

Witnesses said the lights flickered on and off, then took different shapes.

“So in the beginning they looked like flying candles, and then afterwards they started making formations, triangular formations,” said Barrios.

Bing Quock, assistant director of the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences said, “It’s not a planet, it’s not a constellation, it’s not meteors, it’s not the moon.”

CBS 5 contacted federal aviation officials, and they said they have received no reports of strange lights in the sky, and aren’t sure what the aircraft spotted in the video is. So for now, the flying objects remain unidentified.

Dave Brubeck Has Died

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Dave Brubeck has died.

The legendary jazz composer and pianist, whose inventive style infused such pieces as “Take Five” – in 5/4 time became instant ear candy for generations of music fans. His exotic rhythms were intoxicating — even for people not usually fans of jazz.

Mr. Brubeck was 91 and died in Connecticut.

Dave Brubeck’s career spanned the American jazz since World War II. He formed The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951 and was the first modern jazz musician to be pictured on the cover of Time magazine, circa’ Nov. 8, 1954. His sophisticated rhythms came to define the 1950s and 1960s jazz club scene.

His seminal album “Time Out,” released in 1959, was the first ever million selling jazz LP, and is still among the bestselling jazz albums of all time. “Time Out” opens with “Blue Rondo a la Turk” in 9/8 time – nine beats to the measure versus of the usual  two, three or four beats. “Time Out” also features the beloved “Take Five”.

RIP, Mr. Brubeck. You will be missed.

Please listen to “Take Five” here.

Hypersonic Breakthrough Means Breakfast in New York Lunch in Tokyo

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Reaction Engines Limited Rendering of Its Hypersonic Skylon Aircraft

Hypersonic flight, a longtime dream of commercial and private airplane makers, maybe inching closer to reality.

Enter Reaction Engines Limited – a British company, says it has made “the biggest breakthrough in aerospace propulsion technology since the invention of the jet engine.”

Reaction Engines Limited says its hypersonic engine will send us streaking across the sky at speeds well over Mach 5, allowing us to have bagels for breakfast in New York and sushi for lunch in Tokyo. The hypersonic engine design reportedly includes new ways of cooling the air for an engine that will use oxygen in the atmosphere up to Mach 5.5  before switching to rocket power for the ride in space.

The challenge of attaining Mach 5.5 is propulsion. At speeds beyond Mach 2 or so, a jet engine has trouble getting the oxygen needed for combustion. It’s akin to trying to take a deep breath by sticking your head out the window at 200 mph.

Reaction Engines claims it’s cracked the problem with a design that would allow an airplane to take off, reach orbit using a combination of an air-breathing engine and rocket, then return to Earth. The secret is cooling the air as it enters the hypersonic SABRE engine.

“The pre-cooler technology is designed to cool the incoming airstream from over 1,000 Celsius to minus 150 Celsius in less than 1/100th of a second, without blocking with frost,” the company claimed in its press release.

The European Space Agency says it has evaluated the pre-cooler design and says it is satisfied that the design should move forward. The agency is negotiating a contract to help support the further development of Reaction Engines’ design and it hopes to have a sub-scale ground engine running by 2015.

SOURCE: Wired

What Going Over the Fiscal Cliff Means to the LGBT Community

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

A revealing report from a coalition of LGBT groups details the negative effects that sequestration would have on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans in employment, health, housing, higher education, and personal safety.

The Center for American Progress, in partnership with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and 23 other national LGBT groups, released the study:

Caught in the Budget Battle: How the ‘Fiscal Showdown’ Impacts Gay and Transgender Americans

Looking at the conclusions in the paper, center VP Jeff Krehely said:

“Sequestration in particular would inflict significant harm by requiring wholesale cuts to programs that are critical to the health, wellness, and livelihood of LGBT people and their families. We cannot afford to let that happen.”

Many federal programs, directly and indirectly, support and serve the LGBT population. If across-the-board budget cuts go into effect, LGBT leaders are concerned about the following:

• Threats to the employment security of LGBT workers “because federal agencies would have fewer resources to investigate claims of employment discrimination.”

Under sequestration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces federal employment discrimination laws, would see an automatic cut to its budget in 2013 that will continue through 2021 if no budget resolution is reached after sequestration occurs.

• Lower quality health care for LGBT families because of reduced program funding used to address their health care needs.

For elder LGBT Americans, sequestration would cut Medicare payments to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers for 2013.

• The absence of critical resources from government agencies working to combat bullying and school violence against LGBT youth.

For LGBT youth, sequestration would reduce funding for agencies within the Department of Education and Department of Justice responsible for investigating bullying claims against students based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

• Limited ability of federal government to address the high rates of homelessness among LGBT youth.

• Limited governmental capacity to prevent discrimination in housing against LGBT renters, tenants and potential homeowners.

With fewer resources, the report maintains, it would become more difficult for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to enforce relatively new federal regulations prohibiting discrimination against LGBT renters, tenants, and potential homeowners. Sequestration would greatly undermine the progress made over the past four years toward ending housing discrimination among the population.

• Hampered governmental efforts to prevent violent crime against LGBT people through enforcement of hate crimes legislation.

SOURCE: Wisconsin Gazette

Mitt’s Irony: Final Vote Tally Nears 47%

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

An unkempt Mitt Romney pumps his own gas in La Jolla, CA

Is it possible to be giddy on liberal schadenfreude?

Just when you’re about to enjoy Thanksgiving and give thanks to President Obama for kicking Mitt Romney’s Mormon butt, comes the latest set of numbers showing Romney actually won a mere 47% of the electorate.

What a delicious irony.

Romney, you may recall, was captured on video claiming that President Obama is the candidate of the 47% of Americans who “believe they are victims” and “who are dependent on government.”

SOURCE: TheWeek

Mars Curiosity Discovery ‘One for the History Books’

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Wall of Gale Crater where NASA scientists can see a fluvial system on Mars

Mars Curiosity has made an exciting discovery. The exciting results are coming from an instrument in the rover called SAM.

But we will need to wait until December.

John Grotzinger, principal investigator for the rover mission told NPR last week at his NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA:

“We’re getting data from SAM as we sit here and speak, and the data looks really interesting. The science team is busily chewing away on it as it comes down. This data is gonna be one for the history books. It’s looking really good.”

Grotzinger says it will take several more weeks before he and his team are ready to talk about their latest finding.

Will the December NASA announcement be methane, thought to indicate life, fossils or, something else? We will have to wait a few more weeks to know the answer.