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Maxis Business Kit for SME in Malaysia
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:20 AM PDT
| Maxis Business Kit for SME in Malaysia Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:06 PM PDT Maxis Berhad launched an affordable SME solution called Maxis Business Kit, which combines mobile, Internet, business voice, free devices. Maxis Business Kit consists of two packages: RM288/month with fixed wireless Internet and RM388/month with 4Mbps business fibre Internet. The packages include business voice and mobile lines, plus free ASUS Fonepad. Upgrade options for Internet, Business […] Read the full article at Maxis Business Kit for SME in Malaysia by LiewCF Tech Blog. Follow @liewcf on Twitter. Like LiewCF FB Page on Facebook. | You are subscribed to email updates from LiewCF Tech Blog
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Why Your Design Work Is Making You Sick and What You Can Do to Feel Better
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:18 AM PDT
| Why Your Design Work Is Making You Sick and What You Can Do to Feel Better Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:45 AM PDT Could your profession as a web designer be making you sick? You may not realize it, but your work habits can make a big difference in how you feel. If you don’t believe me, think about how much time you spend at work. If you work full time, you probably spend at least eight hours a day, five days a week on your web design projects. Add it up and that’s a significant chunk of time. 
Bad work habits can lead to poor health. Poor health can hurt your profitability. If you’re not working and you freelance, you’re not earning money. So, the best thing to do is make sure that you don’t have unhealthy habits. In this post, I’ll identify seven common health problems many web designers and other freelancers face and explain how you can safeguard your health (and your business) against each one. Note: I am not a doctor. This post should not be considered medical advice. If you experience pain or health problems that will not go away, you should see a physician.
Health Problem #1. Poor Posture Do you sit up straight at your workstation as you work, or do you sort of slump over your keyboard? Most of us do not sit properly while we work. That means that we spend eight hours a day with our spines misaligned and that can do a lot of damage. If you have shoulder and neck pains or lower back pain and you can’t figure out why, your work posture may be the culprit. If you don’t watch out, you may find yourself shelling out big bucks to specialists to relieve the pain and repair the damage.
The fix: Improve your posture by making sure that your office is ergonomically friendly. How to set up an ergonomic workstation from Sharon Vaknin writing on c|net explains how you can make your office more comfortable to work in. Health Problem #2. Eye Strain 
Most of us work at the computer all day. That means we stare at a monitor, likely one that’s backlit, for periods of up to eight hours or more. Staring at the computer can lead to eye strain. You could be suffering from eye strain and not really even realize it. Here are just a few common eye strain symptoms: - Blurred vision
- Dry eyes
- Headaches
- Redness
- Sensitivity to light
While eye strain may not cause permanent damage to your health, it’s uncomfortable and can certainly slow you down. It’s worth it to change your work style to avoid any eye problems. The fix: John Soares, writing on Productive Writers, has some specific advice to help you overcome eye strain in his post How Writers Can Minimize Eye Strain at the Computer. (Although directed to writers, the advice will work for anyone who spends a lot of time at the computer.) A few of his suggestions include changing the placement of the monitor, adjusting the brightness of your screen, and even wearing glasses. Health Problem #3. Carpal Tunnel and Repetitive Motion Injuries If you’ve ever suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome, then you know how very painful it is. The pain is caused when the nerve near the carpal bone becomes compressed. The symptoms include extreme pain in the hand or wrist, numbness, tingling, or other weakness. As a web designer, you may use a mouse or keyboard for hours at a time. While the evidence is not conclusive, repetitive motions like typing at a keyboard or using a mouse may make conditions like carpal tunnel worse. At the very least, carpal tunnel can make your work extremely uncomfortable. This is definitely one health problem that you are better off avoiding if you can. If the condition persists and does not respond to more conservative treatments, surgery may be required. The fix: Pay attention to your posture, and especially the position of your wrist. Take frequent breaks. Seek treatment early. An ergonomic keyboard such as Microsoft’s Sculpt keyboard or this one from Adesso may help. Health Problem #4. Lack of Exercise Another huge problem web designers face is that web design is mostly a sedentary job. Web designers (and other computer professionals) sit at their desks for long periods. Unless we make a concentrated effort to exercise, we probably won’t get any. However, living a mostly sedentary lifestyle is unhealthy. Sedentary living can contribute to potentially serious health problems such as: - Diabetes
- Heart problems
- Increased blood pressure
- Weight gain
The trouble is, we have to get our work done. So, sitting most of the day may seem inevitable. However, with a little extra planning you can work some exercise into your daily routine. The fix: Some freelancers and web designers make use of a standing desk. Mark Lukach, writing on The Wirecutter, has published a good review of standing desks titled The Best Standing Desk. Another way to work exercise into your schedule is to adopt the Pomodoro Technique®, which alternates intense periods of work with short breaks. Just make sure to exercise during some of your breaks. Health Problem #5. Poor Diet 
Image Source: Lindsay
You’re busy. You’re rushing to meet a deadline. And you’re hungry. What do you do? Do you sit down and prepare a nutritious meal for yourself? Or do you grab a convenient pre-made processed food from your refrigerator or pantry? If you’re like many of us, you rely on the processed food. Unfortunately, there are many problems with processed foods, including: - Low in nutritional value
- High in chemical content
- High in calories
- High in fat
Grabbing a quick bite to eat may sate your hunger in the short-term, but in the long-term you could wind up harming your health. Drinking a soda is even worse. A soda is full of sugar and chemicals and empty calories. If you are thirsty, drink water. The fix: Even you don’t have time to cook, you don’t have to rely on processed foods. Keep your pantry and fridge stocked with healthy alternatives. For example, fresh fruit can quickly satisfy your craving for sugar in a healthy way. Or, put together a nutritious sandwich alternative to junk food in just a few minutes with some cold cuts and whole grain bread. Health Problem #6. Stress Web design is stressful. If you don’t believe it, think of all the pressures you face as a web designer: - Deadlines
- Client meetings
- Collecting payments
- Competitive pressures
- Complaints and demands
- Interviewing new clients
Stress can make a number of health problems worse, including Asthma, headaches, and heart disease. Fortunately, there are many ways to alleviate stress. Here are few: - Dump your worst clients
- Exercise
- Take a break
- Meditation
- Spend time with friends or family
Of course, not every stress reduction technique works for everyone.
The fix: The key is to find the stress reduction technique that works best for you and to start using it. Health Problem #7. No Health Insurance Some freelancers choose to skimp on health insurance to save money. Usually, this is a bad idea. If you don’t have health insurance, you are more likely to skip going to the doctor until a problem is really serious. Since many problems can be nipped in the bud with early detection, you’re taking a huge risk when you avoid doctor visits. By the time you do decide to go, you could be facing something really serious. We’ve talked about insurance before on Vandelay Design Blog. Deciding whether you will be insured is one of the decisions that every freelance web designer needs to make. In the U.S., health insurance laws are in the process of changing under the New Affordable Care Act. Much of the act will take effect in January of 2014.
The fix: Find the best health insurance option for you, depending on where you are located. Go to the doctor when you don’t feel well. If you live in the U.S., Mike Smith’s post on Guerilla Freelancing, How The Affordable Care Act Can Help Freelancers, provides some basic information. Your Turn What health problems have you faced as web designer and how did you overcome them?  | You are subscribed to email updates from Vandelay Design Blog
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An Easy Way to Download APK Files from Google Play
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:17 AM PDT
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Hedge Fund Billionaire to Sell Choice Art
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:17 AM PDT
| Hedge Fund Billionaire to Sell Choice Art Posted: 31 Oct 2013 05:52 AM PDT Steven A. Cohen, founder of SAC Capital Advisors, is parting with about $80 million worth of blue-chip art at auctions that begin next week at Sotheby's and Christie's. | | 3 Star Deal Makers Form London Advisory Boutique Posted: 31 Oct 2013 04:34 AM PDT Simon Warshaw, who recently left UBS, will team up with Simon Robey, a former Morgan Stanley banker, and Simon Robertson, right, a former chairman of the Rolls-Royce Group. | | Chegg Seeks to Raise Up to $172.5 Million in I.P.O. Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:54 AM PDT The initial public offering of Chegg, which focuses primarily on renting textbooks for a semester at a time, is expected to be one of the more closely watched among the technology community. | | Revenue Slumps at BNP Paribas, but Profit Rises on Cost-Cutting Posted: 31 Oct 2013 01:11 AM PDT The French bank reported better-than-expected earnings despite a nearly 11 percent decline in its investment-banking business resulting from a "lackluster" economic environment. | | Troubled Texas Utility Said to Lean Toward Debt Payment Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:47 PM PDT Energy Future Holdings is inclined to make a $270 million interest payment to bondholders at an unregulated wholesale power subsidiary. The payment is due on Friday. | | Alrosa, a Russian Rival to De Beers, Enters Public Trading Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:26 PM PDT The Russian government is spinning off a 16 percent stake in Alrosa, a leading diamond producer that once was part of a price-controling cartel. | | From Anonymity to Scourge of Wall Street Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:02 PM PDT A onetime engineer who earned his law degree at night has been behind the government's campaign to punish Wall Street for the financial crisis. | | U.S. Attorney to Recommend Lawsuit Against Bank of America Over Mortgages Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:30 PM PDT The bank said that it had increased its estimate of potential losses from lawsuits and regulatory matters to $5.1 billion. | | House Votes to Repeal Dodd-Frank Provision Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:03 PM PDT The vote Wednesday, which included the support of 70 House Democrats, followed months of intense lobbying by Wall Street banks. | | Sanford Weill Lures Philharmonic Ex-Chief to Sonoma Posted: 30 Oct 2013 03:52 PM PDT The former Citigroup chief executive, who owns a 360-acre estate in California wine country, is putting up the money to hire Zarin Mehta at a nearby concert hall at Sonoma State University, writes Robin Pogrebin of The New York Times. Read more » | | For a High-Powered Career, It’s Finance vs. Tech Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:49 PM PDT Robert J. Shiller, the Nobel-winning economist, and Vivek Wadhwa, vice president of innovation and research at Singularity University, spar at a conference debate. | | Why Chrysler Needs an $18 Billion Valuation to Justify an I.P.O. Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:54 PM PDT With a union trust and Fiat at loggerheads, a stock offering could end up being a lot of work for nothing, the author contends. | | Bankruptcy Filing Is a Stunning Fall for a Brazilian Tycoon Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:23 PM PDT The action by the petroleum company OGX was the culmination of a decline that had been apparent for months. | | Submit Your Questions for DealBook’s Nov. 12 Conference Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:31 AM PDT Whether or not you attend the annual conference at our headquarters in New York, you can still ask questions of the executives, investors and policymakers. | | Questions Remain About Unwinding Failing Financial Giants Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:28 AM PDT A proposal overcomes the obvious problems with orderly liquidation authority – but only by addressing the holding company. | You are subscribed to email updates from DealBook
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These Hauntingly Bizarre Lifeforms Could Inspire Your Best Costume Ever
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:13 AM PDT
| These Hauntingly Bizarre Lifeforms Could Inspire Your Best Costume Ever Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT | | Fujifilm's Latest Camera Is a Swappable-Lens Speed Demon Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT | | Orson Scott Card: Mentor, Friend, Bigot Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT | | Here's the Modern Office We Dream of Having Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT | | Angry Nerd</em>: Don't Just Animate Movie Blood. Give Us the (Almost) Real Stuff Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT | | The World's Most Terrifying Public Transit Rides Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT | | Why Guessing Your Romantic Partner Is So Important to Facebook Posted: 31 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT | | Salesforce Gives Every Company Its Very Own App Store Posted: 31 Oct 2013 05:00 AM PDT | | Behind the Scenes of the Birth of WarCraft</cite> Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT | | Make Your Pictures Pop: Use Your Camera's Aperture-Priority Mode Instead of Auto Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT | | Stock Photography Doesn't Have to Suck Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT | | Watch: A Gizmo That Makes 49 Rubber Duckies Sway in Perfect Harmony Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT | | Things We Loved This Month: Behold October's Must-Have Gear Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT | | Orson Scott Card Talks Ender's Game</em> in Rare Interview Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT | | NBA Superstar Chris Bosh: Here's Why You Should Learn to Code Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT | | Path to Success for One Palestinian Hacker: Publicly Owning Mark Zuckerberg Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT | | People Lose Their Sh*t in Hilarious Haunted House Photos, Part Two Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:00 PM PDT | | Mr. Burns Stars as Smaug in Simpsons</em> Couch Gag Spoof of The Hobbit</em> Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:23 PM PDT | | In a First, Police Ticket a Driver Wearing Google Glass Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:42 PM PDT | | Exoplanet Discovered to Be Earth-Sized and Covered in Lava Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:21 AM PDT | | Report: NSA Is Intercepting Traffic From Yahoo, Google Data Centers Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:56 AM PDT Not satisfied with the bulk data it collects through court orders from internet giants Google and Yahoo, the National Security Agency reportedly vacuumed up traffic from communication links between the companies' data centers, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden.  | | Smokin' Hot: Mini Air Jordans Made From Cigarette Packs Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:45 AM PDT | | Virgin America Makes the Best Airline Safety Video Ever Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:22 AM PDT Virgin America manages to make the greatest pre-flight safety video ever.  | | Huge Dark Matter Experiment Finds Nothing but More Mysteries Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:18 AM PDT | | Bang & Olufsen Unveils a Stunning, $14,000 Speaker System Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:15 AM PDT These good looks are gonna cost you. Beginning in late November, you can get the BeoLab 17 for $3,990, the 18 for $6,590 and 19 for $3,395.  | You are subscribed to email updates from Wired Top Stories
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Social Media Examiner – Where’s The Google Plus Content?
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:13 AM PDT
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Home Business Summit San Diego Attendee Information
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:07 AM PDT
| Home Business Summit San Diego Attendee Information Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:58 PM PDT There’s less than 48 hours to go till the Home Business Summit begins. You are going to LOVE this event, and I am really looking forward to meeting you and shaking your hand. Here are some key information you’ll need to know in order to make this Home Business Summit the best event you’ll ever attend. How To Get The Most Out of The Event - Book your nights at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina, if you haven’t already done so. Don’t put this off, or you will miss out.
Phone: 402-592-6464 / 888-421-1442
1441 Quivira Road
San Diego, CA 92109 USA
Tell them you’re with the Home Business Summit to get the group rate. My advice is to stay at the hotel where the event is at. The last thing you want, is to be trekking back and forth each day between hotels. Sure, there might be a cheaper Hotel nearby, but when you take into account the costs of not being able to stick with the group, and missing out, it’s not worth it. - Keep Friday night (7-9pm) and Saturday night (7-11pm) completely free, and plan to stick around at the Hotel. We’re going to have some very powerful networking sessions during these hours. The worst thing you could do is go home, and miss out on these. Seriously, one of the most valuable sessions you’ll get from live events is at the bar AFTER the main speaking sessions are done for the day. This is where you’ll get 1-on-1 time with your peers and the speakers, so don’t short change yourself by going home early.
Come To The Home Business Summit As My Guest I was given 25 Home Business Summit tickets to give away. I have 5 left. When I gave out free tickets for events in the past, I found that half the people don’t show up, and I end up paying for extra seats. So if you wish to come to the Home Business Summit for free as my guest, here’s what you’ll have to do. Go to HomeBusinessSummit.biz and purchase your ticket (it cost $97). Then forward the confirmation to johnchow [@] JohnChow.com as proof of purchase. I will send you back a confirmation. On the final day of the Home Business Summit, bring your confirmation to me and I will give you $100 cash. You’ll actually end up making money on the deal! Sounds good? Then get your ticket now before they’re all gone. Remember, I only have 5 left, and once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. I won’t be getting anymore, and you’ll have to pay for it out of your own pocket because you delayed in taking action. Take action now. I’ll see you in San Diego this Friday! Click Here Secure Your Ticket for The Home Business Summit | You are subscribed to email updates from John Chow dot Com
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10 Things You Should Never Say About Yourself
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:05 AM PDT
| 10 Things You Should Never Say About Yourself Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:10 PM PDT 
"None but ourselves can free our minds."
―Bob Marley When I was a freshman in high school, and struggling to find my way, someone anonymously slipped a note into my locker one afternoon. It said, "Don't let them get inside your head. You're not boring, nerdy or weird. You're complex, creative and far too intelligent for their small words. And for the record, you are also infinitely more attractive than you give yourself credit for." I never discovered who wrote the note, but whoever they are, they changed my life. From that day forward, I changed the way I talked to myself. Specifically, I STOPPED saying… Final Reminder: We recently released a limited time bundle for ‘1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently’ that includes our eBook, audio book and bonus material on sale for a big discount. We’re also running a 'Get One, Share One' autographed paperback special while supplies last. Click here to check it out!
1. "I'm not good enough yet." You might think you're not good enough, but you'll surprise yourself if you keep trying. Your past does not determine who you are. Your past prepares you for who you are capable of becoming. What ultimately defines you is how well you rise after falling. Don't ever be afraid to give yourself a chance to be everything you are capable of being. Forget the haters. Never undervalue who you are and what you’re capable of. Excellence is the result of loving more than others think is necessary, dreaming more than others think is practical, risking more than others think is safe, and doing more than others think is possible. 2. "I should be living up to other people's expectations." Remember, it's always better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than the top of the one you don't. Happiness and success is all about spending your life in your own way. Always be yourself and walk your own path. No one can ever tell you you’re doing it wrong. Everyone has their own dreams, their own struggles, and a different path that makes sense for them. You are YOU for (more…) | You are subscribed to email updates from Marc and Angel Hack Life
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Yelp’s Reviews, Active Business Accounts Jump in Q3
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:05 AM PDT
| Yelp’s Reviews, Active Business Accounts Jump in Q3 Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:55 AM PDT  Yelp’s third quarter 2013 earnings report shows a huge gain in two of the company’s primary (non-financial) metrics:
- the number of active businesses using Yelp, and
- the total number of reviews
Yelp says it now has more than 57,000 active business accounts, up from 35,500 a year ago — a 61 percent increase. These are defined as accounts from which Yelp made money during the quarter. Reviews jumped from 33.3 million a year ago to 47.3 million at the end of Q3, a 42 percent gain. 
I should note that a small portion of the growth is due to Yelp’s ongoing integration with the European review site Qype that it bought last year. Yelp’s mobile growth is also impressive. Consider: Mobile Yelp Searches: In the latest quarter, Yelp says 62 percent of all Yelp searches happened on mobile devices. That’s up from 45 percent a year ago. Mobile App Usage: Yelp says its mobile app was used on 11.2 million mobile devices in Q3, up from about eight million a year ago. This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.
Yelp’s Reviews, Active Business Accounts Jump in Q3  |
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Birthday Sluts
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:03 AM PDT
| Birthday Sluts Posted: 31 Oct 2013 01:00 PM PDT 
Sally Kirkland (72)
Tinkerbell Hilton (11)
Willow Smith (13)
Justin Chatwin (31)
Samaire Armstrong (33)
Eddie Kaye Thomas (33)
Piper Perabo (37)
Linn Berggren of Ace of Base (43)
Vanilla Ice (46)
Irina Pantaeva (46)
Ad-Rock (47)
Annabella Lwin (47)
Dermot Mulroney (50)
Rob Schneider (50)
Larry Mullen Jr. (52)
Peter Jackson (52)
Brian Stokes Mitchell (56)
Jane Pauley (63)
Deidre Hall (66)
Stephen Rea (67)
David Ogden Stiers (71)
Ron Rifkin (74)
Dan Rather (82)
Lee Grant (84) | | Blind Items: I Guess, You Guess Posted: 31 Oct 2013 04:08 AM PDT 
Two unfaithful wives. The First Wife is still trying to figure out if she wants to be one. She and her husband have been through a lot the last few years, on both sides. It was before the trouble though when she had an affair with a colleague — still above the line, but with a smaller spotlight, both compared to First Wife and his own wife who’s just as famous too, and should be just as acclaimed. The affair was intense, so intense that First Wife wanted to end her marriage and he was going to end his marriage but then her husband needed her in crisis. So she helped him recover, and as soon as he healed, she fell apart. By the time she got it together, her moment with her lover had passed. He happily reconnected with his own wife (though she has no idea) while First Wife is struggling with what would have been. As for the Second Wife – everyone's been speculating about her infidelity recently but they might be focusing on the wrong target. The right target isn't a billionaire but he's a pretty successful player too, albeit on a smaller screen. Their involvement led to an award for her, and a divorce for him. She was attracted to him because "he's the hot geeky type like her husband". Both insist that they never moved past suggestive texting and heavy flirting and never ended up consummating their attraction. Bullshit. There was at least one night and that's why she's so freaked out about the takedown that's been coming to her. She'd be happy if they stayed on the current scene they're on so long as she doesn't get busted for this one. PS. Everyone mentioned here is a major celebrity. (Lainey Gossip) The First Wife is Catherine Zeta-Jones? Around the time that Michael Douglas lied to us all when he said that he had throat cancer (he really had tongue cancer), CZJ was directed in a movie by Bart Freundlich. Bart Freundlich is married to Julianne Moore. CZJ boning on Bart Freundlich is kind of hard to believe. If you even think about cheating on ginger goddess Julianne Moore, your peen will fall to the ground, slither to a storm drain and find its way to HELL. CZJ’s snatch probably knew that Michael Douglas was going to lie about having throat cancer and put the blame on it, so it got revenge by getting on another dick. The second wife is Goopy Paltrow? Exhibit: A. The only major award that Goopy has won since marrying Chris Martin is the Emmy she got for Glee. I don’t think of any those hos on Glee are married, so I’m guessing this blind is talking about a producer whose name isn’t Ryan Murphy. Expose her, Vanity Fair! But try to expose her before December 25th so Christmas can come early!
At some point I think people should just get divorced rather than to resort to what this married B list celebrity/reality show host puts female guests through. If you are a stripper or escort or just a pick up he is hiding from his A+ list celebrity wife you have to sign a five page confidentiality agreement that is in Spanish and English and is in BOLD print and to sign it before you ever get a chance to meet with the celebrity. Their photo is also taken signing the agreement and stapled to it. He could just have sex with his wife too I suppose. (CDAN) Mario Lopez’s wife isn’t even hanging on to the Z list, so I’ll guess Nick Cannon?
It is hard to believe that this former A list tweener was once this naive but for almost a year she had no idea her boyfriend was also sleeping with a guy. A much older guy. So there was our tweener about to have a procedure to take care of her pregnancy and her boyfriend who got her pregnant was having sex with an old man. Must have been one heck of a Thanksgiving at her house. (CDAN) Miley and Justin Gaston? Or Ashlee Simpson, Ryan Cabrera and Papa Joe? And now I need to go and pour Clorox in my eye sockets until the images drown out.
| | There’s Trouble In Falkor Paradise Posted: 31 Oct 2013 12:35 AM PDT 
The plastic skeleton that is hanging on your neighbor’s front porch for Halloween might have a new set of balloons tits on it and that’s because it thinks it has a chance with Eddie Cibrian after finding out that he might be dumping that other plastic skeleton with balloon tits. America’s foremost journal of truth and integrity Star Magazine says that the black card in Eddie Cibrian’s wallet and the luxury car he bought with LeAnn Rimes’ money isn’t enough to soothe the last nerve that splits every time he has to deal with her crazy ass. After two years of marriage, Star’s source says that Eddie can’t take it anymore and living with psycho LeAnn is a lot like being stuck in a 6′ X 6′ room with a methed-up horse and a sneaky snake. Eddie is waiting until they shoot their fake reality shit show before he tries to pull as much money as he can out of her luck dragon claws. Star’s source said: “They've only been married for two and a half years, but she's been driving him to distraction with her psycho behavior from the moment they first hooked up. It's been getting continuously worse since they made it official, and Eddie can't take it anymore; he's at the end of his rope."
The source also says that Eddie might be running back into the bony arms of Brandi Glanville, because he texts her every time he gets into it with LeAnn. Of course, LeAnn’s spokeswhore has already whistled at GossipCop to say that Star’s story is full of more shit than LeAnn and Eddie combined. For once, I kind of believe LeAnn’s spokeswhore. Eddie is living a gold digger’s dream. He gets to live in a mansion, luxuriate on a pile of money and hump his side pieces out in the open, because LeAnn is too busy tweeting at her haters and getting drunk in the closet. What’s with that drunk in the closet shit anyway? LeAnn pays the mortgage! Eddie should be banging his side pieces in the closet while she gets to get drunk all over the house. I swear, some cheating gold diggers have no respect! | | I Didn’t Know Gwyneth Paltrow Had An Autumn Home In Fargo, ND Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:58 PM PDT 
In Fargo, ND, a woman known only as Cheryl (how Madonna of you) has decided to take it upon herself this Halloween to teach fatties not to be fatties anymore by handing out letters of concern instead of candy. Wait, I'm sorry; she's still handing out candy, just not to the fat kids. So if you're dressed up as present-day Jennifer Hudson, you're going home with a Fun Size Baby Ruth, but if you're dressed up as Dreamgirls Jennifer Hudson, you're going home with an 8.5×11 sheet of paper. Happy Halloween!! In a Y-94 morning radio interview, Cheryl called in to express how concerned she is with all the overweight neighbourhood kids, and how it's “really irresponsible of parents to send them out looking for free candy just ’cause all the other kids are doing it". Every dentist in Fargo just breathed a sigh of relief knowing that giving out mini tubes of toothpaste no longer makes them the shittiest house on the street. Cheryl got greedy and spilled the beans on her diabolical obesity-curing plan too early by calling in to Y-94 to brag about how above-it-all she is. Now along with a bunch of humiliated fat kids shuffling down her driveway with notes in hand, she’s going to have a line-up of parents ready to crumple that letter up into a ball and fire it back at her face. And that’s if she’s lucky! Cheryl might want to invest in some good rubber boots, because that radio station interview has given the neighbourhood kids plenty of time to match her paper-for-paper and leave flaming paper bags of dog shit on her doorstep. It goes without saying that Cheryl is a human piece of garbage, but I will say this: that actual, physical letter wrapped me up in a warm blanket of nostalgia, and I love it. The CorelDRAW jack-o-lantern jpg from 1994 tells me this letter was most likely printed on Continuous form paper, and if you take out every reference to obesity or food and replace it with words like 'Godless' and 'Path to Salvation‘, then you'd have the exact same letter that was handed out every Halloween by my born-again Christian bus driver in elementary school. Ah, those were the days. | | Afternoon Crumbs Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:53 PM PDT 
Reps for L’Oreal announced that Blake NotSoLively is their new face and used the word “elegance” to describe her. In other news, L’Oreal’s reps have no idea what the word “elegance” means and need to educate themselves by flipping through pictures of Shauna Sand – Lainey Gossip These vintages pictures of Madonna’s naked body are missing one very important thing from her past: her sascrotch – The Superficial Elijah will be a regular on Girls the season after next if there’s a season after next – Towleroad Selena Gomez is still in a bikini and is also wearing one of Mrs. Roper’s favorite house coats – Hollywood Tuna Scary Spice’s Mr. Clean-looking ass husband gives her a quick mammogram check during their regularly scheduled staged photo-op – Drunken Stepfather The cast picture for The Private Lives of Nashville Wives looks like an ad for a Windsor Fashions outlet – Reality Tea Sadly, Christina Ricci didn’t wear her Wednesday Addams costume when she got married over the weekend – The Berry Woe is Katharine McPhee – Celebitchy This is Lady CaCa’s “mourning for my dog” look – ICYDK The other day there were pictures of MiserAlba smiling, so I’m glad the world can continue to spin now that she’s back to looking miserable – Popoholic Kendall Jenner’s transformation into Pimp Mama Kris’ next prized pig is about 55% complete – IDLYITW Joe Jonas is not chasing dragons, so says Joe Jonas – Just Jared Too TOO Easy – Popsugar And yet, it still looks freshly and fluffier than Lindsay Lohan’s weave – OMG Blog I bet a Subway foot long that Alyssa Milano made her sex tape with Kirk Cameron – SOW Can we start a Kickstarter for Tori Spelling’s supposed sex tape to never see the light of the Internet, because I’m pretty sure we all like our eyes and like having them in our faces – HuffPo I’d hit it: the befores and the afters – Pajiba The only thing Pimp Mama Kris blacklists is dignity and self-respect – Popbytes Joan Rivers welcomes Orlando Bloom to the neighborhood – I’m Not Obsessed (Pic via FameFlynet) | | The CAPTION THIS Contest For October 30th! Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:52 PM PDT | | Open Post: Hosted By PP And A Pumpkin PP Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:34 PM PDT 
I was just about to scream for the cancellation of Slutoween because I hadn’t yet seen pictures of the patron saint of the ho stroll and international supermodel Phoebe Price posing at that fame whore pumpkin patch in Beverly Hills, but crisis averted! While dressed as the ringmaster of the Circus of Fuckery, Chicken Cutlets turned an extra long pumpkin into a pumpdick (or peenkin?) and a pair of pumpkins into pumptits. Slutoween can finally go on now that Phoebe Price has made our retinas cream by posing like she’s got a big pumpkin dick. And yes, it took a giant pumpkin dick for me to finally say it, but I would. Pics: Splash | | Squinty Zellweger No More Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:58 PM PDT 
During today’s performance of The Color Purple, I will be playing the role of Harpo, you will be playing the role of Squeak and Renee Zellweger will be playing the role of the woman whose face you don’t know anymore because she pulled that shit into a new identity. Former beard extraordinaire Renee Zellweger and her boyfriend Sideshow Bob’s cool uncle Doyle Bramhall II went to the Armani One Night Only event in NYC a week ago and as Celebitchy points out, she had on a different face. Today started out as a glorious day (see: Guy Fieri’s slappy lovers quarrel video) and it’s turned into a sad face kind of day, because I can no longer type the name Squinty Zellweger since I don’t think bitch can even squint that hard anymore. Is Renee Zellweger still Renee Zellweger if she no longer looks like she just sucked off a Lemonhead and brushed her tongue with the sour body dandruff of a dozen Sour Patch Kids? I bet that after her surgeon did whatever they did to her face, she opened her eyes all the way and for the first time in decades, she didn’t see life in letterbox format anymore. What did you do, Renee?! We have to go back! WE HAVE TO GO BACK! I am happy for Renee that she no longer looks like a stoned turkey who’s concentrating hard while pushing out a stubborn shit. But I am unhappy for myself, because I can no longer call her Squinty. “Open Widey Zellweger” just isn’t the same. Pics: Wenn.com, Splash | | Jean Paul Gaultier Debuts Couture Line For Children With $1,200 Dress (AKA A New Rag To Mop Up Blue Ivy’s Spills) Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:59 PM PDT 
"How nice; now everyone can afford Gaultier" – Suri Cruise, as she sits on a throne made of human nannies. No longer content with making clothes for rich people, Jean Paul Gaultier has decided that it's time he start also catering to their rich crotch droppings as well. According to the Daily Mail, JPG (which is actually a pretty hot acronym) began making clothing for kids back in 2009 under the name Junior Gaultier, but he woke up one morning and thought 'Why charge Normals hundreds for a dress when I could charge celebrities THOUSANDS?!' Only one piece for the collection has been released so far, and it's this Gap Kids c.2001-looking $1,200 silk and tulle dress that will be available in sizes 4 to 14 years old. I know that a $1,200 dress for a child seems ridiculous (because it's well-known that children are just small drunk adults who spend a great deal of time falling down and pissing themselves) but to the rich, this is VALUE. This is Jean Paul Gaultier for TARGET. This is ‘John Paul Gotye‘ at a Florida swap meet. Real rich kids like Suri Cruise or Blue Ivy Carter could buy and sell your ass six times over, so a $1,200 dress is like a roll of Bounty towels to them. Unless they need a new painting smock or a princess costume for Halloween, they won't be caught dead in a dress that was bought off the rack. You think Apple Martin gets her dresses from the same store as Tori Spelling's kids? Puh-lease. Here's how it works: If Vivienne Jolie-Pitt wants a new dress, St. Angie summons 4 men in balaclavas to kidnap you in the dead of night, brings you to an unmarked warehouse somewhere in Cameroon, hands her assistant several hundred-year-old gold bars, which they then hands to you (you don't get to touch the veiny extremities of the chosen!) and gives you 24 hours to create a unique child's dress that will be worn once to a toy store in Australia, then promptly burned to a pile of ash. The only person I can think of who is desperate enough to convince us they're high-class and bougie enough for a $1,200 baby dress is Kris Jenner. You know she's already put in an order for North West, Kourtney's Kid (I cannot even bother to Google her name), and herself ("I'm practically the same size I was when I was 14!") | | Donkey Sauce For Your Soul: Guy Fieri Gets Into A Slap Fight With His Hairdresser Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:13 PM PDT 
This morning, I woke up to the most terrifying, horrific headline that made me almost let go of the empty bottle of red wine I spoon with and jump out of bed to rent a U-Haul, drive to Trader Joe’s and buy all the cases of Two-And-A-Half-Buck Chuck. The headline was: Thirsty? There’s a global wine shortage But then I came across another headline that instantly healed me and gave me a buzz. Who needs wine when you can get happy drunk on a video of Guy Fieri having a whiny, screechy, slap fight with his hair stylist. TMZ says that the throbbing boil on an albino porcupine’s ass was boozing with his hairdresser Ariel Ramirez on a flight to San Francisco International Airport on Saturday. When they landed, they both got into an SUV and were about to drive home when for some reason, they got into a fight and took each other to SlapDown Town. There was drama! There was theater! There was slapping! There was screaming! There were tears! There was anguish! That video is my new favorite pick-me-up. Ariel sounds exactly like a drunken 21-year-old me screaming at my boyfriend outside of a gay bar after accusing him of throwing sex eyes at another trick. Eventually, Guy’s manager took a weeping Ariel home in a cab. A source tells TMZ that Ariel and Guy were just “dudes being dudes.” Guy told TMZ that it was just “a bunch of guys messing around. Things got a little out of hand, but they’re all good now.” Yeah, a good old-fashioned bro brawl IS a peroxide-headed TV cook having a slappy, scream fight with his personal hair stylist. There’s so much to be said about this. It’s really hard for me to believe that a hairdresser gets paid to travel around the country with Guy and do that to his hair. I thought he bleached that mess himself and got his hair spiky like that by sticking a deep fried zesty mozzarella stick up his ass. But I am more than happy that Ariel travels with Guy, because if he didn’t, they never would’ve gotten into this lovers spat at the airport and it never would’ve been captured on camera. They really need their own reality show called Dudes Being Dudes. And Guy must’ve been tanked, because if he was sober, he would’ve screamed, “Not the hair, bitch, not the hair,” as Ariel slapped at him. | You are subscribed to email updates from Dlisted
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Nishant Kothary on the Human Web: The Monster Within Us
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 07:01 AM PDT
| Nishant Kothary on the Human Web: The Monster Within Us Posted: 31 Oct 2013 04:29 AM PDT "I think you could have a lot of fun talking about scary things," wrote my A List Apart editor, asking if I'd be up for publishing a Halloween-themed column today. Admittedly, she is right about my penchant for uncomfortable things. This may be why I don't get invited to very many parties. I recently learned that the phrase "trick or treat" is short for "Give me a treat or I will play a trick on you." It's actually a threat. It also happens to be a frighteningly good metaphor for how our brains work. "Give me short-term gratification, or I will make your life miserable!" is the brain's modus operandi as it communicates with itself to help us live our lives. This is because there is a monster within us, and it's called the amygdala1. It's no accident that I referred to the amygdala in my first and second pieces. It's because I believe that even a high-level understanding of this curious part of our brains can dramatically improve each of our lives. The amygdala, one of the earliest to evolve parts of the brain, is responsible for the fight or flight instinct: that reflexive, subconscious reaction that protects us in moments of dire danger. The amygdala's top functional focus is to keep us alive at all costs. And to that end, it has evolved to save our lives by making split-second decisions with not only very little data at hand, but without the participation of a conscious mind. If the amygdala were to get a tattoo across its chest, it'd be Notorious B.I.G.'s "Squeeze first ask questions last," in Gothic Olde English. (Biggie is referring to squeezing the trigger, of course.) And for good reason. In the amygdala's world, the only thing between life and sudden death is a few measly milliseconds. But in our #firstworldproblems, we rarely encounter life-or-death situations. And as a result, there's a diminished need for the amygdala's role as bodyguard. Instead of being on the lookout for predators or incoming spears from rivals, the amygdala spends all its time on relatively more trivial matters. Like protecting our delicate egos. But evolution doesn't happen overnight. And you can definitely see the amygdala's propensity for fight or flight in these examples, if you squint just right: - The need to put down someone's taste in music because they confess they like Celine Dion
- The urge to chase down someone who cuts us off on the freeway
- The propensity to fire off a hasty and nasty response to an email perceived as rude
Maybe these examples will hit closer to home? - The anger directed at an "uneducated" colleague who just gave us negative feedback on a design concept
- The instantaneous feeling of disdain toward a company that we loved, just after they announce they're going to start making revenue from advertising
- The urge to send a snarky tweet (or worse, to write a rude blog post) when the CEO of a Fortune 500 company redesigns its logo over the weekend
There's a good chance that at least one of these examples made your pulse speed up and your face warm for a split second. Mine is Celine Dion. That lady doesn't make my heart go on—her name almost induces cardiac arrest. It's not because I'm "being emotional." No, really: her music is objectively bad, she has no talent, she doesn't write her own songs, she is a narcissist, blah blah blah. And thus, blah-dee-blah-blah. And therefore, Celine Dion sucks; her supporters are perpetuating the demise of the music industry; and I am doing the world a favor by telling them so. We are phenomenal at dressing our monster-driven opinions as fact, thanks to our ability to confabulate. But in reality, we're simply characters in an issue of Modern Jackass (as Ira Glass illustrated in an aptly titled episode of This American Life, A Little Bit of Knowledge): people taking a tiny smidgen of understanding and stretching it far past the breaking point. This applies even to the brightest among us. Under a critical lens, each of the above examples possesses one and only one objective truth, and they all have it in common: they're defensive in nature. And when you take away the thin veils of our shaky rationalizations that we’re defending everything from beauty and freedom to capitalism and craft, they reveal what we're truly defending: ourselves. That is, our own, biased view of the world. Even if we ignore the price that we pay in the form of lost civility, professional immaturity, and a slew of other things, we are still left with a hefty cost: our own flow, i.e. our happiness. This becomes clear as day in our always-connected social media lives, where every second we're awake, unchecked amygdalae can, and often do, hijack our bodies. When you start counting the number of times you lose control of the consciousness that is a non-negotiable prerequisite for flow, the cost revealed is unaffordable both in the short and long run. "I don't like what anger and fear—mine and others'—do to my brain and my body, so I filter like crazy," writes Erin Kissane on The Pastry Box before proposing some great pragmatic solutions to help you preserve your flow without disconnecting yourself from the internet. If I'd read that in 2010, it may have prevented my Twitter breakup and year-long hiatus from social media. The manifestation of our monsters on the web is but an amplification of their already thriving existence. The internet simply helps wipe the condensation off the mirror, so to speak. And this becomes hilariously (or tragically?) obvious in this Jimmy Kimmel Live! segment where celebrities read out nasty tweets directed at them. The fact is, we had road rage long before we jumped on the information superhighway. So the question is, how do we fix the real, analog problem? As with most problems, the solution seems to lie in nipping the offending behavior in the the bud: by catching a defense mechanism before it can mutate into committed jackassery. And our weapon of choice is introspection—using our mind to monitor our brain. Among the many strategies you can find online and in books, my favorite technique is known as affect labeling, an elegant aikido-like maneuver that uses the brain's weakness to gain the advantage. It involves labeling what you're feeling in moments of conflict. For instance, if someone does something that upsets you, you identify exactly how you are upset by saying to yourself, "I feel disappointed. Walt's behavior really disappointed me." This labeling of your feelings trades off a potentially monstrous reaction for conscious thought, effectively reducing the load on the amygdala, and allowing your higher brain to work through the problem. A variation that my wife and I use to great effect (we're the elusive business-partner pair that's happily married) is to simply vocalize that a monster may be at work. Sometimes when emotions get heated as we collaborate on designing something or find ourselves in an over-analytical discussion about why we ran out of milk that morning, one of us will stop the other dead in their tracks and say, "I think you're having an amygdala hijack." Or in rare moments of victory, "I think I'm having an amygdala hijack." But before we get carried away with best practices and extemporaneous problem-solving, it's worth pausing to remind ourselves of that old adage, "The first step to solving a problem is recognizing that there is one." Nothing is harder than recognizing a problem with ourselves. If you take away only one thing from this article, let it be the following: There is a monster within you (and me). That's all our minds need to remember the next time the monster in our brains comes around and asks us the inevitable. "Trick or Treat?"  |
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Porsche Panamera Turbo S packs 570 hp and 192 mph top speed
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:49 AM PDT
| Porsche Panamera Turbo S packs 570 hp and 192 mph top speed Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:31 AM PDT Porsche has announced a new top-of-the-line model for its four-door Panamera range. The new car is called the Porsche Panamera Turbo S and Porsche says that it’s the fastest, most powerful, and most luxurious Panamera available. Porsche is also offering an Executive version of the car with a wheelbase extended by 5.9 inches intended for […] | | Nether first person survival game hits Steam today Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:17 AM PDT If you’re a fan of survival games, developer Phosphor Games has announced early open access via Steam to its new first-person survival game called Nether. The game is being discounted during the Steam Halloween Sale. Gamers who have pre-ordered the game previously will receive additional in game perks for being among the first to support […] | | PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will ship 10 million units by March tips EA Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:00 AM PDT EA is predicting some very healthy sales for the next generation consoles including the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Xbox One for Microsoft. EA recently held its earnings call and company CEO Andrew Wilson was deluged with questions about the coming launch of the next generation game consoles from both Microsoft and Sony. EA […] | | Nintendo sells 460,000 Wii U consoles in last six months Posted: 31 Oct 2013 02:43 AM PDT Early in the life of console gaming, Nintendo was the game console to own. The Nintendo was so popular that many other companies stepped into the market with consoles with their own such as Sega, Microsoft, and later Sony. Nintendo did okay with its original Wii, but so far the Nintendo Wii U has been […] | | Xbox One the size of a semi trailer appears in downtown Vancouver Posted: 31 Oct 2013 12:07 AM PDT As part of Xbox’s ongoing insane marketing rampage to the Xbox One‘s Nov. 22 launch, the company has parked a gigantic model of an Xbox One console on Seymour St. in downtown Vancouver, BC. As of yesterday and through the release date, street pedestrian traffic can walk up to it and enter their gamertags into […] | | Android KitKat confidential doc shows low-end device targeting to mitigate fragmentation Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:35 PM PDT Android KitKat has been a tease for weeks now, and while we’ve seen leaks and screenshots and such appear in bits and parcels, all pale in comparison to the leak that has surfaced over at JessicaLessin.com this evening. At the site, Amir Efrati details quite a bit about the next iteration of Android, doing so […] | | AT&T hit with European backlash due to NSA activities Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:44 PM PDT The NSA has received a lot of backlash for its various spying activities, but it isn’t the only entity that is paying for its activities. AT&T, which has long been interested in buying a wireless company in Europe, has received substantial resistance, with it being made known that any purchase that takes place will “face […] | | Twitter update brings photos to users’ feeds Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:54 PM PDT If you’ve been browsing around Twitter this evening and something seemed different, you’re right — an update has rolled out that brings photos in all their glory to users’ feeds. Now when scrolling, most images will show up in a large preview window, showing a large portion of what the image is and leaving the […] | | Facebook investigates tracking users’ cursors and screen behavior Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:21 PM PDT Facebook has been actively researching the feasibility, effectiveness, and profitability of tracking users’ cursors and screen positions, reports the Wall Street Journal. The data would give the social media giant the ability to analyze the ways in which users interact with Facebook content and advertising. This would in turn let it change the site and […] | | IDC tablet shipment numbers show high growth for all but Apple Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:16 PM PDT IDC has released its third-quarter numbers on the tablet industry, and in them we see good news for four of the top five tablet vendors, with all but Apple seeing growth — in a couple cases, substantial growth — year-on-year. For Samsung in particular, the market share numbers compared to the same quarter last year […] | | Jeep recall over fire hazard being delayed for reasons unknown Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:33 PM PDT Earlier this year, Chrysler agreed to recall over a million Jeeps due to a fire hazard that has, to date, claimed a few dozen lives. Such a recall came after the auto maker originally rejected a recall proposal by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, having stated at that time that the pegged vehicles were […] | | Kickstarter brings on new CEO, founders announce position changes Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:48 PM PDT Kickstarter has been around for a handful of years now, and in that time span has seen regular growth and some wildly successful campaigns, not the least of which was the recent Mighty No. 9. As the company continues to grow, a management shuffle is taking place, and two Kickstarter co-founders will be taking on […] | | Getting Cheeky with the Honda UNI-CUB – a seamless experience Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:57 PM PDT The Segway failed to set the individual human transporter market alight, but that hasn’t stopped other attempts to give your tired legs a rest, and we hopped onboard Honda’s UNI-CUB to see how it held up. Revealed last year as the first example of Honda’s omni-directional driving wheel technology, the UNI-CUB may look like a […] | | Google Glass accessories surface as support pages go live Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:55 PM PDT Yesterday, we saw a preview surface of Google Glass version 2.0, something Google had posted on its Glass G+ page. With the device will come some accessories options, of which images have surfaced via a PDF document. In addition, Google has made some support pages for various Google Glass accessories live, detailing each a little […] | | Dell Latitude 6430u ultrabook off-gassing “cat pee” odors will get replacement part Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:48 PM PDT Dell introduced the Latitude 6430u business ultrabook back in the early summer of 2012, and soon after complaints regarding a peculiar odor began surfacing on the company’s product forums. According to many owners, the laptop is off-gassing an odor that smells, for lack of more sophisticated phrase, “like cat pee.” Though the company responded with […] | | Lavabit and Silent Circle team up for open source tool to make spy-proof email Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:04 PM PDT As we’ve previously reported, both Lavabit and Silent Circle have shut down their encrypted email services in recent times, with Lavabit having been shut down due to government demands and Silent Circle shuttering its email service as a preemptive strike against the same sort of problems. Now the two have joined forces as the first […] | | iPads behind Ohio State Marching Band’s Michael Jackson moonwalk Posted: 30 Oct 2013 03:03 PM PDT If you’ve not seen the video of the Ohio State Marching Band taking it to the field with a Michael Jackson tribute march – you’re missing out. This week it’s become a viral hit, grabbing thousands of hits in its original publication on YouTube and thousands more in each consecutive re-upload. Here a few days […] | | NSA secretly taps Google, Yahoo data transmission worldwide Posted: 30 Oct 2013 03:02 PM PDT The National Security Agency, in conjunction with England’s NSA counterpart Government Communications Headquarters, has been secretly intercepting Google and Yahoo data transmissions around the world, according to a new analysis of the Snowden documents. The documents show how the two spy agencies can cooperate to send copies of customer records en masse to the NSA’s […] | | Facebook Q3 2013 earnings have company grow by leaps and bounds Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:26 PM PDT This afternoon Facebook's financial Q3 report included word that the company was running up on expectations for growth, beating both 3-month and 6-month totals over the 2012 season at this time. This earnings report included word from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that "the next phase of our company" was ready to unfurl. Facebook's report began with […] | | Nexus 5 details round-up: here on Halloween Eve Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:36 PM PDT With the Nexus 5 / KitKat release nearly upon it, it’s become time again to take a look at what we’ll likely be seeing from Google as early as tomorrow. With Google’s team-up with Nestle for the release of the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system upgrade – alongside several tips from independent sources – it […] | | Bitcoin cash turns over a fortune due to forgetfulness Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:17 PM PDT Kristoffer Koch of Norway spent $27 on 5,000 Bitcoins in 2009 as research for a paper he was writing about data encryption. He turned in the paper and promptly forgot about the purchase. Four years later, Koch noticed Bitcoin making headlines as it peaked at $266 per Bitcoin. He logged in to his Bitcoin wallet […] | | Steam users eclipse Xbox Live, PSN still far and away tops Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:33 PM PDT This afternoon the folks at Valve have let it be known that they’re rolling in with a cool 65 million users total for the Steam gaming network. This number can be compared to the most recent report from Sony on the PlayStation Network working with 110 million users and Microsoft reporting that they’re in at […] | | Android KitKat “Magic” and “Give” videos appear Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:41 AM PDT While you’ll not be seeing one whole heck of a lot of new details appearing on the operating system known as Android 4.4 KitKat in the following teaser trailer, you will find entertainment in abundance. Google and Nestle appear to be rolling out one – if not a whole series – of video advertisements for […] | | NVIDIA Console Mode closes case on legacy machines Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:34 AM PDT Engineers at NVIDIA have taken the time this week to reveal a collection of new abilities for their SHIELD device, perhaps the most symbolic of these being a new “Console Mode”. This mode for the device allows the user to close the top on the handheld device and run its display through a mini-HDMI port […] | | HTC bullet-stopping smartphone response: One care package Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:00 AM PDT So you say you’re a store clerk who was shot with a low-caliber pistol, but you didn’t die because and HTC smartphone blocked the bullet? Lucky you, HTC is all about taking care of those that miraculously have their lives saved by an EVO. This week’s incident happened in Florida where a Hess gas station […] | | Nexus 5 details expand on shipping floor Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:40 AM PDT Today several photos have appeared from a shipping facility somewhere in the world with the Google Nexus 5 ready to hit stores sooner than later. This device is appearing with a black front, a black back, and a blue box not unlike that of the recent release of the 2013 edition of the Nexus 7. […] | | Nokia Lumia volumes trend upward as IDC weighs in Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:16 AM PDT Today we’ve seen Nokia’s financial Q3 results for 2013 and – though overall numbers leave something to be desired – it would appear that their “smart” phones strategy with Lumia and Asha is working. We’ve had a peek at Nokia’s results and cross-referenced with the IDC’s most recent numbers. We had a chat with the […] | | Neurocam takes photos when you think Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:09 AM PDT There’s a device out there in the wild this week called Neurocam, working with an iPhone, a mirror, and a brainwave reader to take photos whenever you show interest in what you’re looking at. The design of this product uses a rather simple setup that has the sensor set off an iPhone camera’s shutter, sitting […] | | Google Glass speeding ticket strikes: changing the law Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:34 AM PDT Today there’s a buzz about a speeding ticket issued in California with an additional note about wearing Google Glass. The original post appears courtesy of Cecilia Abadie who provided a rather clear scan of the ticket she recieved. This ticket suggests that while Abadie was pulled over for speeding – 80 miles per hour in […] | | Nintendo 3DS XL The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds bundle coming Nov 22 Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:49 AM PDT Nintendo has announced a new video game system bundle that will land just in time for holiday shopping. The new bundle will include the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds set to launch on November 22. Nintendo will offer the video game in a special bundle with a customized 3DS XL […] | | DISH will loan iPad 2 tablets to Southwest passengers on select flights Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:00 AM PDT Earlier this year we mentioned that DISH and Southwest Airlines had teamed up to bring free live television and on-demand services to all Wi-Fi equipment Southwest flights. The inaugural flight for the service saw DISH hand out free iPad tablets to passengers so they can enjoy the service. Being able to watch DISH programming during […] | | Amazon Cloud Player app for Mac users launches Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:05 AM PDT Earlier this year Amazon launched its Cloud Player for PC users. That application has proven to be popular for computer users and Amazon has now announced that the Cloud Player is available for Mac users. Cloud Player for Mac gives Mac computer users a new way to manage their entire music library whether music is […] | | Toshiba Tecra Z40 and A50 laptops aim at business users Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:52 AM PDT Toshiba has unveiled a pair of new notebook computers aimed at small and medium business users. Both of the new computers fit into the Tecra line and include the compact Tecra Z40 and larger Tecra A50. The Tecra Z40 notebook computer has a 14-inch screen and is built using a magnesium alloy Tough Body chassis. […] | | Amazon smartphone 3-D object matching service patent app surfaces Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:48 AM PDT Rumors have been swirling about the smartphones that Amazon is working on. Earlier this month an Amazon smartphone was tipped to be in the works going by the codename Smith that was reportedly cooked up at least in part by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Today more information has surfaced having to do with the rumored […] | | Cisco DX650 desk phone runs Android with 7-inch touchscreen Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:16 AM PDT Cisco has announced a new desk phone for your office that takes a standard videoconferencing capable phone for the office and crams Android goodness inside. The phone is called the DX650 and it leverages Android for business needs such as videoconferencing. The DX650 has a built-in webcam supporting full HD resolution video calls at 30 […] | | Titanfall will never hit the PlayStation 4, but Titanfall 2 may Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:00 AM PDT Titanfall has created a huge buzz in the gaming industry and is said to be one of the most impressive video games in years. The game has been announced as coming to the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC gamers. We knew the title was an Xbox exclusive video game, but new information has surfaced […] | | Bang & Olufsen unveils three wireless BeoLab speakers Posted: 30 Oct 2013 03:55 AM PDT Bang & Olufsen is a seriously high-end audio manufacturer that makes speakers and televisions that cost more than a nice car in many instances. The company has announced the launch of three new high-end wireless speakers. The new speakers include the BeoLab 17, BeoLab 18, and BeoLab 19. The BeoLab 17 is a speaker designed […] | You are subscribed to email updates from SlashGear
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Open thread for night owls: Racism and 'Redface' Halloween costumes insult American Indians
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:42 AM PDT
- Open thread for night owls: Racism and 'Redface' Halloween costumes insult American Indians
- Economics Daily Digest: Getting government websites right
- ADP reports just 130,000 new private jobs created in October. Shutdown assigned some of the blame
- Today in E.W. Jackson news: We need more guns in our schools
- Sen. Coburn faux-apologizes for calling Senate Majority Leader Reid an 'asshole'
- Fox News corrects CBS's bad Obamacare story?!?!
- States that expand Medicaid could lower their prison health costs
- Architectural firm proposes 1,300 mile bike path along Keystone XL because that solves everything
- Paul Ryan: Budget negotiations are for cutting federal pensions, not corporate tax loopholes
- Reid, Leahy reiterate nuclear option threat over DC Circuit nominees
- Tales from the strip
- Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner wants waiver to exempt his district from Obamacare
- Republicans suck, so let's beat some next week
- President Obama speaks about Obamacare in Massachusetts
- Gee, you mean Republicans don't want to fix Obamacare?
- Midday open thread: rayguns coming, death penalty support falls, 'War of the Worlds' caused no panic
- Sebelius takes responsibility for HealthCare.gov problems, weathers Republican attacks
- ENDA just one vote shy of a filibuster-proof margin in the Senate
- Alex Sink, Democrats' best-known option, will run for the House in Florida special election
- Tea partiers attacked by GOP lobbyists
- The teabagger core argument: Takers, makers and the violent end of democracy
- Republican committee responsible for sabotaging Obamacare grills Sebelius
- Spying Is For Everyone
- Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: A new poll shows a close race to unseat Scott Walker
- Daily Kos Radio is LIVE at 9am ET!
- Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday
- Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: How ACA really works
| Open thread for night owls: Racism and 'Redface' Halloween costumes insult American Indians Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:30 PM PDT Red Road Woman, also known as Ruth Hopkins (an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe on the Lake Traverse Reservation of South Dakota), writes The Difference Between Being a Slut & a Racist: Pochahottie Hottentot: | Ahh, yes. Halloween is just around the corner. Time for pumpkin carving, Trick-Or-Treating, and women dressed like two-dollar hookers wearing headdresses. What better way to celebrate the ancient pagan feast of Samhain, where the spirits of the dead roam free, than to wear slutty costumes that reduce people of other races to stereotypical hypersexualized caricatures. After all, why keep the embarrassment and denigration all to yourself? Wait…what? Lindsay Lohan said it best in Mean Girls: "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything." Say what you will about whether using Halloween as an excuse to advertise your goodies is right or wrong, but I can assure you of one thing: dressing as a sexy pirate, a hot nurse or even a slutty pizza slice, isnotthe same thing as dressing up as a sexy Indian princess, cheeky Cherokee or naughty Navajo. They aren't just examples of having a little fun with patriarchy (and figuratively slapping Susan B. Anthony and your grandmother in the face simultaneously). It's racist. Native Americans are not costumes, we're human beings. The traditional clothing we wear is called regalia, and looks nothing like the faux 1950's Hollywood shit that pop culture pawns off on consumers as "Indian." All Native American people are not the same. There are 566 federally recognized Native American Tribes in the United States. Each possesses its own distinct culture, language, heritage, and land base. Furthermore, we don't take kindly to non-Natives debasing our sacred objects. The war bonnet, for example, is reserved for Native American warriors and chiefs who've fought bravely for their people. Each feather in a war bonnet symbolizes a single act of courage in the face of death and destruction- and no, fielding crowds of sweaty, irritable shoppers to buy a fake headdress at Spirit Halloween doesn't count. War bonnets are more akin to Purple Hearts. As a Native American, I can't tell you what an absolute pain it is to traverse through aisles of costumes this time of year, especially with children in tow. Mommy doesn't like explaining why Party City is selling a "Cheeky Cherokee" teen costume that promises to send its wearers "heading for the woods," or why Spirit Halloween is displaying a "Naughty Navajo" mini dress that will have women "sending out smoke signals." […] | I urge you to read the rest of Hopkins's excellent rant.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2009—On the difficulty of keeping ducks in a row: | Why has it historically been so tough to keep House progressives standing strong and using the leverage of their voting bloc to extract concessions on important legislation the way Blue Dogs have been able to? Part of the reason is that progressive elected officials occupy a portion of the political spectrum that generally leaves them insulated from most accountability to progressive voters. In other words, they're protected to some degree by the "where else are they gonna go?" factor.
That's why progressive grassroots activists have come to expect their elected officials to eventually and in most every case, end up making the "best deal we could get" argument in support of their ultimate abandonment of principles clearly stated in the earlier stages of the process. |
 everyone realizes that sebelius isnt getting fired because the senate would never confirm a new HHS secretary? — @adamconner
On today's Kagro in the Morning show, Reminder: CREDO Mobile's special offer for our listeners ends at the end of the month! Greg Dworkin rounds up the latest on ACA implementation, Sebelius' appearance on the Hill, the Virginia elections, and the retreat from the Gop & Tea Party brands. Ryan Grim & Jason Linkins' "The Definitive Guide to Decoding Washington's Anonymous Sources." Ryan Cooper's "The Filibuster Must Die." Think Progress' "How Sequestration Gets Even Worse Next Year." And the Center for Public Integrity's shocking series on how coal giants use high-powered lawyers and in-house medical "experts" to keep killing their miners with black lung.
High Impact Posts. Top Comments.
 | | Economics Daily Digest: Getting government websites right Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:49 AM PDT By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal Click here to receive the Daily Digest via email. One Federal Website That Works (Bloomberg View) Roosevelt Institute Fellow Susan Crawford looks at a new site by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which makes regulations transparent and accessible. The CFPB also followed development practices that other agencies should copy, like open source software. Alone in the Dark: Susan Crawford and the Telecom Industry (WNYC) Manoush Zomorodi interviews Susan about how telecommunications companies deal with disasters like Hurricane Sandy. Deregulation has created a situation where the industry isn't required to have backup power to keep customers connected in emergencies. JPMorgan Settlement is Justice, not a Shakedown (WaPo) Katrina vanden Heuvel argues that the $13 billion settlement is hardly enough, because the money means nothing to JPMorgan Chase. She thinks that "perp walks" are necessary so that individuals are held accountable. America's New Hunger Crisis (MSNBC) Ned Resnikoff looks at the demands on food pantries since 2009, and speaks to staff who are concerned about increased need when an automatic food stamp cut goes into effect this week. Pantries are already strained, and federal funding was hit by sequestration. Time to Investigate Those Insurance Company Letters (TAP) Paul Waldman says that when insurers send letters that say a plan has been canceled and push customers onto more expensive plans, they're obscuring the facts. Plans are being required to cover more, and that's usually called an improvement, not a cancelation. How a Frustrated Blogger Made Expanding Social Security a Respectable Idea (Pacific Standard) David Dayen profiles Duncan Black, known as Atrios online, who has spent the past year pushing for increases in Social Security benefits. He pushed a dramatic expansion hoping for smaller changes, but people are taking his idea seriously. No Grand Bargain: Why Dems Think They Won't Have to Budge on Sequester Demands (MoJo) Patrick Caldwell suggests that the Democrats will be unwilling to take any budget deal that doesn't eliminate sequestration. If they have to insist on a series of short-term continuing resolutions instead, it's the Republicans who are likely to land in hot water. New on Next New Deal The Solution Economy: Problem Solving Everyone Can Agree On Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network Senior Fellow for Economic Development Azi Hussain argues that the solution economy, which solves societal problems with public-private partnerships, could be one of the only things the right and left can agree on right now.  | | ADP reports just 130,000 new private jobs created in October. Shutdown assigned some of the blame Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:30 AM PDT  The chart above shows ADP and the Bureau of Labor Statistics closely meshing in their measures of
private-sector job growth. But the apparent close count is due to ADP's subsequent revisions. The monthly report on private job creation put together by Automated Data Processing and Moody's Analytics usually is released two days before the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its report on both private- and public jobs. But the BLS report for October has been delayed until Nov. 8 because of the federal shutdown the first two weeks of the month. So ADP's gauge for October is all decision-makers will have to go on for the moment. The consensus of experts surveyed in advance put the seasonally adjusted private-sector growth in jobs at around 150,000 for the month. Instead, ADP reported Wednesday just 130,000. And it lowered to 145,000 the 166,000 jobs it reported for September. It also lowered its numbers for August from 159,000 to 151,000. Even though it changed its methodology last November to better match the BLS measurements, that didn't quite do the trick, and ADP has continued to miss the bureau's estimates by fairly wide margins each month since then. Its original tallies don't look like the chart above, which uses revised figures that nudge the results closer to the BLS report after-the-fact. But the ADP report does usually show the same trend as the BLS report. The New Jersey-based ADP provides payroll processing, human resource and benefit administration services to some 600,000 clients worldwide.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, said, "The government shutdown and debt limit brinksmanship hurt the already softening job market in October. Average monthly growth has fallen below 150,000. Any further weakening would signal rising unemployment. The weaker job growth is evident across most industries and company sizes." Some details: • By Sector: goods-producers, 24,000 jobs; service-providers, 107,000 jobs • Industry Snapshot: construction, 14,000; manufacturing, 5,000; trade/transportation/utilities, 40,000; financial activities, -5,000; professional/business services, 20,000 • By Company Size: small businesses, 37,000 (1-19 employees 35,000; 20-49 employees 2,000); medium businesses (50-499 employees), 13,000; large businesses, 81,000 (500-999 employees, 2,000; 1,000+ employees, 79,000).  | | Today in E.W. Jackson news: We need more guns in our schools Posted: 29 Oct 2013 01:33 PM PDT Today in E.W. Jackson news, the actual Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia says that we need more guns in schools. No, not just armed guards, but people to protect us from the armed guards, and then other people to protect us from those people, and—oh, hell, everyone should be bringing guns to schools. "If you had, in the public school system, every person who had a concealed carry permit and was trained to use a firearm allowed to bring that firearm to school, so that those nutjobs know that if you walk into a school you don't know who you're going to face, but that people in there will be armed, I guarantee you they'll find another target. Having an armed guard there is OK, not a problem with it, very costly, OK, but it also gives them a specific target. We know where that person is, that's the only person armed, we take them out the rest of the school is at our disposal. No folks, freedom, the Second Amendment, is the answer to dealing with these people." Makes sense to me. Everyone needs to bring a gun to school to make sure some crackpot doesn't try to bring a gun to school. It'll be just like a potluck dinner at Glenn Beck's house.  | | Sen. Coburn faux-apologizes for calling Senate Majority Leader Reid an 'asshole' Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:45 AM PDT  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-asshole) Oh noes, Sen. Tom Coburn has done the worstest thing ever. No, not the part about supporting policies that harm wide swaths of the American public, aka anyone who does not personally own at least one small Caribbean island. The part about how you can be as big a monster as you want in politics so long as you don't call anyone any bad words: Sen. Tom Coburn addressed reports that he called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid an "absolute a—hole." "My words weren't appropriate, but my frustrations are real," Coburn (R-Okla.) said Wednesday on Fox News's "Fox and Friends." I'm not sure it's possible to give a sincere apology on Fox and Friends. That said, it wasn't a sincere apology so who cares. Explaining that frustration Coburn said, "the Senate's not doing what it's supposed to do and the leadership of the Senate has set it so that they can actually force consensus." Given that there seems to be a new effort to block a new nominee every new week and the Senate faces threats of filibuster if someone so much as requests consent to blow his own nose, I have no idea what Coburn thinks the Senate is "supposed to do" at this point or what it would take to reach this magical land of "consensus" that apparently the Senate was able to find all the time before America started electing people like Tom Coburn. That said, I have it on good authority that the esteemed gentleman from Oklahoma is, in fact, an asshole. I've looked at the polling for these things. I know.  | | Fox News corrects CBS's bad Obamacare story?!?! Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:59 AM PDT  CBS's Jan Crawford out-journalismed by Fox News. That's gotta hurt. CBS News, happy to jump on the Obamacare not-really-a-scandal, found a woman in Florida who is losing her crappy insurance policy and is unhappy about it. Jan Crawford reports: That includes 56-year-old Dianne Barrette. Last month, she received a letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield informing her as of January 2014, she would lose her current plan. Barrette pays $54 a month. The new plan she's being offered would run $591 a month—10 times more than what she currently pays. Enter Fox News, smelling blood in the Obamacare water. What Fox News didn't count on, though, was Greta Van Susteren actually committing journalism. "Your $54 a month policy is a pretty, you know, bare bones policy, "Greta said. "Why do you want to keep that one, except for the price? Maybe you can get something better with a subsidy?" "Well, I know it doesn't cover lengthy hospital stays," Barrette replied, adding "It's perfect for what I want. I get co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions. So it suffices what I need. Also, the price isn't too bad either." [...] "Well, does it pay for any hospitalization, the current policy you have?" Greta asked. "Again, I'm a little confused about it," Barrette answered. "I have been reading over and over the policies, and it appears that it does cover some outpatient, but when you go through the booklet they sent, it would say refer to this, refer to it but then refer back to… it was very confusing." [...] Greta agreed that "Trying to figure out insurance is extremely confusing in the best of circumstances," but even without a shred of research, was able to tell that "your policy is like, you know, if you are walking across the street and someone runs a red light, you are in deep trouble under your existing policy." That's just a smattering of the conversation in which Van Susteren attempted to find out precisely what, if anything, Barrette's current plan offered, whether she had shopped for new insurance in the exchange to find something more competitive than what her current insurer was offering, and whether she knew how much of a subsidy she would be able to get to offset her higher premium costs. Sadly, and Van Susteren was very sympathetic to Barrette, the guest really couldn't answer any of these questions. Barrette's subsequent booked appearance, scheduled for Fox's morning news, was promptly cancelled.  | | States that expand Medicaid could lower their prison health costs Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:09 PM PDT Researchers of an analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts have found that state-funded costs of health care for prisoners soared between 2001 and 2008, the last year for which complete statistics are available. In the 44 states surveyed, authorities spent $6.5 billion on health care for prisoners. It's logical to assume costs have continued to rise. One means of reducing those costs for the states would be to enroll eligible prisoners in Medicaid. The study concluded that spending increased in 42 of the 44 states studied. Median growth of 52 percent, but in 12 states, prison health expenditures at least 90 percent. Texas and Illinois experienced inflation-adjusted decreases in their prison healthcare costs. The main reasons behind the rising costs? More prisoners thanks in part of mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines and the unmitigated failure of the war on some drugs. A failure except for the prison industry, that is. Over the past four decades, the U.S. inmate population has risen by 677 percent, from 198,061 in 1971 to 1,538,854 in 2011. The other factor is the aging of that prison population. In 1999, only 43,000 prisoners were over age 55. Now, 121,000 are. Those older inmates with chronic diseases average two to three times that of the cost for other inmates, according to Pew. Starting next year, as part of the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will cover 100 percent of the costs new Medicaid enrollees in those states that choose to expand Medicaid to cover all adults earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line, which for an individual is currently $15,282. The federal share of expanded Medicaid coverage will be reduced to 90 percent by 2020. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have decided to expand Medicaid. Almost every prisoner would qualify for coverage. Reducing inmates' health-care impact on state prison budgets would not be the only benefit, according to Amy Solomon, an adviser to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs. The expansion of Medicaid will also cover ex-convicts, many of whom live in poverty. Providing Medicaid for former inmates not only should improve their health, Solomon says, but also could reduce recidivism associated with addiction and mental illness, much of which now goes untreated among ex-prisoners. For those still incarcerated, Medicaid would only cover health costs incurred when inmates are sent to hospitals and other health-care facilities outside the prison walls. But such costs can be substantial. In Ohio, for instance, where Republican Gov. John Kasich out-manuevered members of his own party to expand Medicaid, savings for inmate health care during the first eight years of the expanded Medicaid are estimated at $273 million. Dennis Smith, the former director of the Center for Medicaid under President George W. Bush, ain't happy about this idea:
"By definition, those state prisoners in state facilities are the obligation of the state and that obligation should not be transferred to the federal government ... I think most people would come down on the side that Medicaid was never intended to pay for the medical care of people in state custody," Smith said. "It's a very significant issue for the federal budget and Congress better close that loophole quickly." There is, of course, an additional way to cut expenditures for inmates' health care. Reduce the number of prisoners by ending the drug war that has put so many of them in the slam in the first place.  | | Architectural firm proposes 1,300 mile bike path along Keystone XL because that solves everything Posted: 28 Oct 2013 03:03 PM PDT  Start planning your next vacation, kids. : The debate over the Keystone XL pipeline has gotten pretty heated and Kinder Baumgardner has an idea to cool the emotions: a really long bike path. The creative director for the SWA Group, an Houston-based architectural firm that designed Google Inc.'s corporate campus, says building the lane along Keystone's path through the country's mid-section could turn what is now a source of rancor into a tourist attraction. SWA is a serious group; alas, their proposal to create a 1,300 mile bike path so that you may accompany Canadian tar slurry on its way to the ports of the Gulf Coast is not being taken very seriously at all. Environmentalists are unimpressed with the compromise of helping destroy the planet's atmosphere in exchange for a "interpretive display"-studded path celebrating the effort; TransCanada says they won't be able to build permanent structures in the pipeline easement, just the pipeline part of it, because rules and such. Perhaps the biggest flaw in the plan, however, is that everyone knows bike paths are a secret plot by the United Nations to make us subservient to lesser animals like cows and alpacas and whatnot. If you think the Keystone expansion is controversial now, just wait until the conservative right got hold of the idea that the pipeline would be bicycle friendly. Come to think of it, that could be a fine plan: If Obama mandated a bicycle lane next to the pipeline, conservative opinion on the project would reverse itself overnight. Rand Paul would give a speech. Ted Cruz would give a speech. You'd see the entire conservative establishment lying down in front of the bulldozers to stop Keystone XL from ever being built.
 | | Paul Ryan: Budget negotiations are for cutting federal pensions, not corporate tax loopholes Posted: 29 Oct 2013 07:13 AM PDT  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) With budget negotiations coming up in Congress, Democrats are looking to end sequestration by getting new revenue through sources like closing corporate tax loopholes. However: "If this conference is used as an excuse to raise taxes, then I fear we will not be successful," House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said last week. "We'll take the spending cuts we have if that's all it's going to be." Because heaven forbid giant, hugely profitable corporations have to be spared the agony of paying as much in taxes as they pay their CEOs. Ryan does have one idea for who Congress could make pay, though: As for the future, Ryan has proposed a 2014 budget that would require federal employees to pay more toward their retirement benefits while eliminating special supplemental payments to certain federal employees who retire before age 62. The savings under that plan would be an estimated $132 billion over 10 years. In recent years, federal workers have faced pay freezes, sequester furloughs and a government shutdown. All while many of them earn less than they would in the private sector. Now, Republicans are suggesting what amounts to a significant pay cut for these workers—just, heaven forbid, not a tax increase for those who can most easily afford it, be they billionaires or banks. And driving the most qualified people out of the government is a great way to make the government function worse, achieving another Republican goal by creating problems they can point to in their everlasting quest to break and dismantle government entirely.  | | Reid, Leahy reiterate nuclear option threat over DC Circuit nominees Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:45 PM PDT Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is attempting to educate Republicans, but it's not likely to work. As a reflection of just how brazenly political Republican opposition to anything President Obama wants to is, they've brought back the laughable assertion that Obama is attempting to "pack" the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by filling three vacancies. Reid calls that what it is: "ridiculous." He's moving ahead with the nominations, and taking the nuclear option out of his back pocket and waving it around in front of Republicans, with some help from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The pressure to change Senate rules and strip Republicans of their power to filibuster certain judicial nominees "would be almost insurmountable" if Republicans block Millet's confirmation vote to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Leahy said at an event advocating Millett, currently a Supreme Court appellate attorney. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has already threatened to invoke the so-called nuclear option if Republicans don't let at least one of Obama's D.C. Circuit nominees get a vote. Millett, who will come up for a vote as soon as Thursday, is the first of Obama's three D.C. Circuit nominees to hit the Senate floor. Nina Pillard cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and is ready for a floor vote, while Robert Wilkins is set for his committee vote on Thursday. By the way, one Republican senator let the cat out of the bag, and explained just why Republicans are trying to block any more Obama nominees to this critical court: Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said that he, too, will vote to filibuster Millett and revealed why Republicans want to keep Obama's nominee from getting on the court. "We're worried about that court being a significant bastion for administrative law cases on Obamacare," Kirk said. What a shock.  | | Tales from the strip Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:50 PM PDT | | Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner wants waiver to exempt his district from Obamacare Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:05 PM PDT  Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) No, no, no. What kind of conservative crackpot are you? If you want your district to not have to follow federal laws you don't like, the appropriate action is to (1) pass some toothless local laws saying you're not going to follow them and (2) threaten to secede from the United States if the big bad federal authorities don't agree. You don't petulantly ask the mean representative from the federal gubbermint for a waiver. During a House Energy and Commerce Committee oversight hearing on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) had a lofty request for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: exempt my entire district from Obamacare. "I would like to submit a waiver from my district from Obamacare and hope you consider waiving it for the fourth congressional district," said Gardner, concluding a contentious exchange with Sebelius. Never have so many politicians gone to such great lengths to make sure insurance companies are still allowed to tell sick people to go to hell. Rep. Gardner's district contains about 100,000 uninsured constituents, not enough for Gardner to particularly care about but too many for him to personally find and steal medication from.  | | Republicans suck, so let's beat some next week Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:30 PM PDT  We can't vote Ted Cruz out next week, but we can take out his friends.  It's been a busy few months for our little friends across the aisle. There was that whole attempt to destroy the world economy, all over a hissy fit over a law they don't like and can't overturn via democratic means. There's that continued insistence that government-mandated transvaginal probes are a good thing, because of freedom of course. How about the crocodile tears over Healthcare.gov, as if Republicans aren't actually cheering the site's launch glitchiness? And nothing says "pro-family" more than tearing immigrant families apart, and refusing to engage in a comprehensive solution. Forget it if you're gay, or brown, or female, or from outside Alabama and similar environs. You have Republicans saying that they'd vote for slavery if given the chance (really!), saying that Chief Justice Roberts isn't a real conservative because he wants to fill judicial vacancies (really!), Republicans claiming that the US Army is preparing to execute Christians (really!), Republicans still claiming Saddam had weapons of mass destruction (really!), Republicans thinking Suzanne Somers is an "expert" at anything (really!), and even Republicans saying that democracy is irrelevant in pursuit of their agenda (really!). We may be a patently partisan group of folks here at Daily Kos, but we're well within the mainstream of the American people in hating the GOP. And in a week, Virginia gets first whack at taking out Republicans. Republicans like Bush-era super villain and now-Virginia Del. Barbara Comstock:
"Unlike my opponent, I would not vote for transvaginal ultrasounds, especially not for rape victims," [Daily Kos-endorsed Democrat Kathleen] Murphy said at one point, referring to a proposal that would have required women considering an abortion to undergo the invasive procedure. Comstock guffawed and said Murphy distorted her record on women's health issues. Ha ha ha! Transvaginal probes are hilarious! Fuck her. Seriously, fuck her. And all her friends. So if you haven't given to our slate of Virginia candidates, time is running short. Do it now! Over 3,500 of you have already done so, but we are a bigger community than that. Republicans are impervious to reason or reality, but they can't unskew election losses.  | | President Obama speaks about Obamacare in Massachusetts Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:58 PM PDT 
President Obama is in Boston today, and is about to speak about the Massachusetts health reform, and about Obamacare. Mitt Romney found out about the speech, and took to the forum every dismally defeated Republican turns to, Facebook. He wrote there: In the years since the Massachusetts health care law went into effect nothing has changed my view that a plan crafted to fit the unique circumstances of a single state should not be grafted onto the entire country. Beyond that, had President Obama actually learned the lessons of Massachusetts health care, millions of Americans would not lose the insurance they were promised they could keep, millions more would not see their premiums skyrocket, and the installation of the program would not have been a frustrating embarrassment. Health reform is best crafted by states with bipartisan support and input from its employers, as we did, without raising taxes, and by carefully phasing it in to avoid the type of disruptions we are seeing nationally. Yeah, whatever. It didn't work in 2012, and it's not working now. Gov. Deval Patrick is speaking now, and President Obama will shortly follow. 1:03 PM PT: Obligatory shout-out to the Red Sox. Hard to imagine him in a beard. 1:04 PM PT: Says he's in MA because it was here that a bipartisan group, with Romney, Sen. Ted Kennedy and the legislature launched health insurance reform that works. The remainder of the liveblog is below the fold.  | | Gee, you mean Republicans don't want to fix Obamacare? Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:28 AM PDT  It was all just for show? The cameras were on Wednesday morning as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius answered obnoxious questions about Obamacare from Republicans who were lined up knee-deep to get a chance to whine and moan. But what happens when the cameras aren't on?  Rep Fleming (R-LA) says "about 20 members" are in this HHS briefing on Obamacare for House Republicans — @frankthorpNBC House Republicans demanded the same briefings that Democrats were getting from HHS about Obamacare. They got it, and no one came. Almost enough to make you think they care more about getting on TV talking about how bad they think Obamacare is than, you know, working to fix it.  | | Midday open thread: rayguns coming, death penalty support falls, 'War of the Worlds' caused no panic Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:00 PM PDT - Today's comic by Matt Bors is Spying Is For Everyone:
- Gallup Poll shows Americans' support for death penalty at lowest level since 1972. But it's still at 60 percent. There's a wide divide between Republicans (81 percent in favor), Democrats (47 percent in favor) and independents (60 percent). Despite all the class and race evidence to the contrary, 52 percent believe the death penalty is fairly imposed, and 44 percent believe it should be used more often. Gallup has been asking the same death penalty question since 1936. But it fails to ask people whether they would support the death penalty if life without parole were the alternative. At least some polls have indicated reduced support for the death penalty when respondents are asked if they would favor life-without-parole instead of execution.
- "War of the Worlds" radio program 75 years ago did not cause a panic. Jefferson Pooley and Michael Socolow write:
"The supposed panic was so tiny as to be practically immeasurable on the night of the broadcast," they write. "Despite repeated assertions to the contrary in the PBS and NPR programs, almost nobody was fooled by Welles' broadcast." The show was broadcast on Oct. 30, 1938. Newspapers, which had something to fear from the emerging power of radio, fanned the story of a panic, they write. The day after the program, CBS commissioned a national survey to see how many people heard the now-famous broadcast, "and network executives were relieved to discover just how few people actually tuned in." - Check out these jack o'lanterns.
- Ray guns may soon be mounted on drones:
If a Predator drone were to get shot down, the obvious good side is that a pilot wouldn't go with it. The bad side is that you just lost a $4 million piece of equipment. So, in a bid to keep drones protected, DARPA is funding research into drone-mounted laser weapons. Wait, what? The project, called Endurance, is referred to in DARPA's 2014 budget request as being tasked with the development of "technology for pod-mounted lasers to protect a variety of airborne platforms from emerging and legacy EO/IR guided surface-to-air missiles." The budget explains that it will be the first application of DARPA's much-discussed Excalibur laser defense system, which developed lasers powerful enough to use as weapons. - N.C. license plates for forced-birthers, but not for reproductive rights advocates?
- Panel wants Tepco out of the Fukushima business:
Tokyo Electric Power Co should be stripped of the responsibility for shutting down its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to a draft proposal by a panel of Japan's ruling party. [...] Tepco has since lost $27 billion at the plant north of Tokyo and faces massive liabilities as it decommissions the facility, compensates evacuees and pays for decontamination of an area nearly the size of Connecticut. - "Statistics Done Wrong" gets an update.
- On today's Kagro in the Morning show, Reminder: CREDO Mobile's special offer for our listeners ends at the end of the month! Greg Dworkin rounds up the latest on ACA implementation, Sebelius's appearance on the Hill, the Virginia elections, and the retreat from the GOP and Tea Party brands. Ryan Grim's & Jason Linkins's "The Definitive Guide to Decoding Washington's Anonymous Sources." Ryan Cooper's "The Filibuster Must Die." Think Progress' "How Sequestration Gets Even Worse Next Year." And the Center for Public Integrity's shocking series on how coal giants use high-powered lawyers and in-house medical "experts" to keep killing their miners with black lung.
  | | Sebelius takes responsibility for HealthCare.gov problems, weathers Republican attacks Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:55 AM PDT Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was subjected to the Republican monkey court Wednesday morning, facing varied iterations of the question "what did you know about Obamacare destroying the nation and when did you know it" from her Republican questioners. Democrats didn't necessarily go easy on Sebelius, most of them expressing frustration with the bungled launch of HealthCare.gov while also focusing on the part of the law where lots more people are getting access to insurance. Republican talking points focused on the broken website, who was to blame for the broken website and whether she and President Obama were just big ol' liars for not telling some people they would have to switch out of their crappy health insurance plans.
"Hold me accountable for the debacle. I'm responsible," Sebelius said after a heated exchange with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., about who was in charge of the website. At times throughout the hearing, Republicans made reference to cancellation notices that some individuals have received about their insurance. Blackburn and others sought to tie those cancellations to Obama's promise during the legislative fight over health care that Americans with insurance would be able to keep such coverage under the law. Asked if he is keeping his promise, Sebelius said, "yes, he is." She noted that insurance companies often cancel policies and that those will be replaced with new and better policies available under the law. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the ranking member of the committee, didn't harken back to his colleague Frank Pallone's monkey court characterization of previous Obamacare "oversight" hearings, but summed up Wednesday's exercise pretty well when he "rejected the GOP's description of the hearing as being 'oversight,' suggesting they were out to attack a law that will ultimately benefit millions. 'I would urge my colleagues to quit hyperventilating,' he said." The hearing likely would have lasted all day. Republican members were so anxious to get their digs in and repeat every talking point ad nauseum that the committee's chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) had to cut their time for questions diatribes in half, from four minutes to two. See, he had a tight schedule to make. The House was adjourning early on Wednesday so that members could take another two weeks off. That's right, they're so concerned about conducting proper oversight of Obamacare and everything else that the government does, they've decided that they don't need to come back to work until Nov. 12.  | | ENDA just one vote shy of a filibuster-proof margin in the Senate Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:57 AM PDT  Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) will support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act gained its 57th supporter in the Senate Tuesday afternoon when Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor said he would vote for it, followed Wednesday morning by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, until then the lone Democratic holdout. With New Jersey's Cory Booker expected to support it after he is sworn in this week, the bill prohibiting employers from discriminating on the basis of sexuality or gender identity has 59 votes, just two one short of the 60-vote supermajority required to get to a final vote in the Senate these days. So what's the road to 60, if there is one? Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois are already cosponsors, while Orrin Hatch of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted for the bill in committee; they're part of the 59 votes now expected. As for the rest:
First up is Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who told reporters Tuesday that he's "inclined to back" the proposal. A spokesman later clarified that Portman "agrees with the underlying principle" of the measure, but is seeking changes to address concerns with the bill's religious liberties provisions. [...] But [Arizona Sen. Jeff] Flake said a statement late Tuesday that even though he supported a 2007 version of the measure, the new Senate version "includes new provisions that will increase the potential for litigation and compliance costs, especially for small businesses. For that reason, I oppose the Senate bill." There aren't too many people who've taken steps backward on gay rights since 2007, so Flake is at least making himself stand out, I guess? Meanwhile, Portman's religious liberties concerns look a lot like an excuse to give himself wiggle room, since ENDA has serious religious exemptions already: - A complete exemption for houses of worship, parochial and similar religious schools, and missions
- A codification of the so-called "ministerial exemption" recognized by many federal courts, exempting positions at religious organizations that involve the teaching or spreading religion, religious governance, or the supervision of individuals engaged in these activities
- A provision allowing religious organizations, for classes of jobs, to require employees and applicants to conform to a declared set of significant religious tenets, including ones which would bar LGBT people from holding the position
Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey, New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte, and Nevada's Dean Heller—Republicans who've supported some LGBT-friendly policies in the past—are all still thinking it over. 9:11 AM PT: Make it one vote shy! West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, until now the lone Democratic holdout, will vote for ENDA. Post has been edited to reflect that.  | | Alex Sink, Democrats' best-known option, will run for the House in Florida special election Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:57 AM PDT Huge news: Former state Chief Financial Officer and 2010 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink will run in the special election to replace the late Rep. Bill Young. Sink specifically cited the recent federal government shutdown forced by Republicans as an impetus for her decision, though undoubtedly the prospect of an open seat narrowly carried by Barack Obama was very enticing on its own. Sink brings some big advantages to the race, in particular her name recognition and her fundraising network. She also carried the 13th District twice before, both in her bid for governor (when she edged Rick Scott here 49-47 despite losing statewide), and in her successful campaign for CFO in 2006 (when she beat her Republican opponent 54-46). And a snap poll showed her defeating potential GOP candidate Rick Baker, a former St. Petersburg Mayor, 51 to 34. But Sink also brings some negatives. For one, she lives two districts away and now says she's house hunting in the 13th, which would allow Republicans to drag out the carpetbagger label. (Whether it sticks is another question.) For another, even though she came within a hair of stopping Scott in 2010, she ran a tumultuous campaign and burned through a scary number of senior staffers, firing campaign managers and finance directors. Still, there's no doubt that Sink's entry will have a major impact on the special, which is still unscheduled. (Officials are reportedly looking to consolidate it with local elections on March 11 of next year.) With a short runup to the election, Sink's high name ID is especially important, and she might even dissuade some Republicans from running; so far, only ex-state Rep. Larry Crow is running. There's also the matter of the Democratic primary. Attorney Jessica Ehrlich, who gave Young his closest fight in ages last year and was the only Democrat to announce for a rematch, is still very much in the race and has even picked up at least one new endorsement from a labor group. But that same poll gave Sink a dominant 63-20 lead over Ehrlich for the Dem nomination, so as painful as the thought may be, she might want to consider parlaying a graceful exit into establishment support for a bid for lower office. (Even Ehrlich seemed to acknowledge this possibility, saying before Sink's announcement: "Right now I am running for Congress.") Other Democrats are likely to clear the field for Sink, but there's also one more thing to consider here: Whoever wins the special election will have to run again next November as well. That gives folks on the losing side a second crack at the winner, so a new batch of names might emerge next year after the special is resolved.  | | Tea partiers attacked by GOP lobbyists Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:00 AM PDT  "Tea party sucks!" —Says another guy who sucks
Imagine if you had to choose between the tea party and establishment Republicans. On the one hand, you'd have Sen. Ted Cruz and his fellow maniacs who shut down the federal government in a doomed strategy to defund Obamacare, and then on the other hand you'd have the clown establishment Republicans who despite going along with the Cruz strategy now say that they opposed it all along. For example:
Brian Walsh, former communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said the groups' self interest became painfully apparent when they campaigned to shut down the government as a way to defund ObamaCare. "Some of these groups, it's not about advancing conservative principles, it's about raising money and advancing their own influence in Washington — particularly when you see them endorsing a strategy that could've collapsed our economy," Walsh said. Walsh, who as a tea partier pointed out is a former staffer to convicted felon Congressman Bob Ney, is right about the fact that tea partiers pursued a strategy that could have tanked our economy, but the part he forgets is that establishment Republicans could have stopped it at any point, but instead decided to let Cruz have his way. Now that they've made their bed, they should sleep in it, but instead they are issuing foolish whines like this: Republican strategist John Feehery, an outspoken critic of the groups, said "it's not like [these outside groups] represent an issue or interest group." Jeesh, of all the reasons in the world to oppose the tea party, this has to be the worst. Basically, Feehery is saying that the problem with the tea party is that instead of it lobbying on behalf of an interest group, it's fighting for things it believes in. To most people, I suspect that is actually the single best thing about tea partiers. To most people, the problem isn't that they believe in something, it's what they believe in. But Feehery wishes tea partiers were just another GOP lobbying group, because then Republicans would know how to handle them. There is a bit of good news in this story, however: Even if you once voted for Republicans, you don't have to choose between the D.C. lobbyists and the tea party whacko birds—it's still legal in all 50 states to vote Democratic.  | | The teabagger core argument: Takers, makers and the violent end of democracy Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:15 AM PDT  The conservative idea of "clever". Kinda painful, huh? Yeah, this is a mid-week nutpick, but it's a nutpick with a mission: To help explain the current conservative mindset. It's a comment on a thread on Breitbart which is literally trying to unskew yesterday's Washington Post poll of the Virginia governor's race.
A veteran Virginia pollster, Breitbart News has learned, this the results of the poll are "at least" 6 points off, and notes that the Post polls ordinarily overestimate Democrat performance in the Commonwealth. Ha ha ha! I never tire of the unskewers! But that's not what I want to focus on. Rather, it's this comment: no amount of economic or cultural chaos and disaster will ever incite those people to turn on their democrat masters. However, considering Obamacare's devastation..should Virginia choose to drink the kool-aid too...and elect McAuliffe ...it will all but convince me that the country has totally surrendered to a communist future....and there won't be any turning the tide in 2014.... There are simply too many takers extracting from a shrinking class of makers in this country. The intricate web of taxation and regulation has imprisoned the economy....guaranteeing that the Cloward and Piven blueprint will succeed. After that...it could be anarchy....insurrection...or revolution.....who knows? The entire conservative mindset is encapsulated in those three short paragraphs—the sense that everything has gone to shit, but people stick with Democrats because they're takers while conservatives are makers, and that if it continues much longer ... violence! All wrapped up in a nice bundle of f'd up punctuation. (At least it was run through a spell checker.) That whole "makers" vs "takers" was the basis of Mitt Romney's 47 percent nonsense. And it's also the modern formulation of the racists' lament, in case you were wondering why race was missing in the comment above. It's not good white people doing the taking, you know? But that comment also hints at the desperation and resignation coursing through today's conservatives: The notion that they've lost the battle. Sure, 2008 and 2012 were big blows, but they were softened by 2010's GOP wave. They want to believe those two presidential years were anomalies, but they know better. Once Virginia goes Blue, bucking a 40-year trend in which the party in the White House lost the governor's race, it'll confirm their worst fears. They will have lost the country and 2014 will only ratify the nation's new direction. Thus, the final appeal to violence—because if democracy fails them, then what is left? The question will be whether that violence will remain a fantasy as they politically disengage, or whether they'll begin to act on it.  | | Republican committee responsible for sabotaging Obamacare grills Sebelius Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:27 AM PDT Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is the latest victim of House Republican Obamacare witch-hunting, in an attempt to find scandal where there isn't one. From a Web site that wasn't ready for prime time to the scandal that isn't, Republicans are working hard to score points. And make stupid jokes.  Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) quotes Wizard of Oz to fmr KS Gov Sebelius: "Well Madam Secy, you're not in Kansas anymore." — @dailyrundown What's unlikely to come up is the active role Republicans have taken in sabotaging the roll-out of the law. In light of the website glitches and delays, administration officials have urged Americans seeking coverage to call a call center, visit a navigator or a community health center to sign up for coverage in person. But last month, fifteen Republican members of the Committee, including Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), requested detailed responses and thousands of pages of documents from approximately 60 percent of the so-called "Navigator" organizations—more than 100 hospitals, universities, Indian tribes, patient advocacy groups and local food banks—tasked with helping uninsured people connect to coverage. The lawmakers gave the groups just two weeks to provide detailed written descriptions of their employees and activities, interactions with the Department of Health and Human Services, and "all documentation and communication related to your grant." The inquiry—which came just as the groups were preparing for open enrollment—led at least two groups to give back their federal grants and close up shop. You won't be seeing any Republicans having the vapors over that. Or admitting that they'd just as soon no one ever signed up for Obamacare. This really is a monkey court. You can watch the hearing here.  | | Spying Is For Everyone Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:50 AM PDT 
click to enlarge  | | Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: A new poll shows a close race to unseat Scott Walker Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:00 AM PDT  Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning. Sign up here. : • WI-Gov: Marquette Law School has a new poll of next year's gubernatorial race and it looks like things have the potential to be very close. A very slight 49 to 47 percent approve of Republican Gov. Scott Walker's job performance and that is reflected in the general election match-ups. Businesswoman and Madison School Board member Mary Burke, Walker's only credible challenger so far, starts out with little name recognition but trails by a slim 47 to 45 margin. The results are pretty much the same if state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout jumps in the race; very few voters have an opinion of her personally but she trails 47 to 45. State Assemblymember Peter Barca would do a bit worse if he ran, trailing Walker 48 to 42. Most voters seem to have a firm opinion of Walker and are ready to vote for or against him regardless of who the Democrats end up nominating.  | | Daily Kos Radio is LIVE at 9am ET! Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:30 AM PDT
Daily Kos Radio's Kagro in the Morning show podcasts are now available through iTunes. Joan McCarter returns to the show for her regular Wednesday appearance, and that's always good news! I'm pretty sure it even outweighs news that sequestration could get worse next year. In any case, we'll find a way to have a good time with it before we actually have to live with it. And while we're at it, we'll point and laugh at the Senators who voted to disapprove of the way they voted two weeks ago, when they agreed to duck the debt ceiling. We'll start things off with Greg Dworkin's news, polling & punditry roundup, as usual, and then launch into the unknown, arriving accidentally at a coherent thesis by 11:00. Oh, and if you want to catch that CREDO Mobile deal (and help support the show by doing so), time is running out! Their special offer ends on Oct. 31! We're LIVE at 9:00 a.m. ET with Kagro in the Morning, thanks to NetrootsRadio.com. Listen LIVE here: The Daily Kos Radio Player Click this Link to Listen on your iTunes, Winamp or Windows Media Player Can't see the live stream and/or podcast players in these posts? Do you use NoScript or something similar to control Javascript? Want to? Remember to enable Libsyn and Shoutcastplayer, and you'll see our players every morning! Or if you prefer, why not download the Stitcher app on your favorite mobile device, and search for the Netroots Radio live stream? And hey, when you do, be sure to sign up with the promo code DAILYKOS, and earn Daily Kos Radio $1 in the Stitcher affiliate program! Please do remember to "favorite" us while you're at Stitcher. We're bouncing up and down in the rankings these days, and the more of you who help us, the more listeners out there who'll find us on the Stitcher network. Miss our last show? You can catch it here: Need more info on how to listen? Find it below the fold.  | | Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:17 AM PDT From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE… Today's Boring Corrections
• Suzanne Somers' claim in The Wall Street Journal that Lenin said "Socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the socialist state" and Churchill said "Control your citizens' health care and you control your citizens" is in error. The correct Lenin quote is, "Suzanne Somers needs to vet her conspiracy email better," and the correct Churchill quote is: "The Wall Street Journal needs to vet Suzanne Somers better." • Dr. Marc Siegel, cited as a member of the whiz-bang "Fox News Medical A-Team," claims that "too many people" have health insurance. This is false. Fox News doesn't have an A-Team on medicine or any other subject. • On Monday, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "an absolute asshole." This is false. Senator Reid is an asshole only on rare occasions, and only the Democratic base can say with certainty when those occasions are. Senator Tom Coburn, meanwhile, remains something far, far worse: an absolute Senator Tom Coburn. • A new Christmas ornament produced by Hallmark reads: "Don we now our FUN apparel." The correct phrase should apparently read: "Homos are ICKY." • Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay claims he's on a mission from God. In fact, that position has already been filled: We're sure they regret the errors. Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]  | | Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: How ACA really works Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:30 AM PDT 2013 American Values Survey (.pdf) by PRRI, Sept 21-Oct 3 (just released): Americans' views on the 2010 health care law, commonly known as Obamacare, are complex. More than 4-in-10 (44%) have a favorable view of the law, while a majority (54%) have an unfavorable view of the law. However, only 42% of Americans have an unfavorable view of the law because they think the law goes too far while 11% are unhappy with the law because it does not go far enough. The numbers about not going far enough reflect every poll that asks. Michael Hiltzik: Developments in the rollout of Obamacare are coming with dizzying speed, though not as fast as the pileup of fiction and misunderstanding created by politicians, pundits and the news media. So here's a list of the latest themes you're hearing on America's healthcare reform, and what they mean. 1. Obama "knew" that people would lose their health insurance. This story, chiefly promoted by NBC News, reflects the Washington media's eternal search for scandal, abetted by every politician's instinct to reduce even the most complicated ideas to a sound byte. It was always clear that many insurance policies serving the individual market wouldn't conform to the coverage requirements set by the Affordable Care Act and would have to be changed. Some were "grandfathered" in, but the rules dictated that any that were changed by the insuring companies -- including changes in premiums or other terms -- would lose that status. As a result, millions of policyholders are now being informed that their nonconforming policies are being canceled as of Dec. 31. The idea, of course, is for them to get new policies under Obamacare as of Jan. 1. NBC is breathing heavily over its investigative "discovery" that "because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, 40 to 67% of customers will not be able to keep their policy" mostly because they changed plans. But is this news? No: The exact same figure was put out by the Obama Adminsitration -- in 2010. Here's a release from the Department of Health and Human Services from June that year, explaining that "40% to two-thirds of people" in the individual market normally change plans in a year, and thus would no longer be in grandfathered plans. Did Obama "know"? Yes, but so did anyone else who was paying attention, including reporters covering healthcare. There's more, read the whole thing. More politics and policy below the fold.  | You are subscribed to email updates from Daily Kos
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Clear Counsel – How Sweet the Sound
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:36 AM PDT
| Clear Counsel – How Sweet the Sound Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:53 AM PDT 
By Brian Layer, Chair, Organizational Development, N2growth When you want to know how your leadership is working–ask. Years ago, I learned this lesson when I received some unsolicited advice that challenged my professionalism, served as a wakeup call, and changed the arc of my career. The counsel came from a subordinate as I was leaving an important leadership position but it would have come earlier if I had only asked. I was very interested in my performance and development as a leader and often sought my boss's input. I led an outstanding organization and he consistently praised our performance and my leadership. My formal evaluations were all exceptional but the counsel of a subordinate was more accurate, less kind and exactly what I needed to hear. My leadership shortcomings never surfaced with my boss because our organization was good enough to overcome them but they were obvious to those who worked for me. That experience taught me a valuable lesson that improved my leadership performance—if you want to know what kind of leader you are, ask a subordinate. From childhood we are taught to pay attention to our leaders—parents, teachers, clergy, coaches, etc. We grow up, looking up; by habit we are sensitive to the words and deeds of those above us. So, our subordinates watch us while we watch our boss and so on. Most subordinates know more about our leadership style, abilities, and performance than our boss knows. To our boss, by relationship we are a follower. On the other hand, our subordinates know us as leaders. As a consequence, we'd be wise to remember who has the best perspective of our leadership when seeking counsel. As I look back, I learned a great deal from the example of my bosses but learned more from the counsel of my subordinates. Clearly, not everyone will give you unvarnished input but if you ask the right questions in the right way and listen to a variety of voices, you'll get good, honest counsel. So what's keeping you from having a discussion with a subordinate that starts with, "How am I doing as a leader?" Follow me on Twitter @brianlayer | You are subscribed to email updates from N2Growth Blog
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Blogs - ASP.NET Weblogs
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT
| Blogs - ASP.NET Weblogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT There are times when you need to reverse proxy through a server. The most common example is when you have an internal web server that isn't exposed to the internet ... | | MSDN Blogs - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Learn more about the MSDN Blog Platform at the MSDN Blogs - Help blog! Provide Site Feedback on MSDN Blogs | | Blogs : The Official Microsoft IIS Site Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Read or subscribe to IIS blogs. Bill Staple's blog and other Microsoft IIS team blogs. | | .NET Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT The .NET blog (AKA: dotnet blog) discusses new features in the .NET Framework and important issues for .NET developers. | | Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Official Microsoft Developer Network blog providing the latest news and information about the operating system. | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT In case you are capable of the German language, Christian Binder has posted an interview with me taken during TechED 2009 in Berlin, and we augmented it with an ... | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT This morning, Mozilla shared their feelings on IE9 with a post that claims to answer the question, "Is IE9 a modern browser?" While they grudgingly concede that ... | | Developer Tools Blogs - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Search this blog Search all blogs. Related resources. Visual Studio Developer Center Visual Studio Product Website; Buy an MSDN Subscription; | | Terry Zink's Cyber Security Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT A blog about fighting spam and malware by a member of Microsoft Forefront Online Security anti-spam team | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT To follow up on our announcement of releasing Rx 2.1 , we'd like to let you know what changed in this release. We have updated the Reactive Extensions for .NET ... | | The Silverlight Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Silverlight Show: Windows 8 and the future of XAML Part 7: The application lifecycle of Windows 8 applications | | Windows PowerShell Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT This post is a part of the nine-part " What's New in Windows Server & System Center 2012 R2 " series that is featured on Brad Anderson's In the Cloud blog. | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT My name is Jeff Cardon. I'm a member of the Microsoft OneNote team and I'd like to share some of the tips and tricks that are available in this fantastic product. | | Matt Harrington - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Office hours: in-person help for US developers working on Windows 8 and Windows Phone apps | | IEBlog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Microsoft corporate weblog about the IE browser. | | The Old New Thing - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Internally at Microsoft, we have a programmer's tool which I will call Program Q. On the peer-to-peer mailing list for Program Q, somebody asked the following question: | | Official T4 team blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT T4 stands for Text Template Transformation Toolkit and is Microsoft's template based text generation framework included with Visual Studio. | | The Visual Studio Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT The Visual Studio Blog. The official source of product insight from the Visual Studio Engineering Team | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team & MVP Blog ... Hello all: At Convergence a few weeks ago I presented some CRM demos and this article will be the first in detailing how ... | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT We're putting this blog (Data Access blog) into suspended animation. That doesn't mean we will stop blogging about ADO.NET and data access stuff, or that we'll take ... | You are subscribed to email updates from Search Msdn
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Updated: Speaking checklist for great talks (Printable)
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:34 AM PDT
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Four Steps to Critical Mass in Online Community Management
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:32 AM PDT
| Four Steps to Critical Mass in Online Community Management Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:30 AM PDT Dachis Group's Social Business Council recently published a white paper, created by member input and edited by Patrick O'Brien. Summary: Before users invest time and energy into a social platform, they have to know they will receive value in return. The conundrum that every social business professional faces is that the greatest value is only realized when there is a critical mass of individuals on the platform. So how does one grow from nothing and hit this critical mass? To succeed a social business community manager must: - Quickly display value
- Allay user fears of participation
- Onboard individuals correctly
- Measure and optimize to keep the community growing
Each of these areas of focus has its own set of tips and tricks necessary for effective implementation. In this new Council whitepaper, leading Social Business practitioners from AXA, Lexmark, IBM, and Suncor Energy, have provided lessons, activities, and tips from their own implementation experience to enable a successful Social Business initiative. You can find out more and download the white paper here. Tweet | You are subscribed to email updates from Being: Peter Kim
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Twitter making tweets more ‘visual’ with overhaul
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:16 AM PDT
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2013 World Series: Boston Red Sox vs St. Louis Cardinal Fans in Social Media [Infographic]
Posted: 31 Oct 2013 03:10 AM PDT
| 2013 World Series: Boston Red Sox vs St. Louis Cardinal Fans in Social Media [Infographic] Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:33 AM PDT While the World Series has been head to head on the field, how have the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals fared online? It’s no secret that fans are taking to social media to talk about the series and to get the latest updates and news. So, Sysomos dove into the analytics to find social media super fans for the two teams, the key players to follow on Twitter, as well as the top reporters and bloggers. According to the statistics, Boston has already won in one category: social fans. We’ll be watching and interacting (use #WorldSeries) to see who comes out on top! 
| | Beware! The Scary Truth About Widgets [Infographic] Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:00 AM PDT With visions of holiday campaigns and jolly green dollar signs dancing in their heads, many marketers overlook the most important part of a successful online holiday campaign: Web performance. It’s where speed and user experience come together. For example, websites that take longer than three seconds to load immediately lose 80% of site visitors, and 40% never return. Along those same lines, every 1-second delay results in a 16% drop in customer satisfaction. Site visitors don't turn into pumpkins after three seconds, but attempting to engage with a sluggish site is frustrating, especially when you consider that people perceive sites to be 15% slower than they really are. A non-optimized landing page is lucky to convert 50% as much as when it's been tuned. Now, that’s downright terrifying! And let’s not forget widgets. They sound cute, but these sharp-toothed little monsters are devouring sites left and right. In fact, the most popular marketing widgets are known to suck the speed out of a website, dragging performance into the ground and actually harming your conversion. That’s right… All those must-have third-party widgets that are supposed to improve your marketing efforts are killing your conversion rates. This is no ghost story; every one-second website delay causes a 7% DROP in conversion. 
What’s a marketer to do? Don’t let poor web performance kill your holiday marketing dreams. With a few quick adjustments, you can tame widgets, ground high-flying bounces and send conversion rates soaring. Review and remove widgets you don't really need. Before adding anything new, assess whether it's truly going to drive engagement and add value, or if it's simply a trendy or aesthetic choice. Here's an example, if you're using an A/B testing widget to understand user behavior, consider that the #1 factor in performance is speed and experience, and adding potentially complicated JavaScript directly opposes that goal. For those widgets already in place, continually assess performance by examining the asset in a waterfall chart like those on websitetest.com and webpagetest.org. If any one widget is dragging down performance noticeably, it might be time to drop it. For the third-party assets you simply can't live without, the best way to maintain performance is to ensure that they load asynchronously. For example, below are two JavaScript options to add the Facebook widget to your web page. The worst: This script will completely block page loading if getting the script is slow. We have some examples (first, second) on our blog, and in this screenshot your visitor would be waiting 27 seconds because of a Facebook widget! Spoiler alert: That user wouldn't wait.  The next worst: This script will impact the rendering performance of your application. Your best choice is to defer loading the third-party component until the user requires it and never load it before the page is fully rendered. For more widget-busting tips to improve web performance in time for the holiday rush, check out out the Holiday eCommerce Survival Guide. | |
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