Boston Bomber Just Learned Where He’ll Await Execution

Dzhokar Tsarnaev, who has been sentenced to death for bombing the Boston Marathon in 2013 along with his brother, now knows where he might spend his last days.

The convicted terrorist may await his death at the ADX Supermax facility in Florence, Colo., just southwest of Colorado Springs.

Most Americans have probably never heard of this facility, but prison warden Robert Hood describes the maximum-security jail as “pretty close” to hell.

And, given the lengthy appeals process that is a usual part of the American legal system for prisoners on death row, Tsarnaev may find himself at ADX Supermax for decades.

The prison has become infamous for driving its inmates insane due to the constant isolation. Several prisoners there have filed lawsuits claiming they were being continually abused because they were locked up at this facility.

One lawsuit said, “Prisoners interminably wail, scream and bang on the walls of their cells. Some mutilate their bodies with razors, shards of glass, writing utensils and whatever other objects they can obtain. Some swallow razor blades, nail clippers, parts of radios and televisions, broken glass and other dangerous objects. Others carry on delusional conversations with voices they hear in their heads, oblivious to the reality and the danger that such behavior might pose to themselves and anyone who interacts with them.”

The Supermax prison was built in 1994. It now holds approximately 400 inmates, each in an 87-square foot cell. Each prisoner has at least a metal, immobile bed; a cement desk and stool; and a metal sink and toilet.

As a terrorist, Tsarnaev will likely be let out of his cell about 10 hours a week for exercise. He will rarely see the face of another human.

“These are places to silence us. To keep you controlled. I consider the Supermax as a psychological torture chamber. That’s what it is,” convicted terrorist Shain Duka said in a special interview with The Guardian.

The facility has also been a temporary home for Ramzi Yousefi, the man who orchestrated the bombing of New York in 1993 and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski (H/T The Daily Caller).

Certainly, the ADX Supermax sounds like something out of Dante Alighieri’s description of hell in his 14th century epic poem, “The Divine Comedy.” But this is real.

Furthermore, Tsarnaev and his now-deceased brother, Tamerian, were responsible for putting the 264 people they hurt and the families of the three people they killed through hell.

In that light, the Supermax facility seems an appropriate final residence for the Chechen terrorist. –Source: Conservative Tribune

Something To Think About . . .

While Obama never mentioned low military pay in his 2015 state-of-the-union speech, he talked of increasing the national minimum wage to $15 per hour [a labor union agendum].

If that proposal becomes reality . . .

A hotel chambermaid &/or a restaurant waiter, who works inside an air-conditioned building 8 hours/day, 5 days/week in a relatively safe environment, if paid the proposed $15 per hour minimum wage would make $31,200.00 annually [plus gratuities].

Presently, an E1 (Private) in the military who works in an unsafe environment [war zone] 24/7 makes $18,378. But assuming that the E1 (private) gets the same proposed minimum wage, he/she will also get $31,200.00 annually [without gratuities].

Is it really fair to pay a soldier who works [technically is on-duty] in harm's way 24/7 year-round the same wages as a hotel maid &/or a restaurant waiter who each work in a relatively safe environment for only 8 hours/day, 5 days/week year- round? -Source: Contributed by Ralph/Author Unknown

Heaviest Downpours Rise Across The U.S.

Very heavy rainfalls now happen more often

Record-breaking rain across Texas and Oklahoma this week caused widespread flooding, the likes of which the region has rarely, if ever, seen. For seven locations there, May 2015 has seen the most rain of any month ever recorded, with five days to go and the rain still coming. While rainfall in the region is consistent with the emerging El Niño, the unprecedented amounts suggest a possible climate change signal, where a warming atmosphere becomes more saturated with water vapor and capable of previously unimagined downpours.

Several people have been killed and hundreds have been rescued from their homes. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has already declared disaster areas in 37 counties. These torrential downpours follow weeks of unusually rainy weather across the Southern Plains. And they stack up to a broader trend in the region, and across the U.S., toward more heavy precipitation.

Across most of the country, the heaviest downpours are happening more frequently, delivering a deluge in place of what would have been routine heavy rain. Climate Central’s new analysis of 65 years of rainfall records at thousands of stations nationwide found that 40 of the lower 48 states have seen an overall increase in heavy downpours since 1950. The biggest increases are in the Northeast and Midwest, which in the past decade, have seen 31 and 16 percent more heavy downpours compared to the 1950s.

These intense bouts of rain can wreak havoc on communities. They cause flooding, close schools, businesses, highways and airports, compromise roads and bridges, trigger sewage overflows, and routinely produce million of dollars in damage and kill people.

In Nashville, for example, a 2010 record downpour dumped 13.6 inches of rain in just 2 days, causing an estimated $2 billion in damage. Eleven people were killed, 11,000 homes and businesses were damaged, and 2,700 businesses suffered closures.

Intense rain in Detroit in August 2014 killed two, caused an estimated $1.1 billion of damage, and affected 118,000 homes and businesses.

Heavy rain events may also pose a potential health risk; one recent study found that about half of all waterborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. (between 1948 and 1994) were linked to days of very heavy rain.

Extreme heavy downpours are consistent with what climate scientists expect in a warming world. With hotter temperatures, more water evaporates off the oceans, and the atmosphere can hold more moisture. Research shows that the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere has already increased.

That means that  there is often a lot more water available to come down as rain. Climate scientists have already shown that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations as a consequence of human activity are partially responsible for the average global increase in heavy precipitation.

Our analysis examines the heaviest downpours—the days where total precipitation exceeded the top 1 percent of all rain and snow days—at over 3,000 rain gauges distributed across the country over the period 1950-2014. Although some cities have rain gauges that have been around since the 1860s, by the 1950s, about 90 percent of the current list of 3,000 stations was in existence, giving us a consistent 65-year period of study over the whole U.S.. The vast majority of this heavy precipitation came as rain, although in a few rare instances, major snowfalls also count toward these large events.

Heavy precipitation is highly localized, far more than extreme heat, which typically covers relatively large areas. On a 98°F day in New York City, similar high temperatures are usually also found across the entire metro area. On the other hand, an extreme rainfall event can inundate the Long Island suburbs and leave the city itself relatively unscathed.

This makes heavy rainfall trends difficult to measure, because rain gauges are not always located where extreme rains occur. Moreover, local heavy precipitation trends may not accurately reflect changing patterns happening at a larger, regional level. As a consequence, even in regions or states where there is a strong increasing trend in heavy precipitation, the trend at an individual precipitation gauge that represents the official total for a city may be equivocal, flat, or even down.

Our state level analyses of extreme precipitation events shows a strong increasing trend since the 1950s, with 40 of 48 states showing at least some increasing incidence. Consistent with earlier research, six of the top 10 states with the biggest increases in number of days with heavy downpours are in the Northeast, including Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire, which have seen the number of heavy rain events in the last decade increase by at least 50 percent compared to the 1950s.

Our analysis of cities and metro areas, on the other hand, reveals the highly localized and random nature of extreme rain events and the difficulty of detecting these events even with 3,000 rain gauges across the country. In a number of states and regions with clear increasing trends, individual locations show a weak trend or no clear trend at all. This apparent inconsistency says little about the overall trend in the heaviest precipitation events, but a lot about the weaknesses of single-point measurements for detecting trends in extreme precipitation.

An example of this phenomenon is Boston, where the local trend is flat but at the state level, Massachusetts has seen a relatively steady increase in heavy downpours since 1950.

Of course, many individual locations show strong increasing trends in the heaviest precipitation events. The top 50 cities with the strongest increases are:

Climate scientists predict that the recent trends toward more heavy downpours will continue throughout this century. Climate models predict that if carbon emissions continue to increase as they have in recent decades, the types of downpours that used to happen once every 20 years could occur every 4 to 15 years by 2100. As the number of days with extreme precipitation increases, the risk for intense and damaging floods is also expected to increase throughout much of the country. –Source: Scientific America

The Results Are In - And Irish Ayes Are Smiling

Ireland has become the 20th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, and the first country to do so by a vote of the people.

With 40 out of 43 constituencies counted, the "Yes" vote to approve marriage equality stands at 62.3%. Public broadcaster RTE has announced the result is now certain - not enough ballots remain outstanding to surpass the "Yes" votes already counted.

More than 60 percent of the 3.2 million citizens eligible to vote went to the polls - a large turnout for Ireland. The New York Times reported that government officials, marriage equality advocates and even those who were against the measure, agreed that the outcome was a resounding victory.

As the votes were being counted, hundreds of marriage equality supporters gathered at Dublin Castle cheering  and waving rainbow flags as the results were announced. Many young Irish voters have been posting selfies from the party on Twitter and Instagram.

    "It’s an amazing day to be Irish!" said Rory O’Neill also known as Panti Bliss, Ireland’s foremost drag queen and a leader in the “Yes” campaign, as she arrived at the Dublin Castle celebration.

The vote was a blow to the Catholic Church which campaigned for Catholics to reject the measure. But the Church has been greatly weakened in Ireland by the pedophile priest scandals, and many Irish have turned their back on Catholic leaders. Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin told RTE that the Church now needs to do some soul searching.

    “I think the Church needs to do a reality check right across the board. Have we drifted away completely from young people? It’s a social revolution that didn’t begin today," said Martin, who had argued during the campaign that gay rights should be respected “without changing the definition of marriage”.

The referendum amends Ireland’s Constitution so that civil marriage between two people is now legal “without distinction as to their sex.” But before couples can schedule their wedding dates, the amendment must first be formally ratified by both houses of the Irish Parliament and approved by President Michael Higgins - all of which are considered a formality.

The date that same-sex couples will be allowed marry will be determined during the ratification process. –Source: The New Civil Rights Movement

Edward Snowden: My Work Is Not Finished

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speaks exclusively to the Guardian about why he's working harder now than ever before; how good it feels to be a 'small part of something important'; and why he believes there is still so much more he wants to accomplish. In regards to people's privacy, he argues that it is about more than just changing laws and systems, but actually people's values. –Source: The Guardian

Bud And Breakfast

"Wake and bake" gets a whole new meaning as hoteliers try to cash in on the state's new tourism draw.

With so-called "pot tourists" flocking to Colorado to take advantage of the state's recent legalization of recreational marijuana, it was only a matter of time until hotels started stepping up to the plate. Welcome to Bud + Breakfast, Colorado's first hotel group dedicated specifically to weed tourism.

Bud + Breakfast consists of two properties: The Adagio, a Victorian home with six suites, and Silverthorne, a mountain lodge with four suites. Bud + Breakfast describes itself as "the pioneering brand in the canna-lifestyle hospitality sector." As the Vail Daily says, "There’s a new kind of après in town."

The Adagio and Silverthorne both offer "Wake & Bake breakfast sessions" to their guests. "Eggs are cracked and bowls are packed," the websites say. Both locations also host a "4:20 Happy Hour" every day at which guests can enjoy snacks, beer and wine, and, of course, marijuana. Massages using cannabis-infused oil are also available at the guest houses. The Adagio, where rooms are between $179 to $399 per night, opened in April 2014. The Silverthorne, where rooms are between $149 and $199 per night, opened six months later in October.

Despite the somewhat gimmicky "wake and bake" and "4/20" offerings that might remind some of their younger years, Bud + Breakfast guesthouses are meant for a more mature audience. Joel C. Schneider, CEO of The Maryjane Group, Inc., which owns Bud + Breakfast, told The Huffington Post that while "guests range in age from 21-80," he thinks the dominant age group is early 50s to early 60s.

Schneider also emphasized the community aspect of the hotels. "We create a social experience for our guests. We insist that they smoke in the common areas, such as the living rooms, dining room and the outdoor patio," he said. "We want our guests to feel at home and experience cannabis together. This also allows us to monitor our guests to ensure safety and security."

Hotels in Colorado create their own smoking policies. Some have banned the practice altogether, while others reserve a quarter of their rooms for cannabis-friendly zones. There's a grey area when it comes to hotel balconies. With the number of pot touristsflooding the state, it seems likely that more pot-friendly hotels are sure to follow.

Though Bud + Breakfast's guesthouses opened just last year, the company is already expanding. Its plans for the future involve taking summer camp for grownups to a whole new level by opening a Cannacamp in Colorado this summer. The camp will offer all-inclusive packages that promise to "combine the enjoyment of recreational cannabis with a traditional ranch/camp environment." -Source: AlterNet

Chicken Little

One day, a kindergarten teacher read to her class the story about "Chicken Little". After she read the part where Chicken Little told the farmer: ".… The sky is falling! The sky is falling! ....", the teacher paused and asked the class, "What do you think the farmer said?"

A little girl raised her hand and said, "I think the farmer said, 'Holy shit! A talking chicken!'"

The teacher was unable to continue reading the story …. she had to quickly walk out of the classroom because she was laughing so hard that she wet her underwear! -Source: Contributed by Ralph/Author Unknown

The Rise Of The Internet Police

For decades, the Internet has been like the Wild West, with anonymous users creating racist or hate-filled posts.

Now the world's largest social networks are doing something about it.

Anisha Vora remembers when she first realized something was wrong.

It was February 2012, and the then-22-year-old student learned that photos showing her naked or partially clothed were circulating on the Internet. The culprit was an ex-boyfriend she'd dated on and off for four years and had known since childhood.

Photos she'd sent him during their long-distance relationship were soon posted on more than 300 websites, including Tumblr, Flickr and Facebook, and her friends, family and neighbors were invited to view them. Some of the posts gave her name, address and phone number. Strangers were coming by her house.

Online harassment isn't new. From the earliest message boards to the newest social apps, if there's a way for people to say something, you can bet someone will say something awful. But it's gotten even worse. Those operating in the shadows can now connect to billions of users through Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, and disseminate racist and hate-filled messages. Some publish disturbing images of murder, child exploitation and sexual abuse while others resort to so-called revenge porn to humiliate former lovers. Perhaps most distressing: A few threaten rape and other forms of violence, then release their victims' addresses and phone numbers so strangers can terrorize their targets even further.

"Dangerous people are everywhere, but when they have the power of anonymity behind them and the power of distance, they become more dangerous," says Karen Riggs, a professor of media arts and studies at Ohio University. "It's part of human nature: We have people who will be abusive and lurid."

The Internet just makes it that much easier.

Policing the wild frontier

Never before have so many people come together as they have on Twitter and Facebook. More than 300 million people use via Twitter every month, while more than 1.4 billion users sign on to Facebook.

For the past decade, the social networks have been working behind the scenes to police their sites.

Monika Bickert, head of Facebook's product policy around the world, and Ellen Silver, who runs global operations, help the world's largest social network fight against a barrage of abusive, pornographic and racist posts. Bickert's team sets the rules about the types of comments, photos and videos Facebook won't allow. Silver's team eliminates the offensive content. All are offered counseling to help them cope with the worst parts of the Internet they face each day.

The policing requires human intervention because Facebook's systems are only trained to spot and automatically eliminate images showing child exploitation.

For everything else, Facebook's teams wait for alerts to come to them. Users can register complaints and call out spam, harassment, hate speech or sexually explicit content. Because it only takes two clicks to begin a report, users frequently point out bad behavior. "It's one of the reasons we make it so easy to report," says Silver.

Facebook processes about 1 million legitimate complaints every week -- a sliver of the site's posts. It's not perfect, and the company doesn't identify everything.

"It's hard, and at scale, it's impossible," says Danielle Citron, a law professor at the University of Maryland and author of "Hate Crimes in Cyberspace."

Global scale

Silver's and Bickert's teams sit next to each other at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., as well as other offices, including Austin, Texas; Dublin, Ireland; and Hyderabad, India. All are on constant alert for abusive trends. They also prioritize posts that signal problems in the real world, like self-harm and bullying.

If a newsworthy event happens, such as the August beheading of photojournalist James Foley, the team sends alerts to one another about possible images showing up on the site.

Even so, they're always a step behind because they're largely reactive, not proactive.

"We are relying on the community to tell us when things are going wrong," says Bickert, who spent more than a decade as an assistant US attorney. "I think of it like a Neighborhood Watch program. When you're in your neighborhood, you are the person who knows if there is something going wrong."

Twitter also works to stop users from behaving badly -- suspending accounts and making it easier for family members to ask for the removal of images of deceased loved ones. But it faces an extra wrinkle: Unlike Facebook, Twitter's users can choose to be anonymous.

And Twitter doesn't hunt for bad content; users have to report it first. Clamping down on abusers may work for individual cases of bullying, where several users might verbally attack another. It's not so easy when victims are harangued by a nameless, faceless mob.

Feminist activist Caroline Criado-Perez started getting anonymous tweets threatening rape and murder after kicking off a campaign two years ago to put author Jane Austen's image on Great Britain's banknotes. Robin Williams' daughter Zelda suffered harassment after her father stunned fans by committing suicide. And Anita Sarkeesian, whose YouTube series explores the treatment of women in video games, was driven from her home last year after anonymous tweeters threatened her with violence and told the world where she lived.

Calling in the professionals

What's someone like Vora, whose private photos were spread around the Internet, to do?

She contacted Facebook and others, asking them to remove the photos, but soon realized she needed professional help. So she turned to DMCA Defender, in Kansas City, Mo. Co-founded by LaMonica Wallace and Regina Moore, the company helps revenge-porn victims remove online photos.

DMCA's software scans search engines for offending images and records their associated websites. The consultation scan, as Wallace calls it, is free. The team charges about $6 per site, though their fees are negotiable. "You're not paying for a service that you wanted," Wallace says. "These are victims."

Scrubbing stuff off the Web typically takes a month, though some sites don't respond immediately, and not all comply. Sometimes, DMCA appeals to Google to remove the site from search results.

Vora paid about $300 for the initial service. The first year, her ex-boyfriend was forced to pay the bill, in addition to being jailed for 180 days. Vora's pictures are still circulating two years later.

"For a while, for every one site they took down, 20 more popped up," says Vora, who realizes the problem may never go away. "There's still stuff up there. It's the Internet." -Source: CNET

Lyricssss To Better By Jessica Reedy

N.S.A. Collection of Bulk Call Data Is Ruled Illegal

A federal appeals court in New York ruled on Thursday that the once-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal. The decision comes as a fight in Congress is intensifying over whether to end and replace the program, or to extend it without changes.

In a 97-page ruling, a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a provision of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, known as Section 215, cannot be legitimately interpreted to allow the bulk collection of domestic calling records.

The provision of the act used to justify the bulk data program is to expire June 1, and the ruling is certain to increase tension that has been building in Congress.

It also comes as controversy over electronic surveillance is building in Europe, including a push in France to increase domestic spying and a decision by Germany to reduce cooperation on surveillance with the United States.

The ruling puts new pressure on Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, to make serious changes to the Patriot Act, which he has so far aggressively defended against any alteration, even as recently as Thursday on the Senate floor. Mr. McConnell has pressed to maintain the N.S.A.’s existing program against bipartisan efforts to scale it back, and has proposed simply extending the statute by the June 1 deadline.

But the court’s ruling calls into question whether that statute can still be used to issue new orders to phone companies requiring them to turn over their customers’ records.

Thursday’s ruling is the first time a higher-level court in the regular judicial system has reviewed the N.S.A. phone records program. It did not come with any injunction ordering the program to cease, and it is not clear that anything else will happen in the judicial system before Congress has to make a decision about the expiring law.

The data collection had repeatedly been approved in secret by judges serving on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, known as the FISA court, which oversees national security surveillance. Those judges, who hear arguments only from the government, were willing to accept an interpretation of Section 215 that the appeals court rejected on Thursday.

The court, in a unanimous ruling written by Judge Gerard E. Lynch, held that Section 215 “cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it, and that it does not authorize the telephone metadata program.” It declared the program illegal, saying, “We do so comfortably in the full understanding that if Congress chooses to authorize such a far-reaching and unprecedented program, it has every opportunity to do so, and to do so unambiguously.”

The House appears ready to pass a bill next week that would end the government’s bulk collection of phone records. That bill, known as the U.S.A. Freedom Act, would replace it with a new program that would preserve the N.S.A.’s ability to analyze links between callers to hunt for terrorists, but keep the bulk records in the hands of phone companies, which would be free to dispose of them after 18 months. The N.S.A. keeps them for five years.

But the appeals court ruling raises the question of whether Section 215, extended or not, has ever legitimately authorized the program. The statute on its face permits only the collection of records deemed “relevant” to a national security case. The government secretly decided, with the FISA court’s secret approval, that this could be interpreted to mean collection of all records, so long as only those that later turn out to be relevant are scrutinized by analysts.

However, Judge Lynch wrote: “Such expansive development of government repositories of formerly private records would be an unprecedented contraction of the privacy expectations of all Americans. Perhaps such a contraction is required by national security needs in the face of the dangers of contemporary domestic and international terrorism. But we would expect such a momentous decision to be preceded by substantial debate, and expressed in unmistakable language.”

The White House argued that the ruling in effect validated President Obama’s support for legislation taking the government out of bulk data collection and leaving the information with the telecommunications companies.

“Our team is still reviewing the details of the ruling,” Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, told reporters. “But we believe that regardless of the fine print of that ruling, that legislation is the way to go.”

Judge Lynch, who was appointed by Mr. Obama, was joined in the decision by Judge Robert D. Sack, a Clinton appointee, and Judge Vernon S. Broderick, another Obama appointee. Judge Broderick usually hears Federal District Court cases but was sitting on the appeals court for this case as a visiting judge.

The appeals court sent the matter back to a Federal District Court judge to decide what to do next. The government could also appeal the ruling to the full appeals court, or to the Supreme Court. Parallel cases are pending before two other appeals courts that have not yet ruled.

Alexander Abdo, who argued the case for the American Civil Liberties Union, praised the ruling as a “victory for the rule of law that should spur Congress into action.”

Several lawmakers who helped draft the U.S.A. Freedom Act seized on it as justification for enacting their bill. Among them, Senators Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, said in a joint statement: “Congress should not reauthorize a bulk collection program that the court has found to violate the law. We will not consent to any extension of this program.”

But Mr. McConnell gave no ground. On Thursday he blasted the House bill as “an untested, untried and more cumbersome system” that would neither “keep us safe or protect our privacy.”

“Section 215 helps us find a needle in the haystack,” he said. “But under the U.S.A. Freedom Act, there might not be a haystack at all.”

Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said both sides now have to come to the table because it was not clear that either option — the U.S.A. Freedom Act or extending the existing program — has the 60-vote support necessary to overcome a filibuster.

Mr. McConnell has the power to decide which bills get brought up for a vote. To create more time for debate, Democrats might permit an extension of the existing statute for a month, said a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss their progress. The Democrats would do that in exchange for a promise by Mr. McConnell to allow a vote on the House bill in June.

Still, even if there were votes in Congress for a short-term extension of the existing statute, Thursday’s ruling would create potential political and legal difficulties for keeping the program going in the interim.

To bridge any gap between the existing program and a new one, the Obama administration would have to ask the FISA court to reauthorize the program, and a FISA judge would have to agree to do so, notwithstanding the Second Circuit’s ruling that Section 215 cannot authorize such an order. (The FISA court is not directly subject to the Second Circuit’s authority because it has its own appeals court.)

In a statement, Edward Price, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said the administration was still evaluating the ruling but reiterated Mr. Obama’s support for legislation that would transform the program is in line with the U.S.A. Freedom Act.

The bulk phone records program traces back to October 2001. After the Sept. 11 attacks, President George W. Bush secretly authorized the N.S.A. to begin a group of surveillance and data-collection programs, without obeying statutory limits on government spying, for the purpose of hunting for terrorist cells.

Over time, the legal basis for each component of that program, known as Stellarwind, evolved. In 2006, the administration persuaded a FISA court judge to issue an order approving the bulk phone records component, based on the idea that Section 215 could be interpreted as authorizing bulk collection.

Many other judges serving on the FISA court have subsequently renewed the program at roughly 90-day intervals. It came to light in June 2013 as part of the leaks by the intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden.

The revelation led to a series of lawsuits challenging the program. Different district court judges reached opposing conclusions about its legality. Thursday’s ruling did not address the A.C.L.U.’s separate argument that bulk collection of records about Americans is unconstitutional regardless of any laws that support it. –Source: NY Times

Cajun Chicken Pasta

"Try this when you are feeling daring and want to mix things up a bit! A Southern inspired recipe that is sure to add a little fun to your dinner table. Try serving it with corn bread." -Tammy Schill

Ingredients:

Recipe makes 2 servings

4 ounces linguine pasta
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced into thin strips
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, minced
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguini pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
• Meanwhile, place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl, and toss to coat.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, saute chicken in butter until no longer pink and juices run clear, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add green and red bell peppers, sliced mushrooms and green onions; cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat, and stir in heavy cream. Season the sauce with basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper, and heat through.
• In a large bowl, toss linguini with sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

~Source: All Recipes

Signature

They Gave So We Can Live … Remembering Our Hero’s

Ragbag Headliners

4 Million Gay Men Are Beaten Up Every Year

Survey finds 13 million are banned from their family home

Four million gay men were victim of serious physical violence in 2014, according to a new survey.

PlanetRomeo released these shocking figures ahead of the launch of its Gay Happiness Index on the International Day Against Homophobia (17 March).

The gay dating network, in cooperation with the University of Mainz in Germany, questioned 115,000 gay men from 127 countries for the survey.

'When applying the survey results to the entire world population, the estimated outcome is shocking,' the company said in a statement.

Assuming 2,5% of all people are gay men and there are at least 175 million in the world, the survey also found that 13 million gay men are banned from their family home, 41 million want to escape their home country and 66 million are not out to their parents.

Another 22 million lost or were denied a job for being gay and 7 million are in heterosexual marriages.

'Until now it was just not possible to ask gay men directly about their personal lives, on a global scale. The spreading of the Internet, and the reach of gay dating platforms like ours, allows us to change this,' said Jens Schmidt, the CEO and founder of PlanetRomeo. –Source: Gay Star News

Boston Bomber Sentenced To Death

Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death Friday for the 2013 terror attack — and he reacted by flashing a wry grin and pointing his fingers like a gunslinger.

The same jury that found him guilty on April 8 of all 30 counts — including murder and use of a weapon of mass destruction — announced its verdict in a packed but silent federal courtroom in Boston at about 3:15 p.m. after deliberating for only 14 hours.

The 21-year-old self-radicalized Muslim — who with his brother, Tamerlan, planted two bombs at the marathon’s finish line, killing three and injuring 260 — showed little emotion as his fate was read.

But the remorseless jihadi, in a blazer and a collared shirt, smiled and pointed his index fingers as if firing pistols when US Marshals led him away, a witness told CNN.

US Attorney Carmen Ortiz lauded the jury, calling it a “fair and just verdict,” and said the case showcased the fairness of the US justice system.

“Even the worst of the worst deserve a fair trial and due process of law,” Ortiz said outside the courthouse.

She defended the government’s decision to seek the death penalty, citing the heinous nature of the attack and Tsarnaev’s lack of remorse and depraved indifference to human life and suffering.

“It was a political crime designed to intimidate and coerce the United States. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will pay with his life,’’ Ortiz said. “Our thoughts should turn away from the Tsarnaev brothers for good.”

His lawyers – who argued that Dzhokhar was merely under the spell of his violent brother – will appeal. They left court without commenting.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he hoped the verdict provided “a small measure of closure” for the families of the dead and injured, 17 of whom lost limbs.

“We will forever remember and honor those who lost their lives and were affected by those senseless acts of violence on our city,” he said.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the punishment fitting.

“No verdict can heal the souls of those who lost loved ones, nor the minds and bodies of those who suffered life-changing injuries from this cowardly attack. But the ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime,” Lynch said.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said, “We’ve sent a strong message that we’re not going to tolerate terrorism in our country.”

Tsarnaev’s father, Anzor Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen, was indignant.

“We will fight. We will fight. We will fight until the end,” he told ABC News, which had reached him in the Russian region of Dagestan.

Federal Judge George O’Toole Jr. will impose the sentence at a hearing in which Tsarnaev’s victims will be allowed to confront the madman. He will also have the right to speak after not taking the stand during his trial.

After the verdict was read, O’Toole told jurors, at least three of whom were wiping away tears, “You should be justly proud of your service in this case,” The Boston Globe reported.

The seven-woman, five-man jury decided Tsarnaev should be killed on the counts related to the deaths of Boston University grad student Lingzi Lu, 23, and 8-year-old Martin Richard, the attack’s youngest victim.

Tsarnaev was directly responsible for their murders, having placed the backpack pressure-cooker bomb that killed them.

The jurors chose not to sentence Tsarnaev to death for the second bomb, which was placed by his brother and killed Krystle Campbell, 28, of Arlington, Va.

They also did not impose the death penalty for the murder of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, whom the defense had argued was shot by Tamerlan.

Only three jurors bought the defense’s argument that Tsarnaev had been influenced by his older brother.

The panel unanimously agreed Tsarnaev — who often clowned in court during the penalty phase of his trial — showed no remorse.

The appeals process, meanwhile, could take years.

The US Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Boston will review Tsarnaev’s case, which could wind up before the US Supreme Court.

He will remain jailed in Massachusetts until after he’s formally sentenced, and it is expected he will be taken to the federal pen in Terre Haute, Ind., where he would become the youngest person on federal death row.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed April 19, 2013, following a shootout with Watertown, Mass., cops, who shot him before he was run over by an SUV driven by a fleeing Dzhokhar.

Dzhokhar was captured 17 hours later, wounded and hiding in a boat in a yard.

Tsarnaev scribbled a explanation for his barbarism in the boat, saying the United States was “killing our innocent civilians. We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all.”

Prosecutor Steven Mellin, in his closing argument, quoted a line from the note.

“Now I don’t like killing innocent people, but in this case, it is allowed,” he read.

The brothers were caught on surveillance video carrying the shrapnel-filled bombs as runners neared the marathon’s finish line in Boston’s Back Bay and as thousands of spectators cheered on the sidewalks.

Prosecutors said the Tsarnaevs, who still had a cache of pipe bombs and another pressure-cooker bomb after the attack, were planning to flee to New York City to carry out more terror attacks. –Source: NY Post

Cuba Has A Lung Cancer Vaccine—And America Wants It

Cuba has for several years had a promising therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer. The 55-year trade embargo led by the US made sure that Cuba was mostly where it stayed. Until—maybe—now.

The Obama administration has, of course, been trying to normalize relations with the island nation. And last month, during New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s visit to Havana, Roswell Park Cancer Institute finalized an agreement with Cuba’s Center for Molecular Immunology to develop a lung cancer vaccine and begin clinical trials in the US. Essentially, US researchers will bring the Cimavax vaccine stateside and get on track for approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

“The chance to evaluate a vaccine like this is a very exciting prospect,” says Candace Johnson, CEO of Roswell Park. She’s excited, most likely, because research on the vaccine so far shows that it has low toxicity, and it’s relatively cheap to produce and store. The Center for Molecular Immunology will give Roswell Park all of the documentation (how it’s produced, toxicity data, results from past trials) for an FDA drug application; Johnson says she hopes to get approval for testing Cimavax within six to eight months, and to start clinical trials in a year.

How did Cuba end up with a cutting edge immuno-oncology drug? Though the country is justly famous for cigars, rum, and baseball, it also has some of the best and most inventive biotech and medical research in the world. That’s especially notable for a country where the average worker earns $20 a month. Cuba spends a fraction of the money the US does on healthcare per individual; yet the average Cuban has a life expectancy on par with the average American. “They’ve had to do more with less,” says Johnson, “so they’ve had to be even more innovative with how they approach things. For over 40 years, they have had a preeminent immunology community.”

Despite decades of economic sanctions, Fidel and Raul Castro made biotechnology and medical research, particularly preventative medicine, a priority. After the 1981 dengue fever outbreak struck nearly 350,000 Cubans, the government established the Biological Front, an effort to focus research efforts by various agencies toward specific goals. Its first major accomplishment was the successful (and unexpected) production of interferon, a protein that plays a role in human immune response. Since then, Cuban immunologists made several other vaccination breakthroughs, including their own vaccines for meningitis B and hepatitis B, and monoclonal antibodies for kidney transplants.

The thing about making such great cigars is, smoking is really, really bad for you. Lung cancer is the fourth-leading cause of the death in Cuba. Medical researchers at the Center for Molecular Immunology worked on Cimavax for 25 years before the Ministry of Health made it available to the public—for free—in 2011. Each shot costs the government about $1. A Phase II trial from 2008 showed lung cancer patients who received the vaccine lived an average of four to six months longer than those who didn’t. That prompted Japan and some European countries to initiate Cimavax clinical trials as well.

To be fair, Cimavax probably won’t be a game-changing cancer drug in its current form. The vaccine doesn’t attack tumors directly, instead going after a protein that tumors produce which then circulates in the blood. That action spurs a person’s body to release antibodies against a hormone called epidermal growth factor, which typically spurs cell growth but can also, if unchecked, cause cancer. (Although most people normally think of a vaccine as something that prevents a disease, technically a vaccine is a substance that stimulates the immune system in some way.) So the point of Cimavax is to keep lung tumors from growing and metastasizing, turning a late-stage growth into something chronic but manageable.

But in the US and Europe, people with lung cancer already have treatment options with the same goal. Roswell Park researchers say they plan to explore the vaccine’s potential as a preventative intervention—making it more like a traditional vaccine. Furthermore, epidermal growth factor plays an important role in many other cancers, like prostate, breast, colon, and pancreatic cancer. “All those things are potential targets for this vaccine,” says Kelvin Lee, an immunologist at the company. Mostly for financial reasons, Cubans didn’t test Cimavax that way at all.

And that drug isn’t the only one with potential in the Cuban pharmacopeia. Thomas Rothstein, a biologist at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, has for six years worked with the Center for Molecular Immunology on another vaccine to treat lung cancer called Racotumomab, with an entirely different mechanism. (It messes with a particular lipid found in tumor cell membranes.) “Investigators from around the world are trying to crack the nut of cancer,” Rothstein says. “The Cubans are thinking in ways that are novel and clever.”

Although President Obama has used his executive power to lift some restrictions against medical and research equipment, Congress must lift the Cuban embargo before collaborative research can ramp up. Johnson hopes to see Cuba embrace more entrepreneurialism in science, and see the US soak up more creative approaches to medical research. Constrained by politics, the Cuban researchers had to innovate in ways the US and Europe did not. Now maybe they’ll be able to teach their colleagues what they learned. –Source: Wired

Bus Driver Dad Sings Opera

How Islamists' March on Baghdad Will Impact Your Wallet and Portfolio

The low, ominous rumble people hear is probably a shockwave from the devastating political earthquake in the Middle East.

There may not be a level on the Richter scale that expresses the punishing effect of the rapidly escalating recent events in the Middle East. But right now Iraq is the epicenter of a seismic shift in political and military relationships that will send shockwaves around the world.

For instance, in the USA, just because the nation is "protected by two oceans", doesn’t mean Americans won’t feel the jolt. Consider the following potential possibilities:

• Iraq was expected to provide 60 percent of OPEC’s output growth for the rest of the decade. What will happen if insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) seize oilfields or refineries or both?
• Just the damage from fighting could take Iraq oil off the market for years. With gas prices at an all-time high, will Obama be pressured to approve the Keystone pipeline?
• Will the United States finally get serious about energy independence and open federal land to fracking and increased production?
• How will the combination of $5/gallon gas and Middle East chaos affect November’s election and Democrat control of the Senate?
• Oil prices are only one area where ISIS may have an effect. Right now, large caches of U.S. weapons have already fallen into ISIS hands. What are the chances of ISIS downing an airliner? Will airline and travel industry stocks, and the economy in general take a nosedive?
• The Obama administration may reach out to Iran in a joint effort to stop ISIS. How will this affect Israel’s thinking with regard to Iranian nuclear weapons? Will Israel be ready to go it alone, possibly sparking a new conflagration?

The repercussions from just one of these scenarios have the potential for far-reaching global, political and financial impacts. –Source: Contributed by Ralph/Author Unknown

Climate Change Is Making Weed Stronger

In the midst of covering the worst drought to hit the Midwest in half a century, an NBC reporter kept stumbling upon a plant that didn’t seem to mind the water shortage. When she asked farmers in Iowa about the marijuana, which she spotted growing just about everywhere, even on the side of the road, they shrugged. They called it “ditchweed” and mostly seemed annoyed that the local police kept asking them to pull it up.

As a weed, marijuana is pretty drought-friendly. It may come under fire for sucking down too much water in parched California, but it doesn’t actually need a ton of it to survive. Furthermore, marijuana has been shown to thrive under higher CO2 concentrations, as well as water scarce conditions. Some research even indicates that its psychotropic properties may become more potent in stressed conditions. Weed, it seems, was built to boom in our climate-changed world.

"Marijuana is a very drought-tolerant plant. It's a weed, and they grow anywhere,” DEA agent Bill Weinman told the Rocky Mountain News during a dry spell in 2002. "Drought has little effect on pot crops: Plants prove hearty, surpassing yields of state's other crops." Authorities tasked with cracking down on illegal grow operations had long noted that marijuana seemed undeterred by drought.

In fact, a 1988 AP story about the seizure of unusually healthy plants in Virginia—again, during a drought—came packaged with the headline “Drought May Make Marijuana More Potent.” The reporter interviewed a Virginia Tech researcher who believed that alkaloids in marijuana would grow more concentrated under hotter weather, as they do in tobacco and coca plants.

Now we know that the active ingredient in cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which isn’t an alkaloid. It is produced by the plant as a pest repellant, however, and research indicates that cannabis produces more of it when it's stressed—subjected to drought, or disease.

Lewis Ziska, a plant physiologist with the US Department of Agriculture, and USDA ethno-botanist James Duke, both say their research shows that stressors will increase the plants’ “medicinal” properties.

“[T]he more stress a plant gets—heat or cold or disease or just plain beating it—the more medicinal and less edible it becomes," Duke recently told the Daily Climate, which published a summary some of the reasons marijuana might become more potent under climate change.

Ziska, meanwhile, has shown that as CO2 levels in the atmosphere increase, most plants, including marijuana, will benefit.

The basic science of why this is the case takes us back millions of years: the vast majority of plant species, Ziska says, evolved in periods where the standard carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere was much higher, closer to 1,000 parts per million. Humans, meanwhile, evolved when CO2 levels were much lower—around 280-300 parts per million. While that level was ideal for people, with the temperate climes and all, most plants never truly adapted to the CO2 deprivation. 

Now, as humans are pumping more CO2 back into the atmosphere, at an unprecedented pace, those plants are loving it. 

Further research backs this up: A 2009 study published in Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants tested those hypotheses in a real-world environment, and found that marijuana grew quite well in carbon concentrations of 750 ppm, the highest amount tested. The authors concluded that their findings demonstrate marijuana's "potential for better survival, growth and productivity in a drier and CO2 rich environment.”

A follow up study from the same authors confirmed as much: Primarily due to its “decreased stomatal conductance and subsequently the transpiration rate,” the researchers found that marijuana’s makeup “may enable this species to survive under expected harsh greenhouse effects including elevated CO2 concentration and drought conditions.”

Meanwhile, weed was already getting too good. Add in the fact that growers have been on a decades-long quest to grow super-potent pot strains on their own accord—some recent indoor-grown strains have tested as high as 33 percent THC, while in 1978, the average strain of marijuana had a THC level of 1.37 percent—and the future is looking quite interesting for the nation’s preferred drug to pair with sitting on the couch and watching TV. (Which also happens to be how we have mostly reacted to climate change.)

Marijuana is pretty much the perfect drug for the climate apocalypse—it thrives in elevated CO2, embraces drought conditions, and may even become stronger yet as the world warms.

It’s a reminder that climate change is everywhere, propelling transformations that are sometimes minuscule, sometimes drastic. Not even weed is untouched by our fossil fuel habits. If we don’t cut back, I guess we can at least settle into those higher temps with a buzz, and watch the rising seas with a glazed-over mellow. Maybe get a few visuals to distract from the sunburn. –Source: Motherboard

Woman Claiming To Represent God Files Federal Lawsuit

Sylvia Driskell, a 66-year-old woman in Nebraska, has filed a lawsuit against all people who identify as LGBT, the Omaha World-Herald Reports. In a case filed on May 1 with the district court in Omaha, called, “Driskell v. Homosexuals,” Driskell identifed herself as an ambassador for “God, And His, Son, Jesus Christ” as the plaintiff. The defendants? “Homosexuals; Their Given Name Homosexuals; Their, [alias] Gay.”

Driskell is representing herself in the case she wrote out by hand on lined notebook paper. Her challenge: “Petition Your Honor and Court of the United States District Court of Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska. To be heard in the matter of homosexuality. Is Homosexuality a sin, or not a sin.”

A few standout quotes from Driskell’s curiously punctuated, grammatically unconventional, Bible verse-intensive lawsuit against gay people:

    “The Homosexual’s say that its not a sin to be a homosexual; An they have the right to marry; to be parents, And God doesn’t care that their homosexuals; because He loves them.”

    “Your Honor; I’ve hear the boasting of the Defendant: the Homosexuals on the world news; from the Young, to the Old; to the rich An famous; and to the not so rich An famous; How they were tired of hiding in the closet, and how glad they are coming out of the closet.”

    “Ambassador: I Sylvia Ann Driskell; Contented that homosexuality is a sin, And that they the homosexuals know it is a sin to live a life of homosexuality. Why else would they have been hiding in a closet.”

    “Ambassador: I Sylvia Ann Driskell write, As well, we also know that if a child is raised in the home of liers (sic.), An deceivers, And thieves that it is reasonable to believe that child will grow up to be one of the three, are all three.”

    “Never before has Our great Nation the United States of America And our great State of Nebraska; been besiege by sin; The way to destroy any Nation, or State is to destroy its morals; Look what happen to Sodom and Gomorrah two city because of the same immoral behavior thats present in Our Nation, in Our States, and our Cities; God destroy them.”

    “If God could have found ten righteous people Among them he would have spared them.”

    “I’m sixty-six years old, An I never thought, that I would see the day in which our Great Nation or our Great State of Nebraska would become so compliant to the complicity of some peoples lewd behavior.”

    “Why are judges passing laws, so sinners can break religious, and moral laws. Will all the judges of this Nation, judge God to be a lier (sic.). For God has said, that all unrighteousness is sin, And that homosexuality is abomination.”

    “I, Sylvia Ann Driskell: I have written this Petition to the United State District Court of Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska, and to You, Your Honor. Because I feel its is imperative to do so. Life as a Nation, as States, and as cities need to start standing up for the moral principles on which our, Great Nation, our, Great States, and our, Great Cities were founded on.” -Source: Raw Story

Insight?

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover
that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.

From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship." "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following
sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith;
• From spiritual faith to great courage;
• From courage to liberty;
• From liberty to abundance;
• From abundance to complacency;
• From complacency to apathy;From apathy to dependence;
• From dependence back into bondage."
• The Obituary follows:
• Born 1776,
• Died 2012

~Contributed by Dan

Has Texas Succumbed Completely To Tea Party Insanity?

If it seems like Texas has been in the news quite a bit lately, that’s probably because it has. Of all the states in the U.S. right now, it’s almost certainly in the top 10 for creating confused, angry, bemused, and rampantly over-politicized facial expressions.

Texas has been of more recent interest, however, with a number of headline-grabbing antics at the governmental level, whether they’ve been less than functional or necessary political moves.

These extreme measures have one thing in common: They all have a far-right Tea Party bent to them, and they reveal the degree of political extremism that has been appearing in memorable bursts for some time now. At the nexus of this wave of political extremism is the state governor, Greg Abbott.

It’s not necessarily that polarization is the real problem. It’s more likely that political dysfunction and a degree of discontent and frustration are pushing groups and individuals. Let’s look at two of the bigger examples of this seen most recently in Texas. The examples are only too clear on how conservative some members are, and how uncomfortable they are with the current administration.

The beginning of May saw a deployment of the Texas State Guard on commands from Gov. Abbott to observe the training operations of a group of Navy SEAL and Green Beret officers. The reason? He was concerned that Obama was sneakily sending in forces for a takeover of Texas.

“During the training operation, it is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights, and civil liberties will not be infringed,” wrote Abbott in a letter to the state guard, according to TeaParty.org. “I am directing the Texas State Guard to monitor Operation Jade Helm 15.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest attempted to handle the concerns of an imminent invasion and expressed a degree of confusion regarding Abbott’s thought process.

“In no way will the constitutional rights or civil liberties of any American citizen be infringed upon while this exercise is being conducted,” said Earnest. “I have no idea what he’s thinking. I might have an idea about what he’s thinking, but I’m not going to.”

Per NPR, former Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst attempted a slightly more understandable explanation of the governor’s actions, saying: “Unfortunately, some Texans have projected their legitimate concerns about the competence and trustworthiness of President Barack Obama on these noble warriors. This must stop.”

This hasn’t been the only aggressive political move seen in Texas so far this month. With the Supreme Court close to ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, the state is preparing for worse-case scenario, a decision that changes the definition of marriage to allow for couples of the same gender to marry. A ruling is expected next month, but many states are getting prematurely upset about possibility that same-sex marriage will be legal and Texas is launching a preemptive strike. Many states, like Texas, frame their opposition to the legalization of same-sex marriage on the federal level as an issue of state sovereignty. But the opposition comes even despite a broad-based change in national opinion on the matter. Since 1996, the trend has been in favor of same-sex marriage and equal rights, according to Gallup’s historical poll.

Texas is preparing to block the results of a pro-marriage equality ruling, should it eventually come. “Texas Constitution defines marriage as consisting ‘only of the union of one man and one woman’ and was approved by more than three-quarters of Texas voters. I am committed to ensuring that the Texas Constitution is upheld and that the rule of law is maintained in the state of Texas,” said Abbott in a statement, according to CNN.

This was after the Texas Supreme Court blocked same-sex couples from receiving valid marriage licenses, and the Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, issued a statement saying that the license given to the first same-sex couple to be married in Texas — Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant — was void. –Source: Cheat Sheet

Government Contract

Three contractors participated in a bid to fix some minor damage to the White House fence; one contractor was from Helena, Montana; one from Memphis, Tennessee; and one from Chicago, Illinois.

In order to come up with a fair price, the Montana contractor took measurements and made calculations on the cost of labor and material. His bid came to a total of $900, which was broken down as follows: $200 for materials and $700 for labor.

The Tennessee contractor, likewise, took measurements and made calculations on the cost of labor and material. His bid came to $700: $150 for materials and $550 for labor.

The Chicago contractor neither measured or calculated. Instead, he just leaned over to the White House official and whispered, "I'll do it for $2,700!"

Flummoxed, the White House official remarked incredulously, "You didn't measure or make calculations like the other guys. So, how did you come up with your figure?"

The Chicago contractor whispered back, "Quite simple really. $1000 for you, $1000 for me, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence!"

"That sounds great to me!" replied the White House official.

And that, my friends, is how many (if not all) government contracts are negotiated and awarded! -Source: Contributed by Ralph/Author Unknown

Thomas Newman - Piano Concerto No. 2

A Straight Dude Asked His Gay Best Friend To Prom

A straight high school student has shown his support for his gay best friend – by asking him to prom when he couldn’t find a date.

Anthony Martinez, who is an openly gay student at a school in Las Vegas, shared the moment he was asked to prom by his straight friend Jacob Lescenski.

A sign held by Lescenski and the pair’s close friends read: “You’re hella gay, I’m hella str8, but you’re like my brother, so be my d8?”

A straight high school student has shown his support for his gay best friend – by asking him to prom when he couldn’t find a date.

Anthony Martinez, who is an openly gay student at a school in Las Vegas, shared the moment he was asked to prom by his straight friend Jacob Lescenski.

A sign held by Lescenski and the pair’s close friends read: “You’re hella gay, I’m hella str8, but you’re like my brother, so be my d8?”

The student told NewNowNext of the sign, which has spread online: “I decided on going to prom alone because my original date idea didn’t work out so well… then one night I saw Anthony, who is my best friend, tweeting about wanting a date.

“So, I came up with the poster idea, asked my friend Mia to make it and asked him that next day.

“No one knew about it except for me, my friend Jamie, and Mia, who made the poster. It was a giant surprise to everyone, especially Anthony!”

Anthony Martinez said he had taken to the internet to complain about being unable to find another guy to take – until his best friend stepped in.

He said: “Being gay, and knowing I’m too busy for guys, no gay guy would ask me to a dance, let alone prom… so like any teen I complained about it on Twitter.”

The student recounted: “I saw this giant poster and assumed it was for another person… until I read ‘You’re hella gay’!”

“[Jacob’s] a real man, given that he has the guts to fulfil my gay student council dream of always helping out planning dances, and never getting asked.

“I couldn’t ask for a better person in my life.”

Ellen DeGeneres has since shared pictures of the pair. –Source: Pink News

Cocktail Meatballs

"An extremely easy appetizer that keeps them coming back for seconds." -Recipe by Jhibbard

Ingredients:

Recipe makes 32 servings

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 1/4 cups grape jelly
1 cup chili sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a large roasting pan with foil.
• Shape ground beef into golf sized balls. Arrange them on the large roasting pan.
• Bake the meatballs for 20 to 25 minutes.
• While the meatballs are baking, combine the jelly, chili sauce and lemon juice in a Dutch oven. When the meatballs finish cooking add them to the Dutch oven.
• Cover the oven and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Serve the meatballs hot.

~Source: All Recipes

Locally Speaking

NY Governor Cuomo Releases Blueprint to End AIDS by 2020

In an April 29 ceremony in front of Manhattan’s LGBT Community Center, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo formally accepted the blueprint to end the AIDS epidemic in the Empire State by 2020, according to a press release from the state.

The blueprint was created last fall by a task force of 63 HIV advocates and experts at Cuomo’s request. In January 2015, the task force submitted the blueprint, but the governor had not formally accepted it or released it until now.

Last June, Cuomo announced a three-point plan to reduce the number of new annual HIV infections to 750 from an estimated 3,000. The three points are (1) identifying more people who are HIV positive and linking them to care, (2) retaining people in care and helping them maintain undetectable viral levels, and (3) providing more access to pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP).

The state Department of Health appointed the task force with the job of suggesting how best to achieve those goals. The resulting 30 recommendations comprise the blueprint to ending the AIDS epidemic. The recommendations address acute HIV infections, homelessness, hepatitis C and other related topics.

According to the state’s press release, “In the 2015–16 budget, Governor Cuomo included $10 million to support End of the Epidemic in New York State. The budget also removed the requirement for individuals in correctional facilities to give written consent for HIV testing, encouraged high-risk populations to use condoms by prohibiting prosecutors from using them as evidence in prostitution cases, and made it legal to possess syringes obtained through a syringe access program.”

A press release by Treatment Action Group (TAG) stated that “a public release of this blueprint will galvanize the fiscal and legislative support needed to end the epidemic.”

A previous report by TAG and Housing Works predicted that the plan will save the state $4.5 billion in Medicaid by 2020. –Source: POZ


Christie Was Aware Of Bridge Scandal, Poll Says
A majority of New Jersey voters don't believe Gov. Chris Christie personally ordered the George Washington Bridge lane closures that rocked his administration. But nearly just as many believe he was aware of them, according to a new poll.

Fifty-seven percent of New Jersey voters say Christie did not personally order the traffic jams that snarled traffic in the town of Fort Lee for nearly a week, compared to 32 percent who think he did, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Monday. But a majority — 53 percent to 38 percent — say he was aware of Bridgegate as opposed to being left in the dark.

"Did Gov. Christopher Christie cause Bridgegate? Most voters say no. Did he know about it? Most think he did," said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of Quinnipiac University Poll.

Christie has insisted he was "blindsided" by the scandal that reached top staffers in his administration.

A federal probe into the bridge access lane closures is still pending.

If it's proven Christie ordered the lane closures or knew what his aides were doing at the time, 34 percent of voters want Christie removed from office and 29 percent say he should be removed and prosecuted, according to the poll. Twenty-nine percent say an apology is enough.

The poll also found Christie's job approval hit another low with 56 percent of New Jersey voters disapproving of his work and only 38 percent who said they approve.

A majority of blue sate New Jersey voters also said Christie would not make a good president.

The poll was conducted from April 9-14 and surveyed 1,428 New Jersey voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. The survey included 444 Republicans with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points and 539 Democratic voters with a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points. –Source: Nj

Bill Clinton Concedes Role In Mass Incarceration

Bill Clinton: 'We have too many people in prison' 02:26

President Bill Clinton on conceded that over-incarceration in the United States stems in part from policies passed under his administration.

Clinton signed into law an omnibus crime bill in 1994 that included the federal "three strikes" provision, mandating life sentences for criminals convicted of a violent felony after two or more prior convictions, including drug crimes. On Wednesday, Clinton acknowledged that policy's role in over-incarceration in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

"The problem is the way it was written and implemented is we cast too wide a net and we had too many people in prison," Clinton said Wednesday. "And we wound up...putting so many people in prison that there wasn't enough money left to educate them, train them for new jobs and increase the chances when they came out so they could live productive lives."

Clinton's comments come on the heels of protests in Baltimore over policing and the death of a young black man there and a week after Hillary Clinton delivered one of the first policy addressees of her presidential campaign on criminal justice reform, saying that the system focuses too much on incarceration.

"Keeping them behind bars does little to reduce crime, but it does a lot to tear apart families," Hillary Clinton said last week. "Our prisons and our jails are now our mental health institutions."

As first lady, Clinton helped push the omnibus crime bill in public, calling it a "well-thought out crime bill that is both smart and tough" in a 1994 interview.

She said that the crime bill would keep violent offenders locked up "so they could never get out again" and touted the "three strikes" provision specifically.

"We will finally be able to say, loudly and clearly, that for repeat, violent, criminal offenders: three strikes and you're out. We are tired of putting you back in through the revolving door," Clinton said in 1994.

On the heels of nationwide protests in Baltimore, Clinton and other politicians are now turning their attention away from "tough on crime" policies to those focused on lowering prison populations and providing more opportunities for low-income areas, where tensions with police have boiled over in Baltimore and other cities.

In the interview Wednesday, the former president didn't completely take the blame for those crime policies, though, pointing to Republicans who strongly pushed the "three strikes" provision.

"But I wanted to pass a bill and so I did go along with it," Clinton said, referencing the legislation that put more police officers on the streets, increased prison funding and banned assault weapons and large ammunition magazines.

Clinton's administration did attempt to reform the Republican proposal of that policy, but he and his administration touted the benefits of the "three strikes" provision included in the legislation he signed.

Clinton said he agreed with his wife's new bent on criminal justice reform and called bipartisan support for those types of reforms "one of the most hopeful things."

"I mean, going from conservative Republicans to liberal Democrats and the people in between saying there's too many people in jail and we're not doing enough to rehabilitate the ones you could rehabilitate," Clinton said. "We're wasting too much money locking people up who don't need to be there."  -Source: Contributed by Mary/CNN

Speaking Out About Islam Could Become Hate Crime

The Trojan horse was used by the Greeks to enter the city of Troy to put an end to a ten-year war. They did it by constructing a huge wooden horse that housed a contingent of soldiers. “The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greeks entered and destroyed the city of Troy, decisively ending the war.”

Thus the phrase, “beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”

It’s somewhat understandable that the Trojans might have been fooled by the tactic. They certainly never would have let the Greeks in when for ten years they continually called and worked for the destruction of the Trojans.

But this seems to be happening in Great Britain. The liberal Labor Party is fully aware of the content and purpose of the Islamic Trojan horse already in its nation. The gates had been opened a long time ago.

Great Britain has an Islam problem, as do many European countries. Many Muslims fail to assimilate. They want to bring their Muslim culture, religion, and laws with them and displace the existing way of life. They freely admit this. In fact, Islamic leaders have made it clear that the long-term goal is to make Great Britain into a caliphate.

At the moment, anybody in Great Britain can speak freely on what Islamists have been planning for centuries and warning what will happen if there is no organized resistance. The day may come that anybody who speaks negatively about Islam will be charged with a hate crime.

The following is from Gatestone Institute:

“The leader of Britain's Labour Party, Ed Miliband, has vowed, if he becomes the next prime minister in general elections on May 7, to outlaw ‘Islamophobia.’

The move — which one observer has called ‘utterly frightening’ because of its implications for free speech in Britain — is part of an effort by Miliband to pander to Muslim voters in a race that he has described as ‘the tightest general election for a generation.’”

Many people will say, “Well, it could never happen here in the good old USA.” Really? Look what’s happened on the same-sex marriage issue. People are losing their businesses for expressing their First Amendment rights.

A pro-homosexual lawyer admitted that if the Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right that churches could lose their tax-exempt status.

Islamists could see this tactic as a way to get immunity for their religion and work to outlaw any and all criticism of Islam. There has already been some discussion about working toward this goal. “Condemning what they call widespread ‘Islamophobia,’ religious authoritarians are asserting themselves, both violently and diplomatically, while the West cowers and says they’re right to be angry. Hillary Clinton even says she personally shares their anger.”

Might might save Great Britain at this point in time is that for many Muslims voting is a sin. But this could change in order to get laws on the books condemning "Islamophobia":

In an interview with The Muslim News, Miliband said:

“‘We are going to make it [Islamophobia] an aggravated crime. We are going to make sure it is marked on people's records with the police to make sure they root out Islamophobia as a hate crime.

“‘We are going to change the law on this so we make it absolutely clear of our abhorrence of hate crime and Islamophobia. It will be the first time that the police will record Islamophobic attacks right across the country.’”

An “Islamophobic attack” will be defined as anybody who speaks in a negative way about Islam. “Miliband's renewed promise to make ‘Islamophobia’ (a term he has not defined) an ‘aggravated crime’ may signal an attempt to turn the 2006 Act — which already stipulates a maximum penalty of seven years in prison for stirring up religious hatred — into a full-blown Muslim blasphemy law.”

If the Supreme Court can redefine marriage; it can redefine anything and make it a crime to oppose it. –Source: Godfather Politics