You’ve all heard the claims, that the problem in Washington is not a revenue problem but a spending problem. Republicans have successfully led many to believe that Democratic presidents have contributed the most to our national deficit. But there is something called the truth, and the truth cannot be denied especially when it’s backed up by statistics.
Here’s a look at the spending in this nation over the last 30+ years. Something Republicans refuse to comprehend.
Could JayZ and Beyonce‘s trip have anything to do with the possibilities of new policies regarding the US trade embargo against Cuba? In recent weeks, the interest of a change in U.S. policy towards Cuba has been showing up in some of the most important media outlets in the United States.
One of the key points in this widening discussion is to find a clear and just solution to the case of the Cuban 5, prisoners held in the United States for 15 years.
The US government never confirmed that any real acts of espionage had been carried out, since no classified documents had been confiscated from the Five. The men have since stated that their actual mission in the United States was monitoring the activities of the groups and organizations, dissidents and ex-patriots of Cuban after the revolution, responsible for terrorist activities against Cuba. After the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959, Cuba had been the victim of more terrorist attacks than any other country in the world, killing 3,478 and injuring 2,099. The vastly majority of those attacks originated in southern Florida, by groups tolerated and partly financed by the US government.
After their arrest, the Five were immediately placed in solitary confinement, for the 17 months of pretrial custody.
Despite vigorous objections raised by the Five’s defense, the case was tried in Miami, Florida, a community with a long history of hostility toward the Cuban government, which prevented them from receiving a fair trial.
Their six month trial became the longest in United States history and its resulting four life plus 77 year sentence for each of the five defendants made them the first people ever to be sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage in a United States case, in which there were no secret documents was ever obtained.
The Five were imprisoned in five separate maximum security prisons spread across the US without the possibility of communication with each other.
Cuba is the only country in the world that Americans are restricted from visiting. If you can get a visa, the US government allows you to go anywhere else in the world, even places like Syria, Iran or North Korea. For this reason there are questions brewing over the legality of the trip. Did the Carter’s visit Cuba as unofficial envoys of the President? In his recently released rap song Open Letter, JayZ kicks back a response to the negative press of his visit to the tropical country, with the lyrics, “…boy from the hood but got White House clearance”. But the White House has immediately denied any sponsorship for the visit to Cuba.
A police sergeant from Cape Canaveral, Florida has been fired after it was discovered he brought two shooting targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a training session last week.
According to WFTV two officers saw the targets in the back of Sgt. Ron King’s vehicle and they informed the Chief of the Port Authority Police.
King was allegedly bringing the targets to a firearms training session in Cocoa, Florida at Brevard Community College.
The sergeant, who has been on the force since January of 2011, was on duty at the time.
He had purchased the two targets from the internet. It is not clear if they were used during the training session.
After an investigation from internal affairs, King was fired on Thursday.
John Walsh, the CEO of Cape Canaveral Port Authority, spoke to WFTV and apologized to Port Canaveral and the family of Trayvon Martin.
‘It’s something that we’d never want the Port Authority to be involved in and we truly apologize to the families for the pain that they even had to hear about something like this and had to relive their son’s death again.’
Just when the Masters 2013 Championship was beginning to take shape with movers and shakers maneuvering to the front of the leaderboard, a possible rules violation by one of the greatest golfers ever has shaken the golf world. Tiger Woods, who had one of the most unusual bad breaks in golf history, is now a target of a different sort –
Tiger at the time was in second place with a 5-under score and charging the leader board. In fact, a birdie at the 15th would have propelled him to a tie with Jason Day at 6-under. Instead, the unfortunate occurred. Tiger, despondent and disappointed, had three options in which to take a drop shot which adds to the score of that hole.
The official USGA rules for relief from a water hazard (rule 26-1) are as follows:
a. Proceed under the stroke and distance provision of Rule 27-1 by playing a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or
b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or
c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.
Woods chose the first option, to play from a spot nearest where the original ball was placed, but by moving the ball back two yards, he technically broke the rules.
All of the hoopla seems to be about whether Tiger should be disqualified and many PGA players have weighed in with not too kind words to say about it. Just take a look at some of the Twitter feeds below and judge for yourself:
@Graeme_McDowell
“Take the fact that it was Tiger out of the equation and it is a fair ruling. Since it is him the debate begins about TV ratings etc etc.”
@StuartAppleby
“I guess PGA made a new rule if a player not knowingly breaks a rule can get assessed penalty not DQ that it seems = Tiger.”
@david59duval
“I think he should WD. He took a drop to gain an advantage.”
That – David Duval – who is a majors winner himself and was also a fierce competitor of Tiger’s in the 1990’s, is preposterous! An “unfair advantage” is placing the ball CLOSER to the hole, not further away as Tiger did.
The whole story began when a T.V. viewer called in to notify the tournament of the possible infraction by Tiger Woods. That in itself should never be allowed to happen. There are so many golf officials on site to manage the game so if not one of the officials said anything to him about it, No Penalty should be given. Secondly, All golfers play with another partner and if that partner hasn’t said a thing about illegalities, No Penalty. This is a game of Sportsmanship, Honor and Integrity.
To think that a 14-time Major winner like Tiger Woods would take it upon himself to ‘cheat’ at a game that he has played since his dad, Earl, first placed a club in his hand is unthinkable. Why would or should Tiger have any reason to cheat the game he loves and even worships? He doesn’t and he wouldn’t. In my opinion, which seems to be what everyone has on this issue, is Tiger should not have been disqualified because the Rule Committee at the Masters said the same.
“After being prompted by a television viewer, the Rules Committee reviewed a video of the shot (after the drop) while he was playing the 18th hole,” Fred Ridley, the Augusta National Golf Club’s competition committee chairman, said in a written statement. At that time the committee determined Woods hadn’t broken any rules, but later met with Woods after he described on television where he stood to drop the ball. Woods told reporters he stood “two yards” behind the spot of his errant shot before the drop. Television replays suggested he was a little closer.
So with that said, move on golf world, move on PGA Players, move on has-beens of the game and move on weekend hackers. The Committee has spoken and Tiger Woods tees off at 1:45 pm on Saturday afternoon. What’s the matter? Are you all afraid he may still come back and win his 5th Green Jacket and 15th career major?
Of course you are…that’s why All the hoopla. And, P.S., he could just comeback and win it. He has come from 6-shots back before. He could do it again.
After his first song Gangnam Style went VIRAL on the internet, tearing up dance floors all over the nation and prompting copycat videos on YouTube, PSY is now trying to do it all over again with the release of another YouTube video introducing his new song, Gentleman.
Can Gentleman do what Gangnam Style did? Does it have that secret ingredient to do what Gangnam Style did for the South Korean artist?
You be the judge.
let me be your Peace (Piece).
your Peace of mind
Piece of the rock
Piece of work.
let me be your Piece of the pie
Peace with God
Piece of art
that Piece of the puzzle you’ve been missing.
let me be your Piecemeal
your Piece of fine ass
your chess Piece
piano Piece
Peace treaty
display Piece.
your companion Piece
your inner & outer Peace
your Peace on earth.
let me be your everlasting, everloving, eternal…Piece (Peace).
Seriously, drama just revolves around these three. With the forever saga that goes along with Rihanna and Chris Brown, somehow Drake is oftentimes thrown into the mix.
Remember the June 13, 2012 W.i.P nightclub fight that occurred between Chris Brown and Drake supposedly over Rihanna which ultimately led to the club closing its doors for a brief time and several lawsuits quickly following? The most recent lawsuit involves Chris Brown’s bodyguard suing Drake and the nightclub over physical damages due to being hit in the face with a bottle during the fight.
Well, now, here is just another chapter in the The World Turns Around Rihanna (…and Chris Brown).
Drake, who usually leaves his thoughts out there in his lyrics, stated on the “Keep It Thoro” internet radio show that,
Don’t ask me sh– about that man when I come up there and leave that man alone. Stop preying on his insecurities…His insecurities are the fact that I make better music than him, that I’m more popping than him and that at one point in life the woman that he loves fell into my lap.
I did what a real n—a would do and treated her with respect.
Hmm, while I appreciate Drake’s candidness making statements in regards to leaving Chris Brown alone; I really don’t think that calling him out on his insecurities, making claims that his music is better than Chris’, and that he once did the dirty with Rihanna is really going to help settle their issues.
I can only predict further beefing developments will ensue.
So, until the next chapter….
Working on a new bake book, my obsession with creating the almost-perfect recipe for chocolate chip cookies probably goes a bit deeper than most people. Some people even consider it a bit odd. Nonetheless, my efforts benefit my roommates, family and friends with tried-and-true recipes and a plateful of cookies. I have been recipe testing the “ultimate home chef’s chocolate chip cookie” recipe for the past few weeks. I think I’m close to calling this one my favorite recipe.
Being a home chef is not only about creating something delicious from raw ingredients. The home cook knows there is more that happens in the kitchen. Something happens to me. Something happens to the other people who share the space and the food. The art and science of food preparation builds not only good food, but wonderful memories and relationships.
Magic happens when people come together in the kitchen and mix laughter with chopping nuts and chocolate, talking about the day with measuring flour and vanilla. How does one create the almost perfect chocolate chip cookie? Just follow this recipe: people + good recipe + working in the kitchen = the almost-perfect cookie and a near-perfect experience.
Whether you are cooking something savory or baking something sweet, I hope you take the chance to pull someone into the kitchen with you and enjoy the beauty of delicious food and nurturing relationships this weekend.
Melissa’s Ultimate Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 cup (2 cubes) butter, softened
2 eggs at room temperature (pull out eggs about 40 minutes before putting together the batter)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 ½ cups of flour
1 bag (12 oz.) of chocolate chips – pick your personal favorite: semi sweet; dark chocolate
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Mix the sugars and the butter together until they are creamed together. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until blended. (You can use a beater too. It does make everything a bit faster!)
Add in the salt, baking powder and baking soda and stir. Add in the flour one cup at a time and mix until the flour is completely dissolved into the batter. Fold in ¾ of the bag of chocolate chips.
You can use a variety of things to scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets. I like my cookies to look very pretty and round so I roll the dough in my hands – about the shape of walnuts. You can use a teaspoon for a similar size.
Take some of the leftover chocolate chips and smoosh them gently into the top of the cookies. This is a completely “let’s make these cookies prettier” step. If you don’t want to do this, simply add all the chips to the batter. I like to have chips sticking up out of my cookies.
Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes. If you like your chocolate chip cookies on the chewy side, take them out at 9 minutes. If a crispier cookie is your preference, leave them in for 11 minutes. Be careful if you like them crispier. It is easy to go from crispy to burnt in less than a minute!
Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for one minute before moving them to the cooling rack. Removing the cookies off the cookie sheet too soon will cause them to fall apart. If the cookie rack has gone MIA or is being used as a landing pad for the Lego tower, foil or paper towels work well.
Enjoy the cookies warm or keep them in an airtight container to eat over the weekend. Chocolate chip cookies freeze beautifully. The literature tells me frozen cookies retain their freshness for up to 6 weeks. I will have to take the experts at their word because cookies never last that long in my freezer.
Melissa is a freelance writer, blogger and enthusiastic home chef. You can follow her on Twitter @melissauclair or find her at http://www.launchyourcreativelife.com where she writes about working towards the location independent lifestyle.
This week’s address is delivered by Francine Wheeler, whose six year old son, Ben, was murdered alongside nineteen other children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, four months ago. Now, Francine – joined by her husband David – is asking the American people to help prevent this type of tragedy from happening to more families like hers. Since that terrible day in December, thousands more Americans have died, and thousands more families have suffered the pain of losing a loved one to violence.
Now that the Senate has agreed that common sense gun safety reforms deserve a vote, they must finish the job and pass those reforms to protect our children and our communities. Now is the time for all Americans to help make this a moment of real change.
“ADORN YOU”
…and watch Miguel perform live tonight @ 11:30pm on SNL!
2011 NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers
There is no doubt in any NFL fan’s mind that Aaron Rodgers is the best Quarterback in the league right now and he is expecting a big huge check coming his way from the Green Bay Packers. I can’t sit here and argue that he isn’t deserving of that money; Rodgers is a three-time Pro Bowler, passed for 4,295 yards with 39 touchdowns last season while leading his Packers to their fourth straight playoff appearance. This man deserves his money and will no doubt be getting it soon.
Move over Joe, Aaron Rodgers is coming with his fat paycheck
Over the offseason Joe Flacco was signed to a $120.6 million dollar deal by the Baltimore Ravens where he is going to be making $20.6 million a year. That deal was historic in NFL history since it made Flacco the highest paid player ever. Ever. Now Rodgers gets to have that title and plans to smash Flaccos small deal into last year. Even though his current contract extends through 2014 and gives him $19.75 million through though last two years, the Packers plan to extend that contract and give him a contract (of unknown length) coupled with $21 million per year, if not more!
The Packers are still trying to hash out all the details of Rodger’s contract extension and hope to have him signed before the season starts. The latest news coming from the sides was that they were still $2 million apart. Once they finalize that contract details they will more than likely turn their attention to Linebacker Clay Matthews and defensive end B.J. Raji. Rumors are that those three contracts will total around a quarter of a billion dollars
Linebacker Clay Matthews will more than likely be given an extension through his 2013 contract
As a Packers fan you must rejoice over having the best Quarterback in the league locked down and what looks like being able to finish his career where it started. On the flip side though you must be wary of the fact these contracts will eat a huge chunk of an already small cap space which sits at $17,799,553 for the 2013 season. Only time will tell if Green Bay’s choice to empty their wallet for Rodgers will pay off. As for Rodgers, I don’t think he could be any happier.
