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Last time I wrote a blog challenging my Democrat friends, this time it’s the Republican’s turn.
To all my Republican friends, billionaires and multi-millionaires, stop bitching and pay your damn taxes. How dare you make record profits and not want to contribute more to fixing our problems while some in our country are suffering the worst economic times since the Great Depression? I DON’T NEED A TAX BREAK. I AM RICH. AND SO ARE YOU!
The Vice President was right when he told the Republican leaders to “get real” during Monday’s White House

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has blinked. His proposal late yesterday afternoon to give President Obama the power to raise the Federal Debt Ceiling — without the previously demanded budget cuts — is the beginning of the Republican collapse in their stand off with the president and Democrats.
The exact terms of surrender have yet to be negotiated, but there is little question that the Republican forces are have begun to break into a full retreat from their demands that they would only vote to increase the debt ceiling if Democrats agreed to a comparable cuts in spending — with not a dime of increased tax revenue from the wealthy.
Why has the battle turned?
First, the Republican position demanding massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other critical middle class programs — without a dime of new revenue from millionaires, billionaires, oil companies and CEO’s who fly around in corporate jets — simply won’t sell to ordinary American

It’s a scene that has become all too familiar in recent months: thick, black oil washing up on some shoreline as workers in protective gear try to stop its spread. The most memorable, and most destructive, recent oil spill occurred last April in the Gulf of Mexico.
Since the disaster in the Gulf, dozens of pipelines have spilled millions of gallons of oil into streams and rivers across the continent. A year ago, an Enbridge pipeline poured more than 800,000 gallons of tar sands crude into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River, near where I grew

In the coming weeks, our national leaders face extraordinary challenges. To avoid defaulting on our obligations and sending the world economy into a tailspin, we must raise the debt limit by August 2nd. But we also face the daunting task of balancing the budget and reducing our deficit, while at the same time avoiding the enactment of any solutions that will exacerbate the serious and stubborn joblessness in this country. Unfortunately as debate and negotiations over the debt ceiling have progressed, all of these issues seem to have been inextricably linked to one another, setting the stage for an unprecedented and dangerous path

A small island fishing community 800 air miles southwest of Anchorage has found itself in a monster of a fight with federal enforcers based more than 4,100 miles away, in Washington, D.C.
Acting on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice is threatening to wring more than $158 million out of the city of Unalaska. It claims the city has for years dumped sewage pollutants into the Pacific Ocean and now wants a federal judge to not only force Unalaska into compliance but also impose up to $32,500 per day in fines, even more — up to $37,500 per day — for the most recent violations.
Before the Justice Department filed its lawsuit against Unalaska, city leaders pleaded their case to the Alaska Legislature, looking for money to help end the pressure they were

Jewish mothers became the secret stars of the evening as Harvey Weinstein introduced a private screening of “Sarah’s Key” at the MoMA on Monday, July 11: the evening’s host, Diane von Furstenberg, is such a mother, as is Weinstein’s own, Miriam, who was in the audience, happy, he said, that this new film was not controversial in the manner of a recent Weinstein release, Julian Schnabel’s “Miral.” Indeed, “Sarah’s Key,” based upon the wildly popular novel by Tatiana de Rosnay and already a hit in Europe, will not have B’nai B’rith asking, “Is it good for the Jews?”
Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, “Sarah’s Key” is the story of a 10-year-old Jewish girl who is arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ D’Hiv roundup of July 16, 1942.
Thinking she can save him, young Sarah (Melusine Mayance) locks her little brother in a secret cupboard, promising to return. She clutches the key even in the most horrific circumstance, ripped away from her mother at Beaune-la-Rolande, and awaiting transfer to the death camps.
Interwoven with this World War II drama is the present-day story of Julia Jarmond (Kristen Scott Thomas), an American journalist living in Paris, researching this story for a magazine

Given the daily budget talks in Washington and lingering questions surrounding whether or not our elected officials will actually raise the debt ceiling, I have been thinking about the consequences should our representatives fail us — triggering a default.
Predictions include not paying members of our armed services and Social Security checks not going out on time. If, however, the US Congress is forced to shut down its website, I suggest the illustration below as the new default page.
The image is a visual expression of my frustration with partisan gridlock in Washington. It was sparked by the talks surrounding the debt ceiling, but I am afraid it could work for just about anything these

As President Barack Obama lectured us with foolish notions — such as attempting to reduce America’s $14.4 trillion deficit by focusing carefully
poll-tested, repetitive threats — it is clear that, as the debt ceiling issue reaches a stage of urgency, the positions staked out by Republicans
and Democrats are on different planets.
Just as six presidential candidates, 12 U.S. senators, 26 House members and more than 100,000 citizens have signed onto a pledge requiring a debt-ceiling-increase limitation to be tied to serious budgetary cuts and a balanced budget constitutional amendment, it appears that the Republican leadership is working to undermine the proposal.
The MSM and bloggers are reporting that certain members of the Republican establishment are not willing to do the heavy lifting demanded by movement the conservative movement which is responsible for their reclaiming of the House majority. Article after article has been written, with gentle nudging by unnamed Republican operatives, that this is just another meaningless promise and Americans have so-called “pledge fatigue.”
And while it is true that pledges are often used by politicians as a way to avoid going to war against liberal Democrats, the proposals put forward in the Cut, Cap and Balance pledge are so fiscally conservative, they would have been considered impossible in any previous Congress.
Instead of “pledge fatigue,” fellow patriots and I have “backroom deal fatigue.” Republicans have shown themselves too quick to take aim at small, controversial budgetary matters while settling for a few billion dollars of cuts and caving to President Obama. This is unacceptable.
As the Congressional Budget Office conservatively reports, America’s debt will steadily increase to a prosperity-killing 100 percent of GDP by

Since the early years of Christianity, various myths, legends, and even conspiracy theories about the origins of the Bible have enjoyed wide circulation. The discovery in recent decades of many books that were not accepted into the Christian canon has only added to this speculation, spawning numerous best-sellers and television programs. Though the number of theories has grown, however, the three most popular are sufficiently well defined that we can consider them as we might various options on a multiple-choice quiz. So read carefully and then make your selection.
The Big Three
A: Holy

I never turn away from a good deal. I’m proud to shop — well — cheaply. As much as I love all of those fashion bloggers out there who wear designer and spend three digits (or more) on one single clothing item, I have to keep it real. I just can’t manage to justify (to myself and to my bank account) why I’d ever fork over $900 on a handbag or $400 on a pair of

Years before he was known as Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla hoped to become an actor.
The late pontiff studied drama in his native Poland at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University. Later, while preparing for the priesthood at a clandestine seminary, he also was a member of the underground Rhapsodic theater company.
“Artistic talent is a gift from God,” John Paul once said. “And whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste his talent, but must develop it.”
The Holy Wood Acting Studio in California is following the beloved pope’s direction by helping aspiring actors develop both their artistic and spiritual gifts.
“Our mission is to turn out actors who will lead the way toward a moral center for the movie and television industry,” the studio’s website says. “All our courses emphasize personal and professional growth and development, not limiting such growth to acting potential, but also transforming the trainees into leaders in their families and community as well.”
Founded by a family of devout Catholics, the studio in Culver City, Calif., convened its first classes last month — a summer session for a dozen students — and is set to begin its first yearlong session (for up to 50 students) in September.
“Acting is more than just a career — it’s a calling,” co-founder Max Espinosa, the studio’s director of operations, told the National Catholic Register

Mindfulness and psychotherapy has been gaining a mounting interest among thousands of clinicians and clients. The following is one in a series of informal conversations between Trudy Goodman, Ph.D., Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. and Steven D. Hickman,

You don’t go to movies, concerts, or sporting events to eat great food. You go to see your favorite actors, musicians, and players do what they do best. Conversely, if you’re serious about food, you don’t go to a restaurant because a celebrity is one of the creative forces behind it. Nor, do you choose the restaurant you’re going to eat at based on the celebrities you might see at

This is the second part in a three-part series that will run this week at HuffPost on why lost privacy online matters for economic equity in our economy. The first part looked at the ways lost privacy leads to greater economic inequality in our economy and how Google users are encouraged to give up that personal data without recognizing its real value.
While many commentators focus on how individuals use various Google tools, but those tools are not Google’s business but a way to encourage those individual users to part with personal data, which can then be resold to advertisers. The question is why user information is so useful to companies and why they pay Google so much for the precision in user targeting that it can deliver.
“Pain Points” and Price Discrimination: The nicest version of why companies pay so much is that it helps them find the customers most likely to be interested in their products, and that’s no doubt part of

As we lurch into a bumpy ride to the finish of this two-year negotiation between NFL Owners and Players, one issue represents the same turf that has been battled over previously — and is being chewed up again — holding up an agreement that both sides have claimed to want for several months.
Let’s look at the continuing drama about rookie salaries:
First round sacrifice
This dispute is all about the first round; rounds 2-7 are receiving scant attention in this negotiation. Both sides agree that the top picks have made too much; that is the easy part and they will definitely make less in the future in terms of guarantee and total value. As an example, this year’s top pick, Cam Newton, may make roughly half of what last year’s top pick, Sam Bradford, will make over the first four years of the contract. Over that time frame, Bradford will make $48 million; Newton may receive roughly $22-24 million.
The top pick contracts have clearly embarrassed Owners to the point where they have made this issue a focal point of the overall CBA negotiation.
The 5th year
The bulk of negotiations regarding this issue really come down to the fifth year of the deal for

Sunday afternoon, with an hour to spare, I wander to the garden to thin some baby carrots – those wee beginnings of carrots, just tufts of green really – so as to create more space for the few I leave to fully grow and flourish. The sun is warm on my back as I get busy with this task that takes focused attention: one pull too many and a whole potential carrot is gone!
As I make my way down the rows slowly and carefully, I notice the challenge I face every time I perform this gardening task: To enable a few to thrive I need to pull out a lot of others and the thicker I originally sowed, the more I have to yank out. I don’t like yanking out baby carrots, even if my logical mind tells me they’re just tiny carrots and my gardening experience knows that if I don’t do this, none of them will do well. As I go about the task, I wish I hadn’t planted quite as thickly to begin

The wisdom of simplicity is a theme with deep roots. The great value and benefits of living simply are found in all the world’s major wisdom traditions.
Christian Views
Jesus embodied a life of compassionate simplicity. He taught by word and example that we should not make the acquisition of material possessions our primary aim; instead, we should develop our capacity for loving participation in

That idea that addiction has a “meaning” seems strange — haven’t they discovered “addiction” in a PET scan in a laboratory at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)? It’s either there or it’s not, right?
Not actually. Here’s why.
A brief world history of addiction. Addiction’s meaning has changed substantially over

Source:Associated Press
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SAN ANTONIO — The Los Angeles Sparks wasted no time in getting Joe Bryant a victory in his debut as their new coach.Ticha Penicheiro scored 18 points and Los Angeles snapped a five-game losing streak with an 84-74 win over the San Antonio Silver Stars on Tuesday night.The victory ended a five-game losing streak for the Sparks.”It was not a monkey,” Pinicheiro said of ending the losing streak, “it was an orangutan, a gorilla on our back.”Bryant, Kobe’s father, took over as coach of the Sparks (5-6) on Sunday after Jennifer Gillom was fired. Los Angeles had lost the first five games on their seven-game road trip, which ends Friday at Tulsa.This is Bryant’s second stint as coach of the Sparks. He previously coached them from August 2005 until the end of the 2006 season.He showed some fire early on, getting a technical in the second quarter for a non-call.”If I don’t get them, they’ll get them, and that’ll throw them off their game,” he said.During the third quarter, his shoot-first, ask-questions-later mindset helped loosen up the Sparks. After Kristi Toliver turned the ball over, Bryant issued some advice from the sidelines: “Shoot it,” he yelled repeatedly.Toliver responded by burying a 3-pointer on the next possession.”You can’t be afraid to play,” Bryant said. “Someone like Kristi Toliver, I’ll take her out if she doesn’t shoot the ball.”The same advice went for Penicheiro, who scored a season high in her second game off the bench.”She’s always been known as a non-shooter, a passer,” Bryant said. “I kind of gave her the green light, said ‘If you don’t shoot, I’m taking you out too.”Sophia Young scored 22 points for the Silver Stars (7-4), who have now lost three straight games. Danielle Adams added 16 points and eight rebounds for San Antonio.The Sparks scored 49 points off the bench, led by Penicheiro. Natasha Lacy added 13 and Jantel Lavender had 12. In the second quarter, only one Sparks starter — DeLisha Milton-Jones — played as they turned an eight-point deficit into a two-point lead.The Sparks held Silver Stars star guard Becky Hammon to five points on 2-of-14 shooting. She missed all seven of her 3-point attempts.”That happens sometimes when you get in a rough patch,” Hammon said. “As (coach Dan) Hughes says, ‘We get cold, we can get hot.”
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Source:espn.go.com

How deceptive for politicians to stress “entitlements” when they talk about gutting Social Security and Medicare, two programs long paid for by their beneficiaries. The Republicans make it sound as if they’re doing us a favor, cutting government waste by seeking to strangle America’s two most successful domestic programs. And now Barack Obama seems poised to join their camp in undermining the essential lifeline for most of the nation’s seniors, many of whom lost their retirement savings in the banking meltdown.
These threatened programs are not government handouts to a privileged class, like defense contractors and bailed-out bankers, who do feel eminently entitled to pig out at the federal trough. On the contrary, Social Security and Medicare have been funded by a regressive tax that falls disproportionately on working middle-class income earners, while caps in the system leave the wealthy–most notably the hedge fund hustlers who helped cause today’s economic crisis–largely untaxed.
While there are many plausible ways to ensure the future of Medicare and Social Security–and extending a fair share of the burden to wealthier individuals is a good place to start–such changes should not be considered in the context of a bargain to raise the debt

Rupert Murdoch’s got problems. His employees are being arrested, he’s losing his latest acquisition, and he’s just been called to testify before Parliament. But there’s an easy way for Mr. Murdoch to protect himself from these inquiries and save his company at the same time: Turn the News Corporation into a Wall Street

We [Interpol] first had the opportunity of meeting Mr Lynch three years ago. It was a social call, really — set up by our respective people — in order to get us all acquainted.
Loose conversation, no real agenda — just an ice breaker.
We met up in a kitchen near

A very cool thing this, the opportunity to be a regular blogger on The Huffington Post! My beat, the animals. As a brief introduction, I’ve had the great fortune to spend the past 30+ years working with and for the animals, here in the S.F. Bay Area as well as Arizona and even a couple of years in D.C. with one of the national

Maybe because I grew up in the heart of San Francisco, I’ve always liked the expression “street smart.” It’s not “gated community smart” or even “farm smart.”
You want to know how to get from the Golden Gate Bridge to Twin Peaks using public transportation? I can give you six choices, all of which avoid the 22 Fillmore, and thus minimize the chances of you riding next to a sex offender. Sure, that may not be Stephen Hawking smart or even Elizabeth Warren smart, but it’s street smart, and of the three of us, only I would know which seemingly harmless old dude to avoid on a crowded subway. I was a city kid, and now I’m a city mom and I relish knowing my way around. Having gone to college in Manhattan and later moving to Los Angeles, where I’m now raising a two-year old, I can tell you being too far from a metropolitan center freaks me out.
I love the smell of exhaust and homeless man urine and cheap doughnuts in the morning.
That doesn’t sound appealing, but my point is that growing up in a city gives you an understanding that beauty and blight can