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(CNN) – The Arizona Republican Party censured longtime Sen. John McCain for what it called his "long and terrible" record of voting with liberal Democrats.
The voice vote Saturday came from the floor at the party's meeting in Tempe. While the resolution does not have an impact on McCain's work in Congress, the party pledges it would not support, campaign for or endorse the Republican senator.
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"Only in times of great crisis or betrayal is it necessary to publicly censure our leaders. Today we are faced with both. For too long we have waited, hoping Senator McCain would return to our party's values on his own. That has not happened," reads the resolution, which was provided to CNN. (Read the full text below.)
Tim Sifert, communications director for the Arizona GOP, said 704 of the 1,658 committee members were present for the meeting.
The resolution originally came from Timothy Schwartz, the party leader for a legislative district in the Phoenix area that has a lot of Democrats. By getting 20% of the members present to sign a petition supporting his resolution, he was able to get a vote on the floor.
The resolution refers to McCain's vote for the Senate comprehensive immigration bill last year, which included a pathway to citizenship. McCain, and his fellow senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, were two out of 14 Republican senators who joined with Democrats to support the legislation last summer.
While the state party's resolution doesn't mention specific legislation, it also refers to his procedural vote to move ahead with an amendment that would expand background checks to gun purchases at gun shows and online. McCain was one of four senators who bucked the GOP and sided with most Democrats on this issue.
"This record has been disastrous and harmful to Arizona and the United States," the resolution states. It further accuses him of being "eerily silent against Liberals yet publicly reprimands Conservatives in his own Party."
"The Arizona Republican leadership censures Senator McCain for his continued disservice to our State and Nation," the resolution states.
The party, however, voted in favor of a resolution that supports conservative Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, as well as those "who stand with them."
McCain's office did not comment on the vote.
First elected in 1986, McCain has long been known as centrist in the Senate. And while he's worked with Democrats, McCain is one of the most outspoken critics of the Obama administration's national security policies. He has especially been vocal about the handling of the deadly terrorist attack against the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya–an issue frequently raised by conservatives.
Former Sen. Jon Kyl, another Republican from Arizona, labeled the effort to reprimand McCain "wacky."
"I've gone to dozens of these meetings and every now and then some wacky resolution gets passed," Kyl told The Arizona Republic. "But most people realize it does not represent the majority of the vast numbers of Republicans."
Kyl said McCain, who's in his fifth term, has been re-elected over the years despite opposition by many GOP activists.
"Do these guys ever get elected? It's John McCain who gets elected," Kyl told the newspaper.
In the past year, McCain has indeed reached across the aisle on legislation. He was part of the bipartisan group of 14 senators that crafted several proposals to end the government shutdown, much to the chagrin of far-right conservatives who only wanted to fund the government if the spending bill included major changes to Obamacare.
As he gathered on the Senate floor in October to celebrate the end of the shutdown with his 13 cohorts, he gave no indication that he planned to stop working with some Democrats.
"This group of 14 people (is) committed to staying together to address other issues of importance," McCain said. "This isn't the last crisis that we're going to go through. But I think we have the framework for the kind of bipartisanship that the American people need and want."
Also that day, McCain chided the bickering and fighting that was taking place in the GOP.
"There's a fight in our party, and that has to be waged and it's been there before," he said on CNN. But he was quick to remind his colleagues of former President Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment.
"Don't speak ill of your fellow Republicans," he said. "We've done way too much of that."
McCain, 77, hasn't ruled out making a bid for a sixth term in 2016. He told NBC's Jay Leno that he's still "looking very seriously" at another campaign.
The Arizona Republican easily held his seat in the 2010 election against Democrat challenger Rodney Glassman, but he faced a more challenging contest leading up to that in the GOP primary against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth.
Hayworth accused McCain of not being a true conservative, driving McCain to move to the right on some issues. He was also forced to spend $20 million in the primary campaign.
Sifert, who has been active in Arizona politics for more than 20 years, said Hayworth's challenge, as well as a primary challenge in McCain's 2004 re-election bid, are examples of some of the resistance the senator has seen from in his own party at home.
Asked why he still keeps winning re-election, Sifert credited McCain with being a "very effective speaker" who's "good at persuading crowds of people."
"People admire him personally for his military service" he said. "He just has a presence when he's in campaign mode that has proved very tough to overcome."
Full text of the resolution:
As leaders in the Republican Party, we are obligated to fully support our Party, platform, and its candidates. Only in times of great crisis or betrayal is it necessary to publicly censure our leaders. Today we are faced with both. For too long we have waited, hoping Senator McCain would return to our Party's values on his own. That has not happened. So with sadness and humility we rise and declare:
Whereas Senator McCain has amassed a long and terrible record of drafting, co-sponsoring and voting for legislation best associated with liberal Democrats, such as Amnesty, funding for ObamaCare, the debt ceiling, liberal nominees, assaults on the Constitution and 2nd amendment; and
Whereas this record has been disastrous and harmful to Arizona and the United States; and
Whereas Senator McCain has campaigned as a conservative and made promises during his re-election campaigns, such as the needed and welcomed promise to secure our borders and finish the border fence, only to quickly flip-flop on those promises; and
Whereas McCain has abandoned our values and has been eerily silent against Liberals, yet publicly reprimands Conservatives in his own Party, therefore
BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the Arizona Republican leadership censures Senator McCain for his continued disservice to our State and Nation, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that until he consistently champions our Party's Platform, we, the Republican leadership in Arizona will no longer support, campaign for or endorse John McCain as our U.S. Senator.
Jeff Brown in Jersey wrote:
How is that rebranding effort coming along?
You're looking at it. Everything is proceeding according to plan. They're kicking out anyone who is "not one of us."
I seriously had to think long about it when McCain was on the presidential ballot. Eventually I decided against for two reasons: 1, Sarah Wack0-Bird Palin and 2. GWB was just president and not removing repubs would have left america a smoking carcass full of bullet holes and fraking gasses
Seriously, McCain has one of the most conservative voting records in the Senate by any measure. He was the GOP's choice for President just 5 years ago. This just demonstrates the insanity at play within the GOP today- and yes, the Arizona branch is plowing fresh fields of nuttiness.
The GOP will lose every major national election if it keeps trying to appeal to an ever narrower band of radical crazy that lies at its base.
Back in 2008, McCain (a moderate then) had my vote until he moved far right and onboarded Failin' Palin. That did it.. dumb move, much like AZ rebuking McCain for not being conservative enough. We NEED more moderates in Govt, from top to bottom. And what exactly does "not conservative enough" mean... must be in the small print on the back page of the GOP playbook.
Haha. Staunch Absurdatives. Enjoying your creation, establishment GOPers? Reap, my fried, reap.
The REAL Truth...
Back in 2008, McCain (a moderate then) had my vote until he moved far right and onboarded Failin' Palin. That did it.. dumb move, much like AZ rebuking McCain for not being conservative enough. We NEED more moderates in Govt, from top to bottom. And what exactly does "not conservative enough" mean... must be in the small print on the back page of the GOP playbook.
I suspect "not being Conservative enough" means: that McCain does not support another attempt to take down the government, a la Cruz; that McCain does not support crashing the economy again, a la Cruz; and that he won't sign on the the GOP's newly threatened impeachment of the President (on God-knows what trumped up charges).
It is pretty wierd when Mr. "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" isn't fringey enough for the Republicans- even Arizona ones.
The REAL Truth... wrote:
Back in 2008, McCain (a moderate then) had my vote until he moved far right and onboarded Failin' Palin. That did it.. dumb move, much like AZ rebuking McCain for not being conservative enough.
McCain had enough problems of his own. Remember, he was losing ground in the polls prior to Palin. McCain had demonstrated that the only thing that he knew was war.
Remember when McCain wanted to put the campaigns on hold until the financial crisis was resolved? Do you remember that meeting McCain had wanted to have with the candidates and elected officials concerning the crisis? Do you remember how McCain had just sat there silently, with absolutely nothing to contribute. Never said much of anything besides, "Hello." That meeting is what sealed the deal for me, and confirmed that voting against the Republican was the correct choice.
McCain, not stupid enough to be a conservative, and not bright enough to be a liberal.


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text:
Marking Queen's 60 years on throne
LONDON - Britain marks Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne with four days of street parties, pageantry and concerts, underlining the widespread popularity of the monarchy.
The Diamond Jubilee weekend got under way Saturday when the queen, 86, arrived at the Derby, the highlight of the flat horse-racing season. It will culminate on June 5 with a day of pageantry including a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral in central London, when Britons will enjoy an extra public holiday.
Her televised arrival at Epsom race course, southwest of London, showed the queen - accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, 90 - cheered by many of the estimated 150,000-strong crowd.
Earlier, gun salutes were held in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast to make the anniversary of the coronation in 1953.
Only one British monarch has spent longer than the current queen on the throne: Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901. Her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, captured on grainy black-and-white film, is the only precedent for this weekend's events. It's just over a year since London's streets saw the last major royal event, the marriage of the queen's grandson, Prince William, to Kate Middleton.
"For 60 years the queen has been a point of light in our national life; brilliant, enduring and resilient," Prime Minister David Cameron wrote in a tribute to the monarch this week for Parliament's The House magazine. "Through a reign of unparalleled change - from postwar Britain through to the jet age, space age and digital age - she has remained resolutely unchanged in her commitment to this country."
The queen - the 40th monarch in a line that began with William the Conqueror in 1066 - took the throne at a time when Britain was recovering from the ravages of World War II, with food rationing still in force, and beginning to grant independence to its colonies. Winston Churchill, who'd led the country to wartime victory, was again prime minister, the first of 12 who've held weekly audiences with the monarch.
Saturday's big race at Epsom is an appropriate way for the jubilee weekend to start. Owning and breeding racehorses is one of the queen's main interests, though she's never won the Derby.
Sunday, the focus switches to the River Thames, when the queen will join a flotilla of more than 1,000 vessels for the Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
The following evening, there will be a concert outside Buckingham Palace, the monarch's central London residence, featuring stars such as Paul McCartney, Elton John and Tom Jones - all of whom have been knighted by the queen.
The final day of the celebrations will see the queen and the extended royal family attending the national service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's in London's financial district on June 5.
After a reception at the Mansion House hosted by the Lord Mayor of London and lunch at the Houses of Parliament, the queen and Prince Philip will return to Buckingham Palace in a horse- drawn open carriage.
The heir to the throne, Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla will also be in the procession, along with William and his wife and William's brother, Prince Harry.
The climax of the event, just before 3:30 p.m., will see those senior royals appear on the palace balcony, in time for a flypast by planes of the Royal Air Force and a celebratory cascade of rifle fire from the soldiers of the Queen's Guard, interspersed with the national anthem.
A YouGov poll conducted May 27 and May 28 found 86 percent of 1,743 respondents saying the queen had done a good job as monarch. Of those surveyed, 73 percent said Britain should continue to have a monarchy, up four points on a year ago.
"It's only really been over the last five, eight, 10 years that I've really learned to understand and accept the huge deal that she is around the world," Harry said in an ABC television interview that aired this week. "She has managed to get the family to move with the times."
The queen has weathered less popular times. Many found her response to the 1997 death of Princess Diana, an internationally popular figure before and after the breakup of her marriage to Prince Charles, to be cold and indifferent to the outpouring of public grief. "Show Us You Care," shouted a headline in the Express newspaper before the queen broke days of silence over the tragedy.
Cameron, interviewed by Sky News television Friday, was asked whether he thought the queen might step down in favor of her son, Prince Charles.
"I wouldn't anticipate that," he replied. "What I see in Her Majesty is someone, in spite of the fact she's been on the throne for 60 years, in spite of the fact that her and Prince Philip are now relatively elderly, there is an extraordinary level of physical energy, mental energy, and above all devotion to her people, to the institutions of this country, to the way our democracy works."
Paying his own jubilee tribute to the queen, the head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spoke of her sense of humor in their one-to-one meetings.
"I found in the queen someone who can be friendly, who can be informal, who can be extremely funny in private - and not everybody appreciates just how funny she can be - who is quite prepared to tease and to be teased, and who, while retaining her dignity always, doesn't stand on her dignity in a conversation," he said in a video released by his office.
The celebrations may do little to help the economy, with spending on food and drink and tourist revenue likely to be offset by a loss of output as some companies shut down for the entire week.


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March 25, 2009 -- President Obama's budget chief hinted Wednesday that the president's signature campaign issue -- a middle-class tax cut -- will not likely survive a budget battle with Democrats on Capitol Hill.
On a conference call with reporters in advance of the president's trip to the Hill to speak before the Senate Democratic caucus, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag indicated that, while 98 percent of the budget mark-ups in the House and Senate are on par with the administration's budget blueprint, some campaign trail promises, like middle-class tax cuts, may get left on the cutting room floor.
The administration had tied the revenue raised from its environmental "cap-and-trade" proposal to the middle-class tax cuts -- known as the "Making Work Pay" tax credit for families -- both of which have been brought up as possibilities to be scrapped from the Senate and House budget resolution.
Obama's middle-class tax cut is locked in place for the next two years as part of the stimulus package he signed into law last month, but Orszag told reporters today that the White House will have to use those two years to figure out how to keep that tax cut in place for middle-class families beyond 2010.
Obama took his budget campaign to the Hill today to discuss his $3.6 trillion budget face to face with some skeptical Democrats, a day after he addressed the nation in a prime-time news conference.
Democratic leaders emerged from the 45-minute lunch expressing confidence that they will be able to work with the White House on provisions the president wants included in the budget.
The Senate will "protect President Obama's priorities -- education, energy, health care, middle-class tax relief and cut the deficit in half," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
"We have attempted to preserve -- and I think have preserved -- the president's key priorities," said Kent Conrad, D-N.D., the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee "All those are possible to move forward in the budget resolution I've written."
Reid said the budget will be passed next week.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have blasted the president's budget as too expensive and irresponsible because of the $7 trillion to $9.3 trillion national debt his proposals are projected to create during the next 10 years.
In his news conference yesterday, Obama had some strong words for his Republican critics.
"I suspect that some of those Republican critics have a short memory, because as I recall, I'm inheriting a $1.3 trillion deficit, annual deficit, from them," he said.
He challenged them to draft an alternate budget instead of simply criticizing his version. On Wednesday, Republicans responded to that challenge.
"Our nation is beginning to understand that the president has proposed the most fiscally irresponsible budget in the history of our nation," Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said on the House floor. "In the coming hours, Republicans will unveil a better solution, to pass a budget built on fiscal responsibility and the principles of growth."
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., criticized Obama's budget for not having a clear focus and echoed Pence's statement that House Republicans will devise their own budget.
"The president knows that Republicans will have a budget plan that will be considered by the House, one that will set clear priorities, and focus directly on growing the economy and reducing health care costs," Cantor said in a written statement.
However, Senate Republicans plan to offer a series of amendments to the existing draft of the budget rather than a wholly alternative budget.
Vice President Joe Biden set the stage for Obama's presence at the Senate Democratic Caucus luncheon this afternoon with a lunch meeting of his own with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Both expressed words of optimism, with Biden saying he expects the budget to be consistent with what the White House has asked for.
"I know at the end of the day, we will have a strong budget supportive of the president's principles," Pelosi said.
Obama also had Orszag begin a public effort to downplay differences between the president's budget and one being fashioned by Democratic leaders who are increasingly worried about the growing deficits.
Obama argued during Tuesday's news conference that he would cut the deficit in half in the next five years. But his plans for massive federal spending to bail out the economy along with his intention to take on such hefty projects like energy and health-care reform have left many on the Hill skeptical about what it will do to the country's budgets in the coming years.
Democratic allies in the House and Senate are busy rewriting Obama's proposed budget and the president hopes a personal appeal can save much of his blueprint.
In a conference call with reporters, Orszag depicted the differences between the White House budget and congressional versions as minor.
"I think it's very clear that if you look at the budget resolutions that are being adopted by both the House and Senate, they are from the same family as the president's budget. The resolutions may not be identical twins to what the president submitted, but they are certainly brothers that look an awful lot alike," Orszag said.
After taking questions from reporters about his budget and other economic plans for nearly an hour in front of a national audience Tuesday night, the president likely found more directly consequential audience today among House and Senate Democrats.
In the second press conference of his young presidency, Obama conveyed one singular message: Times are tough, but the good times will return.
He made the case that his budget is the best way to reduce the deficit and expand economic growth "by moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest."
Key Pillars to Obama Budget
Even Senate Democrats Tuesday were talking about abandoning the president's hopes for an energy cap-and-trade system, which would exact a fine on polluters, and on extending his middle-class tax cut. But when asked by ABC News whether he would sign off on a budget if some of these key provisions he campaigned on were stripped out by Senate Democrats, the president was noncommittal.
"I've emphasized repeatedly what I expect out of this budget. I expect that there's serious efforts at health-care reform and that we are driving down costs for families and businesses, and ultimately for the federal and state governments that are going to be broke if we continue on the current path," the president said. "I haven't seen yet what provisions are in there. The bottom line is ... that I want to see health care, energy, education and serious efforts to reduce our budget deficit."
The four key pillars contained in his budget proposal are health care, energy reform, education and deficit reduction.
Obama said he was "confident" that the budget outline that will pass Congress will contain a blueprint for his principles on health care, energy and education reform and today, lawmakers resonated that confidence too, saying they play to include those provisions in the budget.
More than half of the 50-minute prime-time news conference was dedicated to the economy. Among the 13 questions reporters posed to him, none were about Iraq or Afghanistan -- a subject that dominated President George W. Bush's news conferences.
"I want to give everyone who's watching tonight an update on the steps we're taking to move this economy from recession to recovery, and ultimately to prosperity," Obama said in his 10-minute opening statement.
With his staff looking on as the president delivered his remarks in the East Room of the White House, Obama told Americans that with jobs, interest rates and lending, glimmers of hope appear on the horizon.
"We're beginning to see signs of progress," he said.
For every action his administration has taken, he described a positive economic result that had resulted from it so far. Some of the "signs of progress" he tied to his economic plans: The recovery plan has created jobs and provided a tax cut that 95 percent of Americans will start seeing in their paycheck by April 1; the administration's housing plan has led to a jump in refinancings; and restarting the flow of credit to families and businesses has already secured more lending in the last week than in four months combined, the president said.
The economy no doubt was the highlight of the news conference.
Even when asked by ABC News' Ann Compton whether race had played any role so far in the first 64 days of his historic presidency, Obama sang one note.
"I think that the last 64 days have been dominated by me trying to figure out how we're going to fix the economy, and that affects black, brown and white," he said.
He said that on Inauguration Day there was "justifiable pride on the part of the country that we had taken a step to move us beyond some of the searing legacies of racial discrimination" in the country but "that lasted about a day."
President Obama occasionally showed flashes of irritation when pressed on the delay in his response to the AIG bonus controversy.
"It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I am talking about before I speak," the president said in response to a question on why the state of New York seemed to be taking quicker action on AIG than the White House.
On Wednesday, the president is expected to send a draft legislation to the Hill that gives the Treasury more power to take over large financial institutions in serious trouble.
President Obama said his philosophy was persistence.
"You look back four years from now, I think, hopefully, people will judge that body of work and say, 'This is [a] big ocean liner; it's not a speedboat. It doesn't turn around immediately, but we're in a better -- better place because of the decisions that we made,'" he said.
Economy on President Obama's Mind
Even amid the optimism, President Obama cautioned Americans that recovery will take time and he called for continued patience from a recession-weary nation.
"We'll recover from this recession, but it will take time, it will take patience and it will take an understanding that, when we all work together, when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interest to the wider set of obligations we have towards each other, that's when we succeed, that's when we prosper and that's what is needed right now," the president said.
"It's important to remember that this crisis didn't happen overnight and it didn't result from any one action or decision," he said. "There are no quick fixes and there are no silver bullets."
The president also defended his administration's call for greater regulatory authority over failing financial institutions by pointing out that it was because of a lack of authority by the federal government that the AIG financial crisis happened.
"We should have obtained it much earlier so that any institution that poses a systemic risk that could bring down the financial system we can handle and we can do it in an orderly fashion that quarantines it from other institutions," he said.
Obama appeared to dial back some of the anger he has recently expressed at AIG for its handling of the executive bonus program and at other executives on Wall Street, but he did admonish them for the excess risk and reward.
"Bankers and executives on Wall Street need to realize that enriching themselves on the taxpayers' dime is inexcusable, that the days of outsized rewards and reckless speculation that puts us all at risk have to be over," he said.
Obama urged the American people to temper their outrage.
"At the same time, the rest of us can't afford to demonize every investor or entrepreneur who seeks to make a profit," he said. "That drive is what has always fueled our prosperity, and it is what will ultimately get these banks lending and our economy moving once more."
International Issues but Iraq, Afghanistan Not on Reporters' Agenda
Though the economy was the highlight of the night's discussions, Obama did respond to some questions related to global issues.
On the global financial crisis, the president expressed his confidence in the American dollar and said the reason it is performing well against other currencies is because "investors consider the United States the strongest economy in the world with the most stable political system in the world."
Obama said he did not believe there was a need for a global currency, pushing back against the suggestion by Chinese officials ahead of the G-20 financial summit next week in London.
While it was expected that the economy would dominate the news conference, it was noteworthy that Obama was not asked a single question about Iraq, a sharp departure from news conferences during the Bush administration.
He was also not asked about the announcement his administration is expected to make later this week on a new policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Part of that policy will be the addition of about 17,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan by the end of August, to increase the presence there to about 64,000. The mission is to aggressively pursue al Qaeda and prevent it from maintaining a stronghold in Afghanistan.
The plan will call for U.S. forces to go after the Taliban only if they are providing a safe haven to and cooperating with al Qaeda.
Vice President Joe Biden and other senior foreign policy envoys have been consulting with allies as part of the administration's strategic review of its policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The president was asked about his pledge to work for peace between Israel and Palestinians and whether he believes the realities of the situation -- with the emergence of the new conservative Israeli government -- have made that a harder quest.
"It's not easier than it was, but I think it's just as necessary. We don't yet know what the Israeli government is going to look like. And we don't yet know what the future shape of Palestinian leadership is going to be comprised of. What we do know is this -- that the status quo is unsustainable," he said.
The president added that it is critical to remain committed to a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side.
"I'm a big believer in persistence," he said.
He applied this to the banks, lobbyists, pork-barrel projects and Iran -- taking some liberties with what his critics said.
"I think when it comes to the banking system, you know, it was just a few days ago or weeks ago where people were certain that [Treasury] Secretary [Tim] Geithner couldn't deliver a plan. Today, the headlines all look like, well, all right, there's a plan. And I'm sure there'll be more criticism and we'll have to make more adjustments, but we're moving in the right direction," he said.
"When it comes to Iran, you know, we did a video sending a message to the Iranian people and the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And some people said, 'Well, they did not immediately say they were eliminating nuclear weapons and stop funding terrorism.' Well, we didn't expect that. We expect that we're going to make steady progress on this front."
Obama's 'Dialogue With the American People'
The administration has shown a willingness to take the president out of Washington and have him speak directly to the American public, an apparent effort to maintain control of its economic message.
Last week, Obama traveled to California to participate in two town hall meetings.
While on the West Coast, he dropped by "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," where he pitched his economic plans, talked about AIG and gave a glimpse of his family's new life in the White House. Obama also sat down in the Oval Office for an interview with "60 Minutes."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs noted Monday that Obama's recent television appearances and travel allow him to "address directly with the American people the challenges that the country faces and the choices that he's working on with Congress to -- to put our economy back on track and put the nation back on firmer footing."
Obama used his first presidential news conference Feb. 9 to urge Congress to pass the stimulus plan and issued the harsh warning that a failure to act would worsen the economic crisis, calling it "not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill recession."
Nearly two months later, he has signed the stimulus legislation, has unveiled his plan to help homeowners, has rolled out a program for small-business loans and has provided a more detailed plan for bailing out banks of those toxic assets -- all key elements of his overall economic strategy that he pointed to Tuesday night.
ABC News' Huma Khan, Sunlen Miller, Martha Raddatz and Peyton Craighill contributed to this report.


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Driving Innovation: The Coca-Cola Company and Ford Unveil Ford Fusion Energi with PlantBottle Technology Interior
The Coca-Cola Company and Ford Motor Company are fueling more sustainable design by collaborating on a first-ever interior fabric made from the same renewable material used to produce Coca-Cola's PlantBottle Technology™ packaging.
The two companies today unveiled a Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid vehicle with Coca-Cola PlantBottle Technology interior fabric surfaces covering seat cushions, seat backs, head restraints, door panel inserts and headliners. The research vehicle marks the first time PlantBottle Technology is applied beyond packaging, and affirms a joint commitment by two global consumer icons to develop innovative new products produced from renewable materials.
"By using PlantBottle Technology in a plug-in hybrid, Ford and Coca-Cola are showing the broad potential to leverage renewable materials that help replace petroleum and other fossil fuels, reducing the overall environmental impact of future vehicles," said John Viera, global director of sustainability and vehicle environmental matters at Ford.
The collaboration also demonstrates the positive influence that comes from combining two of the most recognizable and respected brands in the world. The Cola-Cola Company and Ford Motor Company together reach billions of consumers in more than 200 countries on six continents.
The Ford Fusion Energi research vehicle will be on display later this month at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
The idea behind the vehicle was launched last year when Ford and Coca-Cola research teams came together to explore innovation opportunities in more sustainable products. Both companies use PET, a durable, lightweight plastic also known as polyethylene terephthalate, in a variety of products including plastic bottles, fabrics and carpets. This provided a natural opportunity to bring together both recyclable and renewable technologies.
Since The Coca-Cola Company introduced PlantBottle Technology to the market in 2009 as the first-ever recyclable PET plastic bottle made partially from plants, more than 18 billion PlantBottle packages have been distributed in 28 countries resulting in more than 400,000 barrels of oil saved. If PlantBottle interior fabrics were migrated across the majority of U.S. Ford models, it would displace nearly 4 million pounds of petroleum-derived materials, as well as save the equivalent of 295,000 gallons of gasoline and 6,000 barrels of oil.
"This collaboration with Ford demonstrates that PlantBottle Technology can be applied anywhere PET plastic is traditionally used, but with a lighter footprint on the planet," said Scott Vitters, general manager, PlantBottle packaging platform, The Coca-Cola Company. "We are pleased to share this technology with Ford, and look forward to continuing to expand the application of PlantBottle Technology."
The PlantBottle-Fusion Energi initiative is also encouraged by the World Wildlife Fund, which advises companies to look for alternatives to fossil fuels.
"The Coca-Cola Company and Ford Motor Company partnership is a great example of how collaborations can help scale up positive changes to benefit the environment," said Erin Simon, manager, business and industry, packaging and material science, World Wildlife Fund. "This atypical partnership is a great model for other businesses to follow, and can have a measurable impact on critical environmental issues."
Building upon the success of PlantBottle Technology, Ford has been able to produce the first-ever fiber that can be woven into durable, automotive-grade PET fabric from PlantBottle material. Fusion Energi, a plug-in hybrid version of Ford's global midsize car, was determined to be the perfect vehicle on which to test out the material.
Fusion Energi is Ford's most fuel-efficient sedan. It boasts an EPA-rated total range of up to 620 miles and can drive up to 21 miles in electric-only mode – which could help save customers an estimated $6,850 in fuel costs compared with an average new car over the course of five years. It offers the latest generation of SmartGauge® with EcoGuide, designed to monitor and influence driving behavior to improve vehicle efficiency and help drivers get the most from their car.
PlantBottle Technology material integration builds on the current 2014 Ford Fusion's environmental innovations – innovations that showcase a variety of more sustainable materials throughout the car, including:
Sound-absorbing denim material equivalent to more than two average-sized pairs of blue jeans in the car's carpet liner
Material equivalent to 38.9 clear-plastic 16-ounce recycled bottles in select cloth-seat Fusion models
About 31,250 soybeans in the foam found in Fusion seat cushions. Today, Ford uses soy foam in every vehicle built in North America. Since its first application in 2007, the use of soy foam by Ford has reduced petroleum production by more than 5 million pounds and carbon dioxide emissions by 20 million pounds annually


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دفعہ نمبر 30: خلیفہ کے طور پر جس شخص کی بیعت کی جارہی ہو اس کے اندرا نعقاد خلافت کی تمام شرائط کا ہونا لازمی ہے اگر چہ اس کے اندر افضلیت کے شرائط نہ ہوں کیونکہ اعتبار شروط انعقاد کا ہے ۔
Article 30: The only conditions for the one who is given the pledge to be the leader of the State is that he fulfils the contracting conditions of the contract, even if he does not fulfil the preference conditions, since what matters are the contracting conditions of the contract.
The proof for this is the evidences that were narrated regarding the characteristics of the Caliphate. In some oft the narrations regarding his characteristics the request is non-decisive, such as his words
«إِنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ فِي قُرَيْشٍ»
"The authority of ruling (Al-amr) is in Quraysh" (reported by Al-Bukhari from Mu'awiyah). This narration is informative, and it is in the informative form, and though it conveys the meaning of a request, it is not considered decisive as long as it is not accompanied by an indication that confirms its decisiveness, and there is no such indication from an authentic narration. As for what is transmitted in the narration,
«لاَ يُعَادِيهِمْ أَحَدٌ إِلاَّ كَبَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ مَا أَقَامُوا الدِّينَ»
"Whoever bears hostility to them, Allah will destroy him as long as they abide by the laws of religion" – this is to do with showing enmity to them and not as a confirmation for hiswords
«إن هذا الأمر في قريش»
"The authority of ruling (Al-Amr) is in the Quraysh". This is apart from the fact that the word "Quraysh" is a noun and not an adjective, and is called a Laqab (title) in Usul Al-Fiqh, and the understanding (Mafhum) of the noun, or Laqab is not acted upon since the noun or Laqab does not have a Mafhum. For that reason the text about the Quraysh does not mean that other than they cannot be appointed.
Based upon this, this narration indicates a preferred condition and not a condition of contracting due to the absence of an indication that would make the request decisive; rather there is an indication that makes it non-decisive. When the Messengeroffered himself to the tribe of 'Amir Bin Sa'asa'a who asked
«أَيَكُونُ لَنَا الأَمْرُ مِنْ بَعْدِكَ» قال: «إِنَّ الأَمْرَ للَّهِ يَضَعُهُ حَيْثُ يَشَاءُ»
"Will the matter (authority of ruling) remain with us after you", to which hesaid "The matter (authority of ruling) is in the Hand of Allah; He gives it to whoever He wills", narrated by Ibn Ishaq from Al-Zuhri, then this indicates that the request was non-decisive since the reply of the Messengerindicates the permission for the order to be with them after him, and permitted to be with other than them, which indicates that the condition of being from Quraysh is a condition of preference.
As for the conditions of contracting, they are those that are related with a decisive request such that their absence leads to an absence of contracting (as is understood from the definition of what is a condition). In other words, the result of its absence would mean the invalidity of the Caliph for him if he was not from Quraysh. The reply of the Messengerto the tribe of 'Amir takes the request away from being decisive, as opposed to what has been narrated in the texts for the conditions of contracting. For example, the condition of maturity comes from the fact that the Messengerrefused to take the pledge of allegiance from a child – when he refused to take allegiance from 'Abd Allah b. Hisham – and the reason was due to his young age. Therefore, it is evidence that it is a condition for the Caliphate to be adult, since if the pledge is not correct from the child then by greater reasoning it would not be correct for the child to be the Caliphate.
Whatever characteristic has been mentioned by a decisive request is considered a condition for the contracting of the Caliph with him, and anything else is not made a condition for contracting even if there is a text which mentions it as long as the request was non-decisive.


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Steelers' Fixes Far Away From "Just One Year"
December 30, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) runs in the end zone after a pass reception for a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns during the third quarter at Heinz Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers won 24-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
As we mull and ponder the moves Kevin Colbert and Omar Kahn will make over the next few months to keep the Steelers' competitive, we must remember that the Steelers are far away from just a one year fix. At face value, this team is good. The offense will still have weapons without Mike Wallace, the running back situation without Mendenhall will still be adequate and Ben can sling the ball with the best of them. The defense was number one in the league and that leads man to see that the Steelers have a plethora of talent.
But look at the teams in the playoffs, specifically the Championship games and you see where the Steelers lack the edge to just flip a switch on an easy 2013 run.
The Steelers are going to lack playmakers next season aside from a healthy Troy Polamalu, which is in itself a risk. By playmakers, I mean guys who force opposition to fundamentally shift the way they approach the game. The Ravens have Ray Rice and Ed Reed, two players you can key on but will produce. Reed and Ray Lewis are arguably on their last legs but the Ravens production thus far shows their impact.
The Patriots biggest playmaker their offensive system, designed by a coach who has one of the top three quarterbacks of all time to throw the ball. You can't hold the Patriots to under 20 points unless you play a 4-3 defense with four great pass rushers, aka why only the Giants and occasionally the Jets have their number in recent memory.
The 49er's now have Collin Kapernick and on defense, Patrick Willis is arguably the best linebacker in the league. The 49'ers are the 2009 Steelers all over again: Dominant defense with almost every player playing in their prime, playmaking quarterback with fantastic weapons forcing a defense to take risks every down.
The only team I see like the Steelers are the Atlanta Falcons, a solid overall team that doesn't possess playmakers, but as a team is just superior at almost every position. The Steelers though don't have the talent Atlanta does and this is why the Steelers are at home and the Falcons are the number one team in the NFC.
I am not saying the Steelers are doomed. The NFL is all about health and "Any Given Sunday" which is why no one goes undefeated and the Giants at 9-7 can win the Super Bowl. But the Giants got lucky in games and played 110% in the last weeks of the season. Honestly, that is what the Steelers need if they wish to win another Super Bowl with the current team in place.
The draft will yield talented players, however aside from Ben Roethlisberger no Steelers' rookie has truly been a game changer in year one. The Steelers are entering a new era of transition, not rebuilding. The team will be competitive and playoff worthy. But Super Bowl


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Eagle County wild horse advocates battling roundups
Wild horses, wild west
The Bureau of Land Management estimates that 40,605 wild horses and burros (about 33,780 horses and 6,825 burros) are roaming on BLM-managed rangelands in 10 Western states.
The estimated current free-roaming population exceeds by nearly 14,000 the number that the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses.
To help ensure that herd sizes are in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses, the BLM removed 8,255 animals (7,242 horses and 1,013 burros) from the range in 2012.
For information from the BLM's wild horse and burro program, go to
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/history_and_facts/quick_facts.html" target="_blank">ListBullet">http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/history_and_facts/quick_facts.html
EAGLE COUNTY — Two local women are helping lead efforts to rein in wild horse roundups on public land.
The Bureau of Land Management says the roundups are necessary, but the agency is running out of corral and pasture space.
Roxanne Graznow has been a wildlife photographer for more than two decades and worked on six continents. She chronicled the wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone in 1995.
Graznow and Theresa Thissen are part of a vocal group that's trying to convince the agency to stop using helicopters to round up the wild horses, and to let the herds regulate themselves.
"These mustangs are an American icon. They represent the freedom that built America," Graznow said.
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"They deserve protection. They deserve someone to speak for them," Thissen said.
Three lawsuits contend that the bureau holds the horses under poor conditions until they are either adopted out or slaughtered. Neither of those charges are true, said Bureau of Land Management spokesman Tom Gorey.
"Overall, what we see is a constant barrage of anti-BLM propaganda from bloggers who don't really have an answer for any of the issues facing us," Gorey said.
Overpopulation can be addressed with fertility control, which is another conundrum for the Bureau of Land Management and its critics.
"We are applying fertility control, but to do it we have to gather horses," Gorey said.
Room on the Range?
Right now, about 40,000 horses and burros live on open range across the West. The Bureau of Land Management keeps about 50,000 horses on grasslands and pastures in the Midwest or in holding pens, Gorey said. They're not overcrowded or mistreated, he said, but the agency is running out of room.
"We're running out of holding capacity in both corrals and pastures. We're confronting a crisis that's about to take place in the very near future," Gorey said. "With this limitation on holding, the gathers themselves are going to be difficult to carry out because we have no place to put the horses. We're really up against it."
Some of the difficulty is overpopulation and some is supply and demand.
"There's not sufficient demand for adoption of these horses," Gorey said. "There has been a steady decrease in adoption demand. Some of it's the economy, the high price of hay and energy. When people are strapped they don't want to take on the additional expense of a horse."
Opponents seem to be under the impression that the Bureau of Land Management should let nature cull the horses, Gorey said. They cite a study indicating that once an available habitat is filled, the horses limit their own population as density-dependent controls are triggered.
That's partially true, but probably brutal, Gorey said. Self-limitation probably means mares would be too weak or sick to breed, or that foals quickly die, he said.
"These animals are not the overpopulating misfits they are too often portrayed as," said Craig Downer, a wildlife ecologist and author of "The Wild Horse Conspiracy."
"As returned native species in North America, they are simply in the process of filling their ecological niches," Downer said.
The Bureau of Land Management says they plan to remove 1,300 wild horses and burros across the West this summer. For the year, the agency will remove 4,800 animals, down from 8,255 last year. That's 855 in Nevada, 140 in Oregon, 105 in Arizona, 65 in New Mexico, 50 in Colorado and 25 in Idaho.
"The BLM is galloping ahead with rounding up more wild horses, despite the high cost to taxpayers and animals, as well as the findings of an independent scientific review that recommends against continued roundups," Suzanne Roy, spokeswoman for the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign said in a written statement. "The agency still has not gotten the message that the removal of wild horses from our Western public lands is inhumane, unsustainable, unscientific and must come to an end."
Wild and free
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burro Act of 1971 orders the Bureau of Land Management to balance wild horses with public use.
"Wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West," the bill says in its opening paragraph.
Gorey said the Bureau of Land Management monitors the condition of both the animals and the range. In some locations, the agency provides supplemental water for the horses.
Thriving ecological balance means, to us, that we keep herds in balance in relationship to the vegetation and the BLM's mandate for multiple use of public land.
The nearest herd to the Vail Valley is in Sand Wash Basin near Craig, but also in the courtroom crosshairs are Piceance Basin, Little Book Cliffs and Spring Creek in Colorado, and Palomino Valley near Reno, Nev.
Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 and rwyrick@vail daily.com.
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'Headless' Headline Writer Gets The Ax
And let's go to our Last Word In Business now, which is, headless headline writer gets the ax.
We are sad to report that after more than 40 years at The New York Post, Vincent Musetto has been let go. The name might not be familiar to anyone, but there's a chance you've read some of the headlines he wrote. The most famous, from 1983, has been called one of the greatest headlines of all time: "Headless Body In Topless Bar."
It has been printed on T-shirts, taught in journalism classes, written about in books. But that wasn't enough to prevent Musetto from falling victim to cutbacks at the tabloid.
The Post did thank him for his, quote, "invaluable contributions." Kind choice of words, but not exactly up to Musetto's standards. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Japanese Zokin are a traditional dust cleaning cloths made at home.
All hand sewing with a lot of sashiko stitching. Threas are not old thing.
This one can now be used as textile art accent for your house.
Good condition with layers of katazome cotton fabric.
33cm(12in) x 33cm(12in)
Vintage Japanese sashiko stitched indigo zokin dust rug
We ship our products world wide from tokyo japan. Please allow 1-2 business days for order processing before shipment.


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Phoenix Mobile Truck Repair
Exceptional experts of Phoenix Mobile Truck Repair!
Phoenix truck owners know that it's frustrating to have your truck break down while on the road. Fortunately, help is just a phone call away. Phoenix Mobile Truck Repair provides reliable and affordable service for all models and makes of trucks. So if your truck needs repair, don't panic – call Phoenix Mobile Truck Repair and we'll take care of everything. We'll have you back on the road in no time!
Business Name:
Phoenix Mobile Truck Repair
1824 S 27th AvePhoenix Arizona 85009United States
About Phoenix
Phoenix ( FEE-niks; Navajo: Hoozdo; Spanish: Fénix or Fínix, Walapai: Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city in the American state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and one of only two state capitals with a population of more than one million residents, along with Austin.Phoenix is the anchor of the Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, which in turn is part of the Salt River Valley. The metropolitan area is the 11th largest by population in the United States, with approximately 4.85 million people as of 2020. Phoenix, the seat of Maricopa County, is the largest city in the state at 517.9 square miles (1,341 km2), and one of the largest cities in the United States. It is the largest metropolitan area, both by population and size, of the Arizona Sun Corridor megaregion.
Neighborhoods in Phoenix, Arizona
Adobe Highlands, Alta Vista, Amberlea, Arizona Heights, Ashland Place, Bel Air, Bethany Estates, Bethany Homes, Biltmore Area, Biltmore Heights, Brandywine, Camelback Sierra, Campo Bello, Central City, Country Gables
Things to do in Phoenix, Arizona
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures traded in New York closed modestly higher on Monday, supported by additional U.S. and European Union sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine. The sanctions are feeding concerns over crude supplies from Russia, but pressure from hefty U.S. inventories kept price gains in check.
Crude oil for June delivery
The U.S. and European Union announced additional sanctions against Russia on Monday, with the latest U.S. measures targeting seven Russian officials and 17 companies the U.S. says are linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle.
Whether the sanctions "will also hit the oil and gas sector is questionable, however, given Europe's heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas shipments. Nonetheless, the Brent price is likely to find continued support from the uncertainty over the way the situation will play out in east Ukraine and from the possibility of delivery outages," wrote analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
But on Monday, June Brent crude UK:LCOM4, the European benchmark, dropped $1.46, or 1.3%, to end $108.12 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The day's "diverging price directions" for Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude and Brent crude are likely driven by technical factors, with WTI bouncing off its 200-day moving average at $100.50, said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at FOREX.com.
"However, once WTI resumes its downward trajectory, then I would expect the Brent-WTI gap to widen once again," he said. "I think the Brent contract is likely to remain supported by geopolitical tensions for the foreseeable future."
Oil futures last week saw the biggest weekly decline since mid-March, weighed down by growing U.S. crude supplies.
Although oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., where WTI is priced, fell once again and reached their lowest level in almost five years as of the week ended April 18, inventories at the U.S. Gulf Coast hit a record high, said Razaqzada.
"In other words, the surplus of oil is merely being shifted from one region to another," he said. "Further sharp increases in crude inventories may well cause WTI prices to come under increased pressure."
But ahead of the U.S. driving season, it is worth keeping an eye on gasoline stocks, which are already in the lower half of the average for this time of the year," Razaqzada said, citing Energy Information Administration data.
On Nymex, May gasoline futures US:RBK4 fell 3.5 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.04 a gallon, while May heating oil US:HOK4 also fell 3.5 cents, or 1.2%, to $2.95 a gallon.
Meanwhile, the Commerzbank strategists noted that Libya's Zueitina oil terminal appears set to resume operation in the near future, although two larger terminals remain closed. They said the continued lack of supply from Libya could continue to support the Brent price for the time being, although heavy global supplies seem to be capping moves above $110 a barrel for Brent.
Natural-gas prices climb
Natural-gas futures recouped Friday's losses and then some as the May contracts expired at Monday's Nymex close.
May natural gas US:NGK14 rose 15 cents, or 3.2%, to $4.795 per million British thermal units after posting a decline of 1.2% on Friday. June natural gas US:NGM14, which became the front-month contract at the close, climbed 14 cents, or 3%, to end at $4.80 per million British thermal units.
"Traders and markets were hoping for a pull back and it has not developed, and they are now closing out their positions," said Richard Gechter, Jr., principal and president of Richard W. Gechter Natural Gas Consulting.
"For the next few months, the [U.S.] storage report will be a very misleading fundamental," he said. "Much of the shale production is not yet tied into storage [and] storage availability is limited. Once the pipes are further along, that production will go to market because there is no place to put it."
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|System: X360, PS3, PC
|Review Rating Legend
|Dev: Propaganda Games
|1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
|4.0 - 4.4 = Great
|Pub: Touchstone
|2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
|4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
|Release: Jan. 31, 2008
|2.5 - 2.9 = Average
|5.0 = The Best
|Players: 1-16 (online)
|3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
|ESRB Rating: Mature
|3.5 - 3.9 = Good
by Matt Cabral
Depending on your history with the Turok franchise, you'll likely have one of two responses to the return of gaming's dino-hunting hero; those who enjoyed the first couple of titles brand of raptor-slaying fun on the N64 should be happy to see the Native American ass-kicker making his next-gen debut. But if your time with Turok was limited to his last appearance on the GameCube, PS2 or Xbox, then you're probably going to run from this new entry as though it were a human flesh-craving carnivore.
N64's Turok titles offered a fun, slightly tweaked FPS experience, but the series last-gen entry failed to register with critics or players in an age when Halo--and its many copy cat competitors--was overtaking the console shooter kingdom. Nearly six years and umpteenth alien/zombie/military shooters after Turok: Evolution, publisher Touchstone and developer Propaganda Games thought it a good time to take the leash off the dinos, and sic them on a new generation of gamers. The result is an often fun, but sometimes frustrating, FPS experience that mostly manages to separate itself from the me-too pack with the series' staple: scaly-skinned, sharp-fanged, prehistoric beasties.
Without the wild card of Jurassic giants, Turok would feel a lot like other first-person-shooters you've played recently. Its lush jungles will remind you of Far Cry and Crysis, and its endless army of clone-like super soldiers will remind you of...well...take your pick; this past holiday season alone gave us more generic baddies--Area 51, F.E.A.R. Files, TimeShift--than you can aim a plasma beam at. Thankfully, Turok breaks the familiar feel with its ground-shaking T-Rex's and its human-hungering raptors. Whether you're watching the beasts from afar--they are pretty to look at--, high-tailing it away from their vicious attacks, or driving your hunting knife through their skull, their presence is welcome in this over-crowded genre. In fact, we'd love to see a sequel that forgoes the human threat entirely and just drops us in Jurassic Park.
Killing the dinos is a blast; pull the right trigger when you're in range, and one of a handful of slick animations will unfold, most beginning with your knife to their head or throat, and all ending with a nice spurt of dinosaur blood. Despite the limited animations, this mechanic--probably because it's so quick and satisfying--never grows old. And not all raptor encounters end with a dino corpse sitting at your feet; you'll often have to fend off their attacks by jamming on the trigger buttons. Whether you're on the giving or receiving end, you'll never have a problem attacking or defending because Propaganda was kind enough to keep the context-sensitive stuff to the two triggers--sometimes you'll have to press both simultaneously. The mechanic would've grown frustrating fast if players had to react to a random on-screen cue every time a dino decided he wanted to take a bite out of you.
While your over-sized Rambo blade is the best defense against the prehistoric populace, you'll be breaking out the heavier hardware for your human adversaries. Don't misunderstand; it's just as satisfying to stealthily come behind an unfriendly and pry their skull open with the serrated blade, but it's usually easier to take them out from afar. Turok's arsenal has the familiar favorites--shotguns, sniper rifles, flame- throwers, grenades--, but all weapons possess a secondary mode, offering players an alternate means of creatively taking down foes. The gatling gun, for example, can be set to fire on its own as a stationary turret, and the flamethrower has the corridor-clearing ability to hurl plasma grenades. The weapon selection is further supported by Turok's old stand-by: the bow and arrow; the high-tech--this ain't just a string tied to both ends of a stick--weapon fires regular and explosive arrows and, with the right torque applied, can skewer baddies, pinning them to trees and walls. You're not going use the bow as much as the other weapons, but it's still nice to always have it at your disposal; both the bow and knife are always equipped in addition to two firearms.


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UPDATE: Perry spokesman Josh Havens said by email: "Gov. Perry and a majority of the Texas Legislature have sent the very clear message that they do not support expanding Medicaid under Obamacare."
Eleven Texas Democrats in Congress are taking a new tack on urging Gov. Rick Perry to add Medicaid expansion to the agenda of the special session: Do it for the veterans.
The letter signed by 11 of the dozen Texas Democrats who serve in the U.S. House of Representatives cites the long-standing arguments for expansion – that it would help insure 1.5 million Texans (some say closer to 1 million); lure $90 billion in federal funds (some say $100 billion); and relieve the burden on taxpayers for uncompensated care.
It also cites a study about the effect on veterans in saying nearly 49,000 veterans in Texas won't get health-care access because the state hasn't expanded Medicaid.
"The study cited in the letter shows us what we already know, as the state with the highest percentage of uninsured folks, Texas has the most to gain from participating in a program we are already paying for. With the special session underway in the Texas Legislature, the Governor has a chance to ensure that millions of Texans, including 49,000 of our military veterans, have access to quality health care.
We know this can be done and hope Governor Perry does the right thing," said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego said in a statement, "This report makes a compelling case for Medicaid expansion. I just returned from Afghanistan where I met with our brave service-members. We have an obligation to be there for them when they return. They deserve more than just rhetoric."
Perry, a veteran who has advocated for other veterans, took a lead role in stomping on the idea if Medicaid expansion during the regular session, saying it doesn't make sense to broaden an unsustainable system.
Advocates of either expanding Medicaid or finding another way to provide health care to needy Texans who'd qualify (the latter idea advanced by some top Republicans) found themselves banging their heads against the wall time and again when they appealed to him during the regular session.
This article was first posted on our sister blog Texas Politics. You can follow Peggy Fikac on Twitter: @PFikac


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WNC fishing report
Trout fishing
Stream levels are high and gushing. High-gradient streams should be fishable by the weekend.
For top water: No. 20-18 Blue-Winged Olive, No. 14-12 parachute Adams, No. 14-12 Royal Wulff, No. 18 foam Black Caddis and No. 20-18 crème Midge when stream levels permit. For nymph fishing: No. 12-10 Squirmy Worm, No. 14-12 rubber-legged Prince, No. 16-14 red Copper John, No. 10-8 rubber-legged black Stone, No, 20-16 Soft Hackle, No. 18-16 Swing Caddis and No. 18-16 micro-eggs. Egg patterns and dark Woolly Boogers recommended for delayed-harvest streams. For high water, use weighted streamers.
Lake fishing
Fair to good fishing at most area lakes.
Chatuge: Spotted bass and largemouth bass are hitting live minnows and nightcrawlers off rocky points. Schooling hybrid bass, spotted bass and largemouth bass are hitting top-water lures wherever shad are schooling. Bream and yellow perch are hitting redworms on warm, sunny days. For more information, call 389-6465.
Julian: Largemouth bass are hitting nightcrawlers and green pumpkin and watermelon plastic worms. Catfish are hitting nightcrawlers and chicken livers. For more information, call David Blynt at 684-0376.
Santeetlah: Marina closed for the winter. For more information, call 479-8180.
French Broad River: No report. For more information about fishing the French Broad, call Chris Manderson at 216-1336 or visit www.whitewatersportsman.com.
Call Duke Power Co. at (866) 332-5253 to check generating schedules for the Nantahala and Tuckasegee rivers or to check lake levels for Bear, Cedar Cliff, Glenville, Nantahala, Queens Creek, Tanasee and Wolf lakes, or visit www.nantahalapower.com/nantahala/lakes/schedule.
For information on trout fishing in national parks, national forests, and other Western North Carolina streams, call Roger Lowe at 743-3768, Kevin Howell at 877-4181 or (888) 861-0111, Shane Buckner at 252-3005 or (800) 227-6732 or Richard Witt at 274-3471 or (877) 450-3474.


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SACRAMENTO – Advocates for bigger government – which is just about everyone these days, it seems – believe that government is the most efficient and humane provider of goods and services. It's such a bizarre way of viewing the world, but lessons about the wonders of the free market apparently aren't taught anywhere anymore.
The presidential election and ongoing debates in the California Legislature illustrate this frightening phenomenon. Voters chose a president who has an undying faith in the power of government, and even the Republican candidate failed to clearly explain his most-obvious advantage – why free enterprise is superior to government coercion.
I don't like to toss around pejoratives such as "socialist," but what do you call a state Legislature where the dominant faction seethes with hostility toward private firms and does little more than hatch plans to create new government programs?
This in spite of the fact that, wherever we look, government fails.
The Sacramento Bee recently published an instructive article about how a federal wildlife agency is gaining contracts for pest-control services of the type that private-sector companies already provide.
75 cartoons on the best of Mike Ramirez and Lisa Benson
One of the basics of government is that it should not assume tasks that private companies already are doing, but now that government is seemingly unlimited, no one seems to care about that idea anymore.
In the Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services program, many of the costs are off the books – i.e., unfunded pension and overhead costs, which makes it seem as if the agency is more cost competitive than it really is. Essentially, taxpayers are footing the bill for something that should be paid for by those who need to contract for such services. And the government is putting private firms out of business.
But the most instructive aspect of this story is how poorly the agency provides pest-control services. It is notorious for its ham-fisted approach to pest management, including killing of endangered species and a culture in which such deaths are concealed by workers. The agency has simply ignored calls for reform by members of Congress and activist groups.
"[Concern] is directed at an agency called Wildlife Services, which is already under scrutiny for its lethal control of predators and other animals in the rural West," the Bee reported. "A … series earlier this year found the agency targets wildlife in ways that have killed thousands of nontarget animals, including family pets, and can trigger unintended, negative ecological consequences."
If a private company operated in such a way, there would be accountability – legal efforts to control its practices, lawsuits by people whose family pets were killed due to the company's irresponsibility, and criminal prosecutions for violations of environmental laws.
But the government doesn't have to live up to the same laws that apply to the rest of us. Instead of having to cease and desist, Wildlife Services goes along its merry way, expanding more deeply into an activity the private market already is handling in a better and less-costly way.
As the article pointed out, the federal agency operates in virtual secrecy, which is another hallmark of government endeavors. Here is the Bee again: "'It's been such an uphill struggle,' said Erick Wolf, CEO of a California firm called Innolytics, which developed a form of birth control for Canada geese and pigeons with help from Wildlife Services' scientists in Colorado. …'All they want to do is shoot, trap and poison,' said Wolf. 'They don't want to consider anything else.'"
Government does not have a bottom line so its incentives are different. Government agencies often are protected from meaningful oversight. This is why a federal wildlife agency can wreak havoc on wildlife and why governments often are the biggest polluters.
These days I even hear people argue that government is the best way to provide services because there is no profit motive. That reflects an almost unbelievable level of economic ignorance, but it is a point officials make as they try to use government's power of eminent domain against private water companies, for instance.
Businesses need to earn a profit, but the prices of their products are determined by competition, which relentlessly drives down costs and increases efficiencies as the less-able providers go out of business.
There is no place to offload private costs onto the public in a free market, even though some businesses despicably lobby the government for special privileges and bailouts.
If the advocates for government efficiency were right, then the Soviet Union – where thousands of unneeded tractors rusted in vacant lots as the public waited in line for toilet paper – would have been the most successful economy on the globe. We would all be happily driving Trabants rather than Toyotas, Fords and Volkswagens.
Private industry creates wealth whereas government efforts consume it.
If my neighbor starts a business, he must win over customers without coercion. He can't force them to patronize his business or to pay his expenses. Even when government operates as a business, it forces the rest of us to subsidize its operations. Private industry must please consumers or it loses money. Governments' only customers are politicians and the unions that represent their workers.
It's no wonder the results are lousy customer service and shoddy products.
There are no shareholders to please, few incentives to rein in costs, no days of reckoning when it fails.
There are two ways to provide services – through the market, which energizes private initiative as people freely pursue their own dreams, or through the political world, where government officials take money by force (taxes) and protect government providers from competition. There's a reason the teachers unions, for instance, fight vociferously against charter schools, vouchers and other competitive systems that would embarrass them.
If we want a humane, efficient and accountable society, then we need less government, not more of it. Advocates for freedom need to quickly figure out how to better impart these lessons in a society that is bounding toward limitless government.
Steven Greenhut is vice president of journalism at the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Write to him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text: Back Offsite Health Care Options If you have a nasty cut on your finger, need surgery, or have the flu and want immediate treatment, where do you go for care? Traditionally, you'd head for the hospital or your doctor's office. Now you have more choices. Many forms of emergency treatment take place outside the emergency room, and even many surgeries are performed in locations other than a hospital operating room. Where you choose to be treated will make a difference not only in terms of convenience, but also in the cost of your care. Here's a primer on some of the offsite treatment facilities available to patients these days. Urgent-care centers Urgent-care centers provide medical care for conditions that require attention but that aren't an immediate, serious threat to life or health. They are not intended to provide emergency care. In many cases, they are like a walk-in doctor's office. The big difference between an urgent-care facility and a regular doctor's office is that you can walk in without an appointment. Many people use these clinics as their primary doctor's office. Others use them only for walk-in acute-care treatment for illnesses, cuts, burns, puncture wounds, fractures, bites, stings, sprains, and strains. Advantages: Many urgent-care centers charge about the same as or a little more than a doctor's office, but they may be only half the cost of the hospital emergency room, with far less waiting time. Many offer convenient on-site laboratory work or X-rays. Some also fill prescriptions. You typically won't find yourself shoulder to shoulder with victims of violent crime, and you're not competing with ambulance patients for the doctor's time. The centers stay open later than most doctors' offices, and some are open nearly every day of the year. If you need more care than they can provide, they'll get you to an emergency room quickly. Disadvantages: If you're not a regular patient at the urgent-care center, your records won't be on file. The staff won't be as familiar with your medical history as your primary care physician. Walk-ins often have a longer wait than a scheduled appointment at their own doctors' offices. Some urgent-care centers don't accept health insurance from certain carriers, so be sure to confirm your coverage in advance. Ambulatory surgery centers If surgery is in your future, ask your doctor if outpatient (ambulatory) surgery is an option. Improved technology and pain control and less-invasive procedures allow many surgeries to be done in a doctor's office, outpatient clinic, or ambulatory surgery center. These procedures include hernia repair, cosmetic surgery, gallbladder removal, and tonsillectomy. Advantages: You avoid a hospital stay and get to recover in the comfort and privacy of your own home. You receive high-quality care at far less cost than at a hospital. Operations are more likely to be on schedule. Complications are rare. If they do occur, the ambulatory surgery center has a backup plan for transferring patients to a hospital. Disadvantages: Not all patients or procedures are eligible for outpatient surgery. Keep in mind, if you have a true emergency such as symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, or a serious cut or injury, don't hesitate to go to the emergency room. That's what it's there for. But when an injury or illness is less pressing, take some time to review your options. Often, a medical self-care guide can help you make a decision. Retail store sites These are small medical offices within pharmacies that are part of certain large retail stores. The medical experts on hand are usually nurse practitioners or physician assistants. Advantages: Because the office is located in a store setting, you usually can do your shopping while you wait your turn for care. Prices usually are on display, so you know upfront what any charges will be. Disadvantages: These sites have no doctor and only limited equipment. Because the offices are within a pharmacy, your option for treatment may be medication even when other possibilities exist. Making a decision Serious, life-threatening injuries or conditions are medical emergencies and should be treated in a hospital emergency room. For less pressing urgent care, be sure to check with your insurance plan to find out which of the above facilities is covered before you go to one.


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Yes, all of us, the living, are indentured in some form of slavery. A few slaves are better off than most. In the slavery of the old South the house slaves lived closest to the master and shared some of his comforts not known to the wretched slaves who labored in the fields. The field foreman, who were also slaves, wielded whips they laid on the backs of fellow slaves. But slavery, not poverty, is the universal life-taking force that is suffered by the rich and the poor, by the boss and the CEO who, as slaves, lay their economic and emotional whips on the backs of the worker slaves.
The master, the corporate power structure, has an insidious, built-in guarantee against reform, one that preserves the master's perpetual power. The rich slave exploits the poor slave. The rich slave often accumulates hundreds, even thousands of times more wealth than the poor slave — usually from the sweat and toil of the poor slave. To justify his excesses, the rich slave proclaims he has worked harder and is self-made, while the poor slave is said to be irresponsible, lazy or stupid and entitled to what he earns which is often a mere pittance. By reason of his self interest, the rich slave refuses to recognize and renounce his own slavery and to join the poor slave in a mutual quest for freedom. Instead, the rich slave will fight for the master, the said corporate power structure, against his poorer brothers and sisters. But a few rich slaves are beginning to realize that riches do not provide freedom. Riches create only a different genre of slavery.
I say the master is dead because the corporation does not breathe, nor love, nor feel. Our lives' breaths can be counted, and to contribute our limited breaths for the greed of a dead master is monstrous at best. And slavery itself is a form of death. Yet slaves can be taught to embrace nearly any degradation, any dehumanizing condition – to love it, fight for it and to die for it, even with gratitude. The means by which the dead master achieves its infinite power over us is called propaganda. Our masters own the airways we listen to, the television channels we watch and the newspapers we read. Our masters are masters at propaganda and mercilessly bombard us with false messages of our freedom during all of our lives.
As a consequence we good and obedient slaves, rich or poor, believe down to our toenails that we are free. We have embraced this fable since we were first able to understand the simplest ideas. We, as children, have been taught that we are a nation of free people that provides liberty and justice and equal opportunity for all. By the time we have become adults we innocently laud this false freedom, and in its name we become free only to impose all nature of pain and misery on the poorer slaves who themselves have come to believe they are inferior by reason of their inability to acquire their fair share of the promised life. And we support evil wars against other slaves in other lands in the name of their freedom but which wars, in the end, are fought by our children who bleed and die to enrich our master.
Our dead master continues to exist long after we and our children are gone. The insanity of it is that the corporate master, although dead, enjoys an eternal life and continues to educate generation after generation of slaves who believe they are free. And the master continues to profit as long as we believe we are free – so long as we fail to realize that rich or poor we are slaves together .
So how then do we speak to each other as slaves? Ought we not speak to each other out of deep respect, out of a love for our brothers and sisters? Are we not best able to understand the pain of slavery of the poorest of our brethren having experienced degrees of its overarching pain ourselves? Ought not our servitude cause us to care for one another in ways we have not considered before?
Now, dear friends, I am seeking a dialogue. I am interested in hearing your thoughts on how to lawfully confront and overcome the slave master and to provide liberty and justice for all, as is the promise of our constitution. Give this careful consideration in your concise responses here. Let us speak to each other out of our caring, with at least as much caring as we would offer a captured bird in a cage with a broken wing who is yet able to sing.


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DetailsStick Stunt Biker 2, the sequel to the smash hit Stick Stunt Biker (featured in the game of the year 2011 and 2012 categories) with more than 10 million players is now available! Bike fun and challenging tracks in different beautiful atmospheric locations and unlock various bikes like the chopper, the speed bike or even the hovering future bike. Avoid amazing obstacles while you master the tricky tracks, perform insane stunts and wheelies or relax while riding the chopper through spectacular landscapes. • Top #1 racing game in various countries including the US • Top #100 app in almost every country • Featured by Apple in the "News and Noteworthy" category in multiple countries • More than 2 million addicted players • Stick Stunt Biker 2 Takes Bike Riding to a New Level - by androidentity.com • The app features attractive, simple visuals and fun gameplay - by appadvice.com • Flipping Freakin Fantastic Fun - by amazon review Race against your friends with real-time multiplayer gaming, share your gameplay videos and compete against the world with the integrated leader board. FEATURES: • More than 60 beautiful designed tracks • Get up to 3 stars on each track • Fully physic enabled bike and physic enabled player for spectacular crashes • Different unique amazing atmospheric locations, from relaxing landscapes to scary forests • Various bikes to unlock including Speed Bike, Chopper, Police Bike, Future Bike, etc. each one with different physics and bike shocks • Amazing obstacles to avoid including see-saw, carnivorous plants, traps, oil barrels, destructible glass, elevators, etc. • Get achievements for special stunts • Race against your ghost • Race against your friends with real-time Game Center multiplayer support • Directly compare to your friends and all other players with the builtin leaderboard • Directly record your gameplay and share your best rides or crashes with your friends on Facebook, Youtube or Twitter • Tilt or button control, whichever you prefer In App Purchases are optional only, no purchase is required to complete the entire game or get additional bikes. You can unlock everything by just progressing through the game Take a look at the Stick Stunt Biker 2 Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dED3bfAl8Q Feel free to post your ideas, we will try to implement them as soon as possible Thank you very much for all your support and interest in our games! We would love to hear your suggestions!
Seller:Djinnworks GmbH
Genre:Arcade, Racing
Release:May 01, 2013
Updated:Jun 08, 2017
Size:45.7 MB
TouchArcade Rating:Unrated
User Rating: (8)
Your Rating:unrated
Compatibility:HD Universal


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Unlike NASA's Blue Marble—which is a composite made from many different photographs—this is a portrait of Earth taken in one single shot. It's the highest resolution image of our home planet, 121 megapixels. That's an amazing 0.62 miles per pixel.
This image was not taken by NASA or the European Space Agency. It's been taken by Russia's latest weather satellite, the Electro-L.
Elektro-L is now orbiting Earth on a geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the equator, sending photographs of the entire planet every 30 minutes using a 2.56 to 16.36 Mbits per second connection with ground control. The images—and the video of the Northern Hemisphere—combines four light wavelengths, three visible and one infrared. The orange you are seeing here is the vegetation.
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According to Robert Simmon-a scientist at the NASA Earth Observatory, Goddard Space Flight Center-the Russian images are not better or worse than NASA's images. They are just different visualizations of reality based on different data sets:
Elektro-L is a Russian Satellite similar to GOES (the satellites that provide the cloud image loops shown on the news every night). The images posted by Gizmodo are a combination of visible and near-infrared wavelengths, so they show the Earth in a way not visible to human eyes (vegetation looks red, for example). They're not any better or worse than NASA images, but they show different things.
The Elektro-L is similar to their GOES satellites. "It's a geostationary weather satellite orbiting above the equator at ~54˚ East" says Robert, "the US has two similar operational geostationary satellites over the east and west coasts, EUMETSAT has one over Europe and one over the Indian Ocean, Japan has one over the far western Pacific." The difference between them is that Elektro-L uses three bands in reflected light-red and two near infrared bands-while NASA's GOES doesn't have the near-infrared.
Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist at Goddard, explains the Russian process in more detail:
The 3 reflected sunlight bands can simulate a conventional red-green-blue color picture. The near infrared channel is a vegetation indicator, since plants reflect near-ir as well as green. You can learn more about the basic characteristics of Elektro-L's ten-channel imager, the Multichannel Scanning Unit (MSU), here.
You can explore the zoomable version here. [Planet Earth—Thanks Karl!]
Image credit: NTsOMZ. Image processing: James Drake.


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Thanksgiving was a blessing in more than one way for Kristin Vitale and her husband, James.
After a grueling adoption process, mountains of paperwork and three expensive trips to Russia, the Newport Beach couple finally brought home Kristina, 9, and her brother, Kirill, 6, from an orphanage tucked away in Vyborg, a town near St. Petersburg.
Vitale says she shudders when she thinks that her children may have been left behind had the process been delayed by barely a month.
On Dec. 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill prohibiting Americans from adopting Russian children, slamming the door on dozens of children in the process of being adopted by American families. The United States is the biggest destination for adopted Russian children, with more than 60,000 taken in by American parents in two decades.
The adoption ban has angered Americans and Russians who argue that it makes innocent children pawns in the political process and dashes the hopes and dreams of thousands of children who crowd that nation's orphanages.
Congress and the U.S. State Department have been making efforts to persuade the Russian government to accommodate families already deep into the process. Late Tuesday night, the Senate passed a resolution expressing disappointment and urging the Russian government to grant clemency in cases already initiated.
Russia's move has been heartbreaking for dozens of couples nationwide who were so close to bringing their children home, said Rhonda Jarema, director of support services for Nightlight Christian Adoptions in Anaheim.
"When I think of the children and families that are waiting to bring them home, my heart is broken," said Jarema, who has adopted five children from Russia ranging from 5 to 16.
Terry Norton and her husband, Dave, have adopted two children from Russia, Maddie, 14, and Nikita, 7. They were less than a month away from bringing home their third, Nastia.
Norton says the 12-year-old girl stayed with her family in 2010 when she was on a tour with her orphanage. The Nortons went back to St. Petersburg after that to spend time with Nastia. They were scheduled to bring her home in mid-January. Instead, they wait, unable to contact the girl they already consider their daughter and have named Lucy.
"Maddie and Nikita had already forged a bond with her," Norton said. "Nastia would ask the orphanage director every day, 'Are my parents coming?'"
Nastia is Hepatitis B-positive, which significantly decreases the likelihood of a Russian family adopting her, Norton said.
"I have great respect for the fact that Russia wants to take better care of its children," she said. "But let the families in the pipeline finish their adoptions. Let these children go to their families."
UNICEF estimates there are about 740,000 children who are not in parental custody in Russia while about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt a child.
The measure signed into law by Putin is retaliation for an American law that calls for sanctions against Russian officials deemed human rights violators, said Kathleen Strottman, executive director of Congressional Coalition for Adoption Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that works closely with members of Congress on adoption-related issues.
"All our communication has been met with silence on the other end," Strottman said.
She said while government offices in Russia were closed for the New Year's holiday, she finds little optimism in this eerie silence.
"But we're not giving up and will absolutely continue our efforts," she said.
Families spare no effort and expense to complete these adoptions, said Vitale, adding that it can also be emotionally draining. She and her husband drove three hours each way for a week in the snow from St. Petersburg to the orphanage so they could play and bond with the children. There was a seven-month delay after their first trip due to paperwork.
Vitale can't forget the children's first question, asked through a translator, when the couple returned for the court date: "Why did you not come back for us? You told us you would come when the snow melted."
Now, hers is a fledgling family whose members are getting to know one another. She communicates with her children through the Google apps on her iPhone.
"We were so ready for this," she says. "We knew that there were going to be challenges. But we fell in love with our children the moment we saw them."
Had the process been derailed, she would have been devastated, Vitale said.
Vitale says she can only imagine what prospective parents and the children stuck on the other side must be going through.
"These are children who have been abandoned before," she said. "How heartbreaking it must be to imagine that someone may have abandoned them yet again."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or email@example.com


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Home / OUR NEWS / Our events / Displaying items by tag: Innovation forum
Friday, 31st March 2023
Friday, 30 July 2010 10:00
The legislative momentum for innovations Interra'2010
PBSoft took part in the round table discussion dedicated to the necessary legislative steps aimed at the support of innovative developments that was held in the frames of the International Youth Innovation Forum Interra'2010.
For the discussion were brought problems of Russian innovation economy, the state of the regulatory framework at all levels in the field of innovation, as well as domestic and international experience in this field. In the discussion of the topical issues took part members of the Novosibirsk Regional Council, leading Novosibirsk scientists, economists, managers, specializing in the management of scientific research.
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