The ladies of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills take a trip to Las Vegas and end up, where else? At Chippendales at the Rio Hotel and Casino.
Who doesn’t think this will be a fun trip?
Tune in Monday, December 12 on Bravo.
Whee!
Romney staff spent over $100K to erase and remove files
Reuters is reporting that Mitt Romney’s staff spent over $100,000 to erase and replace computers as he left the office of Governor in Massachusetts before launching an unsuccessful bid for GOP presidential nominee in 2007.
While legal, it has been found to be highly unusual.
When Romney left the governorship of Massachusetts, 11 of his aides bought the hard drives of their state-issued computers to keep for themselves. Also before he left office, the governor’s staff had emails and other electronic communications by Romney’s administration wiped from state servers, state officials say.
Those actions erased much of the internal documentation of Romney’s four-year tenure as governor, which ended in January 2007. Precisely what information was erased is unclear.
Republican and Democratic opponents of Romney say the scrubbing of emails – and a claim by Romney that paper records of his governorship are not subject to public disclosure – hinder efforts to assess his performance as a politician and elected official.
State officials acknowledge that Romney asked permission to destroy certain paper records.
Iowans for Christian Leaders in Government vs Newt Gingrich
Post on youtube by Iowans for Christian Leaders in Government
Newt might have a little trouble with some religious folks in Iowa.
But then, they don’t seem to be rushing to Mitt Romney either…
Christine O’Donnell draws a crowd of 12 in Iowa
Tea party figure and former Delaware U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell (she lost the general election to Democrat Chris Coons by 17 points) met with Iowa tea party activists in West Des Moines this past Saturday.
The purpose, she said in an interview before the meeting began, was to gauge the presidential candidate preferences of Iowa tea party groups before she formally endorses a candidate.
“I will be endorsing somebody before the Iowa caucus, and as my top three tend to rotate, I wanted to get the input of my supporters,” she said.
The meeting was open to any interested tea party supporters, but held in private at a Jordan Creek Town Center restaurant. O’Donnell’s father and an aide, Matt Moran, required attendees to sign a non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement before entering the meeting space.
Twelve people attended, including the two traveling with O’Donnell. The room was set up to accommodate 40.
You may recall in August, Tea Party organizers invited then un-invited Ms. O’Donnell to a rally in Iowa.
Iowa may not be Ms. O’Donnell’s kind of place…
New mayor of Troy, Michigan not happy “queers” can marry
Janice Daniels, recently elected mayor of Troy, Michigan, is catching flack for a recently uncovered Facebook status update she wrote back in June after marriage equality was passed in New York.
On her Facebook page, Daniels’ wrote: “I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there.”
Daniels confirmed today that she did post the message, though she said she decided against ditching the bag. “I may have said something like that,” she said. “I probably shouldn’t have used that kind of language, but I do believe marriage should be between one man and one woman.” Daniels added that while she’s opposed to gay marriage, and has moral issues with homosexuality, she doesn’t hate gay people. “I love all people. I am human. That was probably a poor choice of words.”
I have to ask: “probably a poor choice of words?” PROBABLY? And I’m sure when she wrote the word ‘queers’ she meant it in the best way possible.
The Facebook post has since been removed.
Gay rights leaders in Michigan said Daniels’ words amounted to hate speech. Denise Brogan-Kator, executive director of Equality Michigan, said on her own Facebook page: “I find it discouraging that a leader of people can have such disregard for the lives of people she serves.”
(via Towleroad)
UPDATE: Mayor Daniels was confronted before a City Council Meeting. Watch the video of her explanation. She says she used “one word” that people don’t like. “One word.”
I’d be curious to know if she had used the n-word in regards to African Americans would she expect to be ‘forgiven’ so quickly?
Also, note the strange smile she has while explaining herself. It strikes me as a bit odd. Why smile when this is clearly an issue of importance to your constituents?
Animation from Trevor Project Gala 2011
This video premiered at the Trevor Project Gala honoring Lady Gaga on December 4, 2011.
FOX Business: The Muppets are trying to brainwash our kids
FOX Business is upset that the new Muppets movie, The Muppets, features an oil tycoon as a villain, with various contributors complaining that the film leads to “indoctrination” of young people into “hating corporate America” that borders on “Communist[ic].”
Dan Gainor of the conservative Media Research Center agreed with host Eric Bolling that “liberal Hollywood is using class warfare to brainwash our kids.”
Had either of the men in the video actually seen The Muppets, they would know that Tex Richman (played by Chris Cooper) isn’t out to destroy the Muppets because he wants oil, but because he wants only money and despises love. In his rap song “Let’s Talk About Me,” he tells you that all there is to him is that “I got mo’ money.”
It’s nothing new for Fox News and Fox Business to defend corporate interests, but who knew they seemingly oppose the unimpeachable messages of cooperation that the Muppets have been promoting for decades?
(via ThinkProgress)
Possible advance towards HIV vaccine
A team of labs at Caltech and UCLA decided to “short-circuit” the need for a vaccination, or even antibody-producing immune cells:
They created a disarmed adenovirus that contained the genes needed to produce a broadly effective antibody from humans, optimizing the DNA to make sure that the antibody was made in muscle cells, and then secreted into their environment.
The modified virus was then injected into mice that had had their immune systems humanized (the stem cells in their bone marrow were killed off and then repopulated with human cells).
The mice were then exposed to levels of HIV many times higher than are normally present during initial infections. Not all antibodies effectively blocked new infections, but at least one did so consistently. The resistance to new HIV infections persisted for the life of the experiments.
Good news. Of course, it goes without saying that this new approach will take years – with solid progress – to reach any public usage IF it works out that the idea is transferable to human.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Freaky the Scary Snowman
(via AmericanBlog)
Trump says he may still run for Prez as independent
Trump says he may still run for president
“If they pick somebody who I think can’t win and if they pick somebody who is, in my opinion, the wrong person … and if the economy continues to be bad, I might run as an independent,” he told USA TODAY.
He also mentioned he wouldn’t ask for campaign donations; he would use his own funds.
“It’s hard for Trump to run and have somebody who is struggling say I’m going to send him $100 or $1,000,” Trump said, referring to himself in the third person three times. “They’d say I love Trump, I’m going to vote for Trump but it’s even nicer that he doesn’t need my money.
“Other people don’t give up anything when they run,” he said. “You give up a top, prime-time television show and I don’t want to sound trivial – but that’s a lot.”
Referring to the current GOP nominees: “They want my endorsement, not my money, and the reason is because I have millions of people … that really want to hear what I say,” Trump said.
Asked when he would make a final decision about a run if the right person was not chosen, Trump said after the next season of The Apprentice wraps in May 2012.
“You don’t need a lot (of time) in the age of television, of computers … to be honest and, you know, most people know where I stand anyway,” he said. “I’m a free agent right after the (season ends), which is May 15.”