Youth contest: Third place is 2 hand grenades and $400

BBC News - Al-Shabab radio gives weapons prize to Somali children: "Youths should use one hand for education and the other for a gun to defend Islam"

Chuck Woolery On Taxing The Rich - YouTube

Chuck Woolery On Taxing The Rich - YouTube

Bill Maher: Obama Is "The Wrong Color" For GOP | RealClearPolitics

Bill Maher: Obama Is "The Wrong Color" For GOP | RealClearPolitics

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The Left is playing the race card, and playing it hard. Must be really worried.

I guess the idiot forgot about Clarence Thomas, Condoleeza Rice, and Allen West, among countless others. So why has liberals thrown them under the bus? Hey Bill Maher, it's not about the color of their skin, it's about their political ideology. Time to Move On!

Lonely Monica Lewinsky is still trying to play down the Bill Clinton affair | Mail Online

Lonely Monica Lewinsky is still trying to play down the Bill Clinton affair | Mail Online: "[S]he could not resist speaking out two years ago, saying Clinton lied under oath when he described their relationship during an impeachment trial." - Can't help feeling bad for her. She wasn't just abused by president Clinton, but abandoned by the feminists that claim to protect women from predators like Clinton.

Sarah Palin runs unannounced in Iowa half-marathon | Iowa Caucuses

Sarah Palin runs unannounced in Iowa half-marathon | Iowa Caucuses She got second place in her age group. 12 miles in under 2 hours. She ran incognito using her maiden name. I guess when people shouted "Run, Sarah, Run!" she decided it was a good idea.

Blacks and Iowans

Maxine Waters to Obama on unemployment: Treat blacks like Iowans - Jonathan Allen - POLITICO.com

Jimmy Hoffa Threatens GOP At Obama Event: "Let's Take These Son Of *****es Out" | RealClearPolitics

Jimmy Hoffa Threatens GOP At Obama Event: "Let's Take These Son Of *****es Out" | RealClearPolitics

Nissan Leaf outsells Chevy Volt by over 4 to 1 in August

Nissan Leaf outsells Chevy Volt by over 4 to 1 in August: In August 2011, Nissan sold 1,362 Leaf electric vehicles for an improvement of 431 units over July and although Chevrolet more than doubled their Volt sales from July, with just 302 new Chevy electric vehicles sold last month, Nissan easily claimed the battle of the US electric car segment.

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Knew it and said it below. Doesn't look good for Government Motors. Wouldn't it be funny if they have to go bankrupt again? No, not really.

New body 'liquefaction' unit unveiled in Florida funeral home

BBC News - New body 'liquefaction' unit unveiled in Florida funeral home: The system works by submerging the body in a solution...

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Things you really don't want to read about.

Google Cuts Churches Out Of Nonprofit Program | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Google Cuts Churches Out Of Nonprofit Program | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: All of that changed in mid-March when the company launched "Google for Nonprofits." The new initiative united a robust set of Google's tools into one program, but it also came with new guidelines that excluded numerous entities, including schools, political thinktanks, churches, proselytizing groups, and any organization that considers religion or sexual orientation in hiring decisions.

Say goodbye to cavities: New gel could help your teeth fix themselves | Technology News Blog - Yahoo! News

Say goodbye to cavities: New gel could help your teeth fix themselves | Technology News Blog - Yahoo! News: "This may sound too good to be true, but we are essentially helping acid-damaged teeth to regenerate themselves. It is a totally natural non-surgical repair process and is entirely pain-free too."

Right Direction or Wrong Track - Rasmussen Reports™

Right Direction or Wrong Track - Rasmussen Reports™

"...15% of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction"

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Maybe the headline should be "15% really hate this country."

Regulators close 64th U.S. bank this year - Yahoo! News

Regulators close 64th U.S. bank this year - Yahoo! News

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Did you know this? How is it in a "recovery" (even an anemic one) that banks are still being closed? Answer: they wouldn't be closed; we are not in any kind of recovery and due to the normal economic cycle, we are now in the beginnings of the greatest depression we will ever see.

Arne Duncan: Teacher pay should start at $60K | Iowa Independent

Arne Duncan: Teacher pay should start at $60K | Iowa Independent: "In Iowa, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average beginning teacher salary is $31,753. The average teacher salary in Iowa is more than $10,000 below what Duncan recommended as starting wages."

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Why stop at $60K? Doesn't everybody agree that teachers are far more important than say, pro athletes? Teachers should start at at least twice the starting salary of a pro baseball, football, or basketball player. That would be about $1 million/year.

Fortunately we can afford this since the debt ceiling was just raised.

GM Confirms Slow Chevy Volt Sales | National Legal and Policy Center

GM Confirms Slow Chevy Volt Sales | National Legal and Policy Center: "Only 125 Volts were sold during the month of July. Recent reports attributed the slump to supply constraints as GM spokeswoman, Michelle Bunker, was quoted as saying that the Volt was 'virtually sold out' and only a 'few' were available nationwide. I have confirmed that this statement is not entirely truthful and have gotten clarification from GM through Director of Communications, Greg Martin."

Our priorities are upside down

Coralville dad sour over temporary ordinance | Iowa City Press Citizen | press-citizen.com: "Dustin Krutsinger, a 28-year-old medical student at the University of Iowa, said his daughter, Abigail, set up a lemonade stand Friday near their 20th Avenue home. Within 30 minutes, a Coralville officer came to shut it down."

Nobody's happy. But how great both sides coming together to make it happen!

Debt and spending deal picks up momentum in Senate - Yahoo! News: "Reid opened the day's session in the Senate by declaring the deal shows that the often-dysfunctional Senate can come together when it counts. 'People on the right are upset, people on the left are upset, people in the middle are upset,' he said. 'It was a compromise.'"

5 arrested in drug bust | Iowa City Press Citizen | press-citizen.com

5 arrested in drug bust | Iowa City Press Citizen | press-citizen.com: "He faces an additional count of distribution of a taxable substance without a tax stamp."

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In Iowa you have to buy a "tax stamp" for your illegal drugs. I will fall out of my chair the day I read a drug bust story in which the perpetrator actually has a tax stamp. Supposedly you can buy one (from where I do not know because they don't advertise it) and you won't be targeted by law enforcement. If these guys where smart, they'd buy one and then if busted, they could claim they were targeted because they had one.

Woman Gropes TSA Agent's Breast at Security Checkpoint

Woman Gropes TSA Agent's Breast at Security Checkpoint: "Police say she squeezed and twisted the agent's breast with both hands. Officers say Mihamae admitted to the crime. There's no word why she touched the agent."

Nissan Leaf sales soar in June | MNN - Mother Nature Network

Nissan Leaf sales soar in June | MNN - Mother Nature Network: "At the end of May 2011 there was only a 17-vehicle margin between year-to-date Leaf and Volt sales but now that has jumped to 1,130."

Can Electric Cars Put A Jolt In The Job Market? : NPR

Can Electric Cars Put A Jolt In The Job Market? : NPR:

"Electric cars now enjoy a white-hot market"

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That's how this story starts, which pretty much discredits anything that follows. But read the last line from the "objective" NPR.

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"Electric and hybrid vehicles make up less than 2 percent of the auto market. For now, analysts say it's still a "niche vehicle," relegated to the greenest corner of the marketplace."

Nissan LEAF Sales Zoom Ahead of Chevy Volt | PluginCars.com

Nissan LEAF Sales Zoom Ahead of Chevy Volt | PluginCars.com: "The sales race between the Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt for leading electric car has been neck-and-neck for most of this year. But in May, Nissan pulled way ahead of G.M. tallying 1,142 sales of the LEAF, while Volt sales remained flat at 481 units."

BBC News - US Pentagon to treat cyber-attacks as 'acts of war'

BBC News - US Pentagon to treat cyber-attacks as 'acts of war': "The US defence department estimates that more than 100 foreign intelligence organizations have attempted to break into American networks."

Are GM Dealerships Gaming Chevy Volt Tax Credit? | National Legal and Policy Center

Are GM Dealerships Gaming Chevy Volt Tax Credit? | National Legal and Policy Center: "Many Volts with practically no miles on them are being sold as 'used' vehicles, enabling the dealerships to benefit from the $7,500 credit supplied by the American taxpayers on each car. The process of titling the Volts technically makes the dealerships the first owners of the vehicles, which gives them the ability to claim the subsidies. The cars are then offered to retail customers as 'used' vehicles."

Apple to Introduce a Curved-Glass iPhone 5? - Mac Rumors

Apple to Introduce a Curved-Glass iPhone 5? - Mac Rumors

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Funny how tech comes full circle. We went from curved glass in CRT's to Flat Panels and now back to curved glass.

Trademark Infringement?

Republicans: Bolkcom abortion bill will turn Iowa into ‘late-term abortion Mecca’ | Iowa Independent

Alibre and 3D Systems Deliver Global First - Complete Design and 3D Printer Bundle for the Masses | Business Wire

Alibre and 3D Systems Deliver Global First - Complete Design and 3D Printer Bundle for the Masses | Business Wire

"To meet the 3D printing needs of a growing Maker community, the bundles deliver the first-ever total personal manufacturing package starting at under $1,500. This enables someone to go from idea to 3D model on a computer screen to actually holding the finished product in their hands within hours."

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Very cool to see this happening. With Autodesk's announcement of 123D, I think there is a low cost CAD/Rapid Prototyping war brewing. This is only good news for designers.

CAD & 3D: What is the Autodesk 123D app?

CAD & 3D: What is the Autodesk 123D app?: "Autodesk announced, with quite some vagueness, 123D , as an entry-level, free design tool with links to 'make' things (reading: fabrication)..."

4,000 GM Jobs? Let’s Not Get Carried Away! - Money News Story - WDIV Detroit

4,000 GM Jobs? Let’s Not Get Carried Away! - Money News Story - WDIV Detroit: "Yes, GM will invest $2 billion, but that’s looking ahead between eighteen months and two years. 4000 jobs? Yes, but not how they are billed. It turns out GM has 1,357 workers on layoff right now. Those are counted in this number. While it is very good the company is bringing back laid off workers, they shave a third of the “new” jobs right off the top. If you take the 400 jobs GM will ensure at the Toledo transmission plant where they will build a new, eight cylinder, highly fuel efficient power train and the 250 jobs promised to the Bowling Green Corvette Plant announced last month and there are fewer than 2000 “new “ jobs to be announced."

Chevy Volt Is in the Lead for Total Sales | PersonalFinanceBulletin.com

Chevy Volt Is in the Lead for Total Sales | PersonalFinanceBulletin.com

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Just for the record, I believe the Nissan Leaf will ultimately outsell the Volt (and the idea of the Volt will fade away). They are both too expensive now to have any real volume, but the Leaf is significantly cheaper initially and in maintenance since it's minus the gas engine. I really see electric vehicles being secondary cars for people for at least another decade. So I think a fully electric plug-in car is what people will look to buy. I can see these being used for toting around town for chores and commuting back and forth to work. The main car will still be fully gas and used for longer trips and shorter trips involving the whole family.

100% wood bike

SplinterBike.co.uk

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This website is about a bicycle made 100% from wood (except glue and varnish). It has no metal parts, not even fasteners. They are going for the land speed world record for all wooden bikes. They'll get it because there isn't one yet.

Bin Laden Reward

BBC News - Bin Laden: CIA head Panetta feared Pakistan leaks: "The White House has not disclosed whether anyone has claimed the $25m (£15m) reward for leading the US to Bin Laden."

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I think Bush should get it. Without his policies, no matter how controversial the left see it, this would not have happened.

Why didn't Pakistan take out Osama?

In regards to why Pakistan didn't know Osama was in their country right by a major military academy for 6 years, an ISI official said, "We're good, but we're not God." I disagree with the former and totally agree with the latter.

BBC News - Bin Laden: CIA head Panetta feared Pakistan leaks: "'We're good, but we're not God.'"

Coralville man charged in sword assault

Coralville man charged in sword assault: "A Coralville man is accused of attacking another man with a sword."

US kills Osama bin Laden decade after 9/11 attacks - Yahoo! News

US kills Osama bin Laden decade after 9/11 attacks - Yahoo! News: "The president spent part of his Sunday on the golf course, but cut his round short to return to the White House for a meeting where he and top national security aides reviewed final preparations for the raid."

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That's how big a deal this is.

Sources: Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead - Yahoo! News

Sources: Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States, President Barack Obama said Sunday."

Police: Woman lied about assault | Iowa City Press Citizen | press-citizen.com

Police: Woman lied about assault | Iowa City Press Citizen | press-citizen.com: "Brotherton said the two hung out for a while and the discussion eventually turned to sex. However, when Williams allegedly asked for money in exchange for sex, the man tried to leave. Police said the man was assaulted by one of Williams’ friends and Williams tried to prevent him from fleeing out a bedroom window."

Sex act Christian radio station Orange: Man performed sex act, threatened to rape woman at Christian radio station in Orange - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Truly amazing story:

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Sex act Christian radio station Orange: Man performed sex act, threatened to rape woman at Christian radio station in Orange - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com: "The host told investigators she was on the air when a man entered the station without permission. She said he exposed himself, performed a sex act and threatened to rape her. A listener heard the threat and called 911. The host remained calm and lured the man outside the building, the Sheriff's Office said. Then she got him to go back inside while she locked herself inside her car and waited for deputies."

Glenn Beck | Content Without Credit | Conservatives to Glenn Beck: 'The truth has no agenda,' but it does have a source | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

Glenn Beck | Content Without Credit | Conservatives to Glenn Beck: 'The truth has no agenda,' but it does have a source | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

A big hit piece on Glenn Beck. I think it's unfortunately deserved. Is this why he left Fox?

Iowa City School Board approves tax rate | Iowa City Press Citizen | press-citizen.com

Only in the Liberal's mind. They pass a "tax cut" but yet taxes increase.

Iowa City School Board approves tax rate | Iowa City Press Citizen | press-citizen.com: "The Iowa City School Board unanimously approved by a 6-0 vote a property tax rate of $14.59 per $1,000 of taxable valuation at a special meeting Thursday afternoon. This is a drop of about 10 cents from the current $14.69 rate, but it will translate into the taxpayer paying $708.19, or about $19 more, in property taxes to the school district than the current $689.08 bill due to an increase in the residential rollback."

3Dconnexion : Anywhere

3Dconnexion : Anywhere

For CAD users, it's about time. 3Dconnexion has needed a driver forever and it's users are about to get it.

University of Iowa, Iowa City Landfill Partners on Methane Gas Project | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather | Local News

University of Iowa, Iowa City Landfill Partners on Methane Gas Project | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather | Local News

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Seems like a natural pairing. Not sure which way the gas will flow.

Stabbing During Cedar Rapids Melee Witnessed By Police | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather | Local News

Over 200 people involved in this fight. No mention of guns, lots of pot and knives, but no guns. But the very next story I see is about more (unconstitutional) gun control policies.

Stabbing During Cedar Rapids Melee Witnessed By Police

New Weapons Policy In Place For Linn County

Obama: Drill, Brazil, Drill! - Investors.com

Obama: Drill, Brazil, Drill! - Investors.com: "Energy Policy: While leaving U.S. oil and jobs in the ground, our itinerant president tells a South American neighbor that we'll help it develop its offshore resources so we can one day import its oil. WHAT?!?"

It's Time for America to Run With an Idea Popular in 1905 -- The Electric Car - FoxNews.com

It's Time for America to Run With an Idea Popular in 1905 -- The Electric Car - FoxNews.com: "President Obama's latest budget supports putting 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015. The plan, however, could just as well been hatched by President Theodore Roosevelt. Believe it or not, electric and hybrid cars were available for sale in America as early as 1905. Since that time, little has changed in the performance and availability of electric and hybrid cars."

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The rest is worth reading.

DA: Pa. abortion doc killed 7 babies with scissors - Yahoo! News

In case you didn't believe that evil exists in the world:

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, made millions of dollars over 30 years, performing as many illegal, late-term abortions as he could, prosecutors said. State regulators ignored complaints about him and failed to inspect his clinic since 1993, but no charges were warranted against them given time limits and existing law, District Attorney Seth Williams said. Nine of Gosnell's employees also were charged.
Gosnell "induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord," Williams said.

From Yahoo! News

Paranormal team investigates N.L. home | press-citizen.com | Iowa City Press Citizen

I think the below two sentences say it all:

"The men are not scientists or professional ghosthunters and have jobs outside the paranormal realm. 'We have real jobs and families,' Mihm said. 'Just getting all of us together is really challenging.'" (Emphasis mine)

Culver: ‘I’m at peace,’ wishes Branstad the best | Iowa Independent

Culver: ‘I’m at peace,’ wishes Branstad the best | Iowa Independent

"Gov. Chet Culver spoke to a crowd of about 75 in Iowa City"

"last Nov 2nd it didn’t quite work out."

"I’m at peace with the fact that the people of Iowa have decided to go in a little different direction."

"We’ve got to continue to lead in renewable energy."

"He said he hopes to stay in Iowa and land a job in the renewable energy industry."

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And that's the highlights. Good riddance.

Harkin renews push for filibuster reform | Iowa Independent

Harkin renews push for filibuster reform | Iowa Independent: "the filibuster reform legislation would reduce the majority of senators needed to invoke cloture after an initial vote. On the first cloture vote, 60 votes would be needed to end debate. If one did not get 60 votes, one could file another cloture motion and 2 days later have another vote that vote would require 57 votes to end debate. If cloture was not obtained, one could file another cloture motion and wait 2 more days, when only 54 votes would be needed to end debate. If one did not get that, one could file one more cloture motion, wait 2 more days, and 51 votes would be needed to move to the merits of the bill.

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And after that, just have your president enact it by executive order. Oh wait, they already do that.

BBC News - Punjab Governor Salman Taseer assassinated in Islamabad

BBC News - Punjab Governor Salman Taseer assassinated in Islamabad: "Many were angered by his defence of a Christian woman sentenced to death."

Pew Center finds cell phone users more political, more conservative | Iowa Independent

Pew Center finds cell phone users more political, more conservative | Iowa Independent: "New research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds not only were cell phone users more likely to have voted, but nearly half described themselves as “very conservative” or “conservative.”"

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Could this be the real reason they want to ban cell phone use while driving and why they keep trying to tell us cell phones cause brain tumors?