interesting things
REPORT: MEDIA MATTERS gave bodyguard illegal weapons to guard founder Brock…
via DrudgeSiren.com – All Stories http://www.drudgesiren.com/allhl.php?id=158083&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+drudgesiren%2FoGpG+%28DrudgeSiren.com+-+All+Stories%29#h158083
The GOP wants to survive. That is one interpretation of the move toward amnesty and broad immigration reform spearheaded by a bipartisan group of senators today.
The other is that elections have consequences.
Four Republican and four Democratic senators are pushing a path to American citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants who would need to pay fines and taxes, and await government certification of tough border security. But these provisions are nothing more than political cover for what was unthinkable just a few months ago: Amnesty.
via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/gop-opts-for-capitulation-and-survival-on-immigration-20130128
The country’s defense ministry says the nation has successfully flown a monkey into space on a rocket trip.
Though details are sparse, the Iranian defense ministry is claiming today that it has successfully launched a capsule containing a live monkey into space atop a rocket. The capsule was later successfully recovered “intact” on the ground and the monkey, according to the report, is safe.
Iran is, if the news proves true, following in the footsteps of the U.S., which successfully flew several monkeys into space–Albert II was the first to survive the flight beyond the atmosphere in 1949 (though he died when the capsule impacted the ground). Iran has been continually developing its space rocket program over the years–including flying other “creatures.” This has been to the discomfort of many who note that the technology needed to propel a capsule into space is equivalent to Intercontinental Ballistic Missile systems. Launching and retrieving a monkey would represent a huge technological leap, and may be an attempt to demonstrate the space program has peaceful goals.
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To brighten your winter, check out these amazing rare early color photographs of Paris about 1900.
via The Daily Beast – Latest Articles http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/28/when-paris-was-new.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thedailybeast%2Farticles+%28The+Daily+Beast+-+Latest+Articles%29
This is actually happening. That’s the viewpoint of Capitol Hill aides, lobbyists, advocates, and politicians who have been involved in the immigration debate for 10, 20, and in some cases 30 years. They are psyched. They are scared. They are sober.
They miss the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who has been at the forefront of every immigration law since 1965. They are grateful for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has spurred a new way of thinking about immigration among conservatives.
This account is based on interviews with more than a dozen people close to the immigration talks on Capitol Hill and in the White House.
via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/can-obama-make-history-on-immigration-20130128?page=1
When you watch a President of the United States give a formal speech, you’ll probably see a plaque bearing the Presidential seal on the podium. This was not always so. In 1850, President Millard Fillmore thought that the office of the President should have its own seal, so he sketched out this design and sent it to Edward Stabler, a sealmaker:
The heavy lifting was definitely done by Stabler. Born in Maryland in 1794, Edward Stabler was self-taught and began his career engraving jewelry at the age of 16.  By the time he retired in 1863, Stabler had designed seals for nearly every department in the Federal Government, several states, cities, and many businesses.
Read more about the history of the Presidential seal at the link.
Link -via Explore | Images: US Department of State, Daily Graphic
Its smartphone is outselling the iPhone while the South Korean firm also ramps up D.C. lobbying.
via POLITICO – TOP Stories http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/samsungs-lobbying-grows-with-its-market-share-86784.html
It’s become fashionable to complain about the state of online “journalism” as various sites do what needs to be done to boost page views and goose the most-emailed list. Even as we envy all that sweet, sweet traffic, we castigate. We roll our eyes at Gawker’s latest hit job on a beloved pop-culture icon. We tut-tut BuzzFeed’s latest slideshow, a Frankenstein’s monster of memes and photos cribbed from elsewhere.
But as I was angrily banging the Facebook share button recently, I realized something. All these Johnny-come-latelies are rank amateurs compared with The New York Times.
What set me off was an article titled “An Apartment With Guest Potential.” It’s a harrowing 1,100-word tale of a 26-year-old Columbia grad’s struggle to buy a $700,000 Manhattan apartment with her parents’ money. Time was of the essence. As was space. Because, as she said, “something very California is to have friends over to your home where you can host them.”
via Advertising Age – Homepage http://adage.com/article/ken-wheaton/york-times-a-master-trolling/239432/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+adage%2Fhomepage+%28Advertising+Age+-+Homepage%29
All about Americans and their movie-informed views this month, in a Hollywood-themed 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll.
via Vanity Fair | VF.com http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2013/03/harvey-weinstein-invisible-rabbit
Pics with fewer Academy noms have been less likely to win
via Variety – Latest News http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118065231/?cmpid=RSS%257CNews%257CLatestNews
