Politics

November 4th, 2013 08:40 AM ET Maine gubernatorial candidate comes out as gay Posted by CNN's Ashley Killough (CNN) – Democratic gubernatorial hopeful and U.S. Representative Mike Michaud of Maine announced Monday he's gay, writing about his personal life in an opinion piece for newspapers in his state. If Michaud wins in 2014 and unseats Republican incumbent Gov. Paul LePage, he would become the first openly gay candidate to be elected governor. The six-term U.S. Congressman's announcement makes him the 8th openly gay member of Congress, with seven in the House and one in the Senate. Michaud, who announced he was running for governor in August, says he made his d…

http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304200804579161720691285060

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/04/politics/double-down-2012-campaign/index.html?c=politics

How a war game brought the world to the brink of nuclear disasterFormer classified documents show how close the Soviet Union came to launching an attack in 1983 Jamie Doward The Observer, Saturday 2 November 2013 08.28 EDT Chilling new evidence that Britain and America came close to provoking the Soviet Union into launching a nuclear attack has emerged in former classified documents written at the height of the cold war. Cabinet memos and briefing papers released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that a major war games exercise, Operation Able Art, conducted in November 1983 by the US and its Nato allies was so realistic it made the Russians believe that …

Merkel calls Obama over reports her phone may have been tapped by US Chancellor Angela Merkel's personal mobile phone may have been monitored by the US, according to a German government spokesman German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called US President Barack Obama about the alleged monitoring of her mobile phone Photo: YVES HERMAN/REUTERS By Raf Sanchez, and Peter Foster in Washington The Telegraph 8:23PM BST 23 Oct 2013 The White House was today scrambling to head off a major diplomatic incident after the German government said it had received information that US spies may have tapped Angela Merkel’s personal mobile phone for years. In the most significa…

So the nuttiness among the Repub far right is moving even such as GWB to speak up as a voice of humane reason. Noticed this pro-immigration video from The George W. Bush Center on (don't ask ) George's personal facebook page... (Have to wonder if GWB, watching current Repub lunacies, now begins to understand something of how his father must have felt when he warned, via Scowcroft's editorial, Do Not Go Into Iraq.)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/10415228/US-spied-on-future-Pope-Francis-during-Vatican-conclave.html

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/apr/17/why-cant-we-give-up-fossil-fuels

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/30/google-reports-nsa-secretly-intercepts-data-links

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/31/glenn-greenwald-leaving-guardian

This could turn quite delicious. http://m.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-the-clintons-talk-of-brokering-compromise-an-implicit-rebuke-of-obama-years/2013/10/31/f8cf7d66-40a1-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html

Six Ways to Keep the Government Out of Your Files Pro-tips on how to lock down your data.—By Josh Harkinson | November/December 2013 Issue | Mother Jones 1) Use open-source software Software whose source code is publicly available is more secure than anything developed by Microsoft, Apple, or Google: Its transparency means developers can't easily conceal security holes at the behest of hackers or governments. You'll want open-source platforms for your browser (Firefox, for example), email (Thunderbird), and instant messaging (Jabber), all of which are virtually idiot-proof to install. Switching to open-source for your operating system (Linux is the most popular choi…

Meet the Data Brokers Who Help Corporations Sell Your Digital Life They know what you did last summer. —By Dana Liebelson | November/December 2013 Issue | Mother Jones alphaspirit/Shutterstock Serving (up) the single ladies Datalogix tracks the spending habits of more than 110 million households using sources such as store loyalty cards. It partners with Twitter and Facebook to assess whether groups of users buy the cooking gear or brand of shampoo advertised on their social-media pages. Datalogix doesn't know that a certain Mother Jones journalist bought a quart of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Therapy after changing her Facebook status back to "single," but …

Interesting. http://mobile.politico.com/iphone/story/1013/98911.html

Sarah Palin Claims Jesus Celebrated Easter The Daily Currant Oct 23, 2013 Sarah Palin claimed today that Jesus Christ celebrated Easter during his time on Earth. In an interview with Fox and Friends this morning, the former Alaska governor promoted her new book about the left's "war on Christmas" and argued that all Christian holidays should return to the traditional versions practiced by Jesus. "It makes me so gosh darn angry," Palin explained. "The liberal left in this country has targeted Christian holidays and is trying to secularize them right out of existence. "When Jesus celebrated Easter with his disciples there were no Easter bunnies or egg hunts. There w…

An unnamed intelligence officer stated that Obama learned about the NSA operation targeting Merkel from NSA chief Gen. Alexander in 2010. But the NSA denies the allegation that Gen. Alexander has informed Obama of the operation. So who is lying? If Obama was not briefed about it then who gave them authority for the NSA to carry out such a sensitive spying activity in the first place???? Who has such authority in the NSA to carry out a risky spying mission without getting permission from president or the congressional oversight committee??? Is it the NSA really out of control? I guess the Obama administration thinks that denying the allegation is a way to get out of thi…

Immigration Poses Threat of Another Republican Rift By ERIC LIPTON and ASHLEY PARKER The New York Times Published: October 25, 2013 WASHINGTON — A push to bring immigration legislation to the House floor, led by an unusual coalition of business executives, prominent conservatives and evangelical leaders, threatens to create another schism in the Republican Party and could have a noticeable effect on campaign contributions before the midterm elections. Several Republican executives and donors who are part of a lobbying blitz coming to Capitol Hill next week said they were considering withholding, or had already decided to withhold, future financial support to Repub…

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/24/nsa-surveillance-world-leaders-calls

Glenn Beck is on serious drugs. Watching the Tea Party et al. try to take down Norquist for acknowledging at least small bits of realpolitik promises some amusement. Glenn Beck Presents ‘Just the Beginning’ of Why You Need to Pay Attention to Grover Norquist Oct. 21, 2013 8:45pm Erica Ritz theblaze.com Glenn Beck on Monday began what he said is “just the beginning” of his work to reveal the background and motivations of Grover Norquist, the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. Beck began by playing recent clips of Norquist calling out Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for his efforts to derail Obamacare, noting that while he used to joke about the left’s portraya…

Two articles suggesting not Oct. 17 but rather Nov. 1 and 15 are the true, inescapable doomsday dates if the debt ceiling is not lifted: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-drop-dead-debt-ceiling-date-2013-10 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/15/wall-street-debt-deadline-1-november

A German bishop is in hot water for spending 42 million dollars (!) to renovate his home. This is the same guy who flew first class to meet with the poor in India. And, oh, he's being criminally charged for lying in a state case. Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, appointed by the German Pope Benedict, apparently didn't know of Benedict's plans to resign. And now he's being asked to resign, and flew to Rome yesterday to meet with the Argentinian Pope. He expects to be housed at the Four Seasons or the Roman equivalent there of, no doubt. Get to know the Bishop while he is still a bishop: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/world/europe/german-outrage-swells-over-a-bisho…

This should be entertaining. http://mobile.politico.com/iphone/story/1013/98426.html

Dick Cheney feared assassination by heart-device hack Cheney has suffered five heart attacks since the age of 37. | AP Photo By NICK GASS | 10/18/13 8:14 PM EDT Dick Cheney’s heart problems are well known. What isn’t widely known is that the former vice president had the wireless feature of his implanted defibrillator disabled so nobody could attempt to assassinate him by hacking into the device. During a “60 Minutes” interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta scheduled to air on CBS this Sunday, Cheney said his cardiologist feared a terrorist could send a signal to the device to make him go into cardiac arrest. “And it seemed to me to be a bad idea for the vice president…

For once I completely agree with BO when he said, if you want to change things, win an election. That is certainly the American way of politics. I am hoping for many pols or pol want to bes that wish to change things rather dramatically. Best regards, RA1

With openly gay correspondent, NBC sticks thumb in Russia's eye By DYLAN BYERS | politico.com 10/18/13 3:36 PM EDT NBC has decided to send correspondent Thomas Roberts to Moscow this November to co-host the network's coverage of the Miss Universe pageant -- an asignment Roberts, who is openly gay, says he took "because it is a huge, visible opportunity for LGBT people." The decision to send Roberts to Russia is a move in opposition of the country's official anti-homosexual stance. Roberts, who is also an MSNBC host, has publicly criticized what he describes as Russia's "homophobic laws," a reference to new laws prohibiting the promotion of nontraditional sexual relati…