Teen Admits To Vandalizing Rep. Grimm's Campaign
Office

post from TPMMuckraker on 25 September 2012 03:01:23 PM. © TPMMuckraker

An eighth grader has copped to vandalizing the campaign headquarters of Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), the Associated Press reports.

New York Police Department spokesperson Paul Browne told the AP on Tuesday that the teenager confessed to a guidance counselor that over the weekend he and a friend had broken a window at the Staten Island office. The teenager is expected to be charged as a juvenile with criminal mischief.

Grimm's staff discovered the damage Sunday morning. In a statement that day, the campaign said chunks of cement and several smaller rocks were used to break three window panes. The statement also said that police believe the broken windows were "a cover-up for the burglary in which the suspect corrupted and erased the hard-drive of the campaign computer server, which contains confidential campaign files and polling data."

Grimm, a former FBI agent, spoke with the Staten Island Advance on Sunday night and emphasized that the incident was being taken very seriously.

"You know, especially in light of what happened with Gabby Giffords, we're not in the world today where we can shrug things off," Grimm told the Staten Island Advance. "Violence is violence. Throwing large stones and concrete through the window is an act of violence, and we've got to take it seriously."

He also released a statement, calling the incident "an assault on democracy and the political process."

"This is a disgraceful act of cowardice that is beneath the people I represent," Grimm said. "Here in Staten Island, we are a family community, which is why, despite our differences in opinions and political views, we have never seen an attack on a campaign escalate to this level. In 2010, campaigns across the nation were fueled with high levels of passion, yet even then we never saw anything as dirty or disgraceful as this. Even though this is not an official office, this heinous act represents an assault on democracy and the political process, more so than it does on me as person or a candidate. I do believe this is a politically motivated crime, and will continue to work closely with the NYPD in identifying and prosecuting those responsible."

According to the AP, investigators are still examining the computer server that Grimm and his campaign allege was tampered with.

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West Hollywood to get rainbow crosswalks

post from AMERICAblog on 25 September 2012 03:00:55 PM. © AMERICAblog

They started as a temporary thing for Pride, and now are being installed permanently.The post West Hollywood to get rainbow crosswalks appeared first on AMERICAblog.

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Fox & Friends Pimp The 7-Eleven Coffee Cup Poll

post from Crooks and Liars on 25 September 2012 03:00:15 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Fox and Friends Pimp 7-Eleven Coffee Cup Poll

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Poor Fox News. Desperate for signs that Mitt Romney?s a winner, they turned to Dick Morris and then a 7-Eleven Coffee Cup poll. But when even the cup poll offered bad news for Romney, Steve Doocy laughably described the 16-point difference as ?close? and Brian Kilmeade did his part to turn things around.

It started with Gretchen Carlson gushing this morning on Fox & Friends over a ?big headline? that a new poll shows Mitt Romney winning middle class families by 55-41% over President Obama.

It wasn?t until a minute or so later that Brian Kilmeade acknowledged that polls still show ?the president winning in almost every battleground state.? But not to worry! ?Dick Morris answered that question.?

Yes, Dick Morris of the ?Todd Akin Will Be A Big Plus For Romney? and ?Katrina Will Be A Huge Positive For Bush? predictions. Kilmeade played a clip of Morris on Hannity last night in which he claimed that the polling samples were ?worst it?s ever been? crazy.? The producers left out the part where Hannity completely dismissed Morris? wildly optimistic projections for a Romney win in November.

?If you re-weight it according to the Rasmussen metric,? Doocy now argued, Romney has between a 5-11% lead. Nobody mentioned that the weighting of Fox News? own recent poll gave Obama significant leads in three key battleground states.

Instead, Carlson went on to promote ?wacky ways to predict the presidential election.? But unfortunately for her, they mostly came out in Obama?s favor, too.

Halloween mask sales: Obama 69%, Romney 31%

If the Redskins beat the Panthers on November 4th, President Obama will win (no predictions there).

Then came the 7-Eleven "poll" where customers can choose either a red Romney cup or a blue Obama one. According to the graphic on the screen, President Obama was ahead 58% to Romney?s 42%. But Doocy said, ?As you can see right there, President Obama slightly leading Mr. Romney.?

Kilmeade then prominently displayed one of the red cups on the table in front of the couch. ?There?s a red cup!? he said enthusiastically.

Doocy sounded a bit deflated as he acknowledged having the blue cup - which he kept in his hand until the end, when he placed it on the table far behind the blue one.

Meanwhile, the camera zoomed in on the red cup as a banner on the screen read, CAMPAIGN FOR COFFEE: 7-11 candidate cups can predict a winner!

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STUDY: Contraception Is Critical For Ensuring
Women Achieve Their Life Goals

post from ThinkProgress on 25 September 2012 03:00:02 PM. © ThinkProgress

A new study from the Guttmacher Institute investigates the ways that women believe their birth control has impacted their lives. Although the strong connection between increased access to contraception and increased improvements to women’s lives has been confirmed, women are rarely asked to speak about the effects of birth control on their own lives and [...]

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Romney campaign clarifies: Romney was just
blowing off 50 million uninsured Americans

post from Daily Kos on 25 September 2012 02:58:16 PM. © Daily Kos

That's the response from the Obama campaign to Romney for his statement on 60 Minutes about how emergency rooms provide all the care uninsured people need. This statement:

?Well, we do provide care for people who don?t have insurance? If someone has a heart attack, they don?t sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care.?

The Romney campaign has been forced to clarify what Romney meant, again, with limited success.

Amanda Henneberg, a spokeswoman for Mr. Romney?s campaign, said Monday evening that Mr. Romney had made ?a statement of fact, that Americans without health insurance are still able to receive critical care including in some cases through emergency rooms? and that it was ?an absurd misreading of his comments to imply that he offered emergency rooms as a ?solution? to our nation?s health care challenges.?

That's about as lame a no-response response as you can imagine, but at the same time it's a fair point. Romney wasn't offering emergency rooms as a solution to a problem. He was saying there isn't a problem at all. No solution necessary.

He's got no problem with the pre-Romneycare, pre-Obamacare status quo in health care reform. For Pete's sake, he passed Romneycare when he was setting himself up to run for president. You can't expect to him to stand by what he was running on then when Republicans are renouncing it now.

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Romney Now Losing on the Economy

post from Firedoglake on 25 September 2012 02:40:34 PM. © Firedoglake

Obama hasn't just neutralized Romney's previous advantage on the economy -- according to new polling, Obama has actually taken the lead on the question of who would best handle the economy.[...]

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Counties Use Loophole In Pennsylvania Voter ID
Law To Prevent Voter Suppression

post from ThinkProgress on 25 September 2012 02:40:09 PM. © ThinkProgress

Two Pennsylvania counties are implementing a creative new solution to arm as many residents as possible with voter IDs before the November election, issuing identification cards that can be used to vote through county-run nursing homes and colleges. The move takes advantage of a loophole in the state?s restrictive voter ID law that allows the facilities to issue ID [...]

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gress0Borg0Cjustice0C20A120C0A90C250C8978910Ccounties0Euse0Eloophole0Ein0Epennsylvania0Evoter0Eid0Elaw0Eto0Eprevent0Evoter0Esuppression0C/story01.htm

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Presidential Debate Watch - DCW Is Going To The
Presidential Debate

Our name understandably causes people to think that we only cover conventions. If you're a regular reader you know we cover everything from the latest Bruce Springsteen album to Superdelegates.

Now we have a new feather to add to our heavily feather-laden cap. We are credentialed to attend the first Presidential Debate at the University of Denver on October 3rd.

The debate we will be covering will be a discussion of Domestic Policy between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

We would like to thank The Commission On Presidential Debates in advance for inviting us to attend.

The University of Denver to Host the First 2012 Presidential Debate
The Commission on Presidential Debates has selected the University of Denver (DU) as the host site for the first 2012 U.S. presidential debate. The debate will be held on Oct. 3 in Magness Arena at the University’s Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness.
“The University of Denver is excited for this opportunity to partner with the Commission on Presidential Debates to bring this historic event to our campus, our city and our state,” says DU Chancellor Robert Coombe. “Debates are an important part of our nation’s election process, and as this is the first-ever presidential debate to be hosted in Colorado, the national and international spotlight will be on the University of Denver and the entire Rocky Mountain region.”
DU has hosted many prominent events and speakers over the years, including then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain in 2008, former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin in 2010 and current presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2007.
“We will do whatever we can to help you pull off a very successful presidential debate here,” says Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. “We know you’re ready to do it, but you have a partner in the city of Denver. We are awfully proud of you and we will, as a city, stand with you to showcase our great city to the rest of the world.”
Coombe says DU was one of 12 universities around the country vying for a chance to host one of four nationally televised debates that will occur just before the November 2012 general election. This is the first time the University has applied for host consideration.
“DU will focus its attention on building a world-class event that will engage our campus and community in educational opportunities that will last long after the debate and election have passed,” Coombe says.
The University is planning educational programs, classes and events that will be held in the months leading up to the debate, inviting students and the larger community to learn about and engage in the political process.

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-is-going-to-the-presidential-debate

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From Boardwalk Empire to Dexter, Hollywoods
Incest Obsession

I was talking to a friend last week about director Nick Cassavetes’ defense of his new movie Yellow, which is about a brother and sister who have a love affair, at the Toronto Film Festival. ?I?m not saying this is an absolute but in a way, if you?re not having kids ? who gives a [...]

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gress0Borg0Calyssa0C20A120C0A90C250C90A57410Cboardwalk0Eempire0Edexter0Eincest0C/story01.htm