Can Google Plus Compete With Facebook And Twitter?

Google Plus isn't Google's first foray into social networking—Orkut and Buzz already exist, but neither caught on in the United States. Can Google Plus do better? Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, discusses how the new social network stacks up to Facebook and Twitter.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/138164332/can-google-plus-compete-with-facebook-and-twitter?ft=1&f=1007

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Vick on Hill to support dog fighting crackdown

(CNN) -- Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback Michael Vick is scheduled to pledge his support Tuesday for new legislation to crack down on supporters of dog fighting.

Vick will be joined at a news conference on Capitol Hill by Wayne Pacelle, the head of the Humane Society of the United States, Vick announced on his official website.

The bill, H.R. 2492, seeks to penalize people who finance and bring children to dog fights and cock fights.

Vick was released from prison in 2009 after he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of bankrolling a dog fighting operation in Virginia.

He served 20 months in federal prison. Since his release, Vick has appeared at several public events condemning dog fighting.

The bill would help strengthen penalties against those who are knowing spectators at such animal fights, Pacelle said.

"Spectators are participants and accomplices who enable the crime of animal fighting, provide a large share of the funding for the criminal enterprise through their admission fees and gambling wagers, and help conceal handlers and organizers who try to blend into the crowd when a bust occurs," Pacelle said in a statement.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/w_bBc4ENsBM/index.html

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Crafting Shuttles: Labor Of Love, Vanishing Art

Much of a space shuttle, from thermal tiles to the electrical system, is made by hand and crafted by skilled workers. Five years ago, NPR visited a shuttle workshop. Now, as the program concludes and shuttle construction and refurbishment winds down, we return to see what's next for the people who handmade the spaceships.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/137793223/crafting-shuttles-labor-of-love-vanishing-art?ft=1&f=1007

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Weekly Standard: Comfy Retirement Isn't A Right

In an ideal America, citizens gets everything they want and live happily ever after. Unfortunately the real world doesn't guarantee a perfect ending and neither does the Constitution. Noemie Emery of The Weekly Standard sounds off on the true cost of the welfare state.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/19/138501713/weekly-standard-comfy-retirement-isnt-a-right?ft=1&f=1057

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White House Threatens Veto Of 'Cap, Cut Balance' Bill; GOP Plows Ahead

Conservatives coined a catchy name for the legislation House Republicans have scheduled for a Tuesday vote — Cap, Cut and Balance.

Democrats in the White House have what they think is just as creative a name for the bill — Duck, Dodge and Dismantle.

And those same Obama officials vow that President Obama will veto the legislation if it were to reach his desk.

That's a major if; it's unlikely the Republican bill will get through the Senate.

An excerpt from the veto threat issued by the Office of Management and Budget:

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 2560, the "Cut, Cap and Balance Act of 2011." Neither setting arbitrary spending levels nor amending the Constitution is necessary to restore fiscal responsibility. Increasing the Federal debt limit, which is needed to avoid a Federal government default on its obligations and a severe blow to the economy, should not be conditioned on taking these actions. Instead of pursuing an empty political statement and unrealistic policy goals, it is necessary to move beyond politics as usual and find bipartisan common ground.

 

White House press secretary Jay Carney riffed Monday on the name Obama administration officials are using for the GOP legislation. He used the obligatory Kabuki theater metaphor to indicate that what we are seeing is highly stylized and predictable.

CARNEY: Look, what we are witnessing here with this
measure is classic Washington posturing, Kabuki theater. You know, this is a measure that is designed to duck, dodge and dismantle: duck responsibility, dodge obligations and dismantle eventually if enshrined into law, which it will not be; but it would essentially require the dismantlement of our social safety net — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

It would, at the very least, require the kinds of cuts that are
required under the Ryan budget that emerged from the House Republicans and would — it could essentially be worse because it institutes the kind of across-the-board cuts by calling — you know, it's very cleverly designed so that they can claim this isn't the case because it's very vague, but it requires the passage of a balanced budget amendment, all of which, under consideration in Congress right now, would require even more draconian cuts, cuts that are even more draconian than the ones that were in the Ryan budget.

That includes a 70 percent cut in clean energy; drastic cuts in education, for example; and then significant reductions or dismantling of Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. In terms of the balanced budget amendments — obviously Congressman Ryan's plan did not deal with Social Security, but to find the savings — you know, the draconian savings that are called for in these measures — you would have to do that to those programs.

And it's a dodge because — look, we don't need these kinds of
measures. What we need is Congress to get to work, to agree to
compromise, to agree to do the work of the American people instead of satisfying some narrow slice of the — of the political spectrum so
that — so that we can reduce our deficit in a responsible way that
does not heap the burden on single — you know, small segments of
society.

House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor defended the legislation:

"Tomorrow, the House will vote on Cut, Cap and Balance, a common sense proposal that will cut and cap federal spending to ensure that Washington begins to live within its means and put in place a Constitutional balanced budget amendment that will make balancing our budget the rule, not the exception. No one wants to default on our debt, and that is why House Republicans are bringing forth this plan to meet the President's request for a debt limit increase with the necessary safeguards to make sure that we don't continue to kick the can down the road. With millions of Americans out of work, we need to get the economy growing again and control spending here in Washington, and Cut, Cap and Balance is a path forward to do just that. As President Obama has not put forth a plan that can garner 218 votes in the House, I'd caution him against so hastily dismissing Cut, Cap and Balance."

Many congressional Republicans are loathe to vote for a debt-ceiling increase if they're unable to also point to significant legislative action aimed at addressing the government's huge deficits and national debt.

Thus, House passage of the Cut, Cap and Balance bill would give Republicans a modicum of political cover, even if the legislation doesn't survive in the Senate.

In a conference call with reporters, Obama Administration officials were asked why the administration was coming out so strongly against the Cut, Cap and Balance plan, if it's to extreme and won't move out of a divided Congress, much less leave the president's desk.

They said the issue transcends Congress, noting that a slew of Republican presidential candidates have endorsed the "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan, suggesting it's becoming a core element of the Republican Party's philosophy.

Meanwhile, Roll Call reports that the House leaders who had initially planned on bringing the balanced-budget amendment to the House floor for a vote this week now are pushing that off at least a week:

A spokeswoman for (Cantor) the Virginia Republican confirmed Monday that the amendment would not be on the floor this week. Other GOP aides said leaders are instead hoping to bring it up next week.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/07/18/138486765/white-house-threatens-veto-of-cap-cut-balance-bill?ft=1&f=1014

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Foreign Policy: Ten Reasons Washington Needs Potter

This week marks the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two, the eighth installment of the most successful series in movie history. As such, it offers a useful comparison in the differences between what makes a successful summer blockbuster in Hollywood and what makes for one in Washington, DC. Here are the top ten:

10. Too Few House Elves in Washington (Too Many House Death Eaters)
Oh Dobby, Dobby, if only there were a man in Washington of your stature. Poor Dobby who died, according to his epitaph, "a free elf" was cranky and even less photogenic than Anthony Weiner, but he had heart and courage and took risks for those he served in ways that none on Capitol Hill seem to even comprehend. Meanwhile, there are far too many Death Eaters up there on the wrong end of Pennsylvania Avenue, swirling around in service of He Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken (Grover Norquist) regardless of the pain it may bring to those who actually elected them. (Norquist may succeed with anti-tax religion in doing what the leadership of the Soviet Union could not — bankrupting and thus breaking America.)

See the nine reasons at Foreign Policy.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/138154342/foreign-policy-ten-reasons-washington-needs-potter?ft=1&f=1057

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In Russia, Space Ride For U.S. Spurs Nostalgia, Hope

With the conclusion of NASA's space shuttle program, American astronauts will rely solely on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to reach orbit. Many Russians see this as an opportunity to create a smooth, collaborative future between Russia and the U.S. But not everyone sees it that way.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/137843724/in-russia-space-ride-for-u-s-spurs-nostalgia-hope?ft=1&f=1007

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