After 35 years of serving as the District Attorney for NY, Mr. Robert Morgenthau is now retiring. Here's wishing him much success in retirement.Thursday, December 31, 2009
HAPPY RETIREMENT TO DA ROBERT MORGENTHAU
After 35 years of serving as the District Attorney for NY, Mr. Robert Morgenthau is now retiring. Here's wishing him much success in retirement.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
CNN: Senate approves health care reform bill
Washington (CNN) -- The Senate has passed an $871 billion health care reform bill.
Senators voted 60-39 shortly after 7 a.m. to pass the bill, the centerpiece of President Obama's domestic agenda. Every member of the Democratic caucus backed the measure; every Republican opposed it.
The bill now moves to a conference committee to reconcile differences with the version passed by the House of Representatives.
The Senate health care bill cleared a third and final procedural hurdle Wednesday as Democrats successfully limited remaining debate time on the $871 billion measure.
That vote, also 60-39 along party lines, set up Thursday's vote on final passage.
Democrats also turned back last-ditch motions from Republicans claiming various provisions in the bill, including a mandate that individuals purchase coverage, are unconstitutional.
"It's long past time we declare health care a right and not a privilege," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said after Wednesday's vote.
"Today is a victory ... for American families," proclaimed Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana. "Americans won."
The victory for Obama comes after nearly a year of sharply polarized deliberations on Capitol Hill. Any measure passed by the Senate, however, will still have to be merged with a $1 trillion plan approved by the House of Representatives in November.
Increasingly confident Democrats hope to have a bill ready for Obama's signature before his State of the Union address early next year.
"Health care reform is not a matter of if," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday. "Health care reform now is a matter of when."
If a combined House-Senate health care bill clears Congress and is signed by Obama, it would be the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid over four decades ago.
Republicans have mounted a no-holds-barred legislative campaign against the bill, using a series of procedural maneuvers to slow debate while arguing that the measure will raise taxes while doing little to slow spiraling health care costs.
They've also ripped Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, for garnering the 60 votes necessary to pass the bill in part by cobbling together a series of "sweetheart deals" for wavering members of the Democratic caucus.
"This bill is a grab bag of Chicago-style, backroom buyoffs," Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch said Wednesday.
Recent compromises made to win the backing of moderates such as Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut also angered many liberal Democrats and threatened to undermine support for the bill.
Democrats have now held three key procedural votes on the health care bill this week. The backing of all 60 members of the Democratic caucus was required during each vote in order to overcome a filibuster from a GOP minority united in opposition.
Final passage of the measure, in contrast, will require only a bare majority in the 100-member chamber.
Enthusiastic top Democrats argue the Senate bill would constitute a positive change of historic proportions. The legislation, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, would extend health insurance to more than 30 million Americans currently lacking coverage while reducing the federal deficit.
The House and Senate bills agree on a broad range of changes that could impact every American's coverage.
Among other things, they have agreed to subsidize insurance for a family of four making up to roughly $88,000 annually, or 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
They also have agreed to create health insurance exchanges designed to make it easier for small businesses, the self-employed and the unemployed to pool resources and purchase less-expensive coverage. Both the House plan and the Senate bill would eventually limit total out-of-pocket expenses and prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Insurers also would be barred from charging higher premiums based on a person's gender or medical history. However, both bills allow insurance companies to charge higher premiums for older customers.
Medicaid would be significantly expanded under both proposals. The House bill would extend coverage to individuals earning up to 150 percent of the poverty line, or roughly $33,000 for a family of four; the Senate plan ensures coverage to those earning up to 133 percent of the poverty level, or just over $29,000 for a family of four.
Major differences between the bills will be the focus of the conference committee that will try to merge them. House and Senate Democrats are still divided over how to pay for their plans. They are also split on, among other things, language relating to abortion coverage and whether to include a government-run public health insurance option.
The House bill includes a public option; the more conservative Senate measure would instead create nonprofit private plans overseen by the federal government.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
THROWBACK THURSDAY: N.W.A.- STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton from Greg on Vimeo.
As a treat, we've got the lycics for this so you can sing along
N.W.A.
Straight Outta Compton (1988)
Straight Outta Compton
You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge
Verse One: Ice Cube
Straight outta Compton, crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube
From the gang called Niggaz With Attitudes
When I'm called off, I got a sawed off
Squeeze the trigger, and bodies are hauled off
You too, boy, if ya fuck with me
The police are gonna hafta come and get me
Off yo ass, that's how I'm goin out
For the punk motherfuckers that's showin out
Niggaz start to mumble, they wanna rumble
Mix em and cook em in a pot like gumbo
Goin off on a motherfucker like that
with a gat that's pointed at yo ass
So give it up smooth
Ain't no tellin when I'm down for a jack move
Here's a murder rap to keep yo dancin
with a crime record like Charles Manson
AK-47 is the tool
Don't make me act the motherfuckin fool
Me you can go toe to toe, no maybe
I'm knockin niggaz out tha box, daily
yo weekly, monthly and yearly
until them dumb motherfuckers see clearly
that I'm down with the capital C-P-T
Boy you can't fuck with me
So when I'm in your neighborhood, you better duck
Coz Ice Cube is crazy as fuck
As I leave, believe I'm stompin
but when I come back, boy, I'm comin straight outta Compton
Chorus:
[City of Compton, City of Compton]
[Eazy E] Yo Ren
[MC Ren] Whassup?
[Eazy E] Tell em where you from!
Verse Two: MC Ren
Straight outta Compton, another crazy ass nigga
More punks I smoke, yo, my rep gets bigger
I'm a bad motherfucker and you know this
But the pussy ass niggaz don't show this
But I don't give a fuck, I'ma make my snaps
If not from the records, from jackin the crops
Just like burglary, the definition is 'jackin'
And when illegally armed it's called 'packin'
Shoot a motherfucker in a minute
I find a good piece o' pussy, I go up in it
So if you're at a show in the front row
I'm a call you a bitch or dirty-ass ho
You'll probably get mad like a bitch is supposed to
But that shows me, slut, you're composed to
a crazy muthafucker from tha street
Attitude legit cause I'm tearin up shit
MC Ren controls the automatic
For any dumb muthafucker that starts static
Not the right hand cause I'm the hand itself
every time I pull a AK off the shelf
The security is maximum and that's a law
R-E-N spells Ren but I'm raw
See, coz I'm the motherfuckin villain
The definition is clear, you're the witness of a killin
that's takin place without a clue
And once you're on the scope, your ass is through
Look, you might take it as a trip
but a nigga like Ren is on a gangsta tip
Straight outta Compton...
Chorus:
[City of Compton, City of Compton]
[Dr. Dre] Eazy is his name and the boy is comin...
Verse Three: Eazy-E
...straight outta Compton
is a brotha that'll smother yo' mother
and make ya sister think I love her
Dangerous motherfucker raises hell
And if I ever get caught I make bail
See, I don't give a fuck, that's the problem
I see a motherfuckin cop I don't dodge him
But I'm smart, lay low, creep a while
And when I see a punk pass, I smile
To me it's kinda funny, the attitude showin a nigga drivin
but don't know where the fuck he's going, just rollin
lookin for the one they call Eazy
But here's a flash, they never seize me
Ruthless! Never seen like a shadow in the dark
except when I unload, see I'll get over the hesitation
and hear the scream of the one who got the last penetration
Give a little gust of wind and I'm jettin
But leave a memory no one'll be forgettin
So what about the bitch who got shot? Fuck her!
You think I give a damn about a bitch? I ain't a sucker!
This is the autobiography of the E, and if you ever fuck with me
You'll get taken by a stupid dope brotha who will smother
word to the motherfucker, straight outta Compton
Chorus:
[City of Compton, City of Compton]
[Damn that shit was dope!]
Thursday, December 17, 2009
WR CHRIS HENRY OF THE CINCINNATI BENGALS HAS SUCCOMBED TO INJURIES
(CNN) -- Cincinnati Bengals football player Chris Henry died after a fall from the bed of a pickup during a fight with his fiancée, police said Thursday.
"Chris Henry died as a result of his injuries sustained during this incident," a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police news release said. "Department detectives continue to work diligently on this active investigation."
Henry died at 6:36 a.m. ET Thursday, the statement said.
Shortly before noon Wednesday, Henry's fiancée tried to drive off during a "domestic situation," only to have Henry jump into the bed of the truck, police said.
"The domestic situation continued between the operator and Mr. Henry," according to a police statement. Henry "came out of the back of the vehicle" about half a mile from the house, it said.
Authorities described Henry's injuries Wednesday night as "life-threatening." He was taken to the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
Henry's fiancée's family lives in Charlotte, the Bengals team said. The couple was planning to marry in March, according to the Bengals' Web site.
The 26-year-old receiver played for the Bengals for five seasons but was on the injured reserve after suffering a dislocated forearm during a November 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Henry caught 12 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns in eight games before being hurt.
An article on the Bengals Web site called Henry "one of the best comeback stories in the NFL" before being injured, saying he had rebuilt "his life and career in a three-year climb from a series of off-field problems."
The problems, the article said, included four arrests, three NFL suspensions and a release from the Bengals in April 2008. But Henry had since "put his life back together," according to the article.
"He's a big part of what we are," left tackle Andrew Whitworth said in the article. "I really admire how he carries himself, how he's changed his life, and how he's made his career his passion. That's what this team has done. He's one of the guys that has helped give this team that attitude."
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