Drudge Retort

Woman Finds Dog Lost During Tornado

rcade — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:55:59 -0400

After surviving the tornado that destroyed her home in Moore, Okla., Monday, Barbara Garcia was describing her experience in a TV interview when she got a shock -- her dog was spotted alive in the rubble. "I was sitting on the stool, holding my dog ... this was the game plan all through the years ... to go in that little bathroom," she said. She said after the storm she called for her dog. "I know he's in there somewhere," she said before the discovery.

Oklahoma Senators Opposed Disaster Aid

doc_sarvis — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:55:51 -0400

As frantic rescue missions continued in Oklahoma following the catastrophic tornadoes that ripped through the state, residents who lost homes and businesses will likely turn to the federal government for emergency disaster aid. The state's senators, Republicans Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, are fiscal hawks who have repeatedly voted against funding disaster aid for other parts of the country. They also have opposed increased funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers federal disaster relief. Last year, Inhofe and Coburn both backed a plan to slash disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Apple Pays No Taxes on Billions in Income

AndreaMackris — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:29:24 -0400

Apple paid no corporate income tax to any national government on tens of billions of dollars in overseas income over the past four years, Senate investigators found. The disclosure follows a lengthy examination of the technology giant's tax practices by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is expected to air its findings at a hearing on Tuesday. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook is preparing to testify at the hearing and propose changes to a tax code that provides American companies strong incentives to keep overseas earnings bottled up at foreign subsidiaries.

First IRS Official to Reveal Scandal Lied

HeuristicGratis — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:31:40 -0400

Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Fact Checker: In the days since the Internal Revenue Service first disclosed that it had targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, new information has emerged from both the Treasury inspector general's report and congressional testimony Friday that calls into question key statements made by Lois G. Lerner, the IRS's director of the exempt organizations division. ... In some ways, this is just scratching the surface of Lerner's misstatements and weasely wording when the revelations about the IRS's activities first came to light on May 10. But, taken together, it's certainly enough to earn her four Pinocchios.

Bill Requires Fingerprinting at 30 Airports

GalaxiePete — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:30:52 -0400

Foreigners leaving the country through 30 of the busiest U.S. airports must undergo fingerprinting under an amendment senators added to a sweeping immigration bill Monday. The proposal was drafted by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who has yet to announce whether he will support the bill. "This is an agreement that we need to build toward a biometric visa exit system," said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). The bill is expected to get Senate Judiciary Committee approval by mid-week.

Greenwald: DOJ Makes Journalism a Crime

HeuristicGratis — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:30:29 -0400

Glenn Greenwald: New revelations emerged yesterday in the Washington Post that are perhaps the most extreme yet when it comes to the DOJ's attacks on press freedoms. It involves the prosecution of State Department adviser Stephen Kim, a naturalized citizen from South Korea who was indicted in 2009 for allegedly telling Fox News' chief Washington correspondent, James Rosen, that U.S. intelligence believed North Korea would respond to additional UN sanctions with more nuclear tests -- something Rosen then reported. ... [W]hat makes this revelation particularly disturbing is that the DOJ, in order to get this search warrant, insisted that not only Kim, but also Rosen -- the journalist -- committed serious crimes. The DOJ specifically argued that by encouraging his source to disclose classified information -- something investigative journalists do every day -- Rosen himself broke the law.

Ray Manzarek of The Doors Dies

TrueBlue — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:22:39 -0400

Ray Manzarek, whose keyboard playing was a central element to the sound of '60s rock group The Doors, has died at the age of 74. According to the band's Facebook page, Manzarek died shortly after noon on Monday at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, while surrounded by his wife Dorothy and his brothers Rick and James. Manzarek's spidery organ playing on "Light My Fire" is one of the most instantly recognizable sounds in rock history.

Teen from Viral 'Clouds' Song Dies

rcade — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:50:15 -0400

The teen whose song "Clouds" was lip-synced by celebrities to honor his fight with cancer has died. Zach Sobiech, 18, died Monday surrounded by family and friends. In the past few weeks, donations to Zach's cause -- the Children's Cancer Research Fund -- skyrocketed, as did downloads of his song, which has more than 2.9 million page views on YouTube. "We'd like to thank those people who listened with their hearts and helped Zach bring his message and his music to the world," the Sobiech family said.

Death Toll 24 in Oklahoma Tornado

rcade — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:32:24 -0400

Officials have said at least 24 people have been killed and 233 people have been injured by the monstrous tornado that swept through Moore, Okla., Monday. Among those killed were children at Plaza Towers elementary and a family of four with a baby who sought shelter in a freezer. TV station KFOR reported that within 20 minutes of the storm's passage, there was some looting taking place of computers in partially damaged structures. An earlier report Tuesday said 91 had been reported dead, but this number was later revised.

Colorado Sheriffs Sue over Gun Control Laws

et_al — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:30:55 -0400

Fifty-four Colorado county sheriffs have joined a lawsuit against the state of Colorado arguing that the state's new gun control laws violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The lawsuit takes aim at two laws Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signed in March -- House Bill 1224, which banned high-capacity magazines limiting them to 15 rounds, and House Bill 1229, which requires background checks for all gun sales and transfers in the state. The Colorado Association of Police Chiefs have been supportive of the laws.

No Excuses, Obama Tells Young Black Men

tor — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:31:39 -0400

In a commencement address Sunday, President Barack Obama told the graduating class at Morehouse College, a historically black college, that there's "no time for excuses" for this generation of African-American men and it's time for them to step up professionally and personally. Saying that in his youth he sometimes rationalized his own mistakes "as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down," Obama rejected that thinking and said, "We've got no time for excuses -- not because the bitter legacies of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they haven't. It's just that in today's hyperconnected, hypercompetitive world, with a billion young people from China and India and Brazil entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything you haven't earned."

AP CEO: Sources Less Willing to Talk

paneocon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:30:44 -0400

AP chief executive officer Gary Pruitt said that sources are less willing to talk to its journalists following the Justice Department subpoena of reporter and editor phone records. If the government interferes with news gathering, Pruitt said on Face the Nation that "the people of the United States will only know what the government wants them to know and that's not what the framers of the Constitution had in mind when they wrote the First Amendment." Pruitt said the Justice Department's investigation is out of control and President Barack Obama should rein it in.

SF Shuts Down Bacon Restaurant

gracieamazed — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:33:51 -0400

A San Francisco bacon restaurant, Bacon Bacon, was forced to close Friday after neighbors complained that the "porcine aroma" wafting from the establishment was too strong. According to the San Francisco Examiner, neighbors also alleged the store was illegally dumping bacon grease into the sewers and the restaurant lacked the proper health permits to operate the business. Owner Jim Angelus said he'd run out of a food truck until he is able to secure the right permits to reopen.

Radio Host Investigated for Hillary Threat

girevik — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:13:01 -0400

An obscure right-wing Internet radio host, Pete Santilli, is under investigation by the Secret Service for vile, sexually vulgar comments about Hillary Clinton in which he said he wanted to shoot her. "We are aware of Santilli's comments and will take the appropriate follow up action," said Edwin M. Donovan, a Secret Service spokesperson. Santilli, who has made threatening comments in the past, has invited as guests on his show Ted Nugent and Gun Owners of America director Larry Pratt.