ZT News Today - Page 91

Arsenio Hall, Clay Aiken, Cheryl Tiegs, Victoria Gotti among new ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ crew

by on January 5, 2012

Associated PressComedian Arsenio Hall will be among the stars on this season of “Celebrity Apprentice.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Mob boss widow Victoria Gotti, singer Clay Aiken and IndyCar champ Michael Andretti are on tap for the next edition of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Host Donald Trump announced the new batch of contenders on Wednesday’s “Today” show. They also include “Real Housewives of new Jersey” cast member Teresa Guidice, comedian Lisa Lampanelli, former Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza, rock star Dee Snider and “America Chopper” star Paul Teutul Sr.

Other contenders are radio host Adam Carolla, comedian Arsenio Hall, singer-actress Aubrey O’Day and magician Penn Jillette.

Rounding out the rivals are model Cheryl Tiegs, singer Debbie Gibson, “Star Trek” star George Takei, singer Tia Carrere, actress-model Patricia Velasquez and “Incredible Hulk” Lou Ferrigno.

“Celebrity Apprentice” returns for its new season Feb. 12.

Discovering the Fairy Tale Symbology of The A-Men

by on January 5, 2012

While on the surface The A-Men science fiction novel reads as a tough, intense, Dystopian science fiction novel, beneath the surface lie two threads:

• Immortality (represented by the book of Forevermore)
This is symbolised by the power of legend through story.

• Belief (represented by the power of Shadowmagick)
This is symbolised by the power of enlightenment through faith in one’s self.

Both these topics link back to the central themes of faerie (fairy) tales, of mere mortals rising to greatness and how faith/belief triumph over all. As Jack Zipes writes in When Dreams Came True, There are fairy tale elements in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, and. in many of William Shakespeare plays. here are some more of the motifs placed within the novels:

(i) After his memory wipe, the protagonist gives himself the name ‘Jack’. This harks back to many titles of tales and also sets up the central character as displaying the signs of the fool stereotype who is usually humble, simple, nave, untainted, and believes in miracles.

(ii) The ship upon which Jack awakens is called the XSS Scheherazade, harking to the female storyteller in the One Thousand and One Nights.

(iii) The first person Jack meets is Sergeant Esther Alesha Rose. The name and imagery of the rose in faerie tales occurs in Beauty and The Beast, Snow-White and Rose-Red, and many others. The rose symbolises the symbol of love, which survives through the thorny briars, and is the motivating force of the whole tale.

(iv) D’Alessandro is the wizard in the tower, manipulating from afar. Or in the scene where The A-Men dig him from the rubble we have him as the Wizard of Oz with the other characters listening to him from behind a screen, before a great contraption – representing Dorothy, her dog, the tinman, scarecrow and cowardly lion.

(v) Pure’s link with the faerie tale world is that of the story from which she chooses her name. Lucille represents Pure Red (who will become corrupted) while she is Pure White (able to be her own saviour).

(vi) Elliott and Benjamin are the transformation animal figures; one a feral street brat, the other half man and half dog (wolf) and link in with such stories as The Musicians of Bremen and related folk tales. Their role is the same as the rude mechanicals in Shakespeare’s a Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Modest Proposal: MLB Needs To Add a Pass the Trash Draft

by on January 5, 2012

The winter meetings are now over. for the baseball fan and executive, the winter meetings are the combination of Christmas and a fraternity kegger. Baseball fans look at it as more of Christmas. there are trades, free agent signings, rumors and the Rule V draft. What a blast.

The new collective bargaining agreement has had the effect of limiting creativity. one of the fun parts of those winter meetings are all of the considerations teams must ponder in these situations. In past years, teams had to decide whether to offer arbitration and the signing team had to decide whether the player was valuable enough to surrender a first or second-round draft choice. those days are now over.

The Rule V draft just doesn’t pack a wallop in most seasons. It should continue as it is one way for teams to add to their talent base. there is risk assigned (the player must stay on the big league roster all season or be sent back) and some really good players (Johan Santana and Shane Victorino) have been found there. so, let’s not change that. Let’s add to it.

To explain the concept behind the Rule VI (assuming there is none currently, if so, just insert your name here) draft, one has to reference their list of card games. a lot of people play different card games with the same concept. In Hearts, you can pass your trash across the table or to your side. there are other card games like “Pass the trash” and “Anaconda,” where you do the same.

In order to consider the official proposal, I will list the rules below as they follow. Essentially, it gives teams a chance to get rid of their worst player or worst contract without having to waive or release the player. In most cases, they are untradeable. so now, you can get rid of that player, but you have to take someone else’s bad contract or player.

Rules

could another team get Burnett turned around? Leon Halip/Getty Images

1. each team can choose to throw in up to three players into the common pool.

2. you must take back the same number of players you contribute to the pool.

3. The draft will be conducted in the same manner as the amateur draft and Rule V draft. The team with the worst record will select from the pool first and so forth. each team will only be allowed to select once per round (should they contribute more than one player).

As you can see, the rules of the game are fairly simple, but there is a ton a strategy that goes into it. a team like the Houston Astros this past season could unload a bad contract and then have the first pick amongst the other trash. so, do you throw in Carlos Lee (one year left at $19 million) or do you contribute someone like Brett Myers who has multiple years. Of course, they could contribute both, but they would have to take on two players.

Imagine the names that would be thrown into something like this. The Cubs would almost certainly throw in Carlos Zambrano. The Yankees would throw in someone like a.J. Burnett. Barry Zito would be contributed from the San Francisco Giants. someone would have to take all of those guys and those teams would be rid of them.

On the other hand, players like Zambrano are damaged goods in their current market. another team might be willing to take a chance on him if they are able to discard their own trash in the process. Teams make trades like this all of the time. The Cubs traded Milton Bradley for Carlos Silva. Neither is playing right now. However, those kinds of trades are harder to make than you think because of the contracts involved.

If this draft were done at the end of the winter meetings, it would simply add to the drama of the proceedings. Imagine following MLBtraderumors.com or the MLB Network as rumors of who was thrown into the pool would surface. will the Yankees and Red Sox participate and could they help their teams? will the worst team in baseball be able to improve themselves? It’s an idea that simply has to happen.

Modest Proposal: MLB Needs To Add a Pass the Trash Draft

Senator Rick Insanetorum

by on January 5, 2012

Rick Santorum has finally written and published his obligatory pre-presidential campaign book entitled, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common good. the title is a very clever play on the book by the anti-Christ, Hillary Clinton, called, It Takes a Village. Personally, I think he got it all wrong and probably should have entitled it, It Takes a Village Idiot: Neo-Conservatism and the Uncommon Bad. the quotes from Senator Santorum’s book are already flowing through the media feeding tube and into the mouths of the spin starved political pundits. I have not read the book nor do I intend to (I haven’t read the anti-Christ’s either) but the early returns are already in and Mr. Santorum has not let anyone down. Oh, he talks about mothers (not husbands for some traditional reason) staying home with the kids and foregoing careers. he talks about the sanctity of marriage and traditional family; you know, the usual stuff. It’s all going to be fodder someday for a lot of good fun when he makes his bid to rerun for his Senate seat in 2006 and eventually for a presidential bid in 2008.

Unfortunately, when I heard the announcement of the book release, which included some of his most insightful written pearls to date, everything came flooding back to me like a septic tank backing up and slurping out from under the toilet seat lid. I had thought wrongly that I was over him. To put it plainly, he scares me poopless. this is the story of how I got to this lowly place.

During the summer of 2004, I had ample time to watch a boatload of Senate hearings on C-SPAN while I was honing my writing skills–something that unfortunately requires endless honing. I can say with certainty that I have never been more viscerally affected by the antics and words of one person than I was when I stumbled upon the Senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum. I mean, I had heard about him but never really heard him. up until then, neo-con propagandist Sean Hannity, faith healer Benny Hinn and memory/natural cure expert/telemarketer Kevin Trudeau were in a three way race for my top disdained fellow Americans. but quite honestly, they were and are containable, and in the end, rather trite and irrelevant–much like my life.

However, when I heard Senator Santorum (i.e., as in United States Senator Santorum) rant on about the importance of putting forth a Constitutional Marriage Amendment to protect the sanctity of the traditional family, I just about fell out of my artificial leather LA-Z-BOY Bronson recliner. my head began spinning when he started out with that wild eye impassioned plea:

Marriage is hate. Marriage is a stain. Marriage is an evil thing. That’s what we hear. People who stand for traditional marriage are haters, they’re bashers, they’re mean-spirited, they’re intolerant. . well, we’re not

Oh now come on there Ricky boy, wouldn’t you say you’re just a tad intolerant (and a bit dramatic I might add). I’ll give you that you’re not a hater or a basher or mean-spirited and believe me I’m overlooking a lot, but you’re kidding when you say you are not intolerant.

Then he concluded in a very sad, almost tearful summary by uttering:

Isn’t that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?

Oh boy, that’s a gem. So let me get this right, if we make it illegal for traditional married couples to divorce (I mean come on Ricko, let’s really defend it buddy), and at the same time, split up all those two parent families who happen to be same sex (you know what perversion I’m talking about), somehow that will ultimately provide homeland security. Look, the Rick Meister has floated a lot of nutty ideas that I have disagreed with but I have always tried to understand his intent and respect his right to spew chunks. Having said all that, this attempt to tie traditional marriage to homeland security is insane, making him the guy that just might be the next darling of Karl Rove and the neo-cons for that 2008 Presidential ticket. Holy mackerels fat boy

Here’s what I think about the premise. that logic (i.e., the importance of traditional marriage, family, etc; you know, the same stuff O’Reilly spits out) was the exact same logic used to prevent passage of the 19th Amendment (the right for women to vote). I think it can be argued (cunningly I must say) that Frist, Santorum and the rest of the Lott would have vehemently denounced the passage of that amendment, given the circumstances and traditions of that era. they would have had no other choice because women’s suffrage meant change, and change starts with C and that rhymes with P and that means please no change. please, oh please, oh please no change. Look, before you get all nuts, I love traditions, like our family tradition to open stocking gifts before presents on Christmas morning. but I’m talking about small potatoes here, about family traditions that have little impact on others. and they are nice to have. they can be comforting in times of great angst. but Rickie Ricardo is talking about big stuff.

You know, it wasn’t all that long ago that traditional marriage was defined to be among birds of a feather (that’s code for same race). I can hear him in a nightmare–the Rickster making an impassioned plea on the Senate floor in the early Sixties regarding an amendment to the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman of the same color.

You don’t want to mix up those colors at the pulpit. no way could cause a clash, a color clash, a clash of the pigments. Gotta keep those colors the same. It’s tradition. why it’s more than tradition It’s traditional family values everyone knows that children are best raised by parents whose colors match. Do you mix coloreds with whites in the laundry? Of course you don’t (just a note to my neo-con friends who might be loading their assault weapons right about now: he really didn’t say that. It’s what they call . um . satirical license.)

It was shortly after his dramatic speech on the floor of the Senate that I fondly nicknamed him, Rick Insanetorum.

But I was not totally satisfied. It was all too easy. Maybe he was just having a bad month. It happens. no, I needed more meat on the bones to substantiate my theory that he was mentally incapacitated. Alas, after an exhaustive and crazed period of googling to find other quotes, I uncovered a carbuncle of classics, ready for the lancing. and by far, the following sealed the deal:

I have no problem with homosexuality. I have a problem with homosexual acts.

Let’s see, I suppose a natural corollary to that would be something like, I have no problem with African Americans. I have a problem with the way African Americans behave. Or, I have no problem with Jewish folk. I have a problem with Jewish folk practicing the Jewish faith with those little beanies already.

WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT

How about this one regarding the sodomy laws in Texas that were overturned by a Supreme Court vote of 6-3:

The idea (i.e. of the ruling) is that the State doesn’t have rights to limit individuals’ wants and passions.

Well that is a bit of a stretch Ricky. Of course by using idea-ology words like wants and passions, Insanetorum is building his case for dark forbidden gay sex and all its cousins: pedophilia, incest, bestiality and watermelonialia (look it up; come to think of it, if you do look it up, please stop reading). he extracted the idea from the court’s majority ruling in which Justice Anthony Kennedy eloquently wrote: the petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives. the state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime. the language is referring to two consenting adults having sex. I don’t see wants and passions in there at all. and by the way, this ruling, although specifically written from a case involving two gay men, reached beyond that to heterosexuals by wiping sodomy laws off the books in other states: Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri prohibited oral and anal sex between same-sex couples; Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia prohibit consensual sodomy for everyone.

Insanetorum, having set the trap by spinning the ruling, continued on:

I disagree with that (i.e., with the idea). I think we (i.e., States) absolutely have rights because there are consequences to letting people live out whatever wants or passions they desire.

I know that little mind of his was working overtime. He’s got something cookin’ in that iron clad skillet of a skull of his. I just can not figure out what. Let’s read that last part real slowly.

. because there are consequences to letting people live out whatever wants or passions they desire.

Hm. what is that wily wascal up to. well maybe he is on to something. Let’s see. like if your passion is food, you probably will get fat and strain the Healthcare System. like if your want is sleep, you might become a lazy bastard and inflate the unemployment numbers. like if your desire is oral sex, there will be no babies, no legacy, no continuation of this great nation.

WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT

I only know that I want to be able to travel freely about my country without fear that I might accidentally stay overnight in some state that has determined that my proclivity for a certain type of sex with my willing adult partner is in violation of its passion laws. Forget homosexuals for the moment. Nine of those states had want and passion laws against everyone–that’s what I’m talking about. I don’t need the aggravation; besides, think of the energy we’ll conserve by not having to drive around those states.

I was temporarily living in Richard’s fine state of Pennsylvania, when this Insanetorum revelation occurred. I was consumed with it, when I happened on a Democratic Fund Raiser at a local microbrew restaurant in early October 2004, right before the Presidential Elections. they had speakers and hoopla and the usual stuff; you know, to fire up the base. I didn’t pay much attention as I sat at the bar eating a goat cheese, sun dried tomato pizza, chasing it down with a cold foamy amber Bengal IPA, and in general, minding my own business as I worked over some ideas that eventually became this website.

During a break in the extravaganza, a woman came over to the bar to order a chardonnay, as did seventy two others. after accidentally nudging me while reaching over my shoulder to grab her glass, she apologized and began a conversation, during which she explained to me what was going on and her substantial role in the event. she seemed like a nice person–you know, involved. When she finished talking, being a new Pennsylvanian and not knowledgeable in the state’s politics, I asked her a question that had been nagging me ever since the recent Insanetorum revelation. the conversation went sort of like this:

Me: How in the world did Pennsylvania elect Santorum?

She: I’m sorry? Who? (to her credit it was noisy)

Me: you know, Rick Santorum; Senator Rick Santorum?

She: Gee, I don’t really know. I’ll have to get back to you on that. Do you have an email address?

Me: That’s okay. just do me a favor and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Please

She just blankly stared at me as I finished up and bolted out the door before she could say campaign contribution. the sad truth is he did get elected and Pennsylvanians seem to be scratching their collective heads wondering how. well don’t let it happen again I don’t want to see that numbskull anywhere near the Senate building in 2007. As I said in the beginning, he scares me poopless.

And with that I leave you with this one last priceless piece of Insanetorum wisdom:

Thirty-two years after the legalization of abortion by the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, the majority of Americans consider themselves pro-life.

WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT

Zooey Deschanel Files for Divorce from Ben Gibbard

by on January 5, 2012

The New Girl is ready for her new life.

Zooey Deschanel filed for divorce from hubby Ben Gibbard on Dec. 27, Us Weekly confirms. according to documents obtained by TMZ, the 31-year-old actress lists “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for splitting after two years of marriage.

PHOTOS: 2011′s most shocking celeb splits

A source told Us in November the actress and Death Cab for Cutie frontman’s split was “mutual and amicable. there was no third party involved.”

NEWS: 25 things you don’t know about Zooey

In Deschanel’s September cover story in New York magazine, Gibbard gushed about meeting and pursuing the star, who also fronts the band She and him. “I’d seen her movies and obviously I thought she was very beautiful,” Gibbard explained.

VIDEO: See Zooey dress up as a “hot farmer’s daughter” on New Girl!

When their mutual music manager finally introduced them three years ago, “I was just awestruck that she was even talking to me.”

Zooey Deschanel Files for Divorce from Ben Gibbard

Orange Bowl: Once recruited by WVU, Boyd makes right pick with Clemson – Sports – Charleston Daily Mail – West Virginia News and Sports -

by on January 5, 2012

MIAMI — Tajh Boyd promises he still has the T-shirt.

The most Valuable Player of the ACC championship game says he can walk into his bedroom at his home in Hampton, Va., and find it: the most ironic memento entering the 2012 Orange Bowl.

It's a gold T-shirt with large letters spelling out what was supposed to become the motto of West Virginia's offense: BOYD TO HEASTIE.

"I felt like it was going to be a pretty hot item," he said.

Boyd committed to the Mountaineers in 2008 and he and a bunch of his friends and teammates in the Hampton Roads area vowed to do memorable things at WVU.

Wide receiver Logan Heastie was the other important part of the expected entourage and the two proudly donned the haughty T-shirts, as well as the eye black patches with the Flying WVs, at all the camps and clinics and recruiting expos.

They were top-shelf talent in the 2009 recruiting class.

It just seemed inevitable that Boyd, regarded across the nation as a top-100 player and top-10 quarterback at Phoebus High School, was going to throw a lot of touchdowns to Heastie, a star at Chesapeake's Great Bridge High.

"the T-shirt was one of those things we did at the time because he thought we were going to be special," Boyd said. "it was all about West Virginia and what we all were going to do there."

Today, Boyd is the all-conference starter for No. 14 Clemson (10-3), which takes on No. 23 WVU (9-3) Jan. 4 at Sun Life Stadium. Back then, Boyd and Heastie smiled for the cameras and said all the exciting things for reporters and didn't back off pledges to be Mountaineers.

And then one day, early in bill Stewart's first season at WVU, Boyd decided he was no longer as sure about his future and that he would re-open his recruitment. the Mountaineers had just beaten Syracuse, 17-6, thanks in large part to a 92-yard touchdown run by Noel Devine late in the game.

Even with that, the Mountaineers had just 268 yards of offense at home against one of the worst defenses in college football. the team was 6-2, but the offense under first-year, first-time coordinator Jeff Mullen had inspired enough concern to make Boyd wonder.

"I thought I had rushed my decision a little bit and things didn't look like they were going to work out like I wanted to," Boyd said. "I felt like I needed to take my time with things and reevaluate everything."

Boyd said he no longer was considering the Mountaineers, but privately hadn't given up on them. Not with all of his friends, like Heastie and Phoebus teammates Dominik Davenport and Shawne Alston, headed to WVU. Boyd knew if he opened things back up, he might find something more to his liking, but that he would also be welcomed back to WVU.

"I will tell you I will call the plays, Jeff Mullen will call the plays, Jeff Casteel will call the plays on special teams, offense and defense. No player will call plays. They will play," Stewart said at his weekly press conference a few days after Boyd's announcement. "I'm glad I found that thing out sooner rather than later. No player's daddy is going to call plays."

Coaches are prohibited from specifically commenting on unsigned prospects, and while Stewart never named anyone the timing left no doubt whom he was commenting on at that moment.

Not even Boyd could misinterpret what Stewart was alleging.

"in all honesty, my dad never directed anything toward anybody," Boyd said.

"we wanted the gist of how the offense was going to work and everyone there took it the wrong way. that was one part of the situation I never understood.

"at that point, I was like, 'Man, this is how it's going to be before I ever get there? How's it going to be when I do get there?' I had a lot of respect for Coach Stewart, but at that point I felt like I had to look somewhere else."

The Mountaineers were a little more than three months from signing day and already had told prospects they planned to take one quarterback. with Boyd no longer the target, WVU had to hurry, but quickly recovered and added Geno Smith, who turned out to be a Parade Magazine All-American at Florida's Miramar High. Smith came to campus with his high school receiver, Stedman Bailey. neither Alston, Davenport nor Heastie changed their minds.

They enrolled at WVU and were part of the team, but Heastie and Davenport left after redshirting their first season. Heastie was expected to enroll at Football Championship Subdivision team Old Dominion, but hasn't had any statistics to show for it. Davenport was academically ineligible at ODU, enrolled in an Iowa community college and then played this past season at Virginia University Lynchburg.

In the meantime, Boyd committed to Tennessee after watching the Volunteers play Alabama. He was a little worried about the speculated future of longtime Coach Phil Fulmer, but Boyd said he was told by the athletic director not to worry. Fulmer was fired a few weeks later. Boyd and Fulmer's replacement, Lane Kiffin, eventually agreed to end the association between Boyd and Tennessee.

"I had no idea where he would end up, but at the same time I knew he'd end up going to a good Division I program because of what type of a quarterback he was and the potential he had," Alston said. "When we were in high school, people were talking about him going pro. He always had that potential. it was about finding the situation that was best for him."

That one came out of nowhere and only when Boyd ended up listening to his mother, the one who first came up with those T-shirts. Clemson called Boyd and asked him to visit, but Boyd hadn't considered the Tigers and knew nothing of the school's tradition, which included the 1981 national championship won in the Orange Bowl. His mom told him to make the trip.

Boyd was hooked again, though for the last time.

He redshirted in 2009 and played sparingly as the backup last year, but starred for the Tigers this season. the redshirt sophomore completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 3,578 yards, 31 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Smith was first-team all-Big East and broke a list of single-game and single-season passing records. He completed 65 percent of his passes for 3,978 yards, 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Bailey set the school record for receiving yards with 1,197 and Alston had 10 rushing touchdowns on just 77 attempts.

"I feel like this happened for a reason because of the way this situation worked out for everyone," Boyd said. "Nothing against West Virginia, but I don't think I could have put myself in any better position as a player than I've put myself in here and I hope the same is true for all them."

Contact sportswriter Mike Casazza at mi…@dailymail.com or 304-319-1142. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/wvu.

Obama under strong pressure to break precedent on recess appointments

by on January 5, 2012

By Alexander Bolton – 01/04/12 05:30 AM ET

President Obama is under strong pressure from liberals to use his recess-appointment power during the congressional break, but doing so would break 20 years of precedent, putting him in a tough position.

Using this recess to appoint Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as liberals have urged, would also contradict a brief issued by the Clinton Justice Department in 1993, which Obama’s own deputy solicitor general cited last year.

Obama could announce a decision as soon as Wednesday.

a bold move to seat one of his most important nominees would win cheers from the left but pick a nasty fight with Republican leaders at a time senior administration officials insist the president wants to work with Congress.

The Senate has scheduled pro-forma sessions every third day, which means if Obama made a recess appointment before the upper chamber reconvenes on Jan. 23, he would be violating the Clinton Justice Department’s finding that a break has to last three days to count as a recess.

“The Obama administration said a recess is more than three days. There’s no break of more than two days. We’re meeting every third day in pro forma,” said a Senate GOP leadership aide.

Senate Republicans are quick to note that Obama’s then deputy solicitor general, Neal Katyal, during Supreme Court arguments cited the Justice Department’s finding that a recess must be longer than three days.

A Congressional Research Service report released this month found the shortest recess in the last 20 years during which the president made a recess appointment was 10 days.

Liberal advocates argue Obama should not feel himself bound by precedent they view as flimsy.

They say Obama would disappoint members of his base if he did not challenge the recent precedent and fight it out in court.

Roger Hickey, co-director of Campaign for America’s Future, a liberal advocacy group, said Republicans are trying to improperly curb the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board.

“We think Obama should go ahead and take the opportunity to appoint a number of NLRB people and Cordray as well and it would be a disappointment if he did not,” Hickey said.

Obama must weigh the political benefit of using a controversial recess appointment to empower Cordray with the backlash it could bring from the powerful financial services industry, which is wary of further regulation.

“If the president is going to take this more populist confrontational tone, you think he’d want to pick a couple fights like this to prove the point and rally the activist progressives in the party,” said Bruce Cain, a political science professor and executive director of the University of California’s Washington Center.

“I can only assume as we’ve seen so often with Obama that he’s torn. He’s got this other side of him that doesn’t want to scare the business community. He wants them on his side because he wants business community to help with the economic recovery,” Cain added.

Some legal scholars agree that Obama would have a strong constitutional foundation to circumvent Republican obstruction of his nominees.

Republicans argue Obama would shatter recent custom by using a recess appointment to seat Cordray or nominees to the National Labor Relations Board, which has become a focal point of controversy. Senior GOP aides said allied lawyers would challenge it in court but acknowledge they do not know how judges would rule.

In 2004, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the president has power to make recess appointments and did not set a minimum length of recess for such appointments to be valid.

“The Constitution, on its face, does not establish a minimum time that an authorized break in the Senate must last to give legal force to the President’s appointment power under the Recess Appointments Clause. and we do not set the limit today,” the court ruled in Evans v. Stephens.

Victor K. Williams, a clinical assistant professor at Catholic University of America School of Law, said Obama could make a recess appointment in a break as short as two days. the Senate’s next pro-forma session is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 6 at 11:00 am.

Williams said Obama could argue the chamber is not meeting as a deliberative body and effectively is in the midst of a five-week recess.

“If the Senate is not sitting as a deliberative body ready and willing to render advisory consent, it triggers recess-appointment authority,” he said. “The pro-forma sessions are obviously shams and the Senate is taking a five-week recess.”

Some liberal advocates urged Obama to appoint Cordray during the intersession recess consisting of the few minutes that elapsed Tuesday between the end of the first session of the 112th Congress and the start of the second. former President Theodore Roosevelt had seized such an opportunity more than 100 years ago to recess more than 160 nominees.

Obama passed on the opportunity but Cordray’s backers say the president can still act in the next few days.

“There are a number of legal paths the administration can take to make a recess appointment, including making one during a recess of less than three days. Today was certainly not the president’s only chance to make a recess appointment,” said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, who has pressed Obama to challenge the recent tradition of recent appointments.

Arkush noted former President Harry S. Truman recess appointed a nominee to the Civil Aeronautics Board during a recess lasting three days — from Dec. 31, 1948 to Jan. 3, 1949.

Arkush said it is “certainly possible” that Obama may not recess appoint Cordray and instead use his blocked nomination as a political weapon against Republicans.

“It’s absolutely a good issue for the president,” said Arkush. “If he wants to make it an issue, he should keep the fight at the forefront and keep the pressure on, which means the majority leader should schedule a series of votes.”

Richard Cordray’s Attorney General Days Lay Foundation for CFPB

by on January 5, 2012

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“Republicans on the Hill have made it clear it can't be me. So be it. I'm glad we got somebody else who's tough and strong,” Warren told Fox Business in July.

Ohio's top Attorney

Cordray made his name for himself during his brief two-year tenure by firing a clip of lawsuits in the wake of the financial meltdown, securing more than a billion dollars in settlements.

He accused major banks and their executives and insurance brokers of securities fraud and misleading investors. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were forced to fend off securities lawsuits from Cordray.

He also targeted — albeit unsuccessfully – the credit rating agencies that gave sterling ratings to mortgage-backed securities that turned out to be junk.

In 2009, Cordray took the reins of a case against Bank of America and its CEO Ken Lewis over the banking giant's 2008 acquisition of Merrill Lynch. he accused the companies of hiding losses from shareholders who had yet to sign off on the merger and failing to disclose a deal to pay Merrill Lynch executives up to $5.8 billion in bonuses.

Cordray, whose home state was hit particularly hard by foreclosures, also sounded the alarm on improper “robo-signing” of foreclosure documents, which resulted in a suit against GMAC and its parent, Ally Financial, seeking $25,000 for each violation. he also sent letters to Wells Fargo and Citibank requesting meetings with his office about improper foreclosure practices and requested JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America to halt evictions in foreclosure cases involving employees who rubber-stamped court documents.

Cordray used Wall Street as a punching bag in his 2010 re-election campaign, but was unable to best his Republican challenger Mike DeWine, a former U.S. senator who had been ousted in the Democratic wave of 2006.

Vision for the CFPB

While Cordray's notoriety as attorney general consisted of racking up lawsuits and settlements against some of more well-known corporations and Wall Street firms involved in the economic meltdown, he has indicated that there will be a focus on the smaller, non-bank financial companies that still give some consumers nightmares, like pay-day lenders and debt-collecting agencies.

He told The Wall Street Journal in February that such firms operate on “much more of a wild and woolly basis.”

This focus dovetails into his goal to work with the nation's state attorneys general, a highly visible position that wields much influence in the realm of consumer protection. President bill Clinton once famously remarked that being Arkansas' attorney general was the best job he ever held.

Now, under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, state attorneys general will have an easier time working with federal officials on consumer protection. This would be a departure from the days of federal regulations attempting to trump state consumer statutes that are often more robust.

“Dodd-Frank has made an effort to lift pre-emption in a lot of areas,” Cordray told Bloomberg in December, adding that there could be “joint enforcement authority with this new bureau and state attorneys general.”

This was the kind of relationship Cordray the attorney general has said he wanted to see in a “single focused agency,” one that can “work directly with the states on consumer protection at the national level.”

As he told the Journal's MarketWatch during his time as attorney general, “We will be able to enforce federal law, and we are the ones that tend to know what is going on within our communities… We have more resources locally, and know what's going on, on the ground.”

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WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports

by on January 5, 2012

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) –

The owners of Gaslight Group in Savannah were honored as Small Business of the Year on Wednesday, Dec. 14. Brian and Jennifer Huskey were honored by the Small Business Assistance Corporation with the 2011 Rising Star Award. The award was handed out during SBAC's annual luncheon. Gaslight Group is made up of four prominent Savannah hospitality venues.

”The SBAC was a crucial factor when we started out in 2006 with B. Matthew's Eatery, which has grown now to be our “flagship” and is known well outside Savannah by foodies and visitors alike”, said Jennifer Huskey, co-owner of the Gaslight Group upon receiving the award, according to a press release.” We are very proud and humbled to be chosen by the SBAC for something we love to do on a daily base, and which is our passion.”

The Huskey's have opened three more venues since they started in 2006 named Blowin' Smoke BBQ, Abe's on Lincoln and the Blue Turtle Bistro. They are adding an expansion adjacent to the Blue Turtle Bistro in 2012, which will call for a coffee house and bakery.

“Savannah, its residents and visitors have been very good to us”, said Brian Huskey according to a press release. “It allowed us to foster and grow with our concept and the community has supported us all along the way.”

WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports

Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry Join in Support of Red Tails

by on January 5, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry have added their powerful voices to the growing support of Red Tails, the action-packed 2012 World War II movie from executive producer George Lucas that celebrates the heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen. At a private screening in Dallas this past weekend, Winfrey championed the film and its message before an audience that included cast-members Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, and Ne-Yo; Director Anthony Hemingway, Producer Rick McCallum, and six original Tuskegee Airmen.

“This film was created with the idea of attracting young men to become more interested in their history and know who they are, and spread their word.”

“It’s a film about human beings with enormous courage who believed in our country, who wanted to fight for our country, who are really our heroes,” said Winfrey. “George Lucas decided to put his own money and team behind the making of this film because he so believed in the story, the history, and the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.”

“I wanted to help ring the bell as loud as I could, to get as many people as possible to see this movie,” said Perry. “It’s not just an important film about African Americans or African American history; it is important film about American history. I’m very excited about it.”

“Because he cares about the education of young people, George Lucas wanted to do a film that would engage them, that would excite them, and have them embrace our history in a way that perhaps a documentary could not,” said Winfrey. “This film was created with the idea of attracting young men to become more interested in their history and know who they are, and spread their word.”

Red Tails stars Oscar® winner Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire), Oscar nominee Terrence Howard (Crash), Emmy® winner Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Nate Parker (The Secret Life of Bees, the great Debaters), David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Tristan Wilds (“90210”), Grammy® Award winner Cliff Smith aka Method Man (“The Wire”), Kevin Phillips (Pride), Rick Otto (“The Wire”), Lee Tergesen (Monster), Andre Royo (“Heroes”), Grammy-Award winner Ne-Yo (Stomp the Yard), Elijah Kelley (Hairspray), Marcus T. Paulk (Take the Lead), Leslie Odom Jr. (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Michael B. Jordan (“Friday Night Lights,” Chronicle) and Daniela Ruah (“NCIS”).

the Lucasfilm ltd. production of RED TAILS is produced by Rick McCallum and Charles Floyd Johnson, written by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder, Executive Produced by George Lucas and directed by Anthony Hemingway (“Treme,” “The Wire,” )

Red Tails is distributed by 20th Century Fox and arrives in movie theaters on January 20, 2012. for more information, visit www.redtails2012.com. Follow us at: facebook.com/RedTails and twitter.com/RedTailsMovie.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50097338&lang=en

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