Monday, July 1, 2013

VP Biden: Virginia GOP Slate Extreme Captives of Tea Party Ideology

Vice President Joe Biden continued a busy political pace Saturday, appearing with Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial candidate at the swing state's premier party fundraiser and ridiculing this fall's conservative Republican statewide ticket as extreme captives of tea party ideology.

Biden brought about 1,000 Democrats to their feet repeatedly at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner barely four months ahead of the nation's only competitive governor's race. His appearances at state fundraisers haved evoked speculation that he is laying his footing for a 2016 presidential bid.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we stand for equal rights and women's rights," Biden said. "With virtually zero support from the Republicans, the president and I have moved the country from the worst recession since the Great Depression to 38 months of private-sector growth."

With Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe at his side, Biden took aim at McAuliffe's opponent, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who won the GOP nomination with strong tea party support and his socially conservative ticket mates.

"There is so much they stand for that is so at odds with the value set of Virginians," Biden said.

The vice president warned that a GOP victory in Virginia would only galvanize the tea party's grip on the GOP in Congress, where he said even longtime moderate Republicans are fearful of a primary challenge if they don't do the tea party's bidding.

"They are so afraid of a challenge by the tea party that they vote against what is the right vote. Imagine what they will do to Barack and me if Terry McAuliffe loses," he said.

A McAuliffe victory, he said, would "send a strong signal to Republicans across America that there's no reason to be afraid of these extreme guys."

Before speaking to activists who paid $175 or more per ticket, Biden joined McAuliffe, a longtime confidante of Bill and Hillary Clinton, in surprising patrons at a Richmond restaurant, shaking hands before wolfing down two plates of fried whiting.

Among other campaign events this season, Biden aided Democratic Rep. Ed Markey in a Massachusetts special election ? Markey won, thus keeping Secretary of State John Kerry's old seat in Democratic hands ? and held a series of closed-door "donor-maintenance" events in Washington.

Sen. Tim Kaine, elected on the same Virginia ballot as President Barack Obama last fall, said it's too early for Democrats to take sides in a potential nomination contest between Biden and Hillary Clinton, but he counseled both to try pragmatism over progressive partisanship.

"I think the Virginia Democratic success model is, we'll let the other guys be the ideology people and we will be the work-together, compromise, make-things-happen party. That's been the model that has allowed Dems to win," said Kaine, like McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman.

In speeches warming up the crowd, Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner congratulated gay-rights activists for the ruling that cleared the way for same-sex marriages in 13 states but not in Virginia, where a 7-year-old amendment to the state Constitution prohibits it. And both hailed the immigration reform bill that they supported ? it now faces an uncertain future in a conservative Republican-led House.

The Cuccinelli campaign joined the Virginia GOP in using Biden's visit as an occasion to attack the ticket for Obama's clean-energy initiative, warning that it will devastate Virginia's struggling coal industry and drive up utility bills.

"With no economic plan or message to tout, Vice President Biden and Terry McAuliffe doubled down on an empty strategy of division and false attacks tonight," the campaign said in a statement that referred to the "Obama/Biden/McAuliffe War On Coal" and government-run healthcare as "harmful to job growth and economic opportunity in Virginia."

State GOP Chairman Pat Mullins called it "the most anti-coal slate of candidates ever fielded in the history of Virginia," a distinction intended to lock up the rural, rugged but independent southwestern tip of the state for the GOP in a neck-and-neck governor's race.

Republicans weren't alone in protesting Biden's trip. About three dozen environmental activists opposed to construction of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline stood on a street corner as Biden's motorcade passed, waving placards that read "Say No to Big Oil" and chanting "Hey, Joe, you ought to know, Keystone pipeline's got to go."

? Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/VP-Biden-Virginia-GOP/2013/06/29/id/512614

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Especially proud: Parades across country celebrate LGBT community and recent gains

Justin Lane / EPA

Todd Fernandez (L) and Giovanni Miranda (R), who were just married today, kiss while marching during the 44th annual gay pride march in New York, New York, USA, 30 June 2013.

By Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News

Gay Pride weekend festivities are rarely understated,? but after the Supreme Court?s decisions last week, marches and rallies all over the country were expected to be especially celebratory this year.

Pride weekend generally occurs at the end of June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, in which the gay community exploded against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, in New York City on June 28, 1969.

After the Supreme Court?s decision on Wednesday to overturn DOMA, granting legally married same-sex couples the same federal benefits as their heterosexual counterparts, and to let "Prop. 8" die, resuming the legalization of gay marriage in California, the festive atmosphere surrounding Pride events has been ramped up several notches.

While many of the largest and most notable Pride rallies and parties occur in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, smaller but equally colorful celebrations were set to take place in Seattle, St. Louis, Cleveland and other cities throughout the U.S. and around the globe.

Although the first gay pride march was in New York, in forty-plus years, pride events have spread throughout the world. The Paris pride march also had a duel celebration purpose on Saturday, marking the one month anniversary of France?s first gay marriage. Simultaneously, LGBT groups and supporters marched in Spain, Portugal and Mexico. Canada, Sweden, and Finland held parades on Sunday.

Jose Cabezas / AFP - Getty Images

Members of the LBGT community and their allies celebrate around the world.

Appropriately leading the way in New York City, was Edith Windsor ? the woman who championed the fight against DOMA.

Signs along the route read, "Thank you, Edie" ? celebrating Windsor for her successful challenge of a provision of DOMA that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

"If somebody had told me 15 years ago that I would be the marshal of New York City's gay pride parade in 2013, at the age of 84, I wouldn't have believed it," said Windsor.

Singer Harry Belafonte and activist Earl Fowlkes, both equality and civil rights advocates, wijoin her in leading the two-mile march down New York's famed Fifth Avenue from Midtown to the historic Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.

?LGBT rights are expanding across the country and these individuals embody the soul of a movement far from over,? organizers NYC Pride said in statement.

The NYPD this year increased plain-clothes patrol to deal with problems that may occur before and after the parade, officials said. The additional surveillance is in response not only to expected record-breaking crowds but also the deadly shooting of a gay man that took place just a month ago in the area that Pride-goers are set to congregate.

Progressive songstress Lady Gaga spoke out against gay violence at New York?s kickoff rally on Friday, declaring "The violence that has taken place towards LGBTs in the past months is unacceptable here and anywhere ? enough is enough," according to NBCNewyork.

While the parade marks the peak of excitement in New York, marchers may have trouble trumping the grandeur of her surprise appearance and performance of her pride-centric ?Star-Spangled Banner? including the line, ?Oh, say does that flag of pride yet wave."

Although New York's Stonewall sparked gay pride marches, San Francisco is equally famous for its gay community, and also boasts a large and colorful pride weekend. According to NBCBayarea, San Francisco?s police chief expects over 1.5 million people to attend the parade.

"Even though the World Series was huge, this could quite possibly be larger in light of the decision that just came down from the Supreme Court ? but it will be just as happy as the World Series," Police Chief Greg Suhr said. Police presence has also been bolstered in San Francisco to keep musical performances, rallies and the parade enjoyable and safe.

Meanwhile, Chicagopride.com announced that their pride weekend will also include performances, over 200 floats and of course, marchers.

According to the Chicago Transit Authority, the parade route was expanded to include more streets last year and maintains that distance this year to accommodate the greater amount of people who wish to display their pride in Chi town.

According to NBCChicago, the gay rights advocates of their city could use a joyous occasion after Illinois could not garner enough support from the house to legalize gay marriage in the state, even after a petition on Change.org and a plea from President Barack Obama to the lawmakers of his home state.

Related: Justice Kennedy denies motion to halt gay marriage in California

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2e00ad08/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C30A0C192187690Eespecially0Eproud0Eparades0Eacross0Ecountry0Ecelebrate0Elgbt0Ecommunity0Eand0Erecent0Egains0Dlite/story01.htm

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Are These Apple?s Lower Costing iPhone Plastic Rear Shells?

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Photos claiming to be of the back-plate of Apple?s rumored low-cost iPhone have made their way online. The photos first appeared on Weiphone forums, the back-plate which cannot be verified to be that of an iPhone appears to be made of soft plastic material vs the aluminum unlike the current iPhone. Only time will tell if these do belong a real product that Apple has been developing in their top secret labs or if these are just rumors.

2013-06-30 04.02.40 pm

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Source: http://ihackthatifone.com/are-these-apples-lower-costing-iphone-plastic-rear-shells/

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