Entrepreneur Loic LeMeur (LeWeb, Seesmic) just got Google's new computerized glasses, Google Glass.
To say Loic is stoked would be an understatement.
In the last 12 hours, Loic has been frantically posting pictures of himself and his sons wearing the glasses, as well as a stream of pictures that he has been taking with them.
In the tech world, at least, Google Glass seems to be capturing all the excitement, buzz, and imagination that Apple's iPhone and iPad once did. It will be interesting to see whether Apple's next product, thought to be an iWatch or iTV (when it finally comes out), can do the same thing.?In the meantime, Google has stolen Apple's thunder.
Here are Mr. Lemeur's Glass self-portraits on Instagram.
(Note the clip-on shades in the second picture. This, in my opinion, is the start of what will make Google glasses go mainstream... additional miniaturization that makes it hard to tell that someone is wearing computerized glasses).
And, for good measure, here's a picture of tech guru Robert Scoble wearing his own Google Glass in the shower. After wearing them for two weeks, Scoble says he's never taking them off.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ? The uncle of the deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect says his family will claim his body now that his wife has agreed to release it.
Tamerlan Tsarneav's (TAM'-ehr-luhn tsahr-NEYE'-ehvs) body has been at the medical examiner's office since he died more than a week ago. Police said he ran out of ammunition before his brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv), dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing the scene. His cause of death will not be made public until his remains are claimed.
Tamerlan's widow, Katherine Russell, said Tuesday through her attorney that she wants his body released to the Tsarnaev family.
Tamerlan's uncle Ruslan Tsarni of Maryland told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that family members will take possession of the body, though he would not elaborate.
So yeah, efemr is a web app that scrubs tweets after the amount of time you hashtag. Want a tweet gone after five minutes? #5m. Two hours? #2h. You get the gist.
The usual retweet concerns still apply, but if no one interacts with the tweet while it's up, it will pretty much disappear when you tell it to. You just have to connect your Twitter account with efemr so it can do all the dirty work.
If you're looking for peace of mind about every foray into social media or you want to say wildly offensive things and then deny that you said them, efemr might help you achieve some goals. It could even become popular for something like contests/scavenger hunts on Twitter. And people have obviously taken to Snapchat. But the retweet issue really gets in the way. The whole point of Twitter is that anything popular, interesting or salacious will be shared. If you're gonna go out on a limb you should stand up and be proud. Or, you know, apologize profusely and blame it on scheduled tweets. [The Verge]
Welcome to The After Math, where we attempt to summarize this week's tech news through numbers, decimal places and percentages
We've been getting our first unfiltered experiences with Google Glass this week, which makes it the perfect time to go over some of the salient points up until now. At the same time, Apple sold more hardware, more apps and made even more money -- it was largely another good quarter for the Cupertino coffers. Add in a million-second game show and there are more than enough numbers to play around with in this week's After Math.
BOSTON (AP) ? In photos of her as a younger woman, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva wears a low-cut blouse and has her hair teased like a 1980s rock star. After she arrived in the U.S. from Russia in 2002, she went to beauty school and did facials at a suburban day spa.
But in recent years, people noticed a change. She began wearing a hijab and cited conspiracy theories about 9/11 being a plot against Muslims.
Now known as the angry and grieving mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tsarnaeva is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son. In another, she was recorded talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, U.S. officials said.
Tsarnaeva insists there is no mystery. She's no terrorist, just someone who found a deeper spirituality. She insists her sons ? Tamerlan, who was killed in a gunfight with police, and Dzhokhar, who was wounded and captured ? are innocent.
"It's all lies and hypocrisy," she told The Associated Press in Dagestan. "I'm sick and tired of all this nonsense that they make up about me and my children. People know me as a regular person, and I've never been mixed up in any criminal intentions, especially any linked to terrorism."
Amid the scrutiny, Tsarnaeva and her ex-husband, Anzor Tsarnaev, say they have put off the idea of any trip to the U.S. to reclaim their elder son's body or try to visit Dzhokhar in jail. Tsarnaev told the AP on Sunday he was too ill to travel to the U.S. Tsarnaeva faces a 2012 shoplifting charge in a Boston suburb, though it was unclear whether that was a deterrent.
At a news conference in Dagestan with Anzor last week, Tsarnaeva appeared overwhelmed with grief one moment, defiant the next. "They already are talking about that we are terrorists, I am terrorist," she said. "They already want me, him and all of us to look (like) terrorists."
Tsarnaeva arrived in the U.S. in 2002, settling in a working-class section of Cambridge, Mass. With four children, Anzor and Zubeidat qualified for food stamps and were on and off public assistance benefits for years. The large family squeezed itself into a third-floor apartment.
Zubeidat took classes at the Catherine Hinds Institute of Esthetics, before becoming a state-licensed aesthetician. Anzor, who had studied law, fixed cars.
By some accounts, the family was tolerant.
Bethany Smith, a New Yorker who befriended Zubeidat's two daughters, said in an interview with Newsday that when she stayed with the family for a month in 2008 while she looked at colleges, she was welcomed even though she was Christian and had tattoos.
"I had nothing but love over there. They accepted me for who I was," Smith told the newspaper. "Their mother, Zubeidat, she considered me to be a part of the family. She called me her third daughter."
Zubeidat said she and Tamerlan began to turn more deeply into their Muslim faith about five years ago after being influenced by a family friend, named "Misha." The man, whose full name she didn't reveal, impressed her with a religious devotion that was far greater than her own, even though he was an ethnic Armenian who converted to Islam.
"I wasn't praying until he prayed in our house, so I just got really ashamed that I am not praying, being a Muslim, being born Muslim. I am not praying. Misha, who converted, was praying," she said.
By then, she had left her job at the day spa and was giving facials in her apartment. One client, Alyssa Kilzer, noticed the change when Tsarnaeva put on a head scarf before leaving the apartment.
"She had never worn a hijab while working at the spa previously, or inside the house, and I was really surprised," Kilzer wrote in a post on her blog. "She started to refuse to see boys that had gone through puberty, as she had consulted a religious figure and he had told her it was sacrilegious. She was often fasting."
Kilzer wrote that Tsarnaeva was a loving and supportive mother, and she felt sympathy for her plight after the April 15 bombings. But she stopped visiting the family's home for spa treatments in late 2011 or early 2012 when, during one session, she "started quoting a conspiracy theory, telling me that she thought 9/11 was purposefully created by the American government to make America hate Muslims."
"It's real," Tsarnaeva said, according to Kilzer. "My son knows all about it. You can read on the Internet."
In the spring of 2010, Zubeidat's eldest son got married in a ceremony at a Boston mosque that no one in the family had previously attended. Tamerlan and his wife, Katherine Russell, a Rhode Island native and convert from Christianity, now have a child who is about 3 years old.
Zubeidat married into a Chechen family but was an outsider. She is an Avar, from one of the dozens of ethnic groups in Dagestan. Her native village is now a hotbed of an ultraconservative strain of Islam known as Salafism or Wahabbism.
It is unclear whether religious differences fueled tension in their family. Anzor and Zubeidat divorced in 2011.
About the same time, there was a brief FBI investigation into Tamerlan Tsarnaev, prompted by a tip from Russia's security service.
The vague warning from the Russians was that Tamerlan, an amateur boxer in the U.S., was a follower of radical Islam who had changed drastically since 2010. That led the FBI to interview Tamerlan at the family's home in Cambridge. Officials ultimately placed his name, and his mother's name, on various watch lists, but the inquiry was closed in late spring of 2011.
After the bombings, Russian authorities told U.S. investigators they had secretly recorded a phone conversation in which Zubeidat had vaguely discussed jihad with Tamerlan. The Russians also recorded Zubeidat talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation with reporters.
The conversations are significant because, had they been revealed earlier, they might have been enough evidence for the FBI to initiate a more thorough investigation of the Tsarnaev family.
Anzor's brother, Ruslan Tsarni, told the AP from his home in Maryland that he believed his former sister-in-law had a "big-time influence" on her older son's growing embrace of his Muslim faith and decision to quit boxing and school.
While Tamerlan was living in Russia for six months in 2012, Zubeidat, who had remained in the U.S., was arrested at a shopping mall in the suburb of Natick, Mass., and accused of trying to shoplift $1,624 worth of women's clothing from a department store.
She failed to appear in court to answer the charges that fall, and instead left the country.
___
Seddon reported from Makhachkala, Russia. Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan and Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report from Washington.
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Internet Sales Tax Bill Gains Ground In Senate Rate Topic:
#1 ? Zanu Bob?
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Posted Yesterday, 10:08 AM
http://www.nytimes.c...-in-senate.html
' WASHINGTON ?
It has been labeled a tax grab and a bureaucratic nightmare by conservative antitax activists, an infringement on states? rights and a federal encroachment on the almost-sacred ground of Internet commerce.
Yet legislation to help states force online retailers to collect sales taxes easily cleared its first procedural hurdle on Monday evening, and even its fiercest opponents are looking to the House for a last stand. The Senate voted 74-20 to take up the legislation for debate and amendment.
The bill, known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, is that rare piece of legislation that has turned Democrat against Democrat, Republican against Republican and business against business, while uniting states as different as New Hampshire, Montana and Oregon ? which have no sales taxes ? against virtually every other state.
An odd confluence of events has swung the political momentum to one side. Less than a week after the Senate could not muster 60 votes to expand gun background checks supported by a vast majority of voters, lawmakers from both parties are poised to steamroll opponents and greatly broaden the imposition of sales taxes on the Internet.
Under the bill, online retailers would collect an estimated $22 billion to $24 billion that now goes uncollected. A final vote is expected in the Senate by the end of the week. When the House will take up the issue is uncertain.
Old-fashioned retailers are going bust, leaving towns marred by vast, empty storefronts. Those that remain complain of ?showrooming,? when shoppers inspect their wares, then leave the store to buy the same products on the Internet, finding lower prices and avoiding sales taxes.
Republicans including Senators Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee are as adamantly in favor of the bill as Democrats.
Finally, Senate Democratic leaders needed a bill to move to quickly after gun legislation all but died last week, and the Internet tax bill was ready.
President Obama on Monday threw his support behind the bill, which the White House said ?will level the playing field for local small business retailers that are in competition every day with large out-of-state online companies.?
The bill would allow states to require all Internet sellers to collect sales taxes for the state and local governments of the buyers. State governments would be required to provide software free to Internet retailers to calculate sales taxes. Online retailers with out-of-state sales of less than $1 million a year would be exempt.
Many of the largest Web retailers have already begun collecting sales taxes. Amazon.com has joined a vast constellation of brick-and-mortar retailers in collecting taxes, leaving eBay to fight an increasingly lonely battle. In March, the Senate held a test vote of sorts, a nonbinding amendment to the Senate budget that mirrored the Marketplace Fairness Act. '
the interweb is destroying a whole layer of tax revenues,pension plans and economic wealth built on shopping.they had to do soemthing.wonder how they'll balance it out here?
Blaming greed for a banking crisis is like blaming gravity for an airplane crash. Injin 10/12/2009 (a rare moment of clarity)
Red Kharma, on 31 May 2010 - 11:51 AM, said:
Most gold buyers will get creamed, eventually and for the very reasons they think they won't.
#2 ? durhamborn?
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Posted Yesterday, 10:42 AM
Do you know who is pushing this the hardest? Amazon.
Why? Because it will destroy the thousands of small internet sellers and those who use Ebay.
Amazon is building vast warehouses in run down states and in return is getting deal that exempt it from certain tax.
This isnt about protecting the shops.Its about Amazon killing off the one thing that can be more competitive than them and long term destroy their business.Small internet retailers with websites and on Ebay.
#3 ? geezer466?
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Posted Yesterday, 11:05 AM
durhamborn, on 28 April 2013 - 10:42 AM, said:
Do you know who is pushing this the hardest? Amazon.
Why? Because it will destroy the thousands of small internet sellers and those who use Ebay.
Amazon is building vast warehouses in run down states and in return is getting deal that exempt it from certain tax.
This isnt about protecting the shops.Its about Amazon killing off the one thing that can be more competitive than them and long term destroy their business.Small internet retailers with websites and on Ebay.
You have knocked the nail on the head Durham.
Many small retailers were lured in by Amazon and listed their products only to become dismayed at the amount of commission they were charging.
Subsequently they lost faith and bailed out of Amazon only to find Amazon never ever deleted their product listings. So searches for their products Amazon now outrank them in google even though they mark the product out of stock and with no resupply date.
The march of the globalists and their moves to eradicate the small people gathers pace.
Google search results in the last year or so are now freezing out the smaller operators in favour of the bigger brands. Some schools of thought take the view this is what panda and penguin updates was about.
An example, if I want a small cosy hotel close to Lake Windermere I want a list of independent hotels which I can compare. I don't want booking.com at the top of the list and other operators like tripadvisor and laterooms trying to get me to buy what they consider I want based on the amount of commission they can screw from the hotel. Half the time these places won't even return results in the area I want.
This is the space for the signature thingy.........
#4 ? GradualCringe?
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Posted Yesterday, 11:15 AM
durhamborn, on 28 April 2013 - 10:42 AM, said:
Do you know who is pushing this the hardest? Amazon.
Why? Because it will destroy the thousands of small internet sellers and those who use Ebay.
Amazon is building vast warehouses in run down states and in return is getting deal that exempt it from certain tax.
This isnt about protecting the shops.Its about Amazon killing off the one thing that can be more competitive than them and long term destroy their business.Small internet retailers with websites and on Ebay.
It's "Baptists and Bootleggers" legislation i.e. ostensibly to make sure everyone "pays their fair share" (Baptist side of the argument), however, sponsored and lobbied for by a huge corporate to create a legal monopoly.
#5 ? Executive Sadman?
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Posted Yesterday, 01:02 PM
Yep. What ive heard is the big boys will easily cope with this, processing the tax code for 50+ states. If your'e a small supplier, it will be near impossible, and hugely expensive.
Its just using govt to create another barrier to entry and thwart any semblance of a free market and consumer choice. Hence why majorities of both parties are on board.
Is the tax due? Or is the bill coming in to force tax to be charged in the buyer's state? If it is needed, then how can the likes of Amazon etc already be collecting these sales taxes?
And isn't this just the same as the VAT scene in the EU? If you are selling your goods in another EU country then, subject to a smallish threshold (and much less that $1m) you need to start charging local rates of VAT to your consumers?
And finally if the threshold is $1m, then doesn't this protect the smaller businesses that some of the earlier posts portray as the victims here? And more, protect those local small businesses in the states where sales tax is levied already?
The facts above belong to everybody; the opinions to me.... the distinction is yours to draw.
#7 ? happy_renting?
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Posted Yesterday, 02:33 PM
Red-Cardinal, on 28 April 2013 - 01:30 PM, said:
Am not sure what is going on here?
Is the tax due? Or is the bill coming in to force tax to be charged in the buyer's state? If it is needed, then how can the likes of Amazon etc already be collecting these sales taxes?
And isn't this just the same as the VAT scene in the EU? If you are selling your goods in another EU country then, subject to a smallish threshold (and much less that $1m) you need to start charging local rates of VAT to your consumers?
And finally if the threshold is $1m, then doesn't this protect the smaller businesses that some of the earlier posts portray as the victims here? And more, protect those local small businesses in the states where sales tax is levied already?
"Online retailers with out-of-state sales of less than $1 million a year would be exempt."
A little confusing here - does that mean $1m of on-line sales, or $1m of sales in total? Some retailers will sell on-line, over the phone, and also from a shop.
Does the sales tax apply depending on the state the seller is in, or the buyer is in? It would seem the latter. So what happens if you buy from a bricks-and-mortar shop? Do they check to see what state you live in? I doubt it. Are there customs at state boundaries? Nope.
It does seem unfair that shop sellers have to charge tax, but online sellers don't. But it may be unfair because sales are taxed, period.
So this legislation means that if you go into an Oregon shop, you will be able to buy tax-free, and take it home to, say, NY. But if you buy online from an Oregon shop, you will have to pay NY sales tax when it is delivered to you. In other words, it's still going to be a mess.
I thought European VAT rule inconsistencies were bad enough.
#8 ? gadget?
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Posted Yesterday, 03:48 PM
Executive Sadman, on 28 April 2013 - 01:02 PM, said:
. If your'e a small supplier, it will be near impossible, and hugely expensive.
What ARE you talking about?
It's basic functionlaity already built into any accounting package or online selling software they're already using.
And even if not it'll take about an hour in Excel to work out.
It's not even a increase in taxes: the taxes are already due it's just with the sellers not charging it the buyer is meant to go down his local tax office and settle up.
#9 ? durhamborn?
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Posted Yesterday, 03:49 PM
happy_renting, on 28 April 2013 - 02:33 PM, said:
"Online retailers with out-of-state sales of less than $1 million a year would be exempt."
A little confusing here - does that mean $1m of on-line sales, or $1m of sales in total? Some retailers will sell on-line, over the phone, and also from a shop.
Does the sales tax apply depending on the state the seller is in, or the buyer is in? It would seem the latter. So what happens if you buy from a bricks-and-mortar shop? Do they check to see what state you live in? I doubt it. Are there customs at state boundaries? Nope.
It does seem unfair that shop sellers have to charge tax, but online sellers don't. But it may be unfair because sales are taxed, period.
So this legislation means that if you go into an Oregon shop, you will be able to buy tax-free, and take it home to, say, NY. But if you buy online from an Oregon shop, you will have to pay NY sales tax when it is delivered to you. In other words, it's still going to be a mess.
I thought European VAT rule inconsistencies were bad enough.
First once in whos to say this wont be reduced.Also this puts a massive ceiling on online sales and a business growing.This is simply Amazon mainly trying to kill small business.Ebay is fighting hard to stop it because it will hit hard a lot of their small business sellers.
Amazon are losing the battle against smaller sellers.Many warehouses now offer very similar systems to Amazon for small sellers.I use one.Amazon cant compete and they want to kill these small companies.
The internet is the one place a small person can take on the big companies.Amazon want to kill that.
#10 ? easy2012?
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Posted Yesterday, 03:56 PM
gadget, on 28 April 2013 - 03:48 PM, said:
What ARE you talking about?
It's basic functionlaity already built into any accounting package or online selling software they're already using.
And even if not it'll take about an hour in Excel to work out.
Really? Do you mind showing me some links to these accounting packages ?
You tend to be able to create those codes - but that is a hugely laborious process for a small business (and nothing for AMZN of course). An example here: http://crmconsultanc...lude-tax-codes/
Also these rates changes from time to time (even UK VAT went from 15% to 17.5% then back to 17.5% and then 20%). The sales tax exemption list also changes from time to time.
Now, the online shopping carts also need to take into account of these rates.
Quote
It's not even a increase in taxes: the taxes are already due it's just with the sellers not charging it the buyer is meant to go down his local tax office and settle up.
Then clearly we should just do nothing ( why waste congress time) and just let the buyer do what they meant to do then..
This post has been edited by easy2012: Yesterday, 04:02 PM
#11 ? easy2012?
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Posted Yesterday, 03:56 PM
durhamborn, on 28 April 2013 - 03:49 PM, said:
First once in whos to say this wont be reduced.Also this puts a massive ceiling on online sales and a business growing.This is simply Amazon mainly trying to kill small business.Ebay is fighting hard to stop it because it will hit hard a lot of their small business sellers.
Amazon are losing the battle against smaller sellers.Many warehouses now offer very similar systems to Amazon for small sellers.I use one.Amazon cant compete and they want to kill these small companies.
The internet is the one place a small person can take on the big companies.Amazon want to kill that.
Durhamborn - do you mean the fullfillment service ?
#12 ? Secure Tenant?
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Posted Yesterday, 04:03 PM
durhamborn, on 28 April 2013 - 10:42 AM, said:
Do you know who is pushing this the hardest? Amazon.
Why? Because it will destroy the thousands of small internet sellers and those who use Ebay.
Amazon is building vast warehouses in run down states and in return is getting deal that exempt it from certain tax.
This isnt about protecting the shops.Its about Amazon killing off the one thing that can be more competitive than them and long term destroy their business.Small internet retailers with websites and on Ebay.
Don't a lot of small businesses selling on Ebay also sell on Amazon and other sites?
Was recently playing around with software called Linn Works, which is stock inventory and shipping inventory software for online traders and it integrates with Ebay, Amazon as well as Magento and other e-commerce sites.
Linn Systems also produce software called "Mean Pricer" or something which allows to monitor and undercut competitors on Amazon. Your own race to the bottom, if the comp also has the same software!
The other thing that the traditional items such as s/h CD's and DVD's now seem almost unsellable unless you let them go often less than they cost to post and pack.
This post has been edited by Secure Tenant: Yesterday, 04:08 PM
Secure Long Term Tenancies For All - Don't Accept AST Crap
#13 ? LJAR?
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Posted Yesterday, 04:10 PM
gadget, on 28 April 2013 - 03:48 PM, said:
It's not even a increase in taxes: the taxes are already due it's just with the sellers not charging it the buyer is meant to go down his local tax office and settle up.
Nope - there is case law in the US stating that sales tax is not due on items sold over the internet in different states. if you sell over the internet in the same state, then tax is due. Otherwise, no.
@ durhamborn - spot on.
#14 ? durhamborn?
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Posted Yesterday, 04:16 PM
easy2012, on 28 April 2013 - 03:56 PM, said:
Durhamborn - do you mean the fullfillment service ?
Yes,iv now got all my stock in a shared warehouse where we all book in from home and its then sent out from the warehouse.The couriers are based in the same warehouse as well.It undercuts Amazons operation.I also get the containers into there so its a one stop option.
http://www.guardian....tax-bill-amazon
Ebay lobby against it for the very reasons said on here.
#15 ? durhamborn?
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Posted Yesterday, 04:23 PM
Secure Tenant, on 28 April 2013 - 04:03 PM, said:
Don't a lot of small businesses selling on Ebay also sell on Amazon and other sites?
Was recently playing around with software called Linn Works, which is stock inventory and shipping inventory software for online traders and it integrates with Ebay, Amazon as well as Magento and other e-commerce sites.
Linn Systems also produce software called "Mean Pricer" or something which allows to monitor and undercut competitors on Amazon. Your own race to the bottom, if the comp also has the same software!
The other thing that the traditional items such as s/h CD's and DVD's now seem almost unsellable unless you let them go often less than they cost to post and pack.
Yes they do ,and so do i. However i never stock anything thats a common item as like you say on Amazon everyone cuts and cuts to be cheapest and there is no margin. Ebay is a far better platform for small companies IMO.Google drives a lot of sales. Postage is a massive problem now for online sellers and iv moved to higher value items that can carry postage easier.Mid range items are getting almost priced out now due to postage,and most of thats down to fuel costs.
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Voters wait to cast their vote on Nov. 6, 2012 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Edward Linsmier/Getty Images)
We know little about President Barack Obama?s new Commission on Election Administration except for its structure, as outlined in the executive order that explains its task is to improve voting in America, and the names of its two appointed co-chairs: Obama's former counsel Bob Bauer and Republican attorney Ben Ginsberg, who worked for Mitt Romney.
But while it has yet to explain its methodology or get together a full staff (the executive order directs that no more than 9 members are to be appointed) the commission?an idea born on Election Night 2012 when Obama declared we "have to fix" long lines at the polls?is about to get to work.
Steve Croley, deputy White House counsel, told Yahoo News the White House is gearing up to announce the committee's full roster next month and set the group to work. The committee, he said, will be a mix of individuals including "several people who basically run elections for a living" at the state, county or local levels, in addition to those working on the private side. No other details were offered about commissioners.
The commission, not the White House, will set the agenda, Croley added. And part of its work will include significant outreach to state and local election officials and administrators, academics and others experienced in elections. A report will be given to the president six months from its first meeting on ?how do we improve the experience of voting,? Croley said.
Funds and housekeeping for all presidential commissions are handled through the General Services Admnistration, but no money was requested for the commission in the president?s proposal and in GSA?s budget request. Croley said that the commission is expected to be very low budget.
The 2012 elections were clouded with stories of eight-hour long voting experiences in Florida; polling places closing early due to the inability to handle voter volume; long lines in Virginia; voting machine issues in places such as Pennsylvania and Colorado; voter roll problems in Ohio; and balloting in Arizona.
"We can fix this. And we will," Obama said in his State of the Union speech in February when he announced the co-chairs for the commission. "The American people demand it, and so does our democracy."
The commissioners will drive the agenda. The two co-chairs declined to be interviewed for this article, choosing through a spokesman to defer to the White House until the commission is underway. Croley said once the commission is formed, it will take a hands-off approach and allow the co-chairs to lead the process.
Per the executive order creating the committee, the commission is supposed to examine voting problems highlighted in the 2012 election, and specifically examine potential voting obstacles to members of the military, overseas voters, voters with disabilities and voters ?with limited English proficiency." Several potential areas of study are outlined in the executive order?including training of polling workers, the operation of polling places and voting machines, ballot simplicity, and overseas balloting?but these are listed merely as suggestions.
Voting rights advocates have cheered the formation of the commission and the idea behind it, but with so little known about what the commission will do and how it will function, much skepticism remains about the commission?s potential or staying power.
At the very least, voting rights advocates say, the well-known and well-respected partisan co-chairs have the potential to send a strong message.
"I think it?s structurally set up so that if they do in fact come up with some good recommendations, that it will be very powerfully received," said Wendy Weiser, director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Democracy Program, which promotes voter rights.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, added, ?If they could come to agreement and come up with some joint recommendations, that would be very meaningful because it'd be hard for anybody on either side to argue strongly against them."
But Sloan questioned exactly how motivated and involved the two busy co-chairs will be in their new positions.
"I do not have my hopes up," Sloane added. "It could be great, again, because Bauer and Ginsberg are highly respected. It could also be one of those things where there's a big announcement and there's very little follow-through."
Croley conceded that yes, the proof will be in the final result, but at the outset, he added, are "extremely motivated for this not to be viewed or become a commission that produces a paper report that sits on a shelf and collects dust." It will be a "hit-the-ground-running commission which takes its work and mission very seriously.?
Weiser would like to see the modernization of our nation's voting systems?with regard to voting machines, how and when we vote, and how we operate early voting?at the top of the commission's agenda "We're using 19th-century technology for 21st-century elections," she said.
While voting rights advocates await more details on the commission?who will staff it, how they will meet, their agenda and their budget?other critics say the whole effort is just wasteful.
"We already have a federal bipartisan election commission," Hans von Sapovsky opined in a post for Heritage's The Foundry blog following the president's State of the Union address. Von Sapovsky noted that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission was created in 2002, but the four commissioner seats have long been vacant as well as the support staff positions. "(They are supposed to be filled by the President," he wrote.)
Additionally, Sapovsky questions if a commission under Obama won't simply be used to push his agenda.
Even for skilled craftsmen, hammering nails always carries some risk of smashing a finger. Next time you pull out the toolbox, bring some bobby pins with you too.
Simply use the bobby pin like a pair of tweezers to hold the nail in place until you've driven it far enough into the wood. You might not get quite as good a grip as you would using your fingers, but if you can make it work, but it should be sufficient for most situations, and it eliminates any danger of smashing your hand. Hit up the source link for more clever uses for your spare bobby pins.
15 Clever uses for All Those Extra Bobby Pins in Your Bathroom | WonderHowTo
Listening to and watching podcasts with the Podcasts app for iPhone and iPad is simple enough but if you subscribe to quite a few feeds, your unplayed count can get pretty high. If you'd rather pick and choose episodes but don't want badge counts or unread counts for ones you don't plan on listening to or watching, you can always just mark them as played already.
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Red Kharma, on 31 May 2010 - 11:51 AM, said:
