West:

You mentioned that you had seen a video connected to him [Trayvon Martin] in some way regarding a bicycle. We were previously unaware of anything like that, but later saw a clip taken from his cell phone SIM card that may have been what you were referencing.

The option that is being pushed by many in Mr. Christie's own party would be to name a Republican to hold the seat and then delay an election on a replacement until 2014. This would give his national party an unexpected gift: a reliable vote in the Senate -- for a year and a half, at least -- from a state that has not elected a Republican to the upper house in 41 years. But it would also open Mr. Christie up to allegations of sidestepping the electoral process.

The alternative, lawyers in both parties said, would be for Mr. Christie to set a primary election as early as August, which would mean a special election in October. This would leave Democrats in a stronger position to win the seat. Mr. Booker, in particular, benefits from a high national profile and strong fund-raising, though he would be quite likely to face a primary challenge. But it would also open Mr. Christie to accusations that he was wasting some $24 million in taxpayer money by holding those two extra elections ahead of the regular November balloting for self-interested political reasons.

Ya gotta go over the rental car with a fine tooth comb at the lot, and make sure you document every little existing ding, dent, or scratch in the rental agreement.  And if you should scratch or dent it during the rental period, try to pop that dent out or rub out that scratch before you bring it back.  If they find the slightest thing they'll try to screw you....though maybe the American outfits are better, I don't really know.

Yeah, you can print your boarding pass from home within a certian time frame of the flight, or they have these self-serve kiosks in the terminal that you can use to print your own boarding pass to avoid the ticket counter lines, as long as you're not checking bags.  Shaves some time of the whole check-in security theater rig-a-ma-roll.

With United, yes, that emailed itinerary is as close as you will get to a paper ticket. If you print your boarding pass at home - or even have it on your smart phone at some airports - you can go right to the gate and not stop at the counter.

No food will be provided - I bring a snack of my own because knowing there is no food makes me hungry!

Liquids and gels are a pain. Get a quart size ziplock bag and put little travel sizes in there. Or just don't bring any if you are staying someplace that will have what you need.

Wear shoes that are easy to take off and put back on in the security line. Loafers are the best. And no jewelry - they make you take it off for your full body naked scan. Enjoy!

Also the gas fee -- they say it's cheaper to pay to fill the tank up front, and that's what I do.

United Airlines:  They have computer screen self check-in kiosks if you haven't done it by email, or don't have a printer at home.  Takes 2 min to have a physical boarding pass printed, a/o paper receipt, if you prefer this method, or just want the last-minute security at the airport of knowing everything re your flying that day is on track, etc.  Of course you can always use the computer-code display on your mobile device that was emailed to you.

Keep in mind rates change either Monday or Tuesday morning, so if you see a good deal on the weekend it might now be there Tuesday.  Wait for a really good deal, it will come eventually unless you are going to a tourist area.

I got a full size in Milwaukee for a week $150 which included taxes a couple months back.  It was an Ultima, but my great deal was negated when I forgot to fill it up and they dinged me for $60.  Sucks because I literally had nothing to do for hours and I just straight up forgot.

Also, the new thing is paying up front discount which is around 5%.

Depending what airport you are flying into, the larger ones have substantially higher tax rates, like O'Hare & SeaTac are a couple that stand out. O'Hare is something like 25% tax/fees on car rentals.

Flights.
I never used to print because I always have a checked bag.  But last time they made me check in on the computer, aka doing their job.  It was a headache, so going forward I will print at home so I don't have to mess with the airports check in BS computers.  Either way you have to check the bag, so no time savings.

Southwest is cheapest, check to see if they go where you are.  You buy each way, and if you book far enough ahead of time you can get some serious deals.  They do not let anyone else book tickets, so they will never show up in searches.  The earlier you check in, the better place you get in line, so there is a real incentive to checking in at home.  there is no assigned seating, but bags are free whereas all the other airlines will charge $25 a checked bag.  That's $50 cheaper off the bat.

Personally, I've never looked to MSNBC as a primary source of breaking news. That said, I actually thought Rachel Maddow performed quite admirably when that killer tornado tore through Moore OK, because she made a real effort to get viewers the most accurate and up-to-date information and first-person accounts about what was happening on the ground. The rest of her cohorts that night, though, not so much.

Most recently, HPV infections have been found to cause cancer of the oropharynx, which is the middle part of the throat including the soft palate, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils. In the United States, more than half of the cancers diagnosed in the oropharynx are linked to HPV-16 (8).

Douglas also told the Guardian he didn't regret his years of smoking and drinking.

But apparently he regrets this:

Without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV (human papillomavirus), which actually comes from cunnilingus.

The supposed circumstances surrounding Benjamin Crump's interview with Witness 8 are actually the least of George Zimmerman's problems, because that's not where the case against him will be won or lost at trial. Rather, I'd offer that Zimmerman's counsel needs to convince the jury that at no time was it ever his client's intent to shoot and kill the deceased, because the prosecution will no doubt remind the jury time and again that in fact George Zimmerman did shoot and kill an unarmed Trayvon Martin.

Therefore, it's the inherent nature of the defendant's intent -- from the moment he first set eyes upon the deceased and started following him as he was walking home from the 7-11, up until and including the actual moment of physical confrontation and shooting -- that's really at the heart of the second-degree murder charge against him, and not whatever Benjamin Crump and Witness 8 may have talked about with one another in the period after the shooting. The jury's ability to grasp and understand the defendant's lack of personal malice toward the defendant could well be the difference between, let's say, their returning a verdict of involuntary manslaughter versus a conviction for murder.

But if the defense rolls the dice for an outright acquittal, by attempting to make George Zimmerman the hapless scapegoat of the government's willingness to excuse the violent depredations of a ruthlessly undisciplined teenager, well, I think that's a strategy which holds rich potential for courting a spectacular backlash from the jury, given the obvious lack of any documented prior history of aggressive and / or violent behavior on the part of the deceased towards others.

She call contacted the FBI because she's getting threatening emails which turn out to be from a member in the military.

Then her name is 'leaked' as some sort of evil person when in fact she committed no crimes, and the General walks away as the man unable to resist the temptress.  Even though he was having an actual affair with another married member in the service who secretly threatened a civilian out of jealousy.

The story doesn't even mention that Broadwell was mistress number uno, which is a crime since she is actually in the military, ditto for Petraeus.  All criminal acts under the UCJM and yet this woman is the bad one of all three.  And all they have ever put on her is two inappropriate emails.  

The masturbating dog killer is on the loose again. 'He'll kill the owner, but at least the dogs are happy.'

The Committee of Oversight and Government Reform has released its initial findings after investigating the use of parallel email accounts by officials in Bush's White House.

According to the Presidential Records Act, White House officials are obliged to keep and preserve all communications which they send on official government business. But some 88 Bush officials ignored this law. Instead, they used addresses supplied by the Republican National Committee (RNC), which raises funds and promotes the Republican Party.

It also appears that White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales knew officials were using these accounts for official communications but did nothing about it.
...
n March 2007, the White House said only a handful of officials had such accounts. That number has now risen to 88.

Many of these emails have been destroyed. The RNC has no emails for 51 of the accounts, although it has saved over 140,000 emails sent or received by Karl Rove. But there are big gaps - only 130 emails to or from Rove exist from the first Presidential term - the first Rove email the RNC preserved dates from November 2003. For many other officials there are no emails dated before autumn 2006. link

No More Mister Nice Blog shares a few interesting items about one of the groups, and Charlie Pierce has a few things to add:

If you don't want the IRS to wonder whether or not you're engaging in inappropriate political activity, don't produce and distribute crazy-ass videos about Agenda 21 and sharia law. (And I'm not sure that, "We wouldn't have been paying that much money, anyway" is a defense against doing things that the law forbids you to do. Stick up a fruit stand and it's not going to matter to the cops that you only got ten bucks.) There is a fearsome price to pay for empowering ignorance and paranoia in a democracy, no matter how great the short-term political gain might be.

... citing unnamed "Hill sources".

I get why republican are christians, the persecution complex is grandiose 24/7.  You would think they were all about to get nailed to two pieces of wood.  I hate to see how they would react to being actually discriminated against, on a level equivalent to they discrimination they have levied on minorities for over a century.

Anyone still doubt that this was politically motivated?

"I don't know what the cost is and quite frankly I don't care."