Former Romney staffers believe that Chris Christie deserves some of the blame for the GOP's loss. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Romney camp blames Chris Christie for their loss: 'Christie allowed Obama to be a president'

Submitted by HarukoHaruhara

During the crucial final moments of the campaign, many Republicans are convinced that Christie hurt Romney's chances by praising President Obama during Hurricane Sandy. Many undecided voters leaned towards Obama because of his leadership during the storm. "Christie," said a Romney adviser, "allowed Obama to be president, not a politician."

Per The New York Times: 

"But in the days after the storm, Mr. Christie and his advisers were startled to hear from out-of-state donors to Mr. Romney, who had little interest in the hurricane and viewed him solely as a campaign surrogate, demanding to know why he had stood so close to the president on a tarmac. One of them questioned why he had boarded Mr. Obama’s helicopter, according to people briefed on the conversations."

A Senate bill has been rewritten giving government agencies more surveillance power to Americans' email. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Senate Bill Would Allow Feds to Read Your Email Without a Warrant

Submitted by think_more_do_more

Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has reshaped his email privacy bill which would now grant more than 22 agencies access Americans’ email, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant.

The list of agencies that would receive civil subpoena authority includes Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some cases, full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge. 

The bill originally required that the government obtain a search warrant, but was dramatically changed in response to law enforcement concerns. A vote on his bill is scheduled for next week. 

For decades, shoppers have associated Macy's with Thanksgiving parades and visits on Santa's lap. But this holiday season, the magic of Macy's is losing its appeal to at least half a million people. That's how many have signed a Signon.org petition asking the department store chain to take Donald Trump's merchandise out of their stores and his image off of their advertising. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current.com community:

Macy's won't dump Donald Trump despite online petition urging store to ditch mogul for his unpleasant, nasty and despicable' behavior

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

Macy's has issued an official response stating that the distinctively un-jolly mogul will remain a part of their holidays campaigns. Their President and CEO Terry Lundgren had this to say:

"Macy's marketing and merchandising offerings are not representative of any political position," Lundgren wrote in an email to Angelo Carusone, the man behind an online movement that aims to get Macy's to dump Trump.

 

"Ours is a free society compromised of a wide range of viewpoints," Lundgren continued in the email, posted to BuzzFeed.com on Wednesday. "Many of the individuals associated with products sold at Macy's — or at any retailer, for that matter — express personal opinions that are not related to the merchandise we sell or to the philosophies of our company."

The petition now boasts over 640,000 signatures.

Hostess announced that it will be going out of business and putting its brands up for sale. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Twinkies, Ding Dongs Maker Hostess Liquidates Following Failure To Resolve Labor Union Animosity

Submitted by Dagum

Hostess, the makers of such iconic treats as Twinkies and Wonder Bread, plans to shut down all of its plants and lay off most of its 18,500 employees to liquidate the 82-year-old business. The company, which filed Chapter 11 in January, said it has requested bankruptcy-court authorization to close the business and will focus on selling assets.

Hostess released a statement: 

"Bakery operations have been suspended at all plants. Delivery of products will continue and Hostess Brands retail stores will remain open for several days in order to sell already-baked products."

"We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," said Gregory F. Rayburn, chief executive officer. "Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders."

Hostess was brought down by changing consumer tastes, high commodity costs and ultimately, strained labor relations.

BP announced it would pay $4.5 billion in fines and other payments to the U.S. government in connection with the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill two years ago. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

BP to pay $4.5 billion in oil spill settlement

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

Oil giant BP has agreed to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges related to the death of 11 workers and lying to Congress. In addition, two BP employees have been indicted on manslaughter charges for their part in the oil spill disaster.

"We believe this resolution is in the best interest of BP and its shareholders," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP chairman. "It removes two significant legal risks and allows us to vigorously defend the company against the remaining civil claims."

The settlement, which is subject to approval by a federal judge, includes payments of nearly $2.4 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences and about $500 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In one of his first interviews following the election, former GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan blamed Democratic turnout in "urban areas" for the loss. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Paul Ryan Blames "Urban Areas" For Obama Win

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

In an interview with WISC-TV, Paul Ryan stated he was surprised that he and presidential nominee Mitt Romney did not do better in the nation's big cities:

"The surprise was some of the turnout, some of the turnout especially in urban areas, which gave President Obama the big margin to win this race."

"When we watched Virginia and Ohio coming in, and those ones coming in as tight as they were, and looking like we were going to lose them, that’s when it became clear we weren’t going to win."

Last week, one Applebee's franchise owner said he would not hire any more workers and was considering cutting the hours of current employees because of the Affordable Care Act. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Zane Tankel, Applebee’s Franchisee, Says He Won’t Hire Because Of Obamacare

Submitted by Radical_Centrist

Apple-Metro CEO Zane Tankel, who owns 40 Applebee's franchises in the New York metropolitan area, told Fox Business Network on Thursday: 

"We’ve calculated it will [cost] some millions of dollars across our system. So what does that say — that says we won’t build more restaurants. We won’t hire more people."

Tankel employs between 80 to 300 people at each of its locations. Obamacare mandates that businesses with more than 50 workers must offer an approved insurance plan or pay a penalty of $2,000 for each full-time worker over 30 workers.

Tankel isn't the only CEO making drastic changes to deal with President Obama's re-election. Last week, Papa John's CEO, John Schnatter, said he'd likely reduce workers' hours.

Yvo de Boer, who helmed the 2009 Copenhagen climate change talks, says a forthcoming report on the state of climate change is "shocking" and "will scare the wits out of everyone." We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Former UN official says climate report will shock nations into action

Submitted by Vierotchka

De Boer has been in talks with scientists for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their fifth assessment report is due to be published in 2013. The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

Yvo de Boer, the UN climate chief during the 2009 Copenhagen climate change talks, said his conversations with scientists working on the next report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested the findings would be shocking.

"That report is going to scare the wits out of everyone,'' Mr de Boer said in the only scheduled interview of his visit to Australia. "I'm confident those scientific findings will create new political momentum.''

The Kyoto Protocol, which called on countries to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, expires at the end of the year. The United States never ratified it, and Russia, Japan and Canada now say they won't recommit to it after its expiration.

President Barack Obama shed a tear as he thanked his campaign team at the Chicago headquarters after his Tuesday night victory. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

President Obama: "I'm Really Proud of All of You"

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

Before returning to the White House, President Obama stopped by his campaign headquarters to thank his staff. The president teared up as he expressed his gratitude for their support and dedication to the reelection effort.

"So when I come here and I look at all of you, what comes to mind is, it's not that you guys remind me of myself, it's the fact that you are so much better than I was in so many ways. You're smarter, you're so better organized, you're more effective," Obama said, praising his campaign staff."

"I'm really proud of all of you," Obama said. "What you guys accomplished will go on in the annals of history."

A business owner in Las Vegas claimed that he fired 22 employees because President Barack Obama was reelected. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Las Vegas business owner fires 22 ‘mostly Hispanic’ employees over Obama win

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

A local business owner who went by "David" told a local radio show that he terminated mostly Hispanic employees because of the rising financial burden on his profits. He said he didn't tell his employees how to vote and followed the law by notifying them 30 days prior that layoffs were possible.

"I explained to them a month ago, if Obama gets in office, the regulations for Obamacare are going to hurt our business, and I am going to have to make provision to make sure that I have enough money to cover payroll taxes, the additional health care I'm going to have to do. And I explained that to them, and I said, 'You do what you feel you need to do, but I'm just letting you know this as a warning that this is things I have to think of as a business owner.'"

"I have to build up that nest egg now for the taxes and regulations that are coming my way," he explained. "Elections do have consequences, but so do choices."

Former Representative Gabrielle Giffords stood by her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, in court as he confronted the man who went on a shooting rampage last year. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Gabrielle Giffords to Appear at Her Shooter's Sentence Hearing Today

Submitted by FreeSpiritMuse

Former astronaut Mark Kelly spoke directly to Jared Loughner, who shot Giffords, and 17 others in the attack, killing six. Kelly said Loughner changed his wife's life forever but "couldn't dent her spirit."

Kelly kept telling Loughner, "Jared, pay attention to this" during his statement.

"You tried to create for all of us a world as dark and evil as your own. But know this, and remember it always: You failed," Kelly said. 

Then Mr. Kelly gave his final words, "After today, after this moment, Gabby and I are done thinking about you,"and he and Ms. Giffords walked away.        

This marked the first time Giffords and the victims came face to face with Jared Loughner, however, she did not speak. Loughner received six life sentences, one for each person who died, and another 140 years in prison.

Over the weekend, Florida voters waited in long lines because Gov. Rick Scott refused to to budge and extend the early voting hours. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Florida Early Voting Fiasco: Voters Wait For Hours At Polls As Rick Scott Refuses To Budge

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

Early voting is supposed to be convenient for those who can't take time off on Election Day; however, for many Florida residents, voters waited up to nine hours to vote and many were turned away. Last year, Gov. Scott and the Republican-controlled legislature cut the number of early voting days from 14 to eight. 

"I'm focused on making sure that we have fair, honest elections," said Scott. "One thing to know, these early voting days and on Election Day, if you're there by the time the polls close, you get to vote."

The Florida Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit to force the state government to extend early voting hours in South Florida.

With the election quickly approaching, many people can't wait to hear the results - however, one little girl is already over the race. We're taking a closer look at this cute story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Little Girl is 'Tired of Bronco Bama and Mitt Romney'

Submitted by maasanova

Abigael Evans became an Internet sensation this week after her video, "Tired of Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney" went viral. Her mother recorded the exhausted Abigael sobbing over the presidential candidates.

"We were driving after daycare and listening to NPR and as we pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store, she just started crying and I asked her why," her mother, Elizabeth, says of how the video came to be.

"I think we can all relate to what she said, you know? Everybody's tired of it," Elizabeth says. "And I think one really appealing thing about it is that it's not polarizing in any way."

At long last, someone stood up to Fox News over their nonstop dog-whistle coverage of the embassy attack in Benghazi in September. Today on Fox & Friends, Geraldo Rivera told Eric Bolling that he was purposefully misleading the American people.

Geraldo demolishes Fox News ‘misinformation’ on Benghazi: ‘That is a lie!’

Submitted by lazloman

The Obama administration has been under attack from the right-wing media since the American consulate was attacked, resulting in the deaths of four Americans. Romney tried to nail Obama on it during the debates, falsely claiming that Obama had not called it a terrorist attack. Conservative pundits began calling it "Benghazigate" and Twitter was ablaze on a daily basis with trending topics like #Benghazi, #Benghazigate, and #Libya. Today, Geraldo Rivera decided he'd had enough of it. Via Raw Story:

“You are misleading the American people because you want to make a political point,” Rivera told fellow Fox News host Eric Bolling. “We have never in the history of the United States of America mounted a raid on the circumstance described here. We have never done it. The Israelis rescued their people in Tevi — seven days to mount that operation. This was seven hours.”

According to the United Auto Workers, a coalition of community, labor and good government organizations plan to file a formal complaint against Mitt Romney for allegedly failing to disclose his profits from the auto bailout. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

UAW Files Charges Against Romney on his Auto Bail-out Profiteering

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

UAW, the Service Employees International Union and other groups are calling an investigation by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to investigate Romney's alleged violation of the Ethics in Government Act, which requires presidential candidates to disclose their personal finances. The Romney family personally profited at least $15.3 million from the auto loans of 2009 through his investment in the Delphi Corp. auto parts company.

UAW President Bob King stated:

"The American people have a right to know about Governor Romney’s potential conflicts of interest, such as the profits his family made from the auto rescue. It’s time for Governor Romney to disclose or divest."

"The company Romney founded, Bain Capital, continues to devastate American workers and communities by closing profitable U.S. facilities and shifting work to China to make even more profits. A current example happening today is Bain closing a profitable Sensata plant in Freeport, Ill.  While Romney was opposing the rescue of one of the nation’s most important manufacturing sectors, he was building his fortunes with his Delphi investor group, making his fortunes off the misfortunes of others.  These are all examples of the Romney economy we can expect if Romney becomes president," King added.

Salon reports that the recent meningitis outbreak in the U.S. can be traced to Mitt Romney’s failure to regulate pharmaceutical companies when he served as governor of Massachusetts. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Romney's lax regulation may have fueled meningitis outbreak

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

The fatal meningitis epidemic that has already killed 25 has been linked to New England Compounding Co., the pharmaceutical company that Romney's administration failed to regulate. The pharmaceutical company repeatedly failed to meet regulatory standards in 2004, but Romney's administration withdrew a reprimand and shortened a probation after the company said it would hurt its business.  

"It goes directly to the heart of what Romney says about regulation, 'Hands off. Let the companies do their thing,'" said Alyson Oliver, a Michigan attorney representing victims of the outbreak. According to Oliver, on at least six occasions, NECC was cited by authorities for failure to meet regulatory standards and almost subjected to a three-year probation. 

"When the person who is supposed to be in charge of oversight does not believe oversight is necessary, this is what happens," Oliver added.

"The philosophy of the Romney administration was to have lax regulations across the board," Philip Johnston, a former secretary of health and human services in Massachusetts before the Romney administration, told Salon.

Iceland faced a similar economic collapse to the United States and the Eurozone in 2008. But instead of bailing out the banks, Iceland paid off loans for consumers and threw bankers in jail for corruption. Now Iceland's economy is recovering and growing faster than the US and European economies. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Iceland's Economy now growing faster than the U.S. and EU after arresting corrupt bankers

Submitted by gypsygirl1965

An article from Bloomberg.com says Iceland proves that there's a different – and possibly better – way to recover from a financial meltdown. They let homeowners wipe out debt up to 110 percent of the property value. They declared loans indexed in foreign currency illegal and said debtors could pay them back in krona, their local currency. Via Bloomberg:

These policies helped consumers erase debt equal to 13 percent of Iceland’s $14 billion economy. Now, consumers have money to spend on other things. It is no accident that the IMF, which granted Iceland loans without imposing its usual austerity strictures, says the recovery is driven by domestic demand.

In addition to easing consumer debt, Iceland reduced government spending and increased revenue by raising taxes and cutting deductions that mainly benefited the well-off, a path the U.S. might profitably emulate. In fact, relief for overburdened U.S. consumers is a cause promoted by former U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair in a new book published this week. Bair would have done more to aid sinking homeowners and done less for banks, but she says her efforts were blocked by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and others.

It worked in Iceland. A deficit that reached 13.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 fell to 2.3 percent last year. The IMF predicts Iceland will have a primary surplus (excluding interest on debt) of 1.5 percent this year.

Iceland also held the CEOs of large banks accountable, and put many of them in prison on corruption charges.

The tiny Himalayan country of Bhutan is on track to make one of the biggest pro-organic moves in the world. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Bhutan To Be The World’s First 100% Organic Nation?

Submitted by circlesquared

The tiny nation, which serves as home to just 738,000 people, has centered on protecting the environment and focusing on mental well-being. Bhutan seeks "happiness" for its citizens, and is aiming to become the first nation in the world to turn its home-grown food and farmers 100 percent organic. The nation even developed a model measuring "Gross National Happiness" instead of Gross Domestic Product.

Bhutan has decided to go for a green economy in light of the tremendous pressure we are exerting on the planet," Agriculture Minister Pema Gyamtsho told AFP in an interview by telephone from the capital Thimphu.

"If you go for very intensive agriculture it would imply the use of so many chemicals, which is not in keeping with our belief in Buddhism, which calls for us to live in harmony with nature."

"Only farmers in areas that are accessible by roads or have easy transport have access to chemicals," he explained, saying chemical use was already "very low" by international standards.

A school district in Encinitas is under fire from some parents for teaching free yoga classes. The parents' attorney Dean Broyles said, "There's a deep concern that the Encinitas Union School District is using taxpayer resources to promote Ashtanga yoga and Hinduism, a religion system of beliefs and practices." We're taking a closer look at this story from our Community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Yoga Now a Crime

Submitted by Progresshiv

Broyles contends that the classes are unconstitutional. The lessons are funded by  a half-million dollar grant from the Jois Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes teaching Ashtanga yoga. Jois Foundation Director Eugene Ruffin says they are not a religious group. The school says they have removed any and all religious aspects from the lessons, but parents are still concerned.

Superintendent Tim Baird says the school district has no plans to cancel the yoga lessons.

"Our goal is that kids get a really healthy workout, that they get a chance to relax and reduce stress and yoga's perfect for that," he told Yahoo News.