Wish I Didn't Know

Posted to WIDK by Bianca Coombs

(Lisa Leff, Associated Press) - Federal prosecutors are cracking down on some pot dispensaries in California, warning the stores that they must shut down in 45 days or face criminal charges and confiscation of their property even if they are operating legally under the state’s 15-year-old medical marijuana law.

In an escalation of the ongoing conflict between the U.S. government and the nation’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry, at least 16 pot shops or their landlords received letters this week stating they are violating federal drug laws, even though medical marijuana is legal in California. The state’s four U.S. attorneys were scheduled Friday to announce a broader coordinated crackdown.

Watch Weeds: Season Seven

Their offices refused Thursday to confirm the closure orders. The Associated Press obtained copies of the letters that a prosecutor sent to at least 12 San Diego dispensaries. They state that federal law “takes precedence over state law and applies regardless of the particular uses for which a dispensary is selling and distributing marijuana.”

“Under United States law, a dispensary’s operations involving sales and distribution of marijuana are illegal and subject to criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions,” according to the letters signed by U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy in San Diego. “Real and personal property involved in such operations are subject to seizure by and forfeiture to the United States … regardless of the purported purpose of the dispensary.”

The move comes a little more than two months after the Obama administration toughened its stand on medical marijuana. For two years before that, federal officials had indicated they would not move aggressively against dispensaries in compliance with laws in the 16 states where pot is legal for people with doctors’ recommendations.

The Department of Justice issued a policy memo to federal prosecutors in late June stating that marijuana dispensaries and licensed growers in states with medical marijuana laws could face prosecution for violating federal drug and money-laundering laws. The effort to shutter California dispensaries appeared to be the most far-reaching effort so far to put that guidance into action.

“This really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The administration is simply making good on multiple threats issued since President Obama took office,” said Kevin Sabet, a former adviser to the president’s drug czar and a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Substance Abuse Solutions. “The challenge is to balance the scarcity of law enforcement resources and the sanctity of this country’s medication approval process. It seems like the administration is simply making good on multiple statements made previously to appropriately strike that balance.”

Greg Anton, a lawyer who represents dispensary Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, said its landlord received an “extremely threatening” letter Wednesday invoking a federal law that imposes additional penalties for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and playgrounds.

The landlord was ordered to evict the 14-year-old pot club or risk imprisonment, plus forfeiture of the property and all the rent he has collected while the dispensary has been in business, Anton said.

Marin Alliance’s founder “has been paying state and federal taxes for 14 years, and they have cashed all the checks,” he said. “All I hear from Obama is whining about his budget, but he has money to do this which will actually reduce revenues.”

Kris Hermes, a spokesman for the medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said the warnings are part of what appears to be an attempt by the Obama administration to curb medical marijuana on multiple fronts and through multiple agencies. A series of dispensary raids in Montana, for example, involved agents from not only the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, but the Internal Revenue Service and Environmental Protection Agency.

Going after property owners is not a new tactic though, Hermes said. Five years ago, the Department of Justice under President George W. Bush made similar threats to about 300 Los Angeles-area landlords who were renting space to medical marijuana outlets, some of whom were eventually evicted or closed their doors voluntarily, he said.

“It did have an impact. However, the federal government never acted on its threats, never prosecuted anybody, never even went to court to begin prosecutions,” Hermes said. “By and large, they were empty threats, but they relied on them and the cost of postage to shut down as many facilities as they could without having to engage in criminal enforcement activity.”

Besides the dozen dispensaries in San Diego and the one in Marin County, at least three shops in San Francisco already have received closure notices, said Dale Gieringer, director of the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The San Diego medical marijuana outlets put on notice were the same 12 that city officials sued last month for operating illegally, after activists there threatened to force an election on a zoning plan adopted to regulate the city’s fast-growing medical marijuana industry, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said. A judge on Wednesday ordered nine of the targeted shops to close, while the other three shut down voluntarily, Goldsmith said.

Duffy, the U.S. attorney for far Southern California, planned to issue warning letters to property owners and all of the 180 or so dispensaries that have proliferated in San Diego in the absence of compromise regulations, according to Goldsmith.

“The real power is with the federal government,” he said. “They have the asset forfeiture, and that means either the federal government will own a lot of property or these landlords will evict a lot of dispensaries.”

Original Article

(ESPN) — Hank Williams Jr. and his iconic theme song will not return to ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” the network announced Thursday.

In the wake of Williams using an analogy involving Adolf Hitler and President Barack Obama to make a political point on the Fox News Channel, Williams’ “All My Rowdy Friends” will no longer be part of the MNF opening.

“We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr,” ESPN said in a statement. “We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue.” On his own website, Williams said he was the one who made the decision.

“After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision,” he wrote. “By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.”

Hear Hank Williams Jr.’s A Country Boy Can Survive

In an interview Monday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Williams, unprompted, said of Obama’s outing on the links with House Speaker John Boehner: “It’d be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu.”

Asked to clarify, Williams said, “They’re the enemy,” adding that by “they” he meant Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

ESPN pulled Williams’ opening to Monday night’s Indianapolis-Tampa Bay game and issued a statement saying: “While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”

Williams, through his publicist, said on Monday: “Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme — but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me — how ludicrous that pairing was. They’re polar opposites and it made no sense. They don’t see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the president.”

Tuesday, he issued another statement.”The thought of the leaders of both parties jukin and high fiven on a golf course, while so many families are struggling to get by simply made me boil over and make a dumb statement,” Williams wrote on Facebook and his website. “I am very sorry if it offended anyone.”

Williams’ song has been part of “Monday Night Football” since 1991 on both ESPN and ABC. He is a Grammy award winner who also was a three-time entertainer of the year from the Academy of Country Music in the 1980s.

Original Article

October 5, 2011

Wasilla, Alaska

After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.

My decision is based upon a review of what common sense Conservatives and Independents have accomplished, especially over the last year. I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office – from the nation’s governors to Congressional seats and the Presidency. We need to continue to actively and aggressively help those who will stop the “fundamental transformation” of our nation and instead seek the restoration of our greatness, our goodness and our constitutional republic based on the rule of law.

From the bottom of my heart I thank those who have supported me and defended my record throughout the years, and encouraged me to run for President. Know that by working together we can bring this country back – and as I’ve always said, one doesn’t need a title to help do it.

I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for President where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables. We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimize government to strengthen the economy and allow the private sector to create jobs.

Those will be our priorities so Americans can be confident that a smaller, smarter government that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people can better serve this most exceptional nation.

In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.

Thank you again for all your support. Let’s unite to restore this country!

God bless America.

– Sarah Palin

Original Article

(RCP) — George Stephanopoulos, ABC News: “And a lot of anger out there. There’s so many people who simply don’t think they’re better off than they were four years ago. How do you convince them that they are?”

President Obama: “Well, I don’t think they’re better off than they were four years ago. They’re not better off than they were before Lehman’s collapse, before the financial crisis, before this extraordinary recession that we’re going through. I think that what we’ve seen is that we’ve been able to make steady progress to stabilize the economy, but the unemployment rate is still way too high. And that’s why it’s so critical for us to make sure that we are taking every action we can take to put people back to work.”

SEE VIDEO HERE

Original Article

Denmark has introduced what’s believed to be the world’s first fat food tax, applying a surcharge to foods with more than 2.3 percent saturated fats, in an effort to combat obesity and heart disease.

Danes hoarded food before the tax went into effect Saturday, emptying grocery store shelves. Some butter lovers may even resort to stocking up during trips abroad.

(ABC News By Olivia Katrandjian) — The new tax of 16 kroner ($2.90) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of saturated fat in a product will be levied on foods like butter, milk, cheese, pizza, oils and meat.

“Higher fees on sugar, fat and tobacco is an important step on the way toward a higher average life expectancy in Denmark,” health minister Jakob Axel Nielsen said when he introduced the idea in 2009, according to The Associated Press, because “saturated fats can cause cardiovascular disease and cancer.”

But some Danes are not happy about the ‘big brother’ feeling that comes with the tax.

“Denmark finds every sort of way to increase our taxes,” said Alisa Clausen, a South Jutland resident. “Why should the government decide how much fat we eat? They also want to increase the tobacco price very significantly. In theory this is good — it makes unhealthy items expensive so that we do not consume as much or any and that way the health system doesn’t use a lot of money on patients who become sick from overuse of fat and tobacco.  However, these taxes take on a big brother feeling.  We should not be punished by taxes on items the government decides we should not use.”

The Nordic country isn’t known for having a grossly overweight population — only about 10 percent of Danes are considered obese, compared to about one-third of adults (33.8 percent) and approximately 17 percent (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents age 2—19 years in the United States, according to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

But perhaps Denmark has its obesity rate relatively under control because of its policies. In 2004, Denmark made it illegal for any food to have more than 2 percent trans fats.  In July 2010, the country increased taxes on ice cream, chocolate and sweets by 25 percent. At the same time, Denmark increased taxes on soft drinks, tobacco and alcohol products, beyond the minimum levels established by the EU.

“Denmark will not only increase general health amongst the population but will also ease the burden on the public health care system and increase its resources at a time of recession when Member States are cutting public expenditure,” Monika Kosinska, the secretary general of the European Public Health Alliance, said in 2010.

Kosinska said the tax increases should be complemented by measures to make nutritious food more affordable.

“We get the taxes, but never a reduction on anything to complement the increases, such as  on healthy foods,” said Clausen.

Original Article

 Is Obama abandoning his bid for a second term in the White House and is giving Colonel Sanders a run for his money by opening a chain of fried chicken joints?

Now that’s change you can’t really believe in.

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Mike O’Brien, Daily Mail) — But in Beijing, China, a restaurant is actually calling itself OFC with a logo that looks alarmingly like the President dressed in the colonel’s clothes.

The catchphrase underneath, apparently says ‘We’re so cool, aren’t we?’

The Obama Fried Chicken could be a response to the U.S. filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization about Chinese tariffs on American chicken exports.

According to the New York Times, the tariffs affect an industry that employs about 300,000 people and range from 50 to 100 per cent, which means some Chinese importers paid as much as twice the price for American chicken.

Maybe the Chinese have something of an Obama-chicken obsession.

Earlier this year in Hong Kong, an Obama lookalike was employed to advertize KFC.

The restaurant’s sign was first spotted by TheShanghaiist.com and picked up by msnbc.com.

There are, of course, New York versions that caused quite a stir.

There is one in Harlem and one in Brooklyn.

Some people have complained the name plays into old racial stereotypes.

Original Article

Protesters speaking out against corporate greed and other grievances were maintaining a presence in Manhattan’s Financial District Sunday even after more than 700 of them were arrested during a march on the Brooklyn Bridge in a tense confrontation with police.

NEW YORK (AP) — The group Occupy Wall Street has been camped out in a plaza in Manhattan’s Financial District for nearly two weeks staging various marches, and had orchestrated an impromptu trek to Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. They walked in thick rows on the sidewalk up to the bridge, where some demonstrators spilled onto the roadway after being told to stay on the pedestrian pathway, police said.

The march shut down a lane of traffic for several hours on Saturday. The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said.

The group had meetings and forums planned for Sunday at Zuccotti Park, the private plaza off Broadway the protesters have occupied.

During Saturday’s march on the Brooklyn Bridge, some protesters sat on the roadway, chanting “Let us go,” while others chanted and yelled at police from the pedestrian walkaway above. Police used orange netting to stop the group from going farther down the bridge, which is under construction.

Some of the protesters said they were lured onto the roadway by police, or they didn’t hear the calls from authorities to head to the pedestrian walkway. Police said no one was tricked into being arrested, and those in the back of the group who couldn’t hear were allowed to leave.

“Multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway and that if they took the roadway they would be arrested,” said Paul Browne, the chief spokesman of the New York Police Department.

The NYPD on Sunday released video footage to back up its stance. In one of the videos, an official uses a bullhorn to warn the crowd. Marchers can be seen chanting, “Take the bridge.”

Erin Larkins, a Columbia University graduate student who says she and her boyfriend have significant student loan debt, was among the thousands of protesters on the bridge. She said a friend persuaded her to join the march and she’s glad she did.

“I don’t think we’re asking for much, just to wake up every morning not worrying whether we can pay the rent, or whether our next meal will be rice and beans again,” Larkins wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “No one is expecting immediate change. I think everyone is just hopeful that people will wake up a bit and realize that the more we speak up, the more the people that do have the authority to make changes in this world listen.”

Several videos taken of the event show a confusing, chaotic scene. Some show protesters screaming obscenities at police and taking a hat from one of the officers. Others show police struggling with people who refuse to get up. Nearby, a couple posed for wedding pictures on the bridge.

“We were supposed to go up the pedestrian roadway,” said Robert Cammiso, a 48-year-old student from Brooklyn told the Daily News. “There was a huge funnel, a bottleneck, and we couldn’t fit. People jumped from the walkway onto the roadway. We thought the roadway was open to us.”

Earlier Saturday, thousands who joined two other marches crossed the Brooklyn Bridge without problems. One was from Brooklyn to Manhattan by a group opposed to genetically modified food. Another in the opposite direction marched against poverty organized by United Way.

Elsewhere in the U.S. on Saturday, protesters assembled in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Boston and Los Angeles to express their solidarity with the movement in New York, though their demands remain unclear. Occupy Wall Street demonstrators have been camped in Zuccotti Park and have clashed with police on earlier occasions. Mostly, the protests have been peaceful, and the movement has shown no signs of losing steam. Celebrities including documentary filmmaker Michael Moore and actress Susan Sarandon made recent stops to encourage the group.

During the length of the protest, turnout has varied, but the numbers have reached as high as about a few thousand. A core group of about two hundred people remain camped throughout the week. They sleep on air mattresses, use Mac laptops and play drums. They go to the bathroom at the local McDonald’s. A few times a day, they march down to Wall Street, yelling, “This is what democracy looks like!”

There has been a growing swell of coverage in mainstream media, but there has been loud complaining that their cause hasn’t been championed fast enough — or in the way protesters want.

Misinformation has added to the confusion. For instance, a rumor sprang up on Twitter that the New York Police Department wanted to use tear gas on protesters — a crowd-control tactic the department doesn’t use. The claim was eventually retracted, one of several such retractions over the past several days. On Friday, a message said Radiohead would be performing in solidarity for the cause, but the band’s management said it wasn’t playing.

Earlier clashes with police have resulted in about 100 arrests. Most were for disorderly conduct. Many were the subject of homemade videos posted online.

One video surfaced of a group of girls shot with pepper spray by NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna. The woman claimed they were abused and demanded the officer resign, and the video has been the subject of several news articles and commentary. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said internal affairs would look into whether Bologna acted improperly and has also said the video doesn’t show “tumultuous” behavior by the protesters.

A real estate firm that owns Zuccotti Park has expressed concerns about conditions there, saying in a statement that it hopes to work with the city to restore the park “to its intended purpose.” But it’s not clear whether legal action will be taken, and police say there are no plans to try to remove anyone.

Seasoned activists said the ad-hoc protest could prove to be a training ground for future organizers of larger and more cohesive demonstrations, or motivate those on the sidelines to speak out against injustices.

“You may not get much, or any of these things on the first go-around,” said the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, a longtime civil rights activist who has participated in protests for decades. “But it’s the long haul that matters.”

Original Article

 The U.S. has considered building a fence along its northern border with Canada to keep out terrorists and other criminals, it has emerged.

Posted To WIDK by Emily Moore

(Mark Duell, Daily Mail) — A Customs and Border Protection Agency report suggested ‘fencing and other barriers’ along the ‘longest non-militarized open border in the world’.

But the U.S. agency has since said it is more concerned about considering the environmental effects of building more infrastructure along the border.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said it is not considering the fence option ‘at this time’, reported The Canadian Press.

Its report released last month in Washington D.C. was intended to look at how to tighten the border with Canada to improve security.

The study looked at the environmental effects if more manpower, technology, and infrastructure were created at the border.

It comes as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama try to close in on an effective border security deal.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been pushing for more manpower along the border, reported the International Business Times.

The border land ranges from dense forest to open plains to the Great Lakes - and most of it is sparsely populated, the report said.

Far less ‘illegal incursions’ happen than at the Mexico border - but ‘attempts at illegal immigration and smuggling regularly occur’ there.

Border Patrol agents along the northern border have increased by 700 per cent since 9/11, reported the International Business Times.

The report looked at the 6,437km border from Maine to Washington - ignoring Alaska - and improving U.S. ‘tactical security infrastructure.’

It considered more barriers, access roads and other facilities - including ‘selective fencing and vehicle barriers at selected points’.

The report also looked at ‘remediation of tunnels as they are discovered,’ reported Postmedia News on the Montreal Gazette.

Original Article

Actress, comedienne and now author Roseanne Barr shares her solution for dealing with the rich and how the banks could repay the money the U.S. government bailed them out with in 2008.

“I do say that I am in favor of the return of the guillotine and that is for the worst of the worst of the guilty.”

(RCP) — “Part of my platform is, of course, the guilty must be punished and that we no longer let our children see their guilty leaders getting away with murder. Because it teaches children, you know, that they don’t have to have any morals as long as they have guns and are bullies and I don’t think that’s a good message,” Barr told Russia Today (RT).

“I do say that I am in favor of the return of the guillotine and that is for the worst of the worst of the guilty.

SEE VIDEO HERE.

“I first would allow the guilty bankers to pay, you know, the ability to pay back anything over $100 million [of] personal wealth because I believe in a maximum wage of $100 million. And if they are unable to live on that amount of that amount then they should, you know, go to the reeducation camps and if that doesn’t help, then being beheaded,” Barr said with a straight face.

Original Article

Weakness in leading economic indicators has become so pervasive the Economic Cycle Research Institute now predicts a new recession is unavoidable.

Posted to WIDK by Bianca Coombs

(Aaron Task, Daily Ticker) -“The vicious cycle is starting where lower sales, lower production, lower employment and lower income [leads] back to lower sales,” co-founder Lakshman Achuthan declares in the accompanying video.

Whereas Achuthan said the jury is still out in late August, the weakness in leading economic indicators — and ECRI uses a dozen for the U.S. alone, he notes — has become a “contagion” that is spreading like “wildfire.”

Although the recovery has been “subpar” by nearly every measure, Achuthan refutes the idea the economy never got out of recession in the first place. “Just because it looks and feels a certain way doesn’t mean it’s a recession,” he says. “You haven’t seen anything yet. It’s going to get a lot worse.”

It’s too soon to predict just how bad it’s going to get, but he expects another spike in unemployment and further expansion of the federal government’s $1 trillion deficit. This forecast has huge ramifications for the 2012 election and the already struggling U.S. consumer and Achuthan says a “mild” recession is the best-case scenario.

By now you may be wondering what separates ECRI’s recession call from the myriad other recession calls out there. First, ECRI’s primary raison d’etre is predicting recession and recovery calls. Second, and more importantly, The Economist reports ECRI has never issued a “false alarm” on a recession call, meaning many of the Chicken Littles currently declaring “the sky is falling” might actually be right this time around.

Original Article

It was intended to her portray her as an ordinary mom, keen to make savings for her family.

But Michelle Obama’s casual slip-out trip to Target is being met with scepticism, as  some media personalities deride the ‘incognito’ visit as a well-timed PR stunt.

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Hannah Roberts, Daily Mail) — Only last month the First Lady was accused of indulging in luxury holidays worth $10million dollars on the tax payers’ dime.

And barely a week ago, the 47-year-old mother-of-two was criticised for wearing $40,000 diamonds to a fund-raising event.

But with Obama’s domestic popularity at one of its lowest ebbs, she seems determined to her fight her husband’s re-election battle by her self-proclaimed campaign wife motto of ‘Do no harm’.

Showing the world that she really can do recession chic, Mrs Obama headed to a Target store in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday afternoon.

Secret Service officers reportedly swept the store on Highway 1, 30 minutes before Mrs Obama popped in for her housewives’ essentials- dog food and cleaning products.

Wearing a Nike baseball cap, sunglasses and a floral-print button-down shirt, the glamorous mother walked in through the main entrance with just one assistant, an unknown female aide.

The fashionable lawyer spent about 30 minutes minutes shopping, pushing her own trolley. She was recognised only by the cashier who rang up her purchases, Today reported.

Maria Panagopulos, a store manager at the Target in Alexandria, told NBC News claimed the store was given no advance notice about the first lady’s visit.

Mrs Obama checked out at around 3.30 pm she said, and daughters, Sasha and Malia, were not with her.

‘People did not approach her, she was very incognito,’ Maria Panagopulof told CNN. ‘We didn’t realize truly what was happening until she had almost left. The cashier recognised her, but she was very unassuming.’

‘We did not have advance notice; it was as big a surprise to us as it was to everyone else.’

The White House confirmed that it was indeed the First Lady.

‘It is not uncommon for the First Lady to slip out to run an errand, eat at a local restaurant or otherwise enjoy the city outside the White House gates,’ a spokesman told CBS News.

One of the mother-of-two’s more memorable ‘slip outs’ was to DC’s BLT Steak restaurant in April, when hockey superstar Alex Ovechkin tweeted a photo of himself with his arm around the First Lady.

Target also tweeted Mrs. Obama’s visit to their store.

‘First Lady Michelle Obama may be incognito but there is no denying those signature @Target red carts!’ was tweeted from the @Bullseyeview account. @Target retweeted it.

Mrs Obama seemed at pains to appear extra down to earth by pushing her own cart and carrying her own shopping bags, examiner.com reported.

Associated Press photographer Charles Dharapak caught a few images of Mrs Obama reaching the check out.

But conservative blogger Michelle Malkin mocked the idea that it was a chance meeting as, ‘snortalicious’.

Malkin blogged: ‘She left the bling at home. But her shirt and sunglasses are about as “incognito” as Lady Gaga’s outfit at her younger sister’s graduation.’

Radio host Rush Limbaugh also denounced the visit on his show as a ‘photo-op’.

He said: ‘It has gotten so bad they had to send Moochelle out there in a Lady Gaga-type getup,’

‘What a phony baloney plastic banana good time rock-and-roller optic photo op this was!’

‘You think the AP has photographers waiting outside stores for Moochelle to show up?” Limbaugh asked. “Who do they think we are?’

On his Twitter profile photographer Dharapak names the White House as one of his beats.

And only on Monday the photographer had taken pictures of Mrs Obama inside the White House as she made an announcement about womens’ STEM career issues.

Certainly the White House have not so far denied that Dharapak was tipped off.

After shopping for around 40 minutes she reportedly left the store with towels and cleaning supplies, according to Today.

Alongside the humble groceries were dog food and treats for First Dog Bo, People magazine reported.

Of course, the possibility that Mrs Obama was in fact trying the get the last of the Missoni Target collaboration cannot be ruled out.

But she reportedly left without a bargain from the Italian designer, Business Insider reported.

Michelle has a long standing relationship with Target, declaring in 2008 that she as more target than Walmart.

A year later she was spotted wearing a Target dress, as she left Air Force Once with daughter Sasha.

And only in May she told Oprah Winfrey that she missed casual shopping trips from her life before the White House. ‘I can’t go to Target and walk around. I guess I could but it would mess up everyone else’s shopping experience.’

The shopping trip will be a slap in the face for Target’s biggest competitor Walmart.

As part of her campaign to beat childhood obesity the First Lady has formed a partnership for the Let’s Move! campaign with Walmart, who, unlike Target, have promised to cut down on salt, sugar and fat in their food, the Foodorama blog reported

Mrs Obama is currently involved in a major fund-raising effort in the run-up to her husband’s re-election campaign.

But she will have to work hard to counter her spendthrift reputation. In August White House sources claimed that the First Lady has spent $10million of U.S. taxpayers’ money on vacations in the past year.

Calling the 47-year-old mother-of-two a ’vacation junkie’ they described her  penchant for five-star hotels, where she splashes out expensive treats such as  massages.

The ‘top source’ told the National Enquirer: ‘It’s disgusting. Michelle is taking advantage of her privileged position while the most hard-working Americans can barely afford a week or two off work.

‘When it’s all added up, she’s spent more than $10million in taxpayers’ money on her vacations.’

The source continued: ‘The vacations are totally Michelle’s idea. She’s like a junkie. She can’t schedule enough getaways, and she lives from one to the next - all the while sticking it to hard-working Americans.’

Original Article

Residents in Ohio will now be permitted to carry a firearm into their local drinking establishment following the revision of the state’s gun law.

The new regulations, now in effect, allows those with gun licenses to carry a weapon to restaurants, nightclubs, shopping centers, hotels and museums - so long as the firearm remains concealed.

(Daily Mail By DAVID GERGES) — Bill Seitz, a member of the Ohio Senate, who advocated for the change said: ‘An undischarged concealed weapon never hurt anybody in history. And using a gun is not allowed under this bill.’

‘All we’re saying is they can have a piece of equipment on their body.’

The new law will also benefit drivers who are no longer required to keep their guns in a holster, case or in plain sight while at the wheel.

However, those licensed to hold a fire arm are under a strict ‘no drinking’ policy and must keep from businesses that display a gun-free premise signpost.

The new law has divided opinion, with some bar owners admitting to making no special dispensation.

Bar manager Paul Goebel insisted his tavern is continuing with its ‘business-as-usual’ approach.

He said: ‘We’ve made no plans for it.’

However, Steve Minnielli, owner of Rick’s Tavern and Grill, insisted he won’t allow guns into his own bar and believes other establishments will follow suit.

Minnielli said: ‘I would think that everyone would follow suit, I really would.’

‘Because it is just going to take that one time, just one guy, one girl pulling out their gun shooting it in the air and they are going to wonder what the world have we done.’

Senator Seitz pointed to the implementation of the law in other states that has not ‘unleash(ed) a new era of wild, wild West violence,’ as one of the reasons behind the change in the Midwestern state.

Yet the Ohio Restaurant Association is adamant that many eateries will continue to enforce the ban.

Jarrod Clabaugh, association spokesman revealed that more than 2,400 members who operate more than 5,000 restaurants in the state, had opposed the change in law after expressing a grave concern that ‘alcohol and guns do not mix.’

However, Todd Heimann, a manager at a gun store and indoor shooting range, believes the stringent rules in place in order to obtain a license, serve as a deterrent for most citizens.

He said: ‘If I go through the hassle and trouble of getting a permit, I’m not the person you have to worry about. You have to be pretty squeaky clean in order to get one.’

In order to be granted an Ohio gun license, a person must be at least 21 years old, with no previous criminal convictions.

Further, they must complete at least 12 hours of training, including two hours on a firing range, pass a criminal background check and pay various fees.

Original Article

Obama Giggles in Court Today – That Is, Onyango Obama, the President’s Illegal Alien Uncle (WIDK)

(Boston Herald By John Zaremba) — A giggling Onyango Obama — the president’s illegal alien half uncle — made a brief appearance in Framingham District Court today on charges he was drunk when he nearly struck an unmarked police cruiser last month.

Obama, 67, was visibly amused at the media spectacle, stifling laughter several times before his 30-second court appearance where a judge set a Nov. 17 pre-trial conference.

Obama did not acknowledge a Herald reporter’s questions upon arrival at Framingham District Court and neither he nor his lawyer made any comment on his way out where they were followed to the parking lot by a horde of media.

His attorney, P. Scott Bratton, did, however, tell the Herald that Obama, who has been living illegally in the United States for nearly 20 years, has returned to work at Conti Liquors in Framingham.

“He has. He’s doing well,” Bratton said.

Obama was accompanied in court today by two attorneys and an unidentified male supporter. The courtroom was packed with some members of the media, but mostly with other defendants hauled in for the usual round of arraignments at the county court located in suburban Boston.

Onyango, who had a valid driver’s license and Social Security card when he was arrested last month, was in the U.S. illegally having already faced a 1992 deportation order. Immigration officials have ordered him to “check in” with them.

When he was arrested by Framingham police on suspicion of drunken driving Aug. 24, he suggested his first call should be to the White House. A spokesman for the president told the Herald that call was never made. He actually called his boss at Conti’s Liquors.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone has also vowed to prosecute Obama to the fullest extent possible on the OUI charge.

Original Article

Bristol Palin Gets In Confrontation, But Was It For Her Reality Show? (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Bob Williams

(Breeanna Hare, CNN) — Bristol Palin was caught having a heated exchange about her mother over the weekend as she reportedly taped her upcoming BIO Channel reality show.

While hanging out at a place called the Saddle Ranch in L.A. and enjoying a night of mechanical bull riding, TMZ reports that a heckler yelled out at Palin, “Do you ride Levi like that? Your mother’s a whore.”

As cameras rolled, Palin marched over to the offender and demanded to know why he’d say such things about her mother, including that she’s “evil.” TMZ reports that Bristol asked the heckler if the reason he disliked her mother was because he was gay.

The Palin family’s attorney tells CNN in a statement regarding the incident, “Bristol Palin was approached in a confrontational and inappropriate manner when two men aggressively shouted expletives aimed at her in reference to her mother. Bristol responded to the unprovoked verbal assault by calmly standing her ground and defending her family. The situation ended with no incident, and accusing her of homophobia is completely unfounded and totally misstates her views.”

The network for her upcoming reality show didn’t have a comment on what happened, but the rumor is that Palin’s co-star Kyle Massey thinks the showdown was all for the program’s cameras. TMZ cites anonymous tipsters who say Massey isn’t pleased with the direction the show’s taking. However, a source close to the production of the reality series maintains that the production team had nothing to do with the heckler’s outburst.

Palin announced in May that she was moving in with fellow “DWTS” contender Massey and his younger brother, Christopher, when she relocated to Los Angeles.

“Since [‘Dancing With the Stars’],” the BIO Channel said in a statement at the time, “Bristol, Kyle, and Kyle’s brother…have become best friends; so much so, that since Bristol and Tripp have to move to Los Angeles for her new job, she decides to move in with the Massey brothers who are also about to realize how much their lives are about to change.”

Original Article

Saudi Woman to Receive TEN LASHES for DRIVING (WIDK)

(BBC) — A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a woman to 10 lashes for breaking the country’s ban on female drivers.

The woman, identified only as Shema, was found guilty of driving in Jeddah in July.

Women2drive, which campaigns for women to be allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, says she has already lodged an appeal.

In recent months, scores of women have driven vehicles in Saudi cities in an effort to put pressure on the monarchy to change the law.

The sentence comes two days after the Saudi leader King Abdullah announced women would be allowed to vote for the first time in 2015.

Two other women are due to appear in court later this year on similar charges, correspondents say.

Original Article