Bush impersonator: 'Miss me?' (Politico)

Critics of the Obama administration have been quick to quip about how things were better under Bush (you might recall that Montana billboard, featuring a picture of Bush - ?Miss Me Yet??).

Now, there?s even a comedy act along those lines, and it?s by noted impersonator Steve Bridges, who performed side-by-side with the 43rd president at the 2006 White House Correspondents Association?s annual dinner.

Continue Reading

Bridges is launching a new show for next year called, ?President Bush: Miss Me?? and it features Bridges impersonating a now retired Bush.

?I am free, baby, I am loose. Feelin? good? lookin? good? check out the suntan,? says Bridges as he portrays Bush. ?Like they say in D.C., I got my Boehner on.?

As for retired life, ?Bush? says, ?I?m bored out of my mind. I mean, it?s nice spending all this time with Laura and all. I mean, finally gettin? to hear all her opinions and feelings about everything? twenty-four hours a day, seven days an hour, fifty-six weeks a year?Every morning she hands me a big ol? ?honeydew? list. She calls it a ?honeydew? list ?cause if I don?t do any of it she launches a melon at my head.?

Other topics include?

President Obama: ?Obama is a smarty pants. Slick talker, too. Heck, he?s firing up the Republican base like I never could. Folks ask what advice I would give President Obama. I guess I?d just give the same advice my dad gave me ? just try to be more like Jeb.?

European debt crisis: ?And there?s no need to get our panties in a bunch over this European debt crisis? it?s all Greek to me. Here?s the deal? we have the most productive workers in the world. All of the little tags that say ?Made in China?? We make those here!?

Iraq: ?Everybody sayin? I shouldn?t have gone into Iraq. Nobody mentions the places we didn?t go into? like Bosnia, and Kardashia.?

The death of bin Laden: ?And remember how I said I would get bin Laden, dead or alive? Well I was right, except for the ?I? part. Okay, Obama found him and killed him. But the whole ?killing him? was my idea!?

2012 candidates: ?Mitt Romney?s like a chameleon, always changing his position. And Michele Bachmann?s a chameleon because she has big scary eyes, and I think she eats bugs. Then there?s Rick Perry with all those teeth. And all that hair. Who doesn?t like teeth and hair? How smart can Rick Perry be? He went to Texas A&M. The A stands for ?A moron? and the M stands for ?Empty-headed.? See, he?s just taking my shtick. Stealing my whole thing? It feels like there?s a guy walkin? around talkin like me, walkin like me? creepy! He?s all hat, no sizzle. Or steak. All sizzle with a hat, no steak or cattle.?

Bridges? publicist tells POLITICO that he hopes to take his act to comedy clubs next year but is more likely to stick with his more regular venues: conventions, meetings and corporate events.

Despite the wave of attention he received following the 2006 dinner, Bridges hasn?t just stuck to Bush. He?s developed an Obama impersonation as well, which can be viewed on his website, www.stevebridges.com

And if you really miss George W. Bush this holiday season, you can head to that website and get Bridges to videotape a personalized greeting for you, from ?President Bush.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1111_68669_html/43643518/SIG=11mva51tb/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68669.html

the green mile the green mile james whitey bulger rachel uchitel amerigo vespucci julio jones elizabeth warren

Occupy protesters retake Zuccotti Park, 75 arrested

I work across the street from Zuccotti Park and yesterday we were told to try to get here early because of all the planned disruptions on the "day of action". What a joke. They were going to interrupt the NYSE opening. Stock Market opened on time with no problems.

This movement has no leadership at all. And because of this there are minimal disruptions today. There are just leaderless groups milling around lower Manhattan with no direction. No one knows what they are doing. The one thing I did see is when a group tried to push past a barricade where people who work down here were going through, the PEOPLE pushed back.

Speaking as someone who works down here, and what I feel is more and more becoming the feeling of the residents and employees in lower Manhattan, OWS has more than worn out their welcome. In the beginning we supported you. We accepted that you had a message, and were fine with your protests. But you've been disrespectful, and not at all mindful of the people that live and work down here. You are supposed to be taking on the big guy, but you are doing nothing but pissing off the little guy.

Word is that they are planning on disrupting subway service today. This is New York, and I wouldn't suggest pissing off New Yorkers. Cause a disruption on the subway and the NYPD won't be the ones dragging you out.

OWS while a good idea has failed because of the very reason you thought it would succeed. No leadership at all. No leadership gets exactly what you have today. Confused mobs milling around lower Manhattan with no clear direction or objective.

Are you people so oblivious that you don't realize that you aren't hurting the 1%? They don't give a damn about you or what you are doing. However the guy that mops the floor, and the girl that answers the phone are being forced to wade through a sea of @ssholes to get to their jobs.

So yes, your day of action will produce action. We The People are tired of you interrupting our lives. You people don't give a damn about the people that live and work down here. We are tired of you and you've been pushing us for 2 months. And as I've seen so far this morning from my commute to work, we are starting to push back.

And really, do you really think that the NYPD doesn't know how to handle you? That you are going to overwhelm them? Let me explain something to you. This is not Oakland, this is not Charlotte, or Seattle or any of those other places. Every December 31st more than a million people congregate in Times Square, an area roughly the same size as lower Manhattan. And every December 31st the NYPD does a fantastic job of keeping the peace and order. They train for this. They know what to do.

Source: http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/17/8857449-occupy-protesters-take-to-the-streets

cbsnews ufc on fox fight card florida marlins ncaa basketball boise state football boise state football jack and jill

Google+ has third biggest week since start

By Suzanne Choney

Social networking site Google+ recorded its third biggest week last week, with more than 6.8 million total U.S. visits, according to Hitwise.

The site launched last summer to an invite-only crowd. Its previous top two weeks were the week ending Sept. 24, when Google+ opened to all users, and the week after that.

Live Poll

Facebook or Google+?

• 168259

  Sticking with Facebook. And that's that.

  24%

• 168260

  Using both; like them for different reasons.

  31%

• 168261

  Have ditched Facebook for G+.

  18%

• 168262

  Getting ready to boot one or both; tired of social networking.

  27%

VoteTotal Votes: 71

Why the sudden boon? Mashable points to Google's recent introduction of "brand" pages on Google+?? which lets companies have their own pages, just as they do on Facebook ? well as the continuing addition of features, such as letting users rate images +1.

Google+ has had its ups and downs since it began. But recent signs are definitely on the "plus" side.

Hitwise director of research Heather Dougherty, on the company's blog, points to a few factors: Google+ "benefits from other Google properties for referral traffic. Among the top ten referral sources, eight are Google properties and accounted for 73 percent off all upstream traffic last week, up from 65 percent during the peak week of Sept. 24."

As "another positive sign," she cites the increasing number of returning visitors to Google+. "The average of the first two weeks of November versus the same time in October shows the share of returning visitors to the Google+ site increased 18 percent. Last week, 74 percent of the traffic to Google+ was from returning visitors, suggesting that Google+ users are returning to interact and engage with their networks (aka circles)."

Is Google+ starting to run "circles" around Facebook? What do you think? Let us know by voting in our poll.

Related stories:

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/17/8860943-google-has-third-biggest-week-since-start

grady sizemore grady sizemore samhain great pumpkin charlie brown the strangers all hallows eve all saints day

Move Along Now, Nothing to See Here (Balloon Juice)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/162522667?client_source=feed&format=rss

occupy wallstreet tony bennett pumpkins pumpkins occupy wall st occupy wall st the graduate

House Democrats ask for tougher Volcker rule (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? A group of House Democrats are asking regulators to start over with a proposed ban on proprietary trading by banks, arguing the current proposal has too many loopholes.

In a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke released on Wednesday, a group of 17 House Democrats said the draft rule unveiled last month should be scrapped and replaced with a more simple approach.

"The Federal Reserve's draft Volcker Rule is unnecessarily complex and includes several large loopholes that undermine Congress's intent to protect banking deposits from risky trading activities," the lawmakers wrote in their letter, which was spearheaded by Representatives Maurice Hinchey and Peter Welch.

The Volcker rule, named for former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker who championed the measure, aims to prevent banks that receive government backstops like deposit insurance from making risky trades with their own funds in securities, derivatives and other financial products.

It will also prohibit banks from investing in, or sponsoring, hedge funds or private equity funds.

The trading ban will have the most impact on large banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

The Volcker rule was included in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law and the draft rule released last month was written by the Fed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The rule is out for comment until January 13 after which a final proposal has to be drafted to fully implement the policy.

Some of the complaints the lawmakers are aiming at regulators have more to do with provisions included in the law passed by Congress.

For instance, the letter complains that the proposed rule would allow banks to engage in proprietary trading if it is done to make a market for a client or to hedge against related risks.

These exemptions to the ban, however, are permitted by the law.

Regulators have faced complaints that their interpretation of these exemptions is too broad.

The letter also cites recent comments from Volcker himself that the rule may be too complex.

At a November 9 event on the rule, however, Volcker's top aide, Tony Dowd, said the former Fed chairman is mostly supportive of the proposal, particularly the provision that lays responsibility for following the trading ban with senior management.

Dowd said Volcker feels it is more complex than needed, only because the banking industry was successful in its efforts to have exemptions added to the law.

"From Mr. Volcker's standpoint I think he is hanging his hat on the strong wording of the general prohibition on prop trading and the accountability for senior management and boards of directors to implement the policy," he said at an event hosted by Americans for Financial Reform, which supports the Volcker rule.

(Reporting by Dave Clarke; Editing by Carol Bishopric)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111116/pl_nm/us_financial_regulation_volcker

breaking bad season finale breaking bad season finale jets patriots breaking bad breaking bad atlanta falcons nancy shevell

?Beat up but not beaten,? Giffords speaks in first TV interview since shooting (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/162135871?client_source=feed&format=rss

packers bears boeing 787 johnny appleseed hank baskett scrimshaw jacoby ellsbury jacoby ellsbury

Insect-eating plant inspires water repellent material

James C Weaver and Peter Allen

This is an illustration showing a schematic of slippery surface and its characteristics of repelling many fluids present on the earth, as symbolized by the earth reflected on the liquid drop.

By John Roach

After a rain, ants, spiders and little frogs find the sweet-smelling pitcher plant irresistible, but the attraction is fatal. The tube-shaped leaves are so slippery that the creatures slide to the bottom where they are devoured by digestive juices.

Inspired by this material in nature's bag of tricks, researchers have created what is being deemed one of the world's most slippery materials, named SLIPS for slippery liquid infused porous surfaces.

---

The material repels just about any type of liquid, including blood and oil, in conditions ranging from super high pressures to freezing cold temperatures. Potential applications include anti-icing technologies, self-cleaning windows, improved optical devices and pipes for transporting oil.

?

?

It could also be used to coat the inside of a jar of jam or ketchup, ending the frustration of trying to get the last drop out, Joanna Aizenberg, a materials scientist at Harvard University who led the research effort, told The Telegraph.

"It is a problem we all face ? we have a bottle of sauce and we are trying to get the last bit out but nothing is happening," she told the newspaper. "If we used substance like ours to coat the inside of bottles, it would be possible to get it all out."

To make the material, she and colleagues studied how the leaves of the pitcher plant work ? they have a spongy texture filled with water, creating a surface that repels the oily feet of insects ? and created a nano/microstructured material filled with a lubricating fluid.

"Like the pitcher plant, SLIPS are slippery for insects, but they are now designed to do much more: they repel a wide variety of liquids and solids," Aizenberg said in a news release.

Check out the video below to see how SLIPS works as a self-cleaning material.

This is an example of the self-cleaning quality of Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surface (SLIPS).

[Via?PopSci and The Telegraph]

More on futuristic materials:

---

Findings were published Sept. 22 in the journal Nature.

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

As the over-65 population expands, new gadgets and systems will allow seniors to live at home and receive improved healthcare. From sleep-sensing beds to robots piloted by grandchildren, we look at how "health surveillance" can improve quality of life.

?

Source: http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/15/8820467-insect-eating-plant-inspires-water-repellant-material

john wayne gacy top chef just desserts jamarcus russell sister wives st louis weather kryptos student loan forgiveness