If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed. -- Benjamin Franklin
Mitt Romney said he has never paid less than a 13 percent tax rate in the past 10 years during a press availability in South Carolina Thursday. Romney said that he thought the fascination with his taxes was small-minded compared with the the bigger issues of the campaign. He said he recently went back and looked at his taxes and verified that it was never under 13 percent.
Congressional candidate Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher called for building a fence and to "start shooting" as part of the solution to illegal immigration at a political event over the weekend in Arizona.
Mr. Wurzelbacher, known as "Joe the Plumber," is the Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) in the 9th Congressional District.
He spoke Friday night at a fund-raiser in Prescott, Ariz., for Arizona state Sen. Lori Klein.
"For years I've said, 'Put a damn fence on that border going to Mexico and start shooting … ' That's how I feel. I'm not going to hide it just because I'm running for office. I want the borders protected, and I'm very adamant about that," Mr. Wurzelbacher said.
The comment was made in the course of a 14-minute off-the-cuff speech that touched on the importance of conservatives voting for representatives who share their views at the local level.
It was reported by PrescotteNews.com. He said too many conservatives are afraid to speak their minds.
In the 1960s, Harrison began the novel series through which he is probably best remembered. The Stainless Steel Rat books focused on the thief/smuggler Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Deathworld books on culture and environmental clashes on the backdrop of a difficult-to-colonize planet, the Bill The Galactic Hero book offered up direct parodies of bad science fiction. Like many of the most popular and well-liked genre authors of the 20th Century, Harrison's work was generally smart but offered multiple entrance points for readers of various ages. They are frequently cited by current writers and fans of science fiction and fantasy as influential books from early on in their discovery of that kind of writing.
His 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! was the basis for the 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green, and contains potent elements of social criticism only a few of which made it into the film version. It was dedicated to Harrison's then-young children, which gives poignancy to the novel's strong foreboding nature. In the 1970s, Harrison and the author Brian Aldiss worked as anthology series co-editors and were among the leaders in that corner of publishing in terms of collecting valuable material from decades past.
Like several authors of his generation, Harrison used the relative freedom of being a writer (no doubt in close conjunction that living costs be kept relatively low in an uncertain profession) to live in various places around the world. He would reside at various times in Denmark, England, Ireland, Italy and Mexico. For a time he taught a science fiction course at San Diego State University and organized similar courses in university summer programs. He continued his involvement in various fan- and professional-driven science fiction organization and was a presence at a lot of the early conventions.
Three 12-episode adaptation of Stainless Steel Rat stories appeared in 2000 AD in the late '70s to early '80s. "The Stainless Steel Rat" ran in #s 140-151 (1979/80), "The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World" ran in #s 166-177 (1980) and "The Stainless Steel Rat For President" appeared in #s 393-404 (1984/85). Some of this material appeared in 1985 from Eagle Comics under its own cover.
In 2009, Harrison won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He was involved in advocacy for Esperanto; the language appears in some of his novels. He won a Nebula Award for Best Script and was nominated for multiple Locus Awards.
A last major piece of writing was released two years ago -- another Stainless Steel Rat book -- and Harrison claimed to be working on a secret project.
Government statistics suggest that almost half of us report sitting more than six hours a day; 65% say they spend more than two hours a day watching TV.But it's taking a toll on health. A recent study showed that if people spent less than three hours a day sitting, it would add two years to the average U.S. life expectancy. And research has linked sitting too much to increased risks of diabetes and death from cancer, heart disease and stroke.Endocrinologist James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., talks about sitting disease and how to get out of the chair and move more. Levine did some of the original research on the topic and is still investigating it — from a treadmill at his desk.
The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner has long talked of his desire to achieve pitching perfection. He finally accomplished it against the Rays, striking out the side twice and finishing with 12 strikeouts.
It was the third perfect game in baseball this season -- a first -- joining gems by Chicago's Philip Humber against the Mariners in April and San Francisco's Matt Cain versus Houston in June.
More than half of all perfectos -- 12 -- have come in the last 25 seasons.This also was the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season, three of them at Safeco Field. Humber threw his gem in Seattle, then six Mariners pitchers combined to hold the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless at the park on June 8. Prior to Wednesday, no team has ever had a combined no-hitter and a complete game no-hitter in the same season.
For the Rays, it was an all-too-familiar feeling. This was the third time in four seasons they had a perfect game pitched against them, following efforts by Dallas Braden in 2010 and Mark Buehrle in 2009. They've been no-hit four times over the past four seasons.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) has signed an executive order that attempts to thwart President Obama’s directive extending temporary work permits to more than a million undocumented immigrants. The Obama administration’s policy — which would grant two-year work authorizations to undocumented youth between 15 and 30 years of age who have lived in the U.S. continuously for at least five years — was announced in June and went into effect on Wednesday.
Brewer’s order directs “state agencies to deny driver’s licenses and other public benefits to young illegal immigrants who obtain work authorizations” and “directs state agencies to start emergency rulemaking processes as necessary to implement her order.”