must see Vid …President Obama responds to White House petition

President Obama Responds to We the People Petitions Related to Gun Violence.

In the days since the tragedy in Newtown, Americans from all over the country have called for action to deter mass shootings and reduce gun violence, and hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions on whitehouse.gov‘s We the People platform. In this video message, President Obama responds, explaining a comprehensive effort to come up with a broader set of serious proposals and encouraging Americans to continue their participation in this important process.

Plan B exposed ::: White House ::: Get the Facts

With tax cuts for middle-class families set to expire soon, Republicans in Congress have proposed legislation known as “Plan B” that not only raises taxes on 25 million middle-class families, but cuts taxes for households making more than $1 million each year.

We’ve put together a graphic to help explain the proposed legislation. Check it out:

discover Spain’s Jewish Heritage : Santa Tracker launches on 12/24

Explore Spain’s Jewish heritage online Posted: 19 Dec 2012 08:25 AM PST You can now discover Spain’s Jewish heritage on a new site powered by comprehensive and accurate Google Maps: www.redjuderias.org/google. Using the Google Maps API, Red de Juderías de España has built a site where you can explore more than 500 landmarks that shed light on Spain’s Jewish population throughout history. By clicking on a landmark, you can get historical information, pictures or texts, and a 360º view of the location, thanks to Street View technology. You can also use the search panel on the top of the page to filter the locations by category, type, geographic zone or date. Toledo, Synagogue Santamaría la Blanca Information is included on each landmark This project is just one of our efforts to bring important cultural content online. This week, we worked with the Israel Antiquities Authority to launch the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, an online collection of more than 5,000 scroll fragments, and last year we announced a project to digitize and make available the Yad Vashem Museum’s Holocaust archives. With the Google Art Project, people around the world can also view and explore more than 35,000 works of art in 180 museums. Read more about this project on the Europe Blog. We hope this new site will inspire you to learn more about Spain’s Jewish history, and perhaps to visit these cities in person. Posted by William Echikson, External Relations, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Count down to Christmas Eve with Google Santa TrackerPosted: 18 Dec 2012 11:59 PM PST While millions of people eagerly await Christmas Day, Santa and his elves are keeping busy at the North Pole. They’re preparing presents, tuning up the sleigh, feeding the reindeer and, of course, checking the list (twice!) before they take flight on their trip around the world. While we’ve been tracking Santa since 2004 with Google Earth, this year a team of dedicated Google Maps engineers built a new route algorithm to chart Santa’s journey around the world on Christmas Eve. On his sleigh, arguably the fastest airborne vehicle in the world, Santa whips from city to city delivering presents to millions of homes. You’ll be able to follow him on Google Maps and Google Earth, and get his stats starting at 2:00 a.m. PST Christmas Eve at google.com/santatracker. Simulating Santa’s path across the world—see it live Dec 24 In addition, with some help from developer elves, we’ve built a few other tools to help you track Santa from wherever you may be. Add the new Chrome extension or download the Android app to keep up with Santa from your smartphone or tablet. And to get the latest updates on his trip, follow Google Maps on Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Get a dashboard view of Santa’s journey on Google Maps The Google Santa Tracker will launch on December 24, but the countdown to the journey starts now! Visit Santa’s Village today to watch the countdown clock and join the elves and reindeer in their preparations. You can even ask Santa to call a friend or family member. We hope you enjoy tracking Santa with us this year. And on behalf of everyone at Google—happy holidays! Posted by Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Google Earth

West Wing Week: 12/21/12 or “We Are There For Them”.

 

Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, the President addressed the national tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, and promised meaningful action to address gun violence, while the White House invited some of its newest Pinterest followers, and the President spread some holiday cheer.

Diplomatic Corps Holiday Reception

. Diplomatic Corps Holiday Reception bywhitehouse

Congressional Budget Office … cost estimates

S. 1744, Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act

As reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on July, 12, 2012

H.R. 6684, the Spending Reduction Act of 2012

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has reviewed H.R. 6684, the Spending Reduction Act of 2012, as posted on the Web site of the House Committee on Rules on December 19, 2012

H.R. 6684, the Spending Reduction Act of 2012

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has reviewed H.R. 6684, the Spending Reduction Act of 2012, as posted on the Web site of the House Committee on Rules on December 19, 2012.

Weekly Update: MediaMatters for America

In the wake of a terrible tragedy in Connecticut, the media is pushing to extremes. Some are doing what they should have done long ago, but others are doubling down on misinformation. All that and the Misinformer of the Year. John Whitehouse Twitter: @existentialfish Misinformer Of The Year: Rush Limbaugh The toxic, sexist rhetoric and conspiracy theories that built the right-wing bubble are just some of the reasons Rush Limbaugh is the 2012 Misinformer of the Year. We look back at how Limbaugh’s campaign to make Obama to fail imploded this year: http://mm4a.org/WwiGs2 Bill O’Reilly And The Longest “War” We ran the numbers. In just December so far, Bill O’Reilly covered the phony “War on Christmas” more than three times as much as actual wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and Gaza. And it’s not just that – he has covered the “War on Christmas” for 12 minutes more than he did in 2011. Read our full report: http://mm4a.org/VRC1O8 The Worst Idea In The History Of Ideas Following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, the media has floated various ideas on how to react, some good, some bad. But the worst is Newsweek‘s Megan McArdle advocating for people, including children, to be trained to run at active shooters: http://mm4a.org/12xRBEr Media Ignores Bush-Era Gun Law In 2005, George W. Bush signed an NRA-backed law that gave legal immunity to gun makers and dealers. The law was signed after increasingly successful lawsuits about how their reckless business practices put guns in the hands of criminals. It’s time the media look closely at an industry that all too often can turn a blind eye to reckless business practices. http://mm4a.org/RErfzx FEATURED VIDEO In the right-wing bubble, it’s gospel that President Obama wants to repeal the Second Amendment But when CNN’s Carol Costello examined that claim in reality, she summarily dismissed the conspiracy: http://mm4a.org/TvcHyQ CHIP IN We’re halfway to our year-end fundraising goal! Stopping conservative misinformation is a big job -and we can’t do it without your help. Donate $5 to support our work here: http://mm4a.org/2012fundraiser DISCOVERING A BETTER WAY In October, the Discovery Channel aired a special about Ted Nugent and “gun culture.” But now, the channel has decided laudably to hue towards more responsible programming, announcing that American Guns was cancelled and that Nugent will not again appear on the channel. http://mm4a.org/UzJqCn IMAGE OF THE WEEK Sen. Bernie Sanders Comments To Bill Moyers About Media Concentration

CBO : National Defense Authorization Act

H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013

Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Effects for H.R. 4310, as Provided to CBO on December 17, 2012

a recognition of rebirth,holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations

The winter solstice is the solstice that occurs in winter. It is the time at which the Sun appears at noon at its lowest altitude above the horizon. ^[2] In the Northern Hemisphere this is the Southern solstice, the time at which the Sun is at its southernmost point in the sky, which usually occurs on December 21 to 22 each year

Just another rant… more like a response

I ,like everyone else left of center, have been receiving several emails with an urgency to jump on the wagon to fight President Obama’s new tax deal. Honestly, I have not heard enough that would make me sign a petition stating my President is wrong, loony or just does not know what he is doing.  There are strong feelings, passions and possible misunderstandings by rwnj’s but this new panic button lefties seemingly have called it game over, yet the game of negotiating clearly is just beginning.  Again, I have strong opinions post other folks opinions and views, but I don’t always side with all of them. The point to my blog; is to blow off steam … offer up some info from those who know, maybe question and challenge some who think they know and ask plead or yell for a call to action with signatures that can create change … Words do Matter contrary to how most conservatives seem to feel.

I thank everyone who even takes the time to visit my blog let alone read and respond to the articles blasts and even some actually sign petitions … I thank you … much gratitude.

The Fiscal Cliff, the end of days, gun control legislation, Christmas and what life will look like for the middle class after the New Year is still filled with the Audacity for Hope and Change.

Happy Holidays

Official Google blog – African entrepreneurship

Cloud computing enabling entrepreneurship in Africa

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 09:30 AM PST

In 2007, 33-year-old Vuyile moved to Cape Town from rural South Africa in search of work.  Unable to complete high school, he worked as a night shift security guard earning $500/month to support his family.  During the rush hour commute from his home in Khayelitsha, Vuyile realized that he could earn extra income by selling prepaid mobile airtime vouchers to other commuters on the train.
In rural areas, it’s common to use prepaid vouchers to pay for basic services such as electricity, insurance and airtime for mobile phones. But it’s often difficult to distribute physical vouchers because of the risk of theft and fraud.
Nomanini, a startup based in South Africa, built a device that enables local entrepreneurs like Vuyile to sell prepaid mobile services in their communities. The Lula (which means “easy” in colloquial Zulu), is a portable voucher sales terminal that is used on-the-go by people ranging from taxi drivers to street vendors. It generates and prints codes which people purchase to add minutes to their mobile phones.
Today, Vuyile sells vouchers on the train for cash payment, and earns a commission weekly. Since he started using the Lula, he’s seen his monthly income increase by 20 percent.

Vuyile prints a voucher from his Lula

Nomanini founders Vahid and Ali Monadjem wanted to make mobile services widely available in areas where they had been inaccessible, or where—in a region where the average person makes less than $200/month—people simply couldn’t afford them.  By creating a low-cost and easy-to-use product, Nomanini could enable entrepreneurs in Africa to go to deep rural areas and create businesses for themselves.
In order to build a scalable and reliable backend system to keep the Lula running, Nomanini chose to run on Google App Engine. Their development team doesn’t have to spend time setting up their own servers and can instead run on the same infrastructure that powers Google’s own applications. They can focus on building their backend systems and easily deploy code to Google’s data centers. When Vuyile makes a sale, he presses a few buttons, App Engine processes the request, and the voucher prints in seconds.
Last month, 40,000 people bought airtime through the Lula, and Nomanini hopes to grow this number to 1 million per month next year. While platforms like App Engine are typically used to build web or smartphone apps, entrepreneurs like Vahid and Ali are finding innovative ways to leverage this technology by building their own devices and connecting them to App Engine.  Vahid tells us: “We’re a uniquely born and bred African solution, and we have great potential to take this to the rest of Africa and wider emerging markets. We could not easily scale this fast without running on Google App Engine.”
To learn more about the technical implementation used by Nomanini, read their guest post on the Google App Engine blog.
Posted by Zafir Khan, Google App Engine