Cannabis Chewing Gum from Medical Marijuana Inc. Coming Soon, Says UnitedPatientsGroup.com

CBD-based chewing gum, the latest development of the medical marijuana industry produced by Medical Marijuana Inc. and CanChew Bio-technologies, will hit the shelves of health food markets in the near future, says UnitedPatientsGroup.com.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) December 22, 2012
Cannabis chewing gum may sound like a fairy tale product from the future, but patients can expect it to be a reality soon. CanChew gum, the newest addition to the Medical Marijuana Inc. portfolio of revolutionary CBD-based products, is in the market testing phase right now and will become available at health food markets in early 2013. UnitedPatientsGroup.com explains how this gum can benefit many medical marijuana patients.
“Medical Marijuana Inc. recently acquired a 50% interest of CanChew Bio-technologies from European based pharmaceutical company Sanammad to come up with this industry changing product that will offer a discreet way for patients to take their medication and find relief,” says John Malanca, founder and owner of UnitedPatientsGroup.com.
Malanca says other benefits of CanChew gum include:

    Rapid absorption of pain relieving Cannabidiol (CBD) – When the gum is chewed, the active compounds are released directly into the blood stream via the oral mucosal glands, providing more rapid relief.
    Regulated dosages – Each piece of gum contains a regulated amount of CBD, so the guesswork of pain relief is virtually eliminated.
    A socially acceptable delivery method – Unlike smoking, CanChew gum allows patients to take their medication any place and any time without having to worry about the negative social stigma.
    A travel-friendly alternative to medical marijuana – CanChew has the potential to give patients a completely new way to travel with their medication without the stress of security checks and possession fines. (More information about traveling with medical marijuana.)
In addition to these benefits, UnitedPatientsGroup.com says Medical Marijuana Inc’s CBD products provide an innovative way for patients to find relief.
For more information about CanChew gum, visit canchewbiotech.com or medicalmarijuanainc.com.
To learn more about UnitedPatientsGroup.com, please call (415) 524-8099 or visit UnitedPatientsGroup.com. The best way to stay informed about developments is to “like” United Patients Group on Facebook and “follow” Untied Patients Group on Twitter.
About UnitedPatientsGroup.com
UnitedPatientsGroup.com is a discreet, safe, and professional [online medical cannabis information resource for prospective and current patients, caregivers, and medicinal cannabis industry professionals.
While most online medical marijuana sites cater to patients already familiar with medical marijuana, the UnitedPatientsGroup.com website is a comprehensive and easy-to-use information source for people of all ages and experience levels, from novice medical cannabis users to experienced industry professionals. The site’s News, Resource, and Blog pages introduce new patients to the ins and outs of medical marijuana healthcare, while helping experienced providers stay abreast of the latest developments in CBD therapies.
A complimentary Five Star-rated UPG medical marijuana app is now available on the iTunes app store for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and any iPad.

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Tees For Your Head Announces Exclusive Reissue of Geeky Astronomy T-Shirts Created for South Pole Telescope Team Members

Online retailer Tees For Your Head offers a line of tees for geeks in the arts and sciences, and now they've added an exclusive set of South Pole Telescope tees.

Santa Cruz, CA (PRWEB) December 22, 2012
Imagine working in unusually dry, cold conditions, two miles above sea level, where night and day don't follow the rules: winters are never light and summers are never dark. Welcome to the South Pole.
Online store Tees For Your Head is the only retailer to offer t-shirts created by and for the researchers, engineers, and support staff of the South Pole Telescope project.
Tees are available for 2008 through 2012, with 2013 coming soon. The original print runs were screen printed, and were available only to the people personally connected to the project. Now Tees For Your Head will maintain former and current versions of the tees, printing them to order using direct-to-garment printers on the blank of the buyer's choice.
Blank t-shirt styles to choose from include:

A men's classic cut (a looser fit) in heavyweight cotton with a crew neck
A men's lightweight, fitted style in organic cotton with a crew neck
A women's lightweight, fitted style in organic cotton with a crew neck
A women's lightweight, fitted style with a v-neck
A unisex youth heavyweight cotton with a crew neck
For the first time, the general public is invited to celebrate the South Pole Telescope project by wearing their favorite shirts, anything from the playful Nibiru design for 2012 to the elegant wire frame-style drawing of the telescope for 2011.
Shirts are available now on the Tees For Your Head website. "We are lucky to be able to offer these designs, and we have sizes for kids and tee styles for women. It’s a great way for the people who have been involved in creating, and now using, the South Pole Telescope to share the experience with their families without making them go to the south pole," says Tom Bates, co-owner of Tees for Your Head.
About Tees For Your Head: the online home of geeky t-shirts for lovers of the arts and sciences was launched in 2012. Husband and wife team Tom Bates and Karin Carter have an arts and science background and create their own designs to appeal to the geeks of the world. Santa Cruz tee shirt designs are in the works for this Santa Cruz based business. By the way, these tees are worn on the body, not really on the head. Just a helpful hint. Find their unique geeky tees at http://www.teesforyourhead.com online now.

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Mail Box Stores Announces the Opening of 1 Stop Mailbox Shop in Brandenton, FL, DRSS Reports

1 Stop Mailbox Shop is a full service mailbox store recently opened for business in Brandenton, FL offering 25 shipping, business, and postal services along with a range of office, packing, and shipping merchandise.

Brandenton, FL (PRWEB) December 22, 2012
1 Stop mailbox Shop is a new full-service mailbox store recently opened by local entrepreneur, Joy Grimes. It is located at 4456 Cortez Road West, Brandenton, FL 34210. The location offers residence a convenient place for all of their essential shipping and mailbox needs as well as office, packing, and packing supplies, saving them a lot of time and money according to store owner, Joy Grimes.
1 Stop Mailbox Shop offers national and international shipping of items of any size for a good price, plus packing and packaging materials, key cutting, color copy services, passports and ID photos, letterheads, business cards, mailbox rentals, a range of office supplies, and shipping supplies like loose fill, tape, cushioned mailers, shipping labels, decorated boxes, corrugated boxes, bubble wrap and more.
The Mail Box Stores assisted 1 Stop Mailbox Shop in securing financing, site location, lease negotiation, business training and store operation training, store build-out, and securing a network of wholesale suppliers, and they are committed to providing ongoing business and marketing support. These services were available for a one-time cost and there are no franchise fees because 1 Stop Mailbox Shop is independently owned by Joy Grimes.
The Mail Box Stores is a non-franchise independent developer of mailbox stores specializing in all areas of mailbox store business development including financing assistance plus credit repair when needed, site location, lease negotiation, business training, store build-out, securing a network of wholesale suppliers, and ongoing support for the life of the business at no additional cost.
Discount Retail Store Services is an independent business development company that offers turn-key business start-up opportunities across six proven business models including Dollar Stores, Clothing Stores, Mail Box Stores, Teen Stores, party Stores, and Fitness Centers. DRSS is not a franchise operation and owners have 100% control over their store and pay no franchise fees. You can get upcoming news about DRSS on Facebook.

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LED Tube [ZT-T1009-20014A] is Introduced by Zhongtian Lighting

Zhongtian Lighting, a leading LED light manufacturer in China, launched 10W T10 LED tube light [ZT-T1009-20014A] with CE and RoHS certificates. It can be used to replace the 25W traditional fluorescent lamp.

(PRWEB) December 22, 2012
Zhongtian Lighting, a leading LED light manufacturer in China, launched 10W T10 LED tube light[ZT-T1009-20014A] with CE and RoHS certificates. It can be used to replace the 25W traditional fluorescent lamp. In addition, It is widely used in meeting rooms, restaurants, office buildings, factories, shopping malls, schools, airports, subway stations, garages, hotels, homes, hospitals, libraries and teaching buildings and other indoor lighting. The lamps save 80% energy and last up to 25 times longer than conventional lamps.

The technical specification as following:

Model:    ZT-T1009-20014A

Shade dimension:    30*900mm

Rated power:    10W

Lamp beads:    200pcs

Housing material:    PC+6063 Aluminum

Input voltage:     85-264VAC/DC，50-60Hz

Efficiency:    0.90

Luminous flux:    950lm±150lm

Beam angle:    120 degrees

Color rendering index:    75±5Ra

Color:    Warm white/White/Cool white

Color temperature:    (3000K-3500K),(4000K-4500K), (5500K-6500K)

Working temperature:    -20℃ - 45 ℃

Luminous intensity:    400lux@1.0M, 120lux@2.0M, 55lux@3.0M

Luminous efficiency:    >70lm/w

At 10W energy consumption, the lumens start at 1100lm with high efficiency. Stylishly designed to resemble traditional light tubes and fit standard sockets, Zhongtian Lighting’s LED tube lights are available in warm white, cool white and dimmable variants. All its LED tubes are rigorously tested, RoHS compliant, approved by CE and come with 3-year replacement guarantee. Because they contain no mercury, they can be responsibly recycled with other metals and glass. Zhongtian Lighting’s LED tube lights are designed to address the demand for energy efficient, non toxic alternatives to today’s fluorescent lamps, which are only 10% efficient, wasting 90% of their energy to heat dissipation.

As pioneers of the LED industry, Zhongtian Lighting knows that those certificates on their products will assist their end users in getting rebates, and will also prove that they provide quality lasting products. It is the ideal LED energy saving lamp due to its low power consumption, non-ultraviolet and infrared, low thermal radiation, high light efficiency and low attenuation. As AC converts to DC directly, it has high color rendering index without stroboscopic.

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Exotic Teak Offers Environmentally-Friendly Unique Artisan Furnishings

Texas Biz Solutions is helping a new business market their uniquely-designed green home furnishings made from recycled and reclaimed wood.

Canton, Texas (PRWEB) December 22, 2012
Exotic Teak is opening their doors in Canton, Texas, offering green home furnishings made from teak wood. Teak wood comes from the Indonesian island of Java where artisans take the waste parts of the wood—the roots and stump—to handcraft unique and beautiful wood furnishings. The result is a one-of-a-kind piece of art that is environmentally sustainable. Exotic Teak is working with local business marketer, Texas Biz Solutions, as they establish their business in the area.
The business is centered around the artistry of teak wood. Teak wood is popular for home furnishings because of its fine grain and texture. Native to Burma and Thailand, teak trees were taken to the Indonesian island of Java by the Dutch several hundred years ago, who cultivated plantations, which have served the world’s demands for the unique timber. Typical practice in tree plantations is to let the stump and roots rot or burn them down. However, teak wood is resistant to rotting and burning of the stumps is not environmentally sound. As such, artisans take the waste-products of these tree stumps and roots and built home furnishings from benches and dining sets to planters and picture frames. The result is a process that is environmentally sound by providing the Indonesian Teak farmers with a more progressive and structured reforestation program and allowing artisans to use the wood remains for commerce.
Exotic Teak business partners, Christian Carter and John Weathers are excited to bring some of these unique Teak wood home furnishings to Texas. Weathers has over 30 years of experience in the furniture business, while Carter adds his energy and drive to help this business thrive. Together, they share a passion in providing green furnishings that are uniquely crafted.
“Teak wood furnishings is really a cottage industry passed on through the generations by families,” according to Carter. “As such, each piece is uniquely hand crafted. In addition, customers can take satisfaction that they’re supporting green efforts in protecting the environment through their purchases.”
Exotic Teak is now also offering recycled and reclaimed boat and barn wood furniture made from old Teak, Suar and Mahogany woods. To learn more about Exotic Teaks and unique home furnishings, visit their website at http://www.exoticteaks.com.
Notes to Editors:
Texas Biz Solutions, with offices in both Dallas, Texas and Tyler, Texas, develops online marketing solutions for small businesses offering basic to comprehensive online marketing strategies for a competitively low price. These solutions include improving search engine optimization for top placement in Google+, building custom websites that integrate social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as custom management of online design and marketing strategies. For more information about Texas Biz Solutions, visit http://www.TexasBizSolutions.com.

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Republicans Turn to Bush for Inspiration

As Republicans reassess their future in the presidential wilderness, seeking a message and messenger to resonate with a new generation of voters, one unlikely name has popped up as a role model: former President George W. Bush.
Prominent Republicans eager to rebuild the party in the wake of the 2012 election are pointing to Bush’s successful campaigns for Hispanic votes, his efforts to pass immigration reform, and his mantra of “compassionate conservatism.” Bush won 35 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2000 and at least 40 percent in 2004, a high-water mark for a Republican presidential candidate.
In contrast, Romney received only 27 percent of the Latino vote, after taking a hard-line approach to illegal immigration during the Republican presidential primaries, touting “self-deportation” for undocumented workers. In exit polls, a majority of voters said that Romney was out of touch with the American people and that his policies would favor the rich. While Romney beat Obama on questions of leadership, values, and vision, the president trounced him by 63 points when voters were asked which candidate “cares about people like me.”
These signs of wear and tear to the Republican brand are prompting some of Bush’s critics to acknowledge his political foresight and ability to connect with a diverse swath of Americans, although the economic crash and unpopular wars on his watch make it unlikely he will ever be held up as a great president.
“I think I owe an apology to George W. Bush,” wrote Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large of the conservative National Review Online, after the election. “I still don't like compassionate conservatism or its conception of the role of government. But given the election results, I have to acknowledge that Bush was more prescient than I appreciated at the time.”
The ebb in Bush-bashing could help pave the way for a 2016 presidential bid by his brother, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, another proponent of immigration reform with proven appeal in the Hispanic community. “The Bush family knows how to expand the party and how to win,” said GOP consultant Mark McKinnon, a former George W. Bush political aide, when asked about a possible Jeb Bush campaign. Voter wariness toward a third Bush administration could ease if the former president and his father, who served one term, are remembered less for their failures and more for their advocacy of “compassionate conservatism” and “a kinder, gentler nation.”
“I think all that certainly helps if Jeb decides to do so something down the road, though I think he will eventually be judged on his own,” said Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union, who led the Florida Republican Party when Bush was governor.
President Bush’s press secretary, Ari Fleischer, was tapped last week by the Republican National Committee to serve on a five-member committee examining what went wrong in the 2012 election. Two days earlier, a survey released by Resurgent Republic and the Hispanic Leadership Network found that a majority of Hispanic voters in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico  don’t think the GOP “respects” their values and concerns.
“One of the party’s biggest challenges going forward is the perception that Republicans don’t care about people, about minorities, about gays, about poor people,” Fleischer said. “President Bush regularly made a push to send welcoming messages, and one of the lessons of 2012 is that we have to demonstrate that we are an inclusive party.”
President Bush’s success with minority voters stemmed in large part from his two campaigns for governor in Texas. He liked to say, “Family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande.” Unlike Romney, who invested little in Spanish-language advertising until the final two months of his campaign, Bush began reaching out to Hispanics early; he outspent his Democratic opponents in Spanish media in both the 2000 and 2004 campaigns.
“I remember people grumbling about making calls in December 2003, but we kept pushing,” said Jennifer Korn, who led Bush’s Hispanic outreach in his 2004 campaign. The president’s upbeat Spanish-language ads depicted Latino families getting ahead in school and at work. “I’m with Bush because he understands my family,” was the theme of one spot.
Korn, who now serves as executive director of the Hispanic Leadership Network, said Republicans are constantly asking her how the party can win a bigger share of the Latino vote.
“I tell them we already did it,” she said. “President Obama just took Bush’s plan and updated it.”
Republicans are also looking at the groundwork that Bush laid on immigration reform. He has kept a low profile since leaving office, but he waded into the debate in a speech in Dallas last month. The legislation he backed in his second term would have increased border security, created a guest-worker program, and allowed illegal immigrants to earn citizenship after paying penalties and back taxes.
“America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time,” Bush said in Dallas. “As our nation debates the proper course of action related to immigration I hope we do so with a benevolent spirit and keep in mind the contributions of immigrants.”
Bush is even a presence in the current high-stakes budget negotiations between Capitol Hill and the White House. Although the tax cuts enacted by the Bush administration for the wealthiest Americans have been a major sticking point, the tax policy it put in place for the vast majority of households has bipartisan support.
“When you consider that the Obama administration is talking about not whether to extend the Bush tax cuts but how much of them to extend, you see that Bush is still setting the agenda,” said Republican consultant Alex Castellanos, who worked on Bush’s 2004 campaign.
While a possible presidential bid by Jeb Bush heightens the impact of his brother’s evolving legacy, it’s not unusual for a president’s image to change after leaving office. (Look at former President Clinton, who enjoyed positive ratings during most of his presidency, infuriated Obama supporters during Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008, and emerged after the election as a better Democratic spokesman than Obama.)  Gallup pegged Bush’s presidential approval at 25 percent at the end of his second term, the lowest ranking since Richard Nixon. But after President Obama spearheaded unpopular spending packages and health care reforms, Bush’s popularity began to tick up.
A Bloomberg News survey in late September showed Bush’s favorability at 46 percent, 3 points higher than Romney’s rating. Still, with a majority of voters viewing the former president unfavorably, Romney rarely, if ever, mentioned his name during the campaign. Asked to address the differences between him and the former president in one of the debates, Romney said, “I’m going to get us to a balanced budget. President Bush didn’t.” Obama seized on the comparison, taking the unusual tack of praising the Republican successor he had vilified in his first campaign to portray Romney as an extremist.
“George Bush didn’t propose turning Medicare into a voucher,” Obama said. “George Bush embraced comprehensive immigration reform. He didn’t call for self-deportation. George Bush never suggested that we eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood.”
Democrats and moderate Republicans found themselves cheering for Bush, if only for a moment. A majority of voters said that Bush is more to blame for the current economic problems than Obama, according to exit polling. If Bush wasn’t the bigger scapegoat, Obama may not have won a second term.
Veterans of Bush’s campaigns and administrations say that while learning from his mistakes, Republicans should also take note of the political risks he took by proposing reforms to immigration and education laws and boosting funding for community health centers and AIDS outreach in Africa.
“One of the issues we ran into in the 2012 campaign is that there weren’t a lot of differences between Mitt Romney and Republican orthodoxy,” said Terry Nelson, Bush’s political director in the 2004 campaign. “I think that’s something Republican candidates in the future have to consider.  The public respects it when you can show you can stand up to your party on certain issues. Bush did that.

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Republicans Turn to An Unlikely Name for Inspiration: George W. Bush

As Republicans reassess their future in the presidential wilderness, seeking a message and messenger to resonate with a new generation of voters, one unlikely name has popped up as a role model: former President George W. Bush.
Prominent Republicans eager to rebuild the party in the wake of the 2012 election are pointing to Bush’s successful campaigns for Hispanic votes, his efforts to pass immigration reform, and his mantra of “compassionate conservatism.” Bush won 35 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2000 and at least 40 percent in 2004, a high-water mark for a Republican presidential candidate.
In contrast, Romney received only 27 percent of the Latino vote, after taking a hard-line approach to illegal immigration during the Republican presidential primaries, touting “self-deportation” for undocumented workers. In exit polls, a majority of voters said that Romney was out of touch with the American people and that his policies would favor the rich. While Romney beat Obama on questions of leadership, values, and vision, the president trounced him by 63 points when voters were asked which candidate “cares about people like me.”
These signs of wear and tear to the Republican brand are prompting some of Bush’s critics to acknowledge his political foresight and ability to connect with a diverse swath of Americans, although the economic crash and unpopular wars on his watch make it unlikely he will ever be held up as a great president.
“I think I owe an apology to George W. Bush,” wrote Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large of the conservative National Review Online, after the election. “I still don't like compassionate conservatism or its conception of the role of government. But given the election results, I have to acknowledge that Bush was more prescient than I appreciated at the time.”
The ebb in Bush-bashing could help pave the way for a 2016 presidential bid by his brother, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, another proponent of immigration reform with proven appeal in the Hispanic community. “The Bush family knows how to expand the party and how to win,” said GOP consultant Mark McKinnon, a former George W. Bush political aide, when asked about a possible Jeb Bush campaign. Voter wariness toward a third Bush administration could ease if the former president and his father, who served one term, are remembered less for their failures and more for their advocacy of “compassionate conservatism” and “a kinder, gentler nation.”
“I think all that certainly helps if Jeb decides to do so something down the road, though I think he will eventually be judged on his own,” said Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union, who led the Florida Republican Party when Bush was governor.
President Bush’s press secretary, Ari Fleischer, was tapped last week by the Republican National Committee to serve on a five-member committee examining what went wrong in the 2012 election. Two days earlier, a survey released by Resurgent Republic and the Hispanic Leadership Network found that a majority of Hispanic voters in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico  don’t think the GOP “respects” their values and concerns.
“One of the party’s biggest challenges going forward is the perception that Republicans don’t care about people, about minorities, about gays, about poor people,” Fleischer said. “President Bush regularly made a push to send welcoming messages, and one of the lessons of 2012 is that we have to demonstrate that we are an inclusive party.”
President Bush’s success with minority voters stemmed in large part from his two campaigns for governor in Texas. He liked to say, “Family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande.” Unlike Romney, who invested little in Spanish-language advertising until the final two months of his campaign, Bush began reaching out to Hispanics early; he outspent his Democratic opponents in Spanish media in both the 2000 and 2004 campaigns.
“I remember people grumbling about making calls in December 2003, but we kept pushing,” said Jennifer Korn, who led Bush’s Hispanic outreach in his 2004 campaign. The president’s upbeat Spanish-language ads depicted Latino families getting ahead in school and at work. “I’m with Bush because he understands my family,” was the theme of one spot.
Korn, who now serves as executive director of the Hispanic Leadership Network, said Republicans are constantly asking her how the party can win a bigger share of the Latino vote.
“I tell them we already did it,” she said. “President Obama just took Bush’s plan and updated it.”
Republicans are also looking at the groundwork that Bush laid on immigration reform. He has kept a low profile since leaving office, but he waded into the debate in a speech in Dallas last month. The legislation he backed in his second term would have increased border security, created a guest-worker program, and allowed illegal immigrants to earn citizenship after paying penalties and back taxes.
“America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time,” Bush said in Dallas. “As our nation debates the proper course of action related to immigration I hope we do so with a benevolent spirit and keep in mind the contributions of immigrants.”
Bush is even a presence in the current high-stakes budget negotiations between Capitol Hill and the White House. Although the tax cuts enacted by the Bush administration for the wealthiest Americans have been a major sticking point, the tax policy it put in place for the vast majority of households has bipartisan support.
“When you consider that the Obama administration is talking about not whether to extend the Bush tax cuts but how much of them to extend, you see that Bush is still setting the agenda,” said Republican consultant Alex Castellanos, who worked on Bush’s 2004 campaign.
While a possible presidential bid by Jeb Bush heightens the impact of his brother’s evolving legacy, it’s not unusual for a president’s image to change after leaving office. (Look at former President Clinton, who enjoyed positive ratings during most of his presidency, infuriated Obama supporters during Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008, and emerged after the election as a better Democratic spokesman than Obama.)  Gallup pegged Bush’s presidential approval at 25 percent at the end of his second term, the lowest ranking since Richard Nixon. But after President Obama spearheaded unpopular spending packages and health care reforms, Bush’s popularity began to tick up.
A Bloomberg News survey in late September showed Bush’s favorability at 46 percent, 3 points higher than Romney’s rating. Still, with a majority of voters viewing the former president unfavorably, Romney rarely, if ever, mentioned his name during the campaign. Asked to address the differences between him and the former president in one of the debates, Romney said, “I’m going to get us to a balanced budget. President Bush didn’t.” Obama seized on the comparison, taking the unusual tack of praising the Republican successor he had vilified in his first campaign to portray Romney as an extremist.
“George Bush didn’t propose turning Medicare into a voucher,” Obama said. “George Bush embraced comprehensive immigration reform. He didn’t call for self-deportation. George Bush never suggested that we eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood.”
Democrats and moderate Republicans found themselves cheering for Bush, if only for a moment. A majority of voters said that Bush is more to blame for the current economic problems than Obama, according to exit polling. If Bush wasn’t the bigger scapegoat, Obama may not have won a second term.
Veterans of Bush’s campaigns and administrations say that while learning from his mistakes, Republicans should also take note of the political risks he took by proposing reforms to immigration and education laws and boosting funding for community health centers and AIDS outreach in Africa.
“One of the issues we ran into in the 2012 campaign is that there weren’t a lot of differences between Mitt Romney and Republican orthodoxy,” said Terry Nelson, Bush’s political director in the 2004 campaign. “I think that’s something Republican candidates in the future have to consider.  The public respects it when you can show you can stand up to your party on certain issues. Bush did that.”

Read More..

Senators Screen 'Lincoln' with Stars Tonight

As lawmakers struggle to solve the fiscal cliff, they're set for a movie night tonight in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,will meet with the cast and crew of "Lincoln" including Director Steven Spielberg and actor Daniel Day-Lewis in the Capitol before the special showing.
Then each senator, along with their spouse, will be invited to watch the film in the Capitol Visitors Center within the Capitol Complex.
The film's release was delayed until after the 2012 election - but DreamWorks still scheduled a special extended two-minute TV ad during the commercial break right after the first presidential debate.
Reid, a Democrat, is a huge fan of the biopic about the most famous Republican president.

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In crusade against guns, Bloomberg finds platform beyond City Hall

NEW YORK—Just days after he publicly scolded President Barack Obama for not being more aggressive in his efforts to curb gun violence, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was “very encouraged” to see Obama pressing for new gun measures in the wake of last week’s deadly school shooting in Connecticut.
“His announcement is an important step in the right direction,” Bloomberg said in response to Obama announcing that he’s setting up a task force to come up with gun control proposals. “This country needs his leadership if we are going to reduce the daily bloodshed from gun violence that we have seen for far too long.”
But, the mayor added, Obama’s task force needs to “move quickly with its work.”
It was the latest example of the outspoken mayor holding the Obama administration’s feet to the fire on the hot-button issue of gun control—a subject that has been long close to the mayor’s heart.
In the days since last week’s shooting, Bloomberg has arguably become one of the key public faces of the tragedy as he bluntly urged the president and members of Congress to offer more than just “talk” in the aftermath of yet another mass shooting.
His aggressive posture comes as Bloomberg seeks to transition from being the lame duck mayor of the nation's largest city to a potentially more prominent role on the national political stage.
The 70-year-old billionaire media mogul, who is a registered Independent, has already sought to position himself as someone who can influence and shape public policy on the issues he cares about, including gun control, climate change and health care.
New York City has already been a laboratory for some of Bloomberg’s ideas throughout his three terms. Over the last decade, he’s implemented a smoking ban in New York’s restaurants, bars and parks, and pushed fast-food restaurants to post calorie counts—controversial ideas that have since been embraced by other cities around the country. More recently, Bloomberg sought to curb New York’s growing obesity epidemic by restricting the sizes of some sodas and other sugary drinks sold in the city.
"Bloomberg has been fearless in stepping out on big, controversial issues. I think he is on his way to becoming the most influential private citizen in the history of the country,” Mark McKinnon, a Texas-based political strategist who previously worked for George W. Bush, told Yahoo News.
McKinnon, who has worked with Bloomberg on a group called “No Labels,” which aims to promote nonpartisanship in politics, said the mayor’s influence extends “well beyond New York City, where he has proven what a determined mayor can get accomplished.”
But Bloomberg’s outspoken stance on guns in the aftermath of the Connecticut shooting could prove to be turning point in his efforts to move beyond City Hall.
Bloomberg co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns in 2006 and launched a super PAC last fall that worked to unseat lawmakers who were against gun control. But since last week’s shooting, the mayor has been the gun control movement's most visible champion—willing to aggressively challenge lawmakers, as he’s put it, to "do the right thing.”
Just hours after Obama went before cameras last Friday to pledge “meaningful action” in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shooting, Bloomberg issued a tough statement calling on the president to offer more than just “rhetoric.”
"Calling for 'meaningful action' is not enough. We need immediate action," the mayor said. "We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership—not from the White House and not from Congress."
Bloomberg followed up that statement with a litany of television appearances in recent days. Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, the mayor insisted curbing gun violence should be Obama’s “No. 1 agenda.”
“He’s president of the United States,” Bloomberg told NBC. “And if he does nothing during his second term, something like 48,000 Americans will be killed with illegal guns.”
On Monday, Bloomberg held a news conference featuring family members of those killed in other mass shootings, including the deadly attack at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., in July, and the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech.
Addressing the group just one day after Obama spoke at a memorial service in Newtown, where he vowed to act, Bloomberg didn’t let up on the pressure, telling the group of Obama’s speech, “Words alone cannot heal our nation. Only action can do that.”
It’s unclear how influential Bloomberg is with Obama, whom he endorsed in the final weeks of the 2012 election. While Bloomberg said he had spoken with Vice President Joe Biden, who is leading the president’s task force on gun violence, there was no indication he had spoken to the president.
Asked about his Obama endorsement on “Meet the Press,” Bloomberg didn’t backtrack.
“I said in my endorsement that I endorse Barack Obama because I think his views on issues like this are the right views,” Bloomberg said. “But the president has to translate those views into action.  His job is not just to be well-meaning. His job is to perform and to protect the American public.”

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Gun lobbyists plan media push after Newtown massacre

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One week after a school shooting that shocked Americans - with many of the 27 victims buried and time allowed for prayers and investigation - the National Rifle Association will dive in to the fierce national debate about gun control.
The largest U.S. gun rights lobby plans a well-coordinated public entrance to the conversation on how to prevent such tragedies, starting with a rare news conference on Friday at a hotel across the street from the White House.
NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre and President David Keene will then appear on separate Sunday television talk shows for their first interviews since gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother, 20 young children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday.
Inside and outside the NRA, an organization with powerful ties to politicians in Washington, expectations are the group will offer condolences and condemn the killings but offer little in the way of compromise over gun laws.
The group kept largely quiet in the first days after the Connecticut shooting, citing "common decency" and the need to allow time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts. It broke its silence on Tuesday to say it wanted to contribute meaningfully to prevent another massacre and announced its plans for the Friday news conference.
"They will talk about how terrible the violence is, about helping the victims, about violence in society," said Robert Spitzer, a professor at the State University of New York at Cortland and author of "The Politics of Gun Control."
Spitzer said he did not expect the NRA media blitz to lay out specific plans because so many within the organization consider the right to own guns absolute.
"If they did, it would contradict the path they have been following for about the last 35 years," he said. "Much of their membership would declare war on their leaders."
One NRA board member, Houston lawyer Charles Cotton, said the NRA should not say much until it hears more from gun-control supporters like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"You can't say specifically what you want to do before you sit around a table and talk about it," Cotton told Reuters.
NRA board member Bob Barr, a former Georgia congressman, said he was skeptical any new law would make a difference.
"None of the laws that the gun control folks want to put into place would have prevented this shooting. I think that's where we all start from," he said. Even proposed bans on guns known as assault weapons would not cover all semi-automatic rifles, he said.
America's unique gun culture means there are hundreds of millions of firearms in the United States for hunting, self-defense and leisure, as well as illicit uses. No one knows how many guns there are because there is no national registry.
About 11,100 Americans died in gun-related killings during 2011, not including suicides, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were 19,766 suicides by firearms in 2011, the CDC said.
POLITICAL PRESSURE
The NRA uses political pressure against individual lawmakers in Congress and in state legislatures to press for loosening restrictions on gun sales and ownership while promoting hunting and gun sports.
Gun-control proponents have been pushing for tighter gun controls since the Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre, the fourth mass shooting in the United States this year.
President Barack Obama has vowed to present a detailed plan in January. On Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden held the first meeting of an interagency effort among Cabinet members and law enforcement officials.
"The president is absolutely committed to keeping the promise that he will act," said Biden, who authored a crime bill in 1994 that included a ban on some semiautomatic rifles that has since expired. "We have to take action," he said.
Democrats in Congress who favor gun control have called for quick votes on measures to ban assault weapons or high-capacity magazines, hoping that the slaying of the 6- and 7-year olds in Newtown might be enough to win over more lawmakers.
Lanza used a Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle, police said.
The NRA's power is partly due to its large and active membership, which reportedly has been growing rapidly since the Newtown shootings. NRA officials did not immediately comment, but Fox News, citing a source within the organization, said the group has been adding 8,000 new members a day.
FLOODING LAWMAKERS WITH CALLS
The NRA is frequently described as having 4 million members, although nonprofit groups are not required to disclose their membership or how they define the term.
At key moments, such as before votes in Congress, many of those members flood lawmakers' offices with calls - a tactic few organizations can pull off, and one that the NRA's opponents want to imitate.
Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group co-led by Bloomberg, said his group orchestrated tens of thousands of calls that jammed White House phones on Wednesday.
"It's the kind of thing that makes a difference in public policy. It's the kind of thing the NRA does very well," Glaze said. "And that's the kind of movement that we have to build if we're going to make any kind of difference."
There is a vast difference in resources of the organizations lining up in the gun debate.
During 2011, the NRA spent $3.1 million on lobbying lawmakers and federal agencies, while all gun-control groups combined spent $280,000 - a ratio of 11-to-one - according to records the groups filed with Congress.
Some of the NRA's money goes to Washington lobbying and law firms not usually associated with gun rights. SNR Denton, for instance, represents not only the NRA but major insurance, food and pharmaceutical companies. Lobbyists there did not return calls.
On another measure, that of spending on political campaigns, gun-control organizations have been more competitive. Independence USA PAC, a vehicle for Bloomberg's personal fortune on issues including gun control, spent $8.2 million on the 2012 election, compared to the NRA's $18.9 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Violence, named for President Ronald Reagan's press secretary James Brady who was injured in a 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan, spent $5,816 on the election, much lower than the $1.7 million it spent on the 2000 election, according to the center.

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