By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Oct 8, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET  We’re in trouble. And the people we sent to Congress to solve America’s biggest problems are completely stuck.
On January 1, unless our leaders stop the partisan brawling and focus on solutions, we’ll face massive budget cuts and tax increases that could send the U.S. economy back into a tailspin.
We all remember what economic meltdown is like. None of us — in any party — want to go through it again. We can head this crisis off at the pass, but not unless we fix the Senate filibuster. If we don’t, then we can assume that any policy solution will be sabotaged through the filibuster process.
No Labels is pressing our leaders to stop the bickering and gridlock, but we need you to join us to make sure they stop fighting and start fixing.
Click here to join thousands of No Labels supporters in demanding that our leaders in the Senate stop fighting and start fixing.
The filibuster is used in the Senate now more than ever before — in part, because it’s easier to do than it used to be. A senator doesn’t even have to hold the floor to force a filibuster anymore. Often, all a senator has to do is signal that he or she intends to filibuster a bill to bring the whole process to a dead stop.
Just one senator can take the whole body hostage — and he or she can do it in secret without ever having to make his or her case.
It’s outrageous. And because elected officials are using it to block legislation introduced by their opposing parties, it’s preventing potential solutions from receiving due consideration in Washington.
Our Senate leaders can help stop the gridlock by putting limits on how and when the filibuster can be used when legislators return to Washington in January. But they won’t — not unless they feel the heat from all of us.
Thousands of people have already taken action, but we need you to join them. Please don’t wait. This is too important and too urgent.
Click here to demand an end to the partisan bickering and gridlock.
Let’s keep the pressure on, and prevent a real economic disaster in January.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Oct 5, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET  The little recognized “divider”
In the early stages of life we find qualities serve us that seem at the time “most important” to success. The more obvious ones are intelligence, hard work, education, looks, personality, persistence, loyalty, faith, honor, savvy and the like.
All those seem to come and go after being indispensable at some point during our early life stages. But what about the key trait that distinguishes those who thrive in the middle years and those who find this period befuddling and daunting?
I think the key distinguishing trait is self-awareness—or more bluntly, self-honesty. How well are we able to candidly and painfully assess who we are and how we see the world and our place in it. Maybe this is what Socrates meant with his maxim, “Know thyself.”
I was having lunch with very bright friend 4 years ago who as a few years younger than I. He has a law degree from Harvard and was wondering how to figure out succeeding in the murky middle years. I remember saying something like, “I think it is less taxing on our minds than our souls. And open to all who are ready for the journey within where we get to meet and make peace with ourselves.” Adding, “it’s the easiest on the surface but the hardest in practice.”
And I don’t think I’ve wavered from that belief in the 4 years since then.
By Artur Davis, on Fri Oct 5, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET  If Showtime’s exemplary “Homeland” is the new pace-setter for politically themed drama, and CBS’s “Good Wife” is a successful, if less psychologically rich, portrait of a scandal surviving heroine, what to make of Starz’s largely obscure “Boss”, an ensemble drama about a fictional Chicago Mayor who is fighting off mental illness and all manner of intrigue? It is a well-acted, intricately conceived narrative that has utterly failed to break through the popular consciousness, much less the Emmy circle, and it is worth pondering why its ambitions have gone unrealized at a time when political morality plays are newly resurgent on network and cable.
 The rap on “Boss” may well be that the conceit at the heart of the show—that gaining and holding power is one sordid, muddy blend of egos and ruthlessness—is so shopworn that it manages to bore. The protagonist, the 20 years plus mayor of the Windy City, Tom Kane (Kelsey Grammer) is a brute: by the middle of the second season, we know that his power is built on a web of corrupt bargains with city developers, a sham of a marriage to the glamorous daughter of his predecessor, and a staff of devotees who protect his lies out of some alchemy of ambition and loyalty. We know he ruins and takes lives. Nothing new here: it is more or less an amped up version of every recycled stereotype about the unseemly nature of power. Nor is there any justifiable thread for Kane’s abuses beyond the old stand-by—at least the city works for its elite, and the trains run on time, and the poor and the marginal are subsidized by a mixture of patronage and spoils. It is no accident that Chicago looks in this rendition less like a modern metropolis than a hulk of decaying deals and faded urban monuments.
Read the rest of…
Artur Davis: The Unbearable Emptiness of “Boss”
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Oct 4, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET The Politics of Tech
The Philippines have passed a law that is many times worse that SOPA. It criminalizes cybersex, torrenting, and criticizing someone online. [CBS News]
On the topic of torrents, the founder of Pirate Bay, Gottfrid Svartholm, continues to be imprisoned without official charges being filed. [TorrentFreak]
The CD turned 30 years old today! [What HiFi]
After the criticism of the new Apple Maps app following the release of the the iPhone 5 last week Apple CEO Tim Cook has apologized via press release. [engadget]
MIT grads advancing molten salt reactor which can use thorium as a nuclear fuel. [Forbes]
Why It’s Bad That Smartphones Have Banished Boredom: When we reach for a smartphone at every pause in our day, we forget how to reflect naturally [Slashdot]
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Oct 4, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET We’ve all heard the saying, “It’s impossible to ask a stupid question.”
As someone who has the habit of asking lots of questions, I always took comfort in this maxim. But learned about 12 years ago during a marriage counseling session, it’s not always true.
I have since become a huge fan of marriage counseling for all couples. It teaches relationship skills we all need and is no different, in my opinion, to time and money we spend keeping our bodies and minds fit. But this was during the first few weeks of counseling and my lovely wife, Rebecca, and I still assumed it we were basically having a contest to see who could “win” and that the counselor was basically our umpire and score keeper.
Rebecca had won the first few sessions on points. I’d always known that if I’d been a boxer life, I’d be better served trying to always win on points rather than going for the knockout punch—even though the impulse to go for the knockout was always hard for me to resist. This morning I was off to an excellent start—doing all the right things. Using I statements and parrying well by mirroring empathetically Rebecca’s statements. I seemed to have our counselor on my side with momentum rolling my way.
And then I decided to go for the close and seal the deal, so to speak, with a question that I thought would secure a “W” for me this session—and one that we’ll all remember. It was the boxer–not the husband—in me.
“Doctor,” I thoughtfully intoned. “I’m sure you treat a lot of unhappy couples in your practice and I think you’ve had a chance to get to know me pretty well these past few weeks. Is it fair to say that most of the wives you meet with would be very happy to have a husband like me?”
And then….then…there was that awful, horrendous feeling one gets when you suspect there’s been a crack in the universe —and everyone is staring at you like you are to blame. And deep down, you agree with them.
I never got an answer to my question. But the question did help one of us “seal the deal” that morning. And it was a question we did, in fact, all remember.
And no one—on that morning—offered me the solace “John, there is no such thing as a stupid question.”
By Zac Byer, on Thu Oct 4, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET 
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Prix Fixe Politics! If Mitt Romney wins this election, it will be because of the way he turned the tide last night in Denver. It was Mitt’s Mile High Moment — a combination of a stinging critique of a suddenly meek President and a strong case for business-executive leadership. This debate won’t be remembered for any zingers or select lines. Simply put, it was Romney at his best and Obama at his worst for 90 minutes. We can now officially bear down for a dog fight until November 6th, but in the meantime here is today’s menu…
Appetizer: I watched the debate with 24 undecided swing voters in Lakewood, Colorado, thirteen having voted for Obama in 2008. Where did the group stand after the debate? 20 thought Romney won, and 10 said the debate made them more likely to vote for the challenger. Boston (Romney Headquarters) loves these numbers for several reasons. First, it’s serious earned media for the next week. With the next debate not until October 11 (and that’s between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan), last night’s contest will remain front and center for more than the typicl 48-hour news cycle. Second, it puts the President’s advisers on the defensive. They’ll be on CNN and MSNBC every day, trying to return the focus back to Romney’s rich, out-of-touch ways. Yet after their candidate got walloped like he did, any effort to pivot will come across as an admission of defeat. And third, it takes some of the pressure off Romney. He still has a lot to do in the next 32 days if he wants to be elected. But for a few days, he’ll get to spend more time talking about his success in Denver, which means less time talking about “The 47%” or tax returns.
 Main Course: There were a few moments in particular that stood out and are worth discussing. Romney’s opening statement where he set forth his five-point plan won high marks. You may have noticed in that clip, and many other times throughout the debate, Romney enumerated his points. Not only does that keep the communicator focused, but it causes the listener to think he’s hearing an organized, well-crafted answer. This style is one of the most important ways for Romney to appear to be giving the American people what they want to hear: SPECIFICS. While the President meandered through wordy answers and tired excuses, Romney enumerated his way to convincing voters that he does in fact have a plan. President Obama’s best moments came while discussing health care. Whether you hate or love Obamacare in sum, it’s hard to viscerally hate some of its component parts — 26 year olds, pre-existing conditions, etc. Romney and the Republicans still don’t have a good answer for the important question of what they’d do if they repeal Obamacare. Because Obama has set a new baseline with these well-liked components of the legislation, Romney must calibrate his plan accordingly. Finally, our Colorado swing voters were nearly off the charts with their real-time dials when Romney spoke about his bipartisanship in MA. In 2008, Obama promised to transcend partisanship. Four years later, the acrimony has gotten even worse and the public has grown increasingly impatient with the President and Congress. Romney has a record of working across the aisle, and the undecided voters notice it. With this debate answer, he gave his best introduction yet of himself as a Washington outsider with political skills desperately needed along Pennsylvania Avenue. That Obama let a Republican cast himself as the one best suited to working across the aisle is confounding.
Dessert: Here are three pieces of advice for President Obama as he prepares for the next debate. First, figure out what you’re going to do with your head while Romney’s speaking. Looking down and disinterested like you did last night is the 2012 version of the smug, nose-up Obama we got in 2008. Unless you are writing something down, focus on Romney. And every time you give an answer, you should be looking directly into the camera. There’s no debate audience you need to pander to in the auditorium — the only important people are the ones watching at home! Your verbal shiftiness reflected a lack of self-confidence and your body language communicated defeat. Second, what happened to General Motors? You couldn’t swing a dead cat at the DNC without hitting an Obama surrogate talking about the success of GM. Heck, Biden’s best line from his DNC speech was: “Osama Bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive!” When you speak about “saving” GM, you are communicating directly with the voters of Ohio, Michigan, and Western Pennsylvania. Your ads in those states have been too good to start ceding ground there now. Third, where did Bain Capital, outsourcing pioneers, and the 47% disappear to? They’ve been your most effective attacks against Romney and you didn’t mention them once on the biggest stage you’ll have before election night. You only had to mention these red herrings once or twice — any more would appear unpresidential. But psychology tells us the importance of the availability heuristic — if you don’t keep these attacks salient while actually on the stage with the culprit, voters will be less likely to recall them in the voting booth.
Read the rest of…
Zac Byer: Prix Fixe Politics — the Denver Debate
By RP Staff, on Thu Oct 4, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET In his latest column for The Huffington Post, The RP discusses the work of a new grassroots movement that, like No Labels, brings Democrats and Republicans together to address our nation’s critical problems. It is called “Fix the Debt,” and it already involves more than 100,000 Americans in urging fiscal sanity on our national leaders.
Please join the great work of “Fix the Debt” by clicking here.
Here’s an excerpt of the RP’s column:
Already, the fear of the fiscal cliff has caused businesses to slow hiring and investments, and Moody’s, the credit-rating agency, has stated that it will consider downgrading our credit rating if responsible actions to begin bringing down the debt are not taken as part of an effort to avoid the cliff.
Our political leadership needs to take action before the debt becomes so burdensome that it severely hampers our country’s ability to compete, maintain our social safety net or create jobs.
However, there is hope.
Already, a group of former lawmakers, experts, business leaders, and concerned citizens from across the political spectrum have come together, putting their ideological differences aside, in pursuit of a common-sense plan.
This new bipartisan group, called the Campaign to Fix The Debt — chaired nationally by former Sen. Alan Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles — has already received support from over 180,000 Americans in a petition drive to hold elected officials accountable, demanding that our nation’s fiscal path remains front and center in the public discourse.
Of course, generating a solid plan to reduce our national debt — without knee-jerk reactions or extreme measures — is an uphill climb, to say the least.
But initiatives like the Campaign to Fix the Debt prove that we do have leaders willing to look at both sides of the ledger — spending and revenue — in order to find a deal.
By Josh Bowen, on Thu Oct 4, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET  I want to warn everyone that reads this, if you are not open minded and are stubborn about changing the way you view exercise and nutrition please stop reading now. What I mean by this is these are 17 facts that I have learned through 8 years as a personal trainer and coach and 15 years of personal workouts. Some of these I have learned the hard way and others are as clear as day but all are a list of facts that will help you achieve your goals (as long as you choose to accept it.)
- 1. Steady State Cardio will not get YOU Results- I see it everyday, gym goers check in the gym and immediately head for the treadmill or elliptical. If you asked them what their goals were they would say body fat loss, increased muscle tone and weight loss. OK? Why are you heading for the treadmill then? Take a U-Turn and head for the weight section. And yes I am talking to you, all of you! Big, tall, skinny, small I don’t care we all need to spend some quality time with the weights. Period. Next!
- Resistance Training will boost your Results- A continuation of number 1. All shapes and sizes should be picking up resistance training. Increased; metabolism, decreased osteoporosis, feel better and look better. What else do you need? Nothing that’s what.
- The Word “Tone” Does not Exist- So stop saying it. In muscle anatomy and kinesiology there is not term muscle “tone.” When you use this term you mean less fat and more muscle or “lean.” Let’s lose this term please.
 Static Stretching is a Waste of Time- Don’t stretch, warm-up. Doing the old school 1980’s Jane Fonda stretching routine is not going to make you more flexible and its not going to decrease chance of injury. Instead of bending over and touching your toes, get on a foam roller and roll your hamstrings out. Instead of stretching your hip flexors, do some explosive reverse lunges to a knee tuck. Stop stretching, thank you.- Bananas are not the only Food in the Universe that Have Potassium- quite the contrary there are better foods, with less sugar that has plenty of potassium. Broccoli, kiwis, and sweet potatoes just to name a few are packed with high amounts of potassium. Bananas have too much sugar, eat apples or kiwis instead.
- Squat, Everyone- Everyone should squat regardless of what your doctor tells you, if you can’t squat you can’t use the toilet. Think about that. Enough said.
- Deadlift, Everyone- “Dead lifts are for men.” Oh yeah? Have you ever picked a box off the ground? You just did a deadlift. Dead lifts are great for developing posterior strength (you need that mister I sit at a desk all day) and are a great overall body developer. Do them but do them right!
- Stop Swinging the Dumbbell Around in an Attempt to Warm Your Shoulder- This doesn’t need much explanation but I see people do this all the time and it’s dumb. Your rotator cuff muscles are as thin as paper and applying this type of circular motion with added resistance is bad news. Just stop it!
- Perform Multi-Joint Movements- if your goal is decreased bodyfat, increased strength and better overall bodies start squatting, deadlifting, pressing, and swinging. If you goal is to be a body builder and you want bigger arms, continue doing bicep curls.
- Walking Does not Count As Exercise- Humans were made to walk, we are blessed with great mobility and the ability to run, sprint and walk. You cannot count walking around the block as vigorous exercise. You can do that with your eyes closed, try doing something more difficult. Maybe add a vest!
- Less Crunches and More Planks- You want to work your core? Try doing more planks and concentrate on extending the amount of time you can hold it. Try doing less crunches, they are a waste of your time and bad for your lumbar spine.
- Doing Abs will NOT give you a 6 Pack- Still flabbergasted that people believe this. Proper diet and nutrition coupled with great genetics and discipline is what gives people the 6 pack. Not crunches. Next.
- Do More Pushups- One of the best exercises, period. Shoulders over hands, core and quads tight, head, shoulders, hips and ankles in a straight line. If you can’t do them, start doing them against a wall and progress from there.
- Supplements are not the End All Be All- Supplements are just that, supplements for foods you can’t or do not get through food. They will not cure the world and will not give you the body of your dreams. Supplement when necessary. A few of my favorites; whey isolate protein, Branch Chain Amino Acids, Glutamine and Omega 3 fatty acids.
- If you Sorta Eat Right, You Will Sorta Look Right- Want to look your best, eat your best. Next
- Proper Form Rules All- Do not sacrifice weight for proper form. Learn how to squat/deadlift/press correctly. Stop bouncing and making trainers cringe. It will catch up to you one day.
- Lift then Run- Lifting weights prior to cardio will burn twice as much fat as doing it in the reverse. A study showed men that did resistance training prior to doing 30 minutes of cardio burned a 100% more bodyfat than those that did the exact opposite.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Oct 3, 2012 at 3:30 PM ET Photo courtesy of @MarkZuckerman
It’s a Cinderella story. Or maybe a Miracle on Grass.
After losing 538 straight times to his Mount Rushmore colleagues, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt this afternoon finally won the Washington Nationals’ Presidents’ Race held on every home game day at Nationals’ Park since 2006.
Teddy’s cause had been championed by a blog, Let Teddy Win!, that followed his exploits, and even had the support of leading politicians such as John McCain, who blamed his political hero’s losing streak on a “massive left-wing conspiracy.”
Please join me in wishing the Trust Buster/Rough Rider a hearty Mazel Tov!
By RP Staff, on Wed Oct 3, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET The current issue of New York magazine features a terrific bio piece on contributing RP Krystal Ball’s unique trajectory from phony-scandal plagued congressional candidate to current media star. Here’s an excerpt:
 Krystal Ball was talking to retirees in rural Virginia when her congressional campaign got weird.
She had just given her stump speech and completed a Q&A. “I looked at my phone, and I had a text message from my husband. And he said, ‘Everything’s fine. But after you’re done there, don’t talk to anyone, don’t check your e-mail, don’t call anyone, just call me immediately. And you may want to be alone. Like, not even with your staffers.’”
This did not sound to Ball like everything was fine. She wrapped up the event, went outside, and called her husband.
“He says, ‘Everything really is fine, but there’s some pictures that came out. Do you remember a party that you went to — ’ and he starts describing them.”
The photos showed Ball wearing a Santa hat with a black bustier at the age of 22.
In her hands were a festive Solo cup and a leash attached to a young man, who wore antlers on his head and a Rudolph-red dildo on his nose. In some of the especially hilarious photos, Ball and her companions fellated the dildo nose.
When her husband texted, the pictures were only on a local conservative blog, but it seemed unlikely they would stay there for long.
Ball’s campaign had always been a long shot: She was a 28-year-old Democrat running against a Republican incumbent in Virginia’s conservative-leaning first district. And if it hadn’t been for those “XXX-Mas” party photos, she might have remained a 2010 congressional also-ran, waiting in obscurity for the next election year. Instead, the photos made their way into the national media — and Ball responded forcefully, acknowledging the pictures anddenouncing sexual double standards. She ended up with regular guest spots on Fox News and MSNBC, and now, two years later, she’s one of four co-hosts on MSNBC’s new daytime show The Cycle.
Sex and scandals sell, particularly when the subjects are young and attractive — this is not news. But what makes Ball’s story interesting is that it demonstrates the power of transparency. She’s staked her career on the belief that personal disclosures aren’t incompatible with professional legitimacy.
“I find it so astonishing how poorly a lot of politicians handle negative whatever in the press,” she says. “You have to just get it all out there. You have to be totally, uncomfortably honest.”
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We’re in trouble. And the people we sent to Congress to solve America’s biggest problems are completely stuck.
