Did tea party put Scott Walker over the top in Wisconsin recall?

The tea party movement flexed its muscle in Wisconsin, as Gov. Scott Walker handily won a recall vote on Tuesday. Thirty-six percent of voters said they support the movement ? and almost all went for Walker.

By Patrik Jonsson,?Staff writer / June 6, 2012

Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker reacts at his victory party on Tuesday night, in Waukesha, Wis. Walker defeated Democratic challenger Tom Barrett in a special recall election.

Morry Gash/AP

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Disappointed progressives blame an avalanche of campaign cash from outside Wisconsin for their failed bid to recall tea party favorite Gov. Scott Walker (R), whose controversial gambit to shrink the influence of the public-sector unions became a national cause c?l?bre for both the right and the left last year.

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In a way, those critics are spot on: Wisconsin was, in fact, flooded with record amounts of donations that helped Mr. Walker defeat Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D), with some of that outside cash coming from wealthy industrialists and financiers.

But there?s a second part to how Walker won. Walker?s ground game played a big role in pulling off a win, as he became the first governor in US history to survive a recall election. And like the recent GOP primary victory of Richard Mourdock over veteran US Sen. Dick Lugar in nearby Indiana, that ground game is being pitched by cadres of grass-roots activists who identify to a large extent with the leaderless tea party movement.

?While Occupiers and union protesters got the ink, the tea party dropped the placards and picked up clipboards, phones and got out the vote,? writes former tea party activist Dana Loesch, a conservative talk show host, on Breitbart.com. Adds former US Education Secretary Bill Bennett, writing on CNN.com: ?The untold story of the Wisconsin saga may be the resurgence of the tea party.?

A quiet but potent force

As Mr. Bennett suggests, the tea party didn?t get mentioned much in this election. That was partly due to a self-imposed quietude after the brand was tarnished in the congressional debt battles of 2011. But it was also true that the role of the tea party was overshadowed by the stakes for public-sector unions, for whom the defeat at the polls may become a Waterloo moment ? a stunning abdication of bargaining rights in the state where public-sector unions were born in 1959.

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Few options left for Obama on economy (The Arizona Republic)

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Book Marketing Roundup - The Savvy Book Marketer

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Jaguar reacts to portrayal on "Mad Men"

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Schools turn their noses up at 'pink slime'

FILE - This March 29, 2012, file photo, shows the beef product known as lean finely textured beef, or "pink slime," during a plant tour of Beef Products Inc. in South Sioux City, Neb., where the product is made. The nation?s school districts are turning up their noses at ?pink slime,? the beef product that caused a public uproar earlier this year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the vast majority of states participating in its National School Lunch Program have opted to order ground beef that doesn?t contain the product known as lean finely textured beef. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

FILE - This March 29, 2012, file photo, shows the beef product known as lean finely textured beef, or "pink slime," during a plant tour of Beef Products Inc. in South Sioux City, Neb., where the product is made. The nation?s school districts are turning up their noses at ?pink slime,? the beef product that caused a public uproar earlier this year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the vast majority of states participating in its National School Lunch Program have opted to order ground beef that doesn?t contain the product known as lean finely textured beef. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The nation's school districts are turning up their noses at "pink slime," the beef product that caused a public uproar earlier this year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the vast majority of states participating in its National School Lunch Program have opted to order ground beef that doesn't contain the product known as lean finely textured beef.

Only three states ? Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota ? chose to order beef that may contain the filler.

The product has been used for decades and federal regulators say it's safe to eat. It nevertheless became the center of national attention after the nickname "pink slime" was quoted in a New York Times article on the safety of meat processing methods. The filler is made of fatty bits of beef that are heated then treated with a puff of ammonia to kill bacteria.

In response to the public outcry over its use, the USDA said in March said that it would for the first time offer schools the choice to purchase beef without the filler for the coming 2012-2013 school year. The agency has continued to affirm that lean finely textured beef is a safe, affordable and nutritious product that reduces overall fat content.

But as of May 18, the agency says states ordered more than 20 million pounds of ground beef products that don't contain lean finely textured beef. Orders for beef that may contain the filler came to about 1 million pounds.

Because schools were not given a choice last year, all states may have previously received beef with the product mixed in. The USDA estimates that lean finely textured beef accounted for about 6.5 percent of ground beef orders.

The agency is still accepting orders for the upcoming school year.

The USDA does not buy lean finely textured beef directly, but purchases finished products from beef vendors who must meet the agency's specifications for orders; products can consist of no more than 15 percent of the product.

The USDA's National School Lunch Program buys about 20 percent of the products served in schools across the country; the rest is purchased by schools or school districts directly through private vendors.

The percentage of beef that schools get through the USDA tends to be higher, however, because beef is expensive and schools like to take advantage of the favorable prices the government can negotiate.

Schools aren't the only ones rejecting the product. In the wake of the public outcry, fast food chains and supermarkets have also vowed to stop selling beef with the product.

Beef Products Inc., the South Dakota company that makes lean finely textured beef, has been reeling from the controversy. This month, the company announced that it will shutter three of its four plants.

___

Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi

.

Associated Press

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Samsung Galaxy S III Coming To 5 US Carriers In June

Last year's Galaxy S II US launch was . . . complicated. In addition to waiting for months after the International launch, US carriers saw fit to vary their devices drastically. No more, though. Today Samsung announced that the five US carriers that would be carrying the Samsung Galaxy S III this June: Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and US Cellular. And in a departure from prior Galaxy S launches, all five devices will sport the same screen size, SoC and RAM. And if you were looking forward to a quad-core Exynos, you should put your order in for the International variant.?

The US variants will feature LTE and HSPA+ 42Mbps speeds alongside their dual-core Snapdragon S4 SoCs, most likely the MDM8960 that has suddenly found its way into every major Android launch. The Krait cores will be backed up by 2GB of RAM and paired with the 4.8" Super AMOLED HD displays that grace the International Galaxy S III. Even that massive 2100 mAh battery will be showing its face on all variants, and every indication is that the bodies won't vary far from the International version, if at all. Pricing and retail availability will be announced on a per carrier basis, but Samsung commented that the phones would start as low as $199 and launch this month on all five carriers.?

Ultimately, in the US, users are not Samsung's customers, nor any other OEM's, it is the carriers that order the specifications and features they want to offer their subscribers. It is somewhat unpecedented that an Android device launching on 5 US carriers at once should ?be specced so identically, and makes clear that battery life and features are of more interest to carriers than core counts. If our HTC One X (AT&T) is any indication, these phones shouldn't disappoint.?

UPDATE: And the Coming Soon pages are starting to pop-up. AT&T is first out of the gates, though the rest are soon coming, no doubt. The images seem to confirm that the Galaxy S III variants will share a common design across all carriers.?

?

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How to Keep Up with Your Home DIY Maintenance - TH Services Blog

Home improvement is a very popular pastime these days.? DIY stores make it easy for homeowners to buy the tools and materials they need to take care of many home improvement tasks themselves.? DIY programs have also been popular on the television over the last few years and people are more aware of the benefits of home improvement.

If you enjoy DIY then there are number of great ways you can keep up the maintenance on your home and keep it looking in top condition.

Annual Maintenance

Some jobs will only need to be taken care of once a year.? It is easy to forget these so plan a quick schedule and put it up somewhere prominent like on the home office notice board.? You don?t have to do them all at once so you can just tick them off the schedule once they are completed.? Annual DIY maintenance jobs can include:

• Check over the roof for loose tiles and sort out repairs if necessary.
• Check gutters and downpipes and remove any blockages.
• Clean decking with proper deck cleaner to remove any slippery build-up.
• Pressure wash pathways and driveways to prevent build-up of moss.
• Check wooden window frames (interior and exterior) and carry out any repairs.
• Check sealant in bathrooms/kitchens and replace if looking worn or damaged.
• Get qualified technicians to service heating systems and any gas appliances.
• Check fire alarms and gas detectors and replace batteries if necessary.
• If you have working chimneys then get these checked and cleaned if necessary.
• Look around your property and see if any overhanging branches need trimming back.

Other Tasks

When it comes to other important DIY maintenance tasks you will need to keep motivated.? Every month walk around the house and check for any signs of damage or wear that may need attention.? For example you may see carpet runners that have started to come up and need fixing back down again.

• Ideally you should take care of any potential safety issues first and then general decorative issues when you have time.
• You may be able to take care of some of these jobs yourself using DIY equipment and supplies.
• Some jobs may be more involved and may require professional attention.? Keep a list of recommended tradesmen somewhere handy so that you know who to call when you need work carried out.
• Avoid carrying out any jobs to do with electrics or gas yourself.? This can be dangerous and to make sure the work is carried out properly and safely it is best to call in the experts.
• Keeping motivated with DIY maintenance can be difficult but it is important to stay on top of things.
• If you leave maintenance tasks too long they can build up and create a lot more work for you.
• Problems could get worse and you could end up spending a lot more money fixing issues that could have been easily dealt with months ago.

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