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Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who suffered a stroke in late January, has recovered enough to leave the rehabilitation center he’s been living at for the last three months and will continue his recovery from home, his Senate office announced today.

“Mark has progressed to the point where he can move home with his family,” his family said in a statement today. “He has begun a rigorous walking study program to further his mobility and independence while maintaining his schedule with staff.”

The senator, 52 Buy windows 7 key, will continue to work on his recovery as an out-patient at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, according to the statement.

In late January doctors discovered a carotid artery dissection in the right side of Kirk’s neck, revealing he had suffered an ischemic stroke. The senator underwent surgery to relieve swelling around his brain stemming from the stroke but doctors cautioned it would be a long recovery ahead and Kirk had not been back to Washington or home since.

In late April, Kirk’s office released the first photograph of the senator in the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, noting that he “remains fully engaged in all aspects of his rehabilitation program,” and they are “quite pleased” with his recovery.

“He is mentally sharp Microsoft Windows 7 Key, and meets with his staff nearly every day to discuss policy issues and global current events,” Dr. Richard L. Harvey, medical director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Center for Stroke Rehabilitation said in April. “Senator Kirk is working very hard in daily therapy sessions to increase his strength and mobility, and has walked more than 10 miles in total since his arrival at RIC.  In addition he is climbing stairs and getting in and out of vehicles.”

Because of  his “young age Windows 7 Activation Key, good health, and the nature of the stroke,” his doctors were initially very confident in the Senator’s recovery over the months ahead.

In the statement released today, the Kirk family thanked those who have “given him privacy and time to heal,” and to those who “shares their prayer and wishes for his return to the US Senate as soon as possible.”

Kirk served in the House, then in 2010 won the Senate seat formerly occupied by Barack Obama.

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We begin by saying we certainly hope we can live up to such an exuberant headline. You will have to judge for yourself whether all those exclamation points were justified or not.

The real reason for such titular excitement is the convergence of two contests here at Friday Talking Points headquarters. See? I had to restrain myself from typing yet another exclamation point, there.

One contest is over, and we are able to (finally!) crown a winner. And one contest is just beginning, so haul out your crystal ball and peer into the future with us, in the comments.

Last December, we ran a column entitled “Call The Newtsplosion Contest.” In it, we used explosive terminology (such as “Newtroglycerine” — although we have to admit that “Newtonium” and “Newtron Bomb” didn’t occur to us until later…) to describe what was likely going to end Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign.

Now, you’ll have to harken back to an earlier time — a time when Newt was seen (by himself, at the very least) as “the inevitable Republican nominee.” That was the setting for this contest, which was announced on December 12. In it, we invited folks to guess when Newt would say something so outrageous that he, in essence, disqualified himself from the race and went down in flames.

We have to report, sadly, that Newt Gingrich exits the race this week with more of a whimper (desperately seeking Delaware?) than any sort of bang. My own entry in the contest was “right after Super Tuesday” which would have been around March 7, just to show how far off I was. There were even farther-out guesses, such as “December 27, during the Trump debate” and “Newt will win the White House in a landslide,” to show how wide the field of prognostication was.

But our winning entry was, quite simply, stunningly accurate this time around. Over at the Huffington Post comments section, we got an entry for “April 17, 2012.” This guess was only eight days off — which we feel is pretty impressive, considering how long ago the contest ran.

What is even more impressive is that this is the first time ever — since I’ve begun running these amusing contests, I believe — that we have a certified two-time winner! If that doesn’t deserve an exclamation point, I don’t know what does….

TakeSake of the Huffington Post comments section is our winner in the “Call The Newtsplosion Contest.” Earlier, way back in FTP[141], we awarded TakeSake the 500 Quatloos he earned by guessing — within a single day — when Rahm Emanuel would exit the White House. That contest began even further back, in FTP[114] (“When Will Rahm Go?”), and although TakeSake did hedge his bet a bit, he also won stylistic points for his pithy comment on the entire “Quatloos as a betting medium” thing:

Kirk was dealing with an alien world of perverse, socialpathic [sic] gamblers. Obama is dealing with something much more sinister: Washington politics.

In any case, our hat is off to our two-time winner, and a whopping 10,000 Quatloos is hereby awarded to TakeSake for so accurately predicting the exits from the stage of both Rahm Emanuel and Newt Gingrich. Well done! Well done, indeed!

When one contest ends, another must begin. Well, not always, but today at any rate.

Since all the excitement is over in the Republican primaries (boredom, thy name is Romney… ahem), we reluctantly turn to opening the field for entries as to who will be Mitt’s running mate. We say “reluctantly” because we really despise the saccharine cuteness of the term “Veepstakes,” but since that’s what we’ll be holding, we are forced to use it. Sigh.

The question “Who will Mitt pick?” is already on the lips of cocktail-sippers inside the beltway, and this question will be batted around many a Sunday morning punditfest until the Republican National Convention (or until we’re all sick of it, which will come much sooner than that). The field of possibilities is either open to everyone sporting a Republican bumpersticker on their car, or will hinge solely on the question of whether Mitt will have to get down on one knee or two to beg Marco Rubio to accept — depending on who is giving odds, at this point.

We’re going to open the contest with our own wacky guess, which we limited to selecting from “people whose names we haven’t heard mentioned yet” — which turned out to be limiting indeed. So we’re picking a sort of worst-case scenario that seems to (so far) have occurred to nobody else out there: Scott Walker. Yep, the guy in Wisconsin. If Walker beats his recall vote, than he will become a rallying figure for Republicans in 2012, with his conservative credentials flawlessly displayed. He’s a Midwesterner who could turn a few states (so the Romney thinking will go), but he’s not so charismatic that he’ll continually upstage Mitt on the campaign trail.

We certainly hope this doesn’t come to pass, we should mention. Again, we had only those whom nobody else had considered to choose from (so as to not pre-empt choices others may make in the comments), as a self-imposed rule, and this was the best we could come up with given such strict limitations.

Think we’re wrong? Got your own ideas? Well, toss them out there in the comments! Prove your own prowess of prediction!

(Because there will likely be a tie, a valid entry must name the exact date and time (East Coast time) when the veep choice will be announced by Mitt’s campaign. To aid you in this task, the Republican National Convention begins on August 27. Winner will be the person who selects the correct running mate, and who also gets closest to the actual date and time of the announcement.)

Moving on to our weekly awards, we have to at least give a nod towards Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who just got the Violence Against Women Act renewal through his chamber with a very impressive 68-31 vote. That’s a lot of Republicans for a Democratic bill, it bears mentioning. Republican senators (well, some of them, at any rate) have apparently woken up to the damage the War on Women is doing to their party among the electorate. In any case, for such a strong bipartisan victory, Reid deserves at least an Honorable Mention this week.

But the really impressive Democrat this week was none other than Barack Obama. While the mainstream media’s “journalists” were competing with each other over how many times they could say the word “prostitute” on the airwaves, Obama was out in the countryside changing the Washington debate.

While we do realize that many would have awarded Obama the coveted MIDOTW award merely for his most-excellent “slow-jamming the news” segment on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show, we like to think we have higher standards here. I mean, the video is indeed priceless, but not impressive enough for the award.

Instead, Obama is our Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week this week because he got the Republicans to concede a major issue — keeping student loan rates low. Before this week, Republicans were against the very concept. This week, after Obama’s strong showing on a few swing-state college campuses, Republicans have reconsidered and are now setting the battle up over “how to pay for it” — exactly what they did when they caved on the payroll tax holiday. In other words — Obama is going to get a legislative victory, and it is going to happen before the June deadline. Bank on it.

That’s a pretty impressive week, for an incumbent president. For utterly changing the debate from “should we do this?” to “how will we pay for this?” our Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week, due to sheer leadership qualities (and not slow-jam qualities), is none other than President Obama.

(Congratulate President Barack Obama on the White House contact page, to let him know you appreciate his efforts.)

Joe Biden has been… um, saying some interesting things this week. Sigh.

We were — right up until today — convinced that the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week this week was going to go to Joe Lieberman, for several reasons: (1.) Just because. (2.) We’re tired of seeing him pop up on our television screens for no reason (3.) We won’t have ol’ Joe to kick around much longer.

Seriously, the best thing about the 2012 election — better even than Obama winning a 50-state landslide, should such a thing happen — will be the fact that Joe Lieberman will not be back in the Senate next year. Following this logic, there are only a limited number of weeks we can possibly hand out more MDDOTW awards to him replica watches, and we want to make sure he gets all he’s worth.

But then we checked the news this morning, and learned that the House has already voted on their version of the student loan rate extension, which conveniently also doubles as part of the Republican War on Women, because they’re going to pay for the whole thing by raiding a fund set up to provide preventative care — like breast exams, for instance.

The really disappointing news, however, was that John Boehner could not have passed this without Democratic votes. The Tea Partiers were apparently off in their perpetual snit, and the bill only passed by the grace of 13 Democratic votes — by a total of 215 to 195. Without these votes, it would have failed.

Now, normally cheap replica watches, when a bill passes and a few Democrats cross party lines, it winds up making no difference to the outcome. They are not the key votes, in other words. This time, they were.

Because the vote is so recent, at this time we are unable to provide a list of those 13 Democrats who voted against H.R. 4628 today. We must therefore award, in absentia, the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week to every House Democrat who voted against the bill.

[In a day or so, you should be able to search the Library of Congress' site for "HR4628" and see which Democrats voted against this bill. We apologize for the lack of contact information at this time.]

Volume 208 (4/27/12)

Welcome once again to our ceaseless efforts at convincing Democrats to get better at staying on message. Obama did a pretty masterful job this week on the student loan issue, so Democrats don’t have much heavy lifting to do on that front.

But every little bit helps. We provide these talking points, as always, for everyone to use freely — from prominent Democrats interviewed on Sunday morning political shows, down to rank-and-file Democrats standing around the water cooler on Monday morning.

Enjoy… and don’t forget to cast your veepstakes vote in the comments!

   Voting for violence against women

Republicans are already on the run on the student loan issue. Democrats should turn this into a full rout with their advantage on the Violence Against Women Act.

“I see that the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act passed the Senate this week, but I was shocked that something like thirty Republicans voted against it. This wasn’t a close vote — the measure passed with 68 votes — but still, it was eye-opening. Up until this year, this law was renewed with overwhelming support, but this year over half the Republicans in the Senate voted against it. Republicans say that there simply isn’t any kind of ‘War on Women’ being waged by their party, but I think women voters are smart enough to judge them on what they do as well as what they say. Two-thirds of the Republicans in the Senate just essentially voted in favor of violence against women. That is shameful, to be bluntly honest. I have a message for Republicans in the House: women are watching you, on this bill.”

   War on Women

This is really starting to get under Republicans’ skins, which is excellent. They are on defense, and because they are they feed right into the Democratic “framing” on the issue every time they bring it up. So use the phrase whenever you get the chance, because they’re obviously getting scared of it.

“Republicans in the House just passed their version of keeping student loan rates down, but they just couldn’t resist opening another battlefield in their ongoing War on Women to do so. In order to pay for the student loan program, Republicans raided money set aside for preventative health care like breast exams and checkups for women across America. Even more insultingly, they call this a ’slush fund.’ That’s exactly how high women rate with the Republican Party: slush. Women are merely dirty snow to be scraped off Republicans’ bootheels. No wonder women voters are fleeing the Republican Party and waking up to the fact that Democrats are the ones fighting for women’s health, and not against it.”

   Obama convinced Republicans

Give Obama a victory pat on the back, while the dust is still settling.

“President Obama showed real leadership this week on the student loan issue. Before Obama brought it up, Republicans were actually against keeping student loan rates affordable for millions of Americans. One even called it the ’stage three cancer of socialism,’ whatever that means. By refusing to give up this fight, Barack Obama actually convinced the Republicans that his way of thinking was the right way, and they dropped their opposition to the idea like a hot potato. One wonders how many public opinion polls the Republicans had to conduct before the president brought them over to his position.”

   Etch A Sketching

OK, this one is a blatant plug for a frivolous column I wrote yesterday. But still…

“I see Mitt Romney quickly Etch A Sketched on his position on keeping student loans affordable for middle-class American students. I look forward to watching Mitt Etch A Sketching on many other issues, in the next few weeks. I just wonder if the Republican base will let him get away with it — especially if he comes out for any version of what conservatives sneeringly call ‘amnesty,’ after earlier being against such a concept. As I said, the Etch A Sketching has barely begun, folks.”

   What was that about Europe, Mitt?

Salon pointed this one out, to give credit where it is due.

“I notice Mitt Romney’s not saying much about Europe, after the news that the severe austerity measures Britain took — all that budget-cutting that Republicans love — has driven their country into a double-dip recession. Mitt used to love using Europe as an example in his speeches, but after — yet again — it has been proven that too much austerity in a weak economy is a bad thing, Mitt’s been strangely silent on the issue. Still in favor of austerity, Mitt? The U.S. isn’t going to become Greece if Mitt wins the election, instead we’ll get Britain’s double-dip recession.”

   Bishops and politics

Let’s just see how that political fracas with the Catholic Church is going replica watches, shall we?

“I see that Paul Ryan now sees the Catholic bishops in a new light, now that they’ve strongly come out against his budget plans. The bishops quite accurately noted that Ryan is balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and helpless, while continuing to shower tax cuts on the wealthy — which I don’t remember Jesus being in favor of, actually. I find it interesting that when the Catholic bishops say something the Republicans like, Republicans talk about how the church should be heeded, but when the bishops point out inconvenient truths, then it seems to be up to each individual Catholic to make up his or her own mind. Funny how that works, isn’t it?”

   Let’s just have a sing-off

Barack Obama — while not technically singing — caused apparent apoplexy in the Republican Party this week, on Jimmy Fallon’s show. Going on the theory that whatever makes Republican heads explode the most must be a good thing, why not double-down? Heh.

“The White House has announced today that instead of three debates with Mitt Romney this fall, they will instead only participate in two formal debates. For the third event, President Obama will be challenging Mitt Romney to a singing contest, to be moderated by Simon Cowell. We’ll let Americans vote with their phones and texts, and any money raised will be used to provide singing lessons for the loser. We feel this will provide American with a much more entertaining evening than another dry old political debate, and we invite all of America to participate in the voting afterwards.”

Chris Weigant blogs at:

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The markets have steadied a bit after their loss of nerve on Monday. But you can’t help feeling that it is a bit like a climber, sliding down a glacier to his inevitable doom, who breaks his fall for a while on a crumbling ledge that soon will give way.

Things in Euroland have taken a bad turn for the worse – and it’s the politics Tattoo Case Box, stupid. It is not just the uncertainty about the second round of French presidential elections on 6 May. François Hollande, the Socialist leader, will probably win Free Tattoo Kits, because it will be easier for him than for Nicolas Sarkozy to pick up votes from those whose candidates were knocked out in the first round. But the energetic Sarko should never be underestimated. He is pitching his campaign hard to gain votes from the hard Right supporters of Marine Le Pen. Herein lies the problem for the euro and for Germany.

It almost doesn’t matter who wins the election. The fiscal compact agreed in principle by 25 out of 27 European leaders in January – “a kind of German straitjacket for the fiscally wayward”, to quote Stephen King, group chief economist of HSBC – is Angela Merkel’s pride and joy, her answer to all the eurozone’s difficulties. Typically, like the euro itself, it has been designed to make everyone more like Germany. Hollande has already made it a plank of his campaign to renegotiate the compact. Meanwhile, as Sarkozy moves ever rightwards, striking a strongly nationalist tone (and risking the estrangement of centrist voters), he puts himself increasingly at odds with a compact designed to create greater fiscal union on German terms. If Sarko wins, it is hard to see how Merkozy, never the warmest of unions, can simply pick up where they left off.

This is very bad news for Berlin; and could mean uncertain French intentions continuing long after the elections. Might the fiscal compact be derailed altogether? Given the collapse of the Dutch coalition government as well, this is a real possibility. The Netherlands is no flaky Mediterranean economy, but, with Germany, one of the most solid citizens of the eurozone.

Yet, it has been hit by a strain of euro-contagion. This has nothing to do with debt mountains, deficits or default. The contagion is political and it is this. People are simply not prepared to wear the German hair shirt any longer. The demands of austerity have gone beyond what societies and parliamentary democracies will tolerate. There is a direct link between riots in Madrid, a collapsing coalition in the Netherlands and the deep unpopularity of the whole European project.

For all the crises and endless euro-summits the moment of truth for Europe has not yet arrived.

But it is discernible in the intolerable tension between economics and politics, a tension that has already exploded in Greece, Italy, the Iberian states and now the Netherlands, with France on the brink. The danger in this lies not just in economic dislocation; but in a loss of faith in democracy itself as a system of government that can deliver prosperity, stability and security. In his brilliant The Dark Continent Kuro Sumi Tattoo Ink, a history of Europe in the 20th century, Mark Mazower argues that it was by no means inevitable that parliamentary democracy would defeat dictatorship.

Today, it is by no means inevitable that people, widely disillusioned with the political classes and battered by austerity, will retain their affection for democracy and not look for salvation in different and less savoury forms of government.

Photo by Katie Bain

If Coachella 2012 is remembered for one thing Tattoo Gun Tattoo Designs, (besides Holo’Pac), it’s likely to go down in history as the year electronic music dominated the lineup, from the festival’s longstanding dance nexus the Sahara Tent to the traditionally more rock-oriented main stage.

Indeed, electronic music’s current reign over pop/youth culture was exemplified last Friday night when progressive house trio Swedish House Mafia made history by becoming the first electronic act to ever headline the festival’s main stage. “This is the pinnacle of what our type of music can do,” said SHM’s Axwell, moments before dropping a set that sent the massive crowd into states of sing-along euphoria from the front row to the nosebleeds.

Here, five of the weekend’s electronic headliners — Justice, Kaskade, Swedish House Mafia Tattoo Gun Set, Datsik and Avicii — discuss the explosion of their genre and what playing Coachella means to them.

Justice 1  of  6 FIRST SLIDE PREVIOUS SLIDE NEXT SLIDESHOW Years At Coachella: 3 How does it feel to go from playing the dance tent to getting a nighttime slot on the main stage? Xavier de Rosnay: It’s a good surprise. It’s great that Coachella trusts us to play the main stage at this time of the day. What are your impressions of the festival? We have a great relationship to Coachella, because the first live show we ever played was at Coachella in 2007. It was a very special moment for us because we had just finished our first album as well, so when we came here and played it was good and were like ‘okay we just finished our first album and played our first live show. We feel great.’ So we have a warm association. Justice plays Sunday at 7:45pm on the Main Stage Photo: Katie Bain READ WHOLE POST South Pasadena Sewage Spill: 5,500 Gallons Of Raw Sewage Ends Up In Long Beach, Beaches Close ‘After Porn Ends’ Documentary Reveals The Dark Side Of The Industry And Life After Porn (VIDEO) Obama’s Airspace In LA Violated As He Leaves California, Fighter Jets Intercept Small Plane Itzhak Abergil Professional Tattoo Machine, Suspected Israeli Crime Lord, Pleads Guilty In LA Dolphin In Huntington Beach’s Bolsa Chica Wetlands Finally Makes It To The Ocean Super PAC Donations For Charity? Repledge.com Could Make It Happen PLAY FULLSCREEN ZOOM COMMENT SAVE THIS SLIDE –> SHARE THIS SLIDE  Years At Coachella: 3

How does it feel to go from playing the dance tent to getting a nighttime slot on the main stage?
Xavier de Rosnay: It’s a good surprise. It’s great that Coachella trusts us to play the main stage at this time of the day.

What are your impressions of the festival?
We have a great relationship to Coachella, because the first live show we ever played was at Coachella in 2007. It was a very special moment for us because we had just finished our first album as well, so when we came here and played it was good and were like ‘okay we just finished our first album and played our first live show. We feel great.’ So we have a warm association.

Justice plays Sunday at 7:45pm on the Main Stage

Photo: Katie Bain Justice   1  / 6 SHARE THIS SLIDE Years At Coachella: 3 How does it feel to go from playing the dance tent to getting a nighttime slot on the main stage? Xavier de Rosnay: It’s a good surprise. It’s great that Coachella trusts us to play the main stage at this time of the day. What are your impressions of the festival? We have a great relationship to Coachella, because the first live show we ever played was at Coachella in 2007. It was a very special moment for us because we had just finished our first album as well, so when we came here and played it was good and were like ‘okay we just finished our first album and played our first live show. We feel great.’ So we have a warm association. Justice plays Sunday at 7:45pm on the Main Stage Photo: Katie Bain ADVERTISEMENT SLIDESHOW THUMBNAILS

How can we best support a transition towards full reform in Burma? How might we best support human rights there? Isn’t the first step a full freedom from fear that necessitates an elimination of the eminent threat of violence? The answers may not be simple Herve leger strapless sale, but there are certain steps that are. Tom Andrews’ recent articles in the Washington Post (here) and The Hill (here) call for a continuance of sanctions against Burma/Myanmar. He sees the maintenance of sanctions as an important tool to continue the reform process. I’m tended to think that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has a more authoritative voice with which to speak on the issue of sanctions, and think that if there is going to be advocacy for a solution it should focus on the provision of the needs of the victims of fighting and on a cessation of violence.

It is hard to overstate the degree of distrust present in Burma’s central government and its minority nationalities. The violence and abuse there is tearing a region asunder. The violence committed in northern Burma by the military is repellent and the needs of the civilian population there increase daily. While it is the Tatmadaw that initiated this latest phase of conflict in Kachin State, there is a history of both sides failing a human rights litmus test. Witness the persistent use of child soldiers by government and ethnic forces, including the KIA itself. Even if conflicts are resolved, there will be a sustained and considerable need for rebuilding trust and respect for its diverse population (consider the Rohingya, an ethnic group that not even major advocacy organizations have defended enough and with scant coverage in the major media). Burma needs to develop a consistent application for the rule of law, to build a virtually nonexistent infrastructure that can serve all of its peoples, to address the serious crisis in education and public health, and nearly countless other critical projects that people will suffer in the absence of having completed. None of these things can be addressed without resolving the continuing conflicts around the borders of Burma.

Let us note that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has endorsed the suspension of sanctions by the EU and has also maintained her calls for an end to all armed hostilities and for the release of the remaining prisoners of conscience. The fact of the matter is that transition processes are often uneven, frequently feature reversals, and are always bumpy. Witness the evolution of South Africa in removing the binds of apartheid or the fitful struggles in Cambodia towards reconciliation after civil war.

While it may be a necessary element of the process to maintain some sanctions until there is progress with political prisoners and other parts of the reform process, it is imperative that there be a demilitarization of the conflict regions and an embrace of a nonviolent process. International observers, trusted third-party negotiators, and the validation of local interests will all need to be part of the process. But it is difficult to imagine a way forward with all sides continuing to hold weapons that can be reintroduced at any time. Burma’s conflict regions must disarm and demilitarize. There is only peace in nonviolence.

I have dedicated much of my life to working to advance the causes of human rights and basic dignity of all but have, as is inevitable, become attached to some particular causes within the broader concerns for justice. As the child of a very Irish family in Pittsburgh, it was unsurprising that I became concerned by The Troubles in Northern Ireland after watching the religious-based strife that was tearing communities asunder. After the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, acrimony continued by both Unionist and Republican splinter groups and confidence-building was shaky in trying to untangle a conflict with a forty year history. I couldn’t speak for all sides, but I could speak as a Catholic and as a person of Irish ancestry and speaking out is what was necessary. On March 23, 2000, the International Herald Tribune published my call for there to be no funds for armed struggle and no support for violent struggle (a reprint can be found on the HRAC blog or here). The time for deciding who was “most wrong” was over. The only way to proceed was for both sides to disarm as a necessary step Buy Herve leger strapless, the first step and not the last, in confidence-building. Is it really impossible to propose an observed and sanctioned move towards nonviolence in Burma? Northern Ireland still has flare-ups and problems and the issues facing Burma are of a much greater magnitude. But I still remain firm in my conviction that there can be a conspiracy of hope and a move towards a politics of peace.

According to a number of reports, BMW has given up on diesel power for the 3 Series in the United States. Why would BMW turn its back on the torquey and efficient 335d? The reason is supposedly two-fold. It’s no secret the automaker is bringing an ActiveHybrid 3 Series to market in the fall of this year. Given America’s insatiable, if not illogical, thirst for hybrids, reason would have us believe BMW has switched sides in the diesel versus hybrid fight. Then there’s the fact that the turbo four-cylinder gasoline engine in F30 328i now nearly matches the outgoing 335d in both efficiency and power. Those circumstances seem to be a curtain call for any return of the 335d in America.

When we spoke to BMW about the supposed demise of the 335d, the automaker made it clear the ActiveHybrid 3 Series is in no way meant to replace the diesel. While the automaker doesn’t plan to release a new 335d during 2012, the company is currently evaluating the case for a successor. Odds are Tattoo Supplies, that means finding a way to make the vehicle a worthwhile investment for both consumers and the automaker.

When asked if that meant a turbo 2.0-liter diesel was an option, Tom Plucinsky, BMW product communications manager, said Tattoo Supplies, “The F30 328i has the same EPA rating as the 335d. We need to up our game if we’re going to continue to offer a 3 Series diesel in the U.S. It’s a possibility.”

So, don’t go throwing dirt on the 3 Series diesel’s coffin just yet.

See Slate’s complete coverage of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting and arrest of Jared Lee Loughner.

Jared Lee Loughner

There’s something offensive, as well as pointless, about the politically charged inquiry into what might have been swirling inside the head of Jared Loughner. We hear that the accused shooter read The Communist Manifesto and liked flag-burning videos— good news for the right. Wait—he was a devotee of Ayn Rand and favored the gold standard, so he was a right-winger after all. Some assassinations embody an ideology, however twisted. Based on what we know so far, the Tucson killings look like more like politically tinged schizophrenia. 

It is appropriate Fake Tonino Lamborghini Watches, however, to consider what was swirling outside Loughner’s head. To call his crime an attempted assassination is to acknowledge that it appears to have had a political and not merely a personal context. That context wasn’t Islamic radicalism, Puerto Rican independence Where find Replica Glashutte Watches, or anarcho-syndicalism. It was the anti-government, pro-gun, xenophobic populism that flourishes in the dry and angry climate of Arizona. Extremist shouters didn’t program Loughner Emporio Armani Replica Watches, in some mechanistic way, to shoot Gabrielle Giffords. But the Tea Party movement did make it appreciably more likely that a disturbed person like Loughner would react, would be able to react, and would not be prevented from reacting, in the crazy way he did.

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At the core of the far right’s culpability is its ongoing attack on the legitimacy of U.S. government—a venomous campaign not so different from the backdrop to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Then it was focused on “government bureaucrats” and the ATF. This time it has been more about Obama’s birth certificate and health care reform. In either case, it expresses the dangerous idea that the federal government lacks valid authority. It is this, rather than violent rhetoric per se, that is the most dangerous aspect of right-wing extremism.

Often the two issues are blurred together, because if government is illegitimate, rebellion is an appropriate response (hence the Colonial costumes).  Conservative entertainers like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin like to titillate their audiences with hints of justified violence, including frequent reminders that they are armed and dangerous. Palin went so far as to put a target on someone who subsequently got shot. Whether or not the man who fired the gun was inspired by Palin isn’t the point. The point is that you shouldn’t paint targets on people, even in metaphor, or jest.

Guns are also at the heart of how the right’s ideology enabled Loughner. Tea Partiers often frame the right to bear arms as a necessary check on federal despotism. “You know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies,” said Sharron Angle of Nevada, who nearly defeated the majority leader of the U.S. Senate in neighboring Nevada. In practical terms, easy access to firearms empowers extremists and crazies to challenge government authority at whim. The National Rifle Association position that any attempt to regulate the ownership of firearms is a violation of the Constitution has prevailed both politically and through the courts. That means that there are few things simpler than for someone to walk into a sporting goods store, as Loughner apparently did Replica Harry Winston Watches, buy a dangerous weapon Buy Cheap Replica Blancpain Watches, and carry it concealed to political meetings. How should politicians protect themselves from nuts with guns? By arming themselves, of course. Absent permissive firearm laws, nowhere more lax than in Arizona, Loughner might still have been able to get a gun. But he couldn’t have done it quite so easily.

First you rile up psychotics with inflammatory language about tyranny, betrayal, and taking back the country. Then you make easy for them to get guns. But if you really want trouble, you should also make it hard for them to get treatment for mental illness. I don’t know if Loughner had health insurance, but he falls into a pool of people who often go uninsured—not young enough to be covered by parents (until the health-care bill’s coverage of twentysomethings kicked in a few months ago), not old enough for Medicare, not poor enough for Medicaid. If such a person happens to have a history of mental illness, he will be effectively uninsurable. To get treatment, he actually has to commit a crime. If Republicans succeed in repealing the Obama health care bill Where buy best Replica Concord Watches, that’s how it will remain.

Again, none of this says that Tea Party caused the Tucson tragedy, only that its politics increased the odds of something like it happening. It was in criticizing writers on his own side for their naivete about communism that George Orwell wrote, “So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” Today it is the right that amuses itself with violent chat and proclaims an injured innocence when its flammable words blow up.

Video: Mark Schmitt and Dan Foster Discuss What Motivated Jared Loughner

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Chrysler’s departure from the leasing game certainly isn’t going to help dealers move stale product off their lots Imitation Dolce & Gabbana Watches, so the automaker has announced a new sales program unimaginatively named the “Shop ‘Til You Drive Sales Event.” What’ll it take to get you into a new Chrysler Best place to buy Replica Longines Watches, Dodge or Jeep vehicle?

Well, aside from $2 Fake Anonimo Watches,000 cash back on “select retail purchases,” Chrysler is offering an August-only Buy Cheap Replica Tudor Watches, 72-month, zero-percent APR financing deal on many of its slow-selling models that aims to make monthly payments approximately the same as a 36-month lease.

Additionally, pricing on Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep vehicles has been slashed, with the Ram dropping 40-percent of its MSRP, Aspen hacked by up to 25 percent Fake Breitling Watches, Town & Country minivans cut by 24 percent and Grand Cherokees dropping 28 percent.

Chrysler will also try to get lessees back into dealerships by offering special “loyalty incentives” that will be applied to a new retail purchase Replica Swiss Movement Watches sale, along with waiving the $425 lease disposition fee.

The full details are posted in the press release below the fold.

[Sources: Chrysler, Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Bentley Azure T – Click above for high-res image gallery
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The current Bentley Azure may have only been in production for four years Fake Romain Jerome Watches, but the platform that underpins it goes back to 1998. Developed back when both Bentley and Rolls-Royce were under Vickers ownership Replica Richard Mille Watches, it’s the same platform that formed the basis for the Arnage saloon and Brooklands coupe. But with the introduction of the Mulsanne – as we reported back in September – the old platform is set to be retired altogether.

Now that Bentley is concentrating its efforts on the Mulsanne, the Azure is reportedly the next to be discontinued. But if you’re super-wealthy and looking for a way to shuttle yourself and your company around the Riviera in open-air opulence, fret not Hermes Replica Watches, because a replacement is on the way.

According to new reports, however Replica Baume & Mercier Watches, the next-generation Azure (or whatever name Crewe selects for the model) may gain a couple of doors. If so Fake Roger Dubuis Watches, it would – not withstanding the likes of the Maybach Landaulet or Jeep Wrangler – bring back the long-dormant body-style of a four-door convertible, thus separating itself from the Rolls-Royce Phantom DropHead Coupe with which it will be competing.

Related GalleryBentley Azure T
[Source: BurlappCars.com]

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BMW and Mercedes-Benz took a bit longer than other manufacturers to report their final sales figures for 2011 Fake Romain Jerome Watches for sale, and some analysts believe the delay may have something to do with the fact that both automakers were vying for the sales crown among luxury makes. Long-time champion Lexus suffered production setbacks at the hands of the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan last March Imitation Movado Watches, which left the door open for the two German companies to make a move for the top slot. In the end Buy Cheap Replica Free Gift Watches, Mercedes-Benz announced its numbers first. BMW followed suit by revealing the company had bested its rival by fewer than 3 Buy Cheap Replica Seiko Watches,000 units.

But the story doesn’t end there. According to TheDetroitBureau.com Buy Cheap Replica Chaumet Watches, Mercedes-Benz may have been pulling a few tricks in an attempt to nab the top spot. The site claims Mercedes-Benz was offering sizable bonuses to dealers who agreed to take a certain number of vehicles into their test fleets. Those models could then be listed as sold before being plopped onto the used lot with like-new warranties a day later.

That wouldn’t be the first time an automaker has resorted to shell games in an attempt to swipe a sales crown. The Detroit Bureau reports Cadillac once had to recant its victory after playing similar tricks.