Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, center, accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, right, express their frustration after the Senate passed a bill to fund the government, but stripped it of the defund "Obamacare" language as crafted by House Republicans, Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (CNN) -- Our Congress sucks. This is truly one of the few things we agree on. In fact, a new CNN poll released earlier this week found that Congress has only a 10% approval rating. When you think that 10% of Americans believe Congress is doing a good job, you have to ask yourself one question: Who are these people?! (Imagine this asked with true Jerry Seinfeld-esque exasperation.)
Christopher Cruz, right, appears in criminal court with his lawyer H. Benjamin Perez in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK (AP) — The driver of an SUV involved in a bloody weekend confrontation with a throng of motorcyclists was put in "grave danger" and feared for the life of his family when he drove through the crowd, striking a biker on the street, his wife said Thursday.
Special K Daley of the Harlem Globetrotters dunks the ball in Taipei, Taiwan. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File) PHOENIX (AP) — Georgia-based Herschend Family Entertainment Corp. has acquired Harlem Globetrotters International Inc. from Shamrock Capital Advisors. Terms of the deal were not revealed.
A National Park Service employee posts a sign reading "Because of the Federal Government SHUTDOWN All National Parks are Closed" on a barricade closing access to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) by David Espo and Donna CassataAssociated Press Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — First slowed, then stalled by political gridlock, the vast machinery of government clanged into partial shutdown mode on Tuesday and President Barack Obama warned the longer it goes "the more families will be hurt." Republicans said it was his fault, not theirs. Ominously, there were suggestions from leaders in both parties that the shutdown, heading for its second day, could last for weeks and grow to encompass a possible default by the Treasury if Congress fails to raise the nation's debt ceiling. "This is now all together," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill..
This photo provided by Jameson Hsieh shows a clown wearing a mask intended to look like President Obama at the Missouri State Fair. The announcer asked the crowd if anyone wanted to see “Obama run down by a bull,” according to a spectator. “So then everybody screamed. ... They just went wild,” said Perry Beam, who attended the rodeo at the State Fair in Sedalia on Saturday Aug. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Jameson Hsieh) by David LiebAssociated Press Writer JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri State Fair on Monday imposed a lifetime ban on a rodeo clown whose depiction of President Barack Obama getting charged by a bull was widely criticized by Democratic and Republican officials alike.
In this July 11, 2013 photo, former Sopchoppy City Commissioner Anginita Rosier poses for a photo in Tallahassee, Fla. State authorities are investigating her complaint that Sopchoppy city workers suppressed the black vote. (AP Photo/Brendan Farrington) by Brendan FarringtonAssociated Press Writer SOPCHOPPY, Fla. (AP) — A small Florida Panhandle town best known for its annual Worm Grunting Festival is at the center of an investigation into charges the white city clerk suppressed the Black vote in an election where the Black mayor lost by a single vote and a Black city commissioner was also ousted. Both losing candidates and three Black voters have filed complaints, now being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, that City Clerk Jackie Lawhon made it more difficult for Blacks to cast ballots by questioning their residency. The candidates also allege Lawhon abandoned her duty to remain neutral and actively campaigned for the three Whites on the ballot.
Meykai Howell runs a Powerball ticket through the machine at the Expressway #672 on East Main Street on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013 in El Dorado, Ark, where the prize is over $400 million. Tonight’s Powerball drawing will be the fourth biggest jackpot in the United States if a ticket matching the winning numbers is drawn. The Powerball is played in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (AP Photo/El Dorado News Times, Michael Orrell) by Geoff Mulvihill and Katie ZezimaAssociated Press Writers LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. (AP) — Three winning tickets in two states matched all the numbers for a $448.4 million Powerball jackpot, including one sold in a supermarket in a New Jersey coastal community hit hard by Superstorm Sandy last year. The other winning tickets were sold in central New Jersey and in Minnesota.
In this Feb. 3 photo, Beyonce performs during the halftime show of the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens, in New Orleans. The singer headlines at the 2013 Essence Music Festival, with other nightly concerts held in the Superdome to include, Maxwell, Jill Scott, Charlie Wilson, LL Cool J, New Edition, Emile Sande, Trey Songz, Janelle Monae and several others. The festival dates are July 4-7, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) by Chevel Johnson NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nearly two decades after Essence magazine launched a festival here to "party with a purpose" and celebrate Black culture, music and people, the Essence Fest may be facing some new competition. Like Essence this weekend, last weekend's BET Experience, held in Los Angeles, had Beyonce as a headliner. It also had panels discussing topics important to the community and spanned a three-day weekend — a format Essence until recently had used for years. But Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc., said the similarities end there.
Palace Malice , right, ridden by jockey Mike Smith, battles Oxbow, with jockey Gary Stevens up, around the fourth turn in the Belmont Stakes horse race in Elmont, N.Y., Saturday, June 8, 2013. Palace Malice won the race, Oxbow finished second. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) NEW YORK (AP) — Palace Malice took charge on the turn for home and won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, holding off Preakness winner Oxbow and Kentucky Derby winner Orb.
A map is displayed showing findings in an investigation dubbed "Operation Swill," in which 29 bars and restaurants in New Jersey are accused of putting cheap booze in premium brand liquor bottles and selling it, during a news conference, May 23, 2013, in Trenton, N.J. Thirteen of the restaurants cited are TGI Fridays located in central and northern New Jersey. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) by Rema Rahman TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — At one bar, a mixture that included rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring was sold as scotch. In another, premium liquor bottles were refilled with water — and apparently not even clean water at that.
