The GOP Continues To Obstruct By Refusing To Work With White House
Posted by Michelle Moquin on May 20th, 2013
Good morning!
Well, I thought I would be able to catch up with all of you over the weekend but as you can see I didn’t check in much. And yesterday, it seems no body was able to get in. How’s everyone doing? I worked all weekend and have a break today so it feels like a Saturday, not a Monday, to me.
Here’s something I found on the Huff Po. This may be old news but to me it is new news.
Obama’s Judicial Nominees Blocked On All Sides By Senate Republicans
WASHINGTON — It’s bad enough that there are 82 vacant federal judge slots around the country, a level so high that many observers have deemed it a crisis situation.
But perhaps even more startling is the fact that of those 82 vacant slots, 61 of them don’t even have a nominee.
On its face, the absence of nominees would appear to be a sign that President Barack Obama is slacking. After all, he is responsible for nominating judges, and he did put forward fewer nominees at the end of his first term than his two predecessors. But a closer look at data on judicial nominees, and conversations with people involved in the nomination process, reveals the bigger problem is Republican senators quietly refusing to recommend potential judges in the first place.
The process for moving judicial nominees is simple enough. A president takes the lead on circuit court nominees, while, per longstanding tradition, a senator kickstarts the process for district court nominees, which make up the bulk of the federal court system. Senators make recommendations from their home states, and the president works with them to get at least some of the nominees confirmed — the idea being that senators, regardless of party, are motivated to advocate for nominees from their states. The White House may look at other nominees on its own, but typically won’t move forward without input from the corresponding senators. Once a nominee is submitted to the Senate, he or she receives a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. If approved, the nomination heads to the Senate floor for a full vote.
It’s hardly news that the judicial nomination process is gummed up. Democrats regularly blast Republicans for blocking Obama’s nominees after they clear the Senate Judiciary Committee with broad support, making them wait an average of 116 days for a confirmation vote. That’s three times longer than the average wait for President George W. Bush’s nominees. But these obstacles come at the end of the nomination process. It’s now clear that there’s a serious problem at the beginning, too.
It turns out that since Obama took office, senators from some states — particularly those represented by two Republicans — have simply refused to make recommendations, according to data recently published by the Alliance for Justice, a left-leaning association of more than 100 organizations focused on the federal judiciary.
Take Kansas, for example. The state is represented by Republican Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, neither of whom has put forward nominees for a district court slot there that has been vacant for 1,246 days. Their inaction hasn’t gone unnoticed — both senators have taken heat for not participating in the nomination process.
Or look at Texas, where Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have not moved to fill seven vacant judicial slots, two of which have been vacant for 1,733 and 1,034 days, respectively, without a nominee. At least one Texas paper ran a piece suggesting Cornyn and former Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison were holding off on making judicial recommendations because they were hopeful Mitt Romney would become president in 2012.
There are four vacant judicial slots in Arizona, one of which has been vacant for 1,132 days. Neither of the state’s Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, have put forward a nominee for any those spots.
In total, 25 of the 61 vacancies without nominees are in states with two Republican senators, and another 14 are in states with one Republican senator and one Democratic senator. Seventeen are in states with two Democratic senators, and the remaining five are in other districts. That means many of the vacancies without nominees can be traced back to Senate Republicans who just aren’t participating in the process — a reality that flies in the face of Republicans’ chief complaint that Obama isn’t putting forward enough judicial nominees.
“It’s disingenuous at best for Republicans to complain about the number of judicial vacancies without nominees when Republicans themselves are responsible for the majority of those vacancies,” said Michelle Schwartz, director of Justice Programs for Alliance for Justice. “Nearly two-thirds of the vacancies without nominees are in states with at least one Republican senator, most of whom have consistently refused to work with the White House in good faith to identify qualified candidates.”
To be sure, there are states with long-vacant judgeships that are represented by two Democratic senators. But according to Alliance for Justice data, those instances are less frequent, the number of days those slots have been vacant is significantly lower and, in most cases, those senators have put forward nominees. In California, for example, which is represented by Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, one judicial slot has been vacant for 575 days. But the senators have made a recommendation, and the White House is currently working with them to fill the judgeship.
Thirty-six of the current vacancies are considered “judicial emergencies.” At the circuit courts, that means that because of the vacancies, the number of cases per panel of judges exceeds 700, or stays between 500 and 700 for more than 18 months. In district courts, it means the number of cases per individual judge is more than 600, or between 430 and 600 for more than 18 months. The more overloaded judges are, the more delayed the process of moving civil and criminal matters through the justice system.
HuffPost reached out to the Republican senators mentioned to ask why they haven’t submitted nominees for seats that have long been vacant, and to see if they planned to do so anytime soon. Only one responded.
Cornyn spokesman Drew Brandewie said the Texas senator did send the White House recommendations for the two judicial slots that have been vacant for more than 1,000 days, both in 2010, and that Obama didn’t go on to nominate them. Cornyn has made two additional recommendations for vacancies in Corpus Christi, Brandwie noted. Obama nominated one of them, Nelva Ramos, who was confirmed by the Senate in 2011.
Schwartz responded that her group had “no knowledge” of Cornyn making recommendations for the two long-vacant slots, and speculated that he may have made them to the White House privately. A White House official declined comment.
Nearly everyone was to blame for a lull in the nominations process last fall, when people in both parties turned their attention to the elections. The Senate Judiciary Committee stopped reporting out nominees between mid-August and early December. Democrats and the White House stopped pressing as hard for action, and, as one White House aide put it late last year, the bottleneck in the Senate didn’t exactly encourage anyone to work harder to come up with more nominees. “If my coffee pot only makes one cup per hour, no matter how many coffee beans I pour into it, the number of cups coming out will still be the same,” the aide said.
But in the months since Obama won reelection, there appears to have been a shift. When he met with Senate Republicans in early April, he pressed them to work with him on nominations. Senate Democrats have more visibly stepped up efforts to make recommendations. White House press secretary Jay Carney, meanwhile, has been highlighting when the Senate acts on Obama’s nominees during his daily briefings. The president has also been putting forward more circuit court nominees since the start of the year, a nomination process senators are less involved in.
Some Republicans may even be signaling that they’re ready to play ball now. In mid-April, Cornyn and Cruz announced a bipartisan commission to recommend Texas judicial nominees. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who previously blocked one nomineefrom his home state, announced that he, too, would help establish a similar nominating commission there.
But politics are clearly still driving the process. Last week, when the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Jane Kelly of Iowa to be a circuit court judge, Republicans said it showed that they’re not blocking the process.
“Today’s confirmation is the 14th so far this year — including five circuit judges and nine district judges,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said during remarks on the Senate floor. “Let me put that in perspective for my colleagues. At this point in the second term of the Bush presidency, only one judicial nomination had been confirmed. A comparative record of 14 to 1 is nothing to cry about.”
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was quick to push back. In floor remarks, he noted that the median time circuit court nominees have had to wait before a Senate vote has jumped from 18 days under Bush to 132 days under Obama. On top of that, he said, the 82 judicial vacancies around the country is nearly double the number that existed at this point in the Bush administration.
“While it is good that they have allowed this vote on Jane Kelly from Iowa, if it proves an exception rather than a change in their tactics of obstruction, we will recognize it for what it is,” Leahy said, suggesting that Grassley may have had other reasons for supporting Kelly getting a vote, and that he may have skipped over other nominees that have been waiting since last year.
“It should not take being from the ranking Republican’s home state to be promptly confirmed as a noncontroversial judicial nominee,” Leahy said.
*******
Readers: The “party of obstruction” continues to obstruct by refusing to work with the White House, and instead just ignores what needs to be done, which is to nominate candidates to fill these seats. And yet typical republicans, complain about the number of judicial vacancies when they are the ones responsible because they aren’t nominating anyone to fill these seats. Maddening.
Steve: I realize your comment was directed toward Robert, RT, but I love the fact that you broached the topic of the meaning of the “We” in the U.S. Constitution to your Dean. I thought that was a great idea. And interesting that the Dean, admitted that even if it were true, many would feel offended. We all know who that “many” would be.
I love how Robert, once again, makes it so simple to understand, by just talking logic. I am looking forward to hearing more from him, as well as hearing how your research is going, and at at some point if you’ll dare to have that discourse. Please keep us posted.
Anna of Guam: I HOPE it is not true either. I only found a write that they are investigating it but so far nothing that I know of has been substantiated. Do you have any new news? Just the thought of if makes me sick. Who would want to kill such beautiful mammals? Hafa Adai.
Anonymous: I’ve been using the word “sick” so much lately, but what else can I use to describe this?
Anonymous: And that is what happens when you live in a state that doesn’t support gays and gay marriage. Even if they family, including the children are perfectly happy, they will break them apart. Time to leave the state.
Lana: The link didn’t work but I agree with you, put ‘ol Pat Robertson out to pasture.
Condi: Is it no surprise that he is an LSOS? So many men who talk and preach like he does are hiding something. I think he belongs in the LSOS Club don’t you? I think I’m going to add him. I am sure at some point more lies will be revealed – it happens often with men like him.
Alycedale: True and well stated.
Joyce: That comment just says it all.
Peace & Love…
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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May 20th, 2013 at 10:45 am
Sneaky New Tricks from Identity Thieves
How to protect yourself from hotel Wi-Fi, Smartphone hackers and more
Identity thieves have developed new ways to gain access to our credit card accounts, bank accounts, Social Security numbers and other sensitive data. Here, the sneakiest threats and ways to protect yourself…
HOTEL WI-FI
In decades past, criminals who targeted hotel guests typically broke into rooms and stole valuables from luggage. These days, identity thieves can steal from hotel guests without ever setting foot in their rooms.
They do this by setting up Wi-Fi networks that appear to be official hotel Wi-Fi networks, then stealing private data from hotel guests who log on. All public Wi-Fi networks should be treated with caution, but hotel Wi-Fi is particularly dangerous because guests tend to feel secure in the privacy of their rooms, making them more likely to access financial accounts, enter credit card details or reveal other super-sensitive information. To protect yourself…
Update your laptop, tablet or smartphone security software immediately before staying at a hotel (see below under “Smartphones”). This maximizes the odds that the security software will identify threats.
Never use hotel Wi-Fi for online banking, credit card account management or investment management. Don’t use a hotel lobby computer for such things, either.
“Keyloggers” that track every keystroke and report things such as passwords to identity thieves often are loaded onto public computers.
Consider using your smartphone’s network instead for these functions, because it is somewhat safer. Or at least check with the hotel to confirm that you are logging in to the authentic hotel Wi-Fi.
If you’re prompted to update software or download a program while accessing the Internet through a hotel Wi-Fi system, decline to do so. Downloading this “update” actually might load malware (malicious software) onto your computer.
If you feel that you must update your software as directed, at least don’t click a link in a pop-up window to do so. Instead, visit the software provider’s official Web site, and download the update from there.
Don’t call the phone number provided on a restaurant menu slipped under your hotel room door. In one new scam, identity thieves print phony delivery menus, then slip them under hotel room doors.
When guests call to place orders, they’re asked for credit card information, which then is used for fraudulent purchases. If you wish to order from such a menu, look up the restaurant’s number on your own.
SMARTPHONES
Smartphones essentially are portable computers, yet many people don’t take smartphone security as seriously as they do home computer security.
To protect yourself…
Load antivirus software onto your smartphone, and keep this software updated. Options for phones that use the Android operating system include Kaspersky Mobile Security, $14.95…ESET Mobile Security, $19.95…BullGuard Mobile Security, $29.95…and AVG AntiVirus FREE, free. They are available at the Web sites and at app stores.
For iPhones, iPads and iPods, quality antivirus software is harder to find and less of a necessity because hackers have not gone after them yet, although they probably will before long.
Still, Apple smartphone, iPad and iPod users should consider downloading AVG Safe Browser, a free Web browser that will warn them away from unsafe sites (download it through iTunes or the App Store on your device).
While Apple smartphones currently are at low risk for computer viruses, that eventually will change. Apple computers once were very safe from viruses, too, but now are essentially as vulnerable as Windows PCs.
Download apps only from usually reliable sources. If you download an app from the wrong site, you might unknowingly load malicious software onto your phone as well. Trustworthy app sources for iPhones include Apple’s App Store.
Trustworthy sources for Android include Google Play and Appstore for Android on Amazon.com (select “Appstore for Android” from the “Shop by Department” menu).
Set a pass code on your smartphone. A simple four-digit PIN (or longer pass code) will make it much more difficult for a thief who steals your smartphone to access the data you have stored in it…or for someone who has access to your home or office to load malware onto your phone when you’re not watching. The procedure for setting a pass code varies from phone to phone.
CREDIT CARDS
The merchant you buy from might not properly protect your credit card data or the merchant himself could be a thief. Many card issuers now offer two smart ways to reduce this danger. Contact your card issuers for details and availability…
Ask the issuer to supply a single-use authorization number. This number is tied to your credit card account but is valid only for a single transaction and would be provided to an Internet merchant in place of the actual credit card number.
It’s worth considering when buying from Internet merchants that you are not sure you can trust. Even if a crook obtained it, he couldn’t use it for additional purchases.
Set up a password for online card use through the card issuer. A box will pop up requesting the password whenever the card is used online. Even online merchants never see this password.
SOCIAL NETWORKS
It isn’t news that identity thieves prey upon Facebook users, pretending to be online friends in order to gather personal data. But many users of Facebook and other social networks don’t realize that this is not the only way that identity thieves might target them.
To stay safe…
Don’t provide any details about yourself on your Facebook page that could be used to answer the personal security questions you’ve set up for accounts.
If you forget the password for one of your accounts—anything from an e-mail account to a financial account that can be accessed online—that account provider’s Web site likely will ask you a personal question to confirm your identity before providing access.
The personal question might involve your mother’s maiden name, the name of your childhood best friend or some other personal detail that strangers are unlikely to know. Trouble is, people often supply these personal details on their Facebook pages or elsewhere.
Much better:
Choose personal security questions that cannot be answered using information available on your Facebook page or elsewhere online. Or adjust your answers to personal security questions in a way that you can remember but that no one else is likely to guess.
You could tack your favorite number or color onto each response, typing “Larryblue” rather than “Larry” when asked your childhood best friend’s name, for example.
Don’t click links in messages you receive through social networks—even when those messages come from close friends. When an identity thief breaks into a victim’s Facebook account, he/she often will send messages to all of that person’s Facebook friends pretending to be this person.
These messages typically include a link that, when clicked, secretly loads malware onto the friends’ computers, allowing the thief to steal their identities, too.
Source: Steve Weisman, an attorney and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
He is a senior lecturer at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts, and host of the syndicated radio program A Touch of Grey.
He is author of 50 Ways to Protect Your Identity in a Digital Age: New Financial Threats You Need to Know and How to Avoid Them (Financial Times). http://www.Scamicide.com
May 20th, 2013 at 10:48 am
Have you seen the movies out lately? It’s through movies that whites feed their own egomania. It is like the big Fox Station in the sky. The one most whites worship at. It tells them that they are inherently fair, honest, and they have heart. Hence they need on law to force them to be human beings with those traits.
May 20th, 2013 at 10:51 am
Kansas, Oklahoma Hit By Tornadoes, Storm System Tears Across The Plains And Midwest – It couldn’t be happening to a better class of people. Let’s see how long it takes them to start begging the Federal Government for assistance.
The Hypocrites don’t want to spend a dime when others are in need, but hey it’s their asses in a sling now.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:05 am
I like your blog Michelle, but don’t you think that most who post here are a little too tough on white males?
May 20th, 2013 at 11:10 am
I’ll field this one for you Michelle. Helen if the shoe fits wear it.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:15 am
Helen, so what should be said about this?
==============================
Kansas Elected Official Stands By Using Racial Slur ’100 Percent’
By Josh Israel on May 16, 2013 at 12:00 pm
Kansas Board of Education member Steve Roberts (R), an elected official representing one-tenth of the state, defended on Tuesday his use of a racial epithet at a previous board meeting to “push the frontiers of political correctness.”
After a former Topeka NAACP president advocated for more African American history in state curriculum standards, Roberts had brought up an unrelated non-binding 2007 New York City resolution discouraging the use of the “N-word” and other offensive language.
Roberts, a former math tutor who was first elected to the board last November, had delivered a monologue to the Rev. Ben Scott at the April board meeting during a discussion on history, government, and social studies standards. Roberts complained that New York City had banned the same racial slur that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had used (in quoting racist police forces and other segregationists) in his famous 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” saying:
We have to push the frontiers of political correctness and do what’s right. And so, if I were to use it clinically, I would almost use a test to see what the effect on Twitter would be.
You know, ‘That Roberts guy said nigger at the state school board meeting, and he said it as, it’s probably the ugliest word in our vocabulary.’ It’s an ugly repugnant absolutely horrific word that we should rise above. But I did get it out there and I appreciate the opportunity to do it in a politically correct setting.
According to Topeka Capital-Journal reports, when Scott and other civil rights leaders expressed their concern about those comments at Tuesday’s board meeting, Roberts stood by his remarks.
“I did my best to say the ‘N-word’ clinically,” he noted, adding “I’m willing to be considered politically incorrect … I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” Roberts then accused those criticizing his comments as only wanting media attention.
========================
So this white bigot wants to justify his using the N word by saying those who disagree with him are just trying to be “politically correct.”
That is the white boys way of saying you are playing the “race card.” It allows him to shift the blame to the victim. If you are so concerned about how hard we are against white males, why not do something to show them that white women(starting with you) do not accept their sick behavior.
Then if that works come back and complain. But don’t complain to others for citing the disgusting behavior being exhibited by white males as if we should just suck it up. I would think that you white women do enough of that for all the good it has done you.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:16 am
“Political correctness” is a term that was invented by classless people who do not want to apologize for offendng others. It is typical bullying behavior that attempts to shift the blame to the victim.
It is time to stop using the term and call racist language and those who use it what they are, along with the appropriate consequences.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:18 am
What the white boy is actually saying but code worded for popular teabaggery consumption.
“…we have to be the first ones out there… to push back against these liberals… who try to prevent us from expressing our racism.”
Stunning. Just stunning.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:19 am
Mosley#6 when I read it this is the part that gets me: “But I did get it out there and I appreciate the opportunity to do it in a politically correct setting.”
It’s like he was looking for way to use that word publicly. What a sad little boy. I bet he was tittering on the inside when he said it.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:20 am
Fritz, Your first sentence is brilliant. I’m going to use it from now on. Thank you for putting it so succinctly.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:21 am
It’s getting harder & harder to be proud of being a Kansan.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:22 am
I agree John#10. I’m posting it on my FB page and giving you the credit Fritz.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:23 am
your right Jackie. I am more and more ashamed of this state every day. When did we become the new Mississippi?
May 20th, 2013 at 11:23 am
These days, if one were in KS, one would think the Confederacy won the Civil War….despite the 600,000 (68,000+ were African-American) deaths in trying to keep Kansas a Free State…
May 20th, 2013 at 11:24 am
I thought Missouri was vying for that *honor*.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:25 am
Helen#4, please. I’m a white male. Another racist Republican absolutely shocked, shocked I say to find out that his “Sincerely Held” beliefs fall way outside of; oh I don’t know, the 21st century.
Unfortunately nothing new here, racists are a core GOP constituency. As Thomas Frank said “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”
May 20th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Another racist Republican absolutely shocked, shocked I say to find out that his “Sincerely Held” beliefs fall way outside of; oh I don’t know, the 21st century. Unfortunately nothing new here, racists are a core GOP constituency. As Thomas Frank said “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”
May 20th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
there is nothing more racist than judging a person by the color of their skin, as in, affirmative action.
May 20th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
What about my “sincerely held belief” that this monster (and others like him) need to be slain old school style! A little armor, a crossbow, and a good old broadsword to the head…
May 20th, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Jay18, this white girl reads a lot of Robert,RT. Therefore I feel imminently qualified to answer your bullshit statement.
First you are showing your ignorance. You as a white boy are the one benefiting from Affirmative Action.
Look up that definition – It means the government giving something to another solely because of the color of their skin. That would be what you white boys got big time from the inception of the Constitution. I.E. when that “We the people in order to from a more perfect Union.” Really meant “We” white males in order to from a more perfect Union.
Affirmative Action began in ernest when you immediately set about having government on all levels city, county, state, and federal grant exclusive benefits to white males over everybody else solely because those white males had white skin.
Now look up “JUSTICE.” That would be the quality of being fair or reasonable if you are talking about the administration of the law or authority in maintaining this then you would be at the point where today’s governments attempt to make up for the Affirmative Action your race has been receiving since the inception of the Constitution.
May 20th, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Howie, are you out there?
May 20th, 2013 at 7:48 pm
Hi Mischa,
The ZL summertime pics are in your email, its a powerpoint slideshow, feel free to edit, add music, my only disclaimer is the lighting could’ve been better and photog is an amateur : ) is that enough disclaiming…oh how about posting on a light topic day?! politics, male fools and my summertime threads seems tough to put together, but whatev’s – and I threw in an artistic sans clothing pic bc I’m basically a naturalist ; )
Luv, Zen Lill
May 20th, 2013 at 10:48 pm
I agree. Please Michelle. Give us and Zen Lill her day.
May 20th, 2013 at 11:36 pm
Zen Lill, I’m really looking forward to your naturalist mood.
May 21st, 2013 at 3:37 am
Zen Lill, can’t tell you how anxiously I am awaiting your debut.
May 21st, 2013 at 3:41 am
The Best Headphones and Earbuds for You
It isn’t easy to select a pair of headphones or earbuds (a type of headphone worn inside the ear) to use with your portable music player, smartphone, tablet or other device.
Spending more doesn’t guarantee higher quality—there are good headphones available for under $10 and bad ones that cost hundreds. Here are my top picks…
LOW-PRICED MODELS
Panasonic stands out when it comes to offering quality earbuds and headphones for less than $50.
Panasonic RP-HJE120 earbuds have a list price of $10 and sell for less than $6 online, yet their sound quality is on par with earbuds costing $30 (for a savings of $24!).
Panasonic RP-HJE355 ErgoFit earbuds offer slightly better bass and sound clarity than the cheaper model above and have a thicker, more durable cord that’s less prone to tangles and breaks. They list for $40 but can be found online for less than $20.
Panasonic RP-HTX7 over-the-ear headphones offer good sound quality and comfort for a reasonable price—they list for $60 but can be found for around $30 online. They cover the ear, which blocks out background noise.
HIGHER-PRICED MODELS
These cost a bit more but provide even better sound quality.
Klipsch Image S4 earbuds offer exceptional sound quality and comfort and do a very nice job of blocking outside noise.
The S4’s wire is relatively thin, however, which makes them a bit tangle-prone and could increase the odds that the wire will break. They list for $80 but can be found online for less than $40.
Also: Comparable S4a (for Android) and S4i (for Apple) models include an integrated microphone and call-answer button for smartphone use. These list for $100 but can be found online for $50 to $80, depending on the model.
Audio Technica ATH-M50 Professional Studio Monitor headphones offer perhaps the best sound quality that you’ll find for less than $200. These headphones completely cover the ear. They list for $199 but can be found for less than $120 online.
Bose IE2 in-ear headphones are for people who like earbuds’ portability but don’t like the feeling of them in their ear canals. The IE2 rests in the bowl of the outer ear. $100.
V-Moda M-100 headphones are a bit of a splurge at $310, but these rugged over-ear headphones give you incredible sound quality and can be folded into a small bundle.
FOR SPECIFIC USES
Exercising: Monster iSport Immersion earbuds are designed to stay in place while you exercise. They come with four soft tips for ears of different sizes, plus four “SportsClips” that gently but effectively brace the earbuds in place against the inner rim of the ear.
They’re water-resistant, so perspiration won’t harm them. Sound quality is good, and there’s a microphone for smartphone use. List price is $180, but they can be found online for $60.
Wireless listening: Outdoor Technology Bluetooth Tags clip over each ear and connect by a wire that hangs behind the neck, but they connect to your device wirelessly via Bluetooth. Sound quality is decent, not spectacular.
They require charging via a computer’s USB port—each charge provides five hours of use. List price is $80, but they can be found online for around $60.
Source: David Carnoy, executive editor with CNET, a division of CBS that is a leading technology news Web site. He has been reviewing consumer electronics for more than 15 years. http://www.CNET.com