I'd call this your classic buried lede. Everybody is focussing on the Gingrich-related aspects of this this, but I think something more scandalous is going on.
At the same time Tiffany & Co. was extending Callista (Bisek) Gingrich a virtual interest-free loan of tens of thousands of dollars, the diamond and silverware firm was spending big bucks to influence mining policy in Congress and in agencies over which the House Agriculture Committee--where she worked--had jurisdiction, official records show.What I'm wondering is, what exactly is the benefit to taxpayers if Tiffany gets a break? Will I be able to buy this at a 20% discount now? Will an army of diamond-cutters be recruited for jobs? I don't even care if they offer a $3.99 breakfast at Tiffany, it's not worth it. Whatever their discounts, I'd rather spend my tax money on infrastructure.
Filings by Tiffany’s lobbyist, Cassidy & Co., and other government records show that the firm’s spending on “mining law and mine permitting-related issues” in Congress, as well as the Forest Service, the Interior Department, and Interior’s Bureau of Land Management shot up sharply between during the period when Callista Gingrich was chief clerk at the House Agriculture Committee.
Tiffany's annual lobbying expenditures rose from about $100,000 to $360,000 between 2005 and 2009, according to records assembled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization.
The Forest Service, which comes under the committee’s jurisdiction, oversees mining, including silver mining, in federal forests.
The facts are startling. Almost 14 million Americans are unemployed. Oil prices are at an all-time high. Obamacare is bringing socialism to our doorstep, and the national debt is over $14.3 trillion. Yet, our President is too busy gallivanting around Europe with his Irish cousins, to focus on rebuilding our economy and strengthening our nation.-- Michele Bachman, via email
...Watch my video now and join my money bomb to ensure Barack Obama is a one-term President. I need your help right now to show Barack Obama that he is no match for our conservative base. We've set a goal to raise $240,000 in 24 hours, but we can only do this if you act now.
...My family and I are prayerfully considering what the next 18 months or so may bring. We've seen incredible support pouring in; the Team Bachmann momentum is building and very encouraging as we look to our next steps. With your generous support right now, we can continue this momentum and connect with conservatives nationwide.
"We don’t need to rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America, we need to reread the Constitution and enforce the Constitution. … And I know that there are some people that are not going to do that, so for the benefit of those who are not going to read it because they don’t want us to go by the Constitution, there’s a little section in there that talks about 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'"-Republican Presidential Hopeful and Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain
"Vice speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Adam Martynyuk, on the right, throttles deputy Oleg Lyashko during a session in the chamber of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. According to reports, Lyashko had just asked Martynyuk to let him make a speech, which Martinyuk refused to do on procedural grounds. Lyashko then apparently called his interlocutor a Pharisee, at which point it was on."
- h/t bOING bOING
What time exactly will the Rapture take place?
The ExGovernator's messy personal life is all over the news this week, and he IS a political figure, so here goes. The question being thrown around is, would he have been elected if it was known then that he had fathered a child outside of his marriage? Did he use any state funds to keep the situation quiet?
I don't care, and you shouldn't either.
If you hire a guy for a job, it's none of your business what they do with their sperm. If they do the job then keep them; if they don't then fire them. Even if they have someone hidden in the podium orally servicing them while they're giving a speech. If the guy makes it through the speech, LEAVE HIM ALONE. It's not your problem, it's his. Unless you want the government regulating your sex life, then you shouldn't try to regulate the government's.
However, since everybody seems to think that a politician's personal life IS of importance, then paying state money to keep it quiet becomes an expense on the par of a clothing budget. The attempt to make it into an issue is no more than a search to officially penalize someone for something you just don't like.
Ditto for Palin's family, Newt's wives, Ensign's mistress, Edwards' mistress, and especially Clinton's intern. People are people and unless you're electing them to have sex with their spouses, it's a non-issue.
YouTube - Newt Gingrich: "Any ad which quotes what I said Sunday is a falsehood.": ""
Now that those free-spending liberals are not running congress any more, we can finally bring down the national debt. That's what the big budget wars were about last April! Finally, our children can breathe a little easier.
Hold on, let me get some asthma medicine.
It turns out the six-month spending bill Congress passed in April increased discretionary outlays through the remainder of the fiscal year by a bit over $3 billion. In other words, total direct spending will be higher by the end of September than if Congress had just set spending on autopilot for the remainder of the fiscal year back in April.And after that, they should be able to keep the military costs down by keeping them out of the main budget and appropriating through emergency spending measures instead. Worked before! When it's emergency money, it's not from the budget! Just the taxpayers.
Total discretionary outlays in 2011 will be $3.2 billion higher as a result of the legislation, CBO estimates--an increase of $7.5 billion for defense programs, partially offset by a net reduction of $4.4 billion in other spending," reads a just-released report from the Congressional Budget Office -- Congress' non-partisan scorekeeper. Analysts there conclude that increase is due in large part to the fact that the six month spending bill shifted defense spending to more immediate activities, which means the bills will come due sooner than later."
The full consequences of a default — or even the serious prospect of default — by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can ill afford to allow such a result.-Ronald Reagan
"The Blacks" who have a good relationship with Donald Trump may be disappointed to learn that he has dropped out of the presidential race. He released a statement about it!
"After considerable deliberation and reflection, I have decided not to pursue the office of the Presidency. This decision does not come easily or without regret; especially when my potential candidacy continues to be validated by ranking at the top of the Republican contenders in polls across the country. I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election".The statement coincided with an announcement he made from a podium at the NBC "Upfronts" presentation, suggesting that the choice was made to ensure another season of his top-rated (for NBC) reality show. You either run the country or you star in a reality show! The founding fathers won't let you do both!
Republican Federal Communications Commission commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker is planning to leave the agency for a job at Comcast Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter.So on one hand, Obama appointed her in early 2009, so we should blame the Democrats for this startling display of graft. On the other hand, she's a Republican. There's nothing to be done about it either. You can refuse to give a lobbyist a government job, but you can't prevent an ex-politico from getting a job as a lobbyist.
Ms. Baker is expected to announce her departure as soon as this week for an unknown position at the Philadelphia-based cable giant. Comcast declined to comment, a company spokeswoman said.
...Baker’s move to Comcast comes just four months after she voted, along with three of the agency’s other FCC commissioners, to approve Comcast’s $13.75 billion deal to acquire control of NBC Universal from General Electric Co.
I find out today that Mitch Daniels will probably not run for President! Nooooooo! Why not, Mitch?
..the biggest factor holding him back from the race is actually Daniels' wife, Cheri Daniels, who does not want the media snooping into their marriage history....That's because in 1993, Cheri left Mitch with their four young kids to marry another man in California. Four years later, she came back to Indiana, and the Daniels' remarried. Cheri has never spoken about what happened, and Daniels has only said, "If you like happy endings, you’ll love our story."Certain people whose tweets I follow have used this as an occasion to snark, "Aren't families off-limits now?" Atta boy, Mitch. Don't reload - retreat! Still I wonder if Republicans learned anything from the Bush administration. When confronted with a threat of something that hasn't happened and you can't produce any evidence for, you don't quit. You attack the whole country that the "threat" is coming from.
In the wake of a spate of suicides at Foxconn factories last summer, workers were asked to sign a statement promising not to kill themselves and pledging to "treasure their lives".Hat tip BoingBoing. Just think how many lives would have been saved if this signing policy had gone in place earlier!
Now that Republicans are running Congress, they can finally give unemployment the attention it deserves. and it's working!
It's not just George Bush who is upset that OBL was killed! Look at this tweet from state attorney general Ken Cuccinelli. Maybe ALL opponents of "Obamacare" want to have sex with the ghost of the terrorist mastermind!
The administration said Wednesday they will not release a photo. McCain told reporters he did not think the photograph needed to be released. “My initial opinion is that it’s not necessary to do so. I think there’s ample proof that this was Osama bin Laden,” said McCain, a Vietnam War veteran.Via Politico, emphasis mine.
In response to the hue and cry about releasing the evidence of Osama Bin Laden's death - well let's face it, why would you expect people to buy the photos at face value? People who don't believe we killed Bin Laden now aren't going to be convinced by pictures. Shopped! I can tell because of the pixels.
If the photos come out in any official capacity, there is a segment of the population that simply won't believe them. On the other hand, if they come out via Wikileaks and Obama decries the appearance of them on the public scene, that should put the matter to rest. Word to the wise!
Thought I was kidding yesterday?
WASHINGTON — President Obama invited former President George W. Bush to join him at ground zero in New York City on Thursday to mark the killing of Osama bin Laden, but Mr. Bush declined, a spokesman for the former president confirmed on Tuesday.Which is very nice of the White House, but let's face, it, Bush is going out of the way to be conspicuously absent at this event. And it's not like he's a guy who is squeamish about executions. Bush will probably spend the day in prayer, on a mat facing Mecca.
“President Bush will not be in attendance on Thursday,” said his spokesman, David Sherzer. “He appreciated the invite, but has chosen in his post-presidency to remain largely out of the spotlight. He continues to celebrate with Americans this important victory in the war on terror.”
The White House did not confirm that the invitation had been made or comment on Mr. Bush’s decision.
God help me, I'm back to reading Where Are My Keys again, I guess to see what kind of spin is coming out of the events of last weekend. Yeah, you know which events.
If I'm not mistaken, Bin Laden wouldn't have been found and killed at all if it hadn't have been for the enhanced interrogation techniques used on prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. If that's not the spin, please correct me. My feeling is that Leon Panetta (who was my congressional representative when I was in Junior High! Go, local boy!) is going out of his way in this clip to point out that the information obtained was duplicated in other, less odious, less Darth Vadarish sources. We would have found Chez Bin Laden without tossing away the moral high ground, and we managed to kill him without doing that other Bush standby, bombing the entire country of Pakistan in case he's around there somewhere.
In fact, the whole operation seems to have been accomplished by thinking how Bush would handle it and doing the opposite. Small strike team, detective work, verifying before acting. And success instead of failure.
But let's assume that the vital clues were obtained through torture, like my usual suspects are claiming. How are they crowing about this? Bush had this information for six years! And if so, why didn't he do anything with it? I can understand failing to act on the intelligence preceding 9/11, because there is always a high noise level with terrorist threats. But Bin Laden's whereabouts? Like the right is saying, HE KNEW WHERE THE COMPOUND WAS! And don't tell me Bush was afraid to attack a house - he took out an entire country on a tip from a single source. This is not a cautious man.
The only way it makes sense is if Bush was protecting Bin Laden. Bush obtained the intelligence and sat on it.
Puts this clip in a whole new light, doesn't it?
I hope they mix his body parts with bacon and drop it over Mecca. But I guess since our President's middle name is Hussein that's not likely to happen.-commenter "Woody" at Where Are My Keys.
The one item today on World Net Daily that DOES mention Bin Ladin is an exclusive interview with Abu Saqer of Jihadiya Salafiya, an Al-Qaida leader. What I'm wondering is how come World Net has exclusive access to this Al-Qaida leader? What did they have to trade with him to get this access?
Since there are much more widely-read news sources in the west, World Net Daily must have been especially accommodating to Al-Qaida in order to get this article. I mean, in a giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-enemy kind of way. It's one thing to report on what a source says, but to cultivate an exclusive, well, I'm just saying that given how WND and Al-Qaida are both so much against the President of the United States it's a little suspicious.
If they loved America, it would be called AMERICANet Daily, wouldn't it?
So over the weekend, American forces located and killed Osama Bin Ladin in Pakistan. I mention this to readers of WorldNet Daily, who seem to have other fish to fry.
Donald Trump, no longer satisfied with just a birth certificate, now insists that Obama was a terrible magna cum laude.
"I'd like to know how does he get into Harvard, how does he get into Columbia if he isn't a very good student," Donald Trump told the press this morning in New Hampshire.Meanwhile, George Stephanopolis follows up on Trump's pledge to release his tax returns when Obama shows the Birth Certificate:
"If he wants to release it that's fine, if he doesn't want to release it that's fine too. But the word is he wasn't a very good student," Trump added.
My colleague Michael Falcone caught up with Trump in New Hampshire and asked him if he would follow through and release his tax returns.Here's my fantasy response from the president:
“That’s something I would be thinking about doing anyway. That is certainly something I’d be thinking about doing anyway. But before I do anything I have to make the decision in June and the first thing I’m going to be releasing will be financials,” Trump said.
Falcone asked again, will you fulfill that pledge that you made where you said I’m going to tie the birth certificate to my tax records?
“Yeah, at the appropriate time,” Trump responded.
“So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, at the appropriate time I’m going to do it,” Trump told him.
And why are these people rooting for Donald Trump, who is the only thing keeping NBC alive? I'm not saying this is important, but it's legitimate to raise questions.
By the way, very clever of Obama, releasing his birth certificate just to cut into sales of a book called WHERE IS THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE? Unfair! UNFAIR!
This morning Hawaii broke with its policy on the request of the President, and released a long-form version of the birth certificate that a handful of nutters have been insisting is the only proof that he is an American citizen. Clearly this could have been arranged at any time, so you have to wonder why now? Or rather, why not earlier?
If he'd wanted to put this issue to rest he'd have made a couple of calls during the campaign and sent his lawyer up to City Hall all the way back in 2008. He didn't then because birtherism makes Republicans look bad. People who accepted the normal Hawaiian birth certificate would look at the Republican party and see Orly Taitz; the Republican Party is a nutty blonde lawyer/dentist who screams her way through interviews.
No rational person believes this certificate was a real issue; Republicans keep saying it is a real issue, therefore Republicans aren't rational. Plus, it calls into question their global warming skepticism. And don't forget the subtle undertone of racism - aren't all black folk from Kenya? Well, this one must be, at least!
So the next question is what has Obama to gain by releasing now, instead of say, a couple of weeks before he's re-elected?
You might think it's to get Donald Trump out of the way, but I can't believe he was that great a threat. In fact if anything, Donald Trump was a Godsend to the DNC for the same reasons. Republicans are blowhard reality TV phonies with hair problems! He never would have declared candidacy anyway, because of the financial disclosure requirements. So Trump himself wasn't the motivation. He's a sideshow.
I'm guessing two possibilities - either Republicans go on with the birth issue thing anyway (check out the scare quotes in this headline!) which makes them look even worse to the normals (win for Obama!) or they drop it and are forced to debate him on policy (probable win for Obama, because he has adopted so many Republican positions that they have few left that they can fight him on). Beyond that there is always possibility #3, that someone starts the rumor that Obama IS Osama Bin Laden, shaved and coached in a Chicago accent. But really, that's just a variation of the birther argument.
Washington -- President Obama and his family attended Easter services Sunday at a Washington church founded in 1863 by freed slaves.Thanks Fox News/Associated Press from Sunday! So what else is going on?
The first family entered Shiloh Baptist Church to a round of applause on a sun-splashed day in the nation's capital as members of a choir dressed in black sang "Total Praise."
Obama shook a few hands and hugged some members of the congregation as he and his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, walked to a second-row pew.
According to the church's pastor, Dr. Wallace Charles Smith, 21 freed slaves made it to the nation's capital from Fredericksburg, Va., to establish a place where they could worship freely and where "they could reach others with the good news of their salvation."
Barack Hussein Obama ignored Easter yesterday. He issued no statements of any kind, no “Happy Easter”, no nothing. By comparison he has issued glowing, effusive statements of praise for each and every Muslim holiday since he took office. Hasn’t missed one of them. So it is quite interesting that yesterday as believers celebrated the Risen Lord Jesus around the the globe, that the God of Heaven who controls the wind and the weather chose to strike the White House with lightning. And something tells me that there’s more coming…stay tuned.What is God trying to tell us? GOD WANTS US TO KEEP OUT OF CHURCH.
“A storm rapidly materialized in the Southern sky, and swept from the National Mall toward the White House. Instantly, there seemed to be lightning bolts dropping out of the heavens all around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue–and the wind kicked up dramatically.
From far-left liberal rag The Wall Street Journal: Apparently the millionaires aren't so inclined to escape higher taxes as everyone says.
The study, by sociologists Cristobal Young at Stanford and Charles Varner at Princeton, studied the migration patterns of New Jersey’s millionaires before and after 2004, when the state imposed a “millionaire’s tax” that raised rates on those earning $500,000 or more to 8.97% from 6.37%.And remember, this is in NEW JERSEY, where everyone is always looking for a reason to move out.
The study found that the overall population of millionaires increased during the tax period. Some millionaires moved out, of course. But they were more than offset by the creation of new millionaires.
The study dug deeper to figure out whether the millionaires who were moving out did so because of the tax. As a control group, they used New Jersey residents who earned $200,000 to $500,000–in other words, high-earners who weren’t subject to the tax. They found that the rate of out-migration among millionaires was in line with and rate of out-migration of submillionaires. The tax rate, they concluded, had no measurable impact.
“This suggests that the policy effect is close to zero,” the study says.
Watch this become politicized - TN Republicans DEMAND that dogs be allowed in the chambers! Democrats vote to fund a study of the effect of dogs in public places. Republicans nominate a dog in the primaries.
This proves nothing because it's a biased sample. But it's got entertainment value!
(Plus, even I could have done without the funny music cues. )
Trump on 2012: 'I Think I've Made the Decision'
"I'm absolutely certain I'm committed to thinking about considering running for President. Possibly as an independent."
If We’re Eight Days Away From the Start of a Global Depression, Why is Obama Kicking it in Cali?
"Whassup dog? Yo, you illin? Put down that Malt Liquor and get to work! What's wrong with you people?"
Could Black Trees Blossom on a World With Two Suns?
This, incredibly, is listed under the "most read" tab. Are you buying that? It's illustrated with a still from Star Wars, which is a Fox film. I sense manipulation.
Arizona Gov. Brewer Vetoes Bill to Require Presidential Candidates to Prove Citizenship
Attention Warner Todd Huston - they didn't label her party! In the next few days, watch the netowrk for her to be mislabeled in the captions as a Democrat.
If you let us reduce the country's income, we'll allow it to borrow more! They were all cheering Bush on too when he did the exact same thing.
If you see a bunch of guys say "killing is wrong" but they immediately run off kill a bunch of things, assume that they're for killing.
See yesterday's post for more on this, but I give props to Marilyn Davenport for at least getting the optics right in this apology:
"To my fellow Americans and to everyone else who has seen this email I forwarded and was offended by my action, I humbly apologize and ask for your forgiveness of my unwise behavior. I say unwise because at the time I received and forwarded the email, I didn't stop to think about the historic implications and other examples of how this could be offensive," Davenport's apology read.So is Baugh right? Should she resign? I'll put it this way: I hope she doesn't. But I hope the Republicans (and especially the Tea Party) get painted as a bunch of clueless racists. My hope is that the entire pundit apparatus comes to the defense of Davenport, and also insists that reason that African-Americans are prone to criminal activity because of their brow size. Therefore, she might think twice about the nature of MY support.
Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh has reportedly entreated Davenport to resign from her position, as he has determined that the group's bylaws prevent its members from voting her out. He told the Associated Press he hopes to have an ethics committee investigate the incident.
As of Monday, Davenport said she had no intention of taking him up on the offer.
"I'm not going to resign," Davenport told the Orange County Weekly in an interview. "I really have no plans to do so. My constituents have told me not to resign, and I'm very happy with their support. Everybody who knows me says they can't believe people are calling me a racist. I am not a racist, but I do think I need to apologize again with different words."
"Basically, what I'm saying is that as a Christian I won't ever repeat this," she said. "I will be much wiser from now on."
Baugh said that despite Davenport's apology, he continued to condemn her behavior and believe she should resign.
"The email is without question extremely racist," Baugh said. "Depicting African-Americans as monkey is a longtime, well-known and particularly offensive slur because it denies them their basic humanity."
"The damage to the Republican Party has been done by her and I still think she should resign,"he added in an interview with the Weekly.
First of all, let me remind everybody that this isn't a racism issue, and there's no racism involved, and that the Tea Party isn't racist, and there isn't even a Tea Party and if you think any of this is racist, then you're a racist.
The Weekly has obtained a copy of an email sent to fellow conservatives this week by Marilyn Davenport, a Southern California Tea Party activist and member of the central committee of the Orange County Republican Party.That was published last Friday. Then:
Under the words, "Now you know why no birth certificate," there's an Obama family portrait showing them as apes.
UPDATE, APRIL 16, 5:55 P.M.: This afternoon, Marilyn Davenport sent an email to fellow Orange County Republican elected officials, apologizing if anyone was offended by her depicting President Barack Obama as an ape--while also blasting the "liberal media" for reporting the story.Right! No one called it racist when W. was depicted as a Chimp! There's your double standard! How DARE you try to make this harmless joke about RACE!
"I simply found it amusing regarding the character of Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth," Davenport wrote. "In no way did I even consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people [Scott Baugh, Orange County GOP boss, and this writer] tried to make this about race. . . . I received plenty of emails about George Bush that I didn't particularly like yet there was no 'cry' in the media about them."
Davenport continued: "That being said, I will NOT resign my central committee position over this matter that the average person knows and agrees is much to do about nothing."
UPDATE, APRIL 17, 3:40 P.M.: Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh determined today that his group's bylaws prevent a vote to remove Marilyn Davenport as an elected member even though she emailed a racist image of President Barack Obama to fellow Tea Baggers and Republicans.
The most drastic action the party can take is a censure, he said. Meanwhile, Davenport refuses to resign and Baugh continues to seek an apology and her voluntary resignation from the central committee.I can see her point - she refuses to admit she's racist, she refuses to relinquish power despite the fact that she represents a tiny sliver of her constituency - she is, in fact the archetype for Tea Baggers.
This weekend SNL put out this very effective takedown of Fox And Friends, the Fox News morning show. And while I buy the premise, which is that the hosts are clueless and the show plays to the lowest common denominator, you can't say this is a thing limited to Fox. I am struggling to find evidence of a morning news show on radio or television that isn't pitched at a 5th grade level.
All Things Considered! Okay, that was easier than I thought. Now try to come up with two.
I am aware of the SNL parody because I heard an excerpt of it on the Stephanie Miller Show, which they will freely admit is as stupid as it comes. If you want less biased stupidy in the Los Angeles Area, there's always KTLA (Tribune) or KTTV (Fox) in addition to the networks. But the factor they all have in common is the viewer is assumed to be an idiot. And don't get me started on Morning Zoo radio programs, which strain to find enough offensive material to fill 3 hours five days a week.
What is it about the morning that makes media people assume we'll be unable to take mature evening-news-type news? It's a serious question. I assume that the ratings are high for these shows, so obviously we're all eating it up, but why? Why only the morning?
Well, I don’t know if we’re checkmating. But we’re trying — we’re trying to score a victory for the Republican people, for — for the American — for the Republican people — trying to score a victory for the American people, not for the Republican Party. That victory is going to come in stages here.-Mike Pence, R-IN, On Greta Van Sustern's show. Fight it Mike! Use your inside voice!
Hey, been to Mississippi lately? Not me! I can't afford the gasoline! But people are there, and Public Policy Polling asked the Republicans among them a few questions. First question, not so embarassing:
Mississippi Republicans want Haley Barbour to be their nominee for President next year, and he's doing far better in his home state than most of the other Republicans looking at the race are doing in theirs. 37% say Barbour is their first choice, followed by 19% for Mike Huckabee, 10% for Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, 6% for Mitt Romney, 5% for Michele Bachmann, 3% for Tim Pawlenty, and 2% for Ron Paul.Okay, that's all kind of predictable. (By the way Romney in Massachusetts? Somebody likes their state-run health care plan!)
The only Republican we've found doing better in their home state so far is Romney, who 47% of Massachusetts GOP voters want as their nominee.
We asked voters on this poll whether they think interracial marriage should be legal or illegal- 46% of Mississippi Republicans said it should be illegal to just 40% who think it should be legal. For the most part there aren't any huge divides in how voters view the candidates or who they support for the nomination based on their attitudes about interracial marriage but there are a few exceptions.I'd be fascinated to see either candidate weigh in on this one! But of course, they're not obligated to and only Sharon Angle would be crazy enough to address the question. Fortunately, she's thinking of running.
Palin's net favorability with folks who think interracial marriage should be illegal (+55 at 74/19) is 17 points higher than it is with folks who think interracial marriage should be legal (+38 at 64/26.) Meanwhile Romney's favorability numbers see the opposite trend. He's at +23 (53/30) with voters who think interracial marriage should be legal but 19 points worse at +4 (44/40) with those who think it should be illegal. Tells you something about the kinds of folks who like each of those candidates.
It's a muscle stimulator! I was in the mall over the weekend and this kiosk guy tried to talk me into buying one for $100 bucks. I thought it was cool but figured I could do better online. And yes, I did. $40, thanks for asking.Gov. Scott Walker said this afternoon that the spring election results show there are "two very different worlds in this state."Yeah, that's the problem - the people in the big city are bossing around the rest of the state, which is the majority. Just because there are more of one kind of people, doesn't mean they are superior in number to another kind!
"You've got a world driven by Madison, and a world driven by everybody else out across the majority of the rest of the state of Wisconsin," Walker said at a press conference in the Capitol.
This is pretty well-produced! I'm thinking of pretending to pray on Cinco De Mayo now, just because I want to control the weather too.
The after-party for "Saturday Night Live" early yesterday morning at Primehouse glittered with host Elton John's colorful friends. "SNL" alum Steve Martin jumped on a banquette to roast the host in song, a spy said. John quickly jumped up to join him in front of guests including John's partner, David Furnish, Lorne Michaels and most of the "SNL" cast.Steve Martin's Twitter Account:
Lorne, trusting wife and I agree, where were we when this happened? Could it be they MADE THIS UP? Nah.It's only entertainment coverage. An august journal like the New York Post would surely source all its other news much more thoroughly.
Marietta Georgia Republican Rep Bobby Franklin: Here's his information page, complete with home number.
And here is the answering machine message on his home phone:
This is State Representative Bobby Franklin. Thank you for calling to give me encouragement about my sponsorship of House Bill 1, recognizing that pre-natal murder is murder. I'm not able to take that encouragement right now, so at the tone please leave your name, number, and a message.You probably want to encourage him to keep up the good work on this bill:
Georgia State Rep. Bobby Franklin—who last year proposed making rape and domestic violence "victims" into "accusers"—has introduced a 10-page bill that would criminalize miscarriages and make abortion in Georgia completely illegal. Both miscarriages and abortions would be potentially punishable by death: any "prenatal murder" in the words of the bill, including "human involvement" in a miscarriage, would be a felony and carry a penalty of life in prison or death.May I suggest, ladies, that you leave Bobby an encouraging message? In your own words now.
Speaking in 2009 onboard a pricey Mediterranean cruise sponsored by a right-wing college, Fox Washington managing editor Bill Sammon described his attempts the previous year to link Obama to "socialism" as "mischievous speculation." Sammon, who is also a Fox News vice president, acknowledged that "privately" he had believed that the socialism allegation was "rather far-fetched."Yes I'm getting this from Media Matters, which also thoughtfully publishes the complete context from which the quote took place. Further excerpt:
"Last year, candidate Barack Obama stood on a sidewalk in Toledo, Ohio, and first let it slip to Joe the Plumber that he wanted to quote, 'spread the wealth around,' " said Sammon. "At that time, I have to admit, that I went on TV on Fox News and publicly engaged in what I guess was some rather mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched."
"Now imagine my surprise when this year, I witness President Barack Obama standing in the cross hall of the White House and having taken over the American car industry, look into the camera, and announce to the nation essentially, that he would personally vouch for the warranty on your car's muffler. All of a sudden, the debate over whether America was heading for socialism seemed anything but far-fetched. In fact, when you consider the massive expenditures of your tax dollars on such programs as TARP, and stimulus, and in fairness, our pres -- our former president George W. Bush had his own stimulus package towards the end of his administration -- nobody remembers that -- and he also spent the first half of the TARP money."So see! He IS a socialist! Just like I said before but didn't believe! But now I do! He's just like Bush! No, I mean, Bush isn't but Obama is! It's odd how no one remembers that Bush spent the first half of the TARP money, isn't it? If only some fair and balanced source could bring that up.
How anyone can look at Donald Trump and assume he's one of them (anyone anywhere) is beyond me, but that's his story. He recently made headlines by questioning the legitimacy of President Obama's birth, and to drive home the point, he provided his own birth certificate to journalistic powerhouse Newsmax.
“It took me one hour to get my birth certificate. It’s inconceivable that, after four years of questioning, the president still hasn’t produced his birth certificate. I’m just asking President Obama to show the public his birth certificate. Why’s he making an issue out of this?"Newsmax, uncharacteristically, failed to catch one little detail.
Trump was skeptical that so few people have stepped forward to verify Obama's birth.
"I went to the best college and I was a great student, and it is inconceivable to my brain that no doctor, no nurse, nobody has stepped forward to verify the birth, other than the governor. He remembers? The governor? A birth 50 years ago? Come on. He’s taking a bullet for his party."
He said other presidents have produced these documents without any hesitation.
Trump added that the local newspaper ad announcing Obama’s birth also strikes him as odd.
“Someone takes an ad out in the paper announcing his birth days later? How many people do you know who take an ad out in the paper to announce a birth, and then won’t show anyone the birth certificate?”
The document released to Newsmax is below. It shows that Trump was born in New York, June 14, 1946.
Trump has been the latest voice to call for President Obama to release his birth certificate, a source of controversy to some Americans who remain unconvinced that Obama was born in the United States. The president has released a "Certificate of Live Birth" showing he was born in Hawaii, but a more detailed birth certificate has not been made public.
The paper that Trump released says "Jamaica Hospital" on top and lists the date and time of what he says was his birth to "Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Trump." The piece of paper has a seal at the bottom.By the way, did you know that John McCain was born in Panama? True story!
But after several New York City-based readers contacted POLITICO's Maggie Haberman, her call to city officials revealed that an actual birth certificate, which is issued by the Department of Health, would have the agency's seal and also a signature of the city registrar - neither of which the Trump document has. Officials said the city Health Department is the "sole issuing authority" of official birth certificates in New York, and that the document would clearly say so, and "city officials said it's not an official document."
It appears instead to be a hospital "certificate of birth," meaning the piece of paper the hospital gave to his family saying he was born. Such a document typically has the signature of the hospital administrator and the attending physician.
Trump lawyer and advisor Michael Cohen didn't respond to Haberman's question about the document.
Trump's mother, it should be noted, was born in Scotland, which is not part of the United States. His plane is registered in the Bahamas, also a foreign country. This fact pattern -- along with the wave of new questions surrounding what he claims is a birth certificate -- raises serious doubts about his eligibility to serve as President of the United States.
California is in the middle of a budget crisis so bad, we re-elected Jerry Brown as governor. Among his plans to solve it is allowing people to vote on whether they'll accept a tax increase, though the Republicans are blocking that one.
The Republicans won't allow people to decide for themselves. Now THAT'S what our founding fathers wanted!
Anyway, something that isn't on the table yet but also surely would be blocked - abolishing the death penalty. The case was made yesterday in an Op-Ed at the L.A. Times by Donald A. McCartin, who was also known as "The Hanging Judge" of Orange County. McCartin's point is that people sentenced to death are rarely executed because the appeals process capital cases is byzantine and endless (he sentenced 10 people to death, none have been executed) and this appeals process is incredibly costly compared to simply imprisoning someone to life without parole. Which these inmates are serving, because they'll never be executed. So that's essentially $125 million a year saved, starting today if we abolish the death penalty in California.
So biblical imperative aside, sounds like a pretty easy fix to me. Anybody want to take the Hanging Judge up on it?
An illustration of why I hope Obama isn't making decisions to placate the right. Once he agrees with them, they're willing to abandon their beliefs so they can still bad-mouth him. They're not consistant on anything else but they are consistant on that.
People really love sarcasm.-- Andy Kindler, about 10 hours ago on his Twitter feed.
Judging by Newt Gingrich's behavior, this is exactly what the Republican Revolution is about.
Police say they've seen numerous illicit massage parlors open in Hollywood, Koreatown and the San Fernando Valley. But the biggest explosion has been in Eagle Rock, which is a community that was also inundated with medical marijuana dispensaries.This is great! California is finally shrinking government, exactly the way that the Tea Party wants! Next up, a relaxation of those darn crack statutes. They're slowin' me down, man.
"You can drive down the street and see one on every block," said Michael Larsen, the president of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council. "Our community is being inundated with prostitution."
The problem is connected to a 2009 state law that created voluntary state certification for massage therapists. The intent was to make it easier for legitimate massage therapists to work anywhere in the state.
The law said therapists with state certification could no longer be subjected to stringent local vetting. In Los Angeles, for instance, where city code classifies all parlors as "adult entertainment," licensed therapists would no longer have to apply for police permits, which require fingerprinting and background checks.
Many cities — including Culver City, West Hollywood and Glendale — promptly began requiring those applying to open massage parlors to show their state certification.
But Los Angeles failed to do so, instead asking applicants only to state if they were certified, not to show proof, according to Officer William Jones, who is in charge of the Los Angeles Police Commission's permit processing section.
As a result, it became an easy place for erotic massage parlors to set up shop.
Ahmos Netanel, who heads the California Massage Therapy Council, a nonprofit set up by the state in the massage certification bill, said L.A. should rewrite its code.
"My understanding is that the city has basically stopped regulating," Netanel said. "We have shared with them that this is unusual."
Today is the first anniversary of the greatest single assault on our freedom in my lifetime: the signing of ObamaCare.-- Ron Johnson's lead in his editorial for the Wall Street Journal.
Humanitarian crisis notwithstanding, invading a country with weapons to prevent the death of civilians is absurd. It's roughly as absurd as the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize to spearhead invasions in two countries in as many years.
And I might as well admit it - if there's a credible alternative to Obama in 2012 I'll vote for him/her. Even if they call themselves Republican. The trick is that the candidate has to be less Republican than Obama.
No, this isn't a novel position.
A diplomat who has access to radiation tracking by the U.N.'s Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization told The Associated Press in Vienna that initial readings show tiny amounts of radiation have reached California. But it's not dangerous in any way — "about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the organization does not make its findings public.So again, I'm not worried that there is radioactive mist mixed in with the clouds above my head. What worries me is the giant concrete breasts in the background of this picture:
U.S. government experts also insist there's no threat to public health from the plume, but they are still closely monitoring the situation with detection monitors deployed along the West Coast.
Come on, let's get these two little ladies on 2012 ticket! If the primaries are good for anything, they're good for that!
Don't worry about the numbers, Mrs. Palin - keep out of the public eye and by primary time they can creep up again!
Still one of the biggest wild cards of the 2012 field, Sarah Palin has offered little in the way of clues about her 2012 presidential ambitions over the past few months. But voters are providing some hints of their own, and the news is not particularly good for the former Alaska governor.These numbers are just like the "data" that say there is global warming or that Americans have a problem with obesity. No such thing! Still, you'll notice that Palins numbers were highest when she first appeared on the scene. It's only once she started expressing her opinions that the majority of Americans turned against her. So keep it on the DL, Sarah. Give up that Fox News money for a while.
According to fresh numbers from a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, Palin’s favorability rating among members of her own party has fallen to a new low. Not only that, but negative views of Palin are much higher than those of other possible Republican presidential candidates.
You see, the date is 3/14, or the first three digits of Pi. If three aren't enough for you...
Anyway I'd to dedicate this day to Glenn Beck, who is both irrational and continues indefinitely.
Can't I even mention that being for eugenics is something that Hitler was also? If not let me put it this way: I'm not for eugenics. Only certain kinds of people are, and those people are wrong. Wrong in a fascist german dictator kind of way.
When I was kicked off Where Are My Keys a couple of months back for being too offensive in criticizing the right's use of free speech (makes a good story, don't it?) I promised I'd keep reading anyway. The truth is, I'm not. It's not that I find it more offensive or less, it's just that reading stuff that I completely disagree with is no fun if I can't respond to it. I check in about once a week, boil up my blood a little, and then move on to Wonkette.
So keep up the good work over there boys, and sorry I can't join you more often.
Here's the deal about life. No matter what you do, no matter how careful you are, you can be killed in a huge natural disaster or a terrorist attack. Or crime or random craziness. Just know this. Therefore don't count on being around next year - if you want to tell someone you love them or do some good in the world, do it now.
Similarly you might have a bucket list of crazy stunts and/or crimes that you have been putting off. If you envision yourself on your deathbed (or death elevator or seafront property) regretting not having done this crazy thing, you should do it now.
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| Karma: light and flavorful |
I'm scooping Harry Shearer! An occasional feature on his Le Show radio program is the reading of especially egregious corrections to newspaper articles, usually from the LA Times. Well, I just sent this one to him. It concerns an article about Mark Kriski, KTLA weatherman who was missing from the airwaves last month due to a prolonged bout with pneumonia. Here are the corrections, one after the other.
[Corrected at 3:15 p.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that Kriski had been incubated for four days, rather than intubated.]
[Corrected at 3:34 p.m : A previous version of this post incorrected stated that Kriski was intubated for four days, instead of two weeks.}
Bonus points for the curly bracket, rather than square bracket, that ends the second correction!
Here's why the rest of the world thinks the American right is delusional:
http://mediamatters.org/iphone/research/201103100024
A bully? How? What did he force you to do?
Sent from my iPhone
I didn't want to go near this story when it was about an actor's meltdown. It's like someone asked me today, "did you see that video where Charlie Sheen...(whatever he did THIS time) and I said no, I don't watch Charlie Sheen videos. I let other people tell me about them. It's quicker. If I though Charlie Sheen was actually melting down, I'd just ignore him. But here's what I think Charlie Sheen IS doing.
In the first move of what could be a long legal battle, Charlie Sheen has sued Warner Bros. and "Two and a Half Men" co-creator Chuck Lorre for $100 million plus punitive damages over his termination on the hit television show.Yes I know, suing a company for $100 million is entirely constistant with the insane behavior that Sheen has been exhibiting. But go with me on this. Say you're making a huge amount of money on a show, and you want out because you're tired of it, but the last time you tried to leave they just offered you a little more money? Why not burn your bridges this time and get a huge windfall besides?
Mr. Sheen's lawyer, Hollywood firebrand Marty Singer, filed the lawsuit on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
A spokesman for Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., declined to comment.
In the suit, Mr. Sheen alleges that Mr. Lorre decided to fire the actor because he wanted to work on other television shows and before Mr. Sheen's public antics.
Citing his recent behavior, Warner Bros. on Monday terminated Mr. Sheen's contract, which according to people familiar with the matter pays him about $2 million an episode, including his share of "back-end" profit like syndication. But in the suit, Mr. Sheen also alleges that the studio's firing of the actor, even for those circumstances, would be in violation of California law.
The suit also states that Mr. Sheen is pursuing claims "for the benefit of the entire cast and crew to get paid for the balance of the season's 24 episodes."
Here are some things that have just been disallowed on the people's property (i.e. the Captiol building)in Wisconsin:
— No signs or public displays, reading of books or newspapers, tobacco products, or food and beverages.Why? Because Republicans don't want to see another disgraceful scene like this.
— Cell phones and pagers must be turned off, no photography (video or still) or sound recordings allowed.
— No backpacks or large bags.
— Eating, drinking, smoking, talking, use of mobile phones, laptop computers, video cameras, still cameras, newspapers, bags, briefcases, signs, posters, placards, or hats.
— There will be no leaning over railings or sitting in the aisles.
— Any outbursts, such as clapping, cheering, jeering or stomping.
Security screeners won't allow the following items into the Capitol:
— Animals (except service animals), balloons, coolers, crockpots and other cooking appliances, easels, extension cords, large bags, boxes, or storage containers for food or other items.
— Massage chairs/beds, mattresses, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, musical instruments, noisemakers (air horns, buckets, drumsticks, trash can lids, vuvuzelas), portable PA systems, signs or flags on sticks.
— Tables, chairs, furniture, tape (masking, painter's, duct, transparent, etc.)
— Other items that may be considered "inconsistent" with trying to get the building emptied at closing, or whose use could be a threat to public health or safety.
I'm tempted to just link to this story rather than try to explain it but that's lazy blogging. Which I suppose is the only kind! However, to attempt to summarize:
James O'Keefe set up a fun NPR sting, making up a radical Islam organization and sending comical muslims to offer funding to NPR. As a result NPR has fired one Schiller and the Schiller in charge of that guy resigned. I'm not talking about this because, while I'm enraged that people are losing their jobs because of what they think (not even what they say in public) it's their choice to do so in the name of maintaining journalistic objectivity. Good goin' Schillers!
But talking about lazy bloggers, look at this collateral damage! O'Keefe set up a website for the phony organization and the phony mission statement enraged Pamela (Atlas Shrugs) Geller so much that she expressed a desire to destory the Earth! Quote from phony website in italics, quote from real pundit not so.
Islam in America is at a crossroads. One path is continued confusion, hatred, intolerance and discrimination, and the other is the truth and beauty of the Quran. America has been struggling with which road to choose primarily because it does not know or understand the beauty of our holy teachings.
In other words, if you do not accept living under the most radical, extreme ideology on the earth, Islamic (sharia) law, than you are filled with "confusion, hatred, intolerance and discrimination."
...MEAC continues to bring religious education and truth to students across the country and to serve the growing Islamic schools and university departments with resources, support and guidance. We also assist educational institutions in lobbying state and national government for the autonomy and resources necessary for effective teaching of Islam.
MEAC is a servant of Islam, and may peace be upon us all.
I'd rather blow up the world (my emphasis) than live as a slave. As for Bin Talal, we have to stop financing our executioners. Enough dollars for jihad. We need to throw the left-enemy out of power and start drilling and mining our own resources. We must throw off the shackles that the enemy within has enslaved us with.Now see what I mean? The phony Islam rhetoric sounds reads about 30 times less crazy than the right-wing response. The "left-enemy?" Throw off the shackles? I hope Geller doesn't resign over this, because I want her out where we can keep an eye on her.
We're all on notice now. Keep your eyes open and your ears cocked. Public life is becoming a maze of entrapments, and the press is enabling the deceit.-Scott Rosenberg, Salon
Here is the article, in its entirety.
The man who was arrested for a bomb scare Wednesday at Heartland Aviation has been released on a $3,000 signature bond.Gateway Pundit links to it. Note the headline:
Patrick J. Knauf, 43, of Eau Claire was arrested for the violation of making a bomb scare under state statute 947.015.
The threat was made after 5 p.m. Wednesday, just hours after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made a brief appearance at Heartland.
The building was sealed off, and a thorough search by the Eau Claire Police Department and the Eau Claire Fire Department was made. No bomb was located, and Heartland Aviation has resumed normal operation.
The police department says this appears to be an isolated incident, and there is no additional threat to the public.
Heartland Aviation sits adjacent to Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, located in the city of Eau Claire and the southernmost part of Chippewa County.
Investigation into the matter continues, and Knauf has yet to be formally charged. He is scheduled to return to court on April 19.
According to the Chippewa County district attorney’s office, Knauf participated in a public demonstration at the airport on Feb. 28 and/or March 2.
Quick riddle - what's the difference between Mike Huckabee and Dan Quayle? Huckabee criticized an unwed mother who exists in real life.
...of the things that's troubling is that people see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, 'Hey look, you know, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having these children, and they're doing just fine.' But there aren't really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions of dollars every year for being in a movie. And I think it gives a distorted image that yes, not everybody hires nannies, and caretakers, and nurses. Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care. And that's the story that we're not seeing, and it's unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea of out of children wedlock.Thank God there isn't also a problem with unwed fathers!
I was wondering when the stewardship of the economy was going to change. From here on in, if unemployment spikes again (or fails to return to the 6-7% range, we can blame Boehner! I hope it doesn't make him cry!
Oh my mistake. It's community organizers. Still, since all Muslims are terrorists, who can blame them for hating those women and children?
I know it's a couple of months ago, but wasn't there talk during he last election about the need to get more Americans back to work? Then why is the Ohio legislative body devoting their time to this?
If that foetus isn't hiring, then they should be doing something else with their time in session.
