Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
The creepy, plastic, perpetually grinning Burger King mascot is no more according to spokesperson, Miguel Piedra. “We are food-centric, and we want to appeal to a broader audience,” he added. First appearing in print ads in 1955, the King will be dethroned this month but may appear in another form, accoridng to the spokesman.
A restaurant concentrating on food quality? What a concept.
While I do not recall a great deal of grumbling from conservatives about George Bush’s long vacations, I have to agree with the criticism of the First Family taking two separate planes to their vacation on Martha’s Vineyard — apparently to give the First Lady a few hours head start on the vacation. At a time of tremendous economic sacrifice, it seems pretty insensitive to take separate planes and motorcades at a cost of an estimated $100,000.
Continue reading “Obamas Take Separate Planes So First Lady Can Get A Few More Hours of Vacation in Martha’s Vineyard?”
Gov. Rick Perry was asked directly about his view on creationism and the religious dogma regarding the age of the Earth. His response was truly Bushesque, saying that the Earth is “pretty old” and evolution “got some gaps.” He wants both evolution and creationism taught side by side as equal “theories” in public schools.
Continue reading “Rick Perry: Earth “Pretty Old” and Evolution “Got Some Gaps””
The family of Thomas Russell III has been awarded $300,000 by a federal jury this week for an abusive raid that led to the police shooting the family dog. We have been following a long line of cases where family dogs are shot by police.
For years, the media has reported billions of dollars stolen or missing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Karzai family in particular has been singled out in allegations of such pilfering as well as an array of other crimes such as drug dealing. Now, auditors have found that $6.6 billion has simply disappeared — cash sent by the plane load to Iraq.
Continue reading “Auditors Conclude That $6.6 Billion Simply Disappeared From Planes Filled With Cash To Iraq”
Judging from this video, the Spanish have retained a Francoesque approach to dealing with the public and the concept of free assembly. The attacks on these young people appear entirely unprovoked. The police are preparing for the arrival of the Pope.
Continue reading “Spanish Police Attack Young People On Street In Preparation For Arrival Of Pope”
While it has been generally panned as superficial and little more than expanded soundbites, Gov. Rick Perry’s Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington clearly has one big fan: AT&T. AT&T purchased hundreds of the books to hand out free.
Continue reading “Reach Out And Touch Someone: AT&T Purchases Hundreds of Books By Gov. Rick Perry To Hand Out Free To State Legislators”
The death of Irzen Octa in interrogation in Jakarta has raised an outcry internationally. What is a bit surprising is that his interrogators were not Indonesian police but Citibank employees. The company who proclaims “your Citi never sleeps” appears to harshly interrogated the man for hours in a tiny room over just $5,700 on his Citibank credit card.
Continue reading “Citibank Accused Of Killing Indonesian Man in Harsh Interrogation”
Louisiana regulators have decided to appeal a ruling in favor of casket-making monks that found a state law unconstitutional in giving funeral directors exclusive rights to sell caskets. The law has been criticized as a case of a powerful lobby getting politicians to snuff out their competition. Louisiana legislators caved into demands for the protective measures, but Judge Stanwood R. Duval, of the U.S. District Court in New Orleans found that the legislation did not even satisfy the low rational basis test. The regulators are now appealing to the Fifth Circuit.
It is getting to the point that you have to wear waders on flights these days. We just saw a recent case of Robert “Sandy” Vietze, 18, (a member of the U.S. Olympic ski Team) peeing on the leg of an 11-year-old girl. Now, famed actor Gerard Depardieu forced a plane to return to the airport after he relieved himself in the middle of the plane aisle in first class. The actor from Green Card and such masterpieces as Cyrano de Bergerac appears not to have been charged in contrast with other cases.
Lawyer Jorge Hernandez Marin had a novel alleged approach to an opposing expert in litigation on behalf of drug maker Baxter International: take this ticket, money, and don’t call me in the morning. Marin was reportedly caught on tape offering to double the fee of the opposing expert, accountant Rafael Aspuru Alvarez, and giving him a free ticket to Las Vegas or some other city if he made himself unavailable.
Four of the five largest U.S. tobacco companies have filed a free speech challenge to the new packaging for cigarettes. I have previously criticized the graphic images of corpses and diseased organs. If the case goes to the Supreme Court, it could resolve the long-standing debate over the scope of free speech rights held by corporations as opposed to individuals. In that sense, it could be the extension of the Citizen United case in adding elements of personhood to corporations in the free speech area.
Continue reading “Tobacco Companies File Free Speech Challenge To New Graphic Cigarette Labels”
It made for one of the worst movies of all time, but the plot of Armageddon is now the operational plans for the European Space Agency. The ESA plans to fire a satellite at an asteroid in 2015 to see if it can destroy (or change the course) of an asteroid. Since Armageddon almost destroyed the career of Bruce Willis, there is hope for ESA.
Continue reading “Will a Bad Movie Make For Good Science? Europeans Plan Mission To Destroy Asteroid”
One of my lifelong commitments is to go to my grave without having seen a single episode of Jersey Shore, a show that from all accounts represents the de-evolution of our species. In a reverse of the booming business of ad placement in television shows, retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has reportedly offered a “substantial payment” to the cast if they would stop wearing their brand clothing on air. The store fears that the obnoxious characters are dragging down their brand.
While some on our blog (including many regulars who I respect) disagree, I have never hidden my respect for Ron Paul. I have occasional lunches with Paul who is one of the brightest and most engaging minds in Congress. This segment by John Stewart does a great job in addressing the concerted effort to ignore Paul despite his almost winning the recent Iowa straw poll. Even “XXX” got more attention by Associated Press.
Continue reading “Is The Media Actively Erasing Ron Paul From Election Coverage?”