It’s time for the headphones/earbuds. Today we have 96 Tears by ? and the Mysterians in glorious STEREO. Enjoy.
Guest Blogger: Elaine Magliaro
In the subtitle of his Salon article “The Predictable Tsunami of Sewer Money,” Joe Conason asks the following: “Was the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United naively mistaken–or cynically partisan?” Good question.
In January, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.”
Karl J. Sandstrom, a former FEC commissioner who provides advice to Democrats on election law has said: “The biggest change this year is that it is no longer possible to identify the individuals who are responsible for funding election communications.” Sandstrom believes that Justice Kennedy’s opinion was naïve and reflected a “very uninformed view of how disclosure works.”
Continue reading “Citizens United Ruling Brings on “Tsunami of Sewer Money””
Just Imagine. The man who bites heads off birds and fronted for the hyper-heavy metal band, Black Sabbath, has bits of Neanderthal coursing though his veins. Ozzie Osbourne joins DNA co-discoverer James Watson and Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates as persons having their entire genome sequenced and analyzed. Ozzie it seems has a little segment on his chromosome 10 that very likely traces back to a Neanderthal forebearer. Says the unflappable Ozzie, “”Given the swimming pools of booze I’ve guzzled over the years—not to mention all of the cocaine, morphine, sleeping pills, cough syrup, LSD, Rohypnol…you name it—there’s really no plausible medical reason why I should still be alive. Maybe my DNA could say why.” Brutish determination ,it seems, is the answer. I am taking up funds to get a similar DNA sequence done for Dick Cheney. Any ideas on his forebearers? Meanwhile here’s some Black Sabbath to tide you over:
Source: Scientific American
–Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Finally, definitive proof that at least one Wisconsin Republican voter has a heart. Sixty-Nine year old Terry Kopplin was planning on a trip to the polls Tuesday to do his patriotic duty when he began having chest pains. He was rushed to the hospital where emergency surgery was conducted to insert a metal stint into a coronary artery. The life-long Republican regained consciousness in the recovery room and immediately demanded a ballot to vote for Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker. A friend secured the absentee ballot and brought it to Kopplin who voted in the hospital. Wisconsin law permits hospitalized citizens to vote by absentee ballot up until 5:00 p.m. on Election Day. Walker is projected to win the race handily … er, heartily?
Source: MSNBC
–Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
The title of this post just about says it all. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of Caleeforneea, no economic girlie man for sure, has decided to get tough and restrict the use of state-issued debit cards at businesses whose services have been deemed “inconsistent with the intent” of the program.
Considering right wing voter suppression activities, know your state’s laws:
Scroll down to find your state.
-David Drumm (Nal)
Insurance giant AIG was the poster child for corporate greed and a government bailout program run amok. Now in their self-reliant efforts to turn things around and restructure, the insurer needs just one more thing – 22 billion more in taxpayer dollars. The TARP funds will be used to buy “Federal Reserve preferred stock interests in the special purpose vehicles holding two key subsidiaries being sold off, AIA Group Ltd and American Life Insurance Co (ALICO).” When you figure out what that means, let me know. There is one bright spot in this corporate muck however. According to the Treasury Department statement, ” … these assets significantly exceed the amount of the preferred investments, and as such, no losses are expected on those preferred interests.” I’ll file that in the “We’re From the Government and Are Here to Help You” file. Maybe we’ll get this finance mess fixed, when both government and industry resolve to speak English again. I’d back legislation to make that happen.
Source: Reuters
_ Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
We have previously discussed Mary Bale, the cat dumper, here. She sparked an international outrage when a CCTV camera caught her dumping a loving kitteh, named Lola, in a rubbish bin.
On Monday, a panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals extended the freeze on an order by U. S. District Judge Virginia Phillips halting the enforcement of DADT. The panel of judges was persuaded by the government’s argument that suddenly ending the prohibition on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military could have a deleterious effect. In their majority order, Judges Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain and Stephen S. Trott wrote the following:
– “The public interest in enduring orderly change of this magnitude in the military – if that is what is to happen – strongly militates in favor of a stay.”
– “Furthermore, if the administration is successful in persuading Congress to eliminate (the policy), this case and controversy will become moot.”
Continue reading “Federal Appeals Court Blocks Order to End DADT Policy”
Actor Will Smith plays a fictional fighter pilot confronted by an alien UFO capable of fending off nuclear weapons and disabling large parts of the U.S. arsenal in the 1996 blockbuster film, Independence Day. Wild science fiction? Not according to seven former US Air Force officers who held a press conference in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club to discuss UFO encounters. According to the airmen stationed at different bases throughout the Country, all witnessed UFO’s and some even experienced loss of use of nuclear weapons under their care. One airman described red orbs disabling nuclear weapons for two days.
Crooks are always looking for new ways to rob, but a Florida high school kid is truly cutting edge. Unable to secure gun, knife, or even billy club to instill fear in his victim, Larry Franklin seized the moment at a local convenience store and brandished what else — a bottle of salad dressing. Immediately successful, our “zesty” thief attempted the ploy yet a second time at another store but fled after the clerk proved himself a meat and potatoes kind of guy and produced a gun in response. Cops arrived to find the health conscious robber making a run for it. The clerk was heard to wonder aloud, why “the kid would bring a Wishbone to a gun fight?”
Source: TruTV
Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Ah, the bloom is too soon off the marriage rose as far as some men are concerned! At least that’s how it would appear for Minchillo McLester who was married just three weeks ago. McLester’s wife Madison was found dead on the floor of their home. She had apparently been shot several times. McLester was taken into custody after witnesses told police that they saw a naked man walking in a nearby Atlanta park early yesterday morning.
On February 16, 2004 Gov. Rick Perry (Texas) executed an innocent man. His name was Cameron Todd Willingham and he was convicted of murder via arson for the deaths of his three young children. Perry also impeded the investigation of the incident by the Texas Forensic Science Commission when he replaced four of the nine members in an attempt to change the report showing there no evidence of arson.