Viewing entries tagged
Politics
A small controversy occurred a couple weeks ago following Miss Universe Venezuelan Dayana Mendoza's visit (along with Crystle Stewart, Miss USA) to Gutantanamo Bay and her comments afterwards, where she wrote on the pageant's blog:
I didn’t want to leave, it was such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful.
The Miami Herald posted some photos from her "relaxing" visit:
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Newt Gingrich is right: it was really unexpected how these spontaneous, grassroots political events that Sean Hannity is hosting in Atlanta, Greta Van Susteren is hosting in D.C., and Neil Cavuto is hosting in Sacramento just sprang up without promotion from the media. - Stephen Colbert’s reaction to Newt Gingrich calling the Tea Parties “spontaneous.”
Feeling a bit fair and unbalanced, David Buckner, a professor of organizational leadership at Columbia University passed out live on Glenn Beck's Fox News show. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ply7XcnffyQ&fmt=18]
Iowa recently became the first state in the Midwest to approve gay marriage following a state supreme court unanimous ruling which concluded that "an old law restricting marriage to one man and one woman was unconstitutional." Huzzah. The moving speech below was made by Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal coolly explaining why he would not co-sponsor a bill with Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinely that would amend the state constitution to block the court's decision permitting same sex couples to marry. This is a must watch speech:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2s2R5qKhbo&fmt=18]
The heartland of America finally rises up to the spirit of its name.
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Paul Chan's "My laws are my whores" is currently showing at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. I particularly like his keyboard piece and the charcoal portraits of smirking Supreme Court Judges.
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Photograph by Brendan Smialowski
The Pentagon permitted the media, with the family's consent, to photograph the arrival of a coffin bearing a US soldier (Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers who was killed on April 4th by an IED in Afghanistan) for the first time in 18 years after the Obama administration lifted a ban on news coverage of returning war dead, a relic of the First Gulf War.
The ban has been the subject of debate for years. Supporters cite the privacy of family members and say that, in its absence, casualties could become politicized; critics point to the First Amendment and have accused the government of trying to keep the public in the dark about the human toll of war.
I think we should always err on the side of transparency and media access.
The last letter to the editor printed in each issue of the The Economist typically always has a witty tone, and in the latest edition, Californian Skip Kilmartin's letter made me chuckle.
SIR – Lexington accurately noted how Michelle Obama could employ her intelligence, energy and family history as a spokesperson for American values and to inspire us to work together as a society (March 21st). Lexington also mentioned that the White House has engaged in a debate with the media about whether Mrs Obama should show her “perfectly toned” upper limbs in public.Being familiar with constitutional law, perhaps Barack Obama could put this particular fashion controversy surrounding his wife to rest by referring to the second amendment’s right to bare arms.
Hyhooooo!
I went to high school with one of these candidates running for mayor of my home city. In case you can't figure out which one, it's the esteemed gentleman in the yellow glasses, natch. A former news inserter at the Anchorage Daily News under the "great night boss Steve" and also a "self trained scientist and engineer," candidate Jacob Kern promises local Anchorage residents a bright new future under his stewardship thanks to his "technology machines."
Why are you running for mayor? To use the cities budget to make my technology machines so Anchorage residents don't have to pay taxes.
Do you support lowering property taxes by starting a sales tax? mayor kern will pay Anchorage residents taxes from revenue of my technologies.
Would you support changing exceptions that currently keep churches and some non-profits from having to pay property taxes? mayor kern will PAY 4 THE CHURCHES and the non profits.
Should the city support construction of a Knik Arm bridge? Why or why not? mayor kern's new vehicles can fly.
And then there's his video pitch and his batshit insane website where he mentions his intent to run for president in 2016. America, you've been warned.
[Hat tip to Clay and Will]
I forgot where I saw this, but it made me laugh.
Note the million dollar smile, aggressive leg slit, and the classic vintage sepia tone.
Her then boyfriend David Upchurch in the prom photo is a customer sales rep today and refused "to 'kiss and tell' about their time together."
Smart choice Mr. Upchurch, because otherwise you may find 2009 the worst year ever with an IRS audit ("a random occurrence"), a SWAT team led by Delta Force accidentally busting into your house ("an honest mistake"), and your company being denied whatever bailout assistance every other business receives from the federal government ("a crucial and quite necessary piece of paperwork wasn't filed in time, sir").
One German company's horribly misguided attempt to cash in on Obamamania. On the other hand, their discontinued Guantanamo line of TV dinners ("So good you'll want to be placed in solitary isolation with sensory deprivation!") were surprisingly delicious.
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A couple nuggets from a Chicago Tribune article on the deplorable state of Detroit or as the article puts it a "a northern New Orleans without the French Quarter."
The median price of a home sold in Detroit in December was $7,500, according to Realcomp, a listing service.Not $75,000. Remove a zero—it's seven thousand five hundred dollars, substantially less than the lowest-price car on the new-car market.
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On a positive note, Detroit's homicide rate dropped 14 percent last year. That prompted mayoral candidate Stanley Christmas to tell the Detroit News recently, "I don't mean to be sarcastic, but there just isn't anyone left to kill."
Despite all this, 15 people are running to be mayor.
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During the inauguration coverage, you may have noticed an Asian guy sitting with the Obama family and thus frequently displayed. Who is he? He is the First Brother-in-Law! Konrad Ng is married to Barack Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. Check out the diversity of Obama's immediate and extended family in this New York Times graphic.
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For obvious security reasons modern era presidents avoid e-mails. Clinton sent just two e-mails as president while Dubya didn't use e-mail at all during his time at the White House. However, President Obama has been vocal about his addiction to his Blackberry and apparently he will get to continue using a Blackberry after all. Of course, it will have super uber duper security encryption.
There is some precedent: the National Security Agency (our country's electronic spooks) has certified a PDA made by General Dynamics for top secret voice, e-mail, and web-browsing communications.
Through three separate interchangeable modules, it works with Wi-Fi, GSM, or CDMA networks, and is dust-proof, waterproof, and rugged enough to survive repeated 4-foot drops onto concrete. Physically, it's a chunkier second cousin to the Palm Treo 750, though with an additional LCD display below the keyboard.
The price is $3,350 with a two-year warranty...
Read further about the security and legal implications of electronic messaging and the presidency here.
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Denzel Washington showed up early yesterday.
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
[Thanks Moye!]
As we all know the president of the United States always travels in a security convoy of black SUVs. Apparently some of those SUVs are outfitted with this pop-up gatling gun capable of firing 4,000 rounds per minute out of its six barrels. This is one car you don't want to cut off on the road and piss off the driver.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvYV5QZtevk&fmt=18]
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