Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

09 Mar 2011 21:03

tags

Politics: Wisconsin drama: Democrat Lena Taylor evokes Ash Wednesday

  • Tonight is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent for Christians, and in this time set aside for repentance and prayer, Republicans have turned judgment on themselves. Justice will flow down like a river on this state as Wisconsin recalls it elected officials who have betrayed the public’s trust.
  • Wisconsin Democratic State Sen. Lena Taylor • Dropping some religious talking points on the kids in the wake of tonight’s dramarama in Wisconsin. “Walker and his legislative rubberstamps achieved their goal of ending the Wisconsin values of collective bargaining and access to health care,” she said. source

09 Mar 2011 20:23

tags

U.S.: Wisconsin Republicans pull shifty-eyed trick to pass union bill

  • crap Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker pushed to strip collective bargaining rights as part of a larger budget bill, which required a quorum to be passed. Senate Dems left the state to prevent it from passing. Protests roared.
  • bull*#(&@ After weeks of dispute, debate, and drama, the GOP senators stripped the bill down to the collective bargaining bit and passed it – because they didn’t need a quorum that way. We hope they all get recalled after a mess like this. source

09 Mar 2011 15:29

tags

Politics: The Obama administration tries to doom Jon Huntsman with praise

  • The things he did on behalf of this administration and the closeness in which he worked with the President, is much appreciated. And I’m sure he’ll talk about that in the primaries.
  • White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley • Referring to the Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to China who is quietly positioning himself for a presidential run in 2012. Say what you will about the political acumen of the Obama administration, but their strategy to de-fang a potential Huntsman candidacy is clear and somewhat amusing; heap so much praise on the man for the work he did with the President that Republican primary voters won’t trust him. Obama strategist David Plouffe once identified Huntsman as the Republican he felt most threatened by in 2012, so it comes as little surprise that they’re seeking to nip his run in the bud. source

09 Mar 2011 15:06

tags

U.S.: Suspect arrested in connection with MLK parade bomb plot

  • This is a story you should follow, not least of all because amidst all the brew-ha-ha about Rep. Peter King’s radical Islam hearings, people seem to be overlooking a near-miss attempt at domestic terrorism of a chilling sort. Last January, a backpack was left at a bus stop alongside an MLK Day parade route, inside which was a bomb. And not just any bomb; it was packed with shrapnel designed to ricochet out towards the expected crowd, and would have caused massive casualties. The FBI has now announced the first arrest associated with this case, though the suspect’s identity has not yet been released. The Seattle Times reports that the person may have ties to white supremacist groups – which matches earlier speculation that Aryan Nations, which makes its home in the region, may have been involved in the attack. source

09 Mar 2011 14:40

tags

World: Grim deathtoll in wake of Taliban’s funeral sneak attack

  • 36+ killed in a suicide bombing by the Pakistani Taliban source
  • » And at a funeral, no less. A teenager reportedly detonated himself while pretending to attend a Pakistani funeral service, which was being held by an anti-Taliban group in the country’s northwest. The funeral’s proximity to the Taliban and al-Qaeda’s safe havens within Pakistan made it a natural target. Our deepest condolences to all those killed in this most horrible attack.

09 Mar 2011 14:11

tags

U.S.: Washington Post political reporter David S. Broder has died

  • David S. Broder, dead at 81: The legendary Washington Post political reporter passed away today. A veteran of cataclysmic American news stories, not least of all the Watergate scandal, Broder was a deeply respected and revered figure in print news, and had last contributed a column to the Post on February 6th. I think most everybody understands the dream of loving your work so much that you want to just keep doing it, even into your 80s. That Broder knew this joy, and showed this industriousness, is a credit both to himself and the people who surrounded him. source

09 Mar 2011 13:57

tags

World: Muammar Gaddafi blames (surprise!) foreigners for uprising

  • Muammar Gaddafi, still horrible: Included in this already striking video showing Libyan rebels firing on a state war plane overhead, Muammar Gaddafi held a press conference of sorts in which he again claimed there isn’t a domestic uprising against him. He said that small groups of dissidents have entered Libya from Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt and Palestine, but rest assured, Libyans are still with him. It’d be amusing, if he weren’t brutally killing his own people. source
 

09 Mar 2011 13:37

tags

Politics: Newt Gingrich loves America too much to stay faithful

  • There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.
  • Newt Gingrich • Making an argument about his own infidelity that one suspects he would’ve decried as disgraceful and a reason to resign if Bil Clinton had said it. You might wonder why, at this moment, Gingrich is even addressing this past, until you consider who he’s making this pitch to. He spoke to the Christian Broadcasting Network, and knowing full well the power of the Christian right-wing in Republican politics, he wants to make it plainly clear that he’s not only sorry, but he’s apologized to his God as well. The broader consequence is that it reminds everybody of Gingrich’s biggest political liability; his actions during the Clinton impeachment were as close to bald, unambiguous hypocrisy as you can see in the political realm. source

09 Mar 2011 13:35

tags

U.S.: California headlines America’s shifting racial demographics

  • 50%+ of children in California are Latino, says the U.S. Census
  • 1:4 children under 18 are non-Hispanic whites, a rate which decreased
  • 38% of all Californians are Latinos, compared with 40 percent whites source

09 Mar 2011 11:23

tags

Music: The death of Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr has us very sad


If Nirvana has the saddest story of grunge, Alice in Chains is right behind. The death of ex-bassist Mike Starr, who long fought drugs, came nine years after Layne Staley’s demise. source