Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

18 Nov 2011 13:32

tags

Culture: Yacht captain reopens old wounds in long-dormant Natalie Wood case

  • Three decades ago, Natalie Wood, her husband Robert Wagner, and actor Christopher Walken went out on a yacht. Under mysterious circumstances, Wood fell off the yacht and drowned. Police decided years ago that the incident was an accident, but rumors and mystery still surrounded the November 29, 1981 incident. Now, to stoke the flames around the incident, the captain of said yacht, Dennis Davern, claims that Wagner was involved in said drowning, and encouraged the homicide unit to take another look. (EDIT: The LAPD says Wagner isn’t a suspect.) “I made some terrible decisions and mistakes,” he said on the “Today” show this morning. “I did lie on a report several years ago. … I made mistakes by not telling the honest truth in a police report.” Wagner has long claimed it was an accident, but this is sure to stoke the flames of a long-standing mystery. (photo by Caveman Chuck Coker on Flickr) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Nov 2011 13:04

tags

U.S.: FDA decides against blockbuster breast-cancer drug Avastin

  • what A blockbuster drug for breast cancer, Avastin, lost its FDA approval to be used for that particular purpose. (It will remain on the market as a cancer drug for other uses — including colon cancer — and Medicare will still cover it for breast cancer usage.)
  • why Multiple studies have shown that the drug only helps shrink tumors a little bit, and the side effects don’t make up for that benefit, the FDA decided. The decision means that many insurance providers will likely no longer cover the drug, which is very expensive. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Nov 2011 01:10

tags

Politics: Missoula, Montana vote: Corporations shouldn’t be treated like people!

  • Basically, it affirmed what we were all seeing on the streets, which is the average Missoulian wanted to have their voice heard … and they want their elected officials to fix the problem of corporate personhood. So I hope this message is heard and we get started on fixing the problem.
  • Missoula, Montana Councilwoman Cynthia Wolken • Discussing her successful efforts last week to get a referendum passed in her city against the concept of corporate personhood, which was codified with the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision. While the vote — which had a 75/25 split at the polls — wasn’t binding, it is one step in the direction of encouraging Congress to pass an amendment to help fix the system, and one small push in a larger national movement. (thanks Michael Cote) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Nov 2011 00:50

tags

Culture: BuzzFeed: Trendsetters or plain ol’ geniuses?

  • Surprisingly, this isn’t an Occupy post: Do you think Ryan Gosling was robbed of People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” title this year? Well, these protesters do, too. Our pals at BuzzFeed started a whole petition to promote Gosling to his rightful place. Today, protesters met outside of People’s NY HQ with chants, signs and masks. We are the 99%, indeed. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2011 21:53

tags

Politics: Daily Caller reporter, videographer protected by Occupy protesters

  • The protesters came up to me right away and asked if I needed any medical assistance. They were actually very kind and helpful. It was the police officers who were very aggressive.
  • Daily Caller reporter Michelle Fields • Discussing how protesters treated her after she and videographer Direna Cousins were struck by NYPD officers earlier today. “Direna had a camera in her hand and I had a microphone, and we were being hit,” she said. “When I fell to the ground I said at one point, ‘I’m just covering this! I’m covering this!’  And the officer just said, ‘Come on, get up, get up,’ before pulling me up by my jacket.’” As ThinkProgress notes, The Daily Caller’s Occupy coverage has been negative, but protesters helped them anyway.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2011 21:09

tags

U.S.: Breakdown: Arrests today during Occupy “Day of Action” protests

  • 400 estimated arrests in “Day of Action” protests nationwide
  • 300 estimated arrests in New York City alone, where emotions run high
  • 99 estimated arrests at the Brooklyn Bridge, a symbolic place source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2011 20:42

tags

Politics: Romney response to story involves phrase “opposition research arm”

  • Under state law, a public employee may not provide services to a candidate or campaign during his or her work hours. Nonetheless, it is evident that your office has become an opposition research arm of the Obama reelection campaign.
  • Mitt Romney’s campaign manager, Matt Rhoades • Offering a bit of a rip with a FOIA request sent to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s office, in response to a story released earlier today that claims that the former Massachusetts governor’s staff deleted e-mails before Romney left office. The key phrase in that statement above? “Opposition research arm.” Someone, please, make a T-shirt with that phrase on it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 Nov 2011 18:51

tags

U.S.: Day of Action: Protesters arrested for sitting at base of Brooklyn Bridge

  • 80+ arrested at Brooklyn Bridge during today’s protests source
  • » The second notable set of Brooklyn Bridge arrests: In something of a return to its roots for the Occupy movement, a number of protesters got arrested while attempting to head towards the Brooklyn Bridge, which mimics a protest from during the early part of the Occupy movement, in which over 700 people got arrested by the NYPD for walking on the iconic bridge. But the tone during today’s “Day of Action” protests was different — those who got arrested did so for sitting at the base of the bridge, while many others stuck to the pedestrian path, staying off the road.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2011 15:16

tags

U.S.: Suspected White House shooter charged with “attempted assassination”

  • Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, the man apprehended as the suspected source of the gunfire directed at the White House last week, will face a charge of “attempted assassination.” This is a curious case for reasons of proximity — President Obama wasn’t in the White House, or even on the East Coast, when the shots were fired. That said, whether or not this qualifies as an assassination attempt in a legal sense (we’re not lawyers, so any clarification would be helpful) may have to do with whether Ortega-Hernandez actually knew that, or believed the President to be sitting in the White House when he opened fire. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2011 14:20

tags

U.S.: CA’s Prop. 8 proponents win State Supreme Court challenge

  • And The fight over gay marriage rolls on: The California Supreme Court has ruled that opponents of gay marriage may defend the state’s ban, better known as Proposition 8, in court proceedings. Typically the task of defending such a state initiative falls on officials like the governor or attorney general, but both Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris have refused to do so, voicing opposition to the marriage restriction. This is broadly viewed as a table-setting sort of ruling — there’s a growing air of inevitability that the gay marriage issue is bound for the U.S. Supreme Court, where a ruling could impact the institution all across the country. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>