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13 Dec 2011 21:28

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Politics: Democratic senators call out Obama’s HHS Secretary on birth control

  • We ask that you share with us your specific rationale and the scientific data you relied on for the decision to overrule the FDA recommendation [to increase access to Plan B].
  • Fourteen Democratic Senators • In a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who last week overruled an FDA recommendation that Plan B, the emergency contraception, be available without prescription to minors. In the words of Greg Sargent, who reported the story, “it isn’t every day that 14 Senators aggressively call out their own party’s Health and Human Services Secretary.” Then again, a lot of Senate Democrats are up for re-election next year, so there is an element of realpolitik at play.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 21:15

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Politics: Newt stumbles, Paul and Santorum gain

  • Newtiny on the bounty? This is the second poll this week indicating a slip in Newt Gingrich’s support. The winners are Ron Paul and Rick Santorum (and, to a lesser degree, Jon Huntsman), all of whom saw gains since the beginning of the month. Gingrich’s favorability dropped 19 points in the last week, and on the question of who has “stronger values,” Romney beats him by 21 points. Meanwhile, the oft-forgotten Gary Johnson–who, it’s worth saying, is a libertarian who holds many of the same positions as Paul–is still stuck at 1%. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 20:51

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Politics: This 1995 profile of Newt Gingrich is a fun read

  • I would really love to spend six months to a year in the Amazon basin, just being able to spend the day watching tree sloths.
  • Newt Gingrich • In a 1995 Vanity Fair profile. There are lots of fun tidbits in this piece. Even back then, Gingrich was thinking of a presidential run, but his then-wife Marrianne didn’t approve. “I don’t want him to be president,” she said, “and I don’t think he should be” (he eventually divorced her). Newt often describes himself oddly journalistic terms, as if he’s a pundit writing an op-ed column, and this was true in 1995 as well.  He says here that he’s “a mythical person,” “a psychodrama living out a fantasy,” and that “what makes me unusually intense is that I personalize the pain of war, the pain of children being killed.” source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 20:39

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Politics: House passes payroll tax-cut bill … with a Keystone-shaped catch

  • If Sen. Reid wants to hold up the jobs bill, he will go on Santa’s naughty list.
  • Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) • Offering a somewhat … uh, interesting take on the House’s passage of a payroll tax cut, which Republicans pushed through with a fairly large caveat — it would speed up the process of approving the Keystone XL pipeline, which was delayed until 2013 to give some time to examine environmental issues brought up by critics. The bill is expected to die in the Senate, and even if it weren’t, Obama would most likely veto it. The divided Congress is under the gun to pass a payroll tax cut and a spending bill to fund the government beyond Friday. Sounds like a fun week, all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 17:45

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Politics: Is Newt Gingrich beginning to fade?

  • 37.7% Newt’s support from Nov. 30-Dec. 3; that is, in the couple of days before Herman Cain withdrew from the race
  • 24.4% Newt’s support–in the same poll–from Dec. 3-Dec. 7, the first few days after Cain withdrew source
  • » What’s going on here? Actually, we’re not sure. Common wisdom says that Cain’s support flocked to Gingrich after the former dropped out of the race (or, sorry, “suspended” his campaign). So how come the same University of Iowa poll–taken in the state over a weeklong period–shows a drastic fall in the former House Speaker’s support after Cain’s exit? Of course, the standard “this is just one poll” disclaimer still applies; this could just be an anomaly. But a 13.3% decline in one week is significant, and outside the poll’s margin of error. Given the boom-bust tendency of the GOP field this year, we can’t help but wonder if this is the beginning of the end for Newt (note: it’s rather unusual for a polling house to make available the intra-week trends of a single poll; much respect to Reuters, who co-sponsored this poll, for doing so).
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 15:06

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World: Russia says criticism of its defense of Syria “immoral”

  • UN action on Syria blocked by Russia, China: It was just over a month ago that Syria claimed to accept a deal with the Arab League to halt attacks and killings of citizens (and allow free media observers into the country), before flaunting their violation of the deal the next day by killing eleven people. They’ve since talked about another deal with the League, similar to the terms of the last one, but it’s rather impossible to take that seriously at this point. Many UN states would like to recommend Syria to the International Criminal Court in the Hague for crimes against humanity, but Security Council members China and Russia refuse to issue any condemnation of the Assad government — Russia, further, has referred to western criticism of their defense of Syria as “immoral.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 14:46

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Politics: Donald Trump is out as GOP debate moderator

  • See what Donald Trump is doing here? He’s waving goodbye. News broke today that, on the heels of every consequential GOP candidate save Newt Gingrich (which admittedly is only two other guys) stating they would not attend Newsmax’s Trump-moderated debate, the man himself won’t suffer the embarrassment, though he’s cited conflict of interest as his excuse. Said Trump: “It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama Administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an Independent candidate.” So, basically, even when the action might imply this election process is about more than just Trump — it’s all about Trump. (Photo credit Gage Skidmore) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

13 Dec 2011 14:06

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U.S.: Sandusky lawyer Joe Amendola inadvertently plugs sex chat line

  • quip Joe Amendola, the defense attorney for former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, remarked that anybody who believed an account of Sandusky sodomizing a young boy in a gym shower “should call 1-800-REALITY.”
  • oops The punch-line of Amendola’s somewhat unsympathetic joke contained a plug for a service he likely didn’t realize; 1-800-REALITY is a paid, gay sex phone chat line, which bills itself as “the hottest place for triple-X action.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 11:30

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Culture: Did the roots of walking come from “hopping” fish?

  • Birds gotta fly, fish gotta … walk? Scientists have long known that the early ancestors of almost every four-limbed creature — from mammals to reptiles to birds, and so on —  are fish that learned to breathe on land. But now scientists say that the African lungfish, using its “eel-like body and a pair of flimsy hind fins,” can walk/propel itself underwater, suggesting that walking isn’t merely an above-ground phenomenon. “This shows us — pardon the pun — the steps that are involved in the origin of walking,” said the University of Chicago’s pun-friendly researcher, Neil Shubin. Not that their walking abilities would be obvious to researchers based on appearances alone. “Their fins seem like the furthest thing from walking appendages possible,” Shubin noted. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2011 11:08

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Biz: Black Friday backfire: Best Buy’s profits nosedive on heavy deals

  • 29% drop in Best Buy’s profits in the third quarter source
  • » Too many deals? Best Buy, which has become shorthand for “company that throws all its chips in on Black Friday,” lost its bet on this year’s Black Friday, as its third-quarter results (which include the waffle-iron-rioting-day) showed major weaknesses, as discounts got people into the stores but failed to get them to actually work as loss-leaders. “They were more promotional and that doesn’t bode well for the holiday season, which is going to be very, very intense,” noted Barclays Capital analyst Alan Rifkin.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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