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

16 Mar 2011 15:28

tags

Politics: Silvio Berlusconi admits to being “mischievous,” nothing more

  • 13 times (allegedly) that Berlusconi had sex with a 17-year-old source
  • » He denies this, obviously. As does the girl he’s alleged to have slept with, Karima el Mahroug (better known publicly by her pseudonym, Ruby The Heart Stealer). The Italian Prime Minister mocked the accusations against him, claiming that the charge, which cites 33 total women he was alleged to have slept with, is silly because he’s too old. “I’m 75, and even if I’m a bit mischievous, 33 girls in two months is too much even for someone who is 30.” It says something about Berlusconi’s personality that he’s still coyly describing himself as “mischievous,” even as he faces this major legal threat. He’s basically ceding that yeah, he might sleep around every now and then, but not THAT much. Wouldn’t you generally want to avoid in any way alluding to such a thing?
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2011 14:56

tags

Politics: GOP-led committee may scuttle California’s emissions standards

  • cause The big shift from a Democratic House to a Republican one doesn’t simply mean a vote-count edge; it also means Republicans gain control of the various House committees and subcommittees. For example: the Energy and Commerce Committee, helmed by Rep. Fred Upton.
  • effect The aforementioned committee approved a bill for the House’s consideration that would bar the EPA from enforcing automobile emissions standards in California. Said Rep. Joe Barton: “We should not put the U.S. economy in a straight jacket because of a theory that hasn’t been proven.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Mar 2011 15:41

tags

Politics: The Mark 1 Nuclear Reactor’s legacy of safety concerns

  • Unheeded warning of the day: The Mark 1 Nuclear Reactor’s containment system, produced by General Electric in the 1960s, has been the subject of pointed safety concerns for nearly forty years. Stephen Hanauer, then an official with the Atomic Energy Commission, wrote in 1972 that the Mark 1’s pressure systems posed an unacceptable risk of hydrogen explosion, and should be discontinued. You probably know where this is going- the Fukushima Plant in Japan uses the Mark 1, as do twenty-three American reactors. A critical difference between these and the more highly regarded pressurized water reactors? The Mark 1’s containment vessel is “physically less robust.” So, because apparently this needs saying, don’t skimp on nuclear reactor containment.  source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Mar 2011 15:04

tags

Politics: In Wisconsin, the Democrats are told they can’t vote

  • They are free to attend hearings, listen to testimony, debate legislation, introduce amendments, and cast votes to signal their support/opposition, but those votes will not count, and will not be recorded.
  • Wisconsin’s GOP Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald • On the topic of the fourteen Democratic Senators who left Wisconsin to hold up Gov. Scott Walker’s union-busting bill. Basically, he’s saying that because the Democrats were held in contempt while they were in Illinois, that status will continue until they appear for the next legislative roll call, so they don’t get to vote. If this is allowed, the Republicans gain an obvious, if temporary strategic edge. Namely, if the Democrats want to be, you know, members of a representative body again, they’d have to attend the next roll call, which isn’t until April 5th. Therefore, in addition to the benefit of having a neutered opposition until April, the Republicans can be sure the Democrats will want to attend that particular session- meaning they can prioritize their biggest goals to that same day, ensuring the fourteen can’t go AWOL again without extending their vote-less status. A very Scott Walker April, anyone? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Mar 2011 13:33

tags

Politics: He will not be swayed: NRA’s LaPierre snubs President Obama

  • suggestion President Obama penned an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star last Sunday, calling for a look at “common sense” gun control. What he specifically endorses is mild; mostly, he emphasized better enforcement of existing law, and more efficient background checks.
  • rejection NRA leader Wayne LaPierre has refused even to talk to Obama. “Why should I or the NRA go sit down with a group of people that have spent a lifetime trying to destroy the Second Amendment in the United States?” A little soft-sold extremism, anyone? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Mar 2011 01:41

tags

Politics: Marco Rubio slams Congress for postponing budget debate again

  • I did not come to the U.S. Senate to be part of some absurd political theatre. I will no longer support short-term budget plans.
  • Sen. Marco Rubio • Letting off some steam about Congress’s refusal (or, perhaps more accurately, inability) to pass a long-term budget. The House and Senate will (likely, but not assuredly) pass another continuing resolution tomorrow in lieu of an actual budget. This one will fund the government for the next three weeks; after that, it’s either another continuing resolution, a budget for the full fiscal year, or a government shutdown. Let’s hope Congress can actually figure something out this time, and not just postpone the inevitable again. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Mar 2011 00:59

tags

Politics: Evan Bayh: Former Democratic Senator joins Fox News

  • Democrat Evan Bayh, who was both Governor of and Senator from Indiana, has signed up to be a Fox News contributor. Bayh declined to run for re-election in 2010, and some thought he might become a lobbyist after his exit. They were wrong, though, and now he’s primed to become Fox’s new token Democrat. (Alan Colmes! What, what?) Now, some might say that any Democrat would be crazy to join (and, in doing so, help promote) a place like Fox News, given that it’s, well, Fox News. Others, however, argue that people like Bayh are doing an invaluable service to the Democratic cause in providing a liberal perspective to an audience that would not otherwise hear one. What do y’all think? Is Bayh a sell out, or will his stint at Fox help open some eyes? source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

14 Mar 2011 22:34

tags

Politics: Wisconsin Senator leaves wife for mistress; wife supports recalling him

  • plan Some protesters in Wisconsin marched to the house of GOP State Sen. Randy Hopper, a Walker ally who will likely face a recall, to confront him about his anti-union policies.
  • surprise! Upon arrival, Hopper’s wife informed them that the Senator had left her for and was now living with his 25 year-old mistress. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she also supports his recall. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Mar 2011 14:38

tags

Politics: Ira Glass is having none of this left-wing NPR talk

  • …people on the right are going around trying to basically re-brand us, saying that it’s biased news, it’s left wing news, when I feel like anybody who listens to the shows knows that it’s not. And we are not fighting back, we are not saying anything back. I find it completely annoying, and I don’t understand it.
  • “This American Life” host Ira Glass • Talking to NPR’s “On The Media,” which, well, focuses on the media. Glass, who actually works for Public Radio International, nonetheless knows the meaning of solidarity, and he seems none too pleased with NPR’s rather tepid defense of itself. On the heels of James O’Keefe’s candid video of NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller (which, it bears mentioning, was not on the level, like basically everything O’Keefe has done) NPR does seems to be pretty willing to let its enemies define it. Our take? It’s just not in the rhetorical DNA of NPR to engage in full-throated argument against it’s critics the way, say, a cable news channel or politician might, so Glass’s frustrations may not abate anytime soon. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Mar 2011 11:30

tags

Politics: P.J. Crowley’s exit: Obama looks REALLY REALLY bad right now

  • What exactly goes on in Obama’s mind? He’s a smart and supposedly idealistic guy who came of age during the Reagan years, who surely — those first times he dared to dream about the Oval Office — saw himself taking all the obvious hypocrisy. Instead, he is taking presidential hypocrisy to new levels. What switch got turned off, or on, that stops him from ordering a halt to the mistreatment of Bradley Manning?
  • Philadelphia Daily News columnist Will Bunch • Offering a very harsh and sobering viewpoint on the whole Obama/P.J. Crowley/Bradley Manning thing we posted about yesterday. This is what Obama’s going to have to deal with from the left now that his administration forced Crowley out. See, Obama banked his career on being not that guy. And you know what? He’s kinda acting like that guy now. Who twisted his arm so tightly that he no longer seems to be actively pushing that human rights thing he used to push? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>