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

09 May 2010 12:07

tags

Politics: Guy pretends to be a birther to get out of doing his job

  • This dude thinks he’s all clever, trying to get out of his job as an army doctor by playing the birther card. He even has a (really annoying to the point you want to punch him) lawyer protecting him from answering questions. If he just wanted to be lazy and not do anything, he should’ve considered another field of work, like sitting on his butt, eating Cheetos and playing Xbox all day.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2010 11:33

tags

Politics: Obama dislikes modern technology’s role in democracy

  • What he said about new tech In his commencement speech at Hampton University yesterday, the president threw out this gem: “With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations – none of which I know how to work – information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.” He also notes that it allows false claims to quickly gain traction.
  • Why we (mostly) disagree May we note that all those new ways to get information empower us to hear a huge diversity of voices? While we agree that this technology has an addictive element to it, the fact of the matter is, it empowers a diversity of voices that didn’t exist even a decade ago. And plus, Obama’s arguments could easily apply to television or radio, if you think about it. We do agree with the false claims part, though. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 May 2010 12:46

tags

Politics: Sen. Richard Shelby: Financial reform missing Fannie, Freddie

  • When home prices finally collapsed, these ticking time bombs exploded, saddling taxpayers with hundreds of billions of dollars of debt.
  • Sen. Richard Shelby • Saying why he thinks the financial reform bill should include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two major mortgage companies that fell apart during the financial crisis. He thinks that the financial reform bill should do something about the mortgage giants, which he characterized as costing taxpayers significant amounts of money. During his statement, in response to Obama’s weekly radio address (which tackled health care’s successes), Shelby also criticized a proposed consumer protection watchdog bureau in the Federal Reserve for possibly raising costs for taxpayers. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 May 2010 09:42

tags

U.S.: Black Republicans at once empowered and disillusioned by Obama

  • 32 black Republicans
    are running for seats in
    Congress this year
  • five the number of black
    Republicans the RNC thinks have a shot
  • eight number of years since a black Republican served in Congress source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 May 2010 09:04

tags

U.S.: Obama adds “major oil spill” into his very busy schedule

  • today The president will hit
    Ann Arbor, Mich. to give a commencement speech to grads at the University of Michigan.
  • tonight Obama will head back to Washington for the fun-but-unimportant White House Press Correspondents’ dinner.
  • soon The president will make a trip to Louisiana in the next 48 hours to get briefed on the nature of the oil slick. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Apr 2010 09:24

tags

U.S.: Why the oil spill is bad news for the Obama administration

  • march The president suggests a major
    initiative to expand offshore drilling to the East Coast – a move which
    drew criticism from some
    environmentalists.
  • april In the wake of the oil spill,
    Obama plans to block any new drilling until after an investigation – a paper tiger because new drilling won’t happen for years. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2010 12:04

tags

Politics: Posted without comment: Today’s Washington Examiner cover

Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 

27 Apr 2010 10:12

tags

Politics: Sen. Lindsey Graham an oddball ’cause he tries to compromise

  • I guess the word ‘maverick’ is out of vogue. But I would say he’s courageous. He’s willing to risk political capital in order to solve problems. Everybody scratches their head about it, because such a trait is unusual.
  • GOP consultant John Weaver • Regarding Sen. Lindsey Graham and his ability to put his political stature on the line to actually work with people. The climate change thing has him angry because he spent a lot of time putting himself on the line. It’s led to a tight relationship with the White House, even if it is a little biting at times. “Rahm has a good relationship with him,” said press secretary Robert Gibbs. “The president has a good relationship with him. Many folks here do.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Apr 2010 11:36

tags

U.S.: Is the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court as “liberal” as they say it is?

  • Short answer: kinda. Longer answer: It used to be very liberal. With the controversy around Obama appointee Goodwin Liu taking shape, much of the bad-talking has been around the court he was recommended for. The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court has a rep driven in part by its decision against using the phrase “under god,” and the Supreme Court’s consistent rulings against its decisions. But let’s throw some numbers at you guys and let you decide.
  • 88% the rate the Supreme Court has reversed its recent decisions between 2008 and 2009
  • 12k the number of cases the court heard last year – far higher than any of the other appeals courts
  • 58% of the court’s appointees came from Democratic presidencies, the highest rate of any appeals court
  • » Why does it lean liberal? Simply put, Jimmy Carter was in office during a period when this circuit court was expanded, and it allowed him to throw in 15 liberal-leaning judges. The geographic area is more liberal, too. But this has eased in recent years, due to the fact that those judges got old and Bush appointed seven of the 27 judges currently on the court. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Apr 2010 15:54

tags

U.S., World: Obama on Armenian massacre: “Atrocities,” not “genocide”

  • On this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that 95 years ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began. In that dark moment of history, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
  • President Barack Obama • In a statement regarding the 95th anniversary of the 1915 slayings of many Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). There’s a lot of controversy around this because Armenians want this labeled as a genocide, but Turkey has pushed very hard against calling it that. It’s a huge diplomatic spat. Obama got around the issue by calling the deaths “atrocities.” It’s surprising how much language can affect the perception of an entire group of people. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>