Click here to view this media Several members of the group Veterans for Peace were escorted out of the Old South Meeting House in Boston Monday night after they attempted a citizen’s arrest of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. “I went down in front and looked Donald Rumsfeld in the eye and said, ‘I’m making a citizen’s arrest,’” protester Nate Goldschlag told WCVB-TV . “He lied us into Iraq. He lied about weapons of mass destruction. He lied about Saddam Hussein being involved in 9/11.” Three of the protesters removed from the event were with Veterans for Peace and a fourth was a member of Code Pink. One protester was arrested outside the event for allegedly using a bullhorn to assault a police officer. Most of the 300 people who had to buy a copy of Rumsfeld’s book, “Known and Unknown,” to attend the event appeared to be fans. “He’s one of the greatest Americans that has ever lived,” one woman said.
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Click here to view this media Several members of the group Veterans for Peace were escorted out of the Old South Meeting House in Boston Monday night after they attempted a citizen’s arrest of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. “I went down in front and looked Donald Rumsfeld in the eye and said, ‘I’m making a citizen’s arrest,’” protester Nate Goldschlag told WCVB-TV . “He lied us into Iraq. He lied about weapons of mass destruction. He lied about Saddam Hussein being involved in 9/11.” Three of the protesters removed from the event were with Veterans for Peace and a fourth was a member of Code Pink. One protester was arrested outside the event for allegedly using a bullhorn to assault a police officer. Most of the 300 people who had to buy a copy of Rumsfeld’s book, “Known and Unknown,” to attend the event appeared to be fans. “He’s one of the greatest Americans that has ever lived,” one woman said.
Continue reading …NC Governor Perdue: ‘Suspend Elections to Congress for Two Years’; Raleigh Paper Insists It Was a ‘Joke’
September 27, 2011 No Comment
Apparently there's no audio or video of North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue's Tuesday humdinger, namely that “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover.” — yet. If none surfaces, that will be too bad, because the guess here is that the wiggle room desperate apparatchiks to North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue and writer “jbfrank” at the Raleigh News & Observer are attempting to create — namely, that she was only joking — would vanish without a trace if we saw or heard how she delivered the following: “You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It's a little bit more contentious now but it's not impossible to try to do what's right in this state. You want people who don't worry about the next election.” Someone should ask Ms. Perdue to demonstrate the “funny” vocal inflections and other “joking” mannerisms she used to deliver yuks to her Rotary Club audience. If there's a way to make such a statement funny, I want to hear it. I say it doesn't exist. Meanwhile, the Raleigh News & Observer — or is it Stenographer? — thinks all of this is just a hoot and a half : Perdue jokes about suspending Congressional elections for two years UPDATED: File this in the random-things-politicians-say file. Speaking to a Cary Rotary Club today, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue suggested suspending Congressional elections for two years so that Congress can focus on economic recovery and not the next election. “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that,” Perdue said. “You want people who don't worry about the next election.” The comment — which came during a discussion of the economy — perked more than a few ears. It's unclear whether Perdue, a Democrat, is serious — but her tone was level and she asked others to support her on the idea. Later Tuesday afternoon, Perdue's office clarified the remarks: “Come on,” said spokeswoman Chris Mackey in a statement. “Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what’s best for the people they serve.” The Republicans sure are taking it seriously as they look to score political points. … Look, RN&O, you don't have to be a Republican, or independent, or moderate, or even an eeeeeeevil Tea Party sympathizer to take such a statement seriously. Why, even some (but sadly not all) liberals will have a problem with this. The headline at local ABC affiliate WTVD in Raleigh : “Perdue comment raises eyebrows.” Zheesh. There isn't a snowball's chance in Hades that media types would be desperately backing and filling for a Republican making a similar comment. If North Carolina Democrats have a lick of sense remaining, they'll strongly disown Ms. Perdue's obviously serious — in more ways than one — statement. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .
Continue reading …Jon Stewart to GOP Base: ‘Your Candidates Aren’t The Problem – It’s You’
September 27, 2011 No CommentThe apparent dissatisfaction of the Republican base with the candidates for their presidential nomination proved great fodder for Jon Stewart, in this bit from a segment called “The Great Right Hope.” Stewart started with Rick Santorum‘s absurd response to the gay soldier in a question asking about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Hearing Santorum’s call to reinstate DADT, Stewart just shook his head and replied “what planet do you f*cking live on?” Then there was the biting take down of Rick Perry’s recent follies but Stewart really aced it with this zinger: “It’s like the Republican primary is a season of American Idol in reverse, where every week you just add some other idiot,” and then riffing on some NJ Governor Chris Christie stuff that was funny. I’m don’t totally agree with Stewart’s pointed conclusion though. The present GOP candidates really do have major suckitude, Jon.
Continue reading …DOL’s Negative 2010 Consumption Growth Contradicts Positive in GDP; AP Misses, Rest of Press Asleep
September 27, 2011 No Comment
What if I told you that the government put out a report today which would lead one to infer that the economy might barely have grown last year, and that it even may have contracted — and that the reporter who appears to have been the only one who covered it didn't grasp its potential significance (or, conceivably, chose to ignore it)? Today the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual ” Consumer Expenditures Survey ” for 2010. As of 8:30 p.m., a
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Last year, Jessica Chastain was a complete unknown. Now she’s in everything – with everyone. She tells Steve Rose about working with Pitt, Pacino, Fiennes, Redgrave … There’s nothing we like better than an overnight success story, but Jessica Chastain ‘s feels just too good to be true. A perfect storm of Chastain movies, swelled by critical adulation, is currently heading for our shores, in what looks like a co-ordinated assault on the awards season. Earlier this year we had a taster, with the release of Terrence Malick’s Cannes-winning The Tree of Life , in which Chastain played Brad Pitt ‘s wife – as auspicious a debut as any actor could hope for. And this week the deluge begins. First there’s The Debt, an espionage drama starring Helen Mirren . Then Chastain teamed up with Sam Worthington in steamy murder mystery Texas Killing Fields . Plus, there’s civil rights Oscar bait The Help , already a hit in the US; the apocalyptic fable Take Shelter , another winner at Cannes; Ralph Fiennes ‘s Coriolanus , relocated to war-torn Bosnia, with Vanessa Redgrave ; The Wettest County in the World, a depression era saga scripted by Nick Cave and starring Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman ; and Wilde Salomé , the film version of Al Pacino’s theatrical crowd-pleaser. A year ago, Chastain was a complete unknown. Now she’s in danger of saturating the market. In a seedy diner somewhere in LA, there is probably a failed actor wondering who stole all her luck. And the answer could be the sunny, chatty, immaculately turned-out 30-year-old sitting in front of me. Although it’s a drizzly London morning, Chastain looks as if she’s just stepped in from a 1950s garden party: she’s wearing a sleeveless turquoise dress that sets off her red hair. Her feet
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Last year, Jessica Chastain was a complete unknown. Now she’s in everything – with everyone. She tells Steve Rose about working with Pitt, Pacino, Fiennes, Redgrave … There’s nothing we like better than an overnight success story, but Jessica Chastain ‘s feels just too good to be true. A perfect storm of Chastain movies, swelled by critical adulation, is currently heading for our shores, in what looks like a co-ordinated assault on the awards season. Earlier this year we had a taster, with the release of Terrence Malick’s Cannes-winning The Tree of Life , in which Chastain played Brad Pitt ‘s wife – as auspicious a debut as any actor could hope for. And this week the deluge begins. First there’s The Debt, an espionage drama starring Helen Mirren . Then Chastain teamed up with Sam Worthington in steamy murder mystery Texas Killing Fields . Plus, there’s civil rights Oscar bait The Help , already a hit in the US; the apocalyptic fable Take Shelter , another winner at Cannes; Ralph Fiennes ‘s Coriolanus , relocated to war-torn Bosnia, with Vanessa Redgrave ; The Wettest County in the World, a depression era saga scripted by Nick Cave and starring Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman ; and Wilde Salomé , the film version of Al Pacino’s theatrical crowd-pleaser. A year ago, Chastain was a complete unknown. Now she’s in danger of saturating the market. In a seedy diner somewhere in LA, there is probably a failed actor wondering who stole all her luck. And the answer could be the sunny, chatty, immaculately turned-out 30-year-old sitting in front of me. Although it’s a drizzly London morning, Chastain looks as if she’s just stepped in from a 1950s garden party: she’s wearing a sleeveless turquoise dress that sets off her red hair. Her feet
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The subpoenas are flying fast and furious in Wisconsin. This time, the story is over the “voter rewards” programs mounted during the recalls. Via JSOnline : Details of the secret investigation are sketchy, but it is clear the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office is investigating charges that Wisconsin Right to Life offered rewards for volunteers who signed up sympathetic voters in the recall races. Several people familiar with the investigation said subpoenas were being distributed “like candy.” Prosecutors had earlier acknowledged that they also were looking into complaints about get-out-the-vote block parties sponsored by a liberal group, Wisconsin Jobs Now . There’s a little false equivalence in this article, at least, that’s how it appears to me. Yes, there are two investigations, but let’s compare and contrast the specific voter rewards programs, which in some cases were a lot like the benefits you get for signing up for a new Visa card at the low, low interest rate of 23 percent per year. Here’s the Wisconsin Right to Life Voter Rewards program: During the recall races, the group had sent an email that described the elections as putting “a pro-family, pro-life state Senate at stake.” It then offered “rewards for volunteers who make an impact over the weekend by educating and encouraging family and friends to vote by absentee ballot.” Those who signed up 15 “pro-life/pro-family voters” by July 5 would get a $25 gift or gas card as a reward. The person signing up the most people in each Senate district would win a $75 gift or gas card. Awesome. Nothing says vote integrity like a $25 gift card. You might also recall this group as the one who sent out the phony absentee ballot notices to registered Democrats so they’d mail in their ballots a day late. Here’s the Wisconsin Jobs Now Voter Rewards program: Landgraf also acknowledged in August that he was looking into a complaint by the state Republican Party and Media Trackers, a conservative advocacy group, over what has been dubbed the BBQ-for-votes scandal. Wisconsin Jobs Now , a coalition of community and labor groups led by the Service Employees International Union , held at least five parties on Milwaukee’s northwest side in which it offered voters free food (including chicken and ribs from Speed Queen), drawings for prizes and free shuttles to Milwaukee City Hall so they could cast absentee ballots in the Darling-Pasch contest. Last month, a spokeswoman for Jobs Now defended the parties, describing them as “a celebration of voting” aimed at making it easier to vote for low-income and minority groups who might face more challenges under the state’s soon-to-begin photo identification law. Hmmm. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see a barbeque and bus in the same light as I do a cash card payoff. Not to worry, though. The Wisconsin Republican Party has hired James Bopp to press Wisconsin Jobs Now on their rewards program while defending their own. James Bopp was one of the architects of the Citizens United legal case. Turning the snark off for a moment, there is a real problem here; indeed, across the nation. Our voting system is being corrupted by Voter ID laws and hackable voting machines. As silly as I think it is to offer voting rewards programs, I also think we have a far deeper and more serious problem. Sending mailers with bogus dates on them is a far more egregious problem than having a barbeque or even handing out payola for voter quotas. I’m not sure how this is all going to turn out, but I hope people start realizing how precious their votes are, and how easily they can be corrupted.
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The subpoenas are flying fast and furious in Wisconsin. This time, the story is over the “voter rewards” programs mounted during the recalls. Via JSOnline : Details of the secret investigation are sketchy, but it is clear the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office is investigating charges that Wisconsin Right to Life offered rewards for volunteers who signed up sympathetic voters in the recall races. Several people familiar with the investigation said subpoenas were being distributed “like candy.” Prosecutors had earlier acknowledged that they also were looking into complaints about get-out-the-vote block parties sponsored by a liberal group, Wisconsin Jobs Now . There’s a little false equivalence in this article, at least, that’s how it appears to me. Yes, there are two investigations, but let’s compare and contrast the specific voter rewards programs, which in some cases were a lot like the benefits you get for signing up for a new Visa card at the low, low interest rate of 23 percent per year. Here’s the Wisconsin Right to Life Voter Rewards program: During the recall races, the group had sent an email that described the elections as putting “a pro-family, pro-life state Senate at stake.” It then offered “rewards for volunteers who make an impact over the weekend by educating and encouraging family and friends to vote by absentee ballot.” Those who signed up 15 “pro-life/pro-family voters” by July 5 would get a $25 gift or gas card as a reward. The person signing up the most people in each Senate district would win a $75 gift or gas card. Awesome. Nothing says vote integrity like a $25 gift card. You might also recall this group as the one who sent out the phony absentee ballot notices to registered Democrats so they’d mail in their ballots a day late. Here’s the Wisconsin Jobs Now Voter Rewards program: Landgraf also acknowledged in August that he was looking into a complaint by the state Republican Party and Media Trackers, a conservative advocacy group, over what has been dubbed the BBQ-for-votes scandal. Wisconsin Jobs Now , a coalition of community and labor groups led by the Service Employees International Union , held at least five parties on Milwaukee’s northwest side in which it offered voters free food (including chicken and ribs from Speed Queen), drawings for prizes and free shuttles to Milwaukee City Hall so they could cast absentee ballots in the Darling-Pasch contest. Last month, a spokeswoman for Jobs Now defended the parties, describing them as “a celebration of voting” aimed at making it easier to vote for low-income and minority groups who might face more challenges under the state’s soon-to-begin photo identification law. Hmmm. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see a barbeque and bus in the same light as I do a cash card payoff. Not to worry, though. The Wisconsin Republican Party has hired James Bopp to press Wisconsin Jobs Now on their rewards program while defending their own. James Bopp was one of the architects of the Citizens United legal case. Turning the snark off for a moment, there is a real problem here; indeed, across the nation. Our voting system is being corrupted by Voter ID laws and hackable voting machines. As silly as I think it is to offer voting rewards programs, I also think we have a far deeper and more serious problem. Sending mailers with bogus dates on them is a far more egregious problem than having a barbeque or even handing out payola for voter quotas. I’m not sure how this is all going to turn out, but I hope people start realizing how precious their votes are, and how easily they can be corrupted.
Continue reading …Baking Battle: Student Group Under Fire For Its Anti-Affirmative Action Bake Sale
September 27, 2011 No Comment
A student group at UC Berkeley cooks up controversy with its anti-affirmative action bake sale. On Tuesday, a group of student Republicans will host a bake sale that sells pastries priced by the buyer’s gender or race. On the Facebook page that advertised the “Increase Diversity Bake Sale,” the group listed the prices as follows:
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