On Today: NBC’s Vieira Hits Tim Pawlenty for Daring to Call Obama a Fiscal Chicken
February 10, 2011 No Comment
NBC's Meredith Vieira, on Thursday's Today show, challenged former Minnesota Republican Governor and potential presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty for daring to call Barack Obama a fiscal “chicken” as she (citing his Democratic successor Mark Dayton) accused him of not being a fiscal conservative. After Vieira initially questioned if Pawlenty had the requisite “star quality” to run for President, she then threw the words of the current Democratic
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Photo credit: stuff_and_nonsense / Creative Commons Uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and across the Middle East at the start of 2011 have reminded the world just how politically fragile some countries are. But the focus of international politics has been shifting for some time now. After a half-century of forming new states from former colonies and from the breakup of the Soviet Union, the international community is today faced with the opposite situation: The disintegration of states. As an
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The number of 24/7 broadcasting 3D channels in the US will go from one to three next week, now that Sony, Imax and Discovery have announced the launch of their channel, 3net , on DirecTV alongside its existing n3D channel and ESPN 3D , which will start looping its sports videos 24/7 on Valentine’s Day . Scheduled to go live at 8 p.m. Sunday night on channel 107 it promises fresh debuts all month with a new show added to the rotation every night at 9 p.m. It’s big promise is to “offer viewers the largest library of native 3D entertainment content in the world by the end of 2011″ although any 3D TV owners who don’t have DirecTV would probably just be glad if it got added to their channel lineups anytime soon, check the press release after the break for all the details. Continue reading 3net 24/7 3D channel launches this weekend, but only on DirecTV 3net 24/7 3D channel launches this weekend, but only on DirecTV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Open Thread: Whistleblower Alleges Politicized FOIA Compliance at Holder DOJ
February 10, 2011 No CommentSorry for the late OT today, NBers, but this one is a doozy. Justice Department whistleblower J. Christian Adams has revealed yet more apparent politicization at Eric Holder's Justice Department, this time concerning the department's treatment of Freedom of Information requests. Adams writes : Eric Holder’s Justice Department has even politicized compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. According to documents I have obtained, FOIA requests from liberals or politically connected civil rights groups are often given same day turn-around by the DOJ. But requests from conservatives or Republicans face long delays, if they are fulfilled at all. The documents show a pattern of politicized compliance within the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. In particular, I have obtained FOIA logs that demonstrate as of August 2010, the most transparent administration in history is anything but. The logs provide the index number of the information request, the date of the request, the requestor, and the date of compliance. For example, Republican election attorney Chris Ashby of LeClair Ryan made a request for the records of five submissions made under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Ashby waited nearly eight months for a response. Afterwards, Susan Somach of the “Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda,” a group headed by Rev. Joseph Lowery, made requests for 23 of the same type of records. While Ashby waited many months for five records, Somach waited only 20 days for 23 records. Under the Obama DOJ, FOIA requests from conservative media never obtained any response from the Civil Rights Division, while National Public Radio obtained a response in five days. Any thoughts on this expos
Continue reading …President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal will include a drastic cut in a program that gives heating assistance to poor people, officials tell the National Journal . The move is likely to draw sharp opposition from Obama’s own party; earlier today, Chuck Schumer called a similar Republican proposal “extreme,” and already John…
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Click here to view this media Al Jazeera is reporting that the military will take control of the government. Other stations are reporting a handover to Vice President Omar Suleiman. More details here .
Continue reading …Ruth Madoff mourned alone after her son Mark committed suicide , sources tell People . She flew from Florida to Connecticut for the memorial service, but was turned away by Mark’s wife, the New York Post reports. A friend says Ruth’s sons wanted her to choose between them and disgraced husband Bernie…
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Arizona Republican US Sen. Jon Kyl said Thursday he won’t seek re-election when his term ends in 2012, creating another open seat as Republicans try to take back control of the Senate. (Feb. 10)
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President Barack Obama’s call for a robust broadband network is being celebrated in rural Georgia, where doctors are pleading for more bandwidth to help them save lives. (Feb 10)
Continue reading …Obama announces plan to free up 500MHz of spectrum, invest in 4G for rural areas, and build out nationwide public safety network
February 10, 2011 No Comment
We knew the White House was on board with the FCC’s desire to free up an additional 500MHz worth of spectrum over the next decade from private and federal holders, as announced last year, and now Obama has announced the plan to do it. The plan is to incentivize the current spectrum squatters with a share of the revenue gained from auctioning off the spectrum — mostly for mobile broadband use — which only seems fair, and for now it seems those auctions will be voluntary. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: the plan also includes a $5 billion investment in constructing 4G networks in rural areas (with a goal to reach at least 98 percent of Americans with the service), a $3 billion fund for 4G R&D to help the rollout, and $10.7 billion for a wireless public safety network . The beauty of this plan is that all these proposed costs are offset by the spectrum auction, which is estimated to raise $27.8 billion, of which $9.6 billion will be dedicated to deficit reduction. Oh, and the best news? The government has already found 115MHz worth of Federal spectrum that it can free up by using its other spectrum more efficiently, and has another 95MHz worth in its sights. Hit up the source link to see President Obama’s speech on the subject, which has just begun, or check it out embedded after the break. Continue reading Obama announces plan to free up 500MHz of spectrum, invest in 4G for rural areas, and build out nationwide public safety network Obama announces plan to free up 500MHz of spectrum, invest in 4G for rural areas, and build out nationwide public safety network originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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