I think you'll be surprised how innovative the local street art is. Walls in these neighborhoods vibrate with a zest for life that we can all appreciate. Image via http://www.bristol-street-art.co.uk For more wonderful walls click here.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Nevada senator apologizes for affair with former staffer
Senator Ensign is the latest poster boy for hypocrisy among the Republican Party. I can clearly remember him leading the charge against Bill Clinton for having an affair with Monica Lewinsky. He's also a member of "Promise Keepers" - a Christian group that prides themselves on promoting all aspects of marriage.
But do you think that's going to slow him down in his bid for the presidency in 2012? Not even. He has enough gall for a water buffalo and isn't going to be shaken from his dreams of imperial power by a little old affair! I mean c'mon...does this guy look and sound like presidential material to you?
Apparently pundits in the GOP don't think this nasty little affair is going to have any bearing on his run for the top office in the land. Maybe they're hoping people will forget by then. I won't, and I'll be prepared to bring it up if he does run. Face it Ensign...you're busted!
From the LA Times today...
By Ashley Powers
Reporting from Las Vegas -- Nevada Sen. John Ensign, an emerging Republican leader who has been mentioned as a possible 2012 presidential candidate, apologized Tuesday for an extramarital affair with a former staff member but indicated that he had no plans to resign.
"It's absolutely the worst thing I have ever done in my life," he said at a televised news conference. "If there was ever anything that I could take back in my life, this would be it." Click here for the rest of the story.
GOP committee paid son of Ensign's mistress during affair
By Ashley Powers and Richard Simon
The 19-year-old was paid $5,400 between March 2008 and August 2008 for 'research policy consulting.' The payments ended the same month the Nevada senator says the relationship did. Click here to read the rest of the story.
photo via LA/Times
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Did political correctness cause this crime? Boy Scout forced to drink urine for alleged racial slur!
Is this a case of political correctness crossing over into crime? Have we come to that point now? Or was this a case of some bullies just having fun with this kid? It's something to think about.
From The Smoking Gun this morning...
Florida boy attending Boy Scout camp was forced to drink urine after he was accused of using a racial slur, according to police. The boy, 12, was accosted Friday by a quartet of attackers who pushed him to the ground and placed duct tape over his mouth.
According to the below Putnam County Sheriff's Office report, the child told cops that he was "blamed for calling a black boy a nigger," which the boy denied.
The attack, which occurred at Camp Shands in Hawthorne, resulted in the arrest of three minors and Joseph Reid, a 21-year-old volunteer. The victim told investigators that he was lured into the woods, where he was set upon by the quartet. The child's attackers said that "they were going to teach him a lesson and he was either going to drink a bottle of urine, or they were going to beat him up," according to the report (which was prepared by an officer unable to spell "lie" or "hairdo"). One assailant took the tape off the Boy Scout's mouth "and poured urine down his throat." Police recovered two bottles of urine and pieces of duct tape that were apparently used during the attack. Reid and the three minors were charged with kidnapping and aggravated child abuse, both felonies.
image via The Smoking Gun
Monday, June 15, 2009
Joe Blow (conspiracy) Report staff bawl like babies!
Well readers, this is what I have to contend with sometimes. Extremists tend to attack anything that doesn't fit their world view. There's a group at the Joe Blow Report blog that decided to attack me on May 31st and who posted a hate-filled rant about a column I did on trolls (of all the ironies!) This is a group that has the mind-set of a steel trap.
Now they have their crying towels (it took them two weeks to think of a reply) out and are blubbering to all that will read their raving. I'm not going to be intimidated by a bunch of cowards who are whining about a conspiracy between me and the Times-Standard to attack trolls! Good grief! Get a life you blowhards.
I don't know who you think you are, but I do know that you seek to impose your will upon others by reading your past posts. Now you think you can silence me by making outrageous accusations and trying to get the newspaper to drop my column. Guess again gang. You'll never be able to silence me. You best bet is to change your soiled diapers and to find someone else to pick on!
image via Google Images
Gas prices keep climbing as a meek public pays the piper!
By Dave Stancliff
Did you happen to notice that gas prices rose again today?
That’s 48 straight days of getting gouged which matches a record for this decade. We keep getting ripped off despite the fact that the demand for gas is weak.
Crude oils upward swing has been mirrored by the declining value of the dollar. That's because crude futures are bought and sold in U.S. currency, meaning that crude gets cheaper for many buyers as the dollar falls.
Prices at the pump rose 0.6 cents to $2.669 a gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Services. Prices are a nickel above where they were a week ago and 30.8 cents above month-ago levels, but remain $1.408 below year ago levels.
Consumers are now paying about $1 billion a day for gasoline compared with about $600 million a day over New Year's weekend and $1.5 billion a day or more a year ago, according to Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.
The more than 60 percent increase in prices so far this year exceeds anything going as far back as the 1970s, Kloza recently told the press. With all of this in mind, my next question is why haven’t these rising oil prices made front page headlines? Have we already forgotten about last year’s high point in ripping us off at the pump?
Worse yet, are we just so blown away by this bad economy that we are now accepting whatever hits us like a bunch of sheep? I’m not sure what to make of this. Some experts are saying the good news is that prices look like they may be peaking.
I wouldn’t bet on that however. It’s rapidly becoming clear to me that we’re going to be back at $4 plus per gallon by Christmas! That should really help stimulate the economy. People are struggling to have the very basics in life right now.
It seems to me that something is fundamentally wrong with a system of speculators that can make life hell for the majority of Americans by driving up the price of gas whenever they feel like it. I’d call it un-American, but we are a capitalist society, and this is one of the scummy by-products that result.
I’m trying to think of some upside to all of this. The best I can do is note that fuel-efficient cars will become more prevalent in the future. That is, of course, assuming that we just don’t go back to walking and riding bicycles like many third world nations today!
As It Stands, we’ll never be free until fossil fuel is no longer part of our economy.
image via Seeds of Doubt
GOP activist DePass compares First Lady Michelle Obama to a Gorilla
It's comments like Depass's, that make the Republicans look like asses!
From The Raw Story...
A high-ranking South Carolina Republican activist has issued an apology after comparing First Lady Michelle Obama to a gorilla.
Rusty DePass, a former chairman of the Richland County Republican Party, made the comments in a friend’s Facebook status update line after a gorilla was reported to have escaped from Columbia’s Riverbanks Zoo.
According to FitsNews, the status line read: “I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors — probably harmless.”
DePass told the Associated Press that he made the comment in reference to President Barack Obama’s views on evolution.
From FitsNews:
"We’re all for First Amendment freedoms and politically incorrect remarks around here, but this strikes even our most indelicate of sensibilities as out of bounds.
And while we will defend DePass’ right to make such a comment, it’s insanely racist - sort of like the anti-Obama flyer found on S.C. Rep. Bill Sandifer’s desk last year."
That was in reference to a controversy last year in which a South Carolina state House Representative was caught with a flyer claiming that Obama had promised a job to all black Americans, but that those black Americans were too lazy to actually want the jobs.
photo via The Raw Story
Lakers close out Magic and earn 15th NBA title banner!
It's been a great series. The Lakers had to fight hard to win the Western Conference, and when it came time for the whole ball of wax, they shut the Magic down 4 games to 1. Read more here.
Photo via Wally Skalij /LA Times
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Clean energy bill should have 100 percent auction of carbon emission permits
Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 06/14/2009 01:27:09 AM PDT
Congress is debating a comprehensive energy bill, known for short as “ACES,” that will be a winning hand for pollution-generating corporations, or for the American public. It's that simple.
The bill, HR 2453 -- The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 -- was introduced by Congressmen Waxman and Markley. It needs to be modified, but it's a step in the right direction. Everyone agrees something has to be done and it's important that we do it soon.
However, as currently worded, the bill allocates most of the revenue generated from new carbon emission permits to major corporations. Chesapeake Climate Action Network's (CCAN) Policy Director Ted Glick recently went to Washington, D.C., to deliver a sign-on letter to Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and other members of the House Ways and Means Committee, addressing the issue of carbon credits in the new legislation.
Click here for the rest of the column.
image via Google Images
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