Archive for November 10, 2009
No Charges Against Sheriff in Balloon Boy Hoax
Boulder County, Colorado District Attorney Stan Garnett was charged with deciding whether or not Jim Alderden, the Larimer County Sheriff (just north of Boulder County) should be charged in connection with information released during the investigation into the “Balloon boy” case:
Garnett said his staff was looking to see if Alderden violated the law by improperly releasing information contained in reports of child abuse or if he improperly disclosed identifying information related to neglect.
“Although Sheriff Alderden references the fact that the Department of Social Services has become involved, he discloses no data or information obtained from a Department of Social Services report, nor does he improperly release any identifying information,” Garnett said in the news release.
Okay. So let’s put that to bed. We’ve got more important things to think about.
This is What Happens When Our Media Foments Hate and Rage
All this talk about purging Muslims from our country? Here we go: Marine reservist attacked Greek Orthodox priest he mistook for a terrorist:
A Marine reservist armed with a tire iron beat and chased a man he thought was an Arab terrorist and even called 911 to say he was detaining the man, police said.
But the man he assaulted was actually a Greek Orthodox priest visiting from overseas who spoke limited English, police said.
Our “liberal media” should be ashamed of their part in this — of fomenting a sort of mob mentality – and we should be ashamed as a nation.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling this is only the beginning.
An Update on Ken Hamidi
Yesterday I posted about Ken Hamidi, an extremely shady character who claims he was beaten up by SEIU members. Fox “News” is — uncritically, of course — promoting this suspicious incident as a way to bash unions.
Today I came across this from a Sacramento television station:
“He came to a union meeting with another woman who had film equipment. He was asked to leave,” Yvonne Walker, President of SEIU Local 1000, said. “When he refused, he became abusive to members of our staff. He actually physically assaulted a couple of our staff people.”Shortly after the incident, Hamidi was taken to a local hospital for treatment of cuts to his head and face.
I’ll keep you posted.
Promo For Sarah Palin’s Apparance on Oprah
I just saw a promo during today’s Oprah Winfrey Show for Oprah’s interview with Sarah Palin which will air on Monday. Oprah says they “go inside her [Palin's] life.” Simultaneously you see a shot of Palin standing in her kitchen, talking on the phone while sticking her tongue out and teasing Trig, who she’s holding.
I’ve never seen a politician use a baby as a prop as often as Palin has used Trig.
Oh, and my impression — albeit based on this tiny 15-second promo — is that the interview will be a softball.
Break Time
Sit back, take a deep breath, and look at these pictures of darling little houses on darling little islands.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have arranged to live my life on an island (or at the very, very least, close to an ocean).
The United States of Denial
Here is a passionate, wonderfully-written post about how dangerous — and sad — it is that we here in the U.S. live in such a state of denial: You Can’t Just Say I’m Sorry When Millions Die From Your Mistakes.
Wow – Check Out this Insane Website
George Hutchins is a Republican running for congress from North Carolina. Take a look at his campaign website. I’ll say it again, this is his campaign website. Oh my God.
(Sorry I can’t give a h/t — saw this earlier today but I forgot where. Sorry!)
Dogs — One of the Best Things on Earth
Here’s a lovely memorial to a “well-traveled dog.“
(Caution: It’s a tearjerker.)
How Does a Minimum Wage of $23.03 Sound?
Here are some amazing statistics (but bear in mind, they are three years old, so things are undoubtedly even worse now). Among them:
– IF THE $5.15 HOURLY minimum wage had risen at the same rate as CEO compensation since 1990, it would now stand at $23.03.
– A MINIMUM WAGE employee who works 40 hours a week for 51 weeks a year goes home with $10,506 before taxes.
– SUCH A WORKER would take 7,000 years to earn Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s yearly compensation.
– 5 OF AMERICA’S 10 richest people are Wal-Mart heirs.
– EXXON’S 2005 PROFIT of $36.13 billion is more than the GDP of 2/3 of the world’s nations.
– PARIS HILTON, who charges clubs $200,000 to appear for 20 minutes, stiffed Elton John’s AIDS benefit the $2,500-per-plate fee she owed.
Rupert Murdoch Accuses Google of “Stealing” News Corp.’s Content
Apparently Rupert Murdoch has no idea how the Internet works, or at least how Google works. In an interview with an Australian publication, Murdoch accused Google of “stealing” stories from News Corp. newspapers to use in their news service.
What? Google links to his stories but they don’t “steal” them or act as if they own them or produced the content. Undoubtedly most publishers love having Google “steal” their stuff because when people click on the Google link and are — duh — directed to say, Newsweeks’s site. Doesn’t Murdoch get that? Apparently not.
Anyway, today Google said it would be fine if Murdoch wants to take his stuff and go home. They can block News Corp. content from their site. So, bye-bye.
(No way he’s going to end up doing this.)
Inside Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post
It sounds like an awful place to work, if you’re a woman, that is. It sounds like a free for all for the men.
Wrong Direction
Business Aims to Relax Bans on Products Made with Child and Slave Labor.
Unbelievable.
Note to the Democratic Party: Unsubscribe Me
Insofar as the Democrats voted to authorize an illegal rendition – to send my uterus to Gitmo on Saturday — I’m not in a very good mood.
That said, I got an email from the Democratic party today:
My reaction? No thanks. I’m running out of time and patience and I’m tired. As I heard someone say today, hope is not change. I can’t live on hope alone. As a matter if fact, my stash of hope is almost gone. I need some change.
I’ve had enough. Take me off your list.
Then there was this, albeit in teeny tiny print as those unsubscribe things always are:
So I clicked on the line directly above — “Click here to unsubscribe to this mailing list.” And what did I get (for the third time?):
Oops. I can’t find what you’re after either.
All I know is: TAKE ME OFF YOUR LIST. When you start acting like Democrats again, give me a call.
Think We Should Have a Third Party?
Well, you got your wish:. The Tea Party registered today in Florida.
Rupert Murdoch Turns the Wall Street Journal Into a Tabloid
On October 21, Reuters ran an article about Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal with this headline: The Wall Street Journal: now for professionals.
Remember that once proud newspaper? It was for the really smart people; the folks who knew more than we did. After all, they understood what all those little numbers meant, right?
Today, Mr. SayItAin’tSoAlready — a guy who might have purchased the WSJ twice in the last 30 years and who has never accessed its website — got this solicitation in the mail:
So, at $9.99 per month — “now for professionals” of course — Mr. SayItAin’tSoAlready can subscribe for $119.88 per year. Meanwhile, on some sites, People Magazine is going for more than that.
Looks like the concerns some of the Bancroft family members had back in 2007 when they sold the newspaper to Murdoch were well founded.
