Archive for April, 2010
Who are the Real “2010 Time 100″ Most Influential People?
This is cool.
Nate Silver runs the website FiveThirtyEight. He’s a statistical analyst; kind of a geeky guy, a guy who loves to crunch numbers and play around with polls, but he’s the kind of geeky guy we can’t do without. His work was invaluable during the 2008 election cycle as his predictions were more accurate than the big boys like Gallup and Zogby.
His latest work takes on the list of Time magazine’s “2010 Time 100″ most influential people — the people who “most affect our world.“
Time breaks the list into five categories: Leaders, heroes, artists, thinkers. Below are the names of the top five people in each of those categories.
Nate Silver meanwhile, did away with the categories and looked at the Twitter and Facebook followers of each person and ranked them accordingly, arguing that, “there’s little doubt about who has more ability to change the course of our conversations at a moment’s notice — and in an interconnected world, that’s what influence is all about.”
So next to the names below, in bold, is the person’s rank per their Twitter and Facebook followers which, in this day and age, really is an indication of who most affects our world.
Leaders
Louiz Inacio Lula da Silva (43)
J.T. Wang (84)
Admiral Mike Mullen (33)
Barack Obama (1)
Ron Bloom (94)
Heroes
Bill Clinton (21)
Kim Yu-Na (28)
Mir-Hossein Mousavi (26)
Ben Stiller (7)
Temple Grandin (45)
Artists
Lady Gaga (2)
Conan O’Brien (9)
Kathryn Bigelow (52)
Oprah Winfrey (5)
Valery Gergiev (61)
Thinkers
Zaha Hadid (30)
Elizabeth Warren (51)
Douglas Schwartzentruber (79) and Larry Kwak (87)
Michael Pollan (39)
Atul Gawande (63)
Anti-Incumbency Means Republicans Are in Danger Too
We hear Republicans and the corporate media talk a lot about the November elections and the “anti-incumbency fervor gripping the country.” The message between the lines there is that Democrats are supposedly so hated that voters might just throw them all out. Well, obviously there are Republican incumbents out there too and it looks like Utah’s Republican Senator, Bob Bennett might be the first incumbent of them all to get booted out.
Glenn Beck’s Audience Plummets 30%
Glenn Beck’s television audience has plummeted 30% since the beginning of the year. Gosh. Could he be too crazy for the crazies?
Obama Warns of “Conservative” Judicial Activism
Righties are forever screaming about “activist” judges (which is code for judges who care about the rights of We the People over those of the corporatocracy), but according to the legal scholars I trust, the recent decision by the Supreme Court (stacked with conservatives) in Citizens United was the most radical, activist decision ever handed down by that court.
Yesterday President Obama turned the tables on the wingers and issued a warning about that kind of conservative judicial activism, and good on him for doing so:
President Barack Obama, preparing to make his second nominee to the Supreme Court, warned Wednesday of a “conservative” brand of judicial activism in which the courts are often not showing appropriate deference to the decision of lawmakers.
Obama made clear that his views on judicial restraint are not the only basis he will use in choosing his next nominee for the high court, a decision expected over the next few weeks.
But his comments underscore just how much he thinks courts are being vested with too much power and are overruling legislative will, a factor that will influence his nominee choice.
Obama already has openly criticized the Supreme Court for a January ruling – one led by the court’s conservative members – that allowed corporations and unions to spend freely to influence elections. Obama has vowed to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens with a like-minded justice who will not let powerful interests crowd out voices of ordinary people.
So, after Obama announces who he has nominated to replace Justice Stevens, take a listen to the screaming coming from the right. If it’s really, really loud, chances are good that Obama’s pick is someone who will look out for our rights instead of Wall Street’s.
Richard Trumka Barred From Entering the New York Stock Exchange
I was watching “Squawk Box” on CNBC this morning at 8:13 a.m. ET. Becky Quick, the co-anchor of the show, was signing off to go to a commercial while teasing an upcoming interview with Richard Trumka, the President of the AFL-CIO. Quick said Trumka wasn’t allowed inside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) so he would be interviewed outside the building. The topic of discussion would be the AFL-CIO’s march on Wall Street set for this afternoon.
I guess I’m naive but I was shocked when I heard that. Where would the businesses listed on the NYSE be without their workers? Yet a man who represents workers is seen as such a pariah that he is literally barred from the building? Wow. Does that ever speak to the divide between the haves and the have-nots in this country.
Good Morning
It’s a good morning because the ground was finally dry enough to work yesterday and I was able to plant a slew of perennials I bought last week, and just in the nick of time because it’s supposed to snow all day today.
Dead Tired? Broke? Are You a “Dead Peasant?”
Are you a dead peasant? Is your employer hoping you’ll die before your time so it can make bucko bucks?
Yeah, they do that to peasants. (IMHO, “Dead serfs” is more accurate.)
God and Republicans: Remember When John Lennon Said The Beatles Were “More Popular That Jesus”?
In July of 1966, John Lennon said The Beatles were more popular than Jesus:
[T]he teenybop magazine “DATEbook” published an excerpt of an earlier John interview where he stated that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” Maureen Cleave’s original interview in the London Evening Standard had raised no eyebrows four months later, but in America, it exploded. It remains one of the biggest pop music scandals of all time, but even that dubious honor can’t really convey the impact the statement had in those bygone days.
Yes, it was one of the “biggest” scandals of all time. Wingers went nuts. I remember. I was there.
Today? Today, Republicans not only claim they’re more popular than Jesus, they claim God speaks to them. For example:
Glenn Beck: “God is giving me a plan.”
Michael Steele, the chair of the Republican National Committee: God, “has placed me here for a reason.“
Knock knock on wood. Anyone out there? Where’s the freakin’ “liberal media” to put this into context?
Since When Is the Grand Opening of a Store “News”?
My local “liberal news” outlet, CBC4 in Denver, just aired a report about the grand opening of a new store, Weekends Overstock Warehouse, or “WOW.” It was replete with shots of merchandise and it included an interview with the “merchandise manager.”
Hello. Excuse me. Since when is that “news”?
Sheesh. Talk about a corporatocracy.
When, oh when, will we have a decent media?
Michele Bachmann FAIL: 72% of the Nation’s Households Return Census Form
Per PRNewswire: “72% of Nation’s Households Mail Back 2010 Census Forms.”
That’s pretty darn good. Congrats to us all. (You lose Michele.)
Yo, Arizona — Put That Burrito Down Right Now!
Heh, Arizona, you ain’t eatin’ no Mexican food now are you?
Rep. Duncan Hunter Tries to Win the Craziest Statement of the Day Award
What’s the deal? Are Republicans trying to out-crazy each other? This would be Duncan Hunter (R-CA):
“Would you support deportation of natural-born American citizens that are the children of illegal aliens,” Hunter was asked. “I would have to, yes,” Hunter said. “… We simply cannot afford what we’re doing right now,” he said. “… It takes more than just walking across the border to become an American citizen. It’s what’s in our souls. …”
Are we flipping out so much that being BORN IN THE USA (remember the song?) doesn’t matter anymore? Wow. Talk about a slippery slope.
Hunter wants to repeal the 14th Amendment.
Calling all Tea Partiers!
Republican Senator: GOP Financial Reform Proposal “Just Messaging”
Think Progress has a post up about how Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee was caught on CNBC today saying, “I’m not sure what the purpose of it is [the GOP's alternative financial reform proposal], to be candid. It’s, I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it.”
Now, that’s bad. That’s really, really bad. If any senator or representative, no matter which party, doesn’t get that taxpayer money should not be used to bail out banks then they’re so far gone they might as well go home. Period.
But what caught my eye too, was this:
Corker then suggested that the GOP proposal was just “messaging,” saying, “I try to stay out of the messaging. I try to stay out of the politics of it all.”
So, the Republicans are just f-ing around huh, and not taking seriously that pretty much every single American is furious about the bailouts and that we want something done — something serious and real — now? That’s what it sounds like to me.
Break Time — Elephant Helps Push-Start Zoo’s Jeep
Lawrence Bates was all set to call for assistance when his jeep at West Midland Safari Park broke down, until Five the elephant decided to give him a helping hand.
The 18-year-old African Elephant got behind and pushed the car out of trouble and out of the enclosure.
She even cleaned the car in the process.
Five reached into a bucket of water with her trunk, sprayed the vehicle with water to remove any dust, then gathered up a sponge with her trunk and cleaned the windows and paintwork with the style of a true professional.
Director of Wildlife, Bob Lawrence, said: “The jeep broke down one morning and the lads jumped out to have a look at it, popped the bonnet and had a look at the oil.
“We still couldn’t get it to start so gave it a push start, eventually got it going – at this time though its covered with dirty hand marks so Five gave it a quick wash and a hose down.
“But the jeep broke down again and to our astonishment Five came over and decided to give us a hand.
“She lifted the bonnet up, got the dipstick, and gave it to Lawrence. When we still couldn’t get it to start, she went round the back and gave us a push.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life – it was absolutely incredible.
I love the name “Five.”
John McCain Falling in Polls in Arizona
No wonder McCain says one thing one day and another thing another day:
Is nothing sacred? It seems that even John McCain is in the doghouse with voters back in his home state, where is approval rating has fallen to an abysmal 34-55 (down from 42-48 in September). Perhaps not coincidentally, PPP also finds that, by a margin of 55% to 28%, voters consider him to be more of a “partisan voice for national Republicans” than an “independent voice for Arizona”.
I think the voters’ perception is correct. The guy has been in Washington since 1982 and, for example, what has he done for Arizona in terms of the “immigration problem” other than blame it on Obama?
Five Potential Domestic Terrorists Arrested in Georgia
Police: Deadly Explosives Found During Gwinnett Traffic Stop:
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Five people are in custody after authorities found explosive devices in a car during a traffic stop, Gwinnett County police said.The traffic stop occurred Monday at 3:42 p.m. on North Price Road in Gwinnett County.Authorities said they also obtained a search warrant at a private residence associated with the individuals in the stopped vehicle.
[...]
During a search of the basement at the location, and a detached apartment, investigators said they recovered additional items consistent with materials used to manufacture the two destructive devices. Fire investigators later concluded that the two devices were manufactured with the intent to cause great bodily harm or even death. “These devices posed an extreme threat to the community and we are fortunate to have taken them off the street before someone was severely injured or even killed,” said Capt. Tommy Rutledge, spokesman for Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services.
We are going insane.
Republican Senator: Can’t Have a Supreme Court Justice Who Thinks About the People
Check out this quote from Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, who was talking about President Obama’s potential Supreme Court nominee:
Sessions said Republicans will seek the nominee’s views on a new requirement that individuals buy health care insurance; property rights issues; gun rights; and Obama’s attacks on the court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which threw out limits on corporate contributions to campaigns, according to ABC. Sessions added that it’s “dangerous” that Obama has said he wants the nominee to consider how laws affect the lives of Americans.
So I guess we can assume that the more noise Republicans make about whoever Obama picks, the better that person would be at considering how laws affect our lives, not the lives of corporations.
Citizens United, Phase II
Oh brother. As if the Citizens United ruling wasn’t bad enough, here comes phase II:
On Wednesday [today], the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Doe v. Reed, a case from Washington state that looks at whether the public disclosure of referendum petitions violates signers’ First Amendment rights to privacy, free association, and free speech. While important on its own, Reed is also a warmup for cases coming down the pipeline in California and Maine over whether disclosing the names of campaign donors violates free speech rights by exposing contributors to harassment and other unpleasantness. Together, these cases form a backdoor assault on one of the most accepted tenets of clean elections: that the public should be able to see where the money is coming from.
The lawyer leading the attack on these states’ disclosure laws is James Bopp, a leader of the Christian Right with an uncanny ability to spot weaknesses in campaign finance statutes and obliterate them via the First Amendment. The Hoosier attorney is almost singlehandedly responsible for dismantling big chunks of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. He is the brains behind the original filings in Citizens United, a case few expected to succeed. And while his clients in these cases are usually religious or conservative groups, the biggest beneficiary of these efforts has been, almost exclusively, corporate America.
One of the “good” things, if that’s possible, about Citizens United was that it kept intact the requirement that corporate donations be disclosed. So at the very least, we could find out if, say, Citigroup gave such-and-such candidate $3 billion. If the Supreme Court rules that disclosing contributions is a violation of the right to privacy, that’ll end and we will be more screwed than ever. And you know, knowing this Supreme Court as we do, they’ll probably rule that way.
Good Morning
It’s a good morning because it’s going to be sunny and 77º today and I’m going to be out in it. Here I come.
Restaurant Ordered to Apologize to “Gay” Dog
Hey, I’ve known some dogs who I thought were gay but this takes it to another level:
SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian restaurant that refused a blind man entry because a waiter thought his seeing-eye dog was “gay” has been ordered to apologise and pay compensation.
Ian Jolly was told he could not take guide dog Nudge into Adelaide’s Thai Spice last May because a member of staff objected, The Sunday Mail reported.
The restaurant’s owners said a misunderstanding had arisen between Jolly’s female companion and a waiter who understood the woman “to be saying she wanted to bring a gay dog into the restaurant”.
“The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog,” the owners said in a statement to South Australia’s Equal Opportunity Tribunal.
The tribunal on Friday ordered the restaurant to pay Jolly 1,500 dollars (1,400 US) and offer him a written apology for discriminating against him on the grounds of disability.
(Source.)
Are we humans, collectively, going crazy?
We’re the Only “Intelligent Life” Out There?
Look at this picture NASA posted on its “Astronomy Picture of the Day” website on April 21:
It’s a photo of the “Cat’s Paw Nebula.” Beautiful in and of itself for sure, but what intrigues me are the stars. Look at those stars! And this is but one shot of one tiny corner of the universe.
No way are we so special as to be only “intelligent life” in all of space.
Olbermann Uses the Shit Word to Report Goldman Sachs’ “Shitty Deals”
Prior to the time when mere mortals knew about the “global financial meltdown,” honchos at Goldman Sachs sent out emails crowing about how they were ripping-off potential investors with “shitty deals” (their words).
The Senate held a hearing about that today. There is no way to convey how little Goldman cared about what it was doing without using that word — shitty — “shitty deals.” The deals were shit and Goldman knew it.
Bravo to Keith Olbermann for airing a clip of that testimony tonight, without bleeping “shitty.”
It can’t be told any other way.
Feds Conduct Surprise Inspections at Massey Energy Mines
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) conducted surprise inspections at three Massey Energy-owned mines today. (Massey Energy owns the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 miners died in an explosion earlier this month.)
ARLINGTON, Va., April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that MSHA inspectors responded to three separate anonymous complaints about hazardous conditions at three coal mines owned by Massey Energy Co. Following each investigation, MSHA ordered the withdrawal of miners from designated areas of those mines and issued multiple citations for serious violations at Spartan Mining Co.’s Road Fork #51 Mine in Wyoming County, W.Va.; Inman Energy’s Randolph Mine in Boone County, W.Va.; and Independence Coal Co.’s Cook Mine in Boone County, W.Va. In an effort to make sure the conditions found during the surprise inspections were not tampered with, MSHA inspectors assumed control of company phone lines at two of the three mines to prevent mine employees from alerting their colleagues underground that MSHA inspectors were on site.
“Each one of these inspections resulting from anonymous complaints reflects a serious disregard for the safety and health of the miners who work at these operations,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. ”Mine operators who disregard mine regulations and the Mine Act put miners at risk and must be held accountable for their behavior, and MSHA will do everything in its power to make sure that miner safety and health is paramount.
“What’s especially troubling is that one of the complaints came in just days after the explosion at Upper Big Branch Mine,” added Assistant Secretary Main.
••• On March 24, 2010, MSHA received an anonymous hazard complaint reporting that Road Fork #51 Mine was running two continuous miners on a single split of air. The complaint also alleged that the operation was mining into the coal face deeper than its approved plan allowed and had experienced several face methane ignitions that were not reported to MSHA.
••• Also on March 24, 2010, MSHA received an anonymous complaint about hazardous conditions at Randolph Mine just days after a small fire occurred there. Mine inspectors found that the mine operator was not providing adequate ventilation to reduce the risk of explosions and exposure to coal mine dust.
••• n April 9, 2010, following the tragic explosion at Upper Big Branch Mine, MSHA received a hazard complaint about Independence Coal Co.’s Cook Mine regarding water in the escapeway. Upon inspection of the mine, six 104(d)(1) orders were issued for taking illegal deep cuts of 30 feet into the coal face when the plan allowed a maximum of 20 feet, blockage of the primary escapeway with water, inadequate pre-shift and on-shift examinations, and excessive widths beyond the roof control plan parameters.
Massey issued a press release saying it fired several people but the tone is one of it being a victim, not one of concern for its own, obviously shoddy, practices and it’s sticking with the BS about, “safety first.”
Immediately after the Upper Big Branch mine explosion I heard someone say that almost all mine inspections are announced beforehand, which sounds like a wonderful deal for the company but not for the workers. This time the inspections were unannounced and look what a mess they found.
Oh, and one question: If corporations are people now, why can’t Massey Energy be tried for murder and sent to jail?
What’s Going on in Arizona? — The Video
From the Center for American Progress (at a time when we’re taking giant steps backward, they’ve got their work cut out for them):
What’s going on in Arizona? What does this mean for immigrants and nonimmigrants in Arizona? What does it mean for national comprehensive immigration reform?
See the video here. (It ain’t pretty. We should be ashamed.)
Senate Republicans Block Debate on Financial Reform for Second Day in a Row
“With Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) siding again with the Republicans, the Senate for the second time just failed to agree to start debate on Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) financial regulatory reform proposal. The vote, which is going through final processing right now, was 57 to 41, with 60 needed to break a Republican filibuster and proceed to formal consideration of the bill.”
Again, Republicans voted down beginning a DEBATE about financial reform.
Sue Lowden Chickens Out on Chickens for Checkups
Sue Lowden, one of the Republican candidates facing a primary in Nevada in the race to unseat Harry Reid (D), and the woman who thought a sound health care policy should include bartering chickens for checkups, has backed off that claim. Doing what all righties do when they say something the whole world agrees is dumber than dumb, she now says her suggestion was just a “casual statement” that was “taken way out of context.”
Yeah. Right.
(I’m surprised she didn’t add that other rightie fave: “I was just kidding!”)
March on Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco
Daniel Aperdomo is live tweeting a march on Wells Fargo in San Francisco. Follow the goings on here (because you sure as heck won’t hear about it on “the news” tonight).
Here’s one of her pictures:
