Tag Archives: News

Hey! House Democratic leaders may be developing a Backbone!

Posted on March 13, 2008 | Comments Off on Hey! House Democratic leaders may be developing a Backbone!

Glenn Greenwald writes that: Chairman Conyers and 19 Members of the House Judiciary Committee have now issued a comprehensive report concluding that “the Administration has not established a valid and credible case justifying the extraordinary action of Congress enacting blanket retroactive immunity as set forth in the Senate bill.” Good to hear.

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Talk of a “Dream Ticket”, Geraldine Ferraro and Spitzer Watch

Posted on March 12, 2008 | Comments Off on Talk of a “Dream Ticket”, Geraldine Ferraro and Spitzer Watch

Democratic PartyThese past few days has been odd for the Democratic Party.
Let’s See:

  1. Sen. Hillary Clinton is sending interesting messages. She has mentioned a “Dream Ticket” with apparently her as president and Sen. Barack Obama as Vice President. Which would be ok *IF* Sen. Barack Obama didn’t have more delegates. To put it mildly, it’s a bit premature for her to suggest that. To make matters worse, this talk may eliminate any chance of a “Dream Ticket” with either one of them.
  2. Former Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro threw a Verbal Hand Grenade into the mix with This quote:

    “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

    It’s her opinion and she’s welcome to it, but this put Sen. Hillary Clinton on the spot forcing her to publicly disagree with Ferraro.

  3. Saving the BEST for Last: My personal favorite: Gov. Elliot Spitzer.
    Like many New Yorkers, I’m incredibly disappointed in the man. As more details come out, he’s looking really bad and frankly, just stupid. If he really has been using prostitutes for years, I’m amazed this did not come out sooner.The real victims are his family not the public.

UPDATE: Gov. Elliot Spitzer has resigned, effective Monday. See good coverage on Gothamist.
Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Crazy” by Seal from the “Seal (1991)” Album.

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Just “Wow”…

Posted on March 10, 2008 | Comments Off on Just “Wow”…

spitzer-mug-sm.jpg1st saw this on Gothamist.com: Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a man who ran on a platform of “Reform”, has been linked to a prostitution ring.

From the NY Times:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.

I admit, my first reaction was “No Way! Another ‘reform’ politician caught in a Sex Scandal?” but sure enough, he made a public apology (See it below the fold) and pretty much admitted it.

To put it mildly, I’m disappointed in the man. Ignoring the whole cheating on his wife bit: you’d think he’d be smart enough not to use a phone himself (it would be just perfect if he used his Office Line!). To really complicate things for him, from the article:

An affidavit in the federal investigation into a prostitution ring said that a wiretap recording captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

Which make it a possible federal case as he apparently arranged for a prostitute to cross state lines (Mann Act). He hasn’t resigned, but I bet it’s coming. In a related matter, Hillary Clinton needs to distance herself now. Gov. Eliot Spitzer endorsed her back in May of 2007…

When he was the NYS Attorney General, he was very effective, but now? If he gets anything done, it will be an uphill battle to say the least.

Can’t wait for Jay Leno and David Letterman tonight, Not to mention The Daily Show!

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Big Bang Baby” by Stone Temple Pilots from the “Tiny Music…Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop ” Album.
Continue reading →

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From MSNBC: “Addicted gambler files $20 million casino suit”

Posted on March 9, 2008 | Comments Off on From MSNBC: “Addicted gambler files $20 million casino suit”

Dunes ChipsI read about this and had to shake my head a bit.

I’m sure it’s safe to say that Ms. Taveras has a gambling problem, but at what point does she take responsibility for her actions? From the article:

She lost her law practice, her apartment and her parents’ home, and she owes the IRS $58,000. She said she even considered swerving into oncoming traffic to kill herself.

In interviews with The Associated Press, Taveras admitted she dipped into her clients’ escrow accounts to finance her gambling habit. She was disbarred last June and faces criminal charges stemming from those actions, but is trying to work out restitution agreements in order to avoid a prison term.

I’m glad she didn’t try to kill herself as that would be a horrible thing to do to herself and her family. Regarding her gambling, it’s tragic, but it seems she did this to herself. Me, I hope she avoids jail, but this dire situation seems to be entirely of her doing, not the casino.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michaelson from the “Girls and Boys” album. The video on VH1 is great.

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The Daily Show as a news source

Posted on March 8, 2008 | Comments Off on The Daily Show as a news source

[pageview src=”//www.thedailyshow.com/sitewide/video_player/view/default/player.swf?videoId=163572″ frameborder=”0″ height=”316″ scrolling=”no” width=”332″]
Once again Jon Stewart demonstrates that Public officials really should beware of the video tape. In this segment, “Crude Awakening”, we see Jon Stewart bring back GW Bush’s own words.Me, I’m once again very busy at work. A few projects are coming to a close and naturally, keeping me very busy. Considering that the economy lost 63,000 jobs last month, I suppose I’m lucky, but after working all night for a couple of issues I find I have to remind myself of that. I’ve been too busy to take any photos during lunch. By the end of the month, my project will wind on down.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Misery Business” by Paramore from the “Riot!” Album. Heard it on the radio.

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What year is it in Florida??

Posted on February 20, 2008 | Comments Off on What year is it in Florida??

Wow. Florida Orders Schools To Teach Evolution but only after a last-minute change depicting the concept put forward by Charles Darwin as merely a theory. It’s unbelievable to me that in 2008 people are still debating whether or not to teach Evolution in school.

Remember the “Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District” case? When my wife and I decide to have kids, I’ll take them to Church for religion and School for science. This whole attempt by the GOP to force Religion into schools, is one hell of a mistake.

Read related news here.

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Remembering Herbert Keppler

Posted on February 17, 2008 | 2 comments

Herbert KepplerIt’s old news now but, sadly, Herbert Keppler died in January.

With my subscription to Popular Photography, I usually turned to his a article called “Inside Straight” first and in this months issue, I see an article from the editor Entitled “In Memoriam: Herbert Keppler, 1925-2008“.

I’ve been reading his articles in Popular Photography for many years. Every article I read was informative, interesting and often had a touch of humor in them. His insight into the photography industry was interesting as well as his ability to inspire peoples interest photography with his writing. I remember reading his article “Inside Straight: Like a Leica” where he nailed the reason why, in 1925, the Leica I(A)’s became the first commercially successful 35mm camera with a single sentence:

“It’s oh-so-light, compact, and comfortable, and its few controls fall right where your fingers want them“.

He went on to write an interesting article contrasting the Leica 1(A) to a modern DSLR. The writing was interesting and brought up good points.You can find many of his articles here at “Speaking Frankly“. He was an interesting and influential man and You can read more about him here.

As I said, he was a good writer. I remember this gem from the “The Wit and Wisdom of Herbert Keppler“:

On poorly translated instruction manuals:

“The writer had forgotten that in English, objects are not referred to by gender. I was instructed to ‘grab her crank’ to advance the film and wind the shutter. Further genderized instructions became too personal for me to relate in a family magazine.“

(Popular Photography, September 1988)

By many people like me, he will be missed.

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Big Brass Ones…

Posted on February 6, 2006 | Comments Off on Big Brass Ones…

It’s not too often I come across a story that immediately inspires a post, but this is one such instance. I get home from a long day at work, relax, check my mail, email, news and what do I see on CNN.COM’s website?

“Oil industry disputes proposed budget trim”

Let me see if I get this correct:

  1. $10bn profit caps Exxon record year
  2. Chevron’s 4Q Profit Soars to Record High
  3. Imperial Oil Ltd. reported a record annual profit of $2.6-billion
  4. Nippon Oil’s full-year net profit will climb to 150 billion yen, a record profit
  5. Shell Oil Posts Record $23 Billion Profit
  6. IPSCO reports record earnings
  7. etc

Want to have fun? Via Google News, search for “Record Oil Profit”
Oil Industry is upset at a Mere plan of $50 million in federal R&D funding Cut?
Guess the Oil company can’t find an Honest Politician…

As I said: Big Brass ones.

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