Volsky on May 25, 2013 at 11:34 am (Source: Yahoo)
"Facebook rejected an ad this week that disputed scientifically unsound claims that abortion can cause higher instances of breast cancer, arguing that the advertisement violated the company’s guidelines “by advertising adult products or services, including toys, videos, or sexual enhancement products.” "
"They are not necessarily unsafe, but are “characterized by deteriorated conditions of significant bridge elements and potentially reduced load carrying capacity,” according to the FHA. There are 66,749 of them in the country, and they require significant maintenance and repair to stay in service."
"According to statistics United Republic assembled, the prescription drug industry spent $116 million lobbying for legislation to prevent Medicare from bargaining down drug prices — legislation that enabled drug companies to make an additional $90 billion annually. That amounts to an extraordinary 77,500 percent return on investment."
"Commenting on Thursday's big counterterrorism speech, John Yoo decides that President Obama isn't being hawkish enough in the War on Terror.…"
"Though Plaintiffs boldly probe the outskirts of law, the only enterprise they resemble is RICO. The federal agency eleven decks up is familiar with their prime directive and will gladly refit them for their next voyage. The Court will refer this matter to the United States Attorney for the Central District of California."
"…killed several Americans overseas, only one of whom was targeted…"
"The Boston public schools has rated 92 percent of all teachers as proficient or exemplary under a new evaluation system…raising questions about whether principals and other administrators are judging teachers too lightly."OK, sorry, it's a link to the paywalled Globe. But it was just too good to pass up, and anyway if you can get only the lede of this story you pretty much have it all. So go for it, or just take my word.
"Worse than Watergate. That's the refrain coming from the Obama administration's critics as it scrambles to tamp down a growing pile of scandals. "The Obama administration's cover-up of the September 11, 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack surpasses Watergate," states Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). The IRS-tea party scandal "is far worse than Watergate," according to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). And Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Paul Babeu maintains that Fast and Furious "is a much larger scandal than Watergate." And of course there is a hashtag: #WorseThanWatergate."Check out the story for some industrial-grade work avoidance. Seriously. This one link could blow off most of your day.
"Mark Ciavarella Jr, a 61-year old former judge in Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for literally selling young juveniles for cash. He was convicted of accepting money in exchange for incarcerating thousands of adults and children into a prison facility owned by a developer who was paying him under the table. The kickbacks amounted to more than $1 million."
The good thing about these late afternoon showers in the spring is they do good things to the light.
"The baseball star, the Hollywood 10, Oliver North. And Lois Lerner of the IRS.…
A few well-known names who invoked Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination"…the story does say well-known names, and nobody knows the names of Tony Accardo, Frank Costello, and Meyer Lansky any more. Which may be just as well, come to think of it. Still, when it comes to taking the Fifth those guys are still pretty hard to beat.
"This week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has defended the devices, saying "some" of them work."
"But now the government is proposing a bill that would allow some classes to be taught in a foreign language, chiefly English, at public universities – reigniting the country's frequent, ongoing debate about the proper use of its constitutionally enshrined native tongue, as critics say the new measure would undermine the French language's place as a defining element of France's national identity and cultural stature."Of course the native tongue in question is, you know, French. But you can't have everything.
"It's wonderful stuff, swearing. It stiffens the sinews and summons up the blood, and not just metaphorically. Obscenities actually do act on us physiologically. Swearing increases electrical conductance across the skin, pushes the heart rate higher and measurably increases resistance to pain."Not on our list—yet. But does look tempting.
"Expulsion from the Boy Scouts of America is a dishonor few Scouts endure. But that was the punishment imposed on Kim Kuska, a self-taught naturalist and former biology teacher who had been with the organization for more than 50 years.
His crime: an obsession with the rare, and unfortunately named, Dudley’s lousewort."Protecting endangered species just too darn inconvenient for BSA. No merit badge for them.
Trashing reporters comes easy in Obama-land. Behind the scenes, Obama-centric Democratic operatives brand any reporter who questions the administration as a closet conservative, because what other explanation could there be for a reporter critically reporting on the government?
Daily Beast
"WASHINGTON — One day before President Obama is due to deliver a major speech on national security, his administration on Wednesday formally acknowledged that the United States had killed four American citizens in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan."But wait, here's the payoff: "They were not specifically targeted," Holder says.
"Daily Mail, UK - A market trader who ran an illegal lending racket from his fruit and veg stall has avoided jail after a court heard his interest rates were over 100 times lower than licensed payday loan firms."
"“The reason this is such an issue is that insurers are increasingly saying that they will not accept debit or credit cards as an acceptable form of payment” study author Brian Haile says."…is, as we all know, a camel. Health care designed by a committee is Obamacare.
"A goat possibly headed to the slaughterhouse made a daring and dangerous escape into traffic on a busy highway in New Jersey. "
"For the periodical cicada, that giant-in-the-earth among aboriginal American insects, appears to be on the wane. like the dinosaur or the buffalo, it is too great for these small times. Every farm, every town, every clearing and pasture lot spells its doom, curtails its once far-flung empire. "
"NEW YORK — Flickr hasn't been awesome for some time."But we're happy nonetheless. Flickr does indeed look better now—more or less the same as most other photo sites but still, that's an improvement. And just in time. We've been looking for a new way to manage photos and it's beginning to look like the old way is the new way after all.
"An FBI agent shot and killed an Orlando man early Wednesday who had been questioned for several hours about his alleged ties to Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the victim's friend told local media."
"The United States does have some phosphate reserves, the most heavily mined of which are in Florida. But phosphate mining is an environmentally devastating project—it requires stripping large swaths of land and generates massive amounts of a waste product called phosphogypsum, which contains low levels of radiation as well as a range of toxic heavy metals. In Florida, no one knows what to do with the stuff, so it has been sitting in huge piles in mining regions. "
"Dr. Mark D’Andrea, at the University of Texas Cancer Center, began tracking 4,000 residents exposed to the poster child of all upsets — the “40-day Release” at the BP refinery, in Texas City, which belched 514,795 pounds of benzene and 20 other pollutants throughout the spring of 2010.""Upset" is industry parlance for "unplanned emission," sort of like "unpleasantness" for "war." But that would be just splitting hairs.
From the NRA publication American Rifleman comes this list off the 10 coolest movies about guns:
A few of them look like they might involve kissing, but I guess you can't have everything. Just mentioning.
"Despite what you may have heard, no single party owns an historical monopoly on IRS-related sleaze."
"In addition to signing things less frequently, we're also signing in vastly different ways than before. Annoying and frustrating ways. We've all used those dreaded signature pads when paying for something in a shop with a credit card or accepting a FedEx delivery. Those things are infuriating, seemingly designed by the devil himself."
"Cracker Jack's parent company, Frito-Lay, has just come out with a new spin-off product line called Cracker Jack'D, which features flavors like Spicy Pizzeria, Cheddar BBQ, and Cocoa Java Power Bites (yes, really). Think of it this way: Cracker Jack'D is to the original Cracker Jack as, say, Metallica is to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." "
"Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, argued that there is no comparison between Hurricane Sandy relief, which he voted against last fall, and aid for his state in the wake of the devastating tornado, because the two are “totally different.”"I don't think that storm in Oklahoma even had a name. Totally different. Also, snobby liberal easterners.
"Trashing reporters comes easy in Obama-land. Behind the scenes, Obama-centric Democratic operatives brand any reporter who questions the administration as a closet conservative, because what other explanation could there be for a reporter critically reporting on the government?"
"The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has some fresh news from World War II: Thirteen Merchant Marine ships sunk by the German navy in the Battle of the Atlantic threaten to release oil from their watery graves."But BP still does it better.
"WASHINGTON — White House officials were first notified on April 16 about an investigation into Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of conservative groups and discussed its potential findings with the Treasury Department but never told President Obama, the White House said Monday."It's the return of St. Ronnie. Not as good as that Iran-Contra thing yet, but give it time. It might still be.
"The Keystone project has become the most studied and scrutinized project in infrastructure history. For 1,705 days, the Obama administration has delayed and sidestepped a decision that is really a no-brainer.…
"World War II was won in Europe in less time. The Transcontinental Railroad, often quoted by President Obama, was built in less time. The Empire State Building could have been built several times over and Lincoln concluded the Civil War in less time."
"From 1999 through 2007, and again from January 2009 through June 2010, every meeting was opened with a Christian-oriented invocation. In 2008, after residents Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens complained, four of 12 meetings were opened by non-Christians, including a Jewish layman, a Wiccan priestess and the chairman of the local Baha'i congregation."So what was the fourth one ? Must have been something really weird. Like, you know, Presbyterian or something. We want to know.
According to this morning's Globe:
"The new acting IRS commissioner has ordered a month-long investigation of the targeting of conservative groups."
What is the magic in a month-long investigation? Why wouldn't a 3-week investigation work just as well? Or maybe a 26-day investigation. On the other hand, how does he know it won't take 37 days?
I just don't get it.
"It is hard to resist the conclusion that this war has no purpose other than its own eternal perpetuation. This war is not a means to any end but rather is the end in itself. Not only is it the end itself, but it is also its own fuel: it is precisely this endless war - justified in the name of stopping the threat of terrorism - that is the single greatest cause of that threat."
"Tempting as it might be, a federal shield law is a bad idea for journalists. We do not need it, and we may ultimately regret it. The relevant part of the First Amendment to the Constitution says: Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of the press. That powerful simple phrase “no law” means just that – no law, period. It means Congress simply cannot legislate in this area."
"Thanks to 2010's disastrous Citizens United ruling by a handful of raging corporatists on the Supreme Court, the moneyed elite can again buy as much political power as they want, without disclosing who's doing the buying."
"Republicans in the Ohio Legislature are pushing a plan that could cost the state’s public universities millions of dollars if they provide students with documents to help them register to vote."
No kidding. Flake.
Talking Points Memo: Flake Continues To Twist Gun Vote In Response To Latest Bloomberg Attack.
"The [fluoridation] has divided [Portland's] powerful progressive community. Mainstream liberals see fluoridation's benefits as obvious, but they have hit an unexpected juggernaut of opposition from people who usually are their allies — among them rock musicians, Green Party activists and organic farmers, who have been carrying signs warning of an impending "Zombie Nation.""
