Monday, July 13, 2009
Over the weekend it was revealed that the CIA has been running secret anti-terrorism programs that were kept from Congress at the order of Vice President Cheney. This morning, we find out that the program had to do with secretly capturing or killing Al Qaeda operatives. Is anyone in the world surprised that Dick Cheney was running a secret CIA assassination program? Like… anyone? I would be upset if Dick Cheney saw Munich and DIDN’T say, “Well gee, that looks like a good idea.”
Confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor begin today. The Washington Post unwittingly details how Supreme Court confirmation hearings are kabuki theater. No one doubts that she is going to be nominated, but every group involved has their own specific goals and statements to make. Of course, the Post article treats this all as deadly serious. For example, “Conservatives are hoping to use the Sotomayor hearings as a way to motivate their base if they can successfully portray her as an activist judge whose “empathy” for certain groups guides her rulings more than court precedent or the written law.” WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?!?
Have you had enough of Sacha Baron Cohen’s junk? Apparently you are not alone. Bruno was the top movie in the country this weekend with a stellar opening day of $14.4 million. However, Saturday revenue for the film dropped 39%, one of the largest second-day drops ever. This is bad news for the film and indicates that audiences bought tickets expecting another Borat and instead got another Ali G Indahouse.
Making the case for newspapers as a source of things you didn’t know you wanted to know, the New York Times uses the upcoming British Open to profile the business of golf sponsorships. Specifically, the article focuses on how golfers’ clothes are picked out months, even years, in advance.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Blah blah blah
Obama leaves Russia
blah blah blah
Death penalty for rioters in China
blah blah blah
Google announces operating system based on browser.
Okay? Cool!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Though it is already old news, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention that over the weekend Republican 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced she is resigning as Governor of Alaska. The Governor’s resignation and the odd timing (Fourth of July weekend) leaves many wondering if she is resigning just ahead of some sort of scandal or if this is all part of a master plan to gear up for 2012. I sort of suspect that she might just want to pull the plug and get out of the public spotlight since she must realize she has become a national punchline, right? However, after resigning in a hastily-assembled (an adjective I hope is never used to describe my resignation from anything) back yard press conference at 4 p.m. on Friday, Palin spent the night posting weird legal threats/manifestos on Twitter and Facebook. Sarah, if you are really trying to get out of the public spotlight then there is an old saying that applies here: “Ur Doing it wrong.”
The coup in Honduras continues today. Ousted and exiled former President Manuel Zelaya tried to fly back into the country over the weekend with media and international leaders in tow but was prevented from landing by military trucks blocking airport runways. The military occupied the airport in Tegucigalpa and clashed with the hundreds of thousands of protesters who turned out to greet the President. The President, who strikes me as disturbingly media-savvy, did live interviews with various Latin American TV and radio outlets while his plane circled the Honduras capital. Though one’s gut instinct is to root for the embattled President-in-exile, it is worth reading this Slate article that points out that the President made horrible decisions for his country and was running roughshod over the constitution there before he was ousted.
Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon yesterday. Federer outlasted Andy Roddick into a fifth set that lasted for hours. I feel bad for Roddick, because even while I was watching yesterday’s match (one of the greatest I have ever seen) I could tell it was just going to become a footnote to last year’s epic championship match between Federer and Nadal.
Your “this-is-an-outrage” fact of the day: The health-care industry is spending $1.4 million a day lobbying Congress to influence the current debate over the future of our nations health care system.
You “this-is-not-news” story of the day: The head of MI6′s wife put photos of him up on facebook. I don’t think his identity is a secret though, so why do we care?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Al Franken the winner of the state’s hotly contested 2008 U.S. Senate race. It has been eight months since the November elections and both sides have been locked in legal battles while the state has gone without a second Senator. Republican Norm Coleman officially conceded the election and Franken will be sworn in next week. For those keeping track, Norm Coleman has now lost elections to this guy and this guy.
The end to this election saga means that Democrats will now have a 60-seat majority that should theoretically allow them to block filibusters and pass whatever kinds of crazy commie legislation they want. However, a key stumbling block to this new found electoral dominance is the fact that the Democratic caucus is a bunch of weenies.
Democrats will need all the votes they can get to pass the Waxmen-Markey bill, which is the country’s first set of laws trying to stem the tide of climate change. Tom Friedman has a great column today pointing out that, while the bill kind of stinks and it is absurd we couldn’t do better, it is critical that the Senate pass it and pass it quickly. If reading isn’t really your thing, his key points are that the U.S. government needs to do SOMETHING to prove it is serious about climate change and that this bill is better than nothing.
U.S. troops continue to draw down forces in Iraq. Yesterday Iraqi army and police took over security in cities across Iraq. The handover was greeted with public celebrations across Iraq and is hailed as the first step toward the planned U.S. departure from the country in 2011.
China, which was planning to launch the hilariously named “Green Dam Youth Escort” internet filtering software yesterday, has backed off its plan to begin efforts to stop citizens from viewing pronographic and offensive content. You can take away all the human and political rights you want, but don’t mess with people’s porn.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
From the Associated Press
Rolls over What? Eh? We are doing this now? Reaches forcomputer, sound of empty bottles breaking. OK, let’s see what’s in the news
Bernard Madoff, the mastermind behind the biggest financial swindle in history, was sentenced to 150 years behind bars for what his judge called an “extraordinarily evil” fraud. Madoff’s ponzi scheme cost investors something like $13 billion and shook the nation’s faith in its financial and legal systems. But he is going to jail! The recession is over! Right? The big question is if it is possible that a fraud of that scale was perpitrated by one man or if Madoff is taking the fall for his sons and other employees. Also, have you gotten this far without knowing what a Ponzi scheme is?
Apparently the Supreme Court overturned some decision about Firefighters and Civil Rights. It is a “big deal” because President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was a member of the panel that wrote the decision reversed by the justices. Check out the always excellent SCOTUSblog for an analysis of the decision.
Did you know that there was a coup in Honduras? No? You probably haven’t heard about it because they all Twitter in Spanish or something. I don’t really understand what is going on, but there is a good breakdown of the issue in today’s New York Times op-ed page.
As a side note: Happy Birthday Dad!
