The House on Thursday passed compromise legislation to finance the federal government through the end of the fiscal year in September. The vote brought one budget clash to a close even as the Democrats and Republicans prepared for another.
SDB Evening News Reads for 051911
Posted: May 19, 2011 Filed under: SDB Evening News Reads | Tags: Japan's Earthquake, MENA, Newt Gingrich, Obama 19 Comments
Image by cheshirecatstudios.com
The worst thing about allergies is the sinus headache that makes me feel like an idiot. All that pressure seems to push whatever brain cells I have functioning out of my cranium faster than a GOP politician caves in to the religious nitwits that have taken over the Republican Party.
For commentary on the this, the best reporting of the recent Newt slam fest has to go to Jon Stewart. When satire is more credible than the reporting from actual news media outlets, you gotta give props (proper respect) to The Daily Show.
Just click the following link for some real analysis of Newt’s latest remarks about his performance on Meet the Press this past Sunday.
Fast Dive – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – 05/18/11 – Video Clip | Comedy Central
Continued on this link below….
And for some pointed discussion on the Rapture that is forecasted for Saturday…and how it relates to busting through the debt ceiling, check this out:
Debt to America – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – 05/18/11 – Video Clip | Comedy Central
As I said up top, my mind is not functioning as it should, so pardon my half ass comments on today’s post. Here are some news items that are flying across the wires today…
David Dayen reports on the possible illegal activities of the foreclosure procedures when it comes to the county land records. I really hope something comes of this.
Out of the 6,100 documents Thigpen examined, 4,500 showed signature irregularities. The name of one DocX employee, Linda Green, who was acting as a vice president for several major banks, was forged 15 different ways on the Guilford County documents, rendering them invalid. Thigpen’s investigation was one of the first systematic assessments of mortgage document fraud in the entire country, certainly more robust than anything conducted by state and federal regulators.
Here is a link to a discussion about this fraud between Dayen and Madrak…Thorough Look At Just One NC County Found Most Mortgage Docs Were Fraudulent | Crooks and Liars
Dave Dayen and I talked about this Tuesday night on my radio show (click here to listen) and he goes into more detail in this American Prospect article yesterday.
So Gov. Walker and Wisconsin are now following in Indiana’s big f-u to women footsteps. Wisconsin Votes To End Family Planning Funds
Not satisfied with stripping benefits from state employees, Wisconsin Republicans voted to end about $1 million a year in family planning funding to Planned Parenthood and other health organizations, pushing its war on women and the working class to a frightening new level.
[…]
But the reality of the vote is that by eliminating the state’s only family planning program Wisconsin Republicans have put over 50 health care centers at risk of closing. That means that low-income women in rural areas will lose access to basic reproductive health care since those services come almost exclusively from organizations like Planned Parenthood.
It also re-enforces a theme consistent among Republicans that women are not to be trusted to make their own health care decisions and need the state to make decisions for them.
It doesn’t stop, does it?
Obama gave his Middle East speech today. Before starting his speech, he gave some credit to the woman who deserves it, Hillary Clinton.
I want to thank Hillary Clinton, who has traveled so much these last six months that she is approaching a new landmark – one million frequent flyer miles. I count on Hillary every day, and I believe that she will go down as of the finest Secretaries of State in our nation’s history.
Obama officially came out and supported the 1967 boundaries between Israel and Palestine.
Obama Calls For Mideast Peace Deal Based on Israel’s Pre-1967 Borders – NYTimes.com
Let’s see what comes of his position on this…Netanyahu already rejects it: Netanyahu Objects as Obama Endorses ’67 Borders – NYTimes.com
In other news, Goodwin Lui is out. Cornyn: Democrats To Blame For Republican Filibuster Of Goodwin Liu | TPMDC
“Now what they want is for any Republican nominee, a nominee of a Republican President, to require 60 votes, whereas a nominee from a Democratic President get 51, and that’s just not fair,” Cornyn said. “So I think the same rules should apply. They basically rewrote the rules, and I’m saying we’ll play by the rules that they wrote.”
It is the first filibuster of a judicial nominee since 2005.
Let’s end with this about the Japanese Earthquake…
Now, a study led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), published online in the May 19 issue of Science Express, explains the first large set of observational data from this rare megathrust event.
“This event is the best recorded great earthquake ever,” says Mark Simons, professor of geophysics at Caltech’s Seismological Laboratory and lead author of the study. For scientists working to improve infrastructure and prevent loss of life through better application of seismological data, observations from the event will help inform future research priorities.
[…]
“The Tohoku earthquake was recorded by upwards of 10 times more sensors at near-fault distances than any other earthquake. This will provide a sharper and more robust view of earthquake rupture processes and their effects.”
Cool, innit?
Be sure to post any comments or links you want below.
Thursday Late Night Reads
Posted: April 14, 2011 Filed under: just because, open thread | Tags: Anthony Weiner, Budget Bill, classic movies, Dennis Kucinich, Goldman Sachs, Japan's Earthquake, Scott Walker 5 Comments
Ball of Fire starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck...wow, look at those legs!
Evening all, Minx here and I thought I would post some links to get you through the night.
Right now I am enjoying the movie The Glass Key with Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, and Brian Donlevy. I have never seen this movie, but The Blue Dahlia is one of my favorites. I just love Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake together. Anyway, this past Sunday TCM had a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor…and of course they showed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. While watching it I realized that Dustin Hoffman had to have used the actress who played Big Mamma, Judith Anderson, as inspiration for his role in Tootsie. Can you see it? Dorothy Michaels is Big Mamma Pollitt…same southern accent, same hairdo, same emotional outburst.
Be sure to check out what TCM has scheduled for this coming Saturday, April 16th at 8pm EST…Ball of Fire . This is another great movie, with Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and Dana Andrews. Written by Billy Wilder, the dialogue is fabulous and witty.
Okay, enough of that…here are some interesting and newsworthy links for you tonight.
As Dakinikat posted earlier today, before the MSM picked up the story…(Kudos Kat!) Kucinich asks Scott Walker Some Good Questions « Sky Dancing
Walker admits that stripping workers of collective bargaining has nothing to do with saving money but has everything to do with “giving people the right to choose”. Congressman Dennis Kucinich asks a series of questions that puts Walker on the spot. Notice that there’s an irregular move by the committee chair to block evidence placed into the hearing records also. Stripping people’s rights appears to be the Republican way these days.
Not only did Dennis Kucinich get Scott Walker to admit what we all already knew…it seems that Anthony Weiner got a GOP rep to admit that Ryan’s plan makes Medicare a voucher plan.
Anthony Weiner Gets GOP Rep To Admit Ryan Plan Equals Vouchers, End to Medicare | Crooks and Liars
On The Last Word, Anthony Weiner maneuvered Rep Jack Kingston (R-GA) into admitting that the Ryan plan ends Medicare and converts it to a voucher plan.
What’s so funny about this is how hard Boehner has been working to deny it, because of course, vouchers equal privatization. So Boehner’s out there laying it down saying no, it’s not privatization, it’s transformation. We all know it’s bull but then who cares, because he’s doubling down on Ryan’s plan after the President’s speech anyway in order to appease the Tea Party and his insurance company keepers happy.
Isn’t it great to see these GOP politicians admit the truth? Speaking of GOP politicians, and a lack of truth or fact…Jon Kyl’s ‘factual statement’ flap comes full circle – Jennifer Epstein – POLITICO.com
“Not intended to be a factual statement,” the comment made by a spokesperson for Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and transformed by comedian Stephen Colbert into a pop culture meme has come nearly full circle, as Democrats have begun to use the phrase on the Senate floor.
The first quip came Wednesday from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in a floor speech defending Planned Parenthood, the program that Kyl attacked last week, claiming that 90 percent of the group’s activities were abortion-related. The actual number is closer to 3 percent. A Kyl staffer defended the comment by explaining it “was not intended to be a factual statement.”
“For my friends and colleagues, this is a factual statement,” Gillibrand said. “Current law already prevents federal money from paying for abortions. This has been the law of the land for over 30 years. Shutting down the government for a political argument is not only outrageous, it is irresponsible. The price for keeping the government open is this assault on women’s rights.”
Read the rest of the article at the link to see who else got some jabs in.
Here are a few other links you may find interesting:
Congress Passes Budget Bill, but Some in G.O.P. Balk – NYTimes.com
The vote was 260 to 167, with 59 Republicans breaking ranks with their party leadership to vote against the deal, which calls for $38 billion in spending cuts this year. The Republican defections, a result of opposition from conservatives who said the bill did not do enough to rein in spending, forced the House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, to turn to Democrats to pass the bill and keep the government from shutting down.
As readers may know, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations just issued another report, Wall Street and the Financial Crisis. This is a far more focused and damning document than the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report, which was produced at considerably more expense and was undermined by dissent among its commissioners (which in fairness appears to have been by design).
Nobody Wants to Take CFPB Job Over Elizabeth Warren | FDL News Desk
The Wall Street Journal dropped a bit of a bombshell yesterday when it intimated that the reason the Obama Administration hasn’t been able to choose a director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is that their preferred candidates don’t want the job over Elizabeth Warren:
And for the last link, this is sooooo cool!
What The Japan Earthquake Sounded Like… Underwater (AUDIO) | TPM Idea Lab
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Vents Program at Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and Oregon State University didn’t feel the massive earthquake that struck off Japan on March 11. But they did hear it.
An underwater microphone located near the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, 900 miles from the quake epicenter, captured the sound of the disaster on tape, and a portion of the recording has now been put up on YouTube.
The recording has been sped up 16 times. First comes the roar of the earthquake sounds “propagating through the earth’s crust,” then you hear a second roar of the sounds “propagating through the ocean.”
Think of this as an open thread, what are you doing tonight?
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