February 1, 2014

George Rekers, Anti-Gay Activist, Co-Founder of Family Research Council Caught With Male Escort.

George Alan Rekers, a prominent anti-gay activist who co-founded the conservative Family Research Council, was caught returning from a 10-day trip to Europe with a male escort he found on Rentboy.com, which is exactly what it sounds like.

UPDATE: The escort now says Rekers is indeed gay, and that Rekers paid him to perform daily nude body rubs during their European jaunt. "It's a situation where he's going against homosexuality when he is a homosexual," the young man told the New Times, adding that Rekers -- who repeatedly asked for a move he dubbed "The Long Stroke" -- ought to divorce himself from his many anti-gay associations.

Rekers has a new explanation for the trip. "I deliberately spend time with sinners with the loving goal to try to help them," he said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The Miami New Times promises more details and a profile of the escort, whom they codenamed "Lucien" but whose identity has been revealed elsewhere.]

The rest: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/05/george-rekers-anti-gay-ac_n_565142.html

Oopsie!

February 1, 2014

My personal Fox News nightmare: Inside a month of self-induced torture.

I'm a card-carrying member of the ACLU. Here's what happened when I watched 3 hours of Fox every day for a month. By John Haggerty

-snip-

Thus, on Oct. 1, 2013, I sat down on my couch and, armed with nothing but a remote, vowed to consume three hours of Fox News programming a day for an entire month, while strictly abstaining from any other sources of information about current events. I couldn’t sample all of Fox’s wares, of course, but after looking at its lineup, I chose three shows to concentrate on—”Fox & Friends,” because it seemed like it might be representative of the network’s populist, aw-shucks conservatism; Shep Smith’s News Hour, because Smith has a reputation as being the straightest shooter of the Fox anchors; and, of course, the network’s browbeater-in-chief, Bill O’Reilly.

-snip-

That morning, one of the “Fox & Friends” headlines—quick stories that merit only a few second’s mention—was that “that salmonella outbreak” had become so severe that furloughed CDC workers were being recalled to help deal with it. My eyes widened in surprise. What? A salmonella outbreak? I had been watching Fox News for an average of three hours a day for eight days, and this was the very first I had heard of it. I was even more disturbed by the casual tone of it all, as if they had been discussing it for weeks, and I had just missed it. My first—and perhaps slightly fevered—thought was that the network had soft-pedaled the story because they didn’t want to give the impression that furloughing a bunch of agricultural inspectors might have been a bad idea.

It was at that moment that I realized that Fox was simply not telling me things—things that, arguably, might be good for me to know. Such as, just to pick an example, that eating a certain brand of chicken might cause me illness or death, and that the problem was sufficiently dire that government employees were being recalled to work without pay to deal with it. It was a very disturbing moment, and I immediately began to wonder what other matters Fox had chosen to keep me in the dark about.

Perhaps it’s time to discuss ignorance. One of the interesting things about Fox News, one of the things I hadn’t anticipated upon entering into this venture, was how little actual news the network disseminates. There is a lot of national political coverage, most of this devoted to the damage that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party are inflicting on our country. Beyond that, however, Fox stays true to its Rupert Murdochian tabloid roots. There is plenty of coverage of police chases and freak accidents, but very little else in the way of substantive stories.

The rest, good read, and funny at times: http://www.salon.com/2014/01/28/my_personal_fox_news_nightmare_inside_a_month_of_self_induced_torture/

January 30, 2014

Christie used Sandy money as political slush fund, evidence shows (Editorial)

Looks like we must send out a new batch of subpoenas, this time over fresh and powerful evidence that the governor personally misused Hurricane Sandy funds to win an endorsement from a Democrat.

This sounds like Hoboken in reverse. While Mayor Dawn Zimmer accuses the administration of withholding Sandy aid for political reasons in her city, the evidence in Belleville indicates that the governor provided extra aid for a mayor who was willing to dance.

And here, the governor was directly involved.

First, a reality check: The Sandy aid that New Jersey received was intended to help the victims of the storm, not as a political slush fund. The governor peeled off some of it for a TV campaign featuring himself and his family during the re-election campaign, a shameless stunt that is now under federal investigation. If Zimmer's charges are true, he withheld aid from Hoboken in a bid to pressure her to approve a real estate project.

The rest: http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2014/01/christie_awards_political_ally.html

January 28, 2014

From an intelligence gathering standpoint, the Olympics seem like a disaster.

US doesn't want to share intel gathering info with Russia out of fears Russia will then gain knowledge on how America gathers its intel, and Russia doesn't want to share with us out of the same fears. Both believe they have the superior intel gathering system and are letting egos get in the way instead of co-operating. I really hope none of this bravado is putting anyone in danger. I heard on the radio there are serious threats to the Olympics, including possible full-scale revolution (because of current ongoing tensions with Ukraine, terrorist threats, and fighting in the Caucuses). Putin believes his team has everything under control, which is even more worrisome. I hope everything goes down just fine. Sochi, at this point, seems like a bad idea.

January 28, 2014

::Here's an idea that will solve America's economic crisis and launch us into the 21st century

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration



Sometimes we don't need new solutions to old problems, history can be our guide.

Rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure and ushering in a 21st century America. Updating our roads, bridges, parks, water supplies, electrical grids, airports, sewers, and climate change preparations for coastal cities.

This will put millions to work and back to work, attract new businesses and start-ups, invest in our Nation AND our citizens.

Lets do BIG things again.

January 24, 2014

Sarah Silverman is visited by Jesus Christ

From: http://www.ladypartsjustice.com/

January 22, 2014

The toll of the anti-vaccination movement, in one devastating graphic.

Measles outbreaks (purple) worldwide and whooping cough (green) in the U.S., thanks in part to the anti-vaccination movement. (Council on Foreign Relations / January 20, 2014)

Aaron Carroll today offers a graphic depiction of the toll of the anti-vaccination movement. (H/t: Kevin Drum.) It comes from a Council on Foreign Relations interactive map of "vaccine-preventable outbreaks" worldwide 2008-2014.

A couple of manifestations stand out. One is the prevalence of measles in Europe -- especially Britain -- and the U.S. Measles is endemic in the underdeveloped world because of the unavailability of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.

But in the developed world it's an artifact of the anti-vaccination movement, which has associated the vaccine with autism. That connection, promoted by the discredited British physician Andrew Wakefield and the starlet Jenny McCarthy, has been thoroughly debunked. But its effects live on, as the map shows.

Vaccine panic also plays a role in the shocking incidence in the U.S. of whooping cough, also beatable by a common vaccine. Researchers have pointed to the effect of "non-medical exemptions" from legally required whooping cough immunizations -- those premised on personal beliefs rather than medical reasons -- as a factor in a 2010 outbreak of whooping cough in California.


The rest: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-antivaccination-movement-20140120,0,5576371.story#ixzz2r6EmagUI

January 17, 2014

Libertarian Perrier

Here it is! Refreshing!


THIS looks like a fun way to get clean drinking water in the future!


Evil socialism!


OOOH LOOK, the next day, instead of not going down the drain it just gels up in your tub! COOL!


Deregulation: Bringing the community together! "Thats FREEDUMB you're drinking, little Timmy!"


Libertarian Perrier, now with new improved smell and flavor!


Libertarian economics, great for business!






Clear water is boring!


Available with pulp!


Makes pretty patterns too!


Taste the FREEDUMB!




What? Orange you happy about corporate deregulation!

January 17, 2014

Why Pres.Obama Doesn't Use a Cordless Phone (and neither should you)

-snip-

• Security. The president needs to make sure some bozo out on the lawn can't eavesdrop on his phone call with a baby monitor.

• Interference. "Hold on Putin, the kids are microwaving some popcorn."

• Sound quality. Being able to actually hear inflections in people's voices is kinda important when dealing with international crises.

• You have to charge it. Aides can probably do it for him, but it's a pain.

• It's easy to lose

• It requires power. If the White House ever completely loses power (including whatever generators they might have), he wouldn't be able to make any calls from his desk.

• Corded phones have more features. The most gadgety reason is that his current phone, which is probably by Cisco or Avaya or someone similar, has tons and tons of features. There's probably even an Optimus Prime voice changer on that thing. No way will a cordless phone be able to match that.


STE phone set. Slot in front for Crypto PC Card.

Secure Terminal Equipment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Terminal_Equipment

Link: http://gizmodo.com/5136676/why-obama-doesnt-use-a-cordless-phone-and-neither-should-you

January 16, 2014

Hollywood Heavyweight Harvey Weinstein to take on the NRA in new film.

Audio clip from Howard Stern show.

For those that don't know, Harvey Weinstein IS Hollywood.

ETA: segment starts at 1:47 into clip