May 2011
51 posts
“Contrary to the impression that I apparently gave from my tweet, I am not his...”
– 21-year-old journalism student Gennette Nicole Cordova, alleged recipient of Rep. Anthony Weiner’s alleged wiener pic, speaks out.
[nydn.]
(via thedailywhat)
“So, a guy who has been building exactly this narrative for months turns out to...”
– Mediaite’s Colby Hall • Who noticed the same trend we did with the Rep. Anthony Weiner saga yesterday — that the guy who retweeted the Weiner thing (which took place nearly half an hour before the BigGovernment post first went up) appeared to be going out of his way to build up a narrative that...
1 tag
Talking to a Brick Wall
I came upon my father just now watching something on TV about prison labor. Since he showed an interest in convicts milking dairy cows, I started talking about the nature of our prison system - how we have more of our population in prisons than any other sane nation, and that this is caused by the privatization of incarceration. My essential argument was that prisons should not be run for a...
ShortFormBlog: Two ways Obama's health care plan... →
shortformblog:
Who’s getting insured? A greater number of people under 26 now get to stay on their parents’ insurance. It helps because they’re paying for it — meaning that they’re helping lower costs for the elderly. When they get older, they’ll be helped by younger generations in the same way.
Who’s…
As one of the people under 26, I cannot emphasize this enough. The plan may have...
ShortFormBlog: Bubble watch: Is the student loan... →
shortformblog:
$24k average amount of debt a graduating college student has
$800B amount in outstanding student debt — with 30% of it securitized
40% number of student loans that are in default after 15 years; not good source
» This is huge. To put it in perspective: Student loans are the…
1 tag
“Hear yourself, ma’am. Hear yourself. You want the government to take care of...”
– Rep. Rob Woodall • Responding to a constituent who opposes Paul Ryan’s plan to end Medicare as a guaranteed program, on the basis that her employer doesn’t offer medical benefits to retirees. Woodall’s response gets credit for exactly one thing, which is that it would seem to be an honest answer....
“Life insurance is something that you pay a premium for and, if you have an...”
– Robin Marty, at Care2.com, responding to a Kansas lawmaker’s assertion that getting pregnant from rape is as inconvenient as a spare tire and an event for which women should carry insurance. (via cognitivedissonance)
The next step in rape culture: if you can’t afford an abortion, it’s your fault...
2 tags
Kansas Rep. Pete DeGraaf: Being impregnated during... →
cocothinkshefancy:
trigger warning for mentions of rape and being a dumbass
Rep. Pete DeGraaf, a Mulvane Republican who supports the bill, told her: “We do need to plan ahead, don’t we, in life?” Bollier asked him, “And so women need to plan ahead for issues that they have no control over with pregnancy?” DeGraaf drew groans of protest from some House members when he responded, “I have a spare...
2 tags
ShortFormBlog: Silver lining: Financial meltdown... →
shortformblog:
5% of married couples were considering a divorce prior to the recession
38% of those couples put their divorce plans on hold once the recession hit source
» Follow our logic here: George W. Bush fancied himself a man of family values, right? And surely, there’s no greater…
2 tags
“The Kansas state legislature passed a budget late Thursday night that strips...”
– Kansas defunds Planned Parenthood - The Hill’s Healthwatch (via standupforwomen)
Just when I thought my state could sink no lower!
ShortFormBlog: Newspaper publishes lesbian couple... →
shortformblog:
good On Mother’s Day, The Capital Newspaper, an Annapolis, Md. daily paper, ran a story about a lesbian couple raising children. A progressive move for the paper.
bad Unfortunately for them, the comments were scathing. “You are not disenfranchised, except by virtue of your own insistent…
ShortFormBlog: Senate bill to expand offshore oil... →
shortformblog:
42 “yes” votes in Senate vote to start offshore oil lease sales again source
» And 42 votes is, obviously, not enough. The Senate GOP brought this vote to the floor, and as it lost comfortably by eight votes, they probably considered it doomed to fail from the get-go. As such, this…
Do click-through to read the analysis. Typical Republican ploy.
Read President Obama's full speech on affairs in... →
shortformblog:
Great find.
“The full consequences of a default — or even the serious prospect of default —...”
– Ronald Reagan, circa 1983 • Regarding legislation to raise the debt limit. source (via • follow)
> Listen to your man, GoP. <
Reality Check?
Calling the charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn a “sex scandal” is like calling a massacre a “scuffle.”
The charge is that he raped a woman. The PC term is “sexual assault” but I hate that term. It does not nearly convey the horror of the crime of which he has been accused. It makes it sound distant, something moderately unpleasant. But for the victim,...
Sources say that Rep. Tammy Baldwin is "likely" to... →
2 tags
Kansas lawmakers back measure barring insurers... →
keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:
They also banned funds for Planned Parenthood.
Also, they did this at 3am in the morning.
The Kansas Legislature has voted to prohibit insurance companies from offering abortion coverage as part of their general health plans except when a woman’s life is at risk.
The state House voted 86-30 early Friday in support of a larger bill that included the abortion...
2 tags
Kansas backs bill restricting abortion coverage →
After taking office, Brownback called on the GOP-dominated Legislature to create a “culture of life.” He’s already signed legislation to tighten restrictions on late-term abortions and require doctors to obtain written permission from parents before terminating minors’ pregnancies.
Legislators also have sent him a bill to impose new health and safety standards specifically for abortion clinics,...
“There really is no need to make something like my participation in a skin cancer...”
– Meghan McCain • Responding to Glenn Beck’s rather terrible criticism (if you can call pretending to vomit at the sight of somebody a criticism) of her involvement in a PSA about skin cancer awareness. The spot features a myriad of pseudo-celebrities posing in ways to make them seem nude, without...
Watchshortformblog:
entertainmentweekly:
Last night, Jon Stewart got so sick of reporting the same old Fox News B.S. that he decided to try rapping about it instead (around the 4:20 mark):
“You’re pigeons on a statue/Leavin’ little puddles of lie behind you!”
Today in Jon Stewart calling Fox News out on obvious hypocrisy (in rap form).
“Businesses should make a profit — that’s what drives the economy — but do these...”
– Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus • Speaking during a Congressional hearing about big oil profits and tax breaks. The oil industry’s answers during the hearing were predictable. Here’s Chevron’s CEO, John Watson: “Tax increases on the oil and gas industry — which will result if you change...
ShortFormBlog: Uganda's anti-gay bill may be... →
shortformblog:
Uganda’s anti-gay bill still exists, everyone: The legislation, authored by MP David Bahati, originally imposed the death penalty for people found guilty of “serial” homosexuality (it’s been reported that this penalty has now been removed from the bill), as well as prison sentences for…
Appalling.
ShortFormBlog: "Mitch The Knife" lives up to name,... →
shortformblog:
NO Planned Parenthood access for poor Hoosiers source
» Last June, he called for a “truce” on social issues. Now, with a presidential run looking ever-so-tempting, Mitch Daniels has no problem cutting reproductive services for 9,300 Medicaid recipients in Indiana, of which he…
The Torture Debate
On any given news network since the death of Osama bin Laden, the same question has been repeated: did “enhanced interrogation techniques” (techniques that reasonable, feeling human beings would describe as torture) lead to the death of Osama?
The worst thing about this question is not the fact that the answer is a clear “no” or even that this question comes mainly from...
2 tags
Asshole of the Month- May (MacGuffin and Puffin) →
keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:
This is what we call an EPIC rant and should be read from beginning to end for full impact. Plus, there’s a pic of Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreation and who doesn’t love that guy?
How is this not the GOP telling me how to spend my own money? Apparently I lose my tax break for privately purchasing a health plan that covers abortion, even if I never plan to...
“Our nation’s permanent mission is to form a ‘more perfect union’ – deepening the...”
– Bill Clinton, who now officially supports marriage equality. (via liberal-lad)
“The return of the torture debate is striking because its apologists no longer...”
– The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf on the renewed torture debate taking hold of American politics (via theatlantic)
House GOP Unanimously Passes Anti-Abortion Bill... →
WASHINGTON POST: The Obama administration is... →
shortformblog:
This is huge news if it’s true, guys.
Wow. Definitely worth a read.
2 tags
“President Obama has continued the Bush policies of keeping a military presence...”
– Rush Limbaugh • Revealing that Hell has, in fact, frozen over. (via The Dish, technipol, apsies)
IS THIS REAL LIFE?
PBS NewsHour: President Obama: Osama bin Laden... →
newshour:
President Obama told the nation Sunday night that Osama bin Laden, long-hunted leader of the al-Qaida terror group and mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight in Pakistan following a lengthy intelligence operation. “Justice has been done,” he said.
Resources: …
Huh.
You know, if this had happened nine years ago, I might have had some reaction. As it...
2 tags
Donald Trump, post-Seth Meyers: NOW he wants to...
shortformblog:
cause At last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, both Barack Obama and Seth Meyers scored some ice cold burns on Donald Trump — while he was in the room, grimacing.
effect This morning, Trump called the comments “inappropriate” and tried to redirect things to political issues. WAIT. Now you wanna talk issues all of a sudden, Sideshow Don? Too late, brah. source
