CIA Now Selling Tasty Burritos
I just saw this web ad for the CIA (yes, the CIA is apparently running ads now), and is it just me or are they using the Chipotle font in that second part?
Sure looks similar, doesn’t it? That would certainly explain a few things about why the burritos are so delicious…
12/15/08 2:16 am | | Permalink | Tags: Chipotle, CIA, fonts
Iraqi TV Station Demands Release of Shoe-Throwing Journalist
Probably not gonna happen:
“Al-Baghdadia television demands that the Iraqi authorities immediately release their stringer Muntadhar al-Zaidi, in line with the democracy and freedom of expression that the American authorities promised the Iraqi people,” it said in a statement.
In Cairo, Muzhir al-Khafaji, programming director for the television channel, described Zaidi as a “proud Arab and an open-minded man.”
“We fear for his safety,” he added.
I’m pretty sure that throwing shoes at people is not what Jefferson and Madison had in mind when they talked about freedom of expression. Still, it would be nice to see the journalist returned unharmed.
12/15/08 2:10 am | | Permalink | Tags: George W. Bush, Iraq
Google Asks ISPs for Preferential Treatment
So much for doing no evil:
The celebrated openness of the Internet — network providers are not supposed to give preferential treatment to any traffic — is quietly losing powerful defenders.
Google Inc. has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic with a proposal to create a fast lane for its own content, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Google has traditionally been one of the loudest advocates of equal network access for all content providers.
…
The contentious issue has wide ramifications for the Internet as a platform for new businesses. If companies like Google succeed in negotiating preferential treatment, the Internet could become a place where wealthy companies get faster and easier access to the Web than less affluent ones, according to advocates of network neutrality. That could choke off competition, they say.
For computer users, it could mean that Web sites by companies not able to strike fast-lane deals will respond more slowly than those by companies able to pay. In the worst-case scenario, the Internet could become a medium where large companies, such as Comcast Corp. in cable television, would control both distribution and content — and much of what users can access, according to neutrality advocates.
Ah, the freedom of the internet. Sure was fun while it lasted.
(via Eschaton)
12/14/08 11:19 pm | | Permalink | Tags: Comcast, Google, internet, net neutrality
More Sunday Update
- After being urged to resign by pretty much everyone in the world, rumor has it that Blago will announce tomorrow that he is either resigning or taking a “leave of absence” from office. Not entirely sure how a leave of absence works, except it would mean that the fine taxpayers of Illinois would have to keep paying the douchebag. (Bloomberg)
- A small roadblock for the Palin/Plumber 2012 campaign. John McCain (remember that guy?) says he’s not sure he’d support Palin if she ran for president, and then he named a couple other governors he thought were more qualified. Nice. (CNN)
- Remember the FCC’s free WiFi plan? Yeah, not gonna happen. The Commission has canceled a meeting this week at which it was scheduled to vote on the plan. (CNET News)
- An Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at Still-President Bush at a press conference during his “Farewell, Fuckers!” tour of Iraq. Bush dodged both shoes, which means the journalists won’t be tortured as much on his way to Gitmo. (McClatchy)
12/14/08 2:41 pm | | Permalink | Tags: 2012, Federal Communications Commission, George W. Bush, internet, Iraq, John McCain, Rod Blagojevich, Sarah Palin
Sunday Update
- It’s one thing for the senior Senator from Pennsylvania facing a tough reelection battle to get up at a fancy dinner and tell Polish jokes, but it’s a whole other thing for the same Senator to ask if anyone in the room is Polish and then tell Polish jokes. Nice job, Arlen Specter. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
- Senate Republicans have no problem letting the Big 3 collapse if it allows them to take a swipe at unions for supporting Democrats. Nice way to rebuild the party. (Los Angeles Times)
- Welcome to Virginia, where every year is an election year! In 2009, we’ve got the big race for governor, and it’s gonna be a close one. All three Democratic candidates–Brian Moran, Creigh Deeds, and Terry McAuliffe–poll within five points of Republican Bob McDonnell. (Rasmussen Reports)
- Apparently we should not be surprised by Rod Blagojevich because it is just assumed that Illinois politicians are corrupt. Or, as Jon Stewart points out, you have a better chance of going to jail by being the Governor of Illinois than you do if you kill someone. (New York Times/The Daily Show)
12/14/08 10:55 am | | Permalink | Tags: Arlen Specter, bailout, Bob McDonnell, Brian Moran, Creigh Deeds, PA-Sen, Rod Blagojevich, Terry McAuliffe, VA-Gov
Greatest Quote Ever
On Louisiana Sen. David Vitter’s opposition to the auto industry bailout:
Morgan Johnson, president of the United Auto Workers local representing General Motors workers in Shreveport, said Friday that Sen. David Vitter’s role in blocking an auto bailout indicates “he’s chosen to play Russian roulette” with Louisiana jobs and the national economy.
“I don’t know what Sen. Vitter has against GM or the United Auto Workers or the entire domestic auto industry; whatever it is, whatever he thinks we’ve done, it’s time for him to forgive us, just like Sen. Vitter has asked the citizens of Louisiana to forgive him, ” said Johnson, president of Local 2166. Otherwise, Johnson said of Vitter, it would appear, “He’d rather pay a prostitute than pay auto workers.”
12/13/08 9:54 am | | Permalink | Tags: bailout, David Vitter
McCain Campaign Sells Blackberry with Campaign Info Still On It
In case you’re still wondering why McCain lost, you can start with the morons who ran his campaign:
It started with a snippet we read on page A23 in Thursday’s Washington Post. The McCain-Palin campaign was going to sell its used office inventory at low prices.
…
The hottest item? Blackberry phones at $20 a piece. There were only 10 left. All of the batteries had died. There were no chargers for sale. But people were snatching them up. So, we bought a couple.
And ended up with a lot more than we bargained for.
When we charged them up in the newsroom, we found one of the $20 Blackberry phones contained more than 50 phone numbers for people connected with the McCain-Palin campaign, as well as hundreds of emails from early September until a few days after election night.
We traced the Blackberry back to a staffer who worked for “Citizens for McCain,” a group of democrats who threw their support behind the Republican nominee. The emails contain an insider’s look at how grassroots operations work, full of scheduling questions and rallying cries for support.
But most of the numbers were private cell phones for campaign leaders, politicians, lobbyists and journalists.
We called some of the numbers.
“Somebody made a mistake,” one owner told us. “People’s numbers and addresses were supposed to be erased.”
“They should have wiped that stuff out,” another said. But he added, “Given the way the campaign was run, this is not a surprise.”
We called the McCain-Palin campaign, who says, “it was an unfortunate staff error and procedures are being put in place to ensure all information is secure.”
But we wonder– Did we get the only Blackberry with personal campaign information in it? Or did you get one too?
Aaahahahahahahahaha.
12/12/08 1:45 pm | | Permalink | Tags: 2008, John McCain
Illinois AG Takes Blagojevich to Court
Looks like there’s trouble in Blagoland:
llinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a motion with the state Supreme Court about Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s “inability” to do his job, Madigan spokeswoman Robin Ziegler said Friday.
Madigan will hold a news conference Friday about the matter, her office said.
Madigan said Thursday that stepping down is the “right thing” for Blagojevich to do.
She added, “If he fails to, the two other options are obviously the Legislature moving forward on impeachment, or I have the opportunity to actually go to our Illinois Supreme Court and ask them to declare basically that our governor is unable to serve,” she said.
In that case, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would become acting governor, she said.
Madigan had said she wouldn’t wait “terribly long” to take action.
Well, this should be fun.
12/12/08 10:47 am | | Permalink | Tags: corruption, Illinois, Lisa Madigan, Rod Blagojevich
Friday Morning Update
- Well, the Big 3 bailout failed in the Senate last night because Senate Republicans didn’t want to pay auto workers a fair wage, to which the auto workers shockingly objected. Anyway, it now falls to the White House to take some of the money previously allocated to bailing out millionaire bankers and use it to bail out some $50k-per-year blue collar workers. Good luck selling that one to the millionaires. (Washington Post/Politico)
- Convicted felon Sen. Ted Stevens is a sore loser. He refuses to meet with Mark Begich, the man who will replace him in the United States Senate in January. Maybe Stevens tried to send him an email, but it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially. (Anchorage Daily News/Wikipedia)
- Clinton supporters are putting pressure on NY Gov. David Paterson not to appoint Caroline Kennedy to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, noting that Kennedy has never been elected to any office. I thought dashing good looks and poltical experience were hereditary in the Kennedy family? (NY Daily News)
- Illinois House Democrats and Republicans are meeting to discuss the logistics of impeaching Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Huzzah for bipartisanship! Also, Illinois newspaper editorial boards are humorously conflicted over whether Blaggy should resign or be impeached. Hmmmm…. (AP/FOX News)
12/12/08 10:18 am | | Permalink | Tags: AK-Sen, bailout, Caroline Kennedy, corruption, David Paterson, Hillary Clinton, Illinois, Mark Begich, NY-Sen, Rod Blagojevich, Ted Stevens
More Thursday Update
Today is not a slow news day.
- It’s a Christmas miracle! Google Chrome, the greatest web browser since Firefox, is officially out of beta. This is especially impressive since GMail is still in beta and probably will be forever. (Slashdot)
- The epic failure of print media continues! Now, it’s Newsweek that has plans to slash staff, purge pages, and slim subscriptions. Alliteration makes breaking bad news easy and fun! (Wall Street Journal)
- Sen. Dick Lugar, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he will not ask the committee to call Bill Clinton as a witness at Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing for Secretary of State. Too bad, C-Span almost got interesting for a minute. (TPM Election Central)
- Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky has confirmed that she will run in a special election fill Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat. The only problem with her brilliant plan, though, is that a special election hasn’t actually been declared yet, and since any bill to call a special election would have to be signed by Gov. Blagodouche, who knows what could happen? (Huffington Post)
12/11/08 5:03 pm | | Permalink | Tags: Bill Clinton, Dick Lugar, Google Chrome, Hillary Clinton, IL-Sen, Jan Schakowsky, Newsweek
RSS Feed