February 2012
18 posts
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'Confirmed' and 'sources' may not mean what you... →
Interesting analysis on Poynter of the language used to share information on Twitter, especially by individuals who are not members of the press.
As media technologies are widely adopted, so too is the related terminology. It’s a logical progression, but it’s also a source of confusion. That was the case during last year’s Arab Spring. NPR senior strategist and famed Arab Spring tweeter Andy...
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“Yes, the government can help, but the idea that the federal government should be...”
– Rick Santorum, calling for the abolition of public schools (via maxistentialist)
Did this really happen? No, it can’t be.
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Moochers Against Welfare -Paul Krugman →
A few fun facts from Paul Krugman:
In 2010, residents of the 10 states Gallup ranks as “most conservative” received 21.2 percent of their income in government transfers, while the number for the 10 most liberal states was only 17.1 percent
Mr. Obama has not radically expanded the safety net. Rather, the dire state of the economy has reduced incomes and made more people eligible for benefits,...
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Why I’m Feeling Excellent Today - A List
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So I'm reading Gardner's On Leadership for class...
principalhonorroll:
“There are needs and feelings that we express quite openly; lying deeper are emotions we share only with loved ones, and deeper still the things we tell no one. We die with much unsaid. It is strange that members of a species renowned for communicative gifts should leave unexpressed some of their deepest yearnings, their smoldering resentments, their worries and secret hopes,...
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Federal judge dismisses harassment suit against...
Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed the sexual harassment and retaliation claims against Congressman Alcee Hastings (D) of Miramar, Florida. The woman suing him, Winsome Packer, was a staffer at the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation, which Hastings formerly presided over.
Important: Winsome Packer’s legal representation in the suit is an openly conservative group, Judicial...
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Rep. Cliff Stearns perseveres in Planned...
(If Obama ever thinks about Rep. Cliff Stearns, this is what it looks like)
Thanks to the Susan G. Komen Foundation controversy over Planned Parenthood, my favorite Congressman is back in the spotlight.
Cliff Stearns has sat in the House of Representatives for twenty-something years now without doing anything interesting. Until last year, when he launched an investigation of Planned...
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“When I am assertive, I’m a bitch. When a man is assertive, he’s a...”
– —Nicki Minaj
Sexism is everywhere, it is constant, and being a female leader is a never ending uphill battle. But it matters, so we all keep fighting. Including Nicki Minaj.
[Source: NY Mag]
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Islandia, A Florida City That Never Was
The New York Times covered this funny little piece of Florida history yesterday. Islandia was supposed to be a giant resort town built on an archipelago in the Florida Keys, but environmentalists saved it from development. Worth the read!
Once a hideout for pirates, the 33 northernmost islands are now one of the Florida Keys’ last unspoiled pockets, bypassed in the early 1900s by Henry Flagler’s...
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Senator Marco Rubio defends Romney's lack of...
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) defended Mitt Romney’s statement to CNN: “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.”
Rubio, in a conversation with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, stood up for Romney. Rubio said:
But at the end of the day, the fundamental point is that we do have a safety net in America,...
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Michael Bloomberg will give $250,000 to Planned... →
Wow, way to go Bloomberg! This is definitely unexpected and really awesome.
The former NYC Mayor released this in a statement:
Politics have no place in health care. Breast cancer screening saves lives and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care. We should be helping women access that care, not placing barriers in their way
[Source: NY Times]
January 2012
18 posts
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Dave Aronberg running for Palm Beach County State...
After laying low, spending the past several months working for Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi (R), Dave Aronberg announced earlier this week that he is running for Palm Beach County State Attorney.
Aronberg ran for Florida Attorney General in 2010, and lost the Democratic primary to Dan Gelber. Bondi beat Gelber in the general.
This seems pretty random to me… I think...
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“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” George Orwell...”
– —Andrew Sullivan, in his Newsweek article How Obama’s Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics
If you haven’t read this article yet, you really need to. I love that he describes Obama as “a president who has conducted himself with grace and calm under incredible pressure”.
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Florida's oldest, biggest cypress tree dies
Known as The Senator, this bald cypress was estimated to be 3,500 years old, 118 feet tall and 17 1/2 feet in circumference. It was probably the oldest tree of its kind in North America.
In Spring Hammock near Longwood, Florida, the Senator towered over surrounding trees. Early Monday morning, a resident called 911 to report a visible fire near Big Tree Park, where the infamous cypress was...
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“America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back...”
– —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1963 “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. Read the full text of the speech here.
I decided to reread the speech today, and this paragraph stood out to me as especially powerful.
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EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program
In compliance with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of FY2008, the EPA issued the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rules. Under the rule, facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons (MT) of GHGs annually must submit reports to the EPA each year.
The 2010 data has been made public, and is now available online. The data encompasses reports from nine types of industries: power plants,...
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200,000 jobs created in the U.S. last month
The unemployment rate fell to 8.5% in December, which was the sixth consecutive month the US experienced a net gain of over 100,000 jobs.
Takeaways from the NYT article:
Among the pieces of good news in Friday’s report: The drop in the jobless rate came largely from real gains, not from discouraged workers giving up the job hunt. The new jobs were spread broadly across industries, with...
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Montana Supreme Court defies SCOTUS on Citizens...
Last Friday, the Montana Supreme Court issued a 5-2 opinion upholding the state’s law limiting corporate election spending. The Montana law was passed in 1912 and says that “a corporation may not make a contribution or an expenditure in connection with a candidate or a political committee that supports or opposes a candidate or a political party.”
Chief Justice Mark McGrath wrote in...
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December 2011
26 posts
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PolitiFact Has Decided That A Totally True Thing... →
Thank you, Jason Linkins of HuffPost, for this hilarious and thorough analysis of PolitiFact’s decision to make the phrase “Republicans voted to end Medicare” the Lie of the Year.
My absolute favorite quote from the article:
Any proposal that ends Medicare, ends Medicare! One need not object to the proposal to end Medicare to say, “This will end Medicare.” If Paul...
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Barnes & Noble: what happened?
I’m back in my hometown for the holidays, which of course means I am frantically last-minute Christmas shopping for my parents, boyfriend, and assorted obscure relatives. As an avid reader, my Christmas gift of choice is that singular, wonderful item: a book.
Thankfully, my hometown has a huge Barnes and Noble where I can shop to my heart’s content for all of my gift needs. My...
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If I Were a Poor Black Kid - written by an...
Gene Marks is a blogger/columnist on Forbes.com and a few other websites. Two days ago Marks published an article titled “If I Were a Poor Black Kid”, where he discusses what he would do as a poor black child in Philadelphia’s west side. Marks has decided that it would be fairly easy to succeed: he would make sure he learned how to read, use available technology to improve his...
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Fed officials, locals discuss health care reform -... →
Yesterday I attended a small business round table on the Affordable Care Act and the benefits it brings to local business owners. The primary speakers were Anton Gunn, regional director for the Department of Health and Human Services and Sol Ross, the national business outreach director for HHS.
It was interesting to hear local leaders express a combination of appreciation for what the bill...
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I know we're not supposed to trust too much in...
Obama is killing it in Florida and South Carolina right now!
NBC/Marist poll in South Carolina: Obama’s approval rating is 44%/48%, not bad for a Red State. He has leads over Newt Gingrich (46%-42%) and Mitt Romney (45%-42%), both of which are outside the margin of error of 2.1%
NBC/Marist poll in Florida: Obama’s approval rating, although within the MOE, is up to 46% approve/45%...
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“Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them...”
– Lisa Bloom, “How to Talk to Little Girls” on Huffington Post
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On Obama and Gay Marriage
From the editors of The New Republic, in their editorial “Kudos to Obama on His New Gay Rights Initiative, But…”
In 2008, Obama came out against same-sex marriage. More recently, it has been reported that his views on the subject are “evolving.” Many people have accepted his winking posture as a necessary evil of politics, or even as a sly way of appealing to varying camps in...