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Son of GOP nominee throws hat into ring for Staten Island’s seat
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It could be father versus son in the race for Staten Island’s seat in the House of Representatives.
An already topsy-turvy political year grew even more so today when Francis M. Powers, the son of GOP designee Francis H. Powers, said he would seek the Libertarian Party line to run for the 13th Congressional District seat.
“This is not about my dad,” said the younger Powers, 47, a master carpenter from Clifton who plays and sings with the Staten Island band Box of Crayons and runs an indie record label called Penny for the Guy Records. “I’m running against the Republican candidate.”
So voters get to pick between F. Powers, F. Powers, and the Dem candidate. Here’s what Fran has to say about it:
When asked about the head scratching that might cause voters, Powers said, “If people can’t tell the difference between the Republican Party and the Libertarian Party, maybe they shouldn’t be voting.”
Cartoons
Cartoon
Secret super-copyright treaty leaked
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Wikileaks has the full text of the dread Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a draft treaty that does away with those pesky public trade-negotiations at the United Nations (with participation from citizens’ groups and public interest groups) in favor of secret, closed-door meetings where entertainment industry giants get to give marching orders to governments in private.
It’s some pretty crazy reading — among other things, ACTA will outlaw P2P (even when used to share works that are legally available, like my books), and crack down on things like region-free DVD players. All of this is taking place out of the public eye, presumably with the intention of presenting it as a fait accompli just as the ink is drying on the treaty.
Honestly, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the entertainment industry is an existential threat to the idea of free speech, open tools, and an open communications network.
Town halls using anti-terror powers to bug residents’ calls and emails
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Town hall snoopers used controversial anti-terror powers to delve into the phone and email records of thousands of people last year.
They wanted to check for evidence of dog smuggling and storing petrol without permission – and even to trace a suspected bogus faith healer.
In one case they were inquiring into unburied animal carcasses.
Some councils are allowing middle-ranking staff to authorise covert operations under the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which is intended for use ‘in the interests of national security’.
Next time some politician tells you that a certain law “will only be used to fight terrorism” kick him in the balls. Hard.
Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control
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A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq’s position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.
But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president in November.
The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq – a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a premature military withdrawal.
Or, as Obama calls it: “Thursday”
Let’s review, shall we…
• scheduled reconciliation meeting with former opponent
• banned all Washington lobbyist and PAC money from the Democratic Party
• retained the invaluable services of [master strategist and all around good guy] Howard Dean as DNC Chairman
• introduced federal transparency and open government legislation in the U.S. Senate
• read Republican Senator Joe Lieberman the riot act on the Senate floor
0.588 seconds of time
DNC: No More Contributions from Federal Lobbyists
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It’s been less than two days since he crossed the delegate threshold to become the Democratic presidential nominee and Sen. Barack Obama’s mark on the party is already being felt.
On Good Morning America Thursday, ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos reported “the Democratic National Committee will no longer accept contributions from federal lobbyists, will no longer take contributions from PACs” in keeping with Obama’s well-publicized policy.
It’s easy for soldiers to score heroin in Afghanistan
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The anecdotal information, however, suggests there may be a wave of new patients coming, and it will include many heroin users. I’m a filmmaker, and I have been to Afghanistan several times to research a film about a soldier who died there under murky circumstances. Before his death, the soldier, John Torres, had told friends and family of widespread heroin use at Bagram. Based on my own experience, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars the Bush administration has spent on opium poppy eradication, Torres was right. I asked to buy heroin a dozen times during two trips a year apart and never heard the word “no”; I also saw ample evidence that soldiers were trading sensitive military equipment, like computer drives and bulletproof vests, for drugs. Other soldiers who have served at Bagram agree: Heroin, they say “is everywhere.” And although they haven’t shown up in the statistics yet, reports from methadone clinics suggest the VA’s future patients may already be back in the States in force. Much like the caskets that return to the Dover Air Force base in the dead of night, America’s new addicts are returning undetected.
Middie McCain More Moron than Maverick
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There’s an old joke. What do you call the person who graduates last from medical school? Doctor. Well, I got a new one. What do you call the person who graduates fifth from the bottom of his class at Annapolis? The Republican Party nominee for President. That’s right. Senator John McCain actually graduated 894th out of 899 middies at the Naval Academy. Only five other crew cuts achieved less than John McCain did in his class at Annapolis. And he was the son and grandson of U.S. Navy Admirals! He was a legacy, which means they probably had to keep his sorry dumb ass in the Navy!
Now, there are several ways to look at this little tidbit: he didn’t want to be there, he hated his father, he was an entitled Navy brat who knew that because of his father’s power and position he was never going to be kicked out, he was immature. But, seeing as I’m not a Dr. Phil and due to the staggering lowness of his ranking, I logically must infer something else: This man is dumb. I mean, McHale’s Navy dumb. Gomer Pyle dumb. Sit on the TV and watch the couch dumb. Fart into your own telephone to nail a friend dumb. 894 out of 899! That’s not “C” student. That’s “D” student. If the Navy graded on a curve, maybe even “D-” student. We’re talking a “special” kind of dumb. And I mean “special,” as in retarded. That’s “Run, Forrest, Run” dumb. That’s “I enlisted because I didn’t want to get drafted.” “There is no draft.” “There was one?” dumb.
894th! Statistically, he wasn’t even in the top of the bottom 1% of his class. Compared to John McCain, George W was a fucking Rhodes Scholar!
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Obama fist bump and tush touch?
Remember this great picture of Barack and Michelle Obama?
Well, for a quality check on US journalism, read this report.
The comments are a good indication that people are fed up with this kind of crap, and make it a fun read!
Bilderberg To Meet In Washington June 5-8
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A Dutch newspaper is reporting that Holland’s Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (pictured) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen are set to attend the annual Bilderberg conference in Washington DC from June 5-8, apparently confirming that a recent alleged Bilderberg meeting in Athens Greece was merely a ruse.
And he’s getting an iPod!
More than a million homes in foreclosure in latest report
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More than one million homes are now in foreclosure, the highest rate ever recorded, according to a trade group which warned Thursday that number will continue to climb.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s first quarter report showed that a record 2.5% of all loans being serviced by its members are now in foreclosure, which works out to about 1.1 million homes. That’s up from the 2% of loans, or about 938,000 homes, that were in foreclosure at the end of 2007.
Frustration
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What’s the real federal deficit?
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The federal government keeps two sets of books.
The set the government promotes to the public has a healthier bottom line: a $318 billion deficit in 2005.
The set the government doesn’t talk about is the audited financial statement produced by the government’s accountants following standard accounting rules. It reports a more ominous financial picture: a $760 billion deficit for 2005. If Social Security and Medicare were included — as the board that sets accounting rules is considering — the federal deficit would have been $3.5 trillion.
If you tried to do something like that, you’d end up in jail real fast!
McCain base supporters
What’s in the Box?
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Late yesterday afternoon MacTalk received the above photo from a very reliable source who can not be named for obvious reasons (fear of assassination by the Apple Secret Police I presume). Word on the street is that resellers across the country have also received similar packages. As seen by the picture, it’s contents are protected under NDA until Tuesday June 10 – does that date ring a bell to anyone?
Our source strongly believes that the package contains the much coveted 3G iPhone. Why is there only one and why is it here early though? Our source believes that the iPhone contained within is for promotional purposes, ie. after it’s official unveiling at WWDC next week, the iPhone will go on display with a sign saying ‘look how cool I am – you can buy me on this date’. That date still looks like it will be June 19, coinciding with the opening of the flagship Sydney Apple Store.
It’s fun how these things always happen just before a big keynote. The rumors this year:
- new iPhone, and iPhone app store
- sneak preview of OS X 10.6: intel only
- rename of Mac OS X to OS X (and similar rename on the iPhone; unification of the OS line, or split if you interpret differently)
- replacement of dot-Mac with dot-me
Get your Keynote Bingo cards ready!
Covert BT Phorm Trial Report Leaked
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An internal BT report on the BT secret trials of Phorm (aka 121Media) Deep Packet Inspection has been revealed on Wikileaks today. The leaked document shows that during the covert trial a possible 18 million page requests were intercepted and injected with JavaScript and about 128 thousand charity ads were substituted with the Phorm Ad Network advertisements purchased by advertisers specifically for the covert trial period. Several ISPs are known to be using, or planning to use, DPI as a means of serving advertising directly through Layer 7 interception at ISP level in the USA and Europe.
NebuAd claim they are using DPI to enable their advertising to reach 10% of USA internet users.
If a private person would do something like this, he or she would spend the next 20 years behind bars, but since it’s for corporate profit, they think it’s fine to screw users and charities.
Cunts.
Utrechter wint NK Luchtgitaar
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John Sniffler uit Utrecht heeft donderdagavond in Paradiso in Amsterdam het Nederlands Kampioenschap Luchtgitaar op zijn naam geschreven. Sniffler won de finale waarin hij het opnam tegen elf andere luchtgitaristen.
En dan te bedenken dat hij tijdens de halve finale nog twee snaren brak…
Entertainment industry accuses campus laser-printers of downloading Indiana Jones
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Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered serious flaws in the way that the copyright cartel’s enforcers detect and complain about copyright infringement. The methods used by these enforcers are so sloppy that they sent a DMCA takedown notice to three campus laser-printers, alleging that the inanimate objects were downloading Iron Man and Indiana Jones.
And yet these companies expect universities to take their notices seriously and spend their operating capital chasing down every wild accusation they make.
Here is another article on this…
Indicted Saudi Gets $80 Million US Contract
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The US military has awarded an $80 million contract to a prominent Saudi financier who has been indicted by the US Justice Department. The contract to supply jet fuel to American bases in Afghanistan was awarded to the Attock Refinery Ltd, a Pakistani-based refinery owned by Gaith Pharaon. Pharaon is wanted in connection with his alleged role at the failed Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), and the CenTrust savings and loan scandal, which cost US tax payers $1.7 billion.
The Saudi businessman was also named in a 2002 French parliamentary report as having links to informal money transfer networks called hawala, known to be used by traders and terrorists, including Al Qaeda.
Interestingly, Pharaon was also an investor in President George W. Bush’s first business venture, Arbusto Energy.
Good. The larger the Democrat majority in both Houses in 2009 the better. We need to get some things done in this nation that better prepare us for the future. The Republicans just plain cling too much to the past and the old way of doing things.
Heh, I generally vote Democrat, but I like the thrust of Sr’s gist or whatever. Anyone who’s willing to insult potential voters for their stupidity is ok in my book!
The way I read it, the Libertarian Jr. is the one that insulted voters who don’t know how to read. That said, I agree with the sentiment.
Vote Libertarian. Repubs and Dems are all corrupt.