With radiation levels in Japan soaring, the enlightened executives at Goldman Sachs have made their priorities clear to employees inexplicably worried about nuclear plants exploding around them. Stay put, they say, or it will look bad for business. Meanwhile, Sachs analysts have cut growth forecasts for Japan and see "limited near-term upside from current market levels" for copper and other metals. What planet do these people inhabit, and can we move it further away from Earth?
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Hey, look, an Obama presser.
Today's subject: More war, fewer jobs!
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Quote Of The Day - Sarah Palin
Remember the president's promise that there would be no American boots on the ground? Ahem:
CIA officers on the ground in Libya assisted with the rescue of one of two airmen who ejected when their F15E fighter jet crashed last week, sources tell the Associated Press.
The Obama administration has sent teams of CIA operatives into Libya in a rush to gather intelligence on the identity, goals and progress of rebel forces opposed to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, according to U.S. officials.
Do they really expect us to believe they are there solely to "gather intelligence"? But notice the artful phrasing: "gather intelligence on the ... progress of rebel forces". That wouldn't mean guidance and advice would it?
This is how dumb wars start. When presidents insist they haven't.
"Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of (the law) was enjoined," Sumi said during a hearing. "That is what I now want to make crystal clear."
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Priceless. Just perfect. Watch all the way to the very end.
Fringe-right corporate lackey Clarence Thomas has famously kept his mouth shut during most of his 20 years on the Supreme Court, because how could anyone improve upon Antonin Scalia's insane bullshit? But on Tuesday, Clarence Thomas cheerfully took the opportunity to read the conservative majority's decision against an innocent black man in New Orleans who had been framed by the district attorney and was very nearly executed. The man, John Thompson, won a $14 million judgment against the crooked New Orleans prosecutors — a million dollars for every year he was wrongfully imprisoned, often in solitary confinement. And now that judgment has been overturned by our sorry excuse for a high court. Clarence Thomas really got a kick out of reading this to the Supreme Court. http://wonkette.com/441816/clarence-thomas-gladly-reads-decision-against-innocent-black-guy-who-spent-14-years-on-death-row
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This crosses the line that separates legitimate religions and cults. "One Salt Lake City man, a church employee for more than a decade, is surprised and angered that he lost his temple recommend -- a prerequisite for employment in the church -- after he refused to give up his gay friends and was fired. ... Drew Call, 32, a returned missionary who is gay, was a supervisor in the church's printing department until March 7 March 4. At a February private meeting with his Salt Lake City stake president -- who declined to be interviewed -- Call says he was asked to abandon his gay friends as a condition for renewal of his temple recommend. Surprised and fearing people may not believe him, Call surreptitiously made an audio recording of the follow-up meeting in March so there could be no doubt about what happened. ... On the recording, the stake president expresses concerns that Call recently had taken his daughters to "gay bingo," a monthly charitable fundraiser hosted by the Utah Pride Center and the drag/comedy troupe Utah Cyber Sluts. "I think it's inappropriate to take children, and I really think it's inappropriate for you to go, myself, to this gay bingo," the stake president says on the recording. Later, the stake president says of the gay community, "They are conducting themselves in a manner that is definitely in opposition to teaching and practices of the gospel. I've talked to you about this, about your association with [gay people]. Last time you left here, you were willing to give up your four, or so, individuals." Call responded that he'd thought about it, but wasn't willing to give up his gay friends after all. ... To receive or maintain a temple recommend, Mormons must answer certain standardized questions. The stake president says on the recording that the question Call could not answer honestly asks, "do you support, affiliate with or agree with any group or individuals whose teaching or practices are contrary to or opposed to those accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?" The stake president goes on to say that that question applies to Call's gay friends "because of the moral decay that is going in the world and that's part of it. The church opposes the relationship between a man and a man and a woman and a woman, and you're associating with those individuals. I don't know how to get around that.""
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Brave wingnut crusade against creeping Sharia in Alaska.
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Cramped, cheap, minimal, short-sighted, pathetic. Whatever happened to soaring goals that challenged us? "President Barack Obama has vowed to reduce US oil imports by one-third in little more than a decade. He said in a speech in Washington that America had to "get serious" about a secure and affordable energy future. Higher oil prices are threatening to hamper US economic recovery and there is growing dissatisfaction among car drivers with pump prices. Mr Obama said the US must move towards getting 80% of its electricity from non-oil sources by 2035. "We cannot keep going from shock to trance on the issue of energy security, rushing to propose action when gas prices rise, then hitting the snooze button when they fall again," he said during a speech at Georgetown University."
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The GOP wants to disappear the video of Real World douchebag star-turned-representative whining about his $174,000 salary. "First the Republican Party in Polk County, Wisconsin, pulled the tape of Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) fretting about making ends meet on his $174,000 a year salary from its own website. Now they want it gone from the whole Internet. ... For a couple hours, the local county GOP was successful. But we've put an excerpt of the video back up. ... A day after TPM posted the video we obtained of Duffy talking about his salary at a Polk County town hall meeting earlier this year, the Polk County GOP contacted the video provider we used to host the video, Blip.tv, and demanded the video be taken down. ... The tape caused a stir for Duffy, a first-term conservative best known for his past as a reality TV show star on MTV's The Real World. Democrats flagged the comments about his taxpayer-funded salary (which is nearly three times the median income in Wisconsin) and criticisms began to flow Duffy's way. ... In the clip, Duffy is asked whether he'd support cutting his own salary. Duffy says he would, but only as part of a plan where all public employees' salaries would be cut. He then said that the $174,000 in salary (not including benefits) he receives is a squeeze for his family of seven to live on."
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Fox Exec Admitted He Didn't Believe the 'Obama Socialism' He Was Pushing.
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Urantian Sojourn thinks that appointing GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, to be the chairman of Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness would be like appointing Larry Summer and Timmy Geithner to head up his economic advisory team. Oh, wait.
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With the new monkey bill, Tennessee takes evolution education back to Scopes.
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A proposed law making its way through the South Carolina legislature would loosen gun ownership to an astonishing level. If passed, legal gun owners could bring their weapons to restaurants, day-care centers, and churches. The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Thad Viers (R), says that expanding the places that one can carry a concealed weapon in the state is an effective anti-crime measure.
