Weiner Gets Pranked

"INTERNS WANTED" says the bogus flyer for the campaign of mayoral candidate and former congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY).  In order to qualify, the flyer continues, you must not be a cop, a snitch or a "slutbag", the insult hurled at a former intern after she left.

Read the story at the New York Post.

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Lewinsky "Sex Tape" Reappears

A "sex tape" recorded made by Monica Lewinsky in 1997, during the height of her affair with President Bill Clinton, has reportedly resurfaced.  The recording is a little less than 4 minutes long, and contains only Lewinsky's voice.  Miss Lewinsky recently turned 40.  (Time does fly, doesn't it?)

Read more at World Net Daily, the Daily Mail, Radar Online and Slate, who say, "No, this won't destroy Hillary."

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The Manning Verdict And Other Stories

Pfc. Bradley Manning, who disclosed a large number of government documents to Wikileaks, has been acquitted of the charge of aiding the enemy but convicted of over 20 other charges, including espionage.  The judge, Col. Denise Lind, reached the verdicts after a trial that lasted about 8 weeks, which took place at Fort Meade.  Although acquitted of the most serious charge, Manning still faces a maximum possible sentence of 136 years.

Read more at the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, NBC News, Reason(dot)com and WJLA.

In other news:

The Chattanooga Times Free Press tells President Obama, quite literally, where to put his new jobs plan.  (via The Examiner)

From CBS News, unemployment is up in 90% of American cities.

From The Daily Beast, the U.S. cities that offer the best combination of economy and culture are "mostly southern and modest sized".

From US News, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) has invoked the death of Trayvon Martin in sponsoring his End Racial Profiling Act.  (via Weazel Zippers)

From the Associated Press, an appeals court has ruled against New York City's prohibition on large sodas.

From The Daily Galaxy, for the first time, x-ray observations have detected an extrasolar planet passing in front of its parent star.  (Is The Daily Galaxy anything like the Daily Planet?)

Global Research answers the question, "How rich is Congress?"

From CNN, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) calls Governor Chris Christie the "king of bacon".

From USA Today, a girl in Arkansas, after swimming in a lake in Little Rock, has been infected with a brain-eating amoeba.

From NBC News, an outbreak of food poisoning in Iowa and Nebraska has been traced to a prepackaged salad mix.

And from CNS News, Saddam Hussein's "ceremonial sword" has been returned to Iraq.

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Thursday Links

A few stories and things going on:

From the Times Of Israel, an Arab member of the Knesset claims that Secretary of State John Kerry has promised that Israel will release all of its pre-Oslo prisoners so that peace talks resume.

From Natural News, the rover Curiosity is finding evidence that a "catastrophic event" stripped away the Martian atmosphere about 4 billion years ago.

From The College Fix, ten College Republicans were denied entry to President Obama's speech at Missouri Central University, even though they had bought tickets.  (via National Review Online)

From the Tampa Tribune, one of the jurors in the George Zimmerman trial says that he "got away with murder", but that there wasn't enough evidence under Florida law to convict him.

From the New York Post, there's a lake at the North Pole.

From the New York Daily News, former Congressman and current mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has admitted to more online relationships.  This comes via Gateway Pundit, with some video of comedians giving Weiner some well-deserved ribbing.

From Fox News, Mrs. Weiner, a.k.a. Huma Abedin is facing questions about working part-time for the government while also working as a consultant for Teneo.

Also from Fox News, a majority of voters now doubts that immigration reform will ever happen.  This, of course, is good or bad, depending on how you define "immigration reform".

From Russia Today, Great Britain is putting up ads telling illegal immigrants to go home or be arrested.  Now there's a bit of immigration reform I could get behind.

From Creeping Sharia, Crayola(dot)com celebrates Ramadan.

From Business Insider, Halliburton will plead guilty to destroying evidence relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

And from The Guardian, the newest heir to the British throne has been named George Alexander Louis.  The announcement of his name was relatively quick compared to other royal babies, such as his father and grandfather after their respective births.  Britain has had six kings ruling under the name George, the most recent being Queen Elizabeth's father.  Louis was the name of Prince Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten.

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Janet Napolitano To Step Down

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, known derisively by some of us vast rightwing conspirators as "Big Sis", has announced plans to leave her position and become the president of the University of California system, which includes ten campuses.  Her change of jobs is expected to happen in September.  Before serving as the head of DHS, Napolitano had been governor of Arizona.

Read more at CBS News, Fox News, USA Today, ABC News and the Washington Times.

UPDATE:  National Review gives us Big Sis's Greatest Hits.

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SCOTUS Gay Marriage Decisions And Other Stories

Earlier today, the Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, commonly referred to by its acronym DOMA, and dismissed an appear of a lower court ruling against California's Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that had defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.  DOMA had first been enacted during the presidency of Bill Clinton.  Here are some related stories:

From the Washington Post, a report on the DOMA decision.

From CNN, how the court ruled on standing with respect to Proposition 8.

From The Examiner, President Obama promises not to force churches to perform gay weddings.

From CBS Local, the National Cathedral rings its bells to celebrate the court's decisions.  (via Weasel Zippers)

From Breitbart's The Conversation, how the rulings could further polarize our politics.

The Blaze reminds us that most of DOMA still stands, including a provision that could lead to another court battle.

In other news:

From Forbes, Democrat legislators in Massachusetts are trying to force Governor Deval Patrick to seek a waiver from Obamacare.  (Is this another case of "just words"?)

From Politico, a second IRS staffer pleads the Fifth when summoned before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  (via Red State)

From the Military Times, accused NSA leaker Edward Snowden, having flown from Hong Kong to Russia, may or may not be hanging out at Moscow's Sheremetchevo Airport.

From Biz Pac Review, Obama-Corps could be on its way to becoming reality.  (Will the participants be called "Obama-Corpsemen"?)

From The Times Of Israel, the US is considering sending training teams to Lebanon and Iraq, to help those countries deal with possible spillover from the civil war in Syria.

From Yahoo Sports, New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been arrested and charged with murdering his neighbor.  Metrodesk at Boston(dot)com has more.

From CNN Tech, three newly discovered planets, just 22 lightyears away, might be able to support life.

And from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, diplomas given out by Radford University in Virginia misspell "Virginia".

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Flip-Flops Galore

It appears that the policy reversal by Senator Rubio (R-FL) that I noted a few days ago is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the "gang of eight" immigration bill.  Red State has compiled a list of statements by the 15 Republicans and 7 red state Democrats who voted for cloture earlier this week.  Since I've already mentioned Rubio, here's an excerpt quoting Kelly Ayotte, Republican from New Hampshire:

“For the people who are here illegally, I don’t support amnesty; it’s wrong. It’s wrong to the people who are waiting in line here, who have waited for so long. And we need to stop that because I think that’s where the Administration is heading next.”

Senator Ayotte, I couldn't have said it any better.  Read the whole article at Red State and check out their links.

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This Date In History, And Today

June 6th is widely commemorated as the day in 1944 during World War II when the western Allies invaded Europe, landing on the beaches of the German-held French region of Normandy.  From their narrow foothold, they would eventually advance across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany itself, joining the westward-advancing Soviet army to defeat the once-powerful German military forces.  Here are a few links to some historical facts and modern tributes:

The History Channel has a page on D-Day, with lots of places to explore.

The British version of the History Channel likewise has a D-Day page.

The U.S. Army has a webpage remembering D-Day.

More information on D-Day can be found at the National WWII Museum, World War II History Info and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.

Paying tribute to the events of D-Day are Nola(dot)com (New Orleans being the site of the above-mentioned National WWII Museum), the Patriot-News, CNN and Business Insider.
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In more recent military history, June 6th was the second day of the Six-Day War, in which Israel defeated neighboring Arab countries, taking the Sinai and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and the old city of Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.  This war is remembered by History Learning Site, the Jewish Virtual Library, Israeli Weapons and SixDayWar(dot)org.
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June 6th, 1799 was the birth date of Alexander Pushkin, considered to be the founder of modern Russian literature.  You can read about him at the Literature Network, Russiapedia, Poetry Lovers Page and AlexanderPushkin(dot)com.
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On June 6th, 1949, according to the History Channel, George Orwell's book 1984 was published.
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Moving on to today's news:

From ABC News, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) has appointed Jeff Chiesa (R), currently the state's attorney general, to be interim Senator until the special election previously announced by the governor takes place later this year.  Chiesa has stated that he will not run in that election.

From the Washington Post, the FBI and the NSA have been data-mining from nine leading U.S. Internet companies.

From National Review, the House has voted to de-fund President Obama's DREAM policy, which he enacted by executive order.

And from The Hayride, Obama criticizes warrantless wiretaps.

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Governor Christie Calls For Special Election

It appears that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had some more options than I realized while writing yesterday's post.  He could have appointed a Senator to serve out the rest of the recently deceased Senator Frank Lautenberg's term, but instead has called for a special election, which will include a primary on August 13th and a general phase on October 16th.  He will still appoint an interim Senator to hold the seat until the special election is held, but has not yet decided on whom.  Christie himself is up for re-election in the regular election in November.

Read more at the New York Daily News.

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Frank Lautenberg 1924-2013

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) died earlier today in Manhattan of viral pneumonia.  He was the oldest member of the Senate and its only World War II veteran.  After a successful business career, he was elected to the Senate in 1982, after which he served three terms, declining to run in 2000.  In 2002, when Robert Toricelli (D) decided to step down from the other New Jersey seat, Lautenberg came out retirement and replaced him, later winning re-election in 2008.

Among his notable accomplishments was legislation to cut highway funding for states that did not raise their drinking age to 21, and later for not setting their definition of "legally drunk" at blood alcohol content level of 0.08%.  He also helped to establish a ban on smoking on all commercial airline flights and in federal office buildings.

Governor Chris Christie (R) will have the duty of naming a temporary Senator to fill Lautenberg's seat until the end of his term, which will be on 03 January 2015, after the 2014 election.  Lautenberg is survived by his second wife, his four children from his first marriage, two stepchildren, and 13 grandchildren.

Read more at the New York Times, CNN, USA Today, NorthJersey(dot)com and NPR.

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Michele Bachmann To Retire

Four-term Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) has decided not to seek re-election in 2014, and will instead step down at the end of her current term, the announcement being posted on YouTube.  During 2012, she briefly campaigned for the GOP presidential nomination.  She has been a favorite of the Tea Party movement.

Read more at Townhall, the Washington Post, Human Events and the Centre Daily Times.

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Links To Start The Long Weekend

The Memorial Day weekend, one of those "anchors" on the calendar, has just started.  This coming Monday, Americans will pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free.  Today, here are some things recently in the news:

From the New York Post, a homeless teenage girl living near Atlanta has just become her high school's valedictorian.

From Fox News, the Boy Scouts of America have voted to accept openly gay members.

From Breitbart's Big Hollywood, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gets into a confrontation with Jersey Shore cast member Snooki.

From Biz Pac Review, polling expert Scott Rasmussen says that the recent scandals are bringing bad news for President Obama.  (Isn't that what scandals normally do to a president?)

CNS News reports on Obama's commencement speech as the U.S. Naval Academy, where he blamed the "misconduct of a few" for eroding the public's trust in the government.

From CBN News, an American missionary in Africa has gone missing.

From NBC News, the Department of Justice confirms that the search warrant for Fox News reporter James Rosen's e-mails was approved "at the highest levels".  One writer at National Review suggests that reporters "should just CC Eric Holder" from now on.

From The Hill, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) says that the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill does not have the votes to pass the Senate.

From the Washington Examiner, a former president of Guatemala has been extradited to the United States to face money-laundering charges.

Reason gives us three reasons, other than Lois Lerner, to fear the IRS.

From CNN, yesterday's collapse of a section of the Skagit River bridge on Interstate 5 in Washington state is believed to have been caused by an 18-wheeler hitting an overhead tress (and not from GOP obstruction, as reported by Mediaite).

And from Wired, on the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, 30 things you didn't know about the movie.

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Thursday News And Links

A few stories out there:

From ABC News, the IRS official in charge of the division that deals with tax-exempt organizations when Tea Party groups were targeted for extra scrutiny now runs their Affordable Care Act office.

From the American Thinker, a lawsuit against the IRS accuses it of seizing the medical records of 10 million people.

From the Associated Press, an arrest warrant has been issued for former NFL player Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson.

From The Corner at National Review, the Speaker accuses President Obama and his administration of "remarkable arrogance".

From Fox News, the manager of the Fort Campbell sexual assault prevention program has been arrested for allegedly violating an order of protection against his ex-wife.

From the Washington Post, an investigation finds that terrorists who had entered the witness protection program and were given new identities were allowed to board airplanes in the United States.

From the Washington Examiner, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has signed legislation passed by the state legislature that has "some of the toughest new gun restrictions in the nation".

The Daily Caller asks if the IRS gave presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax returns to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

From Newsmax, Catholic League director Bill Donohue claims that his organization was targeted by the IRS.

From Gateway Pundit, the IRS granted applications for tax-exempt status much more quickly for Muslim groups than for Christian or Jewish groups.

From Politico, a second federal court has ruled that President Obama's NLRB appointments were unconstitutional.

From The Guardian, Venezuela has been experiencing a shortage of toilet paper.

Continuing with the British media, a study reported by the Mail Online claims that strong men tend to have rightwing political views.

And from the International Business Times, Canada appears to be the place to watch for UFOs.

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Sanford Elected To Congress

Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford has won the special election for his state's first congressional district, vacated when current governor Nikki Haley appointed Tim Scott to the Senate to replace Jim DeMint, who had resigned.  Sanford defeated Democrat candidate Elizabeth Colbert Busch by 9 percent.  He had previously served in the House of Representatives from the same district.

Sanford resigned as chairman of the Republican Governors Association after his affair with a woman in Argentina was revealed, but stayed on as governor.  In one episode, he traveled visit her and then tried to explain his absence by claiming to have been hiking on the Appalachian Trail.  In more recent troubles, he faces a court appearance stemming from a complaint by his ex-wife alleging that he trespassed at her home.

Read more about the election at USA Today, the Washington Post, Yahoo News and Fox News.  For some background on Sanford's affair, read more at The Guardian.

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The George W. Bush Library Opens & Other News

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated today in a ceremony attended by President Obama and former Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Bush.  The library is on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  Here are some stories from today's events:

From the Washington Post, the other presidents offer tributes to George W. Bush.

From CBS News, a look inside the George W. Bush library.

From the Los Angeles Times, the second President Bush gives his speech, affirming his faith in the U.S.

Fox News has some video highlights of the dedication.

The Christian Science Monitor wonders if Bush is "on the rebound".

Writing in CNN, Donna Brazile says that "Bush came through on Katrina."

From Business Insider, the Bush presidency in pictures.

From Weasel Zippers, Dubya's mom doesn't seem to too comfortable with his successor.

In other news:

From the Times Union, today is indeed World Penguin Day.  A hundred years ago the world saw the first professional photographs of Antarctic penguins.

From the Daily Mail, in Dubai, female U.S. sailor 1 - would-be rapist 0.

From the Miami Herald, a California filmmaker has been detained in Venezuela.

From the New York Daily News, Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, who has so far missed the entire season due to an ankle injury, promises to return.

From CNS News, one out of every five U.S. households is on food stamps.

From Kurier, about 40 Muslims in Vienna demonstrate for the Boston bomber.  Via Weasel Zippers, who provides a partial translation.

And from SF Gate, a school in the U.K. stops airport noise with domes.

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A Few Stories Before The Weekend

I'll shortly be heading out of town to visit my family over the Easter weekend.  Meanwhile, here are some things in the news:

From the Military Times, a U.N. arms trade treaty gets some opposition - from Iran and North Korea.

From CNN, a former U.S. soldier has been charged with firing an RPG in Syria.

From Prophecy News Watch, there are only 57 churches left in Iraq.

Business Insider reveals what is the most hacked mobile device.

From the Christian Science Monitor, actress Ashley Judd has decided against running for the Senate against Mitch McConnell (R-KY), but the Democrats have found another potential challenger.

From the New York Post, some artifacts belonging to the author William Faulkner will be auctioned off, including an unpublished story.

From Heritage Action, 75 Senators have voted for what might be called the "shop China bill".

From the Associated Press, the American economy grew at a 0.4% annual rate during the last quarter of 2012, up from a previous estimate of 0.1%.  (via Gateway Pundit)

The Washington Times reports that Food Stamp use has increased 70% during the Obama presidency.

From Natural News, that old saying about "an apple a day" is starting to make a lot of sense.

From Fox 8 in Cleveland, I tawt I taw a putty tat.

And from Duh Progressive, some satire aimed at the Mayor of New York.

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Rand Paul Launches Filibuster

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has spent much of today, when most of the federal government was closed in response to a winter storm, conducting a filibuster against the nomination of John Brennan, appointed by President Obama to lead the CIA.  This filibuster has been of the traditional variety, where one or more Senators continue speaking until 60 of them vote to end debate and move to a final vote.  Paul has been joined by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Read more (or watch live) at ABC News, the Washington Post, USA Today, The Hill and Fox News.

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"Jedi Mind Meld"?

It appears that President Obama will never be a genuine sci-fi geek.  At a press conference today, he said that he couldn't do a "Jedi mind meld" with the Republicans to make them understand his positions on taxes and spending, thus getting mixed up between the Star Wars Jedi mind trick and the Star Trek Vulcan mind meld.  Even so, it's probably a good thing.  Could you imagine how much damage politicians could do if they could link their minds together?  Oh well, live long and prosper and may the Force be with you.

Read more at ABC News, CBS News, Reuters and the Washington Post.

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Hillary Gets Expensive

From the Buzzfeed via Reading The Score:

Want to hire former First Lady, Senator (D-NY) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to speak at your gathering?  As John Wayne might put it, it's gonna cost ya, Pilgrim. According to the Buzzfeed, her speaking fee is over $200,000.  So are those of her formerly presidential husband, and retired muscleman, actor and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  At somewhat less, but still in the 6-figure category, are former President George W. Bush and former Vice Presidents Dick Cheney and Al Gore.  Read more about this at the links above -  except for the John Wayne one, that is.

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Links For Presidents Day

A few things recently in the news as some of us get a day off:

The Washington Post, and in the spirit of the day, invites you to pick the most underrated and overrated presidents.

From the Daily Caller, the president of Brevard Community College in Florida has recommended the firing of a professor who forced her students to sign pledges to vote for president Obama.

From the New York Post, the former LAPD cop Christopher Dorner asked some fishermen to take him to Mexico.

From Fox News and the historical oversight department, Mississippi ratifies the 13th Amendment, which officially abolished slavery.

Also from Fox News, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has accused the Obama administration of not enforcing a century-old law requiring immigrants to avoid becoming a "public charge".

From The Blaze, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan claims that God sent the recent winters storms as punishment.

From Frontpagemag, the Glazov Gang discusses, among other things, Rubio's "Watergate".

From The Hill, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has raised more than $100,000 for his PAC from the sale of water bottles.  Watergate indeed.

From Yahoo Sports, for the first time since 1974, no Major League baseball salary disputes have gone to arbitration.

From the Los Angeles Times, details of Pope Benedict's physical ailments emerge, including blindness in one eye.

And from CBS News, two brothers in Kansas, while celebrating a lottery win, blow up their house.
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UPDATE:  One more, from Inventor's Business Daily.  That asteroid which flew by last Friday is coming back.

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