Archive for May, 2008

MSNBC’s Spectra News Reader Is Impressive

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Media, Technology

I just tried out MSNBC’s Spectra and I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised. The layout is intuitive, colorful and actually sort of fun to use. The above picture may not give you a sense of that because it’s a bit small, but trust me, it’s worth a try. I’ll definitely use it in [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

House Committee Subpoenas Rove To Testify In Siegelman Case

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Alabama, Congress, Law, Rove

We’ve detailed the seemingly politically motivated prosecution and conviction of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman’s in February and March of this year, and now it appears that the House Judiciary Committee wants to put Rove in the hot seat to answer questions about whether he had a hand in it. Here’s the scoop… Representative John [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

NY Gov David Paterson: Hillary’s Getting A Little Desperate

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Florida, Hillary, Michigan, Video

Even though he’s a pretty staunch Clinton supporter, Paterson gave an interview today and put it pretty bluntly… It doesn’t get much plainer than that. (h/t: TPM)

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

The Clinton Camp Has Officially Lost It

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, Michigan

They want the 55 uncommitted delegates from Michigan to stay “uncommitted. ” Umm…what was that about the will of the people again? From Politico: In a conference call with reporters, Clinton Senior Adviser Harold Ickes clarified their position on Michigan — they don’t want the 55 “uncommitted” delegates to go to Obama (his name did [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 9 Comments »

Charlie Crist: Beyond The Tan

By Jennn Fusion | Related entries in 2008 Election, Florida, McCain, Republicans, Veep

From the depths of Tallahassee, Florida comes a man so qualified it’s shocking that he’s not running his own vice president campaign already! Governor Charlie Crist once served as Vice President of the student body at Florida State University where he studied Law. Under Jeb Bush, he became Deputy Secretary of the Department of Business [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

Will We Have Another Darth Vader?

By Jennn Fusion | Related entries in Barack, Cheney, McCain, Veep

Dear Diary, I’m feeling nervous and apprehensive about the vice presidency. Cheney is just so… untouchable. He wields the power of a Sith Lord and yet he loves his dogs. He opposes any kind of Gay rights and yet his own daughter is gay. He’s shot people in the face and came back from the [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

McCain Denounces Hagee, Takes Shot At Obama

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, McCain, Religion

I can’t say this wasn’t expected, but it would have been nice to see him simply address Hagee and be done with it. After all, this issue would have come up without the Wright issue. From CNN: “Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Are Older Voters Exceedingly Gullible?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Age, Barack, Democrats, Media, Memes

I know, it’s definitely a broad generalization and I’m prepared to get smacked down for it, but I bet if you did a poll and asked who believed the nonsense about Obama being a muslim, etc., the older voters would come out on top…by A LOT. What else am I to make of stories like [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Gallup: Obama Leads Clinton By 11

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, Polls

The number has remained steady from yesterday to today, and this includes the first day after the Kentucky/Oregon contests. The details… Obama is establishing himself as the clear leader — he opened up a double-digit lead five days ago, and has led by at least 11 percentage points each day since then. While he has [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Hillary Clinton As The Black Knight From Monty Python and the Holy Grail

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, Memes, Video

Let me just say that I’ve seen this meme starting to pop up across the blogosphere in recent weeks and I think I can lay claim to having started it with this post on April 6th. In fact, here’s a blog that completely ripped off my post from that day. Oh, and here’s the scene… [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Obama Trailing McCain in Two Key States

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Florida, McCain, Ohio

A Quinnipiac University poll found some disturbing news for Barack Obama. Currently, Obama trails John McCain in Florida and Ohio polls by 4-5 percentage points. By itself, the numbers aren’t too bad. But here’s the kicker. The same poll showed Hillary Clinton leading John McCain in those two swing states by 7 percentage points. In [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

Trivial Matters Important to U.S. Elections

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, History

In a great column for the Boston Phoenix, Steven Stark comments on some pundits’ growing concerns that what should be an election about Big Issues is devolving into an election about more trivial matters. Stark puts the whole matter in historical context: [I]t’s rather un-American to have an election that focuses on the “big issues.” [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Webb’s GI Bill Secures Veto Proof Senate Victory

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Bush, Delaware, McCain, Military, Money, Republicans, Webb

75-22. McCain didn’t vote, but stressed in recent weeks he was against it because it gave TOO much money to GIs. From Craig Newmark’s blog: Overwhelming GI Bill Victory in the Senate World War II-Style GI Bill Passed as Part of War Supplemental NEW YORK – Today, by an overwhelming 75-22 margin, the Senate passed [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Obama Begins VP Hunt In Earnest

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Democrats, Hillary, Veep

On the very top of the list at this point? Jim Webb, Ted Strickland, Kathleen Sebelius, Claire McCaskill. All solid, moderate democrats from swing states. But you want to know who’d be the boldest pick? Chuck Hagel. That would literally shatter the partisan divide in one fell swoop. The only issue there is that Hagel [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 7 Comments »

Gen. David Petraeus: Appeaser?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bush, Iran, Iraq, Military, Terrorism, The World, War

He apparently thinks diplomacy with Iran is the best option, and as the following suggests, he’s right in line with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. From Wash Post: Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, President Bush’s nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, supports continued U.S. engagement with international and regional partners [...]

May 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Gallup: Obama Up 11 Over Clinton

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, Polls

This number has slowly dropped over the past two days from 16 to 14 to where it stands today. The details… As the primary and caucus season winds down and his nomination appears increasingly likely, Obama has in recent days enjoyed his strongest showing in Gallup Poll Daily tracking. While he also held double-digit leads [...]

May 21st, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Kansas Citian David Cook Wins American Idol

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Kitchen Sink, Media, Missouri, Music

I don’t watch really like the show so I never care who wins, but this is a hometown boy we’re talking about here so some props are in order for the guy who won the second most popular election in 2008. Seriously, check out these numbers… A record 97 million votes were cast overall, 23 [...]

May 21st, 2008 | Permalink| 5 Comments »

The Peak Oil Theory Revisited

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, Energy, Environment, Gas, History, Money, Oil, Video

In March 2007, I wrote about the Peak Oil theory and posted a pretty alarming video. And now that we’re seeing record gas prices, the whispers of peak oil are surfacing once again. So, here’s the video that outlines the theory… Then, here’s a post from the Prometheus: The Science Policy Weblog about the topic [...]

May 21st, 2008 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Bio Oil Gets Grilled On Capitol Hill

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, Energy, Gas, Money, Oil, Taxes, Video

How do they explain their record profits? Good planning? Price gouging? Lucky breaks? First CBS has this report… I like that…the reason their profits are so big is because their companies are so big? I guess we all should just start building bigger companies then, yeah? Then from the AP, and note how one of [...]

May 21st, 2008 | Permalink| 15 Comments »

Hagee Says Hitler’s Holocaust Fulfilled God’s Will?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, History, Israel, McCain, Religion, Video

First, the audio… Second, the commentary… From Megan McCardle… John Hagee is certainly right to wonder how God could have let the Holocaust happen. But . . . well, I’m kind of speechless. [...] How long before McCain has to publicly repudiate him? From The Carpetbagger Report: This is the guy whose support McCain worked [...]

May 21st, 2008 | Permalink| 6 Comments »