I love this headline

Florida's Scott takes businessman's ax to budget

Because, as we all know, successful businesses get that way by reducing staff, offering fewer products, and eliminating customer service. It's hard to imagine Florida not zooming to the top of the pile of desirable US states to migrate to.

Continue reading I love this headline

An historic Conservative movement

This seems like a pretty good story to come back with.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Former Speaker of the House and General Chairman of American Solutions, Newt Gingrich, recently honored AEHI CEO Donald Gillispie, as American Solutions' 2010 @Businessman of the Year. Speaker Gingrich recognized Donald Gillispie at the American Solutions Election Night Dinner on November 2nd at The Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.

"Led by leaders like Donald Gillispie, who has succeeded in the face of adversity and economic turmoil, our victory on November 2nd was just the start to what will prove to be an historic Conservative movement to reject the left and provide common sense Center-Right Leadership."

According to American Solutions, as the economy spiraled into recession, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress offered no solutions for almost two years. Instead, they introduced one job killing bill after another, forced unpopular and corrupt socialized health-care reform through Congress, and have refused to take any responsibility whatsoever for their inaction, deciding instead to blame others for their failures. Donald Gillispie, on the other hand, has taken these challenges head on and managed to survive - and even succeed - in an extremely hostile and uncertain economic environment.

About American Solutions -- American Solutions is a tri-partisan citizen action network of over 1.5 Million members. Its goal is to create the next generation of solutions that will ensure that the United States remains the safest, freest, and most prosperous country in the world. Its General Chairman is Speaker Newt Gingrich. For more information, visit www.AmericanSolutions.com.

About Don Gillispie -- A 45-year veteran of the nuclear industry, Don Gillispie was involved in the construction and operation of a number of nuclear reactors and helped start the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). His real interest in nuclear power began in the military. He completed the Navy Nuclear Power School, became a nuclear operator and served aboard the SSBN Francis Scott Key. He is now CEO of Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc. in Eagle, Idaho.

About Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:AEHI) (http://www.aehipower.com) -- Alternate Energy Holdings develops and markets innovative clean energy sources. The company is the nation's only independent nuclear power plant developer seeking to build new power plants in multiple non-nuclear states. Other projects include Energy Neutral(TM), which removes energy demands from homes and businesses (http://www.EnergyNeutralinc.com) Colorado Energy Park (nuclear and solar generation), and Green World Water(TM), which assists developing countries with nuclear reactors for power generation (http://www.GreenWorld-H2O.com), production of potable water and other suitable applications. AEHI China, headquartered in Beijing, develops joint ventures to produce nuclear plant components and consults on nuclear power.

But wait, there's more.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an Idaho company on Thursday with fraudulently raising money from investors across the country and Asia to build a $10 billion nuclear power plant.

The SEC also asked a court to freeze the assets of Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. and its two top executives.

The federal financial regulators accusing the Eagle-based company of taking part in a scheme to enrich its chief executive at the expense of investors. Specifically, SEC investigators say AEHI manipulated its stock price, in part through a barrage of misleading public statements about the company and hiding the profits reported by CEO Donald Gillispie and a senior vice president Jennifer Ransom.

The SEC says it has records that Gillispie and Ransom secretly unloaded stock holdings and funneled the money back to Gillispie, enabling him this year to make six times the salary he reported to investors and spend lavishly on jewelry, cruises, a Maserati sports car and other items.

"In light of AEHI's ongoing efforts to raise funding while promoting itself through a daily deluge of press releases, we needed to take immediate action to get to the bottom of the company's misleading statements," said Marc Fagel, Director of the SEC regional office in San Francisco.

AEHI spokesman Dan Hamilton said the company's lawyers are reviewing the SEC complaint and declined to comment on the allegations.

Newt Gingrich wants to be your president.

Continue reading An historic Conservative movement

"I was not a jealous boyfriend"

Give him his gun back and send him home.

According to the police report, a security guard reported the man, Rep. Tom Hackbarth, after he saw him get out of a pickup truck in the parking lot with a loaded gun in a hip holster. The guard saw him walk into an alley near the clinic.

When police came, they handcuffed him and took his gun, which he has a concealed carry permit for. Hackbarth claimed he didn't realize he was in the Planned Parenthood parking lot, according to the police report. He said he was in the neighborhood looking for his girlfriend, a woman he said he had met online a few months before and had been on a couple dates with.

Police have not been able to track down the mystery woman. Hackbarth said he didn't have her phone number or address, as he only communicated with her via an online dating site. He also told police he didn't remember the name of the site.

Hackbarth later told the Star Tribune that he had had coffee with the woman the day before and asked her out to dinner. She declined, saying she had plans with a female friend in the Highland Park, the neighborhood around the Planned Parenthood clinic.

But he didn't believe her.

"She gave me some line of baloney, and I thought, 'well, she's fibbing to me.' You could tell, and I thought, 'well, I'm going to check it out.' and I went there to see if she was around and her vehicle was not there. And I was just checking on her," he told the local CBS affiliate.

According to the Tribune, he thought she was with another man and wanted to look around the neighborhood for her car. He didn't find it.

"I was not a jealous boyfriend," he said. "I was just trying to check up on her. It's totally a misunderstanding."

Police found maps, binoculars and more ammunition in his truck. They did not press charges, and returned Hackbarth's gun to him a week later.

Creepiest shit ever. Guy goes out stalking a woman who he's had a couple of cups of coffee with, with a loaded gun, and he gets to keep his job.

As a legislator.

When did i move to Bizarro World?

Continue reading "I was not a jealous boyfriend"

Paging Heath Shuler

Western North Carolina's conservative Democratic representative is trying to make a name for himself by attacking the liberal House leadership of his party.

Dude, here's a much better target for you. Do something with it if you really care about your constituents and your party.

Harris spent months condemning the idea of Americans being entitled to taxpayer-subsidized health care coverage. Now that the election's over, Harris suddenly feels entitled to taxpayer-subsidized health care coverage -- and wants it immediately. (For the record, Harris and his family will probably rely on COBRA to stay insured until his coverage kicks in. COBRA, of course, is another government program that the right opposed.)

That Harris apparently sought a public option for him and his family just makes the whole story that much more hilarious.

Just to clarify, I don't actually blame the far-right congressman-elect. He wants coverage for him and his family, and doesn't want to have to worry about a 28-day gap in which he, his wife, and his kids would have no protections if they get sick.

I do, however, blame the far-right congressman-elect for failing to realize that millions of American families want the same peace of mind he's seeking.

Harris wants to know "what he would do without 28 days of health care"? I don't know, Andy, what have tens of millions of Americans, including millions of children, done without access to quality health care for years? Why are you entitled to government-subsidized health care, but they're not? What will those families do after you repeal the Affordable Care Act? Wait for tort reform to magically cover everyone?

What an embarrassment.

Continue reading Paging Heath Shuler

Deep thought

You know, in a way i'm kinda glad that North Carolina rejected Erskine Bowles as our Senator.

Twice.

Continue reading Deep thought

Another attorney who doesn't understand the Constitution

The attorney for Andrew Shirvell, the assistant attorney general under fire for his attacks on a University of Michigan student, says his client has been fired.

A hearing that was supposed to be held Tuesday was moved up to this afternoon. Philip Thomas said he showed up for the meeting and was read one sentence.

“They said essentially that as a result of Andrew’s conduct, it’s become impossible for him to carry out his duties as an attorney general.”

Shirvell had been criticized for his blog in which he calls Chris Armstrong, the president of the Michigan Student Assembly, a radical homosexual, a Nazi and Satan’s representative on the assembly. Thomas had said his client is expressing his free-speech rights.

Nobody is saying that Andrew Shirvell, who appears to be a nut job of the first rank, cannot continue to publish his blog. His free speech rights are not being denied.

What the people of the state have Michigan have determined, though, is that someone who publishes a blog dedicated to harassing "Satan's representative" on the Michigan Student Assembly is no longer able to credibly oversee criminal prosecutions in a court of law. Shirvell may have some civil service protections, and i'd bet money that a law suit alleging wrongful termination will be filed this fall. And a job offer from Fox.

That ought to be fun.

UPDATE: This is worth watching.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Look Who's Stalking
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Continue reading Another attorney who doesn't understand the Constitution

The rich? Still different

My friend JH posted this via Facebook. What you have is a guy in a car hitting a guy on a bike, driving away, and leaving the victim for dead. Then it gets interesting.

Milo was bicycling eastbound on Highway 6 just east of Miller Ranch Road, when Erzinger allegedly hit him with the black 2010 Mercedes Benz sedan he was driving. Erzinger fled the scene and was arrested later, police say.

Erzinger allegedly veered onto the side of the road and hit Milo from behind. Milo was thrown to the pavement, while Erzinger struck a culvert and kept driving, according to court documents.

Erzinger drove all the way through Avon, the town's roundabouts, under I-70 and stopped in the Pizza Hut parking lot where he called the Mercedes auto assistance service to report damage to his vehicle, and asked that his car be towed, records show. He did not ask for law enforcement assistance, according to court records.

Erzinger told police he was unaware he had hit Milo, court documents say.

When Avon police arrived he was putting a broken side mirror and a bumper in his trunk, court record say.

Meanwhile another motorist, Steven Lay of Eagle, stopped to help Milo and called 911.

Court records say prosecutors expressed skepticism to Milo at a suggestion by Erzinger's defense attorneys that Erzinger might have unknowingly suffered from sleep apnea, and that might have made him caused him to fall asleep at the wheel and hit Milo.

Pretty straight forward so far. Erzinger is the driver, Milo the guy on the bike. Erzinger doesn't deny hitting Milo, but claimed to be "unaware" of the incident. His lawyer suggested perhaps "sleep apnea" was to blame, but also does not contest that his client was driving the car that struck the bicyclist.

A little background about the victim:

Milo suffered spinal cord injuries, bleeding from his brain and damage to his knee and scapula, according to court documents. Over the past six weeks he has suffered “disabling” spinal headaches and faces multiple surgeries for a herniated disc and plastic surgery to fix the scars he suffered in the accident.

“He will have lifetime pain,” Haddon wrote. “His ability to deal with the physical challenges of his profession — liver transplant surgery — has been seriously jeopardized.”

And some about the accused:

Erzinger, an Arrowhead homeowner, is a director in private wealth management at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Denver. His biography on Worth.com states that Erzinger is “dedicated to ultra high net worth individuals, their families and foundations.”

Erzinger manages more than $1 billion in assets. He would have to publicly disclose any felony charge within 30 days, according to North American Securities Dealers regulations.

You can tell where this is going, right?

A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.

Martin Joel Erzinger, 52, faces two misdemeanor traffic charges stemming from a July 3 incident when he allegedly hit bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo from behind then sped away, according to court documents.

Milo and his attorney, Harold Haddon, are livid about the prosecution's decision to drop the felony charge. They filed their objection Wednesday afternoon, the day after prosecutors notified Haddon's office by fax of their decision.

. . .

Milo wrote in a letter to District Attorney Mark Hurlbert that the case “has always been about responsibility, not money.”

“Mr. Erzinger struck me, fled and left me for dead on the highway,” Milo wrote. “Neither his financial prominence nor my financial situation should be factors in your prosecution of this case.”

Hurlbert said Thursday that, in part, this case is about the money.

“The money has never been a priority for them. It is for us,” Hurlbert said. “Justice in this case includes restitution and the ability to pay it.”

Hurlbert said Erzinger is willing to take responsibility and pay restitution.

“Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger's profession, and that entered into it,” Hurlbert said. “When you're talking about restitution, you don't want to take away his ability to pay.”

“We have talked with Mr. Haddon and we had their objections, but ultimately it's our call,” Hurlbert said.

Dropping the felony charge is not a revelation, Hurlbert said.

“We had been talking with them about this misdemeanor disposition for a while now,” Hurlbert said. “The misdemeanor charges really are what he did.”

Really?

Hit and run is a misdemeanor?

Not if the accident results in "serious bodily injury to any person."

How often do you hear a public servant drop the bullshit and say, flat out, this guy is being treated differently because he's rich?

Continue reading The rich? Still different

Froot Loops

Why not tell NC Representative Larry Brown what you think of him by making a donation to Equality NC in his name? For every donation, ENC will send the Rep. a box of Froot Loops.

Don't forget to keep House Minority Leader Paul Stam in your thoughts as well.

Continue reading Froot Loops

Words fail

Read this:

In this rural section of Tennessee, Gene Cranick’s home caught on fire. As the Cranicks fled their home, their neighbors alerted the county’s firefighters, who soon arrived at the scene. Yet when the firefighters arrived, they refused to put out the fire, saying that the family failed to pay the annual subscription fee to the fire department. Because the county’s fire services for rural residences is based on household subscription fees, the firefighters, fully equipped to help the Cranicks, stood by and watched as the home burned to the ground:

Now, you can bloviate all you want about conservative values and the Founding Fathers. But i'm pretty sure it was Ben Franklin who put the notion of universal firefighting into action, at a time when most communities had exactly this kind of subscription based firefighting services.

I've joked at times that the current crop of conservatives want to take us back to he 50s, the 1850s that is. The reality is they'd be happy with the 1650s.

For those of you wondering, it appears that no people were injured in this incident, just pets.

Which doesn't make me feel better at all.

Continue reading Words fail

Deep thought

Outside of Saudia Arabia or Iran, is there another country in the world besides the US where a fucking moron like Jim DeMint could hold a position of influence and power?

Continue reading Deep thought

(New) Pornographers

It's not whacky enough that Republicans in Delaware nominated an anti-masturbation crusader to be their candidate for the US Senate yesterday.

This is the cake-topper, if you ask me:

Regrettably, Calvin College has decided to rescind its invitation to the band, The New Pornographers, slated to perform on Friday, October 15, 2010, in the Fieldhouse Complex on campus. We believe that the decision to invite the band fit our rubric of engaging culture through a Christian lens. The band makes good, thoughtful music, and we invited them here based on their artistic merit. However, after weeks of discussion and consideration, the irony of the band's name was impossible to explain to many. The band's name, to some, is mistakenly associated with pornography. Consequently, Calvin, to some, was mistakenly associated with pornography. Neither the college nor the band endorses pornography. The Student Activities Office regrets the way this has happened. We regret the message we have sent to the band and their fans with this cancellation, and any confusion this has caused generally. We have been in contact with the band to explain this regret and the breakdown in our own processes that led us to first invite them and then withdraw that invitation. Calvin College remains committed to the difficult, yet important work at faithfully engaging popular culture.

Since i've never been a Christian, i have no inside information. But is there something about deciding to "engage culture through a Christian lens" that flips the stupid switch in your brain? It's a big, wide, wonderful world and we're only in it for a short time, too short a time to be freaking out about whether or not a band's name is appropriate, or if 14 year olds are touching themselves.

Continue reading (New) Pornographers

This is a joke, right?

AP writer Beth Fouhy's lede:

In the past, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was marked by somber reflection and a call to unity, devoid of politics. No more.

Nope, 9/11 was never politicized.

Continue reading This is a joke, right?

Harry Reid grows a pair and stands up for the Constitution

In a forceful statement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, today announced his support for upholding the first amendment's guarantees of religious freedom. "It's not a matter for political discussion where anyone chooses to build a house of worship," the Senator, who has a slight lead in the polls for his re-election campaign, said today. "As long as local building and zoning codes are respected, the government has no business poking its head into that conversation."

What?

That was Bizarro Harry Reid who said that?

Damn.

Our Harry Reid:

"The First Amendment protects freedom of religion. Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else," said a statement from Reid spokesman Jim Manley.

Pretty soon Press Secretary Gibbs will issue a statement blaming more of President Obama's problems on the professional left.

Continue reading Harry Reid grows a pair and stands up for the Constitution

Number one reason to live in Durham

"It may not pass the smell test, but it's legal." - County Attorney Lowell "Encyclopedia Brown" Siler, at the Durham BoCC meeting, 8/9/10.

Nice to know we've set the bar so high.

Continue reading Number one reason to live in Durham

Oh, fuck Priceline

Any of you thinking about using the Shat's website to book a room somewhere?

Think again.

Dear Barry,

Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. e understand that you would like us to cancel your reservation at the Courtyard By Marriott Wilmington and refund the full amount or make a reservation foryour in Wrightsville Beach and charge you $25.00.

As advised earlier, per our records, you have chosen Wilmington area at the time of placing your hotel request and our system has booked your reservation accordingly.

Prior to submitting your request, you were asked to review and initial acontract. This contract contained the travel information you entered during the request process and outlined the terms of the offer, including the restriction that your reservation would not be changed or canceled.

For your reference, a copy of your contract page has been sent in a separate e-mail.

We apologize, but we are unable to make reservations on customer's behalf.

We are able to make an exception, and cancel your reservation for a fee,with your approval to cancel your reservation. It is very important that you contact us before your current check-in date, which is 08/02/2010. We are not able to refund or make changes after this time.

Upon receipt of your approval via e-mail, we will cancel your reservation minus a cancellation fee of $110.70. We will send a separatee-mail with instructions outlining how to submit a new request on our website with the correct information. If you follow the instructions and are successful in booking a new reservation, we will refund the cancel fee minus a flat change fee of $25.00.

Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience and hope you find this information helpful.

Sincerely,

Kutubuddin K.
Customer Service Specialist

Click through the photo below, and you'll see that Priceline's website clearly shows that Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach are two distinct areas. I know how much rooms go for in Wilmington, and how much they go for in Wrightsville this time of year. I don't need Priceline to book a room for 100 bucks in downtown Wilmington.

And from now on, i don't need Priceline to do anything for me. And i hope you don't either.

Continue reading Oh, fuck Priceline

Yep, i'm stupid

Colorado Republican Ken Buck wants to be perfectly clear: He does not think President Obama poses a bigger threat to the country than Al Qaeda. That's an honor he reserves for the "progressive liberal movement." Got it?

. . .

"But I think the largest threat we really have is the progressive liberal movement. I think if Barack Obama stepped down tomorrow, we would still have that threat."

So, we've spent a trillion dollars fighting enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan who aren't even as big a threat to the US as the progressive wing of the Democratic Party?

I guess i'm too stupid to comprehend that.

Continue reading Yep, i'm stupid

Perhaps the stupidest argument ever

Fairway Outdoor Advertising executive Paul Hickman, who tried to pull a fast one last week by representing the views of three Durham citizens as those of the city's Partners Against Crime community, returns this week with a piece in the Herald-Sun that attempts to argue that new billboards in Durham will do just about everything except cure male pattern baldness and erectile dysfunction, although we can assume that the new billboards tell us how to cure those problems (well, those of us who need help, anyway.)

My life is too short to spend the time necessary to pick apart Hickman's arguments point by point, although if any of you want to in the comments, feel free.

Here's my favorite, though:

Other public service messages would include a community calendar announcing all of the festivals and events in the area, which would in turn benefit Durham's economy.

Right, Paul.

Because in a community like Durham, where over a thousand people turn out to an undavertised event like a food truck rodeo in a quickie mart parking lot on a Sunday morning, the way to find out what's going on in town is by 8 second messages flashed up on digital billboards along our highways.

Hey, anything that will keep people from posting to and reading their local neighborhood listservs, where much of the discussion these days centers around defeating Fairway's billboard proposal, right?

Here's a clue, Paul. All those festivals and shit you're gonna promote on your digital billboards in 8 second chunks? Guess what? We're the ones who make them happen, we're the ones who tell our friends about them on the listservs, on our blogs, on Facebook, and yes, when we meet each other at the bar, at the grocery store, at a potluck, at church, just about every place where people in the community meet.

Except when we're driving in our cars. Don't meet too many people that way.

Perhaps if you hung out with other folks in Durham besides your attorney you'd understand that.

Continue reading Perhaps the stupidest argument ever

Your best entertainment value

NPR commenters.

Continue reading Your best entertainment value

They hate us for our freedoms

AP:

In Egypt, tentative plans to schedule (Elton) John were canceled this month. Mounir el-Wasimi, the head of the Egyptian musicians' union, warned against the singer's possible visit in a statement that said he was "a symbol of homosexuals in the world."

Fortunately, all Islamophobes in the US are proud supporters of gay rights.

Continue reading They hate us for our freedoms

I don't care who you are, that's funny

Obama lies about going to kid's soccer match?

To recap: Corben claimed there were no soccer games at the field. There were. Corben claimed the field is in a high crime area. It isn't. And Corben suggested that nobody from the press saw Obama at the game. They did.

Of course this is all laughably ridiculous, and nobody with an iota of common sense or journalistic responsibility would pick this up - which is what made it a great fit for Rush Limbaugh on his show yesterday

Seriously, that's the best they've got?

Continue reading I don't care who you are, that's funny