To celebrate 4/20 yesterday, Jimmy Kimmel sent his Pop Pot Quiz correspondent out onto Venice Beach to ask some stoners questions about both the U.S. government and marijuana.
You will just have to watch the video to see how they did…
Last week, congressional Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to
give the Obama administration Trade Promotion Authority, which would
give the administration more leeway to negotiate trade treaties, like
the 12 country Trans Pacific Partnership, with less congressional
interference. It’s being billed as the first big fight
within the Democratic presidential primary, pitting labor groups,
environmentalists and other progressive activists against the more New
Democrat, “corporate-friendly” wing of the party.
Since
the great battles within the Democratic presidential primary will most
likely be played out within the Hillary Clinton campaign, not among
various competitive candidates, all eyes turned to the former secretary
of state for her position on TPP. Her campaign’s spokesperson, Nick
Merrill, issued a statement last Friday saying Clinton had not made up her mind yet:
A
statement from her spokesperson, Nick Merrill, Friday afternoon struck a
delicate balance. “Hillary Clinton believes that any new trade measure
has to pass two tests: First, it should put us in a position to protect
American workers, raise wages and create more good jobs at home. Second,
it must also strengthen our national security. We should be willing to
walk away from any outcome that falls short of these tests,” Merrill
said.
“The goal is greater prosperity and security for American
families, not trade for trade’s sake. She will be watching closely to
see what is being done to crack down on currency manipulation, improve
labor rights, protect the environment and health, promote transparency,
and open new opportunities for our small businesses to export overseas.
As she warned in her book, “Hard Choices,” we shouldn’t be giving
special rights to corporations at the expense of workers and consumers,”
Clinton’s spokesperson continued.
Uh-huh. So, here’s
a question: If Clinton does eventually come out against TPP, why would
anyone in their right mind believe that? If candidate Clinton says that
as president, she would either withdraw from or renegotiate TPP, how
naive would you possibly have to be to believe that she would follow
through with that?
Within hours of Merrill’s statement, IBT reporter David Sirota dug up a Clinton statement from 2012 swooning
over TPP. You know all that stuff about labor and environmental
protections that Clinton says she’s going to keep a close eye on? In
2012, she referred to TPP as the “gold standard” there.
In November 2012, the then-secretary of state declared that
“we need to keep upping our game both bilaterally and with partners
across the region through agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership
or TPP. … This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open
free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule
of law and a level playing field. And when negotiated, this agreement
will cover 40 percent of the world’s total trade and build in strong
protections for workers and the environment.”
You
could argue that Clinton was only saying that in her official capacity
as secretary of state, serving at the pleasure of the Obama
administration. That in her heart of hearts, she was always mighty suspicious of this gargantuan trade deal. Perhaps her campaign will try to run with that excuse.
So what does Clinton
believe deep down? The best way to decide how Hillary Clinton really
feels about trade deals is to delve into her history. Hillary was a
consistent supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement from the time her husband pushed it through upon entering office through the early 2000s. Only
when she launched her first presidential bid, in 2007, did she begin to
argue that NAFTA “has not lived up to its promises.”
Both
Clinton and then-Sen. Barack Obama made suckers out of progressive
primary voters when it came to trade issues in the 2008 election. Each
promised to renegotiate NAFTA if they became president. This was a big
deal ahead of the Ohio primary, where trade agreements have served the
working-class economy poorly.
Clinton won the primary safely thanks in part to “NAFTAgate.” In the days ahead of the vote, you see, a Canadian government memo
leaked, revealing a meeting Obama campaign economist Austan Goolsbee
conducted with a Canadian government official. Goolsbee reassured the
Canadians that Obama’s anti-NAFTA rhetoric was just for the sake of
“political positioning,” and that they had no reason to worry otherwise.
The Obama campaign tried to deny the story, but that didn’t work so well.
As
we know, Obama became president of the United States and appointed
Clinton his secretary of state. The two of them combined spent
approximately zero seconds working to renegotiate NAFTA, but they did
push forward on new, bigger, more opaque trade agreements.
If
Hillary Clinton comes out against TPP, or promises to renegotiate TPP
to make it perfect and great for workers (should it reach the finish
line), there’s little reason to digest it as anything other than
pandering. The only interesting aspect of her public statements on TPP —
and trade deals in general — is political: what hedged language she’ll
settle on to secure access to labor unions’ campaign cash ATM's, and how
low labor sets its bar because it’s a captive interest of the Democratic
Party and has nowhere else to go.
District Attorney Kari Brandenburg has provided new details in the case
of two Albuquerque police officers who are under investigation for
brutality after allegedly beating a homeless man on March 20. According
to Brandenburg, the person who reported the assault was a police cadet
who has since resigned.
Few details are known about what exactly transpired, and Police Chief
Gorden Eden told KOAT that it is partly because he’s concerned for the
safety of the cadet who reported the incident. Mayor Richard Berry says
the fact that it was an employee shows there is a level of comfort and
internal accountability within the department, as someone felt safe
enough to come forward. However, the department is afraid for anyone to
know the identity of the cadet – possibly implying that they do not even
trust their own officers.
The department has not named the
officers involved, provided any details on the beating or condition of
the victim, or even reported where exactly the incident took place.
The
only information shared by the chief came from a YouTube video posted
to the department’s Facebook page. He stated that an internal affairs
investigation was immediately launched and the Department of Justice,
FBI, and US Attorney’s Office were also notified. The case is now being
investigated by the state police.
Since 2009, the troubled department has been involved in 47 shootings, 32 of which were fatal.
Chief Eden has stated that these numbers reflect a “systemic failure in our ability to track employee misconduct.”
In April of last year, the department was accused of using excessive force by the Justice Department after the frightening murder of the homeless James Boyd when he was approached for “illegally camping.” Boyd was shot by an officer who had discussed his plans to shoot him in the penis, hours prior to his death. Their own police chief openly admitted that he is stuck with officers who should not be on the force.
“Based
on our investigation, we have reasonable cause to believe that APD
engages in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including
deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment and Section 14141.
Our investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations
and the City’s oversight systems. We have determined that structural and
systemic deficiencies—including insufficient oversight, inadequate
training, and ineffective policies— contribute to the use of
unreasonable force,” the Department of Justice wrote of the department.
While
the APD may have lost a desperately needed actual “good cop”, the
violent duo accused of the assault are currently on paid leave.
SACRAMENTO, CA - AUG 19: Bill Maher performs at Sacramento Convention Center in Sacramento, California on August 19th, 2011 Photo Credit: Randy Miramontez/Shutterstock
Bill Maher’s long, illustrious career is perhaps, more than anything
else, an excellent example of mass public manipulation. Under the guise
of being a liberal comedian, he has managed to build for himself an
ultra-successful career predicated on being a massive dick.
Maher has
been consistently racist, sexist, transphobic and
otherwise ignorant throughout his career, and responds to each
allegation of hatred with more indignation than before. Let’s set the
record straight: Bill Maher is a bigot. A bigot with a HBO show, but a
bigot nonetheless.
Here are some of his worst moments:
1. When he compared former One Direction member Zayn Malik with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
“Just
tell me two things, Zayn,” Maher said in a Web clip. “Which one in the
band were you? And where were you during the Boston Marathon?”
Malik is half Pakistani. The Boston Marathon bombers were half-Chechen. The joke is 100 percent bad.
2. When he defended NFL player Shawne Merriman for choking Tila Tequila
“All these billion people don’t hold these pernicious beliefs? That’s just not true, Ben.”
5. When he said Hillary Clinton tried crying to get her way
In 2008, Maher discussed Clinton’s campaign strategy:
“I’m not trying to be sexist here, but I’m just saying that women try a
lot of different tacks when they’re in arguments… I’m not being sexist,
I’m just saying that men, when we argue, we’re kind of a one-trick pony
— we try our thing, and then we sulk when we don’t get our way.”
“But
look at Hillary Clinton,” he said before playing a number of clips of
Clinton on the campaign trail. “Because the first thing a woman does, of
course, is cry… and then they go to sweet talking… and then they throw
an anger fit totally unrelated to anything…. And when it doesn’t work,
they bring out the sarcasm.”
6. When he suggested that all Muslims support the Charlie Hebdo attack
“I
know most Muslim people would not have carried out an attack like
this,” he said. “But here’s the important point. Hundreds of millions of
them support an attack like this. They applaud an attack like this.
What they say is, we don’t approve of violence, but you know what, when
you make fun of the prophet, all bets are off.”
Employees at five Walmart
stores find themselves out of a job this week after the multinational
retailer temporarily shuttered a number of its stores and super centers –
because of alleged plumbing problems. Thousands of workers were laid
off by the discount department store, surprising everyone, especially
the over 2,200 employees, many of whom say they were literally only
given hours notice.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Writes CNN Money:
“The reason for the shut down: plumbing problems, according to the
retailer. Two of the stores are in Texas, and the others are in
California, Florida and Oklahoma. They will be closed for ‘extended
repairs’ for approximately six months, the company said. The stores
closed at 7 p.m. Monday, after workers were notified just hours before
that they were losing their jobs.”
The abruptness of the announcement has left many employees
questioning if Walmart is being truthful about the cause of the hasty
closings. Officials at area locations have said that there is no record
of any work or building permits being filed by Walmart prior to
undertaking these “major pluming repairs.”
Rene Bobadilla, a city repair manager from Pico Rivera, Calif. said
of their local Walmart store: “This is the first time we're hearing of
their sewer problems.”
According to ABC Action News,
the Midland, Texas store, “which, until Monday, was home to one of the
10 busiest Wal-Mart stores in the country,” was visited by City Building
Official Steve Thorpe.
According to ABC, “his plumbing inspector was
sent away” when he arrived.
Each store followed the same protocol – Walmart corporate officials
arrived unannounced, called an impromptu meeting of the senior staff,
and told them that the store would be closed that evening.
Venanzi Luna, who managed the deli department at the Pico River Super
Walmart, said of the announcement: “Everybody just panicked and started
crying.”
Walmart released a statement, indicating that full-time and part-time
employees will receive two months worth of paid leave. They are also
free to look into the possibility of transferring to another Walmart. If
they cannot, then some of the former employees – only those who worked
full-time – may be eligible for a severance package. When the stores
reopen, some may be eligible to return.
“Our goal, of course, as a business is to keep our stores open and
serving customers,” the company’s statement read. “We made a tough
business decision in five locations around the country to fix recurring
plumbing problems in these stores. We understand this decision has been
difficult on our associates and our customers and we aim to reopen these
stores as soon as these issues are resolved and improvements are made.”
Plumber Codi Bauer, who did previous pipe and drainage work at the
now closed Walmart in Brandon, Florida, questioned the repair time frames
given.
“Even if they had to replace the whole sewer line, it wouldn't take six months,” Bauer said.
Luna, like many employees, think the plumbing repairs are a
smokescreen to weed out employees.
Many local contractors say that for
almost all plumbing issues, the store could certainly remain open.
If
they were forced to close, then six months is excessive. Brand new
Walmarts can be built from the ground up in six month’s time, they say.
Luna said she believes her location was targeted for its involvement in Black Friday protests
and demonstrations demanding higher pay. Other employees are coming up
with similar thoughts as they find themselves without a job this
weekend.
Sony condemns WikiLeaks' republishing of data stolen in a crippling hack last year.
AFP/Getty Images
WikiLeaks
has republished the data stolen in last year's crippling hack of Sony
Pictures Entertainment, making all the documents and emails available in
a "fully searchable" format.
Although hackers had released the data in raw, bulk form last fall, WikiLeaks -- best known for the release of classified government and military documents
- announced Thursday it has published the information in a searchable
database called "The Sony Archives." The release of the data cache,
which includes 30,287 documents, 173,132 emails, and other sensitive
information, proved a disruptive and embarrassing security gaffe for the
studio - one that the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant is
still trying to contain.
"This archive shows the inner workings of
an influential multinational corporation," WikiLeaks editor in chief
Julian Assange said in a statement
on the website. "It is newsworthy and at the centre of a geo-political
conflict. It belongs in the public domain. WikiLeaks will ensure it
stays there."
Sony representatives condemned WikiLeaks' republishing the data, calling the initial cyberattack a "malicious criminal act."
"The
attackers used the dissemination of stolen information to try to harm
SPE and its employees, and now WikiLeaks regrettably is assisting them
in that effort," Sony Pictures said in a statement. "We vehemently
disagree with WikiLeaks' assertion that this material belongs in the
public domain and will continue to fight for the safety, security, and
privacy of our company and its more than 6,000 employees."
The security breach, which Sony discovered in
late November, turned out to be more serious and pervasive than
initially believed, forced Sony to shut down its computer network for
several weeks and delay issuing its quarterly results. A group calling
itself #GOP, aka "Guardians of Peace," claimed responsibility and said
it had obtained internal information. Hackers leaked the personal information
-- including Social Security numbers - of more than 47,000
celebrities, freelancers. and current and former Sony employees. They
also leaked then-unreleased movies, as well as embarrassing emails
between Sony Pictures executives, among other internal documents.
The
hackers, which the FBI traced to North Korea, were apparently trying to
prevent the release of the satirical movie "The Interview," which
depicts actors Seth Rogen and James Franco as TV journalists drawn into a
CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
In a
sternly worded letter sent to news organization in December, Sony
Pictures general counsel David Boies referred to the leaked Sony
documents as "stolen information" and warned them against any use of the leaked data. Later that month, Boies sent a similar letter to Twitter,
warning that if "stolen information continues to be disseminated by
Twitter in any manner," Sony "will have no choice but to hold Twitter
responsible for any damage or loss arising from such use or
dissemination by Twitter."
Despite the negative attention
generated by the hack, Sony said in January that it didn't expect the
security breach to have a substantial impact on its earnings. While some
reports pinned Sony's cost to overcome the hack as high as $100
million, Sony's preliminary fiscal third-quarter financial results
in February revealed that the company planned to take a $15 million
charge in the current quarter to cover "investigation and remediation
costs" related to the breach.
A conservative video blogger with over a million views on
YouTube said this week that he would likely vote for Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton because he was terrified that a
Republican president would take away his affordable health insurance.
James Webb, a 51-year-old YouTube celebrity who devotes his “Hot Lead” channel to topics like his love of guns and ranting about gay men kissing on The Walking Dead, may have shocked his viewers on Monday when he revealed that he was torn over which party to vote for in the 2016 election.
“And
I’m serious because I asked myself, ‘Which party has helped me out the
most in the last, I don’t know, 15 years, 20?’ And it was the Democrat
[SIC] Party,” Webb lamented. “If it wasn’t for Obama and that Obamacare,
I would still be working.”
“With Obamacare, I got to retire at
age 50 because if it wasn’t for Obamacare, I would have had to work
until I was 65 and get on Medicare because health insurance is expensive
when you’ve got medical problems,” he continued.
Webb said that
he hoped to lose some weight and get in shape by taking advantage of a
gym membership that was covered by his health insurance.
“But you
know, the Republican Party, they haven’t done nothing for me, man.
Nothing,” he remarked. “So, I’m leaning toward voting for Hillary unless
something major comes up. I don’t trust the Republicans anymore because
they’re wanting to repeal the Obamacare. And I don’t want them to do
that, man, because then I’ll have to go to work again. My life’s already
planned out.”
“Just a tough decision,” Webb sighed. “I voted for
Republicans for 32 years, I’m a charter member of my Tea Party Patriots
chapter. I’m also a veteran of the U.S. Army under Reagan, when Reagan
was in. That was great when Reagan was in there.”
“Things have
changed. So unless the Republicans change with it, I’m probably going to
have to swing my vote over toward Hillary.”
Watch the video below from the Hot Lead YouTube channel.
It is hard to believe that Paul Ryan (R-WI) and his ilk would be so
blatant in showing that their main purpose in Congress is to serve the
wealthy. This is neither hyperbole nor an exaggeration. Matt O'Brien in
the Washington Postsays it best:
A specter is haunting America's super-rich — the specter of progressive taxation.
Don't worry, though, the Republican Party is manning the barricades
against this menace. That's been true for the last 35 years, and it's no
less so now. Indeed, the Paul Ryan-led House Ways and Means Committee
just symbolically voted to end the estate tax entirely. In other words,
to stand in solidarity with the heirs of the top 0.2 percent.
That's how many households pay the estate tax now: 2 out of 1,000.
Why so low? Well, the first $5.43 million that an individual or $10.86
million that a couple leaves behind isn't taxed when they pass away. The
estate tax, with its 40 percent top rate, only kicks in for anything
more than that. And even then, creative accountants and big deductions
can shield a lot of the rest from Uncle Sam. So it's important to
remember that there's a difference between the top marginal tax rate and
the effective tax rate that estates pay.
Since the super-rich only owe
the estate tax on some of what they own, they actually pay, on average,
16.6 percent of the value of their estate.
Here is the thing: According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
the estate tax repeal would cost $269 billion in reduced revenues
between fiscal 2016 and 2025. If one counts the incurred interest on the
debt from the deficit it would create, the figure jumps to $320
billion.
Worse, the estate tax repeal affects only 0.2 percent of
Americans—in other words, 99.8 percent of Americans get no benefit from
said tax cut because they could not possibly inherit, or receive income
and capital they did not work for, that would qualify for the estate tax
repeal.
At the same time that Ryan and his ilk are willing to donate more financial benefits to their wealthy benefactors, their proposed budget would cut $5 trillion in programs
during the same period for low- and moderate-income Americans. They
also make deep cuts in investments that strengthen productivity and
future economic growth such as education, training, and basic research.
The estate tax repeal is an immoral act. First, the rich did not get
wealthy in a vacuum. Absent a system that transfers the value of one's
excess labor to the employer/shareholder, the rich would not have more
than the working person. As such, they owe our entire society for
existing within an economic model that affords them their wealth.
Transferring said wealth tax-free upon death to an heir who did not earn
it is a supremely immoral act. It is a transfer of unearned wealth
without a pay-in to the society that allowed for its existence.
There are over 300 million Americans, and as pointed out by Ed
Schultz and Congressman Chris van Hollen, Ryan and his allies are
willing to inflict further pain on the poor and the middle class to give
free money to about 4,000 super-rich Americans. That is immoral. One
can only guess that Ryan and his ilk follow the doctrine of this Christian conservative who believes it’s heresy to deny that God entitles the rich at the expense of the masses.
These politicians will continue acting with disregard for the masses
until the masses mobilize with a conviction politicians cannot deny.
Mobilization does not only mean street protest, although that is part of
it.
Mobilization means doing what you are capable of doing to be a part,
however small or large, in forcing a change—hounding your representative
on the phone, fax, and via letters. Mobilization means calling into
Koch-inspired right-wing talk shows to use their platform to tell the
truth, even if you simply get 10 seconds to do so.
Mobilization means voting, and encouraging and taking others to vote.
Mobilization means civilly providing truth in a digestible manner to
your family, neighbors, and acquaintances anywhere (grocery store,
coffee shop, hair salon, barber shop, etc.)
Mobilization means being involved and engaged. Paul Ryan and his
allies can lie, confuse, and misinform because enough of us in the
grassroots and in the know are not as relentless in enlightening our
family, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances. Let's get busy.
You know what you call someone who makes sweeping generalizations on
billions of people based on the extreme actions of a few? A bigot. Bill
Maher, for example, is a bigot. And if you’re a fan of his smug,
dismissive shtick, you’re a bigot too.
On Friday’s “Real
Time,” Maher, who has been openly atheist his whole career but has been
increasingly vocal against organized religion in recent years, squared
off against Fareed Zakaria, who gave a powerful rebuttal to Maher’s
reiteration of the “Islam is the motherlode of bad ideas”assertion.
“My problem with the way you approach it,” Zakaria said, “is I don’t
think you’re going to reform a religion by telling 1.6 billion people —
most of whom are just devout people who get some inspiration from that
religion and go about their daily lives — I don’t think you’re going to
change religion by saying your religion is the motherlode of bad ideas,
it’s a terrible thing. Frankly, you’re going to make a lot of news for
yourself and you’re going to get a lot of applause lines and joke
lines.” Instead, he urged, “Push for reform with some sense of respect for the spiritual values.”And on behalf of Muslims, Christians, Jews and anybody else who prays to somebody sometimes, let me just say, thank you.
As
the threats of terrorism and right-wing Christianity have risen in the
past few years, Maher’s aggressive brand of atheism — also popularized by the likes of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris
— has gained a strong following among a certain type of self-professed
intellectual. Maher has famously said, “Religion is dangerous because it
allows human beings who don’t have all the answers to think that they
do” — which is pretty funny, given the know-it-all arrogance of the
anti-religion big leaguers like Maher himself.
As Zakaria very
eloquently pointed out, that stance has given Maher more power and reach
than he’s ever had in his long career. But whatever you believe or
don’t, if you’re selling blanket intolerance, you don’t get to call
yourself one of the good guys. You shouldn’t even get to call yourself
one of the smart ones.
I’m a Christian, which in my urban,
media-centric world is basically equivalent to self-identifying as a
hillbilly. It also means that I have to accept that I apply the same
word to myself that a lot of hateful morons
do. But on Sunday at my little neighborhood church, our priest
delivered a sermon in which he said, “I can’t understand how in places
like Indiana, people are using Christianity as an excuse to close their
doors, when we should be welcoming to everyone.” Guess what? That’s
faith too. I am also keenly aware that in other parts of the world, people are being murdered
for a faith that I am privileged to practice openly and without fear.
And anyone, anywhere, who is openly hateful to others for their religion
is part of a culture that permits that kind of persecution to endure.
Here’s
what I would like Bill Maher and his smug, self-righteous acolytes to
understand. There are literally billions of individuals in this world
who are not murderous, ignorant, superstitious, hatemongers, who also
happen to practice a religion. Billions of people who I swear — to God —
have no investment in forcing their beliefs on Bill Maher. Right here
in the U.S., there are millions of my fellow Christians who are strongly
committed to the ideals of the Constitution, and who don’t want to live
in a theocracy any more than they do.
I recently had a
conversation with an atheist friend who asked why, knowing all I do of
the wrongs committed by the Catholic Church, disagreeing as strongly as I
do with many of its positions on women’s rights, LGBT equality and
reproductive justice, I continue to stay within it. And my reply was
that this is where I feel I can do the most good. I am not a
disinterested party. I’m a citizen of my church and I’m going to
continue to demand better of it. I don’t, however, want to sell it to
anybody else. You don’t have to believe in God — or however else you may
define the concept of something else out there. I don’t have all the
answers to life, the universe and everything; I’m just trying to get
through this plane of existence in a manner that’s philosophically
satisfying and guides me in the direction of not being a selfish jerk.
That’s it.
All I ask — all that many, many, many of us who practice
their respective religions ask — is that you conduct yourself with
respect and compassion and a spirit of coexistence,
and we’ll do the same. I ask that you not make assumptions about the
vast majority of the world’s population based on your own need to feel
good about yourself and how smart you are. Like Zakaria says, you’re not
going to bring about reform that way. And as Maher and his ilk prove,
you don’t need a religion to be in the business of spreading hate.
Hillary's running for president because everyday Americans need a
champion—and she wants to be that champion. Watch her announcement video
to kick off the campaign.
Senator Dr. Rand Paul has fucked up in so many ways
since kicking off his presidential campaign on Tuesday that we are
probably going to be able to write a daily “How Is Rand Paul Fucking Up
Today?” feature for this here Wonkette for the next year.
We’re really
looking forward to documenting all the ways Paul will fuck up between
now and the day next February when he suspends his campaign after
finishing ninth in Iowa behind Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Zombie
Orval Faubus, and a placemat from a Council Bluffs Denny’s.
Anyway, how has Rand Paul fucked up today, on day three of his galactic fuck-up of a campaign?
A spot on the Senate Homeland Security Committee is a plum
assignment, one that a presidential candidate could really use to
burnish his national security credentials during a time when,
Republicans keep reminding us, President Golf Bag’s own fuck-ups have
made the world such a dangerous place. This could especially be a good
spot for a candidate who keeps screaming “BENGHAAAZI!!1!” at Democratic
front-runner Hillary Clinton. The Republican base loves a person who
will scream “BENGHAAAZI!!1!” at Clinton until he is hoarse. So why has
Rand Paul skipped 68 of 73 Homeland Security Committee meetings in the last 15 months? An anonymous aide tells BuzzFeed:
In that same timeframe, he has made more than 98 percent
of the votes in the Senate and authored more than 50 bills and
amendments, all the while maintaining a full schedule of meetings with
Kentuckians in his office. When schedules conflict, he has chosen to
spend his time hearing the thoughts of Kentuckians.
Come on, guys. Have you seen that magnificent mop top of Rand Paul’s?
Just admit he has to spend a lot of time in the Senate barbershop
getting that perm spiffy and the hair curled just so, and all that follicle maintenance takes time away from Homeland Security meetings. We understand he has priorities.
BuzzFeed also reports the Paul campaign is threatening to sue TV stations
that run a commercial made by a Republican group attacking the
candidate for not being fully on board with bombing Iran into a
rubble-strewn wasteland. The commercial actually uses Paul’s own quotes,
and we know how candidates feel about opponents quoting the words that
they said with their mouth holes against them. (Hint: They do not care
for it!) We don’t think this tactic is going to make the senator look
like less of a dick, but he has won exactly one more Senate campaign
than we have, so what do we know.
Some footage in the video Paul showed at his kick-off on Tuesday may have violated rules
against Senate members using official government resources for a
campaign. At issue is a brief clip of the senator during his 13-hour
“filibuster” two years ago over John Brennan’s appointment to head the
CIA. According to Time:
“The use of any tape duplication of radio or television
coverage of the proceedings of the Senate for political campaign
purposes is strictly prohibited,” the Senate Manual states.
There is no word yet on whether Senate Democrats will lodge an
official complaint with the chamber’s Rules Committee or just note this
fuck-up and then let the Paul campaign flounder around whining about it.
Paul has made history – dubious who-gives-a-shit history, but
apparently history nonetheless – by becoming the first presidential
candidate to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin through his website.
As the New York Timespoints out,
this does raise some questions about whether some tech-savvy
contributors could use the relative anonymity of Bitcoin to get around
donation limits.The campaign has limited online Bitcoin donations to
$100, but as one election law expert points out, the currency is
essentially untraceable. Could motivated dudebros get around this limit
through straw donors and multiple accounts? The Times seems
split on the issue. In any case, Bitcoin is still new enough that the
amount Paul is likely to collect is probably pretty small. This only
becomes a major fuck-up if anyone decides to care.
Following up on that fuck-up from Wednesday when Paul gave his prickly interview with Savannah Guthrie, the ladies on Fox’s “Outnumbered” today went on the air
to say that … the senator is the one who looked bad in the exchange?
Hang on, we’re going to slap our face a few times and re-watch the
video. Okay, yes!
We can confirm (EXCLUSIVE! MUST CREDIT WONKETTE!) that
Rand Paul was such a dick to Guthrie that even Andrea Tantaros noticed. Even Andrea Tantaros thinks
the senator needs to work on his temperament, particularly with women
reporters. It’s bad optics, which as Yr Doktor Zoom points out, is an
area that one would think an eye doctor would be particularly concerned
with. There does seem to be a split here amongst right-wing females on
this point. Disagreeing with Tantaros is Megyn Kelly,
who interviewed Rand Paul on her show last night and gave him some free
advice, just in case there is anyone out there who still pretends Fox
is not a propaganda organ for the Republican Party.
“Chuck Todd came out and said you had to be careful
because you attacked two prominent female interviewers. The Guardian
said you were condescending to female reporters,” Kelly told Paul.
“I, as a female reporter, would say to Chuck Todd and The Guardian,
we don’t need your help. Savannah Guthrie doesn’t need your help. Kelly
Evans doesn’t need your help, and you are entitled to push back on the
interviewer just as much as you would if you are a man.”
Also on his side is – ugh – Dana Loesch. Always a good ally to have if you want to run your campaign directly into a wall.
Sure, being a combative, bad-tempered jackwagon in interviews is a
great strategy for winning an election. Just ask President John McCain.
For the record, yr Wonkette is split on this issue. While we agree that
Rand Paul’s dickishness knows no gender bias,
some of us also can’t imagine him shushing a male reporter the way he
did to Kelly Evans on CNBC recently. But the fact this will remain an
issue until Paul gets through one interview with a woman without turning
into Sean Connery in Goldfinger is a pretty major fuck-up.
Front-line workers at our nation’s big banks — tellers, loan
interviewers and customer service representatives — are required by
their employers to exploit customers, according to a revealing report out today from the Center for Popular Democracy
(CPD). Big banks have internal systems of penalties and rewards that
entice employees to push subprime loans and credit cards on customers
who would be better off without them.
CPD’s report outlines several illegal predatory practices big banks
have been caught employing, usually via their front-line workers:
Blatantly discriminatory lending:
In 2011 and 2012, Bank of America and Wells Fargo
paid out settlements for charging higher rates and fees to tens of
thousands of African American and Hispanic borrowers than to similarly
qualified white customers. Minority customers were also more likely to
be steered into (more expensive, riskier) subprime mortgages.
Manipulating payment processing to maximize overdraft charges:
When a savings account balance drops too low, the bank charges a hefty overdraft fee on each subsequent purchase. Both Bank of America and US Bank
paid settlements for intentionally processing customers’ largest debit
card payments first, regardless of chronological order, in order to hit
$0 faster and maximize overdraft fees. US Bank was also accused of
allowing debit card purchases on zero-balance accounts to go through
(and incur overdraft fees), instead of denying the charges upfront.
Forcing sale of unneeded products:
Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup were accused of forcing customers to purchase overpriced property insurance.
Manipulative sales quotas:
Lawsuits show Wells Fargo and Bank of America created incentive programs
for employees with the interests of the company — not the customer — in
mind. Wells Fargo’s sales quotas encouraged bank workers to steer prime-eligible customers
to subprime loans, while falsifying other clients’ income information
without their knowledge. Bank of America’s “Hustle” program rewarded quantity over quality, encouraging workers to skip processes and checks intended to protect the borrower.
Instead of cutting back on the risky, unethical practices that led to
the Great Recession, the CPD report asserts that big banks have not
learned from their mistakes. Bank workers report higher levels of sales
pressure in 2013 than in 2008, and most do not have the job security or
seniority to simply refuse to hawk credit cards or steer customers into
risky financial situations. While the financial sector is turning
near-record profits, the average bank teller made just $12.25 an hour in
2013 (a real-dollar decrease from 2007), causing 31 percent of tellers’
families to rely on public assistance. What’s more, 85 percent of these
underpaid front-line bank employees are women, and one-third are people
of color. Most are in no position to risk losing their job or having
their pay docked for stepping out of line.
Several anonymous big bank employees went into detail about how their employers incentivize sales:
An HSBC employee reported that when workers fell short of sales goals, the difference was taken out of their paychecks.
A teller at a major bank said she is expected to sell three new
checking, savings, or debit card accounts every day. If she falls short,
she gets written up.
Customer service representatives at one major bank’s call-center
said everyone is expected to make at least 40 percent of the sales of
the top seller. Credit card sales count for extra, encouraging callers
to push credit cards on customers who would be better served with
checking or savings accounts.
A call-center worker said she offers a credit card to every
customer, regardless of whether it would be beneficial. She explained:
“If you aren’t offering, you can get marked down — the managers and
Quality Analysts listen to your call, and can tell if you aren’t
offering.”
“We’re not servicing their needs,” said one front-line worker. “What
they want, what they need, isn’t important to us. Selling them a product
is … Some of our customers just have their savings, many are just
retirees.”
As the report concludes, “Our nation’s big banks are committed to a
model that jeopardizes our communities and prevents bank employees from
having a voice in their workplace.”
Marc Ambinder:
“As the press struggles to label him, Paul’s plunge into the primaries
has the potential to upconvert his opponents. His value to Republicans
is that his final position on a number of issues cannot be predicted
from his past statements. This is valuable, and not a knock against him,
because his unpredictability will force the rest of the field to
respond in real time to a politician who seems willing to change his
mind.”
“Paul can’t quite acknowledge his penchant for inconsistency, because
there’s a convention in politics that equates consistency with
strength. But it’s perhaps his most genuine quality.”
Do you remember the last time you heard about the WebKit exploit of Vita? Was it the Pong? It seems our good friend SMOKE is baking something.
It
has been sometime since the WebKit on Vita has been exploited. This
WebKit exploit works up to 3.20 firmware. Even though the progress
continues, we rarely hear about it.
If you are following SMOKE on
twitter, you must have noticed he is into Vita hacking lately. He posted
a video where he manages to open Package Installer through WebKit.
I
can already hear you saying we can run Package Installer through the
e-mail application. That is true, but the e-mail application was
introduced in Vita Firmware 2.00, and this is confirmed to work on 1.80.
Without further ado, I present you the video:
You can contact SMOKE through his twitter account, he says he can share the script if you have a 1.80 Vita.
For more info about the WebKit exploit, visit the thread on /talk or go to the github page of Vitasploit.
Prominent attorney and frequent MSNBC legal analyst John “Jay” Fahy was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot near his office in Rutherford, N.J on Wednesday afternoon.
Fahy was a frequent guest on MSNBC, most recently appearing to discuss George Zimmerman‘s
now-concluded second-degree murder trial. His body was discovered under
a railroad bridge, little more than 300 yards from his office. He was
discovered by two juveniles.
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli confirmed the death, which
he said was “the result of a single gunshot wound to the head, fired
with a handgun.”
A close associate of Fahy’s expressed bewilderment at his colleague’s
death: “I feel like I just lost my brother,” the unidentified person told the Cliffview Pilot. “Everybody’s in tears right now.”
“Something happened in the last two weeks,” the person added. “But none of us can figure out what it is.”
Police have indicated that there doesn’t appear to be any evidence of foul play. But the investigation is ongoing.
Fahy was once the Bergen County Prosecutor, and before that, the
chief of the political corruption unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in
Newark, N.J. Most recently, he worked at his firm Fahy Choi, LLC, before
which he was a partner at Cole Schotz Meisel Forman & Leonard, PA;
Water McPherson McNeill, PC and Reed Smith LLP.
A
Las Vegas man committed suicide and, in material he left behind, blamed
the M Resort Spa Casino, its employees, and the fact that he ended up
being banned from free buffets for life.
John Noble had apparently won free buffets for life, but according to The Las Vegas Review-Journal, he was banned two years ago after he harassed some of the female employees.
Noble caused a panic when he committed suicide on Sunday because he
took out a gun and killed himself at the buffet. When authorities
arrived on the scene, his car outside was burning.
Noble mailed a lengthy suicide note to the Review-Journal,
replete with “a table of contents, photographs and a two-hour DVD of him
talking about his troubles.” He had reportedly gone after employees of
the casino online and was harassing them, even posting their personal
information online.
In all the documents the Review-Journal received, Noble
“spells out all the harm he wishes on those he believed wronged him,”
including multiple female employees who worked at the buffet.
You can watch parts of his video message here, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, make
sure to reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline here.
James Webb, a 51-year-old YouTube celebrity who devotes his “Hot Lead” channel to topics like his love of guns and ranting about gay men kissing on The Walking Dead, may have shocked his viewers on Monday when he revealed that he was torn over which party to vote for in the 2016 election.
