Thursday News Bucket

11 Comments

1. 

   CabinGirl on September 13, 2007 at 9:12 am

   More on the UC Dean/scholar of consitutional law who was hired and almost immediately fired due to “conservative pressure”:  LATimes

   In a showdown over academic freedom, a prominent legal scholar said Wednesday that the University of California, Irvine’s chancellor had succumbed to conservative political pressure in rescinding his contract to head the university’s new law school, a charge the chancellor vehemently denied.

   Erwin Chemerinsky, a well-known liberal expert on constitutional law, said he had signed a contract Sept. 4, only to be told Tuesday by Chancellor Michael V. Drake that he was voiding their deal because Chemerinsky was too liberal and the university had underestimated “conservatives out to get me.”

   Later Wednesday, however, Drake said there had been no outside pressure and that he had decided to reject Chemerinsky, now of Duke University and formerly of the University of Southern California, because he felt the law professor’s commentaries were “polarizing” and would not serve the interests of California’s first new public law school in 40 years.

   Apparently, it was an Op-ed Cherminsky wrote: “In it, Chemerinsky asserted that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was “about to adopt an unnecessary and mean-spirited regulation that will make it harder for those on death row to have their cases reviewed in federal court.”

   Good to know that UC is against freedom of thought.

2. 

   CabinGirl on September 13, 2007 at 9:17 am

   be sure and leave your breasts at home: NBC

   Setara Qassim said she was flying home to Burbank, Calif., from Las Vegas in June when a Southwest Airlines flight attendant gave her a blanket and told her to cover up.

   “The flight attendant came up to me and asked me if I had a sweater, and I said, ‘No, because why would I pack a sweater in the heat?'” Qassim said. “So I asked her why, and she said I needed to cover up.”

   Just last Friday, a woman from San Diego told a similar story to the “Today” show. She said a Southwest Airlines flight attendant had also taken issue with the propriety of her attire.

   Kyla Ebbert, 23, wore the exact same outfit on “Today” Friday morning. Ebbert said she was allowed to stay on the flight after she agreed to pull up her tank top and pull down her skirt.

   Note to Southwest:  Women have breasts. Get over it.  

3. 

   ejmw on September 13, 2007 at 9:31 am

   In the clamor of Democrats assailing President Bush on Iraq, presidential candidate John Edwards has found a way to be heard after Bush addresses the nation Thursday night: He’s buying time for a rebuttal.

   Edwards has bought two minutes of air time on MSNBC, scheduled to air after Bush’s 15-minute televised speech from the White House at 9 p.m. EDT.

   Bush is expected to announce plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by up to 30,000 by next summer, but say that he will condition those and further cuts on continued progress.

   “Unfortunately, the president is pressing on with the only strategy he’s ever had — more time, more troops, and more war,” Edwards says in the ad, according to excerpts provided by his campaign.

   The ad was taped at Edwards’ home in Chapel Hill, N.C., in the style of an Oval Office address, with him sitting at a desk and speaking straight to the camera, with American flag in the background.

   link

4. 

   ask on September 13, 2007 at 9:31 am

   Oops – maybe Anbar province isn’t that secure after all…
   We can’t even protect our key allies.

   Iraq insurgents kill top US ally

   A key Sunni ally of the US and Iraqi governments has been killed in a bomb attack in the city of Ramadi, Iraqi state television has reported.

   […]

   Abu Risha was among a group of tribal leaders who met President George W Bush during his visit to Iraq last week.

5. 

   dada on September 13, 2007 at 10:47 am

   this is too good not to pass along.

   Cesar Saez. a Canadian artist, has a concept for a

   
   clik image for info

   for a buck…l’m in!

   lTMF’sA

   

6. 

   Man Eegee on September 13, 2007 at 11:50 am

   This is #16 in that county, up from 12 last year…

   A cowboy rounding up cattle Wednesday morning in a canyon northwest of Nogales discovered a human skull believed to be that of an illegal border crosser. – linkage

   …and still, Congress does nothing to provide reform of the system that doesn’t include guns.

   • 

     stormkite on September 13, 2007 at 7:24 pm

     Oh for the love of….

     speechless.

7. 

   Man Eegee on September 13, 2007 at 11:57 am

   Incestuous is the word that comes to mind.  Can’t they learn to pick other hacks instead of recycling the old ones?

   President Bush on Wednesday nominated former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to the board of an international aid program that seeks to encourage democracy and openness in poor countries.
   ADVERTISEMENT

   Frist, a Tennessee Republican who did not seek re-election to the Senate last year, was nominated to replace former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman on the Millennium Challenge Corp.

   The nomination to the three-year term must be confirmed by the Senate.

   “I’m delighted at the opportunity to serve on a board that reflects the absolute necessity of having transparency and accountability tied to our developmental foreign aid,” Frist said. – linkage

   That quote by Frist is hilarious to my pre-caffeinated brain.

8. 

   dada on September 13, 2007 at 1:04 pm

   Now the Department of Justice, like the Republican Party, wants fewer registered voters in 2008.

   The Department of Justice’s Voting Section is pressuring 10 states to purge voter rolls before the 2008 election based on statistics that former Voting Section attorneys and other experts say are flawed and do not confirm that those states have more voter registrations than eligible voters, as the department alleges.

   […]

   Voting Section Chief John Tanner called for the purges in letters sent this spring under an arcane provision in the National Voter Registration Act…

   The 10 states receiving Voting Section purge letters are Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Vermont. Since 2005, the Section has also sued six other states or cities — Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Pulaski County, Arkansas — where purging voter rolls was part of the resulting settlement. Only Missouri fought a Voting Section suit, winning in federal court, although that decision has been appealed.

   […]

   Looking toward the 2008 election, it appears the purges could be a new and legal way to accomplish a controversial longstanding Republican Party electoral tactic — thinning the ranks of likely Democratic voters in states where there may be close races

   […]

   via Steven Rosenfeld alternet.org

   not to worry though….the dem’s are going to ‘study it’ before the 2008 elections.

   lTMF’sA

   

9. 

   Man Eegee on September 13, 2007 at 2:01 pm

   Despite the unpopularity of the Iraq war, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama predicted Thursday that Congress won’t directly challenge President Bush’s plans and will focus instead on putting a ceiling on the number of troops deployed to that country.

   Obama, on the second day of a trip to Iowa, conceded that Democrats who control Congress lack the votes to cut off funding for the war or even to tie continued funding to a timetable for withdrawing troops.

   The Illinois senator said the most likely scenario would be to grant troops more time at home between deployments, a politically popular step that’s difficult to oppose and one that would have a practical impact. – linkage

   Politics trumps all, as usual.

10. 

    on September 13, 2007 at 4:56 pm

    The great light bulb ban.
    http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200703/NAT20070321a.html

    Ok, at 65 cents an hour Chinese workers sit all day and make those twisty energy efficient light bulbs.

    Let’s buy all our stuff from a Communist totalitarian police state, seems like a great idea.

    Thing two is that these lamps contain mercury so don’t drop one.

    Being in the industry I proposed a processing scheme that would make even these lamps last longer.  It seems the profit margins don’t account for any improvements.
    Communism “fell”, perhaps capitalism will too.