Sarcastically Yours

Grading Republican Prospects at the RNC : Grading Republican Prospects at the RNC

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Disney's Ban on Segways : A federal appeals court upholds Disney's safety-based ban on unrestricted use of Segways.

Exclusive: U.S. Scales Back Military Exercise with Israel : Exclusive: U.S. Scales Back Military Exercise with Israel

Russia says Iran's nuclear power plant fully operational :

The global maple syrup supply is gone? ~~~ Police Probing Theft of Millions of Pounds of Maple Syrup From Strategic Reserve : An anonymous reader writes with this bit from the Globe and Mail: "Quebec police are on the hunt for a sticky-fingered thief after millions of dollars of maple syrup vanished from a Quebec warehouse. The theft was discovered during a routine inventory check last week at the St-Louis-de-Blandford warehouse, where the syrup is being held temporarily. The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, which is responsible for the global strategic maple syrup reserve, initially kept the news quiet, hoping it would help police solve the crime quickly." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It's going to away, the downtown will get rundown and scummy again, business will dry up, and then the business owners and city officials are going to wonder what happened. ~~~ Santa Ana's downtown district faces its sunset : SANTA ANA Santa Ana's downtown improvement district appears to be a goner – or at least there's another nail in its coffin. The City Council has not been able to muster a quorum to vote on either renewing or dismantling it, and the Orange County...

Idaho it is! ~~~ What Is The Best Place To Live In America? Pros And Cons For All 50 States : If you could live in any state in America, where would you go?  During troubled times like these, what is the best place in the United States to live?  A lot of people are asking these kinds of questions these days.  Our economy is on the verge of collapse, natural disasters are becoming more frequent and more intense, the U.S. population is becoming angrier and more frustrated by the day, our government has become incredibly oppressive and controlling, war could break out at any time and evidence that society is breaking down is all around us .  As our world becomes increasingly unstable, many families are considering moving somewhere else.  But what areas are best and what areas should be avoided?  Is there really a "best place to live" in America?  Well, the truth is that each family is facing a different set of circumstances.  If you have a great...

Party in the front, business in the hull. ~~~ China Now Using a Cruise Ship to Haul Troops and Tanks : The media freaked out about China's crappy aircraft carrier and hyperventilated over the J-20 stealth fighter. But China's newest addition to its military is more subtle, and stylish. It's a 36,000-ton pleasureboat capable of disgorging thousands of troops and hundreds of vehicles held inside its belly.

Seeing in 3D is Too Mainstream :

Video: 100-year-old driver jumps curb near elementary school, 9 children injured : Filed under: Etc. , Videos It's never pleasant to run across a story of an elderly driver plowing through a group of innocent pedestrians, but here we are. This time 100-year-old Preston Carter lost control of his Cadillac Sedan de Ville, drove up on the sidewalk and injured 11 people across the street from Main Street Elementary School, which had just let out. Carter, who turns 101 on September 5, said his brakes failed when he hit the group of kids waiting to be picked up by parents, but a witness said that he had put his car into reverse just before running over the curb into the crowd of people. Four kids were trapped under the car, and people nearby were able to lift the car up to get them to safety. In total, nine school kids and two adults were injured and taken to the hospital, and four of the victims were in critical condition. None of the injuries were life-threatening, according...

Well, at least it wasn't in Anaheim. ~~~ Woman dies after police kick her in the genitals; LAPD now investigating 'Questionable Tactics' : A drug-addicted woman who dropped off her two children at a police station because she recognized that she was unable to care for them was tracked down by LAPD officers who reportedly told her to "get your fat ass in the car," threatened to stomp her genitals, then followed through on that threat . 35-year-old Alesia Thomas is reported to have been "combative." After being stomped in the groin, she suffocated while being taken into custody, and died. Why do we know about this, and why are five LAPD officers now under internal and criminal investigation in her death? The altercation in front of her apartment was captured by a patrol car's video camera . This news comes in the same week that Los Angeles Police chief Charlie Beck vowed an investigation into another video that shows two LAPD officers bo...

Insane, true energy fact of the day : Exit signs are so ubiquitous that they're almost invisible. Every public building has them. In fact, they are so common that, taken together, these little signs consume a surprisingly large amount of energy. Each one uses relatively little electricity, but they are on all the time. And we have a lot of them in our schools, factories, and office buildings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there are more than 100 million exit signs in use today in the U.S., consuming 30–35 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually. That’s the output of five or six 1,000 MW power plants, and it costs us $2-3 billion per year. Individual buildings may have thousands of exit signs in operation. To put this into a bigger context: This is just one small part of what makes buildings, in general, incredibly energy intense. In the United States, we use more energy powering our buildings—from the lights, to the heating, to the stuf...

Hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty dies in NYC at 44 : NEW YORK (AP) -- Chris Lighty, a hip-hop mogul who helped the likes of Sean "Diddy" Combs, 50 Cent and Mariah Carey attain not only hit records, but also lucrative careers outside music, was found dead in his New York City apartment Thursday in an apparent suicide. He was 44....

FBI suspected Ray Bradbury of communist sympathies : NEW YORK (AP) -- The FBI gave Ray Bradbury a mixed review....

SEALs' Cover Story if Bin Laden Raid Went Bad: Downed Drone : Before SEAL Team 6 was sent into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden, the troops were given a cover story in case the mission went south. They were supposed to say that they were deep in Pakistani territory, hunting for a lost drone.

TSA Denies Stonewalling Nude Body-Scanner Court Order : The Transportation Security Administration denied Thursday it was stonewalling a federal appeals court's year-old decision demanding the agency hold public hearings concerning the rules and regulations pertaining to the so-called nude body scanners installed in U.S. airport security checkpoints.

Qatari Gas Company Hit With Virus in Wave of Attacks on Energy Companies : The Qatari natural gas company commonly known as RasGas has been hit with a virus that shut down its office computers, according to news reports.

Battle over pension debt looms in San Bernardino bankruptcy : (Reuters) - A high-stakes showdown pitting California's public employee pension fund against Wall Street bond firms in bankrupt San Bernardino, California, could be further complicated by wildly disparate estimates of how much the city owes for its retirees.

10 Disney attractions closing for rehab : Anaheim – Indiana Jones Adventure and two Fantasyland rides will close for most of the fall to undergo renovations as summer crowds dissipate at Disneyland. That park and neighboring Disney California Adventure will shut down 10 venues in September...

Police release sketch of man suspected of sexual assault : FULLERTON – Police on Thursday released a sketch of a man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman at a Fullerton apartment complex earlier in the month. Authorities say the assault occurred on Aug. 6 at an apartment complex near Malden and...

San Bernardino to use restricted funds for payroll : Facing a $45.8-million shortfall, the council votes to use the money during a contentious meeting where some lawmakers criticized the borrowing, which has drawn U.S. scrutiny. The city of San Bernardino will raid restricted funds to pay its employees and try to remain solvent while it seeks protection in Bankruptcy Court.

Merkel called Netanyahu: Don't attack Iran :

Fan falls to death at Texans' Reliant Stadium : A 25-year-old fan died after tumbling off an escalator from the fifth to the ground floor while attending a preseason Houston Texans game at Reliant Stadium, city police said Friday.

Nice looking phones. ~~~ Are These the New Nokia Lumia 920 and 820? : Leaked images purportedly showing two new Nokia smartphones, the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, have shown up on a nondescript Twitter account. The photos, originating from the Twitter account @evleaks , show the 4.5-inch Nokia Lumia 920, which could be Nokia's new flagship Windows Phone smartphone, and the 4.3-inch Nokia Lumia 820. There is no additional info about the devices, except for Nokia's high-resolution sensor PureView, present only on the higher-numbered device. The pictures look like 3D renders -- it's possible they're official 3D renders from Nokia. Though one detail that looks shady is the size of the PureView sensor and lens on the 920, which is much bigger on… Continue reading...

Suing because his account goes against the official story. ~~~ Pentagon may sue Bin Laden author : The Pentagon says it may take legal action against an ex-US special forces member who has written a book about the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.

US man admits China spy attempt : A US man who worked as a guard at a US consulate in China admits trying to sell secret information to the Chinese government.

And it will probably work.  Why?  Because that's what the US had a chance to do but didn't and look where we ended up. ~~~ Spain creates 'bad bank' for debt : The Spanish government is creating a "bad bank" into which all the toxic property assets of its debt-laden banking sector can be off-loaded.

As iPhone 5 looms, Sharp's screen production falters : Sharp is falling behind in its production of screens ahead of Apple's product launch in mid-September, according to reports.

It occurred to me what in reality these Fed measures really are.  They buy up the long term bonds and change them out to short term ones.  If that's the case, then there's nothing to act to keep future rates from shooting up.  Additionally in a sense by bonds maturing quicker, everybody's basically "cashing out" now.  It's like the Fed is expecting a future collapse and is fostering a whole system to provide a quick easy escape.  At least by my limited economics understanding. ~~~ US Fed hints at further measures : The head of the US central bank, Ben Bernanke, says that he has not ruled out further action to boost the US economy.

Isaac drove Mississippi backwards : Instruments measuring the flow and height of the Mississippi River find that it ran backward for 24 hours, driven by the storm surge of Hurricane Isaac.

A lot of unhappy people out there with nothing left to lose. ~~~ Fatal shooting at US supermarket : At least three people are reported to be dead after a shooting at a supermarket in the US state of New Jersey.

Torso found near Niagara Falls : Police in Canada are investigating the murder of a woman whose headless torso was found floating near Niagara Falls.

Tokyo court gives win to Samsung : A court in Tokyo rules that Samsung Electronics did not infringe on patents held by Apple, a victory for the South Korean company.

This mouthy juror is just giving more fuel to the appeals. ~~~ Justifying Apple's $1bn verdict : The foreman of the jury in the Apple versus Samsung patent lawsuit explains why he awarded the iPhone-maker $1.05bn

Romney: 'Time to turn the page' : Mitt Romney pledges "to restore the promise of America" as he accepts the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention.

Anaheim PD still haven't learned. ~~~ Lawyer: Anaheim Police Beat Up My Client After He Vomited On Them, Took Cell-Phone from Victim's Mother : Anaheim's long, hot summer continues... A cell phone video posted to YouTube that has gone viral showing a man punched numerous times with his head being smashed into the ground while being restr... Continue reading "Lawyer: Anaheim Police Beat Up My Client After He Vomited On Them, Took Cell-Phone from Victim's Mother" >

WTF? ~~~ Married teachers guilty of having group sex with student :

Somebody caught Ray Liotta's eye. ~~~ Venice 2012: Michael Cimino, 'The Iceman' Lead Thursday's Highlights on Lido : Three competition films also premiered, while Venice opener "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" was announced as the opening film for Doha/Tribeca Fest. read more

Pretty good idea.  Despite the iPhone being so "cool", iOS is the worst smartphone OS compared to Android and WinPhone8. ~~~ Every Phone Should Have This Windows Phone 8 Childproofing Feature [Windows Phone 8] : Kids these days just can't keep their grubby hands off smartphones and tablets. Once they see the big shiny screen, it's over. Boogers wiped on your home button, drool trail on the display—it ain't pretty. But what's worse is if they accidentally tap into your phone's personal information: private pictures, salacious text messages, big giant curse words and other awful adult things you do during your alone time. That's why every phone should have this upcoming feature in Windows Phone 8: Kid's Corner. More »

Because he has nothing left to accomplish.  *cough* ~~~ Roddick announces he'll retire after 2012 Open : Andy Roddick will retire after the U.S. Open, he said in a news conference Thursday.

Gibeau: EA planning '3 to 5 new IPs' for next generation of consoles : President of EA labels Frank Gibeau is confident about the next generation of consoles. He thinks EA is a master of transition, even though he admits the publisher made a few missteps at the start of this generation. This year will see "a big investment" from EA in technologies aimed at the next series of consoles, and the publisher already has a handful of new IPs in the works. "We've already started three-to-five new intellectual properties that we're going to launch in that first 24 months on the new-gen," Gibeau tells Bloomberg in the video interview above. Gibeau admits that while technology is a big part of it, the process begins with the game and building out from there. "What I think what you have to first do is start with the technology and the hardware that is coming out - what it does really, really well - and understand what's gonna drive innovation there...

Makes sense to me. ~~~ Microsoft's Sneak Attack On Apple: SkyDrive, Not Surface : New submitter curtwoodward writes "Microsoft won't become a hardware company — unless you count mice and keyboards, former Microsoftie Charlie Kindel argues — because that would mean competing with Apple on its terms. But Kindel says Microsoft may be embarking on a totally new business model by seeding its connected software services across all platforms. You saw more evidence this week with the release of SkyDrive for Android. 'For that to work, it can't just be Windows,' he says. 'As a matter of fact, to beat Apple, it has to work really well on Apple devices.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Happy Birthday from Not-Your-Mother! :

Video: Styrofoam takes out multiple motorcyclists on TX highway : Filed under: Videos , Motorcycle A group of motorcyclists encountered one hell of an incident on a Texas highway, all of which was captured thanks to the magic of helmet cam. This time, however, it doesn't involve the authorities and more than just the riders' pride was hurt. According to one of the bikers on the weekly ride in McAllen, Texas, a truck was carrying large styrofoam boxes that weren't properly tied down. As the group came up behind the truck, one of the boxes flew out and shattered in front of the riders. One of the motorcycles went down in the explosion of styrofoam, and second rider went down after, clipping the first downed bike in the process. Both riders were taken to the hospital and, thankfully, were released the following day with nothing worse than bruising and road rash. One of the bikes, though, was totaled. Scroll down to watch the carnage unfold. Continue reading St...

Apple granted patent for location-based camera phone disabling : Last week I was frustrated in my attempt to take a screen grab of a frame from the cartoon Gravity Falls , which I was playing in iTunes on my Mac. The screen grab image showed the player window as gray-and-white checkerboard. Next, I downloaded a 3rd party screen grab application, and it gave me the same result. I ended up taking a photo of the iMac's display with my camera. (The photo is in this post -- it's the one with the cartoony occult symbols ). Thanks to Apple's bullshit deal with the studios, the image has crappy video artifacts in it. On Tuesday, Apple was granted a patent that could prevent photos and videos from being taken in particular locations. Other restrictions include forcing the camera to go to sleep so it cann't be used at all: Apparatus and methods for changing one or more functional or operational aspects of a wireless device, such as upon the occurrence of a certain event. In...

With Paulson and Soros Buying Gold, Should You? : With Paulson and Soros Buying Gold, Should You?

State fines 3 O.C. hospitals for safety errors : Three Orange County hospitals have been fined by state health regulators for patient safety violations, the California Department of Public Health announced Thursday. St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange and...

Tim Cook and Larry Page Working to Address Patent Issues Between Apple and Google : Reuters reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page have been participating in active discussions to address patent issues relating to the two companies, "keeping the lines of communication open" as patent battles between Apple on one side and Google and its Android hardware partners on the other side continue to rage. Google Inc CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been conducting behind-the-scenes conversations about a range of intellectual property matters, including the ongoing mobile patent disputes between the companies, according to people familiar with the matter. The two chief executives had a phone conversation last week, the sources said. Discussions involving lower-level officials of the two companies are also ongoing. The two executives and their associates have reportedly been discussing some sort of settlement truce addressing some of the more min...

You don't have to show photo ID to vote but if you need a library card you better have one? ~~~ Texas voter ID law struck down : A federal court on Thursday blocked a controversial new voter ID law in Texas, ruling that the state failed to show that the law would not harm the voting rights of minorities. The three-judge panel in the historic case said that evidence also showed that costs of obtaining a voter ID would fall most heavily on poor African Americans and Hispanics in Texas. Read full article >>

The Killers on Mitt Romney: 'Anyone's Allowed to Like Us' : Paul Ryan may have been blasted by Tom Morello for his love of Rage Against the Machine but Mitt Romney's preference for the Killers hasn't seemed quite as controversial so far When the Republican presidential nominee gave a shout-out to the Las Vegas band last week at least one member...

Struggling Westminster Mall tries for rebound : Now struggling, Westminster Mall was once the second most popular shopping center in Orange County. In 1986, it ranked No. 2 in taxable sales behind South Coast Plaza. Last year, it fell to eighth place. It has been impacted by competition and...

Iran 'doubles capacity at plant' : The UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says Iran has doubled production capacity at the Fordo nuclear site, in its latest quarterly report.

His estate is only valued at $50K? ~~~ Will dispute prevents burial of Sherman Hemsley : EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- The embalmed body of actor Sherman Hemsley, who became famous for his role as television's George Jefferson, will be kept in refrigeration at an El Paso funeral home until a local court rules on the validity of his will....

Hot Wheels or Lemons? : Hot Wheels or Lemons?

Is Tim Cook Making a Huge Mistake? : Any Fool knows that numbers don't tell the whole story. Apple CEO Tim Cook is about to learn that lesson the hard way.

Google Fires a Missile at Apple From Home : A tablet ad on Google's landing page turns heads.

The good will could be attributed to the upcoming election in my opinion.  Everybody's thinking their guy will bring back unicorns and double rainbows.  But 50% of the people are going to be running for the hills regardless who wins.  This will of course bring down any consumer happiness percentages.  This outrage will continue because the group pissed off is so large. ~~~ What Are Consumers Telling Investors? : Reports say one thing, consumers say another. How can we figure out what's really going on?

The Iceman: Venice Review : Michael Shannon leads a star-studded ensemble cast in Ariel Vromen's gritty gangster thriller about real-life contract killer Richard Kuklinski. read more

It would appear the anarchists and commies don't want the story told. ~~~ 2012 Republican Convention: 'Occupy Unmasked' Screening Draws Threats to Filmmakers (Video) : Citizens United Prods. says members of the Occupy Wall Street movement have threatened physical violence via phone, email and online postings in advance of the Thursday screening. read more

'Avengers' Deleted Scene Focuses on Captain America, Features Bonus Stan Lee Cameo : The World War II-era hero learns that his love interest is still alive and gets some advice from the comic book legend. read more

Michael Keaton Replaces Hugh Laurie in 'RoboCop' Remake : The actor joins Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson in the film. read more

The problem is both candidates are mysterious with hidden agendas. ~~~ Former Mormon Explains Why Mitt Romney Should Never Be President | Addicting Info :

This is going to be an interesting election.  Can this groomed Mormon beat the liberal populist? ~~~ Romney and the White Horse Prophecy - Salon.com :

US pushes for a new phase of arms race : Moscow, Russia (Voice of Russia) Aug 30, 2012 After Russia refused to support the UN Security Council resolution on Syria the US Congress forbade Pentagon to deal with Russia's arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport until Moscow stops supplying weapons to Damask. Russia was quickly tagged as a country which supplies weapons to evil dictatorial regimes. In reality, however, it's the United States that is the largest supplier of weapons on the

Bolivia backpedals on uranium seizure claim : La Paz (AFP) Aug 29, 2012 Authorities in Bolivia backpedaled Tuesday after claiming that they had seized nearly two tons of uranium in central La Paz, saying instead they had found rocks with possible traces of the substance. "We assume that uranium exists in these materials but this should be clarified," Interior Minister Carlos Romero said at a news conference. "It's possible that uranium is disseminated on this so

With all the news at how far Iran has gotten, I'm afraid Israel's attack window has come and gone. ~~~ Religious Israeli government party wary of war with Iran : JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in Israel's coalition government is wary of plans for possible military strikes on Iran, political sources said on Thursday.

Facebook co-founder Moskovitz scrambles to offload his shares : Bumwad from the bank of toyland Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz has sold over 1.3 million of his shares in the social network over the last two weeks.…

Leonardo DiCaprio movie producer drives off cliff; suicide suspected : Documentary film producer Brian Gerber took his own life late Tuesday or early Wednesday by steering his car off a cliff on Angeles Crest Highway, according to county officials.

In short, the state is waiting to see how the lawsuits around how San Jose and San Diego cut pensions for current employees play out. ~~~ Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to stem pension costs is no panacea : Governor's blueprint would save billions, but experts say taxpayers will still face a huge burden. Reducing current employees' benefits is called key by analysts. SACRAMENTO -- Even by the most ambitious forecasts, the plan Gov. Jerry Brown and fellow Democrats are championing to contain government worker pensions in California could leave state taxpayers awash in debt to public employees.

Did Scientists Just Find a Cure for Malaria? [Science] : Researchers at the University of Cape Town in South Africa have developed a pill that can wipe out malaria with a single dose. It's a development that could save millions of lives in Africa alone, not to mention the rest of the world. But there's a teensy weensy little hurdle that must first be overcome: human testing. More »

A Kevlar-Armored Vest Will Protect NFL Players From Getting Hurt [Sports] : Michael Vick is the NFL's fastest and most explosive quarterback. He's also the most injury prone. This season, he's going to try wearing something new to protect himself: a kevlar EXO Skeleton vest made by Unequal Technologies. It's armor for football. More »

Favre lawyers fight racy claims made in lawsuit : Brett Favre shouldn't have to respond to some embarrassing claims about his personal life that two massage therapists are making in a lawsuit, his lawyers say.

There I Fixed It: The Collapsible Cross :

FAIL Nation: Gravitron FAIL :

Citigroup pays $590m settlement : US banking giant Citigroup has paid more than half a billion dollars to shareholders who accused the bank of hiding its subprime exposure.

US builds virtual wall on border : The US turns to technology to guard its border with Mexico

Report: Mazda6 performance and coupe models mooted, all-wheel drive under consideration too : Filed under: Sedan , Performance , Japan , Mazda , Design/Style AutoExpress reports Mazda is already looking at ways to give the company's 2014 Mazda6 a little more heat. The company isn't throwing out too many details at the moment beyond saying executives are looking at the possibility of creating a spiritual successor to the Mazdaspeed6 . While speaking with the publication, Hiroshi Kajiyama, program manager for the Mazda6, admits a performance version has lots of potential, and that such a machine would be helpful for the brand. If a hotter four-door hits the market, it will likely be lighter than its common sibling with around 100 fewer pounds to lug around. It may also bow with a turbocharged version of the currently-available diesel mill. Meanwhile, Autocar reports the new Mazda6 may spawn a two-door variant as well. Akira Tamatani, Mazda chief designer, said he wo...

Last-minute bills would benefit illegal immigrants : Two last-minute proposals introduced in the state Legislature would grant illegal immigrants some additional protections and benefits under California law. Assembly Bill 2189, by Assemblyman Gilbert Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, would direct the Department...

Anti-Semitism on campus denounced in Assembly : SACRAMENTO – An Assembly resolution urging California colleges and universities to squelch nascent anti-Semitism also encouraged educators to crack down on demonstrations against Israel, angering advocates for Muslim students. With no debate,...

Yahoo editor fired over anti-Romney joke : David Chalian, the Yahoo News Washington Bureau chief, has been fired after getting caught claiming that “they” — Mitt Romney and his fellow Republicans — “are happy to have a party with black people drowning.” Read full article >>

UN chief to Iran: Prove nuclear program is peaceful, cease verbal attacks on Israel :

The internet uncovers the horrible Ninja Turtles bullet we all dodged : Apparently, it was just as bad as we feared. Not long ago, it was reported that production on the Michael Bay-produced "Ninja Turtles" movie was pushed to 2014 . Because 2014 is the 30th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? No! That was a convenient excuse. Besides, "Ninja Turtles" is basically a cheap imitator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since half of their character description -- along with the central freaking premise -- were done away with. No, it was because the script was said to have "issues." Meaning: the script was terrible. Several people claim to have gotten their hands on this script, and there are terrible, awful, no good, very bad things in it. Starting with 18-year-old high school lovebirds Casey Jones and April O'Neil. Seriously. That almost happened. News of the leaked script started coming out early last month, when Latino Review's ...

Yeah, a lot of his numbers are down, but he still has over 50% in a lot of states. ~~~ Why 2012 isn’t 2008 — in 1 chart : There’s been lots (and lots) written about how and why the 2008 election and the 2012 contest are so different. But, we’ve never seen the case made so clearly as in a new chart put together by Simon Jackman, a professor of political science at Stanford University. Read full article >>

Snapshot : If it weren’t for Mom, this ship would have gone down. (submitted by Hannah)

Another study ranks California last on business friendliness : California ranks last on the 2012 list of states' friendliness to business compiled for nine years by Illinois-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate, a corporate site selector. "California has been Number 50 for nine years. It's last by a sizeable...

2012 Republican Convention: 'Obama's America' Filmmaker Lashes Out at Media : "A lot of these guys have just become moral cowards," Dinesh D'Souza says about Chris Matthews, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow and others. read more

A SHIELD show works very nicely I think as a show and not as a movie.  With all the shows out there now about cops and crime, you can see a show like this being almost like an Alias or Fringe. ~~~ Natural Selection... : I just hope it's not a musical... Well, it didn't take long before we found out what that Marvel Television series would be about... Today the story broke that the Marvel television series that Joss Whedon would guide for broadcast on ABC will be based on the secrective government organization ran by Nick Fury . S.H.I.E.L.D. does seem like an obvious choice for the show which will be based in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ( I still believe people will be confused by shows like " Hulk ," which will not be canon. ). For those of you that have been following Blue Sky Disney , we broke news of this possibility two years ago based on info from a couple of our Bothan spies. Of course, it was still in a very early stage, and the Suits a...

Is Trinity Broadcasting a 'vexatious litigant'? : The mighty Trinity Broadcasting Network's prodigious legal maneuvering against Brittany Crouch Koper -- granddaughter of founders Jan and Paul Crouch -- and her husband has drawn a sharp rebuke from a federal judge, who has threatened to brand...

Although Esquire is dripping with liberal ink, they do realize the gravity of how the party broke all its rules.  I like how in another article posted, Washington Post I think, Ron Paul says he may not vote for Romney and sticks by his morals rather than just going along with it.  It would be funny if he retaliates against the Republican party for this sham by running as an independent. ~~~ Rule 15 and the Great RNC Screwing of Ron Paul : There was what passes for an uprising at a modern political convention on Tuesday in Tampa, reports Charles P. Pierce. And it seems the Paulites have every right to complain.

In 'Lawless,' Nick Cave crafts a new murder ballad : CANNES, France (AP) -- Writing the Prohibition-era bootlegger crime film "Lawless" - his second realized script and largest movie production yet - taught Australian songwriter Nick Cave certain foundational lessons of Hollywood moviemaking....

Ron Paul still not sure he will vote for Romney : In an interview with Fox News Channel on Tuesday, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.)–whose supporters have disrupted the convention with complaints that they’ve been marginalized–declined to endorse Romney. In fact, Paul said he wasn’t even sure if he’d vote for Romney in November. Read full article >>