Month: October 2014
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Trouble for Rousseff
Via the BBC: Brazil election: Silva backs Neves in blow for Dilma The Brazilian environmentalist Marina Silva, who came third in Sunday’s presidential election, has backed opposition centrist candidate Aecio Neves in the second round. Mr Neves won 33.5% of the votes in the first round to 41.5% for President Dilma Rousseff, who is running…
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Texas Health Worker Tests Positive For Ebola, But That’s No Reason To Panic
A second case, and the first person to apparently contract Ebola on U.S. soil. But, that’s no reason to panic.
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Federal Judge Strikes Down Texas Voter ID Law
A victory for opponents of Voter ID in Texas, but it’s not likely to stand up on appeal.
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Air War In Syria Not Exactly Going As Planned
So far at least, the air strikes against Islamic State positions in Syria do not seem to be having much of an impact.
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Alison Lundergan Grimes Really Doesn’t Want To Admit She Voted For Obama
Sometimes, being evasive in answering a question just makes a politician look silly. This is one of those times.
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Mike Huckabee Threatens To Leave The GOP Over Gay Marriage; Don’t Believe Him
Mike Huckabee is threatening to leave the GOP if the party backs down on same-sex marriage. He’s bluffing.
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Supreme Court Blocks Wisconsin Voter ID Law, But Will Likely Uphold It In The End
Opponents of Voter ID laws should not get too excited over the fact that the Supreme Court has stayed Wisconsin’s law from going into effect for now.
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Where In The World Is Kim Jong Un?
The mystery continues.
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Is Amazon a Monopoly?
Frank Foer proclaims, “Amazon Must Be Stopped. It’s too big. It’s cannibalizing the economy.”
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Sierra Leone Admits ‘Defeat’ In Ebola Fight, Allows Home Care Of The Infected
Public health officials in Sierra Leone are admitting that the Ebola epidemic in that country is spreading faster than they are able to respond to it: FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Acknowledging a major “defeat” in the fight against Ebola, international health officials battling the epidemic in Sierra Leone approved plans on Friday to help families…
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Same-Sex Marriage Goes From 19 States To 29 States In One Week
In the space of one week, we’ve gone from 19 states that recognize same-sex marriage to 29. Soon, it will be 35.
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Wendy Davis’s Campaign Takes The Low Road
The nastiest campaign ad of the 2014 cycle is here, and Wendy Davis should be ashamed of it.
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Army War College Revokes Degree Of Montana Senator Over Plagiarism
Montana Senator John Walsh, who dropped out of the race for the seat he was appointed to after Max Baucus resigned due to the discovery that he had plagiarized a paper while at the Army War College, has had his degree revoked: The Army War College rescinded the master’s degree of Senator John E. Walsh…
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Candidate for Navajo Presidency Disqualified Over Language Proficiency
A candidate for President of the Navajo Nation has been disqualified due to his lack of fluency in the Navajo language: WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Chris Deschene sat before a tribal hearing officer and was asked a series of basic questions, including one about how a resolution becomes law. The catch: He had to…
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Voter ID Laws Blocked in WI and TX
The law in Wisconsin was blocked by SCOTUS and in Texas by a federal court. Via USAT: Supreme Court blocks Wisconsin’s voter ID law The Supreme Court on Thursday night blocked Wisconsin from implementing its new voter identification law on the eve of next month’s elections. In a related action, a district court judge in Texas…
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Liberia Suspends Elections In Wake Of Ebola Epidemic
With various reports describing the nation in near collapse, Liberia is canceling its national elections as Ebola continues to ravage the nation: Monrovia (AFP) – Ebola-hit Liberia has suspended nationwide elections in the latest measure to combat an epidemic which has shut down society in three west African nations, restricting travel and forcing the cancellation…
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Government Cancels Hong Kong Talks As Popular Support For Protesters Wanes
The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong continue, and may intensify, after efforts at talks between the protesters and ruling authorities collapsed: HONG KONG — The standoff between Hong Kong’s government and pro-democracy protesters intensified Thursday as the democrats demanded that the city’s top official be impeached over a multimillion-dollar payment from an Australian company and…
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Another Police Shooting In Missouri
Nearly exactly two months to the day after Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson, another African-American man has been shot and killed in the St. Louis area, and it has set off another round of protests: An off-duty police officer shot and killed a black teenager in St. Louis on Wednesday night, setting off a…
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A Cautionary Note About Polling Between Now And Election Day
Individual polls are likely to be volatile, so don’t pay too much attention to them.
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Speaking of Unnecessary Fearmongering
ISIS at the Gates Edition.
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Today in Crazy Talk
Aaron David Ward writing at LewRockwell.com: The Ebola Effect: Blood From Stone The U.S. Government wants Ebola in America. Why? It’s good for business, specifically the business of the global elites. It’s no secret the one-percent who rule the world want the global population reduced. It’s also no secret big pharma makes big money off…
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Today in Unnecessary Fearmongering
Via the Weekly Standard: General: If Ebola Reaches Central America, ‘There Will Be Mass Migration into the U.S.’ The piece is a series of excerpts from a panel at the National Defense University which included Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, the commander of the U.S. Southern Command (all excerpts are from Kelly). Now, without a doubt,…
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A 29 Year Old Woman Is Choosing To Die Rather Than Suffer Through Terminal Cancer
A 29 year old woman will end her life in less than a month. That should be her choice.
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U.S. To Begin Ebola Screenings For Travelers From West Africa
Starting as early as this weekend, the U.S. will be screening arriving passengers from West Africa for signs of the Ebola virus: ATLANTA — Federal officials said Wednesday that they would begin temperature screenings of passengers arriving from West Africa at five American airports, beginning with Kennedy International in New York as early as this…
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Obama May Punt On Executive Action On Immigration, Even After The Election
Will the President back track on his promise of further action on immigration if the GOP wins the Senate?
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Dallas Ebola Patient Dies
Via CNN: Texas Ebola patient dies
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9th Circuit Strikes Down Same-Sex Marriage Bans In Idaho And Nevada
Two more states are added to the list, with another three likely not far behind.
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A Surprise Brewing In South Dakota’s Senate Race?
Is former Senator Larry Pressler surging in his Independent bid to win back his old Senate seat?
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Federal Court Voids Virginia Congressional Map
A Federal Court has given legislators in Richmond a complicated job.
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Turkey Refusing to Fight ISIS Right on Its Border
A massacre is about to unfold “a stone’s throw” from Turkey’s border.
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SCOTUS Gives The GOP A Way Out Of The Same-Sex Marriage Battle
The Supreme Court has given the GOP a way out of a battle that they are going to lose anyway.
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The Tea Party Lost Badly In 2014, But It’s Not Going Anywhere
The death of the Tea Party is greatly exaggerated.
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Unclear on the Concept: Cruz and SCOTUS
“This is judicial activism at its worst”-Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on SCOTUS, um, inaction on same-sex marriage. Also, good luck with this: I have introduced legislation, S. 2024, to protect the authority of state legislatures to define marriage. And that is why, when Congress returns to session, I will be introducing a constitutional amendment to…
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About That Poll Showing Alison Lundergan Grimes Leading Mitch McConnell
Could Alison Lundergran Grimes be surging? Maybe, but we’ll need more evidence to be sure.
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The Supreme Court Has Made Nationwide Recognition Of Same-Sex Marriage Inevitable
The die is cast.
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Federal Appeals Court Upholds Wisconsin Voter ID Law
An unsurprising decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
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PoliSci Types: GOP to Take Senate in November
Via TPM: Political Scientists: November Is Still A Slam-Dunk For The GOP A new symposium of the 2014 midterm elections in PS: Political Science and Politics forecasts that GOP could gain a median of 5 or 6 Senate seats and about 14 in the House. Unlike other popular models, this doesn’t just measure polling or…
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If Republicans Win The Senate, They May Not Hold It For Very Long
If the GOP wins the Senate in November, their majority could prove to be fleeting.
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Americans Aren’t Panicking Over Ebola
Notwithstanding the incessant news coverage, politicians being politicians, and Internet rumor mongering that I wrote about yesterday, it doesn’t appear that Americans are overly concerned about Ebola at the moment: A new poll from the Pew Research Center shows that just 11 percent of Americans are “very worried” about the Ebola virus infecting them or…
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Farewell To Lotus 1-2-3
The program that helped bring IBM PC’s into offices across America will soon be no more: Thirty-one years is a good run for any product and that is how long we have lived with the spreadsheet that defined the PC generation, Lotus 1-2-3. Earlier this week IBM Lotus 1-2-3. Millennium Edition, IBM Lotus SmartSuite 9.x,…
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Supreme Court Declines Review Of Rulings Allowing Same-Sex Marriage
By failing to act, the Supreme Court has effectively legalized same-sex marriage in eleven more states.
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Germany Promises Expanded Military Role But Its Military Isn’t Ready
Germany’s new defense minister has promised a more robust role but lacks the ability to back her words with action.
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Sweden Will Recognize Palestine
Sweden is set to recognize Palestine as an independent state.
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Run-off Time in Brazil
Via the BBC: Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff to face presidential run-off Brazilian incumbent Dilma Rousseff has won most votes in the country’s presidential election, but has fallen short of outright victory. She received about 41% of the vote and is set to face a run-off against centrist Aecio Neves, who got 34%, near complete official results…
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Google Being Targeted Over Leaked Celebrity Nude Photos
Attorneys for celebrities caught up in the leak of nude photographs are targeting Google.
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Another Poll Shows Greg Orman Has The Momentum In Kansas
A new poll in what is fast becoming one of the most interesting, and potentially most crucial, Senate races this year shows Independent Greg Orman leading three-term Senator Pat Roberts by his widest margin yet: Independent candidate Greg Orman has a ten point lead over incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts (R) with likely and registered voters…
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Are Some Crimes More Equal Than Others?
Does the seriousness of a crime vary depending on the gender of the parties involved?
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Ebola In The Age Of 24/7 News And A Broken Political Culture
Combining politics, an incessantly sensationalist news cycle, and a virus that scares a lot of people can’t end well.