Operatic duo Charlotte Jaconelli and Jonathan Antoine wows the judges on Britain's Gots Talent.
News, politics, commentary, and cultural reporting with a New York perspective.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Will Betty White Be A Mystery Speaker At DNC ?
A Facebook page called Bring Betty White to the DNC is leading a social media campaign to recruit the lovable Hollywood comedian Betty White to be a "mystery speaker" at the Democratic National Convention in an effort to lampoon Clint Eastwood's controversial appearance at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Follow the social media campaign on Twitter with this hashtag : #BettyWhiteDNC and a you can sign a Change.org petition.
Betty White DNC Facebook Group Goes Viral
Yesterday, somebody created a Bring Betty White to the DNC group on Facebook in an effort to lampoon Clint Eastwood's controversial appearance at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Just a few minutes ago, the group had less than 4,000 "likes." As of this posting, the Facebook page is short a few more likes in order to hit 5,000 "likes." The page is going VIRAL.
Follow the social media campaign on Twitter with this hashtage : #BettyWhiteDNC and a Change.org petition.
Will Betty White Speak at DNC ?
In response to Clint Eastwood's controversial appearance at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, somebody -- presumably a Democratic Party loyalist -- has created a Bring Betty White to the DNC group on Facebook. As of this posting, there was about 4,000 "likes."
There's also a Twitter hashtage : #BettyWhiteDNC and a Change.org petition.
Pentagon Letter to Penguin Putnam regarding Bin Ladin Navy Seal Book
Friday, August 31, 2012
Bloomberg Thanks Quinn For Use Of Discretion Over Slush Funds
Chicago Teachers Union Closer To Going On Strike
From The Chicago Tribune :
The Chicago Teachers Union filed a 10-day strike notice on Wednesday in an attempt to put additional pressure on Chicago Public Schools negotiators in ongoing contract talks.
At a packed news conference Wednesday, CTU president Karen Lewis accused CPS leaders and the mayor of engaging in a "smear campaign" against teachers, raising the possibility for the city's first teachers' strike in 25 years. ...
Read more : Chicago Teachers Union files 10-day strike notice
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Great Aunt Ida Launches Canadian Tour To Support LP ''Nuclearize Me''
Folky Canadian artist Great Aunt Ida (aka Ida Nilsen) launches a Canadian tour next week.
Fake Shelly Silver Tweet About Shirley Huntley Arrest
Gotta hand it to
— Fake Sheldon Silver (@ShellySilver) August 29, 2012@agschneiderman: Taking down Shirley Huntley right before it's revealed that his office approved the secret Vito pay-out.
Occupy Victory Over Obama Evolution On Citizens United
Earlier today, U.S. President Barack Obama announced during a Reddit chat that he was now open to a legislative remedy to put an end to a controversial 2010 Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. That case came to be known by the name of its appellant, Citizens United.
“Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t revisit it),” he wrote. “Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the super-PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change.”
President Obama's sudden change of heart over the unlimited influence of corporate money in campaigns comes as his re-election campaign comes to a close, and after his own campaign has benefitted from tens of millions of dollars raised through Super-PAC's, such as "Priorities USA Action, the super PAC that is supporting his candidacy and run by a former White House communications aide," reported The Huffington Post.
Groups that have been fighting the undemocratic influence that the Citizens United decision is having on elections in the United State see President Obama's newly expressed rhetoric as a starting place, but until his administration takes action, there is no telling how committed President Obama really is to election reform.
One of the winners of President Obama's "evolution" on Citizens United is the Occupy Wall Street movement. On January, 3, 2012, the New York City General Assembly of the Occupy Wall Street movement officially called for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United decision (See NYCGA Notes).
Gloria Steinem Paid Sick Leave Petition
"The feminist author Gloria Steinem is leading a campaign to pressure Speaker Christine C. Quinn to allow a City Council vote on a bill that would require businesses to give their employees paid sick leave." (NYTimes)
To sign the MoveOn.org petition, please click on the photo below :
Monday, August 27, 2012
Viral Video of Curiosity Descent Down To Mars
From This Is Colossal : New Interpolated HD Video of Curiosity Mars Rover Descent Depicts Real-Time Landing
Using footage provided by NASA, Reddit user Godd2 just spent the last four days on behalf of all humankind creating a stunning interpolated HD version of the descent. In layman’s terms interpolation involves taking a choppy video, in this case NASA’s 4 frames-per-second video, and rendering the “missing” frames in between resulting in an incredibly smooth 25 frames-per-second video. This is, I believe, the closest approximation ever of what it might feel like to land on another planet in real time using actual footage. Amazing.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Prince Harry Funny Facebook Family Nude Picture with Royal Family - Joke Photograph Las Vegas Photoshop
Friday, August 24, 2012
Suzannah B. Troy To Be Censored By YouTube and NYPD Intelligence Division
Suzannah B. Troy faces censorship yet again, this time by YouTube and the NYPD's Intelligence Division.
Following are the two videos, which face censorship :
"Mayor Bloomberg Yelled Down CityTime ECTP at Press Conference NYPD Intelligence Lt."
"Mayor Bloomberg Private Army NYPD Intelligence Det. Lynch Refuses to Identify Himself + Abusive!"
Who Shot All The Innocent Bystanders Outside The Empire State Building ?
Confirmed on NYTimes: Bystanders Hurt in Manhattan Were Hit by Police Gunfire
Confirmed on CNN: Police gunfire responsible for wounding all 9 innocent bystanders in Empire State Building shooting in New York
Was NYPD Responsible For All Innocent Bystander Shootings Outside The Empire State Building Today ?
Rumors are flying around that all of the innocent bystanders, who were shot outside of the Empire State Building this morning, were not shot by bullets from the the shooting suspect, Jeffrey T. Johnson -- who was shot dead by police -- but by bullets shot by police. Not yet confirmed, but I heard this from a very reliable source. I wonder how this will change the narrative of today's story of a disgruntled ex-employee shooting indiscriminately at the throngs of crowds outside the Empire State Building ?
From The New York Times, the police description of the firing of the bullets seems to indicate that the only people shooting their weapons outside the Empire State Building were police officers, not the lone gunman, Mr. Johnson :
The Police Department’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said one witness had told investigators that Mr. Johnson had fired at the two officers, “but we don’t have ballistics to support that.” Mr. Browne said “it’s possible” that the officers had shot him before he could return fire.
One officer fired seven times, the other nine times, Mr. Browne said.
According to the Associated Press, the NYPD has so far admitted that some of the innocent bystanders were struck by bullets or bullet fragments shot by the responding police officers, but the story has not yet been fully told : if the gunman Mr. Johnson did not fire his weapon, that means that the collateral damage that took place today was as a result of "friendly fire."