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LadyKBrandt

LadyKBrandt has written 917 posts for The Brandt Standard

Rick Perry’s Anti-Gay Iowa Ad Divides His Top Staff

via Sam Stein, The Huffington Post Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s newest television ad criticizing the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was created over the objections of at least one top staff member, sources in the Perry campaign tell The Huffington Post. The spot, which began airing in Iowa on Wednesday, features the governor questioning … Continue reading

Obama Says U.S. To Weigh Nations’ Treatment Of Gays In Issuing Foreign Aid

via Margaret Talev and Nicole Gaouette, Bloomberg The Obama administration will weigh how countries treat gays and lesbians in making decisions about foreign aid, according to a presidential memorandum released by the White House. Laws prohibit same-sex sexual activity in many nations in the Middle East and Africa, and in two of the largest recipients … Continue reading

Facebook Timeline Is Here: Are You In?

via Lance Ulanoff, Mashable This is it. This is what your invite to Facebook Timeline will look like. In New Zealand, and possibly other parts of the world, Facebook members are waking up to this new reality: Timeline is officially transitioning from beta to all-out feature. Eventually, Facebook Timeline may be the default view for … Continue reading

Campaign Disarray May Hinder Surging Gingrich

via Justin Sink, The Hill While Newt Gingrich’s popularity is surging in the Republican field, a series of reports Wednesday questioning his campaign’s financial stability and organizational aptitude are raising serious doubts about the former Speaker’s ability to capitalize on his newfound popularity. The Washington Times is reporting that it is possible that Gingrich will … Continue reading

Starbucks In Chicago To Get Alcohol

via Lisa Jennings, Nation’s Restaurant News Chicago will be the next market to see Starbucks locations selling beer and wine and expanded food offerings, the company said Tuesday. Alan Hilowitz, director of corporate communications for Starbucks Corp., said five to seven locations — both new and existing — are scheduled to open or be remodeled … Continue reading

Judge Sentences Blagojevich To 14 Years On Corruption Charges

via ABC 7 News After asking the judge for mercy, former governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 168 months in prison on Wednesday. Judge James Zagel handed down the sentence after hearing from Blagojevich, himself, during the second day of hearings. He will surrender to officials on February 16. Blagojevich was also fined $20,000, a … Continue reading

Chicago Public Schools Trail Other Big Cities In Reading, Math Scores

via Joel Hood, Chicago Tribune A new national study shows that while Chicago public school 4th- and 8th-graders have improved in reading and math proficiency over the last decade, they still trail their peers in other large urban districts. Results released Wednesday from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, indicate CPS students … Continue reading

Illinois Adds 30,000 Jobs As Wisconsin Sees Nation’s Biggest Payroll Losses In October

via The Huffington Post Illinois Governor Pat Quinn finally has some political ammunition to use the next time Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker mocks the Land of Lincoln’s economy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois added the most jobs in the nation in October, while Wisconsin saw a “significant decline” in employment. As … Continue reading

Joe Walsh Skips Re-election District Announcement

via Lisa Balde, NBC Chicago Rep. Joe Walsh (8th), not one to steer clear of attention, remained curiously absent this week. The freshman Republican said over the weekend he’d announce Monday which district he picked to run in for re-election. Monday came and went with no answer. In September Walsh announced he would run against … Continue reading

Former Governor Blagojevich Faces Sentencing Hearing

via Monica Davey, The New York Times For Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, it may be the final campaign. On Tuesday, he is expected to testify at a hearing that will decide his sentence for 18 felony corruption convictions, including trying to sell or trade for his own benefit the United States … Continue reading

Church To Chicago: New Gay Pride Parade Route Will Block Access To Sunday Masses

via The AP, WBEZ Leaders of one of Chicago’s oldest Roman Catholic churches are objecting to a newly-proposed route for the city’s annual gay pride parade, saying the event will draw large crowds outside the church entrance and block access to Sunday Masses. The parade that has run through parts of Chicago’s North Side for … Continue reading

Obama Turns To A New Campaign Phrase: ‘Change Is’

via Sam Stein, The Huffington Post It’s been a subtle alteration but an alteration nonetheless. In his past two campaign speeches, President Barack Obama has adopted a construct that puts particular emphasis on how his 2008 promise of change has resulted in practical life improvement. At a fundraiser Wednesday night in New York City, the … Continue reading

5 ‘Lowlights’ Of Herman Cain’s Campaign

via Debra Rosenberg, NPR He added 9-9-9 to the national lexicon and slipped lyrics from a Pokemon movie into his stump speeches. Now that Herman Cain has suspended his presidential campaign, we look back at just a few of its most memorable — and excruciating — moments: 1. His brain freeze on Libya. His editorial … Continue reading

WikiLeaks Unveils The Selling Of Surveillance, Sort Of

via Kim Zetter, Wired The WikiLeaks submission system may still be incommunicado, but the secret-spilling site woke up on Thursday to release a trove of marketing documents from surveillance companies hawking their wares to governments — though many were previously published by the Wall Street Journal or were already publicly available on the web. The … Continue reading

Herman Cain Suspends His Campaign

via Susan Saulny, The New York Times An unapologetic and defiant Herman Cain suspended his presidential campaign on Saturday, pledging that he “would not go away” even as he abandoned hope of winning the Republican nomination in the face of escalating accusations of sexual misconduct. Mr. Cain announced the suspension of his campaign in Atlanta on Saturday, … Continue reading

Indefinite Military Detention of U.S. Citizens Not Blocked By The Senate For The Second Time

via Michael McAuliff, The Huffington Post The Senate on Thursday blocked a second attempt to spare U.S. citizens from potential indefinite military detentions and was set to vote on a third effort to do the same later in the day. Under a provision of the mammoth defense authorization bill, the military would be granted the … Continue reading

Scott Walker Opponents Collect More Than 300,000 Signatures In 12 Days For Recall Election

via Amanda Terkel, The Huffington Post Activists pushing to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) announced on Monday evening that they have collected more than 300,000 signatures for the effort in just 12 days. To trigger a recall election, Walker’s opponents — coordinated by the group United Wisconsin — need to collect 540,208 valid signatures … Continue reading

Lesbian Sworn In As Vermont’s First Openly-Gay Supreme Court Justice

via David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement Vermont on Monday swore in its first openly-​lesbian Supreme Court justice. Beth Robinson, who is 46, has worked to secure gay and lesbian rights for over a decade, winning the landmark 1999 case that made Vermont the first state to offer civil unions. Robinson also worked as the co-​founder … Continue reading

Why Congress Can’t Save The Postal Service Right Now

via Jennifer Liberto, CNN There’s one thing that turns some Tea Party Republicans into government-job lovers like their Democratic rivals: Their neighborhood post office. In fact, the U.S. Postal Service’s reach into every state and congressional district is a big reason why Americans shouldn’t expect Congress to make the drastic changes that the postmaster general … Continue reading

Los Angeles, Philadelphia Move To Evict Occupy Protesters

via Christopher Palmeri and Romy Varghese, Businessweek Los Angeles police evicted protesters camped in hundreds of tents around City Hall, ending almost two months of occupation and detaining about 300 people, while a similar operation in Philadelphia led to 52 arrests. The demonstrators in the second- and fifth-most-populous U.S. cities were offshoots of the Occupy … Continue reading

Joe Walsh May Switch Districts To Avoid Primary

via Shira Toeplitz, Roll Call Rep. Joe Walsh may switch races to run in Illinois’ 8th district instead of against Rep. Randy Hultgren in the GOP primary next year, according to two well-placed Republican sources. Walsh met with an aspiring GOP candidate in the 8th district, DuPage County Superintendent of Education Darlene Ruscitti, this afternoon … Continue reading

Evanston Lessens Penalty For Pot Possession

via Jonathan Bullington, Chicago Tribune An ordinance that lessens penalties for those in Evanston caught with 10 grams or less of marijuana received unanimous approval from aldermen at Monday night’s City Council meeting. Originally proposed by Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, the ordinance replaces jail time with a ticket for those caught with 10 grams or less, … Continue reading

The Shocking Truth About The Crackdown On Occupy

via Naomi Wolf, The Guardian US citizens of all political persuasions are still reeling from images of unparallelled police brutality in a coordinated crackdown against peaceful OWS protesters in cities across the nation this past week. An elderly woman was pepper-sprayed in the face; the scene of unresisting, supine students at UC Davis being pepper-sprayed by … Continue reading

Barney Frank To Quit House After 30 Years

via Abby Goodnough, The New York Times Representative Barney Frank, the liberal firebrand who has served in the House of Representatives for 30 years, has decided not to seek re-election in 2012. Mr. Frank, 71, will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. in Newton, Mass., to discuss the decision, according to his office. Mr. … Continue reading

It’s Time For Marriage Equality

via Get Up Australia

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