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via Paul Krugman, The New York Times “And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.” That’s how the fictional Gordon Gekko finished his famous “Greed is good” speech in the 1987 film “Wall Street.” In the movie, Gekko got his comeuppance. … Continue reading
via Chicago Tribune Today the Tribune editorial page endorses swearing. Loudly. (We endorse swearing loudly, that is; our endorsement itself is sotto voce.) Oops. Sorry, we forgot to mention one condition: Go ahead and scream that curse … to relieve physical pain. British researchers report in the Journal of Pain (no, we didn’t make that … Continue reading
via Steve Kornacki, Salon Mitt Romney has gotten to be pretty good at playing dumb, and he showed it Sunday morning. The setting was the fifteenth Republican presidential debate, the final such event before Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary. One of the most baffling features of the previous debates — including the one held just ten hours before … Continue reading
via Erin Sherbert, The Snitch What some healthy and spry Occupy Movements across the nation couldn’t quite accomplish, San Francisco geriatrics have! KCBS reports that a small group of senior citizens between the ages of 69 and 82 successfully shut down a Bank of America in Bernal Heights on Thursday with nothing more than walkers … Continue reading
via Jennifer Bendery and Zach Carter, The Huffington Post In a move that next to nobody in the White House saw coming, President Barack Obama announced Monday that William Daley is resigning as his chief of staff and being replaced by budget director Jacob Lew. “Last week, my chief of staff Bill Daley informed me … Continue reading
via Amanda Lee Myers, AP, The Washington Post Bells rang out across Tucson on Sunday to mark exactly one year since a bloody morning when a gunman’s deadly rampage shook a community and shocked a nation. It’s been a year of reflecting on lives shattered, of struggling with flashbacks and nightmares, of replaying the what-ifs … Continue reading
via Brenna Cammeron, The Huffington Post We’ve seen plenty of weird crime mugshots and heard plenty of bizarre stories. But when it comes to criminal names, this one is … a mouthful. Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop, 30, was arrested Thursday afternoon on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and … Continue reading
via Jonathan Turley, The Guardian President Barack Obama rang in the New Year by signing the NDAA law with its provision allowing him to indefinitely detain citizens. It was a symbolic moment, to say the least. With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard will return Monday, January 2, 2012. Happy New Year, from your Editress-in-Chief.
via Malcolm Ritter, AP Scientists have found two Earth-sized planets orbiting a star outside the solar system, an encouraging sign for prospects of finding life elsewhere. The discovery shows that such planets exist and that they can be detected by the Kepler spacecraft, said Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. … Continue reading
via Monica Hesse, The Washington Post The scent inside this squat federal building is not fir or cinnamon, but it does have its own particular holiday aroma: cardboard Priority Mail envelopes and packing tape. Christmas at the post office. Possibly the one time of year when everybody still makes a pilgrimage here. Over a lunch … Continue reading
via Margery A. Beck, AP, Yahoo News The young father stood in line at the Kmart layaway counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children. He asked to pay something on his bill because he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a mysterious woman stepped up … Continue reading
via Josh Gerstein, Politico President Barack Obama does not plan to veto a defense bill seeking to direct more terrorism suspects into military custody, the White House signaled Wednesday afternoon. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement that changes lawmakers made to the legislation to accomodate White House concerns were sufficient to avoid a veto. The … Continue reading
via Beth Duff-Brown and Nigel Duara, AP, The Washington Post West Coast ports tried to get back to business as usual Tuesday as they tallied their losses after anti-Wall Street protests that blocked trucks and curbed business along busy waterfronts. Long lines of trucks waited outside port gates and some workers reported early to clear … Continue reading
via Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar, The New York Times In his inaugural address, President Obama called on us to “reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” We agree. Now, to protect both, he must veto the National Defense Authorization Act that Congress is expected to pass this week. … Continue reading
via Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune Home-improvement giant Lowe’s may need to do a fix-it job on its own image after pulling its advertisements from a new reality TV show about American Muslim families. Lowe’s stopped running commercials on TLC’s “All-American Muslim,” bowing to pressure from a conservative Florida group that threatened to boycott the retailer … Continue reading
via Mead Gruver, The Seattle Times The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday for the first time that fracking — a method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution. The draft finding could have significant implications while states try to determine how to … Continue reading
via Sam Stein, The Huffington Post In a major victory for gay rights activists, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday that a voter initiative banning same-sex marriage in California violated the Constitution’s equal protection and due process rights clauses. After a five-month wait, 9th Circuit District Court Judge Vaughn Walker offered a 136-page decision in … Continue reading
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
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
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
via Mary Slosson, Chicago Tribune Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters who have been camped in front of Los Angeles’ City Hall for nearly two months will be evicted on Monday, city officials said on Friday. “We’re asking the participants in the Occupy LA encampment to pack their belongings and leave in an orderly manner,” Los … Continue reading
via Megan Garber, Nieman Journalism Lab In his Times column this morning, David Carr wonders about the future of the Occupy Wall Street movement and, specifically, its fate as an ongoing topic of mass-media conversation. “Occupy Wall Street left many all revved up with no place to go,” he writes. Which is a problem, traditional-press-coverage wise, because: “In addition … Continue reading
via Ben Johnson, Slate The banking lobby has a new message for the Occupy movement: don’t mess with our money. A well-known financial services lobbying firm based in Washington has come up with a plan that would funnel close to $1 million in funds towards undermining the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy protests. According … Continue reading
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