“The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 – the fastest pace possible – so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers. They will increase our ability to train competent Afghan Security Forces, and to partner with [...]
(Click for larger image)
Looks like I should have started that magazine. From Bloomberg.com:
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- “I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. [...]
From today's Tuesday Takes:
Available data call into "serious question" the claim by Official Pittsburgh that the region enjoyed a $35 million economic boost from September's Group of 20 economic summit. That's according to the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. In fact, data show RAD tax numbers for September [...]
Today's the last day you can get a 25% discount on registration to the PA Progressive Summit that will be held in January 2010.
From the web site:
The Pennsylvania Progressive Summit is the largest gathering of progressive activists and leaders in Pennsylvania. We’re coming together to build the [...]
A new report says that the Bush Administration let Osama bin Laden slip from our grasp in Tora Bora.
[...]Sociological Images notes the problem with describing objects -- such as this dress in an Associated Press article -- as being "flesh-colored":
Pssst, white skin is not the default. (All though as many comments at SI note, the First Lady's dress is [...]
KDKA's Jon Delano interviews Bram Reichbaum of The Pittsburgh Comet, Chris Potter of the Pittsburgh City Paper and me about the online reaction to Lil Mayor Luke's hiring of a Philly attorney to handle speculation about his marital woes:
[...]Raise your hands if you think Pittsburgh's Lil Mayor Luke and his Philly attorney went overboard threatening to sue anyone and everyone who engage in any rumors/speculation about his separation from his wife.
The P-G interviews Gene Grabowski (a former reporter with The Associated Press who now specializes in crisis [...]
They'll be a protest today at UPMC headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh to demand that Braddock Hospital stay open.
WHAT: Braddock Hospital protest at UPMC headquarters, Black Friday
WHEN: TODAY! 11:30 AM on Friday, November 27
WHERE: Gather at the US Steel Building
Next Community Planning Meeting:
Monday, November 30 at 7:00 PM' [...]
Via Thinkprogress.
Former Bush Administration Spokesperson was speaking about the recent shootings at Ft Hood (calling them a terrorist attack) when she said:PERINO: And we had a terrorist attack on our country. And we should call it what it is. Because we need to face up to it so that [...]
Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at 2pj!
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From Talkingpointsmemo:Rush Limbaugh may have crossed another line today in his anti-Obama rhetoric -- openly joking (at least, we hope he's joking) about a military coup.
Limbaugh noted that President Obama will be delivering his upcoming speech on Afghanistan, from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
"My question is:" [...]
From the uncut version of the KDKA interview (about 9:33 in):
Marty Griffin: Your political advisories, here's what they're going to say tomorrow. The mayor waited until after the election to do this. This thing's been falling apart for two years.
Luke Ravenstahl: Well, it hasn't been falling apart for [...]
The Ravenstahls have hired Philadelphia attorney Richard Sprague to represent them in contacts with the media. According to Sprague, his job is "to prevent there being a whole bunch of smears, innuendoes, defamatory things being suggested. If that is so, I will bring appropriate legal action."
In [...]
On Saturday, we posted this.
Today, the Richard Mellon Scaife's Brain Trust went with this. It's all there:
The Daily Telegraph of London reports that some of the world's top climate scientists engaged in nothing less than fraud to perpetuate the theology that man is responsible for supposedly cataclysmic global [...]
You pay for my family's health insurance.
Suckers!
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
"The goal of this bill and the selling point for it when they were trying to round up the votes was, 'Isn't it wonderful that we're going to cover 30 million uninsured people?' That shouldn't'" [...]
.
[...]Now THIS is interesting.
This week's column, by Jack Kelly, seems to be in two versions. There's the first published over at the Toledo Blade and a second edited version published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Here's the opening in Toledo:
WHAT were President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder [...]
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has a story on its website and I am wondering how long it'll take for our friends on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviews editorial board (aka Scaife's Brain Trust) to write about it.
Let's all take a moment to remember that the CEI is funded (in part)' [...]
Nothing uglier than a gaggle of pissed-off groupies.
Seriously, Sarah Palin does seem to attract folks who are angry -- angry at the government, angry at their perceived lot in life -- angry at, well, everything.
It doesn't take much for their anger to turn towards Palin herself when they don't get [...]
We've referred many times on this blog to the Stupak Amendment, but actually it's the Stupak-Pitts Amendment and the "Pitts" is one Joe Pitts: a Republican in PA's 16th Congressional District.
Pitts has a challenger:
Lois Herr is no Blue Dog and she can use your help -- especially tomorrow' [...]
The John McIntire Dangerously Live Comedy Talk Show is tomorrow night and features 1/2 of 2pj:
[...]Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
You can find the transcript here.
Here's how things began:
MADDOW: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office,” “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.” This is such strong [...]
And what, pray tell, did they do again?
They faked some crowd video. First it was a Michele ("She got teh crazie") Bachman rally:
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
From The Christian Science Monitor:
There’s a new slogan making its way onto car bumpers and across the Internet. It reads simply: “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”
A nice sentiment?
Maybe not.
The psalm reads, “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”
Presidential criticism through witty slogans is nothing new. [...]
Pittsburgh's predominately African American Hill District neighborhood has been without a grocery store for 30 plus years. A year ago, it looked like they'd finally found an operator in Kuhn's Market but the deal has fallen through.
Kuhn's Market says that it's due to one of the owners of the' [...]
From The Macyapper:The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Presents:
The John McIntire Dangerously Live Comedy/Talk Show – Thanksgiving Edition!
THANKS BUT NO THANKS – THE PEOPLE WHO RUIN IT FOR THE REST OF US
We all can’t stand the rest of us. So let’s focus like a laser beam on the most annoying among [...]
But then again, how surprising is that?
Here's what Richard Mellon Scaife's Editorial Board had to say today about October's weather:
Another month, another set of data that counters global-warming orthodoxy -- and another reason why the climate debate must stop generating more heat than light if it's to arrive [...]
This weekend was Aaron Copland's birthday. He's one of my favorite composers. He's the guy who wrote "Appalachian Spring" and "Fanfare for The Common Man."
He also wrote this:
Which continues here:
The amazing thing about his story, of course, is that Copland was questioned by Roy Cohn regarding his Communist [...]
I never thought Jack Kelly would be so anti-US Military. But check out this week's column.
After a gratuitous slap at "America's self-anointed elite" Jack heads straight towards the US Army (Note: Jack thinks that The Army is "America's self-anointed elite"??)
The column starts out about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the [...]
Actually we -- Bob Hillen, Rev. Frank Almade and I -- walked onto PCNC's NightTalk set last night along with the show's host P.J. Maloney. Abortion, LGBT issues ,and the role of women in the Catholic Church were discussed (along with some local issues).
I think that [...]
The hypocrisy of the RNC is hardly surprising:
The Republican National Committee’s health insurance plan covers elective abortion – a procedure the party’s own platform calls “a fundamental assault on innocent human life.”
And it's been the case for a generation:
Informed of the coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho [...]
I'll be a panelist again on tomorrow's PCNC's "NightTalk: Get to the Point."
The show airs Friday, November 13, 2009 from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM (with repeats at 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM).
The program commonly features conversation on a wide range of topics local to Pittsburgh, the Southwestern' [...]
From The St. Petersburg Times:
Marine reservist Jasen Bruce was getting clothes out of the trunk of his car Monday evening when a bearded man in a robe approached him.
That man, a Greek Orthodox priest named Father Alexios Marakis, speaks little English and was lost, police said. He wanted [...]
Happy Birthday, Stanley Tucci, Lee Haney, Demi Moore, and Calista Flockhart.
And of course, a Happy Birthday to Kurt Vonnegut who wrote this:
I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, [...]
We've removed the Google Ads from this blog because despite jumping through every hoop, we haven't received any payment (and yes, we reached the payment threshold many months ago and yes, there are no holds on the account).
Moreover, when trying to contact Google AdSense about payment we've discovered that there's [...]
From Talkingpointsmemo:
The letter of the amendment itself suggests that women who want to buy an insurance plan that covers abortion must not also be receiving government subsidies, provided for in the bill, to help cover their premiums. However, the overwhelming majority of women in the health insurance exchanges [...]
From his website:
As I said following the initial committee vote in July, I voted against the House’s health care reform bill in the Education and Labor Committee because it failed to effectively rein in rising health care costs; it was punitive toward small businesses; and it paid for reform [...]
I expect when I watch Morning Joe for their zoo crew to mischaracterize the Stupak Amendment as merely barring federal funding for abortion and that the Stupak opponents are seeking a "new entitlement."
I expect our resident Right Wing commenter to mischaracterize the Stupak Amendment [...]
Does "stupak" mean:
"A medical condition (subset of sepsis) resulting from unsafe - unnecessarily so - back alley abortions as a result of the "Stupak Amendment" to the 2009 Health Care Reform Bill."Or is it:
adj: imposing religious beliefs of one group on another, especially through legislation or financial pressure.How [...]
Not much fact-checking in this week's column by Jack Kelly.
There IS this:
But if you're one of the 84 Democrats who represent districts carried either by George W. Bush in 2004 or John McCain last year, the time to ponder this is before casting a potential career-terminating vote on' [...]
I just got a fundraising call from the DSCC -- I think -- they were asking for money to elect more Democratic Senators.
I made sure the telefundraiser knew that I would not give any money to elect any Blue Dogs. No money unless I know it would go to Senators [...]
.
[...]The Stupak Amendment to the Health Care Reform bill in the House of Representatives passed with 240 yeas, 194 nays and 1 present vote.
What does that mean?
It means that women have been singled out to be the only class of people to actually lose coverage under the HCR bill.
[...]
You see, while former congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has "talked to vets" about their health care, he may not have realized that Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitas actually is a veteran. A fact that Markos pointed out to Tancredo while reminding Tancredo that he had sought and received a [...]
There's this sign from yesterday's GOP anti-health care rally:
If you can't tell, it reads: "National Socialist Health Care: Dachau, Germany – 1945."
Because trying to expand health care coverage for millions of uninsured Americans is exactly like the mass murder of Jews by Nazis. I mean anyone can see' [...]
Yawn.
Aw, geez. We gotta do this again?
From one of today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorials:
By destroying the myth that state control of alcohol sales ameliorates societal harm, a new Commonwealth Foundation report bolsters the case for ending Pennsylvania's archaic status quo.
"Government-Run Liquor Stores: The Social Impact of Privatization" (available at CommonwealthFoundation.org) [...]
From Mediamatters:
Right-wing media figures enthusiastically endorsed and boosted the failed Conservative Party candidacy of Doug Hoffman in the race to fill a vacant seat in New York's 23rd Congressional District, with several of them hosting Hoffman on their radio or television shows. Media figures who boosted Hoffman include [...]
From one of today's editorials at the Tribune Review:
It's bad enough that striking Philadelphia transit workers rejected what Gov. Ed Rendell called a "sensational" deal. What's really horrific is that the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority offered such a deal in the first place.
Transport Workers Union Local 234 -- average [...]
I got a chance to see Dennis Roddy's latest music video posted at PG+. If you have a chance to see it, please do. Dennis is a very funny guy and the video is a very funny video.
ALSO I learned from my brief sojourn at PG+ that Jack Kelly is [...]
This week's Midweek Briefing:
Newsmax.com's Chris Ruddy says what a growing number of War on Terror watchers are saying -- it's time to reduce our troop presence in Afghanistan. And he favors a plan put forth by Vice President Joe Biden "that involves keeping a smaller force (there) and" [...]
Same-sex marriage loses in Maine, Corzine loses in NJ, Lukey wins in Pittsburgh and Orie Melvin wins in PA.
NOT WORK SAFE
.
[...]Just a reminder that I have been told countless times on this and other blogs that abortion is just not an issue in mayoral politics.
However, today we have both re-elected an anti-choice mayor and found out that our city will have to now revise (lessen) its policy regarding bubble/buffer zones [...]
From Early Returns:
At 49.5% of the city votes counted, the mayoral percentages are holding steady:
56% for Ravenstahl, 24% for Harris and 20% for Acklin.and
With around half of all votes counted, Independent challenger Kevin Acklin has conceded to Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, his campaign spokesman said tonight.
.
[...]
Vicki Davidson
....
Dr. Dorian Cramer Lord
This race pits two progressive women against each other. Both have complicated histories with Davidson having suffered with multiple personalities and being the owner of one of the town's two newspapers and Lord having been the campaign manager for the [...]
In light of the recent Bubble/Buffer Zone opinion, here's Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania PAC's handy voter guide for today:
[...]From today's "Tuesday Takes" we find:
The Allegheny Institute's Jake Haulk reminds that because Pittsburgh largely was bypassed by the national employment growth of the last decade, it did not have the private-sector housing and commercial building booms that went bust in other parts of the country. "But that" [...]
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the City will have to choose whether Pittsburghers seeking medical attention will be harassed at the doors of medical facilities or be stalked on the way to medical facilities. Apparently allowing Pittsburghers to seek medical care sans some sort of [...]
At one of the NetRoots Nation 09 sessions a panelist, speaking about spin, noted that while you always hear from the right that Medicare/Medicaid/SSI is about to run out of money as a reason for why the program needs to be massively reformed/ended, you never hear, say, that the Defense [...]
A reminder that the third and final Pittsburgh Mayoral Debate will be broadcast at Noon today on WPXI.
And, Lil Mayor Luke has lost one of his biggest boosters.
.
Sue Kerr and Laura Dunhoff have been making 'history with Pittsburgh's first "lesbian" video broadcast/podcast.' Today's show will be their ninth weekly broadcast.
With the election this Tuesday, I've been invited to guest on a 90 minute edition focusing on various candidates. Expect call-ins from folks like Kevin Acklin' [...]
I think they're just playing with my head this time. This is just too easy.
Take a look at today's "Sunday Pops." It ends with this:
Rocco Landesman, president of the taxpayer teat-suckling National Endowment for the Arts, says "Barack Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar." Given' [...]
Case in point. Liz Cheney, Reality and Dover Air Force Base:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Crooks and Liars has a transcript.
Here's the gist of the latest GOP lie-fest. Liz Cheney (Dick's daughter) complained about President Obama's appearance at Dover Air [...]
(h/t to Gloria)
.
It ain't just a vote against Lil Mayor Luke.
A few months ago I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Franco Dok Harris. His campaign had invited a group of progressive, activist women to have a conversation with the candidate. Can anyone imagine Ravenstahl doing this' [...]
From the Pew Center:
Nearly half of Americans (47%) say they think of Fox News as “mostly conservative,” 14% say it is “mostly liberal,” and 24% say it is “neither in particular.” Opinion about the ideological orientation of other TV news outlets is more mixed: while many view CNN [...]
From the P-G: Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, announced today that she plans to step down, effective Nov. 16.
Ms. Buchanan has served in the post since September 2001, when she was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. [...]
From an email from Dan Onorato, Allegheny County Executive and PA gubernatorial candidate:
Dear friends:
On Monday, the U.S. Senate announced that its most recent healthcare bill includes a provision that allows states to choose whether or not to offer a "public option." Basically, states will be able to decide whether [...]
AND they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel, news source wise. Take a look. In this week's "Midweek briefing" we read:
Writing in The Bulletin of Philadelphia, Herb Denenberg throws the F-bomb. Yes, Mr. Denenberg says the stench of fascism is growing stronger from the Obama administration. That's [...]
Take a look. Headline reads:
Supreme Court candidate hits rival over contributions
And the first paragraph reads:
Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin has launched a sharp attack on Judge Jack Panella, her Democratic opponent for a state Supreme Court seat next Tuesday, claiming it was unethical for him [...]
...walk into a bar "question importance of Web presence in Valley elections" at the Valley News Dispatch.
Local politician = David Regoli, an attorney and Lower Burrell councilman
Political blogger = Me
Political expert = G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College
[...]
Jack really shouldn't have begun his column this week with the lines from Marmion:
Oh what a tangled web we weave,
when first we practice to deceive.
Makes my job just too dang easy.
Here's what Jack wrote:
Democrats have been tying themselves into knots in their efforts to conceal' [...]
Not only is Daryl Metcalfe a crazie birther but he's a tenther as well!
Geez, this guy fires on all the wingnut cylinders, don't he?
First some of you may be asking, "What's a tenther?" According to this blogpost at the Wall Street Journal:
It describes those leaning on the' [...]
Veterans group VoteVets.org is paying for a locally broadcast radio ad, in conjunction with Operation Free, calling on PA Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) to resign over remarks he made that veterans who are fighting for energy security are “traitors.”
You can listen to it at:
Transcript:
Dishonored
:60 Radio [...]
Just WOW.
After watching the commerical below I thought that maybe it was just one of those Internet-only ads, but a press release tells me that it is running on Comcast.
I do have one quibble: Lil Mayor Luke also was a no show when it came to meetings and public hearing [...]
He's announcing his candidacy a little earlier than he originally planned.
Just got this in an email from Zack Byrnes:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2009
Zack Byrnes to Announce Candidacy for 12th District State Representative Seat
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA – Democrat Zack Byrnes will announce his candidacy for the 12th District state representative [...]
If it wasn't bad enough that many insurance companies consider pregnancy and being a victim of domestic violence a pre-existing condition, we can now add being raped to that list.
From HuffPo:
A Florida woman, who is a victim of sexual abuse, claims that rape was called a "pre-existing'" [...]
...Yes, I'm recycling this image because:
1. It still holds true
2. It's environmentally conscious to recycle so it's one more thing for Metcalfe to hate
3. It's the first image to come up when you google image "Daryl Metcalfe" HA!Just a reminder that aside from hating on veterans' [...]
Here's Dennis Roddy in the P-G:
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican firebrand from Cranberry known for controversial remarks, yesterday refused to back down on comments in which he suggested a group of veterans were "traitors" for promoting a message about climate change.
And:
Rep. Metcalfe, who served in [...]
According to House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-OH) spokesperson being gay is a choice while religion is not a choice.
Uh huh.
That makes about as much sense as when Justice Scalia argued that the cross did not represent Christianity but was some sort of universal symbol to honor any [...]
lupinaccim@aol.com (Maria), dayvoe@gmail.com (Dayvoe)
