Posts filed under “General”
Bullets for 12/30/2011
Are untapped natural gas reserves as expansive as the natural gas industry have us believe? Ron Paul blamed AIDS patients for being victims of their own lifestyle in his 1987 book: “The individual suffering from AIDS certainly is a victim — frequently a victim of his own lifestyle — but this same individual victimizes innocent [...]
BP, Criminality, Accountability
It’s about time that BP get’s held accountable for the human toll of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion: U.S. prosecutors are preparing what would be the first criminal charges against BP Plc (BP/) staff after the worst U.S. oil spill last year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. [...]
Straight Up Bullshit From Romney
You would expect that Mitt Romney would know enough not to make campaign promises that are blatantly false and in no conceivable way could be acted on. But that’s exactly what he did this past Friday when explaining why college students should vote for him: Kallie Durkit: “Relatability has been a large issue for you [...]
The Top 10 Mic Checks Of 2011
One of the greatest inventions of political speech this year has been the repurposing of Occupy Wall Streets “Human Microphone” into a tactical means of heckling called the “Mic Check.” Using an entirely subjective algorithm based mainly on impact factor, potency, and the deer in the headlights reaction, we at 1115 have come up with the [...]
Law and Order: DCU
My first inclination upon returning back to 1115 after Thanksgiving was to comment on the terrifying night-time raid the NYPD carried out upon the 9,000 people camping outside of the Macy’s in Herald Square. But then I realized that never happened. In other news, an internal NYPD Disorder Control Unit document was snagged by an arrested Occupy [...]
Rhetoric and Failure
Mitt Romney (11/21/2011): “They set this trap by saying we’re going to cut the military by $600 billion,” Romney said of the automatic cuts that would happen if the Super Committee did not reach a deal. “With the world that’s a dangerous place, we’re going to put the military on the chopping block. It’s like [...]
How A Hero Becomes A Villain (Update Below)
So it turns out that the cop who pepper-sprayed the nonviolent protesters at UC Davis is an exemplary officer – a “hero” who once saved the life of a fellow officer. Clearly, there’s a discrepancy between the overzealous role he played on Friday afternoon and his normal routine. I think, however, that in order to understand why police in full riot gear [...]
Bullets 11/17/11
“All day, all week, Occupy Wall Street.” Liveblog on the New York Daily News website, by far the best coverage of the OWS Day of Action. Timothy Egan calls out Newt Gingrich for his hypocrisy on Freddie Mac. Take away line: “In his latest incarnation, Gingrich poses as an outsider who will break up the Washington establishment [...]
The Press Blackout
More on the latest OWS developments later tonight. But for right now, we know that the New York Police Department is currently defying a court order to let demonstrators return to Zuccotti Park. One of the most egregious aspects the NYPD’s raid on Zuccotti Park was the detention of reporters who were attempting to cover [...]
Poll Shows Obama Leading Republican Candidates
A new Politico/GWU poll lays out some hard numbers that show the difficulty a real Republican candidate will have when running against President Obama. Via Jed Lewison at DailyKos: N = 1,000 Registered “likely” voters Margin of error ±3.1% Field Dates: November 6-9, 201 President Obama: 43 Generic Republican: 43 President Obama: 49 [...]