In Brief

"Mr. Romney’s position seems to be that we need not worry about the poor thanks to programs that he..."

villeneuve — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:41:59 -0800

“Mr. Romney’s position seems to be that we need not worry about the poor thanks to programs that he insists, falsely, don’t actually help the needy, and which he intends, in any case, to destroy.”

- Paul Krugman, excoriating Mitt Romney for his doublespeak in regards to our social safety net.

Six things you need to know about the Komen Foundation/Planned Parenthood controversy

villeneuve — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:27:17 -0800

Six things you need to know about the Komen Foundation/Planned Parenthood controversy:

Whether Americans were suspicious of Komen to begin with or just fed up with the politicization of women’s health, this feels like the straw that broke the camel’s back. A must-read primer by Sarah Seltzer.

VeriSign, maintainer of Internet's DNS, warns it was repeatedly hacked

villeneuve — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:54:00 -0800

VeriSign, maintainer of Internet's DNS, warns it was repeatedly hacked:

VeriSign, the company that manages a key internet database for routing traffic to websites and email addresses, exposed private information after being hacked on multiple occasions in 2010, the company quietly disclosed late last year.

A Canadian groundhog (Photo by david A)

villeneuve — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:45:05 -0800

A Canadian groundhog (Photo by david A)

"I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there… You can focus on the..."

villeneuve — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:42:14 -0800

“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there… You can focus on the very poor, that’s not my focus.”

- Mitt Romney, speaking to CNN during an interview following his victory in the Florida Republican primary.

'Gasland' journalists arrested at hearing by order of House Republicans

villeneuve — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:32:37 -0800

'Gasland' journalists arrested at hearing by order of House Republicans:

Proving that they don’t give a #$%* about the First Amendment, House Republicans ordered that documentary filmmaker Josh Fox, nominated for an Academy Award for Gasland (also listed under NPI’s Recommended Films) be arrested simply because they didn’t want him at a public hearing.

"Consumers have the right to know and to say no to the presence of software on their mobile devices..."

villeneuve — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:14:33 -0800

“Consumers have the right to know and to say no to the presence of software on their mobile devices that can collect and transmit their personal and sensitive information.”

- Ed Markey, explaining why he introduced the Mobile Device Privacy Act.

Kennedy family's Hyannis Port home to become education center

villeneuve — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:19:01 -0800

Kennedy family's Hyannis Port home to become education center:

The Kennedy family’s oceanfront home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts is to be turned into a center for learning about public life, the BBC reports.

Squirrel tracks (Photo by Diane Cordell)

villeneuve — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:14:00 -0800

Squirrel tracks (Photo by Diane Cordell)

Muppets diss Fox Noise in response to accusations of being anti-oil

villeneuve — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:38:19 -0800

Muppets diss Fox Noise in response to accusations of being anti-oil:

The Muppets have responded to accusations leveled by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Business network that they are part of a Hollywood plot to undermine public support and confidence in the oil industry.

"A Legislature unable to raise and appropriate funds cannot meet its primary constitutional..."

villeneuve — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:29:46 -0800

“A Legislature unable to raise and appropriate funds cannot meet its primary constitutional obligations… Since the passage of ‘TABOR’ in 1992, the State of Colorado has experienced a slow, inexorable slide into fiscal dysfunction.”

- Excerpt from a legal challenge filed against a two-decade old Colorado ballot measure explicitly designed to choke the state’s common wealth. Tim Eyman sponsored a copycat measure in 2009 in Washington State, which voters resoundingly rejected.

Connecticut town mayor shoots his mouth off - on camera

villeneuve — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:45:05 -0800

REPORTER (SPEAKING TO MAYOR OF EAST HAVEN): What are you doing for the Latino community today?
MAYOR JOSEPH MATURO, JR.: I might have tacos when I go home; I'm not quite sure yet.

Right wing turns on its own noise machine, discovers what liberals have been putting up with for years

villeneuve — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:24:20 -0800

Right wing turns on its own noise machine, discovers what liberals have been putting up with for years:

The Republican Noise Machine is, hilariously, at war with itself over its presidential candidates. Many right wing media outlets and pundits support Mitt Romney and don’t want to see Newt Gingrich win in Florida - so they are attacking him. Gingrich supporters are furious, and are turning the likes of Matt Drudge, who are running anti-Gingrich headlines and stories.

Poland protests ACTA, the evil cousin to SOPA and PIPA

villeneuve — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:43:05 -0800

Poland protests ACTA, the evil cousin to SOPA and PIPA:

Thousands of people are marching in the streets of Poland to protest the signing of ACTA (the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), which is a treaty that shares some similarities with SOPA and PIPA. ACTA has already been signed by the United States, Canada, and several other nations.

Unusual disaster in Brazil: High-rise buildings collapse in Rio de Janeiro

villeneuve — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:45:05 -0800

Unusual disaster in Brazil: High-rise buildings collapse in Rio de Janeiro:

Two buildings - one nearly 20 storeys high - have collapsed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, filling streets with masonry and covering cars with debris, the BBC reports.

"We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on. Why?..."

villeneuve — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:42:16 -0800

“We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on. Why? Because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”

- A former Apple executive, admitting that Cupertino consumer electronics giant has done little to improve working conditions in the factories of its overseas suppliers because it benefits from the status quo.

"Apple brings in some $400,000 per employee but little of that goes to those working in the..."

villeneuve — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:07:43 -0800

“Apple brings in some $400,000 per employee but little of that goes to those working in the suicide-ridden Foxconn factories, whose CEO compares workers to animals. Another choice quote from an Apple exec: ‘We don’t have an obligation to solve America’s problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.’ This is the very definition of the sociopath corporation.”

- Seattle Times columnist Jon Talton, decrying Apple for its use of slave labor to generate profits.

Navy SEALs rescue two aid workers in Somalia in daring raid

villeneuve — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:45:05 -0800

Navy SEALs rescue two aid workers in Somalia in daring raid:

Hurray for the U.S. Navy! A U.S. special operations team of Navy SEALs conducted a rescue mission into Somalia Tuesday night to free two aid workers, including thirty-two year old Jessica Buchanan, who had been held hostage for three months by Somali criminals. ABC News has more.

Mitt Romney among the wealthiest Americans

villeneuve — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:00:56 -0800

Mitt Romney among the wealthiest Americans:

Tax returns released by Mitt Romney show that his family fortune makes him one of the wealthiest individuals in the United States. In 2010, Romney’s effective tax rate was 13.9 percent. He paid about $3 million in taxes on an adjusted gross income of $21.6 million.

First Disney World, now Las Vegas...

villeneuve — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:48:31 -0800

The White House has just announced that President Barack Obama will travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday following the State of the Union address. He won’t be there to gamble, though: The administration says he’ll be delivering remarks at UPS Las Vegas South on Thursday morning after spending the night in an undisclosed location. No other public events have been announced, but we suspect the President will be attending a fundraiser or two while he’s in Sin City.

Last week, the President stopped by Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida to unveil his administration’s new tourism strategy for the United States.