• Hot Off The Presses

    Fake Special Ops Guy Went To UO Around When I Did

    Okay, this is pretty weird. I ran across an article about this guy who faked a career as a Special Ops consultant that mentioned he defrauded the University of Oregon about $45,000… my old school. I did a little looking around and found out he was at UO about when I was there. Weird. BEND, OR — A former instructor at the University of Oregon has been accused of credentials fraud. William Hillar attended the UO for three years in the 1970s, according to court documents, but never actually earned a doctoral degree. That didnt stop the Maryland man from…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Norway Attacks: Targeting The Future of the Norwegian Labour Party?

    Daily Kos’ David Waldman points out that the horrific events in Norway were not just the acts of a right-wing terrorist – they were deliberately targeting the Norwegian Labour Party’s “Worker’s Youth League.” He likens it to sending a Terminator back in time to eliminate future Parliamentary opposition leaders. The truly stomach-turning aspect of the stunning terrorist attacks in Norway yesterday surely had to be the shooting spree that was initially reported—in English language outlets, anyway—to be at a “summer camp.” I had heard through the grapevine that the “camp” had a very distinct political affiliation, but it didn’t really…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    The Tea Party Will Soon Be Over As Soon As The AstroTurf Funding Gets Pulled

    So sad. Another “national Tea Party convention” cancelled due to lack of interest… and funding, since it was billed as a true grassroots-organized event not supported by one of the AstroTurf groups that pay for the buses and the wall-to-wall FOX News coverage. Organizers of the Freedom Jamboree announced Wednesday that they have canceled the tea party convention planned for this fall, citing low registration. They had hoped the event would serve as a stage for Republican presidential candidates to court the conservative movement, and two — Rep. Michele Bachmann Minn. and former Sen. Rick Santorum Pa. — had already…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    How Long Were News Hacks Hacking Phones?

    Something I missed before; the phone hack of murder victim Milly Dowler was back in 2002 according to this. I conflated it with the royal voicemail scandal, which is a different but likely related story. I’ll guess that journos and PIs have been figuring out how easy it is to navigate voicemails since the technology was invented. Maybe they found it more convenient and less risky than breaking in to homes and offices to listen to taped messages on the old first generation machines? Since many people never changed the default passwords on their analog and digital voicemails, it just…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    How The Mighty Are Falling: Rupert Murdoch and the News of the World At The Tipping Point

    As a progressive who abhors the unprecedented and frighting hold Murdoch holds over Fox News, and by extension the radical Religious Right in the US, his fall from power as Britain’s “uncrowned king” can’t come soon enough. And with the latest news breaking that millions of emails pertinent to the scandal might have been deleted by a News International executive, it’s possible the scandal may jump the pond and take a few of Murdoch’s US institutions down AND even a family member or two. Oh, I hope so. I do hope so. And now, Andy Coulson has been arrested: he’s…

  • Home Improvement - Hot Off The Presses

    A short trip to the basement, but all clear now (we hope)

    The tornado horns went off a while ago but stopped; we went to the basement with Riley in the cat carrier for a short time but felt unprepared… And silly. Tornado warnings in most of the Chicago area have expired, but a tornado rning remains in effect until 9:30 p.m. for easternLake County, Illinois.An earlier another tornado warning declared for northwestCook County,DuPage County, Grundy County, Kane County, Kendall County, western Will County, and eastern De Kalb County also has expired.A severe thunderstorm warning for Cook County, eastern DuPage County, northeastern Kane County,Lake County, southeastern McHenry County, eastern Will County, northern…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Another Company I Won’t Trade With: Target

    After some discussion tonight watching the feed from Netroots Nation, I realized that I don’t want to give my money to Target anymore. Too bad I already started wearing the underwear. I’ll just let it get really… ripe before I wash it, so there. Workers at a Long Island Target store have been attempting to form a union, an effort which comes to a vote on Friday. Target has been waging a pretty standard corporate anti-union campaign—which is to say, lots of intimidation. But now it’s taken a turn for the humorous. Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan, who has been doing stellar…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    My Congressman @RepJoeWalsh Deserves Ignominious Defeat At The Polls In A Free and Fair Election

    That not-so-veiled threat the Chamber guy made was so dumb. It’s so much easier to just wish that Teabagger Joe doesn’t just get redistricted, he gets defeated handily in the upcoming election. Drat, that’s a Flash embed, won’t be visible on iPhone/iPad. Ah, fooey. From Think Progress, it looks like there’s a GOP civil war erupting after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Tom Donahue made some not so veiled threats to Republican freshman House members who don’t want to raise the country’s debt ceiling. Illinois Representative and resident blowhard Joe Walsh and the Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler appeared…

  • Health And Fitness - Hot Off The Presses

    As A Red-Headed Mutant, I Find My Lack Of Waterproof Sunscreen Disturbing

    I heard a reference to this on the radio the other day… as it happens I’ve never relied on the “waterproof” part of sunscreen claims (especially when swimming or snorkeling), but always re-apply after coming out of the water every so often. New Food and Drug Administration regulations mean that, by the summer of 2012, there will be no such thing as “waterproof” sunscreen. That’s because, frankly, there already wasn’t such a thing. A sunscreen might be more water resistant than a competitor. But you can’t assume that one application of the “waterproof” stuff will stay with you through hours…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics - SABRE2th Tigress: Book 'em, Dano.

    Do Not Sass The Pilot Or Wear Droopy Drawers: It’s The Sky Law!

    Oh for CHRIST’S SAKE. Yes, security is important, but security theater is impotent. An entire US Airways flight was evacuated and the pilot placed a passenger under citizen’s arrest after he refused to pull up his baggy pants, reports NBC Bay Area.According to his mother, her son initially refused, saying that his hands were full. His mother says he then went to his seat where he pulled up his pants.The airline says the passenger refused to get off the plane and that’s when the pilot placed him under arrest. He was later charged by police with trespassing, battery and resisting…