'Dive Bar Girl' On Her Viral Pic with President
Obama

post from Crooks and Liars on 26 April 2012 08:00:53 PM. © Crooks and Liars

'Dive Bar Girl' On Her Viral Pic with President Obama

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An iconic photograph and the story behind it as recounted on Al Sharpton's MSNBC show. University of Colorado student Madalyn Starkey becomes a star overnight.

SHARPTON: What was going through your mind when President Obama walked in.
DIVE BAR GIRL: ?It just like didn?t even seem real, I have seen him on tv, and now he is at the same restaurant with me with only 30 other people? And we called him ?the casual Obama? because he took off his jacket, and was just being all the charismatic guy he is. It was incredible.?
SHARPTON: ?What was the exchange like??
DIVE BAR GIRL: ?That was a bit awkward. He went over to everyone?s table first off, and finally the paparazzi like cleared out of the way and he got to our table, and the only thing I said to him was ?Can I get a picture,? and he said ?stand up,? we took the picture, and then literally all I said was, ?you smell good? ? and that was the end of the conversation. Because I just get so starstruck that I was just like ?ahhh! ? I couldn?t say anything.?

enlarge

?Just met Obama at the Sink.?

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Murdoch blames everyone else for hacking problem

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 26 April 2012 08:00:14 PM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

Now here's some classic leadership skills for you by Rupert Murdoch. Either he's a completely clueless executive and should be sacked immediately for having no idea what has been happening within his organization for years or he's a liar. You choose.

It's gutless to blame everyone else and fail to accept responsibility as the CEO but this is Murdoch that we're talking about. How could it be possible to have so many hacking scandals within the News Corp organizations - allegedly across borders as well - yet he knew nothing about it? How weak to suddenly be the tough guy.

With wife Wendi and son Lachlan watching he said that he, his son James and other senior News Corp executives were ?misinformed and shielded? about the extent of phone hacking at the tabloid. He also blamed ?a clever lawyer? at News International for stopping people coming forward and admitted that the culture had left too much in the hands of the editor and lawyer. ?I should have gone there and thrown all the lawyers out of the place and seen Mr Goodman (the reporter jailed over phone hacking) one-on-one - he had been an employee for a long time - and cross-examined him myself and made up my mind, maybe rightly, maybe wrongly, was he telling the truth,? Murdoch told the court. "And if I had come to the conclusion that he was telling the truth, I would have torn the place apart and we wouldn't be here today.

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-else-for.html

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Memo Accidentally Sent To Reporters Shows
Candidate’s Damage Control After Saying Obama May Be Muslim

post from ThinkProgress on 26 April 2012 08:00:05 PM. © ThinkProgress

A public relations consultant working for Republican businessman Dave Spence, running for governor of Missouri, accidentally sent reporters an internal briefing memo today instead of a press release. The memo, prepared for an upcoming interview, instructed Spence on how to respond to a variety of topics, including questions about Obama’s religion. The St. Louis Times Dispatch reports:

In it, she offered Spence advice in case he was approached by reporters quizzing him on topics such as his recent suggestion that he didn’t know whether or not Obama is a Muslim.
“This is not an issue that I felt was pertinent to my candidacy for governor and expressed those sentiments,” Briggs offered as a potential answer. “However, if the media insists that this is a critical issue that must be addressed, I will be clear. President Obama says he is a Christian, and I take him at his word.”

The consultant felt the need to prep Spence on the unusual issue since just last Friday the candidate questioned Obama’s religion.

In an interview with the editorial board of the St. Louis American, an African-American news weekly, Spence was asked, “Is Barack Obama a Muslim?? The gubernatorial candidate responded, ?I don?t know.? “Spence had spent whatever credibility he had for any consideration for an endorsement from The American. Barack Obama, as anyone knows who follows the news, is a church-going Baptist,” the American wrote.

Spence has faced weeks of bad press after it was reported that he voted against paying the U.S. Treasury back the $40 million in bailout funds lent to the bank whose board he sits on. It also came out that Spence employs a lawyer being investigated for facilitating illegal campaign donations.

Earlier, Spence was caught claiming he had a degree in economics. It turns out the degree was in home economics.

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Daily Kos Elections Polling Wrap: Welcome to
contrary poll-a-palooza!

post from Daily Kos on 26 April 2012 08:00:05 PM. © Daily Kos

Today's data is like some odd play off of that old elementary school stand-by: "Opposite Day".

Used to seeing data showing Barack Obama with a modest lead over Mitt Romney? There are only two presidential polls out today, and both of them give Romney a slight edge.

Used to seeing longtime veteran GOP Sen. Dick Lugar struggling, but at least leading, his tea-infused challenger Richard Mourdock? A new poll out today has Lugar down five.

Worried after last week's PPP polls showed that the legislative recall elections in Wisconsin might face an uphill battle? A new set of polls out today put the Democrats in the lead in one race, and within striking range of two more.

Welcome to pollster Opposite Day! Here's the data:

PRESIDENTIAL GENERAL ELECTION TRIAL HEATS:

NATIONAL (Rasmussen Tracking): Romney d. Obama (48-45)
NATIONAL (YouGov/The Economist): Romney d. Obama (47-46)

DOWNBALLOT POLLING:

CA-02 (Lake Research for Solomon): Jared Huffman (D) 18, Norman Solomon (D) 10, Susan Adams (D) 8, Stacey Lawson (D) 5 (++)
IN-SEN?R (Wenzel Strategies for Citizens United): Richard Mourdock 44, Sen. Dick Lugar 39
NH-01 (Univ. of New Hampshire): Carol Shea-Porter (D) 44, Rep. Frank Guinta (R) 39
NH-02 (Univ. of New Hampshire): Anne Kuster (D) 40, Rep. Charlie Bass (R) 39
NC-GOV?D (SurveyUSA for the Civitas Institute): Walter Dalton 32, Bob Etheridge 27, Bill Faison 4 (++)
WI-SD-21 (Myers Research for the DLCC): John Lehman (D) 51, Sen. Van Wangaard (R) 47
WI-SD-23 (Myers Research for the DLCC): Sen. Terry Moulton (R) 49, Kristin Dexter (D) 47
WI-SD-29 (Myers Research for the DLCC): Jerry Petrowski (R) 51, Donna Seidel (D) 45
(++)?Other candidates in the race were tested, but polled at or under 3 percent.

A few thoughts, as always, after the jump.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/FqPiqnSNO5Y/-Daily-Kos-Elections-P
olling-Wrap-Welcome-to-contrary-poll-a-palooza-

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Young Prefer Obama but Are Not Enthusiastic About
Voting

post from Firedoglake on 26 April 2012 07:20:23 PM. © Firedoglake

Just like in 2008, young people overwhelmingly prefer Obama over a Republican President, but the difference is this year young people are not overly enthusiastic about voting.[...]

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Tap into Low-Risk Biotech and Specialty Pharma
for Growth: Steven Palmer

post from Jutia Group on 26 April 2012 07:03:02 PM. © Jutia Group

The Life Sciences Report: Steve, you’ve had some really striking successes in the past few years. Your AlphaNorth Partners Fund, a hedge fund, was up 160% in 2009 and over 100% in 2010. What did you do in those years to make those kinds of returns?

Steven Palmer: One thing we did not do is change our strategy during the financial crisis. Many investors changed their strategies, and it didn’t work out so well.

TLSR: After the crisis period in 2008, you had a lot of value in your fund. Is that what you mean?

SP: Yes. We stuck with the names we believed in and added … [visit site to read . . . → Read More: Tap into Low-Risk Biotech and Specialty Pharma for Growth: Steven Palmer

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http://jutiagroup.com/20120426-tap-into-low-risk-biotech-and-specialty-pharma-for
-growth-steven-palmer/

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Judge Denies Request For Release Of Bin Laden
Death Pictures

post from TPMMuckraker on 26 April 2012 07:01:24 PM. © TPMMuckraker

A federal judge has denied a request by the conservative government watchdog Judicial Watch for the government to release photographs or video of Osama bin Laden taken during or after the Special Forces raid that resulted in the death of the al Qaeda leader last year.

"A picture may be worth a thousand words. And perhaps moving pictures bear an even higher value. Yet, in this case, verbal descriptions of the death and burial of Osama bin Laden will have to suffice, for this court will not order the release of anything more," U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote in an opinion filed today in a D.C. federal court, denying Judicial Watch's request.

Judicial Watch sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Defense on May 2, 2011, the day after President Obama announced bin Laden's death to the world, and sent a similar request to the CIA a few days later. Both agencies responded that they would not be able to process the request under the time allowed under FOIA rules (within a maximum of 30 days for the DOD), so on May 13, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit.

"This is arguably as important as any lawsuit we've filed," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said at a press conference at the time.

In his ruling, Boasberg wrote that the Department of Defense "turned up nothing responsive" to Judicial Watch's request, while the CIA found 52 "responsive records," but claimed they were all exempt from disclosure. In siding with the government, Boasberg wrote, "[t]he Court declines Plaintiff's invitation to substitute its own judgment about the national-security risks inherent in releasing these records for that of the executive-branch officials who determined that they should be classified."

"The Court is also mindful that many members of the public would likely desire to see images of this seminal event," Boasberg wrote. "Indeed, it makes sense that the more significant an event is to our nation -- and the end of Bin Laden's reign of terror certainly ranks high -- the more need the public has for full disclosure. Yet, it is not this Court's decision to make in the first instance."

Judicial Watch has already appealed the decision.

Read the full opinion:

Federal judge denies request to release Osama bin Laden death photos, videos

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or_release_of_bin_laden_deat.php

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Fess Up

post from Talking Points Memo on 26 April 2012 07:00:47 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Alright, which of these did you own?Bonus points if you're brave enough to send us a pic of you with it. The more the photo screams the '90s the better.[...]

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Nonchalance 2012

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Mitt Romney had a rout on Tuesday, while Jim Messina announced the monologue is over, so the general election is obviously on.

“…and try as I might, I’m having difficulty giving a f*@!” – Jon Stewart

The feeling is wide spread.

Politico added to the umpteenth articles about 2016, though at least it had a twist, instead of being just another speculative opus leading to the same who knows? conclusion. This one meandered into the Cuomo vs. Clinton rumination.

It’s just silly, but it’s hard for new media sites to generate enough interesting stories about the horse race they love to follow, so they’re forced into endless speculation.

I’m with Jon Stewart on this one, though perhaps for different reasons.

The political bookends of the big two parties, Obama vs. Romney, is going to be all about buying the presidency through making your opponent look like the devil.

Former Pres. Jimmy Carter made that a little harder yesterday.

Carter created quite a dust up when he declared Mitt Romney just isn’t that scary to him. Carter’s interview on MSNBC has now been picked up by the Christian Science Monitor.

Asked for his thoughts on a Romney presidency in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC, Carter said that while “he’d rather have a Democrat,” he would be “comfortable” with Mr. Romney as president because, as he put it, “I think Romney has shown in the past ? in his previous years as a moderate or progressive ? that he was fairly competent as a governor and also running the Olympics.” He also complimented Romney as “a good, solid family man.”

I’m not a fan of Jimmy Carter, though his post-presidency has been impressive. But his comment was important for another reason.

Play politics by nonpartisan patter, as Barack Obama has done for years, and eventually you’ll be hoisted on your own petard.

What’s worse is that a Democrat used the one word that helps Mitt Romney the most: competent.

If this is a low turnout election, which it will be unless the stakes are raised along with interest, dissatisfaction with how things are could push people to take a chance on Mitt Romney, because people don’t feel any peril if they do.

Somewhere between the endless flip flops of Massachusetts Mitt compared to presidential candidate Mitt, the moderate versus the pandering politician to the far right emerges as the Etch A Sketch Republican, another in a line of politicians who does what he needs to in order to get elected, but who doesn’t give the impression of being a wingnut himself.

However, unless Mitt Romney finds a way to open a path for himself in the American west somewhere, with NBC’s Chuck Todd mentioning the Midwest states, beginning with Wisconsin and Michigan, Romney’s done before it begins.

Read The Full Article:
http://taylormarsh.com/blog/2012/04/nonchalance-2012/

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Rupert Murdoch Tells British Court He Never Used
His Political Power to Get Favorable Treatment

Rupert Murdoch Tells British Court He Never Used His Political Power to Get Favorable Treatment

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Here's the latest on News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch's troubles in the U.K. where he denied to a British court that he's ever used his political power to get favorable treatment for his business interests. I sincerely hope we see some fallout over this scandal carry over to the United States after the damage his corporation has done to our political system in this country with leading the way in propagandizing the American public.

Rupert Murdoch tells British court his political clout is overstated:

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch denies using his News Corp. newspapers to advance his business interests. 'I've never asked a prime minister for anything,' he says.
He's hobnobbed with every British prime minister of the last 30 years but says he wields no undue political influence. His scandal-loving tabloids strike fear into the hearts of decision-makers, but he denies ever using his newspapers to advance his commercial interests.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch cast himself as the very model of a modest, upright newspaperman Wednesday, insisting in a London courtroom that any suggestion to the contrary was based on lies and legends.
Here was his chance, he said before a judge, to set the record straight: that for all the talk of his political clout through publications like the mass-market Sun, he never took advantage of it, and that he expects those who work for him to adhere to high ethical standards.
"That is a complete myth, that I used the influence of the Sun or supposed political power to get favorable treatment," Murdoch testified, declaring, "I've never asked a prime minister for anything."
And as for allegations of corporate misdeeds, "I try very hard to set an example of ethical behavior, and I make it quite clear that I expect it," the Australian-born billionaire said.
Forget that the reason he was summoned to appear in court in the first place was because of the phone-hacking scandal engulfing his giant News Corp., which sparked a judicial inquiry into media practices. Or that dozens of journalists at Murdoch-owned papers have been arrested in wide-ranging investigations into illegal reporting methods, including bribing police.
The man at the top remained unruffled at the inquiry through four hours of questioning on his media empire and its effect on public life here in Britain, where Murdoch, 81, owns several national newspapers, including the Sun, the Times of London and the Sunday Times.

Much more there so go read the rest. Video above is from BBC World News' coverage of the latest on the scandal.