Of Politics and Pinterest

I love Pinterest. I make no secret of my adoration of this social media website. In fact, you can follow my boards on Pinterest by clicking the “Follow Me on Pinterest’ link on my right sidebar – totally shameless plug!

Now that I’ve shared my ‘bias’ towards Pinterest, take a look at the video to see how Pinterest factors into the ground game of political elections:

Hinder – Lips of an Angel

We all have regrets….

SCOTUS Validates The Largest Tax Increase in American History – AKA – Obamacare

Stunning verdict from the Supreme Court today, now the repeal of this ginormous tax increase will be decided in November. I was hoping we didn’t have to solely depend upon the November election to get this done but that is how the cookie crumbled today.

There have been a variety of responses to this verdict. Below the cut are a sampling of the responses I’ve encountered across the web:

A Rose By Name – Tania Gail

What shall I name this rose?

During a recent visit to Longwood Garden, I came across this kit which allows people to name a unique rose and provides a seed pack to grow your new namesake.

Amazing! Project Glass: Live Demo At Google I/O

A bleeding edge version of the glasses (Google Glass Explorer) were offered to developers in the audience for US $1500. Yep, I’m officially jealous. How does one score an invite to one of these Google Demos?

The demo included Google Glass sporting skydivers, mountain bikers and people rappelling down the side of a building. All their activities were seen in a Google + hangout through the eyes of the wearers.

How freaking cool is that? Pardon the pun, but I can see so many uses for the finished product.

What to know more? Go HERE.

Snark Factor Tonight

Listen live to the Snark Factor every Wednesday night at 1opm EST on FTR Radio where I will be joining Fingers Malloy, Irish Duke to bring news bites at the top of the hour followed by sparkling chats with invited guests. If you are a fan of my blog, you’ll know that I have an eclectic taste in news of the day.

On tap for Wednesday night:

SCOTUS – Arizona and Obamacare

Swatting Conservative Bloggers

Franklin Center Webinar – Protection of the Free Press

Tonight – actually in 30 minutes the Franklin Center is hosting a webinar discussing the recent malicious ‘swatting’ of several conservative bloggers and the sweeping implications this has on free speech.  I will be in the listening audience and will report my thoughts of this topic on the blog.

Feel free to join in the discussion – follow the link provided in the Press Release below:

For Immediate Release

Franklin Center Joins Lee Stranahan, Popehat, Aaron Walker, Mandy Nagy And Others To Discuss Protection Of The Free Press   

Tonight at 9:30pm EDT, The Franklin Center joins Lee Stranahan, Mandy Nagy, and last night’s SWATting victim Aaron Walker on a webinar to discuss recent attacks on bloggers and the suppression of free speech.

Convicted domestic terrorist Brett Kimberlin and his associates have repeatedly terrorized bloggers and others who highlight his story with over 100 frivolous lawsuits and 4 SWATting attacks. SWATting is a dangerous tactic that involves calling a police department to report a false crime to get a SWAT team dispatched to the victim’s house. The attacks have included bloggers Patterico, Erick Erickson, and as recently as last night, Aaron Walker.

Yesterday, Rep. Sandy Adams of Florida and 87 cosigners sent another letter to AG Eric Holder urging investigation of costly SWATting tactics. In her statement, Adams said “SWAT-ting is quickly becoming a scare tactic used against political bloggers in an effort to stifle their First Amendment rights.”

Tabitha Hale, New Media Director at the Franklin Center for Government and Public Intergrity, says “These tactics are just appalling. A free press is essential to a free society, and attempts to silence those who are telling the truth are entirely unacceptable. We are glad to have a small part in the fight to protect the First Amendment by supporting victims of these attacks. We will always err on the side of free speech.”

Information on tonight’s webinar is below. Learn what is at stake and learn how to protect yourself and your act of journalism.

Title: Fighting for a Free Press

Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Time: 9:30pm to 10:30pm EDT

Reserve your space at the following link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/630051426

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

SCOTUS Validates Key Component of Arizona Immigration Law SB 1070

Arizona vs United States – and it’s only Monday.

The core part of this bill, the ‘show me the papers’ provision which allows police officers to enforce immigration laws has survived Constitutional scrutiny and will be enforced immediately.

Rusty over at The Mental Recession reports that the DHS shall begin ignoring reports of illegal immigration from Arizona authorities:

DHS has issued a directive telling federal authorities to decline many of the calls reporting illegal immigrants that the Homeland Security Department may get from Arizona police.

Read that again.

HOMELAND SECURITY will be IGNORING PHONE CALLS regarding individuals who are IN OUR COUNTRY ILLEGALLY.  Doesn’t that defy the very definition of ‘homeland security’?

Seriously, can this administration be more surly and childish when it does not get it way? How many Arizona citizens will put in harms way over this edict?

SCOTUS blog informs readers that we will have to wait till Thursday for their decision on Obamacare.

What are your thoughts on the fate of Obamacare?

Another victory was handed to bloggers of every color, creed and stripe  – Aaron Walker has been unmuted! 

  I am free once again to do something very simple.  I am allowed to say the name Brett Kimberlin again.  The fact I was not allowed to do so, even in a post directed to the world at large and rather than any communication directed to Kimberlin himself, is a sign that things have gone horribly wrong in the Maryland legal system.

 

 

 

Will Microsoft Surface Complete Me?

Previously seen on PJ Media Lifestyle

Microsoft Surface – circa 2008 – minus the creepy looking guy:

Source: flickr.com via Tania on Pinterest

 

Last monday night Microsoft unveiled an updated version of Surface – Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets. On the surface (pardon the pun) it looks promising. I’ve hesitated to jump on the iPad bandwagon because I want a tablet that can replace my laptop – in my view the iPad is simply a larger version of the iPod Touch. I’ve held close to the vision of a mobile tablet that is powerful enough to allow me to create content, while catching a movie on Netflix,  or downloading interesting apps.

Below is Microsoft’s Surface keynote address by Steve Ballmer. The video runs about 45 minutes but well worth the time to get an idea of the capabilities of this new tablet.

Interesting to note that pricing and a date when the product goes on sale were not mentioned. While this keynote is a sexy advertisement for the Surface tablet, I will be keeping a close eye on new details of this tablet as they emerge.

Will the new Microsoft tablet complete my vision?  Time will tell and if it does, you will be reading my hands-on review here.

Jerry Sandusky Convicted on 45 Counts of Child Sexual Abuse

Penn State University is not off the hook either. Business Week speculates that the university may have to compensate the victims of the abuse. 

After decades of abuse, the justice finally arrived for the victims.

I’m happy to witness this day, yet still have lingering disgust that a University allowed this abusive environment to fester within its walls. The perpetrator has been stopped, and justice meted out; attention should now focus on how a University and athletic department could create as safe environment for sexual predator. Jerry Sandusky may have been the one to physically abuse children, but he was in an environment where he could do so with impunity.

What changes has the University put into place, outside of firing people, to prevent this from happening again?

American Power has more on this story.

Ditto for the Philadelphia Catholic Church predators.