MSNBC: A company that monitors peer-to-peer file-sharing networks has discovered a potentially serious security breach involving President Barack Obama’s helicopter, NBC affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh reported Saturday. Employees of Tiversa, a Cranberry Township, Pa.-based security company that specializes in peer-to-peer technology, reportedly found engineering and communications information about Marine One at an IP address in Tehran, Iran. Bob Boback, CEO of Tiversa, told WPXI-TV: “We found a file containing entire blueprints and avionics package for Marine One, which is the president’s helicopter.” The company was able to trace the file back to its original source. “What appears to be a […]
Q&A: Author & Ex-Inquirer Maverick Ralph Cipriano
BY ADAM BONANNI Jim Beasley looks damn proud on the cover of his book, standing with John Wayne-like swagger atop his desk in his richly-appointed, oak-lined office suite. He has reason to be. Beasley and former Inquirer reporter Ralph Cipriano [pictured, below left] have gathered their favorite cases of Beasley’s long, impressive career as a crusading plaintiff’s attorney between the covers of Courtroom Cowboy. Beasley comes across as a hard-nosed, steadfast litigator who exudes charisma and never did believe in the phrase “backing down.” If you don’t back down in court from Don King, Ira Einhorn, Osama Bin Laden, or […]
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #11 The week that was in just five minutes, told by a stoned daisy with the obligatory voice of God. [cough, cough] Would’ve had this up sooner, but these suckers take five people 20 hours to make. Oy, is my Google tired!
CHANGE: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
“Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end” — President Barack Obama, in remarks to troops at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, this morning. NPR: President Obama outlined on Friday his plan to withdraw American combat forces from Iraq by August 2010, promising to dramatically scale back one of the nation’s longest and costliest military efforts. However, as many as 50,000 troops will remain until the end of 2011 to support “the Iraqi government and its security forces as they take the absolute lead in securing their country,” he […]
NEWS CLUES: Like A Dying Industry Of The Truth
NEWSPAPER DEATH WATCH: Rocky Mountain News Ceases To Exist DENVER — The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado’s oldest newspaper and a Denver fixture since 1859, will publish its last edition Friday. Owner E.W. Scripps Co. said Thursday the newspaper lost $16 million last year and the company was unable to find a buyer. “Today the Rocky Mountain News, long the leading voice in Denver, becomes a victim of changing times in our industry and huge economic challenges,” Scripps CEO Rich Boehne said. The News is the latest _ and largest _ newspaper to fail amid a recession that has been especially […]
THE COEN BROTHERS: The Myth Of Clean Coal
This dose of reality brought to you by the Coen brothers.
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR The Associated Press has threatened to sue the artist who created the iconic “Hope” poster of Barack Obama for copyright infringement, but Shepard Fairey says his work is protected under the principle of “Fair Use,” which exempts artists and others from some copyright restrictions, under certain circumstances. Fairey based his poster on an April 2006 photo of Obama taken by AP photographer Mannie Garcia. Last month, the AP contacted Fairey threatening him with a lawsuit for using the image without permission, seeking payment for using it, and asking to share in the profits from it. Pre-empting the suit, […]
THE KIND: NJ Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Bill; California Considering Legalization & Taxation
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Could Cannabis sativa be a salvation for California’s fiscal misfortunes? Can the state get a better budget grip by taxing what some folks toke? An assemblyman from San Francisco announced legislation Monday to do just that: make California the first state in the nation to tax and regulate recreational marijuana in the same manner as alcohol. Buoyed by the widely held belief that cannabis is California’s biggest cash crop, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano contends it is time to reap some state revenue from that harvest while putting a damper on drug use by teens, cutting police costs and […]
THAT’S KLANTASTIC: O.C. Mayor Sends Out White House Watermelon Patch Pic, Thinks It’s Funny
CBS NEWS: The mayor of Los Alamitos is coming under fire for an e-mail he sent out that depicts the White House lawn planted with watermelons, under the title “No Easter egg hunt this year.” Local businesswoman and city volunteer Keyanus Price, who is black, said Tuesday she received the e-mail from Mayor Dean Grose’s personal account on Sunday and wants a public apology. “I have had plenty of my share of chicken and watermelon and all those kinds of jokes,” Price told The Associated Press. “I honestly don’t even understand where he was coming from, sending this to me. […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR New York Times foreign correspondent Dexter Filkins reports that the Taliban are waging an increasingly aggressive campaign in Afghanistan — a fact evidenced by a 40 percent increase in Afghan civilian deaths in 2008. Filkins joined The New York Times in 2000. He covered the war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2002 and reported on the Iraq war from 2003 to 2006. He recently returned to the Middle East to cover Afghanistan again. Filkins details his experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq in his book The Forever War. RADIO TIMES Hour 1 Analysis of last night’s address by President […]
RUMORED: Arlen Specter To Become A Democrat?
FIVETHIRTYEIGHT: Republican chairman Michael Steele took Neal Cavuto’s bait and suggested that he might be amendable to punishing the three Republican senators — Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter — who voted for the stimulus package by supporting primary challenges and/or cutting off funding. There’s just one problem with this. In Pennsylvania and especially in Maine, having a (R) by your name is a liability, not an asset. With leaners included, Democrats have roughly a 19-point partisan ID advantage in Maine and 16 points in the Keystone State. Collins, Snowe and Specter get re-elected in spite of being Republican, […]
WORDS WORTH: What The President Said
[via POLITICAL JUNKIE] If Bobby Jindal saying ‘Look, I’m not white either!’ and then re-writing the history of Katrina with warmed-over Reaganism is the best the GOP can do in this our darkest hour, well, all I can say is ‘Heckuva a job Bobby.’ In related news, THIS is hilarious: The Daily Show With Jon StewartM – Th 11p / 10c Clusterf#@k to the Poor House – GOP Govs at Odds Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things With Demetri Martin Funny Political News Joke of the Day (Complete White House transcript of the President’s remarks after the jump.)
PAY TO PLAY: Councilman Kelly Aide Convicted
PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL: A former aide to a Philadelphia councilman was among three men convicted in a corruption case Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia said. Christopher Wright [pictured left, making O-Face], a former aide to Councilman Jack Kelly, developer Ravinder Chawla of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., and Chawla’s attorney Andrew Teitelman of Newtown, Pa., were convicted of conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud, honest services mail fraud, and mail fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Wright, 45, of Philadelphia was accused of trading on his position as Kelly’s aide from June 2005 to January 2008 to […]