Author: Ezra Grant

I'm just tired of the lies and nonsense coming from the GOP, so this is my little contribution to combat the nonsense!

Categories
Celebrities

Chris Brown Ordered to Spend 90 Days in Rehab Plus Community Service

(AP) — A judge ordered Chris Brown on Wednesday to spend three months in rehab after reading a report that said a facility discharged the R&B singer because he threw a rock through his mother’s car window.

Superior Court Judge James Brandlin also added additional rules for Brown in the coming months, requiring him to perform at least 24 hours of community labor a week and to submit to drug testing as he deals with anger management issues.

Brown and his attorney agreed to the terms, which were suggested by probation officials who are overseeing Brown’s sentence for his 2009 beating of then-girlfriendRihanna.

The Grammy winner threw a rock through his mother’s car window Nov. 10 after a joint counseling session in which she suggested the singer remain in treatment, according to a letter submitted by the rehab facility. The facility’s name was not included in court filings.

“Mr. Brown proceeded to walk outside and pick up a rock and threw it through his mother’s car window and it shattered,” the letter states. Brown was discharged because he had signed a contract agreeing to refrain from violence while in treatment.

Categories
Politics Rick Scott

Watch Florida Governor Rick Scott Gets Booed Off Stage – Video

Rick Scott is the governor of Florida. But that is not the problem. The problem with Rick Scott is that he’s a Republican, and these days, Republicans are not that popular.

That said, governor Rick Scott took his popularity to a gathering of a few hundred sports fan to announce the formation of a new soccer team, The Orlando City Lions. The formation of this new sports team was a happy occasions for the die-hard fans in attendance, and they were happy. But the very sight of Rick Scott – and did we mention he’s a Republican – yes, the very sight of the man taking the stage to make the announcement, caused the happy fans to boo! And boo they did. Soo much booing in fact, that Rick Scott’s announcement was not heard. It looked as if his mic was turned off, but it wasn’t. In the end, Scott had no choice and had to exit the stage!

Watch below.

Categories
Featured sandy hook shooting

Online Video Game Simulates The Sandy Hook Massacre

In an online video game, players follow shooter Adam Lanza’s footsteps the day of the Sandy Hook Elementary school mass shooting.

Called “The Slaying of Sandy Hook Elementary School,” the widely condemned simulation takes players through the shootings of 26 children and adults before it shows their “score”:

Game creator Ryan Jake Lambourn claims it has a “gun safety” message, but activists against gun violence are baffled and disgusted by the game. The family of Victoria Soto, a murdered Newtown teacher, took their outrage to Twitter, telling Lambourn, “Please tell us how playing a game that recreates how Vicki died would be beneficial?”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told the Hartford Courant he hopes the “very disturbed person who could think of something like this sees the cruelty of what he’s done and stops it.”

Post-Newtown, the National Rifle Association faulted video games and media, not guns, in its wide cast for blame. But the NRA is not above using controversial shooting games when it can profit from them. One month after the tragedy, the NRA released a game with coffin-shaped targets to promote gun ownership.

Categories
Politics

South Park Sheds Light on Stand Your Ground Laws – Cartoon

George Zimmerman got away with murdering Trayvon Martin earlier this year in a Florida courtroom. Although Stand Your Ground was not considered as part of his defense, Zimmerman based his trial on Stand Your Ground arguments. Although he initiated contact with Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman claimed he got into a fight with Trayvon, and fearing for his life, he shot and killed the 17-year-old.

Then there is the case of Jordan Davis. Sitting in his car at a gas station with his friends listening to music. Davis was shot and killed by Michael Dunn, a patron of the gas station. Dunn initiated contact with Davis by asking the teens to turn their music down. When they refused, Dunn got his gun, shot into the car and killed Davis. He’s claiming Stand Your Ground as his defense because he too “feared for his life.”

Nineteen year old Renisha McBride got into a car accident. She went to a home for help. As she stood on the porch, the homeowner put a gun in her face and pulled the trigger. He initially told the police that he feared for his life and used deadly force against the stranger standing outside his home.

Unfortunately, Stand Your Ground is a part of life in the states where it is law – Republican states mind you. It gives the okay to vigilantes and psychopaths  to use deadly force in the streets if they feel their life is in danger.

South Park took a look at this law, and although this is a cartoon depiction, the premiss is pretty accurate!

Thanks Republicans!

Categories
Politics

Paul Krugman – Obamacare Will Succeed, You Can Bet On That

I haven’t been writing about the healthcare.gov thing, for the simple reason that I have nothing to say. What’s going on isn’t a policy question: we know from the states with working exchanges (including California) that the underlying structure of the law is workable. Instead, it’s about an implementation botch, which is an incredible mess, and reflects very badly on Obama. But the future of the reform depends not on policy per se but on whether the IT issues can be fixed well enough soon enough, a subject on which I have zero expertise.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped other people from breathlessly commenting on every twist and turn in the polls, every meaningless vote in the House, and so on. Hey, it’s a living.

But at this point there’s enough information coming in to make semi-educated guesses — and it looks to me as if this thing is probably going to stumble through to the finish line. State-run enrollments are mostly going pretty well; Medicaid expansion is going very well (and it’s expanding even in states that have rejected the expansion, because more people are learning they’re eligible.) And healthcare.gov, while still pretty bad, is starting to look as if it will be good enough in a few weeks for large numbers of people to sign up, either through the exchanges or directly with insurers.

If all this is right, by the time open enrollment ends in March, millions of previously uninsured Americans will in fact have received coverage under the law, and reform will be irreversible. Obama personally may never recover his reputation; Democratic hopes of a wave election in 2014 are probably gone, although you never know. But anyone counting on Obamacare to collapse is probably making a very bad bet.

h/t NY Times

Categories
Politics

Republican Congressman Arrested on Cocaine Charges – Pleads Guilty

Freshman Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possession of cocaine in a D.C. Superior Court judge Wednesday, after allegedly purchasing the illegal drug in a sting operation that was set up by several federal agencies.

According to court documents, Radel “unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally possessed” cocaine on Oct. 29. Radel was charged Tuesday following an indictment by a Superior Court grand jury.

“I’ve hit a bottom,” Radel said, as he appeared in District of Columbia Superior Court.

Radel was sentenced to one year probation while he attends treatment in Florida. The freshman congressman, who represents a solidly Republican district in southwest Florida, stated that he will begin an in-patient rehab program in his home state. Radel said he is also seeking counseling in the District. If heviolates his probation, he will have to serve 180 days in jail. He was also charged a $260 fee.

Categories
Barack Obama Politics

Medal of Freedom Awards go to Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey

President Obama has paid tribute to President Kennedy at the Medal of Freedom ceremony today as he presented awards to former President Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, country singer Loretta Lynn and newspaper editor Ben Bradlee.

In his opening remarks, Obama highlighted the slain President’s sister-in-law Ethel Kennedy, calling her ‘one of my favorite people’ in a room full of dignitaries. He went on to also give President Kennedy’s grandson Jack a shout out by praising his basketball skills.

Aside from the fact that the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination comes this Friday, the Democrat was mentioned because he was the one to establish the Medal of Freedom initiative which is the highest civilian honor in the country.

His death on November 22, 1963 came two weeks before the first group of winners were due to receive their medals.

President Bill Clinton is far from the first former Commander in Chief to receive the award- in fact all but four Republicans: Presidents Nixon, Ford and both Bushes- have been granted the award by their predecessors.

Categories
Politics

President’s Approval Ratings Fall

Republicans rejoice! The easily fooled Americans are buying your lies about the president and healthcare.

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s approval ratings are so sickly that Mitt Romney could beat him right now, a new poll has found.

Obamacare is the heart of the problem, with opposition to the Affordable Care Act at a new high, 57%, according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday.

The President’s overall approval rating is at 42%, a loss of six points in a month.

He’s at career lows for leadership and honesty, with his rating for leadership down by 15 points this year.

Romney topped Obama 49% to 45% among registered voters in the poll, while the 2012 rivals were tied at 47% among all Americans polled.

In the 2012 election, Obama beat Romney, 51% to 47%.

A big reason for the turnaround is chagrin among independents and moderates. Their disapproval of Obamacare has risen sharply.

Categories
Politics

Zimmerman’s Juror – Zimmerman Belongs In Prison

Too bad her opinion on the man that murdered Trayvon Martin is coming now instead of when it really counted.

After seeing George Zimmerman’s various encounters the law since winning an acquittal for murdering Trayvon Martin, one of the jurors responsible for Zimmerman’s acquittal has now changed her tune, saying that George Zimmerman belongs in prison.

Juror B29 — who identifies herself as Maddy — tells TMZ, she always had a bad feeling about Zimmerman, despite finding him not guilty of murdering Trayvon … a verdict she begrudgingly reached through a strict interpretation of the law.

Now, she says Zimmerman’s domestic violence arrest is proof he’s not freedom-worthy … “God is showing George’s true side … [George] is continuing to dig himself a bigger grave.” 

The juror believes Zimmerman will continue to commit violent acts until someone lays down the law  … telling us, “He NEEDS to do some type of time … He thinks he is invincible.”

Categories
ObamaCare Politics

Finally! Some Good News About Obamacare

In states with functioning websites, enrollments are picking up:

A number of states that use their own systems, including California, are on track to hit enrollment targets for 2014 because of a sharp increase in November, according to state officials.

“What we are seeing is incredible momentum,” said Peter Lee, director of Covered California, the nation’s largest state insurance marketplace, which accounted for a third of all enrollments nationally in October. California — which enrolled about 31,000 people in health plans last month — nearly doubled that in the first two weeks of this month.

Several other states, including Connecticut and Kentucky, are outpacing their enrollment estimates, even as states that depend on the federal website lag far behind.

Categories
Politics

Democratic State Senator Stabbed Multiple Times – in Critical Condition

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Creigh Deeds, a veteran state senator and unsuccessful candidate for governor of Virginia in 2009, was hospitalized with multiple stab wounds Tuesday in an incident at his southern Virginia home that left his 24-year-old son dead, state police said.

Deeds, 55, was listed in critical condition at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. 

The popular Democratic legislator suffered serious stab wounds to his head and upper torso, Corinne Geller, spokesperson for the Virginia State Police told reporters.

She said troopers responded to an early morning 911 call to Deeds’ residence in Millsboro where they found Deeds’ son, Gus, alive but suffering gunshot wounds. He died at the scene, Geller said.

Geller said troopers were still investigating the circumstances of the incident but were not searching for any assailants.

WSLS-TV quoted police investigators at the scene as saying Deeds had left the property on foot after being stabbed and walked to a nearby highway where he was picked up by a family member.

Deeds had four children with his first wife, whom he divorced in 2010. He remarried in 2012.

Categories
Tid Bits

Oxford’s 2013 Word of The Year? – Selfie

First Lady's selfie with Bo

The selfie craze reached a new milestone Monday evening when Oxford Dictionaries announced that the Internet-born noun was its international Word of the Year.

The word selfie, “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website,” beat out other internet words like ‘twerk’, ‘Bitcoin’, and ‘binge-watch’ to earn its 2013 title.  

Once an obscure word, the selfie craze has become widely popular in the English language with a 17,000 percent use increase over the past year, according to Oxford Dictionaries editors. “Using the Oxford Dictionaries language research program, which collects around 150 million words of current English in use each month, we can see a phenomenal upward trend in the use of selfie in 2013, and this helped to cement its selection as Word of the Year,” Judy Pearsall, editorial director for Oxford Dictionaries, said in a statement.

h/t MSNBC

Exit mobile version