WizardofOz
New member
I am sure we all read plenty of news stories that we find interesting but do not necessarily merit a thread dedicated to it.
Post these news stories here for discussion.
Post these news stories here for discussion.
In Other News Today.....
- Thread starter WizardofOz
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WizardofOz
New member
Fired after affair, Minn. pol threatens payback
Should we support his efforts to expose other adulterers in MN or be happy when he fades into obscurity?
Are women who have affairs with their male boss treated differently than males who have affairs with their female boss?
Frivolous or juicy and interesting?
| Michael Brodkorb once was the bane of Minnesota Democrats, a savvy and aggressive operative whose scorched-earth approach to politics — showcased on a blog called "Minnesota Democrats Exposed!" — fueled his rise to dual roles as deputy chairman of the state GOP and chief spokesman for Senate Republicans. Today, he's as toxic to his own party as he ever was to Democrats. Fired late last year from his Senate job after an adulterous affair with the majority leader — his boss — Brodkorb is now threatening a $1.5 million wrongful termination lawsuit that his attorney says could expose more than a dozen other Capitol affairs. Ludeman fired Brodkorb without public explanation in late December, one day after Sen. Amy Koch abruptly quit her leadership post. When Koch later admitted she'd had an affair, widespread speculation had Brodkorb as the other half. But that wasn't confirmed until this week when Brodkorb's attorney said the two, both married to other people, had been in an intimate relationship. Brodkorb's potential lawsuit rests on a gender discrimination claim that even his attorney called "new and creative:" that he was treated differently as a man who had an affair with a female superior, in contrast to numerous female legislative employees he claims never lost their jobs despite affairs with male legislators. "He intends to depose all of the female legislative staff employees who participated in intimate relationships, as well as the legislators who were party to those intimate relationships, in support of his claims of gender discrimination," according to a legal document Brodkorb's lawyers filed this week with the state. Brodkorb's attorney, Philip Villaume, told The Associated Press on Friday that Brodkorb has evidence of "10 to 15" such affairs. He wouldn't describe the evidence. |
Should we support his efforts to expose other adulterers in MN or be happy when he fades into obscurity?
Are women who have affairs with their male boss treated differently than males who have affairs with their female boss?
Frivolous or juicy and interesting?
WizardofOz
New member
Romney’s Planned Parenthood comment makes waves
I am going to have to defend Romney on this one. The article goes on to say "The Romney campaign clarified that he did not mean that he would want to see the organization eliminated, just its federal funding".
That's what I got out of it. How would Romney "end Planned Parenthood" if elected president?
Of course, PP pulled out the victim card: "the organization's president Cecile Richards said, "Really what that means, is he wants to get rid of preventive health care for 3 million folks every year who come to Planned Parenthood for reproductive health care, for cancer screenings, for birth control.""
Did Romney say that? :nono:
Is it time to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood?
I think so.
If people love PP so much, let them donate their own money to them rather than force people who morally object to their practices fund them.
:mock: Cecile Richards
| "Is the program so critical that it is worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And on that basis, of course you get rid of ObamaCare, that's the easy one. But there are others: Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrak, I would eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, both excellent programs, but we can't afford to borrow money to pay for these things." |
I am going to have to defend Romney on this one. The article goes on to say "The Romney campaign clarified that he did not mean that he would want to see the organization eliminated, just its federal funding".
That's what I got out of it. How would Romney "end Planned Parenthood" if elected president?
Of course, PP pulled out the victim card: "the organization's president Cecile Richards said, "Really what that means, is he wants to get rid of preventive health care for 3 million folks every year who come to Planned Parenthood for reproductive health care, for cancer screenings, for birth control.""
Did Romney say that? :nono:
| Planned Parenthood affiliates receive about $487.4 million in federal aid, which last year provided clients with 750,000 breast exams and 770,000 Pap tests, along with contraception and STD testing. "It would not be getting rid of the organization," Eric Fehrnstrom, a campaign adviser said. "They have other sources of funding besides government appropriations, but in order to achieve balance, we have to make some tough decisions about spending." The written statement added that it is morally irresponsible "to borrow money from China to fund our nation's leading abortion provider." |
Is it time to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood?
I think so.
If people love PP so much, let them donate their own money to them rather than force people who morally object to their practices fund them.
:mock: Cecile Richards
Thunder's Muse
Well-known member
This is pretty big news here in Australia right now.
Sydney Police attended a call regarding a shop being robbed in the CBD. When they arrived, they found no one there but did spot a man walking nearby. When they tried to arrest the man, he resisted so they used Capsicum Spray and the Tazer.
The man stopped breathing and despite efforts from the Police Officers, died at the scene.
Now, it looks like the man wasn't even involved with the robbery.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/man-who-d...may-not-have-been-suspect-20120318-1vczf.html
Sydney Police attended a call regarding a shop being robbed in the CBD. When they arrived, they found no one there but did spot a man walking nearby. When they tried to arrest the man, he resisted so they used Capsicum Spray and the Tazer.
The man stopped breathing and despite efforts from the Police Officers, died at the scene.
Now, it looks like the man wasn't even involved with the robbery.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/man-who-d...may-not-have-been-suspect-20120318-1vczf.html
annabenedetti
like marbles on glass
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Dena
New member
Oops. Will the police be fired?
Thunder's Muse
Well-known member
There will of course be an inverstigation if it turns out he was inncocent. But, yes. Heads will roll for this one.
WizardofOz
New member
This reminds me of a recent story.
| Zimmerman is the neighborhood watch volunteer in the Central Florida town of Sanford who on Feb. 26 shot and killed Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman claimed the teen started an altercation, and then -- in fear for his life -- Zimmerman pulled a weapon from his waistband and fired. He has not been charged. |
Details are coming in about Zimmerman. He was following this kid thinking that he was suspicious. He is a habitual cop-caller. Some analyzing the tapes thinks he sounds intoxicated.
Sounds more and more like vigilantism gone too far. Should be interesting to follow whether charges are filed. I feel for Martin's family.
story
Go mom! That's awesome!
Given that the vast majority of PP's business is reproductive health care, cancer screenings, and birth control, and that many of the people who use their services have few or no other options for those services, that's exactly what he advocating, whether he knew it or not.
And there's nothing political about his choice to single out PP for budget cuts. Right?
Of course, this is Romney. He's really just pandering. He probably doesn't mean a word of it.
Or, perhaps we could see through the partisan rhetoric and recognize that they do a lot of good work that's in the public interest, and they don't deserve to be singled out like this.
WizardofOz
New member
Do you really think that Romney wants to get rid of preventive health care for 3 million folks every year who come to Planned Parenthood for reproductive health care, for cancer screenings, for birth control?
Would the end of government funding spell the end of PP?
Well of course it's political. Romney is a politician running for President. However, PP was not singled out. Check his quote.
| Romney's comment came at a Missouri television station where he said, "Is the program so critical that it is worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And on that basis, of course you get rid of ObamaCare, that's the easy one. But there are others: Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrak, I would eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, both excellent programs, but we can't afford to borrow money to pay for these things." |
Obamacare, Amtrack, National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities were all mentioned in succession.
Is it likewise political for Romney to mention......Amtrack? :think:
He wasn't attacking PP for the sake of it, he was talking deficits, economics and borrowing from China for domestic program funding. He even said "both excellent programs" about the two endowments. I guess he thinks some tough choices will have to be made. I agree.
Do you think cuts need to be made? What would you cut?
On this, we agree :e4e:
Is Amtrack in the public interest? Is borrowing excessive amounts of money from China in the public's best interest?
mighty_duck
New member
Wow, police brutality! Unnecessary use of force. You know what they call that here?
Tuesday.
lain:On a more serious note, It's hard to know without more details, but it sounds like the police had probable cause to question him, and when he resisted they were probably just following protocol in using non-lethal means to subdue him. Mostly non-lethal, I should probably say...
mighty_duck
New member
Cuts absolutely need to be made. But if you look at the budget, cutting aid to arts and humanities, Amtrack and PP won't make a big difference to that 1.1 trillion deficit (or 1.3 trillion if you remove SS income and expenditure hoax). It sure sounds nice to conservatives though, who can shake their heads at the silly liberal programs, and think they're doing something to fight the deficit.
OTOH, the defense budget is over 700 billion. The rest of the world's defense budgets combined? 900 billion. Something stinks in those numbers.
WizardofOz
New member
Cut from all of the above, absolutely. Not cutting the smaller bits because the hole is so big is backwards thinking.
Ok, so they don't do mammograms...I don't see the problem with that.
I think he's trying to project that image to the people he would like to vote for him. Which isn't quite the same thing, admittedly.
No, but I think singling them out is unfair, and it seems like the worst kind of pandering: playing on the hatred of the people he's trying to appease.
"Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that."
Sounds like singling it out to me.
Well, yes, in that he's trying to beef up his right-wing-nutjob cred. So, he has to attack Planned Parenthood, and also show that he wants to cut government programs. And frankly, I think the people he's pitching to are going to see right through the tactic of laundry-listing a bunch of things that amount to little more than a drop in the bucket.
Well, PP is prehaps the last place I would look to make cuts. Cutting its funding would be penny wise, pound foolish, in that many of its most important services are preventative and educational, thus saving precious health care dollars.
I think right now isn't a great time for budget cuts. I'd rather raise taxes. But the places we really need to look for budget cuts that are meaningful are defense and entitlements. The rest is really too small to make an appreciable difference.
Well, at least we can agree on politicians being politicians.
:e4e:
Yes, definitely. I think it could stand to be developed a bit better, but some 30 million people ride it annually.
It seems to me like it could stand to be developed in the western part of the US, especially running north/south.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Amtrak_System_Map.svg
When people ask this sort of question, I never quite know if the objection is how much we're borrowing, or who we're borrowing it from. China currently holds about 10% of our debt, and is the largest single foreign holder, but there are other big debt holders that people never seem to worry much about. Like Japan, which threatens to overtake China frequently.
As I said, I'd rather see a new New Deal, or something similar. Something that could actually build up our infrastructure in a meaningful way, instead of politicians of both parties pandering all the time to the small-government ideologues. So, rather than talking about cutting Amtrak, I'd say work to make it a more viable mode of transportation.
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Quincy
New member
A couple weeks ago tornados ripped through this area destroying two small communities. Starting this week, a new school dubbed the "miracle on the hill" is opening to house almost 300 students. Here is the link and article:
MiracleontheHill
MiracleontheHill
They wail about funding and justify it by claiming they screen for cancer. :idunno:
mighty_duck
New member
It is all irrelevant. Cutting the "small bits" does almost nothing to solve the problem, so focusing on it is a ruse.
So you cut $2B from Amtrack. That's less than 0.1%of the federal budget, and you probably need to compensate in other areas (maintenance on the roads for the former train passengers, etc.). Candidates should probably spend 0.1% of the time they talk about the budget to talk about meaningless expenditures like this. Instead, they'll probably give it 100 times more airtime than it deserves.
It's nothing more than pandering.