The TODAY Show on Tuesday featured a story you read here last week. A Michigan woman is threatened with a fine by the Michigan Department of Human Services for letting her neighbors' kids stay at her house before the school bus arrives.
The shocking part is when a State of Michigan employee tells Lisa Snyder to have the kids "get an umbrella" as a solution to the problem. Meanwhile in Chicago, unsupervised kids go on a rampage.
Sally Harpold is a grandmother of triplets who bought one box of Zyrtec-D cold medicine for her husband at a Rockville pharmacy. Less than seven days later, she bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her adult daughter at a Clinton pharmacy, thereby purchasing 3.6 grams total of pseudoephedrine in a week’s time.
The end result? Mrs. Harpold was led away in handcuffs by the police! Her "crime"? Purchasing more than 3 grams of pseudoephedrine within seven days. It carries a penalty of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. The law was enacted to stop drug users from making methamphetamines. Another "well intentioned" law that oversteps its authority and ends up punishing or inconveniences the innocent.
Now Mrs. Harpold has to fight to clear her name all because two people in her family had the audacity to get a cold within a seven day period. The Prosecutor stated that "ignorance of the law is no excuse". What may be even scarier is realizing that there is a database out there that keeps all of your cold medicine purchases on file and flags the authorities when your weekly ration of Vick Formula 44 D has been surpassed.
In the end, all we do know is this: the bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the ever expanding bureaucracy.
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It’s been five days since questions were raised about the White House’s apparent desire to create a Department of Propaganda by leveraging Government funding for the NEA to create art that will push the administration’s agenda for Health Care.
A cursory search on CNN and MSNBC’s website show no stories about this by either “news” organizations. ABC and CBS both did one story about the scandal, but nothing since Yoshi Sergent, one of the key players in the conference call, resigned late last week from the White House.
Other news organizations that trumped the Most Trusted Name in News and… I don’t know what MSNBC’s cute name is:
The Washington Times
Associated Press (which by the looks of it, no one else picked up on)
Thirty seven blogs have covered this story and CNN.com and MSNBC have YET to write ONE article? I mean I’d expect the obligatory “Attack on the Arts by Right Wing Conservatives” slant article by now.
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This is a prime example of a law that was supposed to have good intentions, but ended having unintended consequences. As is usually the case, the law comes down on the wrong side of the issue, overextending its reach and creating more authoritarian control over our daily lives.
Lisa Snyder of Middleville is threatened by the State of Michigan for having the audacity to watch her neighbors kids. According to WZZM13 News, the neighborhood school bus stop is right in front of Snyder's home. It arrives after her neighbors need to be at work, so she watches three of their children for 15-40 minutes until the bus comes.
Let me repeat that...SHE WATCHES THREE KIDS.
Some nosy, bitter, "government-will take-care-of-me" neighbor called in a complaint to the Department of Human Services and the State issued Snyder a stern warning threat to get licensed or "face the consequences".
The law was obviously poorly written. When did we reach that point where government has such control over our daily lives? This woman was not babysitting 12 kids for 5 hours a day. She was simply doing a favor for her friends, watching out for their kids so they would be safe before they headed off to school.
The State of Michigan's response? They have no choice but to comply with state law.
If Government's "well intentions" go so astray in small issues like this, what gives you the confidence they won't for health care?
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Former President Jimmy Carter called you a Racist.
Janeane Garafalo called you a Racist
According to Melissa Harris-Lacewell, professor of African-American studies at Princeton, words you use like "personal responsibility" are "code words for racism".
Chris Matthews of MSNBC doesn't believe that protests against health care can be anything other than racism.
Still confused on whether you are a racist or not in the post racial Presidency of Obama? Well, print this handy dandy flowchart and hang it in your cubicle or on your refrigerator. Next time you believe you have a legitimate issue with the current Administration in Washington, just follow the chart to see of you are really a racist or not. Fun for the whole family!
Michael Moore's movie, Capitalism: A Love Story isn't scheduled to be released for another week or so, but did the movie, which concludes that "Capitalism is Evil", help incite anarchist violence during the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh?
This week 20 leaders from around the globe met in Pittsburgh to discuss various economic issues plaguing developed nations. Outside the summit, police clashed with black-veiled protesters.
Consider that lately, Moore has been busy promoting his new film, claiming that capitalism is actually legalized greed and that we need to do away with it. This is not much different with the rally cries heard outside the G20 summit this weekend.
When taxpayers turned vocal at Town Hall meetings this summer, the news media attacked this "angry crowd of racists" while commentators from The Huffington Post, Daily Kos and MSNBC feared that this will all turn to violence. Yet the opposite has occurred. Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers marched on Washington and reports of violence were non existent. Now 500 - 1,000 black-clad, veiled anarchists that are too lazy to get a job are in Pittsburgh and the police are making arrests daily, windows are being broken, tear gas is being used.
After the release of Michael Moore's movie, will Nancy Pelosi stand at a podium once again, invoke the turmoil of early 70's San Francisco, and bemoan the potential violence this movie will produce?
I'm betting she won't.
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The new "green" movie, The Age of Stupid, attacks the idea of flying in airplanes because the producers believe it is harmful for the environment. Guess how most of the promoters and producers of this film arrived at the Manhattan premiere? The answer is wonderfully provided in this video featuring Phelim McAleer who also posted his commentary at Big Hollywood:
Tilting at Windmills
Every two years, Michigan Governor Jenny Granholm comes up with an idea that she hopes will kick start the state's economy since the auto business went bust. A while ago it was the New Technology State, next was The Raise Taxes State, then it was the Canada's Garbage Dump State. Now its The Windmill State..or something, who knows. She is proposing putting these monstrosities in Saginaw Bay and in the Thumb Region of the state. Yeah, I want one of these in my backyard.
From Deadspin.com: A spokesperson for Kings Island, Don Helbig, said the following,
"There will not be a scene at our Halloween event that features Steve McNair or anyone that resembles him."
With video and pictures of the skeletons circulating online, Helbig at first declined to acknowledge that they had ever existed. "There was no reference to Steve McNair at all. No jersey, nothing." Upon being informed that the pictures and video were already online, Helbig again insisted that the skeletons would not be featured on Friday when the event opens. Pressed as to when the skeletons were removed from the park, Helbig stuck to his talking points. "Our event does not open until Friday," he said, "We meant him no disrespect."
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We are not exactly sure what is going on with the producers over at NBC News and the TODAY Show, but the quality of people they are digging up for their news and interview segments has certainly been lacking. Last week, ignoring the whole ACORN scandal, they were only able to dig up a former neighbor, when police arrested accused murderer Raymond Clark, III. You can see the clip HERE.
Yesterday, The TODAY Show featured a segment detailing the latest “trend”: people in foreclosed homes are stripping them bare and selling the contents before turning the property over to the banks, going so far as even selling the toilets for $20.
In this video clip, NBC Reporter Kerry Sanders is talking with Zorene Brodek (sp?) who justifies her actions: (the key section is at 1:08)
Sanders: What about the banks? Foreclosed Homeowner: Well, It’s their tough luck. They (the bank) are the ones who gave me a loan that was really ridiculous in the first place, so they are stuck with it.
Really, Ms. Foreclosed Former Homeowner? The bank held a gun to your head and made you get a loan? They are the ones that are responsible for you not investigating what you were getting yourself into? Did they hold one of your relatives hostage so you’d sign the loan?
I’m not sure what the situation was that caused Ms. Foreclosed Former Homeowner to stop making her payments to the bank. Maybe it was a lost job; maybe it was a personal illness. Regardless, blaming the bank for your inability to make payments smacks of personal entitlement. And for NBC News to just let her statement hang there, solidifying the notion that “Evil Mortgage Lenders” are behind the whole mortgage crisis is beyond irresponsible.
And thus the Age of Personal Responsibility comes to a close, not with a bang, but with mighty whining and snooty indignation to a reporter from NBC News.
Nothing is your fault anymore, Americans.
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"A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore!" -- Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
It's been more than 24 hours since BigGovernment went live with their report on how the Obama administration used the National Endowment for the Arts to push their agenda, specifically for health care. I don’t know about you, but this turns the hair on the back of my neck straight up. We all know that money sometimes wrongly gets funneled to “charities or corporations of choice” during any administration. Bush was accused of improperly funding Blackwater and Haliburton, Obama has ACORN and Community Organizers. But using the NEA to push a certain agenda focus smacks of propaganda.
Wait...didn't hear about it? Of course you didn't. The Old World Media has kept it under wraps pretty well.
The last time BigGovernment broke a story that was unfavorable to the Obama Administration *cough ACORN *cough it took days for the Ostrich Media to report it or in some cases nearly ignore it.
So we here at The Hippos Ass decided to track how long it takes for the media to actually cover this story. We decided to track the web sites of ABC News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS and The New York Times, as well as explore what other websites are covering this story.
Day 1 Search for National Endowment for the Arts
CNN Nothing
MSNBC Nothing
ABCNews One story (Charlie Gibson probably didn't want to be embarrassed again)
CBS News One Story CBS's story is very much a CYA story from the administration)
The New York Times One story...same story as CBS. Hmmmmmm
The Washington Post is covering...O'Keefe and Giles?
So going into day two of the Media Blackout Finals we have CNN and MSNBC. Stay tuned.
There is a certain creepiness behind this whole scenario. Take the opposite stand if you will for one moment. Imagine if President Bush, in the run up to the Iraq War, had asked the NEA to create Pro War art and songs. The whole mess would never have gotten past the initial email invite before there was an uproar from the liberal community and the press. They would be justified as well. This is not the purpose behind the National Endowment for the Arts.
Artists have always been looked upon as pushing the boundaries of the status quo, forcing us to look outside the little boxes we live in and view reality from a different angle. Art does have a very prominent place in a well educated and cultured society. All the more reason for the Federal Government to stay the hell out of it. The fear of Government funding has always been that one administration or other would seek to control the funded organization for some nefarious purpose.
The transcripts from BigGovernment.com show all too well that this was a coordinated attempt to use art to help push through the Obama Administration's agenda. The art community seem to have found it easy to sell out for a few pieces of the Government Pie.
A pie that you and I pay for. And right on the heals of the media ignoring the ACORN and NEA Scandals, we find that the Obama Administration is open to the idea "aid" for newspapers...(find out more in tomorrow's Hippos Ass).
It may be time to pull out my well worn copy of Orwell again.
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Jai-Lee Dearing, Candidate for Detroit City Council, tried to defy the laws of physics by being in two different locations at the same time. (I think it’s physics…the only thing I know about physics is from watching Star Trek)
The Detroit Free Press was conducting a live chat with council candidates and on Thursday it was Dearings turn. Except that at the time, he was appearing live on WCHB with two other candidates.
When challenged in the chat, the Fake Jai-Lee Dearing wrote: “I have a member of my staff in the studio typing for me and I am approving these answers before they come to you”
Except that he wasn’t.
The “chat” was being conducted by Mike Carroll, Dearing’s campaign manager. The hosts of the program he was on confirmed to the Free Press that no notes were passed to the candidate.
Not the first time Dearing has had some controversy during his campaign. According to the Detroit News:
Dearing, who is waging his third run for council, stumbled twice last month over fliers. Days after the primary, he had to disavow one that featured scantily-clad women. Later, he caught flack for another that listed endorsements from notables such as the Rev. Horace Sheffield III who hadn't given their support.
This upcoming election is very important to the citizens of Detroit. As a tax payer to the city who is not allowed to vote due to taxation without representation, I would love to be able to help choose the future leaders of the city. Unfortunately I cannot. Detroiters can and need to be wary of who they vote for.
If they are looking for change, a candidate that endeavors to deceive is not change: its just another Kwame Kilpatrick or Monica Conyers.
We've been wondering why NBC has devoted hardly anytime to the snowballing scandal surrounding ACORN. What could be preventing them from covering one of the hottest topics in the past seven days?
Well, Thursday morning, police in Connecticut were sitting outside the apartment of Raymond Clark, III, getting ready to arrest him for the murder of Annie Le, the young Yale graduate student who dissapeared a week ago. Her body was found inside a wall in the research laboratory where she worked.
NBC's Today Show, with Meredith Vieira, was right there to bring us the latest with this exclusive interview of a neighbor, er... ex-neighbor. Their crack research staff, obviously pulled off the ACORN investigation, pulled out all the stops to get the exclusive to this first hand report "inside the mind of Raymond Clark, III"
An exclusive into the mind of a killer...? Ann Marie Goodwin knows, cause eyes are the window to a person's soul...or something. Well, he owned 2 pit bulls...who yelped all day. And he didn't like the apartment. This was the best TODAY could come up with? An Ex-Neighbor? The look on Meridith's face at the end of this interview is truly a classic.
Meanwhile, the near media blackout of coverage on ACORN continued.
Except on Twitter. #acorn was a trending topic the past two days, beaten only by such earth-shattering topics as #kaynewest, #jackass (which is code for Kanye West) and #happybirthdaynick, who I find out later was not for Nick Lachey, but for Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers. Imagine MY embarrassment....
Yesterday afternoon the Republicans slipped the Defund ACORN Act into the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, which passed 345 - 75. All 75 nay votes were Democrats, including Detroit's own Momma Kilpatrick herself, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick from Michigan's 13th District.
Momma Kilpatrick's son Kwame Kilpatrick, the former Mayor of Detroit, who pled guilty to two felonies, was removed from office and served jail time. He now makes $10,000 a month in Texas working for a Compuware subsidiary, lives in a monster house, drives a Cadillac Escalade and owes the City of Detroit $6,000 a month till he pays off the $1 million he cost the city. He recently petitioned the courts to drop his payment to $6 a month. I KID YOU NOT!
Just an FYI for any young reporters out there looking for something to do...Detroit has a local ACORN Chapter.
ACORN suspended operations yesterday, calling the actions of their employees at four separate locations indefensible. This was after ACORN Bertha Lewis called the BigGovernment videos a scam, that ACORN employees were just "playing along", which came right after they claimed they were suing FoxNews for making ACORN their Willie Horton for 2009, which wasn't too long after they called this an isolated incident.
Next up? Bertha Lewis saying "we would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids"?
Zoinks!
The Gang at BigGovernment.com
CNN finally got around to writing an article on the controversy for their web site, after six days of ignoring the whole damn thing. Wolf Bitzer did exactly what you would expect, get the "victim" on for some screen time:
MSNBC took two days off from covering the affair, but the TODAY show did go out of their way this morning to mention that ACORN's spokesman was quoted as saying the whole thing is faked. (Someone must not have given him the memo that said they were going to suspend their operations for a bit). Ed Shultz couldn't help putting Nuts vs ACORN on the screen:
Charlie Gibson, meanwhile, was replaced by a rock, who broke the story that the Earth was round. Gibson was quoted as saying "well, that's the first I heard about this."
The New York Times did finally write an article as well, however the reporter couldn't help throwing in the usual labels (as Newsbusters reports)
portraying the scandal in pure political terms, with "the right" as "gleeful" in claiming its "latest scalp," as opposed to expressing outrage over a tax-funded leftist organization with connections to the Census Bureau and IRS (!) encouraging tax evasion and child prostitution. Shane couldn't even bring himself to call the housing activists at ACORN leftist; instead he said "the right" are trying to weaken Obama "by attacking allies and appointees they view as leftist.
Stay tuned to The Hippo's Ass for further updates, as we hear the kids over at BigGovernment have plenty more videos to show. Since the Ostrich Media refuses to cover this story, I guess it's up to us bloggers to spread the word. Follow us on Twitter @thehipposass or become a fan on Facebook. If you have a tip or would like to send in a story, email us at hipposass@gmail.com
It is day five of our CNN.com ACORN Watch. The Hippo's Ass has been monitoring the CNN web site for the past few days looking for any indication they are aware of the astonishing events surrounding the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
According to CNN.com's own search engine, the last time CNN wrote a story about ACORN was September 10, 2009
1 Day before the Obama Administration fired ACORN from their Census collection program.
2 Days before a third video (this time in New York) surfaced showing workers giving questionable advice to filmakers posing as a pimp and a prostitute.
3 Days before the Senate took up a vote to add an amendment to the Housing bill to cut all funding to ACORN. Seven members of the Senate voted to keep funding ACORN.
4 Days before a fourth video is broadcast, this time of a worker telling how she "laid some groundwork" before shooting her abusive husband dead.
Five Days.
Five days and not one written story on the CNN.com web site. Oh, there are a few video clips hidden on the site (you really have to look for them) but nothing on the front page. One video clip is from Lou Dobbs of all people, but doesn't really address the videos, just politicians' ties to ACORN (and they make it sound like they are doing an "investigation".) Another video is of an ACORN lawyer calling the undercover videos a sham.
Two employees at the Baltimore, Maryland, branch of the liberal community organizing group ACORN were caught on tape allegedly offering advice to a pair posing as a pimp and prostitute on setting up a prostitution ring and evading the IRS.
CNN is not alone.
Charlie Gibson of ABC News told WLS AM in Chicago, yesterday morning was the first he heard of it!"(of the scandal)
MSNBC's coverage has been mainly about Joe Wilson and whether or not the Tea Party participants are racist.
CBS...are they still around?
Rachel Maddow is making teabagging jokes (as if she knows....)
The big story on Monday was Kanye West. The big story on Tuesday? It was a toss up between Joe Wilson getting his hand slapped and President Obama calling Kanye West a Jackass.
Well, I guess a broken clock IS right twice a day.
The House of Representatives is set to vote on the amendment that will cut funding for ACORN, an organization that is tied to SEIU (who have been a force behind the Health Care Debate) and to President Obama himself.
But if Sarah Palin makes a statement about Death Panels, you can be sure CNN, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and the New York Times will be all over it.
Today, the top story is former President Carter calling dissent against the Obama Administration based on Racism. As I type this, the TODAY show is saying this is a "conservative" sting and ACORN has "long been the target of conservative". Well at least they are finally reporting it.
The fact is, the main stream media was upstaged by two young adults, aged 25 and 20, who spent all of $1,800 on this investigation and exposed one of the largest community organizations in the country as being crooked and corrupt, an organization that stood to gain billions of tax payer money, and an administration that is tied to the President of the United States. (oops, sorry Jimmy...I must be racist for saying that.)
The media outlets that were known for being mainstream are now the Ostrich Media, their sense of self importance and worth leading them by the hand to obscurity and shown the door by a filmmaker in a bad pimp outfit you'd never even think twice about wearing for halloween.
And my little obscure blog that averages now 112 readers a day has printed more stories in the past few days about this scandal than a Global Media Conglomerate. Pretty pathetic don't you think?
Send a message or a twitter to the news outlets and tell them to get off their butts. Here is a list of media twitter addresses (thanks to Resist Tyranny Now)
ABC @abcnews
George Stephanopoulos @GStephanopoulos
Jake Tapper @jaketapper
CBS @CBSnews
Katie Couric @katiecouric
Mark Knoller @markknoller
CNN @cnn
Alexander Mooney @AWMooneyCNN
Anderson Cooper @andersoncooper
Allison Blakely @AllisonCNN
Don Lemon @donlemonCNN
J. Smith @JSmith_CNN
Kim Segal @CNNkimsegal
Kristie Lu Stout @klustout
Rick Sanchez @ricksanchezCNN
Saad Abedine @CNNSaadAbedine
Suzanne Malveaux @SuzanneMalveaux
Fox
Glenn Beck @GlennBeck (send him a thank you)
Huffington Post @HuffingtonPost
MSNBC @msnbc_breaking
Joe Scarborough @JoeNBC
Rachel Maddow @maddow
NBC @NBCnews
David Gregory @davidgregory
New York Times @NYTimes
Nicholas Kristof @nytimeskristof
Opinion @nytimesopinion
Politics @nytimespolitics
USA Today @USAToday
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UPDATE This afternoon CNN.com posted a video that attempted to explain the ACORN scandal; a link was added to the front page of their web site. In the clip, a good deal of time was given to the spokesman for ACORN who called the video a "scam". Later in the day, ACORN suspended some of their operations, calling the actions of their employees "indefensable".
CNN has yet to publish any WRITTEN article on their site abput the scandal since September 10...now 6 days ago.
What was virtually improbable a week ago, the Senate voted 83 - 7 to add an amendment to H.R.3288 (Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies) that would cut funding to ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
The Johanns Amendment is #2355 to H.R. 3288.
Johanns cited the BigGovernment.com sting videos as evidence that ACORN cannot be trusted with government money:
“Until a full investigation is launched into ACORN, no taxpayer money should be used to fund its activities. A vote in favor of my amendment is a vote in favor of the taxpayer and a vote against the status quo.”"
Only seven Senators, all Democrats, who are being called the Child-Whoring Pimp Assitance 7 voted to continue funding the organization whose employees gave advice to a fake pimp and prostitute looking to import underage girls for exploitation, get a house loan without a job and looking to avoid paying taxes.
Ladies and Gentlemen...The Child-Whoring Pimp Assistance 7
Burris (D-IL)
Casey (D-PA)
Durbin (D-IL)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Leahy (D-VT)
Sanders (I-VT)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said the following after learning of potentially being cut from the taxpayer's teat:
"We're disappointed that the Senate took the rare and politically convenient step of supporting eliminating some federal funding for a single organization, one that has been the target of an historical political assault stemming variously from the Bush White House, Fox News, and other conservative quarters," said Bertha Lewis, CEO of ACORN, in a statement after the Senate vote. "Fortunately, ACORN derives most of its income from its members and other supporters, so the decision will have little impact on overall operations. Tonight's vote will burden the families who benefited from ACORN's important work to improve housing conditions in the United States."
Wait...What?? It will have little impact but it will also be a burden? Whatever... Cutting federal funds and forcing this non-profit organization to raise their own money from members is a good thing. If ACORN can't sustain themselves without TRUE public support, then they do not deserve to be around.
The amendment will now go before Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives. Will they bury the amendment, turn it down, ignore it or do the right thing: Pass it by an overwhelming majority. I can't wait to see who votes against this.
Or will "the powers that be" kill the whole thing, like he/they did when Rep. John Conyers tried to investigate these crooked organization earlier this year?
Last night, CNN.com, as of 10:00 pm had yet to post any story at all about the vote, ACORN, or the videos.
Stay tuned to #thehipposass or follow @thehipposass on Twitter for updates throughout the day. If you like what you read, make us your friend on Facebook or reblog us.
You know it’s Autumn when every time you turn around, acorns are falling from the tree. You have to be vigilant: if you leave them there on the ground, they will 1) ruin the grass that you worked very hard to maintain and 2) sprout more trees that will take over your yard.
Big news of the day? Kanye West made an ass out of himself at the MTV Video Music Awards last night. I didn’t see it, but how do I know it happened: It was one of the top stories on the TODAY show this morning.CNN featured the "incident" on their web site. In fact, as of 1:00 pm this afternoon, it was the lead story of the day until President Obama started admonishing Wall Street again.
A quick look on Google’s News search at the time resulted in more than 2,288 hits from such reputable news sources as:
TIME
Reuters
Los Angeles Times
New York Times
ABC News
Associated Press
Washington Post
The Huffington Post (O.K….my bad, this one shouldn’t fall in with the reputable group, but they still mentioned it.)
The other big story of the day? For the third time is less than 6 days, a video showing ACORN workers giving advice to a pimp and a prostitute was released by the good folks over at BigGovernment.com. This video features New York City ACORN workers giving advice on how to hide prostitution profits in a tin can buried in the back yard, how to lie when applying for a housing loan and ways to shelter the money for tax purposes.
The number of hits on Google search at 4pm this afternoon? 58. Some of the news sites that covered the story?
Fox News
The Baltimore Sun
The New York Post
Examiner.com
The San Francisco Chronicle (the article was actually defending ACORN against the evil people that exposed them)
And THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD???
No Kidding...True Story. The New Zealand Herald actually put out a story on the third video before CNN did. (The last article on CNN.com about ACORN was four days ago.) Not only does New Zealand make a great setting for Middle Earth, they also know when to call a scandal a scandal, unlike some of our more prominent news organizations here in the United States. Seriously, when was the last time you read about a scandal in New Zealand?
Hell, looking up Blackwater Contractors will give you more than 1,000 hits from various news sites.
What is it about ACORN that the media turns a blind eye towards? What are they afraid will happen should they do some real investigative work on this organization that stands to get billions of taxpayer money and has been involved in numerous incidents of voter registration fraud, the housing scandal and now these videos? It certainly is a tough nut to crack. (sorry)
Good thing you have The Hippo’s Ass to report on these stories. Otherwise you’d be left talking about Lady Gaga’s outfit from the VMAs.
(Should I know who she is???)
We here at The Hippo's Ass have a feeling that this is not the last of the ACORN videos to surface. Should any more come to light, you know where you can turn to get the news other outlets refuse to cover: The Hippo's Ass....and The New Zealand Herald.
ACORN was trying to register Mickey Mouse during 2008 Election
Each week we look forward to the Friday News Dump, that special time when the Government "dumps" a news story that will be unfavorable to them should it be well publicized. The theory being the public will be too busy to pay attention to the news during the busy weekend and when the news cycle begins on Monday, the "dropped" story will be old news.
Yesterday, Obama Administration literally dropped one of its biggest supporters: ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
The week didn't start out so well for ACORN. First they announced they had to fire several workers in Florida for registering false names during the last presidential election. (Imagine that...pitty someone didn't warn voters about them last year.)
Then a very damaging YouTube video was posted by BigGovernment showing ACORN workers in Baltimore giving advice on how a prostitute and a pimp could avoid paying taxes on the underage El Salvadorean sex workers the couple were going to import.
ACORN quickly fired the workers, saying that it was an isolated incident and that it was just a smear campaign by Conservatives.
In what can only be called a classic "one-two" punch, a SECOND video, this time showing District of Columbia workers doing the exact same thing.
We are their Willy Horton for 2009. We are the boogeyman for the right-wing and its echo chambers. If ACORN did not exist, the right-wing would have needed to create us in order to achieve their agenda, their missions, their ideal, retrograde America.
Three Scandals in one week to an organization that was connected in the last election to our current President and nary a word on the major news sites. Well it's a good thing you follow The Hippo's Ass. We report what the main News Sites fail to cover.
Which brings us to the Friday News Dump. The Administration announced that ACORN was being dropped as a "participant" in the upcoming census. MSNBC's response? They showed an in-depth report on whether ShamWow really works or not.
Shouldn't someone be investigating these "community organizers" who stand to reap millions in tax payer dollars as part of the TARP bills recently passed to "help" the economy? Rep. John Conyers of Detroit was supposed to, but mysteriously he dropped the case one day before his wife Monica Conyers, a Detroit City Council member was brought up on bribery charges. Rep. Conyers claimed "powers that be" put the kibosh on the idea. Hmmm..... Anyone in the media care to follow that up? Didn't think so.
The kicker of the whole story? You have a National Community Organization that is connected to the President of the United States, being involved in voter registration tampering, tax evasion advice at TWO locations and counciling a prostitute how to hide underage El Salvadorean girls and what happens?
The State of Maryland may prosecute the FILMMAKERS who exposed ACORN as the Corrupt Organization they really are.
An you wonder why more than 1 million people marched on Washington D.C today?
Stephen J. Cangialosi was forty years old the day he woke his wife to kiss her good bye, tell her he loves her, and leave for work as a bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald in WTC Tower 1 on the 104th floor.
Today I am forty years old. This morning I woke my wife to kiss her goodbye, told her I loved her and left for work as well. The difference is I get to go home.
Stephen can not.
Eight years after September 11, I am only now learning who this man was. Today I signed up to be a part of Project 2,996, a group of bloggers each taking one victim of 9/11 and remembering them on this day. Coming late to this project, I didn’t have a lot of time to investigate who Stephen was.
I did learn that Stephen J. Cangialosi will be remembered for "The Shirt." Yes, he was a devoted father of two boys, a husband, loyal friend, successful bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald and a die-heart Yankees fan.
But it was "The Shirt."
For years, he made fun of his Georgetown University classmate, Andy Stearns, for wearing a stained, plaid, late-1970's shirt with wide lapels throughout college. To get him back, Mr. Stearns wrapped it, threw a bow on the box and gave it to him as a gift. Not to be outdone, Mr. Cangialosi wrapped it in a big box with a bow and gave it back. That went on for about 17 years. It would turn up on holidays, birthdays and anniversaries.
We all have our horrible memories of that day. I was stuck in St. Louis that morning, getting ready to fly home to Michigan. When the attack happened, I tried to call my wife, but all I got were “circuits are busy” recordings. She worked in an office building in downtown Detroit at the time. The frustration of not knowing if she was alright still haunts me.
Stephen's wife Karen believes that her husband tried to call her at 9 a.m. "The phone rang, but when I got to the phone, no one was there," she said. Someone else called, telling her to turn on the television. Then she tried to call her husband at his office and on his cell phone, but got no answer. "He was just always smiling, happy, upbeat, so positive about life," his wife said. "I feel lucky to have loved him for the past 20 years. He gave me two wonderful children. He loved being a dad. That was his favorite job in the world."
I am honored to be able to remember Stephen Cangialosi today. When I get home I will be sure to give my wife a huge hug, kiss her and tell her she is the most important person in my life.
The internet is all a twitter this morning over Rep. Joe Wilson's lack of respect for the President when he shouted “You Lie” in the midst of a Presidential address. Wilson's outburst was in response to the President's adamant declaration that the proposed health care bill will not cover illegal aliens. This came right after part where the President called-out “certain politicians” (Cough* Sarah Palin *Cough) and THEIR supposed lies.
Maybe what Wilson should have done is grab a few of his colleagues and “booed” the president instead. That, as we see here, is perfectly acceptable.
Blogs like the Huffington Post, The Daily Kos and the Democratic Underground are calling for the censure and removal of Joe Wilson. Maybe Wilson was trying to be more like the European Governments we are often told to emulate. Where were these pundits when an Iraqi reporter threw a shoe at President Bush? It’s apparently O.K. for OTHER people to “disrespect” our President.
From the Daily Kos:
Is the Iraqi reporter eligible for a Pulitzer?
Michael Ware Was Grinning From Ear to Ear! Iraq journalist Michael Ware was shown on CNN telling Blitzer about the shoe throwing incident. He was positively gleeful.
Meanwhile the Huffington Post comments were very similar to those of the Daily Kos:
Find out who it was the guy deserves a medal of honor.
you go Iraqi guy! wooohooo! we should all be chuckin our shoes at him! lmao!!!! the shoebomber! lmao!!!
I would love to throw something at Bush.. not a shoe though.. maybe a brick.. or cinder block.
The next time you see Bush's motorcade rush by, don't let anyone keep you from giving him your shoe, too...
And finally, last but least, we have the input from the loons at the Democratic Underground:
F---ing shame he missed.
Too bad Shrub didn't get his teeth knocked out, that guys a true hero!
*sigh* why can't anyone ever hit their targets? is it asking too much too see Bush hit in the face with a shoe, or Coulter with a pie, or Rove with flaming poo?
I soooooo wish I could throw something at the idiot too.
(Thanks to DummiesFunnies.com for the quotes)
Clearly, Rep. Wilson’s “uncalibrated” timing of his outburst will sidetrack the easily distracted from the real issue at hand: Last month the President said “This is not just about the 47 million Americans who don't have any health insurance at all.” Magically last night, we went down from 47 million uninsured in America to “over” 30 million American “citizens”.
And that was without spending a dime!
Who are these missing 17 odd million uninsured people?
The Department of Homeland Security reported that the number of illegal aliens as of January 2008 was about 12 million.
Imagine that. What's five million give or take when you want to pass your bill...
The Congressional Research Service reported that the current version of the bill would HAVE to cover illegals. Even if this language has now been mysteriously removed, we know the United States Supreme Court has ruled that prohibiting illegals from public education is unconstitutional:
In Plyler v. Doe, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas law violated the equal protection provisions of the 4th Amendment. As a result of Plyler v. Doe, states may not deny access to public education to immigrant children residing within their boundaries, regardless of their legal status.
The question is, would denying illegal access to PUBLIC HEALTH COVERAGE also be unconstitutional?
If these mystery 17 million are removed now, the public may come to believe that the bill will not cover undocumented workers. Later, when the Supreme Court rules they need to be included, the Obama Administration will still get what they originally intended.
If the Administration is serious about not covering illegals in the health care bill, then why did they not pass the Republican amendment that would have specifically spelled out the prohibition of said coverage?
The House Ways & Means Committee had the opportunity to include language that would have barred illegal aliens from enrolling in the proposed public option or receiving the affordability credits, but chose not to. An amendment offered by Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) would have applied the same eligibility verification procedures for coverage under H.R. 3200 that have been used for years to prove eligibility for Medicaid. That amendment was rejected by a party-line vote.
Rep Wilson’s outrage over the “iffyness” of the President’s facts may have left him half blind to his actions when he made his outburst, but in the world of the blind, the one eyed man is king.
If you listen real closely to what Joe Wilson yelled last night, it may not be that he was yelling “You Lie”, what he may have been yelling was “The Emperor Has No Clothes!”
The President of the United States, a person whom it has been said was too smart for the Presidency, said this yesterday to students across the land:
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
Back in the 80's a popular television and movie icon said this to students:
Mr. T wins this contest hands down. It's short, to the point, and looks good on a T-shirt.
Besides, it was said more than twenty years ago and I guarantee it is still fondly remembered by many people to this day. As I have been typing this blog entry, I've already forgotten what the President said. There were a few semi-colons or something...
I contemplated watching the President tonight but decided not to. Will he honestly say anything he hasn't already said over the past few months? I doubt it. There is a sense of urgency in this speech. For a party that controls the White House, the Senate and the House, they still can't say if this bill will pass...They could go it alone if they wanted, so why the big speech? Who are they trying to convince? I thought the public was overwhelmingly behind this plan?
So President Obama spoke to school children at the start of the new School year.
Well, good for him. The speech seemed innocent enough, but what most people were upset about was not the speech (which they only first saw yesterday) but to the lesson plan that teachers were to follow, (which didn't quite line up with what he actually said today) and to the "I Pledge" video that featured Hollywood stars pledging their support to things like not flushing the toilet and their service to the President.
Reagan spoke to a classroom; so did George H. W. Bush. In fact, when Bush, Sr. spoke, the Democrats ordered congressional hearings to get to the bottom of the $27,000 it cost to do so. There is nothing wrong with the leader of the free world addressing students and asking them to "Be Cool, Stay in School".
But this, as someone has said, can be a teachable moment. The real speech you should let your children hear will come Wednesday night, when the President addresses a joint session of Congress, the first non-State of the Union type speech since 9/11.
Let your kids hear what the President has to say, then discuss it with them.
Might I even suggest a few topics for discussion as well:
Explain how it's morally wrong to forcefully take from one group of people to give it to another, no matter your how good your intentions.
Give them a story problem! Little Suzy came to school one day and forgot her lunch money. Without it, she will not be able to eat and will go hungry the rest of the day. Which of these answers is the best way to handle the situation:
1) The Teacher forces your friend Mary to give up her lunch because Mary's mom and dad have a bigger house, better job, a bigger car and can afford to make Mary a real lunch. Her dinner will probably be better than Suzy's dinner so in the end its O.K.
2) All of the students take a vote and decide that Bobby should give up $1.00 of his lunch money because Bobby always brings $1.00 more each day for the cafeteria and it's not fair.
3) Suzy beats up Bobby on the playground and takes his lunch money.
4) The teacher asks each student to make a donation to help Suzy out.
5) The principle decides that all students, even those that bring their own lunches, must buy from the school cafeteria, that way the school can make sure all the students get the same lunch.
Ask them to write a book report on a 1,000 page novel they never read. If your child objects that you can't really know about the book unless you read it, explain to them this is exactly what Congressmen do with 1,000 page bills.
At anytime during the speech, if your child disagrees with anything the President says, call them a racist. Explain that is how political discourse is handled these days.
And when its all over with, ask them to write letters to themselves how they can pledge their service to the President Country.
I really miss reading Bob Talbert in the Free Press. Bob had a great love for everything Michigan. While he was mostly optimistic about much of the things that go on in this state, he was also very subtle in his criticisms, a skill I need to learn. You too?
Bon Appétit's September issue ranks Detroit's own Faygo Root Beer No. 1 in a tasting of at least six brands from around the country. The magazine describes it as "dry and crisp, with a frothy head, a good bite and a long finish." (Go on...say it....)
While Faygo is owned by an out-of-state corporation, it’s still nice to see a uniquely Detroit brand get noticed. Since I had my heart valve surgery, I’ve had to give up drinking beer and cut my caffeine content down. (I’m still working on the caffeine thing). As a result, I’ve taken a big liking to root beer. The sugar used most of the time comes from cane sugar and it’s typically caffeine free. Drinking it out of a glass bottle always tastes much better than plastic. Now I hear bars are starting to get a lot of requests for the different varieties.
Staycations are all the rage in news reports. Not like it’s really a new thing. I know many family members and friends that have been enjoying the wonders of Michigan all of their lives. My family in particular has been doing this for 50 years…AT THE SAME LAKE. The Pure Michigan spots are wonderful; however, there is only one spot that mentions “Gone Fishing” and nothing that touts the great hunting and fishing in this state. There is even a spot for the CASINOS. Maybe they just haven't gotten around to it yet...
Flying Carp are inching their way closer to Lake Michigan. An electric weir is all that is holding this invasive species from the Great Lakes. What happens if there is a serious power outage? And tell me why again there isn’t an open season on these fish? In the words of the Emperor: Wipe them out...all of them.
Nice seeing eagles flying in the air. It’s become something I expect each year when I head up to the lake we frequent. There is an over abundance of trout in streams, ducks in the air, deer in the fields and walleye in the lakes. Next time you see someone with a Ducks Unlimited or Trout Unlimited sticker on their vehicle, or someone buying a fishing or hunting license... thank them. Their contributions to conservation clubs and programs helped make this possible. The Michigan Wild Turkey Federation nearly single handily snatched the wild turkeys from the brink of extinction here in Michigan.
It’s exciting to see all the fired up citizens at these local town hall meetings. There is the old saying, “If you are not angry, you aren’t paying attention”. But enough with the Nazi rhetoric from both sides, O.K.? Call someone a Federalist or even a Socialist for all I care, but to compare anyone to Hitler or a brown shirt is just forcing people to ignore your message. That and biting the finger off of someone you disagree with. Seriously...
Fall is in the air. I know it’s hard to accept for some of you, but it is. I’m never that comfortable in shorts anyway, I prefer a good pair of Levi jeans any day. I seriously LOVE Fall: Fall fishing, Fall hunting, the Franklin Cider Mill, the shade of yellow the sun casts on buildings, trees and water-filled clouds at dusk. Alas it's way too short. Not living out in the country anymore I miss the smell of burning leaves.
Got a Michigan Musing? Send it to HipposAss@gmail.com Don't forget to Reddit or Digg anything you like here and help spread the word about the blog. If you promise to keep visiting, I'll promise to keep writing.
It’s shortly before 2:30 am in the morning. Your state doesn’t have a budget in place yet. Your state Senate is debating on whether or not to raise taxes on one group of people to support more social programs for another group of people.
What do you do if you are an elected politician?
You play solitaire.
If I was caught playing solitaire at my desk by my boss and not doing my job, there would be repercussions. I don't know if these two are Republicans or Democrats, but maybe they forget who they work for...
Sen. Dan Debicella, a Shelton Republican who serves as the ranking Senate Republican on the budget committee, said the Democratic bill creates an over reliance on 27,000 very wealthy families. If 2,000 of those families moved out of the state, it would be "devastating'' for the state budget, he said.
The problem with raising taxes is that you eventually run out of people to tax. Should any of these people "Go Galt", then Connecticut will have to raise taxes on a new group of people....
The Author is a libertarian who believes when we keep our voices silent, we consent to being governed by those who have no respect for our personal liberty. He also believes that if we can not laugh at ourselves, we definitely need to make fun of others.
If you like what you read, help support The Hippo's Ass. All contributions will go toward site improvement and hiring friends to write articles for me.
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