• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 31st on 19:42

    These are my links for May 31st from 19:42 to 19:52:

    • Weinergate: Weiner’s Actual Tweet Stream Disputes His Version, Raises Valid Questions – The second image below is an exact duplication, in top-to-bottom chronological order of Rep. Anthony Weiner’s actual Twitter timeline on the night of what’s now being called Weinergate. It includes a now deleted Tweet of an explicit image, which can also now be determined to have been Tweeted at 11:30 PM ET on the night of May 27. That’s made possible by referencing two existing time-lines, Weiner’s own on Twitter and that of TweetCongress, an official Tweet stream of all Representatives. Evidently, it is cached separately, as while Weiner deleted the offending Tweet from his Twitter account, it remained at TweetCongress when last checked and screen capped, though the linked image is unavailable. That would have been deleted at Yfrog. But the Tweet is unmistakeably the one in question.It is the center Tweet in the screen cap below. Because we can determine where it appeared in his timeline down to the minute and have the actual Twitter timestamps for his other Tweets via his Twitter page, we can demonstrate the actual time of the controversial Tweet to have been 11:30 PM, as stated above.

      ======

      Dan is correct about the timeline. Weiner forgot the D in front of his direct message on Twitter and has been busted sending a naughty pic of his weiner.

    • Weinergate: Too many coincidences in Weiner’s tale – Rep. Weiner is a man of national prominence, a rising star in the Democratic Party, frequently on TV, a past and likely future candidate for mayor. He knows and is known by thousands of movers, shakers, members of the press and politicians on the city, state and national levels.Yet, as of yesterday, he was following fewer than 200 others — and, with all those famous folks to choose from, one of the few he followed was Cordova, a 21-year-old college student who lives nearly 3,000 miles away in Bellingham,Wash.

      Run that though your head for a second and at the same time remember two important facts about Twitter:

      1. If two people follow each other on Twitter, they can send private messages unseen by others.

      2. The difference between a direct message, seen by only the recipient, and a public tweet, seen by the world, is a single character.

      The biggest problem for Weiner and his defenders on the left is not bloggers from the right. It’s the details of “#weinergate” can be understood by millions of ordinary people in 140 characters or less.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 31st on 18:20

    These are my links for May 31st from 18:20 to 18:49:

    • Panel OKs recall elections against 3 more Wisconsin Republican State Senators – State election officials on Tuesday approved recall elections against three Republican senators but put off decisions on certifying recall petitions against three Democrats.

      That decision by the Government Accountability Board drew cries of partisanship from Republicans and set up the possibility that two sets of recall elections would be held a week apart, rather than all on the same day.

      "This is an example of a supposedly neutral government agency acting in a blatantly partisan manner to further the objectives of a particular political party," said Dan Hunt, who led the effort to recall Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie).

      That charge from Hunt and other Republicans comes just four years after every GOP lawmaker in the state Legislature voted to create the accountability board in an attempt to put a nonpartisan agency in charge of elections.

      Board attorney Shane Falk said the board has been working overtime to review all the recall petitions, with half a dozen board employees working on them over the Memorial Day weekend. But they have not had time to fully analyze the challenges to the recalls against Democrats, which are based on different arguments than the Republican challenges.

      "We've attempted to work concurrently on all the petitions but we simply don't have enough staff," Falk told the board.

      The board unanimously approved recall elections for Republican Sens. Rob Cowles of Allouez, Alberta Darling of River Hills and Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls. That follows rulings last week to hold recall elections for Republican Sens. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac, Dan Kapanke of LaCrosse and Luther Olsen of Ripon.

      Republicans are trying to recall three Democratic senators – Wirch, Dave Hansen of Green Bay and Jim Holperin of Conover.

      The recall attempts – unprecedented in Wisconsin and the nation – were launched in response to the stance senators took on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's now-stalled plan to greatly limit collective bargaining for public workers.

      ======

      Wisconsin's choice but everytime there is a group that does not like what the majority votes into law will there now be a recall?

      Why have elections?

    • Weinergate: ‘Hacked’ but still tweeting away – Politico reports:

      New York Rep. Anthony Weiner has retained an attorney to advise him “what civil or criminal actions should be taken” after a lewd picture was sent from his Twitter account.

      Weiner, who has represented part of New York City since 1998, says online hacking led to a close-up shot of a man’s underwear being sent from his official Twitter account Saturday night.

      You need a lawyer to call the Capitol police or the D.C. cops? Weiner is not exactly being responsive to the press. (“Weiner’s office did not answer specific questions about the photograph, about whether he has contacted authorities or about the Seattle woman who received the photograph. He has said that his Facebook account was hacked and that if his Twitter had the same password, that too could be vulnerable.”) And if you care to follow the investigative blogging on this, there is a good argument that his excuse has some problems, starting with a basic question: Why would a “hacker” delete his own handiwork four minutes after it posted?

      I have just a few observations. First, if he lied he’s toast. As embarrassing as a raunchy tweet might have been, the recipient isn’t a minor, and the requisite “allow my wife and I privacy” would probably have been sufficient to quell the storm for a liberal Democrat in a safe seat. It’s a truism that voters will put up with a lot, unless you lie to them.

      =======

      Has Rep. Anthony Weiner filed a police cmplaint yet? FBI complaint? If he doesn't, he lied. If he does, then there will be an investigation. In any case, there should be an investigation.

  • Anthony Weiner

    Weinergate Video: Me thinks He Said “Hacked” Too Much And Why is Weiner NOT Answering Questions?

    I was not going to involve myself in this.

    But, after watching this video, I have every reason to believe that the FBI or Capitol Police should investigate this matter.

    Why is the congressman so defensive? File a damn police report and be done with it.

    The problem is, if Rep. Weiner is lying about being “hacked” and files a police report then he is committing a crime.

    Someone in the House Leadership should file an “ethics” complaint and let’s get to the bottom of this matter.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 31st on 10:08

    These are my links for May 31st from 10:08 to 12:43:

  • Bisphosphonates,  Dentistry

    Jury Finds Novartis the Manufacturers of Zometa Not Liable for Osteonecrosis of the Jaw

    Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (ONJ)

    Another bisphosphonate law suit.

    A U.S. federal jury found that a bone drug made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp was not to blame for the severe jaw deterioration developed by a Rhode Island man who died of cancer in 2005.

    Karleen Hogan, the widow of Timothy Hogan, claimed in a lawsuit filed in 2006 that Novartis had failed to properly warn her husband about the severe adverse effects caused by Zometa, a drug used to strengthen bones in cancer patients. She sought compensatory damages for her husband’s suffering.

    The suit is one of an estimated 600 filed against the unit of Novartis AG in recent years blaming the company for suppressing information about adverse effects linked to Zometa and Aredia, another bone-strengthening drug.

    I think what helped the defendants in this case was the testimony from the patient’s physican and dentist who said he had pre-exisiting dental problems and that the benefits of the drug outweighed the risks.

    But, there is a mixed record on these suits and there will be more to come.

    Hogan’s case was initially consolidated with hundreds of Zometa and Aredia liability suits in multi-district litigation in Tennessee federal court. Similar litigation is also pending in a state court in New Jersey.

    Hogan’s is the fourth Zometa case to go to trial. In October 2010, a New Jersey superior court jury ruled in favor of Novartis. A jury in Montana state court awarded a plaintiff with the same jaw disease $3.2 million in October 2009, and in November, a federal jury in North Carolina awarded a North Carolina woman’s family $12.8 million, later reduced to $1.26 million.

    Previous:

    Osteonecrosis of the Jaw Associated With Bisphosphonate Agent Zoledronic Acid and Chemotherapy Combined With the Antiangiogenic Agent Bevacizumab

    Oral Bisphosphonates: Study – Absolute Risk for Femur Fracture Low with Bisphosphonates

    Revisiting Bisphosphonates and Femur Fractures

    Oral Bisphosphonates Associated with a SLIGHTLY Elevated Risk of Developing Osteonecrosis of the Jaw?

    New Dentistry Cause for Alarm for Patients Who Use Bisphosphonates – Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva?

    Dentistry
    Today: Bisphosphonates: Zometa (zoledronic acid) & Aredia
    (pamidronate disodium) Associated with Osteonecrosis of Jaw – REDUX

    Bisphosphonates: Zometa (zoledronic acid) & Aredia (pamidronate dis odium) Associated with Osteonecrosis of Jaw

  • California,  Illegal Immigration,  Polling

    Poll Watch: 61% Favor State Legislation Shutting Down Businesses Who Chronically Hire Illegal Immigrants

    According to the latest Rasmussen Poll.

    The U.S. Supreme Court late last week upheld the legality of an Arizona law cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, and most voters support having a similar law in their own state.

    A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 61% of Likely U.S. Voters favor a law in their state that would shut down companies that knowingly and repeatedly hire illegal immigrants. Just 21% oppose such a law, and another 18% are undecided.

    Eighty-two percent (82%) think businesses should be required to use the federal government’s E-Verify system to determine if a potential employee is in the country legally. Twelve percent (12%) disagree and oppose such a requirement.

    Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters also feel that landlords should be required to check and make sure a potential renter is in the country legally before renting them an apartment. Twenty-eight percent (28%) do not believe landlords should be required to make such checks.

    E-Verify and enforcement against businesses who are repeat offenders will end some of the employment magnet.for illegal immigrants, particularly from Mexico. There is no reason why these businesses should be avoiding their burden of complying with immigration law.

    The Congress should immediately require E-verify for all employment, in place of the I-9 requirement. If not, then the states should implement the program and pass laws to more stringently punish employers for repeatedly violating the law.

    Now, whether the states will take it upon themselves to do it, is another matter. I cannot forsee California ever passing such legistation. The agriculture lobby in Sacramento is too strong.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 31st on 09:43

    These are my links for May 31st from 09:43 to 09:48:

    • Palin’s Bus Destinations: The MSM Isn’t Cleared for That Information – I see this comment, from an unnamed Palinite insider to Shushannah Walshe of the Daily Beast: “According to a source with knowledge of Palin’s operation and thinking, keep a careful eye on how long the tour lasts, because it is intended as a way to test the presidential waters. If the road trip ends abruptly, it’s a sign she didn’t get the enthusiastic responses she believes she needs to launch a campaign. If the tour heads to regions outside of the Northeast like Iowa and South Carolina that, the source says, is a “big indicator” that Palin will pull the trigger.”

      ======

      More importantly will be polls next week showing how well she matches up against Romney

    • Economists Downgrade Prospects for Growth – A growing number of forecasters are downgrading their predictions for economic growth, the Wall Street Journal notes, which "raises a deeper question about the economy's health: Has it emerged from the financial turmoil of 2008 and 2009 with a chronic growth problem?"

      "Since the recession officially ended in mid-2009, the economy's annualized growth rate has averaged 2.8%. That's no better than its performance after the much-milder 2001 recession, and far worse than the 7.1% growth rate after the similarly deep 1982 recession."

    • Sarah Palin: The Call at Gettysburg – When I first visited Gettysburg years ago, I was overwhelmed with the sense of sacrifice made to secure our union, but my most recent visit this morning was even more significant as subsequent visits allow reflection on the state of our union today. Striking to me is how ready and willing troops and civilians were in 1863 to lay their lives on the line. Are we as ready and willing to accept the call for sacrifice today in order to keep our union secure?

      Hopefully the kids on school field trips whom we met this morning grasped the poignant irony at the site we toured together: that such a beautiful stretch of the Pennsylvania countryside should have been the site of the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. But perhaps it’s fitting that such a sacred place should be so beautiful now in order to commemorate the terrible sacrifices made to bring about, in the words of Lincoln’s famous address, "a new birth of freedom."

      But this "new birth of freedom" wasn’t fully realized by the generation that paid the price for it. Over 100 years after the battle, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and declared, "Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children." It took the struggle for Civil Rights to truly complete what Lincoln called "the unfinished work" for which the heroes of Gettysburg "gave the last full measure of devotion."

      Today, when we speak of "fundamentally restoring all that is good in America," we remember the debt of gratitude we owe to those who sacrificed to create and preserve our union. From the Civil War to the struggle for Civil Rights, generations of Americans have made great sacrifices necessary to pass on to us this great gift of freedom. It’s our duty to them to preserve it, cherish it, and pass it on to our children, so "that these dead shall not have died in vain…and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

      When duty calls, are we willing to answer today? Please remember that freedom isn't free – the price paid for our liberty has been great.

      The reminders of the past costs are seen at Gettysburg. The way forward in protecting our unified body is encapsulated in Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address: "…with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds."

      – Sarah Palin