Tuesday Open Thread: BP Edition
Sent along by Jim, this sign from a BP station makes us laugh.
Sent along by Jim, this sign from a BP station makes us laugh.
Today, in 1942, the Battle of Midway ended. It was one of the most daring–and desperate–naval engagements in history. The US victory there marked the beginning of the end for the Japanese Empire.
Today, in 1944, the Allies stormed the beaches in Normandy. It was a very near-run affair. Enough said. Please pause for a moment today to remember.
Today, in 1989, a lone dissident temporarily stopped a line of tanks at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. We do not know his fate. And, as far as we know, few ‘human rights’ organizations or Western Media ever inquired. Still, it is
From the Associated Press: A wave of census hiring lifted payrolls by 431,000 in May, but job creation by private companies grew at the slowest pace since the start of the year. The unemployment rate dipped to 9.7 percent as
From Investors.com: Is there any low to which the SEIU won’t stoop? Now it’s interrupting blood donations in a strike against the American Red Cross. The Boy Scouts and Baptist churches are also on unions’ enemies list. Demanding higher wages
The trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has begun in Chicago. Nothing says free-for-all like a political corruption trial in the Windy City. Should be a long, hot summer.
From The Hill: Hiring by the U.S. Census Bureau is expected to spike May’s job figures dramatically. Economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s.com projects the economy will have added 575,000 jobs in May, while the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) rough projection
Today, in 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini died. He was Iran’s answer to Marx/Stalin/Hitler. He has not been missed. Except, maybe by veterans of the Carter Administration. Here’s opening Carter II (Obama) doesn’t pave the way for another Khomeini.
USA Today reports that the United States Census Bureau is overhauling its hiring and security procedures following James O’Keefe’s video exposing supervisors encouraging enumerators to falsify time sheets. From the article: The Census Bureau has made some changes to its
From ABC News: The conservative filmmaker arrested this year for an undercover attempt to tape staffers at a U.S. senator’s office said his next target — the Census Bureau — is another example of government waste. James O’Keefe, fresh off
From the New York Post: You know the old saying: “Everyone loves a charade.” Well, it seems that the Census Bureau may be playing games. Last week, one of the millions of workers hired by Census 2010 to parade around
Today, last year, General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection. It was the beginning of a new chapter in crony capitalism. (Happy Birthday Alana!)
James O’Keefe turns his hidden camera from ACORN to the Census. Tune in at 7:30 EDT.
A newly emboldened James O’Keefe speaks to reporters moments after receiving probation for a misdemeanor in New Orleans. He promises new videos in the spirit of the ACORN investigation he engineered with Hannah Giles last fall. [youtube a_AA7T2wr_A] Stay connected
Today, give thanks that you are here to complain about the government. Now, do something about it.
Okay, the President isn’t actually on the beach in Hawaii, but he might as well be. After a three hour diversion to Louisiana, the Obama’s are vacationing in Chicago. We’re forty days into probably the biggest environmental disaster in U.S.
From the Associated Press: Conservative activist-videographer James O’Keefe said video he shot of conversations with staffers of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu was deleted when his cell phone was returned after he and three others pleaded guilty to charges in a
Last night, to kick off the Memorial Day weekend, Prism Beer Company in Pennsylvania debuted it’s Tea Party Unfiltered Pale Ale. Why didn’t someone think of this before? Every serious political movement should have its own beer! (As far as
Recently, wannabe dictator Hugo Chavez opened a twitter account. (No, you really can’t make this stuff up.) Yesterday, Big Government friend Christian took to the tweet-waves (?) to criticize Venezuelan carny barker and ended up blocked from Chavez’s twitter account.
At this point, we’re guessing that the Administration doesn’t really want to plug the oil leak in the Gulf. It would help them argue against any future deep sea drilling and allow their allies in the environmental community to fundraise
Attorney-client communications are among the most sacred in the American system of jurisprudence, so when James O’Keefe’s lawyers noticed at least two instances of privileged communication between them and their client appearing in the media, they wrote to Assistant U.S.
UPDATE: O’Keefe promises more undercover investigations. Full update after the jump. NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Four conservative activists accused of trying to tamper with the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of entering federal
North Korea has cut off all contact with South Korea and is threatening war with its neighbor. The Chia Pet who runs North Korea has a long history of bluster and bombast. Nothing is quite what it seems in the
The European debt crisis appears to be getting worse. As Big Government readers know, the crisis playing out with the Euro is simply a foreshadowing of things to come here. It won’t be pretty.
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Today, in 1844, the first telegraph line in the US opened. Operating between Washington D.C. and Baltimore, MD, it was inaugurated by Samuel Morse with the message, “What Hath God Wrought?” Our lives are the grandchildren of that event.
Suzanne Fields in the Washington Times: Punditry and wonkery are great fun, and occasionally get things right, but a man named Jonathan Kahn actually represents something new for conservatives to sing about. He’s on his way to becoming an authentic
A must read in today’s New York Times: (it happens) With the Senate’s passage of financial regulation, Congress and the White House have completed 16 months of activity that rival any other since the New Deal in scope or ambition.
From the Honolulu Advertiser: Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou has won the special election in urban Honolulu’s 1st Congressional District, the first Republican sent to Washington, D.C., to represent the Islands in two decades. According to the state Office of
From today’s Washington Post: Democrats are bracing for the loss of a House seat Saturday in President Obama‘s birthplace of Hawaii, where a special election in a heavily Democratic district has inflamed tensions within the party. Republican Charles Djou has
Today, in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson outlined his “Great Society” program in a speech at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Boy, did it take in that state. Judging by how things have turned out there, we’re confident Michiganders
Colorado’s 9News has the latest on ACORN: Dan Bishop figured that when scandal-plagued ACORN went out of business it would stop deducting donations from his bank account. He was wrong. “They supposedly shut down several months ago,” Bishop said. “I
This week, Big Hollywood and Big Government contributor “Jon David” was profiled in the Wall Street Journal. The acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter and musician has written a song, American Heart, that has been called by many the “tea party anthem.” While
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is attempting to bully the Tennessee Tea Party Convention into dropping Pamela Geller as one of their speakers for their event this weekend in Gatlinberg. In a stirring piece of Orwellian propaganda, CAIR cautioned
Today is, by some counts, International Draw a Mohammed Cartoon Day. Or, something like that. We totally understand that, to many Muslims, depictions of their prophet is blasphemous. But, we also know…and will always fight to defend the idea…that, in
PA Senator Arlen Specter lost his bid for reelection last night. He famously abandoned the GOP because he was worried he wouldn’t be able to win the party’s primary. Turns out he couldn’t win the Democrats’ primary either.
A recap of tonight’s festivities: WASHINGTON (AP) – Party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter fell to a younger and far less experienced rival in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, and political novice Rand Paul rode support from tea party activists to a Republican
From the Associated Press: Rand Paul defeated Republican establishment favorite Trey Grayson in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, a closely watched race that was a test of the tea party movement’s strength. Paul, the son of former presidential candidate