June 27 (Bloomberg) — College football’s top division will implement a playoff system in two seasons to replace the Bowl Championship Series format. A four-team, three-game playoff that incorporates the major bowls and may be worth $500 million annually in television revenue was approved yesterday in Washington by the 12-member BCS Presidential Oversight Committee. The proposal was put forward by the commissioners of the 11 conferences at the sport’s top level — the Football Bowl Subdivision –and University of Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick. The playoff, which has been in demand for years by many fans, some lawmakers and even President Barack Obama,will start with the 2014-15 season.

Sanity be praised.

In Arizona dissent, Scalia blasts Obama’s deportation stay, immigration policies http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/blogs/ticket/arizona-dissent-scalia-blasts-obama-deportation-stay-immigration-185431255.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=US&.lang=en-US

The federal government “does not want to enforce the immigration laws as written, and leaves the States’ borders unprotected against immigrants whom those laws would exclude,” Scalia alleged. Arizona’s entire immigration law should be upheld, Scalia wrote, because it is “entitled” to make its own immigration policy. At one point, he cites the fact that before the Civil War, Southern states could exclude free blacks from their borders to support the idea that states should be able to set their own immigration policies. The majority of the justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, ruled that most of Arizona’s law is unconstitutional, save for the provision that allows police officers to ask about immigration status during stops.

Noting what could be done to black folks previous to the Civil War doesn’t seem really strong argument, IMHO.

Attorney General Eric Holder cited by committee – SFGate http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Attorney-General-Eric-Holder-cited-by-committee-3650872.php

The administration’s invocation of executive privilege covers documents produced after the Feb. 4, 2011, Justice Department letter denying use of gun-walking tactics in Fast and Furious. After the vote, Holder issued a statement calling the contempt citation “an extraordinary, unprecedented and entirely unnecessary action, intended to provoke an avoidable conflict between Congress and the executive branch.”

No wonder these guys have a 12% approval.

NPR.org » Big Political Donors Shy Away From Public Scrutiny http://m.npr.org/story/155306187?url=/2012/06/20/155306187/big-political-donors-shy-away-from-public-scrutiny

The top Republican in the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, says the problem has gotten so bad, it’s infringing on these donors’ right to free speech. “This is nothing less than an effort by the government itself to expose its critics to harassment and intimidation,” McConnell said at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. In his speech, he said if donors are giving to independent superPACs or to those social welfare groups, they shouldn’t be forced into the public eye by campaign disclosure laws. “That’s why it’s critically important,” McConnell said, “for all conservatives, and indeed all Americans, to stand up and unite in defense of the freedom to organize around the causes we believe in.” To which Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute responds: “The fact that you get negative press coverage because you have decided to get involved in politics is, as Justice Scalia said, a part of the price of democracy and getting involved.”

Note: McConnell also recently complained that the wealthy pay too much in taxes as well, despite many paying a lower effective rate than working people already.

Ahead of Cairo rally, Islamists claim presidency http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE85G01U20120619?irpc=932

Egyptian democracy was relatively low among U.S. priorities during the 30-odd years Washington was funneling aid and arms to a Cold War ally that led Arab peace moves with Israel in 1979 and was later fighting a common enemy in militant Islam. But since Egyptians rose up to end six decades of military rule, U.S. leaders have pledged to support them, even if that means accepting a role for the Brotherhood, a long-suppressed movement that wants Islamic law and spawned offshoots such as the militant Palestinian Hamas movement across the Middle East. “We are deeply concerned about the new amendments to the constitutional declaration, including the timing of their announcement as polls were closing,” a Pentagon spokesman said. “We believe Egypt’s transition must continue and that Egypt is made stronger and more stable by a successful transition to democracy,” spokesman George Little said. “We support the Egyptian people in their expectation that the (SCAF) will transfer full power to a democratically elected civilian government, as the SCAF previously announced.”

If revolutions were an easy, quick thing….I think we might all be worse off. Things one has to work harder for, and sacrifice more for, are always held in higher value. The question for Egypt is what, when given a democratic voice, it truly values. We shall see.

Rubio Says Own Dream Act Derailed for Now – Washington Wire – WSJ http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/06/18/rubio-says-own-dream-act-derailed-for-now/

In conceding that his own push was likely dead for now, Mr. Rubio also expressed anger at how the White House made its announcement Friday without consulting him or other members of the Republican Party. “We have never talked to anyone in the White House about their plans,” he said. “The only thing the White House has ever done about our ideas was to try to get some of the Dream Act kids not work with us.” The Dream Act, which would have granted residency permits to some children of illegal immigrants who entered the military or attended college, died in the Senate in 2010 after Democrats failed to gathered sufficient support to overcome a Republican filibuster threat. In recent months, Mr. Rubio has floated proposals to present his own version of the act, but had yet to table any actual language.

Yet another case of the President being criticized for doing something a Republican wanted to talk about doing do….and doing so before that person actually did so. I woulnd’t doubt Rubio was going to start pushing against his own party’s filibuster around August to try and convince a few Hispanics the Republicans didn’t hate them. Obama has deftly taken that issue away, and done so in a way that is hard to argue against…as Romney has shown with his “it’s wrong but I won’t repeal it.” response. Next comes the criticism from folks trying to gain street cred on the left by saying he didn’t do it fast enough. For those that haven’t figured it out yet, Obama is methodical. He dots the i’s, crosses the t’s, and deals with the details. Still a closer race than I would expect, we’ll see how both candidates fare under the summer glare of the corporate media.

RobotPirateNinja The HTC Thunderbolt…and I just posted one and it did it (stripped the link) again.

June 18, 2012 at 12:15

Dan I’ll try tracking down one of those devices. Would you mind sharing how you are creating the link? I tried both sharing a link from the browser and creating a link from the toolbar in the app.

does it work now…?
+—
Version 2.1 Now Available « WordPress for Android
http://android.wordpress.org/2012/05/08/version-2-1/#comment-10852

Let’s try this…

Version 2.1 Now Available « WordPress for Android
http://android.wordpress.org/2012/05/08/version-2-1/#comment-10852

Version 2.1 Now Available « WordPress for Android
http://android.wordpress.org/2012/05/08/version-2-1/#comment-10852

Outside the Montana state Republican Party convention this weekend was an outhouse labeled the “Obama Presidential Library” and covered in painted-on bullet holes. Inside the outhouse contained a fake birth certificate for Barack Hussein Obama, according to the Helena Independent Record.

It was stamped “Bull——.” A graffito advised “For a Good Time call 800-Michelle (crossed out), Hillary (crossed out) and Pelosi (circled in red.)”

State GOP Chairman Will Deschamps said he didn’t know who was responsible for the outhouse but called it a “sideshow,” the paper reported.

Assholes=GOP. And the really sad part…they think this is actually a coherent argument. ____ Montana GOP Convention Features ‘Obama Library’ Riddled With Fake Bullet Holes | TPM2012 http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/montana-gop-convention-features-obama-library-riddled-with-fake-bullet-holes.php?m=1