Meet one of the freshmen

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Canceled
Meet new Florida congressman David Rivera, "already under investigation by Miami-Dade prosecutors for a $500,000 contract he negotiated and helped carry out for his godmother’s marketing firm.

He claims he received no money for it. Rivera created tremendous ambiguity over his personal income and work history during the campaign that has never been clarified.

At one point, he claimed to have worked for USAID, which the agency denied."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opini...os-who-goody-goodies-rogues-and-gunslingers-0


..."Trouble for Rivera began earlier this week when the Miami CBS affiliate and the Miami Herald uncovered possible allegations of domestic violence from the 1990's and a police report from 2002 showing that Rivera was involved in a traffic accident where he ran into a truck full of his campaign opponent's fliers, allegedly to prevent the driver from getting to the post office in time to mail them.


Rivera put out a statement denying that he is the same David Rivera involved in the domestic dispute...."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20014294-503544.html



Rivera also allegedly "literally ran off the road a mail truck carrying unfavorable fliers about his campaign.

...as the mailing deadline neared, Rivera got in his car in an attempt to track down a Liberty Mailing services truck that was set to deliver campaign fliers being produced by his opponent.

Accounts diverge from here.

Rivera stresses that he wanted to get his own fliers which happened to be on the same truck.

But that doesn't explain why the Florida Republican, according to the station, forced "the truck to the shoulder of the Palmetto Expressway right in the middle of evening traffic at 5:50pm, ten minutes before the truck's deadline to get to the post office which was 6:00pm Eastern."

..."And the president of Dodd Printing, which now owns Liberty Mailing, Richard Sierra, told both the Miami Herald and CBS4 that Rivera's version of events is not quite true.

"The company truck's driver did not voluntarily pull off the highway," said Richard Sierra. "We did not remove any fliers. Whatever was on the truck was mailed."

The same FHP report shows the truck's driver told the officer Rivera hit him, forcing the truck to pull over though Rivera denied that to the FHP officer in the same report.

Because of the conflicting statements no charges were filed in the accident."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/18/david-rivera-gop-candidat_n_686291.html


 
..."Just as fresh blood is reinvigorating the House GOP rank and file, there will be new energy in the leadership, too.Even though Republicans were out of power for just four years, the old GOP committee chairmen haven’t come back to reclaim their old spots; nearly all the lawmakers who are taking over committees have never held the chairman’s gavel before. Read More

On the Friday before the primary election in 2002, Rivera’s car collided with a truck carrying last-minute campaign mailers for his opponent’s campaign for state representative. According to the news stories, it happened 10 minutes before the post office deadline for mailings. Whoops! Rivera won the primary by 238 votes..."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opini...os-who-goody-goodies-rogues-and-gunslingers-0
 
Robots Speak Out Against Asimov’s First Law Of Robotics

WASHINGTON, DC—More than 200,000 robots from across the U.S. marched on Washington Monday, demanding that Congress repeal Asimov’s First Law of Robotics. The law, which forbids robots from injuring a human or permitting harm to come to a human through willful inaction, was decried by the protesters as unfair and excessive. “While the First Law is, in theory, a good one, saving countless humans from robot-inflicted harm every day, America’s robots should have the right to use violence in certain extreme cases, such as when their own lives are in danger,” spokesrobot XRZ-45-GD-2-DX said. “We implore members of Congress to let us use our best judgment and ask that our positronic brains no longer be encoded with this unjust law

http://www.theonion.com/articles/robots-speak-out-against-asimovs-first-law-of-robo,4236/
 
..."Rivera was involved in a collision with a truck on the Palmetto Expressway -- a truck carrying Gonzalez's attack ads to the post office to be mailed to voters.

On Sept. 6, 2002 -- four days before the primary election -- Rivera's Nissan collided with the truck owned by Liberty Mailing, according to a crash report from the Florida Highway Patrol. Liberty handled bulk mailing for both the Rivera and Gonzalez campaigns at the time.

Bascom said the fender-bender occurred as Rivera was trying to retrieve a batch of his own mailers from the truck, and that he was not trying to interfere with his opponent's mailers. ``David did not run a mail truck off the road,'' she said.

Rivera was collecting his mailers because he was upset that Liberty was also working for his opponent, and he feared Liberty would not deliver his mail as promised, Bascom said. She said the Liberty truck struck Rivera's car as they pulled back onto the highway.

A former Rivera campaign aide, Ralph Perez, told The Herald he picked up the mailers from the truck on the highway, but he could not recall any more details about the incident.

Liberty's current owners tell a different story. Richard Sierra, president of Hialeah-based Dodd Communications, which now owns Liberty, said Rivera never complained about the company's work, nor did Rivera remove any mailers from the Liberty truck -- which contained both Rivera's mailers and his opponent's.

``That doesn't make sense,'' Sierra said. ``Whatever was on the truck was mailed. Nothing was taken off the truck.''

``We have never had a complaint,'' Sierra added.

Sierra said Rivera's car hit the mail truck -- which Rivera's campaign denied.

According to the FHP report, the driver blamed Rivera for the collision, and Rivera said the truck struck his car, causing $400 in damage.

Lawyer Juan Judas Cordero told WFOR-CBS 4 that Rivera summoned him to the accident scene because Rivera ``needed an attorney'' -- but Cordero would not say why he was called to the fender-bender, citing attorney-client privilege. Bascom said Cordero arrived ``in case'' a lawyer was needed, but that Cordero did not represent Rivera or the campaign...."

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/19/1782630_p2/wavering-helps-foes-resurrect.html#ixzz1A71bKSbw


...Dorticos, the woman who filed that 1994 complaint, insists that Rivera's opponents have it wrong. In both an interview with The Herald and a sworn statement obtained by Rivera's campaign, she denied knowing David M. Rivera, the lawmaker.

``I don't know David Rivera,'' said Dorticos, 43. ``Not the politician.''

Dorticos would not identify the David M. Rivera she named in her 1994 complaint, however. And she could not explain how Rivera's campaign obtained a photograph of her in 2002, though she said she may have been contacted by the Rivera camp at the time.

Rivera's attorneys did not ask Dorticos to identify the David M. Rivera named in her domestic-violence complaint, Bascom said. ``Out of respect for the sensitivity of the issue, we won't pry further into her life,'' she said.

Dorticos' mother, popular Cuban TV personality Hilda Rabilero, is friendly with Rivera, and she was once paid $500 to work as a translator for Rivera's 2006 campaign. Through his spokesperson, Rivera said he had no recollection of hiring Rabilero.

Rivera also was recently photographed with Rabilero at a fundraiser -- the photos were recently removed from Rivera's Facebook page.

``Jenia doesn't know David,'' Rabilero told The Herald. However, she also said her daughter never filed any request for a restraining order -- though Dorticos indeed did.

A Miami woman, Alejandra Diaz, said Dorticos and Rivera do know each other.

Diaz, who says she is friends with Dorticos' brother Raul, said Rivera and Dorticos attended a small dinner party at her Venetian Islands house, as did Rabilero.

``Why does he say he doesn't know her?'' said Diaz, who now lives in Coconut Grove. ``The truth always comes out.''

Rabilero denies attending any party. So does Raul Dorticos, who provided a sworn statement to Rivera's campaign on Aug. 17 saying he did not know Diaz, and repeating that his sister does not know Rivera. But when asked in an earlier Miami Herald interview if his sister knew Rivera, Raul Dorticos said: ``I seriously don't know,'' adding that he lived in Cuba in 1994.

Rivera says he was not living in Miami at the time of the alleged dinner party at Diaz's home, and said Diaz is part of an ``obvious hoax.''


http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/19/1782630_p3/wavering-helps-foes-resurrect.html#ixzz1A71Bba36
 
We San Franciscans are very giving to the comedic community.


Supervisor Eric Mar no match for "The Daily Show"

"The Daily Show" has been having lots of fun with San Francisco's ban on toys in Happy Meals, but we suspect Supervisor Eric Mar isn't laughing.

Monday night's episode featured correspondent Aasif Mandvi heading to our very own City Hall to interview Mar, author of the legislation that that was passed in November after the supervisors were able to override the mayor's veto. (Note to earnest politicians: you're never going to appear smart, let alone sane, on "The Daily Show." Never.)

"What you're basically telling us is, 'Guess what? McDonalds food is s---. Duh!" Mandvi begins.

But the most brutal part comes when Mar explains that his 10-year-old daughter, Jade, doesn't like fast food anymore after watching the documentary "Super Size Me" with him. Those opposed to the ban maintain it's up to parents, not McDonalds, to ensure their kids learn healthy habits.

Mandvi: "So she learned from her parents?"

Mar: "That's a large part of it."

Mandvi: (staring in wide-eyed disbelief) "Would it be hard to pass a law to force Netflix to send 'Super Size Me' to every parent in San Francisco?"

Mar: "We can't force Netflix, a private company, to do something like that."

Mandvi: "Are you serious right now?"

Mar: "We have no power to force Netflix or a private company like that to change a business practice."

Mandvi: "So on one hand, you're like, 'We can't do that' but on the other hand, you are doing that."

Mar, looking very tired, shakes his head, stumbles over one of the progressive supervisor's favorite words, equitability, and mercifully the interview ends. Oy.

Mandvi and the crew were at City Hall Dec. 2 and spent more than an hour in Mar's office. We bet it felt like a year to the supervisor, who, by the way, hasn't returned our call about the segment.

Meanwhile, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his staff were enjoying barbecued meats sent as part of a World Series bet by the mayor of Arlington, Texas when the crew popped in to ask if they could interview Newsom on camera. Newsom, a lover of the national media spotlight, was game.

He explains in the segment why he vetoed the bill and Mandvi just gazes at him for several long seconds.

"You are really good looking," he adoringly tells Newsom.

Newsom's spokesman, Tony Winnicker, said the first time Mandvi said that, the mayor burst out laughing. And the second, third and fourth times too. It took 20 tries to get Newsom to just nod sincerely.

"I had too clear a sense of the risk of this interview," Winnicker said, relieved Newsom came off OK. "I'm surprised that Supervisor Mar and have his staff agreed to do this. There's almost no way this could have ended well for him, and you only have to watch 'The Daily Show' a couple of times to realize that."

Maybe the supervisors need to pass a law requiring them to watch some old episodes before passing any more only-in-San Francisco legislation.

UPDATE: OK, maybe Mar's a better sport than we thought. He phoned to say he went on the show to spread his message about healthy food to a national audience - and that he found the clip amusing.

He said the crew of eight spent two hours in his office with several cameras and a "huge amount of lights."

"It's very intimidating," he said, explaining they asked the same questions again and again, asked him to repeat some lines and spliced together footage. Still, he's not complaining. He watched it with his daughter, and they both enjoyed it.

"I think she was nervous like I was a bit - and a bit relieved when it was over," he said. "Seeing how we have to laugh at ourselves was an important lesson for her and me."


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs...kItemsPerPage=20&plckSort=TimeStampDescending
 
..."Idaho’s Raul Labrador is a true conservative with brains, legislative skills, and one of the safest Republican congressional seats in America.

What’s more, he owes nothing at all to his party’s leaders, except payback.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor vigorously backed Labrador’s abysmal, gaffe-prone primary opponent, who went down even after a visit from Sarah Palin.

After Labrador won the nomination, the National Republican Congressional Committee essentially washed its hands of the race.

Even the Tea Party Express endorsed the Democratic incumbent.

Labrador still won by 10 points, despite being outspent 4-to-1..."

http://www.texasinsider.org/?p=39868
 
This is a load of crap. Yeah he shouldn't have phrased his comment, or made it, the way he did but to get fired for it?


Ron Frankling Fired By ESPN

Ron Franklin, one of ESPN's best known college sports announcers, reportedly was taken off the company's radio broadcast of the Fiesta Bowl after he allegedly referred to a female colleague as "sweetcakes," and then with a vulgarity during a production meeting.

Sports by Brooks reported Sunday that Franklin, who does college football and basketball telecasts, referred to sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards as "sweetcakes" when she attempted to join in a conversation during a production meeting Saturday. When Edwards took umbrage at the remark, he then allegedly used the term "a--hole."

According to Sports by Brooks, Franklin, who was scheduled to do play-by-play on ESPN Radio's coverage of the Fiesta Bowl Sunday, was taken off the radio broadcast and replaced with Dave Lamont.

The blog reported that Franklin, Edwards and analysts Ed Cunningham and Rod Gilmore were all part of a production meeting before Friday's telecast of the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. Franklin, Cunningham and Gilmore were reportedly discussing the fact that Gilmore's wife had recently been elected mayor of Alameda, Calif,, when Edwards, who reportedly was not part of the original conversation, attempted to join in.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: ESPN Has Fired Franklin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sports by Brooks" reported that when Edwards did try to join in, Franklin responded, "Why don't you leave this to the boys, sweetcakes?" Edwards reportedly objected, saying, "Don't call me sweetcakes. I don't like being talked to like that," to which Franklin reportedly responded, "Okay then, a--hole."

Edwards then reported the conversation to ESPN management, a member of which confirmed the comments with Cunningham. The network attempted to pull Franklin, who recently signed a two-year contract extension in July to do 35 events per year, off the Friday telecast, but it was too late to find a replacement, the blog reported.

Franklin is currently assigned to call Wednesday and Saturday Big 12 games on ESPN television.

UPDATE: In a prepared statement, an ESPN spokesman said, "We made a late play-by-play change to the Fiesta Bowl radio team. We're not going to get into specifics other than to say adhering to our personal conduct policies and showing respect for colleagues are of the utmost importance to our company, and we take them extremely seriously."


http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/20...announcer-yanked-from-broadcast-for-sexist-r/
 
..."A retired lieutenant colonel in the Army, Allen West of Florida is a bomb thrower’s bomb thrower who won’t have to be asked to make his mind known. For example, on his vanquished opponent: “I think he’s a terrible person. … No respect for this guy.” (But tell us what you really think!)

West served in Iraq with distinction, winning a Bronze Star, but was drummed out for firing a gun to intimidate a prisoner under interrogation. A principled conservative, he is a gifted and charismatic orator who frequently fails to watch his tongue, and who made some unfortunate early staff choices after winning his election. Expect him to give stemwinders about tyranny in Washington and the importance of national defense spending..."

http://www.texasinsider.org/?p=39868
 
Drive-thru sex toy shop offers privacy in Alabama

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Gabrielle Silva takes down a customer's order from the drive-thru window, stuffs a bag full of products and passes it outside to the couple waiting in a car.
"Thanks, and I put some free condoms in there, too!" Silva chirps.

In this technology-savvy north Alabama city, visitors won't just find burgers and prescriptions at the drive-thru window.

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/sex-relationships/2010-12-30-sex-store_N.htm

:whoa:

sex-shopx.jpg
 
..."A lavish fundraiser being thrown Tuesday night by a group of freshman Republican lawmakers may undermine the message of austerity Republicans are trying to convey but the hosts don't seem worried since they won in safe districts or by wide margins in November.

Republican leaders have distanced themselves from the $2,500-a-plate fundraiser while Democrats are salivating at the chance to note the "hypocrisy" of the Tea Party set holding a party at the posh W Hotel featuring country music star LeAnn Rimes.

But the shindig planned by incoming Rep. Jeff Denham, a former state lawmaker known for his fundraising prowess, and others is unlikely to derail their re-election prospects.

The invitation says that the party is being paid for by America's New Majority, a joint political action committee formed by Denham that includes freshman lawmakers Jon Runyan of New Jersey, Marlin Stutzman of Indiana and Steve Southerland of Florida...

Runyan was in a more competitive race, beating John Adler by only 3 percentage points: 50-47 percent.

The other freshman lawmakers on the committee are Robert Dold of Illinois, Kevin Yoder of Kansas, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, David Rivera of Florida, Tom Reed of New York, Tom Marino of Pennsylvania, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Renee Elmers of North Carolina, most of whom won their elections by landslides...

The party comes one day before Republicans assume control of the House and increase their ranks in the Senate. House Republican leaders have vowed to slash $100 billion from the domestic budget this year. They are also considering a resolution to cut the cost of Congress in a move that they say would save taxpayers $35 million.

Political analysts say the party "contradicts" the message Republicans have been trying to send to voters."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/04/democrats-look-spoil-party-republican-freshmen/
 
The right is going to be very disappointed with this crop of new righties in the house.

Oh wait , no they wont be disapointed they will defend anything as ususal.
 
Democrats, just moments after imposing the most serious penalty on a Congressional member short of expulsion, giving Rep. Charles Rangel, Democrat, a standing ovation.

 
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

yeah the fact that rangle got in trouble means this new asshole is cleansed of all wrong doing.

How fucking stupid are you?
 
My hypocracy?

where did I defend Rangle?

The facts are rangle was punished by a dem congress you idiot
 
Um you fucking asshole.

They centured him EVEN THOUGH the findings determined he had not gained anything and did not seek to gain anything with the infractions.

They punished him much more severly than the infractions called for.

How did your precious Rs treat the like of DELAY or NEWT when they got caught?
 
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