You Don't Have To Come
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Porn Bailout: Larry Flynt, Joe Francis
Seeking Government Money
(Huff)
An article in next month's Atlantic asks, "Is porn recession proof?" According to porn magnate Larry Flynt and "Girls Gone Wild" king Joe Francis, the answer is no.
TMZ reports that the pornographer pair is heading to Washington to ask for a $5 billion porn bailout:
"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind," Flynt says. "It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America."
Francis sees his industry like the big three automakers, only BIGGER: "Congress seems willing to help shore up our nation's most important businesses; we feel we deserve the same consideration."
In the Atlantic article, Tom Johansmeyer reports that AdultVest, a hedge fund run by Francis Koenig that invests in porn-related assets, was up 50% in 2008 (a number that Joe Wiesenthal at ClusterStock says ought to be taken with a grain of salt). Johansmeyer goes on to discuss the recession effect on the porn industry:
Relatively small, fragmented, and unaccustomed to outside investment, the U.S. porn industry (which generated roughly $12 billion in 2007) is somewhat buffered from today's credit crunch, but it has its own problems. Video sales have been falling by 15 percent a year since 2005, and online content doesn't deliver the returns it used to, now that Web sites such as RedTube and PornHub basically give it away. Struggling companies need investors to help right their operations, and those that are thriving in a brutal market need funding for growth.
Enter Koenig and AdultVest. He sees the porn downturn as temporary and believes that technological improvements will trigger a turnaround. One example: iPorn, a start-up in AdultVest's portfolio that is developing an application to deliver porn to the Apple iPod. "The industry's not going anywhere," Koenig says. "You've got 6 billion people on the planet," he laughs, "and they're all horny."
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Obama's Future Quarters
White House Residence Second Floor
The Family ResidenceThe second floor of the White House Residence is the first family residence, where their bedrooms and private sitting rooms are located, as well as some guest bedrooms such as the Lincoln Bedroom. This floor has 16 rooms, 1 main corridor, 6 bathrooms, and 1 lavatory. The first family has overnight guests at the Residence, but visiting chiefs of state usually stay across the street at Blair House, which is the official guest facility for international leaders and is managed and operated by the Department of State. |
The Truths About Israel...WOW !
As Israel continues it's military advance against the people of Palestine, an act which can only escalate to a disastrous degree, We the People need to become more informed on the Truths About Israel. Unfortunately, due to the fact that our media spoonfeeds us total propaganda through it's Jewish controlled media, truth is extremely difficult to learn regarding the Israeli/Palestine Conflict.
LEARN THE FACTS: Now is the time for ALL Americans to take time out to learn the facts. We, at Blacks4Barack invite you to visit an incredibly informative site developed by a number of our Jewish brothers and sisters which totally shares the absolute, propaganda-free facts regarding the Israel/Palestine Conflict. (and the multiple wrong-doings of Israel)
PLEASE VISIT THE SITE: Visit 'If Americans Knew'...browse through the many categories of information including the Origin of the Conflict...U.S. Interests...the Media Bias...Statistics...then
SHARE THE TRUTH !....EVERYWHERE !
www.IfAmericansKnew.org
Be Informed...Be Involved
B4B
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Experts: Democrats Can't Stop Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint Roland Burris to Illinois' vacant Senate seat, even as the governor faces intense criminal scrutiny, is being treated as a crazy political power grab. It also seems very likely to be permanent.
A legal scholar writes in to say that precedent surrounding the Senate's right to not seat certain members seems very likely to fall in Burris' favor.
"My reading of Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, is that the Senate probably can NOT constitutionally block Burris from being seated," writes the constitutional law professor. "Art. I, sec. 5 gives each House the power to judge the qualifications of its own members. Powell holds (inter alia) that the qualifications to be judged are those stated in the Constitution (see Art. I, sec. 3, cl. 3 and the 17th Amendment)."
"Burris has met all of those qualifications: he's over 30, been a US citizen for 9 years, he's an Illinois resident; he was appointed by the executive authority of the state to fill a vacancy, pursuant to Illinois law."
Even on the state level, Democrats seem fairly hamstrung when it comes to stopping Blagojevich. Secretary of State Jesse White's office has said it will not certify the Burris appointment. But, here again, the law may not be on their side. State charter holds that it is the "duty" of the Secretary of State:
1. To countersign and affix the seal of state to all commissions required by law to be issued by the Governor.2. To make a register of all appointments by the Governor, specifying the person appointed, the office conferred, the date of the appointment, the date when bond or oath is taken and the date filed. If Senate confirmation is required, the date of the confirmation shall be included in the register.
Asked to assess the law in this case, legal scholars yet again say Burris is sitting in an enviable position.
"It looks to me that it is more or less a perfunctory act. And the refusal to do so will also be subject to litigation," said Ken Gross, the former associate general counsel of the Federal Election Commission. "If a certification of the Secretary of State is needed to qualify the senator, and that Secretary of State refused to offer the certification, you would likely see litigation in the state court."
As Gross sees it, the most likely path for attempts to block the appointment is as follows: Jesse White refuses to certify the appointment, only to have the decision overturned in the state courts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would than refuses to seat Burris, only to be overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Senate does have the ultimate option of expelling Burris once he takes the oath of office. But that would require some extraordinary circumstances.
For several days in November, when it looked like Ted Stevens could be reelected, it was proposed that Congress would kick the Alaska Republic out of office over his ethical problems. But scholars considered that a stretch of legal reading. And if Stevens would have made it through the legal loopholes, it's hard to see how they ensnare Burris.
"I think there would have been problems not seating Stevens," said Gross. "But at least they had a reasonable option of expulsion. Here you don't have a very attractive expulsion option because Burris did nothing wrong.... You would have to say his misconduct was accepting the appointment. But from who? A guy who was innocent until proven guilty?"
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said.
Though he is 71, Burris has said that Obama's replacement should be able to win re-election and he has noted that despite a string of primary losses in races ranging from Chicago mayor to governor and U.S. senator, he's never lost to a Republican.
to Hear From YOU !
President Obama has developed a unique program which allows 'We The People' to let him know which issues we find most important for our country. Through his new '"Open for Questions" program President Obama is asking all Americans to vote on questions (issues) submitted by fellow citizens or you can submit your own question(s). These issues will be reviewed by the Obama Transition Team and helps our new President know exactly which issues the American People feel most important. Finally, we have a President who wants to hear from the people. Click the link below...browse through the categories and questions to vote on various issues. Also, feel free to raise your own questions of concern.
Finally...You DO Have A Voice
Click Here for "Open for Questions"
B4B
Monday, December 29, 2008
Rising Among Teens
Jay Lindsay
Black teenagers are killing each other in rising numbers but the troubling trend has been masked by a falling crime rate in the United States, according to a study released Monday by Northeastern University.
FBI crime statistics show overall decreases in murder and other violent crimes. But a report by criminal justice professors James Alan Fox and Marc Swatt uncovers other disturbing trends within that data.
Among their findings: an increase of more than 39 percent in the number of black males between the ages of 14 and 17 killed between 2000 and 2007, and an increase of 34 percent in the number of blacks that age group who committed homicide.
The increases for white male teens age 14-17 during that same period were nearly 17 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
"We can't ignore the fact that hidden within the overall good news on crime, is very bad news for a segment of the population _ young black males _ and that needs our attention," Fox said.
The report also noted guns were overwhelmingly the weapon of choice for young black offenders and are now used in nearly 85 percent of homicides they commit.
The Rev. Jeffrey Brown, executive director of the anti-crime Ten Point Coalition in Boston, said the spike in fatal shootings by and on black youths "bears out what I see on the streets every day."
"The victim and perpetrators of gun crimes are getting younger and younger," he added.
"We need to invest much more in the lives of these kids," Fox said. "I know there's lots of people who say times are tough and we don't have the money, but we either pay for these programs now or pray for the victims later because crime doesn't wait until the economy improves."
Brown said that families and the community groups, particularly churches, also need to do more to help solve the problem.
Recent crimes statistics show a drop in overall crime and murder rates between 2006 and 2007, the most recent year that data were available.
The numbers represent a vast improvement over those from the 1990s when the emergence of crack cocaine fueled an explosion in violence, the Northeastern report said. In 1993, about 225 out of every 100,000 blacks age 14-17 committed homicide compared with 81 out of 100,000 in 2007.
But that's an increase from the year 2000, when the number was 66 out of every 100,000 blacks.
"When you stop paying attention to it, when you stop working at it, the problems can and do rebound," Fox said.
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Bristol Palin Baby Son Tripp Born
People magazine reports that Bristol Palin, daughter of the Alaska governor, has given birth to a baby son:
Bristol Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, gave birth on Sunday to a healthy 7 lb., 4 oz., baby boy in Palmer, Alaska.
"We think it's wonderful," said Colleen Jones, the sister of Bristol's grandmother Sally Heath, who confirmed the news. "The baby is fine and Bristol is doing well. Everyone is excited."The baby's name is Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, according to Jones.
The baby's father, Levi Johnston, is training to be an electrician. Bristol is taking correspondence courses to obtain her high school diploma. The couple has been together for three years.
See photos of Johnston and Palin here. Johnston's mother was recently arrested on drug charges.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Apply for a Federal Bailout!
But how do you get your hands on some of those billions? How do you apply? How does Hank Paulson decide why Citibank lives and Lehman Brothers dies?
Well, it turns out that V.F. contributing editor Bruce Feirstein has discovered the über-top-secret Federal Bailout application—the one-page “EZ-CASH” form that’s been making the rounds at corporate board rooms, weekend ski chalets, and NetJets waiting rooms all across America.
Click on the image to see the form, fill it out,
and you too can be rolling in cash again.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
(CNN) – Hawaii's always been a great spot for honeymoons — and Barack Obama, who's spending the holiday season there on the beach at Kailua, is unquestionably having one of the best in modern presidential history.
Eighty-two percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday morning approve of the way the Obama is handling his presidential transition. That's up 3 points from when we asked this question at the beginning of December. Fifteen percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way Obama's handling his transition, down 3 points from our last poll.
The 82 percent approval is higher than then President-elect George W. Bush 8 years ago, who had a 65 percent transition approval rating, and Bill Clinton, at 67 percent in 1992.
"Barack Obama is having a better honeymoon with the American public than any incoming president in the past three decades. He's putting up better numbers, usually by double digits, than Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, or either George Bush on every item traditionally measured in transition polls," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
The poll also suggests that the public approves of the President-elect's cabinet nominees, with 56 percent of those questioned saying Obama's appointments have been outstanding or above average, with 32 percent feeling the picks have been average, and 11 percent saying Obama's choices have been below average or poor.
That 56 percent figure is 18 points higher than those who said then President-elect Bush's cabinet appointments were outstanding or above average and 26 points higher than those who felt the same way about then President-elect Clinton's nominees.
"Obama walks in with nearly twice the support on the economy that President-elect Clinton had in January, 1993, and he beats Ronald Reagan as well," adds Holland.
A third say that their impression of Obama has gotten better since the election, with only 8 percent saying their opinion has gotten worse.
Presidents usually start to lose support once they assume office and start making the tough decisions. But with eight in ten currently approving of Obama, he can give away 20 or 30 points, estimates Holland, and still have a majority of the country on his side.
The CNN/Opinion Research poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, with 1,013 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top aides met last week with federal investigators building a corruption case against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, accused of trying to swap Obama's Senate seat for cash or a lucrative job.
The interviews with Obama, along with incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and adviser Valerie Jarrett, were disclosed Tuesday in an internal report produced for Obama on contacts with Blagojevich. Obama delayed releasing his report until those interviews were completed with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's staff, incoming White House attorney Greg Craig said in the review he wrote for Obama.
Obama had no contact with the governor or his aides, the report states. Prosecutors have said Obama is not implicated in the case.
Emanuel was the only Obama transition team member who discussed the Senate appointment with Blagojevich, and those conversations were "totally appropriate and acceptable," Craig said Tuesday. No one on Obama's transition team discussed any deals or had any knowledge of deals, Craig's report said.
Sources have said Emanuel is not a target in the case. Jarrett was never a target of the federal investigation, a transition official said.
Craig's report identified close Obama friend Eric Whitaker as someone approached by one of Blagojevich's top aides to learn "who, if anyone, had the authority to speak for the president-elect" about the Senate appointment.
The report states that Obama told Whitaker that "no one was authorized to speak for him" and that "he had no interest in dictating the result of the selection process."
Blagojevich was charged on Dec. 9 with plotting to use his governor's authority to appoint Obama's Senate replacement and make state appointments and contracts in exchange for cash and other favors. He has denied any criminal wrongdoing and has resisted multiple calls for his resignation, including one from Obama.
During Emanuel's interview with federal authorities, he listened to a taped recording of a conversation with Blagojevich's office, according to a transition official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss information not included in the report.
Craig's report states that Emanuel had "one or two telephone calls" with Blagojevich and four conversations with John Harris, the governor's chief of staff who later resigned after being charged in the federal case. Craig told reporters Emanuel said he couldn't be sure it was only one call.
Emanuel left for a long-planned family vacation in Africa on Tuesday and was not available for comment.
The report was released in Washington while Obama was vacationing in Hawaii. The president-elect did not make himself available for questions.
The report said Obama authorized Emanuel to pass on the names of four people he considered to be highly qualified to take over his seat — Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, Illinois Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
Obama later offered other names of what he thought were qualified candidates, including Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Chicago Urban League Director Cheryle Jackson, the report said.
"Mr. Harris did not make any effort to extract a personal benefit for the governor in any of these conversations," the report said. There was no discussion of a Cabinet position, creation of a nonprofit foundation for Blagojevich, a private sector position or of any other personal benefit for the governor, according to the report.
The report said that earlier, Emanuel recommended Jarrett for the Senate seat without Obama's knowledge, and Jarrett later accepted a job as a senior White House adviser.
Craig revealed his findings into a memo to Obama. The memo was dated Tuesday, but a transition official said an initial copy was given to Obama on Dec. 15. On that day, Obama announced that the report was ready but that he was withholding it from public release for a week at the request of the U.S. attorneys still conducting their investigation.
The presidential inaugural committee said the Lincoln Bible would be borrowed from the collections at the Library of Congress.
"President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in," said Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau in a statement.
With Obama's swearing-in on January 20, the historic Bible with its gilded edges and burgundy velvet binding will see its first use during a presidential inauguration since 1861 when Lincoln, the 16th US president, was sworn in.
"The president-elect is committed to holding an inauguration that celebrates America's unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage," Beliveau said.
Lincoln, from the state of Illinois which Obama represented in the US Congress, presided over the country's biggest domestic crisis, the American Civil War, and ended slavery, but he was killed by an assassin's bullet in 1865.
There is no constitutional requirement that a Bible be used during inaugurations, but US presidents traditionally have used Bibles for their swearing-in ceremonies.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
As of 8PM ET, the Minneapolis Star Tribune projected that Franken would finish the recount process with a lead of 89 votes, positioning him to become the 59th senator caucusing with Democrats in the upcoming Congress.
According to local paper tallies, Franken currently trails Sen. Norm Coleman by a mere five votes, down from the 358-vote margin that the Republican held just last night. The Associated Press has the count even closer, with Coleman ahead by two votes. An aide to Franken told the Huffington Post that, according to the campaign's internal count, Franken has already taken a small lead.
The gains came as the canvassing board sifted through hundreds of ballots that Coleman had contested during the recount process. On Friday, the canvassing board will consider another 400 or so Coleman challenges. If the pattern remains consistent, Franken should vault past his opponent to a projected lead of approximately 89 votes, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The process by which the Senate race has come to this stage is often confusing. Coleman held an approximately 200-vote lead after the state went through a hand recount of all ballots. However, there remained approximately 1,500 ballots that one or the other campaign contested (and temporarily removed from the overall vote tally). Coleman challenged about 1,000 of these, Franken the rest.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the canvassing board considered Franken's challenges, which gave a slight gain to Coleman's lead (Franken, after all, was challenging ballots that were, perhaps erroneously, awarded to Coleman during the recount). But the Franken campaign also gained some votes during the two days; the canvassing board awarded him dozens of ballots that had been wrongfully determined to be non-votes or under-votes.
By Thursday, the canvassing board had moved onto the pile of Coleman challenges, and with it, Coleman's lead quickly dissipated. It became clear early on that the Senator had challenged many ballots simply because they favored Franken and had a minor (non-disqualifying) clerical error. The board began plowing through the votes until, by late afternoon, Franken found himself down by only five.
As it stands now, it seems likely that Franken will end this process with a lead wider than even his campaign expected. Earlier projections, from the Associated Press, Star Tribune and Franken himself, suggested that Coleman would lose the race by roughly 20 votes or less. And this tally doesn't even take into consideration the legal and political battle being waged over wrongfully rejected absentee ballots, which the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled, on Thursday, should be counted.
That decision, another loss for the Coleman campaign, could mean even more votes flowing into Franken's tally, though the Court also stressed that the state and both campaigns come up with a uniform standard for identifying these absentee ballots before they are counted.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Obama's Inauguration
Itinerary Released
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, today announced the program for the 56th Presidential Inauguration, which will take place on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2009.
"I am delighted to announce this superb line-up of participants in the 2009 inaugural ceremonies," said Senator Feinstein. "The inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama will be an event of historic proportion. It is appropriate that the program will include some of the world's most gifted artists from a wide range of backgrounds and genres."
The program participants were invited by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and chosen by the Chairman, the Presidential-elect and the Vice President-elect. In addition to Senator Feinstein, the members of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies include: Senator Bob Bennett, Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer; and House Republican Leader John Boehner.
The order of the program will be as follows:
Musical Selections
Musical Selections
The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus
Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
Invocation
Dr. Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA
Musical Selection
Aretha Franklin
Oath of Office Administered to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
By Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
The Honorable John Paul Stevens
Musical Selection, John Williams, composer/arranger
Itzhak Perlman, Violin
Yo-Yo Ma, Cello
Gabriela Montero, Piano
Anthony McGill, Clarinet
Oath of Office Administered to President-elect Barack H. Obama
By the Chief Justice of the United States
The Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.
Inaugural Address
The President of the United States, The Honorable Barack H. Obama
Poem
Elizabeth Alexander
Benediction
The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
The National Anthem
The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters"
Don Babwin
CHICAGO — Shortly after his 2002 election, Gov. Rod Blagojevich told Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. he didn't appoint the congressman's wife as lottery director because he had refused him a $25,000 campaign donation, a person familiar with the conversation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Blagojevich went out of his way to say, 'You know I was considering your wife for the lottery job and the $25,000 you didn't give me? That's why she's not getting the job,'" the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing federal investigation.
Jackson's name has played prominently ever since Blagojevich was arrested last week on corruption charges, including allegations that he tried to sell or trade President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat for personal gain.
Jackson has been identified as one of the candidates Blagojevich was considering for the seat, and a criminal complaint said his supporters were willing to raise $1.5 million for the governor if he picked the congressman.
The complaint quotes Blagojevich as saying on federal wiretaps that an associate of the candidate offered to raise money for him if he made the Jackson appointment happen.
Jackson spokesman Kenneth Edmonds declined to comment on the account of the exchange shortly after Blagojevich's 2002 election but said the congressman, the son of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, has approached federal investigators to discuss the governor and others for years.
"He has shared information with federal prosecutors about public corruption during the past several years, including information about Blagojevich and others," Edmonds said.
Randall Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, declined to comment, as did Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero.
Jackson has openly sought the Senate position but denies initiating or authorizing anyone to promise anything to Blagojevich on his behalf. The congressman has said federal prosecutors told him he is not a target of their investigation.
B4B NOTE: We received the following message from the Jesse Jackson Jr. camp:
"As a responsible citizen and elected official, Congressman Jacksonhas in the past provided information to federal authorities regarding
his personal knowdedge of perceived corruption and governmental
misconduct.This was completely unrelated to the current federal
investigation regarding the U.S. Senate appointment. And it is
absolutely inaccurate to describe the Congressman as an informant."
Kenneth Edmonds, spokesman for Congressman Jackson.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Is it just me or is Maliki smiling ?
Click B4B if photos did not appear