Cow Pie Of Distortion [Shorter Question Everything]

• When a Boy Found a Familiar Feel in a Pat of the Head of State:

WASHINGTON — For decades at the White House, photographs of the president at work and at play have hung throughout the West Wing, and each print soon gives way to a more recent shot. But one picture of President Obama remains after three years. In the photo, Mr. Obama looks to be bowing to a sharply dressed 5-year-old black boy, who stands erect beside the Oval Office desk, his arm raised to touch the president’s hair — to see if it feels like his. The image has struck so many White House aides and visitors that by popular demand it stays put while others come and go. [nytimes/JACKIE CALMES/23 May 2012]

• Obama calls Romney speech ‘a cow pie of distortion’

• Senate Republicans Filibuster Student Loan Bill Again:

Senate Republicans filibustered a bill to extend the current interest rate on federal student loans, blocking an extension from moving forward by a vote of 51-43 (with 60 votes needed to advance the bill). They blocked a similar effort earlier this month. Without an extension, interest rates will double in July from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. A competing Republican proposal was voted down by a count of 34-62. Senate Republicans have falsely portrayed the Democratic plan to offset the cost of extending the current interest rate as a tax hike on job-creating small businesses. [thinkprogress/Pat Garofalo/24 May 2012]

• Romney Challenged on Educational Reform at Philadelphia Charter School:

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney made his views on education reform clear during a stop at a charter school in Philadelphia today, MSNBC’s First Read reports. Romney championed school choice, teacher accountability and having straight, married parents as having a big impact on student success. Romney emphasized his view on the importance of school choice in educational reform, which was challenged by David Hardy of Boys Latin of Philadelphia who said, “Why can’t we have good schools in this neighborhood?” Romney’s statements on the irrelevance of class size on success was countered by a teacher who cited a studying showing high impact of a class size under 18. “Having two parents in a home makes an enormous difference,” Romney said on the issue of parental impact on children’s educational success. “And so if we’re thinking about the kids of tomorrow, trying to help move people to understand you know getting married and having families where there is a mom and a dad together has a big impact. And that’s, in my view, that is critical down the road.” [Common Dreams/24 May 2012]

• Maddow: Romney on board with the legacy of Dick Cheney:

On her show Wednesday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow explained that although presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had distanced himself from George W. Bush, Romney had openly expressed his admiration for Dick Cheney. She began the segment by outlining the history of Cheney, who had defended President Ronald Reagan during the Iran-Contra scandal and argued an expansive view of presidential power. “It is not surprising that the Republican Party would not be all that enthused with about the legacy of George W. Bush, but what do you make of the fact that they all are on board with the legacy of Dick Cheney?” Maddow wondered. “Seventeen of Mitt Romney’s twenty-four foreign policy advisers are Bush-Cheney guys,” she added. “Even as Romney is shunning the endorsement and any joint appearances with the former President of the United States, George W. Bush, he is proudly publicizing and doing fundraisers with Dick Cheney.” [rawstory/Eric W. Dolan/23 May 2012]

• Trump Embraces Birtherism, Romney Embraces Trump:

In recent days, Donald Trump has intensified his efforts to advance discredited birther conspiracy theories against President Barack Obama. But that hasn’t stopped presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney from making Trump a major focus of his campaign. Today, Romney announced a major campaign event with Trump next week, at the reality TV star’s International Hotel in Las Vegas. Romney is also soliciting low dollar contributions to win a meal with Trump. [thinkprogress/Judd Legum/24 May 2012]

• Segregationist’s Stationery Spells Trouble For Anti-Muslim California Republican:

The ghost of Alabama’s segregationist former Gov. George Wallace brought trouble to the conservative stronghold of Orange County, Calif., this month and an anti-Muslim Republican is paying a political price for it. It started last week when people complained about letters a local businessman sent out in support of Deborah Pauly, a local councilwoman and a leader in the Orange County GOP who drew nationwide attention last year when she helped lead an angry protest against Muslims with chants like “terrorists go home.” Pauly is now running for a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The letters, it turns out, weren’t like most other pitches for support that flood mailboxes each election year. They appeared on old letterhead from one of Wallace’s failed campaigns for president. The Los Angeles Times reported they carried an embossed portrait of the former Alabama governor and the slogan, “Wallace for President, Stand up for America.” According to the Orange County Register, the letters were sent to 7,900 voters by businessman Robert Walters, 70, who identified himself as Wallace’s presidential campaign chairman in 1967. Wallace ran as an American Independent Party candidate in the 1968 race for president. [talkingpointsmemo/Nick R. Martin/24 May 2012]

• ‘Caught Red Handed’: Voting History Records of Black Dems Systematically Purged in Tennessee:

Four hundred and eighty-eight voters, all but four lifelong Democrats, and nearly all Black, had their voting history erased by Shelby County (Memphis) election workers, setting them up for purge from the voter list. These selective alterations appear to target the race of US Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-09). …The full list of voters whose voting records have been altered is here. If you know someone on this list, please let them know about this. [bradblog/Bev Harris/24 May 2012]

• Suspicious Fire Breaks Out At Second Reproductive Clinic In Georgia:

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused a fire at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic — the second suspicious fire at a Georgia reproductive clinic this week. No one was injured in the Wednesday morning fire that started on the third floor of the Cobb County clinic, which anti-abortion advocates regularly protest, according to local news reports. Employees told a local TV station they saw “suspicious activity” before the fire [thinkprogress/Amanda Peterson Beadle/24 May 2012]

• Members Of New GOP Women’s Caucus Voted Against Equality For Women

• The condemnation roundelay:

I will happily join the Women’s Media Center’s condemnation of Hustler Magazine for the demeaning, sexually explicit depiction of SE Cupp in its pages. Nobody deserves that kind kind of treatment. I was curious, however, to see if any of the right wing women’s groups had likewise come to the defense of Sandra Fluke when Limbaugh went on his days long tantrum. Here’s all I could find at Concerned Women for America. …Calls to disavow and condemn are something we commonly do in our politics. (It’s one of my least favorite tactics, frankly.) But I hope nobody thinks it works the same way on both sides. The difference here, in case you haven’t figured it out, is that there is no one on the left who would defend Hustler’s misogyny on the merits. Limbaugh had no problem finding millions of defenders, even among women who could barely find even a throwaway sentence to condemn him. Liberals will never win in the condemnation roundelay. The two sides play by different rules. [digby/24 May 2012]

• George Allen Blamed Obama For Rising Gas Prices, Is Silent Now That They’re Falling

• Pentagon Contractor Admits To Perpetrating Online Smear Campaign Against USA Today Reporters:

The former head of a group that contracts with the Pentagon to produce propaganda material used oversees has admitted to launching a similar disinformation campaign against two U.S.-based reporters. In April, two USA Today journalists claimed they were the victims of a deliberate “reputation attack” after they wrote a series of stories about the Pentagon’s contracts with groups that specialize in the production of propaganda. Days after the journalists began speaking with officials at the Pentagon and other sources for the story, fake websites and social media accounts set up in the names of the two reporters were mysteriously registered and began trying to discredit the stories. [thinkprogress/Adam Peck/24 May 2012]

• Canada student protests erupt into political crisis with mass arrests – More than 500 people were arrested in Montreal on Wednesday night as protestors defied controversial new law Bill 78:

Protests that began in opposition to tuition fees in Canada have exploded into a political crisis with the mass arrest of hundreds of demonstrators amid a backlash against draconian emergency laws. More than 500 people were arrested in a demonstration in Montreal on Wednesday night as protesters defied a controversial new law – Bill 78 – that places restrictions on the right to demonstrate. In Quebec City, police arrested 176 people under the provisions of the new law. Demonstrators have been gathering in Montreal for just over 100 days to oppose tuition increases by the Quebec provincial government. On Tuesday, about 100 people were arrested after organisers say 300,000 people took the streets. But what began as a protest against university fee increases has expanded to a wider movement to oppose Bill 78, which was rushed through by legislators in Quebec in response to the demonstrations. The bill imposes severe restrictions on protests, making it illegal for protesters to gather without having given police eight hours’ notice and securing a permit. On Wednesday night, police in Montreal used kettling techniques – officers surrounding groups of protesters and not allowing them in or out of the resulting circle – before conducting a mass arrest. [guardian.co.uk/Adam Gabbatt/24 May 2012]

• African asylum seekers injured in Tel Aviv race riots – Violence breaks out after inflammatory speeches as protesters join politicians to demonstrate against rising Israeli immigration:

Dozens of African asylum seekers were injured as race riots broke out in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night. Thousands of protesters joined politicians to protest against the arrival of an estimated 60,000 asylum seekers in Israel in recent years. But after inflammatory speeches the demonstration broke out into violence. Witnesses reported seeing men and women being beaten and shops and properties being attacked. Police said nine people were arrested. The protesters were addressed by politicians including Miri Regev and Danny Danon of the ruling Likud Party. According to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, Regev described the asylum seekers as a “cancer in our body,” and promised to do everything “in order to bring them back to where they belong”. Danny Danon, who heads a lobby group which seeks to deal with the issue of illegal immigration, said the only solution to the problem would be to “begin talking about expulsion”. “We must expel the infiltrators from Israel. We should not be afraid to say the words ‘expulsion now’,” he was reported as saying. [guardian.co.uk/Conal Urquhart and agencies/24 May 2012]

• Iranian sailors chase off pirates attacking U.S. ship:

(CNN) — Iranian sailors helped scare off armed pirates who attacked an American cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian state media reported Thursday. It’s the latest example of U.S.-Iranian cooperation on pirate-infested high seas despite a wave of tensions between Washington and Tehran over the decades. The incident occurred northeast of Fujairah, a port for refueling oil tankers, the Fars News Agency said. The port, in the United Arab Emirates, is close to the Strait of Hormuz, an important oil shipping lane. Iranian navy vessels received a distress signal from the U.S. cargo ship Maersk Texas during patrols. The forces announced their willingness to help. As they closed in on the American cargo ship, the pirates scattered. The U.S. ship crew thanked the Iranian naval force and continued on its way, state media reported. [CNN/24 May 2012]

• Iran, big powers agree to another round of nuclear talks:

Iran and world powers agreed to meet again in Moscow next month for more talks to try to end the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program, but there was scant progress to resolve the main sticking points between the two sides. At the heart of the dispute is Iran’s insistence that it has the right to enrich uranium and that economic sanctions should be lifted before it stops activities that could lead to its achieving the capability to make nuclear weapons. [Reuters and news services/24 May 2012]

• Great white shark gets up close:

Fishermen caught video of an 18-foot great white shark next to their boat off Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. PS – I’ve set it to start later in the video because having the whole “Jaws” thing in there is stupid. [cnn/youtube/24 May 2012]

• Airborne Thresher Shark:

Making the media rounds right now is a remarkable series of still photographs taken by marine researcher Scott Sheehan of a thresher shark leaping from the water in Jervis Bay, Australia.  Possibly feeding on yellowtail baitfish, the shark leaped from the water and was first thought to be a dolphin.  Sheehan readied his camera for a possible second leap and the shark did not disappoint, allowing the researcher to take a rapid series of shots. [rtseablog/25 May 2012]

• Port Moody bans shark fins from city, challenges other locales to follow suit:

Shark fin is now extinct in Port Moody after council passed a bylaw – B.C.’s first – banning the exotic delicacy. City council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the possession, sale, trade and distribution of shark-fin products, whose demand, activists say, drives a cruel harvesting practice and endangers sharks worldwide. The move is largely symbolic – Port Moody has three Chinese restaurants, none of which serve shark fin – but Mayor Mike Clay said it prevents shark fin from coming to town, and paves the way for other municipalities to follow suit. “We are a small town . . . but we are more than willing to lead the way and test the bylaw and, hopefully, make it easier in the future for other municipalities who may be facing more of a challenge.” [The Dorsal Fin/The Province/24 may 2012]

• A federal jury Thursday convicted Abdo, a Muslim soldier, on six charges in connection with his failed plot to blow up a Texas restaurant full of Fort Hood troops, his religious mission to get “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.