Daily Nonsense

This is so sick…….

Following the Clinton’s narrow victory in the Pennsylvania Primary on Tuesday, the Clinton’s coffers saw a steady trickle of incoming cash.  Reporting 8 million in donations, the campaign is still $2 million in the hole by my count.

I hate to belabor the point, but after the excesses of the Bush era, wouldn’t we prefer someone who can keep on budget?  The Clinton’s campaign has been in the red since January when she loaned her campaign $5 million just days before Super-Duper-Tuesday.

Win brings millions into Clinton’s coffers

OBAMA INSISTS HE’S STILL THE FRONT-RUNNER

By Jeff Zeleny and John M. Broder
New York Times

NEW ALBANY, Ind. – Sen. Hillary Clinton’s fundraising roared to life Wednesday, collecting more than $8 million in the hours after she won the Pennsylvania primary, and the fresh infusion of cash immediately went to helping her mount a vigorous fight in Indiana, the next primary state.

Sen. Barack Obama, relying on an already strong financial advantage, barely mentioned his Democratic rival – or his defeat – as he filmed new TV commercials in Indiana, reassured superdelegates that he still was the front-runner and deployed scores of campaign workers to Indiana, North Carolina and the half-dozen other states that remain on the primary calendar.

Obama said Democrats should be concerned "there’s been some time lost" in turning the party’s focus to Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. But he said again and again that Clinton was trailing in pledged delegates and the popular vote and that he would fight through the nine remaining contests "to wrap up this nomination as quickly as possible."

Clinton’s overnight fundraising success, however, gave her the means to compete on a more level field with Obama. Her chief fundraiser, Terry McAuliffe, said the campaign was on track to raise nearly $10 million in online donations in the 24 hours after her Pennsylvania victory.

While Obama had started April with more than $40 million, Clinton’s campaign was millions of dollars in debt – which threatened to derail her campaign before her 9-point victory in Pennsylvania let her make a fresh case that she would be the strongest Democratic presidential nominee, although Obama leads in both delegates and in the popular vote.

Indiana, like North Carolina, holds its primary May 6. Clinton is seeking to replicate her campaigns from Ohio and Pennsylvania to win over voters there who share many similarities and concerns. She arrived in Indianapolis on Wednesday sharply focused on the economy, by far the chief concern of Democratic voters across the country, according to exit polls. She promised that as president she would deliver "jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs" across the Rust Belt, which has seen a severe erosion of manufacturing jobs in recent decades.

Obama played down questions about whether he can win in November, claiming he would draw support from independent voters and Republicans eager for change.

"Don’t worry about the party being divided in November," Obama told voters in New Albany. "The Democratic Party is going to recognize, as soon as we have a nominee, that there is too much at stake for us to be divided."

In Pennsylvania’s primary Tuesday night, Clinton won at least 82 of the 158 delegates up for grabs, according to an Associated Press analysis of election returns. Obama won at least 73, with three still to be awarded. Wednesday, Obama also picked up two superdelegate endorsements and Clinton picked up one.

The final delegate count was delayed because many of Pennsylvania’s counties are split into multiple congressional districts. Election officials were working Wednesday to assign votes from split counties to the appropriate congressional districts. Some counties didn’t expect complete results until today or Friday.

In the overall race for the nomination, Obama led with 1,723.5 delegates, including superdelegates. Clinton had 1,592.5, according to the AP tally.

[Thanks, Mercury News]

New studies indicate that exercise may not be the end all answer for what ails us.  I’m 50 years old and ever since the Presidential Physical Fitness Awards back in grade school (the 60’s for those of you who are counting) I’ve been told that exercise leads to a full, healthier life.  And that’s true, but only to an extent!

Does Exercise Really Keep Us Healthy?

By GINA KOLATA

Exercise has long been touted as the panacea for everything that ails you. For better health, simply walk for 20 or 30 minutes a day, boosters say — and you don’t even have to do it all at once. Count a few minutes here and a few there, and just add them up. Or wear a pedometer and keep track of your steps. However you manage it, you will lose weight, get your blood pressure under control and reduce your risk of osteoporosis.

If only it were so simple. While exercise has undeniable benefits, many, if not most, of its powers have been oversold. Sure, it can be fun. It can make you feel energized. And it may lift your mood. But before you turn to a fitness program as the solution to your particular health or weight concern, consider what science has found.

[Thanks, NY Times]

A jury of her peers has found that the woman accused of downloading and sharing copywrited material across the internet is guilty and has ordered her to pay $220,000 in restitution.

This verdict was met with shocked disbelief.  As one lawyer put it, “A verdict of $222,000 for infringement of 24 song files worth a total of $23.76?” he asked. “It is an outrage, and I hope it is a wake-up call to the world that we all need to start supporting the defendants in these cases.”  This is the sentiment of New York lawyer Ray Beckerman; writing in the Recording Industry vs The People blog,  he called the verdict “one of the most irrational things I have ever seen in my life in the law.”

Jury Orders Woman to Pay $222,000 for Illegal Music Sharing

A Minneapolis woman has been convicted of illegally downloading and sharing copyrighted music over a peer-to-peer network.

Jaikumar Vijayan, Computerworld
Friday, October 05, 2007 10:00 AM PDT

A federal jury in Duluth, Minn., on Thursday ordered a Minneapolis woman to pay US$220,000 to six music companies for illegally downloading and sharing copyrighted music over a peer-to-peer network.

The 12-person jury said Jammie Thomas must pay $9,250 for each of the 24 songs that were the focus of the case. In their complaint, the six music companies that sued her had claimed that Thomas had illegally shared a total of 1,702 songs over the Kazaa file-sharing network, but they chose to focus on a representative list of 24 songs.

Just last week I’ve posted an article in which I opined that the TSA was releasing information regarding suspected terrorist plots in an effort to bolster their shitty reputation and garner a little bit of support from the average American. Now they have gone ahead and determined that cigarette lighters actually pose no threat to the safety of an aircraft in flight.

On one hand we’ve got a bunch of Chicken Littles running around screaming the terrorists are coming, the terrorists are coming, and on the other hand we’ve got a bunch of level-headed realists who’ve correctly determined that a butane lighter is no threat to my safety. What’s going on here? Why is the TSA sending me so many mixed messages?

I guess it could be an evil plot. Lull me into a sense of security and then determine that butane and breast milk are actually the only two ingredients known to man that can construct a binary bomb capable of taking down an aircraft with quantities of less than 3 ounces.

Read more here:

Air ban lifted for cigarette lighters

By Steve Schmidt
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

July 30, 2007

SAN DIEGO – At Lindbergh Field, common cigarette lighters are being cleared for takeoff. Starting Saturday, airline passengers across the country will again be able to bring lighters, two years after the United States became the only nation to ban them as carry-on items.

A spokeswoman with the Transportation Security Administration said authorities determined that the lighters pose no significant threat in the air.

Plus, she said, they are a nuisance to police.

“They are a huge distraction to our security officers,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Peppin.

TSA screeners collect more than 22,000 lighters a day in the nation’s airports. Torch lighters, which create a thin, needle-like flame that is hotter than those found on common lighters, remain prohibited as carry-on items.

The agency’s 2005 ban on lighters grew out of concerns in Congress over aviation safety following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, along with a December 2001 incident in which a passenger tried to use matches to set off an improvised explosive.

The TSA is also modifying restrictions on bottled breast milk.

Mothers flying with children have been able to carry more than 3.4 ounces of breast milk, exceeding federal limits on the amount of liquid normally allowed. But starting Aug. 4, mothers traveling without children can also exceed the limit.

[Thanks, Union-Tribune]