Listening to Friends, Wag the Finger

Friends: The Obama administration gave a shifty denial to German Chancellor Angela Merkel about monitoring her personal cell phone, according to the NY Times. National Security Advisor Susan Rice said the monitoring was not “currently” happening, but didn’t say it never did, according to the Times. Rice told the Germans President Obama did not know about the spying on its important US ally. The revelation about cell phone snooping came from NSA leaker Edward Snowden. It’s almost an assumption in diplomacy that allies spy on each other, but when it is revealed they behave with the “shock” of Claude Rains in Casablanca upon discovering there is “gambling going on in this establishment.”

Wag The Finger: Computer contractors who built the faulty Obamacare website spent a hot day on the congressional grill yesterday. Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) said to the panel of four executives, “These are more than glitches, they can’t be fixed.” Citing his own experience in the computer business he said, “You can’t re-cook eggs,” suggesting the whole healthcare website might need to be junked and rebuilt.

The executives admitted that it was not fully tested until about two weeks before it went live. They declined to say whether they advised federal officials to put the site up for public use.

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee also jumped on a last-minute change in the website that eliminated the ability to comparison shop for insurance plans before actually registering. The Republican theory is that The White House didn’t want customers to see upfront how much health insurance will cost.

Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) complained about being unable to log onto the Obamacare website, even though Texas is one of the states that refused to build its own health insurance exchange.

Mystery Child: DNA tests prove that the blonde mystery girl is the child of a Bulgarian Roma couple. Maria was found in Greece living with a Roma couple that is not her parents. Authorities are trying to determine whether she was sold.

Teacher Murder: The 24-year-old math teacher killed in the Danvers, Mass. high school had seen the boy accused of killing her doodling in class and asked him to stay after. Police say Colleen Ritzer was killed in a girls’ bathroom with a box cutter, but have not said why.

Pain Hurts: The FDA wants tighter controls on some of the most commonly abused painkillers including the narcotic hydrdrocodone. The drugs contain a combination of hydrocodone and other painkillers like acetaminophen and aspirin, under the names Vicodin and Lortab. Prescriptions would have to be for shorter terms. Prescription drugs are taken in three-quarters of drug overdose deaths.

Newtown: Crews have begun destruction of the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Conn., site of the school massacre a year ago. A new school will be built in its place.

Game 2: St. Louis 4, Boston 2. Series, 1-1.

Tweets On a Train: Former CIA Director Michael Hayden was overheard on a train spilling secrets to reporters anonymously as a “former senior administration official.” Unfortunately there was a reporter in the next seat Tweeting accounts of the conversations.

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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Page Two

The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Page Two: Do the Right Thing

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Page Two: Sound Recall

Monday, September 13, 2021

Page Two: Cuomo Must Go

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

The Wright Stuff

Saturday, February 29, 2020

It's Been Said

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have, no excuses."

-Andrew Cuomo, resigning as governor of New York after accusations of sexual harassment

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