Blue Mass Group

Apple iPhone 4 Antenna Song video after the flip.

Salon:

France will pay back to Haiti the Independence Debt it and its Euro/US allies gathered together to force Haiti to pay. It took Haiti 122 years (1825 to 1947) to finish paying France and the endless debt and its continual modifications and recalculation impoverished Haiti for two centuries.

(The French government, in a classic Gallic sense of humor failure, has threatened legal action against the originators of this claim. — Bob)

The Onion reports:

Repeal Of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Paves Way For Gay Sex Right On Battlefield, Opponents Fantasize

WASHINGTON-As Congress prepares to allow gay individuals to serve openly in the military, those against the proposed change voiced their concerns Monday, warning the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” could soon lead to strong, strapping American soldiers engaging in mind-blowing homosexual intercourse right on the battlefield.

Daniel Kurtzman’s compilation of the best jokes about Bristol and Levi:

“Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston announced they are engaged to be married. But here’s the interesting part. They’re not having sex until after they are married, that’s what they said. So let me get this straight: They had sex, she had a baby, now they’re engaged and celibate. Isn’t that backwards? It’s like they’re sexually dyslexic.” -Jay Leno

“This week Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston revealed exclusively to US Weekly that they are getting married. Sarah Palin allegedly is not happy about this because she feels they barely know each other and they are making a big commitment. You know, kind of like when John McCain picked her for vice president.” -Jay Leno

“Actually, Bristol said the one thing she missed most about Levi – his Johnston.” -Jay Leno

“It’s true, John McCain’s running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Palin said, ‘We should never have introduced her to John Edwards.’” -Conan O’Brien

“Apparently Bristol and Levi broke up. Bristol said she wants her baby raised free of ignorance and backwoods superstition. But you can’t stop Mom from visiting.” -Bill Maher

“Some sad news. Bristol Palin, Sarah Palin’s daughter, has broken up with babydaddy Levi Johnston. I was stunned when I heard. I mean, really, if two kids without a decent education and no jobs and a baby can’t make it, what hope is there for the rest of us?” -Jay Leno

And on more general topics:

“BP is putting a new cap on the leaking oil well. It could capture up to 90 percent of the disgusting filth that’s spewing from there. And if it works, they’re going to try the same thing on Mel Gibson.” -Craig Ferguson

“Well, here’s some information about real estate. Rush Limbaugh had an apartment here in New York City. Sold it for $11.5 million. It has a very narrow view. … It overlooks the flaws of the Republican Party.” -David Letterman

“Rush Limbaugh had an apartment here in New York City. He sold the apartment for $11.5 million. That is $2.5 million for the apartment and $9 million for what they found in the medicine cabinet.” -David Letterman

“President Obama announced the appointment of a new White House budget director, which is pretty surprising. You know the White House has a budget director? What the hell has he been doing?” -Jay Leno

“Dick Cheney is recovering after minor surgery. Doctors implanted a new device called a ‘heart.’” -Craig Ferguson

“George Steinbrenner turned the New York Yankees from a $10 million franchise to a billion-dollar franchise. His secret was the $9 hot dog.” -David Letterman

“Apple has called a major press conference to discuss the iPhone 4. Well, they actually tried to call three days ago, but it finally went through just now.” -Jimmy Fallon

Because of the peculiarities of our national governance, the most liberal member of a distinct (41 seat) minority holds the most legislative leverage of any elected official in the country. Previously, this place of honor was held by other Senators from states that begin with M. But, now, our own Scott Brown holds the distinction. So, Mr. Brown, what are you doing for the Commonwealth and the country with this fleeting moment of significance? What grand cause are you championing? Whose flag are you bearing? Click through to the Matthew Yglesias blog post. I’m not doing it justice.

Wednesday’s Boston Globe contained a story about the developer of the old Filenes Basement site in Downtown Crossing, Vornado Realty Trust, attempting to pull completely out of the project (if they can find a buyer), as city officials run out of patience with the years of inactivity at the blighted sight and threaten to pull the developer’s permits.   For those who have not been to Downtown Crossing in the last several years, it looks like the area has been struck by a meteor and no one has bothered to fill in the crater or even clean up much:

The story outlines recent tough talk from Mayor Menino to the foot-dragging developer:  

In March, Menino accused Vornado executives of deliberately allowing the property to become blighted in order to pressure the city to provide funding or other help. “This development is too important to Downtown Crossing and to the entire City of Boston to be used as a bargaining chip to improve your bottom line,” Menino wrote at the time.

For some reason, the Globe didn’t give the full context of what prompted the Mayor of Boston to make such a bold charge- namely the Chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, Steve Roth, gave a speech at Columbia University and explained/bragged how he had deliberately let a property grow increasingly blighted over the course of years in order to motivate the government to give him subsidies (AKA $$$) to actually go through with a development.  However, this missing information is not the really giant hole in the Globe’s story.  The giant hole in the story is that Vornado Realty Trust is not only the proposed developer of the marquee Downtown Crossing site, they are also a developer (and 20% owner) of the proposed casino at Suffolk Downs; a proposal which has brought the State House to gridlock, has been in the news almost every day this month, and is a key driver for what could be one of the biggest economic/social/cultural changes to take place in MA in decades- yet the Globe neglects to mention this connection anywhere in their story about Vornado’s issues at Downtown Crossing.