David Shuster may not be back on air for remainder of contract

By GottaLaff

I was just witness to Pat Buchanan defending slavery on MSNBC (I'll post the video when it becomes available). Yes, resident Old White Racist Punditiot Guy still has regular work as contributor while David Shuster gets the cold shoulder for shooting a CNN pilot before his contract with MSNBC was up in December.

I guess contractual issues trump despicable ratings-inducers:

Now that David Shuster has been suspended indefinitely by MSNBC, it looks like he may not be back on the air for the remainder of his contract – up at the end of this year.

The pilot that led to his MSNBC demise was just the latest in a series of run-ins with management.

According to Mediaite, Shuster also got into a scrape or two over at ClusterFox when he erased one of Rita Cosby's scripts about the disbarring of President Clinton.

Whether David is guilty of these things or not (which I do not condone), we do know one thing: Buchanan's disdain for anyone who doesn't look like him is egregious enough to pull him off the air permanently. Where is the logic?

And where is the logic in CNN's exposing their viewers to RedState's Erick Erickson?

I mean other than jacking up ratings at any cost. I mean other than money. I mean other than selling out.

Never mind.

GOP wants to be committed. Agreed. They should be.

By GottaLaff

Contracts are out, commitments are in. Who knew the GOP was so trendy schmendy?

And I do have to agree-- The Rushpublics should be committed:

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) gave peeks Sunday at the "Commitment to America" that would replace the GOP's "Contract With America" in the run-up to midterm elections. [...]

He said the "Commitment" would place a greater emphasis on Internet tools to get the message out and "help restore trust... using our principles to find what's best for America."

Those wacky Rushpublics and their crazy pledges. They take so many of them, and yet...

See, they know how to take the pledges, they just don't know how to keep the pledges...

"If we do not do the job, throw us out," he said.

Now that's a pledge I hope they keep.

Justice Dept. Says Acorn Can Be Paid

By GottaLaff

Happy Friday!

The Justice Department has concluded that the Obama administration can lawfully pay the community group Acorn for services provided under contracts signed before Congress enacted a law banning the government from providing funds to the group.

Yeah, hmm, right, that would have been a little-- What's the word again? Oh yeah -- unconstitutional.

You can read the memorandum (image above) here.

A Housing and Urban Development lawyer asked the Justice Department whether the new law meant that pre-existing contracts with Acorn should be broken. But in a memorandum signed Oct. 23 and posted online this week, Mr. Barron said the government should continue to make payments to Acorn as required by such contracts.

The new law “should not be read as directing or authorizing HUD to breach a pre-existing binding contractual obligation to make payments to Acorn or its affiliates, subsidiaries or allied organizations where doing so would give rise to contractual liability,” Mr. Barron wrote.

Acorn has been doing a lot of great work, a little factoid that should get as much attention as the negative press it has gotten for months:

“We are pleased that commitments will be honored relative to Acorn’s work to help keep America’s working families facing foreclosure in their homes,” he said. [...]

Founded in Arkansas in 1970, Acorn describes itself as the nation’s largest grass-roots community organizing group. It provides financial services to poor and middle-income families, conducts voter registration drives, and advocates for higher minimum wages and more affordable housing.

But the Rushpublics will have none of that! Nosirreebob, they'd much rather cut off the nation's voters' noses to spite their nasty, negative, self-serving faces.

Union Suing Palin Administration

By GottaLaff

Good golly don'tcha know and how you betcha, one more lawsuit say it ain't so too also:

The Alaska Correctional Officers Association filed a lawsuit today against Governor Palin’s administration. They claim the administration purposefully dragged their feet in getting the legislature to appropriate pay increases thereby sabotaging new contract arbitration.

Sarah Louise? Anti-union? Who could have ever guessed such a thing?

The Palin Administration says their introduction of the funding request was late in the session, but that there was plenty of time to act. The state claims the arbitrator’s findings are now null and void and must be restarted. The money was not included in the governor’s budget.

Oh em gee, wouldn't it be just so kewl if, like, one of Sarah Louise's ex-bfs was totally third in line to be governor and stuff?

Last year, Corrections Commissioner Joe Schmidt earned a union vote of no-confidence. Schmidt allegedly dated Sarah Palin in high school. He is now second in line for the highest office in Alaska behind Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell should Palin be unable to finish her term. Palin appointed him to replace Walt Monegan of Troopergate fame. The no-confidence vote came as a result of correctional officers’ exposure to the MRSA virus and hours being cut for essential prison guards.

Union president Sgt. Danny Colang told Jason Moore of KTUU:

“[...] I always think there is an underlying issue there with that no-confidence vote that was taken last year, and I think they still hold that against us. There is still some vengeance, because we had a no confidence vote against one of (Palin’s) good friends from high school, who is now our commissioner.”

If Palin’s track record were void of vengeance and retribution on a regular basis, this wouldn’t be a story.

Sarah Louise is such a total mean girl, fer sure.

What Does the Future Hold For Greta Van Susteren?

By GottaLaff

Think she'll re-up?

In today's NYTimes, Brian Stelter wraps up much of the chatter that's been out there about Fox News host Greta Van Susteren - about her husband advising Sarah Palin, and FNC hosting Todd Palin at the White House Correspondents dinner. But there's also speculation about Van Susteren's future with Fox:

Ms. Van Susteren's contract will end next year, if it is not renewed. Megyn Kelly, a morning co-host who is considered a rising star at Fox, is the leading candidate to replace Ms. Van Susteren at 10 p.m., according to three people with knowledge of the deliberations, which were intended to be private.[...]

[FNC SVP Bill] Shine said the depiction of Ms. Kelly as Ms. Van Susteren's replacement was "100 percent inaccurate."

Ms. Van Susteren declined to say how long she expected to stay at Fox, saying, "I really enjoy what I'm doing" but adding, "there's a lot more to life than this."

She's finally figuring out that there's more to life than working for bottom feeders, befriending horrific vice presidential candidates, and perpetuating lies? I'm so very impressed. My heavens, what a quick study you are, Greta.

KBR wins contract despite criminal probe of deaths

By GottaLaff

From the Department of WTF? Paging ObamAdministration oversight, spill on aisle KBR:

Defense contractor KBR Inc. has been awarded a $35 million Pentagon contract involving major electrical work, even as it is under criminal investigation in the electrocution deaths of at least two U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

The announcement of the new KBR contract came just months after the Pentagon, in strongly worded correspondence obtained by The Associated Press, rejected the company's explanation of serious mistakes in Iraq and its proposed improvements. A senior Pentagon official, David J. Graff, cited the company's "continuing quality deficiencies" and said KBR executives were "not sufficiently in touch with the urgency or realities of what was actually occurring on the ground." [...]

KBR announced last week it won a new $35.4 million contract from the Army Corps of Engineers to design and build a convoy support center at Camp Adder in southern Iraq. It will include a power plant, electrical distribution center, water purification and distribution systems, wastewater and information systems and road paving.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the new KBR contract was inappropriate. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said he has formally asked the Corps of Engineers whether it was confident KBR could accomplish it and whether the Corps had any alternatives.

"This is hardly the time to award KBR a new contract for work they've already failed to perform adequately, and which put U.S. soldiers at even greater risk," Dorgan said in a statement. "Ultimately, contractors must be held accountable, and so should those who continue to award these contracts." [...]

Separately, court papers filed in Houston on Friday show KBR is preparing to plead guilty to federal bribery charges for promising and paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Nigeria in exchange for engineering and construction contracts between 1995 and 2004.

And they were re-hired... why?

H/t: Babzter

Time Warner may yank "The Daily Show" among others

By GottaLaff

By now, you all know how Time Warner and I get along. We couldn't be more incompatible.

Now they've gone too far. Now it's war. Now it's panic time. I must. Have. My. Jon. Stewart.

"Spongebob Squarepants," "Dora the Explorer" and Jon Stewart soon might be pulled off Time Warner Cable systems in Los Angeles and around the country if the cable operator and Viacom Inc. cannot reach a new contract before midnight tomorrow. The move could knock Viacom's cable channels, which include Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central off nearly 2 million households in Los Angeles.

"The Daily Show" will still be available on line, but I'm not a big fan of sitting in front of my computer to watch TV/movies. They better reach some kind of agreement or I'll have to fork myself in the eye... and I won't even be able to blame it on BushCo this time.

Chris Matthews and NBC are talking....

By GottaLaff

... which is fodder for even more speculation*:

Hardball host Chris Matthews is in contract talks with NBC News, according to Michael Calderone.

"What's still unclear is whether the current talks are to renew his contract ahead of schedule -- as the network recently did with Keith Olbermann last month -- or to break it, in order to start early on a Senate campaign in Pennsylvania."

*Speculation seems to be all the rage in what passes for the news these days, what with the election being over, and the inauguration being a month and a half away.

Disastrous fires. KBR contract. Coincidence?

By GottaLaff

Well, well. Look what the Santa Ana winds blew in:

KBR Awarded Disaster Relief Contract by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Under Initiative for Emergency Power 11 Nov 2008 KBR today announced it has been awarded a disaster relief contract, valued at up to $75 million over a five-year period by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Pittsburgh District, for its advance contract initiative for emergency power for the Western region of the United States. The disaster relief contract was created by the USACE to respond immediately to power emergencies resulting from a natural or manmade disaster. KBR will provide all labor, transportation, equipment, materials, supervision and required internal logistics support to perform generator set activities in the Western Region, Geographic Area 3. KBR services will mobilize immediately upon activation by USACE to the "disaster" area. The company will work to quickly provide emergency power to the critical public facilities designated by the State and FEMA as directed by the USACE.

Timing is everything.

Los Angeles fears blackouts as wildfire burns --"The fire is threatening the power of the city of Los Angeles. We may have to move to rolling blackouts." 15 Nov 2008 A wildfire whipped up by hurricane-force gusts raged through northwestern Los Angeles foothills on Saturday, burning some 165 homes and threatening the power supply of California's largest city. More than 10,000 residents were under mandatory evacuation orders as the fire, which has burned more than 2,600 acres, spread westward fanned by dry winds. A separate fire burned a second day in the celebrity enclave of Montecito, where 111 homes have been destroyed. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the fire in the foothills at the edge of San Fernando Valley near Sylmar had destroyed more than any other in the past decade and that flames could take down power lines.