On May 28, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced a new ad campaign attacking Democratic House members by attempting to tie them to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s winding story of what the CIA did or did not tell her about U.S. interrogation techniques. The NRCC says it plans to target 20 Democrats with mailers, robocalls, TV and radio ads; it announced that robocalls and radio spots will run in 17 districts. So far we have seen one television ad,
May 29, 2009
Koalas spend about 20 hours each day sleeping or resting.
Source: Phillip Island Nature Park, Australia
Sotomayor Overturned?
Q: What percentage of Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions have been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court?
A: Of the majority opinions that Judge Sonia Sotomayor has authored since becoming an appellate judge in 1998, three of them have been overturned by the Supreme Court.
Cap-and-Trade Cost Inflation
Leading Republicans are claiming that President Obama’s proposal to curb greenhouse gas emissions would cost households as much as $3,100 per year. The Republican National Committee calls it a “massive national energy tax.” But the $3,100 figure is a misrepresentation of both Obama’s proposal and the study from which the …
May 28, 2009
Little penguins, the world’s smallest penguins, travel between 9 miles and 31 miles at sea each day and are capable of diving to a depth of 230 feet.
Source: Phillip Island Nature Park, Australia
‘Godless Dollars’
Q: Did the government issue new dollar coins without the words "In God We Trust"?
A: Congress ordered the words to be stamped on the edges of the coins, but an unknown number of "Godless dollars" were produced by mistake.
May 27, 2009
The oldest goalie to play in a National Hockey League playoff game was Johnny Bower, who, in the April 6, 1969, game, was 44 years, four months and 38 days old.
Source: National Hockey League
May 26, 2009
The Brooklyn Bridge opened for business 126 years ago this month.
Source: PBS.org
Sonia Sotomayor, Context Provided
Since President Obama’s announcement that he would nominate federal appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, much attention has been given to her 2005 remark that the "court of appeals is where policy is made." The conservative Judicial Confirmation Network and others on the right are spotlighting the clip of Sotomayor speaking at Duke Law School.
But what is Sotomayor really saying? It’s true that she immediately interrupted herself, saying jokingly to the panelist next to her,
Burned Bibles?
Q: Did the Obama administration burn soldiers’ Bibles?
A: The military destroyed Bibles printed in Afghan languages to prevent distribution to local Muslims. But it happened during the Bush administration.