from the out of nowhere department:
Daniel Curtis
Conservative publisher Breitbart dies in LA at 43
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LOS ANGELES - Conservative media publisher and activist Andrew Breitbart, who was behind investigations that led to the resignations of former Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York and former U.S. Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod, has died in Los Angeles. He was 43.
Breitbart's website, bigjournalism.com, announced Thursday he died of natural causes in Los Angeles in the early morning hours. His death was confirmed by breitbart.com editor-in-chief Joel Pollak, who said he was at the hospital, and by the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
Breitbart was walking near his house in the Brentwood neighborhood shortly after midnight Thursday when he collapsed, his father-in-law, Orson Bean, said.
Someone saw him fall and called paramedics, who tried to revive him. They rushed him to the emergency room at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, Bean said.
Breitbart had suffered heart problems a year earlier, but Bean said he could not pinpoint what happened.
"I don't know what to say. It's devastating," Bean told The Associated Press.
Larry Dietz, watch commander at the Los Angeles County coroner's office, said a cause of death was unknown and an autopsy would "more than likely" be conducted.
Reaction to his death was quick.
"RIP 'O Mighty Warrior!" Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a message on Twitter, the medium where Breitbart confronted his critics with often abrasive messages. Indeed, Breitbart's final message called a follower "a putz."
His online profile, meanwhile, called him a "mild-mannered family guy" and "husky male model."
Media Matters, the liberal watchdog that was a frequent Breitbart critic, said the organization's "thoughts and prayers are with his family today."
"Media Matters has a long history with Andrew Breitbart," Media Matters' Ari Rabin-Havt said. "We've disagreed more than we've found common ground, but there was never any question of Andrew's passion for and commitment to what he believed."
Breitbart was an outspoken critic of the mainstream media but was lionized by his fans for his efforts at exposing government corruption and media bias.
Breitbart was at the center of two video controversies in recent years - one that led to the firing of Sherrod, an Agriculture Department employee, over an edited video of what appeared to be a racist remark, and another that embarrassed the community group ACORN when workers were shown counseling actors posing as a prostitute and pimp.
Sherrod, who is black, was fired from her job as Georgia state rural development director in July 2010 after the video surfaced. She is seen telling a local NAACP group that she was initially reluctant to help a white farmer save his farm more than two decades ago, long before she worked for USDA.
Missing from the clip was the rest of the speech, which was meant as a lesson in racial healing. Sherrod told the crowd she eventually realized her mistake and helped the farmer save his farm. She has since filed a lawsuit against Breitbart.
Breitbart's websites also featured a 2009 hidden-camera sting video that brought embarrassment to the community group ACORN. The videos show ACORN staffers offering advice on taxes and other issues to actors posing as a prostitute and pimp.
Breitbart also sparked a controversy that ultimately led to Weiner's resignation. His problems began on May 28 when Bretibart's biggovernment.com posted a lewd photograph of an underwear-clad crotch and said it had been sent from Weiner's Twitter account to a Seattle woman.
Initially, Weiner lied, saying his account had been hacked. But he pointedly did not report the incident to law enforcement - a step that could have led the way to charges of wrongdoing far more serious than mere sexting.
Additionally, his public denials were less than solid - particularly when he told an interviewer that he could not "say with certitude" that he wasn't the man in the underwear photo.
Weiner's spokesman said the photo was just "a distraction" and that the congressman "doesn't know the person named by the hacker."
The congressman denied sending the photo and said he had retained an attorney and hired a private security company to figure out how someone could pull off such a prank.
But Weiner dropped that story line on June 6, offering a lengthy public confession at a Manhattan news conference, acknowledging to online activity involving at least six women.
It was a remarkable turn of events for the brash Weiner, who conceded to a "hugely regrettable" lapse in judgment.
Breitbart is survived by his wife, Susannah Bean Breitbart, and four children.
Kyle Curtis
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Brent Wolters
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Kyle Curtis
Daniel Curtis
Kyle Curtis
How would that work for you, Brent?
Daniel Curtis
Noah Walden
So, while I generally eschew ripping on the recently passed, I'd say it's open season...
Kyle Curtis
Daniel Curtis
Noah Walden
Brent Wolters
Noah Walden
Daniel Curtis
Juneau Smog
Brent Wolters
Can we place our fond remembrance of Andrew Breitbart on hold for just a moment to focus on the key economic concern in America today: Gas prices!
Just this week, Obama’s own Anti-Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, admitted (what we all know is true) that "the Obama Energy Department really isn’t trying to lower gasoline prices.”
Does this anti-American attitude anger you at all?
Brian Brainerd
Sent from my time macihine.
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Daniel Curtis
Kyle Curtis
Its never the policy of the Energy Dept to lower gas prices. Are all conservative fucktwits clueless about how gas prices are set? Because if they were, they probably wouldn't be saber rattling so much about invading Iran, would they?
By the way, the U.S. is producing domestic oil production at the highest levels since 2003. And we are now a net exporter of refined gasoline. Some how its making sense for oil companies to send our fuel overseas. Brian's right. Clearly, the Obama administration should nationalize the oil companies and actually have some control over gas prices...
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Brent Wolters
Noah Walden
Brent Wolters
Noah Walden
Brent Wolters
Brent Wolters
Brent Wolters
Daniel Curtis
Alex Romero
Sorry to burst your bubble but what did the Oil Companies say was the cause of the price increase again??? (i hear crickets) it wasn't any mention of regulation, it was low barrel numbers increasing demand and cranking up the price per drum....never heard anyone say anything about how Bush was overregulating as the prices zoomed upward...now that Obama is in the chair, its his fault for doing too much i guess...we all know Bush under regulated the Oil, therefore driving up the cost...which means your logic isn't worth the bytes it took to type it....keep trying Chunks, it cracks us up.
Noah Walden
William Curtis
prices are going to go up. Which party voted against oil and gas regulations and continues to vote against them despite the majority wishes to regulate
gas prices? Every source I read indicates there is currently no shortage of gas nor do we need to drill for more oil. Doesn't this sense of greed by Republicans against the
American people anger you all?
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Ciao,
Bill
Douglas Fanyak
William Curtis
Bill
Daniel Curtis
Juneau Smog
3. Fact: President Obama has taken huge steps to reduce our dependence on oil.
4. Fact: Big oil made a record $137 BILLION in profits last year.
5. Fact: Republican politicians refuse to end taxpayer handouts to big oil.
6: Fact: Republican politicians want to cut big oil’s taxes even more.
Brent Wolters
Juneau Smog
Juneau Smog
The Conservative Disney owned ABC News’ Mark Greenblatt Reports:
Every time you fill up your car with gas, your dollar ends up in the hands of a wide range of interests from around the world. Some of your money goes to oil companies, some of what you pay goes to refineries, and more still gets divided up by the gas stations you stop at.
What may surprise you, however, is what one of Wall Street’s top regulators has to say about who else you’re paying: speculators on Wall Street.
Bart Chilton, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates commodity futures and option trading in the United States, said it’s time to look at home — in addition to overseas — when searching for the reasons why gas prices are on the rise.
“I’m fired up,” Chilton said. “I’m concerned and we have to look after consumers.”
According to Chilton, much of the problem is actually “made in the USA,” created by Wall Street traders who gamble on oil prices.
“There aren’t markets without speculation,” Chilton told ABC News. “It’s the excessive speculation we are concerned about.”
Chilton, who has served as commissioner since 2007, said far too few players control far too much of the market, allowing them to push the price of gas higher and higher. Chilton and the CFTC are attempting to implement caps on the total positions speculators can take when trading in the oil futures markets.
Chilton obtained an energy research report from Goldman Sachs spelling out how much the Wall Street firm estimated speculators had pushed up the real price of oil sold to make gas, due to large bets in the markets.
Using the numbers from in the Goldman Sachs report, combined with current information from the CFTC, Chilton calculated how much speculation is driving up the price at the pump for the average consumer.
He shared calculations with ABC News for the first time.
By Chilton’s calculation, if you drive a car like a Honda Civic, you’re paying $7.30 more than you should every time you fill up — to Wall Street speculators. If your car is a Ford Explorer you’re paying an extra $10.41.
For a Ford F150, he says owners pay an additional $14.56 per fill up -or more than $750 a year.
For their part, industry groups representing Wall Street say there is no evidence their trading activities actually push up the price of oil.
Chilton isn’t doesn’t buy that argument. He and the CFTC are currently attempting to implement new rules that would put limits on speculation. In response, Wall Street is suing the CFTC attempting to get an injunction, which would allow everything to remain status quo.
“They don’t want these limits,” he said. “They want unbridled ability to speculate in these markets and that’s not good for consumers. It’s not good for markets. It’s not good for the economy.”