Sarah Palin’s Libel Lawsuit Thrown Out of Court

Sarah Palin, former Miss Wasilla and once part-time Temp-Governor of Alaska, had her libel suit against the New York Times thrown of of court. In an editorial, the Times erroneously linked Ms. Palin’s rhetoric to specific incidents of political gun violence, but quickly issued a correction. The judge found that the plaintiff’s case did not rise to the level of harm established as libel by the Supreme Court. In an unusual move, the judge made his ruling while the jury was deliberating, and the jury, independently, reached the same conclusion.

Sarah Palin, the proto-Trump, will probably appeal.

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Sarah Palin Launches TV Network

Sarah Palin, former Miss Wasilla, once part-time Temp-Governor of Alaska, losing GOP Vice Presidential candidate and failed Fox News commentator, is launching her own on-line TV network, the Sarah Palin Channel. Run on free-market principles, it’ll cost you $9.95 a month or $99.95 a year. A comment on Gawker suggests you go monthly, since Palin will probably quit after 6 months, like she did as Governor of Alaska.

More:

“Sarah Palin Launches Her Own Channel Online,” Todd Spangler, Variety

“Sarah Palin begins her own online channel,” Catalina Camia, USA Today

“Sarah Palin Launches Subscription-Based Online Video Channel,” Andrew Kirell, Mediaite

“Millions Pay for Rare Opportunity to Hear Sarah Palin Speak,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

November 5th: Guy Fawkes Day

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day in England. Fawkes was a member of the Gunpowder Plot, a 1605 conspiracy to blow up the British Parliament Building. A stylized mask said to resemble Fawkes has been adopted by the Occupy! movement as its symbol. Previously, the mask had been used by the Anonymous computer hacker group. They got it from the Warner Brothers movie “V for Vendetta,” which is based on the comic book graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.

Just one thing. Fawkes wasn’t a revolutionary. He was a reactionary.

Puppet Radicals Run Riot in DC!

“The Million Puppet March — a political rally against Mitt Romney’s debate remarks about Big Bird and cutting funding to public television — may not have actually been a million puppets strong, but furry monsters came from far and near in a post-Halloween parade of support for PBS on Saturday.

The march to the Capitol set off from Lincoln Park shortly after 11 a.m., with the participants singing the “Sesame Street” theme song, and the Muppets’ “Mahna Mahna.” They were asked to keep to the sidewalk, but the hundreds of marchers soon spilled into the street, requiring a police escort. They chanted:

‘Power to the puppets! We can save the Muppets!’

‘Whose street? Sesame Street!’

‘What do we want? Cookies! When do we want them? Now!’

‘EL-MO! We won’t go!’

–“The Million Puppet March: Fighting for public broadcasting, with felt and fur,” Maura Judkis, Washington Post

Ohio Victory for Not-Joe the Non-Plumber

Joe the Plumber has won the Republican nomination for Ohio’s 9th District  Congressional race, narrowly defeating an opponent with a more impressive resume by outspending him 6-to-1. Loser Steve Kraus is an auctioneer, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and the Christian Coalition, a college graduate, an engineer, and a real estate agent.

You may remember Joe the Plumber. His name isn’t really Joe and he isn’t really a plumber, but he became famous in 2008 for asking presidential candidate Barack Obama questions and pretending to be in a tax bracket much higher than his own. Since then, Samuel Joseph “Joe” Wurzelbacher campaigned for failed presidential candidate John McCain and failed as both author and Internet foreign correspondent.

Ron Paul Trial Balloon Shot Down Over I-85

Ron Paul has yet to deploy the mighty airships of the Paulista Air Force, but a Ron Paul hot air balloon flew a sortie over I-85 in South Carolina on Thursday.  It hovered outside Greenville during morning rush hour, and may have been tethered in the frontage road, since the Highway Patrol issued a citation. As Dr. Paul might say, there’s entirely too much law.

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Occupy Appropriate Technology. And Yachts.

Occupy Wall Street protesters in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park had their gasoline-power generators confiscated by the NYFD as potential fire hazards. How to power life’s basic necessities, computers and cell phones? Bicycle-powered generators.

Further south, 300 Florida protesters marched on the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The chief oppostiton to the good-natured and well-tanned marchers was a torrential downpour.

Related: Appropedia.org Appropriate Technology Portal

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Rick Perry Picks a Running Mate

Texas Governor Rick Perry used the occasion of the Republican Presidential Debate & Quiz Show to announce his running mate:

“The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at . . . jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet, to me, is just nonsense I mean . . . and I tell somebody, I said, just because you have a group of scientists that have stood up and said here is the fact, Galileo got outvoted for a spell.”

— Rick Perry, via ABC News.

This is a controversial position for a Tea Party Republican in these sceptical times. It might even be taken to mean that Mr. Perry actually believes that the Earth revolves around the Sun, when anyone can plainly can see it’s the other way ’round. The Perry campaign has not responded to questions about those provocative implications.

Joe The Plumber, Congressman?

Ohio’s Joe the Plumber may challenge Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D, OH-9) in the 2012 election. You may remember him. His name isn’t really Joe, and he isn’t really a plumber, but he became famous in 2008 for asking presidential candidate Barack Obama questions about a tax bracket actually much higher than his own. Since then, Samuel Joseph “Joe” Wurzelbacher campaigned for failed presidential candidate John McCain and failed as both author and Internet foreign correspondent.

Joe’s book, like his biography and politics, is fiction. His political aspirations, however, are real — his greatest accomplishment to date is his recent election as one of only 400 Republican Party committee members in Ohio’s Lucas County (37,258 registered Republicans).

Tea Party Vacation Bible School

Summer’s here, time for Vacation Bible School. This year, Evangelist and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R, MN- 6) will lead the classes (the Lord told her to, no doubt). Courses include: