Disqus - Latest Comments for Paul888

Re: President Obama's Press Conference: HuffPost Called On Second With Iran Question - mediabistro.com: FishbowlDC

Paul Solomon — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:52:59 -0000

In between fielding questions dealing with the unrest in Iran, the fate of the economy, and the perils of global warming, Obama admitted that he still smokes occasionally, and that it is an ongoing battle. "As a former smoker, I constantly struggle with it," said Obama. "Have I fallen off the wagon with it? Yes." Obama added, however, that he never smokes in front of his two young daughters and not on a daily basis. During the presidential campaign, Obama occasionally bummed cigarettes from aides, but was never photographed by the media and made sure to emphasize he was working on getting his habit under control. Today, Obama that he is "95% cured," after a reporter asked about his struggle kicking the habit. As to the legitimacy of the question, the president brushed it off, saying "I understand...It's an interesting human interest story." He didn't see however, how it was relevant to the new law, but, in order to satisfy the media's quest for instant gratification on the subject, he wasted time talking about his own struggles. "There are times where I mess up...I get this question about once every month or so. And, you know, I don't know what to tell you, other than the fact that, you know, like folks who go to A.A., you know, once you've gone down this path, then it's something you continually struggle with, which is precisely why the legislation we signed was so important. Because what we don't want is kids going down that path in the first place." The President didn't explain where exactly he lights up, but since he doesn't do it in front of his family, and the media hasn't witnessed him smoking, it seems that the question asked of him was unnecessary. The sweeping new legislation passed yesterday giving the FDA authority to regulate tobacco was a major step in protecting children. Obama has said he got hooked on cigarettes as a teenager, and as he signed the bill in the White House Rose Garden yesterday, he said "The decades-long effort to protect our children from the harmful effects of tobacco has emerged victorious." That should be the story, not Obama's own struggle with nicotine. He is, after all, a role model for children. Why complicate the issue?
http://www.paulsolomon.blog...

Re: Cocaine found inside Frozen Sharks shipped to Mexico

Paul Solomon — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:38:06 -0000

The "cocaine-in-the-frozen-shark" deal is old news. How about the guy in Oklahoma who got mugged for his bologna sandwich, with a street value of 76 cents?

http://www.paulsolomon.blog...

Re: Rumor: Facebook to “Undo” Twitter-like Homepage

Paul Solomon — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:13:56 -0000

What's lost in all this is the act of actually talking to each other. Steven Johnson, in his Time magazine article asks, "What's next? Software that lets you send a single puncuation mark to describe your mood?" ?!

Re: David’s Twitter Newbie Tip II

Paul Solomon — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:43:28 -0000

My Twitter account has been suspended. It seems I violated the Terms of Service and Rules policy, specifically, "You may not use our service for any unlawful purposes or for promotion of illegal activity." In my defense, I was referring to a news story that was reported on most Internet news services, including time.com. Red Bull Cola was pulled from store shelves in Germany because trace amounts of cocaine were found in the drink. Yesterday, in my blog, I estimated that it would take at least 400 cans of the popular energy drink to get high on the cocaine. In my Twitter comment, I wrote: "Red Bull Cola is pulled from the stores in Germany; 0.13 micrograms of cocaine found in drink. I just bought 400 cans." Then I sent out another message with a link to my web page: "I'm getting high on Red Bull." Within a half hour I was informed on my Twitter page that my account had been suspended due to "strange activity." If you would have read my blog yesterday, you would have learned that although the amount of cocaine found in the drinks was insignificant, because of the high sugar and caffeine content, anything close to 25 cans would have caused cardiac arrest. Full story:
http://paulsolomon.blogspot...

Re: <i>NYT</i>'s New Social Media Editor Sees Potential In Journos Using Twitter - mediabistro.com: FishbowlNY

Paul Solomon — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:43:57 -0000

Re: Bob Schieffer On His Cheney Interview: “I’ve Never Done Anything That Had As Much Resonance” - TVNewser

Paul Solomon — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:11:42 -0000

Dick Cheney's "We Used Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Because They Worked" tour continues. He spoke Sunday on "Face the Nation", telling host Bob Schieffer that the Obama Administration's stance on enhanced interrogation techniques is "deeply disturbing." President Obama has repeatedly said that "the United States of America does not torture." Cheney takes great care not to use the word torture. That's because he doesn't consider some forms of torture such as waterboarding to actually be torture. Cheney said techniques such as waterboarding were successful, citing Khalid Shaikh Mohhammed, who "provided vast quantities of information about al Qaeda" after being waterboarded. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded six times a day for a month, admitted to: taking steroids, stealing sugar packets from Starbucks, driving a motorcycle without a helmet, being a witch, lying about getting a degree in economics from Cornell, and bowling without regulation bowling shoes.
http://paulsolomon.blogspot...

Re: Bob Schieffer On His Cheney Interview: “I’ve Never Done Anything That Had As Much Resonance” - TVNewser

Paul Solomon — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:07:58 -0000