Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

GOP Senator Jim DeMint  of South Carolina has been backing more controversial and conservative candidates in his party’s primary races, hoping to become a senatorial “kingmaker” and turn that chamber further to the right. He says he’s still sizing up the three senate hopefuls – Sarah Steelman, John Brunner and Todd Akin  - who are vying to challenge incumbent Claire McCaskill  this fall. But some Republicans say DeMint should stay out of primaries and focus his energies instead on ousting Democrats like McCaskill, writes Jonathan Weisman.

It’s barely a whisper, but some Democratic activists are pondering the possibility of organizing a boycott of the Chicago Cubs, in light of news that the team’s patriarch, billionaire Joe Ricketts,  plans to mount an unprecedented $10 million ad campaign attacking President Obama - in the words of the New York Times – “in ways that Republicans have so far shied away from.” One such line of attack includes re-visiting the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan  may be deposed in Milwaukee over a church cemetery fund he created. Plaintiffs’ lawyers say Dolan moved millions into that fund to avoid paying settlements to clergy sex abuse victims. Church officials deny the charge.

General Motors, one of the largest advertisers on Facebook, is reportedly cutting its $10 million marketing budget on the social network just before Facebook’s IPO.  “The advertising on Facebook has had little impact on car purchases,” said a spokesman for the auto giant.

Discussing obesity on KMOX, Dr. Samuel Klein noted one local positive: in our town, there are now 120 community gardens helping to provide healthier produce to many.

Daniel Watkins of the New York Times reports that Opera Theater of St. Louis and Jazz Theater St. Louis are teaming up to commission an opera based on the fatal 1962 boxing match in which Ernie Griffith’s punches caused the death of Benny Paret.  It’s composed by jazz trumpeter and band leader Terence Blanchard and features a libretto by the playwright Michael Cristofer and is slated for Opera Theater’s next season.

Hometowners Jeffrey Wolfson and Gloria Diane Schoeller have been slapped with criminal charges by Mo. A.G. Chris Koster for allegedly defrauding Joplin homeowners out of $38k in the wake of the May, 2011 tornado.  Wolfson and Schoeller operated Insurexx, LLC, a Lebanon, Mo.-based firm that offered insurance claim adjusting and home repair services to those whose homes were damaged by the tornado.  They are charged with allegedly accepting checks from three homeowners but did not perform repairs; falsely promised homeowners that defendants would reimburse them for payments the homeowners made to subcontractors; falsely promised homeowners that defendants would repair work immediately and acted as public insurance adjustors without being licensed by the Dept. of Insurance.  If convicted of the most serious counts, Wolfson, a prior and persistent offender, could face up to 15 years in prison on each count; Schoeller could face a term of up to 10 years in prison on each count.

Political junkies may want to check out University of Sydney prof Nicole Hemmer’s analysis of how Mitt Romney can prevail in November” by “wooing but not wedding” the GOP’s right wing like another GOP moderate who won the White House once did: Richard Nixon in 1968.  (Back then, speechwriter and ex-Globe writer Pat Buchanan told Nixon that he “had to make peace” with Goldwater backers, much like Romney must placate zealots like Rush Limbaugh, who told his listeners last fall “Romney is no conservative.”)  Hemmer’s piece explains how Tricky Dick charmed The National Review’s William F. Buckley and “members of right-wing media fell in line.”