Category: Uncategorized

New York Assemblymember Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island) has introduced AB 9108. It moves the primary for state and local office from September to June, to match the date of the congressional primary. Unfortunately it would also move the deadline for independent candidate petitions from August 23 to June 7. This would give New York the nation’s second earliest deadline for independent presidential candidate petitions.
Courts have invalidated June petition deadlines for independent candidates in Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, and South Dakota. The New York bill will be heard in the Assembly Elections Committee during the week of …read more

URGENT! Don’t let Mitch McConnell give Obama a blank-check for war. Retweet Congress gave George W. Bush a blank check for war in 2001. That blank check was called the …

Don’t let Mitch McConnell give Obama a blank-check for war

It has now been over 2 months since our partner Shift Payments launched the first US-issued bitcoin debit card, built with the Coinbase API. To the average person, the Shift Card may appear no different from a traditional debit card. But to the growing community of people that views bitcoin as an attractive store of value, spending bitcoin anywhere VISA is accepted represents a major step towards a more efficient global economy.

Shift has quickly emerged as one of the most successful apps to launch with Coinbase. Here’s a few insights on Shift Card usage:

User Signup and Spending Growth

Since launch …read more

“They’re killing me! — I can’t breathe — I’m losing my air.”

Oakland, CA — That now-familiar refrain represents the last spoken words by 51-year-old Oakland resident Hernan Jaramillo, an emotionally troubled man as his breath and life were crushed out of him by several police officers who had responded to his sister’s 911 call about a suspected intruder. Jaramillo was not a suspect and was supposedly not under arrest at the time of his death at the hands — and beneath the knees — of the officers. Just days ago the Oakland City Council hit up taxpayers to fund a …read more

Adam Dodek, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and an expert on the Canadian constitution, has this article showing that any citizen of Canada is eligible to become Prime Minister, regardless of his or her birthplace. Thanks to HowAppealing for the link. Canada has had four prime ministers who were not born in Canada. All four of them were born in Great Britain. …read more

On January 28, the Louisiana Supreme Court invalidated a portion of the State Constitution that bans ex-felons from running for state or local office for 15 years after the end of their sentence. The ruling is based on a technicality: the version that passed the legislature was not the same as the version that the voters then passed. See this story. …read more

Flint, MI – In the midst of an overseas tour, rapper The Game took to Instagram to announce that he was making a $500,000 donation to assist in providing bottled water to residents of Flint, Mich., in the midst of the city’s ongoing major water crisis, according to the Michigan Chronicle.
#WATERFORFLINT PROOF !!!

So, I’m on tour & not in the US as I’d like to be to help with this… https://t.co/d5OmlyayoP
— LA Confidential (@thegame) January 26, 2016

He added that the bottled water company Avita Water will match the $500,000 donation – making for a total of one million dollars …read more

Recently, Panasonic announced their newest Android-based camera (a digital camera that runs Android as an OS, as compared to an Android smartphone that just so happens to have a digital camera attached). The Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM10 is effectively a smartphone with a giant camera lens that just can’t make phone calls (but oddly, you can text with it if you have LTE activated). That pretty much sums up the new Lumix, but if you need more proof, have a look at the specs:
Snapdragon 801 processor
2GB of RAM
16GB of storage with a MicroSD slot
2600mAh battery (that’s kinda underwhelming
4.7″ 1080p display (for …read more

Nine South Dakota legislators have introduced SB 95, which would let candidates for federal and state office get on a primary ballot by fee instead of by petition. The lead sponsor, Senator Ernie Otten (R-Tea), is the Senate Majority Whip, and the House Majority Whip, Representative Jim Bolin (R-Canton) is also a sponsor. All nine sponsors are Republicans.
The filing fee would be 1% of the salary of the office. The salary for South Dakota Governors is $107,121, so the fee would be $1,071.
If this bill were enacted, minor parties would be advantaged. Current law requires members …read more