Update from MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines to Huffington Post:
"Joe didn't walk off. He chose not to participate in the final couple of minutes of the discussion because he felt the conversation didn't fit his role as a political analyst."
Previously:
Did Joe Scarborough walk out of David Gregory's show "Race to the White House" Thursday night on MSNBC? It seems that way by the video below. Joe was a panelist on the show along with Air America's Rachel Maddow, CNBC's John Harwood and former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr.
The panel was discussing the effect of Sen. Obama's personal and professional relationships on his campaign when Rachel and Joe disagreed. Joe started to challenge Rachel's argument that relationships only become an issue when a political opponent makes them an issue, but she cut him off, "Let me make my point and then you can dismiss me." She then finished with an example of a McCain campaign co-chair in Florida's bathroom activities.
After a commercial break, Joe prefaced his rebuttal to Rachel's point by saying "I don't engage in Crossfire-type debates and certainly I don't want to talk about what people do in bathrooms." When he finished speaking, and after David Gregory had shut Joe vs. Rachel down, John Harrow came on camera. Then, viewers can hear Joe taking off his microphone (2:47 into the below video). When the panel picture came back, no Joe.
Watch Rachel and Joe make their points, hear Joe unplug, and then (after a jump) see the panel after Joe has gone: (WATCH VIDEO)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Will Ferrell Brings Back Bush Impersonation, Slams Jon Stewart
Will Ferrell dusted off his George W. Bush impersonation Sunday night to raise money for autism education. The cause, Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit For Autism Education," was started by "Saturday Night Live" writer Robert Smigel, whose son is autistic. Ferrell, as Bush, shared reflections of his legacy with host Jon Stewart.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Gay couples face higher tax bills
MOUNT LAUREL, New Jersey (AP) -- For gay couples, the April 15 tax filing deadline can be a reminder of the disparities they face, even in a nation that is becoming more accepting of same-sex couples.
art.gay.taxes.ap.jpg
Beth Asaro and Joanne Schailey at their civil union ceremony in 2007.
Gay couples often pay higher taxes because they don't get the federal tax benefits that go with marriage. And for couples in state-sanctioned domestic partnerships, civil unions or same-sex marriages, filing federal income taxes can involve doing three sets of paperwork instead of one.
"It's a significant financial disability," said Beth Asaro, who last year entered into one of New Jersey's first legally recognized civil unions.
While the debate over government recognition of gay marriage is a political hot-button with arguments about morality, civil rights and tradition, the tax issue is a mostly practical one for hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples.
Most states ban gay marriage and don't recognize same-sex unions in any way. Only in Massachusetts can gay couples legally marry. Since 1997, nine other states and Washington D.C. started offering civil unions or domestic partnerships that give some or all the legal protections of marriage.
Those protections include allowing gay couples to file state taxes jointly -- and potentially save them money. But they can also make tax filing more complicated for the couples.
That's because the state protections do not help with federal taxes. Under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the government defines marriage as being allowed only between a man and a woman.
"You're running one household," said John Traier, a partner in the Butler, New Jersey, accounting firm Hammond & Traier. "But the federal government and a lot of states treat them as two households." (MORE)
art.gay.taxes.ap.jpg
Beth Asaro and Joanne Schailey at their civil union ceremony in 2007.
Gay couples often pay higher taxes because they don't get the federal tax benefits that go with marriage. And for couples in state-sanctioned domestic partnerships, civil unions or same-sex marriages, filing federal income taxes can involve doing three sets of paperwork instead of one.
"It's a significant financial disability," said Beth Asaro, who last year entered into one of New Jersey's first legally recognized civil unions.
While the debate over government recognition of gay marriage is a political hot-button with arguments about morality, civil rights and tradition, the tax issue is a mostly practical one for hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples.
Most states ban gay marriage and don't recognize same-sex unions in any way. Only in Massachusetts can gay couples legally marry. Since 1997, nine other states and Washington D.C. started offering civil unions or domestic partnerships that give some or all the legal protections of marriage.
Those protections include allowing gay couples to file state taxes jointly -- and potentially save them money. But they can also make tax filing more complicated for the couples.
That's because the state protections do not help with federal taxes. Under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the government defines marriage as being allowed only between a man and a woman.
"You're running one household," said John Traier, a partner in the Butler, New Jersey, accounting firm Hammond & Traier. "But the federal government and a lot of states treat them as two households." (MORE)
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Yes, I'm a dork and you can be too.
Ok, after all this talk about the Sci-Fi series "BattleStar Galactica" being the best show on television and all the hooplah on the beginning of the fourth season, I headed over to the Sci Fi Channel's website and found this hilarious "get all caught up" movie.
http://www.scifi.com/index.php?clip=frak
After watching this, I bought the first season on DVD.. watched it.. loved it and ordered season two. Enjoy the recap movie.. it's a hoot.
'Sex And The City' Movie: Secrets, Details And An Exclusive Look
There's a moment in the new "Sex and the City" movie, The Post has learned, when Carrie Bradshaw is lounging in a cliff-top Mexican villa, overlooking a breathtaking view of the ocean, with her pink Swarovski-encrusted cellphone in hand. She's checking her voice mail.
First message.
It's from Big, who, as many know by now, actually has a name: John James Preston.
"Babe," he says affectionately, before saying he needs to talk to her urgently.
In a moment of pure impulsiveness, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) throws her phone off the cliff. It goes sailing through the air, with the sun sparkling off the crystals as it falls into the ocean.
It's ludicrous. It's exciting. It's over-the-top.
And it's achieving what many in the film industry believed impossible just a few years ago: building a cinematic fantasy that's bigger than Big. (READ MORE)
First message.
It's from Big, who, as many know by now, actually has a name: John James Preston.
"Babe," he says affectionately, before saying he needs to talk to her urgently.
In a moment of pure impulsiveness, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) throws her phone off the cliff. It goes sailing through the air, with the sun sparkling off the crystals as it falls into the ocean.
It's ludicrous. It's exciting. It's over-the-top.
And it's achieving what many in the film industry believed impossible just a few years ago: building a cinematic fantasy that's bigger than Big. (READ MORE)
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