MetaFilter posts tagged with acorn

Big Investigations from Little ACORNs Grow

jonp72 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:43:15 -0800

ACORN Report Finds No Illegal Conduct : Scott Harshbarger, the former Attorney General of Massachusetts, now of the law firm Proskauer Rose, has recently released an investigative report about accusations that the community organizing group ACORN were caught trying to facilitate prostitution in a sting operation by Young Republicans Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe. The report concludes, "While some of the advice and counsel given by ACORN employees and volunteers was clearly inappropriate and unprofessional, we did not find a pattern of intentional, illegal conduct by ACORN staff." In addition, the report uncovers that Giles and O'Keefe's videos were heavily edited, up to and including substitute voiceovers.

The Young Republicans who brought down ACORN

VikingSword — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:48:25 -0800

She is the Young Republican who "stung" ACORN. And he is her "pimp". Together they brought down ACORN. This is the new generation of Republican operatives. If the GOP is to survive as a party, and thrive in the future, they'll need young people. And the young are coming. "Above all, attack, attack, attack," she said, quoting Republican consultant Roger Stone. "Never defend."

Cobra Mk 3

Artw — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:51:39 -0800

This month marks the 25th aniversary of Elite, the groundbreaking 3D space trading game. The making of Elite. More on the making of Elite from The Backroom Boys. Emulate the original BBC Micro version. The Dark Wheel.

ACORN under fire

Deathalicious — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:05:08 -0800

ACORN already drew fire last year during the election, accused of voter fraud, although ACORN points out there was no real fraud going on [pdf]. Now, they are facing controversy over a recent video showing ACORN officials offering advice to amateur actors posing as a pimp and prostitute on what to say when seeking a mortgage for a brothel. A second video captured an ACORN worker claiming to have murdered her husband (she later said she was simply messing with the filmmakers). As a result of these recent controversies, the Senate voted 83-7 to prohibiting the use of funds to fund ACORN. It's likely that a big motivation to block this funding came from issues surrounding Acorn and the Census. The Census Bureau had already decided to sever ties with ACORN , partially because of fears that ACORN would play an active role in the Census, although this was not at all true -- they were simply one of 30,000 Census Partners. The vote to block funding will mean that ACORN will no longer receive HUD grants, which it uses to offer free housing counseling to lower-income individuals.

Where are the acorns?

afu — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:55:29 -0800

Where did all the acorns go? With reports of acornless oaks coming in from all over the U.S., what is a squirrel to do? Oaks produce acorns according to a mast cycle, which is thought to be related to climate, but the exact connection is far from clear.