And now a quote for the end of the day… probably the end of the World.

Politicus has given us a message from Pat Robertson today:

Bless You All

And I believe that the anointing of the Lord has been here to fulfill the desire of those early settlers, to take the gospel from America throughout the world, and that’s what we’ve been here to do. But let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, it doesn’t take a great scholar to tell you the United States has lost its moorings.

When you think that courts have denied children the right to pray in schools, that there’s a vendetta against religious belief, that now homosexuality has been made a constitutional right, that abortion has been made a constitutional right, the courts and judges have trampled on the early origins of our nation, they have distorted the meaning of the First Amendment. It’s all been done, and we’ve let it happen.

But I was reading today about a place called Sodom and Gomorrah, and a man named Abraham stood before God, and he says, “God, there’re righteous people in that city, would you kill them along with the wicked, must not the judge of all the earth do right?” And God finally promised, “If I can find ten righteous in that city, I will spare it,” just ten. Well the time came he could only find six, so they destroyed Sodom and Gomorra. But there’re many righteous here in America, and we need to band together and pray that God Almighty will spare this great land and reestablish in our hearts the vision of the pioneers.

Constitution and first 10 Amendments. Not a word here that Pat Robertson Claims.

So what is the real meaning of the 1st Amendment? I always thought it was Freedom of Speech… so I guess we have to let Robertson say whatever he wants. I just don’t think he’s learned the same American History as the rest of us.

Then again, this is the same Pat Robertson who blamed the 2010 Haitian Earthquake on those Islanders having a pact with the Devil.

Related Articles

• And the Beat Goes On (afeatheradrift.wordpress.com)
• How is one’s understanding of God’s wrath related to one’s understanding of God’s Grace – Give scripture references (wiki.answers.com)
• Is Our Culture Worse Than Sodom And Gomorrah? | Courageous Priest (deaconjohnspace.wordpress.com)
• It’s not Pat Robertson, but it’s about the same (cafewitteveen.wordpress.com)
• Better Than God? (unreasonablefaith.com)

Under The LobsterScope Podcast should be available next Tuesday…

It’s going to be a half hour long every Tuesday Morning at 10 AM and will feature extra comments on things that are in the blog, interviews with some of my friends and subject figures, perhaps some music like you are not hearing anywhere else.

I’ll be putting out more info… most likely on Monday night… so you can tune in live if you want to (and call in if you feel like it), but it will also be available for you to download at any time after the live broadcast.

I imagine things can go wrong the first time out, but we’ll play it by ear and, hopefully, by the second or third week we’ll feel like we’ve been doing it for years.

- Bill

Saturday Projects…

Given the first good, thunderstorm free Saturday in a long time, everyone was outdoors taking care of our long delayed projects. I started the day by cutting the grass in our front yard (which is very small… I use a rotary trimmer, don’t need a lawnmower) and took down the really overgrown grass.

Then Elly and I went over to work on the Community Garden fence installation. We were there before ten and original only had a couple of small neighbor boys (one who, incidentally, has reserved a garden plot for himself) to get the fifth post in.

By the end of the day, after Peter Corum and some of the other volunteers who came at 10 AM helped with the rest of the posts until all four corners…12 posts… were now in the ground.

The other project today, which our group participated in as well, was the building of a barn-like structure on the Morgan’s Grove Market Platform ( which used to be the foundation of a burned down restaurant.)

Al Thomas of Joint Efforts had cut and notched the pieces and had actually set up a lot of the structure himself before the team showed up.

But once everyone was there they made significant progress in getting the bracings up for the roof (it took four people on each side at the top of the rigging and a couple of people checking for accuracy below.

This is where it was when Elly and I left:

Market opens May 7th.

Hypocrisy – A Republican Medical Practice…

Let me take you back to last January in Congress. Kaiser Health News ran a story on Republican doctors who were elected to the House during the teabag push who were all pledging the destruction of the Affordable Care act:

Dr. Scott DesJarlais

When Scott DesJarlais heard the American Medical Association was backing the Democratic health care overhaul, he cut up his membership card. Now the Tennessee doctor, who was elected to the House last fall, can express his disdain for the law more directly by voting this week to repeal it.

Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn.

“People didn’t want this bill,” said DesJarlais, 46, who is a Republican.

He added a blunt warning to those who think the House repeal effort is an empty gesture: “I think the Senate needs to take it seriously and the White House needs to take it seriously or they’ll have to answer to the voters in two years.”

During a hard-fought campaign against four-term Democrat Lincoln Davis, DesJarlais denounced the law as a “smoke-and-mirrors ploy to implement socialized medicine.”

Socialized Medicine is a common complaint among Republicans… although few know what the phrase actually means. And this becomes clear with a news piece that came out yesterday:

DesJarlais’ office appears to be touting a successful health reform program. According to the Crossvile Chronicle, a representative from DesJarlais’ district office was on hand last week for a groundbreaking ceremony to hand over nearly $4.5 million in grant money — entirely funded by the Affordable Care Act — for the construction of a community health clinic in Cumberland County, Tennessee.  (from Think Progress)

—

In addition to ending insurance company abuses, expanding coverage to 30 million people, and reining in individual health insurance market, the Affordable Care Act provides grants for community health clinics across the country. The $4,495,730 grant touted by DesJarlais’ staff is part of round of health reform funding that was announced last year.

And it’s not like this is the only case of Republicans taking advantage of the Affordable Care act which they swore up and down to repeal. Think Progress points out:

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV… as you know, now resigning to avoid being questioned on a sex scandal) asked for nearly $1 million in doctor training grants from the law. Meanwhile, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) sent a letter to the Obama administration asking for health reform money he called “critical” for his rural constituents.

So the dreaded Obamacare is actually something they are taking extreme financial advantage of for their state programs. Some see this as hypocritical - the disease of Republican hypocrisy over the Affordable Care act needs to be cured by their doctor/members. Oh wait… as DesJarlais proves, they are the ones who are most hypocritical.

Related Articles

• GOP Rep. DesJarlais celebrates millions from what he called socialized medicine (dailykos.com)
• Fleischmann, DesJarlais endorse nuclear facility (knoxnews.com)

Under The LobsterScope’s new Fundraiser:

Web Poppers now available for Blog Designers…

Web Poppers are a collection of small images, averaging 72 x 72 pixels, that are based on Bill’s picture font designs and other sources. They can be used to illustrate posts or to comment on any number of issues.

Each set is delivered on CD with 300 of the most popular JPEG images that I use in my own blogs, Under The LobsterScope and Panhandle Vegan. I have been getting great responses to these for the past year and the number of requests that I release them has been substantial.

So here they are.

The complete set costs $39.95, all taxes and shipping included. very set that is sold helps support this blog… and believe me, we need it.

Some samples from the 300:

To access PayPal. click here:

The Congress is going to try and screw us by way of Big Banks… but at least we have Elizabeth Warren.

Jon Stewart did a very nice interview with Elizabeth Warren, the Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Elizabeth Warren

Her concern was that major banks, like Citigroup, and major Wall Street players are trying to “knife” her agency in the back… and that includes support from our Representative here in WV’s District 2, Shelley Moore Capito (R), who is chair of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee.

Warren is a very smart and intelligent woman with an agency that has very little actual power… therefore, her major strength lies in making people aware of the financial situation which has kept the middle class in financial slavery.

Warren said that the bank lobbyists and their supporters in Congress won’t be able to “knife the agency in the back alley” if they “actually believe people will pay attention, if they believe people care about this.”

To which Jon Stewart replied:

“or if they still have the capacity to feel shame — you begin to wonder at times.”

There is going to be a vote in the House Financial Services Committee next week which will delay the opening of Warren’s Agency, or, at the very least, will weaken its activities. A great many people got into the fight in public last year to set up the agency Warren will head. This year, however, the attacks against this agency are happening in secret.

Warren brought up one of her major interests, the devastating agreements that banks attach to consumer credit cards:

“There was a survey last year. Ninety-six percent of Americans said — I want to get rid of the fine print in credit card agreements and mortgages. I think it is there just to cheat me, to hide things from me. Ninety-one percent felt strongly about it. When that is the case, that’s not Democrats, that’s not Republicans, that’s not Libertarians. This is not partisan. It’s basic and sensible. This game is about trying to push the sensible part right back in the middle and say that’s what we have a responsibility to do.”

“This consumer agency is a tangible, very concrete down payment on the notion that together we can build something that is fairer, and give middle class families a chance to survive, maybe even prosper.”

- Elizabeth Warren   

Even if you saw Warren on the Daily Show Tuesday night, this is one of those interviews where Stewart kept it going past the show’s end. You can see the whole interview at http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/tue-april-26-2011-elizabeth-warren . Thanks to Morgan County USA for the basic information on Capito.

Related Articles

• Warren defends consumer bureau on ‘Daily Show’ (money.cnn.com)
• Elizabeth Warren Talks With Jon Stewart -the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Congress and the Judicial System are Trying to Kill-One Nail in the Coffin Today From the Supreme Court Ruling (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)
• The GOP’s Pathetic Attack on Elizabeth Warren (alternet.org)
• Geithner: Warren still a candidate for CFPB head post (dailykos.com)
• GOP’s war on the rest of us: The consumer protection front (dailykos.com)
• Warren Shoots to Top of Short List for CFPB Job (news.firedoglake.com)
• House Grills Elizabeth Warren in Hearing over Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (legallyeasy.rocketlawyer.com)
• We are losing Our Class” The Republican Class Wars (eleftheria64.wordpress.com)

My glasses are here.. I’ve changed my look..

First, I had my grey hair cut short. Then I had my Superfocus glasses fitted at an optician‘s in Charles Town. Now here is the new me:

What a change!  Wait til John Case sees me tomorrow morning on Winners And Losers.

Thoughts in the Afternoon…

While I’ve been waiting at home for the delivery of my SuperFocus glasses (according to UPS tracking they left the Hagerstown UPS facility at around 7:30 this morning… it is now around 1:30 in the afternoon and they are not here yet. Of course, the estimated delivery listing said they would come at “some time” today… so I’m just going to wait.

Anyway, while sitting here waiting, I was thinking about the things that make politicians the servants of corporations with endless supplies of money, while they ignore the needs of citizens who have little or no cash to spare. Notice I didn’t distinguish between Democrats and Republicans… I can cite instances where members of both parties have knuckled under to Corporate funds. Although I must say that, during this season, and especially after the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, the Republicans are a good ten times ahead of the Democrats in raising corporate donations for campaign ads (about $100.00 vs. $1,000,000.00 so far) and, unlike the small players, the Republican contributions have not been attributed to anyone… they are completely secret.

That’s going to make the campaign season a little off center as we watch TV ads and listen to radio shows. It’s going to be the responsibility of blogs like this one to keep all the players honest. So I hope as petitions come up and phone calls need to be made that my readers will be as active as necessary to help us preserve the America that is run by the People and not by the Corporate Elite.

Related Articles

• Ben & Jerry on the “Personhood” of Citizens United: (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
• Can Administration Thwart “Citizens United” Ruling (lezgetreal.com)
• GOP’s Political Warfare: Long-Term and Virtually Unopposed (elections.firedoglake.com)
• Doug Kendall: Will the Supreme Court Prevent Citizens United From Being Fixed? (huffingtonpost.com)
• New Democratic “Super PACs” Start Spending (swampland.time.com)
• Koch brothers become political Big Brother (rt.com)
• Senate Democrats to Force Senate Republicans to Vote for Awful Republican Budget (slog.thestranger.com)
• Senator Dick Durbin We Hardley Knew Ye (jonathanturley.org)
• My Superfocus Glasses are supposed to be here tomorrow! I’m excited… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)

Morning laugh…

In case your tired of the Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Democratic Congression Campaign Committee brings you this:

Go HERE to sign the Guestbook…

Looks like Harry Reid is going to make Senate Republicans commit themselves to Ryan’s Budget on the Senate floor…

I don’t know if you saw Rachel Maddow last night, but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I – Vermont) made a statement that picked my ears up.

Sen. Harry Reid (D - Nevada)

After commenting on the devastating results the Ryan Budget would have on the lower and middle classes (destruction of Head Start, dismanteling of Social Security, turning Medicare into Coupon Care giving seniors an $8,000.00 coupon instead of coverage – something a senior diagnosed with cancer can spend in the first week), he announced that Harry Reid has a strategy which will benefit Democrats in the upcoming election… He’s going to bring the Ryan Budget to the Senate floor for an up-or-down vote. Then all the Republicans who vote for it can be held to it (like the House Republicans) and take the loss in 2012.

In the House, Boehner appears to be wobbling and, perhaps, pulling back on the Ryan fiasco… especially after several local Town hall meetings have attacked Ryan and others about the cutting of Medicare and other problems with his budget – like giving more advantages to corporations and the richest 1% of our population:

Boehner’s recent statement:

“It’s Paul’s idea. Other people have other ideas. I’m not wedded to one single idea, but I think it’s — we have a plan. Where’s the president’s plan to deal with the nightmare that’s facing Americans?”

Organizations like Americans United for Change have another view of Boehner’s being unwedded to Ryan:

“Sorry Speaker Boehner, there’s no ‘take-backs’ or distancing from this one — you and the 224 other House Republicans that voted for the Ryan plan for turning Medicare into Coupon Care now own it.”

So let’s keep an eye on the Senate when they come back (When do these guys actually WORK?), I guess next week. Let’s see if Harry Reid actually pulls it off.

Related Articles

• Harry Reid says he will schedule vote on Ryan’s Republican budget plan (dailykos.com)
• “[We'll] see if Republican senators like the Ryan budget as much as their House colleagues did.” (shortformblog.tumblr.com)
• Senate Will Vote on Ryan’s Budget Plan (politicalwire.com)
• More talk of Reid forcing vote on Ryan “kill Medicare” budget (americablog.com)
• Reid wants to put the screws to GOP over Ryan budget (dailykos.com)
• Hatch to Reid: Vote on all House-proposed budgets (thehill.com)
• Town hall anger at Republican Medicare plan continues (dailykos.com)
• Senate Democrats to Force Senate Republicans to Vote for Awful Republican Budget (slog.thestranger.com)

And a Last Quote for the Evening…

The Donald

“I pray that man runs for President.”

- Jon Stewart

I do, too.

Supreme Court Scores a Big One for Corporations against Little Folks…

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the SCOTUS today embraced a strict reading of a federal arbitration law, making it more difficult for individuals with small claims to join together in a class action against large companies accused of fraud or other wrongdoing.

See what it says over the statue of Justice?

This reversed a previous Federal Court ruling in California that allowed purchasers to sue AT&T for violating a sales agreement, even though there was a signed arbitration agreement.

With the new  finding in the 5 to 4 Supreme Court vote, individual purchasers not only cannot change an arbitration agreement, even if the corporation violates its contract, but they also can’t join with other consumers in a class action suit in the same challenge.

“Today’s decision reduces corporate accountability by making it impractical, if not impossible, for consumers to hold corporations accountable for their wrongdoing. [The decision] continues a disturbing trend favoring large public companies at the expense of individuals.”

- Class action attorney Mark Rifkin of the New York law firm Wolf Haderstein Adler Freeman & Herz.

Want to hear a good one? AT&T said the Court’s decision was actually a “victory for consumers.” Heh heh.

According to consumer fraud attorney Gibson Vance:

“This is a death blow to Americans’ chances for justice when faced with forced arbitration clauses. This devastating decision has the potential to result in virtually no consumer or employee cases involving small claims being heard anywhere.

“Corporations will now be allowed to get away with sweeping wrongdoing, particularly where the damages would be too small to justify pursuing individual claims.”

So be careful what you sign when you buy a telephone, or a Cable TV setup, or a car… check that arbitration clause and ask yourself if you can live with it.

Related Articles

• Supremes Uphold Arbitral Class-Action Waivers (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
• Supreme Court: AT&T can force arbitration, block class-action suits (arstechnica.com)
• Supreme Court rules in favor of AT&T in arbitration case (intomobile.com)
• Supreme Court imposes limits on class actions (chron.com)
• Supreme Court rules against consumers. Again. (dailykos.com)
• Supreme Court backs AT&T, limits class-action suits (usatoday.com)
• Supreme Court flips decision allowing class actions vs. AT&T (electronista.com)
• Statement of Ralph Nader on Supreme Court’s Attack on Consumer Rights (nader.org)

What do you know about Food Disparagement Laws?

Until last night, I knew nothing about them… but as I attended the F.A.R.M. program (Food Art Revolution Media) last night it was one of the topics that Melinda and Dan Hemmelgarn discussed last night.

These laws currently exist in 13 states and do things like banning photographers from taking pictures of food processing plants, or writing articles protesting farms that spray their crops with Monsanto poisons, or just discussing in the public press (and no doubt in blogs like this one) the disadvantages of non-organic farming.

The food disparagement movement has major corporate support (Monsanto, Dow, Buckeye Eggs and others) and haul people into court with their heavy economic advantage if the smallest criticism is raised. This has been going on since the 1990′s (a lot of it came out because of films like “Food, Inc.” or the works of Michael Moore.)

Senator Patrick Leahy (D – Vermont) made this statement in the late ’90s concerning this situation:

Some states permit lawsuits against those who question the safety of our food supply. It is my view that under the First Amendment, Americans possess the right

Sen Patrick Leahy (D - Vermont)

to raise safety and health concerns about the foods we eat, such as the levels of mercury in our fish or the levels of pesticides in imported foods. State laws that permit lawsuits against those who question the safety of foods can have a chilling effect on public health discourse. That is not the American way –healthy debate on issues of public concern is how this country does business.

The FoodSpeak Coalition highlights the chilling effect that these laws have on the exercise of free speech. Defamation laws should not intimidate citizens and the press who want to speak out about food safety.

Americans in all states must be allowed to openly debate issues of public health.

Here, here!

I spoke with a woman at the meeting last night whose 5-year work on a book concerning the dangers of chemical spraying on US Agriculture has been filed away indefinitely because she is afraid of lawsuit under food disparagement laws… and West Virginia doesn’t even have such laws. States like Iowa and Florida are affecting the entire country.

Related Articles

• FDA moves to Govern Global Food Laws (yourdaddy.net)
• Food Fight: Farmers Unite Against Monsanto (bigthink.com)
• Organic farmers file suit to protect themselves from Monsanto’s aggressive practices. (isiria.wordpress.com)
• Organic Farmers Unite Against Monsanto In Battle For Future of Food (singularityhub.com)
• GMO Foods and The Consumer (socyberty.com)
• Recipe for Food Safety (time.com)
• Monsanto Will Soon Be Allowed To Police Itself (fastcompany.com)
• Speak out on Monsanto… Tell the President… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
• Alfalfa a key battleground in organic farming war (theglobeandmail.com)
• How to identify Genetically Modified foods at Whole Foods… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)

My Superfocus Glasses are supposed to be here tomorrow! I’m excited…

It will be lovely to see well at all distances with my adjustable SuperFocus glasses that I ordered nine weeks ago. While that seems like a long time to wait, the waiting time used to be 12 weeks, but, as one of the SuperFocus employees told me (after getting tired of my weekly “Are we on schedule” calls) told me, the shipping times have shortened because response to advertising and increased sales has allowed them to put on more staff.

Anyway, according to UPS tracking, they left Van Nuys, CA, on the 22nd and as of this morning they have left Illinois and are heading toward Shepherdstown.

I’ll talk about these more when I get them.

Related Articles

• Autofocusing Spectacles – NASA Provides the Superfocus Glasses to Aging Astronauts (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)
• Better Space Vision: ‘Older’ Astronauts Test Superfocus Glasses (space.com)
• Hocus Focus: Superfocus Glasses Are OpthaMagic for Muggles (wired.com)
• NASA Certifies First Adjustable Glasses (pcworld.com)
• Aging eyes in space no longer a problem (cbsnews.com)
• High Tech Glasses for Aging Astronauts (neatorama.com)

An important message from NARAL

Please look at this and respond… It’s time to get serious about Women’s Rights and protecting Planned Parenthood.

- Bill

Tell “Fox & Friends” to Issue a Correction
“Fox & Friends” found itself on the wrong side of a smear campaign against Planned Parenthood.

In an attempt to disparage Planned Parenthood, one of the hosts of “Fox & Friends” suggested that women who need Pap smears and breast

What? No Breast Exams at Walgreens?

exams could just get them at Walgreens. Huh?

In fact, Walgreens issued a statement clarifying that its stores do not, in fact, offer such services… but “Fox & Friends” hasn’t retracted the lie.

Call on “Fox & Friends” to issue a correction and stop its irresponsible and inaccurate reporting.

Got it?  It’s time to make people realize the truth… and Fox & Friends is a good starting point.

Related Articles

• Stephen Colbert Ridicules Fox and Friends For Promoting Pap Smears At Walgreen’s (mediaite.com)
• Wednesday Open Thread (jackandjillpolitics.com)
• Trust Your Twat to Walgreens (writechic.wordpress.com)
• Can You Get a Pap Smear at Walgreens? Flash Mob Wants to Find Out (newsfeed.time.com)
• what if walgreens DID do paps? (hahayourefunny.wordpress.com)
• “COMEUPPANCE: Stephen Colbert’s Outrageous Tweets About Jon Kyl Are ‘Not Intended To Be Factual’” and related posts (phawker.com)

F.A.R.M. (Food Art Revolution Media)

Went to a very interesting lecture and panel discussion on the need to expand locally grown organic food and the battle against companies like Monsanto and Dow that are poisoning our food supply.

The speakers were Dan and Melinda Hemmelgarn out of Columbia, Missouri, and they combined the skills of photography and dietetics with a heavy dose of activism. They were co-presented by AHA and the Source. Although the audience was fairly small, the excitement of the discussion after the 7:00 PM presentation lasted until close to 10 PM.

Even after the panel there was still continued discussion over a variety of delicious goodies.

–

Related Articles

• Organic Farmers Unite Against Monsanto In Battle For Future of Food (singularityhub.com)
• FDA requests comments on labeling junk food, but bans labeling non-rGBH? (themomu.wordpress.com)
• Organic farmers file suit to protect themselves from Monsanto’s aggressive practices. (isiria.wordpress.com)
• Monsanto says: The World Needs Us to Feed the Poor (themomu.wordpress.com)
• Monsanto Disappoints, Ag Shares Trade Lower (blogs.wsj.com)
• The Costs and Benefits of a Green Revolution (creditloan.com)
• Monsanto’s GMO Wheat ? (2012patriot.wordpress.com)
• Stay Alive, Don’t Mess with the Food Supply! (queensrepublic.wordpress.com)

Clips from the web

A little bit of this, a little bit of that… more than I can get around to. Click on the authors’ links to read their whole posts

Rhode Island House Republican Leader Robert Watson is the latest living example of the Republican difficulty with practicing what they preach. Watson is fervently anti-Marijuana, but last Friday night he was pulled over and arrested for DUI and marijuana possession.

According to The Providence-Journal, “After handcuffing Watson and placing him under arrest, the arresting police officer said he found “a small plastic sandwich bag containing a green leafy plant-like substance and a small wooden marijuana smoking pipe” in Watson’s right pants pocket.”

- from Politicus USA

- and -

John Boehner

Speaker Boehner says the Ryan plan “transforms Medicare into a plan that’s very similar to the President’s own healthcare bill.”

Only older people are sicker and more expensive to cover and Ryan doesn’t provide the funds for seniors to buy care. Beside that they’re identical.

 - Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo

- and -

The wage squeeze is putting most households in a double bind. Before the recession, they’d been able to pay the bills because they had two paychecks. Now, they’re likely to have one-and-a half, or just one, and it’s shrinking.

 - Robert Reich

The Return of Olbermann – a Date is Set.

Hooray! Keith Olbermann will be back on Monday, June 20, at 8 PM Eastern… the network? Current TV (The one Al Gore is a major investor in).

What’s even better is what he is going to call the new show: Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

As Keith said when making the announcement vis-a-vis the show name:

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I guess I’m going to have to catch MSNBC on the re-run.

Related Articles

• Keith Olbermann Heads to Current TV (tvsquad.com)
• Keith Olbermann to Current TV (dailykos.com)
• Keith Olbermann to Host Show on Current TV (cbsnews.com)
• Keith Olbermann: Joining Current TV? (joemygod.blogspot.com)
• Keith Olbermann’s Move to Current TV Offers New Beginnings for Both (tvsquad.com)

A Quote for the Morning from Chris Hedges:

“The systems of information, owned or dominated by corporations, keep the public entranced with celebrity meltdowns, gossip, trivia and entertainment. There are no national news or intellectual forums for genuine political discussion and debate. The talking heads on Fox or MSNBC or CNN spin and riff on the same inane statements by Sarah Palin or Donald Trump. They give us lavish updates on the foibles of a Mel Gibson or Charlie Sheen. And they provide venues for the powerful to speak directly to the masses. It is burlesque.”

Read the rest of the article, The Corporate State Wins Again, on Truthdig.

Related Articles

• The Corporate State Wins Again by Chris Hedges (dandelionsalad.wordpress.com)
• “Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand” by Chris Hedges (via Dandelion Salad) (reclaimamericafromthelunaticfringe.wordpress.com)
• As the world unravels before us, we have decisions to make… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
• Lighting your hair on fire (ticketpolitics.wordpress.com)
• Scheer, Hedges, Sirota, Gross and Tucker: Building a Powerful Left in the U. S. (dandelionsalad.wordpress.com)

I read this piece by Heath Harrison at West Virginia Blue… not a surprise for most of us!

The W.Va. GOP, a party of lunatics and birthers

Public Policy Polling is set to release new W.Va. numbers Tuesday.

Among the things they’re teasing today, via Twitter:

Only 22% of GOP primary voters in WV think Obama was born in U.S….guess who has his first state level polling lead? That means 78 percent are either birthers or not sure. Barely 1 in 5 W.Va. Republicans live in reality.

And bear in mind that this is just the number of those who would go on record and admit it to a pollster. I suspect the actual birther rate is even higher.

And if the person referred to in PPP‘s hint is who we all think it is, W.Va. Republicans will have found yet another way to embarrass the state come tomorrow morning.  

heath_harrison :: The W.Va. GOP, a party of lunatics and birthers

This why I always feel good about living here in good ole West Virginya. I run into these Republicans all over the place… sitting for lunch at Betty’s in Shepherdstown, or standing in the checkout line at Martin’s supermarket in Martinsburg (or the one in Charles Town), or just listening to them as they call into radio programs commenting on the governor’s primaries. And you can’t get them to change their minds by pointing out actual proof that has been accepted by most of the world.

Oh well, maybe these folks won’t find their way to the voting booth in 2012… maybe we should convince them that Republicans will have a special vote on the day AFTER election day. They might believe that, too.

Related Articles

• Woe Betide Ye, West Virginia (bokertov.typepad.com)
• Introducing Heath Glass by Heath Ceramics (design-milk.com)
• I’m a West Virginia Senior and my Congresswoman, Shelley Moore Capito, Voted Against ME… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)

Quote of the Day – Haley Barbour is out of the race…

“I will not be a candidate for president next year. This has been a difficult, personal decision, and I am very grateful to my family for their total support of my going forward, had that been what I decided.

“Hundreds of people have encouraged me to run and offered both to give and raise money for a presidential campaign.  Many volunteers have organized events in support of my pursuing the race.  Some have dedicated virtually full time to setting up preliminary organizations in critical, early states and to helping plan what has been several months of intensive activity.

“I greatly appreciate each and every one of them and all their outstanding efforts.  If I have disappointed any of them in this decision, I sincerely regret it.”

- Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (R)

So who will Haley support for the Republican nomination? Best guess is his good buddy, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R).

Related Articles

• Haley Barbour of Mississippi Bows Out of 2012 Run (mydd.com)
• Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour Skips 2012 GOP Presidential Race (usnews.com)
• Haley Barbour Not Running in 2012 (abcnews.go.com)
• Haley Barbour Declines To Run In 2012 (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Haley Barbour: I’m Not Running (newser.com)
• Breaking: Haley Barbour not running for president; Update: Daniels now 60-70%? (hotair.com)
• Haley Barbour will not seek the presidency (dailykos.com)
• Barbour opts OUT! (smacktalkradio.wordpress.com)

Trucking for the Community Garden…

Not expecting to do much but watch the volunteers working on building the fence for the community garden, I ended up driving Peter Corum’s truck with the gravel over to the site because he was late getting back from Pennsylvania.

As we got started we discovered there were many things we needed that just weren’t there… like water to blend with the Quikcrete to hold the corner posts in place… so Elly and Joel (a great volunteer) and I went over to our house and put about twenty gallons of water in one of the new rain barrels I bought the other day , and we trucked it over to the garden.

We finally ended up getting 4 of the twelve corner posts in… we’ll get back to the rest on Saturday.

Related Articles

• #8 What I learned about…Gardens (haleighgoestono.wordpress.com)
• Community Gardens Update (franklinmatters.blogspot.com)
• Back to the garden (boston.com)
• Team Leaders Needed (franklinmatters.blogspot.com)

Congress returning this week after a well-deserved time off (When do these guys actually WORK?

“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”    – Mark Twain

After not being in session for over a week (when do these guys actually WORK?) our Congressmen and women are returning this week (of course, Monday, like Friday, is a travel day … when do these guys actually WORK?) and are going to take on the debt limit.

Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, says that the debt limit has to be raised in May or we will default on our debt payments by July. That will destroy our credit rating and make it impossible to borrow money which the country needs to survive.

Some Republicans don’t agree, however, as was made clear on yesterday’s talking head shows.

Senator Coburn... Why is this man smiling?d shows.

Senator Tom Coburn (R -Oklahoma) on Meet The Press:

“The debt limit doesn’t really mean anything because we’ve always extended it. The Treasury secretary has the ability, even if this debt limit is not extended, to continue to pay interest on our loans. The idea that this is catastrophic is wrong — what is catastrophic is to continue to spend money we don’t have.”

And Coburn is a well-known economist..what? He isn’t? Sorry.

Representative Joe Walsh (R-Illinois) on Face The Nation:

Rep. Walsh... He looks like he knows...

“Over the course of those few months when the debt ceiling wasn’t raised, Armageddon didn’t hit, the government paid its bills — we’ve got enough government revenues to certainly pay, to service all of our debt. And the administration knows that. The administration’s got to get serious and recognize that we’re not just going to give them a vote to raise the debt ceiling unless they fundamentally change the way this city works.”

Walsh, as you may know, is actively campaigning to extend the Bush tax cuts… is that how we get enough money to pay the debts? Don’t think so.

It’s interesting that, during the Bush administration, that when the debt ceiling was raised 7 times, no Republican objected or said ANYTHING (when do these guys actually WORK?). That shows their collective economic knowledge must have been recently earned… perhaps they read about it in a magazine.

Related Articles

• Republicans Downplay Urgency Of Raising Debt Ceiling (huffingtonpost.com)
• GOP’s Kirk: Attach deficit plan to debt increase (cbsnews.com)
• Republicans Skeptical on Raising Debt Limit (blogs.wsj.com)
• Coburn: S&P downgrade a “warning shot across our bow” (thehill.com)
• Geithner Calling GOP’s Bluff? Secretary Says Congress Will Vote to Raise Debt … (foxnews.com)
• Geithner: ‘Congress Will Raise the Debt Ceiling’ – Fox News (news.google.com)
• World turns its attention on the U.S. debt problem. (genomega1.wordpress.com)

And on this day of forgiveness and charity we present the Republicans of Michigan…

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder

You may have seen in the Detroit News web site how Governor Rick Snyder (R) and many of his Senators and Representatives in the State Legislature are bringing their budget in line. They are closing prisons without making arrangements for thousands of prisoners (and eliminating hundreds of jobs), and making major cuts in the Dept. of Human Services, among other things.

They are toughening rules for State Disability Assistance and reducing money for Early Childhood support. And…get this…no more burials for unclaimed bodies of indigents (perhaps they will be put out on the street.)

And then… think of what you can save on the clothing of foster children:

Caswell - the Used Clothes Guy

A small part of the DHS savings, about $200,000, would come from adjustments to the clothing allowance for foster children, or children of the working poor, of $79 for school clothes. (Bruce) Caswell (R-Hillsdale) said children will still get close to that $79, but would be issued gift cards that can only be used at the Salvation Army, Goodwill or other thrift stores.

“The reason is you can get a whole lot more in a resale store,” Caswell said.

“Give me a break,” said Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Human Services.

“Government should not be big brother in telling somebody how to spend their (79) dollars,” she said.

I didn’t see them raising any state taxes on Michigan’s rich, however. If you take away their money, who will pay expensive tailors for clothes?

Related Articles

• This Idea Is Bad And You Should Feel Bad of the Day (thedailywh.at)
• MI Republican Wants Foster Children to Buy Clothes Only in Thrift Stores (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• The Unbearable Meanness of Conservatives (crooksandliars.com)
• Michigan Foster Children Have To Shop In Charity Stores (pinkbananaworld.com)
• Rachel Maddow: Michigan High School is Ground Zero for US Politics (crooksandliars.com)
• “Michigan GOP: Foster Kids Only Get Used Clothes” and related posts (care2.com)
• Sunday Reads…Rabbit…Rabbit (minkoffminx.com)

Cartoon(s) of the Week – Situations teach us things…

Joel Pett in the Lexington Herald-Leader:

So what do we learn? Nothing?

- and -

Mike Keefe in The Denver Post:

So who will the GOP run? No one?

- and -

Mike Luckovich, Creators Syndicate:

So whose budget plan supports Seniors best? Are you old?

- and -

Clay Jones in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star:

So how hard is it for a woman to manage her own body? Did you ask the conservatives?

…and I couldn’t resist an extra cartoon, off theme, for Easter:

From Mr. Fish on Truthdig.