Undernews For May 27 2011

Since 1964, the news while there's still time to do something about it

Judge puts another nail in constitutional coffin

Alternet - Reagan-appointed federal Judge James Cacheris just ruled that corporations have a constitutional right to contribute money directly to political candidates.

Today’s decision extends beyond the egregious Citizen United decision because Citizens United only permits corporations to run their own ads supporting a candidate or otherwise act independently of a candidate’s campaign. Cacheris’ opinion would also allow the Chamber of Commerce and Koch Industries, for instance, to contribute directly to political campaigns.

If today’s decision is upheld on appeal, it could be the end of any meaningful restrictions on campaign finance ¬ including limits on the amount of money wealthy individuals and corporations can give to a candidate. In most states, all that is necessary to form a new corporation is to file the right paperwork in the appropriate government office. Moreover, nothing prevents one corporation from owning another corporation. Thus, under Cacheris’ decision, a cap on overall contributions becomes meaningless, because corporate donors can simply create a series of shell corporations for the purpose of evading such caps.

Although the corporate media will deny this, assuming the Supreme Court backs this decision, it will be absolutely accurate to describe America now as a semi-fascist state.

Sam Smith, 1990 - The S&L solution has the hidden goal of moving America towards increasing financial oligopoly. The government is prepared to guide, assist, regulate and tax to accomplish this goal. This sort of economic policy has been seen before in fully developed form and it has a name: fascism, described by Mussolini biographer Adrian Lyttelton as "the product of the transition from the market capitalism of the independent producer to the organized capitalism of the oligopoly." As Italian fascist economic theorist Alfredo Rocco put it, such an economy "is organized by the producers themselves, under the supreme direction and control of the state."

Obama wants your five year old to sit still and shut up

CNS News - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNS News that the administration's new $500 million early learning initiative is designed to deal with children from birth onward to prevent such problems as 5-year olds who "can't sit still" in a kindergarten classroom.

“You really need to look at the range of issues, because if a 5-year-old can’t sit still, it is unlikely that they can do well in a kindergarten class, and it has to be the whole range of issues that go into healthy child development,” Sebelius said during a telephone news conference on Wednesday to announce the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge.

Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan jointly announced the $500-million program, which will provide competitive grants to states to address issues affecting educational outcomes for children from birth to age 5.

On the conference call, CNS News asked: “What were the current problems that were found with the health, social and emotional development for children ages birth to 5?”

Sebelius, adding on to comments from Asst. Education Secretary Joan Lombardi, pointed to studies done in her home state of Kansas, where she served as governor. “When we looked at 5-year olds--and we tested about half the 5-year-olds in a relatively homogeneous state like Kansas -- and found that about half of them were not ready for kindergarten at age 5," Sebelius said.

"And some of those skills were missing: readiness for their math or reading," she said. "A number of children were missing the social and developmental skills which would allow them to sit in a classroom or play with others or listen to a teacher for any period of time. So I think it was an indicator that you couldn’t just test curriculum readiness.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, awards in Race to the Top will go to “states that are leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive early learning education reform.”

Target targeted by union

Phil Mattera, Dirt Digger’s Digest - The news of a union organizing drive at a group of Target Corporation stores in the New York City area raises the tantalizing possibility that the master of cheap chic may finally be knocked off its pedestal.

For years, Target has used its stylish image to obscure the fact that many of its employment and other practices are not significantly different from those of its scandal-ridden rival, Wal-Mart. It’s even managed to get itself included on a list of the “world’s most ethical corporations.” Target’s stores, like those of Wal-Mart’s U.S. operations, are entirely non-union, and the company intends to keep them that way. .

Since no representation elections have been held yet, it is unclear whether Target will follow the lead of Wal-Mart in eliminating the jobs of those who dare to vote in favor of a union.

The forgotten white underclass

By failing to help with the problems of the white underclass, Democrats are helping to build the rapid right. Some interesting background.

Ronald Brownstein, National Journal - From Revolutionary days through 2004, a majority of Americans fit two criteria. They were white. And they concluded their education before obtaining a four-year college degree. In the American mosaic, that vast white working class was the largest piece, from the yeoman farmer to the welder on the assembly line. Even as late as the 1990 census, whites without a college degree represented more than three-fifths of adults.

But as the country grew more diverse and better educated, the white working-class share of the adult population slipped to just under 50 percent in the Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey. That number has since fallen below 48 percent.

. . . Amid all of this change, whites without a four-year college degree remain the largest demographic bloc in the workforce. College-educated whites make up about one-fifth of the adult population, while minorities account for a little under one-third. The picture is changing, but whites who have not completed college remain the backbone of many, if not most, communities and workplaces across the country.

They are also, polls consistently tell us, the most pessimistic and alienated group in American society.

. . . The sense of being eclipsed demographically is almost certainly compounding the white working class’s fear of losing ground economically. That huge bloc of Americans increasingly feels itself left behind¬and lacks faith that either government or business cares much about its plight. Under these pressures, non-college whites are now experiencing rates of out-of-wedlock birth and single parenthood approaching the levels that triggered worries about the black family a generation ago. Alarm bells should be ringing now about the social and economic trends in the battered white working class.

Are “days, not weeks” over yet?

Jake Tapper, ABC, March 11, 2011 -President Obama told a bipartisan group of members of Congress today that he expects the U.S. would be actively involved in any military action against Libya for "days, not weeks," after which he said the U.S. would take more of a supporting role, sources tell ABC News.

Vermont healthcare battle isn’t over yet

Burlington Free Press - Under the new law, the state won’t jump to a government-financed system soon. It’s likely to be five years before such a change could take place.

Instead, the law sets in motion dozens of studies intended to inform decision-makers that include the Legislature and a new regulatory board to be formed later this year. . ..

Several organizations ¬ Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Vermont Health Care for All and Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility ¬ plan to sponsor town hall discussions to “demystify Vermont’s reform plans and gather the feedback necessary to ensure the overhaul’s success.”

“Vermonters understand the failures of our current health care system all too well, and the vast majority support the governor’s vision for a universal, publicly financed health care system,” said Cassandra Gekas, a health care advocate at VPIRG. “But the complexity of the task at hand and opponents’ strategy of using fear and misinformation to stall progress, has only served to muddy the waters.”

Recovered History: Hubert Humphrey

On a barn beam in Maine, your editor, then age 18, painted the words, “Humphrey in ’56.” They’re still there, a reminder of what an icon Triple H was for me in those days. In fact, Humphrey only ran for vice president that year and did badly, but in the next election I started the first Students for Humphrey organization in the country and still feel he would done a better job than JFK. With support of the Vietnam war and other problems, Humphrey turned from icon to disappointment, but I still remember the good days, especially today, which would have been his 100th birthday.

Dana Smith, Minneapolis Post - At his core, Humphrey was a progressive zealot. He was a passionate, unapologetic advocate not only for the racially oppressed and the poor, but for the vast and vulnerable middle class, and not only in his state and country, but all over the world. Further, he was relentlessly optimistic about the reality of improving people's lives and their economic security through democratic governments. And then he actually made that happen, from civil-rights legislation, to Medicare and federal education investments, to arms-control treaties, to fighting brutal communist dictatorships, to the establishment of the Peace Corps. Thus his immortal nickname, "The Happy Warrior.''

Overlooked by many is the fact that Humphrey was much more than a great talker and doer (and he was one of the greatest rhetoricians of all time). Humphrey also had intellectual heft and worked from a deep knowledge of history, economics and public policy. . .

Books could be written about his role in civil-rights legislation, from taking on segregationists and white supremacists in his own Democratic Party in 1948 to actually leading the charge on the floors of Congress for civil-rights and voting-rights laws in the mid-1960s. Lesser known is how Humphrey in the 1940s took a Minneapolis power structure for its shameful record of anti-Semitism.

Humphrey either was an original force or a leading architect of the 1960s investments that helped dramatically reduce elderly poverty, through Medicare, as well as programs ranging from food stamps to Head Start, and that, despite a drumbeat of uninformed criticism, sustain and help improve the lives of millions of American families every day.

A life that matters this much, and in which so much is said and done, inevitably contains mistakes and downsides. Excessive loyalty to President Lyndon Johnson damaged him and prevented him from voicing honest assessments about the disastrous Vietnam War, and led to his very narrow defeat to Republican Richard Nixon for the presidency in 1968. . .

This passage from his acolyte, former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, in his recent book "The Good Fight,'' just about says it all”

"Minnesota was a cloistered, isolationist place when Humphrey came on to the scene in the 1940s; he gave it a worldly, internationalist outlook,'' Mondale wrote. " It was a state of conservative, self-reliant people. He inspired them to think about social justice and the role government could play in expanding opportunity. He put civil rights on the agenda in a state with a long history of bigotry and anti-Semitism. He brought ambition and a flair for innovation to people, who by nature were cautious and shy. He didn't simply establish himself as a leading figure in national politics, he built his state into an admired incubator of progressive ideas. Hubert brought out the decency and optimism in people, and he made Minnesota a different place.''

Pending GOP bill in Maine would have disenfranchised 56,000 voters in 2008

David Carkhuff, Portland Daily Sun - A party line vote has set the stage for a full vote by the Maine House of Representatives on legislation that would do away with same-day voter registration in Maine. In 2008 in Maine, 56,000 people registered during the affected time frame, [Rep. Ben Chipman] said; "56,000 people, if this law had been in effect in 2008, would have been disenfranchised if this bill had been in effect," Chipman said.

Who's the "we" in "we're broke?"

Lawrence Mischel, Economic Policy Institute - Many policymakers and pundits claim “we’re broke” and “can’t afford” public investments and policies that support workers. These claims are meant to justify efforts to scale back government programs and public sector workers’ wages and benefits. The “we’re broke” theme also implies that America’s working families should be satisfied with the status quo in terms of wages that have been stagnant for 30 years.

Despite the rhetoric, it is clear that “we” as a nation are not broke. While the recession has led to job loss and shrinking incomes in recent years, the economy has produced substantial gains in average incomes and wealth over the last three decades, and economists agree that we can expect comparable growth over the next three decades as well. Between 1980 and 2010, income per capita grew 66%, and wealth per capita grew 73%. Over the next 30 years, per capita income is projected to grow by a comparable 61%. In other words, “we” are much richer as a nation than we used to be and can expect those riches to rise substantially in the future. So who is the we in the “we’re broke” mantra? The recession has certainly been a rough patch of road for many families, but the output produced by corporations in the private sector has already recovered to pre-recession levels, and these firms’ profits were 21.7% higher overall, driven largely by the 60% jump in pre-tax profits enjoyed by firms in the financial sector.

To fully understand the growth trends in income and wealth in recent decades, one must recognize that the growth has been very unequal: households at the top of the scale have seen much faster growth in their incomes and wealth accumulation than have those in the middle or bottom of the distribution. For instance, the top 10% of the income distribution has claimed almost two-thirds of the gains in income since 1979, with the top 1% alone claiming 38.7% of those overall gains. Moreover, the wealth of the median (or ‘typical’) household was lower in 2009 than in 1983, in spite of the 40% growth in the average household’s wealth. When the median is substantially lower than the average, it indicates very lopsided growth, which has been the case for the past 30 years: there was no growth in wealth for the bottom 80% of households, while those in the top fifth enjoyed a 50% increase.

So if the private sector has grown for the past 30 years (albeit very lopsidedly), and the projections for the next 30 years indicate comparable total income growth for the economy, then what is the story for the public sector? It is true that all levels of government are facing budget difficulties as a result of falling revenues during the recession. Higher unemployment and depressed economic activity have certainly depressed tax revenues, and past tax cuts at all levels of government have seriously eroded revenues as well. But some policymakers and pundits want to have it both ways: choke off the revenue stream to governments while slashing budget expenditures. For instance, the current domestic spending cuts proposed by the House of Representatives for this year were smaller than the revenues lost from extending the upper-income Bush tax cuts and the inheritance tax cut legislated last December….

There is an old joke about the Lone Ranger, who turned to Tonto and said, “We’re surrounded by Indians,” and Tonto responds, “What do you mean by ‘we,’ kimosabe?’” That same logic applies to policymakers who claim that “we’re broke.” It matters who is included in “we.” We, collectively, have been gaining income and wealth and will continue to do so. “We,” the broad middle class, have not been gaining wealth and have not received much of the income gains of the past 30 years. Whether the broad middle class prospers in the next 30 years does not hinge on whether there will be substantial income growth; there most definitely will be. The future prosperity of the broad middle class hinges on the economic policies and structures that determine how that income is generated and shared. Are our federal and state governments “broke”? They certainly face deficits. Whether those governments provide the services we need will totally depend upon the political decisions made regarding taxing and spending. Taxation and revenues have diminished, both due to policy choices and the impact of the Great Recession. So, are we broke? Only if we choose to be.

Idea Mill

Now that a federal judge has ruled that corporations can make campaign contributions directly, how about a national organization for those who will refuse to vote for any candidate who accepts such contributions? - Sam

Help the editor

I recently suggested that one way to help get the idea of climate change across was to emphasize local climate change. Liberals tend to think in terms of abstractions and global concepts, but most people do better with anecdotes and facts they can directly relate to. Which is why health and food publications do so well.

Further, we live in a country with a high degree of mobility and a huge number of Americans have little idea of what the climate of their town or state was before they arrived there.

To illustrate the point, I searched for information on historical climate change in my state, Maine, and was stunned to see how little was easily available. Stuff as simple as this:

Do any readers know good sources of information on local historical climate change? Either national data collections or good examples of state and local histories would be helpful. You can use the comments section or write directly - Sam

Justice Department claim of secrecy leaves judge "speechless"

ABA Journal - A federal judge hearing a suit involving allegations of extraordinary rendition said she is “literally speechless” at a Justice Department assertion that the plaintiff cannot give the judge classified information to review.

Justice Department lawyer Brigham Bowen said only the executive branch has the power to make decisions about classified information, the New York Times reports. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell of Washington, D.C., said the claim left her speechless, but she directed a lawyer for the plaintiff to respond to the government objections in a brief.

The dispute is part of a lawsuit filed by former State Department employee Sabrina De Sousa, convicted in absentia in Italy for participating in the kidnapping of a radical cleric. De Sousa, who has denied any role in the kidnapping, will not say whether she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. In her suit, she claims the United States should have asserted diplomatic immunity on her behalf, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.

De Sousa’s lawyer, Mark Zaid, argues he should be allowed to present classified information in response to the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss. He has represented many CIA officers and holds a security clearance.

For once, Obama was ahead of the curve

Obama deals with DSK at a 2009 conference

Gallery

MORE

One good reason for the deficit

IMGUR

Only 23 Senators voted to restore Constitution

Vote on the Patriot Act renewal:

Police blotter

Smoking Gun -Responding to a call about a naked guy sunbathing, cops in Mishawaka, Indiana arrived at a local park Tuesday afternoon to discover a smiling Michael Donte Booth in the altogether. His nudity “was deliberate and not a wardrobe malfunction,” police concluded, according to an arrest report.

A survey of the crime scene determined that Booth’s shorts and underwear were several feet away from the blanket upon which he was laying on his back “with his entire genitals showing.” Nearby, officers found the book “Gay Power,” a “Kroger bottle of extra virgin olive oil,” two cans of Miller, and Marlboro cigarettes.

“Sweating all over his body,” Booth, 26, appeared to have drizzled himself with the olive oil. While his clothes smelled of marijuana, no contraband was recovered by cops, who noted that the suspect was “acting very unusual.”

Booth, who “kept smiling wide eyed at officers,” told police, “I’m from New York. Can’t I do this here?”

Yearbook pictures of GOP presidential candidates

Unconstitutional free speech zoning is spreads

John Galt, Activist Post - The "free speech zone," despite being anathema to the U.S. Constitution, has been used intermittently since the Vietnam War protests. When their use was expanded to actually hide protesters during both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in 2004, free speech zones were quickly written off by the mainstream media as either no big deal, or essential to protect participants from dangerous activists. Many in the alternative media warned that this was a dangerous precedent to set; after all, America itself is considered by the Constitution to be a free speech zone, with laws that were created to prosecute crimes when they are committed and not before.

These zones have now become a political tool used to alter the perception of media coverage, as supporters are allowed a front-row seat in full view of cameras, while protesters are housed in cages sometimes blocks away from the actual event.

Sure enough, free speech zones are cropping up across America in a variety of locations.. .

Updates

DC Watch – The US Attorney’s Office has dropped the charge of assaulting an officer against the man in a wheelchair whom Metro police arrested outside the U Street Metro station. He is still charged with drinking in public. Don Whiteside makes a good legal point. Many reporters have implied that it was somehow relevant that the man's breathalyzer test showed he was intoxicated “beyond the legal limit,” but DC law doesn't make it illegal to be drunk unless you're driving. There's no “legal limit” otherwise. It's illegal to drink in public and, remember, we've had disputes in Mt. Pleasant over whether that means the police can arrest you for sitting on your porch and enjoying the beverage of your choice. But it’s not illegal for someone to be drunk unless he’s behaving so as to “endanger the safety of himself, herself, or any other person or property.”

Cold fusion continued

A reader points out that the latest contributors to the cold fusion issue are somewhat controversial . For example, in the Swedish blog, Alekett’s Energy Mix one finds:

||||| As a professor in physics I have been asked to comment on what “Ny Teknik” (a weekly newspaper on technology in Sweden) called “Rossi’s energy catalyst” .. . .First I would like to mention that Professor Sven Kullander – who is chairman of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ Energy committee, since the beginning of the year – is also a professor emeritus in my research group at Uppsala University. He sits in the room next to mine so Rossi’s experiment has come up every time we have met in recent weeks. I always try to be as critical as possible, but at the same time it is exciting to be pretty close to the center of something that is either a hoax or something new and exciting. There are scientists who criticize Sven for associating himself with the experiment, but also many that think he is doing the right thing. As scientists we have a responsibility to investigate whether a reported phenomenon is real or a hoax. Sven’s involvement is quite natural since he is chairman of the KVA’s energy committee, but if anyone thinks that he has simply accepted the results then they are completely wrong. ||||

The reader notes that Rossi and Focardi “founded and run the Journal of Nuclear Physics, in which they have subsequently published their own claims. Publication in the Journal of Nuclear Physics does not mean the paper, experiment, or results have been peer-reviewed by other scientists or duplicated. Founding a journal with a legitimate sounding name, in order to publish one's own results is highly dubious, akin to greenwashing.”

Some more comments:

Physorg
New Energy Times
Oil Drum

Sam Smith - Coming at this issue as a journalist and not a scientist, I have been fascinated by how intense the debate has been. For example this line from above struck me: “As scientists we have a responsibility to investigate whether a reported phenomenon is real or a hoax.” It would seem a third and easily likely possibility would be that the reported phenomenon was simply in error.

I would be interested in any comments from scientists on why this matter inspires such heated discussion and what’s in it for a scientist to perpetuate the sort of hoax that has been alleged? Isn’t it more likely for the accused scientists simply have been wrong? And, on the other hand, isn’t it possible that the existing energy industries – such as oil and nuclear – might have a strong vested interest in discrediting any investigations of this sort?

Netanyahu declares Israel to be “Jewish State”

Francis Boyle, Information Clearing House - Israel’s Likudnik Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached into his bag of Zionist tricks and pulled out a brand-new demand that had never surfaced before in the history of the Middle East peace process going all the way back to their beginning with the negotiation of the original Camp David Accords conducted under the personal auspices of U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1978: The Palestinians must recognize Israel as “the Jewish State.”…

Netanyahu deliberately shifted the goal-posts on the Palestinians. It would be as if the United States of America demanded that Iran recognize it as the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant State as a condition for negotiating and then concluding any comprehensive peace settlement with it. Of course such demands are racist and premeditated non-starters to begin with.

Netanyahu’s racist ultimatum would lead to the denationalization of the 1.5 million Palestinians who are already less than third-class citizens of Israel and set the stage for their mass expulsion to the Palestinian Bantustan envisioned by Netanyahu as the “final solution” to Zionism’s “demographic problem” created by the very existence of the Palestinians. This racist and genocidal demand would also illegally terminate the well-recognized Right of Return for five million Palestinian refugees living around the world as required by U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194(III) of 1948, by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 13(2) (1948), and by general principles of public international law, international humanitarian law, and human rights law. This would doom all prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians forever, and pave the way for the creation of “Greater Israel” dominating the entire former Mandate for Palestine, both of which objectives have been the intention of Netanyahu and Likud all along.

Professor Francis A. Boyle served as Legal Adviser to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations from 1991 to 1993. His newest book is “The Palestinian Right of Return under International Law” (Clarity Press: 2011).

Senator says government has secret, broad interpretation of Patriot Act

Wired Danger Room - [Sen. Ron] Wyden says that what Congress will renew [with the Patriot Act] is a mere fig leaf for a far broader legal interpretation that the government keeps to itself ¬ entirely in secret. Worse, there are hints that the government uses this secret interpretation to gather what one Patriot-watcher calls a “dragnet” for massive amounts of information on private citizens; the government portrays its data-collection efforts much differently.

“We’re getting to a gap between what the public thinks the law says and what the American government secretly thinks the law says,” Wyden tells Danger Room in an interview in his Senate office. “When you’ve got that kind of a gap, you’re going to have a problem on your hands.”

As a member of the intelligence committee, he laments that he can’t precisely explain without disclosing classified information. But one component of the Patriot Act in particular gives him immense pause: the so-called “business-records provision,” which empowers the FBI to get businesses, medical offices, banks and other organizations to turn over any “tangible things” it deems relevant to a security investigation. . .

Biologist counting number of bugs killed by cars

Tree Hugger - A biologist from the University of Wageningen believes that around 500 billion insects are killed each year in vehicle strikes in the Netherlands alone, but within those little deaths lie clues about how bugs are distributed, information that has been thus far elusive. By enlisting the help of drivers Dutch drivers, van Vliet hopes to determine when and where insect populations are most dense, and how climate conditions may impact those figures.

[Arnold] Van Vliet has launched a web site called Splash-Teller which allows drivers to contribute to his study by counting the number of insects that have perished within a standard area of their vehicles -- in this case, their front license plate.

School superintendent asks governor to make school a prison

Dear Governor Snyder,

In these tough economic times, schools are hurting. And yes, everyone in Michigan is hurting right now financially, but why aren’t we protecting schools? Schools are the one place on Earth that people look to to “fix” what is wrong with society by educating our youth and preparing them to take on the issues that society has created.

One solution I believe we must do is take a look at our corrections system in Michigan. We rank nationally at the top in the number of people we incarcerate. We also spend the most money per prisoner annually than any other state in the union. Now, I like to be at the top of lists, but this is one ranking that I don’t believe Michigan wants to be on top of.

Consider the life of a Michigan prisoner. They get three square meals a day. Access to free health care. Internet. Cable television. Access to a library. A weight room. Computer lab. They can earn a degree. A roof over their heads. Clothing. Everything we just listed we DO NOT provide to our school children.

This is why I’m proposing to make my school a prison. The State of Michigan spends annually somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 per prisoner, yet we are struggling to provide schools with $7,000 per student. I guess we need to treat our students like they are prisoners, with equal funding. Please give my students three meals a day. Please give my children access to free health care. Please provide my school district Internet access and computers. Please put books in my library. Please give my students a weight room so we can be big and strong. We provide all of these things to prisoners because they have constitutional rights. What about the rights of youth, our future?!

Please provide for my students in my school district the same way we provide for a prisoner. It’s the least we can do to prepare our students for the future...by giving our schools the resources necessary to keep our students OUT of prison.

Respectfully submitted,

Nathan Bootz, Superintendent, Ithaca Public Schools

TSA bullies Texas over flights

Infowars - An astounding Department of Justice threat to cancel airline flights to and from Texas, in addition to underhanded lobbying by TSA representatives, has killed efforts in the state to pass HB 1937, a bill that would have made invasive pat downs by TSA agents a felony.

HB 1937, a bill that would have made it “A criminal act for security personnel to touch a person’s private areas without probable cause as a condition of travel or as a condition of entry into a public place,” was headed for an imminent Senate vote in Texas having already passed the House unanimously 138-0, before the federal government stepped in to nix the legislation.

In a letter sent to Texas lawmakers, including to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Speaker Joe Straus, the House Clerk, and the Senate Secretary, U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy threatened to cripple the airline industry in the state if legislators did not back down.

“If HR [sic] 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute,” Murphy wrote. “Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of passengers and crew.”

“We urge that you consider the ramifications of this bill before casting your vote,” Murphy added.

Tiffany's had a reason to give a half million to Gingrich

Spy Talk - At the same time Tiffany & Co. was extending Callista (Bisek) Gingrich a virtual interest-free loan of tens of thousands of dollars, the diamond and silverware firm was spending big bucks to influence mining policy in Congress and in agencies over which the House Agriculture Committee--where she worked--had jurisdiction, official records show.

Filings by Tiffany’s lobbyist, Cassidy & Co., and other government records show that the firm’s spending on “mining law and mine permitting-related issues” in Congress, as well as the Forest Service, the Interior Department, and Interior’s Bureau of Land Management shot up sharply between during the period when Callista Gingrich was chief clerk at the House Agriculture Committee.

Tiffany's annual lobbying expenditures rose from about $100,000 to $360,000 between 2005 and 2009, according to records assembled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization.

Senate Republicans overwhelmingly vote to end Medicare

TPM - The GOP continued its bloody walk into the Medicare buzzsaw when 40 out of 47 Senate Republicans voted in support of the House GOP budget, and its plan to phase out and privatize the popular entitlement program.

The test vote failed by a vote of 57-40. But the roll call illustrates that Medicare privatization -- along with deep cuts to Medicaid and other social services -- remains the consensus position of the GOP despite the growing political backlash against them.

Voting with all of the Democrats against debating the plan were Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) -- both 2012 incumbents -- along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against it because it wasn't radical enough.

What happens when a Louisiana student tries to get his school to obey the law

Damon Fowler, an atheist student at Bastrop High School in Louisiana, was about to graduate. His public school was planning to have a prayer as part of the graduation ceremony: as they traditionally did, as so many public schools around the country do every year. But Fowler -- knowing that government-sponsored prayer in the public schools is unconstitutional and legally forbidden -- contacted the school superintendent to let him know that he opposed the prayer, and would be contacting the ACLU if it happened. The school -- at first, anyway -- agreed, and canceled the prayer.

Then Fowler's name, and his role in this incident, was leaked. As a direct result:

1) Fowler has been hounded, pilloried, and ostracized by his community.

2) One of Fowler's teachers has publicly demeaned him.

3) Fowler has been physically threatened. Students have threatened to "jump him" at graduation practice, and he has received multiple threats of bodily harm, and even death threats.

4) Fowler's parents have cut off his financial support, kicked him out of the house, and thrown his belongings onto the front porch.

Oh, and by the way? They went ahead and had the graduation prayer anyway.

Pocket paradigms

A cursory examination of American business suggests that its major product is wasted energy. Compute all the energy loss created by corporate lawyers, Washington lobbyists, marketing consultants, CEO benefits, advertising agencies, leadership seminars, human resource supervisors, strategic planners and industry conventions and it is amazing that this country has any manufacturing base at all. We have created an economy based not on actually doing anything, but on facilitating, supervising, planning, managing, analyzing, tax advising, marketing, consulting or defending in court what might be done if we had time to do it. The few remaining truly productive companies become immediate targets for another entropic activity, the leveraged buyout.. - Sam Smith

Three views on the beginning of life

To the Catholic it begins with conception. With the Protestant it begins with birth. With the Jew it begins when the children leaves home and the dog dies - Don Imus Show

Word

You can only be young once. But you can always be immature. - Dave Barry

Furthermore . . .

Judge says DEA repeatedly discriminated against woman agents

Unmarried couples made up 12% of U.S. couples in 2010, a 25% increase in 10 years. Cities with over 25% unmarried couples: Camden, Rochester, Flint, Cleveland

Louisiana Legislative Committee Approves Bill To Ban All Abortions in the State

ENDS

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