Friday Reads
Posted: January 21, 2011 Filed under: just because 32 Comments
Miniature Marshmallows and cup of Cocoa from Daily Painters of Michigan
Good Morning!
It seems that most of the country is getting some form of nasty precipitation again today. We’ve had some rain and clouds that have made for a few dreary days and I’ve just about had enough of it. I keep looking for some cheery news and all I can come up with are links about Republicans cutting budgets, Republicans attacking reproductive rights, and Republicans wanting to repeal Health Care Reform. I guess some one in the country has some energy right now. It just isn’t me. I’ve been suffering from blurry brain all week. I was on campus yesterday and the students and faculty still standing after Jindal’s hack and slash budget cuts don’t look cheery either.
So, let’s see if any of us can do some justice to headlines today. Right now, I’d just like to see something other than hacked off Republicans in the news.
So, let me start off with this odd couple bit of news from Politico: Walmart joins FLOTUS health push.
In an unusual endorsement, Michelle Obama appeared with Walmart executives at a community center on Thursday as the discount giant announced long-term plans to encourage healthy eating, including cutting prices of fresh fruits and vegetables and working with suppliers to reduce the content of sugar, fat and sodium in the products on its shelves.
The first lady – whose signature cause is reducing childhood obesity and promoting nutrition and exercise, particularly among low-income families – praised Wal-Mart as a retail giant with “the potential to transform the marketplace and let Americans put healthier foods on their table.”
Their plans “show us that, yes, we can improve how we make and sell food in this country,” the first lady said. “It’s a huge victory for folks all across this country. It’s a victory for parents. It’s a victory for families. But most of all, it’s a victory for our children.”
As part of the program, Walmart plans to overhaul thousands of packaged food items by 2015 to reduce salt and sugar content as well as eliminate unhealthy ingredients such as trans-fats. In addition, the chain would help create a seal to be placed on packages which would help consumers identify healthy products.
Suppose that will cause an increase in pedestrian deaths in Virginia?
Okay, so here’s some presidential political warm ups from NBC: First Thoughts: Are the political winds changing?
Are the political winds changing? … New NBC/WSJ poll has Obama approval at 53%… Also, 40% now label him a political moderate — which is maybe why we haven’t heard “Obama is a socialist” in a while… But is this bump for Obama a transition or a transitory moment?… Poll also shows a short honeymoon for the GOP… Handicapping 2012… And polling birthright citizenship.
Now, you know why we New Orleans folks put champagne in our orange juice! It’s the only way we can handle the morning news!
Maybe this is why we haven’t heard “Obama is a socialist” in a while: We’ll take it one step further: These might have been Obama’s best six weeks since Fall 2008. Indeed, the bump in Obama’s approval was across the board — independents moved from 35% approval to 46%; Democrats went from 76% to 86%, and Republicans went from 11% to 15%. Perhaps the most surprising result in the poll? Try 40% labeling the president as a political moderate, compared with 45% who see him as a liberal and 11% who view him as a conservative. That moderate number is the highest for Obama in the NBC/WSJ poll, even higher than it was before his inauguration.
Some people appear to be very sloooowwwww learners. Only took a little over two years for them to figure that one out. Now how long do you think it will take them to figure out that the Democrats passed the Republican Health Care Reform proposed as Dolecare to fight Hillarycare?
Congresswoman Giffords is own her way to to a rehabilitation center in Houston and made a trip outside today. She appears to be responding to various stimuli and her doctors continue to be encouraged. Gabby Giffords still has a long way to go but we’re pulling for her. Her next steps will be to recover the use of her right side and the use of language.
Dr. Michael Lemole, the chief of neurology at University Medical Center in Tucson, said Giffords has made “fantastic advances,” but he warned “she has a long road ahead of her.” Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly said his wife has tried to speak, but the breathing tube in her windpipe has made it impossible. Giffords will be transferred Friday to the TIRR Memorial Hermann Institute for Rehabilitation and Research in Houston, one of the world’s leading facilities for brain injuries.
In the meantime, Kompassionate Konservative Kooks continue to call for Governor Jan Brewer to appoint a replacement for the Congresswoman who survived an assassination attempt less than 2 weeks ago.
In an article published on theloop21.com, John Wilson, a “regular contributor to Hip Hop Republican,” mused that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) should resign her seat as she recuperates from her gunshot wounds. Citing media reports about Gifford’s medical condition, Wilson compared Giffords to the late Rep. Gladys Spellman (D-MD), who went into a coma while in office. He then asked, “Should constituents allow members to hold onto their seats like political Brett Favres with no concept of when it is time to go?” FrumForum, the conservative news site managed by former Bush administration official David Frum, promoted the article on its website this afternoon.
The Times of India reports on a survey which has grave implications for women, the spread of HIV and pregnancies. A survey showed that nearly half of HIV infected women in 13 “high-prevalence” districts in Tamil Nadu had no knowledge of contraceptives. More than half of the women were also not aware of sexually transmitted infections. A majority of HIV positive women had not shared their status with their children or any information about sex or sexually transmitted diseases. The women also do not have property rights which exacerbates attempts to manage their treatments.
The National Federation for Wildlife reports that Pesticides Poison more than 200 Endangered Species in the U.S. They are also endangering people. As a result, activists are filing lawsuits to stop their use and recover damages.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), more than 300 pesticides are seriously harming 214 species of endangered and threatened animals protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. What’s worse is that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fails to prohibit farmers from spraying these dangerous toxins in the regions that endangered species call home.
So PANNA and the Center for Biological Diversity are stepping up to the plate and actually taking legal action to help these struggling species. Today, the two groups filed a lawsuit against the EPA, claiming that the agency fails to conserve the hundreds of species offered federal protections under the Endangered Species Act. The groups aim to force the EPA to put measures in place that would prevent harmful pesticides from being sprayed in endangered and threatened species’ habitats.
That’s no small feat considering America’s massive chemical use. The EPA has registered more than 18,000 pesticides, with farmers spraying more than one billion pounds of the toxins on their fields every, single year. According to PANNA and the Center for Biological Diversity, more than 300 of these registered pesticides are posing huge health implications to people and 214 threatened and endangered species.
If you have 15 minutes to spare today, you may want to listen to NY Fed President Marco Del Negro speak to the European Economic Association in Glasgow on the Fed’s nonstandard monetary policy actions. The mp3 is available for a listen or a download are at VOXEU.
Will your state be the first to seek bankruptcy? There are a number of deadbeat states in the country. Illinois is one of the states in worst shape at the moment. Lawmakers all over the country are finding ways for states to restructure or weasel out of their debt because it’s pretty much assumed the federal government will not bail them. My guess is this is really a way for most of them to dodge their pension obligations to retirees. Yes, and there that small matter sits. Right there in the first paragraph. Maybe I should be glad I didn’t take the defined benefit plan offered here in Louisiana and have managed to barely keep my principle above water in an account that’s now heavily invested in other countries. Yes folks, I’m investing in the countries trying to pull their people out of poverty, not dump them into it.
Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.
Unlike cities, the states are barred from seeking protection in federal bankruptcy court. Any effort to change that status would have to clear high constitutional hurdles because the states are considered sovereign.
But proponents say some states are so burdened that the only feasible way out may be bankruptcy, giving Illinois, for example, the opportunity to do what General Motors did with the federal government’s aid.
Beyond their short-term budget gaps, some states have deep structural problems, like insolvent pension funds, that are diverting money from essential public services like education and health care. Some members of Congress fear that it is just a matter of time before a state seeks a bailout, say bankruptcy lawyers who have been consulted by Congressional aides.
Alas, in today’s new USA nothing is safe from the reapers of Wall Street.
Okays, so that wasn’t too rough of a read was it?
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Totally off-topic, but that mind-numbingly silly but superficially entertaining show, American Idol, “visited” New Orleans last night. What little I saw of the city on show clips just renewed the notion that wow, do I ever want to go there someday….What a place if you like taking pictures. The photo ops would be endless.
Feminist Friday: Smith-Lipinski, Santorum and Other Signs of the Opocalypse « The Widdershins
Hey y’all, pass it on!
Thanks Mink………sorry to say I don’t look to NOW or NARAL to solve the problems we face. Puzzling since they endorsed Obama in 2008.
It’s time for the ERA…….and we’ve got to go at 90mph to get it going.
I think we need to look at any and every avenue we have for equality. While NOWand NARAL definitely dropped the ball with their 2008 endorsement and in recent times has IMO focused myopically on Sarah Palin rather than MALE legislators I still believe they could turn it around. Planned Parenthood has recently come forth and stated they are standardizing their services. So not every organization is or has been a lost cause. We just need to keep pushing.
That doesn’t mean I don’t support the ERA, it just means that I think we need to multitask.
Honestly, I don’t know what will get these groups in action. I am completely disgusted with both of them. It is like no one gives a shit…what is that? Indifference?
Mainstream gay groups like Human Rights Campaign are the same way.
Like all their get up and go got up and left.
Why do you think that is zal? What is causing these once formidable groups to deflate?
personally I feel in the case of the women’s groups that it’s a case of paralysis due to the fact that their strategy really hasn’t worked out well.
The philosophy that any D is better than an R led us here. These groups provided political cover for folks like Obama even when he wasn’t willing to actually fight the good fight for choice. So, of course, he figured they’d be willing to take one for the team. I mean after all historically they’d done it before.
I agree. And I agree 1000% about the ERA.
However…considering all the infrastructure and bucks these groups have, it sure would be great if they could get their mojo back.
Even more important than the moolah would be the lists of women who support women’s rights. Perhaps then we could build a from the ground up coalition in each and every state, a coalition unafraid to challenge every single Congressperson on what they stand for and fight back on the idea that women whose lives will be affected by a decades long obligation should have to take a backseat to disinterested third parties who won’t be stuck with the mundane tasks of providing for a child for almost two decades with everything from financial to physical well being.
Here’s Nancy Keenan back in 2008……….after all the crap we went through, calling, writing, and blogging, they sold so short, and gave it to Obama.
I won’t forget, and will not have nothing to do with them.
I really wonder if the Obama thing is really the only issue. This generation of women (the young ones in college) are usually the ones who become involved in activism groups. Maybe there is a disconnect with them and the fight for woman’s rights. Sort of a nonchalant attitude about the threat to a woman’s right to choose what ever the hell they want to do with their bodies. I don’t know…I have been so disappointed with these groups. I don’t think there is enough concern to start a ground roots movement from the ground up…
Thanks, Minkoff Minx! I heart you!
😉 You too!
Oooooooh noooooooo! The White House taps GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to chair new White House economic group.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/01/21/economic.council/?hpt=T2
Good grief!!
@janicen, Oh I know, it is ridiculous.
NationalJournal.com – GE's Immelt to Head Obama's New 'Jobs and Competitiveness' Board – Friday, January 21, 2011
I’m actually somewhat heartened by some of the changes I’ve seen in my area. For example, Christiansburg seems to be pushing the idea of sidewalks in any new subdivision created. We recently became a Metrobus stop linking us to DC and while we no longer have bus stops per se we now have a Go Anywhere bus service that will allow you to call up to a week in advance to schedule a pick up anywhere in Christiansburg(I have to go about 1/4 mile since technically I live in the county and am on the cusp of Christiansburg)and a drop off to anywhere for 50 cents per trip($1 round trip). With gas going up ($3 gallon now)I forsee even more improvements.
The Walmart thing is interesting. Their produce department where I live could use an overhaul. You’d figure a company that is as a large as Walmart could at least manage to stock organics for the dirty dozen. Nope though. The funny thing is at least 2 of the “Walmart moms” are very much into the eco lifestyle(Green Your Decor and Wholesome Mommy). Their number 2 competitor is kicking their buttocks. Kroger has very reasonable prices on their organics and if I can’t buy it local then it’s where I end up going. Right now they have just about every imaginable organic apple and I’ve been getting the grannies for $1.25 per pound. I’m still trying to figure out why if Kroger can manage to eke out a profit on organics that Walmart can’t even manage to procure em’ at a reasonable price to try.
I’m having a good time though watching Walmart trying to reinvent itself.
Maybe Americans aren’t as dumb as they’ve seemed recently.
Maybe dumb isn’t the term… perhaps insane is better. I was stuck in Detroit airport a few nights ago, chatting with a nice retired Canadian gentleman. He asked if Obama would win a second term and I had to admit I don’t see how he can lose at this point. Just nothing in the way to stop him… and since a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results…. I would classify most americans as insane.
Given the Republicans that are running against him and what’s likely to come through the primaries, I really don’t see how he can lose at this point. The Republican Party is filled with extremists that couldn’t possibly appeal to independents. Even Romney’s been staying away from the Tea Party. Huckabee is showing on top so far. Absolutely no way do I want a baptist minister as president. I’d rather move abroad than suffer through that … can you imagine having a nut job creationist minister as a president?
Here are a few things I found today:
FT.com / Comment / Opinion – America must brace itself for turbulence
I know that FT is a paid site…perhaps Dak will have some more on this later…
There was a huge round of Mafioso in NY and New England…if you thought that the Mafia is on the way out, think again. This system has been around for centuries…even during the Middle Ages. (Don means duke in Italian, from the times when Italy was a feudal state.)
100 suspected mobsters arrested in biggest ever crackdown on New York mafia | Mail Online
FBI Arrests Over 100 In Historic New York/New Jersey Mafia BustCBS New York
Who will play Assange? Maybe that dude from those Twilight flicks?
The Associated Press: WikiLeaks founder's story optioned as feature film
On a more serious note:
Lawyers condemn 'abuse' of suspected WikiLeaker Bradley Manning | World news | The Guardian
More on Manning from FDL: Bradley Manning’s Attorney Files Complaint Against Quantico Brig Commander After His Conditions Get Worse | FDL Action
Hugh Jackman should play Assange:
http://wallpaper-s.org/72__Hugh_Jackman.htm
with gray hair and some gray/blue eye lens.
Well, let’s see how far this gets, even though I sense not to far but, at least they are trying to shine a light onto Scalia & Thomas.
Scalia and thomas think they are above the law.
To coin a phrase from Delay, “They ARE the law.
Conservatives have too much in terms of hubris and liberals not near enough of em’- at least in terms of representation in our government.
Thanks for the link WV.
Be great if it got more media attention. Like if MSNBCers talked about this instead of Palin and Beck.
Here’s hoping.
Today’s hot topic was Michelle FLAT EARTH is making waves about running for president…Obama will be a shoe in.
OK, get ready for cyber ‘Groping’ and showing your papers.
During the Iran situation of Internet ID, would have brought many of us into direct trouble. In fact, I am well aware not to land in Iran until they have REAL elections and the Iranian people get REAL Freedom.
Well, we did get more snow – about 4″ on top of the one and a half foot already on the ground. My hubby said it was time – the old stuff was getting dirty!:lol:
I’ve been wondering what’s going on – why so many true Dems and independents appear to have given up and accepted O as the candidate that will be elected in 2012.
It seems as though the passion that supported the good government push in their hearts is gone.
I’m not ready to let go entirely of my expectation of something better. This man is not worthy of our presidency. I still want a leader at the helm.