Friday Reads

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?

What’s on your reading and blogging list this morning?