Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
“Show me an ad with a dog with a smile; don’t try to shame me,” Mr. Frei told The A.P. The kennel club had expressed its concerns to Pedigree, he said, adding, “We told them that, and they ignored us.”WAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
And for good measure, I give you Rachel Maddow and that Repug presidential candidate with a Google problem here…This tells us that Charles Chaput, head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is of course speaking out in protest, desperate for any opportunity to move the spotlight from the hideous recent school closings. This, despite the fact that contraception coverage is provided at other Catholic institutions (here, including this one). Also, this is despite the fact that contraception coverage is supported by a majority of Catholics (here). Oh, and Willard Mitt Romney once supported the contraception coverage he now opposes (here), and good for Obama for bashing him on it (here).
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
(Part One including the setup is here, and Part Two is here...this may be the last regular post before the hiatus, or at best the next-to-last one.)Serving Our Veterans
HR 2433, Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act of 2011I couldn’t find anything controversial about these bills, though, in the matter of our veterans, I would ask once more why Mikey voted against both a combat pay raise and a bill guaranteeing pay to our military in the event of a government shut down, noted here.
HR 1392, Introduced the Fairness to Veterans Act of 2011
HR 178, Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act
HR 333, Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act
HR 2534, Ensuring America’s Promises Act of 2011
HR 2349, Veterans Benefits Training Improvement Act of 2011
HR 2074, Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention and Health Care Enhancement Act
Protecting The Environment
HR 1964, Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2011I can’t find anything wrong with HR 1964 (Local Repug Jim Gerlach is a co-sponsor with Dem Mike Thompson of California, as noted here). And as noted here, Mikey was wise to oppose HR 2018, which basically is a gift to polluters and guts the Clean Water Act.
Opposed HR 2018, Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act
Government Reform
Fitzpatrick co-sponsored Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Coffman’s HR 2913 bill (here), which terminated a member of Congress’s ability to pay into a defined benefit pension plan. That’s a good step, although, as noted here, members of Congress currently pay about 1.3 percent of their salaries into their retirement, described as “puny” by Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe (and I agree with that characterization).Maximizing Domestic Energy Production
HR 1230, Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act(Now we’re going to get back to what the Repugs do best. And I don’t mean that in a good way.)
HR 1229, Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act
HR 1231, Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act
HR 2021, the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011
HR 1938, the North American-Made Energy Security Act
HR 3410, the Energy Security and Transportation Jobs Act
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) opposed the bill: “One year ago today, we were 2 weeks into the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We were 2 weeks into what would ultimately become the worst environmental disaster in our Nation's history, with more than 4 million barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf. And since that disaster, we have learned many things about the safety of offshore drilling….We learned that the oil companies had neither the resources nor the ability to stop a deepwater blowout. BP spill response included an attempt to shoot golf balls and bits of rubber into the well. When we were told that the industry was relying on the most sophisticated technologies, we assumed that they meant technologies developed by MIT and not the PGA….And yet here we are debating legislation that would do nothing to improve the safety of offshore drilling and could actually make drilling less safe. The legislation before us represents a return to the pre-spill mentality of speed over safety.”And as noted here in response to HR 1229, this is still more overreach by this Congress, trying to tell an executive-branch agency what to do, in this case telling the EPA to review 40 drilling permit applications within 60 days (and what exactly does this have to do with job creation again – I probably could have said more about this last May, but didn’t…my bad).
Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) also opposed the bill: “I rise in strong opposition to this oil spill amnesia bill that threatens our coastal communities….The bill sidesteps safety and environmental reviews, acting as if the Nation's worst oil spill in history never happened. And, it pushes a failed energy plan that pours billions of dollars into already overstuffed oil industry coffers. The only thing it adds up to… is a false promise. The truth is the Republican majority is hoping to delude the public into believing that this rush to new offshore drilling will provide a quick fix to high gas prices, but the harsh reality is this: The U.S. is never going to have control over world oil supplies or gas prices through drilling. We simply don't have the oil reserves, no matter how much we drill. What we do have is the ability to control prices by lowering our consumption, and that's just what we're starting to do.”
This drill-only bill mandates the most sweeping expansion of offshore drilling in our nation’s history – making broad swaths of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts open for leasing automatically.And by the way, as noted here, the BP spill victims (remember them?) continue to suffer (and as noted here, Mikey voted against a Democratic motion to H.R. 1231 to prohibit energy companies from selling abroad the outer continental shelf oil and natural gas they extract under federal leases).
“The legislation is not about creating jobs. It is not about lowering gasoline prices. It is a giveaway to the oil industry that will increase pollution along our coasts….There are many flaws in the legislation. It allows huge increases in air pollution from oil and gas drilling activities by moving the point of measurement from the drill ship to the shore….The legislation eliminates the Environmental Appeals Board from the permitting process, even though it is a cheaper, faster, and more expert substitute for judicial review. And it requires all challenges to air permits to be raised before the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., thousands of miles away from the affected communities. Claims that this legislation will reduce gas prices or the budget deficit are nonsense. They have no substantiation. There are sensible improvements we could make, but we aren't making them. Instead, this bill waives environmental requirements and short-circuits permitting reviews at the expense of public health.”Further, this is a response to HR 1938, which is basically an attempt to rush through a decision on the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline before an environmental review has been completed.
The Beatles first used samples of other music on "Yellow Submarine", the samples being added on 1 June 1966. The brass band solo was constructed from a Sousa march by George Martin and Geoff Emerick, the original solo was in the same key and was transferred to tape, cut into small segments and re-arranged to form a brief solo which was added to the song.[35]If you ever get a chance to watch “The Compleat Beatles” (and yes, I know it has been out for awhile now), Martin describes this process pretty well, for what it’s worth.
A similar technique was used for "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" on 20 February 1967. To try to create the atmosphere of a circus, Martin first proposed the use of a calliope (a steam-driven organ). Such was the power of the Beatles within EMI that phone calls were made to see if a calliope could be hired and brought into the studio. However, only automatic calliopes, controlled by punched cards, were available, so other techniques had to be used. Martin came up with taking taped samples from several steam organ pieces, cutting them into short lengths, "throwing them in the air" and splicing them together. It took two trials; in the first attempt, the pieces coincidentally came back in more or less original order.
Concerned that too many “deniers” are in the meteorology business, global warming activists this month launched a campaign to recruit local weathermen to hop aboard the alarmism bandwagon and expose those who are not fully convinced that the world is facing man-made doom.If that were actually true, then how do they bother to explain the following (from here)…
The Forecast the Facts campaign — led by 350.org, the League of Conservation Voters and the Citizen Engagement Lab — is pushing for more of a focus on global warming in weather forecasts, and is highlighting the many meteorologists who do not share their beliefs.
The smear allegation is disturbing and important to dispense with first. Presumably (Jason Samenow of the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang, echoing a similar charge) is referring to the fact that we have included quotations from climate change-denying meteorologists on our site. As yet, not one of those quoted has suggested that we have misrepresented their views. Indeed, many of these TV meteorologists are openly proud to be considered deniers. They say so on air, online, in emails to us, and in their affiliation with prominent denial sites like Icecap. Compiling a careful count of weather reporters who reject the scientific consensus on climate change hardly qualifies as a smear campaign. In fact, there are many weather reporters we have researched that we believe fall in the denial camp, but we have not quoted on our site because we do not have sufficient evidence.There’s a lot more information about the “Forecast the Facts” campaign from the Think Progress post; it definitely makes for interesting reading.
The battle over the right-to-work issue may be reaching a conclusion in Indiana as the state prepares to adopt its law, but the argument over exactly what the measure means for a state's economy is likely to rage on, unresolved, as it has for 70 years.Oh, please – in response, I give you the following from here (centered on Indiana, where former Bushie and current Repug governor Mitch Daniels is the last to try and foist the “right to work” scam)…
Since the 1940s, 22 states have passed laws barring unions from collecting mandatory fees from workers for labor representation. Supporters, mostly Republicans, insist the measure helps create a pro-business climate that attracts employers and increases jobs. Opponents say the law only leads to lower wages and poorer quality jobs.
The evidence on the issue is abundant, but also conflicting and murky. The clearest conclusion, according to many experts, is that the economies of states respond to a mix of factors, ranging from the swings in the national economy to demographic trends, and that isolating the impact of right-to-work is nearly impossible.
Not only have ‘right-to-work’ laws been found to reduce wages while not stimulating job growth in states that adopt them, this week’s Economic Snapshot shows Right-to-Work (RTW) is associated with a significant reduction in private-sector pension coverage. Private pension coverage in Indiana is currently greater than in 21 of 22 RTW states but will likely decrease if the state legislature passes the RTW law.And on this issue, I give you the following from the National Football League Players Association (this issue affects them because the upcoming Super Bowl is going to be played in Indianapolis)…
“Right-to-work” is a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers’ rights. It’s not about jobs or rights, and it’s the wrong priority for Indiana.And of course, the usual suspects have been propagandizing about “right to work” in the typical manner, as noted here.
The facts are clear—according to a January 2012 Economic Policy Institute briefing report (“Working Hard to Make Indiana Look Bad”), “right-to-work” will lower wages for a worker in Indiana by $1,500 a year because it weakens the ability of working families to work together, and it will make it less likely that working people will get health care and pensions.
So-called “right-to-work” bills divide working families at a time when communities need to stand united. We need unity—not division. We urge legislators in Indiana to oppose “right-to-work” efforts, and focus instead on job creation.
Looking for more savings, Mr. Scott pushed to privatize prisons andMedicaid and to institute drug testing for people seeking public assistance. At the same time, he provoked the ire of environmentalists by reducing financing for the state’s water management districts, directly affecting the environmentally fragile Everglades. Many of the most contentious measures, including drug testing and prison privatization, have landed the state in court.Umm…so, “land(ing) the state in court” over drug testing and prison privatization qualifies as “success”?
But the governor had a few failures, too.
Still, Mr. Scott possesses an unshakeable belief in the free market. It is what defines him. At a lunch on Thursday about economic development, he expressed disbelief over the attacks (all-but-named Repug presidential nominee Willard Mitt) Romney has faced for being a successful private equity manager with Bain Capital.Gee, I wonder if Scott is worried that, if our august corporate media and we humble, filthy, unkempt blogger types each give Romney’s Bain antics the scrutiny they deserve, then maybe, just maybe, more attention will be paid to Scott’s tenure at Columbia/HCA, the company that “perpetrated the greatest Medicare fraud in U.S. history” according to this (as well as the fact that Scott has now transferred his interest in Solantic, a health care company he co-founded that sells cheap prescription drugs…to his wife)?
“We shouldn’t be allowing candidates to attack people in business,” he said. “We should be saying, ‘Gosh, that’s us.’ ”
Current-dollar GDP was revised down for all 3 years: $77.6 billion, or 0.5 percent, for 2008; $180.0 billion, or 1.3 percent, for 2009; and $133.9 billion, or 0.9 percent, for 2010. The percent change from the preceding year was revised down from an increase of 2.2 percent to an increase of 1.9 percent for 2008; was revised down from a decrease of 1.7 percent to a decrease of 2.5 percent for 2009; and was revised up from an increase of 3.8 percent to an increase of 4.2 percent for 2010. Current-dollar gross national product (GNP) (GDP plus net receipts of income from the rest of the world) was revised down for all 3 years: $82.9 billion, or 0.6 percent, for 2008; $174.1 billion, or 1.2 percent, for 2009; and $132.8 billion, or 0.9 percent, for 2010… Current-dollar GDP was also revised down for all 4 years from 2004-2007: $14.5 billion for 2004, $15.4 billion for 2005, $21.7 billion for 2006, and $33.1 billion for 2007.So basically, “current dollar GDP” has been getting “written down” by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis for some time, even predating Obama back to the ruinous reign of Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
