Overnight Thread and Distraction

Video- New 'Meet The Press' set

Gregory seems a might proud.

Quickie: Twofer edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie is a twofer, and they both come by way of Greg Sargent:

* Today’s prize for bucking the Beltway-approved narrative goes to Jonathan Alter, for making an audacious suggestion: Rather than asking whether the Gulf spill is Obama’s Katrina, let’s ask whether it should give new momentum to energy reform.

* Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, a gung-ho backer of the Arizona immigration law, says he will decide whether to ride his tough-on-immigration notoriety to launch a run for higher office, commenting thusly:

“I am not running for governor now until I decide over the weekend with a glass of wine and my wife, since my mother and father came here from Italy, with a little spaghetti and meatballs.”

Well now, those are two hefty little Quickies. One relates back to this post, in which I complained about the Katrina meme that the pretend news insists upon pushing.

As for Arpaio, I posted about him here. He's hopeless and has no business being in the public eye or in public office, let alone anywhere else.

That was today's Quickie Twofer. Was it good for you?

National Enquirer retracts claim of Obama sex scandal

By GottaLaff

I knew this was coming. But first, before that all-important retraction, make sure the word got out there, right?

The National Enquirer, which published a report this morning that “investigators are attempting to obtain a tape” that proved an illicit rendezvous between President Barack Obama and former US Senate campaign staffer Vera Baker, has updated their story this afternoon to retract the claim that there is video evidence of the affair with the alleged testimony of an anonymous chauffeur.

Looks like the National Enquirer Obama sex scandal is unraveling rather quickly.

How perfectly timed to go with the bogus "Catastrophic oil slick is Obama's Katrina" meme. That librul press, always siding with the dictator!

H/t: RWRenfrew, JamieHarbor

Poll-itics: Crist Grabs Lead in Early Poll

By GottaLaff

The Tea Tantrumers will start their whining in 5...4..3...2...:

A new McLaughlin & Associates poll in Florida shows Gov. Charlie Crist (I) leading the U.S. Senate race with 33%, followed by Marco Rubio (R) at 29% and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) at 15%.

Interestingly, the poll shows Crist taking more votes from Meek than Rubio. Crist actually does better with Democrats than Meek, with 41% of them saying they would vote for him compared to 31% for Meek.

However, the Dems will whine, too. Okay, Kendrick, start kicking some serious butt, stat!

Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez arrested at Washington immigration rally

By GottaLaff

Los Angeles surpassed its 100,000 count at their immigration rally, per CNN. Gutierrez was in D.C.:

Police arrested Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez at an immigration rally outside the White House on Saturday.

As for Los Angeles:

Several people interviewed said they had not been to a pro-immigration march since the massive protests in 2006, but that Arizona's law compelled them to come out.

Arizona is compelling people to do a lot of things they might not ordinarily do.

VIDEO: Federal officials forecast potential for massive oil flow in Gulf spill

By GottaLaff

NOTE: Title edit. It's now over 200,000, worse than was forecast.

Sorry for double video. I can't get around it.

Word gets around fast, doesn't it. In fact, as early as April 22nd:

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration video, shot as officials coordinated response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, shows that federal officials almost immediately worried that the oil well could leak up to 110,000 barrels per day, or 4.6 million gallons.

The video appears on a federal Web site.

It was filmed in Seattle, at NOAA's Western Regional Center, as scientists and federal officials in Seattle, Houston and New Orleans engaged in telephone conferences, according to a companion document on the Web site.

Please go here for all the details.



H/t: jryanlaw

"Do I look illegal?"

By GottaLaff

My Twitter pal ZenShadow came up with a great idea. Please help out! I will be editing together as many videos as I receive, and all they are... are YOU.

Just point your cell cam, a Flip, or vidcam at yourself and say, "Do I look illegal?"

That's it.

Then send the file to Blunt at ThePoliticalCarnival dot net.

I'll do the rest.

I've already received some, including from Lizz Winstead and The Rude Pundit. Melissa Harris Lacewell, Rachel Maddow's wonderful "WillAtWork", and others have said they'll join in.

Once I post the Blunt webisode, I'll get it to the media.

Let's make a point together. It's one grassroots effort that only takes a second of your time.

Go!

20 states resist creating pools to help people denied health insurance

By GottaLaff

Big Government will have to keep people alive, because the Party of No won't. I hope voters are paying attention:

As many as 20 states probably will not operate new insurance programs for Americans who have been denied health coverage, forcing the federal government to step in to implement one of the key elements of the healthcare overhaul legislation, according to administration officials. [...]

Led by the Georgia insurance commissioner, however, a succession of mostly Republican state officials has been rejecting the idea of creating state pools, voicing concerns that state governments would end up having to pay some of the costs of operating them over the next 3 1/2 years. [...]

Consumers will be eligible for the new pools if they have preexisting medical conditions and have not had insurance for at least six months.

Don't Republicans have preexisting conditions, or are they reserved for commie Marxist Democrats?

VIDEO: BP's containment problem is unprecedented

By GottaLaff


Here are some excerpts I pulled from a few L.A. Times articles covering the horrific environmental disaster that BP's "oil exploration" caused to give you an overall picture from several perspectives:

Initial estimates that it was leaking 1,000 barrels of oil a day were upped to 5,000 barrels, a rate that could make the BP spill larger than the nation's worst previous oil spill, the 1989 wreck of the tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

This was an explosion, not a "spill". "Spill" has that innocent oopsie tone to it that implies a relatively quick fix. No, the problems this catastrophe caused are unprecedented:

[I]t isn't really a spill: It‘s a gush, like an underwater oil volcano. A hot column of oil and gas is spurting into freezing, black waters nearly a mile down, where the pressure nears a ton per inch, impossible for divers to endure. Experts call it a continuous, round-the-clock calamity, unlike a leaking tanker, which might empty in hours or days.

"Everything about it is unprecedented," said geochemist Christopher Reddy, an oil-spill expert and head of the Coastal Ocean Institute at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts [...] [W]e don't know when it's going to stop."

But the endless devastation isn't just environmental. No, "drill baby drill" is ruining entire businesses, and consequently, lives. It's a tragic domino effect:

As the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continued to spread Friday, Louisiana's $2.5-billion commercial fishing industry, which provides much of the country's domestic shrimp and oysters, is bracing for a virtual shutdown that could trigger shortages and price hikes for consumers nationwide.

As an armada of fishing vessels was dodging the oil-covered waters, seafood distributors, restaurants and grocery stores across the nation were on edge as well. [...]

[P]rices could jump 10% or more if supply diminished. [...]

[T]he Gulf region accounts for about one-fifth of the total U.S. commercial production and more than three-quarters of its domestic shrimp output, according to state and federal officials. [...]

This year's crab season had been subpar. Now the oil spill.

Even the fish he was using as bait were starting to smell faintly like a leaking car.

As I mentioned yesterday, in Santa Barbara, the odor still lingers from the 1969 mess.

Perspective

(Sean Gardner / Greenpeace / April 30, 2010)

Birds fly over oil on the water near Breton Sound Island on the southernmost tip of the Chandeleur Islands in the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana, where oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread.

In a previous post, I wrote about the Halliburton connection. Surprise!

Now we have more on that, too:

Investigators delving into the possible cause of the massive gulf oil spill are focusing on the role of Houston-based Halliburton Co., the giant energy services company, which was responsible for cementing the drill into place below the water. The company acknowledged Friday that it had completed the final cementing of the oil well and pipe just 20 hours before the blowout last week.

Of course, Cheney Inc., er, Halliburton is saying they did everything by the book. Is that the same book that should get thrown at them?

At the time of the accident, the Halliburton statement said, "well operations had not yet reached the point requiring the placement of the final cement plug which would enable the planned temporary abandonment of the well." Experts say cementing is a basic part of drilling, exploration and production of oil on the sea floor. [...]

According to experts cited in Friday's Wall St. Journal, the timing of last week's cement job in relation to the explosion -- only 20 hours beforehand, and the history of cement problems in other blowouts "point to it as a possible culprit."

Repairing the damage from this nightmare will take decades. As for repairing Halliburton's and BP's reputations? Eons. And that's being conservative.

Please follow the links for more details.

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow "Steins" Dan Stein... again

By GottaLaff

I posted the video of Dan Stein's little visit with Rachel Maddow here. It's gotten quite a response, including over at the Southern Poverty Law Center's site (Thank you SPLC, for acknowledging my new word "Steined").

For all those naysayers, for all those who blasted Rachel, and especially to Danny Boy himself, I dedicate this post. You've been Steined:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

VIDEO: President Obama’s commencement speech at University of Michigan

By GottaLaff

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

IMHO: Killer speech.

Arizona Watch: Racial profiling is a reality

By GottaLaff

Racial profiling has been going on for some time in Arizona, thanks to Sheriff Joe Arpaio, as we've posted over and over. Today the L.A. Times is reporting that very same thing, and it's not pretty:

[...] Latino activists and civil rights attorneys contend that profiling is already a reality in the Maricopa County, where two-thirds of the state's residents live. [...]

Since 2008 [Arpaio] has sent hundreds of his deputies and sworn volunteers on "sweeps" through immigrant-heavy neighborhoods, where they stop jaywalkers or drivers with broken taillights and ask for identification and immigration information. An analysis by civil rights lawyers found 70% of those arrested in these operations have Spanish surnames. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and Scottsdale, is only 31% Latino, the majority of whom are legal residents or U.S. citizens.

Arpaio's tactics, which he says are necessary to suppress crime, have made him wildly popular in Arizona.

Arpaio even pulls over his supporters. What better way to maintain popularity with your base?

U.S. citizens? Pfft. Arizona is an equal opportunity persecutor. Take 64-year-old Dan Magos, for example. He had a gun inside his truck, which is legal, nor had that never concerned the police before. Magos was pulled over for (supposedly) not having a license plate on the trailer he was pulling:

[T]he deputy made him wait 10 minutes before letting him go with the words: "I don't want you to think this has anything to do with racial profiling."

Of course not, why would anyone think that?

The Times describes a few more instances like that one.

Remember when Arizona was a vacation destination, a place where people went to relax?

The new Arizona law in effect orders every Arizona law enforcement officer to respond like Arpaio's deputies.

That new Papers Please law should be quite a boon for the tourism industry.

Call me crazy, but I have a feeling getting arrested for Driving While Ethnic just isn't the draw Arizona hopes it will be.

Mid Day Distraction

Saturday Links

Fighting the gods of cable is hard work.

One Dozen Unique Food Tattoos

New research proves that lucky charms DO actually work

Locked' up: Hair style can indicate social, religious or fashion choice

HOW TO make Spam Musubi

Quiz: Politically Named Places

Are you listening to me? Scientists find blinking eyes mean the mind is wandering

Video- Rove accuses Obama of threatening critics, saying "my way or the highway" and "if you're not with me, you're against me"

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

Video- President's Weekly Address: Giving Government Back to the American People

VIDEO: Arizona deputy shot by alleged undocumented immigrant, officials say

By GottaLaff



Things are bound to get worse now. This is not a good sign:

A sheriff's deputy in central Arizona was shot Friday afternoon by an alleged illegal immigrant, authorities said. [...]

The Pinal County deputy, who was not immediately identified, contacted authorities after being wounded in the desert, saying he had been shot by an illegal immigrant with an AK-47, said Lt. Tammy Villar, a sheriff's spokeswoman. [...]

The shooting is sure to heat up the debate around the new Arizona law.

Watch the supporters of the Papers Please law use this as justification for racial profiling. Nobody is defending the bad guys, but even an event as horrible as this one does not provide an excuse to arrest someone for Breathing While Mexican.

AUDIO: Could Charlie Crist be reminding us he's... pious?

By GottaLaff

Going independent... Charlie Crist makes his announcement. Photo: AP

Charlie Crist sure rammed his holiness down our throats during his "I am now running for Senate as a Not Really Independent, but okay, yeah, I'm an Independent" announcement. He used the God name in vain nine times.

A friend of mine generously edited this audio for me to share with you. Exhibit A:



Thank God that speech is over.

Un-American: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about the Arizona "Papers Please" law and comparisons to Nazi Germany. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

Un-American

Chris Matthews in his segment “Let Me Finish” on April 28, spoke about the use of such words as Nazism and Hitlerism by liberals and conservatives when objecting to laws and policies adopted by the federal or state governments they believe to be un-American.

One of the examples Chris used was the recent law enacted by Arizona relating to illegal immigrants. Chris stated that there is a big difference between what Arizona is trying to do-- preventing people from entering America illegally-- and what Hitler did, killing people who were trying to flee Germany.

There is one basic item that is the same in both policies.

The Arizona police may stop anyone for reasonable suspicion who they believe may be in the country illegally. That is the same tactic used by the Gestapo in Germany, by asking people for their papers, with no reasonable cause, only to see if they had proper identification papers to be where they were.

German citizens had to carry their identification papers with them at all times, which is the same requirement under the Arizona law for its citizens.

There are two other examples I believe come under Nazi type tactics.

A GOP congressional candidate proposes installing microchips on illegal immigrants. Doing something like that, would be a modern day version of Hitler requiring patches to be worn on clothing to identify those Germans who were Jewish, Communists, homosexuals or political opponents.

Then we have Duncan Hunter Jr., who stated at a tea party rally in California, that children born in the United States whose parents came to this country illegally should be deported.

In the 1930s, Hitler passed laws that natural born Jewish Germans weren’t considered citizens of Nazi Germany, and among other things, couldn’t hold public office, be a judge, a doctor or teach in the public school system or universities.

The scary part is Duncan Hunter favors deporting natural born citizens of the United States, even though promoting such a policy is in direct violation of the Amendment XIV of the U.S. Constitution.

Conservative Republicans, like Duncan Hunter, love to say the Constitution is the law of the land and it should be obeyed, but they sure like to tear it apart when it gets in the way of their ideology.

While the policies enacted and those being advocated are in no way as evil as those used in Nazi Germany, I just feel the basic foundation of those policies are the same used in Germany.

Many thanks again for another thorough, relevant piece, 42bkdodgr. You often say what many of us are thinking and feeling, and we thank you for your unique perspective.

Weird Evening Distraction

I so want to do that right now.

Video- Steve Hayes: "I definitely think it's a bit much to compare this [oil spill] to Katrina"

Wow, I'm gobsmacked. Too bad all your buddies disagree Steve.

Indiana company may have resource to help clean gulf oil spill

Anyone know Napolitano's phone number?

MISHAWAKA — Oil continues to ooze from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico. President Obama has pledged to use every resource to stop the leak and clean up the mess. One of those resources could come from this area.

Bioremediation Incorporated is a local company that uses natural bacteria to clean up harmful chemicals. The company has invented a microbe that consumes crude oil...and company officials say they are eager to help out in the Gulf.

Steve Kennedy is president of Bioremediation Incorporated which helps companies eliminate toxic waste. The company holds a super-secret bacteria formula that can consume crude oil.

“Us as humans, we consume steak and pizzas. Our microbes consume hydrocarbons, and crude oil is a hydrocarbon,” Kennedy says.

The oil is highly flammable and toxic before the application. Pour on the bacteria solution...and you can see immediate results. The bacteria is breaking down the toxic substances and turning it into carbon dioxide and water. Kennedy says, their product could easily be used in the gulf to get rid of the crude oil.

“Ours would be a simple way. It would be spraying it down and letting the microbes consume it off,” he says. “That is how it works.”

Video- More Betty White SNL Promos

I'd be a slave blogger for Betty.

Sarah Palin Quote- "Domestic Drilling: Why We Can Still Believe"

By GottaLaff

Polluta McOil$lick has finally admitted she prays to the Oil Gods. She's a believer:

Her ghost writer's Facebook post includes the following:

...Todd, an Alaska Native and trained oil spill responder...

I'm not sure why that sentence struck me as odd, but it did.

Now for the nauseating parts:

We still believe in responsible development, which includes drilling to extract energy sources, because we know that there is an inherent link between energy and security, energy and prosperity, and energy and freedom.

I wonder how secure, energetic, and prosperous Louisiana, Mississippi, and other Gulf states feel now that they have decades of clean-up and regrowth after all that oily, deadly destruction.

We need oil, and if we don’t drill for it here, we have to purchase it from countries that not only do not like America and can use energy purchases as a weapon against us, but also do not have the oversight that America has.

We need clean energy, not finite, dwindling, minimal, insufficient amounts of filthy fossil fuels. And Polluta, you might want to rethink that part about "oversight". Had there been proper oversight, this catastrophe might have been avoided.

Actions will be taken to increase oversight to prevent future accidents.

Too late.

Government can and must play an appropriate role here.

Would that be the same Commie Marxist fascist government you think is too big and too intrusive? So you need them now, do you, Polluta?

It is inexcusable for any oil company to not invest in preventative measures. They must be held accountable or the public will forever distrust the industry.

Too late.

I repeat the slogan “drill here, drill now” not out of naiveté or disregard for the tragic consequences of oil spills [...] I continue to believe in it because increased domestic oil production will make us a more secure, prosperous, and peaceful nation.

It's hard to imagine the affected states feeling very secure, prosperous, or at peace right about now. But now we're just repeating ourselves, aren't we Polluta?

May spill responders be safe.

...and obsolete in the near future, when we start depending on wind and solar energy, not polluting, dirty, wasteful, expensive, intrusive energy sources.

Sorry, Polluta, but I'm not a believer.


UPDATE: I forgot to share these comments from the Facebook page (click to enlarge):

"Freshly Ground Black People" error boosts book sales

By GottaLaff

This is disgusting. Book sales have actually increased (although the number of books sold is tiny, but still...) since this happened:

Penguin Group Australia accidentally published copies of the Pasta Bible containing an unfortunate spell check error. A recipe calling for "salt and freshly ground black pepper" actually read "salt and freshly ground black people." The company is destroying and reprinting 7,000 copies of the book, but not recalling ones that have already hit bookstores. According to the company's head of publishing, Bob Sessions, it was an honest mistake.

That was then. This is now:

Since news of the misprint broke, sales have increased nearly four-fold, according to TheBookseller.com.

Sales increased, not just curiosity. People spent their hard-earned money on a book with that title.

Who is buying those books? And why? That was rhetorical.

VIDEO: "Can this doctor take this chicken to a gas station?"

By GottaLaff

Chickens for Check-Ups calls fowl on Chicken Sue (who, if you missed it, has backed off her inane, clucked-up bartering comments... sort of a poor man's Cash for Cluckers) with their first TV ad:




H/t: Greg Sargent

VIDEO- Gov. Brewer: "Arizona has been under terrorist attacks" with "all of this illegal immigration"

By GottaLaff

So by equating immigrants with terrorists, Governor Brewer thinks she can justify racial profiling. Sadly, attitudes like this are not surprising, considering the profiling that has gone on since the 9/11 attacks.

I suppose she's also advising the authorities to keep a sharp eye out for white people, like, you know, Tim McVeigh:

Foster mom: "More girls arrive to us because their parents were detained by the ICE... will be hurt by AZ law"

By GottaLaff

How can you tell which one of these kids might or might not be "legal"?

My pal TexBetsy has shared something that is a must-read, and she has graciously allowed me to cross-post most of it here. But please go to her place and read the whole thing:

I am a mother, a foster mother, a host mother, and an emergency shelter mother. I am a mother. You know me as Cassie’s* host mom for the last 17 months but I have been a mother for over twenty years to thirty-one girls. [...] Our girls come in all sizes and all colors. Most were born in the United States but some were not. Some speak only English and some speak Spanish as well. [...]

We met war orphans from El Salvador and Nicaragua. [...]

In the past few years since President Bush started detaining immigrants under homeland security laws we have had more girls arrive to us because their parents were detained by the ICE. Like all children in foster care, these girls want to be reunited with their family-by-blood, and they have a difficulty understanding why they are separated. Often they do not know for months if their parents are in detention or have been sent back to their native country.

Arizona’s new immigration law makes this worse and will cause more strife within families. My husband and I carry our temporary custodianship papers with us at all times but we do not always have citizenship papers for the girls in our family. Some do not have their documents and some do not have citizenship in the United States. Some are of undetermined legal status until their birth parent’s detention hearing is concluded.

[...] The children in my care have suffered abandonment and loss they spend their whole lives trying to understand. Some will never recover even though their chances through life are better in a loving home than in an abusive one connected only by blood.

Children in foster care will be hurt by the Arizona law. Children of documented and undocumented immigrants will be hurt by this law. [...] Good people of conscience can not support laws that will lead to fractured childhoods and distrust of government when the family relationships can and should be kept in tact.

*I've also posted Cassie's writings, which are fantastic. Links here.

Very few people are talking about this problem from the families' perspective. It's even more rare to hear from someone who speaks for children.

Children often cannot or will not can speak for themselves. I know that from first hand experience, having worked with elementary, middle, and high school level kids for years. And sadly, once a child has been hurt deeply, they are often damaged for life. It takes immense patience and diligence to help them restore trust and a sense of security once they've experienced pain and fear.

Thank you, TexBetsy, for sharing these invaluable insights.

Video- President Obama Makes Statement on Economy and Oil Spill

I hope this gets out, the intertubes keep on going in and out.

Sue Lowden finally chickens out: “Bartering Is Not A Policy”

By GottaLaff



Chicken Sue finally chickened out. Join me in the Chicken Dance to celebrate the end of her extended, and hilariously pathetic, clinging to the few feathers that remained of her health care barter system.


Via Greg Sargent:

[T]he candidate has now taken to her blog to clarify once and for all that she is not advocating for a chickens-for-checkups health plan:

I can understand why Harry Reid and his Washington allies and Hollywood friends are creating political theater rather than solving real problems. Bargaining, bartering and negotiating for health coverage is not a policy — it is a fact. It is occurring today and has been since the founding of our nation. If you want to see my policy on health care reform, it has been on my web page since last year -– and it remains there to this day. Nowhere in my health reform proposal do I discuss bargaining, bartering or negotiating, rather I offer real solutions that work without creating a new, government-run entitlement program that Nevadans don’t want and they cannot afford.

And people say Joe Biden has gaffe-itis.

Dep't. of Obvious: Big Oil tried to limit safety measures

By GottaLaff

I'd like to share an e-mail with you. From the Dep't. of the Obvious, via Susan Jordan, and it can't be repeated often enough:

MEDIA RELEASE

For more information, contact Susan Jordan
at (805) 252-6271

or susan@jordan4assembly.com

British Petroleum (BP), the operator responsible for the ongoing oil spill in Louisana, also submitted comments opposing the increased safety measures. Exxon and Chevron did as well.

The Louisiana spill, which is releasing approximately 5,000 barrels a day into the Gulf of Mexico, hit the coastline early Thursday evening. Described as possibly one of the nation's worst environmental disasters in decades, the spill is threatening one of the world's richest seafood grounds -- home to shrimp, oysters and other marine life. The impacts of this spill on wildlife and the people in this region who depend on the sea for their livelihoods may force many into bankruptcy.

Releasing a copy of the letter PXP sent to federal authorities, Jordan, Director of the California Coastal Protection Network, blasted the company for speaking out of both sides of its mouth. "On one hand, PXP pretends they care about the environment and on the other they are doing everything they can to make sure they don't have to protect it by law."

Jordan witnessed PXP's heavy corporate hand last year when the company tried to bully the California State Legislature into approving its new offshore oil drilling project over the objections of the State Lands Commission (SLC). The SLC denied the project in January of 2009 on the advice of legal counsel and the State Attorney General's office. Had it been approved, it would have been the first new offshore oil lease since the 1969 blowout that fouled the Santa Barbara coastline.

Refusing to accept a legitimate denial by the agency in charge, PXP lobbied the Legislature to remove the SLC's legal jurisdiction and force approval of its proposal within the budgetary process through creation of a "new" commission stacked with appointments by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who supports the project. When PXP's efforts failed, Gov. Schwarzenegger gutted an African-American infant health care program that was a priority for then-Speaker Karen Bass, in retaliation for her refusal to deliver what PXP wanted.

In the 2010-2011 budget session, the Governor has again attempted to force approval of the PXP proposal by refusing to fund California’s state parks unless the PXP project is approved.

PXP has recently announced a "new agreement" that it claims resolves all the concerns that led to the SLC's initial rejection of the project.

"The one concern they have not and cannot ever address is the 100 percent increase in the likelihood of an oil spill off the Santa Barbara County coast -- a spill that could echo the devastating impacts of the 1969 blowout that gave birth to the modern environmental movement," Jordan said.

Jordan noted that PXP was recently found by Los Angeles County officials to have engaged in behind-the-scenes efforts to win approval for a vast expansion of its onshore oil drilling operation in Baldwin Hills in close proximity to residential neighborhoods. Culver City, the Natural Resources Defense Council and others filed suit over the expansion and the case is currently pending.

PXP has had financial relationships in the Gulf of Mexico with both entities that are involved in the oil spill off Louisiana: British Petroleum and Transocean. The extent of those relationships at the current time is unclear.

"California has 40 years of state policy against new offshore oil drilling in state waters. It is a policy that has served our state and our communities well. It is time to reaffirm that policy, send PXP's oil drilling proposal back to Texas, and move toward a renewable energy future," said Jordan.

Susan Jordan is a candidate for the 35th District Assembly seat and the Founder and Director of the award-winning environmental group, the California Coastal Protection Network. Jordan opposes the PXP oil drilling proposal to allow new drilling. Her opponent in the Democratic primary, Das Williams, supports it.

For a copy of the PXP letter, go here

For a copy of the BP letter, go here

www.jordan4assembly.com

FYI, I live relatively close to Santa Barbara, and go there often. You can still smell the "tar" left over from the 1969 disaster.

VIDEO: Dep't. of No Kidding-- McCain: Bipartisanship is dead.

By GottaLaff



Not-Maverick John McCain has a real flair for the obvious. Gee, J Sid, how'd you ever figure this one out?

Bipartisanship was "for all intents and purposes" dead, McCain said in an interview with the conservative Newsmax magazine.

"I would say that, largely so," McCain added.

"There are certain areas where we can work together," said McCain, who pointed to his work on the Armed Services Committee. "But for all intents and purposes, yes."

Wowzers! How does he do it? Who could have ever concluded such a thing, especially after over a year of obstruction by the Party of No? He must have superpowers none of us knew about.

Yes, that's it. That's how he manages to flip flop so often without hurting himself.... physically, I mean.

Note to Readers:

By GottaLaff

Paddy's cable went kablooey, and I'll be gone for a couple of hours, so it will be light posting for just a little while.

Thank you.

The Mg'ment.

Doonesbury: Sarah Palin Word Salad edition

By GottaLaff

And the Babbles McWTF story arc continues:

(Click on image to enlarge)

VIDEO: BLUNT Voices talk Tea Baggers, Arizona Racial Profiling, Palin

By GottaLaff

Blunt is a lot like letters to the editor. YOUR take, short, to the point.

This is one more way to be heard. We're grassrootsy like that.




For more information about Blunt, follow this link (link won't work until after May 1).

If your video file is too big to email, then go here and use YouSendIt.com.

Please include a name you'd like to use, and a "title", if any, in your e-mail, as you'll see in the video graphics.

Remember: Try to keep the videos at 30 seconds or under.

It's your turn. Go.

Mid Day Distraction

Live Streaming Video- President Obama comments on data showing economic growth

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

He's set to speak about quarter til, but he's always late.

Video- White House Says No New Offshore Drilling Until Investigation is Complete

Bzzz, wrong answer. The answer should be all offshore drilling is stopped until they figure out what went wrong.

Spain jobless rate surpasses 20 %

Unimaginable. I can't believe the people aren't rioting in the streets.

MADRID — Spain's jobless rate has surpassed 20 percent for the first time since 1997, the government said Friday as it offered more dismal news for a recession-plagued economy that is being dragged into Europe's debt crisis.

The National Statistics Institute said the rate rose 1.22 percentage points in the first quarter to 20.05 percent.

While other major economies in Europe and elsewhere have posted at least tepid growth as they fight to crawl out of recession, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy is still contracting after the collapse of a construction boom that had fueled years of expansion.

The agency said that as of the end of March, there were 4,612,700 people out of work in the country. The jobless rate is the highest since the last quarter of 1997, when it stood at 20.11 percent. Since Spain slipped into recession in 2008, the rate has roughly doubled, a dramatic development for a country that had been one of Europe's top job-creators.

Billionaire Jumps Into Florida Senate Race

Florida is turning into the race to watch. Via Taegan-

"Just in case Florida's Senate race wasn't interesting enough, Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene plans to file papers this morning to enter the contest as a Democrat," the Palm Beach Post reports.

Adam Smith: "His colorful profile -- Mike Tyson was best man at his 2008 wedding, ex-Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss lived in his guest house after prison, and he made many of his millions betting on the housing collapse that killed Florida's economy -- normally would make a candidate like Greene a long shot. But in a race where Democratic frontrunner Kendrick Meek is little known to most voters and Crist non-partisan candidacy means it will be a three-way race, Greene's ability to saturate Florida TV with commercials could make him a major contender."

In 2008, Forbes ran a profile of Greene titled, "The Reluctant Billionaire."

Cartoons of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

Friday Links

HOORAY!!!! Happy 100th anniversary ladies of Kansas!! Via Boing Boing.

Study: The human brain may not be special

Confession box turns horsebox as bookmaker Paddy Power sponsors 'sin bin' in Catholic church

Of Flattened Flora and Expulsion Cavities: The crop circle controversy continues

The quick and the dead: Embalmed biker sits astride his motorcycle in funeral home

Honolulu Advertiser: Hawaii Legislature OKs historic civil unions bill; governor now must decide
By a vote of 31-20, the Hawaii House today approved a civil unions bill just hours before the end of this year's legislative session. The measure would give unmarried same-sex and heterosexual couples the same rights as married couples under state law. The bill passed the Senate in January by a vote of 18-7 and now goes to the governor for her consideration. Gov. Linda Lingle had urged lawmakers against taking up civil unions this session and to instead focus on the state's budget deficit. She has not said whether she would sign or veto the bill.

40 ways we still use floppy disks

Adventurers set sail to recreate Captain Bligh's epic journey after mutiny on the Bounty

Refined carbs are bad for the heart, not fat

The face in the clouds: British tourist spots spooky smirk above Venice church

CNNMoney: Jobless claims fall for 2nd straight week
The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance fell for the second straight week, according to weekly government data released Thursday. There were 448,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended April 24, down 11,000 from an upwardly revised 459,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department's weekly report.