Saturday, November 17, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Repost:Please comment at LTR - Liberal Talk Radio - The alternative media resource
R!: "Here is the image that I can't add in response to the lack of appreciation of fart jokes with real news on the StephanieMillerShow--check out the above link for my comments on whether a "TheDailyShow" radio program would work..."
"Thanks Kurt for all the WORDS!", R!
Good NEWS! 11/6
He'll be flying back tonight c/o the DEA.
Ever talked to someone just released? Wow, what a joyful soul!!!
Now playing: 1480 KPHX - The Valley's Progressive Talk
via FoxyTunes
From UnreportedNews.Net November 6, 2007
"BREAKING NEWS!!! Victor Lopez will be released from prison soon. Sarge reported (and just mentioned on the Mike Malloy Show on Nova M Radio) that in a h earing today the sentence for Victor's wriiting of bad checks was commued to five years - including time served. According to Sarge, Victor should be released by Thanksgiving.
Victor's blog is featured on Unreported News.Net. You can write him now at Victor E. Lopez Reg# 07239-094 Metropolitan Detention Center - Guaynabo P.O. Box 2005 Catano, PR 00963-2005
Victor would like to thank everyone who has written him. Soon, we will have an address for Victor's attorney. He would like people to write her for doing an excellent job on his behalf - free of charge by the way. So, Victor will be free very soon.
Sarge also invited Mike to a future airing of the Unreported News.Net Radio Show with him and Victor."
while Mitch McConnell piddles himself.
Name Party Votes Vote %
Beshear , Steven Dem 534,895 59%
Fletcher , Ernie (i) GOP 369,484 41%
via Deep Confusion by HopeSpringsATurtle on 11/6/07Dennis Kucinich's H.Res 333 "Articles of Impeachment Against Vice President Richard B. Cheney." Has cleared the first obstacle to becoming. Next it goes to the house judiciary committee.
After Downing Street has a live blog of the attempt to kill the bill. Impeach Cheney Now! Read the Dennis Kucinich essay on why Cheney should be impeached, contact the members of the house judiciary committee. Here are the current members who will be voting on whether it will go up to the full house for an up or down vote.
The painful truth about today's vote is more republicans voted to send this resolution to committee than democrats. Call your rep and tell them you want them to vote to impeach Cheney.
UPDATE: Okay...my take on the sudden change of heart by the rethuglicans in voting to send this resolution into committee: David Swanson's live blog of the vote opines,"No doubt the Republicans want to get the Dem leaders on tape on the floor defending Cheney against impeachment."Or could it be that impeachment has been off the table because the Dems are afraid the truth will come out about their complicity in the very crimes Cheney is accused of. If an investigation gets underway into Cheney's role in lying us into war, the Dems collusion will begin to show. Their constant whining, "we didn't know" will be exposed. The back room deals will come to light. The utter spinelessness of the Dems, repeatedly complained about by the American public, will suddenly make sense.
I believe the mask of connivance is slipping as demonstrated by Dianne Feinstein's vote for Mukasey. Her vote is part of the price she's paying to her master the BushCo war-mongering, war services industry which directly benefits her war-profiteering husband Richard Blum, a 75% partner in Perini Corporation. Perini is a construction company that has received nearly a billion dollars in Iraq reconstruction funds.
There are a number of theories running around the blogosphere, from The GOP is trying to embarrass the Dems, to a thug trick that backfired on them. I'm sticking to my guns. I think this is the reason dems have been so weak since they took the house.
Whatever the case, I hope the truth comes out, for the very survival of our country.
I gave my opinion to Mike Malloy and WaPo, for what it's worth."
via The Gavel by Speaker Pelosi on 11/6/07Congress overwhelmingly overturned President Bush’s ill-advised veto of the Water Resources Development Act and reaffirmed our commitment to protect Americans from natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes. This long overdue legislation will allow for critical investments to protect communities from flooding by building and repairing floodwalls and levees, as well as restoring wetlands that absorb floodwaters.
Much of our nation’s infrastructure is outdated and in some cases crumbling, placing lives, property, and commerce at risk. The President argues that $23 billion over 15 years is too much to spend on Hurricane Katrina recovery, flood control, navigation, hurricane protection, and environmental restoration across the country. Yet we are spending almost as much on the disastrous war in Iraq every two months.
The New Direction Congress will not put our nation at continued risk so the President can mount a disingenuous bid to appear fiscally responsible. This Congress pays for the priorities of the American people. This President has not.
via Releases of Bernie Sanders on 11/6/07As Veterans Day approaches, Congress is considering legislation that would provide the greatest increase in funding for veterans programs since the Veterans Administration was created 77 years ago. "Congress is finally making great strides in the effort to keep faith with our veterans," said Senator Bernie Sanders, a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee. A bill before Congress this week represents the work of the nation's major veterans service organizations, which banded together to produce the Independent Budget for veterans programs. Their recommendations take into account many factors that affect veterans spending, including changes in the size and age of the veteran population, the rising cost of inflation and cost of living increases and trends in health care costs and delivery. Unfortunately, partisan wrangling and a veto threat from President Bush threaten to waylay the bill.
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Thursday, November 08, 2007
from AM in the Morning! Bush's Veto Overridden!!! *Good News
Senate overrides Bush's water bill veto
Story Highlights
- Senate negates veto of bill that helps Gulf Coast, Everglades, Great Lakes
- White House says "no one is surprised that this veto was overridden"
- Bill funds projects including the reconstruction of levees around New Orleans
- President Bush has called the measure too costly
The vote was 79-14. Approval by two-thirds of the Senate, 67 members, was required for passage.
Bush spiked the measure Friday despite its overwhelming bipartisan support, calling it too costly and complaining that the 900 projects it authorized would overtax the Army Corps of Engineers.
But the House of Representatives passed it again Tuesday on a 361-54 vote -- well beyond the two-thirds margin needed for an override -- and the White House said it was resigned to seeing the bill become law.
Supporters said the projects authorized under the Water Resources Development Act are necessary to rebuild the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, restore the Everglades and Great Lakes fisheries and build flood-control projects nationwide.
They said it has been more than seven years since Congress passed a major water resources bill.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California who was responsible for shepherding the bill through the Senate, said the Senate was sending the president a message.
"You should respect the Senate, the House, the Congress and American people because we are elected, too," Boxer said. "We are close to the people. We know what their needs are."
Florida Sens. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, and Mel Martinez, a Republican, said they also decided to vote to override the veto, noting that the bill authorizes nearly $2 billion for Florida projects, most of it related to the Everglades.
"It's time for us to save one of the great natural wonders of the world," Nelson said at a news conference.
Before Thursday's vote, two senators from states hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina -- a Republican and a Democrat -- urged their peers to override the veto.
"This is about flood protection, this is about water and sewer projects, it is about doing something about water and the proper salinity in the Gulf of Mexico.
"These are good, deserved, justified projects that should go forward," said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, whose home in Pascagoula was wiped out by the storm.
"A quarter of the state probably wouldn't even exist if we didn't have flood control projects," Lott said. Nearly every president has had trouble with water resource programs, and Bush was "just trying to hold the line on spending."
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, said the bill has overwhelming support from both sides.
Landrieu said the bill will lay a foundation for reconstruction after the storm, which killed more than 1,800 people in Louisiana and Mississippi.
The measure will fund projects including the reconstruction of levees around New Orleans, Louisiana, and closing off the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet -- a manmade channel blamed for funneling Katrina's storm surge into the city's Lower 9th Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish.
In his veto message, Bush complained that Congress added about $8 billion in projects to the bill in committee after each house had passed its own version. "American taxpayers should not be asked to support a pork-barrel system of federal authorization and funding where a project's merit is an afterthought," he said.
In a statement issued after Thursday's vote, the White House said,"No one is surprised that this veto was overridden."
But, White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said in the statement, "It's obvious that the bill doesn't make difficult choices and doesn't set spending priorities. We don't believe it's a responsible way to budget."
Bush's veto of the water projects bill was the fifth veto of his presidency. All of those came in his second term, according to Senate data.
Bush has vetoed fewer bills than any president since James A. Garfield, who issued no vetoes during his seven months in office in 1881.
Congress unsuccessfully attempted to override three of the president's previous four vetoes.Return to A.M. in the Morning! Home
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Because I LOVE to PRAISE right action! ENDA Passes! "Good on ya House of Rep's"
The House has just passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), H.R. 3685, by a vote of 235-184. Watch highlights of the afternoon’s debate >>
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
~Alliance for a New Humanity~Care2.com "Commitment to change humanity"
"At this moment, nothing is more important for healing the world than to link all those who believe that we must set forth a new narrative and create a new world where hope, social justice, peace and a sense of the sacredness of life prevail. For this, we need to form a critical mass of humanity that influences change at a global scale, to bring together the inner streams of sensitive human beings."
That's philosophy behind the Alliance for a New Humanity, created by Deepak Chopra with other visionary leaders to unite humanity to change the world.Watch this short and uplifting video from the Alliance for a New Humanity, narrated by Deepak!
Every year the Alliance puts on a conference called The Human Forum. The 2008 offering, “A Symphony of Transformation,” will take place March 11-13 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The forum will explore how the world is moving away from four prevailing myths that still define human relationships amongst themselves and with nature: Money brings happiness, technology yields well-being, weapons provide security and natural resources are unlimited.
Learn more about The Human Forum, 2008!
Find out more about the Alliance and how you can help.
Please add my other site to your bookmarks and consider joining Care2
http://my.care2.com/radine and if you haven't seen it yet look for TheShiftMovie -- I have a blog on it here somewhere...will update if asked...
Water Boarding : Watch for yourself. Please tell your Rep's DO NOT confirm Mukasey
Dear World Can't Wait Supporter,
Monday outside the Justice Department, on the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on the confirmation of Judge Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General, anti-torture activists put on a fully realistic display of waterboarding.
an orange jumpsuit and hands bound, was dragged to an inclined board by interrogators dressed as "civilian contractors." When he could not give the names demanded by his interrogators, a towel was placed over his face and gallons of water were poured over his head.
coughing and shaken, Ebrahimzadeh told reporters that it was the most terrifying experience of his life, even though a piece of plastic behind the towel protected him from the full force of the water.
Introducing the demonstration, C. Clark Kissinger pointed out that media who describe waterboarding as "simulated drowning" are themselves practicing "simulated journalism." He pointed out that waterboarding is universally understood to be torture, and the United States had even prosecuted as war criminals Japanese officers who had waterboarded U.S. prisoners of war.Monday, November 05, 2007
Ways to Make a Difference: KPHX Holiday Miss. Mission and WinterDrive for the Homeless
 | The Unreported News.Net Radio Show - A Few Ways to Make A Difference  |
A Few Ways to Make a Difference 1480 KPHX Phoenix, the flagship station of the Nova M Radio, has a few projects to make a difference in Phoenix and in Mississippi. The 2nd Annual 1480 KPHX Winter Drive for the Homeless will allow Phoenix area residents to donate new or gently used coats, blankets, sweaters and other items. Items can be donated at Nova M Radio's offices at 824 East Washington Street in Phoenix or at Associated Appliances, 4139 W. Bell, in Phoenix. Nova M Radio producer Sean Ryan will distribute the items to homeless residents in Phoenix. Additionally, the station is sponsoring the 1480 KPHX HOLIDAY MISSISSIPPI MISSION where listeners can buy gift cards from Home Depot and send them to the Jackson County Community Services Coalition in Mississippi. Home Depot has agreed to match donations up to $3,000 and people can write JCCSC on the receipt to make a tax deductible donation from the cards mailed to or brought to the station. Follow the links for details. You can also download a copy of a promotional spot featuring Sean Ryan and Jim Yancey, executive director of the Jackson County Community Services Coalition. | |
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Tell Your Senators "Honor the promise of helping all Katrina survivors come home!"
There's a bill in Congress that would honor the promise of helping all Katrina survivors come home. But a group of senators is standing in the way.
You can help by calling on your senators to support S.1668 now: There's a bill in Congress that would honor the promise of helping all Katrina survivors come home. http://www.colorofchange.org/housing/?id=2142-501452
The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act of 2007 (S.1668) would re-open desperately needed housing and make sure there is no loss of affordable public housing in New Orleans.1
Unfortunately, the Bush administration and several senators are opposing its passage, paving the way for a whiter, wealthier New Orleans and Gulf Coast.2
Can you add your voice to those calling on the Senate to pass S.1668?
http://www.colorofchange.org/housing/?id=2142-501452Saving Affordable Housing in New Orleans
New Orleans public housing residents have been fighting for over two years to return to their homes. Many of their units were minimally damaged by the storm, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has shut them out. HUD plans to demolish most available public housing units and replace them with mixed-income housing.3 While there are good arguments for mixed-income housing, HUD's plan calls for far fewer total units of affordable public housing, and it completely ignores short-term housing needs. The inevitable result will be thousands of low-income residents--most of whom are Black--pushed out of the city.S.1668 honors the right to return of all New Orleans public housing residents and takes steps to preserve affordable housing in New Orleans. It requires the re-opening of at least 3,000 public housing units and ensures that there is no net loss of units available and affordable to public housing residents. The bill quickly passed in the House earlier this year, and after thousands of ColorOfChange.org members pushed for the Senate to take action, the bill was introduced to the Senate by Senators Landrieu and Dodd. Now the bill is in danger of dying.
Last month, the Bush administration came out against the idea of reopening public housing units in New Orleans, with a HUD representative making the dubious claim that HUD "can't get people into" existing housing units because "they won't come home."4 Louisiana Senator David Vitter opposed the plan on the grounds that it would "re-create the New Orleans housing projects exactly as they were," which is simply not true.5 What no one can dispute is that the failure to provide affordable housing for low-income residents has contributed to the huge drop in the Black population in the city.6,7 Whether they'll admit it or not, opponents of S.1668 are working to reinforce this trend.
The Gulf Coast needs a housing policy that welcomes all citizens home, not just those who are wealthy, privileged, or White. The Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act is the last great hope for New Orleans public housing residents who want to come home. But it won't pass if we don't fight for it. Please join us in demanding that your senators support S.1668.
http://www.colorofchange.org/housing/?id=2142-501452Thank You and Peace,
-- James, Van, Clarissa, Gabriel, Mervyn, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
November 2nd, 2007
References:
1. S.1668 Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007-- Congressional Research Service Summary
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?tab=summary&bill=s110-1668
2. Feds oppose full replacement of N.O. public housing units, The Times-Picayune, 9-26-07.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1190786785155740.xml&coll=1
3. New Orleans: HUD Policies Limiting Housing for Poor, Truthout.org, 12-29-06
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/67/24786
4. see reference 2
5. see reference 2
6. Data confirm New Orleans' Black exodus, Los Angeles Times, 9-12-07
http://tinyurl.com/3xwp2b
7. In New Orleans, Smaller May Mean Whiter, The New York Times, 1-22-06
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/weekinreview/22dao.html
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Unfiltered Blogs
| | Unfiltered Blogs The Unreported News.Net Radio Show - November 4, 2007 |
November 4, 2007 Join Sarge this Sunday morning on U-Haul International's The Unreported News.Net Radio Show. This week, Sarge welcomes fellow Nova M Radio host Jeff Farias and Brice Phillips of WQRZ- FM in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. They will discuss the role of media in our society, with a focus on Hurricane Katrina and recovery efforts.Phillips served his community heroic during Katrina, but now finds his station fighting for it's very life against the FCC and groups that would rather not see him stay on air, in spite of his station saving lives during Katrina. Awards be damned, got to have corporate radio or right wing religious radio instead of live saving information. WQRZ-FM was one of four radio stations operating along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina hit, and the only one in the center of the devastated parts of the Gulf Coast. Jeff Farias was a major force in the 2007 Mississippi Mission, and frequently talks about media issues on his program, which airs during the afternoon on 1480 KPHX Phoenix and on Nova M Radio. The Unreported News Radio Show will air this Sunay at 8 AM Arizona time, 7 AM Pacific Time, 9 AM Central and 10 AM Eastern. You can listen to the show live on Nova M Radio and KPHX 1480 Progressive Talk Phoenix. You can call Sarge live at 1-800-989-1480 or 602-258-8800. King Daevid Mackenzie will also have a special commentary during the show, and Audible Scribblings, his own half-hour show, airs one hour earlier on Nova M and KPHX Phoenix. | |
UnreportedNews.Net 10/30-11/2 Summary of GulfCoast and Katrina related news
November 02, 2007
Bush vetoes water bill with hurricane repair money
By JENNIFER LOVEN The Associated PressThe Times-Picayune
WASHINGTON (AP) — An increasingly confrontational President Bush on Friday vetoed a bill authorizing hundreds of popular water projects even though lawmakers can count enough votes to override him.
In doing so, Bush brushed aside significant objections from Capitol Hill, even from Republicans, in thwarting legislation that provides projects for a host of aims, including those that would repair hurricane damage, restore wetlands and prevent flooding in communities across the nation.
This level of opposition virtually assured that Bush would have a veto overridden for the first time in his presidency. He has used the veto very sparingly for most of the time he has been in office, but has made more use of it recently.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Bush's veto indicates that he's out of touch with the American people and their priorities.
"When we override this irresponsible veto, perhaps the president will finally recognize that Congress is an equal branch of government and reconsider his many other reckless veto threats," he said.
Read more in the Times-Picayune
Jindal, Louisiana lawmakers react to President Bush's veto
The Associated PressThe Times-Picayune
(AP) — Reaction from Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal, Gov. Kathleen Blanco and members of Louisiana's congressional delegation on President Bush's veto Friday of the Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, bill. The bill would provide perhaps $7 billion for projects in the state, according to U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office.
_"This long overdue bill has bipartisan support in Congress and authorizes billions of dollars to help protect our state from future hurricanes and flooding. The WRDA bill will help bring funding to all corners of the state, and is critical to our state's future." — Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal, a Republican congressman who said he plans to return to Capitol Hill next week to vote to override the veto.
_"I am extremely disappointed President Bush has chosen to veto this critical legislation." — Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
_"This is the wrong bill to try to regain the mantle of fiscal responsibility." — Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., on Bush, saying the president's commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 "could be questioned" as a result of the veto. She pledges to vote to override the veto.
_"If the president and his administration are serious about addressing the infrastructure problems all over the country, from the Gulf Coast to the recent tragedy in Minnesota, then vetoing WRDA sends the wrong message." — U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who says he will "enthusiastically" work to override the veto
State Farm sues Miss. attorney general over criminal probe By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN The Associated PressThe Times-Picayune
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — State Farm Insurance Cos. is suing Mississippi's attorney general for allegedly violating an agreement to end a criminal investigation of the insurer's handling of claims on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, according to court papers unsealed Friday.
State Farm's lawsuit claims Jim Hood reopened a criminal probe of the Bloomington, Ill.-based company and its employees "for the purpose of harassment" and to coerce the insurer into settling civil litigation spawned by the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.
State Farm says Hood agreed in January to end his office's criminal probe as part of a settlement agreement that called for the company to reopen and possibly pay thousands of policyholder claims. The company also says it paid Hood's office $5 million to cover the costs of his investigation.
A state grand jury was hearing evidence when State Farm reached its agreement with Hood and attorneys for hundreds of State Farm policyholders. Hood has said he was probing allegations that State Farm and other insurers fraudulently denied claims.
That deal later fell apart after a federal judge refused to endorse it. However, State Farm later reached a separate agreement with Mississippi's insurance commissioner to reopen and pay claims.
Read more at the Times-Picayune
Tenants ask federal judge to stop demolition of public housing
The Associated Press The Times-Picayune
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the latest move to save the aging brick complexes that make up New Orleans public housing, former residents on Friday asked a federal judge to halt any demolition plans by the Housing Authority of New Orleans.
Residents of the sprawling complexes prior to Hurricane Katrina, filed a federal lawsuit in June, days after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it would tear down the city's four largest developments: St. Bernard, Lafitte, B.W. Cooper and C.J. Peete.
Only Cooper has re-opened to some residents. All four, however, will eventually be torn down and replaced with "mixed income" neighborhoods.
Without court intervention, HUD and HANO will be free to destroy much needed housing and leave displaced New Orleanians stranded hundreds of miles from home," said Judith Browne-Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project, which is helping represent public housing tenants in the lawsuit filed in June.
U.S. District Court Judge Ivan Lemelle has ruled that only certain tenants may sue as a class against HANO — those who have been forced to pay utility bills while living in private market apartments, an expense not placed on public housing tenants before the storm. But the plaintiffs lawyers, led by Loyola Law School professor Bill Quigley, haven't backed down from trying to stop HANO's redevelopment plans.
Read more at the Times-Picayune
Rev. Jackson seeks Congressional probe into CCC bridge blockade
Posted by West Bank bureau The Times-Picayune
The Rev. Jesse Jackson is seeking a Congressional hearing on the police blockade that kept evacuees fleeing New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina from crossing the Crescent City Connection.
Jackson's call came one day after an Orleans Parish grand jury refused to indict a Gretna police officer for firing a shotgun in the air as evacuees attempted to cross. Gretna police along with deputies from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and Crescent City Connection police officers decided to close the bridge Sept. 1, 2005 amid the chaos in New Orleans and a fire that looters set at Oakwood Center in Terrytown.
The grand jury's action Wednesday essentially ended the criminal case in New Orleans.
On Thursday, Jackson, founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, said that federal funding to Louisiana should be stopped "until officials can ensure freedom of movement.''
"The Crescent City Connection is a state bridge and was built with federal funds,'' Jackson said. "The Gretna Police Department did not have the authority to barricade the bridge and prevent citizens from seeking safe ground.''
Read more in the Times-Picayune
Hope after Katrina: Gulf Civic Works bill introduced
By Chris Kromm Facing South
One of the biggest problems in the post-Katrina recovery that we found in our recent report, Blueprint for Gulf Renewal, was jobs. According to Institute analysis, there are still about 100,000 fewer jobs in the Gulf than there was pre-Katrina -- a major barrier to families trying to get home. What's more, many of the rebuilding jobs are unstable and low-paying.
It wouldn't be hard to tackle the problem. As we've mentioned before, a Gulf Coast Civic Works program could quickly put 100,000 people to work rebuilding their communities at a living wage. All for not a lot of money -- less than $4 billion, half what we spend in Iraq every month.
That's why it's encouraging to see the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act introduced by Reps Zoe Lofgren (CA), Charlie Melancon (LA) and Gene Taylor (MS)in Congress. Here's the announcement from ACORN, the RFK Memorial and Scott Meyers-Lipton, a tireless advocate of the Civic Works idea (visit his site here):
This legislation would create stronger and more equitable communities by funding and implementing critical infrastructure projects, directly creating 100,000 jobs for displaced and current residents. The bill creates partnerships to rebuild neighborhoods across the region devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
“Communities across the Gulf Coast suffer from crumbling roads and water systems, ill constructed flood protection, and closed police stations, fire house, schools and hospitals,” says Stephen Bradberry, head state organizer of ACORN Louisiana, the region’s largest association of low and middle income families. “We have an opportunity to jumpstart the recovery by empowering communities with the resources they need to lead.”
Read more at Facing South
Hurricane Noel to dump rain along East Coast
Caribbean death toll rises to 124; storm deadliest in Atlantic for 2007
Associated Press MSNBC
NASSAU, Bahamas - Hurricane Noel, the deadliest storm to hit the Atlantic this year, paralleled the U.S. coast on Friday, losing strength as it headed north toward Nova Scotia.
Noel slammed the Caribbean earlier this week with heavy rains that caused flooding and mudslides, leaving 124 dead, officials said.
After drenching the Bahamas and Cuba on Thursday, the Category 1 hurricane’s sustained winds were at 80 mph on Friday and its center was about 425 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Noel is moving to the north-northeast at about 17 mph but was expected to pick up speed.
Jack Beven, a hurricane specialist at the center, said Friday that “we don’t expect the center to cross the U.S. coast. The track would take the center of the system over Nova Scotia.”
But Beven also noted that the storm “is going to increase rather significantly in size” and that its effects would be felt in the U.S. Forecasters say 2 to 4 inches of rain could fall in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, while isolated areas of New England might see 6 inches.
Read more at MSNBC
Mexican region at least 80 percent submerged
Thousands stranded on rooftops or in homes; president pledges to rebuild
Associated Press MSNBC
VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico - Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans fled a flooded region of the Gulf Coast Friday, jumping from rooftops into rescue helicopters, scrambling into boats or swimming out through murky brown water.
President Felipe Calderon called the flooding in Tabasco state one of Mexico’s worst recent natural disasters and pledged to rebuild.
A week of heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, drowning at least 80 percent of the oil-rich state. Much of the state capital, Villahermosa, looked like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with water reaching to second-story rooftops and desperate people awaiting rescue.
At least one death was reported, and nearly all services, including drinking water and public transportation, were shut down. The flood affected more than 900,000 people in the state of 2 million — their homes flooded, damaged or cut off by high water.
A 10-inch natural gas pipeline sprang a leak after flooding apparently washed away soil underneath it, but it was unclear if other facilities operated by the state-run Petroleos Mexicanos were damaged or if oil production was affected. Read more at MSNBC
November 01, 2007
So much more than a bridge
By STAN TINER The SunHerald
It's just a bridge, isn't it?
Like any other bridge, a man-made physical structure. Conceived in someone's mind, put on paper with specifications, renderings and the like, beginning at point A and ending at point B.
Oh, you may speak of the blood, the toil and the tears that are a part of the alchemy of such a thing, but in the end it is a man-made object intended to transport cars and trucks and motorcycles and the people who drive them, and their passengers, over a particular body of water to destinations they have chosen. That is the way of humankind; we are captains of our universe, determined to overcome the impediments to our own inconvenience in such ways as the bridge provides.
We enjoy the sense of dominion these edifices provide.
So for all of those years before Katrina we drove across the bridge that spanned Biloxi Bay almost oblivious, even indifferent, to its physical presence, noticing it only occasionally when it opened its jaws wide to allow a boat to pass, slowing the rush of life to a standstill, requiring us to stop and to rest above the tranquil bay, perhaps to spy a gull or a fisherman and to envy their freedom. Read more at the SunHerald
November 01, 2007
Gulf Coast marks milestone in Katrina recovery with opening of bridge to Mississippi's casinos
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press Writer The SunHerald
BILOXI, Miss. --Two years ago, cities on the opposite sides of Biloxi Bay clashed over blueprints for a wider, taller bridge to replace a highway span demolished by Hurricane Katrina's storm surge.
Those divisions were an afterthought for the thousands of Gulf Coast residents celebrating the partial opening of the six-lane bridge between Biloxi and Ocean Springs. The new 1.6-mile bridge, which opened to the public early evening Thursday, restores the last broken link in coastal U.S. 90, a landmark in the region's recovery from the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.
"Water under the bridge," Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway said of his disagreement with his Ocean Springs counterpart, Connie Moran.
Two of the bridge's six lanes opened following a daylong celebration at both ends of the $338 million structure. The span reconnects the casino resorts of Biloxi with the quaint shops and tree-lined streets of Ocean Springs, on the eastern side of the bay.
In Katrina's early aftermath, the size of the new bridge was a sore spot for some in Ocean Springs. Moran had pressed the state to limit the bridge to four lanes - the same number as on the drawbridge that Katrina reduced to mounds of concrete and pilings.
Moran, an advocate of the "New Urbanism" architectural movement's emphasis on creating compact, walkable cities, said she feared that a bigger, wider bridge would turn her city's center into an expressway.
November 01, 2007
Gulf Watch: Criminal Justice Meltdown in New Orleans?
By Bill Quigley, Guest Contributor Facing South
We are faced with the daily reality of an imminent collapse of our criminal justice institutions." -- New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley
NEW ORLEANS -- Some say crime causes a city to be under siege; others say crime is the symptom of a city under siege. Either way, New Orleans is in serious trouble. Our criminal justice system is in unprecedented crisis.
Thursday there were four murders in 24 hours in New Orleans. Over the weekend three more people died from gunshots. So far this year, 170 people have been murdered in New Orleans -- a rate seven times the national average.
The District Attorney of New Orleans just resigned at the insistence of the Mayor, the Attorney General and several legislators. His office owes a group of discharged employees a federal civil rights judgment of over $3 million -- and neither the City nor State was willing to pay unless he resigned. There is high turnover in the office and thousands of people arrested have been released because the office could not timely decide whether to charge them with crimes or not. His resignation will not make New Orleans any safer.
Katrina severely damaged an already dysfunctional criminal justice in New Orleans. In fact, what has occurred and is happening now in New Orleans is really neither "justice" nor a "system."
Before Katrina, New Orleans averaged 1,000 violent crimes each quarter. In the second quarter of 2007, New Orleans reported over 1,300 violent crimes -- despite the fact that not many more than half the people of New Orleans are back. Read more at Facing South
October 30, 2007
Study: Most students in South are poor
By Halimah Abdullah McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — For the first time in more than 40 years, the majority of children in public schools in the South are poor, according to a report released Tuesday.
In 11 Southern states, including Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, a significant increase in the number of poor children attending public school has sent district officials scurrying for solutions on how to best educate kids who are coming from economically disadvantaged homes.
"The future of the South's ability to have an educated population is going to depend on how well we can improve these students' education," said Steve Suitts, a program coordinator with the Atlanta-based Southern Education Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on Southern educational issues and conducted the study.
In places like Memphis, where roughly 80 percent of students come from low-income homes, that has meant adopting models that address teaching children in poverty. In Miami-Dade, where 61 percent of students are on free or reduced-price lunch, that has meant strengthening efforts to improve all students' math and reading scores and curb dropout rates.
"The reason this presents a profound challenge for us is that low-income students as a group begin school least ready," Suitts said. "They are the students most likely to drop out of school. They perform at the lowest levels on tests that decide graduation and advancement. They have the least access to college." Read more in the McClatchy Newspapers
Posted by Will in Chicago
Step It Up 2007 : Who's a Leader? is on...Back up the message to your "Rep's" Monday!
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Friends,  The StepItUp2007.org Team - organizers@stepitup2007.org |
Friday, November 02, 2007
c/o A.M. in the Morning *Rep. Lofgren Introduces Gulf Coast Civic Works Act* 11/1/07
Bill Would Create Federal Authority to Coordinate Multiple Recovery ProjectsWith great personal pride am I posting this press release from the office of Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). She had been my congressional representative when I lived in San Jose. Congresswoman Lofgren is an amazing legislator, and I'm elated that she has sponsored such a critically important piece of legislation that will greatly assist in the vibrant and resilient recovery of this region. Thank you, Congresswoman Lofgren . . . and to her two co-sponsors: Congressmen Gene Taylor (D-MS) and Charles Melacon (D-LA)!!!Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) introduced the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act of 2007, which will help ensure that real progress is made toward rebuilding and sustaining the Gulf Coast region. As part of a package of concurrent legislation, this bill establishes the Gulf Coast Recovery Authority to coordinate multiple recovery projects, rebuild key infrastructure, and revitalize the region’s workforce through the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project.- A.M. in the Morning!
The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Gulf Coast Representatives Charlie Melancon (D-LA) and Gene Taylor (D-MS), ensures that local community input is integrated into the decision making process and that local companies are given access to contracts.
“I introduced this legislation to help ensure that the critical infrastructure along the gulf coast will be rebuilt in an efficient and responsible manner,” noted Rep. Zoe Lofgren. “It also establishes a framework to protect the interests of local workers, businesses, and communities while moving the rebuilding efforts forward. This bill will help fast-track the process of establishing sustainable industrial and commercial development along Gulf Coast . While Silicon Valley is a long way from the Gulf Coast , I believe that it is the responsibility of every Member of Congress to ensure that the federal government responds to the need of all Americans.”
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Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren is serving her seventh term in Congress representing most of the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County . She serves as Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. She also Chairs the House Administration Subcommittee on Elections and serves on the House Homeland Security Committee. Congresswoman Lofgren is Chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation consisting of 34 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives from California.
© 2007 Ana Maria Rosato. All rights reserved.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders on Step It Up "Exactly What Should Be Done"
Sen. Sanders: "Exactly what should be done"Bill McKibben | Nov 2, 2007
Let me congratulate Step It Up. You are doing exactly what should be done - leading a strong grassroots movement that will transform our national energy system.
Earlier today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee onPrivate Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection approved legislation, often called the Lieberman-Warner bill, crafted to address global warming. I opposed this bill for a variety of reasons. The most fundamental is, that based on the scientific evidence, it would not reduce greenhouse gases emissions enough to stop catastrophic changes in the Earth’s climate. This committee action is the first step of many in a long process in Congress.
Although the legislation is a step in the right direction, it simply does not go far enough to do what scientists tell us must be done to stop global warming. If we are not extremely bold and aggressive, this planet faces dire consequences in the years to come.
Read on >>
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
From Will in Chicago of UnfilteredNewsNetwork.com and UnreportedNews.Net
Leonard Clark, an Iraq War veteran and activist, had some thoughts to share recently on the cost of the war in Iraq. Leonard, who has been a guest on the Unreported News.Net Radio Show, had a commentary on the Jeff Farias Show last Friday.
Feel free to listen.
Leonard Clark Commentary - October 26, 2007.
Slutty Halloween Costumes
My Halloween Song On NPR today: "Women Whose Halloween Costume is Just That They're Slutty--That's Not a Costume at All"
Here's the lyrics--remember I only had one day to write the song. But I meant every word of it. Oh, also check out my pal Eban who brought in his Theremin:
Halloween was my favorite holiday but in these last few years
Something so terrible has filled me with fear.
It's not the razor in the apple; no I heard that never happened
No, it's something much worse
It's women whose Halloween costume is just that they're slutty
That's not a costume at all. What happened to Witches and monsters?
They left the Halloween Ball
Just putting kitten ears on your head is not creative.
A skimpy black dress is not very scary--unless you're Ann Coulter
Stiletto heels are not that special unless worn by a man
I'm not a prude, but I'm not a fan....of
Women whose Halloween costume is just that they're slutty
That's not a costume at all. What happened to Witches and monsters?
They left the Halloween Ball
Okay, maybe if you play a dead prostitute from say Jack the ripper days or maybe a zombie whore from outer space. But the naughty devil outfit in lingerie? Well, that's...just not good.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
"Al Queda in California" Daily Show via Foxattacks.com
*The Corporation" 2003 Movie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corporation
