Thursday, July 30, 2015

Walker’s Philadelphia cheesesteak mockery

Several Philly tourists not amused with Scott Walker crashing their lunch. Overheard: “Stand in line with the rest of us.” “Who is that?” — Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) July 28, 2015 This is silly but sometimes you just gotta stop, smell the roses, and indulge in some mockery of Scott Walker’s cheesesteak choices. It’s the standard more »

No, the Iran Deal Doesn’t Let Them Develop a Nuclear Weapon

Max Fisher at Vox has been doing an excellent job of debunking all of the arguments being used against the nuclear deal with Iran. To hear conservatives tell it, the deal actually gives Iran nuclear weapons, which could hardly be further from the reality.

Myth #1: The Iran deal is abject surrender and will make it easier for Iran to get a nuclear bomb

This is probably the most common talking point about the Iran deal, and certainly the most common one against it: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been making it for months, as have some Republicans.

This is total nonsense and is, in fact, the exact opposite of what is happening. Iran has accepted enormous cuts to its nuclear program, not to mention invasive and politically humiliating inspections…

It’s worth looking at what actual arms control experts say: that the deal is very good at limiting Iran’s nuclear program and is favorable to the United States. Given that many of those analysts were initially pessimistic, that they took this as a welcome surprise tells you something.

One nuclear weapons expert, Aaron Stein, told us the that deal “makes the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear weapon in the next 25 years extremely remote.”

Perhaps the most important provision is that they have to get rid of 70% of their centrifuges and can only keep those that cannot enrich uranium or plutonium very highly. That, along with a limit of 3.67% on enrichment, which is good only for peaceful generation of nuclear power but not for a bomb (weapons-grade requires enrichment to 90%), makes it nearly impossible for them to create a nuclear weapon.

Walker’s Philadelphia cheesesteak mockery

Several Philly tourists not amused with Scott Walker crashing their lunch. Overheard: “Stand in line with the rest of us.” “Who is that?” — Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) July 28, 2015 This is silly but sometimes you just gotta stop, smell the roses, and indulge in some mockery of Scott Walker’s cheesesteak choices. It’s the standard more »

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

WI Supreme Court “went well beyond what any court has ever held in opening the floodgates to secret money in politics”

Brendan Fischer of PRWatch was recently interviewed by Janine Jackson of Fair.org. A couple of exerpts: JJ: Well, it sounds as though the charge was that Walker actively sought to skirt finance laws and that the ruling is: Yes, he did, but it’s OK? I mean, help us to understand exactly what happened here. BF: That’s about right. more »

Monday, July 27, 2015

Republican presidential candidates cluster accounts at bank with only 1 branch in McLean, Virginia

Hmmmmm. From Bloomberg: “According to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings, Chain Bridge is the sole bank serving Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, which reported raising $11.4 million as of June 30, and his allied super-PAC, Right to Rise, which says it’s raised $103 million so far. Donald Trump’s campaign banks at Chain Bridge, and it’s more »

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Trump nails Walker on crumbling roads, deficit, underfunded education, Common Core flip-flops

Times are strange when you’re pleased to hear from Donald Trump, eh? What’s really wild is not only do I enjoy hearing Trump slam Walker, I have to admit that Trump is essentially telling the truth about the state of affairs in Wisconsin and about Walker’s flip-flops on Common Core. Donald Trump says he wasn’t more »

Wisconsinite dissents in chalk: “WEASEL WHORE HOUSE”

The dissent: The chalker, who prefers to remain anonymous, gave me permission to upload this photo here. If you have questions about the use of the word “whore” in Wisconsin see this. You just finished reading Wisconsinite dissents in chalk: "WEASEL WHORE HOUSE"! Consider leaving a comment!Visit bluecheddar.net for more news and opinion. You can more »

Saturday, July 25, 2015

“Scott Walker is not Joe McCarthy, but his technique is similar”

This is a bit from an opinion piece by Dana Milbank in the Washington Post: “Scott Walker is not Joe McCarthy, but his technique is similar: He suggests that the nation’s ills can be cured by fighting labor unions (foremost among the “big government special interests” hurting America), even though unions represent just 11 percent more »

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

One of the shady recipients of Walker’s WEDC welfare faces criminal investigation (finally)

As blogger lufthase puts it, “If WEDC had done a simple search on Green Box chairman Ronald Van Den Heuvel before making this loan, they’d have found at least 8 six-figure judgements from 2008 to 2011 against him or the many, many companies he has registered at the same address as Green Box.” Basically, Scott more »

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Round-up of Wisco news: Walker puzzled by gayness, Walker v. G.A.B., 20 wk. abortion ban, MORE

These seem like the key WI political stories from the last 3 or 4 days. If I missed something, please do leave it in a comment. WALKER AND GAYNESS This is how conservative blog NewsMax frames it: Gay marriage opponent and Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker said in a CNN interview broadcast on Sunday he more »

Monday, July 20, 2015

“Governor Walker, why are you trying to break my family apart?” – Leslie Flores

Because a new poll shows that Donald Trump polls nationally at 24% among Republican registered voters while Walker polls 13% I have to admit that I have no idea whether Walker’s comments to this family have an impact positive or negative within the Republican Party base. This guy’s tweet sums up their bigoted wingnuttery: "Obama's more »

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Iowa is smelling the BS around Walker’s Kohls speech

Iowans are learning that Scott Walker doled out over $68 million to Kohls. It’s undermining his “brown bag government” schtick. Excellent! If they keep pulling at loose threads on his stories they’re going to turn up tales of unaccountable millions in corporate welfare he gave out through WEDC. Des Moines Register has the story:  Some more »

Saturday, July 18, 2015

The Edwina Rogers Situation Gets Even Worse

The total clusterfuck that is Edwina Rogers and her lawsuit against the Secular Coalition for America has actually gotten worse. As Hemant reports, she has now amended her complaint to include Richard Dawkins and his foundation as defendants, accusing him of chasing away the “fellows” from her Secular Policy Institute and stealing money donated to Doctors Without Borders. On the first charge:

Plaintiff [Rogers] discovered charitable donations solicited over several years to support Doctors Without Borders’ response to specific natural disasters instead were deposited into the Foundation’s operating account. That account was used for, [among other things], Dawkins’ and his Foundation’s legal fees and other non-charitable purposes.

Plaintiff retained a forensic accounting firm to assure that the converted funds would be repaid and forwarded to the charity. When Plaintiff returned to SCA full time, this work was ongoing.

Hemant has a long response from Dawkins, which doesn’t exactly make this look like a totally false accusation. He says of it:

During a period of transition for the foundation in 2013-2014, Rogers served as interim executive director until we brought on Robyn Blumner as our permanent executive director in Feb. 2014. During this time the NBGA program was ended for three primary reasons, 1) Concerns arose about the program’s management that had to be further reviewed, 2) Another organization, Foundation Beyond Belief, was effectively doing the work of NBGA, and 3) The organization decided to focus on its core mission, the promotion of scientific literacy and secularism.

Under Blumner’s leadership, we hired a team of accountants and legal counsel to answer our concerns about the NBGA program. The team’s job was to ensure that the foundation fulfilled all its legal obligations under NBGA and ethical obligations to its donors and NGO beneficiaries. We followed the team’s advice, with me personally providing whatever resources were needed, and are confident we are in full compliance with all financial, legal and ethical obligations, and that we run the foundation in accordance with sound fiscal management practices.

So there apparently was something amiss with the Non-Believers Giving Aid program, enough so that an outside team of accountants and attorneys had to be brought in to investigate. If and when this goes to court, we’ll then know exactly what went on and what the evidence says. Would it surprise me if money was diverted? Not really. Would it surprise me if Rogers is exaggerating or distorting the truth to undermine her opponent in a lawsuit? Not in the least. We’ll just have to wait and see.

But on this ludicrous charge about Dawkins chasing away the SPI’s fellows, her complaint says:

Dawkins, Shermer, and Dennett communicated in person and by email with SPI donors and Fellows and urged them to resign from SPI unless Plaintiff dismissed this litigation. According to former SPI Fellow Michael Shermer, Dawkins “ordered” him to deliver the same message to other SPI Fellows. Upon information and belief, Dawkins, Shermer, and Dennett did not disclose their affiliation with SCA while conveying disapproval of Plaintiff and implying wrongdoing on Plaintiff’s part.

Beginning on June 11, 2015 Plaintiff received emails from SPI Fellows and donors resigning or threatening to resign as a result of this litigation, including: Dawkins, Dennett, Shermer, Steven Pinker, James Thompson, Rebecca Goldstein, Lawrence Krauss, Carolyn Porco, Ron Lindsay, Stephen Law, Phil Zuckerman, Wendy Kaminer, and Peter Boghossian. Each and every resignation was caused by Dawkins and SCA in retaliation for Plaintiff’s filing and refusing to dismiss this litigation.

In addition, SPI has lost fifteen member organizations due to these Defendants’ actions.

But here’s the problem, as Hemant points out: Several of those people didn’t even know that they were “fellows” of the SPI in the first place, including Dawkins:

I am being sued in federal court in Washington, DC by Edwina Rogers, the former executive director of the Secular Coalition for America and the former interim executive director of and paid consultant for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science. She posits a number of allegations with regard to my resignation as a fellow from the Secular Policy Institute (SPI) where Rogers works as CEO.

In fact, I never agreed to be a fellow of SPI in the first instance. Who knew that in America a person could be sued for leaving an organization of which one was never a willing part and telling close friends about it?

What appears to have happened is that a number of people had agreed to be fellows of a different organization Rogers created under the auspices of the SCA, then when she was fired she created a copycat organization under a different name and declared that those who had agreed to be fellows of the first, SCA-related group were now fellows of her new group:

What’s the deal with the allegations that Dawkins directed people to leave the Secular Policy Institute?

Over the past couple of months, I’ve contacted several of the Fellows who resigned from SPI. A number of them told me their primary motivation for resigning was not that Dawkins told them to leave, but that they never agreed to join the SPI as Fellows in the first place. Once they realized this, they asked to be removed from the list.

Why the confusion? It appears that at least some of them said yes to becoming Fellows of the “Secular Global Council” (an SCA program) when Rogers was the Executive Director there… but they were unaware of the Secular Policy Institute and did not agree to join a group that was separate from the SCA. (A lot of the policy recommendations at the Secular Policy Institute were identical to the SCA Policy Guide, which Rogers also oversaw, which may explain the confusion.)

Daniel Dennett told me: “I didn’t know I was a Fellow of SPI until I saw my picture and name on the website.”
Dawkins added: “I have no recollection of how I [came] to be on the [SPI Fellows] list in the first place.”

Might I suggest that the real reason Rogers’ new group is losing both fellows and affiliated organizations is because of her own behavior, not only for presumptuously claiming that those fellows were part of her new organization without her consent, but also for her own slash-and-burn legal approach to suing other groups and threatening to sue even bloggers who write critically about her, and for the absurd behavior of her little worker bee, Johnny Montserrat, in trying to recruit affiliates to join the organization (he called me several times and I returned none of those calls). Stephanie does an excellent job of documenting that behavior here.

There’s one thing that I think can now be said with boldness: Hiring Edwina Rogers was the single biggest mistake that any atheist group has ever made. And that’s saying a lot, given some of the other things those groups have done from time to time. A whole lot of people were highly skeptical of the hiring from the start, including me, but most of us tried to give her some benefit of the doubt and at least hope that it would all work out and she’d do fine. Clearly, that has not been the case.

Seriously, Edwina, it’s time for you to just shut up and go away. Go back to wrapping your Christmas presents with real money and trying to get on the Real Housewives of Washington, DC, which is exactly where you belong. You had zero background or interest in atheist or secular issues before you were hired and you’ve done nothing but destroy things once SCA let you in the door. We will be far better off without you than we have been with you.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Looks like my governor is cruisin’ through Iowa in a big gay RV

I sent this to George Takei Dear George: This is a photo of Scott Walker’s new RV. I must say, all I can see is an equal sign with those two red bars on the right. And when I see a red equal sign I am reminded of the red equal sign which you encouraged more »

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Appeal of John Doe decision to SCOTUS unlikely according to Hasen

This is from Hasen’s “Analysis of Wisconsin John Doe Ruling: Bad News for Campaign Finance Laws” U.S. Supreme Court review? The dissent notes that under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Caperton decision, the failure to recuse in this case could be a due process violation. At least theoretically, that’s an issue which could go to the more »

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Egg War: Why India’s Vegetarian Elite Are Accused Of Keeping Kids Hungry

India is in the midst of a war of sorts — a war over eggs. To eat them, or not to eat them. Actually, it’s more about whether the government should give free eggs to poor, malnourished children.

It all began in late May, when Shivraj Chouhan, the chief minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, shot down a proposal to serve eggs in government-run day care centers (anganwadis) in some tribal areas.

These communities have high rates of malnutrition, says Sachin Jain, a local food-rights activist in the state. “The idea behind the proposal was to address the gap in protein deficiency through … eggs,” he says.

But Chouhan wasn’t convinced. As Indian newspapers reported, he publicly vowed not to allow eggs to be served as long as he was minister.

Why this vehement opposition to eggs? Well, the local community of Jains, which is strictly vegetarian and also powerful in the state, has previously thwarted efforts to introduce eggs in day care centers and schools. Chouhan is an upper caste Hindu man who recently became a vegetarian.

And the state of Madhya Pradesh is mostly vegetarian, as are some other states, like Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat. For years, the more politically vocal vegetarians in these states have kept eggs out of school lunches and anganwadis.

But here’s the thing: While these states as a whole may be mostly vegetarian, the poorest — and most malnourished — Indians generally are not. They would eat eggs, if only they could afford them, says Dipa Sinha, an economist at the Center for Equity Studies in New Delhi and an expert on India’s preschool and school feeding programs.

India’s free school lunch program alone reaches about 120 million of India’s poorest children, and the anganwadis reach millions of younger children. So, the egg war isn’t trivial.

Chouhan’s office has said the chief minister is “sentimental” about keeping anganwadis egg-free. “This is a very upper caste Hindu sentiment,” says Sinha.

Hindu scriptures prescribe notions of purity for people belonging to upper castes, Sinha explains. “You can’t use the same spoon as someone else. You can’t sit next to someone eating meat. You can’t eat food cooked by someone who eats meat. And they think this is a dominant culture and that they can impose it on anyone.”

The recent ban on the slaughter of bulls and bullocks in the neighboring state of Maharashtra also reflects this sentiment.

While most Hindus today don’t eat beef, Hindus belonging to lower castes, including Dalits (considered the lowest in India’s caste hierarchy), do rely on this meat as a regular source of protein, as do Christians and Muslims. Dalit scholars have called this ban an effort to impose upper-caste Hindu values on the lower caste minorities.

We often assume Indians are largely vegetarian, but that assumption doesn’t hold up against data. A 2006 survey by the Delhi-based Center for the Study of Developing Societies found that more than 50 percent of Indians are in fact non-vegetarian. They eat fish, chicken, beef and, yes, eggs, too. Vegetarianism is often limited to privileged, upper caste Hindu communities and a couple of other religions, like Jainism.

Most underprivileged Indians, on the other hand, including Dalits and tribal communities, are non-vegetarians, says Sinha. Their children make up the majority of India’s most malnourished.

That is why public health policy experts and right-to-food activists all over the country are trying to introduce eggs into government schools and day cares.

Some states already serve eggs, and they are popular among the children. Sinha recalls an incident from several years ago, when she was visiting schools in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh to see how well the school lunch program was working. The state had recently begun to provide eggs in school lunches. One school had a box where students submitted their complaints and feedback about the school meal.

“We opened it, and one of the letters in that box was from a girl in [fourth grade],” says Sinha. “It was a Dalit girl, who said, ‘Thank you very much. I got to eat an egg in my life for the first time.’ ”

“Wherever eggs are introduced, attendance goes up,” says Sinha. “It’s very popular, because children don’t get it at home.”

Eggs are also an easy way to provide much-needed protein and fat to malnourished children, says Sachin Jain, the food rights activist. They are easy to procure locally, and storage and transportation aren’t a problem. “No … vegetarian food item is that good a source of protein,” he says.

Milk, which comes close and is often touted as a good alternative by vegetarians like Chouhan, comes with many complications. It is often diluted by suppliers and is easy to contaminate, says Jain. It also requires more infrastructure to store and transport to remote rural areas.

“I am a vegetarian,” adds Jain. “I have never touched an egg. But I have other sources of fat and protein, like ghee (clarified butter) and milk. Tribals, Dalits and other poor people don’t have these options. They can’t afford these things. Then, eggs become a very good option for them.”

“We still have very high malnutrition,” says Dipa Sinha. “Every third Indian child is malnourished.”

This context is crucial in this discussion, she says, “because the best interest of the child is what should be driving policy. I think this (ban on eggs) is a big setback.”


Rhitu Chatterjee is a multimedia journalist based in New Delhi. See the related animation, “Power Lunch: India’s Mid-Day Meal Program,” produced by Mathilde Dratwa for the Pulitzer Center and based on Chatterjee’s reporting.

Copyright 2015 NPR.

Alex Jones’ Gay Marriage Conspiracy

Since everything in the world is a dark conspiracy to Alex Jones, you knew he’d have an amusingly ridiculous take on marriage equality. Sure enough, he does. He claims that gay marriage is going to “sexualize” school children AND turn them into “asexual humanoids.” Simultaneously, I guess. Because that makes perfect sense.

Conservative radio host Alex Jones tried to portray himself on Monday as being neutral on marriage equality, but accused the United Nations of trying to “sexualize children” via childrens’ books discussing same-sex parents.

“It’s nobody’s business to target children with Heather Has Two Mommies, or ‘You can’t say boy or girl to somebody who may not identify as that,’” Jones said in footage posted by Right Wing Watch. “That is space-cult, suicide cult exterminism craziness. The eugenics, trans-humanist cult wants to confuse the general species ahead of rendering us down and removing us. The plan is an asexual humanoid, even if they decide to keep us around, stated in hundreds of textbooks.”

Every same-sex marriage is a false flag operation! Those are lizard people trying to reset our cultural norms. I bet the feminists are behind the whole thing!

A Crime Of Passion: When The Love Of Yogurt Burned Too Bright

Listen to the Story on Morning Edition:

Two years ago, in the middle of the night, a fire broke out in a commercial building on the northern edge of the city of Dallas. It destroyed a small yogurt company called Three Happy Cows.

Two months later, Edgar Diaz, the founder of Three Happy Cows, confessed that he’d set the fire. Yet people who knew Diaz, and had worked with him, could not believe it.

“I was like, Edgar did that? No way! No way. No way,” says Ruth Cruz, who worked at Three Happy Cows.

“No. No. It was his baby. Couldn’t imagine,” says Don Seale, who supplied milk to the factory.

They, and others, say Edgar Diaz loved Three Happy Cows. He’d built that factory himself. So why did he burn it down?

The answer is a love story, in a way. It’s a love affair with yogurt.

Edgar Diaz now occupies a cell in the federal prison in Seagoville, Texas, and that is where I met him.

Diaz is a short, soft-spoken man, 57 years old. One of the arson investigators who took his confession described him as “meek.” He struggles, on occasion, to express himself in English. He only learned the language as an adult, after emigrating from Colombia.

It was in Colombia, at the university, where Diaz first fell in love with yogurt. He studied the science and technology of dairy products.

“I love to work with milk,” he says. “For me, milk is a life element.”

But he and his wife fled Colombia’s civil war in 2001. They were granted political asylum in the United States. Diaz worked at a Wendy’s for a while, and sold used cars. His wife, Diana Ocampo, who had also studied dairy science, cleaned houses.

A series of fortunate connections brought Diaz back to his first love. In 2010, a friend offered to put up the money to start a new yogurt company: Three Happy Cows. And Edgar Diaz threw himself into building that factory.

“All the plant is designed for me,” he says. “Even the walls. The walls [are] glass. Because I love for people to see how we made it. We don’t have anything hiding.”

From 2010 to 2013, Three Happy Cows had some remarkable success. The yogurt won national awards. It was a hit at farmers markets around Dallas.

“The product was really exceptionally good,” says Cindy Johnson, who founded the farmers market in the town of McKinney. “It was just the first place everybody stopped. I mean, it’s hard to describe just how good it was!”

Diaz loved making a product that people enjoyed so much. Even now, in prison, his eyes light up and his voice becomes animated when he remembers talking to satisfied customers. “That is my reward!” he says. “It’s not money! You enjoy the product. Your life is happy because you eat it and you like it!”

After three years, though, Three Happy Cows still was not profitable. The company’s financial backer, Diaz’s friend Juan Padilla, was running out of money.

Diaz found some new investors, but this is where things started to come unglued. He couldn’t control what happened next.

Diaz says that he and Juan Padilla had a verbal agreement. Padilla would own 75 percent of the company, and Diaz would own 25 percent. But legally, the company wasn’t set up that way. Padilla owned it.

The new investors, realizing this, began negotiations with Padilla. They acquired an option to buy the company, in the future. Padilla also turned over management of Three Happy Cows to the new investors. That happened right away.

“The next week, all my belongings in my office [are] in the trash. They took everything and put it in the trash,” says Diaz.

Other changes followed. “They change the milk, they don’t use anymore organic milk,” says Ocampo, Diaz’s wife. “The honey? ‘Oh, this honey is cheaper — just use it.’ Also the fruit, the sugar, everything. They change everything,” Ocampo says.

Diaz was still working at Three Happy Cows, but only as an employee; he’d lost control of the thing he loved more than almost anything else.

I tried, through phone calls and a letter, to get Padilla’s side of this story. Padilla responded only with a text message saying that he didn’t want to talk about Three Happy Cows. It was, he wrote, “too painful.”

I was able to speak with Blaine Iler, one of the investors who took control of Three Happy Cows.

“I feel like we did everything we could to meet Edgar’s concerns,” Iler says. He says he and his partners offered Diaz a contract that would have made Diaz part owner of Three Happy Cows when the investors eventually bought the company.

But Diaz didn’t sign that contract. According to Diaz, it was because it contained a clause that barred him from working for any other yogurt company if he left Three Happy Cows, for a period of five years. Diaz says that would have stripped him of his experience and knowledge.

In fact, in Diaz’s mind, that knowledge was his only source of power, and he had to protect that knowledge from the new investors. He describes repeated conversations in which the new investors demanded the “formula” for making Three Happy Cows yogurt.

“They try to find records” of how to make the yogurt, Diaz says. “The records are over there. But how to make it?” Diaz points toward his head. “How to make it is here.”

His mind, though, was growing increasingly dark and troubled through this time. “You work so hard, but your feelings go down. You go into depression,” he says. “I drive to Three Happy Cows and I cry, and I don’t understand how some people can destroy everything. We worked 36 months, and these people destroy everything in three months.”

In March 2013, the company arrived at a crossroads. It received its biggest order ever. The investors felt that it could lead to even bigger success down the road.

Edgar Diaz worked through the weekend to make the yogurt. In the wee hours of Monday morning, March 18, he returned to the factory.

“And I go to the cooler and open the tanks, and I see, I did it! I feel so happy, but at the same time, I feel so stupid. Because they know how I made it,” he says.

Whether this feeling was delusion or reality, Diaz became convinced that the investors now knew how the yogurt was made. It was no longer his secret.

“I come into a panic,” he recalls. “I want to die. I start to walk to crazy around the plant.”

He found some gasoline, and set the place on fire.

Six months ago, in January, Diaz was sentenced to five years in prison. He and his wife have declared bankruptcy. She’s cleaning houses for a living, often from early in the morning until late in the evening.

“Do you think you are a good businessman?” I ask Diaz.

“No,” he replies quickly. “When you’re thinking too much with this” — he points to his heart — “you are not good businessman.”

“Did your heart destroy your business?”

Diaz considers. “No. Destroy is, when people thinking it’s only money. Business is not only money. Business is adventure. It’s to enjoy. Make you happy. Sad, sometimes. But it’s life. That’s business.”

And Edgar Diaz is still dreaming of making yogurt. Even here in prison, he says, he could probably make yogurt. They get milk. The bacteria one needs often are there in the milk already.

All it takes is the skill. And the love.

(Want to hear a longer version of this sad story? Go here!)

Copyright 2015 NPR.

Jeb Bush’s Anti-Intellectual Nonsense

The Bush family has a long history of pretending to be a bunch of Bubba’s, despite multi-generational wealth, attending Philips Exeter and Ivy League schools and the like. Bush 41 famously declared his love for pork rinds to make himself look more Joe Sixpack-y. Bush 43 bought a fake “ranch” that apparently only generated brush for him to clear when the cameras were on. Now it’s Jeb’s turn to strike the fake populist pose:

Bush then advocated for more blunt and simple type of statesmanship — reminiscent of the style of his brother, former President George W. Bush as well as Vice President Dick Cheney — in dealing with world.

“You don’t have to be the world’s policemen, but you have to be the world’s leader and there’s a huge difference,” Bush explained. “This guy — this president and Secretary Clinton and Secretary Kerry – when someone disagrees with their nuanced approach where it’s all kind of so sophisticated it makes no sense. You know what I’m saying?”

Bush continued, “Big syllable words and lots of fancy conferences and meetings and – We’re not leading. That creates chaos. It creates a more dangerous world. So restoring the alliances that have kept the world safer and our country safer – getting back to a position in the Middle East where there’s no light between Israel and the United States.”

This is standard right wing populist nonsense of the sort identified so brilliantly by Richard Hofstadter half a century ago, but going back much further than that. They love to distinguish between themselves and those pointy-headed intellekshuls with their big fancy words and big fancy degrees and their salsa made in New York City (NEW YORK CITY???). This has strong appeal to the ignorant masses that make up the right-wing base, who yearn for the simple world of John Wayne movies where if you don’t like someone, you just go kick his ass like a Real Mantm does.

It’s ridiculous enough on its own, but the fact that it’s being used by a highly educated scion from one of the nation’s most powerful political families trying to do his best Joe the Plumber impersonation makes it all the more ridiculous. New rule: No one who graduated from Philips Exeter Academy ever gets to refer to anyone else as elite. Ever.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Breaking News: Tamara Scott Remains Breathtakingly Stupid

On the old SNL Weekend Update, Chevy Chase used to announce at the end of every broadcast that Generalissimo Franco was still dead. My version: Republican National Committee member Tamara Scott is still incredibly clueless. Just listen to this nonsense from her radio show:

The Charleston shooting, Scott said, is “being hijacked to a racial issue.” Her interviewee, South Carolina pastor Brad Atkins — the state head of the American Family Association’s American Renewal Project who led the planning of Gov. Nikki Haley’s “The Response” prayer rally last month — agreed, saying the victims “lost their lives primarily not because they were black and the killer was white, but because they were gathered together at the church.”

“There really was no debate” about the flag, Atkins said, up until the “secular media” used it as a distraction from the fact that the shooting actually “happened because of a lack of Christian influence in society.” …

She repeated her point that the shooting in a black church by a gunman with white supremacist views who specifically stated his desire to start a race war wasn’t as much a “racial issue” as an attack on religion. The Charleston shooting, she said, is “being made into more of a racial issue than it was,” when the shooter “could have gone anywhere – mall, sporting event, anywhere — and shot a race of people, but this was in a house of worship.”

How is it possible for someone to make that claim with a straight face? The murderer said quite plainly that he targeted the victims in that church because he hates black people and was trying to start a race war. There is not one word in his manifesto explaining why he did it that even mentions Christianity. And yet people like Scott and Atkins can, with a completely straight face, pretend otherwise. It’s kind of mind-boggling that someone could be that disconnected with reality.

Scott then accused the Confederate flag’s critics of turning a symbol of “fun” into something divisive.

“Creating this stir about the flag now forces dialogue that I think had died out decades ago,” she said. “It starts the divide all over again in younger generations that otherwise would have had absolutely no ill feelings on this flag. For this generation that I know, it was a symbol of Dukes of Hazzard and fun and a culture of the South. So I hate this dialogue that has started that has created a new generation of divisiveness.”

*headdesk* This woman is on the Republican National Committee, for crying out loud. And that’s where she belongs, really.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

‘But It’s Just Facebook’

An Ohio firefighter who said horrible, bigoted things about gay people is using the oft-heard excuse that it’s all okay because it’s just Facebook, so it totally doesn’t count. I’ve heard people say similar things a thousand times and it never strikes me as anything other than stupid.

The July 3 post of a weeping child who is quoted saying, “I’m homosexual and I’m afraid about what my future will be and that people won’t like me” sparked impassioned responses, including words of encouragement from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. George Takei and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsome were among thousands who chimed in with “likes” and words of support for the youngster.

But 26-year Cleveland Fire Department veteran Guy Estergall threw his opinion into the mix of roughly 60,000 comments on the viral post.

“This kid needs psychiatric help, he’s delusional. We need to find a cure for his kind!” Estergall wrote in the comments.

In an apparent response to another comment, he wrote, “You’re mentally ill Andrew, just like this kid and the rest of the immoral homosexuals and their supporters,” NewsNet5 reports.

Continuing on, he wrote, “The overwhelming majority of pedophiles are homosexuals. You need to get the professional psychiatric help you need to become normal.”

Estergall told the station his comments were in response to a nasty exchange he got into, and he only meant to “get his goat” and “tick off” his opponent, who had started name calling.

“Was it childish? Of course. But this is Facebook, it was a ‘nothing’ thing,” he said in an interview with the station.

I’ve heard this argument constantly for the nearly 25 years I’ve been online. It’s just the internet! It’s just IRC! It’s just Facebook! It’s just Twitter! It’s just a blog comment! Just stop, for crying out loud. The internet is merely a means of communication. No one would think it’s okay to say vile or hateful or threatening things to someone and then say “But it’s just a telephone” or “It’s just radio.” The rules of reasonable, ethical behavior does not change when the medium does.

But you know what does change? The level of anonymity. And what’s the real reason why people think it’s okay to be vile assholes over the internet. Give someone anonymity, or the illusion of anonymity, and their real character may be very quickly revealed. That’s when they’ll say all the things they really think and wish they could say to someone in person but can’t because they’ll get their ass kicked.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

9 Foods That Fare Better in the Fridge

If I can avoid putting something in the fridge or freezer, I do. It’s largely because space is at premium in my overcrowded refrigerator. I’ve always had a hunch that leaving certain edibles in the pantry can hasten their demise, especially as my home heats up in the summer, but I’ve never been sure which items were truly worthy of refrigerator real estate.

For some things on our shopping lists, all we need to do is look at the label to know if they need to be refrigerated. But storage instructions can be hard to come by when we forgo pre-packaged, processed goods for whole foods from farmers’ markets and artisanal shops, and dry foods from bulk bins. And even when we buy seemingly fresher foods, we rarely know how much of their shelf life has already been used up sitting around in the store or elsewhere. Deciding whether or not to keep something chilled also depends on how quickly we plan to eat it, requiring strategic forethought or a crystal ball.

Despite the variables, the foods listed below generally fare better in the fridge or freezer in most households. But no matter how much time has elapsed, what season it is, or where we choose to store our food, it’s always wise to take a good look and big sniff before digging in.

Berries

Farmers' market strawberries and blueberries.
Farmers’ market strawberries and blueberries. (Lisa Landers)

Whether you’re into strawberries, blueberries or blackberries this summer season, they will all last a few more days if kept in the fridge. Put them unwashed in an airtight container layered with paper towels to absorb excess moisture.

Nuts

Raw almonds.
Raw almonds. (Lisa Landers)

According to the experts at University of California at Davis, nuts can maintain their quality at room temperature for a few of months (less time in warmer climates). But even stored in an airtight container, nuts will go rancid more quickly in the pantry than if they are chilled. In the fridge, hulled nuts like almonds, cashews and walnuts can retain their quality for a year or more.

Whole Grains (like Brown Rice, Quinoa and Millet)

Brown rice.
Brown rice. (Lisa Landers)

White rice can be stored for many years in a cool dry place, but whole grain brown rice will only last about 6 months because of the oil contained in the bran layer. Storing brown rice in the fridge can extend the shelf life for up to a year. To maximize freshness and shelf life, the popular grain purveyor, Bob’s Red Mill, suggests storing rice, quinoa, millet and all other whole grains in the freezer if used less than once a month. According to their website, the icy temps can buy you an extra six months beyond the sell-by date on their packages. Freezing also reduces the risk of lingering insect eggs from hatching in your cupboard.

Ground Flax Seeds

Flax seeds sold in bulk.
Flax seeds sold in bulk. (Lisa Landers)

While whole flaxseeds last 6-12 months when stored in a dark, cool spot in your pantry, ground flax seeds only last a week or so before starting to turn. Sealed up in the fridge, the ground seeds can remain edible for up to 90 days.

Dried Fruit, Preservative-free

Dried mangos, cranberries and apricots.
Dried mangos, cranberries and apricots. (Lisa Landers)

If you’ve started buying dried apricots, mango and other dehydrated fruits that haven’t been treated with sulfur dioxide (a preservative), your stash of sweet treats may not last as long before starting to degrade. But when sealed up, tucked into a dark corner and stored at room temp, the quality of preservative-free dried fruits will hold up for about 3-4 months, says Becky Courchesne, co-owner of Frog Hollow Farms. Shelf life can stretch to six months in the fridge and a year or more in the freezer. The key, says Courchesne, is making sure that absolutely no moisture gets in your package, which can happen if you take the bag in and out of the cold too often.

Whole Wheat, Oat, Rye and Buckwheat Flours

Whole-wheat flour.
Whole-wheat flour. (Lisa Landers)

Unlike white flour, whole-wheat flour retains the wheat germ, making it much more prone to going rancid once exposed to air. Seal it up and stick it in the freezer if you want whole-wheat flour to last more than a few of months. Same goes for other flours made from unrefined grains and cereals such as oat, buckwheat and rye. The Whole Grains Council has a useful chart to help you determine the shelf life of your favorite flours.

Nut Butters

Preservative-free peanut butter.
Preservative-free peanut butter. (Lisa Landers)

The USDA recommends storing all of your nut butters in the fridge, but this is especially important for pure nut butters that don’t contain added preservatives and stabilizers to help stave off mold and rancidness. Refrigeration can cause some natural nut butters to harden and the oil to separate, but if you stir well before chilling and let it sit out for an hour before digging in, it will become spreadable again.

Green Onions

Green onions.
Green onions. (Lisa Landers)

Unlike other onions, green onions will start to perish within just a few days if not stored in the fridge. Stored in plastic bags and stashed in the crisper, they will last you about a week.

Apples

Apples.
Apples. (Lisa Landers)

Apples are best kept in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Unless you picked them from the tree yourself, chances are those fruits have been sitting around for a while. Leaving apples on the counter can cause them to go soft and shrivel within just a few days, but in the fridge they can last a few weeks or more. If you like your apples at room temperature, just take one out of the fridge an hour or so before you eat it.

Disclaimer: These storage suggestions are intended only as general guidelines. The rate of food degradation can vary greatly depending on many variables, some of which are noted above.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Fitz says Walker was involved in attempted ax of open records law

I’ll keep this brief. Here’s the headline: Scott Fitzgerald: Scott Walker’s office was involved with open records changes The most important thing to take away is that Fitz and the boys will make another effort to cut you and the world off from legislative records: “I think it’s something that there are many different entities more »

OMG! Obama Didn’t Say God in 4th of July Video!

And here we have the latest faux freakout from Jim Hoft, who has been dubbed the dumbest man on the internet, who offers up a guest post by someone using the name Patch Adams clutching their pearls over President Obama not saying “God bless America” during his short 4th of July video.

As Obama’s term as President is slowly nearing its end, more and more of who the man is, and what he truly stands for, is beginning to seep out.

For instance, President Obama released his 4th of July weekly address for 2015 with one key ingredient missing: God.

Unlike his weekly addresses during the previous two years, where the President concluded his speeches with “God Bless You All” (2014) and “So, God bless You All. And may God bless The United States of America” (2013), Obama left out any mention of God in his recent address. Instead, this year, he chose to end his speech with a very politically correct, “Thanks, everybody. From my family to yours, have a safe and happy Fourth of July.”

Oh yes, dear me yes. That’s just so “politically correct” to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July. This is an outrage, an outrage! It just reveals that Obama is…well, something bad, I’m sure. Of course, Obama did quote from the Declaration of Independence:

We remember as well that this is the day when, 239 years ago, our founding patriots declared our independence, proclaiming that all of us are created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This is how it works on Planet Wingnuttia: When Jefferson mentioned the “Creator” in the Declaration of Independence, he obviously was referring to Supply Side Jesus, the Republican version of Jesus, and this is proof that liberty is limited only to those things that their fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible would allow (never mind that Jefferson quite explicitly says the opposite over and over again during his lifetime). But if Obama quotes that passage it’s proof that he’s an atheist Muslim Antichrist, or something. Don’t you feel better knowing that?

Do Organic Farmers Need Special Seeds And Money To Breed Them?

Rearranging veggie genes is big business, and we’re not even talking about biotechnology. Private companies and university researchers spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year breeding better genetic varieties of food crops.

But organic farmers say those programs have a big blind spot when it comes to figuring out which new varieties are truly better. Few companies or researchers test those varieties under organic conditions.

“The first axiom of plant breeding is, you breed for the environment of intended use,” says Matthew Dillon, who founded a group called the Organic Seed Alliance. The problem is, organic fields and conventional fields can be very different environments, thanks to big differences in the ways that farmers deal with weeds and insect pests.

For an organic farmer, Dillon says, the ideal bean variety would be one that’s capable of fending for itself in a hostile environment. Perhaps it starts growing quickly enough to get a head start on the weeds, or finds a way to fend off insect pests, or develops a bigger root system to extract nutrients from the soil.

None of those genetic traits, though, would allow it to shine in a typical test plot where weeds are controlled with herbicides, nutrients come from synthetic fertilizer, and farmers fight off insects with standard insecticides.

As evidence, he points to an experiment at Washington State University, where breeders tested experimental varieties of wheat in both conventional and organic fields. The varieties that did well in conventional fields did not exactly match the top performers in organic fields, although some varieties did perform well in both.

Dillon founded the Organic Seed Alliance to promote the development of seeds for organic farmers. To be clear, these seeds are different from certified organic seeds which are produced in organic fields, but in most cases were originally created and selected, by plant breeders, in conventional fields.

Dillon organization received some small grants from the Clif Bar Family Foundation, and eventually Clif Bar decided to give this cause a big boost.

“Kit Crawford [the co-founder of Clif Bar] approached me and said, ‘Hey, we’re recognizing that, if we want to make change in the world of food and farming, we need to start with the seed,’ ” Dillon recalls.

Dillon went to work for Clif Bar & Company, which uses a lot of organic ingredients, as director of agricultural policy. He’s also in charge of a “Seed Matters” initiative at the Clif Bar Family Foundation. His new employer, has now promised to fund organic breeding endowments at five universities, at a cost that could reach $10 million. The first $2 million endowment will be established at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Organic Valley, a farmer cooperative based in Wisconsin, matched Clif Bar’s contribution to the university.

Bill Tracy, who breeds organic versions of sweet corn in Wisconsin, recently released one called "Who Gets Kissed."
Bill Tracy, who breeds organic versions of sweet corn in Wisconsin, recently released one called “Who Gets Kissed.” (Courtesy of Kristina Hubbard )

A few plant breeders at Wisconsin already have been working on seed varieties for organic farmers. Bill Tracy, who breeds new versions of sweet corn, recently released a new one called “Who Gets Kissed.” Among sweet corn breeders, “I think I have the only organic seed program,” Tracy says. Currently about 20 percent of Tracy’s breeding program is aimed at organic farming.

The name of his new variety refers to an old game that was played in times when people grew corn that was genetically diverse. At corn husking time, a lucky person who found a rare ear of corn with red kernels had the right to kiss anyone that he or she chose.

This new variety, Tracy says, is particularly good at competing with weeds, and it has good resistance to diseases. It is also an old-style “open-pollinated” variety, rather than a hybrid. This means that farmers can use part of their harvest as seed for the next year.

In the future, Tracy says, he’s hoping to create sweet corn varieties that are less prone to infestation by insects such as the corn ear worm. Biotech companies have created genetically engineered versions of corn with powerful insect resistance, but organic farmers have rejected the use of GMOs. Tracy hopes to find natural genetic resistance to insects in varieties of corn that grow in tropical regions, and introduce those genetic traits, through cross-pollination, into sweet corn varieties that American consumers like to eat. “Flavor is most important,” he says.

Tracy doesn’t expect to achieve the same almost-total resistance to ear worms as GMOs offer, but “I’d love to get to 50 percent resistance.”

Breeders like Tracy will have the chance to apply for additional funding from the Clif Bar-funded endowment. And he says he’s excited about the opportunity. The endowment will produce enough funding at least for an additional graduate student or field technician.

Copyright 2015 NPR.

Suit Over Rejection of Humanist Chaplain Allowed to Move Forward

You may recall that a couple years ago, Jason Heap applied to be the Navy’s first humanist chaplain and was denied. He and the Humanist Society filed a lawsuit over that. A federal judge in Virginia has now denied most of a motion to dismiss by the federal government, allowing the suit to move forward on several grounds.

Howard Friedman sums up the ruling:

In a 75-page opinion, a Virginia federal district court ultimately allowed Dr. Heap to move ahead with his Establishment Clause and Equal Protection/ Substantive Due Process challenges to the Navy and Department of Defense’s actions. However the court dismissed challenges brought under other parts of the 1st Amendment, the No Religious Test clause, and RFRA, dismissed The Humanist Society as a plaintiff for lack of standing and on ripeness grounds, and dismissed claims against the individual defendants.

The Establishment Clause and Equal Protection/Substantive Due Process claims in the original complaint are the most important grounds for the suit, the rest doesn’t particularly matter. So the suit will now go into the discovery and trial phase.

One of the interesting aspects of the case is that when Heap applied for the position, the initial officers who handled the application, one an evangelical Christian and the other Jewish, strongly endorsed him and recommended that he be made a chaplain. Lt. Joel DeGraeve even said that the Evangelical Christian Alliance, his own sponsor, would be willing to sponsor him as a chaplain. Lt. Commander Rabbi Reuben Israel Abraham gave Heap a perfect rating in his assessment of whether he should be given a commission as a chaplain.

At that point, a bunch of Republican members of Congress wrote a letter to the Pentagon demanding that they prevent the establishment of a humanist chaplaincy and brought political pressure to bear to make that happen. They even submitted legislation to forbid the military from doing so. Heap’s application was subsequently denied, but with no explanation as to why. The Obama administration and the civilian leadership at the Pentagon allowed this to happen without a word of protest.

Here’s the judge’s ruling on the motion to dismiss:

Heap v Carter by Howard Friedman

Bolling: Liberal Boycotts are ‘Economic Terrorism’

Eric Bolling, the third dumbest man on Fox News (Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade are pretty hard to top for utter cluelessness), is furious about calls to boycott businesses associated with Donald Trump because when liberals call for boycotts, that’s “economic terrorism.”

The progressive-hating gang on Fox News’ The Five absolutely lost it when New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city is now reviewing its contracts with Donald Trump because of his “offensive and disgusting” comments about Mexican immigrants, that “When Mexico Sends Its People … They’re Bringing Drugs. They’re Bringing Crime. They’re Rapists.”

De Blasio’s actions – not Trump’s – left The Five co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle asking, “should government really be in the business of bullying over political correctness?”

Greg Gutfeld continued his over-the-top portrayal of a irascible truth-teller, saying de Blasio “is such an ass, he’s 45 percent crack,” and called the mayor a “barnacle of capitalism” who can only exist thanks to heroic figures like Donald Trump.

That’ when Bolling chimed in, complaining that, “MoveOn.org is petitioning to boycott Donald Trump’s products. They are economic terrorists.”

Hey, remember when Bolling slammed the American Family Association and all the other right-wing groups who call for boycotts on a daily basis against any company they think is too gay, or even not sufficiently pro-Christmas? Yeah, I don’t either.

Monday, July 6, 2015

I have to ask: Are the Old Boys down at M.J.Sentinel shitting their pants right now?

Plenty of facebook commenters and at least two bloggers have proposed that the JFC’s attack on WI open records law is actually a set-up to eventually make Walker look the hero. As in, they think that the “dirty dozen” on the Joint Finance Committee conspired to nuke open records law with the budget add-on called more »

Republicans Vow to Block Any Nominee for Ambassador to Cuba

In the leadup to the 2016 election, Republicans are doing their usual pandering to the older Cuban emigres in South Florida (and to conservatives who still think the Cold War exists and communism is at all relevant in the world) by promising to block anyone nominated as ambassador to Cuba.

Critics, including several GOP presidential candidates, are arguing that the president – in ending 50 years of frozen relations – is rewarding Cuba’s dictatorial regime. Immediately after Obama announced what he called a “historic step forward,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas promised to oppose any ambassador to Cuba or funding for an embassy construction.

“I, for one, want the Cuban people to know that there are still those who stand with them, and who know the Castros for what they are,” said Cruz, a Cuban-American, in a statement. “I will hold any nominee President Obama sends to the Senate to be ambassador to Cuba, and I will work to disapprove any new funds for embassy construction in Havana, unless and until the President can demonstrate that he has made some progress in alleviating the misery of our friends, the people of Cuba.”

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida issued a similar statement, arguing the Obama administration has “continued to look the other way and offer concession after concession.” Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also said he intended to oppose the confirmation of any ambassador to Cuba until abuses of the Castro regime are addressed.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker posted a Facebook note calling the move to establish full diplomatic relations “yet another example of his appeasement of dictators” and accused him of “foolishly rewarding the brutal Castro dictatorship and selling out the Cuban people.”

And Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has said in the past that he’d use his power to block the use of funds to open an embassy in Cuba, issued a statement criticizing Obama’s decision on Wednesday saying “As president, I would not honor this decision with Cuba and I would close the embassy until the Castro brothers actually change their behavior.”…

Other 2016 GOP presidential candidates who are not currently in office (and wouldn’t have a say in confirming a nominee) also voiced their disapproval on Wednesday, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. While the issue gives Republicans a perch to rail against Obama’s foreign policy, it isn’t necessarily a slam dunk issue.

Funny, I’ve never heard any of those men try to block having an ambassador to Pakistan. Or Saudi Arabia. Or China. All countries with a far worse record of oppression than Cuba and who might pose an actual threat to us at some point, which Cuba could not do. This is selective outrage for the purpose of political pandering (a lot of alliteration). It’s playing games with foreign policy, which is primarily the function of the president, not Congress. It’s also not going to play well in the general election, since 60% of Americans support the reestablishment of diplomatic ties with Cuba.

Man Threatens to Kill ‘Usurper’ Obama, Calls It ‘Constitutional Duty’

A man in Wisconsin has been arrested and charged with threatening to kill the president, something he says was his “constitutional duty” because Obama is a “usurper.” In other words, he took his inspiration pretty much word for word from right-wing anti-Obama rhetoric.

A Wisconsin man is in custody for threatening to kill President Barack Obama after allegedly telling a security guard at a La Crosse library, “the usurper is here and if I get a chance I’ll take him out and I’ll take the shot.”

Brian D. Dutcher, 55, of Tomah, was taken into custody after confirming his threat to the Secret Service, KTLA reports.

According to the warrant for his arrest, Dutcher also posted a threat against the president on Facebook on June 30, reading, “that’s it! Thursday I will be in La Crosse. Hopefully I will get a clear shot at the pretend president. Killing him is our CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY!”

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It’s precisely position taken by the far right in this country from the moment Obama took office. They have denied Obama’s eligibility to be president, on simply ridiculous grounds, thus he is a “usurper” and the elections were irrelevant. And he’s trying to destroy the Constitution, he’s God’s punishment on America, he’s a communist and a Muslim, or at least a Muslim sympathizer, who is deliberately trying to destroy the country.

If those things were true, it would be a perfectly reasonable response to take him out, at least to those whose brains are pickled in conspiracy theories on a daily basis. I’m not the least bit shocked that the man would do this. I’m frankly shocked that it hasn’t happened more often (though given the huge increase in credible threats on the president since Obama took office, maybe it has and we just don’t have such clear statements from would-be killers).

Your attention please, Independence Day-celebrating Wisconsinites. Still LOTS of alarming BS in that last minute add-on to the WI budget.

Wisconsin’s Governor has released yet another Orwellian decree. It asserts that despite the fact that a radical stripping of open records law was tucked into Thursday’s “motion 999″ that the changes were “never intended to inhibit transparent gov’t in any way“. That’s special. Let’s assume I can pretend that Scott Walker and associated Republican legislators more »

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Happy Independence Day!

We hope everyone enjoys a fun and relaxing time with family and friends as we celebrate America's freedom.

A Fresh, Summery Mediterranean Salad with Pita Chips and Tahini and Lemon Dressing

This well-balanced salad hits all the notes for me: bright, crunchy, salty, sweet, nutty, grassy, and fresh. A base of crisp romaine is topped with shaved carrots, sweet tomatoes, and green onions along with briny feta cheese, tender chickpeas, and salty-crunchy pita chips.

You can add other fresh vegetables, like sliced cucumbers or shaved radishes, or swap out chopped heirloom tomatoes for the cherry tomatoes and tiny sliced rainbow carrots for the shaved carrots. For a heartier salad with more protein, add a few handfuls of shredded cooked chicken.

The simple dressing—which makes more than you’ll need—is a snap to make when you make it in a small mason jar, and can be prepared up to 5 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Just bring it to room temperature, and check the consistency, before dressing the salad with it. (It’s also great drizzled over falafel or grilled eggplant and peppers, wrapped in fresh pita bread.)

Mediterranean Salad in process.
Mediterranean Salad in process. (Wendy Goodfriend)

Recipe: Mediterranean Salad

Makes 4 to 6 servings

    Ingredients:
    Tahini-Lemon Dressing

  • 6 tbsp tahini
  • Juice of 1 1/2 to 2 lemons
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • Kosher salt
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
    Mediterranean Salad

  • About 6 cups chopped hearts of romaine
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 to 3 organic carrots, shaved
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 4 green onions, sliced
  • About 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • About 1 cup roughly broken pita chips

Click to view slideshow.

    Instructions:

  1. To make the dressing, put the tahini, juice of 1 1/2 lemons, garlic, and a pinch of salt into an airtight jar; close the jar and shake vigorously. Add the olive oil and shake again. Thin with the water until pourable. Taste and season with more lemon juice and salt. Set aside.
  2. Place the salad greens in a wide, shallow salad bowl, drizzle with a little dressing, and toss to coat. Scatter with the chickpeas, shredded carrots, tomatoes, green onion, feta, and parsley. Top with crumbled pita chips. Serve, passing additional dressing on the side.
Add pita chips to Mediterranean Salad and serve with extra Tahini dressing on the side..
Add pita chips to Mediterranean Salad and serve with extra Tahini dressing on the side. (Wendy Goodfriend)

“The burning churches south of the Ohio River are a striking reminder that fascism thrives in America”

The note below appears at the blue cheddar blog with Tom Neale’s permission. The burning churches south of the Ohio River are a striking reminder that fascism thrives in America; for one of fascism’s most telling characteristics is its racist component. The demonized other is essential to this evil. In the wisdom traditions it is more »

Friday, July 3, 2015

Dry Socket: Signs And Solutions

After you have a tooth extracted, it is important to take care of the extraction site. Doing so is important in protecting the formation of the blood clot which aids healing in this area. If the blood clot is dislodged, then the bone and nerves of the extraction site are exposed, which can cause pain and infection called dry socket.

Signs Of Dry Socket

You usually know if you have dry socket because of the severe pain it causes. There are also a few other signs which indicate that you have developed a dry socket such as:

  • Seeing the loss of the blood clot.
  • Having a bad taste in your mouth or bad breath.
  • Seeing exposed bone in the extraction site.
  • Swelling of the lymph nodes around your neck and jaw.
  • Having a fever.

Solutions To Dry Socket

If you are showing signs of a dry socket, see your dentist as soon as you can for treatments for the pain and infection such as:

  • Flushing out the socket to clean out food and other debris.
  • Applying a medicated dressing to the area that will need to be changed daily until the pain reduces and the extraction site begins to heal.
  • Taking anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen.

Trump Clothing Line Made in China AND Mexico

As Donald Trump continues to rail about the evils of China and Mexico taking away American jobs because American companies build factories there, his hypocrisy comes out more and more. A few weeks ago it was revealed that the dress shirts for his line of clothing were made in China:

DonaldTrumpChina

And now we know that his suits are made in Mexico:

trumpmexico

But he’s totally absolved of this hypocrisy, he thinks, because he wasn’t happy about this fact:

trumpexcuse

Let me translate that for you: If I had ensured that they were made in America, it would have cost more to make them and that means I would have made less profit. And since $4 billion is not enough for me, I decided to do the very thing I am now claiming is destroying our economy so I could make even more money. Gosh Donald, that’s a brilliant excuse!

UPDATED: Walker will “make changes” / WI Legislature aims to destroy public access to drafting docs. IT TAKES EFFECT JULY 1st.

UPDATE: Gov. Scott Walker plans to work with lawmakers to change heavy restrictions on public records before the state budget is voted on, his spokeswoman said Friday. “Prior to the budget going to the full Legislature for action, Governor Walker plans to work with legislative leaders to make changes to the provisions included in the more »

Grothman: Same-Sex Marriage an Insult to Civil War Soldiers

I know, that seems like a weird headline. And it is. But Glenn Grothman, the Tea Party congresssman from Wisconsin, actually did make that argument. Allowing gay people to get married insults those who fought in the Civil War, he says, because they were fighting to make America more Christian. And he meant the north, for crying out loud.

“Our president during the Civil War was, of course, Abraham Lincoln, who was known as the most biblical of presidents, somebody who quoted the Bible a lot,” he said. “In the Civil War, some 600,000 people died in a country that was much less populated than that today. And it was a much more religious country and I think a lot of people who died fighting in that war felt they died fighting for a religious cause, you know, ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ and all that.

“I think it would shock those people who died in that war to find out the constitutional amendment which was ratified kind of as a culmination of their great efforts and their great deaths would be 150 years later, a little less than 150 years later, used by these five robed, arrogant, robed people to take this constitutional amendment and say that that constitutional amendment that was drafted after the Civil War was in fact an amendment designed to say that same-sex marriage had to be legal.”

He added that the decision is “particularly offensive” given that the 14th Amendment was “drafted by a people who felt they had just engaged in a strong religious war to further a Christian lifestyle by getting rid of slavery.”

Actually, the religious fervor was almost entirely on the pro-slavery side. Nowhere does the Bible condemn slavery, in fact it endorses slavery many, many times, including in the New Testament. The slaveowners taught Christianity to their slaves precisely because they believed it would make them more docile and less likely to revolt or try to escape. Every single secession declaration and the constitution of the Confederate States of America stated over and over again that they were seceding explicitly in order to maintain the institution of slavery, which was divinely inspired.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

WI Legislature aims to destroy public access to drafting docs. IT TAKES EFFECT JULY 1st.

I’m going to go ALL CAPS. WISCONSIN IS RULED BY ARROGANT SLIMEBALLS. I mean, it’s not enough for Wisconsin’s Republican legislators and the dairyland dictator to have one-party-rule. They demand secrecy! A motion proposed by the Joint Finance Committee today takes away our access to drafting documents. Yes, it IS part of the Wisconsin budget more »

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Communities Get A Lift As Local Food Sales Surge To $11 Billion A Year

There’s a renaissance in local and regional food, and it’s not just farmers markets in urban areas that are driving it.

On this map, the U.S. Department of Agriculture pinpoints more than 4,000 local and regional food businesses and projects — from food hubs to farm-to-school programs to initiatives to expand healthy food access to low-income communities — in every state around the country.

They’ve all contributed to the explosion in sales in local food. The USDA estimates that local food sales have grown from from about $5 billion in 2008 to $11.7 billion in 2014.

“Local food is rapidly growing from a niche market to an integrated system recognized for its economic boost to communities across the country,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tells The Salt in an interview.

The states with the most federal investment in local food initiatives, according to the USDA, include Kentucky, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama.

And, as evidence that this investment is paying off, Vilsack points to USDA’s updated Made in Rural America report.

It features the projects that the USDA has helped to support through the Local Foods, Local Places program.

Farmers' Marketat Market Square in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Farmers’ Marketat Market Square in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Brian Stansberry/Wikimedia)

So, what kinds of projects can communities get help with? Here are some examples:

  • In Barbourville, Ky., the community received technical assistance to expand a farmers market into a permanent facility and that may become a regional food hub.
  • In Clarksdale, Miss., a local non-profit got technical assistance in creating a vegetable farming-based job training program.
  • And in Fallon, Nev., a community group received technical assistance to help start a community-owned grocery store in a downtown building that had been abandoned.

So, is this boom in local food investment nationwide making it easier to get access to healthy, affordable food?

Vilsack points to new data showing that 6,400 farmers markets and other direct-to-consumer outlets now accept SNAP, or food stamps. As we’ve reported, the federal government in 2014 put put $100 million behind a simple idea: doubling the value of the benefits to buy local fruits and vegetables.

And last year SNAP recipients redeemed about $19 million worth of benefits at farmers markets.

Of course, this is just a tiny sliver of the billions of dollars spent on SNAP each year.

But according to Vilsack, “it’s millions of dollars of additional opportunity, which helps to support local communities and it’s likely to grow over time.”

Copyright 2015 NPR.