Thursday, March 24, 2011

Respond and Moon Shot

As I indicated on a previous blog, I do not have time to post often.  I am taking the lazy way out and posting an article dear to my heart.  Well, maybe that's an overstatement.  But I do get on my soapbox about the fact that the right wing are able to convince so many people of outrageous lies.  I want all of us to refute these lies whenever possible.  So I am including the list of how to do this.  Some do not apply to the average citizen, but they are still good to know.

Many bloggers posted pictures of the perigee moon.  I am posting the ones I took last Saturday night.  Because I am unable to see the horizon from my house they were taken later than I would have liked.  For better or worse, here is my contribution.  The first one is the way it looked when I downloaded it from my camera.  The last one is the edited version of the same shot. I do not know why the colors are weird. 

The middle photo is an enlargement of the moon as it first appeared in the sky behind tree branches.



6 Sadistic State Laws Conservatives Are Trying to Ram Through

By David Sirota, AlterNet
Posted on March 21, 2011, Printed on March 24, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/150320/
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said that states are the “laboratories of democracy.” Oft repeated over time, the aphorism has helped impart legitimacy to the rough and tumble of state lawmaking. We’ve heard “laboratory” and we’ve imagined staid scientists in white coats rigorously testing forward-thinking theories of societal advancement.
It’s certainly a reassuring picture—but there is a darker side of the metaphor. States are indeed laboratories. The problem is that today, those laboratories are increasingly run by mad scientists.
We’re not talking about the usual Dr. Frankensteins trying to bring alive new corporate giveaways through harebrained cuts to social services (though there are those, too). We’re talking about true legislative sadists looking to go medieval on America. Behold just six of the most telling examples:
1. The Anti-Life Pro-Life Act: After anti-abortion Republicans in Congress tried to narrow the legal definition of rape, Nebraska Republican state Sen. Mark Christensen took the assault on women’s rights one step further with a bill to legitimize the murder of abortion providers by classifying such homicides as “justified.”
2. The Let Them Eat Corporate Tax Cuts Act: As poverty rates and hunger have risen, so, too, have corporate profits. The Georgia Legislature’s response? Intensify the inequity with a bill to create a regressive sales tax on food that would then finance a brand new corporate tax cut.
3. The Demoralize the Workforce Act: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker didn’t just threaten to deploy the National Guard against state workers unless they accept big pay and pension cuts. Apparently, that was too Kent State and not enough Ludlow Massacre for him. So he pressed to statutorily bar those workers from ever again collectively bargaining.
4. The Child Labor Act: Missouri state Sen. Jane Cunningham’s proposal to eliminate child labor laws would allow corporations to employ any kid under 14 and would terminate restrictions on the number of hours that kid can be forced to work. The legislation is proof that when tea party ideologues refer to “the ’50s,” some of them aren’t referring to the 1950s—they are referring to the 1850s.
5. The Obesity and Deficit Encouragement Act: Colorado exemplifies America’s childhood obesity epidemic and its budget crisis. The state’s childhood obesity rate grew at the second-fastest rate in the country, and its $1.2 billion budget gap is threatening the state’s already underfinanced schools. Yet, despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture showing that higher soda taxes would drive down obesity, and despite such a levy raising much-needed public revenues, Colorado’s newly Republican House is pushing legislation to create a special budget-busting sales tax exemption exclusively for soda.
6. The Endorsing Your Own Demise Act: Between trying to legalize hunting with hand-thrown spears and pressing to eliminate education requirements for those seeking the office of state superintendent of schools, Montana’s Republican lawmakers are also considering legislation to officially endorse catastrophic global climate change. That’s right, in the face of a Harvard study showing that climate change could destroy Montana’s water supplies, agriculture industries and forests, state Rep. Joe Read’s bill would declare that “global warming is beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana.”
If you don’t live in one of these states, it’s easy to tell yourself that these bills don’t affect you. But history suggests that what happens in one “laboratory” is quite often replicated in others—and ultimately, in the nation’s capital. That’s why we should all hope saner minds cut short these experiments before they get even more out of control.

18 comments:

joared said...

Yeah, some of our States are passing really crazy legislation. While these are all serious issues which we don't want to see spread to other States, there has been a history of really strange laws passed across this country. One law which prompted me to try to imagine what on earth happened that could have prompted it, was a northeastern State that passed a law prohibiting whistling under water -- makes as much sense as those you describe here.

Leslie Parsley said...

Your moon shots are absolutely stunning. We had nothing anywhere as impressive as what you're displaying. I'm envious.

AlterNet's facts about Colorado's attempt to knock off taxing soda is correct. The rest of their facts are wrong. For over two years in a row Colorado has been rated as having the lowest adult obesity rates of any state in the country, so it doesn't fit that childhood obesity has grown 20% - no documentation I might add. Infact, "in 2008, only one state (Colorado) had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%."

AlterNet can be a little lose and free with facts, much like FDL. Of course, none of this detracts from the stupidity of these laws.

Darlene said...

*Joared - There are many weird laws on the books, but now the wackos are really over the top and will destroy the economy and ruin lives with their stupidity.

*tnlib - Thanks for the information on Colorado. It is my home state, but has gone very conservative since I lived there. Or maybe it was always a red state and I didn't notice.

Yes, we need to be careful about believing things and do our own research. Unfortunately, I don't have the time now.

mary said...

Beautiful photos. It was cloudy here in Missouri. Our legislature is also voting to overturn the voters' decision in November. A measure was approved to offer protections to animal raised in abysmal puppy mills. Now our Republican legislature says the voters did not really understand what they voted on. I guess we are not smart eough here - we did lect these clowns. Mary

Xtreme English said...

Missed the moon--it rained one night and was cloudy the other. well, let's see....another 18 years? I'll be 92...that's younger than my Aunt Mary, and her cholesterol was off the charts, too! Just hope my bifocals hold up....i'll read the political part as soon as I get back from the pharmacy....pills pills pills....these are good ones, though: high potency vitamin D! I'm addicted to 'em!!

Looking to the Stars said...

Wow, I LOVE your photos. You did a great job, thanks for sharing them :)

I've gotten to the point where I don't listen to them anymore, they keep passing these wierd laws & I keep thinking they have all lost their marbles (lol)

Colorado isn't the same anymore and I don't know when it changed. I just know I miss driving down the street and everybody waving to each other. I miss the sincere honest people that were the pioneers. There are less and less of us each day.

Did you see that Bob McIntyre passed away. I did a small thing under the post 'life goes on' because the family had not made it public and I was NOT going to make it public till they did. That's the respectville thing to do.

take care :)

Joy Des Jardins said...

Some of these laws just floor me Darlene....insane. What great photos...really wonderful. Thanks.

Darlene said...

*mary - Ir's so nice to see your name in my comment section. Thank you for stopping by.

Well, you and I didn't elect the clowns. I don't know what's wrong with the rest of the voters.

*Xtreme English - Maybe that's what I need; high potency Vitamin D.

"Looking to the Stars - Are you sure they had any marbles to lose? ;-)

The name Bob McIntyre rings a bell. Send me an email and tell me who he was. My Colorado memories are in mothballs.

*Joy Des Jardins - Thank you, Love, for the compliment.

Nancy said...

Darlene,

I love the Moon shots. Very well done!

Thanks for sharing them with us...

Darlene said...

*Nancy - My pleasure, Nancy.

Tabor said...

You are a breath of fresh air in shining the light on stuff that we often miss!! Your moon shots are wonderful...glad you got the same lovely moon on your side of the prairie.

Darlene said...

*Tabor - You wax poetic. Thank you. I guess that same moon was shining over all of us.

Anne said...

You don't have to live in a crazy State to be affected by terrible laws. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives in their funding bill which passed the house would eliminate the Department of Energy's office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER). This office funds studies on climate science, systems biology, genomics, bioenergy, and environmental remediation.

From an article in Science:

"It's a little like killing the messenger." says Gary Stacey, chair of the office's external advisory council (BERAC) and a professor of plant sciences at the University of Missouri, Columbia. "BER doesn't make [climate] policy. It funds scientists to provide the basic research that will improve the models, which the policymakers can then use or disregard.

"I'm baffled by this proposal," says Anna Palmisano, who headed BER until she retired from the federal government last November, noting that the office has always enjoyed good relations with Congress. "This isn't some nibble. It's a draconian step that reflects some deep-seated hostility to what BER does."

Darlene said...

*Anne - There is no logic or common sense in the alarming cuts they are proposing. I would say they have lost their minds, but I don't think they had one to begin with.

Kay Dennison said...

You forgot John Kasich of Ohio who is throwing hard-working Ohioans under the bus!!!


Love the moon photos!

Darlene said...

*Kay - I didn't forget him, because the article wasn't written by me. As I said, I was lazy and took the easy way out of letting someone speak for me. No one can forget that Ohio is protesting just like Wisconsin and I wish Ohio could impeach Kasich. I know that's not going to happen, but I hope this is his last term.

Anonymous said...

Darlene--What wonderful photos of the moon. Isn't it wonderful what a good lens can let you do? Thanks for sharing.
Cop Car

Darlene said...

*Cop Car - Thank you but the credit goes to the Canon camera and lens. I do admit, it was hard to hold the camera steady when on full zoom, so I will take credit for that. ;-)