Tea Party Racism and Bigotry

Seriously overboard, don’t you think?

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-M.D.) had been spit on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-G.A.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a ‘ni–er.’ And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a “faggot,” as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president’s speech, shrugged off the incident.

As Clyburn went on to note, this is not about health care to these people. It’s about their privileged status taking a hit, just like it did during the Civil Rights Movement. The best way to respond is to continue moving forward and expand what should be a universal right for all. Read more at futuremajority.com

Bernie Sanders

Fight Republicans’ hypocrisy

THE AMERICAN people are angry — for good reason. About 20 percent of our workforce is unemployed or under-employed, health insurance premiums are soaring while more and more people lose coverage, we are looking at record-breaking deficits, global warming threatens the planet, young people can’t afford college, and we are fighting two wars.

Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, among many Republicans, is now a critic of reconciliation. But back in 2005, when the Republicans used it, he sang a different tune: “All this rule of the Senate does is allow a majority of the Senate to take a position and pass a piece of legislation… Is there something wrong with majority rules?’’ Gregg was right then. He’s wrong now. Read more at www.boston.com

Too many articles have proclaimed, exasperated: Where are young women in the feminist/reproductive justice movement?

Look no further.

We are unapologetic activists for reproductive justice.

We are Jewish, Christian, atheist, Muslim, Wiccan, secular. We are mixed race, African-American, Latina, White, bi-racial. We are completing a graduate degree, we didn’t finish high school. We have had abortions, children, miscarriages. We have IUDs and we use rhythm beads. We work in reproductive health and we twitter about being #prochoice. We call ourselves feminists, womanists, womyn, wimmin, grrls, women. We are cis gender, we are trans women, we’re gender queer. We have sex with anything that moves, we are abstinent, we are poly amorous. Read more at abortiongang.org

Friday, March 19th, 2010

A group representing most of America’s 59,000 Catholic nuns has written to Congress and said that Obama’s health care plan should be passed. Stupak, instead, has chosen to diss the nuns. Last night he went on TV and dug his heels in — he said he intended to stop this health care bill and he didn’t care what anyone had to say.

It turns out that Stupak has been living in a subsidized room in the “C Street House,” run by the infamous right-wing Christian cult “The Family.”

So am I led to believe that Bart Stupak lives in a brothel and belongs to a cult?

It’s about controlling women, period. It’s about sticking your nose in other people’s business.Read more at docs.google.com

Power plants ‘not making a dent’ in mercury emissions

• Power plant mercury emissions have actually risen since 2000 (the first year this data was reported) in several states, including Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, and others.

AEP’s Gavin Power Plant in Ohio emitted 937 pounds of mercury in 2008, a 115.4 percent increase from 2007. This drastic increase in mercury emissions appears to be due largely to a change in the coal burned at the plant in 2008.Read more at blogs.wvgazette.com

Duke study links high fructose corn syrup with liver damage

The corn industry is facing a new challenge over the health risks posed by high fructose corn syrup. A new study out of the Duke University Medical Center indicates that high consumption of the controversial sugar substitute is associated with liver scarring or fibrosis, similar to the damage caused by heavy consumption of alcohol.Read more at www.bizjournals.com

“Welcome to Guyana!”

“Welcome to Guyana” – a sentence I’d been waiting to hear for 70 days, 5 hours and 22 minutes!

After the interviews and welcoming party, we made our way to the Princess Hotel and I was handed a pina colada and shown to my room where I discovered the next wonder. A bed. A bed where I didn’t have to worry about being run down by freighters. A bed where I didn’t have to gasp for air as the night wore on. A bed where I could sleep for a whole night without constantly being thrown into the wall by a rogue wave.

Once I found out a casino was attached to the hotel, my brother and I made our way there to see if my head would explode from sensory overload! Luckily, it didn’t, for I seem to have found my head in the clouds again; this time literally.

But you can hear about that another time. I’ve got a boat to tidy up for shipping, and a plane to catch to take me on the next adventure. Read more at rowforwater.com

Nestle says drops palm oil supplier after report

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Nestle, the world’s biggest food group, said it had stopped buying palm oil from Indonesia’s Sinar Mas due to concerns about rainforest destruction, following a similar move by consumer goods firm Unilever. Read more at www.reuters.com