PA GOP Wants To Divvy Up State Electoral Votes By District – Whose Redistricting Lines They Control
September 14, 2011 No CommentOddly enough, this isn’t one of the pieces of legislation pushed by our friendly corporate interests at ALEC – in fact, they’re on the record opposing elections by popular vote. But it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they dreamed up this twisted variation on what they oppose, since they do get control of redistricting. This would be a serious problem for Democrats: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Gov. Tom Corbett and state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi are proposing that the state divide up its Electoral College votes according to which candidates carried each Congressional district, plus two votes for the statewide winner. The system is used by Maine — which, despite the system, has never actually split its four electoral votes — and by Nebraska, which gave one of its five votes to Barack Obama in 2008. Pennsylvania, however, will have 20 electoral votes in the 2012 election. What’s more, the measure would give even greater meaning to the state’s redistricting for the House of Representatives, giving it a powerful effect over the presidency in addition to the House. Pennsylvania has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992, and voted for Barack Obama by 55%-44% in 2008 . Indeed, over the past 50 years it has only voted Republican in presidential landslides for the GOP: 1972, 1980, 1984, and finally 1988. While the results have sometimes been narrow for the Dems, it is a state that can be expected to vote Democratic for president in the context of a close national campaign , such as its votes for Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. Had this proposed system been in place in 2008, when Obama won the state by a ten-point margin, he in fact would have only taken 11 out of the state’s 21 electoral votes at the time — due to a combination of past Republican-led redistricting efforts to maximize their district strength, and Obama’s votes being especially concentrated within urban areas. As can be expected, the Post-Gazette reports that Democrats are attacking the proposal as a partisan power-grab, while Republicans are standing by it as a reform that would focus attention on districts throughout the state: Blasting the idea as “a disturbing effort to put their self interests and party interests ahead of the people,” Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said the plan would dangerously link the presidential vote to redistricting. In a written statement, Mr. Costa asked: “Will we now be looking at state gerrymandering that serves a larger, national agenda?” Mr. Pileggi and others disagreed, saying congressional districts that are more competitive would receive more attention and would not be overshadowed when the state leans one way or another politically. Let me tell you a little bit about state Sen. Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi: He’s an important piece of the famously corrupt Republican machine in suburban Delaware County, part of their TV-friendly “new breed”. He also served as mayor of Chester — one of the poorest cities in America, a town that’s been abused and sucked dry by the Republican powers that be for a very long time, especially its school district . He’s not much better to Philadelphia , either. He says that before they come to him for money, Philadelphia should fix patronage in city government. You’d have to know Delaware County to know how funny that is. One relevant example: Pileggi collected $35,000 as an assistant county solicitor to pad his $60,000 salary as a state senator. Funny, how that works. This is just the long way of saying that if Dominic Pileggi’s for it, I’m against it.
Continue reading …Gov. Perry Makes Light of Poor Grades in College, WaPo Tags Him ‘Anti-Intellectual’
September 14, 2011 No CommentCovering Gov. Rick Perry's Wednesday morning speech to Liberty University students , Washington Post's Phillip Rucker painted the Texas Republican as “anti-intellectual” for what amounts to a self-deprecating jokes about his grades in college: LYNCHBURG, Va. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry offered himself here Wednesday as a decidedly anti-intellectual candidate, making light of flunking out of some of his classes at Texas A&M University, and instead casting his life and presidential aspirations in deeply spiritual terms. Perry spoke of growing up with modest means in Paint Creek, Tex., of struggling academically in school and, in his late 20s, after he returned home from the Air Force, finding God. As a student at Texas A&M, Perry said, it was “my heart’s content” to be a veterinarian. He worked for a vet every summer and took advanced science classes. But the dean of the veterinary school dashed his dreams. “He said, ‘Son, I’m looking at your transcript. You want to be an animal science major,’” Perry joked. (Indeed, Perry’s transcript shows he received an “F” in organic chemistry, a “D” in veterinary anatomy and a “C” in animal breeding.”) “Four semesters of organic chemistry made a pilot out of me,” Perry joked. As he prepared for Wednesday’s visit, Perry said, “I got my Webster’s out and I just looked up the word ‘convocation’ to make sure I knew what I was walking into here.” The title of the online article is “Perry casts himself as anti-intellectual, says his life shaped by faith.” It remains to be seen if the Post's print edition softens the headline tomorrow to one that's much less loaded.
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What happens in the City of London affects everyone, but most of us know very little
Continue reading …United States in last-ditch effort to set up Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
September 14, 2011 No Comment
US fears major diplomatic embarrassment if Israelis and Palestinians collide in New York over looming request at UN for recognition of Palestinian statehood The United States, Europe and the Middle East quartet are engaged in a last-ditch effort to set up a fresh round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in an attempt to head off a major diplomatic embarrassment over the looming Palestinian request for recognition of statehood at the UN. The US is leading diplomatic pressure on Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to persuade the parties back to negotiations rather than risk a damaging collision in New York next week. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton is in telephone contact with the three delegations in the region, who are co-ordinating their efforts. Washington is keen to avoid carrying out a threat to veto a Palestinian request for full membership of the UN, a move likely to further damage America’s already battered reputation in the Middle East, particularly following its strong backing for moves towards self-determination in the region this year. But some at the heart of the diplomatic manoeuvres believe that it is now too late to stop the Palestinians taking their case to the UN and are concentrating on damage limitation by seeking a clear position for a return to the negotiation table after the world body meets. The Palestinians insist that they will not be diverted from making a formal request at the security council for full member status, and that diplomatic interventions have come too late. They claim to be resisting pressure, which included President Obama this week describing their move as “counterproductive”. Washington, fearing isolation in wielding its veto, is seeking support from Britain in particular in its stand against the Palestinian resolution if it comes to a vote. Two other security council members, Russia and China, have openly backed the Palestinian move. France is sympathetic to the Palestinian demand but is seeking a compromise resolution that could be supported by Germany, which is opposed to UN recognition of a Palestinian state, in the hope of forging a common EU position. Britain has so far not declared how it would vote but diplomatic sources say that it is torn between American pressure to support the US position in the security council and concerns about what such a move would do to the UK’s standing in a changing Middle East, particularly while it is still heavily involved in Libya. The former British prime minister, Tony Blair, now special envoy of the Middle East quartet, was Wednesday working on a text to put to Israeli and Palestinian leaders outlining a basis on which talks might resume. He was liaising with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and US special envoys David Hale and Dennis Ross in the region, and by telephone with Clinton. The former British prime minister expects to remain in the Middle East until flying to New York at the weekend. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has said he will take the request for full recognition as a state to the UN security council next week. But some Arab and European nations are pressuring him to downgrade the request to the general assembly, which can only offer observer status to the Palestinians, to save Washington the embarrassment of having to wield its veto. The Palestinians insist their approach to the UN does not preclude a return to negotiations later. “We see no contradictions between doing both,” said Dr Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior member of the team heading to New York. The UN bid was “the beginning of the game, not the end. It is a process”. But diplomatic efforts to secure a breakthrough on a return to talks are constrained by Palestinian demands of guarantees that any future negotiations would be based on the pre-1967 borders plus a total settlement freeze. Israel is unlikely to sign up to that. The International Crisis Group warned this week that any climbdown by the Palestinians now “could decisively discredit [Mahmoud Abbas's] leadership, embolden his foes and trigger unrest among his people”. It went on: “Most Palestinians do not strongly support the UN bid; but they would strongly oppose a decision to retract it without suitable compensation.” Israel was also making last-minute efforts to persuade undeclared countries not to vote for a Palestinian resolution, although it has acknowledged it will lose a vote at the general assembly. The Palestinians claim to have the support of around 130 countries so far, just beyond the two-thirds majority needed for a resolution to succeed. Israeli ministers have threatened retaliatory measures should the Palestinian bid succeed. They include tearing up the Oslo accords, under which the Palestinian Authority was given control of parts of the West Bank and Gaza, annexing the West Bank settlements and withholding tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the PA. The US Congress is also threatening to cut off financial aid to the Palestinians. Israel Palestinian territories United Nations US foreign policy Hillary Clinton Mahmoud Abbas Middle East Tony Blair United States Harriet Sherwood Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The campaign to repeal Ohio Governor John Kasich’s anti-collective bargaining SB5 law released a new video Tuesday, called “Loophole.” The video takes on Kasich and other Ohio Republicans for the hypocrisy they have shown by protecting themselves and their friends while attacking firefighters, police and other public servants: Politicians didn’t have to attack Ohio workers like firefighters, police officers, teachers and nurses, they could have chosen a different path. To make matters worse at the same time they were asking hardworking Ohioans to make ‘shared sacrifices’ they were literally giving out huge pay raises and bonuses to their staff members. Ohioans deserve to be treated fairly and won’t put up with double standards. Now is the time to volunteer to make sure Ohioans know the truth. If you are in the Ohio area, you can volunteer to help the campaign or you can contribute to support it from anywhere.
Continue reading …We’ll call this ” The Full Gingrich .” Yes, love, honor, obey – and ditch when they get sick. Finally Pat Robertson has come out on the side of the suffering – just like Christ. Those suffering with having a wife who’s no longer up to snuff. Asked what a man should do whose wife has Alzheimer’s, an increasingly decrepit Pat Robertson says, “I know it sounds cruel but if he’s going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over.” In a week of Republicans cheering for record executions and wooing for the uninsured to drop dead – does this even get a blip on our disgust radar? In a word: YES. This dude is twisted. If a secular humanist went on national television telling people to divorce their sick spouses – it would be the Fourth Horseman of the Atheists Want to Drink White Babies’ Blood and Make You Gay-calypse! Every traffic jam would be blamed on the statement. “That seven-minute increase to your commute is a sign from GOD that marriage is near extinction and GOD is angry!” Haven’t these bible-babblers been out allegedly “defending” marriage?! Hasn’t the Religious Right for an entire seven or eight years now been on one long parade proclaiming the queers will destroy matrimony if they get to legally do it? And now there’s this Crypt Keeper (too obscure? Gollum?) guy – arguably with the highest media profile in the Religious Right – saying that divorce is a way better option than being with a sick broad? This is probably Obama’s fault… Hat tip Right Wing Watch
Continue reading …Michael Moore Belongs on Same Shelf With Thomas Paine, Says NYT Book Critic
September 14, 2011 No Comment
The front of Wednesday’s New York Times Arts section featured Dwight Garner’s review of the new book by left-wing documentary film-maker Michael Moore, “Here Comes Trouble — Stories From My Life.” Garner, a fan, called Moore (infamous for his anti-conservative conspiracy theories and vicious, purposely misleading mockery of Republicans) a “necessary irritant,” and in one nauseating paragraph suggested Moore’s book belonged alongside works by the revolutionary founding activist Thomas Paine. In 2001 Christopher Hitchens published a slim, engaging how-to book titled “Letters to a Young Contrarian.” Among its most consequential advice was this: “The noble title of ‘dissident’ must be earned rather than claimed; it connotes sacrifice and risk rather than mere disagreement.” Comes now Michael Moore — the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, best-selling writer, right-wing bogeyman, blue-collar provocateur, wearer of baseball caps, necessary irritant — with a plump, slatternly book that could probably appear under that same title. A better title for Mr. Moore’s new volume, “Here Comes Trouble,” however, might be: The Education of an American Misfit. …. Mr. Moore’s coming of age as a working-class malcontent is, however, something to behold. It’s the story of a big lunk who learns to yoke his big mouth to a sense of purpose. It persuades you to take Mr. Moore seriously, and it belongs on a shelf with memoirs by, and books about, nonconformists like Mother Jones, Abbie Hoffman, Phil Ochs, Rachel Carson, Harvey Pekar and even Thomas Paine . Mr. Moore — disheveled, cranky, attention seeking, too eager to pick a fight — is easy to satirize. But he could nearly get away with branding his camera with the words oncescrawled on Woody Guthrie’s guitar: This machine kills fascists.
Continue reading …Synthetic DNA added to yeast cells, paving way for ‘evolution’ on demand
September 14, 2011 No Comment
Scientists’ feat could lead to better biofuels and vaccines, and is a significant step towards completely synthetic organisms Life forms have been created that carry strands of genetic material designed and built from scratch in the lab, paving the way for on-demand “evolution” of organisms. Scientists made sections of chromosomes, the long molecules that bear DNA, and transferred them into yeast cells, of the kind normally used in baking. The cells adopted the new genetic code as part of their normal cellular machinery and, to the scientists’ surprise, appeared as healthy as their natural counterparts. The feat is a big step towards the manufacture of completely synthetic organisms that could be designed to churn out biofuels, vaccines and industrial chemicals, the researchers said.said Jef Boeke, who led the study at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Studies of bugs with synthetic DNA are widely anticipated to shed light on some of the toughest questions in biology, such as what is the minimal suite of genes required for life on Earth. “We have created a research tool that not only lets us learn more about yeast biology, but also holds out the possibility of someday designing genomes for specific purposes, like making new vaccines or medications,” said Jef Boeke, who led the study at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland . Built into the synthetic chromosomes are genetic sequences that, when triggered by a chemical, dramatically rearrange the organism’s genes. The technique, known as genome scrambling, allows scientists to accelerate the evolution of the organisms on demand, by creating thousands of new strains and collecting the best survivors. The advance was made possible by powerful techniques that have emerged from rapid developments in genetics, computing and synthetic chemistry. Boeke’s work centred on a yeast known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, one of the most well-understood organisms in the field of genetics. It has 16 chromosomes that together carry around 6000 genes. The team started with a digital version of one yeast chromosome, which they edited on a computer according to three simple rules. These required the scientists to streamline the chromosome by removing non-essential genes without compromising the organism’s fitness. Further sections of genetic code were then written into the chromosome to allow scientists to rearrange the genes in future experiments. Once the first chromosome was finalised, Boeke’s team took a second chromosome and edited that in a similar way. In the next stage of the experiment, Boeke’s team used feedstocks of chemicals to manufacture the new chromosomes from scratch. They then dropped these into growing colonies of yeast cells, which replaced parts of their natural chromosomes with the synthetic versions. The yeast cells’ genetic makeover was modest, amounting to changes in only one percent of the organism’s entire genome, but Boeke was still intrigued to see the organisms thrive. “They are remarkably healthy and to us that’s incredibly exciting because it means our design is sound and we can play all the games we are fantasising about,” Boeke told the Guardian. The study is reported in the journal, Nature . Boeke has recently developed more advanced methods for designing chromosomes but for these experiments, the work involved hours of meticulous editing on the computer. “It was unbelieveably tedious and it’s almost a miracle the yeasts grows, because the potential for errors that could have occured is prodigious,” he said. To see what happened when the yeast cells jumbled their genetic code, Boeke added a chemical that yeast does not normally come into contact with — the female sex hormone, oestrogen. This caused wholesale rearrangements of the organisms’ genes, but also removed some genes entirely. “After scrambling, it’s a very different story,” said Boeke. “Most of the yeast are dead, there are a lot of essential genes missing and there are a lot of sick puppies in there that aren’t as fit as natural yeast.” Ultimately, the process of rearranging and deleting genes from the yeast cells should produce strains that survive with the bare minimum set of genes needed to sustain life, Boeke said. But the process has more practical implications, by allowing scientists to direct the evolution of yeast cells, until they are better than those in use by industry. “Man and yeast have this ancient relationship. We’ve been brewing beer and making bread since before the written word,” said Boeke. “Nowadays, a major share of fermentation is done using yeast, and that’s everything from making vaccines to chemicals and biofuel production. “All of those industries are actively looking for yeast that makes their favourite product better, whether it’s more efficiently, with a higher yield, or in special conditions. “Industrial geneticists are always looking for new tools for their toolbox and this will become an important part of that.” Genetics Biology Biochemistry and molecular biology Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
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Cabinet office ‘nudge unit’ encourages use of product banned in many countries, in bid to reduce smoking-related deaths The government’s “nudge unit” wants to encourage the use of smokeless nicotine cigarettes, banned in many countries around the world, in an attempt to reduce the numbers killed in the UK by smoking diseases each year. The Cabinet Office’s behavioural insight team – better known as the nudge unit – wants to adopt the new technology because policy officials believe the rigid “quit or die” approach to smoking advice no longer works. Rather, they want nicotine addiction to be managed to help smokers who otherwise won’t quit – an approach the unit believes could prevent millions of smoking deaths. Ten million people in the UK smoke, and smoking claims 80,000 lives a year. The nudge unit’s first annual report, published today, says the unit – the first of its kind around the world – has, in the face of criticism, implemented a series of measures they believe could save thousands of lives a year, as well as £100m over the course of the next parliament. Ideas already being rolled out include “nudging” people to donate organs by asking someone to opt out rather than opt in when filling out an online driving licence application. The report also says the government is to change tax forms to tell people how many people in their area have paid their taxes ahead of them. Now the unit wants to explore and encourage new products that deliver nicotine to people’s lungs but without the harmful toxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke that kill. The annual report reads: “It will be important to get the regulatory framework for these products right, to encourage new products. A canon of behaviour change is that it is much easier to substitute a similar behaviour than to extinguish an entrenched habit (an example was the rapid switch from leaded to unleaded fuel). If alternative and safe nicotine products can be developed which are attractive enough to substitute people away from traditional cigarettes, they could have the potential to save 10,000s of lives a year.” Current alternatives to smoking range from smokeless tobacco to the Swedish snuff-like product Snus, which is illegal in the UK. Versions of smoke-free cigarettes are illegal in Australia, and banned in Canada, Brazil, Singapore and Thailand because side-effects haven’t been tested. But experts have advised the UK government that the nicotine contained in some new, smoke-free cigarettes is no more harmful than caffeine in coffee. A cabinet office source said: “A lot of countries are moving to ban this stuff; we think that’s a mistake.” John Britton, professor of epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, told the Guardian that on top of the current smokeless range – which includes electronic or “e-cigarettes” that simulate smoking by producing an inhaled mist – there are three or four devices in different stages of development. But he said some companies have been reluctant to develop this technology because they had expected it to be as tightly controlled as pharmaceutical drugs. Britton said: “If a manufacturer makes a health claim for anything then it becomes a drug, and drugs have to be regulated with tight controls. The current nicotine replacements are sold as drugs; however, e-cigarettes contain nicotine but get around this by making no health claim and so can be sold freely, but with little or no information on safety or standards. What we’re asking for is a regulation change to bring all nicotine products into a light-touch regime that will guarantee reasonable purity and safety standards but make them as available as cigarettes in a shop.” The Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is looking into approving these devices for use. If it finds in their favour, the government is likely to push for them to be placed prominently in shops alongside tobacco cigarettes, where they would be sold at a cheaper rate. The unit is keen to engage with those critics who believe its analysis and intervention in people’s behaviour is “nanny statism”. David Halpern, the unit’s head, told the Guardian: “As with seatbelts and the smoking ban, these ideas were unpopular at first but after a while when you explain them to people, they understand and say, ‘Yeah, alright then.’ “A year in,” Halpern added, “we’re much more confident about how well this can work, and the early trials have also made us much more confident about public acceptability. There’s no doubt it can save many lives and hundreds of millions of pounds. In fact, our problem has become that we have so many inquiries from across Whitehall, we have to turn down many of the requests for help.” Smoking Health Cancer Health policy Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
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enlarge Credit: Census Bureau Mean Household Income 1978-2010 The evil Census Bureau released some economic data which tells us that the rich keep getting richer, the middle class remains stagnant and the poor are even poorer. So while the poorest Americans actually make less than they did in 1978, and the middle class has seen its income stagnate, the richest Americans have done far better. And the data in the Census report actually obscures the extent to which the wealthy have gained while everyone else has been stuck in neutral, because it doesn’t break out the richest one percent, whose incomes have really soared . Unsurprisingly, the Census Bureau’s Gini Index of Income Inequality shows a steady increase in income inequality over the past four decades. — It’s no coincidence that all of this has taken place while the nation’s political and media elite favor policy changes that further rig the system against the poor and middle class and behave as though the only tax policy that matters is tax policy that affects the rich . Just as it’s no coincidence that elites in both politics and media have financial incentives to favor policies that help the rich at the expense of the rest of the country. But we need more tax cuts and austerity measures across the board based on what evidence? When I saw The Debate episode in the final season of West Wing back in 2005, it got a lot of attention because it was airing live. Much of Alan Alda’s entire economic policy centered around tax cuts, tax cuts and tax cuts. It made me chuckle, but looking back on it now, Lawrence O’Donnell just nailed it. (I couldn’t find a longer version of this portion of the episode) What it means to be a Liberal.
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