Photos From Possibly Last Legal Sharing Of Food
By Food Not Bombs In HoustonAnnise Parker Says It Has To Stop

post from Texas Liberal on 19 March 2012 11:37:42 PM. © Texas Liberal

This evening I attended what may be the last legal sharing of food here in Houston by Food Not Bombs. Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Houston City Council are considering a city ordinance that would criminalize some acts of sharing food with the homeless in Houston. Above you see what may soon be illegal. These [...]

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Open Thread for Night Owls: Gas prices could be
less already if...

post from Daily Kos on 19 March 2012 11:30:03 PM. © Daily Kos

Open Thread for Night Owls How much impact will gasoline prices have on voting in the Obama v. Romney contest in November? Hard to know. What's clear is that the desperate Republicans are make them an issue as long they think it will generate a few more votes for them. To do that, however, they've got to convince voters that it's Obama's fault prices are going up. The reality is that it's GOP policies, including the bomb-bomb-bomb Iran talk, the build-build-build Keystone XL pipeline talk, the drill-baby-drill everywhere talk and the no-no-no talk about a higher CAFE standard.

Adam Siegel takes apart that opposition:

Without even considering the impact of truck and other large vehicle standards, the strengthening of the light-vehicle CAFE standards via Obama Administration working with the automobile industry is projected to reduce U.S. oil demand by 2.2 million barrels/day by 2025 (or about 40 percent of current U.S. production and in the range of ten times what might occur from a no-holds barred ?Drill, Baby, Drill? regime ignoring environmental consequences).
Very simply, if we believe the [...] ?supply/demand curve?, this reduction of U.S. demand (negagallons) is a direct equivalent to increased supply and should reduce overall fuel prices (and thus save money not just for those driving the higher mpg vehicles but for everyone who goes to the pump). This value stream has been, by the way, almost uniformly ignored when discussing the payoff from CAFE standard strengthening ? in fact, this ?indirect? savings might be three (or even more) times greater than the direct savings that drivers will have due to having to buy fewer gallons of gasoline. (And that calculation, of course, doesn?t even begin to account for the externalities of America?s oil addiction from security costs to health issues to environmental impacts to ?) Simply put, the opposition to strengthening CAFE standards over the years has [led] to greater 2012 US oil demand, higher gasoline prices, and increased US vulnerability to global oil price and supply fluctuations . Opposing tightened CAFE standards is an argument for extending this problem indefinitely into the future.

In other words, if only dumb opposition hadn't block a steady, gradual increase in the standards over the past 37 years, our automobiles would be more efficient already than they will likely be in 2025. We would already have far less need to burn gasoline and the prices would have less demand pressure boosting them higher.

"We would already if only" is an expression that applies pretty much across the board to energy use in the United States.

Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2009:

When all else fails with your discredited political party, you might as well try bringing in new blood to shake things up.
It's a logical idea - if something fails, do something else. And Michael Steele is certainly new blood for the Republican Party...except as we've seen, the Republicans don't like him very much.
In his first quarter as the GOP el jefe (well, aside from one rather portly Oxy-Contin addled blowhard on the airwaves), Steele has offered a lot of "off-the-hook" change we really can truly believe in, but so far, he's failed to deliver financially for the GOP.
The Steele Knight brought home the bacon to the tune of $5.1 million in February, his first full month on the job.
Liz Sidoti thinks this might not be all that bad, as it's about what they brought in in January, prior to the Steele Era, with Mike Duncan (putting the "lame" in "lame-duck") as their chair.

Tweet of the Day:

Every time the Twitter site crashes, millions of people around the world get things done.
? @BorowitzReport via web

High Impact Posts are here. Top Comments are here.

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-Owls-Gas-prices-could-be-less-already-if-

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Open Thread - Marriage Proposal at Sens-Leafs
Game

post from Crooks and Liars on 19 March 2012 11:30:00 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Marriage Proposal @ Sens-Leafs Game

Click here to view this media

Love was in the air this St. Patrick's Day as the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs took a break from play for a marriage proposal

A break from the usual clichéd marriage proposals at sporting events. The NHL has really been breaking down barriers lately, almost alone among major sports leagues. Witness this You Can Play video just released.

IMPORTANT SITE NOTE: Remember when Patrick McHenry tried to humiliate Elizabeth Warren at a committee hearing? We believe Patsy Keever is about to turn the tables on North Carolina's tiny little reactionary. If she beats him, Congress will suffer one less corporate shill. Her straight talk and commonsense are refreshing, and not what voters in western North Carolina are used to hearing from their current Congressman. Please join us on Tuesday (tomorrow), when Patsy will be joining us for a live discussion online here at CrooksandLiars.com -- 2pm in North Carolina/11am PDT.

Open thread below...

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Why Trayvon Martin is not "America's problem."

post from field negro on 19 March 2012 11:00:22 PM. © field negro

So I was listening to a talk radio host here in Philly on my drive home today talk about the Trayvon Martin case. Dude was saying that he has sons who are Trayvon's age and that they are prone to wear hoodies every now and then. "But for the grace of God go I" is what he said. Sorry Mr. Smerconish, with all due respect, your sons would have not been shot to death on that fateful day in Central Florida. Your sons do not look like Trayvon Martin.

This is one of the benefits of white privilege that most whites take for granted. In a "color aroused" society, you don't have to worry about how you will be perceived by Joe Public. I am fortunate enough to be able to go to some very nice establishments, and I am always aware of what I wear to certain places. It shouldn't have to be that way, but it is. Unless you are a famous black person (and even when you are), you just do not get the benefit of the doubt. Those "color aroused" instincts always take over and makes things uncomfortable for certain people. Unfortunately, sometimes the results can be deadly.

Some pundits worry and wonder why this particular case is not "America's problem" and why it is only a black one:

"Trayvon Martin, like so many ?suspicious-looking? young black males with similar "fates, did not have that luxury. No one can hide his or her skin color and, in the context of vigilante violence, the false threat of black skin is a uniquely black male problem. That doesn?t mean that those who have not experienced it cannot see why it is so obviously troublesome, nor does it exonerate non-black people from the responsibility of demanding a more just legal system that sends a clear enough message that murders like Martin?s are so unacceptable that they will, for the most part, go away. That lack of joint responsibility may be the single most troubling part of this story.

When Caylee Anthony disappeared, Nancy Grace almost single-handedly decided for us that this was America?s Problem. For a good year, this was America?s Problem. This was America?s Problem despite the fact that, by the time Caylee?s mother was arrested and acquitted, there really wasn?t anything anyone could do about it. Black media leaders had to cover Casey Anthony?s trial, too. And Joran Van Der Sloot?s. And Amanda Knox?s. The lack of reciprocity, particularly in cases with black victims, is stark and needs to be addressed." [Source]

It "needs to be addressed", but believe me, if it's not, we won't be surprised.
As Americans we do have a lot in common, but unfortunately, problems like this isn't one of them.

Finally, Rick Santorum came out against pornography the other day; and he has been forceful in his condemnation of this particular phenomenon in A-merry-can life.

I admire the guy's passion, but if he really wants to do away with pornography he has to stop posing shirtless for all the world to see. I, like, Justice Stewart, know pornography when I see it. That pic, my friends, was pornographic.

*Pic courtesy of The Grio.

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Woman in Indiana faces 45 years in prison for
"attempted feticide" after attempted suicide

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 19 March 2012 11:00:18 PM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

The War on Women continues. Katha Pollitt (my emphasis and paragraphing; h/t the excellent aggregator Dictynna's Net):

In December 2010 Shuai was running a Chinese restaurant in Indianapolis with her boyfriend, Zhiliang Guan, by whom she was eight months pregnant. Just before Christmas, he informed her that he was married and had another family, to which he was returning. When Shuai begged him to stay, he threw money at her and left her weeping on her knees in a parking lot.

Despairing, she took rat poison and wrote a letter in Mandarin saying she was killing herself and would ?take this baby with me to Hades?; friends got her to the hospital just in time to save her life. Eight days later her baby, Angel, was delivered by Caesarean section and died of a cerebral hemorrhage within four days.

Three months later, the newly elected prosecutor, Terry Curry?a Democrat?brought charges, claiming that the rat poison that almost killed Shuai had killed her baby. If convicted, she faces forty-five to sixty-five years in prison.

It is hard to know where to begin listing what?s wrong with this case. Consider the health ramifications: attempting suicide is not a crime in Indiana. It?s the tragic result of mental illness, depression and extreme emotional distress; and it?s not uncommon for pregnant women to seriously consider it, or even try it.

As Pollitt says, there's a lot wrong here. For starters:

According to a 2010 study in Obstetrics & Gynecology, suicide is the fifth leading cause of death among pregnant women. Pregnant women in crisis need and deserve compassion and treatment. But if Shuai is convicted, what pregnant woman will seek help? ?Every major medical and public health organization that has considered the issue has concluded that it is dangerous for maternal and fetal health to hold women criminally liable for their pregnancy outcomes,? says Emma Ketteringham, director of legal advocacy for National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), which is co-counsel to Shuai?s defense.

Pollitt unpacks the way this kind of law, which was originally designed to be used against violent abusers of pregnant women, is being turned against the women themselves.

Of course, that's all part of the plan, part of the "antiabortion strategy to build up the legal status of the fetus as a person in so many parts of the law that when the Supreme Court finally revisits Roe v. Wade, a woman?s right to terminate her pregnancy will look like a bizarre exception."

Abuse of these laws is certain, however. If a woman is responsible during pregnancy for any behavior that produces a bad outcome, what's to stop a zealous prosecutor from making quite a reputation for "justice" in a country where "15-20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage."

It's a target-rich environment, in a country where opportunistic prosecutors are slobbered like gods by a Death Wish?worshiping public. We do love us our punishing prosecutors, don't we. (Psst: It's why our kids won't have Social Security.)

As Pollitt says:

[T]he state portrays Shuai as a heartless and calculating home wrecker ... But who is really being cold-blooded here? The woman who tried to kill herself, who held her baby for five hours as her life slipped away and wept inconsolably when she died? ... Or the prosecution[?]

"Newly-elected prosecutor" Terry Curry ? you with the license to punish. You wouldn't be trading lives for votes in Marion County Indiana, would you?

GP

(To follow on Twitter or to send links: @Gaius_Publius)

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Late Night FDL: The Internet Continues to Kill
Journalism

post from Firedoglake on 19 March 2012 11:00:16 PM. © Firedoglake

If you think something's fishy -- as was clearly the case in both the Daisey fiasco and the KONY2012 business from day one -- then don't put it in your paper or on your air unless you're sure. If you suspect someone of being less than truthful, listen to[...]

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BREAKING: U.S. Department of Justice announces
investigation into shooting death of Trayvon Martin

post from ThinkProgress on 19 March 2012 11:00:03 PM. © ThinkProgress

Statement: “The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation. The department also is providing assistance to and cooperating with the state officials in their investigation into the incident. With all federal civil rights crimes, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally and with the specific intent to do something which the law forbids ? the highest level of intent in criminal law. Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws.”

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C&L's Late Night Music Club With Richard Hell and
the Voidoids

post from Crooks and Liars on 19 March 2012 11:00:00 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Title: Blank GenerationArtist: Richard Hell And The Voidoids

Here's a good one from New York's early punk scene. Got a favorite punk song?

And if you're in the mood for classical, our sister site Newstalgia has The Parrenin Quartet playing music of Martinet - 1957.

D.I.Y.: The Blank Generation - The New York Scene (1975-78)

Artist: Various Artists Price: $35.00 (As of 03/19/12 05:23 pm details)

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George Zimmerman's Collaborators

post from The American Prospect on 19 March 2012 10:53:46 PM. © The American Prospect

Particularly after Charles Blow devoted his column last week to the subject, the so-far unprosecuted shooting of Trayvon Martin has deservedly gotten a lot of attention. For good reason, much of this attention has focused on Florida's odious 2005 revisions to its law of self-defense. It was entirely predictable that changes to the law eliminating the duty to retreat and permitting the use of deadly force if an individual "reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony" would lead to situations such as the Martin shooting. That is, it was predictable that it would lead to a case in which someone would be getting off scot-free for shooting an unarmed teenager whose only crime appears to be "walking while being African-American in a white suburban neighborhood."

Still, it is important to note that this is not quite a case where a bad statute has compelled a tragically unjust result. To be sure, the Florida self-defense law is terrible. But, nonetheless, the language of the law requires that a perceived threat be "reasonable." To put it mildly, it is far from self-evident that Zimmerman's perception of threat of "death or great bodily harm" was reasonable. Given that 1) Martin was armed only with Skittles, 2) Zimmerman outweighed Martin by about 100 pounds, 3) when Zimmerman encountered Martin the former was in an SUV while the latter was on foot, 4) that Martin was not engaged in any criminal activity when Zimmerman stopped to accost him, and 5) the police specifically told Zimmerman not to engage with Martin, it seems clear that Zimmerman's alleged fear for his life was presumptively unreasonable. Certainly, the police have the discretion to charge him under the language of the statute unless they know something they aren't revealing. Some, but not all Florida judges have held that the statute grants immunity to killers like Zimmerman.

If Zimmerman gets away with killing Martin, it's not just the statute that bears responsibility. It's how Florida's policemen, prosecutors, judges, and juries have constructed its ambiguous language. Many actors will have shared in creating the injustice should the killer of Trayvon Martin go unpunished. And unfortunately, the support that this irrational construction of the statute seems to have will make it more difficult to change the law, no matter how unworkable it proves to be.

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The Rush From Limbaugh

post from Media Matters for America - Latest Items on 19 March 2012 10:48:28 PM. © Media Matters for America - Latest Items

Media Matters has compiled the following list of 56 companies who have issued public statements confirming that they are excluding their ads from running on the The Rush Limbaugh Show.

56 Advertisers Abandon Limbaugh's Show

In the wake of Rush Limbaugh's misogynistic attacks on Sandra Fluke, numerous advertisers are abandoning his show. It is also being reported that well over 100 companies have taken proactive steps to ensure that their ads don't run on Limbaugh's program and similar shows.

Given the range of advertisers(from national brands running local ads to local advertisers), this list shouldnot be considered exhaustive, but rather illustrative. If you know of anadvertiser that has publicly stated it will no longer run ads on Rush Limbaugh's program but isabsent from the list, you can submit that information here.

Below is the list of 56 advertisers, who have publicly confirmed that their adswill not run on Limbaugh's program.

AccuQuote Life Insurance

3/5/12

Aetna, local advertiser

3/7/12

Allstate Insurance

3/5/12

American Heart Association

3/8/12

AOL

3/5/12

Aquarium of the Pacific, local advertiser