Hail Cthulhu! What Ms. Lovecraft Teaches. Or, Why
Conservatives Fear Sex Ed in Schools.

post from Firedoglake on 24 October 2012 08:37:54 PM. © Firedoglake

The hideous pagan abominations of sex education are revealed in Late Bloomer, a horrifying coming of age story from Craig Macneill and Clay McLeod. All the terrifying implications and outright fears of conservative are laid bare as the blood curdling [...]

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The Chronicles of Mitt: Oct 24, 2012

post from Daily Kos on 24 October 2012 08:30:04 PM. © Daily Kos

Hello, human diary. It is I again, Mitt Romney, your better.

Today another stupid candidate for something said something stupid and I was asked whether or not I still endorsed that candidate even though they were stupid. I do not remember which one.

I told my campaign to tell the press that of course we still endorsed that person, and to say it was because of some principle. In truth, it is simply the most expedient approach. We do not have time to look through all of the candidates we have endorsed to determine whether or not they are stupid. It takes a large amount of effort just to keep my vice presidential unit from saying something stupid; there is no time left for making sure other candidates are not saying stupid things. I am running for office, for Pete's sake.

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t-Oct-24-2012

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Fracking Permit Granted One Mile From PA Nuclear
Power Plant

post from Crooks and Liars on 24 October 2012 08:00:16 PM. © Crooks and Liars

I mean, what could possibly go wrong? This article doesn't mention where the company plans to inject their fracking waste, which is the practice that's now associated with triggering seismic activity. As long as it's legal under laws written back in 1979 doesn't mean common sense has to enter into the decision to do what they want near a nuclear power plant. After all, if they do trigger an earthquake that damages the plant and contaminates the area, it probably won't be the frackers who will pick up the cost of dealing with it. They'll declare bankruptcy and walk away:

Chesapeake has a permit to frack one mile from the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, Pa. Whether that is cause for alarm, experts can?t say.
But one thing is for sure -- in the midst of the Marcellus boom, drilling companies are going to keep fracking, pockmarking the earth with their mile-deep wells, blasting away at the subterranean feature that is the Marcellus shale.
As the fracking continues, does anyone, driller or geologist, know what really lies beneath the surface? Does the improbability of seismic activity as a result of fracking become more likely as more wells are drilled?
The new permit granted to Chesapeake is located 1.06 miles from FirstEnergy Corp. nuclear facility in Shippingport. According to DEP records, the permit for an unconventional well was issued to Chesapeake on Oct. 3. Drilling has not yet started.
DEP spokesperson John Poister said there are no required setbacks specifically relating to a required distance between unconventional wells and nuclear facilities, just a blanket regulation requiring a 500-foot setback from any building to an unconventional well.
With more than a mile setback distance, the newly permitted well would be well within the state?s regulations. But Poister did say he is not aware of any other nuclear power station located in an area where shale drilling is occurring.
According to Dave Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project for the Union of Concerned Scientists, the NRC issued a Regulatory Guide in 1979 to help the industry review potential nuclear sites. But this code didn?t allow for changes in sites that might occur over time --such as the Marcellus shale and resulting fracking boom in Pennsylvania.
[...] And seismic activity has been a growing concern for nuclear facilities following the earthquake damage last year to the Fukushima reactor complex in Japan. A 2010 NRC report found that Unit 1 at the Beaver Valley Power Station was ranked the fifth-most vulnerable nuclear reactor in the nation to earthquake damage. FirstEnergy officials said in a past interview that the plant is built to withstand 5.8-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale. The strongest earthquake registered in Pennsylvania was 5.2 on the Richter scale.
Sheehan pointed out that there is seismic analysis before any nuclear power plant in the United States is designed and built.
?The review looks at the most significant historical earthquake in the area, with the plant then constructed to withstand that, with additional margin on top of that,? he said. ?I can also tell you that we are now -- as part of our post-Fukushima reviews --requiring all plants to perform fresh seismic evaluations. These new assessments will take advantage of advanced modeling and improved data available since the time the plants were built.?

But earthquakes caused by fracking injection wells are a new and relatively unpredictable phenomena. So excuse me if I'm not reassured.

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Gulf Coast Mother Arrested After Chaining Herself
to Keystone XL Pipe Yard Gate

post from Firedoglake on 24 October 2012 07:50:49 PM. © Firedoglake

Foytlin was arrested after chaining herself to a gate to the multinational energy corporation TransCanada's Keystone XL pipe yard. She was brought before a judge hours after and charged with a Class A Misdemeanor for "criminal trespass of a habitation,[...]

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Orange to Blue roundup, 10/24/2012

post from Daily Kos on 24 October 2012 07:02:28 PM. © Daily Kos

Here's your daily Orange to Blue race news.

Speaker Pelosi Project:

CA-10: This is unusually whiny, even for a Republican. Rep. Jeff Denham says he'll sue the DCCC for running an ad against him that charges he "voted to keep his salary if the government shut down, but against a bill that would guarantee soldier pay." He says the ad is a lie. Except that there's the problem of his actual votes. They were both on motions to recommit, and he did cast both of the votes. I thought these guys were all about tort reform and ending frivolous law suits. Help boot this whiner, and elect a hero, astronaut Jose Hernandez.

FL-18: Patrick Murphy's campaign released internal polling from FrederickPolls showing his race against Allen West is all tied up at 47. Murphy has a 10 point advantage with independents. This one is going to be very tight. Help push Patrick Murphy over the top with your $3 donation.

FL-26: Rep. David Rivera's ethics woes just don't stop. I guess that's what he gets for being a crook. This time, it's the state that's hitting him. The Florida Commission on Ethics is charging him with 11 counts of allegedly violating state rules during his tenure in the Florida Legislature. Each count can be assessed a penalty of up to $10,000, and since it's from when he was in the state legislature, it won't matter if he's in or out of Congress. So he's facing this potentially very expensive state action, and an FBI investigation into the fake campaign he "master-minded" in the Democratic primary that could land him in prison. Losing this election is actually the least of his worries. Let's keep Rivera worried. Donate $3 to Joe Garcia.

NY-18: Tea party Rep. Nan Hayworth is going all conspiracy theory nutso in her latest fundraising appeal against challenger Sean Patrick Maloney.

In a letter to supporters on Wednesday, the Hayworth campaign asked for contributions from $25 to $100 to counter Maloney's ads, saying "George Soros and his son are flooding mailboxes with ugly pieces that accuse Nan?a doctor!?of trying to destroy Medicare. [...] The Democratic Establishment is driving busloads of paid workers from New York City to knock on Hudson Valley doors," the letter said. "And the nasty mail from the Soros Empire with its enormous resources, will inevitably take a toll."

Yes, she did vote to end Medicare. As for Soros ... yeesh. Maloney is closing in on her and she's going to tea party extremist. Surprise. Keep her panicked. Give $3 to Sean Patrick Maloney.

OH-16: This is very odd. GOP Rep. Jim Renacci, running against Dem Rep. Betty Sutton in a district that was redrawn to pit the two against each other, has pulled his advertising money out of broadcast television, focusing his ads on on cable. The campaign says that it's because "voters hate the ads and are tuning it out right now," and that they had to "adapt to the environment and be strategic about how and when we are talking to voters." Renacci doesn't appear to have money problems, but at any rate, Sutton's spokesperson Steve Fought seems to get this right: ?Renacci took his team off the field with two minutes left on the clock.? Strike while the iron's hot. Give $3 to Betty Sutton now.

Upgrade the Senate:

CT-Sen: Are you in or around Connecticut? If so, you can rally for Chris Murphy with the Big Dog himself, President Bill Clinton. And while you're waiting for Sunday to come, go read David Nir's write-up of Linda McMahon attempting to "unskew" today's Quinnipiac poll that has her down six points. It's worth it. Click here to help Chris Murphy bring this one home.

OH-Sen: This isn't really news, but it's Charlie Pierce talking to Sherrod Brown, and that makes it worth reading.

Brown [...] has been aided by his own unapologetic defense of his own record. That has made him able to link the power of corporate money in our elections to the power of corporate money in our government to the power of corporate money to cover up the crimes and malfeasance that almost blew up the world.
"I think our side did not do a very good job explaining what happened," Brown told me. "I don't think our messaging was anywhere near as sharp as it should have been as to what actually happened."

Let's keep Sherrod Brown in the Senate.

MA-Sen: So how exactly does this work? "U.S. Sen. Scott Brown hit the campaign trail with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday, casting himself as a bipartisan pragmatist." Because Chris Christie is such a moderate. Yeesh. Please contribute to Elizabeth Warren's campaign here.

Daily Kos for Marriage Equality:

Washington: The polling is tightening on this one. Elway, a Washington state pollster, finds "[s]upport for Referendum 74 is under 50 percent, and the measure to legalize same-sex marriage enjoys only a narrow four-point lead." Polling on this issue is notoriously difficult, and another state-wide poll just last week, the Washington Poll, found equality ahead by 54-38 among likely voters. Nothing to do on this one but wait, and contribute.

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p-10-24-2012

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West Side Dems Barbeque this Saturday

post from The Politics of Jamie Sanderson on 24 October 2012 07:00:57 PM. © The Politics of Jamie Sanderson

9th Annual West Side Dems BarbequeDON'T MISS THIS ONE!
Featuring William Goff's Famous BarbequeWorld Renowned!Delicious BBQ With All The Extras
10 Days to Election DayAll Candiates are Invited!
Coppers Restaurant201 Laurel Street, ConwayCorner of Laurel and 2nd
Saturday, October 27, 2012 11am - 3pm$10.00 Tickets available at the door
Vegetarian Option Available - Delicious Desserts
For more information contact the Horry County Democratic Headquarters at 488-4237

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Stewart Mocks Romney for Flip Flops on Foreign
Policy During Final Debate

post from Crooks and Liars on 24 October 2012 07:00:57 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Stewart Mocks Romney for Flip Flops on Foreign Policy During Final Debate

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Following the final presidential debate on foreign policy this Monday evening, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart went after Mitt Romney for doing his best to pretend he agrees with all of President Obama's policies in order to keep from offending any of the so-called "swing voters" out there and for flip flopping on everything he said during the Republican primary race, where he constantly criticized the President and did a lot of chest thumping to make it through that contest.

It was nice to see Romney called out once again for his pandering and willingness to say anything to get elected and neither candidate was spared when it came to our continuing aggression overseas and these ill advised and illegal drone wars, which sadly they both agree on as well.

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The US: The Saudi Arabia of Oil

I recall hearing quite a bit from various governors that the US is the "Saudi Arabia of coal" or the "Saudi Arabia of wind," or whatever natural resource they had in abundance. Now, according to AP energy writer Jonathan Fahey, the US verges on becoming[...]

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Battleground snapshot: Obama's firewall holds

U.S. President Barack Obama (C) sits between campaign volunteers Alexa Kissinger (L) and Suzanne Stern as he makes calls to local volunteers to thank them for their work from a campaign office in Williamsburg, Virginia, October 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Even Obama GOTVs.When we last checked in on the aggregate polling last Friday, Mitt Romney had a lead in the national polling, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Virginia. Romney had also gained in six of the remaining States That Matter. This week?

President Barack Obama has regained the lead in the national polling and New Hampshire, while clawing back lost ground in five of the nine remaining battlegrounds. However, little-polled Colorado has flipped red thanks to a single Rasmussen poll. What was a 286-252 Obama victory last week is now a 281-257 advantage. Even if Romney won the next two closest states, New Hampshire and Iowa, he would still be short 271-267.

However, Obama has stretched out his lead in hyper-important Ohio, while Virginia and Florida are essentially tied. Those Florida numbers are particularly nice, given the five-point lead Romney had last Friday.

I suspect there will be more Blue on that chart next time we check in, probably Friday. But a strong GOTV effort will be essential to grabbing all the tight states and delivering an electoral vote drubbing. So sign up to help get Democratic voters to the polls in swing states with Workers' Voice, the largest independent Democratic voter turnout operation in the country. Seriously, just do it.

I don't want a narrow victory, I want a 300+ EV victory, and we're well within reach of that.

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-Obama-s-firewall-holds

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Florida Ethics Panel Finds Probable Cause That
Rep. David Rivera Broke Ethics Rules

The Florida’s Ethics Commission said Wednesday that it found 11 potential ethics violations by freshman Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) from his time as a state legislator. Rivera, who has denied the charges, is accused of misuse of campaign funds and accepting money from a company that may have affected his voting. Rivera is reportedly already [...]

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gress0Borg0Cjustice0C20A120C10A0C240C10A860A910Cflorida0Eethics0Epanel0Efinds0Eprobable0Ecause0Ethat0Erep0Edavid0Erivera0Ebroke0Eethics0Erules0C/story01.htm