No Days Off Radio at 4 PM

July 3, 2009 by Kenneth

Michael’s back! Yes, after a three week absence, Michael Shaw (Bagnewsnotes) will be back with “Pictures of the Week.” The pictures will be posted here soon. Tune in to share your thoughts.

We’re still waiting to hear if Craig Latimer, chief of staff to the late Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Phyllis Busansky, will be joining us. The topic will be the pending appointment of Phyllis’ replacement. As you may know, the governor gets to make this appointment. Most of Phyllis’ supporters would like to see Craig Latimer carry out her vision for the office. The previous occupant, Buddy Johnson, himself a political appointee, did serious damage to the public’s faith in the voting process in Hillsborough County, so this choice is very important.

Other possible replacements are Republican State Senator Victor Crist and Democrat Lee Nelson.

Tune in to blogtalkradio here. The call-in number is (347) 539-5919.

Get Yer Souvenir IOUs Today!

July 3, 2009 by Calitics

Controller Chiang said the warrants can be transferred between individuals, setting up the possibility that a secondary market for the IOUs may develop. Already ads are appearing on Web sites such as Craigslist offering cash for the IOUs at below face value.

In such a transaction, the person who gets the IOU would get most of the cash they were due the state, while the person buying the IOU might then hold onto it until maturity and earn the face value plus the 3.75 percent interest.

At least one person offered to buy an IOU at more than face value as a keepsake.

"I am interested in purchasing a 'State of California IOU' as a souvenir," the ad reads. "I figure it would be an interesting thing to have around when my grandchildren are fighting over my stuff after I'm dead and gone. I will pay two times face value (up to $100, or $50 face value) for a warrant/IOU."

Of course, after July 10, the deadline that banks like BofA and Wells have given for exchanging these IOUs for cash, souvenirs may be the only value for these IOUs for a few months.

Farm Bureau confident climate change bill going nowhere

July 3, 2009 by Bleeding Heartland

Mary Kay Thatcher, AFBF director of public policy, tells Agriculture Online that Farm Bureau doesn't anticipate the massive climate change bill passed by the House last week to pass the Senate this year.

And the New York Times reported Tuesday that opposition from Farm Bureau and other agricultural groups threatens to kill the bill in the Senate. The Times reports that groups such as AFBF wield greater clout in the Senate, because members there must be protective of an entire state, rather than a small congressional district.

Here are the links to the Agriculture Online piece and the New York Times article.

The American Farm Bureau Federation lobbied members of the U.S.

Celebrate the 4th of July with New Latin Radio Show

July 3, 2009 by Vivirlatino

I’m a fan of Latin Alternative and rock music pero have struggled to find a radio show that caters to my tastes (the exception is la Nueva Alternativa on WBAI pero my mami vieja as can’t usually stay up late enough to listen).

Just in time to celebrate the 4th bi-culturally comes “The Latin Alternative” from WEXT 97.7 (Albany, NY).

“There is something amazing about a radio station in Albany launching the nation’s first syndicated Latin-alternative radio show. In my childhood growing up in a small town outside of Albany, I couldn’t wait to leave the area and move to a bigger city that had a Latin alternative music scene,” says show co-host Josh Norek. “Ironically, now I live in Los Angeles and it’s an adventurous radio station in upstate New York that has taken the lead and launched the first syndicated show for the genre.”

Uruguayan Bishop Resigns over Gay Sex Scandal

July 3, 2009 by Vivirlatino

I guess the bishop of Minas, Uruguay, Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, 65, thought it would safe to report extortion attempts against him to police without anyone knowing what the alleged extorters were threatening to reveal: that he was having sex with other male members of the clergy as well as two prisoners he had hired to help out around his office. How silly of him.

Pope Benedict XVI dismissed the bishop of Minas (Uruguay), Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, who denounced an extortion that left uncovered he was having homosexual relations, informed today the Vatican.

In a brief bulletin the press office of the Vatican informed that the pontiff has received the resignation in accordance to the paragraph 401.2 of the Code of Canon law, the fundamental law that applies to the catholic Church.

Romero hits Chavez on term limits

July 3, 2009 by New Mexico FBIHOP

In it, he hit incumbent mayor Martin Chavez again -- this time on the issue of term limits.

One of the sacred causes of our democratic system of government has been the establishment of term limits. Chief executives such as the president and governor are limited to two terms because the designers of the law knew the importance of limiting centralized power.

Chavez, of course, successfully challenged term limits last year. This allowed him to run for an unprecedented third term as mayor. Though Chavez has yet to announce his intention to run, he has already qualified for the ballot and for public financing.

If Chavez wins again, it would be his fourth term since 1993. Only a four year term by Jim Baca interrupted Chavez's mayoral incumbency.

Open thread on July 4 activism

July 3, 2009 by Bleeding Heartland

I'll be walking with the Polk County Democrats in the Windsor Heights parade on Saturday. I haven't decided what to write on my hand-made sign. In past years I've tried to express my values without a partisan slant: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women!) are created equal..."

Some environmental organizations, including Repower America, are encouraging people to "declare their energy independence" on the 4th of July.

This thread is for any comments on your plans for the holiday. Please also post any suggestions for a good parade sign.

If you're traveling this weekend, drive safely and consider "ecodriving" to improve your mileage.

RFK, Jr on the Heartbreaking Tragedy of Mountaintop Removal

July 3, 2009 by Blue Virginia

Smoking rate declines in Iowa

July 3, 2009 by Bleeding Heartland

According to a recent Iowa Department of Public Health survey, 14 percent of Iowans smoke. In 2007, IDPH research estimated the smoking rate at 19 percent. That's a significant decline, suggesting that around one-quarter of Iowans who smoked in 2007 have since quit. The $1 a pack tax hike on cigarettes approved in 2007 was probably a major factor in this trend as well.

The overwhelming majority of Iowa businesses are complying with the smoking ban, according to a June 30 press release from the IDPH. A little more than 1 percent of Iowa businesses with employees (1,015 to be exact) have received a "Notice of Potential Violation" from the IDPH. Of those, approximately half are bars and restaurants.