In honor of Al Gore legitimately being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, some right wingnuts nominate Rush for a Nobel Peace prize:

Landmark Legal Foundation Nominates Rush Limbaugh for 2007 Nobel Peace Prize

Ain't that cute (and lame), but I think we should let you know that for close to 2 years now TCS has had "More Nobel Prize nominees than any other blog written with white type over black!"

Saying Rush is nominated for a Nobel Prize is just another sign that America's right wing has truly come to believe that saying and wishing make it so. Though I think they knew that this was a joke - but so much that seems like a joke to me, they are serious about - so I have no idea.

- rob 6:07 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The War on Science continues

Bush's priority is to make sure nothing interferes with Exxon's ability to make a profit of 108 million dollars A day. Yep A Day. Proft. 108 Million Dollars.

Bush says he doesn't want to hurt businesses, not worrying about the world. But the true fact is that investment in other energy sources and restrictions on CO2 output actually drives growth and makes our nation more secure. Its a win win win.

The only losers are George and Dick's oil pals. And when you get down to the heart of it, that is the only constituency this administration ever cared about.

Groups allege pressure on global warming - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - Two private advocacy groups told a congressional hearing Tuesday that climate scientists at seven government agencies say they have been subjected to political pressure aimed at downplaying the threat of global warming.

The groups presented a survey that shows two in five of the 279 climate scientists who responded to a questionnaire complained that some of their scientific papers had been edited in a way that changed their meaning. Nearly half of the 279 said in response to another question that at some point they had been told to delete reference to "global warming" or "climate change" from a report.

- rob 5:46 PM - [PermaLink] -

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This is a few days old, and mostly people have pointed out it is yet another move by Bush to remove Congress out of the loop on how the government is run. Really, like signing statements, he believes the executive office is also allowed to write the laws. You know, like a dictator.

But there is another ramification to this - corruption.

Read on:

Bush Directive Increases Sway on Regulation

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.

In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.

With Congress now under a little bit more scrutiny lobbiests are searching for ways to turn a little spare cash into laws.

Well now they've just gotten a gift from Mr. George, political apointees wanting to be swayed. Sure they can't re-write the laws, but they can re-write how they are inacted. If you thought GOP Congressman were cheap (a bribe here, a golf game there), imagine how cheap these Bush loyalists are going to be.

One bottle of wine and the regulations say that you can still do whatever it is you want.

Bush is desparately trying to turn this country into a banana republic where government is just a corrupt middleman for the rich and real law does not exist.

- rob 5:39 PM - [PermaLink] -

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You know the cynics among you (and that'd be a good percentage given the name of this site) probably say things like:

"Big Pharma isn't really interested in health, they just want money. Heck they'd even ignore a cure for cancer if there wasn't a way to make a lot of money off of it."

Well...

Cheap, safe drug kills most cancers

It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their "immortality". The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe.

It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs.
...
The next step is to run clinical trials of DCA in people with cancer. These may have to be funded by charities, universities and governments: pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to pay because they can't make money on unpatented medicines. The pay-off is that if DCA does work, it will be easy to manufacture and dirt cheap. [emphasis mine]

This is actually where you can make a very valid libertarian arguement. The FDA has become a barrier to drug development in many ways. A pharma company has to spend millions making sure it can pass FDA muster (which isn't all medical), and when it does get approved the patent life is limited so the drug price is exorbitant so the pharma company can milk all of its profit out of it before the generics come out.

But here's an interesting thing - this, as with many other regulatory things - is something big pharma wants. It is a barrier of entry. The FDA has become a firewall for big pharma blocking any up start competitor that could come with new ideas and new medicines. You gotta play with the big guys, or you can't play at all.

So what is the solution?

(chirp chirp chirp chirp)

- rob 12:02 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Adding yet an additional wrong to a long list of wrongs must mean you are on the right (wing)

Paradegoer Reports Rape, Jailed On Warrant

TAMPA - A 21-year-old woman told police Saturday that a man grabbed her off Howard Avenue and raped her behind a building during the Gasparilla festivities.

But officers investigating the case arrested her after learning she had an outstanding warrant from her teenage years for failure to pay restitution.

She spent the next two nights in jail.
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"You've got to make sure you throw somebody in jail on a four-year-old felony warrant after they've been brutally raped?" the mother said. "It was a failure to take the actual dynamics into play."

Her daughter did not speak to reporters.

Adding to the mother's ire is her claim that a jail nurse prevented her daughter from taking a second dose of emergency contraception prescribed by a nurse at a clinic as part of a rape examination. The jail nurse, said the mother and the victim's attorney, denied the medication for religious reasons.

- rob 11:31 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Damn Good Job Cynthia!



Yep That's right: Freeheld Winner!

From the press release (yep TCS got a press release! okay its from a friend, but still):

FREEHELD – the story of a dying police officer’s fight for domestic partner benefits – WINS SPECIAL JURY PRIZE AT THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

-- FREEHELD Is The Only Short Documentary To Win A 2007 Special Jury Prize --

Cynthia Wade’s moving 38-minute documentary film FREEHELD, chronicling New Jersey Police Lieutenant Laurel Hester’s nail-biting struggle to leave her pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree, was awarded a Special Jury Prize last night at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

FREEHELD is the only short documentary in this year’s festival to receive a Special Jury Prize, an award that recognizes unique vision and excellence in filmmaking.

Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester spent 25 years defending the citizens of Ocean County, New Jersey. In October 2004, doctors diagnosed Lt. Hester with terminal lung cancer. Hester’s fight for her life was soon joined by a parallel battle to leave her hard-earned police pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. Without Hester’s pension, Andree, an auto mechanic, would almost certainly lose the home they had made together. Had they been a heterosexual married couple, there would have been no issue in passing on the pension.

With less than six months to live, the rapidly weakening Hester refuses to back down when her elected county officials – the Ocean County Freeholders – repeatedly deny her request to leave her pension to Andree. As her battle with the Freeholders intensifies and the community becomes embroiled in the fight, Hester learns that the cancer has invaded her brain and she is in a race against time to provide for the love of her life.

Alternating from packed public demonstrations to quiet, tender moments of Hester and Andree at home, FREEHELD tells both the public story of their fight for equality under the law, and the intimate story of Laurel and Stacie facing the reality of losing each other.

Award-winning director Cynthia Wade is known for making unflinching films about controversial social issues, usually told through the eyes of a strong women. During Hester’s last dying days, the couple shared their lives and home with Wade, imbuing the film with an intimacy unavailable to the mainstream media.

Upon learning that FREEHELD had won the Special Jury Prize, Director Cynthia Wade said, “Laurel and Stacie believed that their personal story could make a difference for same-sex couples around the nation. The Sundance prize is a testament to their faith and belief that their struggle could make a difference in the fight for equality. This award belongs to Laurel and Stacie.”

The Sundance Film Festival is considered the premiere showcase for U.S. and international independent film. For the 2007 festival, Sundance received 7,732 total submissions from around the world, 4,445 of them short films. In total, 71 short films were selected to screen at the festival, only 12 of which were short documentaries. The Shorts Jury awarded three prizes to short films; FREEHELD was the only short documentary to receive a Special Jury Prize.

“The 2007 Sundance Film Festival award-winners reflect the talent, diversity and evolution of independent film and exemplify the artistic power of film to illuminate and explore issues that are prevalent in our global society,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Director of the Sundance Film Festival.
“There is artistry to making a short film, whether cutting-edge drama, animation or just shining examples of this often overlooked genre” said John Cooper, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival. “At Sundance we work hard not only to find the best-made shorts possible, but we continue to explore ways to bring them well-deserved attention and higher profile.”

There will be an encore screening of FREEHELD on Sunday January 28, in the Park City Library Theatre at 6:00 pm (Mountain Time).

Wonderful News! And a story that deserves to be heard.

- rob 9:08 AM - [PermaLink] -

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