Things to Know - 3 April

1.  Joe Bageant.  A real person, who wrote what he felt, and spoke his mind.  Probably one person who personalizes the opposite end of the spectrum of a Mitt Romney - a real understanding of the human condition and wrote his mind about the sociology and anthropology of his life experience.  Anyway, there is a collection of his work available.  Yes, he wrote two books, but his classics were frequent pieces that were available over the years on the internet:
http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2012/04/introduction-to-book-of-joes-essays.html

2.  I take comfort in the bleak abyss of Supreme Court buzz that there are scribes out there who actually feel sick enough to write about the aimless sense of values this nation has.   Misery loves company:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/42344/

3.  I heard this interview on NPR on Monday, and am glad to see that it is available for print/weblink viewing for those who missed it.   It is a very realistic and common sense approach to resolving the fossil fuel usage by FEDEX:
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/02/149703488/oil-scare-turns-fedex-onto-energy-efficiency

4.  Strip searches are now authorized on anyone who is arrested for just about any reason.  The 5-Guys on the Supreme Court are on a rampage:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8261-justices-approve-strip-searches-for-any-offense?tmpl=component&print=1

5.  Romney's campaign has been characterized as a war on women.  So far, the polls show that he is doing badly among women voters.  Here is a list of 5 reasons why.  Let's see how he can etch-a-sketch his way out of this:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8265-romneys-top-five-assaults-to-womens-health?tmpl=component&print=1

6.  David Brooks is still writing.   He is avoiding most of the crappy stuff about the Wannabees and the Supreme Court, and finds genuine topics of interest.  Here is a story that runs along the same line that Steve Lopez has visited a few times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/opinion/brooks-respect-the-future.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

7.  The Republican Party, and the raging rancor of the right may find that they have alienated a large block of voters that are not very appreciative of the GeeOpee; the Muslim community.  They are registered, and they vote:
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/the-muslim-swing-vote/?pagemode=print

8.  When you see the title of this article..."Conservatives lose faith in science"....you might tend to want to read it.  Dummies..all of them:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-conservatives-losing-belief-in-science-times-letter-writers-sound-off-20120330,0,4692345,print.story

9  This is what the Republican Party, in its current state of regressive destruction, is doing to some of the best and brightest of its future leaders.  As I have said before, and will continue to do so, the development of public policy which serves all of the constituents is based on civil and progressive discussions that lead to effective legislation.  The GeeOpee has shut this process down, and is on a "my way or the highway" platform:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap-fletcher-20120402,0,1349963,print.column
--
Juan

He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
       -- Billy Wilder

"I have lost friends, some by death... others through sheer inability to cross the street."
       -- Virginia Woolf

"We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are - that is the fact."
       -- Jean-Paul Sartre

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
       -- Sir Winston Churchill

"Anybody can win unless there happens to be a second entry."
       -- George Ade

"Art is either plagiarism or revolution."
       -- Paul Gauguin