‘tain’t good

Depending on your perspective… I saw many many many signs like this along I5 though the San Joaquin Valley; yanno—the place that can feed the world.

It says:  CONGRESS CREATED DUST BOWL

I’m sure it was more effective before the rains started, when there was nothing growing and the dust was blowing.  See, these farmers got 40% of their water rights allotment this year—again.  Cuz to give them any more would ...maybe ...perhaps… discomfit the Delta Smelt, a little 2” non-native, trash fish that has been hanging out in the delta for a few decades.

uh huh.  CA politicks as usual.

The good nooz is that the farmers are getting more than honked off.  And what with the 40% unemployment rate [yes, I said 40%—heaven only knows what the number is on the schedule 6 [which includes folks who have taken part-time or have just given up altogether] ] in farm-dependent towns like Modesto, lots of other folks are getting kinda honked off as well.  Time for a tractor parade to Sacramento, what say?

Like anyone needed a good excuse to quit riding the spike.

The French health ministry issued a warning on Tuesday after eight people died and seven fell sick in two European countries from using heroin contaminated by anthrax.

“Since December 6, there have been 15 confirmed cases of anthrax among heroin users, 14 in Scotland and one in Germany,” the ministry’s General Directorate for Health (DGS) said in a statement.

I’m going to avoid the self-righteous “well, that’s just efficiency, they’re killing themselves anyway” path.  Addiction is a motherf***er, and I’ve got the nicotine-stained fingers to prove it, and I’m not going to pretend my choice of drug is somehow healthier or less destructive than theirs.

What I’m trying to figure out here is why.  Nobody in the production or distribution chain for the product would have an incentive to do this.  It’d be the most bonehead terrorist scheme ever, and in a world of explosive tighty-whities that’s saying a lot.

Instapunk points out several recent instances in which CNN, rightly-maligned in our circles for its frequently lefty political leanings, has distinguished itself in the covering of the Haiti crisis.

Those of you familiar with Chris Rock’s standup routine might remember a segment in which he declines to praise someone for “taking care of their kids,” because it’s what they’re supposed to do.  It’s not above and beyond the call of duty, it IS the duty.  And perhaps you might detect a similar vibe here, in praising reporters for being decent human beings.

But I will neither sneer or suggest cynical ulterior motives.  I will take their acts at face value and give them due respect.  Their acts are distinguished because it’s not what we’ve come to expect from their kind, and good behavior should be acknowledged with grace.

A Democratic operative familiar with Martha Coakley and the DSCC’s massive get-out-the-vote operation says that outreach workers in and around Boston have been stunned by the number of Democrats and Obama supporters who are waving them off, saying they’ll vote for Scott Brown.

You think that’s bad.......

Close the book.

Well, there goes Easter.

After months of fierce resistance, Cadbury’s about-face to accept a sweetened 11.5 billion pound ($19.5 billion) takeover from Kraft Foods Inc.—forming the world’s biggest candy company—has alarmed British unions, lawmakers and chocolate lovers.

Yes, I know.  Easter has deep religious significance and has nothing to do with bunnies, whether real or chocolate.  This is not meant to short-change the “reason for the season.”

But when you were a kid, did you look forward to Easter for getting dressed up in the same itchy suit and tie and going to Sunday service?  No.  You were in it for the Easter egg hunts and the candy.  Because you were a kid, and that was okay.

I always loved these, partially because they were terribly bad for me and therefore delicious, but mostly because everyone else in my family thought they were so gross.

Anyway, on to a serious question: what’s Kraft, a company in debt so huge it had to sell its pizza division to Nestle just to scrape up the cash for a purchase, doing buying Cadbury?

And which will be worse...a Nestle pizza, or a Kraft creme egg?

I don’t know if that headline is true, but it must be pretty close.  Otherwise, there’s no reason why this…

“We have also had complaints from male survivors who have been raped by women and they are very distressed that their situation is being laughed at and made out to be humorous.”

I mean, if some anti-rape group has enough time on their hands to get offended about THAT, there must not be anything else going on in the office.  So, yay!

*splork*

France accused the US of ”occupying” Haiti on Monday as thousands of American troops flooded into the country to take charge of aid efforts and security.

The House Judiciary Committee this week voted down a resolution of inquiry that would have required the Department of Justice (DOJ) to explain to Congress why it dismissed a voter intimidation case involving members of the New Black Panther Party at a polling place in Philadelphia in November 2008. 

The measure, H. Res. 994, was defeated 15-14 on a straight party-line vote.  Rep. Daniel Maffei (D-N.Y.) originally “passed” on his vote, but then changed to “no” to bring about the resolution’s defeat.

So I’m thinking about this Massachusetts special election tomorrow and how some folks are saying it’s a referendum on Obamacare. If so…
The people of Massachusetts already HAVE a form of Obamacare. If they like it, why would they want to screw it up with the federal version...and if they HATE it then they wouldn’t want to screw it up MORE with the federal version.

Anyways, tomorrow feels like Christmas, I wonder what we’re gonna get.....

reason # 48378.2

A driver whose SUV plunged into a Northern California creek after he was startled by his hands-free cell phone device escaped the sinking vehicle by blasting out the window with a handgun. The 28-year-old man, whose name wasn’t immediately available, is an armed security guard at Thunder Valley Casino, north of Sacramento. He sustained minor injuries in Sunday’s accident…