All American Patriots: Politics, Economy, Health, Environment & Technology

The Walton children (Jim, Alice and Robson who, thanks to the beneficence of their dad, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, comprise a gaggle of the world's wealthiest) are apparently juggling Wal-Mart's dividend payout this coming quarter to save themselves a little money. A little money with this gaggle is a couple of hundred million dollars. This brings to mind the concept of "double taxation", invoked incessantly during the Bush years (which led, by the way, to the "fiscal cliff"), and currently received wisdom within the Republican Party.

Here's the full Mitt Romney video, courtesy of Mother Jones, from the now infamous fundraiser in which Romney exposes his true colors by bashing 47 percent of the United States populace as irresponsible, lazy freeloaders for an audience of smirking millionaires at a $50,000 per plate fundraiser. It really is a must-see, in its entirety:

Part One:

And Part Two:

Must-see video (warning to sensitive, squeamish viewers: features the kind of language you yourself probably use regularly when banging your thumb with a hammer or slipping in the bath tub) from Sarah Silverman on the intentionally anti-democratic disenfranchising GOP-led atrocities of Voter ID laws:

Now get out and vote against the worms who seek to make America less democratic (that's with a small "d").

Go here: http://www.letmypeoplevote2012.com/

Now.

Dr. Seuss, Twas the Night Before Christmas, and shades of Rahm Emanual's shall-we-say-unfettered approach to speech are somehow morphed here into a surprisingly charming campaign ad for Barack Obama (or, more accurately, against Willard Mitt Romney) featuring none other than Samuel L. Jackson, in what may be his best cameo in years:

Enjoy!

Kentucky Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul introduce Child Pornography Jobs Protection Act

Mar 5, 2011

FROM THE LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER:

Child pornography is a vital sector of Kentucky's economy. More than 200,000 jobs in the state depend on it, including more than 18,000 child pornography purveyors, and half the country's electricity comes from child pornography.

And yet, as we're faced with a weakened economy and high unemployment, an overreaching Environmental Protection Agency in Washington is blocking new jobs for Kentuckians by waging a war on child pornography.

The Treasury Department issued a bland press release on Wednesday announcing that two more banks have repurchased their TARP investments, or recalibrated their financial instruments, or some other such financial mumbo-jumbo, thus returning to taxpayers the money provided them during the recent bank meltdown.

The two banks, neither of which you've ever heard of, are Bank of Kentucky Financial Corporation and First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. But that's not important. What we find interesting is the rest of the statement, which states as follows:

The FBI has issued what we assume to be an annual warning to consumers to carefully fold away their wallets deep within the inner recesses of their costume whilst shopping online, thus foiling the ever-swelling droves of Internet pickpockets lurking in the shadowy alleyways of cyberspace.

Berkeley Lab has taken a long, hard look at California and come up with a simple, step-by-step recipe for reducing the state's emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The recipe is pretty simple, and relies on three primary components: energy efficiency; carbon-free electricity generation; and electrifying vehicles and processes that use oil, gasoline or natural gas.

Here are the three steps:

Step One: Energy efficiency

Some lawmakers in the US Senate, shortly before gorging themselves on taxpayer-funded federally unpardoned turkey and retiring into dimly lit sequestration for the remainder of the year to engage in various unspeakable biological activities, have thrown into the ring a bill and a letter air travellers may actually be happy about.