This week in science

Get the government the hell out of the people's personal business ... and back into monitoring the people's urine where it belongs! Oh, and if you're embattled Florida governor Rick Scott, it's even better when your wife's company does the drug testing and rakes in the sweet taxpayer dollars:

Given Solantic?s role in that marketplace, critics are again asking whether Scott?s policy initiatives -- this time, requiring drug testing of state employees and welfare recipients -- are designed to benefit Scott?s bottom line. The Palm Beach Post reported in an exclusive story two weeks ago that while Scott divested his interest in Solantic in January, the controlling shares went to a trust in his wife?s name.
Aside from how much that sleazy set up smells of corruption and stands in open conflict with the principles of small government conservatives claim to cherish, the odds of a false positive result from a urine test can be around 1% to 2%. Maybe a statistician could weigh in on the odds of a false positive showing up after being subjected to such tests year after year, but it's clear at a glance the risk increases every time the State orders you to pee in a cup.
  • A contact at Scientific American hints to me the venerated magazine has been quietly shopping around for new media science writers to provide content on a new SciAm blogging site. Hopefully, we'll know more soon.
  • There's terra-dollars worth of resources floating around in the solar system, free for the taking. And astronomers are methodically examining hundreds that make close passes to earth to determine which ones we might visit, or exploit, first. Speaking of resources, Messenger has begun beaming back messages from Mercury, the future heavy metal Motor City of the Solar System.


Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/s7TPvd9s00A/-This-week-in-science

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Senate rejects spending bills from both Republicans and Democrats

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Republican plan to sharply cut spending this year, as well as a far more modest Democratic proposal, clearing a path for negotiations toward a compromise that could streamline government without damaging critical services.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030905825.html?wprss=rss_politics

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Saturday hate mail-a-palooza

PetitionsDelivered
Well known communist on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange takes a stand against capitalism by making lots of money (Reuters)

Today I'm supposed to do a "best of the quarter" edition, but I'm mixing things up slightly. I'm heading overseas with family to visit family, so I'll be out nearly two weeks. So I've pushed off the "best of" until next week, because I can put that together ahead of time. As for the week after (April 16), there will be no Saturday hate mail.

You'll just have to find more pleasant things to do that Saturday.

But if it's any consolation, the quality of the hate mail has certainly improved of late, and I don't think this week is an exception. Meet me on the other side.

Update: Whew, that's the most f'd up this site has been since the transition. Wow. Sorry about that. Hopefully things are back to normal soon. We're on it.


Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/_dN0vm4ZB9Q/-Saturday-hate-mail-a-palooza

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First Wisconsin recall petition to be filed against Republican state Senator Dan Kapanke

Please, support the recall effort by contributing $5 to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democratic state Senate Committee.

DC Protest 1

Recall petition organizers in Wisconsin will file their signatures today against Dan Kapanke, the most vulnerable of all the eight Republican state Senators:

La Crosse area Democrats say they will file petitions today with enough signatures to trigger a recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, one of eight Senate Republicans targeted over votes to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers. If approved, it would be just the fifth recall election of a Wisconsin legislator.

Recall organizer Pat Scheller said volunteers have gathered more than the 15,588 signatures needed and that they plan to take them to Madison after a noon rally today at La Crosse City Hall.

Kapanke represents a district that President Obama won with 61% of the vote in 2008. Our Daily Kos / PPP poll shows him trailing a generic Democrat by a whopping 55%-41%. An earlier MoveOn / Survey USA  poll showed Kapanke trailing a generic opponent by an even worse 57%-41% margin.

Kapanke is in a lot of trouble. He is also not alone. Last week, recall petition organizers against Republican state Senator Randy Hopper announced they had enough signatures, too:

Efforts to recall Republican State Senator Randy Hopper from Fon du Lac have reached another milestone, as organizers issue a call for volunteers to turn in any remaining petitions to be counted. Organizer Scott Dillman says he's sure they have enough signatures to trigger the recall, but he can't give exact figures yet. He says, processing all the information they've collected so far will take a week.
Goal Thermometer

Hopper, a freshman who only  won his seat by 163 votes, trails a generic Democrat 49%-44% in our polling. In the MoveOn / Survey USA polling, he trails 54%-43%. Both polls were taken before the scandal about Hopper's mistress receiving a state job with a 35% raise exploded. Since Monday morning, our ad highlighting the scandal has over 2,500,000 page views in Randy Hopper's district, even though his district has only about 175,000 residents.

Even though the deadline is May 2nd, organizers in a few other recall districts either already have, or will soon pass, the number of signatures required to file recall petitions. As such, we will soon be entering the election phase of the recall campaign. Please, support the recall effort by contributing $5 to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democratic state Senate Committee. The recall elections themselves won't take place for at least another 10 weeks, and likely longer, but we must be relentless in our pressure against Wisconsin Republicans.

For more discussion, please see the rec list diary by nik.


Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/-soLH2T0OIE/-First-Wisconsin-recall-petition-to-be-filed-against-Republican-state-Senator-Dan Kapanke

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First Wisconsin recall petition to be filed against Republican state Senator Dan Kapanke

Please, support the recall effort by contributing $5 to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democratic state Senate Committee.

DC Protest 1

Recall petition organizers in Wisconsin will file their signatures today against Dan Kapanke, the most vulnerable of all the eight Republican state Senators:

La Crosse area Democrats say they will file petitions today with enough signatures to trigger a recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, one of eight Senate Republicans targeted over votes to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers. If approved, it would be just the fifth recall election of a Wisconsin legislator.

Recall organizer Pat Scheller said volunteers have gathered more than the 15,588 signatures needed and that they plan to take them to Madison after a noon rally today at La Crosse City Hall.

Kapanke represents a district that President Obama won with 61% of the vote in 2008. Our Daily Kos / PPP poll shows him trailing a generic Democrat by a whopping 55%-41%. An earlier MoveOn / Survey USA  poll showed Kapanke trailing a generic opponent by an even worse 57%-41% margin.

Kapanke is in a lot of trouble. He is also not alone. Last week, recall petition organizers against Republican state Senator Randy Hopper announced they had enough signatures, too:

Efforts to recall Republican State Senator Randy Hopper from Fon du Lac have reached another milestone, as organizers issue a call for volunteers to turn in any remaining petitions to be counted. Organizer Scott Dillman says he's sure they have enough signatures to trigger the recall, but he can't give exact figures yet. He says, processing all the information they've collected so far will take a week.
Goal Thermometer

Hopper, a freshman who only  won his seat by 163 votes, trails a generic Democrat 49%-44% in our polling. In the MoveOn / Survey USA polling, he trails 54%-43%. Both polls were taken before the scandal about Hopper's mistress receiving a state job with a 35% raise exploded. Since Monday morning, our ad highlighting the scandal has over 2,500,000 page views in Randy Hopper's district, even though his district has only about 175,000 residents.

Even though the deadline is May 2nd, organizers in a few other recall districts either already have, or will soon pass, the number of signatures required to file recall petitions. As such, we will soon be entering the election phase of the recall campaign. Please, support the recall effort by contributing $5 to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democratic state Senate Committee. The recall elections themselves won't take place for at least another 10 weeks, and likely longer, but we must be relentless in our pressure against Wisconsin Republicans.

For more discussion, please see the rec list diary by nik.


Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/-soLH2T0OIE/-First-Wisconsin-recall-petition-to-be-filed-against-Republican-state-Senator-Dan Kapanke

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