The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Labor Murals in Maine are Gone. Labor is near death. Long Live the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

    On Friday I wrote about Maine's new Tea Party governor's decision to remove murals depicting aspects of LABOR from the LABOR department offices.  He didn't wait long.  Over the weekend, workers (Yes, laborers) removed them and they're now in storage somewhere.  This is what the walls look like now:

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    FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Legendary Liz, Cute Joe Biden, the Moon and the Loon

    Elizabeth Taylor was the most beautiful human being on this earth for so many years you had to wonder if her not-of-this-world violet eyes didn't have something to do with it.  Because, honestly, who else on this earth ever had violet eyes?  But beyond her beauty, she had something else that most incredibly pampered child stars never had: an ability to look outside herself and see the other half of the world.  She worked tirelessly to bring attention to HIV/Aids, bringing honest a

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    Women and Children and the Choices we Make

    "I think everyone agrees with the goal of reducing abortion by encouraging consideration of other alternatives," [North Dakota governor] Daugaard said in a written statement. "I hope that women who are considering an abortion will use this three-day period to make good choices."
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    FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Click and Clack, Coulter, The Donald, and the question of Looting

    Normally I'm not that thrilled with loudmouths from New York but with Anthony Weiner I make the grand exception.  When he gives up his Good Fight gig in Congress, he could take over Late Night and give Leno and Letterman big time runs for their money.  Here he defends the already puny government funding of NPR by talking about my favorite Car Talk guys, Click and Clack.

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    Michigan under threat of Dictatorship. NOW can we panic?

    Friends and neighbors,
     
    The call has gone out and I'm asking everyone who can to take Wednesday [3/16/11] off and head to the State Capitol in Lansing to protest the cruel and downright frightening legislation currently being jammed down our throats.

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    FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Gingrich and Dust Devils and Supply Side Jesus.

    ***
    Possible presidential candidate and every parent's nightmare of a potential son-in-law, Newt Gingrich,  revealed on the CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) that we're not the only ones who think he's been a bad boy:  "There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and th
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    Michigan is under siege. Is Anybody Watching?

    Right now, [Michigan] Gov. [Rick] Snyder is pushing a bill that would give himself, Gov. Snyder and his administration, the power to declare any town or school district to be in a financial emergency.
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    Michael Moore and the War of the Classes

    For weeks now, ever since the people took over the State House in Wisconsin, we've been looking for a leader.  We've watched the momentum building, knowing this was our chance and we couldn't let this die.  Each of us in our own way has been spreading the word, supporting labor, doing what we could to build this movement to such a juggernaut nothing would stop it, ever again.

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    FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Sheen, Cryer, Franco, Oscar, Boehner, and small triumphs where we find them

    Okay, this was the week of Charlie Sheen.  He was all over the place (in more ways than one) and actually set a Guinness World Record  by opening a Twitter account and getting a million followers in 25 hours and 17 minutes.  (Thereby giving some credence to his semi-delusional "Rock Star of the Planet" claim.) 

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    I am a Democrat, that's who I am

    I am a Democrat, just as I'm a liberal and an American and a Michigander and a woman.  I make no apologies for any of those titles.  They're indelibly, irrefutably, absolutely who I am. 
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    FRIDAY FOLLIES: Sarah wuvs Sarah, The Silence of the Lump, and Solidarity Pizzas

    ***
    Lou Sarah has a Facebook page praising Sarah Palin.  Turns out Lou Sarah IS Sarah Palin.  Everybody's in an uproar over this, but I say, You Go Girl.  If you don't love yourself, who else is going to love you?

     ***
    And speaking of love, as Bluegal says, you gotta love those teachers:
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    Right Wingers plan infiltration of Madison protesters and they don't care who knows it. Pass it on

     Remember Mark Williams?  The same Mark Williams who was kicked out of the Tea Party Express (!) for writing a letter from the "colored people" to President Lincoln?  The same Mark Williams who called President Obama an "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug"?

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    Friday Follies: The Smalls, The Bigs, and On Wisconsin

    This week DARPA unveiled its newest entry into the spy game, the Nano Hummingbird.  The teeny, tiny $4 million prototype flew around a parking lot and then through a standard-sized door, all the while showing us on a small screen what it was seeing through its teeny, tiny eyes.  The hope is that it can be used for reconnaissance and surveillance without anybody noticing, as it zooms in at eight miles per hour and gathers info we might find useful.

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    My mother, Irene, lived a Life

    My mother was born on this day in 1918.  It was the year the influenza epidemic spread across the world and became a pandemic.  By rights, and maybe in a more populous locale, my mother might have sickened and died before she ever had a chance at life.  She was a skinny, spindly little thing who always looked undernourished in early pictures.

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    Barack Obama and the Chamber of Mostly Shallows

    Now, on some issues, like the Recovery Act, we've found common cause. On other issues, we've had some pretty strong disagreements. But I'm here today because I'm convinced we can and must work together. Whatever differences we may have, I know that all of us share a deep belief in this country, our people, and the principles that have made America's economy the envy of the world.
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    Friday Follies: Miley's tattoos, Limbaugh's NYT joke, and other "news"

    I've been thinking for a while now of launching a new feature called "Friday Follies", where I would post each Friday some silly moments of the week past. Just some nonsense to pass the time.  Nothing earth-shaking, just a little fun.

    So this morning, when I opened My Google and grabbed a look at the top CNN headline, I decided I shouldn't wait any longer.  Today was the day "Friday Follies" would begin:
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    When prosperity preachers hustle, they're making your God a shill

      "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not."  2 Peter 2:3

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    Honoring Boundless Hearts

    Sarge was an idealist, a man of boundless heart, and a hard-headed businessman who from the ground up built a government program—and he was never afraid to call it just that because he disdained anti-government stereotypes—that has become an enduring force for American purpose and compassion, vastly popular at home and around the globe.
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    Why aren't these two women in jail?

    In a righteous world, someone in control would watch this video and then use it as evidence in a courtroom.  Instead, because the victim is a child and the perpetrator is her mother and they're participants in a reality show, it is aired as a part of a segment and nothing happens.

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