I'm really too pissed off to write a good journal. But really, these two videos should do most of the talking for me.

Let me start off with a video my roommate Chloe made and posted recently.

It could've been better, but a couple of the people she interviewed....well you could hardly understand them. It takes skill to understand the super thick Cajun accents.

Anyway, the next video is one most of you might have seen already. It's Anderson Cooper talking about the government of ours preventing the press from getting within 65 feet of clean up areas and such.

Yeah, it's pretty fucked up to put it plainly.

Now excuse me while I got release my anger in a non-violent way.  

Fellow leftakers, I am officially in Missoula, Montana. And it feels like perfect timing, too, since there is a tropical storm heading for the Gulf. I won't even have to tell you how bad it will be if it passes over the oil spill. Hell, it won't even have to pass over it for it to end badly. And I thought the gross mud after Katrina was bad....

Anyway, I will be in and out of the site for a while as I search for a job and try to get internet hooked up in the new apartment. Maybe set up a protest or two to get people up here interested in the oil spill crisis back home.

Hopefully I will be as active as I used to be soon. For now, I will be able to truly experience what it's like to be a starving college student living out on her own miles away from the parents. Wish me luck.

Riki Ott is one of the big people on the coast right now. My roommates mom has actually talked with her multiple times since the oil spill, and Ott has been the source of a lot of information on the oil spill for us. Anyway, she was on MSNBC the other night. And let me just ssy Thank you MSNBC for getting the truth out there. Thank you.

(this is an outstanding video. You gotta watch it.  Welcome back Lib! - promoted by faultguy)

And by while, I mean a pretty damn long time. But you see, I've been doing a lot of protesting in my area since I do live on the Gulf Coast. That, and I've been trying all I can to gather money up to move the hell out of here to avoid cancer and/or respiratory problems from the oil and chemical dispersants.

Anyway, I came across this video today thanks to my dad's girlfriend. It's pretty hilarious, yet sadly accurate.

( - promoted by leftake)

 

This is one of the first of many dead animals that will be washing ashore due to the oil spill in the gulf. 

The oil hasn't come to land yet because they are dropping chemicals into the water to disperse the oil. This has two objectives, in my opinion:  To show they are "trying" to do something and to make it seem like the spill isn't as bad as it really is.

I could go on a huge rant about it destroying the economy of my area and harming the wildlife and wetlands, but I'm getting so tired of talking about it. That and I'm concentrating on trying to clean all of it up in the in upcoming weeks as a volunteer. I just want to ask that if any of you live near the area, could you please find time to volunteer and help us clean up once it starts getting bad? All of us on the Gulf Coast would appreciate it. 

 

(BTW, sorry I haven't been around much. Life is getting hectic.)

I had written a diary not too long ago (about a week) about how I left my abusive boyfriend.

Well, last night, I heard some very heavy news from my mother. It shocked me very much. It also made me feel relieved and saddened. Really, I ran through so many emotions that I could hardly comprehend them.

A Mississippi man is accused of killing his girlfriend's toddler last week, authorities said Tuesday.

Andrew Roberts, 20, allegedly struck and shook 22-month-old Rubie Boland while watching her when her mother was at work, Sheriff's Office spokesman George Bonnett said.

Boland's grandmother called deputies Thursday and reported the girl was having difficulty St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's OfficeAndrew Robertsbreathing, Bonnett said. She told authorities that Roberts had been babysitting Boland in the house next door to her grandmother's home, he said.

When Roberts brought the girl to her grandmother's house, he said she had fallen down, Bonnett said.

The toddler was taken to Ochsner Medical Center - North Shore by Acadian Ambulance while investigators interviewed Roberts and the girl's grandmother, Bonnett said. Robets told deputies the girl had fallen off the couch, he said.

The toddler was later taken to Ochsner Foundation Hospital in Jefferson, where doctors discovered signs of "non-accidental trauma," Bonnett said. The girl showed no brain activity and was removed from life support Friday afternoon.

Following an autopsy that confirmed the doctor's suspicions, investigators brought Roberts in for further questioning, Bonnett said. The man admitted to holding Boland by her feet and violently shaking her, he said. As he shook the child, her head repeatedly hit the floor, he said.

Roberts, of Kiln, Miss., was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail in Covington with second-degree murder and is being held without bond.

Roberts had been dating Boland's mother for about three months and investigators were told he had  watched the child about a dozen times without incident. He does not have a criminal record.

Boland's grandmother is not suspected of any wrongdoing in the case.

He murdered a child. A two year old child. I feel relieved to have left him when he did, but my anger and sadness overran that emotion. I can't understand why he would do what he did. And I can't even begin to understand the pain the mother is going through right now.

I really don't know how to feel about all this. I know I don't blame myself for what happened because there's nothing I could have done to prevent it. I wish there was, but there isn't. I just hope the mother gets some justice. 

My dad and his girlfriend watch TED videos a lot. I had the chance to watch this one today after Amy (the girlfriend) posted it on facebook. It's very interesting.

Faulty suggested I post this picture, and I admit it's pretty hilarious. So post some other awesome political cartoons that you all like. It'll be another political cartoon thread.

I was just using stumbleupon and found this interesting picture with a wonderful quote on it.

Kids need to be taught this in school because maybe so many ridiculous wars will not be started. But maybe not. Fear is a powerful thing, and the powerful wield it well over the people.  

I haven't been as active as normal lately. I'm not sure if any of you noticed because of all the new awesome people on here now, but I haven't been. There's a reason for that. My facebook friends on here might notice why, but maybe not.

I have been in an emotionally abuse relationship for some time now. I've just recently admitted that to myself, and last night, with the help of some friends, I packed my things and left while he was at work. You see, he had some mental issues and has snapped on me a couple of times. Once he broke a chair and a mirror and almost hurt me. The other time he held a shovel handle to my neck when I tried to prevent him from hurting my dog.

It's going to be hard on me for a while because I do care about him still, and I believe he's playing a mind game with me to get me back. You know, the whole "I love you. You're the only person I can count on," deal, trying to make me feel bad for leaving when it's really in my best interest to be away from him.

Anyway, I should be back strong in a day or two. I have a lot of support right now, so I'm getting through this. I just wanted to share this all with you. The more I talk about it, the better I feel.

So I hope to be as active as I was soon. Keep on with your awesome diaries, leftakers.

Now this is some cool stuff right here.

Just read and be impressed.

Researchers have found a way to produce large amounts of electricity from tiny cylinders made from carbon atoms.

The achievement could replace decades-old methods of generating electricity, such as combustion engines and turbines, the researchers say.

In the future, coated carbon nanotubes crafted from individual atoms could power everything from cell phones to hybrid-electric vehicles. The team envisions such nanotube-based power being available to consumers in the next five years.

Carbon nanotubes are thin sheets of carbon rolled up into teensy tubes each with a diameter about 30,000 times smaller than a strand of hair.

When carbon — one of the most abundant elements on Earth — is rolled up into tubes, it exhibits some extraordinary properties such as high heat conduction, which the team exploited in the new study.

A carbon firecracker
The researchers coated the nanotubes with a fuel, such as gasoline or ethanol, and applied heat to one end. The result:  The fuel reacts and produces more heat, which ignites more fuel to create even more heat.

The process creates “a wave that travels like dominoes falling in a line [down the length of the nanotube],” said study team member Michael Strano, a chemical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The resulting heat wave, it turns out, also creates a wave of electrons moving in one direction — aka electricity.

“The thermal wave squeezes electrons out of the nanotubes like a tube of toothpaste,” Strano explained.

The devices built in the MIT lab produced 10 times more power than a lithium-ion battery of equivalent mass.

“What's intriguing about these waves is that we haven’t really done any engineering to make them efficient yet and already they’re ten times [more powerful than] a lithium-ion battery,” Strano told TechNewsDaily. “We may be able to make very very small power sources out of them."

Cell phone battery replacement
The fuel-coated nanotubes could replace batteries for cell phones and other devices. Strano imagines a device with a button that you would push to create heat from friction, triggering the electricity-generating reaction inside the microscopic tubes.

These power devices could be made 10 times smaller than today’s cell-phone batteries but still hold the same amount of power. Furthermore, unlike today’s batteries, the carbon nanotube variety would not contain any toxic metals.

With some tweaking, the carbon nanotubes could even power a car, Strano said. But instead of coating the carbon cylinders with fuel, a liquid fuel could be stored in the car's gas tank and get injected onto the carbon nanotube battery when needed.

Strano said he was confident his team's discovery could be translated into commercial batteries within a few years.

“We have a lot of engineering challenges that we have to overcome in order to make this a commercial device," Strano said, "but nothing is as difficult as the initial discovery."

Strano and his colleagues detail their discovery in the March 7 issue of the journal Nature Materials

© 2010 TechNewsDaily

 

 

 

10 times more powerful than an lithium battery! This is the future, baby! This is exactly what we need. Much less wasteful. Much more powerful. Hells to the yeah! Go Science!!

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35466087/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/

(Totally awesome.   - promoted by leftake)

This has got to be one of the best things I have read in a long time. I'm sure you all will enjoy it.

Dear Conservative Americans,

The years have not been kind to you. I grew up in a profoundly Republican home, so I can remember when you wore a very different face than the one we see now.  You've lost me and you've lost most of America.  Because I believe having responsible choices is important to democracy, I'd like to give you some advice and an invitation.

First, the invitation:  Come back to us.

Now the advice.  You're going to have to come up with a platform that isn't built on a foundation of cowardice: fear of people with colors, religions, cultures and sex lives that differ from your own; fear of reform in banking, health care, energy; fantasy fears of America being transformed into an Islamic nation, into social/commun/fasc-ism, into a disarmed populace put in internment camps; and more.  But you have work to do even before you take on that task.

Your party -- the GOP -- and the conservative end of the American political spectrum have become irresponsible and irrational.  Worse, it's tolerating, promoting and celebrating prejudice and hatred.  Let me provide some examples -- by no means an exhaustive list -- of where the Right as gotten itself stuck in a swamp of hypocrisy, hyperbole, historical inaccuracy and hatred.

If you're going to regain your stature as a party of rational, responsible people, you'll have to start by draining this swamp:

Hypocrisy

You can't flip out -- and threaten impeachment - when Dems use a parliamentary procedure (deem and pass) that you used repeatedly (more than 35 times in just one session and more than 100 times in all!), that's centuries old and which the courts have supported. Especially when your leaders admit it all.

You can't vote and scream against the stimulus package and then take credit for the good it's done in your own district (happily handing out enormous checks representing money that you voted against, is especially ugly) --  114 of you (at last count) did just that -- and it's even worse when you secretly beg for more.

You can't fight against your own ideas just because the Dem president endorses your proposal.

 

 

Yeah, that's right. India is using the world's spiciest chili as a weapon against terrorists.

GAUHATI, India - The Indian military has a new weapon against terrorism: the world's hottest chili.

After conducting tests, the military has decided to use the thumb-sized "bhut jolokia," or "ghost chili," to make tear gas-like hand grenades to immobilize suspects, defense officials said Tuesday.

The bhut jolokia was accepted by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the world's spiciest chili. It is grown and eaten in India's northeast for its taste, as a cure for stomach troubles and a way to fight the crippling summer heat.

It has more than 1,000,000 Scoville units, the scientific measurement of a chili's spiciness. Classic Tabasco sauce ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units, while jalapeno peppers measure anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000.

"The chili grenade has been found fit for use after trials in Indian defense laboratories, a fact confirmed by scientists at the Defense Research and Development Organization," Col. R. Kalia, a defense spokesman in the northeastern state of Assam, told The Associated Press.

"This is definitely going to be an effective nontoxic weapon because its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hide-outs," R. B. Srivastava, the director of the Life Sciences Department at the New Delhi headquarters of the DRDO said.

Srivastava, who led a defense research laboratory in Assam, said trials are also on to produce bhut jolokia-based aerosol sprays to be used by women against attackers and for the police to control and disperse mobs.

I think it's pretty awesome because it's all natural and nontoxic, but it's still effective. So instead of chemical warfare, we'll be having chili warfare. :D

I wonder what other foods they will start using in war after this.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_...

So I just read this tiny article about a immortal jellyfish.

Yeah, an immortal jellyfish.

The turritopsis nutricula species of jellyfish may be the only animal in the world to have truly discovered the fountain of youth.

Since it is capable of cycling from a mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage and back again, there may be no natural limit to its life span. Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life).

The key lies in a process called transdifferentiation, where one type of cell is transformed into another type of cell. Some animals can undergo limited transdifferentiation and regenerate organs, such as salamanders, which can regrow limbs. Turritopsi nutricula, on the other hand, can regenerate its entire body over and over again. Researchers are studying the jellyfish to discover how it is able to reverse its aging process.

Because they are able to bypass death, the number of individuals is spiking. They're now found in oceans around the globe rather than just in their native Caribbean waters.  "We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion," says Dr. Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute.

 

Awesome right? I think so. But I wonder what sort of madness will come about when they find out how the jellyfish does this and try to do the same with humans.

Anyway, I just thought this was pretty interesting, and I figured you all would like to discuss the future possibilities awaiting us after this discovery.

 

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/guest_bloggers/26/the-world-s-only-immortal-animal.html

A retired American general has blamed the UN's historic failure to protect the Bosnian "safe haven" of Srebrenica on the fact that there were openly gay soldiers in the Dutch peacekeeping battalion assigned to it.

The comments from former Marine Corps General John Sheehan prompted outrage in the Netherlands, where the humiliation in July 1995 of 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers and the subsequent massacre by Serb forces of 8,000 Muslim men and boys remains a subject of acute national sensitivity.

General Sheehan, one of two Nato "supreme commanders" at the time of the massacre, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee against a proposal to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the US military.

He told the senators how the Armed Forces of various European countries had lost their combat focus after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and turned to peacekeeping because “they did not believe the Germans were going to attack again or the Soviets were coming back”.

The general said that Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and other nations all took the decision that there was no longer a need for an active combat capability in the military.

"They declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military — that includes the unionisation of their militaries, it includes open homosexuality. That led to a force that was ill-equipped to go to war," he said.

"The case in point that I’m referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs: the battalion was under-strength, poorly led, and the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone poles, marched the Muslims off, and executed them.

“That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II."

Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat, chairman of the committee, was incredulous. He asked General Sheehan: “Did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?”

“Yes, they did. They included that as part of the problem,” he replied.

“That there were gay soldiers?” the senator asked.

“That the combination was the liberalisation of the military; a net effect was basically social engineering.”

Mr Levin, who backs moves to allow openly gay soldiers to serve, went on to tell the general that he was "totally off-target" in his comments — presaging a flood of complaints from Dutch officials.

Renée Jones-Bos, the Dutch Ambassador to the United States, said that she "couldn’t disagree more” with General Sheehan, adding there was no evidence of his claims in the extensive record of research on Srebrenica.

Roger Van de Wetering, from the Dutch Defence Ministry added: “For us it is unbelievable that a man of this rank is stating this nonsense, because that is what it is.

“The whole operation in Srebrenica and the drama that took place over there was thoroughly investigated by Dutch and international authorities and none of these investigations has ever concluded or suggested a link between homosexual military personnel and the things that happened over there. I do not know on what facts this is based, but for us it is total nonsense.

"Every man or woman that meets the criteria physically and mentally is welcome to serve in our Armed Forces regardless of (religious) belief, sexual preference or whatever.”

 

I wanted to make sure you read all that before I discussed anything.

General Sheehan, being gay does not mean you are less of a man or woman. I know gay men who are in better shape than straight men. Hell, I know gay men that are better at shooting a gun than straight men.

You're just one of those manly men who refuses to have gays in the military because it will make us look "weak". Well, even if it does, it'll just lead to them underestimating us and us stomping them into the ground, now wouldn't it?

You are my douchebag of the day today because of your idiocy.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7068523.ece

I received this email today.

Tell textbook publishers: Stand up to the Texas Taliban.

Dear Brittany,
If you thought that decisions made by the Texas State Board of Education don't affect you, think again.
Led by far-right ideologues, the Texas SBOE recently gave preliminary approval to a plan that would radically change what children across the country learn in history class.
The ultra-conservative majority on the board (none of whom are experts in any academic discipline and many of whom are explicitly anti-science) took the curricula proposed by teachers and made over a hundred changes to "correct" the perceived left-wing bias.
But it gets worse. Since Texas is one of the largest textbook markets in the country, material written to cater to the Texas curricula will find its way into textbooks across the country unless textbook publishers take a stand.
We can't allow a small group of extreme ideologues on the Texas State Board of Education to re-write history.
Children who use textbooks conforming to the new standards will not learn anything about the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson or his thoughts on the separation of church and state. When they learn about the Civil War, they'll have to study Jefferson Davis' inaugural address alongside Abraham Lincoln's. And when they study the civil rights movement they'll have to learn about the "unintended consequences" of Great Society programs, affirmative action and Title IX. Oh - and Joe McCarthy was right all along no matter what historians actually say about it.
It's outrageous. Education will fail if we can't teach our children history. We can't let these far-right ideologues co-opt our educational system.
Don't let the Texas Taliban rewrite history. Thank you for standing up for the American educational system.
LiAnna Davis, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Pretty awesome I think.
Here's the link so everyone can send an email.

http://act.credoaction.com/cam...

So this diary will be more a rant than anything else.

I'm tired of people knocking each other down. I'm tired of arguing all the time. Instead of saying why the idea won't work or the bill won't work, let's find a way to fix the idea so it will work! Let's cooperate! Let's fix the problems instead of argue about them! I know I may sound like a hypocrite right now because I am guilty of doing the same thing, but I've grown weary of it all. Instead of telling me how a federally run education system won't work, help me find a way it will work. Instead of saying we don't have money for the health care reform, find a way to get the money for it.

Let's get some solutions to these problems! Let's not be negative about it and just find problems with every idea brought to the table!

We'll get nothing accomplished if we keep finding the negative in every idea. And I'm telling this to the Congress as well. Take your heads out of your asses and get something accomplished. Stop your petty arguments about not having money for this and that. Find a way to get the money for it. Stop bringing religion to the table because we are a nation of many religions that disagree on many subjects. Stop telling us that we don't want something we really do want. Work together for once and make this country better than it is.

Let's get this hopey changey stuff rolling!

This is something that needed to be done and I'm glad Obama is concentrating on it. No Child Left Behind is being revamped. Actually, it's completely changing!

A plan to overhaul the 2002 education law championed by President George W. Bush was unveiled by the Obama administration Saturday in hopes of replacing a system that in the last decade has tagged more than a third of schools as failing and created a hodgepodge of sometimes weak academic standards among states.

"Unless we take action — unless we step up — there are countless children who will never realize their full talent and potential," Obama said during a video address on Saturday. "I don't accept that future for them. And I don't accept that future for the United States of America."

 

So very true, Mr. Obama.

So instead of punishing schools that don't meet the benchmarks but increase in scores and achievements, we will be rewarding schools that show signs of progress, particulary poor and minority schools. He also wants to make it to where graduates will be ready for college and/or a career after high school.

The blueprint also would allow states to use subjects other than reading and mathematics as part of their measurements for meeting federal goals, pleasing many education groups that have said No Child Left Behind encouraged teachers not to focus on history, art, science, social studies and other important subjects.

 

And then there's this. Which I totally agree with especially with the cuts to the arts programs. My old high school band couldn't go to concert competition because the money for the buses was spent on something else. (And they were one of the only organizations that won awards).

I just hope that we can get rid of the new textbook guidelines in Texas so we don't spoil the future generation. And I hope the high school english teachers finally teach high schoolers how to write a college level essay. My father and his girlfriend are getting tired of seeing the "intro, body, conclusion" essay style. (I forgot the name of the type of essay.)

Another wish is that we will have more AP and honor classes in more schools. And more concentration on computer technology. I only needed one credit in it to graduate.  And maybe more language options in schools. Chinese would be a good one to offer in high schools now. Maybe replace french with chinese?

Anyway here are a few highlights from Obama's blueprint.

A few other highlights from the blueprint:

— By 2020, all students graduating from high school would need to be ready for college or a career. That's a shift away from the current law, which calls for all students to be performing at grade level in reading and math by 2014.

— Give more rewards — money and flexibility — to high-poverty schools that are seeing big gains in student achievement and use them as a model for other schools in low-income neighborhoods that struggle with performance.

— Punish the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools using aggressive measures, such as having the state take over federal funding for poor students, replacing the principal and half the teaching staff or closing the school altogether.

— Duncan has said the name No Child Left Behind will be dropped because it is associated with a harsh law that punishes schools for not reaching benchmarks even if they've made big gains. He said the administration will work with Congress to come up with a new name.

I just hope this works out. It's a great plan in my opinion and a lot of people seemed really excited about it. Let's hope it works!

Any comments about the new plan?

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35852205/ns/us_news-education/

Ok, so I'm sure all of you have seen this already, but it's too good to be left untouched.

An evangelical leader is calling for a boycott of Glenn Beck's television show and challenging the Fox News personality to a public debate after Beck vilified churches that preach economic and social justice.

The Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of progressive Christians, says Beck perverted Jesus' message when he urged Christians last week to leave churches that preach social and economic justice.

 

That's right. They called him out on it. And he's already got a few people boycotting the show! At least 20,000. Now, it's not a terribly big amount, but it's a start.

"He wants us to leave our churches, but we should leave him," Wallis says of Beck. "When your political philosophy is to consistently favor the rich over the poor, you don't want to hear about economic justice."

Wallis says he wants to go on Beck's show to challenge the contention that churches shouldn't preach economic and social justice.

Social and economic justice is at the heart of Jesus' message, Wallis says.

"He's afraid of being challenged on his silly caricatures," Wallis says. "Glenn Beck talks a lot when he doesn't have someone to dialogue with. Is he willing to talk with someone who he doesn't agree with?"

 

I say, Go on the Glenn Beck show if they'll have you and smash his face into the ground!! But he won't respond to any requests for an interview. And then he has this guy on his side.

Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, a Christian college in Virginia, says Jesus wasn't interested in politics. He says that those pastors who preach economic and social justice "are trying to twist the gospel to say the gospel supported socialism."

"Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he never said that we should elect a government that would take money from our neighbor's hand and give it to the poor," Falwell says.

 

Okay, what about this?

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2: 42-47)

 

Everyone sharing and everyone being equal in possessions. That sounds an awful lot like socialism to me. I believe Glenn Beck and Rev. Falwell, Jr. need to get their Bibles out and actually pay attention to everything they read instead of just the parts they like. Maybe they'll stop looking like idiots.

 

(If the quote from the Bible isn't exactly right, it's been a while since I've read the Bible.)

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/12/beck.boycott/index.html?hpt=Mid

 

( - promoted by leftake)

This article literally made me burst out laughing at how stupid people can be.

Conservative websites are up in arms this week over the Obama administration's new plan to outlaw recreational fishing in America. It's an egregious abuse of executive power, slightly mitigated by the fact that it's not remotely close to being true.

 

Okay, so the conservatives are watching ESPN and they see this opinion piece by Robert Montgomery. He starts off his piece by saying....

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing some of the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters."

 

Ok, so they start to freak out and almost immediately it's on conservative blogs. They start bashing Obama about his abuse of power and his supposed ban on sports fishing. If they had done their research, they would've seen that there were no new regulations on sports fishing. Montgomery was talking about the "Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force that has been charged by the White House with developing a comprehensive federal policy for managing the nation's waterways."

So there is not going to be any bans on sports fishing. Maybe commercial fishing so we don't deplete our food supply. But not sports fishing. They could've easily looked this all up, too, since they released an interim report that discusses the goals of the group. And it does not contain anything about a ban on recreational fishing whatsoever.

But of course, you confront a Republican with the truth and they'll ignore it.

One blogger muses: "That a bill like this could even get this much serious consideration is an indication of just how far left Obama has shifted the federal government."

 

Even with evidence that debunks their claims, they are still trying to say Obama is abusing federal power. Why does that not surprise me?

The writer of the ESPN opinion piece, Montgomery, even says himself that he did not mention anything about recreational fishing. (But he's also convinced there's a secret plot to destroy recreational fishing.)

In the end, though, this is another example of Republicans not doing their homework and spewing hate all over the place.