-
It's that time of year again - our ISP is asking for money. If you have some spare change, please click the Donate link... Thanks!
- About Us
- Search
- Need Help?
- Donate
- Login/Register
Latest Entries
Actions Menu
Blog Roll
- 4F Facebook Page
- Turn Up The Night with Kenny Pick
- Stephanie Miller Show
- The Tim Corrimal Show
- The Rachel Maddow Show
- Angry Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
- Thom Hartmann Program
- Turnips! Fans of Turn Up the Night Facebook Page
- Snopes.com
- Factcheck.org
- Official White House Page, if you must.
- The Brad Blog / Green News Report
- The Poorly Written Political Blog (Joe Santorsa)
Optimism in the News
Author: BobR
Date: 2011-02-09 11:19:09
Since the election debacle of 2010, it's been hard to find those little golden nuggets of good news for liberals. Some among us have become "glass half empty" types, looking for the dark cloud for every silver lining. I guess I am more of the "glass half full" type. So here are a few otherwise unrelated stories that help reinforce hopes for Democrats and liberals.
First up: The news came yesterday the Keith Olbermann has found his next mission - making Current TV relevant again:
"Chief News Officer" - that has a nice ring, doesn't it? Of course - the FAUX News types will probably snicker and make comments about the obscurity of the channel, but they don't seem to realize that for those who seek out Mr. Olbermann, it's all about the integrity and accuracy.
Next up is the news that the House failed to pass the extension of the Patriot Act:
I will dutifully provide the dark cloud to this silver lining - this 2/3 required vote was to bypass some procedures. It can still pass with a 50%+1 vote, and probably will. For now, though, some of the luster has fallen from it, showing us the possibility that at some point in the near future, it won't even muster the simple majority.
Third - First Lady Michelle Obama has taken a lot of heat for her efforts to get kids to eat right and exercise. A new study, however, shows that eating junk food at a young age reduces IQs several points, which can make a big difference in handling classwork, and - later - the real world:
Healthy food results in healthy smarter kids - it's a fact.
Finally - the cracks are beginning to show in the Middle East. In male-dominated societies where women live under many restrictions, the protesters in various countries are increasingly including women among their numbers. When the women are feeling bold enough to protest the government, then can real change be far behind?
We can only hope - if you're a "glass half full" kind of person.
First up: The news came yesterday the Keith Olbermann has found his next mission - making Current TV relevant again:
Keith Olbermann, the former MSNBC anchor, will host a prime time program for Current TV, the low-rated cable channel co-founded by Al Gore. The one-hour program will begin sometime in the spring.
Mr. Olbermann will also become the chief news officer for Current, the company said in a news release Tuesday.
“We are delighted to provide Keith with the independent platform and freedom that Current can, and does uniquely offer,” Mr. Gore said in a statement.
"Chief News Officer" - that has a nice ring, doesn't it? Of course - the FAUX News types will probably snicker and make comments about the obscurity of the channel, but they don't seem to realize that for those who seek out Mr. Olbermann, it's all about the integrity and accuracy.
Next up is the news that the House failed to pass the extension of the Patriot Act:
The House on Tuesday night failed to approve legislation to extend surveillance authorities in the Patriot Act.
In a 277-148 vote, the House fell just seven votes short of the two-thirds majority of voting members necessary to move the bill under suspension of the rules.
More than two dozen Republicans bucked their leadership in the vote, by far the biggest defection for the House GOP since it took over the lower chamber. Until tonight's vote, Republicans voted together in all but two votes this year, and in those two votes, only one Republican voted with Democrats.
I will dutifully provide the dark cloud to this silver lining - this 2/3 required vote was to bypass some procedures. It can still pass with a 50%+1 vote, and probably will. For now, though, some of the luster has fallen from it, showing us the possibility that at some point in the near future, it won't even muster the simple majority.
Third - First Lady Michelle Obama has taken a lot of heat for her efforts to get kids to eat right and exercise. A new study, however, shows that eating junk food at a young age reduces IQs several points, which can make a big difference in handling classwork, and - later - the real world:
Of the 4,000 children for which there were complete data, there was a significant difference in IQ among those who had had [processed] as opposed to [health-conscious] diets in early childhood.
The 20 percent of children who ate the most processed food had an average IQ of 101 points, compared with 106 for the 20 percent of children who ate the most "health-conscious" food.
"It's a very small difference, it's not a vast difference," said one of the authors, Pauline Emmett of the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol.
"But it does make them less able to cope with education, less able to cope with some of the things in life."
Healthy food results in healthy smarter kids - it's a fact.
Finally - the cracks are beginning to show in the Middle East. In male-dominated societies where women live under many restrictions, the protesters in various countries are increasingly including women among their numbers. When the women are feeling bold enough to protest the government, then can real change be far behind?
We can only hope - if you're a "glass half full" kind of person.
