Archive for February, 2010
by jhwygirl UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown takes on free-marketeers and the lack of a moral compass inherent in an unregulated economy in a guest column this weekend in London’s The Guardian. Brown sums up well the source of political anger boiling today. Funny how his words can apply both here in American and there [...]
by jhwygirl I missed this one, but came across it over the weekend. It is an editorial written by Laura Lundquist, a non-traditional student working on her master’s degree in journalism at the University of Montana. It’s not just an opinion piece – she did a bit of research going back to Rep. Denny Rehberg’s [...]
By CFS I was invited to contribute here by jhwygirl on transportation, land use issues, and such. Since that has gone so swimmingly for me so far (my own mistake in making in-the-moment, emotional comments that didn’t sit well with many people). So now I’ll change gears and throw my hat into the healthcare debate [...]
by jhwygirl I wrote here just the other day of what many view as the galling move by WellPoint to increase health insurance rates of 34 million people across 8 states. That increase will help increase profits by an estimated 7% for this year. This, from a company that made $4.7 billion in profit off [...]
by JC Tonight on MTPR, there was a great commentary by Brian Muldoon on the Citizen’s United case. Here is the clip: “A corporation obviously is nothing at all like a human being. There is no social benefit to granting it the unrestricted right to speak on behalf of its agenda. Human beings benefit from [...]
by jhwygirl Reader’s may recall this previous 4&20 post on the lies broadcast around our state by The Committee for Truth in Politics. The ads misrepresented what proposed finance reform measures do – and pushed for calls to Senator Tester (who sits on Senate Banking and Finance) to “stop the bailout.” There is no bailout [...]
By Carfreestupidity In an update to a previous post, according to @KPAX, Missoula City Councilwoman Pam Walzer did take the breathalyzer when she was arrested on a DUI charge (her first). I know what that says to me. A lot of people are already calling for her resignation (and I would hate to see what [...]
by JC Open thread on the fate of health care reform (or what is currently passing for reform) for those who are glued to CSPAN today to see democracy at work. [/snark]
by JC In light of our current discussion over Constitutional rights for non-humans, I thought that with this week’s change in policy for carrying weapons in National Parks, that maybe I could make an exception: From the WaPo: The federal government will lift long-standing restrictions on guns in national parks Monday, meaning that visitors with [...]
by CarFreeStupidity There has been a string of DUI arrests, drunk driving incidents/accidents and news of late. But the latest is certainly unexpected. The Missoulian is reporting that Missoula City Councilwoman Pamela J. Walzer was, “arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol early Wednesday morning and has pleaded not guilty.” Given the timing of [...]
by jhwygirl You simply couldn’t even write this into a movie, unless it was some sort of sick comedy. No one would believe it. Against the backdrop of a renewed call for health reform WellPoint/Anthem Blue Cross, based in Indiana, and a provider of health insurance in 14 states with 34 million customers – 8 [...]
by jhwygirl Eight Democratic Senators can’t come to term with the facts that too much CO2 can kill you. That it’s unhealthy and dirty and increasing levels are killing us. Montana Senator Max Baucus is on that list. And yeah, you can darn well bet there’s a bevy of Republicans there too. Over a year [...]
by jhwygirl Yeah, I been wearing my Tyler Gernant sticker…and I love telling people who he is: ‘Tyler is our next representative for the Great State of Montana who’s going to take out Denny Rehberg who hasn’t done a thing in 10 years,’ is how I start off. I’ve had two skeptics right off the [...]
by jhwygirl Former GOP legislator (2 in the state house, 23 in the senate), Secretary of State and 2004 gubernatorial nominee Bob Brown recently wrote an editorial slamming the recent SCOTUS decision regarding election finance law. The comments on that piece mystify me. There are people actually defending The Company (as in the Anaconda Copper [...]
by jhwygirl Ugh. How disappointed I am in myself to have missed getting this up. Travis Hoffman administers a listserv for Summit Independent Living Center. He does a great job informing on current local, state, and national issues and legislation that affect the lives of people with disabilities. Last week he posted a notice regarding [...]
by jhwygirl I’m basically going to poach this from Dave Budge (a Missoula resident) who posts over at Electric City Weblog. It’s a good cause, and I’m sure he won’t mind. The annual spring performance of Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre will show on February 26th at the Missoula Children’s Theater. Featured work is original choreography [...]
by carfreestupidity Carfreestupidity has graciously agreed to join us b’birders and share some of his postings here at 4&20. I’ve been reading his stuff over at Imagine No Cars: Thoughts on Alternative Transportation and Urban Design for some time. I love it. Good stuff. He’s got a a great thoughtful informative voice. I’m sure you [...]
by jhwygirl Superprogressiveeditorialist The George Ochenski has his latest column up for the Missoula Independent taking on the Fire Sale that the state land board put forward (by a 3-2 vote) on Monday by dropping the .25/ton bid price on Otter Creek coal by a full 20% 40% to .15/ton. (I should note I stole [...]
by Pete Talbot News that former Montana Governor Marc Racicot has joined the board of Plum Creek Timber should come as no surprise. Since leaving the state, Racicot has shilled for the insurance industry, railroads and energy corporations. And, of course, George W. Bush. Racicot is from Libby and it was while he was serving [...]
A Truly Great Depression Among the Nation’s Low Income Workers Amidst Full Employment Among the Most Affluent by JC This graph pretty well speaks for itself: This is taken from a study just released by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston: At the end of calendar year 2009, as the [...]
by jhwygirl In a 3 – 2 vote (Schweitzer, McCulloch and Lindeen voting yes), the Land Board voted to lower the minimum bid price on the Otter Creek tracts from .25/ton to .15/ton. I’ve yet to stomach a viewing of the entire hearing – but thanks to my DVR (and since the Land Board doesn’t [...]
by Pete Talbot I’m talking adverting here, not news stories. And I want to know what’s going on. I saw my first medical marijuana ad in the Missoulian last Sunday. It was a little guy buried in the Territory section. Has the paper’s advertising policy changed or do pot dispensers think Missoulian readers just aren’t [...]
by jhwygirl We wrote yesterday about the intentionally misleading bullshit put out by the Committee for Truth in Politics. They’ve been at it nationwide, dumping millions into their ad campaigns. Recently they’ve targeted Montana, using fear to drum up anti-finance reform calls to both Sen. Jon Tester and Sen. Max Baucus. Tester sits on the [...]
by jhwygirl Inquiring minds are wondering. Tomorrow’s Land Board meeting may provide the answer, as the state’s executive branch (Gov. Schweitzer, Sec. of State Linda McCulloch, Attorney General Steve Bullock, State Auditor Monica Lindeen and Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau) consider whether to lower the minimum bid for the Otter Creek coal tracts. Most [...]
by jhwygirl Let’s get this straight: A mysterious organization called the Committee for Truth in Politics, which is suing to stay secret, ponies up tens of thousands of dollars for scary TV ads in Montana telling us, “We won’t be fooled” by another big bank bailout? If you haven’t seen the ad, check it out: [...]
by Pete Talbot I know less about hunting than quantum physics but this just doesn’t look right. I mean, should I dress up like an elk on opening day? Tie a grouse on my head when I go stalking those upland game birds? Attach a big, white, fluffy tail to my derriere when hunting the [...]
“We, as students from Big Sky High School, do not want our school funding to come from coal,” said Allison Lawrence, one of the protesters at the rally. “We would rather live with old books than get blood money for shiny new computers.” by JC This came across my email via the Missoula Community News [...]
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