Today's soup is a medley of encouragement and insight, served with a slice of wry. Save room for dessert! Regards, Tengrain

Frank Chow was invited to the first-ever White House Initiative on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Blogger Call, and tells us about it.

Muddy Politics examines the GOP's 2012 strategy and finds it… disturbing.

Monkey Muck observes that the right wing is tied up in knots over the terrible shootings in Norway.

Bonus Track: Hysterical Raisins takes us to the movies.

Round-up by Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors who also blogs at Dependable Renegade. Send tips to: mbru@crooksandliars.com

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(Grapefruit - back by popular demand)

Back for another installment of Grapefruit - I ran another cut off their 1968 debut album back in August and I was asked by a lot of readers if I was going to run more. Well, of course - we take requests around here.

Tonight it's Ain't It Good.

And yes it is.

MTV covers the internet in 1995, via Geekosystem. Warning, Tiffany's Shopper at 2:07. Open thread below....

You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music
	Artist: Charlie Poole

Got a favorite traveling song?

If a core isn't near meltdown not much news comes up about about the tragic nuclear crisis of Fukushima. Norman Solomon has kept the pressure turned high on our nuclear safety issues since he began to run for Congress, but not many others have.

This is a sad story, but we'll hear more about radiation damage emitted by Fukushima after the tsunami struck as more time passes by.

Children living in the nuclear-hit Fukushima region of Japan are to undergo regular cancer tests for the rest of their lives

Fukushima prefectural government plans to carry out regular ultrasound examinations on all residents who were 18 years old or under when the nuclear crisis broke out on March 11.

The tests, designed to spot early symptoms of thyroid cancer, will be conducted every two years until the age of 20 and then every five years, according to Japanese news reports.

An estimated 360,000 young residents will be entitled to the free medical tests, which will start operating from October this year, with further in-depth urine and blood testing taking places if any abnormalities are discovered.

News of the lifelong testing follows growing concern surrounding the potential health impact of the still stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant on residents in surrounding regions.

Following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the power plant has leaked radiation into the surrounding soil, air and sea, prompting evacuation of the immediate area and a string of food scares relating to local produce.

While our media is focusing on this debt ceiling debacle and debating whether our politicians might willingly default on America's debt through this crisis of their own making, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was on the Senate floor this week discussing the real crisis in America -- the jobs crisis.

With Release of New Study Showing Record Concern Over State of the Manufacturing Industry, Brown Sends Letter to President Obama Urging Greater Focus on Needs of Domestic Manufacturers:

Focus Groups Show Americans Want Washington to Focus on Bringing Back Manufacturing Jobs, See Manufacturing as Key to Economic Strength, and Strongly Support the Implementation of a National Manufacturing Strategy

July 28, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With the release of new poll today showing that Americans believe that the strength of the economy is strongly tied to the strength of our manufacturing industry, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to devote greater attention to the needs of domestic manufacturers as he spearheads a consolidation and reorganization of the Administration’s trade agencies.

The study, conducted for the Alliance for American Manufacturing, showed that Americans want Washington to focus on bringing back manufacturing jobs; that they see manufacturing as key to our nation’s economic strength; and that they strongly support the implementation of a National Manufacturing Strategy. Brown is the author of the bipartisan National Manufacturing Strategy Act of 2011, legislation aimed at bolstering the competitiveness of the American manufacturing industry. The goals of the Strategy are to increase manufacturing jobs, identify emerging technologies to strengthen U.S. competitiveness, and strengthen the manufacturing sectors in which the U.S. is most competitive.

“The recovery of our manufacturing industry is critical to our country’s economic recovery. Historically, the manufacturing sector has provided Americans with good-paying, stable jobs—a reliable pathway to the middle class. It’s no wonder that with factories closing down and jobs going to China and Mexico that Americans think that Washington isn’t doing enough to save this vital industry,” Brown said. “But the good news is that we can work to reverse the damage—by closing loopholes for companies that ship jobs abroad and giving businesses strong incentives to Make It In America. We should be vigorously enforcing our trade laws—particularly with countries like China—and cracking down on currency manipulation and duty evasion. And finally, as one of the only developed nations without one, we must implement a National Manufacturing Strategy. A complete economic recovery requires a sustained strategy to ensure long-term job growth and job creation.”

According to the American Alliance for Manufacturing, the study included eight focus groups nationwide, as well as a random national survey of 1,202 likely voters. The study found that across the partisan spectrum, Democratic and Republican voters ranked job creation and rebuilding the nation’s manufacturing base at the top of their list of priorities. In addition, 94% of voters say creating manufacturing jobs is either “one of the most important” things government can do or “very important;” 90% support Buy American policies “to ensure that taxpayer-funded government projects use only U.S.-made goods and supplies wherever possible;” and 95% favor keeping “America’s trade laws strong and strictly enforced to provide a level playing field for our workers and businesses.”

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The Politico is reporting that voting on Boehner's Debt Ceiling Bill called the 'Budget Control Act' has been delayed. No more news has come out so far...Chuck Todd tweets: They ACTUALLY are now moving to the business of naming post offices. You can't make it up

The Politico has more:

House Republican leaders delayed a vote on Speaker John Boehner’s debt limit bill Thursday evening, sparking a series of emergency meetings and arm twisting as the fate of a trillion dollar deficit package hung in limbo.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) office says the vote will still be held Thursday night, but the delay is an indication the votes aren’t totally locked down for passage. For hours, Boehner has been engaged in intense one-on-one meetings with Republicans in an effort to win today’s fight. Still lacking the votes at 9 p.m., Republicans were considering sending their bill back to the Rules Committee for minor tweaks to win more votes.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, a conservative Texas Republican, emerged from Boehner’s suite of offices Thursday evening — which include Cantor’s space — and said he is a “bloody, beaten-down no.”

UPDATE: The Ed Schultz Show and MSNBC are reporting that per the Republican House Whip Kevin McCarthy, there will be no vote on Speaker Boehner's bill tonight.

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And here it is.

It was just reported (as of 9:00 am PDT) that Police made a discovery that the phone of Sara Payne had been hacked, or was on a list alleged to have been hacked, by News Of The World.

In case the name rings no bells, Sara Payne is the mother of Sarah Payne, the 8-year old girl abducted and murdered by convicted pedophile Roy Whiting in 2000. The murder was so heinous and caused such outrage that it prompted adoption of a new law making it public the whereabouts of convicted pedophiles to serve as a warning for parents with children living within a given area of the pedophile. The campaign to get this law on the books was News Of the World, championed by then-editor Rebekah Brooks. The law was eventually enacted and became known as Sarah's Law in honor of the slain girl.

Sara Payne became quite close, not only with Rebekah Brooks but with The News Of The World and they maintained close personal ties over the years.

The discovery today that the very same News Of The World was in fact hacking Sara Payne's phone brought a wave of freshly harvested revulsion throughout the UK today. Payne is in a state of horrified shock and reaction has been swift and dismayed.

Brooks has vehemently denied the charges and many former colleagues have come to her defense. At first it was reported the phone in question was a personal gift from Brooks, but it has been retracted and said to have been a gift of News Of The World, not Brooks personally.

In all due likelihood it would seem Brooks may be telling the truth. With such a close personal relationship with Payne, why would she need to hack into her phone? But it doesn't dismiss the notion that this sort of thing was a standard operating procedure for many years at News Of the World (and Newscorp) and the climate was such that it wasn't given much thought to raise an eyebrow. That, I think is the real issue here. Your complacency is your defacto complicity. Does Brooks warrant every accusation thrown at her? I don't think so. Why? Remember she was brought into the organization very young (read: malleable). Learning your trade as an apprentice by the side of the master will often introduce you to methods and techniques you may question early on. But after twenty years those gut-level questions cease being relevant.

I'm still of the opinion the fish rots from the head. Just saying.

Here is the breaking news via BBC Radio 4's PM with Eddie Mair and an update from The Six O'Clock news that followed right after.

As is everything connected with this story, the game changes almost hourly.

You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music
	Artist: Charlie Poole

Got a favorite traveling song?

At first Rick Perry had no problem that gay marriage became legal in New York state, telling reporters that it was fine with him. But as soon as he was interviewed by the extreme religious right's Family Research Council, he flip-flopped and announced he was against it.

Texas Governor Rick Perry (R), one of the country's most prominent defenders of the 10th Amendment, is making an exception when it comes to gay marriage. After initially telling reporters that it's "fine with me" if states like New York legalize same-sex unions through their own legislature, Perry is pulling a 180 and calling for a Federal Marriage Amendment.

Perry, who is flirting with a presidential bid, clarified his position to Family Research Council president Tony Perkins in an interview.

"I probably needed to add a few words after that 'it's fine with me' and that it's fine with me that a state is using their sovereign rights to decide an issue," he said. "Obviously gay marriage is not fine with me. My stance hasn't changed."

Perry said he supported changing the Constitution in order to ban gay marriage, a position that he characterized as supportive of states' rights even as it would overrule New York's own decision on the matter.

"The real fear is states like New York will change the definition of marriage for Texas," he said. "That is the reason the Federal Marriage Amendment is being offered. It's a small group of activists judges and really a small handful, if you will, of states and these liberal special interest groups that are intent on a redefinition, if you will, of marriage on the nation for all of us, which I adamantly oppose. Indeed, to not pass the Federal Marriage Amendment would impinge on Texas' and other states' right not to have marriage forced upon them by these activist judges and these special interest groups."

His latest statement represents a major about-face and may be a preview of how he might court social conservatives should he run for president. At a fundraiser in Colorado last week, Perry was extremely clear in his support for New York's right to determine their own definition of marriage.

Think Progress writes: Rick Perry Tosses Tentherism Under The Bus To Placate Anti-Gay Hate Group

Perry’s claim that he supports states’ rights to govern themselves, while simultaneously supporting the anti-gay “Federal Marriage Amendment” is impossible to reconcile. The FMA provides that:

Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.

So Perry’s position is that we should ram his anti-gay views down New York voters’ throats by rewriting the Constitution to make marriage equality illegal in all 50 states. The states can have any law they want, so long as Perry approves of them.

Perry’s attempt to impose anti-gay bigotry on progressive states is also a stark contrast to his stance on economic issues. While Perry is perfectly willing to let the federal government force New York to discriminate against gay couples, he believes that Texas should have the right to flout Medicaid laws, ignore federal education laws and thumb its nose at environmental regulations.

In other words, Perry doesn’t actually care one bit about the 10th Amendment — he doesn’t even care all that much about his own twisted tenther interpretation of the 10th Amendment — he just wants to force everyone to live the way he wants them to live.

Does America really want another Governor from Texas elected as President? He certainly shares the flip-flopping quality that defines Mitt Romney's political career. But his kowtowing to the religious right is straight out of George W. Bush's playbook.