Now she's just horrified.

Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Watson, says she had no idea that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s overhaul of the state’s educational system might mean taxpayer support of Muslim schools.

“I actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America’s Founding Fathers’ religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools,” the District 64 Representative said Monday.

“I liked the idea of giving parents the option of sending their children to a public school or a Christian school,” Hodges said.

Hodges mistakenly assumed that “religious” meant “Christian.”

HB976, now signed into law as Act 2, proposed, among other things, a voucher program allowing state educational funds to be used to send students to schools run by religious groups.

[...]
The school funding mechanism, however, did not come up for a vote until the end of the session. By then, a Muslim-based school had applied for support through the new voucher system.
During debate over the MFP (Minimum Foundation Program) funding formula, Hodges learned more about the consequences of the educational changes. She voted against the new MFP funding formula; Schexnayder voted for it.

“Unfortunately it will not be limited to the Founders’ religion,” Hodges said. “We need to insure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools. There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.”

Well, hey, Rep. Hodges. You don't get to pick and choose the "permissible religions" when you hand over public funds to private concerns, which is why those of us with half a brain think that public school money ought to be used to fund public institutions, especially when there is NO "founders' religion."

See, that way it's easy. My tax money doesn't go to fund stupid conservative, narrow-minded, intellectually dishonest education controlled by Catholic bishops and Southern Baptist wingnuts, and your tax money doesn't go to Muslims. Didn't you believe that whole "freedom of religion" thing in the Constitution?

The stupid just hurts. It hurts hard.

Of course, let's not forget that education funding means sending lots of state money to church and corporate-run charter schools in Louisiana. What a guy.

Jindal claimed that libraries can be funded with local money and donations, with federal funds making up the difference in their budgets. Not so fast, Bobby.

Louisiana Division of Administration spokesman Michael DiResto told LJ: “The FY 13 Louisiana budget includes two federal technology grants for the State Library for the purchase of e-books ($1 million), which local libraries can use through the interlibrary loan program, and to provide statewide technology training and equipment for public libraries ($782K) – for a total of almost $1.8 million, which more than makes up for the $896K in direct state funding.”

However, those federal technological funds from the BTOP program are earmarked specifically for providing training, laptops for citizens to check out, and accessible workstations for the blind. As such they cannot be distributed to local libraries to maintain, upgrade, or replace the in-library desktop PCs and servers that were previously covered by state aid. Increased access to ebooks may help make up for lack of collection development dollars to some extent, but since 34-43 percent of Louisiana residents don’t have Internet access at home, ebooks can’t completely replace the lost dollars for print materials, especially in poorer areas.

Yes, poor people rely on libraries for access to the Internet, which is how they search for jobs, learn, read, and other things. Shutting off their Internet access while replacing paper books with e-Books is particularly cynical. Here's what happens to the poorer area libraries as a result of Jindal's pecuniary ways:

LJ caught up with several of the smaller Louisiana libraries which are hardest hit by the cuts. Mary Bennett Lindsey, director of the two-parish Audubon Regional Library, operates three libraries and a bookmobile. Lindsey told LJ, “we were getting almost $50,000 [in state aid], which is 10 percent of our budget.” Of that, Audubon allocated $30,000 for books—$12000 more than the system would otherwise be able to spend. “Which isn’t an awful lot when you divide by three, but it’s enough to keep up with the current bestsellers and buying an encyclopedia once in a while,” she said. Audubon used the balance of the aid for technology: replacing 15 computer workstations and covering the portion of the library’s new server which is not funded by the Federal erate program.

With that aid gone, “I’m just going to pray,” Lindsey told LJ. “We’ll just have to cut back on books and hope we get through. If our server goes down or the switches go down, it’s going to have to come from somewhere. It’s not going to come from utilities; we’re barely paying people above minimum wage so it’s not going to come out of salary, we may have to cut hours.”

Lindsey explains that the library computers are a lifeline because “the state requires you to do unemployment online, welfare online. They are closing the local parish offices and they say go to the library, but the library doesn’t get any extra money for IT.”

On the other hand, Jindal has cut taxes six times and is a Grover Norquist favorite. So there's that. Three cheers for oligarchy!

[h/t Balloon Juice]

I'm struggling to understand the reasoning behind this, much less the priorities that make the Louisiana legislature decide to make this move.

Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything.

But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session.

House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions, and it flew so far under the radar most businesses don't even know about it.

"We're gonna lose a lot of business," says Danny Guidry, who owns the Pioneer Trading Post in Lafayette. He deals in buying and selling unique second hand items.

"We don't want this cash transaction to be taken away from us. It's an everyday transaction," Guidry explains.

Guidry says, "I think everyone in this business once they find out about it. They're will definitely be a lot of uproar."

The law states those who buy or sell second hand goods are prohibited from using cash. State representative Rickey Hardy co-authored the bill.

Hardy says, "they give a check or a cashiers money order, or electronic one of those three mechanisms is used."

Hardy says the bill is targeted at criminals who steal anything from copper to televisions, and sell them for a quick buck. Having a paper trail will make it easier for law enforcement.

I don't think this would hold up in court. Cash is legal tender of the United States government. How can a state legislature ban its usage? And frankly, I think the whole "helping the police" is a crock of bull. As banks start charging more and more fees for us to have the privilege of letting us access our money, I suspect that Rickey Hardy is doing a solid for his lobbyist buddies in the banking industry.

h/t Balloon Juice

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The other day National Review ran an open letter from Dennis Prager to Hispanics in which he assured them they would always be better off voting Republican, even though it might seem like right-wingers are hellbent on deporting 12 million Latinos these days. Among his soothing assurances:

Those who tell you it is racism or xenophobia are lying about their fellow Americans for political or ideological reasons. You know from your daily interactions with Americans that the vast majority of us treat you with the dignity that every fellow human being deserves. Your daily lives are the most eloquent refutation of the charge of racism and bigotry. The charge is a terrible lie. Please don’t believe it. You know it is not true.

Um, right. Does Prager really believe this?

Because if he actually, you know, knew any Hispanics he would know that they live in America under a constant cloud: Regularly treated as subhumans -- indeed, regularly labeled "illegal aliens," a classic dehumanizing trope -- and threatened constantly with being swept up in a Kafkaesque immigration system, even if they are here legally. Depicted with demeaning racial stereotypes, and treated by the Anglo public accordingly. Demonized as "criminals" simply for their presence here. And as a result, increasingly at risk of being the victim of a Latino-bashing hate crime.

And the people who make this kind of racist dehumanization a regular part of their daily business? The American Right, of course.

Exhibit A: The vicious political ads being run by Republicans Sharron Angle in Nevada and David Vitter in Louisiana, both using phony stock footage of "illegal aliens" sneaking in over our borders. The racist stereotyping in these ads is so clear and startling that Angle and Vitter might as well have just donned their Klan hoods.

Observes Adam Serwer:

Her campaign's latest ad, attacking Reid for his support of the DREAM Act, which Greg mentioned earlier in his roundup, is as despicable as it is desperate. In its naked appeal to racial animus against Latinos, it rivals the infamous 1988 "Willie Horton" ad deployed against Michael Dukakis.

Continue reading »

There is at least one judge in Louisiana with some sense and respect for the law. NPR reports that U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson has placed a temporary restraining order on the requirement that any woman seeking an abortion be forced to have an ultrasound first, and view the results of that ultrasound before having an abortion.

This is good news not only for women in Louisiana, but for women in other states where similar laws have been passed. While the key will be finding a judge willing to actually evaluate the facts in light of the Constitution, this is certainly a step forward.

The right wing has spent a lot of time working to get laws passed (mostly in Southern states) that are clearly discriminatory to women, violate their rights, and are just a stalking horse for an excuse to try and overturn Roe vs. Wade.

The assault on women's reproductive rights has been relentless in 2010.

Louisiana (temporary restraining order granted):

One of the new laws would block abortion doctors from participation in a state-run medical malpractice fund. The other would require women about to undergo abortions to first have an ultrasound examination and receive a photograph of the ultrasound image.

Guttmacher Institute Study:

Legislators in eight states introduced measures to require that ultrasound services be offered to a woman seeking an abortion. Missouri was the only state in which a measure was approved, and the governor is widely expected to allow it to go into effect without his signature. Three other states currently require providers to offer ultrasound services to women (see Requirements for Ultrasound).

Measures enacted this year in Utah and West Virginia place requirements on a provider who is performing an ultrasound in preparation for an abortion. The Utah law requires the provider to offer to show and describe the image to the woman. The new law in West Virginia is similar but explicitly allows the woman to choose whether or not to view the image. These two new laws bring to 10 the number of states with such provisions.

Finally, legislatures in three states—Oklahoma, Florida and Louisiana—moved to enact or strengthen requirements mandating that women seeking an abortion first obtain an ultrasound. Oklahoma adopted the most stringent measure. It would require abortion providers to perform an ultrasound on every woman obtaining an abortion, display the image to her and provide a verbal description; the woman would be entitled to “avert her eyes” if she did not want to view the screen. The measure is identical to one passed in 2008 that was overturned by a state court on procedural grounds. The new law, written to avoid the procedural issues, was nonetheless challenged immediately upon enactment, and enforcement is currently blocked pending the outcome of the litigation.

And of course, let's not forget the assault on the Affordable Care Act:

Meanwhile, legislators in 14 states (including states that already have laws applying to all private plans) introduced measures that would limit coverage of abortion through the insurance exchanges that will be set up under health care reform by 2014. Legislation has been enacted in four states. Arizona’s new law permits coverage only in cases of threats to the woman’s life or health, while Mississippi’s permits coverage only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. Laws in Louisiana and Tennessee prohibit all coverage of abortion, with no exceptions. Legislation approved by the legislature in Missouri is awaiting action by the governor, and measures in Florida and Oklahoma have been vetoed.

Just one more reason to keep the wingers out of Congress and by extension, out of women's reproductive systems.

There are places where having someone armed and standing guard makes me feel at least a little secure. The guard at the bank, the airport, and the police patrol cars on the street are harbingers of safety.

However, church is not one of those places. At least, not for me. But evidently the good Republicans in Louisiana think differently, and so today Bobby Jindal signed the "gun-in-church" bill, authorizing people with concealed weapons permits to bring them to church.

NOLA.com:

Including the "gun-in-church" bill, House Bill 1272 by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, Jindal has signed into law 940 of the 1,067 bills the Legislature sent him, vetoed 12, and used his pen to line-item spending measures in four different budget bills.

Burns' bill would authorize persons who qualified to carry concealed weapons having passed the training and background checks to bring them to churches, mosques, synagogues or other houses of worship as part of a security force.

The pastor or head of the religious institution must announce verbally or in weekly newsletters or bulletins that there will be individuals armed on the property as members of he security force. Those chosen have to undergo eight hours of tactical training each year.

It sort of kills that whole "love one another" idea, doesn't it?

I keep reading all kinds of conspiracy theories as to why the press is unable to cover the Gulf oil spill and its cleanup. People say all kinds of crazy things when there's an information vacuum. But I'm starting to wonder if there's really some sensational explanation for why BP gets to keep the press from reporting on the cleanup sites, because I haven't heard a good reason yet. Now that Helen Thomas is gone, there's no one capable of asking a question until they get a real answer:

Mac McClelland, whose reporting from the Gulf for Mother Jones has been indispensable, brings us this latest bag of bull from BP, which insists that it’s not trying to restrict press access to public spaces.

According to McClelland, this was filmed on non-BP property in Houma last week by Drew Wheelan of the American Birding Association, who was stopped from filming by a Louisiana state Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's deputy:

Wheelan: “Am I violating any laws or anything like that?”

Officer: “Um…not particularly. BP doesn’t want people filming.”

Wheelan: “Well, I’m not on their property so BP doesn’t have anything to say about what I do right now.”

Officer: “Let me explain: BP doesn’t want any filming. So all I can really do is strongly suggest that you not film anything right now. If that makes any sense.”

It makes no sense, unless, of course, BP has some authority over police and sheriff’s departments in Louisiana, a scenario that BP denies but which seems to crop up again and again. WDSU-TV’s Scott Walker, whose own encounter with an official who attempted to deny him access to a public beach went viral, received an apology from a BP flack nine days later.

Wheelan’s encounter didn’t stop there. Read McClelland’s entire report, and the next time someone asks you “Well, what do you want President Obama to do?”, tell them he could start by looking into why a foreign corporation seems to be allowed to act with extralegal authority on U.S. soil. It’s the sort of thing you’d think the Tea Party might care about, too.

UPDATE: (via Drew Wheelan) The original story on Mother Jones Magazine has been corrected, and I would like to correct it here. It was NOT the Louisiana State Police, but the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's department that pulled me over, bullied me and harassed me at the behest of BP. Please direct all anger at them, and not the State Police who have been very cooperative in this debacle.

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This is disturbing. KHOU.com's interview with a Houston BP call center employee exposes the empty PR operation that is supposed to be sincerely concerned with ideas for cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf.

According to the employee, the operators are supposed to take down the information from callers and enter it into a database. Because employees believe the information stops with them, some aren't even bothering to note the information given by callers or enter it into the system.

This call center is not responsible for claims. That responsibility has been assigned to third-party risk manager and claims administrator ESIS, Inc. ESIS has field offices in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The Houston call center's responsibility, according to KHOU.com:

They answer phones from the hotline number designated for the Vessel of Opportunity Program and for cleanup ideas.

I can understand the overwhelming nature of the calls coming into BP from around the globe, but if I were BP, I'd be thinking hard about the wisdom of ignoring calls in about cleanup suggestions and even containment suggestions, given the White House's order to BP to step up their game and stop more of this oil from pouring into the Gulf.

If this operator's allegations are true, it is another nail in BP's strategy to do whatever they please while appearing to care. Might be time for them to actually DO what they pretend to do.

President Obama put his plaid shirt and populist tone on in his weekly address this week, challenging all of us to stand with those who have lost so much to this man-made catastrophe. Speaking from Grand Isle, Louisiana:

These are hard times in Louisiana and across the Gulf Coast, an area that has already seen more than its fair share of troubles. But what we have also seen these past few weeks is that – even in the face of adversity – the men and women of the Gulf have displayed incredible determination. They have met this terrible catastrophe with seemingly boundless strength and character in defense of their way of life. What we owe the people of this region is a commitment by our nation to match the resilience of all the people I’ve met along the Gulf Coast. That is our mission. And it’s one we will fulfill.

He called specifically for Americans to continue to visit the area, reminding everyone that there are still beaches untouched by the oil at this time.

He also updated the progress of the cap placement and vent closures on the well.

Now, over the last few days BP has placed a cap over the well, and it appears they’re making progress in trying to pump oil to the surface to keep it from leaking into the water. But as has been the case since the beginning of this crisis, we are prepared for the worst, even as we hope that BP’s efforts bring better news than we’ve received before. We also know that regardless of the outcome of this attempt, there will still to be some spillage until the relief wells are completed. And there will continue to be a massive cleanup ahead of us.

I doubt there are many among us who can look at the photos of oil-soaked birds and dead dolphins without shaking a fist at BP, Halliburton and their cohorts. But to me, it seems like fist-shaking doesn't really do much to improve the situation. I know everyone wants the President to get angry and show it, to have empathy for those folks in the Gulf. I believe he does. But wouldn't it be more beneficial for him to channel that anger into action?

In the time-honored American tradition of telling the President what to do, I'd like to offer the following suggestions:

• Set benchmarks with dates and percentage reductions in fossil fuel use. Just like JFK set a mark in the future for putting a man on the moon, I think a national mandate to reduce fossil fuel usage would be one way to begin to make good on the commitment for a true transition.
• Push hard for regional permits to begin the high-speed train construction included in the Stimulus bill.
• Consider a modern-day Citizens Conservation Corps as a down payment on stewardship of our national parks and natural resources nationwide.
• Call on Congress to pass legislation encouraging safe bike thruways, and not just in cities, but also in semi-rural areas. People who ride bicycles are at constant risk from the trucks and cars on the same thruways.
• Increase government investment beyond current levels in solar and wind technologies while setting benchmarks for communities to convert, with incentives for meeting them.

This strikes me as a time where we can respond in an effective, quantifiable way to move boldly toward breaking our dependence on fossil fuels. To me, that would feel better than simply shaking my fist or signing a petition.

I am pretty sure that President Obama will feel disgusted, because what he will encounter when he gets into this oil is disgusting. The oil lining the beaches of this beautiful coast stinks. It stinks, it's oily, it's sticky, it's toxic...

..disgusted that American leaders screamed "drill, baby, drill" all in the name of whoring themselves for a few votes during the few months that gasoline prices were rising...

...This is not Hurricane Katrina. This isn't another Katrina. This isn't another anything. This is a whole new thing, happening to us. This is America's Deepwater Horizon disaster. We all own it forever.

And right now, right here in Grand Isle and all along the Gulf coast there are really only three things that matter: stopping the oil from flowing; protecting the coast and the ocean from the millions of gallons of oil that have already spilled; and making sure that this never, ever happens again.

You can diagnose whether we have a functioning media in this country by whether or not the country understands that this is a vile environmental megadisaster. You can diagnose whether we have a functioning political system in this country by whether or not the result of this megadisaster is change.

Big Oil has been too rich to care about what it was putting us all at risk for. And we've been too cowardly to change direction and break free from them. If that changes because of our national disgust at this disaster, then America's political system in 2010 works. If it doesn't change, then it doesn't work.

I have watched this segment three times, and every time I watch it, I cry. She says the same thing I said a couple of weeks ago, but it's something else again to hear and watch it with an inset live feed behind her showing oil spewing out from the guts of hell while we all look at the earth carnage left behind.

How can we not change after seeing scenes like that? Yes, we all own it. It is our disaster. Not President Obama's alone, not even BP's alone. Let's change it.