MARCH 23, 2010: HEALTH CARE REFORM IS OFFICIALLY THE LAW OF THE LAND

Today President Barack Obama officially signed into law the historic health care reform legislation passed by Congress on Sunday, March 21:

Today, I’m signing this reform bill into law on behalf of my mother, who argued with insurance companies even as she battled cancer in her final days.

I’m signing it for Ryan Smith, who’s here today. He runs a small business with five employees. He’s trying to do the right thing, paying half the cost of coverage for his workers. This bill will help him afford that coverage.

I’m signing it for 11-year-old Marcelas Owens, who’s also here. (Applause.) Marcelas lost his mom to an illness. And she didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford the care that she needed. So in her memory he has told her story across America so that no other children have to go through what his family has experienced. (Applause.)

WATCH THE FULL SPEECH AND THE SIGNING CEREMONY

EXPOSED: The Racism and Homophobia of the Tea Party Protestors

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, on the eve of passage of a historic health care reform bill, Tea Party Movement presented the world with evidence of what we had been suspecting all along. This movement has at its core a racist element that motivates its members to take to the streets to protest against the federal government:

Civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis was taunted by tea partiers who chanted “nigger” at least 15 times, according to the Associated Press (we are not cleaning up language and using “the N-word” here because it’s really important to understand what was said.) First reported on The Hill blog (no hotbed of left-wing fervor), the stories of Lewis being called “nigger” were confirmed by Lewis spokeswoman Brenda Jones and Democratic Rep. Andre Carson, who was walking with Lewis. “It was like going into the time machine with John Lewis,” said Carson, a former police officer. “He said it reminded him of another time.”

Another Congressional Black Caucus leader, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, was spat upon by protesters. The culprit was arrested, but Cleaver declined to press charges.

House Majority Whip James Clybourn told reporters: “I heard people saying things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to try to get off the back of the bus.”

There were many reports that Rep. Barney Frank was called a “faggot” by protesters, but the one I saw personally was by CNN’s Dana Bash, who seemed rattled by the tea party fury. Frank told AP: “It’s a mob mentality that doesn’t work politically.”

Meanwhile, a brick came through the window at Rep. Louise Slaughter’s Niagara Falls office on Saturday (the day she argued for her “Slaughter solution” to pass health care reform, though it was rejected by other Democrats on the House Rules Committee). (Read Full Article at Salon.com)

The incident was spoken of on the House floor by Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) who called on Republican lawmakers to condemn the Teabaggers for their overt racism:

Calling an individual or an organization’s motives racist is as taboo as being racist itself. You just don’t go there without proof of such claims. Keith Olbermann was one of the first to call out the Tea Party about their racial overtone, and his statements were met with a lot of push back and denial from the organization and the right in general. They rejected his claims that the Tea Party movement has very few if any non-White members, and the right wing bloggers cried foul for even suggesting that Tea Party protestors are racist. Now given the events of yesterday, Keith Olbermann’s words this past President’s Day have been vindicated:

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DENNIS KUCINICH WILL VOTE FOR THE HEALTH CARE BILL

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) who pledged to vote against the current health care bill because, just like the House bill he voted against it did not contain an all inclusive public option, has had a change of heart and decided to vote for the health care bill. A stalwart proponent of a single payer health care plan system which would exclude insurance companies altogether, Rep. Kucinich saw a robust public option as a viable alternative to provide competition to the health insurance industry.

A year in the making, the health care legislation is at a critical juncture where every vote counts. With Kucinich being a consistent hold out, firm in his commitment to vote no on any bill that did not include the public option that anyone can participate in, this was a major victory by President Obama who made a campaign style stump speech in Cleveland, OH to rally support for the health care bill. He even pleaded with the people of Cleveland to lean on their representative to support the bill.

Finally, with mounting pressure from his constituents, his Democratic colleagues, and the White House, along with the realization that the final bill will not have the provisions he deemed essential to win his support, Dennis Kucinich conceded. He pledged to vote for the bill, not as a compromise to his principles but as a means to an end – a single payer system:

I want to thank those who support those who supported me personally and politically as I’ve struggled with this decision. And I ask for your continued support in our ongoing efforts to bring about meaningful change. As this bill passes I will renew my efforts to help those state organizations which are aimed at stirring a single payer movement which eliminates the predatory roll of private insurers who make money not providing health care. I’ve taken a detour through supporting this bill. But I know the destination I will continue to lead for as long as it takes for whatever it takes to an America where healthcare will be firmly established as a civil right.

WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE:

The Politics of Daylight Savings Time

Here’s an energy policy trivia question for you. What do you get when you have a Republican control Congress with Texas Republican Tom Delay as House Majority Leader along with two oil men, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in charge of the executive branch? Give up? Here’s a hint. This morning it cost you and most notably your kids an extra hour of sleep a few weeks earlier than normal.

The Energy Policy Act in 2005 extended daylight saving time by four weeks starting in 2007 from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. The objective, or the hope, was to save 10,000 barrels of oil each day through reduced use of power by businesses during daylight hours.

But what if the amount of energy saved during daylight hours is offset by the increase in usage in the morning hours when depending on where you live it may still be dark outside when the alarm clock goes off? And what about reducing energy cost? The law of supply and demand dictates that reducing oil consumption should reduce oil prices. However, prices can be fixed to remain stable or even increase by OPEC who can simply reduce production in order to artificially increase prices, manipulating the laws of supply and demand to its advantage.

The results of the effectiveness of daylight savings in energy conservation is all over the place. Therefore it is uncertain as to whether or not daylight saving time conserves energy. However what is absolutely certain is the conservation of profits of the big oil industry. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave huge tax breaks to American energy companies and corporate polluters, allowed for drilling both off shore and in the Alaskan Wild Life Refuge, and even shielded manufacturers of motor fuels and other persons from liability for claims based on defective product relating to motor vehicle fuel.

Watch as Rep. Fortney Stark (D-CA) voices his opposition to this bill:

Extending daylight savings time was a fuzzy attempt to disguise a deficit spending $14.5 billion tax break to the energy companies while pretending to exact real reform. And with subsequence summers of over $3 a gallon gas prices of 2007 and $4 a gallon gas prices in 2008, daylight savings time wasn’t the only thing making Americans lose sleep during the past few years.

Question of the Day: Will the US Sustain Its Condemnation of Israel for Settlement Expansion?

When you hear the words “condemn” and “Israel” in the same sentence usually they are preceded by words like “World” as in “World condemns Israel offensive in Gaza“, or the “UN (United Nations)” as in “UN [Human] Rights Council Condemns Israel“, or “Amnesty” as in “Amnesty [International] report on Gaza condemn Israel and Hamas war crimes“. But rarely do you see the words “United States” or the names of any of its senior officials in the same context of condemning Israel, except to stand in Israel’s defense as in “US vetoes UN resolution condemning Israel on Gaza“.

This is why the news out of the Middle East was especially interesting. Not only did Vice President Biden condemn the announcement by Israel that it will build 1600 additional houses in the contentious area of East Jerusalem, but it was also followed up with a rejection by Secretary of State Clinton, who characterized the timing of the announcement as “insulting”.

This is not the first time the US has pleaded with Israel to halt activities that are antithetical to the peace process. For example in 2005 George W. Bush warned Israel against building 3500 extra homes in a West Bank settlement. And just like in 2005, the criticisms by Secretary Clinton were followed up by reaffirmation of the United States’ strong alliance with Israel. However this is one of those rare moments when the US uses the word “condemn” when speaking of Israel, a word reserved only for her most outspoken critics. Yet given the pattern of objecting without following through with meaningful enforcement, will the US sustain its condemnation of Israel’s expansion of the settlement in East Jerusalem?

VP Joe Biden’s Interview on Al-Jazeera:

Latest Health Care Insurance Woes

by Diane Mayer Christiansen
UPDATE:

March 15, 2010 2:00pm

Shot down by the insurance company again! Yes, today I received a letter in the mail from my husbands company, telling me that my son’s therapies for autism are not covered by our policy. Shocker! Here’s what bothers me the most:

The insurance company contests that my son is receiving Sensory Integration Therapy and since that type of therapy is considered “experimental” they can not cover it.
Okay…first of all J is not receiving therapies for Sensory Integration. I’ve explained this time and time again. I’ve sent letters from doctors and therapists telling them this time and time again. Every time someone tells them the therapies are Speech and Feeding, they somehow magically turn that into Sensory Integration.

Secondly, he did have Sensory Integration therapy several years ago, that I paid for. Unbeknown to the Insurance company, I am well versed in their lingo, after all, I’ve been battling the beast for seven years. I feel like I’m in this battle of good verses evil and the monster is barring his sharp teeth daring me to flee…but I can’t…it’s my son we’re fighting for.

The truth is, I just don’t understand why we’re fighting at all. Isn’t insurance about us paying our monthly fees and them taking care of our medical needs? I don’t care if any of my son’s therapies are “experimental”. They’re helping him. Looks like the insurance company is still just waiting until he ends up in the hospital due to malnutrition (have fun with that big bill). I think that in no time in the history of America, have so many people felt so completely misunderstood by medical insurance companies than today. Count me in!

Oh, and by the way…if you’re reading this Insurance Company…Not everyone is trying to take advantage of you. We’re just trying to help our kids.

March 11, 2010

Okay…the latest insurance issue: At the beginning of the new year, we were asked by the insurance company to prove that I was indeed married to my husband and that our son was really our son. I sent in my marriage license among other things as well as my son’s social security card and birth certificate. Apparently this wasn’t enough and they are questioning weather J is really my son.

OMG…really? Will they sink to any means to NOT pay. Let’s see, I distinctly remember going to the hospital for my scheduled inducement of labor. I remember vividly, how my unborn child’s heart rate became too low and how I was rushed into emergency surgery for a cesarean. I also remember thinking a was going to die as the anesthesiologist hummed the theme song from Star Wars and the many doctors crowded around me getting my son to breathe. Oh, yeah, I also vaguely remember how the insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of a Billy Blanket at home when my son was jaundice, causing me to have to stay in the hospital an extra couple of days so he could receive treatment (does this make sense?).Funny thing…I did bring a child home from the hospital seven days later.

Could it be that I imagined all of this and forged a birth certificate out of pure longing for a child? Hmmm, better not let the insurance company hear me say that.

(Read more from Diane Christiansen at www.imautisticnotartistic.com)

Why We Need An Independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency Now

With financial regulatory reform pending, Congress has the opportunity to rebuild the structures that will prevent another crisis and ensure broad-based economic growth.
March 1, 2010
By Tamara Draut & Heather C. McGhee

The time has come for the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. For thirty years, Washington has been captive to a governing philosophy that eschewed regulation in almost any form, arguing that the hand of government was best kept behind its back. But the era of deregulated finance has shown that without public structures to ensure accountability and fairness, the system can not sustain itself. The result of this failed experiment in deregulation has been a crisis costing Americans $11 trillion in family wealth, $14 trillion in taxpayer bailouts and over 8 million jobs.

What a Consumer Financial Protection Agency Will-and Won’t-Do

Q: How would a new “independent” agency work?
Q: Doesn’t the CFPA add to the regulatory burden facing banks?
Q: Doesn’t the CFPA create a new bureaucracy in an already crowded financial oversight field?
Q: Shouldn’t the CFPA’s rules preempt state consumer protection laws?
Q: Won’t the CFPA stifle innovation and consumer choice?
Q: Shouldn’t the CFPA be an office within a bank regulator or a council of existing regulators?

Read the full article for the answers to these common criticisms against creating a consumer financial protection agency.

Poll Position: The Deceptive Misinterpretation of Opinion Polls

The opponents of health care reform have been making their case by quoting the number 73, as in the percentage of Americans who are “opposed to the health care reform bill and want it scrapped altogether”. So there you have it folks. To paraphrase the conservative talk shows and Fox News, the American people have spoken; an overwhelming majority wants to see this bill killed. Time to move on to other pressing issues.

But wait. Not so fast! Shouldn’t we be a wee bit curious about this number “73%”? How could these robust debates over the past year survived such a huge opposition? If like me you think something’s just not adding up, well you are right to be suspicious. Here’s where that number comes from:

The number 73% comes from adding the 48% of those polled who want Congress to create a new bill and the 25% who say scrap the bill altogether and stick with the health care system we currently have. The deception lies in lumping nearly half of the population who want to see a new bill with the far lesser group who wants no changes at all. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart calls out Fox News for using polls to manipulate the results:

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This is not the first time Fox News has deliberately misrepresented polling results to push a political adgenda. For example, before the invasion of Iraq a poll was released saying that 67% (with a margin of error of plus or minus 3) of Americans support going to war against Iraq only with the support of the UN or international community. The emphasis of the poll was “NO PREEMPTIVE GO AT IT ALONE WAR”. Fox News, however, added the plus three part, shaved off the international support condition part, then every 5-10 minutes on its ticker fed its audience:

70% of Americans support going to war against Iraq

73% of Americans wanting to do away with this health care reform bill disguises the fact that a major part of that number is made up of liberals who want to scrap the bill and start over, not from scratch, but to include a public option. But to leave out that pesky detail only lends credence to the crowd who do not want to see reform if for no other reason but to simply deal President Obama a political defeat. Ironically, adding the 48% to the 25% who wants a similar bill that has already made its way through Congress passed actually means an overwhelming majority of Americans want the health care system reformed, to the tune of 73%!

82nd Annual Academy Awards

Award Show: THE 82nd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS
Airs On: ABC
Air Date & Time: March 7, 2010 8:00PM Eastern, 5:00PM Pacific

2010 NOMINEES (*Winners)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)*

Best animated feature film of the year
“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter *

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″ (Sony Pictures Classics) Music by Reinhardt Wagner
Lyric by Frank Thomas

“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston

“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett *

Original screenplay
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal *

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino

“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

“Up” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter
Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Best animated short film
“French Roast”
A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production Fabrice O. Joubert

“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films)
A Brown Bag Films Production Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell

“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”
A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production Javier Recio Gracia

“Logorama” (Autour de Minuit)
An Autour de Minuit Production Nicolas Schmerkin *

“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations)
An Aardman Animations Production Nick Park

Best documentary short subject
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
A Downtown Community Television Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher

“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
A Community Media Production Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

“Music by Prudence”
An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
An MS Films Production Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra*

Best live action short film
“The Door” (Network Ireland Television)
An Octagon Films Production Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

“Instead of Abracadabra” (The Swedish Film Institute)
A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström

“Kavi”
A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey

“Miracle Fish” (Premium Films)
A Druid Films Production Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey

“The New Tenants”
A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson *

Achievement in makeup
“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow *

“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Adapted screenplay
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby

“In the Loop” (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) *

Achievement in art direction
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair *

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith

“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Achievement in costume design
“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson

“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme

“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood

“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell *

Achievement in sound editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson *

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman

“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin

“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett *

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano

“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in cinematography
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore *

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson

“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer

“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino *

Achievement in visual effects
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones *

“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken

“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Best documentary feature
“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
A Magic Hour Films Production Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller

“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions)
An Oceanic Preservation Society Production Nominees to be determined *

“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures)
A Robert Kenner Films Production Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein

“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
A Kovno Communications Production Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith

“Which Way Home”
A Mr. Mudd Production Rebecca Cammisa

Achievement in film editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron

“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis *

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year
“Ajami”(Kino International)
An Inosan Production Israel

“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Haddock Films Production Argentina *

“The Milk of Sorrow”
A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production Peru

“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production France

“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics)
An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production Germany

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) *
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.) *
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Achievement in directing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow *

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Quentin Tarantino

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels

“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

Best motion picture of the year
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
A Lightstorm Entertainment Production James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
An Alcon Entertainment Production Nominees to be determined

“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing)
A Block/Hanson Production Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
A Voltage Pictures Production Nominees to be determined *

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Lawrence Bender, Producer

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

“A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
A Working Title Films Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

“Up” (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Production Jonas Rivera, Producer

“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
A Montecito Picture Company Production Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Global Warming: The Miseducation of South Dakotans

The greatness of a nation is measured by the education of its youth. Two primary subject matter by which they are sized up against the rest of the world are math and science. In the past eight years, science has often taken a back seat to the predisposition of the fossil fuel lobbyists, one of the loyal base of the previous Bush administration, in order to minimize the effects of human behavior on climate change. It had gotten so onerous that President Obama saw fit to reinstate science back into its prominent place of greatness and prestige in his inauguration speech:

We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its costs. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Apparently South Dakota did not get the memo that the United States is no longer in the business of sullying the waters of the sound science of hypothesis testing and data analysis with the junk science of political ideology and basic instincts. That is because thanks to a resolution passed by the South Dakota House of Representative, students can now be taught a “balanced teaching on climate change”. Specifically, students can now be taught that global warming can also be caused by “astrological, thermological…dynamics”. Dr. Pat Zimmerman, former Chair of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Atmospheric Science Department, says the legislation brings shame on state of South Dakota:

“These misguided grandstanding efforts exposes the level of ignorance of South Dakota to the rest of the world and it’s an embarrassment,”

Read the entire South Dakota House Resolution (only one page long).

Here is Rachal Maddow’s take on the new legislation:

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