Notes on a Sunday newspaper

1) Missouri River flooding is on the front page of the NY Times today, albeit in South Dakota; 2) a Kansas City native, one Elmer Lower, passed this week. He was once president of ABC News, 1963-74. Who knew? 3) Dan Peck, a founding member of the group "America" passed this week, too, in his hometown of Farmington, Missouri 4) Depressing headline of the day: "US Report Finds Security Deteriorating in Iraq with Corruption Unabated" Once again, thank you George W. Bush and Company; 5) At the same time, we--the US--is considering selling Iraq 36 F16 fighter jets, too. Man, we're stupid; 6) Grover Norquist is either the devil incarnate or one of his chief minions, without doubt; 7) Finally today, there is an article in the op/ed section showing that the Rethuglicans Republicans unleashed a torrent of possible laws for industry and corporation this week (their overlords), that would strip the EPA, the Clean Air Act and other environmental laws of their gths. (Look for it under the headline "Concealed Weapons Against the Environment, if you're interested0. Enjoy your Sunday, y'all.

California: what a mess

Okay, we know California has horrible budget problems, is broke and can't afford, nearly, to even exist but now comes news that they have five of the worst cities , nationally, for air quality, too.

Additionally, and to make matters worse, news out this morning also shows that "Five states — New York, California, Texas, Arizona and Florida — are perilously close to losing out on congressional seats because of lackluster participation in the U.S. census."

(Side note, four of those five have really horrible real estate and economy markets, to boot, to date. You can bet the government officials are screaming at the top of their lungs about now, telling people to fill in those census forms, if it isn't too late, and to get them in.)

California: it sucks to be you.

Can you say "to hell in a handbasket"?