Wednesday morning is meeting day around these offices. The Flyer‘s out on the street and the staff gets together to go over and critique the issue and plan for the upcoming weeks. Later in the morning, things slow down enough that I have time to graze the Internet, which mainly gives me more stuff to worry about than I need. Here are a couple examples:
If you’re not reading activist Trace Sharp’s Newscoma blog, you’re missing out on one of the freshest progressive takes on doings in Nashville. Today, she demonstrates how deeply the Koch brothers’ ALEC group is embedded in our legislature, influencing (and by influencing, I mean writing) legislation on education, charter schools, wage-suppression, food safety — you name it and the ALEC folks have got a bill written for it. All of them aimed at further privatizing government functions, weakening health and safety regulations, and stripping away protections for the working class.
Also popping on the web today is a story about the North Carolina legislature’s move to make Christianity the “official religion” of that state. Here’s the justification, from the bill:
SECTION 1. The North Carolina General Assembly asserts that the Constitution of the United States of America does not prohibit states or their subsidiaries from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.
SECTION 2. The North Carolina General Assembly does not recognize federal court rulings which prohibit and otherwise regulate the State of North Carolina, its public schools or any political subdivisions of the State from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.
This will probably wither on the vine in the legislature and would obviously be ruled unconstitutional in any federal court in the land, but really? What country do these guys think they live in?
Of course, it’s all not doom and gloom. I did find this great video about Bubba Watson’ hovercraft golf cart.
