More Texas-Sized Hyprocrisy, Disaster Edition

Meanwhile in Texas, it turns out the fertilizer plant that exploded and killed at least a dozen people and decimated everything in half a mile of the detonation should have been inspected not just by OSHA, but by Homeland Security.  You know, if the plant's owners had bothered to tell anyone they had explosive material that Homeland Security needed to know about.

The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Yet a person familiar with DHS operations said the company that owns the plant, West Fertilizer, did not tell the agency about the potentially explosive fertilizer as it is required to do, leaving one of the principal regulators of ammonium nitrate - which can also be used in bomb making - unaware of any danger there.

Fertilizer plants and depots must report to the DHS when they hold 400 lb (180 kg) or more of the substance. Filings this year with the Texas Department of State Health Services, which weren't shared with DHS, show the plant had 270 tons of it on hand last year.

To recap then, Texas knew literally that the plant was explosive and dangerous.  They ignored telling the DHS.  The company ignored telling the DHS. They had 1350 times the required amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the facility and said "No, that's not a problem."

And now at least 12 people are dead.  Democrats at least see this "self-regulation" as a problem.

A U.S. congressman and several safety experts called into question on Friday whether incomplete disclosure or regulatory gridlock may have contributed to the disaster.

"It seems this manufacturer was willfully off the grid," Rep. Bennie Thompson, (D-MS), ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement. "This facility was known to have chemicals well above the threshold amount to be regulated under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act (CFATS), yet we understand that DHS did not even know the plant existed until it blew up."

So no,  these guys broke the law.  They broke the law and people died because of it.  But Republicans will almost certainly come out and say that "oversight failed" and that OSHA should be cut or eliminated since it "obviously cannot stop" workplace related accidents like this.

Government designed to fail by those who want it to fail are surprised it ends up failing.  Amazing.

We Don't Have A Department Of Precrime, People

So everyone asking "Why didn't we arrest and deport Tamerlan Tsarnaev two years ago?" needs to understand at that point he hadn't committed any crimes, and you need to just sit down and shut the hell up.

The FBI admitted Friday they interviewed the now-deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev two years ago and failed to find any incriminating information about him.

As first reported by CBS News correspondent Bob Orr, the FBI interviewed Tsarnaev, the elder brother of at-large bombing suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, at the request of a foreign government to see if he had any extremist ties, but failed to find any linkage.

Both Tsarnaev brothers were legal permanent residents of the U.S. There is no evidence so far that either brother received any tactical training.

CBS News correspondent John Miller reports it is likely Russia asked to have the elder Tsarnaev vetted because of suspected ties to Chechen extremists.

The FBI is likely to have run a background check, running his name through all the relevant databases, including those of other agencies, checking on his communications and all of his overseas travel. Miller reports that culminated in a sit-down interview where they probably asked him a lot of questions about his life, his contacts, his surroundings. All of this was then written in a report and sent it to the requesting government.

The guy was clean then.  If it turns out later that more evidence is out there to the contrary, then we'll take a look at it then.  But in 2011 this guy got paid a visit.  What happened between then and now, I can't tell you.

Rampant speculation on the other hand, without the fact?  Zero percent of that helping anyone.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

In non-Boston related news...

• The Boy Scouts of America are considering a plan that would allow gay scouts to join the organization, but would still ban gay and lesbian scoutmasters and den mothers.
• A North Dakota judge has issued a permanent injunction invalidating a two-year old state law that eliminates medication-induced abortions in the first trimester. 
• As Saturday is 4/20, Colorado has mixed feelings about the state's new marijuana tourism after legalization.
• The FAA has okayed the revisions to the battery systems in Boeing's glitch-plagued 787 Dreamliner, clearing the way for the planes to resume flying.
• Google wants to buy more green power for its hungry data centers, and it wants power companies to offer more of it.

Last Call: They Got Him

They got him.

Authorities have successfully apprehended what appears to be 19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev, according to Boston police. The second Boston marathon bombing suspect is alive and in custody after a standoff with officials in the suburbs of the city. Tsarnaev was believed to be hiding in a parked boat. 

So yeah, best 4/20 ever coming up tomorrow.

Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

Explosions kill three in Boston, followed by two shootouts and a carjacking, and a city and a million people get locked down for a day.  No expense is spared to find the suspects.

We say "Never again will we allow deaths like this to happen."

Fertilizer plant explosion kills at least 12 in Texas, flattens an apartment complex and middle school, we shrug and say it's just too expensive to inspect plants for safety.

We say "What can you do about deaths like this?"

Guns kill thousands, we stop any effort to do anything to prevent more deaths and vote down laws that would be small steps towards containing these preventable deaths.

We say "We will not let you do anything about these deaths, accept them."

Then we wonder why our country is so messed up.

Buckeye Ladies, Have A Seat

Ohio Republican lawmakers in the State House just told Ohio women that their health needs are literally the last thing the state is worried about funding.

A sweeping state budget that would give residents an income tax cut while scrapping an expansion of Medicaid passed the Republican-controlled House on Thursday after lawmakers agreed to continue discussing health coverage for the poor.

The $61.5 billion, two-year budget rewrites Republican Gov. John Kasich's proposals for overhauling the state tax code and drops his plans to extend Medicaid health coverage to thousands more low-income residents.

The House voted 61-35 on the spending blueprint, which would begin July 1. The plan, with the support of one Democratic lawmaker, now goes to the GOP-dominated Senate, where more changes and hearings are expected.

So it's looking like no Medicaid for Ohio's poor because, well, screw them, they're poor.  Why should Ohio Republicans give a damn, right?  Oh, but it gets better for the ladies in particular:

Democrats were unsuccessful in their attempts to boost money for local governments and delete a provision that sends Planned Parenthood to the back of the line for public family planning money.

Yep.  Ohio is about to become the latest state to defund Planned Parenthood.  The state's about to learn what happens when you put Republicans in charge:  they go after women.

Have a seat, ladies.  The GOP War on Women just came home.

StupidiNews!

• A bomb at a popular Baghdad coffee shop killed 27 and wounded 51 in Iraq on Thursday night.
• Secretary of State John Kerry called North Korea's demands to remove all UN sanctions before any diplomacy can proceed "unacceptable."
• In a speech at the memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, President Obama assured America that "we will finish the race".
• Reduced vaccination rates in the UK after a debunked 1998 study linking autism and vaccinations has resulted in "major" risk for measles outbreak, warn officials.
• The Man of Steel turns 75 this week and Superman remains a cultural icon across the planet.

Last Call

If there's any news outlet that deserves to get sued out of business right now in the wake of wild, ridiculous speculation over the identity of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect(s), it's the New York Post, as Deadspin's Barry Petchesky reports.

On Monday, the New York Post doggedly stuck to its claim that 12 were killed in the Boston Marathon bombings. On Tuesday, CNN (among others) reported that a suspect had been arrested, before walking that all the way back. Today, the Post wrests back the "what the fuck are you doing?" crown by putting two "potential suspects" on the cover of the newspaper. They are most assuredly innocent.

The pair show up in multiple photos of the finish line. They carry large bags. They are dark-skinned. This was enough for internet sleuths to peg them as suspicious. (They show up here, in Gawker's rundown of "suspects" identified by crowdsourcing on Reddit and 4chan.) And that was apparently enough for the Post to run with its front-page story today, claiming investigators are circulating photos of the two. (The photo on the paper's cover is a cropped and zoomed-in version of the one taken by Ben Levine, which appeared on Deadspin on Tuesday.)

But maybe there was a reason for them to be at the marathon, wearing track jackets and carrying bags: they're runners.

The kid in the blue jacket is a middle-distance runner at Revere High School.

The kid's name also happens to be Salah Barhoum, which should tell you everything you need to know about why the kid was pegged by the Post (which is now 0-3 in its idiocy and now almost certainly faces a big fat lawsuit.  CNN isn't innocent in this either, it ran with the Saudi suspect story on Monday and Tuesday as well.)  Of course, the FBI got around to releasing the pictures of the actual suspects:  two not-so-dusky looking guys:

And this guy:

Funny how that works, huh.

Texas-Sized Hyprocrisy: Disaster Edition

Suddenly, Texas GOP Gov. Rick Perry isn't so interested in secession and denying people federal aid after yesterday's deadly fertilizer plant explosion.

Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday declared McLennan County - home to West, the small community rocked by the deadly fertilizer plant explosion - a disaster area and announced that he's asking President Barack Obama for a federal emergency declaration as well.

The declarations will help free up funding to help those in the community impacted by the explosion with the massive recovery and rebuilding effort they face.

Huh.  As Kos points out, West's congressman, Republican Bill Flores, voted against Sandy aid.

"It was too large," Flores said about the latest bill Wednesday. “It does more than meet the immediate needs of Sandy victims."

Flores, whose district includes Waco, said he could have supported an earlier version of the bill with $17 billion in aid if it had been offset by federal spending reductions.

Flores isn't asking for spending reductions now, is he.  Neither are both Texas Senators who voted against Sandy aid, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.

Now that Texas needs aid, all these Republicans are demanding it as soon as possible for the victims.

Hmm.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/04/18/4785746/perry-urges-all-americans-to-keep.html#storylink=cpy

Ricins Of The Father

The suspect in the recent ricin letters sent to the Senate and President Obama?  White guy.

The Corinth man and Elvis impersonator arrested and accused of sending poison-laced envelopes to President Barack Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and a local justice court judge seems to have had different personas.

Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was arrested by the FBI and Lee County authorities Wednesday at his home after an investigation by multiple local, state and federal officials. With Curtis in police custody, different versions of his life continue to unfold, some wacky and entertaining and others conspiratorial, threatening and violent.

Several Tupelo residents who did not want to be identified told the Daily Journal of experiences of erratic and even threatening behavior with Curtis through the years.

Locally he has been known for his passion for Elvis and hatred for North Mississippi Medical Center expressed in online message boards.

Some people know Curtis through his passion as an Elvis impersonator, including a snarl and long sideburns.

In a 1999 interview with the Daily Journal, Curtis said “I used to say, ‘I’m going to grow up and be just like Elvis and buy my mom a mansion. That was my goal from age 6.”

Again, dude looks like this:

And because dude looks like this, this story will go away and he will be dismissed as a crazy lone wolf who needs professional mental health assistance from a system that failed him, and most likely we'll see within a few days op-eds on how this means Obamacare has failed, should be repealed, and that the President should resign or something.

If this dude was not white, the outcome of this story would be very, very different.

StupidiNews!

• Police have arrested a Mississippi man in connection with letters testing positive for ricin sent to Sen. Roger Wicker and President Obama.
• The third fatality from Monday's Boston Marathon bombing has been identified as Chinese citizen and 23 year old Boston U grad student Lu Lingzi.
• The FBI confirms no arrests have been made in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing despite a erroneous report from CNN earlier on Wednesday.
• Margaret Thatcher's funeral was held in London Wednesday with nearly 2,000 mourners and delegations from countries around the world.
• The test launch of the Antares rocket has been delayed due to an umbilical cable malfunction, pushing back the launch of Orbital Space Science's rocket until Friday.

Last Call

And as I predicted long ago, Senate Republicans have filibustered the gun bill.

The Senate delivered a devastating blow to President Obama’s agenda to regulate guns Wednesday by defeating a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks.

It failed by a vote of 54 to 46, with five Democrats voting against it. Only four Republicans supported it.

Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor (Ark.), Max Baucus (Mont.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Mark Begich (Alaska) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) voted against it. Reid supported the measure but voted against it to preserve his ability to bring the measure up again.

GOP Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Susan Collins (Maine), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Mark Kirk (Ill.) voted "yes."

With 41 of the 45 GOP senators voting against it, it didn't matter what the Democrats did.  And so the GOP blocks yet another bill that a majority of Americans wanted to pass.  Republican senators simply don't have anything to fear from voting against gun control, but everything to fear from voting for it.

Gabby Giffords penned this op-ed today, calling out these folks.

Some of the senators who voted against the background-check amendments have met with grieving parents whose children were murdered at Sandy Hook, in Newtown. Some of the senators who voted no have also looked into my eyes as I talked about my experience being shot in the head at point-blank range in suburban Tucson two years ago, and expressed sympathy for the 18 other people shot besides me, 6 of whom died. These senators have heard from their constituents — who polls show overwhelmingly favored expanding background checks. And still these senators decided to do nothing. Shame on them. 

I watch TV and read the papers like everyone else. We know what we’re going to hear: vague platitudes like “tough vote” and “complicated issue.” I was elected six times to represent southern Arizona, in the State Legislature and then in Congress. I know what a complicated issue is; I know what it feels like to take a tough vote. This was neither. These senators made their decision based on political fear and on cold calculations about the money of special interests like the National Rifle Association, which in the last election cycle spent around $25 million on contributions, lobbying and outside spending.

The reality is the NRA will handsomely reward the GOP senators who killed this bill, and they will use that money to buy ads calling their Democratic opponents tyrants and socialists and they will win.  They will win in states like Texas and South Carolina and Kansas and Mississippi and Wyoming and Kentucky and they will win easily because voters in those states are simply not interested in punishing senators for voting against President Obama's "gun grab".

Until that changes, Gabby Giffords can write as many op-eds as she likes.  Voters in red states just don't give a damn.  The President today called this round one.  The fight will take a long time.  But nothing's going to change until the lock on red states is cracked open.

Better A Racist Than A Pedophile Be, Apparently

It is a relentlessly cold and bitter country we live in when the defense of a Texas schoolteacher against a complaint that she fondled a seven-year old black girl in her class is basically "I'm proudly racist and I would never sully my hands to touch one of them."

A first-grade teacher at an Humble prep school cited her racial prejudice against black students in denying allegations that she fondled a girl in her classroom last month, according to court records.

Esther Irene Stokes, 61, of Montgomery, was charged with indecency with a child April 10, court records show.

The 7-year-old student told police that Stokes, her teacher at Northwest Preparatory Academy Charter School, sent all the students out of the classroom and touched her on her "private part" on the outside of her clothes on March 1, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

Humble police met with Stokes after she failed a polygraph examination. Stokes denied touching the girl "on any part of her body," prosecutors said.

"The defendant stated that she doesn't like black students because she was prejudiced," the complaint states. She told police that "she does not like the complainant" and has "very little to no interaction" with her.

Well, that makes things perfectly okay, right?  I mean from a hideously cynical standpoint, people don't spend long stretches in prison, have to register with law enforcement for the rest of their lives, and have to get special license plates for being bigoted racists.  It has the additional bonus of not actually being that bad to some people, unlike sexually abusing a child, a repulsive and universally reviled act by civilized humans.

The fact we have a teacher of small children invoking this particular social calculus is hideous, frankly.  What kind of human being, much less a person employed to shape the minds of young kids, decides "Well, this is a great idea for getting out of this sex offender thing, I'll just say I'm a racist.  Score!"  What's the lesson here for a first grader?  As a parent of a child in that class, or in that prep school, or of a child that age at all, how do you possibly explain that story to your kids?

In school I had an older white teacher in her 60's when I was in 2nd grade.  I grew up in a medium-sized town in western North Carolina.  She was my first real introduction in 1981 to institutionalized racism.  She thought I was a disrespectful little moron, that I should be held back, that I was stupid.  In reality I was bored out of my mind because I was spending seven hours a day being taught stuff I had already figured out (even back then I was the biggest nerd in the county.)

A gifted black kid was a Rodent of Unusual Size to her because we simply didn't exist.  So she made my life hell, marking my math answers wrong when they weren't, holding me up as an example of someone who was lazy and awful, putting me in the corner for misbehaving all the time when all I really did was sat there and tried to reconcile what the heck was going on.  My parents had told me to listen to my teachers, that they were there to help me, but this one wasn't doing so at all.

It was only after I told my dad that I got a D on a math test and I showed it to him that he figured it out.  He saw the answers were correct and marked wrong anyway.  My teacher assumed my parents were just as "lazy" as I was and that they weren't too bright either and would just simply accept it.  Fortunately for me, the complete opposite happened and the situation was rectified in near-record time.  I was lucky and still am.  She retired soon after.

And yet that year of struggle I went through was nothing compared to this poor girl being fondled by someone she was supposed to be able to trust, and then seeing her teacher claim racism as an excuse.  You have to be a soul-free husk in order to pull something like that.  It's 2013, and we're still committing these awful acts.

How can anyone do that?

Appalachian Trailing His Opponent

Will someone tell Mark Sanford's campaign staff that the last person out needs to shut off the lights after this nonsense?

A lawyer says ex-South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford trespassed at his ex-wife's home and he has been ordered to appear in court two days after his special congressional election.

Documents acquired by The Associated Press Tuesday say Jenny Sanford confronted her ex-husband leaving her South Carolina home on Feb. 3. Her attorney filed a complaint the next day and she confirms the documents are authentic.

In them, she says he was using his cellphone as a flashlight as he left.

The couple's divorce settlement says neither may enter the other's home without permission.

And he's done, folks.   At this rate, Elizabeth Colbert Busch will win by 20 in one of the most blood red districts in the country.  Even if he wins, he should immediately resign.

And he's not going to win.  Not after this.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/04/16/2727547/ap-ex-wife-says-former-sc-gov.html#storylink=cpy

StupidiNews!

• A letter sent to the Washington DC office of GOP Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and intercepted at a postal facility has initially tested positive for the poison ricin.
• President Obama is threatening to veto the CISPA cybersecurity bill, saying the bill does not go far enough to protect privacy and civil liberties.
• Alaska activists took the first step in getting legalization of marijuana on the ballot before voters in 2014.
• Eastern Iran has been rocked by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the Pakistani border, with the tremors felt as far away as India.
• The head of the IRS told Congress the agency has "never" obtained e-mails without a warrant, despite the ACLU publication of an 2009 IRS handbook stating otherwise.