- Today's comic by Mark Fiore is Discrimination License:
- Please join us today at 12:30 PM PT when Joan McCarter hosts Ask Me Anything (about Daily Kos).
- What's coming up on Sunday Kos ...
- The Republican Party's transparent agenda of class warfare, by Laurence Lewis
- Steampunk Planet, by DarkSyde
- The surrender of the Left? Activism and electoral politics, by Armando
- How Republicans will try to block new tests for fetal disorders, by Jon Perr
- Books: McKibben's 'Oil and Honey' and Benfield's "People Habitat," by Susan Gardner
- Women's History: Native Americans, by Denise Oliver Velez
- Economic conservatives take religious conservatives for suckers, by Ian Reifowitz
- The Oscars 2014, by Doctor RJ
- Sociopathic stance on Obamacare would be fatal to GOP if successful, by Egberto Willies
- These Daily Kos community posts were the most shared on Facebook Feb. 27:
Jon Stewart blasts Fox News for stoking Arizona homophobes' fear, by BruinKid
Christiegate: Christie Refuses to Release Sandy Fund Integrity Reports, by ericlewis0
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Attacks Plan to Steal Medicaid Funding, by tmservo433
- Holding grudges and buying judges: Judge Steven Kirkland ruled in 2011 that attorney George Fleming had overcharged his clients by as much as $13 million. Fleming appealed and he also began recruiting challengers to run against Kirkland in the next Democratic primary. He contributed tens of thousands of dollars into the campaign coffers of Kirkland's primary opponent. Kirkland lost. And then he ran in another district. Fleming did the same thing again.
There is nothing illegal about what Fleming is doing, a point he noted in a statement to The Huffington Post. Under Texas law, individuals and political action committees are allowed to donate to candidates running for seats on the court. And while state law caps contributions at $5,000 for individuals and $30,000 for law firms, the Texas Ethics Commission has the power to waive those caps, provided the waiver applies to all candidates in the race. The commission made such a waiver for Fleming in 2012, and once more in 2014.
- Seth Rogen would smoke a bowl with Sen. Tom Harkin. At the Capitol to testify about Alzheimer's, Rogen got into a discussion with the Iowa Democrat who chairs the Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. Asked by ABC who he would like to get high with, the actor, known for stoner roles, Rogen replied “That Harkin guy seemed pretty cool. I’d go with him.” If they do, it shouldn't be in Iowa where possession of any amount can get you, on first offense, six months in the slam and a $1,000 fine.
- 78-year-old wakes up in a body bag at funeral home: Pronounced dead at his home, Walter Williams was transported to the mortuary where staff was preparing to embalm him when he started kicking the bag. The coroner says Williams's pacemaker apparently stopped working and then started again.
- Teachers in San Francisco out of luck in if they want to buy a home:
This week, the real estate listings website Redfin published a startling statistic. In the entire city of San Francisco, not one home or apartment is available on the market for under $220,000, which the site says is affordable for a typical teacher in the city. Statewide, just 17 percent of homes for sale are affordable for teachers. With the tech industry booming and the Google Bus quickly becoming a cultural icon, it’s not a surprise that San Francisco faces an affordability crisis. But how can it have become so dramatic? The answers boil down to two factors: San Francisco’s hot real estate market and dwindling income for city teachers.
While the median price for a home in San Francisco is now $850,000, the median pay for teachers there is second lowest of any county in California. When you take inflation into account, San Francisco's teachers earned 12 percent less in 2013 than they did in 2002.
Dirk Adams, a former educator, banker and current rancher, is a Democrat running for the Montana Senate seat long held by Democrat Max Baucus, but he’s not looking to follow in Baucus’ footsteps. [...]
Consider the recent post on Adams’ website, which was also printed in the Huffington Post.
Under the headline “Coal is Dead,” Adams wrote: “Coal is no longer viable as a long term source of energy, or a reliable source of jobs in Montana … The 700 million tons of coal in Montana will be left in the ground … We must both mitigate climate disruption and build new infrastructure.”
Though accurate and far-sighted, that's dangerous talk in Montana. We'll see how it plays out in the Democratic primary June 3.
- On today's Kagro in the Morning show, two main themes, discussed with Greg Dworkin and Armando: Reddit & "objective news," and Gimmetarian tears over Arizona. Plus another installment of Cocaine, Inc., this time on their department of government relations.