I don't really care how much money you have. I don't care if you're worth a gazillion dollars.

People would make snide comments about Paris Hilton's tax breaks. But it really does not bother me when she spends 10 thousand on a new pair of shoes or a million on an all night long party. What she does with her money has no impact whatsoever on my life. And her video a couple weeks back was pure gold, but I digress.

But this is where we have given the wrong message.

I did a search on this and hadn't seen anything show up. If it is a duplicate, please let me know.

Update: Sorry, my local rag of a paper said it was awarded. The linked story only shows Flora as being on the shortlist. Even so, the rest of the concerns are still valid.

A new national biological lab is being built in a Flora, Mississippi, a small town of only 1500 people. This has caused a great deal of concern, as the town was among the lowest ranked among the 17 applicants.

The Homeland Security Department swept aside evaluations by government experts and named Mississippi -- home to powerful U.S. lawmakers with sway over the agency -- as one of five finalists for a new $451 million laboratory to study biological threats, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press.

From Gristmill:

It has not been a good year so far for King Coal, Big Oil, and whatever nickname we give to the nuclear energy industry.

It appears we are nearing the end for coal, oil and nuclear energy.

I make my living off the evening news

Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,

They love dirty laundry

Well, I coulda been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear

Come and whisper in my ear

Give us dirty laundry

Access to health care is one of the biggest issues in our politics. 47 million Americans, 9 million of them children, lack health insurance, and 10's of millions more have insurance that is less than adequate. As a result, more and more Americans are visiting emergency rooms or doing without.

This is an enormous problem for those without access to health insurance, but it also has an impact on those with decent insurance.

I don't really care for for Breaking diaries, but this may qualify.

Iraqi police raided strongholds of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army in the southern city of Kut on Wednesday after the militia broke a ceasefire and clashed with security forces a day earlier.

The city's police chief said at least 11 people were killed in Tuesday's gunbattles in which U.S. special forces called in air strikes after Iraqi authorities asked them for help.

With U.S. forces already stretched by an upsurge in violence in Iraq since January, such ceasefire violations are a worrying development. U.S. commanders have credited the ceasefire with sharply reducing sectarian bloodshed that threatened civil war.

In 2000, George Bush and his surrogates sent a mob to Florida to stop a recount.

Almost immediately after the inauguration, George Bush and Dick Cheney demanded telecom companies to begin spying on Americans without warrants.

This is BAD news.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a quarterly snapshot of the mortgage market released Thursday, said the proportion of all mortgages nationwide that fell into foreclosure shot up to a record high of 0.83 percent in the October-to-December quarter. That surpassed the previous high of 0.78 percent set in the prior quarter.

Let's say you walk into a grocery store. You have a budget which will get you two weeks worth of groceries. You shop carefully and even manage a few luxury items - a couple of T-bone steaks that are on sale, 2 lbs of shrimp that will make a dinner and then shrimp salad for lunch the next day and a nice looking key lime pie. When you're done, you managed to get all the food you need and stayed within your budget.

At a time when we need new research and development more than ever, we are taking huge steps backwards that will have long term consequences in this country and around the world.

It was supposed to be a year bringing sharp increases in federal funding for physical-sciences research. Instead, as a result of the final appropriations bill signed a few weeks ago by Congress, fiscal year 2008 (the federal fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30) brought cuts that will cause hundreds of researchers to lose their jobs, and it's putting the future of two important international projects in jeopardy, including one to make a large-scale fusion demonstration facility.

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries

US Constitution, Article I, Section 8

Two years ago, on June 23, 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first "ethnic" drug. Called BiDil (pronounced "bye-dill"), it was intended to treat congestive heart failure—the progressive weakening of the heart muscle to the point where it can no longer pump blood efficiently—in African-Americans only. The approval was widely declared to be a significant step toward a new era of personalized medicine, an era in which pharmaceuticals would be specifically designed to work with an individual’s particular genetic makeup. Known as pharmacogenomics, this approach to drug development promises to reduce the cost and increase the safety and efficacy of new therapies. BiDil was also hailed as a means to improve the health of African-Americans, a community woefully underserved by the U.S. medical establishment. Organizations such as the Association of Black Cardiologists and the Congressional Black Caucus strongly supported the drug’s approval.

Two weeks ago, John Dean wrote an article about the republican parties dwindling support among businesses. I wrote about that article here. Yesterday, he concluded his two part article here, by examining the economy as a whole. his conclusions are well known around here, but it's always good to repeat them.

In his article, he takes a lot of information from Pete Peterson's latest book Running On Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It.

First, there's this about Countrywide Mortgage.

The Calabasas, Calif.-based company lost $422 million, or 79 cents per share, during the fourth quarter, compared with earnings of $622 million, or $1.01 per share, during the same period the previous year.

Revenue for the quarter totaled $1.2 billion, down 58 percent from $2.8 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Still, at the open of trading Tuesday, Countrywide shares rose 38 cents, more than 6 percent, to $6.33.

They're laying off over 11,000 employees. Also, they're being acquired by Bank of America (which itself is having financial problems) for less than they are supposedly worth. Going through the entire article, virtually every indicator shows a company in severe financial trouble.

John Dean's latest post steps away from the legal and constitutional problems of the Bush administration and examines business and the economy under republicans. Not surprisingly, he finds that republicans can't manage their way out of a paper bag.

First he notes that every one of the last 7 recessions since WWII started under a republican president. The recession immediately before them came under Truman, but with a republican congress.

So we have the basics for a stimulus package in the works. About $100 billion for taxpayers and $50 billion for business. I'm not an economist or finance guy, but this thing really stinks.

Let's start with where the money is going to come from. If it is like the last one, it will be a prebate from our 2008 taxes. That means people who expect a refund next year may wind up owing money. But ultimately, since we are broke, we're going to have to borrow it anyway, from China and Saudi Arabia. Then, we're supposed to spend it ...

It seems like every day we have new evidence that our economy is in trouble. Bonddad and Jerome a Paris, among others do a great job of what's happening under the hood, and I'm not going to try to match their expertise. But this article shows how all the problems that have been building for years is manifesting itself.

I saw this news story yesterday, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. On one hand, I'm happy for the parents who have a chance to have a child, but it seems like we've reached a point that has a dark and ugly side to it.

Believe me, it was tough. They all have their virtues, but when you dig deep, it is clear they all their flaws as well.

Clinton, experienced, but way too close to the corporate world. Obama, young, fresh voice, voice of change, but will be able to get anything done in the tiger cage of D.C.? Edwards, right on most of the issues, but, well, he's a trial lawyer. Dodd? Great on the constitution, but no real chance. Richardson, Biden, Kucinich, Gravel? So who gets my endorsement?

Below the fold ...