Hello, and welcome to today's edition of All Things Bobby Jindal.

The breakingest of breaking news is that the guv's legislative aide  Tommy Williams has resigned.

After diarying the rapid decline of Gov. Bobby Jindal's popularity over his refusal to veto a legislative pay raise and calling attention to the recall petition circulating against the Boy Governor, I'd have thought there was no more to say on the subject.

But the sun has risen on another bright, blessed, schadenfreudelicious day in Louisiana, the Times-Picayune has hit New Orleans porches, chock full of fresh dissing for John McCain's second-or-third-favorite running mate.

Gosh, it seems only three days ago I was talking about how Bobby Jindal's perfect PR aura was starting to slip as constituent ire grows over his failure to oppose the legislature's big pay raise.

Things aren't looking any better at week's end for the Wunderkind Governor and Future of the Republican Party.  Wednesday, state House Speaker Jim Tucker and four other legislators were looking at recall petitions over the pay hike.

Today, it's Bobby's turn.

I was curious about the recall process. Is it somethign specific to a state, or is it a federal law that citizens have the right to recall elected officials?

It just seems like 2012 is a long way away and there just has to be something in the law that allows people to go back on their selection.

With all the MSM attention squarely focused on angry pastors and flag pins (you know, the issues that really matter!) it is easy to lose sight of many important state elections.One such election is a recall of California's 12th district Repub Senator Jeff Denham. Denham has continually abused his power as a senator, and needs to be removed as quickly as possible.

USDA releases School Districts that got recalled beef

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a list Thursday of all school districts nationwide that received beef included in last month's recall of 143 million pounds from a California slaughterhouse.

The 226-page document listed "school food authorities" - the rough equivalent of school districts - that received the meat. It was released after pressure from federal lawmakers, including Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn.

I frantically searched the PDF of School Districts that had received the tainted/recalled beef.  Did it go to my children’s school?
I silently cried in relief when I saw that my children’s school district was not on the list.  But then I saw that my friends and family members’ school districts locally were on the list!
I feel ashamed for my relief that at least the beef did not make it to my sons’ lunchroom.
The downer-cow beef did make it to the school lunch rooms of my nieces and nephews, and friend’s.

Who does that sound like?

I'll give you three guesses . . .

(ok, virtual guesses, and some of you got it, congrats . . . but just to clarify:)

Yup, it's our friends in the Clinton Campaign. Not satisfied with all the other campaign shenanigans coming out of Clinton Country, now some of her major donors, especially from Florida, are pressuring the party to play their way, or give their money back. NYT article

(fold)

Whatever happened to accountability?  Alright, alright... it's been said before many times over but I have to ask, by what right do Michigan and Florida have to insist that their delegates be seated at the Democratic National Convention?  As many have noted, these states knew good and well that the Democratic Party would strip them of all of their delegates if they held their primaries early in violation of party rules.  They knew this well in advance, and they did it anyway.

I want as much as anyone could for the voters in Michigan and Florida to be able to participate in the process of selecting the next Democratic presidential nominee.  If I were a voter in either of these two states, I would be absolutely furious at what is happening.  But two wrongs don't make a right.  

A lot of people have been angrily attacking Howard Dean and the DNC as being big party bosses and machines that are authoritatively dictating who the next Democratic presidential nominee will be with no regard for the will of the people.  I've heard people say that this is undemocratic and un-American--that it reminds them of elections in the old Soviet Union.

Conserve your energy. Take a breather from candidate bashing diaries. Let's talk about ISSUES...shall we?  Now...ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS TO USE!

Radioactive remains: The forgotten story of the Northwest's only uranium mines. One of the world's largest mining companies is trying to wash its hands of responsibility for a costly cleanup of the Northwest's only uranium mines. Seattle Times

Your sewer on drugs. Sewage is more than just filth. It’s evidence of our worst habits, everything from caffeine to cocaine, all ingested and flushed down the toilet. Now scientists are using wastewater to drug-test entire cities, and the results are sobering. Popular Science.

In today's Los Angeles Times:

Meat roulette

By Christopher D. Cook
February 25, 2008
Nauseating as it was, last week's record-setting beef recall and the apparent feeding of meat from crippled "downer" cattle to our nation's children and others should come as little surprise. Although egregious to the point of obscenity, this latest meat scandal fits a pattern of regulatory anemia -- the byproduct of a decades-long bipartisan assault on "big government" -- that has opened the floodgates to all sorts of contamination shenanigans. The deregulated chickens, cows and pigs have come home to roost...

In the last days of January, I got an email with an undercover video of cow torture in a beef plant. Probably some crazy PETA thing going around I figured. I ignored it. Not that cruelty to animals isn't a valid issue, but there are ALWAYS videos of animal abuse and they aren't news.

Then, I got a Washington Post article about the video in my inbox. This video WAS news! It was news for a few reasons. The cow torture was illegal and its result was sick animals getting into the food supply. AND - those particular sick cows were going to feed school children!

Now it was outrageous! On February 1, I posted a diary. The diary was mostly ignored. Well, we're still in primary season. I forgot about it.

On February 17, the company announced a recall. The largest one in U.S. history. The story hit the MSM. People at work started talking about it. During those two weeks, kids were eating that beef!

Slaughterhouse Investigation: Cruel and Unhealthy Practices

copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org

Late in January 2008, Americans read the startling news, Video Reveals Violations of Laws, Abuse of Cows at Slaughterhouse.  Tears were shed by some; most turned away.  The footage was too graphic.  Countless wished to remain removed from a reality they do not wish to witness.  Reports, of brutal treatment towards beefy cattle, were received by many as is steak on a plate.  Those who eat the meat think it  sad that a cow must be sacrificed in order to fill a human stomach.  Nonetheless, numerous persons believe man kills "lower" forms of life; that is the natural order.  

Man...what a week. I'm pooped. Without further adieu, stories on the topic that dare not speak it's name within either Party...ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS to USE! (P.S. No candidates were bashed in the making of this diary...)

Is cabin air making us sick? More and more pilots are reporting that air polluted by engine fumes is making them ill and even incapable of handling their aircraft. So why are passengers not being told? London Daily Telegraph

4 nations, 4 cities take 'climate neutral' pledge. Four nations and a clutch of cities and corporations unveiled a Web-based information hub on Thursday to help meet a pledge to radically cut carbon levels in their economies in coming decade. Agence France-Presse.

This isn't a candidate diary. This is about how I almost became a vegetarian while at lunch yesterday.

I use my diary to urge you to see FishOutofWater's diary about the 143 million pound beef recall - the result of the Humane Society "downer" video.

The original scrolled off to quickly. Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, I think I've typed enough now. Maybe not - two all "beef" patties, lettuce, onion,...

Sick cattle destined for consumption in the school lunch program and fast food restaurants were forklifted in the slaughterhouse.

Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover video surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

It is illegal to use these "downer cows" in the food supply because they are more likely to cause disease in humans than healthy cattle. However, the USDA hasn't reported any associated disease outbreaks with the recalled beef.

Yeah. I know. California cold. But 45 degrees in a beachside community, is, well, a bit chilly. Now, before my fingers "freeze", Environmental News to Use for a Friday before a 4-day weekend.

Flavoring additive puts professional cooks at risk. America's favorite breakfast is bacon and eggs -- and often it is cooked in a product that contains the same chemical that has damaged and destroyed the lungs of hundreds of popcorn and food-flavoring plant workers. Seattle Post-Intelligencer

In past, states were permitted to set own pollution rules. During President Ronald Reagan's administration, when California was trying to enforce its own tough standards for pollution from diesel engines, the trucking industry argued that the state didn't qualify for a waiver under federal law because the problem wasn't unique to California. San Francisco Chronicle

(From the diaries -- kos)

(Full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

A tiny town called Potrero just north of the border in California, an area ravaged by the recent wildfires, just stood up and resoundingly said no to another impending disaster: Blackwater moving to town.  I am so unbelievably happy to have such a huge victory to celebrate!

It was the nation's first ever electoral vote on Blackwater and it was a massive people-powered grassroots victory over the mercenaries.  Every "stop Blackwater" candidate won by at least 63% (results here).  It was an an enormous statement to Blackwater: stay out, you are not the kind of neighbors we want in our community.  It is also a blistering statement by a very conservative town to reject the Bush world view. Our nation is not better served by having a privatized Army.  There is nothing pro-troop about supporting Blackwater.