Yes, as unbeliveable as it is, researchers in Jacksonville, Flordia are asking families offer up their infant children to a study called "Cheers."  The CHEERS actually stands for Children's Environmental Research Study Cheery right? Who's allowing and even sponsoring this study? The Environmental Protection Agency.  The program is offering a number of inducements if the families stay in the program for two years, including a camcorder and $970.

on the hate amendement in order to move on to the vote for a homeland security funding bill?  Sometimes I go nuts because our side is not articulate enough to spell things out.  From what Hillary Clinton and others said it sounded like the GOP was trying to force a premature vote on gay marriage, leaving the Dems reponsible for holding up the terrorism bill.

If this is true, I am truly nauseated and know that our political system is in shatters.

Maybe you pro bloggers will write about this tomorrow, but this is my take on it.  My guess it that this is just the tip of the iceberg of Bush's environmental assaults.  This comes from a 60 Minutes segment.

Jack Spadaro tells Bob Simon that the Bush administration covered up one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.  

"The Bush administration came in and the scope of our investigation was considerably shortened. I had never seen something so corrupt and lawless in my entire career."

You can read the whole story here

I hope that this gets good play in the print and web media.

Here's more ....

The toxic coal slurry spill in Appalachia was 25 times the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. Spadaro says he intends to sue the government. He's also in contact with the Office of Special Counsel for Whistleblower Protection.  

Who is Jack Spadaro? He's a man who's devoted his life to the safety of miners and the safety of people who live near mines. He's an engineer, who until recently was head of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy (MSHA), a branch of the Department of Labor, which trains mining inspectors.

But he lost that job last year, after he blew the whistle on what he called a whitewash by the Bush administration of an investigation into a major environmental disaster. Correspondent Bob Simon reports.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I had never seen anything so corrupt and lawless in my entire career, what I saw regarding interference with a federal investigation of the most serious environmental disaster in the history of the Eastern United States," says Spadaro.

Yet another good story from NPR, that you probably won't hear anywhere else.  For the whole story, listen [ here http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=31-Mar-2004&prgId=2/]  

Seems that some of the GOP in Congress are starting to worry about their own reelection chances.  Many are thinking that they might think that being in Dubya's back pocket, is not the safest place to be.  Bodes well for our side.

Highlights of the story "Bucking the White House" or what I call "Bucking Bush"

1)  The push for Rice's testimony was largely successful due to support from House Republicans.

2)  The Senate passed a child care bill 78/20 that was not authorized by the Whitehouse.

3) The Dem's push to place a legal limit on tax cuts yielded a 209 to 209 vote in the House.

4)  GOP congressmen blocked Bush's request to ease employers "burden" of paying pensions.

5)  /The last and certainly not least/ The House Ways and Means Committee agreed to pursue the Dem demand for an investigation by statements by actuary, Richard Foster.  It was Foster who was threatened to withhold the actual cost of the Medicare Bill.

There you have it- some more good news for our side.  If my tags, don't work, please forgive me.  

Okay.  You can expect Bush to piss off gays, union members, environmentalists, social progressives, African-Americans, teachers, women, and Libertarians, just to name a few.  But now he has crossed the wrong crowd-hunters and fisherman.

Yes, it's true- most if not all of the major hunting and fishing groups are furious at Bush for destroying the environment.  (No habitat-no animals to shoot).  I'm no hunting fan, but if these guys (and women) can do something to help the environment, I'm behind 'em. These groups are 3-1 Republican, but they are fed up.  The list is long, but their biggest beefs (no pun intended), include logging in the Tsongas, oil and gas exploration in WY, TX, and UT.  

This is rich.  I plan to get on their blogs and see what we can do to get them on board (or at least off the Bush board).  I worry that Bush may postpone his additional environmental destruction just long enough to get re-elected.

Here's the link where you can stream the NPR story:

http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=2&prgDate=current

Here's a synopsis of the NPR story:

Outdoors Enthusiasts Question Bush Policies

NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports on the growing opposition among hunters and anglers to the Bush administration's environmental policies. The outdoors enthusiasts -- many of them lifelong Republicans -- oppose the president's re-election.