Former Missouri State Representative Jason Grill appeared on WDAF-4 in Kansas City to discuss the political implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling on President Obama’s healthcare law.
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Some portions of the Kyoto Protocol are set to expire. See what several nations are doing to lower their green house emissions. [npr.org] The Politics of the PlanetEver wonder why your store bought tomatoes don’t taste as good? By breeding for uniform color farmers greatly reduce the taste. [latimes.com] What in the world is this Higgs Boson you keep hearing about? [nytimes.com] A Japanese parliamentary report blames the nuclear disaster on human error and said it should have been avoided. [bbc.co.uk] You probably don’t appreciate vultures as much as you should. [npr.org]
Today, at 1 PM PDT (4 PM EDT), Day 2 of the World Series of Poker $1000 non-limit Texas hold-em tourney begins, with the RP holding onto to 27,925 chips, placing him in 151st place among the 726 players still remaining from an original field of 4,620. With a total prize pool of $1,566,000, the winner would receive more than $654,000. The RP’s immediate goal — being among the 468 survivors who win a cash prize. We should know that by Midnight PDT tonight. The final table will take place on Sunday afternoon. Stay tuned to these pages, and if you are really a poker geek, you can head to this link to follow all of the action, including chip counts and commentary. Good luck RP!  I hadn’t received my No Labels hat yet, so I was representing my two favorite basketball teams: Tel Aviv Maccabeans (shirt), and some semi-professional unit in the upper South (hat)  I’ve always dreamed of standing out in a crowd. Little known fact: The Lady Gaga song, “Poker Face” is NOT about me. The Carly Simon song, “You’re so Vain” is, however. At least I probably think so.
English teachers have had a greater impact on my daily interactions and thought processes than teachers from any other subject matter. Even quips and famous quotes have stayed with me longer than, say, the quadratic formula or parts of the periodic table.
Taught to me by my Bellarmine College English professor, Wade Hall, in 1985. Among much, much more that also is still with me after all these years. Thank you, professor Hall. And I mean that sincerely. Not just because “I know which side of my bread the butter is on.” A phrase you used to describe me during our first classroom interaction. In a vote that has been closely scrutinized and anticipated here at The Recovering Politician — and discussed in detail in this column I published at The Huffington Post last week — the Presbyterian Church (USA) rejected a misguided proposal to divest from companies that do business with Israel. The razor thin margin 333-331 proves the adage that every vote does indeed matter. From the New York Times:
This is great news for justice, peace, and the historic alliance among Jews and Presbyterians. The close vote, however, confirms that much work needs to be done in educating American liberals about the extraordinary liberal democracy that is Israel.
So if you haven’t already — read The Liberal Case for Israel. And let your friends know as well.
It’s an odd approach to a legal victory. Heretofore, the most vocal concerns around SB 1070 (and copycats like the Alabama version) have focused on the blunt-force impact restrictionist statutes have on prototypical undocumented residents and their families: these laws make no bones about a pretty harsh sounding goal, expelling illegal immigrants from communities by rendering them virtually uninhabitable if you lack valid legal status. For example, Section 3 of the Arizona law, which made it a misdemeanor to lack valid immigration documents, and Section5(c), which made it a misdemeanor for an illegal immigrant to even seek work, had the straightforward purpose of pressuring illegal immigrants to move. To more liberal critics of these measures, the so-called “self deportation” strategy exudes a racial ugliness at worst, and a mean-spiritedness at the least.
Read the rest of… Check out Friend of RP Greg Coker’s new video on employee engagement: The Politics of Pigskin
Chad Ochocinco invites a grieving woman from Twitter to his wedding. Very cool story. [CBS Sports] All stadium video boards will now show the exact same replay that the head official sees under the hood for reviews. [ESPN] Former Raiders 1st round pick has been charged with 4 murders. [Press-Telegram] Three Years of Drop Rate: Running Backs [Pro Football Focus] “With Peyton Manning aboard, Broncos receivers actually have to learn routes now” Hilarious. [Yahoo!] Do any of your favorite players have one of the worst or best contracts? [NFL.com]
Parents, like patriots, sacrifice. At our best we are role models for exemplary behavior in our children. But the other 100% of the time we are more of a mixed bag of admirable and unadmirable behavior. And the path to model parenting isn’t always obvious. Last night I was with my wife and kids discussing some recent parental disappointments (mine mostly, of course), and I had a brilliant save. “Ok. You all know how much we love you and try to do what we think is best, right? Well, a while back it became clear to your mom and me that we were raising you kids in ” too perfect and healthy a home environment” and it was hindering your development. You weren’t as resilient or adaptable or manipulative as other kids your age–and that had to change. So, your mother and I decided to create a slightly more dysfunctional home environment to balance your overall psychological development. And, happily for you two, it seems to be working. But it has been an incredible sacrifice on your mom and me. So, in the future when you feel your mom and me come up short as parents and aren’t doing our best, you now know why. We are doing it for your own good. Hey, it got a laugh from the kids. And seemed fitting for the 4th of July. In addition to celebrating our national sovereignty today, we should Declaring Independence from perfect parenting, too. One of the many thousand reasons why I am glad to be a recovering politician and not a real politician anymore is that I no longer have to hide one of my favorite passions: playing tournament poker. Back in the days when I represented the constituents of a Bible Belt state, I’d have to play incognito, never at a nearby riverboat casino where I could be recognized, and certainly not in a public, highly publicized event like the greatest poker event around the globe — the World Series of Poker, held annually at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. But that’s all history, so this Independence Day, I freed myself to check off an item on my bucket list, and I entered the $1000 no-limit Texas hold ’em four day event, featuring more than 3,500 of the world’s best poker players. I arrived in Las Vegas Tuesday night with two goals in mind:  First, I wanted to have a “respectable” finish. For me, that meant to try to survive until Day 2 of the four day tournament. Second, I wanted to wear the new No Labels hat that was ordered especially for these purposes. (If you are new to this site, and/or not are familiar with the national grassroots political movement I co-founded, click here.)
Even if I never appeared on ESPN’s TV coverage, at least I’d get a good picture for the Web site.
On Wednesday (July 4), the two goals intersected. The No Labels hat had arrived via UPS in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, but my hotel would not accept delivery until Thursday AM. So I HAD to get to Day 2 of the tourney to play with my new hat and give our booming movement a little publicity.
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