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_________________________________________________________________________ The Real story behind Occupy Wall Street, the bank fraud and corruption of our political system!
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. END THE FED!!! STOP THE BAILOUTS!!! JAIL THE FRAUDSTERS!!!
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by: Tim Sampson missouri-news.org October 8, 2011
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JEFFESON CITY, Mo. – Hope of bringing back Callaway II flickered to life briefly on the floor of Missouri House of Representatives this week only to be snuffed out again – as it has been often times this year.
During floor negotiations over the jobs bill at the heart of the current, contentious special legislative session, Rep. Chris Kelly made a last ditch effort to attach an amendment that would have put the issue of repealing the so-called CWIP law from the Missouri constitution and cleared the way for public financing of a second nuclear power plant in Missouri.
“When we are in economic trouble, the best solution is to build something,” said Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, who offered the amendment.
CWIP, which stands for constructions work in progress, was first passed by Missouri voters in the mid-1970s in response to the building of the first nuclear reactor in Callaway County. The law forbids utility companies from raising rates on customers to finance the construction of new power generating facilities that are not yet operational. Throughout the current special session and the preceding regular legislative session, a consortium of utility companies led by Ameren Missouri has led the charge to try and repeal this law, but with no success.
The original bill to repeal CWIP was sidelined, in part, by renewed controversy over nuclear power stemming from the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan earlier this year. Although an attempt to salvage the bill in the final days of the regular session was made, it was ultimately unsuccessful.
That led to Kelly’s amendment. With the Callaway II bill not on the formal agenda for the special session, the only route for supports has been to try and attach the language to another piece of legislation.
But the language was tossed out on a procedural ruling by House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville. He said the language was not germane to the main content of the jobs bill, which deals primarily with economic development incentives and tax credit reform.
But Kelly said the jobs bill has grown from its initial scope of reforming tax code, and he said construction of a second nuclear reactor at Callaway would bring jobs to mid-Missouri.
“The concept, the very thought that anything could be beyond the scope of this legislation is ludicrous,” Kelly said.
But others disagreed. Rep. Rory Ellinger, D-St. Louis, spoke against the amendment, arguing that its inclusion in the bill would sink it and take down other provisions, including $360 million in proposed foreign trade incentives for the Lambert-St. Louis Airport area.
“The very issue of nuclear power is in its nature fundamentally controversial,” Ellinger said. “There’s no question about that. No matter how the people have voted, that has nothing to do with the Aerotropolis Bill.
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_________________________________________________________________________ Obama to GOP: Act on jobs or get run out of town
By BEN FELLER AP White House Correspondent
October 6, 2011
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A combative President Barack Obama challenged a divided Congress on Thursday to unite behind his jobs bill or get ready to be run "out of town" by angry voters. Hoping to use public frustration and economic worry as leverage, he called his proposal an insurance plan against a painful return to recession.
In a news conference long on restatements of his ideas, Obama laid bare the dynamic that now is Washington: The era of compromise is over.
Frustrated over getting nowhere with Republicans, Obama demanded that they explain themselves to the country and promised to keep "hammering way until something gets done."
Despite Obama's taunts, Republicans showed no signs of switching positions. Instead, they pressed unsuccessfully for a symbolic vote later in the day so they could demonstrate their opposition to the bill the president submitted three weeks ago. They also predicted they would prevail next week when Democrats try to advance a reworked version, which Obama supports, with a tax on millionaires.
Speaking at a forum just about the same time as Obama, House Speaker John Boehner said the president had decided to "give up on governing, give up on leading." Said Boehner: "We're legislating. He's campaigning."
Obama's news conference marked a continuation of his recent feistiness, and his party's pre-election-year attempt to depict Republicans as protectors of the rich at the expense of the jobless. Obama plans to keep it up through his campaign as he seeks a second term amid persistently high unemployment.
Lamenting political gamesmanship, Obama defended his own tactic of campaigning for a jobs bill that appears to have no chance of passing as it is. When asked about his willingness to negotiate to help the millions of unemployed, he said he had gone out of his way every time with Republicans, to little avail.
"The question, then, is, will Congress do something?" the president said. "If Congress does something, then I can't run against a do-nothing Congress. If Congress does nothing, then it's not a matter of me running against them. I think the American people will run them out of town, because they are frustrated."
Obama conceded that voters have grown deeply exasperated and cynical, and he put the responsibility largely on Congress as unresponsive to public opinion. At one point Obama even told his media questioners to accept a "little homework assignment" and "go ask Republicans what their jobs plan is."
The political positioning came with the American economy weakening and at a risk of sinking as a consequence of Europe's debt crisis. Nearly one-third of the unemployed people in the United States - almost 4.5 million people - have been out of work for a year or more.
Obama would not say whether he agreed with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's warning this week that the economic recovery "is close to faltering." The president said the country stands to face deeper problems without action, particularly if a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits are not extended.
He has presented a $447 billion plan to jolt the economy by cutting taxes and increasing spending on schools, roads and other public projects. He has proposed covering the cost of that, and therefore avoiding another pile of public debt, in part by raising taxes on wealthier people and corporations.
It is likely Congress will eventually pass Obama's proposal to extend and expand the Social Security payroll tax cuts that took effect on Jan. 1, the costliest part of the overall jobs plan. Other elements could also clear Congress by the end of the year, including a renewal of unemployment benefits.
Yet Republicans strongly oppose Obama's proposed spending and also are against raising taxes - on anyone. Giving a bit of ground on his own plan, Obama endorsed a new proposal by Senate Democrats to tax millionaires - not households making $250,000 or more - to pay for his jobs program.
"If the goal is to create jobs, then why are we even talking about tax hikes?" said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Republicans also shrugged off Obama's complaints that they have not explained their opposition or proposed alternatives, saying they had done both.
About 392,000 households would get hit by the Senate Democrats' proposed 5.6 percent tax on income above $1 million, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank. In 2013, the first year the tax would take effect, those households would see their taxes increase by an average of $110,500, according to the analysis.
Obama's session with reporters centered on economic themes.
He was also pressed to defend his administration's handling of two matters: a multimillion-dollar federal loan guarantee to a solar company that now has declared bankruptcy, and a Justice Department program aimed at building cases against major weapons traffickers in Mexico that lost track of numerous guns.
The president said his jobs bill could guard against another economic downturn if the situation in debt-laden Europe worsens. Ramping up his language, Obama called his plan "an insurance policy against a possible double-dip recession."
The overarching theme of Obama's news conference was frustration - on the part of Americans with Washington, and on his part with Congress. It fit with his campaign of late as he moves around the country raising money for his re-election and promoting his jobs plan on the home turf of Republican foes.
"We have a democracy, and right now John Boehner is the speaker of the House and Mitch McConnell is the Republican leader" in the Senate, Obama said. "And, you know, all I can do is make the best arguments and mobilize the American people so that they're responsive."
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Associated Press writers David Espo, Andrew Taylor, Julie Pace, Erica Werner, Jim Kuhnhenn, Stephen Ohlemacher and Gerry Bolander contributed to this story.
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Franklin County man gets 100 years in prison for producing child porn
stltoday.com October 6, 2011
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ST. LOUIS • A man from Franklin County has been sentenced to 100 years in prison on federal child pornography charges, authorities said Thrusday. Jeffrey Greenwell, 39, of Sullivan, Mo., received 20 years each on five counts of production of child pornography, federal prosecutors say. Greenwell pleaded guilty in June to allegations he photographed five children engaged in sex acts between January 2007 and October 2009.
Jeffrey Greenwell, 39, formerly of Sullivan, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Charles A. Shaw to 20 years on each of five felony counts of production of child pornography between 2007 and 2009. Judge Shaw ordered the terms be served consecutively.
Greenwell was part of the so-called "Lost Boys" network that distributed child porn to members around the world. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Greenwell will serve 85 percent of the 100-year sentence, a detective with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office said.
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Things Are So Bad In America That Now Even Sesame Street Muppets Are Poverty-Stricken And Hungry
endoftheamericandream.com
OCTOBER 6, 2011
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Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie are about to get a new friend. This new character comes from a family that is poverty-stricken and that struggles to get enough food. She is going to teach the other residents of Sesame Street the facts about hunger in America. Her name is Lily, and she will be appearing on a special one hour primetime special of Sesame Street that will focus on the plight of hungry children all over the nation.
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This is yet another sign that things are so bad in America that nobody can really deny the reality of what is happening anymore. When you have more than one out of every five children living in poverty and one out of every four children on food stamps, it would be an injustice to call it anything less than a national crisis. Our economy is dying because of our foolishness and our children are paying the price.
But a new Sesame Street character that is poverty-stricken and hungry is not the only unusual sign that things have changed in America.
-Things are so bad in America that now Hallmark is actually offering a 6 card line of "job loss" greeting cards.
-Things are so bad in America that now gangster rappers are actually making rap videos about using food stamps.
-Things are so bad in America that the number of Americans that are submitting applications for temporary work visas in Canada has approximately doubled since 2008.
-Things are so bad in America that thieves are now stealing air conditioners, drain covers, hair extensions and even embalming fluid.
But things are especially bad for children.
The following are some jaw-dropping statistics about how children are faring in our declining economy....
*The poverty rate for children living in the United States increased to 22% in 2010. That means that tonight more than one out of every five U.S. children is living in poverty.
*Right now, one out of every four American children is on food stamps.
*There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.
*In Washington D.C., the "child food insecurity rate" is 32.3%.
*More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.
*Approximately one-third of the entire population of Alabama is now on food stamps.
*The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006.
*It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.
*Last year, the number of Americans living in poverty increased by an all-time record 2.6 million.
*It is estimated that up to half a million children may currently be homeless in the United States.
*More than 45 million Americans are now on food stamps. The number of Americans on food stamps has increased 74% since 2007.
Sometimes it is hard to believe that this is still the United States of America.
Aren't we supposed to be the most prosperous nation on the planet?
It is almost as if we are under some sort of a curse.
As I have written about previously, the average American family is having a harder and harder time surviving in this economy.
Unemployment is rampant, and the number of good jobs continues to decrease.
Right now, there are actually fewer payroll jobs in the United States than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.
Sadly, it looks like things are starting to take a turn for the worse once again. U.S. employers announced 212 percent more job cuts this September than they did last September.
That is not a good sign.
Also, everywhere you look the cost of living is going up.
For example, according to the Daily Beast utility bills across the country are about to go up significantly....
Already weary of high gas prices and 9.1 percent unemployment, many Americans are about to get another kick in the wallet thanks to large increases in their electricity bills. From Alaska to Georgia and Wyoming to Florida, utilities are seeking permission to pass on hundreds of millions of dollars in new charges to customers to help upgrade aging infrastructure and build new or retrofitted power plants that comply with tougher environmental regulations, a Daily Beast review of regulatory filings has found.
Another example is the rising cost of health insurance. The cost of a health insurance policy for the average American family rose by a whopping 9 percent last year.
But those that actually still do have health insurance should consider themselves to be fortunate. Things have gotten so bad that an all-time record 49.9 million Americans do not have any health insurance at all at this point. Not only that, the percentage of Americans covered by employer-based health plans has fallen for 11 years in a row.
So what is Barack Obama doing about all this?
Not much.
Actually, one thing that Barack Obama is doing is that he is pressuring Congress to pass legislation that will make it much easier for private debt collectors to badger people on their cellphones about delinquent student loans. According to the Obama administration, this change "is expected to provide substantial increases in collections, particularly as an increasing share of households no longer have landlines and rely instead on cellphones".
Instead of focusing on ways to make it easier for debt collectors to bug us, perhaps he should start thinking about ways to get the economy moving in the right direction.
Up to this point, Obama's economic proposals have been a bad joke.
Right now, millions of Americans are incredibly frustrated with the economy. People want to be able to feed their children and pay their bills. When you don't have enough money you start to think about it constantly. Tonight, millions of Americans will lay in bed and stare at the ceiling and wonder where their lives went wrong.
As the economy continues to crumble, we are going to see millions more Americans fall into poverty and struggle with hunger.
Hopefully the rest of us will be kind, compassionate and generous. The truth is that any of us could catch a bad break and end up without any money. We should remember to treat others the way that we would like to be treated if we were in desperate circumstances.
America is changing, and not for the better.
Unless fundamental changes are made, our economy is going to continue to deteriorate and a lot more people are going to suffer.
Let us hope for the best, but let us also prepare for the worst.
October 6, 2011
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Rarely in my long life’s experience have two news items been published on the same day that demonstrated such palpable irony.
The two stories that appeared in The New York Times last Friday (Sept. 30) and when read together, they present a sharp incongruity and discordance that far exceeds the simple and evident intention of the words and actions recounted. Due Process: 1945 Item #1: In a column entitled “The Nuremberg Scripts” Joe Nocera told how, in November 1945, six months after Nazi Germany’s surrender to the victorious Allies, a 24-year-old Army combat engineer named Harold Burson was handed a new assignment: daily reports on the Nuremberg trial of the top Nazis leaders for the American Armed Forces Radio Network. For the next five months, Burson was one of two soldiers who reported on the trial and produced a daily “script,” read over the air by the AFRN announcers. Mr. Burson, who is 90 now, is the co-founder of Burson-Marsteller, one of the world’s largest public relations firms, says that every five years or so, he goes back and re-reads those old scripts, marveling at the remarkable experience he’d been afforded at such a young age.
Nocera says there was an aspect to Burson’s scripts he “…found quite endearing. They have an earnest, idealistic quality that reminds you just how full of hope America was after World War II. “Though we had fought a brutal war, we were determined to act generously to the vanquished. That even applied to the Nazi brass who had committed reprehensible crimes against humanity. “G.I.’s have one stock question,” reads Burson’s very first 1945 script. “Why can’t we just take them out and shoot ’em? We know they’re guilty.” Due Process: 2011 Item #2: In a “news analysis” in the same Times edition, Scott Shane reported: “The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen struck on Friday by a missile fired from a drone aircraft operated by his own government, instantly reignited a difficult debate over terrorism, civil liberties and the law.” In a statement my former U.S. House of Representatives colleague, Rep. Ron Paul, said President Obama was “appointing himself judge, jury and executioner by presidential decree” and was acting outside “the Constitution or the rule of law” He added: “Awlaki was a U.S. citizen. Under our Constitution, American citizens, even those living abroad, must be charged with a crime before being sentenced.” He suggested the president could be impeached for the killing. “In any way destroyed…”
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, one of the most important protections in our Bill of Rights says in part: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” The United States Supreme Court has held: ”It is now the settled doctrine of this Court that the Due Process Clause embodies a system of rights based on moral principles so deeply imbedded in the traditions and feelings of our people as to be deemed fundamental to a civilized society as conceived by our whole history. Due Process is that which comports with the deepest notions of what is fair and right and just.” Solesbee v. Balkcom, 339 U.S. 9, 16 (1950);’ Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 105 (1934). The concept of due process goes all the way back to Magna Carta, (1215) in which King John promised that ”[n]o free man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseized or exiled or in any way destroyed…except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.” Evidence Pressed to justify the constitutional law professor/president’s open defiance of the Fifth Amendment in ordering the murder of a U.S. citizen without trial, the White House press secretary refused to respond. As the Washington Post put it, “The administration officials refused to disclose the exact legal analysis used to authorize targeting Aulaqi, or how they considered any Fifth Amendment right to due process.”
Glen Greenwald said it: “That is the mindset of the U.S. Government and its followers expressed as vividly as can be: we can spy on, imprison, or even kill anyone we want – including citizens – without any due process or any evidence shown, simply because we will tell you they are Bad People, and you will trust us and believe us.” Deeply Embedded Hypocrisy A writer from Bangor, Maine commented: “…we target and kill an American citizen without trial. I’m not saying this man’s actions didn’t deserve punishment. But why even bother to pretend anymore? Why bother? Maybe with Obama’s latest drone kill we can let the hypocrisy go. But remember, Americans. Remotely-controlled drones can fly and kill over American cities just as easily as they can fly and kill over Yemen.” Ask yourself this question: In the 66 years from the Nuremberg Trial 1945 to the White House 2011, what has happened to America’s belief in what the Supreme Court described as those “moral principles so deeply imbedded in the traditions and feelings of our people as to be deemed fundamental to a civilized society…” The next time you hear what sounds like a small plane flying overhead, look up. If the president decides you are one of those Bad People, it might be the last thing you ever see.
October 5, 2011
Robert E. Bauman is a former Member of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland, (1973–1981). He is also a former federal official and state legislator; Member, Washington, DC Bar; Graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (1964) and the School of Foreign Service (1959), Washington, DC. Robert currently serves as legal counsel for the Sovereign Society.
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Monsanto reports 4th quarter loss, will restate earnings
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 6, 2011
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ST. LOUIS • Monsanto's fourth-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations. But the company says it has to restate the last two year's earnings because of a federal investigation into its herbicide sales. The world's biggest seed company on Wednesday said a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will prompt it to restate earnings irregularities arising from incentives it paid dealers of its Roundup Herbicide. The St. Louis company said it had a net loss of $112 million, or 21 cents per share, for the quarter ended Aug. 31. Monsanto Co. said that adjusted for one-time items, the loss was 22 cents per share. Revenue rose to $2.25 billion from $1.95 billion last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected an adjusted loss of 27 cents per share on revenue of $1.91 billion.
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The 190-foot-tall whirling aerial swing in the Wunderland Kalkar amusement park, near the German-Dutch border, claims an unusual distinction: It’s the only ride in the world constructed in a decommissioned nuclear cooling tower. In 1995, Dutch developer Hennie van der Most bought the defunct nuclear power plant from the German government. The site was supposed to house an SNR 300 fast breeder reactor, built from 1972 to 1985, but it never became fully operational.
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By Nick Stattpopsci.com
October 5, 2011
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After the sale, van der Most converted the plant site into a theme park and recreation center. Wunderland Kalkar sees an average of 600,000 visitors a year and boasts more than 40 attractions, including rock-climbing on the outer walls of the cooling tower.
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The two men spent the day strolling around town or lounging at the hotel. They were waiting for a late afternoon appointment with the governor. Their names on the hotel register read John Edwards, and B. F. Winfrey. Edwards said he was from Sedalia and Winfrey claimed to be from Marshall. Winfrey had just recently come to Missouri from Tennessee where people called him B. J. Woodson, but that wasn’t his real name either.
Late that afternoon, the governor called several state officials and newsmen to his office and showed them an important letter. While the guests in the office were discussing the letter the two men strolled in. The one whose name really was John Edwards introduced the other whose name was neither Winfrey nor Woodson. “Governor Crittenden,” said Edwards, “I want to introduce you to my friend Frank James.” AUDIO: Listen to program
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The River Cleanup towboat pushed into Hermann Monday evening with a sand flat trash barge and house barge for crew quarters preparing for a week of educational activities with local school children and a cleanup of the river on Saturday.
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‘We All Live Downstream’
By Karen Cernich
emissourian.com
October 5, 2011
You may not pay any attention to the trash you see along the roads in your neighborhood or any of the streets around town, but those empty water bottles, soda cans, Styrofoam cups, plastic drinking straws and other bits of plastic that you see lying on the ground, forgotten, are ending up in the Missouri River.
Heavy rains and winds carry the trash from the streets into storm drains and creeks, which then empty into the Missouri River and eventually reach the oceans.
Steve Schnarr, program director with Missouri River Relief, “a grassroots, volunteer and equipment-based organization dedicated to reconnecting people to the Missouri River through hands-on river cleanups and education events,” describes it as “incidental trash,” or in other words, trash left behind by well-meaning people who just weren’t paying attention and are unaware of how their forgotten trash could end up polluting rivers and oceans.
Schnarr has seen plenty of incidental trash over the last 10 years as he and teams of volunteers have hauled ton after ton of trash from the Missouri. Last year alone the group pulled out 592 tons of trash.
Missouri River Relief will be in Washington next week to lead a series of events, including a hands-on educational workshop with local fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders on Wednesday and Thursday, a fundraising dinner on the barge Thursday evening and a daylong cleanup on Saturday.
A river festival also will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (See story on 5C.)
It’s all part of the Big Muddy Clean Sweep, the keystone event marking Missouri River Relief’s 10th anniversary this year.
Schnarr is currently looking for volunteers to help with the cleanup here. People can contact him ahead of time by calling him at 573-289-2077 or emailing him at steve@riverrelief.org, or they can show up Saturday morning at 9 at the Washington riverfront.
Missouri River Relief has led cleanups in Washington several times before but this time will be a little different. The crew will be arriving by barge.
The River Cleanup towboat will push into town early next week with a sand flat that looks likes a giant dumpster, a house barge that features the crew’s quarters and kitchen, and a work flat which is simply a flat work area.
This week the boat is docked in Hermann. It arrived Monday evening for a week of activities that will end in a cleanup there on Saturday.
When it leaves headed for Washington, there are no plans to stop along the way, but Schnarr said if people in between Hermann and Washington are inspired to conduct their own cleanups in those places, they can leave the bagged trash at the bank, call him (573-289-2077) to give its location and the barge will stop to pick it up.
‘We Definitely See a Pattern’
At first glance, the river and its banks may look pretty clean, no trash in sight. But when you look closer, you begin to notice it.
Because of the flooding earlier this year, much of the trash has been pushed up into the woods along the banks, said Schnarr. During the clean up in Jefferson City last week, a crew found a slew of trash 150 yards into the woods.
Schnarr said he doesn’t usually get upset anymore at seeing all of the incidental trash. He picks it up and works that much harder at educating people about it.
“We definitely see a pattern,” he said. “Below urban areas where streams come into the Missouri River, we will see all of this plastic garbage, mostly general trash that gets washed into storm drains during rain events and end up in the Missouri.”
Not all of the trash comes from such innocent sources, Schnarr realizes. There are definitely people who intentionally dump things into the river — tires, carpet, old broken down refrigerators that would cost them $10 to place in a landfill, used motor oil . . .
“Anything that costs people money to dispose of are things we find in the river,” said Schnarr.
There are also fishermen and “partiers” on boats who toss trash — beer cans or bait containers — over the side of the boat instead of bringing it back to shore to dispose of properly.
Part of that mindset can be cultural, said Schnarr. It’s something people have always done and they don’t realize the harm it’s doing.
Why Clean It Up?
Regardless of how the trash gets to the river, Schnarr and his crew make it their business to clean it up for several reasons, beginning with the fact that trash just looks ugly, plain and simple.
“If the river is your playground, your place to get nourished by nature, you don’t want a bunch of trash lying around,” said Schnarr.
More than that, however, is that this trash is doing damage, he said. Birds, fish and other wildlife are getting tangled in it, or worse, mistaking it for food and eating it.
“Biologists have found fish that have been damaged by plastics because they get tangled up in it or have swallowed it,” said Schnarr. “It’s more of a problem than people realize. All of it eventually washes into the oceans . . . and we’re starting to find out some of the problems this floating waste is causing.”
There is an “abnormal concentration” of trash that has collected in one area of the Pacific Ocean where historically organic material collects, said Schnarr. Animals have come to this area to feed on that organic patch, which is now mixed largely with trash and broken bits of plastic.
“They die because their stomachs are filled up with these plastics,” said Schnarr.
Another reason to clean up the trash is the chemicals that the trash is releasing into the water.
“If you’ve ever smelled a tire, what you’re smelling is petro chemicals, and those are ending up in our water stream from dumped tires,” said Schnarr, noting it’s also common to find bottles full of waste oil dumped in the river.
In addition to getting all of these items out of the river, the cleanups are about educating people, said Schnarr.
“We’re not going to make any major changes to that (trash patch) with this, but a big part of what we do is education,” he said. “We want to open people’s eyes to the impact cities have on the Missouri River.
“One-sixth of the continental U.S. drains into the Missouri.”
The education workshops that Schnarr will be leading with local school groups will have two main points to get across — the scale of the river and that trash lying on their street will eventually end up in the river — that includes lost balls that rolled away never to be seen again.
“They end up in storm drains and then in the river,” said Schnarr, picking up a mud-covered tennis ball from one of the bags collected in Jefferson City last week.
“We all live downstream,” Schnarr remarked.
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Baucus offers plan to save Post Office, keep rural offices open
By Pete Kasperowiczthehill.com
October 5, 2011
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Senate Finance Committee Chairman and deficit-reduction supercommittee member Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Tuesday introduced legislation that would help the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) avoid bankruptcy and prevent the closure of rural post offices, including some in his home state.
"The Postal Service has serious budget troubles to tackle, and Congress has a responsibility to play its part," Baucus said. "This bill provides the life preserver the Postal Service needs to stay above water while we work together to find longer-term solutions to preserve the postal services and jobs Montanans depend on."
The USPS is facing a severe fiscal crisis because it is required to make a $5.5 billion pre-payment to a retiree health benefit fund, and has said it cannot make the payment. The USPS was originally scheduled to make that payment by Sept. 30, but the continuing spending resolution approved by the House this week extends that until Nov. 18.
The Baucus bill, S. 1649, would require the Office of Personnel Management to estimate how much the Postal Service has made in overpayments to the Federal Employee Retirement System and use those to make its payment to the health benefit fund. Baucus said some estimates put the overpayment at $6.9 billion, more than enough to make the payment.
The bill also includes language that prohibits the USPS from closing rural offices if there is not another post office within 10 miles. Baucus just this week complained to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe that the USPS is planning to close three rural offices in Montana, a decision Baucus said was made without allowing for enough public input.
"It is clear that the Postal Service decided to close these post offices without sufficiently considering community input, and I oppose moving forward with the closings until Montanans have more time to voice their support for their local post office," he wrote in an Oct. 3 letter.
Baucus added that while Donahoe has said the USPS would only make closure decisions after substantive consideration of public input, "this has sadly not been the case" in the instance of the three Montana offices. He also noted that nearly all of the 85 offices in Montana that might be closed are more than 10 miles from another office.
Original List of possible Missouri closings:
167 Missouri post offices are on the United States Postal Service’s hit list as targets for possible closing. They’re part of a postal service plan to possibly shut down almost 3700 small post offices nationwide.
The postal service says the closings are not done deals; the list is only of “possible” closings.
The service is considering closing about ten percent of its offices nationwide, saying the increase use of e-mail and the recession-caused decline in advertising mail produced a 58-million dollar financial loss last year.
FERGUSON SAINT LOUIS 63135
GWEN B GILES SAINT LOUIS 63112
JEFFERSON MEMORIAL SAINT LOUIS 63101
JORDAN W CHAMBERS SAINT LOUIS 63106
ROCKBRIDGE ROCKBRIDGE 65741
TRUXTON TRUXTON 63381
WHITESIDE WHITESIDE 63387
FLETCHER FLETCHER 63030
GRUBVILLE GRUBVILLE 63041
MAPLEWOOD SAINT LOUIS 63143
ALDRICH ALDRICH 65601
ARROW ROCK ARROW ROCK 65320
BLACKBURN BLACKBURN 65321
BLAIRSTOWN BLAIRSTOWN 64726
CLARKSBURG CLARKSBURG 65025
DEERFIELD DEERFIELD 64741
DOVER DOVER 64022
DUNNEGAN DUNNEGAN 65640
EAST LYNNE EAST LYNNE 64743
EMMA EMMA 65327
FLORENCE FLORENCE 65329
FORTUNA FORTUNA 65034
FOSTER FOSTER 64745
GILLIAM GILLIAM 65330
HARWOOD HARWOOD 64750
HENRIETTA HENRIETTA 64036
HOUSTONIA HOUSTONIA 65333
HUGHESVILLE HUGHESVILLE 65334
JERICO SPRINGS JERICO SPRINGS 64756
MALTA BEND MALTA BEND 65339
MC GIRK MC GIRK 65055
METZ METZ 64765
MIAMI MIAMI 65344
MILO MILO 64767
MOUNDVILLE MOUNDVILLE 64771
ROSCOE ROSCOE 64781
SAINT THOMAS SAINT THOMAS 65076
SYRACUSE SYRACUSE 65354
CENTER SQUARE KANSAS CITY 64105
CIVIC CENTER KANSAS CITY 64106
HICKMAN MILLS KANSAS CITY 64134
ALLENDALE ALLENDALE 64420
AMITY AMITY 64422
ARMSTRONG ARMSTRONG 65230
BLYTHEDALE BLYTHEDALE 64426
CLEARMONT CLEARMONT 64431
CLYDE CLYDE 64432
COFFEY COFFEY 64636
COSBY COSBY 64436
DE KALB DE KALB 64440
DE WITT DE WITT 64639
DENVER DENVER 64441
FILLMORE FILLMORE 64449
FRANKLIN FRANKLIN 65250
GENTRY GENTRY 64453
GLENWOOD GLENWOOD 63541
GRAHAM GRAHAM 64455
GUILFORD GUILFORD 64457
HELENA HELENA 64459
HUMPHREYS HUMPHREYS 64646
JAMESON JAMESON 64647
LACLEDE LACLEDE 64651
LEVASY LEVASY 64066
LIVONIA LIVONIA 63551
MARTINSVILLE MARTINSVILLE 64467
MC FALL MC FALL 64657
MOORESVILLE MOORESVILLE 64664
PARNELL PARNELL 64475
PICKERING PICKERING 64476
POLLOCK POLLOCK 63560
PURDIN PURDIN 64674
REA REA 64480
ROSENDALE ROSENDALE 64483
SUMNER SUMNER 64681
TURNEY TURNEY 64493
UTICA UTICA 64686
WHEELING WHEELING 64688
WINIGAN WINIGAN 63566
WORTH WORTH 64499
AVILLA AVILLA 64833
BRUNER BRUNER 65620
CEDARCREEK CEDARCREEK 65627
FREISTATT FREISTATT 65654
HURLEY HURLEY 65675
NECK CITY NECK CITY 64849
PONCE DE LEON PONCE DE LEON 65728
POWELL POWELL 65730
PURCELL PURCELL 64857
STOTTS CITY STOTTS CITY 65756
TIFF CITY TIFF CITY 64868
WENTWORTH WENTWORTH 64873
BIXBY BIXBY 65439
BLACK BLACK 63625
BLODGETT BLODGETT 63824
BRAGG CITY BRAGG CITY 63827
BRAGGADOCIO BRAGGADOCIO 63826
BROWNWOOD BROWNWOOD 63738
BUCYRUS BUCYRUS 65444
CANALOU CANALOU 63828
CATRON CATRON 63833
DAISY DAISY 63743
DUTCHTOWN DUTCHTOWN 63745
ELK CREEK ELK CREEK 65464
FREMONT FREMONT 63941
GIBSON GIBSON 63847
GIPSY GIPSY 63750
GOBLER GOBLER 63849
GRAYRIDGE GRAYRIDGE 63850
HARDENVILLE HARDENVILLE 65666
HARTSHORN HARTSHORN 65479
HARVIELL HARVIELL 63945
HOLLAND HOLLAND 63853
HUGGINS HUGGINS 65484
JADWIN JADWIN 65501
KEWANEE KEWANEE 63860
KNOB LICK KNOB LICK 63651
LAKE SPRING LAKE SPRING 65532
LOWNDES LOWNDES 63951
MACOMB MACOMB 65702
MILL SPRING MILL SPRING 63952
MONTIER MONTIER 65546
OLD APPLETON OLD APPLETON 63770
OXLY OXLY 63955
PEACE VALLEY PEACE VALLEY 65788
PERKINS PERKINS 63774
POWERSITE POWERSITE 65731
REDFORD REDFORD 63665
REYNOLDS REYNOLDS 63666
RUETER RUETER 65744
STURDIVANT STURDIVANT 63782
SUCCESS SUCCESS 65570
TALLAPOOSA TALLAPOOSA 63878
TIFF TIFF 63674
VANDUSER VANDUSER 63784
WHITEOAK WHITEOAK 63880
WHITEWATER WHITEWATER 63785
ZANONI ZANONI 65784
BRINKTOWN BRINKTOWN 65443
CHERRYVILLE CHERRYVILLE 65446
CLIFTON HILL CLIFTON HILL 65244
DAVISVILLE DAVISVILLE 65456
ELMER ELMER 63538
EMDEN EMDEN 63439
ETHEL ETHEL 63539
EXCELLO EXCELLO 65247
HOLLIDAY HOLLIDAY 65258
HUNNEWELL HUNNEWELL 63443
JACKSONVILLE JACKSONVILLE 65260
LEONARD LEONARD 63451
MORRISON MORRISON 65061
NEWARK NEWARK 63458
NOVELTY NOVELTY 63460
OLEAN OLEAN 65064
PLEVNA PLEVNA 63464
PORTLAND PORTLAND 65067
RENICK RENICK 65278
REVERE REVERE 63465
RUTLEDGE RUTLEDGE 63563
SAINT PATRICK SAINT PATRICK 63466
SANTA FE SANTA FE 65282
SAVERTON SAVERTON 63467
STEEDMAN STEEDMAN 65077
STOUTSVILLE STOUTSVILLE 65283
TEBBETTS TEBBETTS 65080
WESCO WESCO 65586
WILLIAMSTOWN WILLIAMSTOWN 63473
WOOLDRIDGE WOOLDRIDGE 65287
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