I am so sad to say that we lost a great friend today.

I still remember the first time i ever talked to Bob Brownlee,
he called me about the voting machines.

I forget if the commissioners had already bought the machines
or were about to, but I had given up. I was frustrated and tired.
I said, "Sorry, it is too late, it is over, we lost the battle."

But, Bob was not going to give up the fight!
He was determined!

On Wednesday night's "Daily Show," Jon Stewart picked up on a story that rocked the science world in 2009: the email hacking that exposed hundreds of exchanges between global warming scientists known as Climategate.

If you remember, the emails weren't a big deal because they proved anything, but because they suggested irregularities in data which in turn encouraged climate change skeptics to continue to deny global warming. As Stewart reminisced with a series of clips, Fox News pundits and conservative analysts on all the 24-hour news networks had a field day proclaiming that these emails proved global warming was a fraud. And it worked, too. As Stewart pointed out, studies show the amount of people who acknowledge global warming dropped nearly 20% since the emails were leaked.

(Post idea from an email received from FRAC-NEWS)

Wastewater from Pennsylvania's natural gas wells, intensely salty and polluted with toxins like barium and strontium
is partially treated, diluted and then dumped into rivers and streams that supply public drinking water. Most states
require natural gas drillers to get rid of the stuff by injecting it down shafts thousands of feet deep.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/gas-drilling/natural-gas-drilling-polluted-wastewater-map-1.1087350

Click wastewater treatment plants to see

Thank you, Alice! Photo by Debra Grimm

Voices and its readers wish to express heart-felt gratitude to retiring Birdwatch columnist Alice Fuller for her many years of keeping Centre County’s bird enthusiasts well informed and enlightened with her fowl-inspired prose. Alice (left) is pictured here with Jen Lee. Alice is Voices’ longest-running columnist, having started in 1993, the same year the paper was launched. She never missed an issue in nearly two decades.

“Do not discuss the chemicals” 
Lessons from the landman’s handbook

If your uterus is incorporated, the republicans will not be able to regulate it.

http://incorporatemyuterus.com/

Contact: Kathleen O’Toole

Volunteer Coordinator, Downtown State College Improvement District

(814) 238-1126, kxo1@psu.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

State College (January 31, 2011) — First Thursday State College kicks off February with a performance by Stacy Glen Tibbets at 7 p.m. at Schlow Library. Parking is free that evening at all municipal street meters, the parking lots on Fraser Street and on Beaver Avenue and Allen Street (across from the Municipal Building), and the McAllister parking deck. All events are open to the public and admission to First Thursday events is free. In addition to the performance at Schlow, events for February 3rd include:

Christian Science Reading Room and Bookstore:

5:30–7:30 p.m. "Spiritual Solutions to Problems—Explore the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" to find spiritual solutions to life's challenges. Readings feature others who have had healings of allergies, cancer, migraines, lack of housing or money, etc, giving them freedom in life.

Well, this is a feather in our cap, lol.

The famous national website MEDIA MATTERS linked to a item we posted this weekend, related to the tragic shootings in Arizona. Thanks to our local celebrity mystery man veblen for clueing us in.

In a piece on the gulliablity of winger hacks, Media Matters has linked to this story.

On Saturday, several people created fake profiles for the shooter, including this one, captured by Voices of Central Pennsylvania, a monthly community newspaper.

I think it's good to see that our local CBICC people aren't happy with the way the Chamber of Commerce meddled in politics by exploiting the horrific loophole created by the Supreme Court with the Citizens United ruling that allowed unlimited anonymous spending by multinational corporations to manipulate elections, while individuals are limited to a few thousand dollars at most. (And of course few ordinary citizens can afford to spend even that amount.)

It's been wonderful to see the whole community react to the potential loss of our totemic community meeting place. Here's a message from Elaine, the principle of the bookstore, explaining some of the details of the situation:

(Transcribed from the video above)

"As it stands now, this 30-day notice is a bit of a death sentence. The downtown location on Allen street is about 80% of my business's cash flow, so taking that away suddenly means I have 12 employees that I don't have jobs for, it also means that I can't make my monthly "nut", as you call it, let alone getting (new) financing.

The response to this has been, to say the least, overwhelming, and I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart."

Dear Voices Reader,

    Circumstances came to light right after we published July 1 that cause us to alert you to an important situation: Webster's Bookstore Cafe in downtown State College has been given 30 days' notice to vacate due to falling behind on rent (although full payment was eventually offered to the landlord).

    Voices was the first in the county to post this news to our website and Facebook page and start getting the word out, but due to our volunteer workforce and the summer holidays, we don't have people on the ground reporting. We do have Art Goldschmidt and other Voices supporters actively helping owner Elaine Meder-Wilgus. To that end:

   1. Elaine has requested that Webster's supporters write a 500-word letter about what Webster's means to you and deliver it to the store (or email to webstersbookstorecafe@gmail.com)  so she can use it with banks, future landlords or even the current landlord to get an extension.
    2. She also has asked people to buy books (1/2 off) to help her liquidate.
    3. And we ask you to sign the petition being circulated now and during Arts Fest  so that it may also be used in support of Webster's. The paper petition is down at the bookstore, but if you can't get to town to sign that please sign this online petition:

 Save Websters Bookstore Cafe - the online petition
 
   4.