http://www.madrigalmaniac.com Building A Nation From The Bottom Up ... Not The Trickle Down Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:53:27 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In accusing Democrats of hyping the violent threats made against some since their vote on the health care bill, Republican U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor said he too had experienced violence. He said a gunshot had went through the window of his office building. This from the AP. "A bullet was shot ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/03/26/shot-fired-into-eric-cantors-office-building-was-random/ Republican David Frum has been fired from his fellowship at the American Enterprise Institute after writing a blog post critical of the GOP's handling of the health care debate. In the post, Frum said this. "A huge part of the blame for today's disaster attaches to conservatives and Republicans ourselves," he wrote. ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/03/25/frum-fired-for-comments-critical-of-gop/ I was interested in the remarks of a certain presenter at a Columbus festival I attended. When I arrived at the speech there was a weird sort of vibe. Yes, some of the respected presenters and their fans were represented. But, there was also a large group of people who ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/02/21/a-fairy-tale-for-social-workers/ I learned in an email from The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence today that Starbucks allows its customers to sit in their stores and openly display firearms. Over the past few months, more and more gun owners have been gathering at restaurants and coffee shops like Starbucks with guns ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/02/04/starbucks-and-guns/ A new organization called Forward Together thinks so. Today The Other Paper has an article about this new organization who will work to ensure the Blue Jackets stay in Columbus. You can sign a petition at their web site. This is my case for why the Columbus Blue Jackets are worth ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/02/04/are-the-blue-jackets-worth-saving/ I'm not sure this is a good idea, but it was announced this afternoon that the Columbus Blue Jackets have fired coach Ken Hitchcock. Last year Hitchcock was the first coach to lead the Blue Jackets to the playoffs. My only guess is that the Jackets have been getting blown ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/02/03/columbus-blue-jackets-fire-ken-hitchcock/ The Columbus Dispatch reported today on studies conducted locally and nationally regarding persons seeking emergency food. The last comprehensive study on food emergencies was in 2005. Here are the new numbers. People who received emergency food through the Mid-Ohio Foodbank in 2009 increased by 28 percent since 2005. Nationally the increase was ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/02/02/here-are-some-scary-numbers-for-central-ohio-and-the-nation/ This from the president of The Brady Center. We know that President Obama supports sensible measures to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and children. Unfortunately, in his first year in office, the President showed no signs of leadership on the issue. We understand that the President had a lot ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/01/29/the-brady-center-gives-obama-a-failing-grade/ Yesterday, Governor Ted Strickland ( I thought I voted for a Democrat) once again ignored metal health and addiction issues in his State of the State address. Before the speech, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Janetta King, Strickland's policy director, spoke in a conference call with health and human-services advocates. The ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/01/27/strickland-must-have-been-a-lousy-psychologist/ A new report by the Food Research and Action Center states that one in five Columbus area households faced a food emergency in 2008 and 2009. A "food hardship" is defined as not having enough money to buy needed food. The question pollsters asked was, "Have there been times in ... http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2010/01/26/one-in-five-central-ohio-households-face-a-food-hardship/