1/23/2014::There really is a lot of news out there

Fox Pretends Coloradans Can Buy Pot With Food Stamps

Fox News seized on Colorado's legalization of recreational use and sale of marijuana to stoke fears -- while offering no evidence -- that low-income Americans could use food stamps to buy marijuana. In fact, food stamp recipients are barred from purchasing non-food items, cannot withdraw food stamps as cash, and fraud in the program is extremely rare.

After a Colorado law allowing the legal sale of marijuana went into effect in 2014, an urban myth spread that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps) recipients could use electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards to withdraw SNAP benefits as cash at ATMs located in marijuana dispensaries in order to buy marijuana. Colorado senate Republicans introduced a bill to ban the use of EBT cards at those ATMs, but the bill failed after Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about restricting recipients' access to benefits in areas with few ATMs.

Despite lack of evidence and the failure of the bill, Fox News continued perpetuating the myth that SNAP recipients can use benefits to buy marijuana. The January 21 edition of Fox & Friends included on-screen text that read, "Food stamps for pot!" Another line of text claimed that the bill would "ban food stamps at pot shops."

Joe Miller Rails Against 'Government Control' 'Scams' He Once Relied On

Joe Miller, who is once again running for Senate in Alaska, this time against Democratic incumbent Mark Begich, is a Tea Party candidate who enjoys railing against government programs that he himself has leaned on in the past.

Miller, who received federal farm subsidies and health care assistance (the latter of which he later claimed was unconstitutional), told Tea Party Express in an interview posted today that programs aimed at reducing income inequality are just "scams" meant to "increase government control" and prevent Americans from being "fully released to pursue those opportunities and abilities that God has given them."

This ‘Straight Pride’ Texas School Board Candidate Fears The Devil Worshipper Vote

But her creative imaginings don’t stop there. She is afraid of devil worshippers voting, has accused the board of education of “using your tax dollars to brainwash our children into socialist issues and ideas”, and this week, she topped herself. She tweeted her support of “Straight Pride“.

When commenters poked fun at her straight pride message, Thombs dug her hole deeper, comparing gay people to murderers, tweeting:

“We are not bigoted or hateful. Jesus said to love the sinner but hate the sin. God gives you free will to do what you want. But murder is a sin, but even a murderer is loved and forgiven if he asked to be. We both have the right to believe the way we choose is all that I am saying.”

If you live in Texas, remember the name Lady Theresa Thombs. Like taking a giant step backward.

North Carolina School Gives Black Student Confederate Hat as Prize

"I did not want to believe that. That the school actually let him walk around as an African-American child with a Confederate cap on," Lee told WGHP TV. "This stands for a dark time in our history," she said, pointing at the hat.

The North Carolina mother is upset with the school for allowing Jacob to wear the Confederate army hat replica that he received as a reward.

Rockingham County Spokesperson Karen Hyler said the school system is aware of Lea’s concerns.

West Virginia Governor Starting To Feel Like Maybe Rivers Shouldn't Be Filled With Poison

As residents of West Virginia perfect their ability to glance suspiciously at the water flowing from their taps, state lawmakers have officially whipped themselves into a lather of "Somebody do something!" And, as Reuters' Ian Simpson reports, that "something" may end up being legislation geared toward "tightening" the rules that have heretofore been noteworthy in their slackness.

The first foray into better regulation is being proposed by West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D), who said in a joint statement with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) Monday, "The discharge of chemicals or other contaminants into our water supply is unacceptable and will not be tolerated." This is a break with the status quo, in which a lax regulatory regime was pretty much deemed to be tolerable.

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All of which suggests that the energy lobby's hold on Congress is fairly strong, and that we're not any closer to addressing the problem of underfunded, understaffed and undermined environmental regulators. Nevertheless, a spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee named Charlotte Baker offers Achenbach some choice spin, saying, “Of the thousands of chemicals out there, we need to focus on the ones that present the most risk.”