Way to go, Eastern Kentucky! Elliott County Deputy Judge-Executive Barry Blair pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor (federal) charge of paying people for their votes. He was indicted with his dad, Judge-Executive David Blair, in May 2010 on charges of bribery and conspiracy for vote buying. [H-L]

When saving for retirement, people should focus on their savings instead of withdrawals. [The Economist]

Want to hear Greg Stumbo bore himself to death talking about the gubernatorial election? [Ryan Alessi]

Yesterday Jack Conway filed suit against First DataBank and McKesson Corporation for conspiring to inflate average wholesale prices of medications – essentially committing Medicaid fraud. [Press Release]

President Barack Obama declared seven Eastern Kentucky counties disaster areas: Bell, Breathitt, Knott, Knox, Lee, Magoffin, Perry. [H-L & Press Release]

Health at birth has been linked to teenage academic performance. [Reuters]

Rand Paul will just pee all over both debt deals because that’s what he loves to do. [WFPL]

Today Congressman John Yarmuth will meet with visitors from Kentucky Youth Advocates. [Press Release]

We’re all gonna die because of the debt and because Warshington sucks and because no one will take responsibility for anything, ever. [NY Times]

Seems like just yesterday the editorial board was defending Jim Ramsey over the way he handled the Robert Felner scandal (they actually brought it up). Borderline shocking to see them pop him in the face over the hospital merger mess. Be sure to give it a read. Then start demanding Uncle Jimmy take responsibility. [C-J/AKN]

Speaking of Jimmy… he’s holding the State of the University on September 13 at 2:30 P.M. Eastern on Comstock Hall. It starts with a fancy processional and everything. Because that is necessary to make Jimmy feel swell about getting paid zillions of dollars while the rest of UofL’s faculty count change left in the sofa. [Aunt Shirley's Email Blast]

Orange man John Boehner got teabagged really hard. Nice visual? [HuffPo]

No wonder Louisville Metro Animal Services is such a flustercuck. Greg Fischer’s top dog is a lying disaster. [The 'Ville Voice]

Mitch McConnell agrees with former President Bill Clinton on Medicare. [Politico]

According to the latest U.S. Census data, married folks are now outnumbered. Less than half of the country’s households are headed by married people. [WaPo]

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that a high school graduation in a San Antonio suburb may not include an opening and closing prayer or the words “invocation” or “benediction.” [HuffPo]

We only recently started to understand – after eleventeen million years – how the food guide pyramid works. Now we have to figger out how a round plate pie chart thingy works? [NY Times]

California lawmakers killed a measure banning gifts to themselves. It’s only a matter of time before Kentucky does the same thing. [LA Times]

Will the 2012 race tell the country who is afraid of ethanol? [NPR]

Housing prices in the United States have fallen below their 2009 low. [BBC]

Gubmint will maybe ease insurance availability for those with pre-existing health conditions. Just don’t hold your breath quite yet. [WaPo]

Don’t be fooled by those food stamp numbers earlier today. The share of the population on food stamps has grown in most states. [WSJ]

You think Steve Beshear will go check this fancy boat out for his re-election? I mean, it’ll be great publicity for the Ark Park. [Daily Mail]

Dear papaw: please start getting a grip before you take advantage of voters. At least TRY to act better than Republicans. [H-L]

Huge nerd moment: groundwater depletion can now be detected from space. [NY Times]

Blake Haselton is staying on in the wake of Robert Felner’s shenanigans until 2014. That’s a pretty good thing for the University of Louisville, we think. [C-J/AKN]

Doesn’t this bill – which passed without question today – smell of corruption in Pike County? Some sprite young journalists out there should dig in to it. [Senate Bill 66]

Lt. Dan is not happy with Florida. He wants Governor Scott to know he is really upset. We can’t blame him. [H-L]

A fossil indicates that Lucy may have been the first walker. It’s three million years old. Surely that will send the Ark Park folks into a tizzy. [NPR]

Republicans want to eliminate $1.3 billion from community health enters they once considered essential. Imagine that. The Republican way. [Think Progress]

Aside from being sickeningly cheap (Ben Chandler), what’s wrong with congresscritters bunking in their offices in Warshington? [HuffPo]

David Adams, the apparent delusional on-staff for Phil Moffett, claimed in a press release this morning that Rand Paul had endorsed Moffett. Naturally, that’s a bald-faced Mormon psych job lie. So. We ignored it. [Press Release]

Today the Kentucky Film Office honored Louisville actress Jennifer Lawrence for her Academy Award nomination for “Winter’s Bone” and William Mapother for his role in “Another Earth.” [Press Release]

The U.S. is proposing a new forest management plan. Naturally, since this is America, it caves in to pressures from mining and timber interests. Environmental advocacy groups are expressing deep disappointment. [NY Times]

We would write more about this Kentuckians For The Commonwealth sit-in at the governor’s office if it weren’t a lost cause. [Bluegrass Politics]

You should check out this video of Congressman John Yarmuth honoring a young Kentucky hero on the floor of the House. [The 'Ville Voice]

Ever wondered what kind of crazy stuff goes on at CPAC? Feast your eyes on the hilarity. [Wonkette here & here]

Lots of happy people in Egypt this evening. Maybe millions? Now that Mubarak has left power. [WaPo]

Don’t miss Comment on Kentucky tonight at 8:00 P.M. Eastern on KET. Scheduled guests: Roger Alford, Tony McVeigh, Greg Stotelmyer. [Press Release]

That meth bill cleared a Senate panel yesterday but a floor vote was delayed. You’d think the Republican Senate – of all places – would think twice before doing something so crazy expensive and less-than-great in the eyes of many law enforcement officials. Guess they didn’t see that LRC study, eh? [CN|2]

Greg Stumbo, in agreement with David Williams, says he’s willing to end the legislative session early. So why are we wasting time and money to begin with? [FOX41]

The E-Verify bill discussion in a house committee yesterday turned into a hot mess. Is it ever a good idea to implement something that you know is super-flawed? [H-L]

28 Eastern Kentucky kids were taken to the hospital after their school bus crashed in Leslie County. [WHAS11]

Apparently bills get repeated in Frankfort on Groundhog Day. Guess there’s nothing wrong with forcing the Capitol to relive its nightmares. [Bluegrass Politics]

Steve Beshear will speak at the annual conference of the Kentucky School Boards Association in Louisville today. 2:15 P.M. Galt House Grand Ballroom. Any and all press should be there to ask the governor why he refuses to tackle comprehensive tax reform and why he’s so keen on saying one thing and doing another. [Press Release]

Do you have $89 million? That’s what Kentucky’s gonna need if Frankfort enacts that silly and racist immigration bill. [Northern Kentucky Politics]

Nope, we still can’t take Hal Rogers seriously when he talks about cutting government spending. It’s too hilarious to ever consider. [The Hill]

You know how things in Egypt are absoflippinglutely crazy right now? They’re about to get crazier and the government has something to hide. They’re rounding journalists up left and right. [HuffPo]

The Family Jesus Council will have none of that anti-bullying business. Teaching kids that bullying is bad is obviously part of the scary ho-mo-sexual agenda. [Wonkette]

The sentencing of Thomas Schroeder, Robert Felner’s partner in crime, was delayed because of defense objections. [WAVE3]

What? You though the havoc wreaked by Robert Felner was over? His protégé, John Deasy, is already terrifying folks in Los Angeles. [Yeah, Still A Nightmare]

Democrat John Lackey, of Richmond, filed to run for Commissioner of Agriculture today. [SoS]

Teabagger David Adams says that David Williams called him repeatedly last year to “stop Rand from talking about spending cuts and term limits.” We call on Adams to prove it. Because Rand’s people say that’s a far-fetched claim to be making. [Amanda Van Benschoten]

Tell me, again, why Steve Beshear refuses to address comprehensive tax reform in Kentucky? How is it the sitting Democratic governor can get away with that? At least this guy is calling Frankfort out. [Larry Dale Keeling]

Republican Hilda Legg filed to run for Secretary of State today. Meaning Alison Lundergan Grimes is going to be your new SoS, Kentucky. [SoS]

No, House Republicans cannot put big spending cuts into action. Because they’re just like House Democrats. They get into power and then they go insane. [CNN]

Kentuckians can now vote on the 2011 election slogan. [SoS]

Don’t you love it when Louisville television stations are accidentally Anti-Semitic? [The 'Ville Voice]

Jack Conway’s regretful U.S. Senate campaign and his admission of effing things up is apparently national news. Again. But maybe in a good-ish way. [TIME]

You know how the teabaggers say they aren’t racist obese people on Rascals? Well, guess where some of the teabaggers are holding their national conference. In Arizona. [Wonkette]

It’s crazy that it’s cheaper to buy home than to rent in most of the United States in this day and age. Even in Kentucky. [HuffPo]

John Boehner refused to go to the Tucson shooting memorial because had difficulty finding the right shade of bottle tan. It wasn’t just because he had a fancy RNC cocktail party to attend. [Wonkette]

Joe Lambert has decided not to run for Attorney General. So Jack Conway can stop sweating. [Bluegrass Politics]

Nationally, first-time jobless claims jumped by 35,000 last week. That’s a total of 445,000 new unemployment claims. Our economy is wonderful. [NPR]

297,000 more Americans were employed in December than in November. Still not good news. [The Economist]

Earlier today Democrat Stewart Gritton filed to run for Commissioner of Agriculture. It’s still Jamie Comer’s race to lose. [SoS & His Website]

Finding out what legislation costs taxpayers is usually impossible. But we’ve got an exception today. [Ralph Long]

Today Tim Longmeyer’s appointment as Secretary of the Personnel Cabinet became official with the Secretary of State’s office. I think his appointment was effective on January 8, though. [SoS]

You should probably check out Sarah The Quitter Palin’s top ten biggest failures. [HuffPo]

This will likely burn your eyes out. Lingerie-Wearing Boehner: ‘We Still Have A Very Pretty Speaker Of The House’ [The Onion]

Michelle Rhee has learned a lot about school reform. She’s launching a national movement to transform education. Obviously, we’ll ignore it in Kentucky. [Newsweek]

A national horsie show is moving to the Kentucky Horse Park. That’s pretty good news. [H-L]

Of course Papaw Steve Beshear feels safe when trolling around the State Capitol. It might have something to do with the fact that he has a full-time Kentucky State Police security detail. It’s like the man has zero filter. [Ronnie Ellis]

Since 2007, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has spent $20,924,133.42 on cell phone charges and $47,750,392.74 on motor vehicles. Nice, right? [Ralph Long]

Thank goodness Kentucky didn’t make the bottom five of this list of America’s unhealthiest states. [MSN/Forbes]

Here’s yet another look at the John Deasy – Robert Felner mess that’s bogging the Los Angeles Unified School District down these days. [4 LA Kids]

Joe has taken a personal look at Giffords, Loughner, Palin and the basic rules of human decency. It’s worth your consideration. [B&P]

On Sarah Palin and her crazy “blood libel” claim. It’s enough to gag a maggot. [Media Matters]

Today Elaine Walker officially filed to run for Secretary of State. [SoS]

The City of Williamsburg is in violation of Kentucky’s open records law. Strange to see Jack Conway upholding open records laws since he didn’t when Todd Hollenbach’s scheming and excuses were involved. [Times-Tribune]

Here’s a big ole glowing thing of stuff about Elaine Walker moving from Bowling Green to Frankfort. [BGDN]

I agree. Democrats shoulder much of the blame for what’s wrong with the U.S. Senate. Mitch McConnell shoulders the rest. [WaPo]

Today the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission added Indiana University Southeast (in New Albany, just across the river from Louisville) as a partner at Blackacre State Nature Preserve. [Press Release]

John Deasy – the guy who gave Felner a $375,000 contract and then got a fancy degree in a single semester, something that usually takes years – is all over the news for landing the head job in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He’s not superintendent and is paid more than the NYC schools chancellor.

Take a look what the Los Angeles Times had to say:

In John Deasy, the Los Angeles Board of Education selected a new superintendent who is seemingly a man of contradictions.

-SNIP-

He’s going to be accused of being a tool of the Gates Foundation, billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — he has associations with them all — but his career also encompasses a quirky independent streak.

-SNIP-

His contract calls for a salary of $330,000 per year, $80,000 more than New York City schools chancellor Cathie Black and more than virtually any other public official in Los Angeles. The

-SNIP-

Another stumble concerned his professional relationship with an academic mentor, whose later disgrace had the potential to pull down Deasy with him.

Robert Felner, Deasy’s former mentor and dissertation adviser, last year pleaded guilty to federal charges of income tax evasion and defrauding two universities of $2.3 million, resulting in a 63-month prison sentence.

Deasy had followed Felner as a doctoral student from the University of Rhode Island to the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where he granted Deasy a waiver that allowed him to complete his doctorate after only one semester at Louisville. Deasy had completed the rest of his coursework elsewhere and submitted a 178-page dissertation.

-SNIP-

Deasy hired a research center run by Felner to conduct student, parent and teacher surveys for $375,000 over three years.

Man of contradictions? Check. He gave Felner $375K, got a degree in a single semester and everyone miraculously believes an “investigation” was conducted by the very people who gave him the degree to prove its validity. The “investigation” was conducted at a time prior to any real change at UofL’s College of Education and Human Development. At a time when UofL’s administrators were lying through their teeth on television on a daily basis. Goes to show you how deeply Robert Felner’s corruption impacted the school.

Also interesting that no one at the LA Times bothered researching Deasy’s time and secretive departure from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Thank goodness he’s in LA and not in Kentucky.

The Associated Press has finally caught on to the John Deasy job in Los Angeles. The Robert Felner scandal lives. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Now even Consumer Reports says Marcus Carey’s ladygarments are a scam. [The Consumerist]

Oh, wait! Now CNN says the same thing. Bogus waste of money. [CNN]

The story of Greg Stumbo trying to stop smoking in cars with kids has gone national. He’s okay with that but is afraid to address the nightmarish reality that anyone can carry a gun into legislative chambers in Frankfort. Nice. [Miami Herald]

Frankfort is literally giving away your tax dollars. It’s a lot easier than actually understanding the problem(s) and doing something about it (them). [Ralph Long]

You know why all those birds are dying en masse? Because Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed. [HuffPo]

Poor Melbourne Mills Jr. He just keeps getting indicted every five seconds. Can’t he just catch a break? Jeez. [H-L]

Papaw Steve Beshear says the Arizona shootings won’t stop him from doing his job… which is handing out checks and campaigning for re-election. [WKYT]

So OF COURSE Steve Beshear is a-okay with folks openly carrying guns inside legislative chambers. And you folks get pissy when I legitimately criticize him. You should be ashamed. [AP]

Steve Beshear is not creating jobs. He’s merely minding the store. I don’t know any Democrats who truly disagree with me. [Ryan Alessi]

Rush Limbaugh says the Democrats are helping Jared Loughner avoid jail. Because, obviously, this is a Democratic Party conspiracy. We can’t believe there are actually people in Kentucky who believe what this disgusting heap of fat has to say on the radio. [Wonkette]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a model for equality and human rights. [The Advocate]

Why Does Jim Gooch Have To Taint Everything? That’s the question everyone is asking today for some reason. [Gooch Taints Everything]

Larry Dale has a lot to say about what’s going down in Frankfort this legislative session. Of particular note? The buzzards have returned to the capitol. [Larry Dale Keeling]

Here’s yet another look at the John Deasy-Robert Felner mess. LA Unified School District is in for a nightmare. [Substance News]

Ever wondered what was wrong with Phil Moffett’s campaign manager? Ever wondered why he insinuated a year ago that a Democratic Congressman should be shot? Or why he’s talking about pushing guns everywhere today to stop assassinations? [B&P]

Last week, on January 5 (you’ll have to search for it), David Williams was named Worst Person in the World by Keith Olbermann for his idiotic immigration bill. [MSNBC]

Williams should take serious note the number of people who oppose this discriminatory bill. It’s an embarrassment to the world. [KFTC]

Jacking up the sales tax and killing the income tax seems like the wrong idea for Kentucky. We need comprehensive tax reform in this Commonwealth. Immediately. [Tom Eblen]

Sarah Palin and her people are so dumb that they think you’re dumb. It’s like they beat themselves with the stupid stick on a daily basis. [HuffPo]

Kentucky’s in the top three for meth incidents despite tracking laws. Woo, Kentucky, yet another statistic we can claim. [H-L]

The Mountain Association for Community Economic Development announced the launch of its newest initiative, the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. The first brief, “End of Recovery Act Funds Could Mean Serious Budget Challenge for Kentucky,” is worth taking a moment to read. [Kentucky Policy]

Rebecca Isaacs was named Executive Director of the national Equality Federation. [Press Release]