Earthday 2008

"Earth Day April 22, 2008"

Earthdaynetwork Says:
This Earth Day, Make Noise. Make Them Uncomfortable.
Let our leaders know if they want to keep their jobs, they have to do something, something big and bold, to solve climate change.
Earth Day is on a Tuesday this year! They are in, they are at their desks, CALL THEM, go visit them, email them, let them know you are out there, watching!
Sound off To your Leaders :

Call your President
Call your legislature
Call your Mayor
Call your Council Members

If you are in the US...

White House 202.456.1111
Capitol Hill (our Capitol Hill Operators are really helpful, don't be afraid to call and ask for your Member of Congress!!) 202.224.3121
Don't know your congressperson? >Check Here!

March/Organize
Come to the Washington DC Mall on April 20th
Organize your own march to your Capitol
Protest against your local coal Plant
Organize an ED event and get media there
SEND US YOUR VIDEO AND WE'LL POST IT ON EARTH DAY TV!!
Share your plans and experiences with our partners from around the world, participate in our discussion board forums and visit our blog to keep up with the latest news. Earthdaynetwork

Super Delegates Look Down, Look Up for Assistance

"With neither candidate in a position to win enough pledged delegates to garner the nomination or enough popular votes to claim a clear mandate, the elected leaders and other party officials who make up the superdelegate corps are increasingly looking farther up the party hierarchy for decisive action."


And there it is, the simple problem in the equation. Looking 'up' in this situation is not the answer, looking 'Down' is. Down the ladder to the People you represent, Down deep inside your American self.


Here's another one:

"Until the elders, until the leadership and until the American people across all levels speak in some definitive way about a process to both be decisive and protective of these two groups, everyone's holding their breath, and it's very unsettling and difficult for the party to have this split and it only gets more so the more time goes on," the aide said. "They are hoping for a process that will either allow the voters to decide or to 'allow the voters to feel like they have decided' after the superdelegate process is born out - if it has to come to that."

Nope, no one wants to simply "feel like they decided" and no one wants you to hope for it much less settle for it!

Paralyzed Iraq Vet Responds to Cheney: "We Didn't Volunteer Where You Sent Us to Go"

"We are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm’s way for the rest of us,” Cheney said. In response, Tomas Young, an Iraq war veteran who was paralyzed after being shot in Baghdad said, 'Many of us volunteered with patriotic feelings in our hearts only to see them subverted and bastardized by the administration and sent into the wrong country." Democracy Now! 3-25-08


The establishment has force fed us the phrase "support the troops", the constitution urges us to "pursue happiness" and "speak freely". The administration would have us think speaking freely about our feelings on the war is somehow disrespecting the troops. In reading interviews with presidential candidate Ralph Nader I found a sentiment that mirrors mine and maybe yours as well:

"Support our Troops by Bringing Them Home"

Financial Meltdown Doesn't Hold Water

Dean Baker Financial Meltdown: "But the cover stories don't hold water. We can keep the banks running without bailing out the incredibly rich people who drove them to ruin. England showed us the way earlier this year with its takeover of Northern Rock, a major bank that got itself in trouble with bad mortgage debt.
We can also help homeowners without bailing out the banks. The rescue proposals currently on the table would have the government buy or guarantee mortgages on homes that are still hugely overpriced. These proposals could give hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks, while providing little help to homeowners. Most would still be paying far more on their mortgage, property taxes and insurance than they would to rent a comparable home. Furthermore, the bailout conditions virtually guarantee they will never have a dime in equity."


During the Great Depression, a massive bailout of savings&loans was made. It didn't help. Some are adamant this action actually caused the depression. This was less than 100 years ago, how can we be about to make the same mistake? I get my thoughts on this from vague history class memories, below is a link to someone with a tad richer credentials:

Lessons from Bailout History
Joseph R Mason
Associate Professor of Finance and LeBow Research Fellow, Drexel University
LeBow College of Business, Senior Fellow at the Wharton School, and Financial
Industry Consultant, Criterion Economics, LLC. Contact information:
joseph.r.mason@gmail.com

To Grist.Org and Glassbooth.Org

Thanks For the Add!

I've looked and looked for sites with 2008 US presidential race 3rd party candidate information. They are few, far between and most are of marginal quality as I've noted in previous blogs. These folks have recently added Ralph Nader to the pack of three, Grist having posted a phone interview covering most of the major issues and placing Mr. Nader on their "How Green is your Candidate" chart. Glassbooth.Org (I believe they recently opened their doors to cover this election so I'm giving them a huge break) has gathered up a series of videos covering Mr. Nader speaking on the major issues and organized them nicely with the other candidates. I am waiting rather impatiently for them to add him to their "Election 2008 Candidate Quiz".


Grist.org's Compare the Candidates How do the candidates compare on green issues? Check our chart.

http://www.glassbooth.org/ Presidential Candidate Quiz and Candidate information with Video

A listing (#'s 4-9) of various candidate quizzes

Defining 'Change': Ralph Nader about his Presidential platform on Energy and the Environment

An interview with Ralph Nader about his Presidential platform on Energy and the Environment
By Amanda Griscom Little, Grist Feature 19 Mar 2008:

"Going forward, what sets your environmental platform apart from the other candidates'?


I'm basically promoting a massive conversion from a hydrocarbon-based economy to a carbohydrate-based economy. I'm not talking about corn ethanol, which has a very poor net energy- and water-usage characteristic. I'm talking about industrial hemp. I'm talking about plant life that can be efficiently converted to fuel -- like sugar cane, agricultural waste, cellulosic grasses, and certain kinds of biomass that can be grown with a spectacular ratio of energy inputs to outputs. I'm talking about a very fundamental remodeling of our economy -- a conversion from industrial-age, 19th-century technologies like the internal combustion engine to renewable, sustainable technologies of efficiency and production. We should have vehicles that get well over 100 miles per gallon. As Amory Lovins and Paul Hawken have shown, we can create far greater efficiencies in the use of our natural resources, whether it's copper, iron, oil, gas, timber, you name it."


These are the kind of bold words that define the kind of change we as a nation are looking for. We've all known for a long time now that someone is going to need step up and admit out loud and accept responsibility for initiating what must be done. It is a daunting task, but one that will reap the best benefits for our country's overall health, sustainability and national morale.
The major corporations that could have been, over the past 10 years or so, preparing for this day by developing many already proven technologies have instead spent their time purposefully not doing this sometimes going so far as to purchase patents just to set them on shelves. There is still time for these companies to jump on board, if not make way for the new companies willing to fill the need. The money will shift, there will be new 'major corporations', the jobs will remain and life in the US will move along without them, a victim of the very consumer driven economy they helped to create.

Please click on the title to read the complete interview with Mr. Nader

03/20/08 EDIT
A couple of links that will not only support Ralph's plan, but offer interactive models and scenarios that you can check out yourself :

http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/

http://www.climate.yale.edu/seeforyourself/

Telecom Money in Congress

"Lawmakers who favor granting immunity to telecom companies for participating in the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program receive more money from the telecom industry than those who oppose immunity. That's the finding from the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan Washington-based organization that researches money's influence on politics. This article was originally published in Capital Eye, the money-in-politics newsletter of CRP, and is reprinted with permission. "

"The 68 senators who voted to grant immunity collected an average of $21,200 from telephone utility companies, compared to $13,000 collected by the 29 who voted 'no' collected an average of $13,000."

"In 2007, the telephone utility industry spent at least $31.4 million lobbying Congress."

Phone Companies Want to Be Off the Hook
By Lindsay Renick Mayer"


And Then:

Should telecommunication companies receive retroactive immunity for their role in helping the government eavesdrop on American phone calls and e-mails? As Congress and President Bush duel over the answer to that question, NOW on PBS interviews a whistleblower with exclusive insight into the role played by one of those companies.Klein tells David Brancaccio about the "secret room" set up by the National Security Agency inside his AT&T office in San Francisco. He also describes in remarkable detail—with documents to back him up—how wires were split and extra equipment was brought in to essentially suck up and store emails from all over the country. Klein claims this activity is a violation of the Fourth Amendment, yet the White House continues to press Congress not only for authorization to continue surveillance but also for legal immunity for cooperating telecom companies.

Program Resources» Video»Audio [mp3, 48kbps]:Stream, Download, Podcast »Print»
Related Links:
Wired: Whistle-Blower's Evidence, UncutWired: Wiretap Whistle-Blower's Account [pdf]Wired: Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room
CNN: House Defies Bush on Surveillance Bill

More From NOW: Wiretap Whistleblower, Candidate Positions on Surveillance, Telecom Money in Congress, Protecting Your Privacy, Feedback Forum, Transcript -->
Related Reports: For Your Eyes OnlyAbout Mark Klein, Breaking the Story
Topic Search: Topic Search: Civil Liberties & Technology

Le monde selon Monsanto - The World according to Monsanto

Le monde selon Monsanto - Arte - Mardi 11 mars 2008
Uploaded by gmlerock

Senator John Barrasso proposes to Cut down Trees in order to Save Water

EDIT: 11/18/2012
The senator has been re-elected as the chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, further proof that nothing has changed inside the Republican party.  Too bad, it is clear to everyone that without a mass exodus of the 'old school' party there will be no Republican party resurrection.
end edit.

He quotes that a Russian Olive tree consumes 500 gallons of water per day, and a certain type of cedar requires 200 gallons per day. Has anyone checked this man's credentials? I think 5Th grade science class explained the fresh water cycle pretty clearly, and if I remember correctly it's fairly dependant on trees and other flora to operate properly. And just to confuse you a bit further, he brings this up in a speech on the pending Budget. Gosh, whats this guy about...

Critics Hit Bill on Bark Beetles

Barrasso Beetle Bill

In John's Words (Edit: the link to the Senators statement was broken, added his public page link 11/2012)

In a press release put out when the de-listing announcement was made last week, the senator said, “The special interest groups advocating keeping the animal on the list wouldn't know a gray wolf if it blew their house down.”

And finally the research pays off... no one has in fact checked his credentials. He wants to cut down the trees to save water, and spend money on incentives for developing technology to remove existing excess green houses gases from the atmosphere and permanently sequester them.

Lets see if we can make this easy and get it to him fast:

Fresh Water Cycle








Carbon Cycle:














Note the Green "Trees" in both Cycles




What you'll want to be doing, Mr Barrasso, is getting a carbon credit or a tax credit or something beneficial for each of the trees you and your state plants. Shoot, you and yours could lead the way in water and air purity and not have to do much more than STOP CUTTING DOWN TREES.

Of the People By the People and For the People

Today I'm listening to Sen. Jon Kyl debate in the Senate over the budget. He mentions that the government should be working for us, not against us. I would like to remind the Senator that 'Our' government, while it has taken a turn for the worse due to corporate manipulation, is still 'Our' government. Of By and For the people. Shame on him for trying to deepen the illusion that it's "Us against Them". There is no dictator standing at the helm here, there is no brutish force that will arrive at my door for tendering this admonishment.
You offer this statement in your argument regarding what you call "paying for tax cuts". You say that it does no service to Americans to cut a tax here and raise another there to 'pay for it'. I am glad that you that you have been able to hold on to this one ideal that all Americans are created equal but perhaps I should remind you that not all Americans have remained equal. You and I both know that the tax cut "Here" will be from middle and lower income 'Americans', just as well as we both know that the taxes raised "There" will be from upper-middle and high income 'Americans'.
In your picked and parceled ideal world, everyone would keep their own money and let the blocks fall where they may, is that it? I'm sure it sounds good from up there, in Short Sightedville. You and your friends have the money to send your children to private schools, hire private security for your homes and the very best doctors. You can build tall sturdy walls around your village to help protect yourselves...thinking maybe you have seen this movie before?
The thing of it is the rest of us, the majority of us, still hold on to that one first Ideal. Of By and For. We want everyone to chip in to secure our neighborhoods, to inspect our food supply, to protect children and the elderly. Everyone benefits from educated citizens, stop sending jobs overseas and chip in to educate us! Everyone suffers when poor education leads to low employment that leads to low personal morale that leads to crimes of desperation and frustration, chip in for parenting education, counseling and school-to-work programs. Corporations don't make money without People. If people are afraid, unprepared and sick, if roads are unsafe and mothers worry about food and toys that may kill their children they are not going to pay for the goods and services that keep your corporation in business. I could go on, but you must get the point by now. Our government IS us, we don't like ourselves very much right now but we are working on it. Our government has the best plan to date that realizes and works WITH the fact that this remains a dog eat dog world, it allows for the will of the many to outweigh the will of the few without oppression and violence, where any person can speak their mind and hope to convince others.
Sir, you are a United States Senator speaking from the floor of the US Senate building, you ARE government. If you see a division between the government and the people then You sir, and others like you, are the divisive factor. If every one of you leading OUR government would take the blinders off and act each and every time in the interest of the people, remember that you in fact ARE the people instead of acting in your own personal interest, things just might go a little more smoothly. Stop creating the divisiveness you rail against.
The money Of the People spent justly By the People For the People's benefit.