Morgan M

Burrata Bistro - YUM!

2012-01-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

A joy to behold

A dream to breath in

An epiphany to taste

www.burratabistro.com

City of Port Orchard plow comes by chains on plow up and sander off.

2012-01-20T09:50:00.001-08:00

Plow/sand truck came down the road but with plow up and sand off. He backed up the hill and moved on. Not sure why.

City of Port Orchard side roads.

2012-01-20T09:15:00.001-08:00

Not much improvement on the road yet. Neighbors dad came to pik up kid in a giant suv, parkd at top of road and walked down to the house and said roads still scary. Mouse still inside and getting bolder.

Fishy Coleslaw @ Silvercity Brewery

2012-01-11T15:53:00.001-08:00

How Important is Your Health?

2011-08-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

Which state has the highest level of air pollution? Unemployment? Which is the most active? The healthiest? See how the states stack up on fifty-one health measures by state, specific categories and time periods. Take a crack at the polls below then click HERE to view the stats, state by state. I think the information may surprise you, are you ready to move?

Breaking News!

2011-07-25T16:11:00.001-07:00

Reality Hits at Least 1009 Americans!

How the 2004 Ohio Presidential Election was Hacked

2011-07-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

by Bob Fitrakis - Co-counsel in the King Lincoln case.

A new filing in the King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell case includes a copy of the Ohio Secretary of State election production system configuration that was in use in Ohio's 2004 presidential election when there was a sudden and unexpected shift in votes for George W. Bush. The filing also includes the revealing deposition of the late Michael Connell. Connell served as the IT guru for the Bush family and Karl Rove. Connell ran the private IT firm GovTech that created the controversial system that transferred Ohio's vote count late on election night 2004 to a partisan Republican server site in Chattanooga, Tennessee owned by SmarTech. That is when the vote shift happened, not predicted by the exit polls, that led to Bush's unexpected victory. Connell died a month and a half after giving this deposition in a suspicious small plane crash. Read the rest of the story...

Time To Face The Reality Of Election Rigging
by Jonathan Simon

...There's a chilling reality taking shape here and we might as well fill out the picture. There is something known as the "red shift." It occurs when votecounts are more Republican (or more in favor of whatever candidate or ballot issue the Right supports) than the baselines--including exit polls, tracking polls, noncompetitive elections, and handcounts. Read on Here...

Did Mitt Romney Commit Voter Fraud?
By Stephanie Mencimer

...Romney and his wife, Ann, bought a $12.5 million home in La Jolla, California, in May 2008.... April 2009, the Romneys sold their home in Belmont, Massachusetts, for $3.5 million, and registered to vote from an address in the basement of an 8,000 square-foot Belmont manse owned by their son Tagg... May 2009 that the Romneys had made their primary residence a $10 million estate in New Hampshire... yet voted for Scott Brown in the 2010 Massachusetts special election. Read on Here...

Sylvestro and the New Hampshire Election

One man's private, sole source company programs 81% of the election in New Hampshire, 100% in Connecticut, almost all of Massachusetts and most of Vermont. Never before seen video of the under-the-radar elections contractor John Silvestro as he tangles with master security expert Harri Hursti. Watch the video Here...

The Billionaire's Tea Party

2011-04-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

Full Video

"In Summer 2009, something stirred in America. After Barack Obama and a Democratic congress swept to power promising a new era of hope and change, out of nowhere the emergence of a citizens protest movement called the Tea Party threatened to derail their agenda. Was this uprising the epitome of grassroots democracy? Or was it, as some said, an example of “astroturfing” - the creation of fake grassroots groups, designed to put corporate messages in the mouths of seemingly independent citizens?" LinkTV.org

Note that despite the Tea Party Mission Statement citing fiscal responsibility as being at the top of their list of core values, the above chart from opensecrets.org shows the 2010 Tea Party USA PAC spending well exceeds funds raised.

The Texas Tea Party had quite a larger income, but not a dime is noted as going to a single actual candidate.

The Best Government Money Can Buy? LinkTV

2011-03-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

The cost of election campaigns has spiraled out of control-- on average, U.S. representatives spend more than 25% of their time fund-raising. This documentary asks who provides the money? What effect does it have? And is it in the public interest?

GE's Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether

2011-03-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday 24 March 2011 by: David Kocieniewski, The New York Times News Service Report

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.
Read the whole article at Truthout

And if you think they're alone;

How Offshore Tax Havens Save Companies Billions - NPR March 2011
- On today's Fresh Air, Bloomberg News reporter Jesse Drucker, who has written extensively about corporate tax-dodging, explains how companies like Google, Pfizer, Lilly, Oracle, Facebook and Microsoft have managed to reduce their tax rates by hundreds of millions — and in some cases, billions — of dollars by taking advantage of offshore tax havens.

Bailed-Out Firms Have Tax Havens, GAO Finds - Washington Post January 2009
- American International Group, Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are among the companies that are getting bailed out by U.S. taxpayers while having subsidiaries in locations where they can avoid paying U.S. taxes, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Most U.S. Companies Avoid Federal Income Taxes - USATODAY (AP) August 2008
- Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress. The study by the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday said about 68% of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.
Collectively, the companies reported trillions of dollars in sales, according to GAO's estimate.

Top Iraq Contractor Skirts US Taxes Offshore - Boston Globe March 2008
- Shell companies in Cayman Islands allow KBR to avoid Medicare, Social Security deductions. More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq - including about 10,500 Americans - are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands.

Are you voting republican because you think they're fiscally responsible?

Kitsap Weather 2/23/11 4

2011-02-23T16:41:00.001-08:00

Snow beats sun...

Kitsap Weather 2/23/11 3

2011-02-23T15:36:00.001-08:00

Sun wins out over snow in Silverdale.

Kitsap Weather 2/23/11 2

2011-02-23T15:21:00.001-08:00

Snowing in Silverdale.. but the sun still shines.

Kitsap Weather 2/23/11

2011-02-23T12:22:00.001-08:00

Sunny and cold in Silverdale @ 9am. Some dark clouds lurking around the edges but no snow yet.

US Storm an Opportunity for Research

2011-02-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

With more than 6300 (some estimates say 10000+) flights cancelled due to the massive storm covering two thirds of the US, this could prove to be a twice in a lifetime opportunity for scientists to study our low atmosphere with significantly reduced airplane emissions.

The last time was Sept. 11th 2001.

"The national airspace was shut down for three days, something that had not yet occurred since the jet age began in the 1960s and is not likely to occur ever again. Scientists took advantage of this unique three day period in history that lacked contrails. What they learned was shocking and is enough evidence to effectively silence any counterargument to their case. One measure of climate is the average daily temperature range (DTR). For thirty years this had been recorded and extra cirrus clouds in the atmosphere would reduce this range by trapping heat. “September 11 – 14, 2001 had the biggest diurnal temperature range of any three-day period in the past 30 years,” said Andrew M. Carleton1. Not in three decades had there been such a large temperature spread between the daytime highs and the nighttime lows. Furthermore, the increase in DTR during those three days was more than double the national average for regions of the United States where contrail coverage was previously known to be most abundant, such as the Midwest, northeast, and northwest regions. The specific increase in the range was 2°F, which in three days was twice the amount the average temperature had increased by over thirty years time1." (1. Carleton, Andrew M. “Climatology: Contrails Reduce Daily Temperature Range.” Nature. 8 August 2002.) By Nick Onkow

"Contrails form a layer of high clouds that seem to cool things off during the day. However, that effect is deceptive. It turns out that the clouds also reduce the temperature difference between night and day by trapping "long-wave radiation" -- which means heat -- and not letting it escape into outer space. "They tend to heat the upper troposphere more than they warm the surface," explained Patrick Minnis of NASA's Langley Research Center. "The debate now is whether the warming is larger than the albedo."" Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News

"I remember walking to and from my office (during that time) and thinking how incredibly clear the skies were," recalled Carleton. He mentioned this to a colleague and former doctoral-degree student of his, David Travis of the University of Wisconsin, who had noticed the same thing. "Then we started thinking that we should look at the temperature conditions" during those days in September and compare them to years past, Carleton said." Physorg

Of course, considering the condition of the skies, the research will probably need to be accomplished via satellite. Infrared, radar etc. I can't wait to see what new information comes to put the silver lining on this very dark cloud. (well, dark from below, quite bright from above)

And the Survey Says: Americans Say "No" to Attacks on Pollution Safeguards, Gingrich Plan to Dismantle EPA

2011-02-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

NRDC - 2/2/11 - Press contact: Elizabeth Heyd, 202-289-2424, eheyd at nrdc.org

"Americans Pick Health of Families Over More Pollution From Corporations: 77 Percent of Americans -- Including 61 Percent of Republicans -- Say: "Congress Should Let the EPA Do Its Job."

"WASHINGTON (February 2, 2011) -- More than three out of four Americans (77 percent) -- including a clear majority of Republicans (61 percent) -- oppose efforts in Congress to block Clean Air Act updates for carbon, smog and other pollution, according to a national opinion survey by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) International for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The new poll is being released today as a major House/Senate bill is introduced in Congress to kill the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue its work on updating key anti-pollution safeguards."

Read the rest of this press release at NRDC.org

Bush's Schrodinger's Email: - NY Times 1/25/08

"The White House in December refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, telling agency officials that an e-mail message containing the document would not be opened, senior E.P.A. officials said last week."

Controversial Bush-Era EPA E-mail Released: - CBSNews 10/13/09

"(AP) A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened.The e-mail and the 28-page document attached to it, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, show that back in December of 2007 the agency concluded that six gases linked to global warming pose dangers to public welfare, and wanted to take steps to regulate their release from automobiles and the burning of gasoline."

Hooking Your Toilet to the Kitchen Tap: -Sierra Club 6/11/09

"Atlanta, GA -- In most states, it's illegal to connect your toilet so that it drains through your tap. But on a larger scale, the Bush EPA is prepared to declare that this is, in effect, allowed under the Clean Water Act. At least that's what the agency told a conference of water managers here will be permitted by a new agency rule."

EPA Plans to Loosen Air-quality Rules near National Parks: - 5/16/08

"Call us crazy, but rewriting the Clean Air Act to ease the way for new coal plants near national parks seems to fly in the face of that whole 'clean air' thing. But sure enough, the U.S. EPA plans to make a change allowing the government to calculate the average annual emissions of power plants near parks and wilderness areas, instead of tracking (and potentially punishing) the spikes in pollution spewed during peak energy times. 'It's like if you're pulled over by a cop for going 75 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone, and you say, 'If you look at how I've driven all year, I've averaged 55 miles per hour,'' explains Mark Wenzler of the National Parks Conservation Association."

Click on the label 'EPA' below to view all my posts on the subject.

The House GOP's Plan to Redefine Rape

2011-02-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

EDIT: MSNBC coverage of the subject. Note that at 2:10 the speaker says that if your employer provided medical insurance includes full reproductive services, your employer won't be able to receive federal tax credits. Those credits are just about the only thing keeping small employers from ending the medical insurance as a benefit. Could YOU afford your medical insurance without your employers contribution? 2/3/11

— By Nick Baumann
Newsletter 943 Comments Post Comment

Drugged, raped, and pregnant? Too bad. Republicans are pushing to limit rape and incest cases eligible for government abortion funding.

Rape is only really rape if it involves force. So says the new House Republican majority as it now moves to change abortion law.

"This bill takes us back to a time when just saying 'no' wasn't enough to qualify as rape," says Steph Sterling, a lawyer and senior adviser to the National Women's Law Center. Laurie Levenson, a former assistant US attorney and expert on criminal law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, notes that the new bill's authors are "using language that's not particularly clear, and some people are going to lose protection." Other types of rapes that would no longer be covered by the exemption include rapes in which the woman was drugged or given excessive amounts of alcohol, rapes of women with limited mental capacity, and many date rapes. "There are a lot of aspects of rape that are not included," Levenson says"

Read the rest of this article at Mother Jones

Why don’t the free marketeers of education believe in, you know, the free market?

2011-01-30T15:21:00.000-08:00

"To be clear, I don’t buy the assumptions or the vocabulary of the “free marketers” one bit and they don’t, either. If they did, you’d hear more about compensation for teachers, a consideration that is as Econ 101 as it gets. Their real goal is to bust the unions, which they see as dangerous bastions of liberal thinking, and to transform the education system into a training system that will produce reliable worker bees for the engines of commerce. Quiet worker bees who don’t rock the boat."

"Here’s the problem. Take any senior leader in any successful company in America. Ask him (let’s assume it’s a him for obvious reasons) if he believes he deserves his very high salary, and if so, why. My guess is that he’ll think he does important work and that the more valuable you are, the more compensation you will and should command. Ask him if the company could get somebody to do his job for half as much money and he’ll probably say sure, but you get what you pay for. Ask if he believes that these principles hold for others in his organization and he’ll likely talk about the importance of attracting and retaining top talent (odds are he’ll use those exact words, in fact) and he will probably allow that if his top competitor pays better that his company will be at a disadvantage.

This is Economics 101, first day of class."

Read the rest of this article at Scholars & Rogues.

Where we Stand - Education in America - PBS

Waiting on Superman - Variety

The Story of American Public Education - PBS

US Education Dashboard - ED.GOV

Resolution Banning Corporate Personhood Introduced in Vermont

2011-01-25T16:57:00.000-08:00

AlterNet / By Christopher Ketcham
235 COMMENTS

On the anniversary of the Citizens United decision, Vermont politicians are moving to deny corporations the rights that humans enjoy.

"Corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires," wrote Stevens. "Corporations help structure and facilitate the activities of human beings, to be sure, and their 'personhood' often serves as a useful legal fiction. But they are not themselves members of 'We the People' by whom and for whom our Constitution was established."

Read the rest of the story at AlterNet.

Pause the TV and take a little time to learn about the history, and original purpose, of the American Corporation:

Click here to view all 23 parts.

Republicans Seek Cuts to Energy Star, Weatherization, Advanced Energy Research, Puppies..

2011-01-22T17:04:00.000-08:00

Start with the obvious: There are no cuts to America's bloated military budget, which was somewhere north of $660 billion in 2010, more than the rest of the world's defense spending combined. And there are no cuts to the sprawling, opaque Department of Homeland Security, which costs more than $50 billion a year. In maintaining global empire and expanding the security state, every dollar is sacred.

There are also no cuts to fossil-fuel or corn-ethanol subsidies. No corporate contributor to the Republican Party will find anything to fear. The bill might as well be called the Thumbing Liberals In the Eye Act of 2011. It's a laundry list of targets conservatives have been after for decades, most of which will make no appreciable difference to the nation's fiscal health.

Here are a few proposed cuts that might be of particular interest to Grist readers:

Energy Star Program: $52 million a year.

Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants: $2.5 billion a year.

DOE Weatherization Grants to States: $530 million a year.

Amtrak Subsidies: $1.565 billion a year. (There are no cuts to highway subsidies, of course.)

Technology Innovation Program: $70 million a year. (Wait, I thought support for innovation was "post-partisan"!)

Applied Research at Department of Energy: $1.27 billion a year.New Starts Transit: $2 billion a year.

Subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: $12.5 million a year.

Title X Family Planning: $318 million a year.
Appalachian Regional Commission: $76 million a year. (Why do we need this? They already have coal mines there!)

FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership: $200 million a year.

Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority: $150 million a year.

National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program: $56.2 million a year.

Read the whole story HERE.

Wal-Mart Is Not a Person

2011-01-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

"We the People are the first three words of the Preamble to the Constitution; and from its adoption until the Robber Baron Era in the late nineteenth century, people meant human beings. In the 1886 Santa Clara case, however, the court reporter of the Supreme Court proclaimed in a “headnote”—a summary or statement added at the top of the court decision, which is separate from the decision and has no legal force whatsoever—that the word person in law and, particularly, in the Constitution, meant both humans and corporations.

Thus began in a big way (it actually started a half century earlier in a much smaller way with a case involving Dartmouth University) the corruption of American democracy and the shift, over the 125 years since then, to our modern corporate oligarchy."

"McCain-Feingold was a good bipartisan achievement by conservative senator John McCain and liberal senator Russ Feingold to limit the ability of corporations to interfere around the edges of campaigns."

"But the law offended the members of the economic elite in this country who call themselves “conservatives” and believe that they should be able to spend vast amounts of money to influence electoral and legislative outcomes."

"By having free-speech rights equal with people, Stevens argued, corporations will actually harm the “competition among ideas” that the Framers envisioned when they wrote the First Amendment:

“[A] corporation...should have as its objective the conduct of business activities with a view to enhancing corporate profit and shareholder gain.” In a state election...the interests of nonresident corporations may be fundamentally adverse to the interests of local voters. Consequently, when corporations grab up the prime broadcasting slots on the eve of an election, they can flood the market with advocacy that bears little or no correlation to the ideas of natural persons or to any broader notion of the public good. The opinions of real people may be marginalized."

Read the rest of this '1st in a series' HERE.

(EDIT)
The original version of this post included a banner from wakeupwallmart .com. The links used for that banner now point to a UFCW union webpage where they are promising to make things better. I'm not sure if wakeupwallmart was always a part of this union website, but I do know they have removed all of the pages from the wakeup site. Perhaps under pressure from the giant one? wakeupwalmart com banners ticker ticker150x200 html

Congress Calls for More Science Before Arctic Ocean Drilling

2011-01-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (December 21, 2010) - Thirty-four members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined an effort spearheaded by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Rep. James Moran (D-VA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) to ask Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to stick to his commitment to make science-based decisions on oil and gas development in the Arctic Ocean. In a letter sent to Sec. Salazar on Friday, the 38 members asked him to ensure that “we have the basic science and necessary spill response capacity before proceeding with any drilling in the Beaufort Sea and the rest of the Arctic.”

Despite a continued lack information about the Arctic’s fragile marine environment, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) is currently processing Shell Oil’s application to drill in the Arctic's Beaufort Sea, 12 miles off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in an area designated as critical habitat for the threatened polar bear that also serves as vital feeding and migration grounds for the endangered bowhead whale.
Read the rest HERE.

Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain Terrestrial Wildlife Research Summaries

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, The Wildlife:

Beck, Boehner: Arctic Refuge Is A ‘Wasteland,’ Wildlife ‘Couldn't Care Less’ About Drilling

US Energy Admin: ANWR Can Only Produce 780,000 of 21,000,000 Barrels Needed

Potential ANWR Oil is Simply Not Enough

Offshore Drilling: A Few Useful Facts

Wolfing Down Fossil Fuels

2011-01-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

The Annual Energy Outlook from the U.S. Energy Information Administration sums up the government’s best estimates of energy trends through 2035. Buried in the projections is a seismic change in energy policy, and it’s about coal. The EIA is projecting that utilities won’t build any new coal-fired electricity plants in the United States, aside from the projects already under construction or built as “clean coal” experiments. The projections say that all our new electricity plants are expected to be either renewables like wind and solar, or natural gas (which releases about half the carbon emissions of coal).

BUT:

But if you look at the long-term projections, the amazing thing is how little the energy mix will change in 25 years. Right now, we get 84 percent of our energy from fossil fuels. In 2035, we’ll still be getting 78 percent of our energy from fossil fuels. Read the rest Here.

Leaked Fox News Memo Reveals Network’s Anti-Science Bias

2010-12-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (December 15, 2010) – Media Matters today released an email from Fox News Washington Managing Editor Bill Sammon in which he urged news staff to highlight criticisms of climate science whenever they mention the fact that the Earth is warming.

The email was not surprising to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which tracks climate misinformation on Fox News and other media outlets, but it is nonetheless revealing. While UCS has had productive interactions with a number of Fox News staff members, the network’s coverage regularly gives unwarranted weight to anti-scientific claims regarding climate change. The Rest of the Story..

Rupert admits to manipulating the news for agenda.

Fox edits McCain's "I really didn't love America"

“Certainly there were commentators and other, pundits at FOX News, that were useful to the White House,” replied McClellan, adding that they were given “talking points.”

"Obama's answer [was] not exactly rooted in Scripture but [was] in the ballpark,"

Fox News' Cameron claimed McCain "undaunted" on immigration issue...

Karl Rove said he would not "add to the public record" on the Valerie Plame leak case...

There are too many of these links... do a search if you still need convincing.

Waiting for Superman

2010-11-16T18:01:00.000-08:00

This country spends more to incarcerate someone for four years than it would cost to educate the same inmate in private school for 12 years (and likely keep him/her out of prison).

The title of the film comes from educational reformer Geoffrey Canada, of the Harlem Children's Zone: As clips of George Reeves, as early TV's Man of Steel, play out onscreen, Canada recalls thinking as a boy that, somehow, sometime, Superman would arrive in the South Bronx and save him.

Seattle's Sanity

2010-10-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Both the Seattle and Washington, D.C., rallies opened with the "Star Spangled Banner" and ended with "American the Beautiful." Local organizer Jim Baum, a Maple Valley building inspector and farmer, said he was offended by tea-party activists asserting that they "wanted their country back."

http://www.borowitzreport.com/2010/10/30/fox-news-estimates-jon-stewarts-crowd-at-7-people/

http://twitpic.com/32ahv8/full

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXmbzLI3pnk

Bush's 'Schrodinger's Email'

2009-12-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

EPA Determines that Carbon Pollution Threatens Health

Historic Step Will Allow Agency to Address Cause of Global Warming

WASHINGTON (December 7, 2009) -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is expected to announce a final determination today that carbon pollution, which causes global warming, is a danger to public health and welfare. This will enable the EPA to move forward with implementing the 2007 Supreme Court ruling, which found that carbon pollution can be curbed under the Clean Air Act.

Following is a statement by David Doniger, Policy Director of the Climate Center at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“This is a concrete sign that we need to address the rising impact of carbon pollution, which threatens our health -- and is causing glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise and more extreme weather to occur. Today’s announcement shows that the U.S. government is serious about tackling this problem and putting limits on the largest sources of carbon pollution, including vehicles and coal-fired plants. The Obama administration is prepared to use existing laws, even as it works with Congress on new ones, to move our country toward cleaner energy that will protect the health of people and of future generations."
“As world leaders gather in Copenhagen, this action is an important piece of the puzzle that will move the nation -- and the world -- toward a cleaner future.” NRDC Press Release

We could have had a year to work on this, had our last president not decided to apply whatever twisted lesson he might have learned regarding the Schrodinger's Cat theory to the quandary of whether or not to open an email containing this very information in 2008.

White House Refused to Open Pollutants E-Mail
By FELICITY BARRINGER
Published: June 25, 2008

The White House in December refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, telling agency officials that an e-mail message containing the document would not be opened, senior E.P.A. officials said last week.

The document, which ended up in e-mail limbo, without official status, was the E.P.A.’s answer to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that required it to determine whether greenhouse gases represent a danger to health or the environment, the officials said.

This week, more than six months later, the E.P.A. is set to respond to that order by releasing a watered-down version of the original proposal that offers no conclusion. Instead, the document reviews the legal and economic issues presented by declaring greenhouse gases a pollutant. Read the whole story Here.

Controversial Bush-Era EPA E-mail Released WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2009

Message Buried by Bush Administration Because of Its Conclusions on Global Warming Surfaces

(AP) A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened.The e-mail and the 28-page document attached to it, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, show that back in December of 2007 the agency concluded that six gases linked to global warming pose dangers to public welfare, and wanted to take steps to regulate their release from automobiles and the burning of gasoline.

Adora Andy, a spokeswoman for EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, said Tuesday that the science in 2007 was as clear as it is today. "The conclusions reached then by the EPA scientists should have been made public and should have been considered," she said. Read the whole story Here.

Government Health Care - Too Expensive - Too Controlling - Too Important. Part Three

2009-09-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

The US Government in the Health Insurance business? The arguments, when you can get down to those that are A) Real and B) Relevant, are varied. I've had a bit of difficulty drilling down to this list but think I've come to the gist of it. In part one we discussed the costs, in part two we discussed control and in part three we will review why American Healthcare when viewed in the long term is too all encompassing an American Problem we can no longer ignore.

Since this is America and short of revolution nothing, not even morals, weighs in heavier than money we will take another broader look at the economic impact our current health care system and it's lack of complete coverage for all Americans takes on us.

When your representative speaks to you about the cost of a plan, and how it will be paid for, there are always the stipulations that can be quantified either in costs or savings, but there are too those that cannot. The actual dollar amount of savings by providing a person basic health care (prevention and education) thereby avoiding high cost end stage treatments will not be fully addressed by the agencies responsible for providing data. Neither will the increased tax and wage dollars gained by small businesses opening that couldn't without the reform because the cost of employee health care put opening out of reach. No one will try to tally the money gained from increased productivity either, healthy people are happy and more productive, clearer thinking and dependable.

Why CBO Cannot Calculate the Savings That Will Come With Healthcare Reform -

"The CBO’s track record in predicting the effects of health legislation is abysmal,” observes Bruce Vladeck, the man who ran Medicare while serving as administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration from 1993 to 2997. “Over the last two decades, the CBO has routinely overestimated the costs of expanded government health care benefits,” Vladeck adds, “and underestimated the savings from program changes designed to reduce expenditures.”

In the early eighties, Congress adjusted the way in which Medicare would pay hospitals. Under the new Medicare woudl pay a fixed amount per admission based upon primary medical condition. “CBO predicted that by 1986 total spending would be $60 billion. Actual spending in 1986 was $49 billion.”
That’s $11 billion on 60. That’s wrong by more than 18%,” .Ricciardelli observes.

In the second case, Gabel “found that savings from the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which changed the way skilled nursing facilities and home health services were reimbursed under Medicare, turned out to be 50 percent greater in 1998 and 113 percent greater in 1999 than the budget office forecast.”
“Wrong by 50% and by 113%.”

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has identified some 70 U.S. communities that already have managed to do what progressives claim health care reform can do: change how care is delivered so that it is both less expensive and more effective. As I reported here, IHI spotlighted 10 of those communities at a recent conference where IHI president Don Berwick stressed: “We don’t have to ration needed care. We don’t have to raise taxes” for the middle-class or the upper-middle class. Structural changes in our health care system can ultimately provide the savings needed to pay for universal coverage. This is not a theory dreamed up by ivory-tower academic physicians. It is an idea that has been realized in some 70 communitites. Health Beat 2009

4 Hidden Costs of Healthcare

Health care is by far the most cartelized, anti-competitive big business in America. The market is crippled by a web of quotas, entry barriers, monopolistic licensing laws, and discount limits that wouldn't be tolerated in any other industry.

Health insurance: Low-dose competition
In most cities or regions, the health insurance market is dominated by one or two giant carriers, the biggest being the Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans. A recent study by the American Medical Association found that in 56% of America's 314 urban areas, a single insurer held over half the market.

The prices these gigantic players charge are soaring: A General Accounting Office study found that over the past ten years, premiums have risen 120%, compared with inflation of 44% and wage growth of 29%. "Profits in the industry are as high as we've ever seen," says John Sheils of the Lewin Group, a health care consulting and research firm.

Certificate of need laws: Rationing goods and services
One of the most damaging and obsolete -- but stubbornly pervasive -- restrictions on the supply of medical goods and services is the Certificate of Need Law.

The laws make it impossible for the numbers of hospitals and diagnostic centers to grow naturally with rising patient demand. Instead, they create artificial shortages as entrenched providers lobby state governments tirelessly to prevent competitors from entering their markets with sorely needed state-of-the art equipment.

Acute Pain: America's Doctor Shortage
The essential raw material needed to treat the tens of millions of new patients is our supply of physicians. Today, America is suffering from a painful doctor shortage that is another legacy of poor regulation. And it will get worse. The population of new doctors who go into practice each year is governed by the number of residency slots in America's teaching hospitals. Incredibly, those positions have been frozen for 25 years at around 25,000 as demand has soared.

The Medicaid 'Best Price' Policy: Putting a Floor on Discounts
Working Americans are often paying too much for pharmaceuticals because of still another wrongheaded regulation. It's called the Medicaid "Best Price" policy.

But here's the catch: If an HMO or another private buyer got a bigger break, the manufacturer had to extend the same discount to all the Medicaid programs in the fifty states. Suddenly, it became extremely expensive to give deep discounts to pharmacy benefits managers or drugstore chains. The additional business didn't come close to paying for the lost revenue from Medicaid. In a short time, the rule put a floor under discounts of -- you guessed it -- 16%.
Fortune 2009

Hidden Drain
Many of the most compelling reasons for health care reform are medical or moral in nature, such as insuring the 46 million Americans without health coverage and expanding access to care. But health care is also an economic issue, and there is a strong case to be made that reforming the system is essential to the long-term recovery of our economy. At a health care reform summit in March, President Obama said that “[i]f we want to create jobs and rebuild our economy and get our federal budget under control, then we have to address the crushing cost of health care…”2 This is exactly right. Health care is an evermore-costly-burden that weighs down government, businesses, and workers alike. In the midst of recession, these costs become even more unbearable, greatly hindering all parties’ ability to recover from economic catastrophe—and making health care reform a top priority.

Crippling Government Costs
This year, the United States is projected to spend a whopping $2.5 trillion on health care—about the same amount of money that the federal government has spent on recession-related bail-outs since December 2007.3 (And this is without taking into
account the indirect costs of an ineffective health care system, such as the $207 billion in economic losses that the U.S. suffers every year because of the poor health and shorter lifespan of people without health insurance.)4 According to the most recent OECD data, health care spending eats up more than 15 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product(GDP), a far greater proportion than in comparable countries around the world. New America Foundation 2009

Will the Deficit Save Health Reform?
If the latest budget projections are keeping you up at night, the best way to ease your troubled mind is to support health-care reform.

You've probably already heard that the deficit projections released yesterday are a threat to the president's plan to reform health care. In fact, Reuters tried to tell you this a week ago, in a story headlined "New deficit projections pose risks to Obama's agenda." But these critics, and Reuters, are wrong. The latest deficit projections make reforming health care -- the inclusion of a public insurance option -- all the more important.

Opponents of health-care reform are using that jaw-dropping number to say that Americans can't afford to pursue health-care reform, never mind that the president and congressional Democrats intend for the bill to be deficit neutral or that the math and budget experts both testify that most of the deficit is a hangover from the Bush years. (Indeed, all of the measures enacted by President Barack Obama to combat the recession have only added about $300 billion to what the deficit would have been had President George W. Bush's policies continued through 2009.)

The single major driver of growth in government spending is health care, which is increasing widely out of proportion to population growth and, if left unchecked, could make up 25 percent of the United States' gross domestic product by 2025. Proposals currently under discussion in Congress aim to slow the growth in health-care expenses with a variety of policy tools, including a public plan that could increase competition (and thus lower costs overall), cutting deals with various industry stakeholders to find savings, new studies to determine the most cost-effective ways to treat illness, and an independent board to study Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and set more realistic prices.

First of all, reform will provide more information to policy-makers. Studies of comparative effectiveness and data from a public insurance plan will provide a deeper understanding of inefficiencies in the system and the solutions to those inefficiencies. The White House Council of Economic Advisers has also estimated that health-care reform will lead to increases in GDP, reaching over 2 percent in 2020 that would lead to proportional increases in tax revenue and lower deficits. But most important, eliminating the "crazy system of cross-subsidies," as Center for Budget and Policy Priorities economist Jim Horney calls the complex interweaving of publicly and privately subsidized care for the under- and uninsured, would create a much simpler framework for future cost-reduction efforts.

"It really is important to get universal or near-universal coverage in order to help create a system that is more sensible," Horney explains. "That system will help us to design [more efficient] reimbursement systems." The American Prospect 2009

Our health is our future, it impacts everything we do. If we're to be the best country, we need to be the best people, and that means healthy people utilizing education, experience and science to enact thoughtful legislation that keeps us on the cutting edge. We've fallen off the map when it comes to health care, we have the money and the technology to be the best and in doing so we secure our future.

Ten Myths About Health Care Reform
Myth 1: Health care reform will limit patient choice.
Myth 2: Americans will lose their existing coverage.
Myth 3: The government will ration care.
Myth 4: Affordable health care reform will create a government monopoly.
Myth 5: A new public program will only drive-up health care costs.
Myth 6: Health care reform in Massachusetts is “an unfolding disaster.”
Myth 7: Being uninsured is not a problem; it’s people’s own fault.
Myth 8: Illegal immigrants are driving the nation’s uninsured problem.
Myth 9: Health care reform won’t save money.
Myth 10: Deregulating the health care industry will solve the health crisis.Wonkroom at Thinkprogress 2009

Government Health Care - Too Expensive - Too Controlling - Too Important. Part Two

2009-09-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

So, you're a 'Free Marketer', are you? Well so am I. But this country hasn't seen a "Free Market" in decades. When corporations with profits larger than that of most countries employ media companies, lawyers and lobbyists that outspend local efforts $15-1, utilize psychologically designed media, file frivolous lawsuits and make bribes to government officials, there is no "Free Market" only a "for sale to the highest bidder" market. If we were still a developing country, I might find that the proposed "gist" of the reform legislation and it's costs would be too much to bear. But we are not. The only thing we spend more on in America than health care is military, and we outspend every other country on the planet 20 times over for our military. However our military dominates the world, our health care does not.

Government Health Care - Too Expensive - Too Controlling - Too Important

2009-08-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

It will be too expensive. Not only will it cost more for taxpayers and employers, but private insurance holders will see premium increases!

I didn't find much data to back up any part of this statement. I expected to find short term, up front increases with long term and periphery cost decreases. What I in fact found was both short and long term savings, and with periphery costs (lower overall costs to treat due to better health resulting from access to health care, less costs due to decreasing stress levels) included the savings would be enough to make an oil company drool with envy.

Survey Shows Private Health Insurance Premiums Rose 11.2% in 2004
Premiums Increased at Five Times The Rate of Growth in Workers’ Earnings and Inflation. About Five Million Fewer Workers Covered By Their Own Employer’s Health Insurance Since 2001. Kaiser Family Foundation

The average health insurance premium costs 84% of average unemployment benefits.

In the U.S., job insecurity equals health insecurity. Without significant subsidies to buy into COBRA, most unemployed workers will also quickly morph into uninsured workers. Healthpopuli .com

Health Insurance Premiums Continue to Soar.

For the seventh straight year, premiums for employer-based health insurance rose more than twice as fast as overall inflation and wages, an annual survey of employers shows. (2006) McClatchy Newspapers

Premiums for job-offered health insurance up 5% this year.

Workers face more cost-sharing in the form of higher deductibles and co-pays. (2008) American Medical News

And then there are the peripherals....

Health Care Scandal has Real Victims. The U.S. health care system is an open scandal. We devote far more of our national income to health care than any other industrial nation. Yet we get worse results -- higher child mortality, higher deaths from breast cancer, less prevention and more expense. If you have wealth, the best medicine in the world is available to you. If you are poor, or increasingly a middle- or low-income family, too often you will lack insurance or be vastly under insured. You will forgo costly tests and let illnesses fester until they become debilitating. Chicago Sun Times

Hidden Costs of Health Care Report. Rising deductibles, Higher Co-payments and Escalating out of pocket costs. Healthreform .gov

The cost of job stress to American industry is estimated at $150 billion per year thru absenteeism, lower productivity, health insurance and medical expenses. Examinetics

And it turns out that a large portion of the profits you provide these companies is being spent to ensure they can continue squeezing the turnip that is apparently you.

Pharmaceutical Companies

Insurance Companies

That's it for part one, "It's too expensive!" Stay tuned for "It's too Controlling!"

May 30th: National Day of Action For Single Payer

2009-05-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

SarahLee's diary ::

Nationwide Rallies for Improved Medicare for All

Join thousands of single-payer supporters in a nationwide week of action to support improved Medicare for all (HR 676). Single-payer activists will be gathering all over the country to say, "Healthcare, yes; Insurance companies, no," and to show solidarity with demonstrations at the AHIP (American Health Insurance Plans, a private health insurance lobby) conference in San Diego.

If an action isn't already in your city, plan your own day of action! It can be a town hall meeting, demonstration in front of a local insurance company, film showing, vigil, or your own unique idea. Let us know what you'd like to start planning by contacting info@healthcare-now.org.
47 million Americans are uninsured. Private insurance rates are rising faster than inflation and our incomes. By 2025 the cost of private health insurance will exceed our projected income. A national, single-payer healthcare system is the only healthcare reform option that will cover every American resident while saving us billions of dollars. The majority of Americans want it. The majority of physicians want it. The only thing missing is the political will in Washington.

Demonstration Locations

Planning is happening in:
Albany, NY - May 27th Atlana, GA - May 27th Augusta, ME - May 30th Austin, TX - May 30th Billings, MT - May 16th Boston, MA - May 30th Chicago, IL - June 2nd Denver, CO - May 30th Elmwood Park, NJ - June 5 Fenton, MI - May 21st Gainesville, FL - May 28th & 30th Greeley, CO - May 30th Indianapolis, IN - May 20th Lawrence, KS - May 30th Los Angeles, CA - TBA Louisville, KY - May 28th Middleton, CT - May 28th New Albany, IN - May 30th New York City, NY - May 30th Philadelphia, PA - May 30th Pittsburgh, PA - May 29th Phoenix, AZ - May 30th Pontiac, MI - June 16th Portland, OR - May 27th Princeton, NJ - May 31st Rochester, NY - May 30th San Diego, CA - June 3rd San Francisco, CA - TBA Seattle, WA - May 30th Springfield, MA - May 27th Tampa, FL - TBA Topeka, KS - May 30th Towson, MD - May 30th Wheaton, MD - May 30th

Click here to get more info from DailyKos http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/18/732752/-May-30th:-National-Day-of-Action-For-Single-Payer

Take a little time out of your day to learn how it can be done, and IS being done, in five democracies around the world. Click here, and watch Frontline's 'Sick Around the World', get details on the five countries already providing this stabilizing, cost cutting service to their citizens.

United Kingdom

An interview with an expert on the UK's system +
Percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on health care: 8.3
Average family premium: None; funded by taxation.
Co-payments: None for most services; some co-pays for dental care, eyeglasses and 5 percent of prescriptions. Young people and the elderly are exempt from all drug co-pays.

Japan

An interview with an expert on Japan's system +
Percentage of GDP spent on health care: 8
Average family premium: $280 per month, with employers paying more than half.
Co-payments: 30 percent of the cost of a procedure, but the total amount paid in a month is capped according to income.

Germany

An interview with an expert on Germany's system +
Percentage of GDP spent on health care: 10.7
Average family premium: $750 per month; premiums are pegged to patients' income.
Co-payments: 10 euros ($15) every three months; some patients, like pregnant women, are exempt.

Taiwan

An interview with an expert on Taiwan's system +
Percentage GDP spent on health care: 6.3
Average family premium: $650 per year for a family for four.
Co-payments: 20 percent of the cost of drugs, up to $6.50; up to $7 for outpatient care; $1.80 for dental and traditional Chinese medicine. There are exemptions for major diseases, childbirth, preventive services, and for the poor, veterans, and children.

Switzerland

An interview with an expert on Switzerland's system +
Percentage of GDP spent on health care: 11.6
Average monthly family premium: $750, paid entirely by consumers; there are government subsidies for low-income citizens.
Co-payments: 10 percent of the cost of services, up to $420 per year.

Help me ID this Viola - Garden Specimen Pics

2009-04-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Can you help me ID this viola? I bought it a few years ago for a spring sun, summer shade garden and remember it being called African pansy, the trouble is this plant doesn't resemble the plant of the same name when compared to photos online. These leaves are very heart shaped like a puffy heart and the underneath is purplish. It is unaffected by slugs, readily self sows, and as this past winter has proven, can withstand heavy snow and weeks of below freezing temperatures. I've never fertilized them. The few plants I purchased grow in a mound eight to ten inches high and have seeded dozens more and about one in ten have light green leaves and a more upright than mounded habit. They didn't flower this year until I brushed away the leaf mulch but then performed better than ever. I would really like to know what I have here so if the picture or description rings a bell for you please drop
me a message. I will add more photos later. Thanks and hope are are enjoying your spring!

Below are some pictures of the plants growing in the garden. I originally planted 3 r four plants, all along the far edge of the garden just before the hill drops off. Now, as you can see, there are lots of them scattered about.

Throwback or hybrid, lighter more 'viola' looking leaves and a lighter purple color flower.

A self seeded plant of the originally planted variety.

Here you can see the darker original alongside the lighter throwback/hybrid.

Here (easier to see if you click on the photo for the larger view) you can see the self seeded plants (and the weeds I've yet to pluck).

Earth Day 2009 - April 22nd through April 21st

2009-04-20T03:11:00.000-07:00

By Morgantj

Sarah Palin: DOH!

2009-04-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin acknowledges global warming is affecting her state,

But the former GOP vice presidential candidate contends gas drilling will help curb rising temperatures"

Update: US wind usage animation below appears to show NO ONE in Alaska has heard the wind howling and thought to take advantage of it.

"We Alaskans are living with the changes that you are observing in Washington," she said. "The dramatic decreases in the extent of summer sea ice, increased coastal erosion, melting of permafrost, decrease in alpine glaciers and overall ecosystem changes are very real to us." At Tuesday's hearing, she made it clear that she recognizes the problem of global warming and cast energy development as part of the answer. Conservation groups warn that plunging drilling pads into the frozen Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and in Bristol Bay could open the door to a catastrophic oil spill in one of the Earth's most fragile environments. Read the entire article HERE.

And, just as a reminder:

Exxonmobil pays skeptic groups. Defending their right to profits before congress, why would they pay for something if they could get it for free? Click HERE

"The southeast Alaska Panhandle has wind resources consistent with utility-scale production. Major areas of excellent and outstanding resource are found on the ridge crests throughout the region and on the interior marine passageways. Population centers located close to excellent resource areas on these marine passageways include Ketchikan, Petersburg, Juneau, and Skagway."

Click HERE

Wind Turbine - A Social Network; A Wind Powering America Supporting Partner

UPDATE: The good folks at WindTurbines.net have posted a US wind usage animation. I've added and linked it below. Having the most potential for energy doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone in Alaska yet.

(End Edit)

With such an abundant, 'God Given' resource available, why is she still talking about oil? What could her motives POSSIBLY be? Oh... Oil Money of course! ('08 cycle alone, KNOWING the Democrats were coming into the majority)

Boom Boom! Out Go the Lights! Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

The power plant pictured below, planned to go online from a near downtown location, no longer has to thanks to an equal amount of energy SAVED through conservation alone. No noise or pollution, no resources wasted, no energy burned. Click the image to get the details, then be sure to share them with your city, county and state officials.

Stop Subsidies for Big Oil

2009-03-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

Think oil companies should pay their fair share of taxes? So does President Obama. In his budget, the President has proposed cutting billions of dollars in special subsidies and tax loopholes for oil and gas companies.

But Big Oil is already fighting back. Like other corporate special interests, they're lobbying heavily to gut Obama's budget.

So we've got to be louder than Big Oil, and remind our elected representatives that they work for us, not ExxonMobil.

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to your Senators and Representative.

"Obama seeks repeal of industry tax breaks, subsidies," Greenwire, February 26, 2009. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51230&id=15729-10837019-fKHT3Px&t=5

"Exxon 2008 profit: A record $45 billion," CNNMoney.com, January 30, 2009. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51231&id=15729-10837019-fKHT3Px&t=6

"Obama budget boosts green spending," CNNMoney.com, February 26, 2009. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51233&id=15729-10837019-fKHT3Px&t=8

Earth Hour 2009 - What Will YOU Be Doing In the Dark?

2009-03-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

Earth Hour's Myspace

Earth Hour's Twitter

Earth Hour's Facebook

Earth Hour's Flickr Show

Google's Earth Hour '08 Tribute

Obama Speaks to America on the Economy

2009-02-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

The above image, created by Paul Rosenberg at Open Left, shows figures that combine data from Moody's Economy.com and Dean Baker's Center for Economic Policy and Research. It shows the return on investment for different stimulus options. The takeaway? Food stamps, unemployment benefits, and infrastructure investment put the most money back into the economy for every dollar spent on them. Tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy do the least. (A payroll tax holiday, which is essentially a tax break for poor people, isn't so bad.) Job creation maps similarly.

So when conservatives tell you that FDR's public investment programs made the depression worse and that we need to hold fast to the conservative economic principles that created the current mess, shoot them this link. Perhaps President Obama should use that snazzy new BlackBerry of his to email it to his Republican opponents in Congress. http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11354

In the video below, commonly asked questions regarding the stimulus package are answered in clear, easy to understand terms.

Solid cutting edge infrastructure has been the secret weapon of every successful country/kingdom/empire. Our (US) interstate highway system is one of relatively few key reasons for our success. Without it we wouldn't have been able to transport goods (metals during the war, food always) across our vast country quickly and efficiently. We took one giant step forward after WWII, and it was because we put building a national infrastructure for transportation, water, power and food as well as communications on a double-step fast track. We are still working with that infrastructure in all parts of the country today, and more places than you would think still run entirely on that old system.

It is my belief that it is time to close up the foreign lending shop for a while, hang out an 'Under Construction' sign and get to work re-working our workings! We have the information and technology, the manpower the money and most of all the WILL to remake our systems into more efficient, longer lasting, safer systems that will once again throw us headlong over the goal post of expectations just as we have done in the past.

Internet communications lends itself to working from home or local 'communal' office spaces, lends itself to fewer flights, fewer buildings spewing carbon, fewer drivers, fewer accidents. The technology noted above is only a fraction of what is available.

There are still going to be jobs to be done, but new and different jobs. There will still be things to be sold, but different things. Business will not come to an end, it will just change. I think this will lead to more businesses ending up in the hands of the small business owners, the local communities. Working, shopping and eating local.

A Tough Week For Coal - No Clean Coal

2009-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

A Tough Week for Coal

February 4, 2009, 8:44 am — Updated: 12:34 pm -->
By Tom Zeller Jr.

Protesters chained themselves to an excavator at a coal operation in West Virginia on Tuesday. (Photo: West Virginia Blue/Flickr)

The coal industry, which suffers from an image problem to begin with, has had a particularly rough few days. Without additional interpretation, we present a selection of articles, published over just the last 48 hours, from around the Web:

THE GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE
A Bad Week for Coal Plants in North-Central MontanaLast Thursday, the Air Force announced that it had rejected proposals to build a large coal-to-liquid-fuels plant at or near Malmstrom Air Force Base. Tuesday, Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission announced it is giving up on a proposed coal-fired power plant northeast of the city, at least for now.

THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Anti-Coal Activists Chain Themselves to Equipment at Massey OperationFourteen people were cited by State Police today in two separate protests against Massey Energy’s mountaintop removal operations in southern West Virginia.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
W.Va. Towns With Bad Well Water Sue Coal Companies About 250 people with orange and black water in their taps are suing eight coal companies they believe poisoned wells in two southern West Virginia communities.

Click Here to read the remaining "Bad Coal Day" Headlines from the NYTimes.

Just as a reminder, There Is No Clean Coal.

The Myth of Clean Coal
The coal industry and its allies are spending more than $60 million to promote the notion that coal is clean. But so far, “clean coal” is little more than an advertising slogan.

Collapse of the Clean Coal Myth
More broadly, the authority’s recent travails may help persuade the public that coal is nowhere near as “clean” as a high-priced industry advertising campaign makes it out to be.

Even Obama has been duped,
I hope his promise to listen more to science than corporations is one he intends to keep.

What I Had for Dinner - Shrimp Jambalaya

2009-01-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

Sounds great, doesn't it? Well it WAS, and it only took about 45 minutes to prepare. Thanks to a sale at my local grocer and a tip from a television cook that stuck, I managed this great tasting meal fast.

I started with one of the boxes I picked up at 10 for $10. The store was offering 2 varieties of the Zatarain's mixes, the Red Beans and Rice along with the New Orleans style Jambalaya Mix. I usually try to get my foods from the health food section of my local Fred Meyers store, but when I see a deal like this I start comparing labels. A few pennies and sometimes a few dollars savings aren't enough to convince me to eat what I read on some of those labels. But while the ingredients on the Zatarains didn't make me all warm and fuzzy, thiamine mononitrate {I don't like to see any nitrate or nitrite on the label}, thiamine hydrochloride and MSG were the only objectionable items so I went with it considering the cost saving was $2.39 per box!

The shrimp was picked up at the same store during the same shopping trip. As I was passing by the wall of freezers containing the processed fish and premade burger patties, I remembered an episode of Good Eats in which Alton Brown explains that the only ingredients one wants to see on a bag of frozen shrimp is shrimp, water and possibly salt. Any other ingredient is a preservative, adding to weight, detracting from flavor and producing an odd slimy/mushy texture. I decided to see if my grocer carried this 'plain' variety. Of the 4 I found, only one was 'plain. 'Arctic Shores' is what I brought home. These were individually flash frozen, raw, shell on ez-peels. You'll want to feel the bag in the store, make sure the shrimps are separate (mostly) and not one giant lump. This indicates the bag has been thawed at least partially and then re-frozen. Re-freezing degrades the texture and taste of the shrimp. I pulled about 15 from the bag, pulled apart the few that had stuck together, and lay them flat on a paper towel while I prepared the Jambalaya mix. You could just as easily pull that package of smoked chicken apple sausage from costco out and chop it up, or a Johnsonville's Brat.

I diverge just a little from the preparations listed on the box, but not much and you don't have to at all. First, of the 2 1/2 cups of water called for, I substituted 1 cup of Pacific organic vegetable stock and dropped about 1/8 of the water since I was going to be adding frozen shrimps. Pacific's line of stocks are very tasty, I think the fact that they come in a carton rather than a tin can is a large reason for this. Organic stocks and broths are available, even a free range organic chicken stock. YUM! Also, I have a little red pepper flake and garlic in a grinder and used about 5 turns of that along with a turn or two from the black pepper grinder in with the stock, water and olive oil. When that came to a boil I added the mix as directed but set the timer to 23 minutes instead of 25. And DO NOT add the shrimp at this point as directed.

I hate over cooked seafood, and so should you. The taste and texture are bad, and memorable. You only need to cook a frozen shrimp about 5 minutes, and a thawed one about 3 minutes. The difference between 5 and 3 minutes is stringy, rubbery, hard and tasteless VS tender, succulent and flavorful.

Like any rice dish, do not lift the lid during cooking after bringing it to a boil and then reducing the heat. The steaming process is critical to the liquid absorption and cooking process. In this case, we have to make one exception so we have to do it quick. At the 22 minute point move the shrimps over near the stove, at 23 lift the lid and stick the shrimps in by the tale quickly around the outside of the pan but not touching the pan edge. Raise the temp just slightly from simmer, recover quickly and cook for the remaining 2 minutes. Turn off the stove and remove from heat at 25 minutes. Let stand covered for about 7 minutes. Just a little longer than the directions call for, since we are starting with frozen shrimps.

When the time is up LIFT THE LID! If you're like me, your mouth has been watering for about 20 minutes. Give the Jambalaya a quick light fluff and let it set for just another moment while you get a nice wide, shallow bowl. If you happen to have a lime, a quick squeeze would taste great right over the top. I didn't....

A couple of toasted cracked wheat sourdough slices with a light coating of real butter on the side and I had a nearly perfect dinner. "What?" you say? Why not perfect? Well, that comes tonight! Jambalaya is one of those dishes that really comes into it's own the second night. Most foods fall into this category in my opinion. Really, only some fish dishes are the exception. Tonight is the perfect dinner night for me.

Some other things I could have added to this dish, fresh or preserved tomatoes comes to mind. Any sort of cooked meat really, and I almost considered roasting up some fingerling potatoes and tossing those in. It still sounds really really good, something about the texture made my mind think that double carb was perfectly normal. My logical brain won out, no potatoes this time. I suppose any of your leftover veggies and meats could be added and this would only get better and better.

Follow this link for a full 'from scratch' recipe from the folks at Yumsugar.

The Bush Administration's Dirty Time Line

2009-01-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

From the beginning of President George W. Bush's first term through 2005, NRDC compiled a comprehensive account of his administration's actions on environmental matters. You can use the links above to search the Record's hundreds of stories or to browse by topic, or click here to view by date.

You can follow the timeline to see some of the 'lowlights' of the Bush administration's environmental actions between 2001 and 2008 -- dismantling safeguards, ignoring climate concerns, marginalizing sound science and catering to industries that endangered Americans' health and natural heritage.

Eyeless in Gaza - Lets Help Them to See

2009-01-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

"Israel has bombed the power plants, water and sewage treatment facilities, and restricted movement in and out of Gaza which has essentially become the world's largest standing concentration camp. Why? What is this about? And why is Israel getting away with this starkly inhumane treatment?

Before you start lecturing me about what the Palestinians have done to bring this upon themselves, stop. No. I'm well aware of the tortuous politics of the Middle East (or West Asia, if you prefer). Here's a timeline of the events leading up to today's report of tanks entering the much-bombed and repeatedly destroyed strip of Gaza."

Everything you ever wanted to know about the fiasco in Gaza but could never figure out, thanks to Mainstream Media. Please take the time to click on the title link or the 'Shrinking Palestine' image to read the whole, informative article.

Happy New Year 2009

2008-12-31T19:22:00.000-08:00

I will seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. I will seek to be worthy more than respectable, wealthy and not rich. I will study hard, think quietly, talk gently, and act frankly. I will listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all things bravely await occasions and hurry never. In a word I will let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common.
William Ellery Channing

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want. Irish toast

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown. And he replied: Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.
Minnie L. Haskins

'Go mbeire muid beo ar an am seo arís.' May we be alive at this time next year.

'Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit!' A prosperous New Year!

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day11 5:30pm

2008-12-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

Pine Tree Casualty

The leaning pine tree, which forked about 10 feet up, lost one of it's forks today. It dropped across the front of the house, just missing the edge of the roof. It landed where I used to park the car, I'm glad I started pulling forward a few months ago. Also, much to my chagrin, the power line I had been protecting on an hourly basis with those whackings didn't survive the fall but it turns out it wasn't the power line after all. It was the phone line. I was initially relieved, but after some thought, had I known that I would have been even more vigilant. After all, I have that shiny new kerosene heater and it has a flat top surface I could have warmed a pan of soup over. And enough safe candles to light the neighborhood. But being stuck here since the snow began to fall, and with the forecast calling for freezing tonight and more snow tomorrow and the next few days, I wouldn't have made it without my internet connection!

A huge kudos to the Qwest crew that came out to hook me back up. They left the truck at the top of the road and chose to walk down my road to survey the damage, concerned they wouldn't be able get the truck down. Their initial plan was to cut up the tree with a chainsaw, after seeing the line running under the fallen pine. But a little further investigation found the wire snapped just on the other side, so he simply pulled it through and decided to run another line further from the tree line. They completed their work in just about an hour, GREAT!

Oh, and last night in the update to the final blogpost I said it had finally stopped snowing, well that only lasted about 15 minutes. And I know because another, smaller piece of the pine tree fell and it was snowing again when I went out to check the damage.

First Fir Casualty

First Pine Casualty

Second Pine Casualty

Comic Relief

In Action

Beautiful Chaos (click to enlarge any of these, but especially this one)

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day10 6:00pm

2008-12-21T18:08:00.000-08:00

28 Straight Hours of Snow in South Kitsap

Update: 32 solid hours of snow. It finally stopped a little before 10:00pm. I hoped, but I was too tired to even get up and check. I headed over to KIRO to check their radar... the blue cloud indicating snow had finally passed from over my town... dare I believe? Still, so . tired . ...
Then, the power flickered! NO! Wouldn't you know, the moment you slack off on the branch whacking... So I booted and scarfed up and opened the door. Drip...Drip... but no snow! Oh, and did I mention, I lost another branch. This time the Pine gave it up. And again, this was also above the power lines and I have no idea how those two giant (15+ft) branches could have missed them but I am grateful. 34 degrees now per the window, 30 MSN, at 10:34pm. As I was whacking branches I noticed the wind had picked up. Just before the sun went down I heard another large branch go down next door, where they had gone to all that trouble to cut down the trees holding up the hillside. Ooops. Heavy melting heaps of snow at the ends of branches, freezing temperatures and an increasing wind... oh boy.

The temperature held between 33 and 35 degrees today, the cycle of small then large flakes mentioned in the previous post also held for the day. I spent the day bashing those overhanging limbs. Miraculously, I haven't had a bad signal issue from the satellite dish until about an hour ago. I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to grab the broom and step ladder and head out to clear it off, but I couldn't bring myself to do it right away so I hunkered down to watch the latest new episode of Survivor Man. (So sad to hear it would be his last episode!) By the time that was over, my signal had cleared! YEAH!

The weather is on right now, and while the temperatures are set to remain near or above freezing, it's still snowing and is scheduled to continue to do so. I'm beginning to worry about the roof.

Here are the day's images:

4:00pm

That's Better!

Ahhhh....

Branch - No Whack

Branch: Whacked!

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day10 12:00pm

2008-12-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

It was 33 degrees and the tiny flakes were still falling this morning at 7:30am. A little had accumulated since I'd stopped watching just after midnight. I checked the threatening branches right away, and they hadn't drooped too much since the last whacking. As the morning has progressed however the flakes have gotten progressively larger and are now just less than dime size and falling fairly heavily. I haven't seen a wisp of wind in days.

The temperature began to rise last night, and I noticed (heard) melt water trickling off of the roof. Even during the last outing at midnight last night I could tell that the nature of the snow was changing. It was getting heavier. This morning the predicted 'crust' had formed more solidly and the drips from the roof are becoming steadier.

I just stepped out to take a few photos and vids, was back in getting ready to post them here when I heard the sound I was dreading! Pop! Crraaack!! Smash! One of the branches snapped and landed in the drive. It was over a power line, but didn't snap that! It also landed on OUR side of the property, (no neighbor damage) and behind the cars (no personal damage). Poor tree.

So now I have to go whack branches again. The blog post time will be a little wonky for this post.

Ok, 12:54pm and the tiny flakes are back. I searched and searched the trunk of the big fir that dropped the branch, but I can't see where it came from. Here are the final photos from last night, some fresh ones from this morning too.

11:38pm

11:30am

December Casualty

The above photo would lead you to think it simply limped to the ground, still attached to the tree trunk. But appearances can be deceiving.

As of this moment, 1:44pm the window thermometer tells me it is 33 degrees (back down to this mornings temp from a high about an hour ago of 34!) MSN tells me it's 28. The flakes are still falling steadily, but are a touch smaller now. Not as small as last night however. This is the fourth switch between small and larger flakes this morning.

December Chaos

December Nemesis

December Nectar

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day9 10:00pm

2008-12-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

Tiny Snow Flakes Now Mixed with Tiny Ice Rain

12:00pm update:

because I'm too tired to create a whole new post. just back in from whacking branches. the tiny ice spheres are still falling, but the larger flakes have returned. I took the dog out this time, the snow is nearly to the top of my rubber boots and the dog is plowing through with her chest. I haven't seen snow like this since the last time I went up to the pass to sled. That's not what it reminded me of though, I remembered the knee and thigh deep snow when I was a kid on the east coast. It's absolutely silent outside, my world is one giant sound baffle.

I've been going out each hour to knock snow off branches that overhang the power line to the house, this time the teeny flakes have returned, and are mixed with teeny frozen spheres. The effect is like diamonds and glitter falling from heaven. It's beautiful, but if it keeps up I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with weight on the branches. The window thermometer says 28 degrees, MSN sidebar finds 23 right now, 10:37pm.

Here is how the snowfall stacks up since 2pm when it began to fall.

2pm

6pm

8pm

9pm

10pm

The radar looks as if things might begin to let up soon, let's hope so eh?

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day9 6:29pm

2008-12-20T18:29:00.000-08:00

Still Snowing Steadily in South Kitsap.

Nearly 2 inches has accumulated so far since about 2pm when the snow began to fall, several hours ahead of schedule. I'll place the 2pm tuna tin photo with the 6pm photo, keep in mind that 6-24 inch prediction wasn't supposed to start until now...

I had to make a quick call to the traveling friend when the weather warnings were interrupted by breaking news that there had been a Boeing 737 crash in Denver Colorado. Thankfully (sort of) he's grounded in New Hampshire due to closed airports in so many places.

I took a few moments to set up the new kerosene heater, finding a proper place in my oddly configured location. Near a window, out of the way, not near the furnace, not too near me (it's a 23000 btu, good for 1000sf and I have 800) etc. I'm holding off fueling it though, the smell is a bit annoying.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day9 3:15pm

2008-12-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

Round 3 - Snow falling again in South Kitsap.

1:55pm and teensy snow flakes are falling steadily. The morning began with friends and family calling to offer rides to the store or to stay over during the next stage of the December storm. There are currently 2 blizzard warnings in effect in Washington, surely a first in my time in the state. I opted for the ride into town to pick up milk and cream. They are predicting snowfall in my area to be between 3 and 24 inches! If more than about 5 inches falls on the already frozen brittle branches, I fear the power will go out leaving me without heat. I decided it was about time I remedied that, so tried to stop by the local farm/hardware store (I like to shop local when I can). Their tiny parking lot was complete chaos, lines coming and going, cars competing for spots to park that didn't exist. We drove in and out, deciding to skip that particular chaos for one that had at least more parking. A quick call ahead to verify they had a kerosene heater was a good decision, they put the last one on hold for me until I could get there. The local Ace hardware was very busy also, but so much more orderly. The employees were happy and plentiful and helpful! Heater, funnel, kerosene, batteries and still I was out the door in less than 20 minutes. Fabulous!

It's 3:15pm now, the tiny flakes have gotten a little bigger and are still falling steadily. I can no longer fully trust the MSN sidebar temperature, as it gave me a huge scare last night when it reported that it was 12 degrees! My window thermometer read 23, and a friend called and verified a similar temp. The window thermometer had been pretty consistently within 3 or 4 degrees of the MSN sidebar reading. The window reading is now 26, the MSN reading is 21.

Looks like I missed the boat with the friend that offered to have me weather the storm over there. They stocked up on yummy chicken Gorgonzola salad, home made pizza with ice cream for desert along with several varieties of heart 'warming' beverage choices for the adults. A slew of movies to watch and stack of celebrity gossip mags. BOOO!!!!

This is what the winter storm warning says:

Seattle/Bremerton Area
Winter Storm Warning:
Issued at: 12:07 PM PST 12/20/08, expires at: 5:00 PM PST 12/20/08
Winter storm warning remains in effect from 4 pm this afternoon to 10 am pst Sunday, A winter storm warning remains in effect from 4 pm this afternoon to 10 am pst Sunday. A major winter storm is on tap for later today into Sunday. Heavy snow is expected to develop along the coast and then spread into the interior of western Washington early this evening. Heaviest snow will occur on the kitsap peninsula, along hood canal, and from olympia and chehalis west to the central coast near ocean shores. 10 to 18 inches of snow is expected close to the hood canal. Other locations within this area should get 5 to 12 inches of snow.

The heaviest snowfall is expected between 7 pm tonight and 4 am Sunday morning. Late tonight into Sunday morning, freezing rain is possible in grays harbor county and the lower chehalis valley. If more precipitation occurs in the form of freezing rain than snow, then an ice storm would be possible with ice accumulations in excess of one quarter of an inch. This is not a certainty but should be kept in mind. Ice storms are capable of causing power lines and large tree branches to snap and cause major travel disruptions. Precautionary/preparedness actions, A winter storm warning means significant amounts of snow, sleet, and ice are expected or occurring. Strong winds are also possible. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible.

I expect this to be updated soon, as it is snowing now, and has been since around 2pm.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day8 2:15pm

2008-12-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

Frozen Sunshine

The skies cleared and the sun had a play day today. At about 9:30am the temperature was 28 degrees and the air was literally crystal clear. It sought out and found every single crystal of ice to play off of. I tried to capture some inside the camera. (click on them to view the full size image)

It's 25 degrees now, 2:34pm. The skies are gray but still bright and the wind has picked up to slight from nil.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day7 4:15pm

2008-12-18T16:16:00.001-08:00

Cold Weather Brittle Nail Alert!!

Trim yours up if they are a little long, and take care! The cold weather renders your nails very brittle and prone to breaking, quite painful in the cold weather. Mine, seen below, cracked near the middle, but didn't quite break. (I apologize for the disorganized post, but blogger seems to be having some trouble today, maybe too many people home blogging about the weather. I cannot move the images once they are downloaded into the post, and they are auto placed at the top.)

The snow seems to be at about 7 or 8 inches as of now, 4:36pm. The tuna tin snow gauge says we have some snow. That's it there, at the edge of the table... can you see it? While I was taking this picture out the back window, I heard a scratching sound. Oh No! I thought, mice are coming in! I moved closer to the sound, coming from the other window in the room, and then I saw something flit near the top of the window on the outside. I crept up and leaned in to get a view, and saw a long, thin, tiny beak! Those tiny birds that had been scurrying around the patio foundation were now clinging to the siding at the edge of the window. I watched for a while, and soon it flew over to nearby branch. I watched it either eat whatever it had found in the crevices around my window jam, or remove the spidery cobwebs from it's beak from the same. Nice added bonus! As a side note, I see fewer and fewer of these little birdies on the bark of my fir trees these days, and I notice more and more insect damage and evidence of the failing health of my trees along the same timeline....

I mentioned in a previous posting that I had brushed the snow off the car, only for it to pile back up again within 15 minutes. I've just come back in from doing the same again, and also the branches overhanging the power lines to the house.

Snow hasn't fallen since my last posting, contrary to the radar images during that time frame. That red dot is my approximate location for most of the storm so far. This image shows the snow should be falling and about to come to an end in 15 minutes or so.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day7 11:15am

2008-12-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

Still snowing steady here in south Kitsap county at 11:15am. We're at about 5 inches here now, just up the hill from the sound. I ventured out to sweep off the car, and knock snow off branches that are overhanging the power lines. Still sweet powdery snow, not what we're used to here at all. Below are some photos and video I shot, it was tough going keeping the camera relatively dry, and in fact it is now sitting out near a heat vent to dry.

It's 12:27pm and the temperature has dropped to 25 degrees from 29 at 11:30am and 33 at 9:30am. The forecast is for highs in the upper 20's for the rest of the week, so it looks like I will be stuck here for a while. The snow has piled up to about 7 inches at this point. I brushed about 5 inches off of the car windows and trunk at 11:00am, hoping to make it easier to remove than leaving it through the freeze. But about 15 minutes later it was covered again.

The snow eased up at about 12:15pm, and has now stopped at 12:39pm to allow the sun to peek through. But only 2 minutes later the brightness is fading.

These videos are taking MUCH longer to upload that I thought they would, so that will be the last of them for now. I'll still to still shots for keep up with the changing conditions since this blog post began at just after 11:00am.

12:52pm and the last video is finished. The snow has stopped and the brightness has returned to the sky, meaning it's going to get really cold really fast. The TV is showing road after road blocked by accidents or closed by transportation workers. Highway 16 is a skating rink, and the Seattle Metro buses are having more problems than successes.

KIRO is forecasting snow late Saturday, continuing Sunday accompanied by strong winds from the east.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day7 8:45am

2008-12-18T08:45:00.000-08:00

Winter Wonderland - Traffic Snafu - My dog was a sled dog in a previous life

It's 29 degrees at 8:45am here in south Kitsap county, and the snow is falling. Small flakes mixed with larger, dimeish sized flakes. I woke at 8am, after peeking out of sleepy eyes a few times prior to actually deciding to lift my head off the pillow. The tree branches, with their slight dusting tricked me into thinking the few flakes that fell before closed the curtains last night was just barely improved upon overnight. What I woke to was a filled to overflowing tuna tin snow gauge and a fine dust-snow still falling in little to no breeze.

Note the tin filled this time, unlike a few nights ago when snow fell all around it but didn't accumulate inside the tin.

All local weather stations are reporting nightmarish traffic conditions. County transportation officials came on via phone and advised people to stay home and wait for conditions to ease or at least give time for the crews to clear the roadways.

Watching KIRO, a review of the DOT cameras found a man walking along side I5 as the reporter was warning people to stay in their cars as they are designed to protect you. The traffic on his side of the 6 lane highway had been halted about 200 yards behind him but as we were watching it cleared and headed towards him with a city bus in the lead. We were all shocked and a little worried as the bus and trailing line of traffic approached him. To everyones surprise, least of all the traffic reporters, the bus stopped alongside the pedestrian and encouraged him to hop on! The news room cheered along with me! YEAH Seattle Metro!

You can watch live by clicking this link: http://www.kirotv.com/video/17955723/index.html

My dog, as I previously blogged, is not much of a foul weather pet. She doesn't like to get her feet wet. She has seen and been in snow before this storm, an didn't make much of it aside from seeming a little annoyed about her feet being wet. But THIS snow, she is so curious about it. She doesn't normally go outside alone, much less go out and just hang out alone but that is what she has been doing since day1. She has been standing and smelling the wind for minutes, or a particular pile of snow.... pushing aside the pile with a paw and sniffing some more. A few minutes ago I looked out to see her just standing by the door looking out across the yard, as if she were enjoying the scenery.

I finally convinced her to come back inside as she began gathering snow on her coat. A narrow snowless area remains just under the eaves, as this picture shows, and this is where tiny birds have been routing around and flipping freeze dried leaves looking for bugcicles I presume. I tossed out some wild bird seed in case I'm wrong.

The temperature has dropped 6 degrees since about 5:30am, and the TV weather is reporting the snow showers will be slowing however it has only picked up here since 8:00am and is still steadily snowing now here on the hill near downtown Port Orchard.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day6 10:00am

2008-12-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

Winter Weather Warning from the National Weather Service:

OVER THE PUGET SOUND REGION...SNOWFALL WAS OCCURRING THIS MORNING FROM TACOMA SOUTH. THESE AREAS COULD RECEIVE UP TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW THROUGH SUNSET...THOUGH A MIXING OF SNOW WITH RAIN THIS AFTERNOON WILL LIMIT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS BELOW 500 FEET. THE I- 5 CORRIDOR THROUGH KING COUNTY...THE KITSAP PENINSULA...AND HOOD CANAL WILL GET LITTLE IF ANY SNOW DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS. AFTER SUSNET...A CHANGEOVER BACK TO ALL SNOW IS EXPECTED DURING THE EVENING WITH A HEAVY BAND OF SNOW GRADUALLY MOVING DOWN FROM THE NORTH TONIGHT. 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW ARE POSSIBLE FOR ALL ELEVATIONS TONIGHT.

In a strange for us weather twist, the cold weather has remained since the last snowfall. Yesterday, with the sun shining brightly there was finally a hint of melt off. Thankfully not much, and the roads didn't have chance to wet and then freeze again overnight.

A flake or two drooped this morning at about 9:45am, by 9:55am the scene outside the window was a snow globe. Medium sized, lacy edged flakes that ordinarily would flop to the ground and disintegrate, adding their recently frozen water to the rest. But with temperatures at or just

below freezing, the flakes whirred and danced around, following each other in a giddy winter dance. By 10:05am the dance was over, the dancers retreating behind the curtain.. readying for the next scene?

The window thermometer claims 33 degrees as of 10:00am, MSN says 30 degrees right now. The wind is very light here in this little corner of South Kitsap. (about 4000ft south of Sinclair inlet as the crow flies, up on the hill)

As of this second, 10:46am, the flakes are starting to dance lightly around under the tree branches again. I hope they stay longer this time. It's almost an instant replay of the events I just described, as now it looks as if someone has shaken the snow globe again.

For the record, below is a picture of what is left of the snow around the tuna tin snow gauge.

The weather shows on TV this morning gave dire predictions of snow beginning in the north, surrounding the outer areas (Cascades, Bellingham, Olympics) and then closing ranks to the south and swallowing up the interior. (Seattle, Kitsap, Pierce)

The National Weather Service posted this latest advisory:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 1012 AM PST WED DEC 17 2008 ...

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR THE ADMIRALTY INLET AREA FOR TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING... .

..A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR MOST NORTHERN ZONES IN WESTERN WASHINGTON AS WELL AS THE CASCADES AND OLYMPICS... .

..A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR SOUTHERN ZONES IN WESTERN WASHINGTON...

.A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON FROM CANADA TODAY...

AND WITH A VERY COLD AIR MASS STILL OVER THE REGION...

SNOW IS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN WASHINGTON TODAY AND TONIGHT. A COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA THURSDAY.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE ADMIRALTY INLET AREA THAT IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST THURSDAY.

THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

OVER THE ADMIRALTY INLET AREA...INCLUDING WHIDBEY ISLAND AND PORT TOWNSEND...2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW IS LIKELY TODAY. SNOW HAS ALREADY BEGUN...PARTICULARLY OVER NORTHERN ISLAND COUNTY WHERE THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING. SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT WHEN ANOTHER INCH IS POSSIBLE. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL BE 2 TO 6 INCHES. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... MONITOR WEATHER FORECASTS AND ROAD CONDITIONS CAREFULLY. AVOID TRAVEL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. TRAVEL IS LIKELY TO BE ADVERSELY IMPACTED THROUGH THURSDAY.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?wfo=sew&pil=WSW&sid=sew&version=0 Click this link for the full advisory.

Just as before, the whirling falling snow has stopped. The brightness of the morning has given way to steely gray matte.

The local radar image doesn't look so bad, and the site is reporting a temperature of 35 degrees in Seattle.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day4 1:00pm

2008-12-15T12:54:00.000-08:00

It's Not Melting!!!

The tuna tin says the level has dropped a bit since last night, but it really looks more like settling and evaporation. It was 27 degrees at 7:30am this morning according to the window thermometer, and 25 degrees in Bremerton according to the TV. The frequent gusts of wind yesterday afternoon and last night have shaken loose all but the frost from the tree branches, and the steady wind and frequent gusts today are blowing even that around as it still refuses to melt. The sun has been shining since around 9:00am, so I expected a little melting but even now the ice crystals are flying past the window, glimmering in the sun.

I keep thinking I'm going to grab the camera and go find some fairy tale image to post, but... IT'S COLD OUT THERE! 27 degrees still according to both the window and MSN sidebar. The wind is steady, with those gusts I mentioned. And as I'm typing this, I can again hear a frog croaking outside the front door.... making me feel a little embarrassed. I mean, if the frog can bear it.... We'll see.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day3 6:21pm

2008-12-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

Not much to report throughout the day, so I didn't. 12:56pm and the winds were picking up, slight to gusty. The snow was still frozen though, making it look like more like Montana or Oklahoma than western Washington. The window thermometer said 31 degrees
while MSN sidebar said 28.

2:11pm and the wind was pretty steady with abrupt gusts that are knocking frozen lumps of snow off branches and roof edges, flinging them diagonally like fastballs on opening night! Hope you stayed indoors for this bit folks, fast moving chunks of frozen snow are not good for the head! It was still 28/31 degrees here in Kitsap county.

As of now, both the KIRO and KOMO radar views show it should be snowing here and all around me. I double checked, not a flake to be seen.

The window thermometer gave it's final visible reading a few minutes ago of 31 degrees, while the MSN sidebar finds 28 degrees now at 6:48pm. I'll tell you it feels simply frigid outside, and the wind has stopped blustering.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day3 11:00am

2008-12-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

Snow continued to fall sporadically overnight after my last post.

My eyes popped open a few times to check the snow on the branches outside the window, and while I saw that more snow had fallen, it wasn't enough to warrant waking. The tuna tin rain gauge has been transformed into a tuna tin snow gauge, none the worse for wear. But isn't it interesting that no snow accumulated INSIDE the tin...

It was exactly 31 degrees per the part time window thermometer at 8:00am this morning. The local weather stations were reporting anywhere from 28-32 degrees, depending on the channel. MSN sidebar is telling me that it's 28 degrees now, at 11:00am. From the way the snow is reacting to the slight gusts of wind that began around 9:30am, I'll buy the 28 degrees. Rather than falling in mushy clumps, it is dusting off to create a short lived glittery blizzard wonderland. I find myself looking for a long while, trying to convince myself it is snowing again just like when I was a kid sitting home on a snow day. In those days I lived on the east coast, where such daydreams were common place for kids in winter. Not so much here in the pacific northwest. Snow falls overnight, and slushes to the ground by mid-morning. Only a few times in a couple decades have the conditions been right for dry glittery snow here in South Kitsap.

The time stamp of 10:30 on the car hood has nearly been filled in, and it was a nearly an inch at that point. It's very cold and blustery out, so I'm not going to re-stamp it just yet.

To my surprise I can hear a frog croaking outside the house! 4 or 5 neighborhood kids passed by about 20 minutes ago, plastic sleds in tow. I'm not sure if they were heading out, or heading in, but it sounded like they were having fun. I hope they don't try to sled down the hill at the end of the drive, it's a blind hill for the cars and very narrow with no should at all... a recipe for disaster.

The view out the front is wonderful, if this much fell here in this tree and hill protected area, I imagine it's even whiter around the county.

Here's a full shot of the table the tuna tin 'precipitation' gauge is set on. The large pot contains an African pansy, which appears quite delicate but has actually turned out to be almost weedlike in it's proliferation as well as being slug-proof and freeze proof. It sets small violet flowers heavily in early spring and then sporadically through fall. Larger clumps will survive intact through winter, and smaller plants will die back to the ground only to emerge again in spring. But I digress... next to the pot is a garden fairy sculpture holding a mirrored gazing ball. I guess I should bring that inside.

I couldn't leave out the Wooby! She is curious and excited about the snow, but hates to get her feet wet... what a dilemma! She finally got over it however...

As of 11:30am there are no signs of melting, the snow is clinging to the tree branches and occasionally being blown around by slight gusts of wind.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day2 12:00am

2008-12-14T00:10:00.000-08:00

Final report for Day2 of the Western Washington Severe Weather blog.

The KIRO radar view isn't very accurate at the moment. It isn't snowing here at all, and a friend just called from his waterfront home on Oyster Bay, and it's rain/freezing rain mixed there as of 11:58pm. You'd never know it by the above radar image.

The temp still reads 28 from MSN, Schoolnet shows 31 degrees.

I found this next bit posted a little after 9:30pm

Issued by the National Weather Service at 9:37 PM PST on December 13, 2008

... Winter Weather Advisory in effect until noon PST Sunday...
The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a WinterWeather Advisory for The Lowlands of the Puget Sound area and the northwest interior of western Washington... which is in effect until noon PST Sunday.

The combination of sub-freezing air moving into western Washington from the north and showers associated with an upper low will produce 1 to 3 inches of snow tonight across The Lowlands of the Puget Sound region and the northwest interior. Another 1 to 2inches of snow will fall Sunday morning as showers decrease from the north.

The biggest snowfall totals tonight will occur in western Whatcom... Skagit... and Snohomish counties where snow began earlier this evening and temperatures have been below freezing. This is also where snow is more likely to accumulate on roads. Snowfall in the Seattle area and over the south Puget Sound region will likely be somewhat less... but it will probably stick on roads by morning as temperatures fall below freezing.

With temperatures falling well below freezing overnight... moisture on roads and sidewalks will turn to ice. So people should expect difficult traveling conditions later tonight and Sunday morning along with snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches.

A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of snow will cause travel difficulties. Be prepared for slippery roads and limited visibilities... and use caution while driving.

1130pm and the temp has dropped to 28 degrees, possibly explaining why the snow has been reduced to teeny infrequent flakes. Still not a lick of wind.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day2 10:38pm

2008-12-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

Real Snow Accumulation in South Kitsap!

There is no wind to speak of at 10:38pm, but the snow it is a fallin'! At just 10:25pm it had just dusted the fir branches outside my window. This little pocket of the county doesn't usually get snow unless the rest is pretty well covered, so I presume the rest of the county may have a solid 1/2 inch by now or more. The pacific satellite image shows clouds from the north out of Alaska and the south out of Hawaii converging and swerving just off the Wa/Or coast, and then dropping down into southern CA and heading east. Feeling sorry for my cuzins on 'da Ilan and hopeful for those folk in the south hankerin' for water.

Here is a short video out the kitchen window, you can see that darn digital thermometer on the window. Absolutely useless at night.

By 10:45pm, there was a solid inch of snow up the road from the Kitsap Court house, here are a couple of pictures. Still no wind to speak of.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day2 9:38pm

2008-12-13T21:42:00.000-08:00

Every picture tells a story:

And, as of 9:38pm, it's still snowing here in South Kitsap and we have a trace accumulation here where I am, fairly protected by embankments and trees. MSN says it's still 30 degrees, and is predicting rain for tomorrow.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day2 7:00pm

2008-12-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

The snow has stopped falling here on the hill in South Kitsap. MSN sidebar still reports the temperature as 30 degrees. KIRO's radar shows Kitsap county from Tracyton south to Sunnslope, east to Manette and west nearly to Belfair holding on to a bubble of no precipitation at all, frozen or not. While all around glares blue with snow from Sunset Beach north to the straights, east to Harper and west to at least Camp Union. This station's forecast calls for overnight lows of 31 degrees.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day2 5:00pm

2008-12-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

Sadly, the snow stopped falling at about 4:20pm. My friend across town lives in a zone that simply never gets snow, though she can drive 200 yards down the road and actually see the snow line crossing the road. They live in a very odd, you have to see it to believe it, micro-climate out there near Colvos passage. She is always showing up in town on rainy or chilly days in sandals and a Tshirt, proclaiming "It's sunny and warm at my house!".

The latest radar image shows the snowline holding, at what looks to be about 1/2 mile away. As of this moment, 5:22pm, it is snowing lightly with no apparent wind. Amazingly, the MSN Sidebar reports the temperature has dropped a whopping 6 degrees since the last blog post. Noting that the sun went down during that time.

It's 30 degrees and snowing at the moment in South Kitsap County.

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 Day2 3:30pm

2008-12-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

I woke during the night, hoping to catch snow falling outside the window. No luck. As of 9:30pm last night, the winds and rains were light. Catching the news this morning, I should have had a full tuna tin of rain. Apparently 3+ inches fell somewhere in Kitsap county, but it didn't fall here. It is possible that the configuration of banks and trees around the yard are blocking the rainfall into my tuna tin rain gauge.

As of 3:47pm, the window thermometer is reporting 41 degrees and the MSN sidebar says it's 37 degrees. The news this morning predicted that the morning temperatures would be the warmest all day, as they would decline throughout the day in a reversal of the norms. That doesn't seem to have happened however, as 37 was the temperature this morning at 8:00am.

The above radar image shows the snow is all around me, and about to start falling any minute.

AND IT'S RIGHT!!! IT'S JUST STARTED SNOWING IN KITSAP COUNTY!
I'm near the court house, just up the hill from the sound!

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 5:00pm

2008-12-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

KOMO TV is reporting an unusually high tide (+1.5ft) today is combining with equally unusual high winds to make traversing the local floating bridge a tricking and sometimes scary task.

As I was leaving my house at 11:55am for those errands, the window thermometer read 40 degrees, and the rain had increased to a steady downpour. I also placed an empty tuna tin in a relatively clear space on the patio table to track the rainfall.

As I made my way through Bremerton, a stop at the bank at 12:23pm, the wind was more sustained and the rain was now mixed with freezing rain.

Back in Kitsap county around 3pm, the wind had picked up considerably and I almost lost my hat! Keys still in hand, I nearly knocked myself out trying to clamp the hat back on my head. (remind me to take some keys off that ring!) The store (Fred Meyers) was busier than usual, even for a Friday. Making my way back to the house on Highway 16, the tops of the trees were now bending seriously with the wind coming in from what seemed the east, and holding the small compact Honda on the road was a little difficult a few times. I noticed a fair sized fir branch had fallen, but no other damage and the power was still on! YEAH!

While I was putting the groceries away, my father called from Tacoma to make sure I was prepared. The wind is not bad in Tacoma, according to him. He was surprised to hear it was blowing on my side (the Narrows bridge separates the Tacoma from the Kitsap area), and we were both surprised that the power flickered while we were talking. 3 or 4 flickers, then steady electricity. Whew!

At 4:30pm, a friend from Chicago called. When I told him about the coming storm, he exclaimed "That's why my trip to Seattle was cancelled!" He flys a lot for work, and had been scheduled to come in Saturday morning. I let him know to stay by the phone, because I had heard from a guy at the store that the snow had been pushed back to Saturday from tonight. While we were talking, the power flickered again, for a longer moment this time. I thought I was a goner! It came back on however.

At 5pm, a friend on the other side of town called, sounding a little frantic. "Are you OK?" Yes, I said. I'm fine, what's wrong? She explained that the entire town of Port Orchard seemed out of power. She had just come back from cutting a Christmas tree, and had planned on hitting the grocery on the way home. Her first choice was out of power, and then the street and traffic lights went out. She headed across town, hoping to leave the 'no power zone' behind, but never did find a single store open, so was sure I too was out of power. (and without a generator and knows I refuse to burn wood). It seemed to me the wind had died down a lot, and thought I should be OK. She of course offered to let me come and stay over should that change. I'll be making that a last resort thought, she has 2 bed ridden sickies over there! Checking the tuna can rain gauge, and only about an 1/8 inch seems to have fallen, it sure does seem like a lot more. I guess it must be the wind making it seem just that much more miserable.

It's 5:30pm now, and Steve Poole has just reassured us all that the storm is still coming. The mid-day snow has changed to midnight rain-snow mix, and in fact the snow is appearing now on radar at the northwestern edge of the Olympic mountains. Freezing rain is appearing on this side of the mountain shadow, and a solid band of rain covers the rest of western Washington from border to border, shore to Cascade mountains. Steve predicts the snow should hit me around 6am.

Breaking news while I'm watching:

Wind temps around the area:

Destruction Island: 86mph

Forks: 69mph

Hoquiam: 58mph

Alki Beach: 52mph

Seattle 45mph

Tacoma 45mph (Dad?)

Friday Harbor 47mph

Western Washington Severe Weather December 2008 10:30am

2008-12-12T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Weather is Coming! The Weather is Coming!

We are gearing up for our first winter storm here in the pacific northwest today. I've become quite addicted to local area weather bloggers over the past couple of years, and while I don't think I want to blog daily about it, this storm might be interesting enough to give it a try.

The title link will take you to the NOAA's national weather site for the seattle area.

• A strong Pacific storm will move into Western Washington Friday bringing:

– Abrupt transition to much colder temperatures across the region

– Heavy mountain snow

– Threat of lowland snow Friday night through the weekend

– Outlook into next week is continued cold with some moderation around mid week

I'll be spending the storm in Kitsap County, where the snowfall is predicted to be between 2 and 8 inches. Most of the county enjoys protection by the olympic mountains from the buffeting ocean winds, and warmer temperatures along it's sound. From time to time however, that cupped feature can trap cold air allowing for rare but significant amounts of snowfall.

The morning started off windless, and dry. Over the past hour (930a-1030a) the wind has picked up in gusts, sending the tree limbs swaying. The gusts have slowed now (1045a), and the periods in between are calm. The rain began lightly falling about 930am, and is now quite steady. The thermometer (digital, suctioned to the exterior of my double pane kitchen window) says that it's 41 degrees out, while the MSN sidebar weather tool says it's 37.

I can see that the next door property owner has cut down several trees recently that overhung the yard and possibly parts of the home. Good thinking in this circumstance, however the trees were located on a quite steep embankment leading toward the residence. The root systems from those trees appear to be integral to the integrity of the embankment. I hope the higher than normal rain prediction for our area this winter doesn't cause problems over there. The home I am staying in is surrounded by quite large trees with long (very) branches extending out to catch the light. After seeing 1 inch thick ice on tree limbs this morning on the news (not around here) I am a little nervous for the freezing temperatures predicted for a couple days from now. Even now, simply the weight of the rain water is bending some of these branches. Add the weight of snow and then freeze it ....

That having been said, I'm going to throw on the rainboots, scarf and hat now to scurry off to the store for some last minute supplies. I don't need much, as I don't have a generator and refuse to burn wood in the fireplace. So, if the power goes out I will be heading to the nearest friends/hotel with power.

I will add a blog post again when the weather changes, and will possibly include pictures/video if it gets very interesting. So, if following local weather blogs is your thing, or you are just interested in south Kitsap county weather as it happens over the course of this storm, stay tuned!

Senator Tom Carper - Corporate Man or Smith Comma John?

2008-12-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

I began this search as I was watching the automakers, GAO and UAW speaking to congress. Sen. Tom Carper made a comment, rather paid a compliment to, the automakers that set me back in my seat, furrowed my brow and finally elicited a rather loud vocal response directed at the TV screen. "We face the voters, and one of the questions that is sometimes on their minds is 'what have you done for me lately'. 'And I think you are all going through a little bit of that lately too in terms of what have you done for us lately in terms of productivity..., ...bringing down the labor costs, ...what have you done for us in terms of improving quality, ...and in terms of improving fuel efficiency?' I was about to applaud, I reached for my keyboard to look this senator up as I listened intently for reactions from the big three. What I in fact heard next caused my hopes to fall, and instead of reaching to look up the senator, I went in search of his donations. "You've actually, I think any fair minded person would say on every one of those fronts, you've done a lot! You've done a lot!"

Productivity - FAIL - Any gains in this area have happened outside the borders of the US. IE Mexico

Labor costs - FAIL - Each car is sold at a loss, the reason the UAW is at the table with you.

Quality - FAIL*FAIL - Double failing grade here. With the exception of a couple of models produced only for European markets, American made cars continue to trail those from nearly every other country. Not only didn't you pass, you didn't even show up for the test.

Efficiency - FAIL*FAIL*FAIL - All of you spend millions every year to lobby congress in an attempt to stave off increasing CAFE standards. You spend millions more advertising and sponsoring large, inefficient cars, trucks, SUV's, Hummers etc and little to nothing making 'small and efficient' cool.

So naturally, I thought "he must be in the bag for the big three" and went to check donations. Not as easy as it seems. In reviewing the 'automobile manufacturers' political contributions (click here), I've had to do some adding of figures to get to a total of how much any 'one' company has contributed. The list of donors includes the usual suspects - Ford, GM, Chrysler, Nissan, Lexus, Mitsubishi and Honda. But along with those obvious are the less obvious, and suspicious. The number 5 contributor is 'Alliance of Automobile Manufactures'. What? Well, that must be for those that didn't contribute in their own name right? Wrong. A quick check of the members list for this 'alliance' finds familiar names, BMW, Mercedes, Mazda, Porsche and Volkswagen. Fine. But in addition to those names, we find (again) Chrysler, Ford, GM, Mitsubishi and Toyota! The total contributions for the Alliance were $21,850. With 10 members, that's $2185 each. Not much. Next comes a contributor called 'General Parts International', hmmm.. That's CarQuest Autoparts.... anyway. Daimlerchrysler is listed twice, once as mentioned and once as daimler chrysler. $6500 and $5650 contributed for a total $12150. Another name not expected is Badenoch LLC. This is a research and development Co with an NAICS of industrial design services. Yeah, that fits in with automobile manufacturers. Can you say creative accounting boys and girls?

I didn't find a lot of direct contributions to this senator from the auto industry, just some. I went back to his bio and it hit me. Mr. Carper is a senator from Delaware. The corporation capital of the country. ( I was going to say world, but that's just not so anymore, is it?)

I don't know a lot about this senator, might he have been calming the waters before dive bombing? His remarks were next directed to Mark Zandi, thanking him for previously providing what he calls a 'bang for the buck' reports, and asks for his opinion on the biggest bang for the buck here. Zandi says the government should provide aid, there is no choice. The cost of ensuring that the automakers don't go into bankruptcy in the next 3-4 years is going to cost more than $34 billion. He gave a range of $75-125 billion. Per Zandi, this is the total number taxpayers will be on the hook for, that includes hart (he was hard to understand here, could be 'our' 'art' or some other acronym) money, sec136 money... Zandi goes on to say that if they (the automakers) stick to the script, they will come out very viable companies. The problem according to Zandi is that sticking to the script outside of bankruptcy is going to be very, very difficult. Mentioning stakeholders, creditors, the UAW, suppliers and dealers all to deal with. So plan on them not sticking to the script. Zandi says allocate $34 billion for them but not all at once. GM wants $10bil to get them through to March 31st. Chrysler needs $7bil. Ford doesn't need anything. Zandi would give them this much of the $34bil to avoid any bankruptcy through Mar31. He agrees with a board for oversight, and especially the idea of a single person in the short term to streamline and expedite the recovery plan. At the Mar31 deadline, benchmarks must have been met to receive the next round of funding. He also suggests the companies use the time between now and then to prepare for bankruptcy. He concludes by insisting everyone stick to the idea that 'this is it'.

Carper follows the comments by Zandi with a single question about how to ensure a reasonable return to the taxpayers in order to take on the risk, which is answered by one witness with no followup questions. Carper then goes on to say that he doesn't think the automakers are getting enough credit for what they have already done! He thinks these 3 companies 'have positioned themselves to make a go it' within a couple of years. ... Ford has been in operation since 1903, General motors since 1908 and Chrysler since 1925. And they've positioned themselves over the past couple of years to 'make a go of it'? Oh really!
The GM balance sheet for the past 3 years stacks up like this: Net tangible assets (assets-liabilities including stock value) '05 $10,258,000 '06 ($6,559,000) '07 ($38,160,000) http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=GM&annual
Ford comes up like this '05 $7,497,000 '06 ($40,236,000) '07 $3,559,000 http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=f&annual
and Chrysler (Daimler AG, DAI) like this '05 $37,162,919 '06 $41,862,752 and '07 $48,646,941 (keeping in mind a majority of this company's business is outside the US) http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=dai&annual

It's fun to note that when I went to the chryslerllc.com website, the splash pages says this (and only this)
"It's not a bailout to keep us from failing. It's a loan to help us succeed. We are investing in the creation of new technologies for more environmentally responsible vehicles, reduced emission vehicles and emission free electric vehicles. As early as 2010 our exciting lineup of vehicles will offer an electric drive system. With a link to read more about their plan for a successful future, to learn more about their ENVI vehicles and a link to watch a video so that you may "See why you should care about the US auto industry". But I digress.

Senator Carper, your remarks today weren't in keeping with reality. Not only have these 3 companies had the time and experience to 'make a go of it' without any help, they haven't held to the 'free market' diatribe and they haven't performed in their own shareholder's best interests, much less the best interests of their employees or their customers. They've asked for and been given - repeatedly - tax breaks, incentives, grants and loans all with the promise of 'new technology', 'more efficient vehicles' and 'world class quality and safety'. These three automakers together make up the number 2 position in the world for sales http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automaker, while being last in the world for quality, efficiency and safety. What in the world were you thinking with this thinly veiled attempt at questioning that was, in fact, 7 minutes of undeserved compliments and praise?

Kilowatt Ours - Yours and Mine

2008-11-19T00:35:00.000-08:00

Energy conservation. There are 3 schools of thought, generally.

1) Why should I give up the good life

2) My efforts won't contribute enough to matter

3) I'll do what it takes to conserve

Thanks to the 3rd group, for 30+ years of effort in designing, engineering and implementing the ideas and tools available to us today, groups 1 and 2 now have what it takes to join the effort with no reservations.

Facing energy shortages, the city of Austin purchased land at the edge of town to build a new power plant. It was necessarily close, posing health issues. It was going to be quite expensive and take longer to finish than they really had time to wait. So with research and experience from the treehuggers, nerds, geeks, enviros and offgridders the city came up with a plan. They would build a power plant that required no land clearing, no construction, no pollution. They set out to build a Conservation Power Plant. Their goal was simple in thought, logistically daunting and unprecedented. Conserve as much power through community effort as would be produced by building a new power plant. Click on the image below to see the results of their effort.

The above clip is part of a longer program, Kilowatt Ours; A Plan to Re-Energize America which aired on PBS stations over the last few months, and tonight here in the Seattle area. The documentary highlights what is hard for most Americans to grasp. There are 301 million Americans. If just one room in every home in America were lit by Energy Star lighting, it would be like removing 1 trillion pounds of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
31,500,000 kWh could be saved every year if every exit sign in America were upgraded to LED bulb. There are A LOT OF US, when each of us does a small thing it turns into huge thing, a never been done before thing. During the drought and subsequent energy shortage in California in 2001, there wasn't enough time to build new power plants to avoid the crisis. So much like other leaders before him in the face of such a crisis, the Governor asked his citizens to pitch in. Raise the thermostat to 78, unscrew 1 in 4 light bulbs... and they did. What they accomplished that summer broke world records, and set them on the path leading our country to energy independence. Below is a short clip from the program;

Some quick facts:

In the fall of 2000 over 300 million gallons of coal slurry were spilled into the Big Sandy River in Martin County, KY. Although this ecological disaster was 30 times greater than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, very few people outside of Kentucky hear about it.
Visibility in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has declined 60% over the last 60 years. (We need plants to breath, eat and drink. Plants need sunlight to grow) 83% of the visibility-reducing haze in Smoky Mountains National Park is from sulfate particulates from coal-burning power plants. The American Lung Association listed 10 southern cities in the Southeast among the top 25 most air-polluted cities in America. The EPA estimates that 33 million Americans in the Southeast alone live in bad-air areas.
40 of 50 states post statewide mercury advisories warning that fish are unsafe to eat.
The Centers for Disease Control say that 1 in 10 women of childbearing age carry unsafe levels of mercury in their tissues.

• Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 20% as much electricity as a 100-watt incandescent bulb and last years longer too.

• New energy-efficient refrigerators are 40% more efficient than they were just two years ago.

• If just one room in every home in America were lit by Energy Star lighting, it would be like removing 1 trillion pounds of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

• A typical washing machine uses 1,000 kWh per year of electricity. An energy-efficient frontloading washer uses only 280 kWh.

• The city of Birmingham, Alabama, now saves $220,000 after upgrading all 700 street
intersections with LED traffic signals.

• When the Sumner County School System in Tennessee found that geothermal heating and cooling in a new school helped them save $5,000 per month on energy, they decided to retrofit every school in the county with this cost-cutting technology.

• Smith Middle School in North Carolina uses a technique called “daylighting” to flood classrooms with natural light.

• The Sullivan County School System in Tennessee finances their $24 million energy upgrade with the $1 million they save on energy every year.

• 31,500,000 kWh could be saved every year if every exit sign in America were upgraded to LED bulb.

So please, visit http://www.kilowattours.org/ and see what our efforts can accomplish. Sign up with their program to do your small part in a world changing effort, and save money along the way. Purchase the DVD or find the program airing on a local station and take the time to watch it. Contact your representatives http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml and tell them you want to see these sorts of money saving, job providing, clean earth policies in YOUR town and be sure to tell them to watch Kilowatt Ours - A Plan to Re-Energize America. For your wallet, for your health and for our security and independence, demand a Conservation Power Plant in every town across America.

Nuclear Power’s Image Makeover - The Market Speaks

2008-11-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

By Tom Zeller Jr.

As part of James Kanter’s post last week on the efforts of one nuclear power company to solicit proposals from architectural firms on ways to improve the visual impact of nuclear power plants, we asked readers for their ideas.

Needless to say, there were lots of opinions — many of them taking issue with the very premise of the exercise. We also received a number of drawings, photographs and other artistic efforts reflecting a variety of viewpoints. Herewith, we offer a selection of those.

(Note: We’ll continue to feature your artwork and thoughts on the idea of a nuclear power renaissance as we receive them — though we reserve the right to excerpt and edit for clarity and brevity. Keep your thoughts short and your artwork of manageable size, folks. Send them here: greeninc nytimes com.)

Dylan Wolfe, an assistant professor of visual communication at Clemson University, offered the following entry — and a bit of social engineering — toward a safer nuclear energy program:

1. Construct power plants in the richest neighborhoods in the country.

2. Keep nuclear waste inside the homes of those same neighborhoods.
Bill Gates, for example, would have the influence and capacity to assure that the plants were safe and well-maintained. Keeping the waste local solves the transport and disposal problem — plus, Mr. Gates will certainly monitor his share of the waste diligently. The only additional measure required would be to create mandatory residence restrictions, so that the residents don’t try to move out.

But hey, those neighborhoods already have conveniently located gates

Click Here to see the other submissions.

Obama Costs Nader the Election

2008-11-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

By Bob Maschi

Election results are in and they clearly indicate that Democrat Barack Obama has cost Peace and Freedom’s candidate, Ralph Nader, the presidency. Simple math proves that had Obama not run, and had all of his support gone to Nader, that Nader would have easily won the majority of Electoral College votes and, therefore, the presidency.

A similar electoral flaw occurred in the 2000 presidential election when Al Gore cost Ralph Nader the presidency." Courtesy of Peace and Freedom

Is the Election About to Be Stolen in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Elsewhere?

2008-11-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

Monday 03 November 2008
by: Cynthia Boaz, Ange-Marie Hancock, David McCuan, Mark Crispin Miller and Michael Nagler, t r u t h o u t Perspective

Calvin Thomas in West Virginia claims to have witnessed a touch-screen machine malfunction that assigned his vote to John McCain as opposed to Barack Obama - his intended choice.

Last Friday, a federal court judge in Cleveland, Ohio, ordered Michael Connell, an information-technology consultant to the McCain '08 campaign, to give a deposition in a court proceeding. Mr. Connell, whose firm, GovTech Solutions, built Ohio's 2004 election results computer network, was in a position to have knowledge about the alleged manipulation of electronic voting results in that presidential contest (a technique known as "flipping") in order to switch the winner in Ohio from Sen. John Kerry to President Bush. The deposition is scheduled to take place today, November 3, one day before the 2008 general election.

Connell is a former associate of Karl Rove, who is believed by those familiar with the events in question to have engaged in witness intimidation to prevent testimony about what happened in Ohio in 2004. They also believe that IT companies associated with the Republican Party have redeveloped the capacity to manipulate electronic voting results in Tuesday's election, both within Ohio and outside, including Pennsylvania and other key battleground states such as Colorado and New Mexico. One such firm, Triad GSI, is managing voter registration databases in 55 of Ohio's 88 counties and is hosting 25 of those databases.

All this has led to speculation that the McCain campaign's insistence that they can win Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other states, despite being (in some places, significantly) behind in most of the polls, could be prompted by having been informed about planned cyber interference with electronic voting results.

Click here to continue reading the disgusting details: http://www.truthout.org/110308R

Video the Vote 2008

Video the Vote is a national network of citizen journalists, independent filmmakers, and media professionals working together to document voter suppression and disenfranchisement.
LEARN MORE CHECK OUT OUR 2008 PROMO

10 Tips To Make Sure Your Vote Will Count

2008-10-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Update: This Video The Vote message's goal is to make sure there are 'No More Stolen Elections'. 110108

Oct 29th, 2008 by Eddie.

The map below shows which states allow early voting. If you can vote early, do it. If you live in a state that only allows early voting with an excuse, click on the map to get the info on early voting.

Use http://www.govote.org/ to find out your early voting location. GoVote.org also tells you what you need to bring to the polls in your state.

Not Voting Early?

Be prepared: download and “read” this comic book by Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The last few pages provide advice for people who are sure they’re registered and are being told they’re not. Please consider donating to the creators of this book.

In most states it is illegal to campaign (i.e. wear buttons, shirts, stickers, hats, etc) near a polling station. The McCain camp is counting on Obama supporters showing up with their t-shirts, getting turned away and not bothering to come back to vote. This is one of many tactics that will be used to suppress the vote - keeping lines long, not enough ballots, malfunctioning voting machines, etc."

Click here to read all of the tips to make sure your vote will count.

Don't Vote?

Palin’s Nightmare - A Shared Halloween Horror

2008-10-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine):

In a speech in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin told the crowd that an Obama presidency would present the specter of a socialist state in which fundamental American freedoms are undermined.

Does Sarah mean a state:

That snatches its victims off the street, denies them all form of legal process and whisks them away to secret “blacksites” where they can be tortured using all the techniques described in Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon?
That arrests and prosecutes its political adversaries for imaginary crimes so as to eliminate them from the running in election cycles in which they could do some damage?

Click through to watch the video and read the rest of the titillating questions for Governor Palin.

McCain - Palin

2008-10-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

These videos sum it all up for me. If you are polling, data gathering or simply keeping track...

See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

Ralph Nader Takes on Gallup Poll's Black Box

2008-10-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

October 5th, 2008
Posted by Toby Heaps at Nader 2008 blog

We do fairly poorly on the Gallup poll, generally registering less than 1 percent (or about 5 times less than the recent WSJ poll). This is probably because they don’t mention Ralph Nader’s name in the question–just Obama and McCain.

So I phoned up Gallup’s Editor-in-Chief (609-924-9600), and asked him if they had any kind of objective threshold which we could strive toward so that Ralph Nader’s name could be included as part of the primary question.

His answer: “No. We use our internal judgment to decide. We do some open-ended questions and variety of other criteria, and then our editorial team makes a decision.” I asked if there were any ballpark levels of support in the open-ended question they looked to as a threshold, and he repeated his mantra, that it was subject to “internal judgment criteria,” and then jumped off to take another call.

He was kind enough to leave me with his e-mail to follow up. Anyone who wants to let Newport know what you think of his internal judegment, please call him or e-mail him at frank_newport@gallup.com."

Thanks to Austin Cassidy's Independent Political Report for bringing this entry to my attention.

Here are a few other articles of interest:

Why does the latest poll by the Pew Research Center report that drilling for domestic oil has jumped to the top of Americans' energy priorities? Maybe because Pew didn’t ask respondents if they want the nation to invest in clean energy and efficient cars, instead. So suggests this poll (pdf) by Belden Russonello & Stewart, released last week.
http://wilderness.org/Library/Documents/upload/BRS-Omnibus-Poll_07-22-08.pdf

Despite a raft of advantages in the electorate for Democrats, in September's first Gallup tracking poll, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats were surveyed (including "leaners") from Sept. 3-5, compared to a 10-point Democratic identification advantage two weeks ago. That partisan makeup of the polling pool resulted in a 5-point lead for McCain in Sept. 5 tracking poll. Meanwhile, the new CBS poll features a 6-point swing in partisan composition toward Republicans, which plays some role in the poll's two-point lead for McCain. Finally, the latest USA Today poll, which claims a four-point edge for McCain, was arrived at after a 10-point swing in partisan makeup toward GOP respondents. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/09/poll-madness-mccain-takes_n_125158.html

Polling itself is unpredictable. Polling affects elections. It's sort of like this thing "you can't drop a stone in the same river once [sic]"—as soon as you poll it, you've changed it. What should we really make of polling in this election? http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2111

Polling is a business; the interest of pollsters is not to educate the public.

$100k Reward for Info Tying Rove to Election Rigging

2008-10-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

A non-profit organization has offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who can supply information tying Republican strategist Karl Rove and computer expert Michael Connell to illegally manipulated elections, according to a Friday press release.

The group is called Velvet Revolution and is looking for evidence of criminal activity and Connell's relationship with Rove. Citing testimony from another technology expert named Stephen Spoonamore, Velvet Revolution accuses the Republican Party of rigging elections for years by using Connell to exploit electronic voting systems.

Spoonamore filed an affidavit warning that the coming presidential election will be stolen by the GOP unless it is exposed. A colleague of Connell, Spoonamore gives evidence explaining Connell's involvement with past election rigging. "Mr. Connell is a devout Catholic," Spoonamore wrote.

"He has admitted to me that in his zeal to 'save the unborn' he may have helped others who have compromised elections. "The statement by Spoonamore also ridicules the Diebold voting system as "riddled with exploitable errors." The system was created by Diebold Election Systems Inc. and has been used in several elections accused of illegal meddling.

Connell was subpoenaed September 22 to testify under oath in a federal lawsuit in Ohio regarding election rigging and vote manipulation in past elections as well as the upcoming presidential race, according to Raw Story.

Continue Reading the Raw Story.

This won't be the first attempt to bring the treasonous Rove to justice, but it may possibly be the most organized.

"Four Iowans were arrested today while attempting to make a Citizens’ Arrest of Karl Rove in Des Moines, Iowa. Citing Iowa Code provisions for making Citizen’s Arrests as well as citing Federal Statute violations they claimed Rove had violated, the four were stopped at the gate of the Wakonda Country Club in Des Moines where Rove was scheduled to speak at a Republican Fundraiser.
The four arrested were retired Methodist minister and Peace and Justice Advocate, Rev. Chet Guinn, 80, as well as three Des Moines Catholic Workers, Edward Bloomer, 61, Kirk Brown, 25, and Mona Shaw, 57. All four were cited for trespassing and released.
The four maintained that they were acting within the guidelines of Iowa Code that obligate private citizens to make such an arrest if they believe a felony has been committed and turn Rove over to police officials to bring Rove before a judge for formal indictment. By law, a federal judge should consider the charges and determine if an indictment should be made.
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Brown and Shaw made a similar attempt last March when Rove spoke at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Brown and Shaw were arrested and released without charges following that attempt."

And this doesn't appear to be any surprise to Karl, considering this quote ‘I Fully Expect To Be Indicted By The End Of The Year’.

"During the lecture, Rove lashed out at hostile questioners, telling one man his comment showed “a simple, stupid mind” and chastised what he said were “stupid statements” from the audience. Rove also said that former Amb. Joseph Wilson “lied” about his 2002 trip to Niger and accused an audience member of “perpetuating libel” on the U.S. military for asking about the real number of deaths in the Iraq war"

"Responding to a question about CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson’s outing, Rove, seemingly joking, added:

'I haven’t been indicted yet, but I fully expect to be by the end of the year.'

At the end of the talk, an audience member shouted at Rove: “Can we have our $40,000 back?” Rove replied: “No, you can’t.”

Perhaps Rove needs to keep the $40,000 in expectation of substantial legal fees."

Now Is the Time to Resist Wall Street's Shock Doctrine

2008-09-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

While the collapse of this country’s financial system continues to send shock waves around the world, we speak to the bestselling author of The Shock Doctrine. Naomi Klein says the public should be wary of the Bush administration trying to use the crisis to push through more of the radical pro-corporate policies that helped cause it in the first place." Naomi Klein with Amy Goodman - Democracy Now!

NAOMI KLEIN: "Well, the thesis of my book, what I mean by the “shock doctrine,” is that it is in times of crisis, it is in times when people are panicked, when we've seen again and again the right push through radical pro-corporate policies, what they call “free market reforms,” precisely because it is in a crisis where the space for debate rapidly closes, and you can invoke this state of emergency to say we have no choice.
And I think we’re seeing a very dramatic example of this tactic right now with this really extortionist kind of tactics playing out in Washington. You know, “Sign this blank check, or we’re all going down, or Main Street is going down, or taxpayers—you know, the sky will fall in on them.”
I’m also arguing that this is only stage one of the shock doctrine. They’re getting this—they’re lobbying for this huge bailout, obviously, but this bailout is a kind of a time bomb, because it’s all these bad debts, and they are going to explode on the next administration. I mean, we know that the Bush administration has already left the next administration with huge debt and deficit problems. They’vejust exploded those, expanded them. And what that means is that whoever the next president is is going to be inheriting this economic crisis that is being exacerbated by this bailout. "

"Yeah. I mean, there is pressure being put on Congress from Democrats who—you know, we’ve heard the proposals to cap executive pay and to have a moratorium on foreclosures. It’s coming not from all Democrats, but from some. But there’s something going on on the Republican side, where you have people like Newt Gingrich, and you also have the Republican Study Committee, which is a group of very influential Republican lawmakers who are saying that they’re opposed to the bailout, and they also have their wish list. And I think it is that it’s not that they’re going to oppose a bailout completely; it’s that they want economic changes, right-wing, pro-corporate economic changes, attached to a bailout. So, Newt Gingrich has his list. He’s got eighteen demands. But I think even more important than that is the Republican Study Committee, and I raise this because they’ve just issued their ransom list. It starts with suspending the capital gains tax, privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, suspending mark-to-market accounting, which is the rule that requires companies to assess their assets at current market values."

"So, what’s so stunning about this, Amy, is that here you have a crisis that everyone seems to agree is borne of deregulation, and they’re actually calling for more deregulation. We have a situation where the debt is exploding on American taxpayers, and they want to suspend corporate profits—sorry, corporate taxes, which is actually what might defray some of those costs from regular taxpayers. So it’s an incredible display of opportunism. And this is what I mean by stage two of the shock doctrine. The first stage is just the bailout, but the second stage are all of these radical reforms that are going to be invoked in the name of the crisis that the bailout is creating, whether it’s pushed through right now or whether it’s pushed through later. "

AMY GOODMAN: "You see this happen right after 9/11 with the USA PATRIOT Act being pushed through. You saw it with the vote in October of 2002 for the invasion of Iraq. It’s speed and the idea of an imminent threat."

Please click through and read the entire common sense filled article, or listen to the interview.

I'm of the opinion that this is actually stage 2, with stage one having supposed to have been war with Iran. In the face of that failure to launch thanks to cooler heads, stage 1b was the Georgia- Russia debacle. It seems even that non-starter has been doused by more reasonable minds. Perhaps the planmakers underestimated the damage a 7 year war based on lies, thrown at the American people like propaganda against an enemy, would do to the credibility of the people needed to push through the remaining stages of the plan.

"Well, uh.. crap....uh... plan A didn't work. Er uh.. and plan 2 didn't work either... but those money people.. uh.. they're expecting.. I mean, we promised to bail them out at the end.. uh.. what should.. move ahead with stage 2.. well.. what's... OH! yeah.. hehe.. stage 1, stage 1b, yeah. Stage 2, move ahead!"

Bush Family Cleaning Up and Cleaning Us Out

2008-09-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Bush family cleaning up on transfer of public lands to private hands

By Wayne Madsen - Online Journal Contributing Writer - Sep 16, 2008, 00:26

(WMR) -- WMR has learned from a senior Democratic congressional source that the Bush family, most notably former President George H. W. Bush, is reaping windfall profits from the transfer of title of public federal and state lands to private hands. The elder Bush, according to our sources, has a vested financial interest in land title companies that specialize in the transfer of public lands to private interests.

The revelations represent the first evidence that the elder Bush has benefited from the transfer of public lands to private hands in a giant scheme to defraud federal and state governments, as well as the American taxpayers and Native Americans.

The land-grabbing scheme primarily involves the transfer of federal lands, including Native American lands and national forest system lands, in the Rocky Mountain West, state lands in Texas, and both federal and state lands in California, Mississippi, and Florida to private entities. The scheme is also at the center of the scandal surrounding jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff who conspired to privatize federal lands and assets around the country to benefit his corporate clients.

Click on the photo for a look back in time at the Bush's perceived financial woes in March. You can find another take on it Here. Be sure to head to the bottom of the page for a fun filled playlist of videos I refer to simply as "Impeach"

GOP Resorts to Terrorism

2008-09-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Newspapers Deliver Millions of 'Terror' DVDs to Subscribers -- In 'Swing States':
By Greg Mitchell and Joe Strupp
Published: September 13, 2008 2:00 PM ET

"NEW YORK The arrival of tens of millions of DVDs of a controversial DVD on doorsteps around the nation -- but almost exclusively in election 'swing states' -- via newspaper home delivery continues this weekend, with explanatory articles and subscriber feedback appearing on some of the papers' Web sites. "

"The DVDs of the 60-minute film, made in 2005, and titled 'Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West,' arrived today with, among other papers, the Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer in Raleigh, with delivery with the Miami Herald and other papers set for Sunday." (To watch a clip see link below.)

"It was shown on Fox News just before the 2006 mid-term elections, and conservative activist David Horowitz screened the film on college campuses during 2007. An article at the group's site, www.radicalislam.org, all but endorsed John McCain this past week, then was pulled down."

You can address your comments to the group paying for the 'Campaign of Terror in America' here: The Clarion Fund, 255 West 36th Street Suite 800 New York, NY 10018

And please, feel free to contact the papers distributing the DVD. In the article, they proclaim they must not be biased. But exactly how biased is the 'advertising' they are carrying? It doesn't take a rocket scientists to see the content, the placement and the timing are ALL geared toward creating and developing bias. The only reasonable thing a paper could do in this case is require equalizing counter advertising or refuse the account altogether.

dictionary results for: terrorism dictionary.reference.com
1.the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2.the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3.a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

Cheap Drills - Deception to Triumph?

2008-09-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

Update: Here is the link to contact your representatives, originally to be included at the end of the posting. http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml 091208

"The American News Project has put together a great video highlighting how little drilling would do to lower gas prices, as well as the amount of money the oil industry has given to Republican candidates. It features regular Grist contributor Joe Romm, and provides some good insight into the current energy debate on the Hill:"

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other Democratic leaders in the House have outlined a new energy plan that proposes allowing drilling 100 miles off the Atlantic coast and Florida's Gulf coast. The buffer zone could be reduced to 50 miles if a state's governor and legislature consent (which is a big "if"). The plan, which hasn't yet been formally released, also contains increased funding for renewable energy. They're calling it the "Comprehensive American Energy Security & Taxpayer Protection Act," and it includes a number of measures that have stalled previously -- curbing energy speculators, establishing a renewable electricity standard, and repealing subsidies to Big Oil.

Continue reading at Grist

It has become very, very clear that unless you personally and directly profit from the increased cost of gas or oil, such as stockholder, then opening up sensitive areas for drilling and decreasing the current regulations in place to keep us safe would not benefit you at all. By the time the pennies worth of savings trickle down to you (if they do) they won't be worth what it took to get them there. Our belief in this lie will keep the funding from flowing into alternative, locally produced, clean energy that will truly free us of our dependence on foreign powers. At the price oil is selling for today, the fact that our oil industries still receive the subsidies and special tax incentives they do, and the millions they spend lobbying to keep them, is disgusting as well as standing in the way of our energy independence. The oil companies couldn't have gotten where they are are today, an embedded part of our infrastructure, without that public support and neither can Alternative Energy. When you have a leg to stand on, when you are on the side of the science and the people, you don't resort to propaganda and lies. That's what big oil has done, and are still doing. The time to stop them is now.

Below find just a few of the thousands of articles and blogs, scientists and professionals from all walks screaming and waving flags in the air in an attempt to warn you and I. This is a VERY important, time sensitive issue, please schedule some time to review and consider them carefully. Further down, you will find links to contact your elected officials, and ideas about what to say to convey what you feel and what you've learned and how you would like them to represent you on the matter.

Drill here, drill now: a pipe dream
12,954 Nuclear Power Plants - That's how many nuclear plants the world would need to build to replace its current fossil-fuel-based energy.

Newt Gingrich-led 527 group behind 'drill baby drill'
The slogan “Drill here. Drill now. Pay less.” is fueling Gingrich’s American Solutions for Winning the Future, a so-called 527 group not subject to federal campaign finance law and its limits on donations. So far this election cycle, it has raised $13.1 million.

Study links oil prices to investor speculation
"We have clear evidence the fund flow pushed prices up and the fund flow pushed prices down," said Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management. (perhaps you remember Michael Masters from a previous posting of his testimony before congress on the matter ,"McCain Not Helping". here's the link to the testimony)

Exposing the Big Oil Lie
The Center for Economic and Policy Research found that the news media has mindlessly amplified that lie. The hundreds of broadcasts on “proposed drilling for oil in environmentally sensitive zones in the United States” almost completely ignored the EIA report.

Drill drill drill, then sell to Japan
Dear Secretary Bodman,
On June 3, 2008 and July 30, 2008 respectively, your Department issued and affirmed an order pursuant to Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act that will allow two major integrated oil companies – ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil – to export 98.1 billion cubic feet of Alaskan natural gas to Japan and other Pacific Rim countries. This order, which will allow the export of as much natural gas as is used by 1.4 million American families in a year, comes at a time when the President had demanded that the moratoria on oil and gas drilling along our environmentally-sensitive coastal areas be lifted and Americans are being warned that their winter heating bills are going to be dramatically higher.

Pimping for Oil
Currently the crisis is energy, and with the Bush administration’s expenses on military security topping 500 billion dollars this year only 1 percent is being spent on energy security. The grim prospect of Thomas Fingar who is the top US Intelligence analyst predicts military strength will be the least important goal compared to the acquisition of water, food and energy.

Prices are Down, not due to drilling
There are arguments that much of the price movement is due to speculation. But the driving public also forced gasoline prices down all by themselves, and they did it in quick fashion. They did it by reducing their demand for gasoline. They simply drove less; they took public transportation; they shared car pools and yes, they inflated their tires. And where they had a choice, they chose more fuel efficient vehicles and got rid of their gas guzzlers (or used them less)

Alaska drilling will have little effect on Prices
The opening of the ANWR 1002 Area to oil and natural gas development is projected to increase domestic crude oil production starting in 2018. In the mean ANWR oil resource case, additional oil production resulting from the opening of ANWR reaches 780,000 barrels per day in 2027 and then declines to 710,000 barrels per day in 2030. (we use 21 million barrels per day currently, according to this same site)

Drill baby drill is a Lie

It'll take 10 years at a minimum to get outer continental shelf (OCS) oil to market.
there’s not enough deep sea drilling rigs to punch more holes in the OCS for something like 5 years.
A RAND Corporation study says that the savings from making shale-based oil available is only 3-5% and that it’ll be 2020 at the earliest before any oil could be available. And More....

Exxonmobil Spent Nearly $16 Million to Fund Skeptic Groups, Create Confusion.
Honestly, if you want to boil it all down to business, does a corporation spend this kind of cash to fund skeptics and risk bad press and shareholder backlash (they did, actually, get pummeled by their investors) if they had science and environmental groups behind them for free?

You can re-visit my other postings by clicking on any of the pertinent tags below, or along the right side of the blog for further study before you reach out to your representatives and local media.

You will want to keep your messages brief and to the point, but clear. For recorded messages on answering systems, think along these lines:

"Hi, my name is xxx xxx, I live in Xcounty, State (or other area designation, so they know you are their constituent) and continuing the current ban on drilling is important to me. I have looked into the details and am convinced it will not result in enough of a benefit in the long or short term and considering our current level of technology, combined with the current global energy situation. Please vote to continue restrictions on drilling, and stand firm in your vote to support funding and incentives for alternative energy. Thank you, xxx."

You can use a form of this, personalized of course, in email and written correspondence. In emails, include links to the postings that made the most impressions on you. In my case, the governments own EIA website, Micheal Masters testimony to congress and the report from the union of concerned scientists regarding the money spent by Exxon to confuse us really stand out. When sending written correspondence, include a page for each bit of information you find critical and remember not to send a book that will simply be set aside. If you can make the time, try to schedule an appointment with your local representatives. Get your family involved, give them each a piece of the information and let them work out a bit to say on it. It will make a strong statement to your representative and be a fabulous community action activity for your family. The same goes for your friends, co-workers and neighbors. A well thought out, well planned, informative, respectful presentation will be well appreciated and your concerns will be heard even more loudly than in email. Dropping a line to local media advising them of your appointment and the topic of your meeting may garner you some publicity and further support.

One Week Left to Stop One of Bush's Worst Environmental Attacks

2008-09-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

A simple redefinition of terms will destroy the Endangered Species Act in less than a week if we don't act now.

Bring up this page, or print out the following to have it available when you follow the link below to document your position on this matter when and where it counts. After that, visit http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml and tell your local representatives in Washington the same thing in email, voice mail and regular mail.

You are against the proposed rule changes because they weaken the Endangered Species Act nearly to the point of nonexistence.
Environmental systems mostly work by systemic causation, with many indirect causes, not by "essential causation." The change to "essential causation" opens the door to an indefinitely large number of projects that can jointly put endangered species in jeopardy.
The change in "consultation" rules will de facto eliminate the gathering of information relevant to protecting species.

Go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=09000064806df423
To see the proposed changes, click on "Views". Click on "Add Comments" to write your comment.
Note that plain e-mails will not be considered. This is another way public input is being limited.

Write your comments before September 15, 2008.