Corzine v Christie

Gov. Jon Corzine supports families like mine and citizens like me, Bush's former Prosecutor Chris Christie supports the Insurance Companies, which act like families like Don Vito Corleone's. As President Obama, Vice President Biden, and former-President Clinton highlighted last week, those differences could not be more clear:

Corzine: Expanding Health Insurance Jon Corzine expanded health coverage for over 100,000 more kids and signed legislation to require insurance companies to cover autism screenings.	Christie Sides With Insurers Chris Christie would give insurance companies free rein to drop coverage for critical procedures like mammograms and autism screenings and would give them $100 million in tax breaks.
Corzine is Protecting Paid Family Leave Jon Corzine is one of a handful of governors to pass paid family leave that lets people care for newborn babies or sick relatives while still getting paid.	Christie Isn't Standing with NJ Families Chris Christie opposes paid family leave, and would allow hospitals to discharge new mothers less than 24 hours after they've given birth.
Corzine Defends The Right To Choose Jon Corzine strongly supports a woman’s right to choose.	Christie is Anti-Choice Chris Christie supports a constitutional amendment to ban abortion.
Corzine Has Provided Historic Tax Relief Jon Corzine has provided more property tax relief than any other Governor in New Jersey history.	Christie's $2 Billion In New Taxes Chris Christie said he would side with right wing governors and reject $5 billion in federal stimulus funds, including money for education, which would lead to a direct $2 billion increase in property taxes.
Corzine Supports Responsible Gun Laws Jon Corzine fought for a one handgun per month law.	Christie Is Backed By The Gun Lobby Chris Christie is backed by the gun lobby and even opposes banning guns that fire bullets to pierce a cop’s bulletproof vest.
Corzine Has Made Education A Priority Although he cut state spending, Jon Corzine increased funding for New Jersey schools by $1.8 billion and expanded pre-K education.	Christie Thinks It's "Babysitting" Chris Christie calls early childhood education "babysitting" and his rejection of federal stimulus funds would have undercut the real progress we've made in educating our kids.
Corzine Stands With President Obama Jon Corzine is endorsed by President Barack Obama, and is in step with our President's vision for our country. Together, they will work to lead our state and our country out of this global recession.	Christie Stands With President Bush Chris Christie would side with other right-wing governors to obstruct Barack Obama's agenda and would have rejected federal stimulus funds, driving up our property taxes by over $2 billion.

Corruption in Politics

There are corrupt politicians in both parties.

When a corrupt Democrat abuses power a lot of people benefit, and a few people Really benefit. When a corrupt Republican abuses power, A few people really benefit, and a select few REALLY REALLY benefit.

Consider Clinton and Bush. The worst thing Clinton did was he didn't pass a single payer / Medicare law and create a universal health care system. The worst thing he is known for is “hooking up” with a young woman to whom he was not married. The worst things Bush did were destroy the economy, invade Iraq, mire us in Afghanistan, ram the Patriot Act thru Congress, ignore the FISA law on wiretaps, suspend habeus corpus, outsource the military to his friends, botch the emergency response to Katrina and Rita – those things are so much worse than an inappropriate relationship between consenting adults, even tho one had significant power over the other.

One difference is scale. Clinton's affair with Lewinsky should have been a private matter; it should not be a public matter. It did not, or should not have effected policy. Every one of Bush's failings is a policy failure that profoundly diminshed the strength, health and well-being of the United States and many citizens.

Love them or hate them, they is The President

Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush. Love them or hate them, they were The President, as Obama is today.

Tannersville, Pennsylvania is a small town of a few hundred people, the heart of "Real" America, and I was in the home of some real Americans.

• Carol, a beautiful young college student and athlete,
• Daniel, her father, a former athlete, originally from Moscow, USSR,
• Elizabeth, her mother, a physician, originally from Brooklyn, New York.

They are real salt of the earth Americans. Daniel had trouble getting established in the U. S. until he retrained as a therapist. Elizabeth's biggest challenge was figuring out what to do. She didn't want to be a teacher, like her mother. She studied accounting, like her father, then she went to medical school, like her brother. She really wants to write children's books.

I was at a funeral for Francine, Carol's grandmother, Daniel's mother-in-law, and Elizabeth's mom.

Alice, another friend of the family, was there with her husband Bob, a former Navy "swab," currently a Merchant Marine. Bob loves the sea. He sailed all over the world. He hates President Clinton. So does Alice. I'm not sure who hates him more, but the hate is palpable. I didn't ask how they feel about Obama.

President Clinton has been out of office for close to 9 years, but it looks to me like the nature of the Presidential gig is such that people either love them or hate them, forever. President Reagan left office almost 21 years ago, and people still either love him or hate him. (Personally, I don't regard him as a good President, but no longer regard him as "the worst in my lifetime." It's not that he looks better, but that the bar got lower.) Ditto for Nixon, who was elected in '68, inaugurated in '69, and who resigned in in disgrace in August, '74.

Obama is finding out about the love-hate nature of the gig. A South Carolinian named Joe Wilson seems likely to fall into the "hate him forever" category. In Eastern Pennsylvania, you are probably more likely to find people who hate Clinton than love him, but love or hate, you expect Americans to know when he was elected, inaugurated, and President.

And that's what I'm writing about. What is really strange is that Bob and Alice swear that Bill Clinton was President during "Operation Desert Storm" and when Bob was discharged from the Navy in 1991. We all know that Clinton was elected in November, 1992, and inaugurated in January, 1993, and serverd until George W. Bush was inaugurated in January, '01. George H. W. Bush, being elected in '88, inaugurated in '89, and serving until Clinton was inaugurated in '93, was President throughout 1991.

GHW Bush is famous for two things:

1. "Operation Desert Storm" and
2. Raising Taxes to pay for infrastructure.

It seems that Bob and Alice don't know when Clinton was President, who was President during "Desert Storm," when Bob was discharged, or who who was President at that time.

I don't know Bob and Alice well and frankly, I don't want to get to know them. I tried to explain to them, calmly, that Clinton was elected in '92 and inaugurated in "93. These are non-controversial historical facts. Whether you love and hate Clinton, whether you argue over whether he was a good or bad President, the dates of his election, Inauguration, and transfer of power are non-controversial. You won't find Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly or one of those other right-wing pundit/comic/entertainers arguing over when Clinton was elected or inaugurated. It's like arguing over whether the color of the sky or the location of the Empire State Building or the Golden Gate Bridge.

I rarely step back from a discussion. But I refused to engage Alice and Bob. I am not interested in a shouting match with people who display a basic incapacity to understand the color of the sky or the location of a bridge. As Kenny Rogers once said, we have to "know when to hold em, and know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run." This was a time to walk away, slowly. I don't know if they were out of aces; they might have had four of them, and they might have been all clubs; they sure were not playing with a full deck.

Has FOX News Gone Too Far?

• 6/30/09 Glenn Beck agrees with a guest who urged bin Laden to attack U.S. with nuclear weapons.
• 7/25/09 Neil Cavuto and a guest say health care reform will impose universal euthanasia like "Soylent Green."
• 7/28/09 Glenn Beck says "The President has exposed himself as a guy ... who has a deep-seated hatred for white people ... or the white culture... This man is a racist."
• 8/6/09 Glenn Beck "jokes" about giving Speaker Pelosi a glass of wine with poison.
  Has FOX News gone too far?

I'm an American and a patriot.

Whether or not you voted for, agree with, or like Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi, he is the President and she is the Speaker of the House. Calling for her murder, spreading lies and propaganda about proposed health care policy to scare people, and calling for nuclear terrorist attack on this country are unacceptable. These statements are akin to shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. Fox's FCC licenses should be revoked. The network should be thrown off the air. Beck, Cavuto, their guests, producers, writers, and the Fox "News" executives responsible for these shows should be sent to Guantanamo, tried for advocating and inciting terrorism, and if guilty, punished to the full extent of the law. Ditto for Rush Limbaugh, his writers, producers, and those responsible for his "hate media."

Tell FOX News advertisers to cancel their ads

Here's a list of Fox News Advertisers / Enablers, (as of 8/31/09)
Accu-Chek / Roche
BuyWaterJet.com
CancerCenter.com
Carbonite.com
Cash4Gold.com
Cooney & Conway
Dannon.com
DiscoverEasyWater.com
EmpireToday.com
EncoreDental.com
ExploreHumana.com
GoToMeeting.com
Johnson Law Group / Contact Us
LearCapital.com
LibertyMedical.com
Merit Financial
NecklineSlimmer.com
OxiClean
Pearle Vision
PulaskiLawFirm.com
Rosland Capital
ServPro.com
SmartBalance
TDAmeritrade
The Villages
VeteranMeso.com
Video Professor
ZeroWater.com

Michael Brown Consulting on Disaster Planning

This is not satire. Former FEMA Director Michael "Heck of a Job, Brownie" Brown joins Cold Creek Solutions, as a Disaster and Contingency Planning Consultant.

This is from a press release I was e-mailed:

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown Joins Cold Creek Solutions, Offers Consulting Practice for Disaster Recovery

CENTENNIAL, CO - While leading federal relief efforts for 160 presidential declared disasters in his roles at FEMA and Homeland Security, Michael Brown heard one cringe-worthy phrase repeated again and again.

"People always say, 'I never thought it would happen to me,'" said Brown. "I would maintain that anyone who has a business, or a family, needs to recognize that disasters happen and disrupt life. Businesses especially need to plan for the worst."

"Michael Brown intimately understands planning and how plans need to be adaptable and changeable," said Paul Schwappach, principal of Cold Creek Solutions, a technology planning firm focusing on data management. "With Michael's experience and his unique view into what possibly could go wrong when looking at a plan, we can truly help clients be prepared for the unexpected."

It goes on (and on and on). It's actually pretty funny.

Brown, the former undersecretary of Homeland Security, was one of the longest-serving directors of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He led federal relief efforts for disasters including the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, the Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster and California wildfire season in 2003, and the unprecedented 2004-2005 hurricane seasons. Brown also directed the nation's response to numerous foreign disasters and terrorist attacks.

Brown and Cold Creek will work to provide clients disaster recovery and business continuity solutions rooted in a perspective that can't be found elsewhere.

There's even more ....

Maybe he learned something, but Michael Brown is just about the last person I would want advising me on disaster contingency planning. At the risk of being accused of shamelessly hawking my own intellectual property - you can hear my thoughts on We Had The Will, We Found The Way, at cdbaby.com. The song asks:

How the hell did we go from Lincoln, FDR, and John Kennedy to Bush and Cheney?
How did we go from the New Deal to Iraq and Katrina?

Truth To The Rumors (joke)

Moonbase Alpha, Luna City, Sea of Tranquility, the Moon, Nov. 44, 2033. It turns out there's some truth to the rumors that President-for-Life Obama is setting up "death panels." A task force headed by Abbie Hoffman, Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and Michael Jackson has set up "death lists."

The Hoffmans, Mr. Rubin and Mr. Jackson are no longer deceased. They were cloned in a secret lab on the moon. The process was started early in 2009, by Executive Order. They are now operating an underground base on the moon. In fairness it must be pointed out that because the moon is an asteroid with no atmosphere, all moon bases are undergound.

The Hoffmans and Rubin were picked because of their well-known radical politics. Jackson was picked because of his expertise in "moon-walking." The clones of Jackson, Rubin, and both Hoffmans grew up in undisclosed locations and traveled back in time to work on the lists.

This reporter traveled forward in time to meet with them, hence the dateline on this filing is 24 years in the future. This story is dated November 44 because in the future there will be only four months. The first month is February, which is Black History Month. (white history is "White people brought slaves to America. Most of the Declaration of Independence was actually written by Sally Hemmings, Jefferson's common-law wife. Abe Lincoln, who was 1/4 Black - that's why he was so tall - freed the slaves. As his cousin Abe Lincoln Jefferson noted, "White people causes all the trouble, black folks cleans up all the mess.") The other months include August, Obama's birthday month, November, Michelle Obama's birthday month, and the new month of Obama, which has both Christmas, New Years, and sometimes, to demonstrate his love for the Jewish People, Obama, who also calls himself "King of the Jews," the Jewish New Year. All months have 61 days, except for the Month of Obama, which has 182 days, 183 on leap years.)

A dispute broke out over Sarah Palin. All four wanted her husband, Todd, and at least four (4) of her children euthanized. Jackson wanted her euthanized as well. Anita Hoffman wanted to keep her around because of her value "Yes she mobilizes the wacko far right," Anita said, "But she motivates the left, and the women and just antagonizes the moderates - every time she opens her mouth." Rubin and Abbie Hoffman wanted her alive because of her "entertainment" value. It turns out that they really dig chicks with guns, and don't really care about whales, wolves, nature, or humanity.

"Having been dead," Rubin said, "we don't really care about life." We just want, you know, some action."

"And why should we care about the county that let us die?" Hoffman added.

The lists include Robert Novak, who cheated by dieing Aug. 19, 2009, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan, Bill O'Reilly, other right wing commentators, members of their audience and "base." Anyone who watches Fox News, Lou Dobbs, or listens to Rush Limbaugh is on the list to be "euthanized."

"America," Mr. Hoffman explained, "is a "youth-oriented" culture. And it is increasingly dominated by Asians. What we are doing is combining these aspects of life in Amerika, linking them, into a "Youth-n-Asia" program.

Here's how the program will work. People will lose their health insurance benefits when they change jobs or get sick. Eventually. 47 million Americans will not have Health Insurance. When they get really sick they will face bankruptcy. And 16,000 will die each year, one person every 30 minutes, every half-hour of every day. Wait - that's what we have today.*

Ken Starr, a spokesman for the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation said "This is intolerable. We can't have one person dieing every 30 minuutse. While most of these deaths are poor people, we have no way of restricting this to liberals. And then, even it it was one every 30 seconds, it would only amount to One Million per year. We need to kill more people faster, we need to kill 10 or 15 million a year to rid this nation of the scourge of Liberalism. That's why we need more coal, oil, nuclear power, and resultant mercury and radioactive wastes. That's why we need to bring back DDT. That's why we need to support the drug war on poor shiftless Americans who live in inner cities."

* This is a work of satire. However, there's a grain of truth in it. It's not that we have a base on the moon, or have cloned Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Anita Hoffman, or Michael Jackson. And it's not that we are capable of time travel. We don't, we haven't, and we're not. It's that 47 million people have no health insurance and one person dies every 30 minutes because he or she has no health insurance.

Existential Economics

A new realm of economics. Beyond Political Economics and Neo-Classical Economics, outside the realm of Ecological Economics; this new realm is Existential Economics. This is little more than quintessential American spin on the subject - DeCartes said "I think, therefore I am." Madison Ave. defines us as "We shop, therefore we is."

Move over Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Herman Daly, we need to listen to Alfred E. Neuman.

In Bucco Lingua, In the Cheek the Tongue, a Pre-Existing Condition

New York, NY, Aug. 20. Reading thru my insurance policy, I learned that In Bucco Lingua Syndrome, "In The Cheek The Tongue," aka "Tongue in Cheek" Syndrome is now classified as a pre-existing condition, and it can be used to deny health benefits to anyone, regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc. A person, or "patient-like entity" with In Bucca Lingua Syndrome only requires treatment for 72 seconds. 72 seconds is the time allocated for a "patient-like entity" to present identifrication and sign away 87.9 % of one's assets and be given a prescription for aspirin. A "patient-like entity," also termed a "patient-like asset" or "cash cow," is a person named on an insurance policy for whom premiums are collected and to whom actual medical care can be legally withheld.

In Bucco Lingua Syndrome is endemic among people who watch Saturday Night Live, Mad TV, the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, who as children watched Get Smart, or who live in, grew up, or went to college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, parts of New Jersey, New York City, Boston, Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass, Madison, Wisconsin, Burlington, Vermont, and parts of California. It is also known to have effected people from Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Utah, but only those who left those places for New York, New Jersey, California, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, George Carlin, Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Dave Chappell and Bill Maher are the most famous celebrities who have had it.

There is no cure. However, it leads to a heightened sense of fairness and joie de vivre. It it not statistically known to negatively impact life-span. I was not diagnosed with it, but then again, I can't afford to see a doctor.

In Defense of Fat

A large percentage of Americans are "large." A significant percentage are "significant." At only 30 pounds above my ideal weight, above the weight I was in college, I'm neither. But it's noble being fat, it's selfless to be obese. Sure the basic reason is people eat more calories than than they burn off, and when you do this over time you gain weight. Over a long time, you gain a lot of weight. One extra pound a year for 50 years is 50 pounds. For an American man of average height that would be 190 to 200 pounds. And to hit 350, 450 pounds, by age 20 or 30, you're talking about a gain of 200, 300 pounds in 20 or 30 years, that's 10 extra pounds a year. But that's the scientific explanation. As any bored high school child will tell you, preferably over a pizza or nachos with soda, science is boring.

Forget science, let's take a step back and think about beauty and sexiness. Let's think about Monica Lewinsky. While she was, is, "chunky" or "big boned," and while she looks good in a beret, she never made it as a sex symbol. The height of her fame was not characterized by pictures of her in a bikini or less on the bedroom walls of teenagers across the country. She may have been interviewed for Playboy, but unlike Marilyn Monroe, another special friend of another President, she wasn't asked to pose. You're not likely to see her in the Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated. If their models define feminine sexuality, and Playboy and SI hope they do, then fat chicks don't define feminine sexy.

So what we're seeing, in part, is a deliberate existential challenge to normative popular culture on the definition of sexiness. This image: very pretty girl, long hair, large boobs, tiny waist, tottering on stiletto heals, in a very short skirt – barely wider than a belt – the Barbie Doll image of sexuality – is falling, perhaps because it's top heavy. It is being challenged by our sisters, our daughters, our wives, our selves And we, who love our sisters, daughters, wives, and selves are rising to the challenge. It is being replaced with the matronly woman. A robust and mature woman. To whom you say "yes, ma-am," when asked to do something.

Fat chicks are challenging our notion of beauty and sexuality. Fat guys in Speedos, mostly from Germany, Russia, Yugoslavia, and Hungary, are joining in the challenge. They have a dream, to echo Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "they have a dream that one day their children be judged by the content of their character, not by the quantity of their skin; they have a dream today."

There's more.

Toxic organic chemicals, such as DDT, PCB's, meythyl mercury, which are in our food and water, albeit in trace amounts, which are linked to health effects like Parkinson's, and cancer, concentrate in fats and fatty tissues: breasts, brains, beer bellies. Obese people, by concentrating these substances in their very bodies, are doing the rest of a favor and taking them out of the biosphere.

Obesity is linked to a shorter life-span. Fat people are sacrificing themselves so the rest of us may live longer. By using more resources now they enable us to use fewer resources later, but we're resourceful, we'll think of something. Vegan food, no doubt...

So to my fat friends, I say, thank you, let me give you a big hug.

Lou Dobbs wins coveted Father Coughlin Award

New York, August 12. CNN Commentator Lou "Loser" Dobbs (click here) edged out Rush "I Hope He Dies" Limbaugh, Bill "Bubbles" O'Reilly and Glenn "Porn-Man" Beck in the competion for the coveted and prestigious "Father Coughlin" award. The award, sponsored by the KKK, the Aryan Nations, and others is given to the broadcast personality who "embodies the malignant spirit of Father Caughlin, who uses hate speech to incite violence, obfuscate the real issues, hijack the debate, and fire up the base."

In explaining their decision Derrick William "Billy Bob" Roberts and Karl "The Roverer" Rove said, "We like Limbaugh, we like his stuff. It's good. Catchy. While he has a dedicated following, most of his listeners can't read and don't vote. Limbaugh is an overweight drug-addict, not that there's anything wrong with that, but he's tired and a has-been."

"Beck had potential," they continued, "but Fox News is marginal. With Obama in the White House and Democrats in the House and Senate, we are trying to shore up the support, but he is too new, too green. He doesn't make sense, which isn't a problem, but people don't watch Fox News ."

"The problem with Limbaugh and Beck is that they are no longer firing up the base. People have moved on. They're out of work, they got no health care. They can't afford gas for their SUV's, they are beginning to realize we can't drill our way out of this, so they ain't listening anymore. They moved on. Worse, we are actually seeing Beck and Limbaugh energizing the Liberals - the Olberman - Maddow - Stewart - Colbert - SNL audience. That's growing. When they report the stupid things Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and Beck say

"But Dobbs, he's different. He's on CNN. That's a different audience than Fox. More educated. Liberal. Sympathetic to the Palestinians. Likely to believe all that crap about global warming." People think CNN is a real news organization. They don't see Dobbs as a plant."

The Father Caughlin award is co-sponsored by CNN, Time, which owns CNN, the companies whos executives sit on the Boards of Time and Fox, and the companies who's advertising sponsors Dobbs, Limbaugh, Beck, and others.

*** This is a work of satire.
These nicknames make no sense. Lou "Loser" Dobbs, Rush "I Hope He Dies" Limbaugh, Bill "Bubbles" O'Reilly and Glenn "Porn-Man" Beck. What was I thinking? A cheap laugh? I left out Pat Buchanan. He grew up listening to Coughlin.

But Beck, Dobbs, Limbaugh and O'Reilly should not be broadcasting hate speech and inciting violence. under the rubric of news. This must stop. There's a reason that the KKK runs around hiding under sheets and hoods. They know they're wrong.

Boycott Fox, CNN, and the networks that promote Dobbs, Limbaugh, and Beck, the networks that pronote racism and incite violence, and the advertisers.

The good news is Dobbs ratings are declining, which maybe why he is yelling more and why he called Howard Dean a vampire.(click here)

I Pay But I Don't Get It

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I have a good job. I buy the health insurance my Human Resources Dept tells me to buy. (This is not, by the way, a "free market" as described by Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, and the other neo-classical economists.) I pay enough that I could be driving a Mercedes - hell I could be driving a Hummer - and going about 2400 miles per month (at current gas prices).

But my coverage stinks. It's rationed by insurance company beancounters. If I see their doctors - and a complete physical takes about two hours and 30 seconds - two hours waiting and 30 seconds in which the doc says "You're breathing. That's good. You're blood pressure is high, if it gets higher we'll put you on meds."

But that's ok. As long as I don't get sick I'm ok. That's why my blood pressure is high. I'm worried about getting sick. Or losing my job. In either case I'll lose my house.

One thing I don't worry about is that my octagenarian father has good health care. He worked hard all his life. He takes care of himself. And he's on Medicare. It's great. Efficient. Government run. Not sexy like the Apollo Mission to the moon, but very important. And for the health care that my kids teachers get. They go to public school. The teachers are in the unions. And the health care is good. The kids too get good health care. Even if their parents work but don't get health care, then, thanks to Presidents Clinton and Obama, and despite the efforts and vetos of President Bush, they get health care.

But one of the things that really gets me, the thing that makes my blood boil - which is why I'll need blood pressure meds - is that close to 50 Million Americans - one out of six - have no health insurance. And it's people between the age of 18 and 65. People who work, or would work, if they could find jobs. This is wrong on many levels.

The other thing that is killing me - almost literally - is that people who make $Millions - insurance industry executives, and lobbyists and rich "Philosophers" Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, and O'Reilley - wait, they're not philosophers, they're not Thinkers - they're actors - and they are telling me what's good for me. That's un-American. They are sending people to disrupt "Town Hall meetings with Representatives from Congress.

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry, speaking at St. John's church in Richmond, Virginia said "give me liberty or give me death." Those guys have taken my liberty and are giving me death.

Dear President Obama, Senators, Reps. in the House,

We elected you and the Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate to fix the problems created and exacerbated by the neo-cons and the Republicans, and to do this by governing from the left of the center.

You have your work cut out for you.

Good luck.

I have your back.

But I can't support you when I'm drowning.

(first published on Daily Kos)

Good News, From a Marxist - Trotskyite Perspective, About the Whale Hunts.

Hunting whales for food violates international law (WSPA, National Geographic). It's illegal. Iceland and Norway ignore the ban. The Japanese claim to adhere to it by claiming to hunt whales for "scientific" reasearch. After the experiments are complete, they eat the subjects. The experiments seem to be in methods of killing and butchering whales. But here's a news flash - scientists don't eat the dogs, cats, chimps, rats, and fruit flies on they which they experiment. Systematic "scientific" study of different recipies is not permitted by the treaties that ban commercial whaling. The Inuit, Pacific Coast Native Americans and aboriginal Icelanders claim it's their culture. This may be true, however, as Captain Paul Watson, of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has observed, their traditional culture includes neither modern factory ships, nor commercial sales of whale meat to the Japanese.

But there is good news, at least from a Marxist - Trotskyite perspective, about the Whale Hunts.

Mercury causes brain damage - which is why I don't eat tuna.

PCB's disrupt endocrine function - which is why I am giving up all fish. And I would go hungry rather than eat whale meat.

Eating whale meat is like eat rats that have been killed with rat poison. Not a good idea.

The "good" news is that whale meat is so full of mercury, PCB's, and other toxins (Informaworld, Human Health Significance of Organocholorine and Mercury Contaminants in Japanese Whale Meat, Simmonds, Haraguchi, et al, Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health) that it will kill the whale eaters, perhaps before they kill all the whales. Maybe the real question the Japanese "Scientists" are answering is "Which will happen first: epidemic Parkinson's in Japan or Extinction of the Whales?"

Maybe this explains Lou Dobbs' nonsensical rants about Obama's birth. Maybe Lou Dobbs is not a racist, maybe he has eaten so much tuna and whale meat that he has mercury poisoning. And maybe it explains George W. Bush, Norm Coleman, Anne Coulter, Larry Craig, Bobby Jindal, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Michael Steele, and all the rest. Maybe they've eaten so much whale meat, tuna, and mercury laden caviar that they have Minamata Disease - mercury poisoning. After all, they are as mad as hatters.

What do you think?

Single Prayer Health Care

Wasilla, Alaska, July 27, 2009. The Republicans have finally released their health care plan. Sarah Palin, Michael Steele, and Rush Limbaugh, joined by Bobby Jindal and the Blue Dog Democrats, have announced their plan: "The Single Prayer Plan."

The good news is that the health care plan is free. All you need to do is pray that you don't get sick, and pray that you don't need medicine. The bad news is that it is not proven to be effective.

Hunting Now Considered Feminine Behavior

Anchorage, Alaska. Dec. 25. Hunting Now Feminine Behavior for Conservative Republicans. It is well known that hunters want to kill to be in touch with their primitive side. They want to dominate beings and kill them in order to feel tough, masculine, heroic, and all that.

Of course, this begs the question of "How does shooting a defenseless living being at a distance of 100 yards or greater, or from a helicopter Sarah Palin Style, make one feel tough, masculine, heroic and all that?" This raises a second question. Given that Sarah Palin hunts, and given that Palin is a female and a de facto role model of femininity for conservative Republicans, then isn't hunting now a
feminine behavior for conservative Republicans?

New Jersey's Gangster Rabbis

New Jersey's Gangster Rabbis - Next to Jack Abramoff they look like Boy Scouts.

The Gangster Rabbis allegedly stole money. One allegedly offered to broker the sale of a kidney. And they allegedly bought and sold hack politicians like shmatas. Big deal. They don't come close to Bernie Madoff, and he wears normal clothes. Eats lobster. Summers on the Hamptons. That is, he used to.

But Abramoff, he was one of the biggest, baddest Jew-hoods pretending to be a mensch. He's like Arnold Rothstein - fixed the World Series, Meyer Lansky - hit his "friend" Bugsy. While Abramoff was only a low level hack in the organization, he helped steal THE COUNTRY, nu, they suborned the Department of Justice - the whole Executive Branch - and much of the Legislative Branch.

But the good news about Abramoff's Gang is it seems to be those guys are as farklempt as they are meshugah. Sure they still dally with men and women to whom they are not married. Sure they have that shicksa from Alaska, who really only likes one Jew.

Ciao, Shalom, Peace,

Glossary
Farklempt - pron. "far-klempt", fucked up.
Meshugah - pron. "meh - shu - gah" crazy and stupid. Or stupid and crazy. Or Republican.
Nu - pron. "new" - in this context - well, nu, we discussed that yesterday.
Shiksa - pron "shick-sah", non-Jewish woman.
Shmatas - pron "shmah-tahz" - rags, clothes, washed up hack politicians.

Single-Payer Health Care

The Critics of a single-payer health care system, which would expand Medicare to cover everyone, claim to be against rationing health care. Their fear is that some nameless bureaucrats will tell me which doctors I can see, and tell my doctors what to do. In truth that is precisely what we have today. Insurance companies ration health care. Insurance company bureaucrats tell us which doctors we can see and tell our doctors what to do - if we have insurance.

If we don't have insurance, and we're really, really sick, we go to the emergency room. This is an inefficient use of emergency room resources. It is paid for by the people with insurance and the
taxpayers. However, unless you're in a diabetic coma or have just had a heart attack or stroke, the ER is not designed to treat cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic illness.

Insurance industry run health care is motivated by the managers of insurance companies to maximize revenues and minimize expenditures. The Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and other conservatives would call this a “Market Failure.” Just as national security operations should not be defined and run by private contractors, health care should not be run by private industry.

Our government, in the words of President Lincoln, is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” A government run health care system would be motivated by citizens demanding high quality health care for the people.

Haiku of earth sea and sky

This a magic place
No Witch, Wizard, Genie, Jin,
Just Technology

Yet a dark side here
From burning the rocks and tar
Poisons gas and heat

Nunuck bear home floats
Bed of ice on open sea
Melts nanuck to die

North Pacific Gyre
Toxic plastic looks like food
Bags we use but once

Turtle sees plastic
Floats like jelly but not food
Turtle eats to die

Death food in the sea
Dumb animals eat plastic bags
Why it look like food

We burn coal and oil
Mercury hot gas carbon
We burn rocks for heat

We strive for more stuff
Nuclear is still claimed safe
Safe if you are dead

Chesapeake near death
Algae grow on chicken waste
Oxygen all gone

Baby Orca dies
Endocrine system failure
PCB's in food

We kill for more stuff
Won't never have enough
We must kill for stuff

Iceberg floats submerged
Waters dance from ice to sea
Deep, Cold, Wild and True

Still waters run deep
Tuna Burgers Water Song
Breathe feel ride the waves

Children of the west
To live sustain the garden
Must learn harmony

The GOP Embraces Diversity

The GOP Embraces Diversity,

Omeha, NE, June 20.

Michael Steele, one of approximately 16,500 African Americans in the 55 million strong GOP, announced a new Diversity Initiative in the GOP. Steele intends to double the membership in the GOP. In doing so he will also double the number of African Americans, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, and Atheists (well, maybe not Moslems and atheists) by 2020. He will do this in part by bringing back Colin Powell. He acknowledged that if he doubles the membership of the GOP, and doubles the number of African Americans, Jews, and others their numbers, as a percentage will remain constant. "That's a statistic. And statistics," he said, "are for geeks."

Steele also intends to embrace homosexuals, figuratively, but not literally. "We will embrace gays, figuratively speaking, of course," he said.

The GOP is planning on hosting a Christian and Diverse Music Festival featuring the Village People, Mattisyahu, Bette Middler, and Bob Marley in Branson, Mo.

The precise demographic breakdown of the GOP is below. Steele acknowledge that the GOP is 99.48% white Christians, and even if the population of those others doubles, it will still be 99.04% white Christians. "This is America," he said. "We want to fit white in."

Total	Per 10,000	Percentage	Description
54,714,000	9948	99.48%	White Christians, including Evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Mormans, Greek Orthodox, and Hispanics of Cuban Origin
225,500	41	0.41%	Asians
16,500	3	0.03%	Hispanics, of non-Cuban origin
11,000	2	0.02%	Jews
16,500	3	0.03%	African Americans
5,500	1	0.01%	Asian Buddists
5,500	1	0.01%	Native Americans
5,500	1	0.01%	Athiests
55,000,000	10000	100.00%

Obama on Israel, The Holocaust, and the Palestinians, in Cairo, June 4, 2009.

Obama on Israel, The Holocaust, and the Palestinians, in Cairo, June 4, 2009.

Obama doesn't tell people what they want to hear; he tells people what they need to know.

Obama understands the ramifications of the Holocaust and the legitimacy of Israel perhaps better than I do. In 154 words (paragraphs 2 and 3, below) the President slammed Achmadinejad, neo-Nazis, other Holocaust deniers and the whole anti-Zionist movement into a brick wall.

Recognizing that the Palestinians have legitimate aspirations and a painful history, even if some of it was "brought about by Israel's founding" does not minimize or undermine Obama's support for Israel. Indeed, speaking the facts supports it. In the context of the painful history of the Palestinians, Obama used the phrase "brought about by Israel's founding." But this means that Israel's founding may have precipitated certain events which have come to pass in the history of the Palestinians. This does not mean that Israel or Israelis are directly responsible for those events. If I am driving and I stop at yellow light, knowing it is about to turn red, and someone in back of me rear ends me, they are at fault. I am not at fault, even tho my actions precipitated the collision.


Here's the excerpt from Pres. Obama's speech in Cairo, June 4, 2009, published on the Internet at WhiteHouse.gov. (Click here for the full speech)

"The second major source of tension that we need to discuss is the situation between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world.

"America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied.

"Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed -- more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, it is ignorant, and it is hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction -- or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews -- is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.

"On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they've endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations -- large and small -- that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.

"For decades then, there has been a stalemate: two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive. It's easy to point fingers -- for Palestinians to point to the displacement brought about by Israel's founding, and for Israelis to point to the constant hostility and attacks throughout its history from within its borders as well as beyond. But if we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security. (Applause.)

"That is in Israel's interest, Palestine's interest, America's interest, and the world's interest. And that is why I intend to personally pursue this outcome with all the patience and dedication that the task requires. (Applause.) The obligations -- the obligations that the parties have agreed to under the road map are clear. For peace to come, it is time for them -- and all of us -- to live up to our responsibilities.

"Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It's a story with a simple truth: that violence is a dead end. It is a sign neither of courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That's not how moral authority is claimed; that's how it is surrendered.

"Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people. Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have to recognize they have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist.

"At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. (Applause.) This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop. (Applause.)

"And Israel must also live up to its obligation to ensure that Palestinians can live and work and develop their society. Just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel's security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. Progress in the daily lives of the Palestinian people must be a critical part of a road to peace, and Israel must take concrete steps to enable such progress.

"And finally, the Arab states must recognize that the Arab Peace Initiative was an important beginning, but not the end of their responsibilities. The Arab-Israeli conflict should no longer be used to distract the people of Arab nations from other problems. Instead, it must be a cause for action to help the Palestinian people develop the institutions that will sustain their state, to recognize Israel's legitimacy, and to choose progress over a self-defeating focus on the past.

"America will align our policies with those who pursue peace, and we will say in public what we say in private to Israelis and Palestinians and Arabs. (Applause.) We cannot impose peace. But privately, many Muslims recognize that Israel will not go away. Likewise, many Israelis recognize the need for a Palestinian state. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true.

"Too many tears have been shed. Too much blood has been shed. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of the three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra -- (applause) -- as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed, peace be upon them, joined in prayer. (Applause.)

--
(I would, however, argue that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in Judaism and Jewish culture, Zionism started in the time of the Roman exile - long before Hertzl observed the Dreyfus trial in France, long before World War II. However, I would agree that the international political will to support Zionism came about after W W II. And the President was speaking in Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He was there to lecture on America and the world today, not Jewish history.)

Peace,

Self-Defense v Retribution

There appears to be a reactionary letter writing campaign (or is it a propaganda campaign) asking "What is wrong with waterboarding?" It's this: Waterboarding is torture. Torture is illegal. If you want to get philosophical, the responsibility to kill in self defense is not a right to rape in retribution. The former is the right of free citizens, the latter a prerogative of dictators, fascists, Stalinsts - of Hitler Youth, not Boy Scouts of America.

I wrote this, published in the Asbury Park Press, May 14, 2009:

Torture won't make us safer

What's wrong with Waterboarding? In a word, it's torture. It's illegal. It's immoral and it doesn't work. It won't keep us safe. In fact, it makes us less safe.

Torture is illegal. It violates the U.S. Constitution and precedents set by George Washington. During the American Revolution, while the British were torturing American soldiers, Washington refused to torture British soldiers our army captured. This gained us political allies in England even as we were fighting for our independence.

Torture is immoral. Torture is what the Nazis did in World War II. And the KGB and the communist Chinese.

Torture doesn't work. The victim will tell the torturer anything to get the pain to stop. Torture doesn't make us safer. The victims will hate us for the rest of their lives and want to exact revenge.

The way to stop terror is with good old-fashioned police work, just as the way to end war is with diplomacy.

The responsibility to kill in self defense is not a right to rape in retribution. Torture is illegal. Waterboarding is torture. Period.

My risking my life to protect my family is different than the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense and Attorney General and defining a policy in which they would violate the Constitution. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Gonzales, etc ignored the 8/6/1 memo "Bin Laden preparing to Strike In US." After 9/11/1 they let bin Laden go in Tora Bora to target Saddam and Iraq's oil. They dropped the ball, left the US weak, and helped Achmadinejad - got rid of his enemy. Torture is punishment, not information gathering. Rather than justify torture as "it stopped beheadings" why not just kill the bastards? A bullet in the head is more effective than waterboarding. And why let bin Laden go? A bullet in his head would have been more effective than knocking off a two-bit dictator 1500 miles away.

Native American Indians and Native Born Americans Whos Parents are From India

But here's an important question. Do native born and naturalized US citizens who's parents are from India, Pakistan, Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka, etc. consider themselves American Indians? My parents - and my wife - were not born here. Yet, I'm an American. My kids are American. If my parents were Indian, Bengali, Pakistani, or from some other part of the sub-continent, I'd be an American Indian. As it is I'm a native American.

Even tho President Obama is an African American, prejudice and race remain problems. Colin Powell rose thru the ranks to very high positions. Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas prove that even incompetence is color blind (as long as it's politically expedient). America is changing. Mixed race couples don't raise an eyebrow. Same gender couples don't raise an eyebrow here, while in Baghdad and Gaza fathers are expected to kill their homosexual children, to preserve honor.

We're all the same under the skin. Compatible blood types, identical neurotransmitters, complimentary DNA. Every human from every culture recognizes smiles, joy, and tears. Those who don't hug, deep down, wish they could.

Montana: Big Sky, No Heart

Montana: "Big Sky Country." However, considering Senator Max Bacus behavior last week, it could also be considered "No Heart Country.” Bacus' conduct shows a contempt that Marie Antoinette and Dick Cheney would be proud of. The Senator from Montana makes me proud to be a citizen of New Jersey.

On Nov. 5, 2006 I saw Bill Clinton with Senator Robert Menendez in Newark. On Nov. 2, 2006, I saw Senator Menendez and Barack Obama speak at campaign rally in Hoboken. After hearing then-Senator Obama I called my father and said “I think I just saw the next President of the United States.” I heard Senator Menendez say "As a Representative in Congress I can't vote to support a war unless the war is in our national interest and unless I would send my own children to fight." This also makes me proud to reside in New Jersey. I am proud also that On Election night, 2008, I had the good luck to personally meet and congratulate Senator Lautenberg on his re-election, on the steps of the Helfrich in New Brunswick. A few minutes later, I watched President Obama’s victory address, and felt pride in my country, and pride in the small things I did to help President Obama’s campaign.

Barack Obama was not always my candidate of choice. Because of his position on medical care, I supported John Edwards. Medicare works well for my father. The equivalent works well, I understand, for every member of the House and Senate. And by the way, MY tax dollars pay for THEIR health care. As far as me, my health insurance costs almost as much as my mortgage. And just as my house is worth less than it used to be, my medical insurance covers less and less yet costs more and more.

Very few people seriously believe in "socialism" as opposed to free enterprise. The facts that before their system collapsed the Soviets copied American computer designs prove the value of the market. However, most people do understand that there are some facets of the economy that should be managed publicly. Law enforcement, for example. Private police forces and private armies are hallmarks of drug cartels and dictatorships. And medical care. The fact that 45 million Americans - which is almost one out of six - can't get access to health care is a terrible indictment of our system.

While campaigning for President, John McCain echoed George W. Bush and said "Anyone has access to health care - people can just go to the emergency room." While this is true, when people without health insurance go to the emergency room, the costs of their treatment are pushed onto the citizens. This implies a national health care policy. However, it's one that is poorly thought out, inefficient, and badly financed. And emergency rooms are not equipped to manage things like high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer. They can't help you if you have diabetes - unless you're in a coma. If you have high blood pressure you're out of luck, until you have a heart attack or a stroke. And cancer - forget about it. And one other thing: John McCain is not the President. McCain lost the election! Americans voted for Barack Obama – his values and his policies!

Principles of Leadership

1. Focus, Hard Work, and Discipline win games, marathons, and wars. If it needs to be done, do it urgently, and do it well. If it doesn’t need to be done, don’t do it at all. If it needs to be done, and you can’t do it; find someone who can.
2. Keep Things Simple. Rube Goldberg’s designs could work – but were not meant to be implemented. Write clearly.Write clearly, with brevity and precision. Dickens was paid by the word. If you're not, then be brief.
3. The Journey Is An Adventure. However, it is not the only adventure. Beach Time Is Important.
4. Smile When You're Talking, Think Before You Speak, and Listen.
5. A good hand in a storm is irreplaceable, even when the sun is shining. Credentials show education. Experience shows knowledge, judgment, and the ability to work.
6. Challenge Talent, Reward Performance, Stimulate Creativity, and Accept Mistakes. Learn from mistakes, and move on. Punishing mistakes stifles performance and pushes talented creative performers out the door.
7. Negotiate in good faith. Or don't negotiate at all. Poker is winner-take-all. Business is better played win-win.
8. The Ends don't justify the means. And the means don't justify the ends. The President of the United States must obey the law.
9. Loyalty is a two-way street. Respect must be earned. People who kiss up and piss down are worthy of neither.
10. Assholes are full of shit. Shit flows downhill. If you work for an asshole . . .

Socialized Medicine Beats Anti-Social Medicine

Medical Insurance can cost $12,000 per year for a family if everyone's healthy. That's a new car every two or three years. Or every year. That's a down payment on a house. That's a mortgage. And that's ridiculous.

It's why Honda and Toyota are in better shape than GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The government takes care of the health care needs of Japanese auto workers – and everyone else.

We need a single payer system, or Medicare for all Americans.

People say this is "socialized" medicine. But the alternative - "anti-social" medicine - is terrible. Medicare works very well for everyone I know over 80. Insurance works poorly at best, whether you're employed, self-employed, or unemployed. I have friends who are out of work and who have no access to medical care, was there myself. When I was out of work I couldn't afford health insurance. (My kids were covered, thanks to Bill Clinton and SCHIP.)

There are some things that the government must do. Nobody believes that police and fire-fighters should be private for-profit companies. Private armies and private police forces are what you see in places like Iraq and Columbia.

Think of the national security implications. If I am near someone who is sick, and who can't go to the doctor – I'm exposed. I'm in danger. So's my wife, so're my kids. I have a family. As a father I don't want my kids exposed because some poor guy lost his job.

Bush and McCain actually said "We have a national health care policy - it's "Go to the Emergency Room."

This is great when you break your arm or get hurt. But it costs you and me more for some un-insured guy to go to the emergency room for a check-up then to go to see a physician in an office. And Emergency Rooms are not clinics. They can't do anything if you have high blood pressure or diabetes, unless you had a stroke or a heart attack or you're in a coma. And then it's too little to late.

Negawatts and Eco-Watts or Killer-Watts

Back in the late '1970's Amory Lovins, of the Rocky Mountain Institute coined the term "NegaWatts" to describe the energy that could be saved with conservation and efficiency. "The cheapest energy," he said, "and the cleanest energy is the energy you don't use."

Lovins' associate, Marvin Resnikoff, PhD, then teaching physics and environmental thinking at SUNY University of Buffalo and Rachel Carson College, used the term "nuclear constipation" to describe the nuclear waste problem. It's an apt metaphor - the waste doesn't go away.

We struggling not only with nuclear constipation, but carbon constipation. We burn carbon, liberate the energy in chemical bonds, to get from place to place, to heat and cool our homes, but the carbon doesn't go away. It goes into the air from under the ground. To paraphrase Al Gore,

We are borrowing from China to buy oil from the middle east and rip coal out of the ground to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. But enough wind blows through the midwest corridor in a day, enough sunlight falls on the earth in FORTY MINUTES to provide the power we need for a year.

Harnessing the wind, the sun, and the earth eliminates these problems. Rather than burning a fuel; wind, solar, geothermal harness a process. The sun shines whether or not we use solar panels to capture some photons. The wind blows regardless of our decision to use a few particles to spin a turbine. We are hitchin' a ride on a moving train.

This is the choice: Wind and Solar or Coal and Nuclear. "Negawatts and clean pure Eco-Watts or Deadly-Watts, Morta-Watts, Killer-Watts.

_____________________

Negawatt - unit of energy you don't use.
Ecowatt - unit of energy generated in a clean sustainable way, such as via solar power or wind power.
Killer-watt - unit of energy generated by burning or consuming fuel such as coal, oil, gas, or radioactive material.

Rachel Maddow - Tied Up With Coal Rope? Anthracite Handcuffs?

In Strasbourg, April 3, President Obama summed up the challenges we face:

"We know that the pollution from cars in Boston or from factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, and that that will disrupt weather patterns everywhere. The terrorists who struck in London and New York plotted in distant caves and simple apartments much closer to your home. And the reckless speculation of bankers that has now fueled a global economic downturn that’s inflicting pain on workers and families — is happening everywhere, all across the globe.

And told us what he wants to do:

"... what I want to be able to do is not only fix the immediate crisis, but, working in partnership with other countries, create a path for sustainable, responsible growth. And I think we can do that. There are a lot of people who benefit from globalization, but there are also people who have been harmed by globalization. Globalization in and of itself can be good, but can also be destructive.

"... we could have just spent the money on the same old ways of doing things. But part of what we decided was if we're going to be spending a lot of government money anyway, why not spend it to double the amount of renewable energy? Why not spend it on retrofitting existing government buildings so that we drastically reduce their energy consumption?"

I agree with Al Gore that we should move from coal and 100% solar, wind, geothermal, marine kinetic, and other renewable, sustainable energy systems in 10 years. I believe that President Obama's stated goal, to double the amount of renewable energy, is a good start.

I wrote on this at Popular Logistics, and e-mailed Rachel Maddow (rachel@msnbc.com)

Burning one ton of coal creates about 3.5 tons of carbon dioxide. According to Robert Bryce, the U S burned about 1.1 billion tons of coal in 2007 creating about 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide, not to mention the fly ash, arsenic, mercury, etc. Is that not a problem? When she was on Air America Rachel criticized the coal industry. Why did Rachel ignore Obama's comment on sustainability? Last night the coal industry ran an ad on The Rachel Maddow Show. Rachel's hands are tied with coal rope, she is bound by anthracite handcuffs.

So while the good news is that the progressive agenda has become so mainstream that two nightly TV news programs are blatantly left of center; the bad news is that the buy-partisan coal industry is co-opting the progressive tv news. I guess it's back to the NY Times which covers all the news that's fit to print, SNL Weekend Update which is still not ready for Prime Time, Jon Stewart, where nothing is sacred, and The Colbert Report, where Stephen Colbert is sacred, and NPR.

“I Hope He Fails” Revisited

A friend of mine, John, a lawyer, a professional who is trained to see at both sides of every situation, and who is trained to see in shades of grey, not black and white, told me a story of an insurance agent who recently sold him life insurance. After the deal was closed, the contracts were signed, the insurance agent, let's call him “Bill,” turned to his new client and said “You know, I hope he fails.”

Bill repeated his statement, the statement made famous by Rush Limbaugh, and repeated by right wingers across the country. “I hope Obama fails.”

John was raised to love this country. His parents and grandparents came here from Italy in the 1920s and '30's. Times were bad here, and they were worse in Italy back then. John's parents worked hard, and he worked hard – and still works hard. He is a political independent – votes for the best candidate he can find in every election. And votes in every election. This past election he saw things about Obama that he liked, and saw things about McCain that he liked.

His reply to “I hope he fails” was “don't you have money vested in the economy? Do you hope things get worse?” Bill said “well, I'll be ok. I just want him to fail.”

John told me that Bill wasn't listening to anything he had to say. John told me “the President is like the Captain of the a ship. Bill was saying 'you hope the ship sinks.' I told him that I would torn up the contracts and thrown him out of my house. Saying “I hope he fails” is saying “I hope the people who are out of work stay out of work. The people who don't have medical insurance – and who have no access to medical care - can't insurance or access to medical care.” The Constitution and the Bill of Rights may consider idiotic and seditious talk protected speech, but I have the right to assemble – and not assemble. I don't have to tolerate an idiot in my house. I don't have to support a right wing revolutionary by buying stuff from him

North Korea Missile a Success

The North Korean missile test was a success. The New York Times, (click here) noting that the missile self-destructed and fell into the ocean, and therefore the missile failed

• to achieve orbit,
  
• to demonstrate an offensive missile capability, or
  
• to show North Korea to be a "fearsome adversary able to hurl deadly weapons halfway around the globe."

These "journalists" call North Korea's non-intercontinental ballistic missiles (n-ICBM) a failure. This "blogger" considers the North Korean n-ICBM demonstration to be a success. N. Korea joined the United States, China, Japan, the other industrialed nations in attacking the oceans. "We too can threaten the environment." Kim Jong-il might have said. However, it is not clear that Kim Jong-il knows the missile did not achieve orbit.

Mother Earth could not be reached for comment.

Donald Rumsfeld, observed "these are the kinds of weapons that Saddam might have had, had he had them, and had we been able to find them. But there are things you know, things you don't know, and things you don't know that you don't know. There are things you can find, things you can't find, things you can't find because they exist but are hidden, things you can't find because they don't exist except in your mind.

Sarah Palin said "up here in Alaska we're on the lookout for North Koreans. North Korea is near Russia, and I can see Russia from my house, you know, yep, you betcha."

Physics and Dance

Moving Particles
thinking of them in physics
being them in dance

Barefoot and on skis
Human particles moving
Random. Predicted.

FaceBook MySpace Nets
The Web and the Internet
Packets move we think

Dr. Rumsfeld -

Baghdad, Iraq. The American University of Iraq. Former Secretary of Defense Donald H. "Rummy" Rumsfeld was awarded two honorary PhDs today. One in quantum mechanics, and theoretical physics and the other in Poetry here at the American University in Iraq.

In one of his explanations of why we were winning the unnecessary war we started against a small 3rd world country (with a poorly trained and poorly armed military) which is to say why we were winning a war we could logically be expected to be winning, Rumsfeld postulated the existence of three universes -

The Known Known,
The Known Unknown, and
The Unknown Unknown.

His work also postulated by corollary the existence of a fourth universe, the Unknown Known universe.
The first two are universes everybody knows (or doesn't know) about.

1 the known universe that we know about - that's the known known.

2 the unknown universe we know we don't know about - that's the known unknown.

But remember, Rummy was part of the non-reality based administration. This unreality based administration, also known as the surreal administration, some even say the unConstitutional Administration. For him there is also

3) the unknown universe we don't know about - the unknown unknown.

And this work also postulates the existence of a fourth universe - the known universe we don't know about - the unknown known. You might think this is related to the unknown universe we know about. And you might be right.

Who knew?

As noted, the war in Iraq is a war we could logically expect to be winning - except when you factor in facts on the ground, i.e, "factors" such as humanity, discipline, pride and passion on the part of "the enemy" that planners don't like to factor in. The enemy, you see, isn't supposed to love freedom unless it's freedom to sell us their oil and be occupied by us. And the fact that our armed forces were less than they would have needed to be to completely occupy the country and suppress resistance, and our army wasn't as well equipped at it should have been either, but as Rumsfeld once said, "You go to war with the army you have." (And as Bush and Cheney once might have said "You don't go to war if you can get out of it.")

<http://www.slate.com/id/2081042/>