Category: Action

I received a note from Bernie Sanders yesterday to say thanks for supporting and signing on to his letter to Secretary Paulson.

Sanders is clear in saying this is not the end, but the beginning; and he asks people to remain involved.  In the months ahead we need to correct the many flaws in the final passage of H.R. 1424, The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 as we all know this is not stabilization at all but, rather, a very volatile weapon of mass destruction which could wreck much greater havoc at any moment.

Nevertheless, so long as we are all still here, I think it is of value to do all we can to try to sustain and restore life.  In this matter, Sanders wants to continue to work to implement his 4 point plan for the economy:

    1) A temporary, 10% surcharge on the ultra-rich.

    2) Extensive re-regulation and oversight.

    3) A WPA type program of job creation in infrastructure repair & sustainable energy

    4) Limits on business size so they are not “too big to fail.”

See more about what he wants to do beneath the fold.

 

Crossposted at dkos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

A friend emailed me yesterday about this FDA warning (bold mine):

Recall — Firm Press Release

Mars Petcare US Issues Voluntary Recall of Everson, PA Plant Dry Pet Food Product due to Potential Salmonella Contamination

Some of the brands are listed below.

This Saturday, there is a nation-wide showdown between, quite literally, forces for light and forces for darkness.  

Global Warming, it is said, offers perhaps both the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced and perhaps the greatest opportunity we’ve ever had. Either we will figure out how to transform society, to a prosperous and sustainable path, or we will fail to do so with dire consequences.

When it comes to Global Warming and moving forward, one of the greatest challenges has been from those fearful, dismissive, disdainful of “large” government. Yet, to deal with Global Warming will require not just individual action, not just local communities, not just ‘business’ and market activity, but serious government engagement as well — policy, financing, research support, and otherwise.

So, a question that has to be faced: Is Wall Street’s meltdown going to worsen or improve the prospects for navigating the Perfect Storm of Peak Oil and Global Warming? And, the answer is likely: both. It is both challenge and opportunity.

In my neck of the woods, the local Republicans are showing a real green thumb (actually, perhaps green hammer) as there is green sprouting all over. Green signs with a gas pump are appearing with the words “Drill Now! Pay Less! Vote GOP!”

Now, other than the direct linkage of a gas pump and the Republican Party (the Grand Oil Party), it is hard to see any honesty in this poster. It is a continuation of the concerted Republican efforts to mislead and lie to the American people about critical energy issues. It is, in fact, impressive that this sign can be deceptive and simply dishonest on so many levels at the same time.

First, I support A Siegel for his many articles on energy issues — Get Energy Smart! NOW!!! and his article Whitehouse Drills Drilling has prompted this from me.  (Well, to be honest, it’s been on my mind a lot as it is, anyway!)

~~~~~

THE very most important issue facing us right NOW is global warming — it concerns the survival of the universe, itself!

We need more (Sen. Sheldon) Whitehouses who would state emphatically

. . . do any of you seriously contend that drilling for more oil is the number one issue facing the American people today?

As we know, WE have the technology right now to turn our energy consumption into other alternatives, windmills, solar panels, alcohol (derived from numerous non-edible sources, such as sugar beets, hemp, cattails*, etc.) for use as fuel for our motor driven vehicles.  It’s clean and efficient.  *Cattails also can serve as a “filter” to prevent “dead zones” in our waters.

Billionaires for Bush is back: Join Lobbyists for McCain.

Some of you know that I am a huge fan of public art.  Street theater included.  The best street theater troupe that arose during the past 8 years, imho, is Billionaires for Bush.

Aaaaaand…they’re back!  They’ve renamed themselves Lobbyists for McCain but it’s the same group, now with even more biting video.  This first one is just a teaser:

The next one–it is so true that one could cry–is the best I’ve found:

This is an Open Thread.  Please do not wRECk the Pony Party!

VP pick Sara Palin frightens me.

She frightens me because I fully understand the power of ultra conservative, fundamentalist women and I know how many of them there still are. All I have to do is go sit in a diner in any small town in Minnesota, and listen to nearby conversations for a half hour to know that things are not than much different today than they were in the 60’s, for women born and raised there.

Or I can simply stay home and spend time in the Lobby of this large senior apartment complex, and listen to my “good christian neighbors” bemoaning the lack of morals, those “godless gays”, and how “The blacks are everywhere now!”

Last week I publicized the extraordinary appeal campaign for Guantanamo detainee Mohammad Jawad initiated by his military attorneys. Jawad, who was arrested as a teenager in Afghanistan in December 2002, is the first child soldier to be tried as a “war criminal” in modern times. In U.S. custody, he has suffered beatings, threats, physical isolation, sleep deprivation, been subjected to 24-hour bright lights, and more. His attorneys have called for letters to be written to the Convening Authority at Guanatanamo, asking them to withdraw and dismiss the charges against Jawad.

Now, his attorneys have initiated an online petition campaign in his behalf. You can follow this link to go straight to the petition. Please sign it and pass the info on to whomever you can.

This is my LTE to numerous newspapers, locally and nationally!

Mr. Out of Touch, McCain!

As of April 22, 2008,

” . . . .When George W. Bush took office in 2000, oil was $28 per barrel, the euro was $.87 on the dollar, gold was $274 per ounce, and the national debt was $5.9 trillion. Today, oil is a record $114 per barrel, the euro is nudging $1.60 on the dollar, gold is $945 per ounce, and the National Debt is $9 trillion. The country is presently engaged in a $2 trillion war in Iraq with no end in sight. The federal government has expanded over 30% under Bush. Wages for working people have stagnated, unemployment has risen, 47 million Americans are without health care, and the economy is slipping into recession. By every objective standard, the country is worse off today than when Bush first took office. . . . (source: “Message To Fed Chief Bernanke: ‘Enough With The Cuts, Already'” — Mike is a freelance writer living in Washington state.)