Occupy Wall Street

Have you heard of this wannabe movement, or what appears to be a sister site, the other 99?

Here's a good report by Amy Goodman from Democracy Now!

A good long article at Alernet.

And a bit of good criticism by Maha.

Solyndra Scandadl: Republican Smear

This pretty much sums up the recent "Solyndra Scandal" Republicans and right wing media are hyping:

Why Working People Are Not Doing So Good

This chart tells the story of the present depression:

This one is related:

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/03/30/chart-of-the-day-us-financial-profits/

Boehner Sides With Qaddafi

If there was a liberal news media that operated like Fox and Roger Ailes, this is how the headline would read.

The hypocrisy of Boehner demanding the "constitutionality" of the Libya bombing in a NATO operation, after leading the charge into Afghanistan and Iraq under Bush, just makes me want to puke.

These Republicans know no shame.

Rick Santorum: Really Ignorant

Recently, Rick Santorum, presidential candidate of the religious right, had this to say:

I believe the earth gets warmer and I also believe the earth gets cooler, and I think history points out that it does that and that the idea that man, through the production of CO2 -- which is a trace gas in the atmosphere, and the manmade part of that trace gas is itself a trace gas -- is somehow responsible for climate change is, I think, just patently absurd.

Seriously? The either Mr. Santorum is either ignorant of the science behind carbon dioxide's greenhouse effect, or is willfully in denial of the same. Note his accent on what he "believes."

Whether or not greenhouse gasses are the sole responsibility for climate change is not entirely relevant. The fact is, greenhouse gasses trap heat that would have escaped under normal conditions. Heat is energy and it's the energy that is producing climate change. The amount of carbon dioxide gas necessary for this to occur is 350 parts per million (ppm). Sure it's a trace gas, but that is all that is necessary. We are well past 350 ppm, having blown by 380 ppm. Every year tens of millions of tons of new CO2 are pumped into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels. This has been plenty more than enough over any natural source to attribute this increase in greenhouse gas to humans.

Mr. Santorum thinking this is patently absurd is patently absurd itself. All he does is show willful ignorance of the topic. This tendency itself disqualifies this man.

Faith Based Everything

We all know the term "faith-based." It's usually applied to religious groups, who coined the phrase. It is, in fact, how they pursue their religion, and ostensibly their god.

It's not the religious context I want to bring up. The most powerful faith based idea around is in the economic realm. This global, free market, libertarian, neo-conservative capitalism, that has been embraced by conservatives and the Republican Party, including the wholey owned subsidiary Tea Party, is an entirely faith based economic ideology. It has it's holy scriptures, tenets of the faith, it's prophets, high priests, preachers, evangelists, seminaries, churches and cathedrals. To speak against this economic religion is to commit blasphemy and be branded a heretic.

Another is that of the military-industrial complex. However, there's a lot of corruption by the above. The whole basis of the MIC is there's a lot of MONEY to be made, and the way to do it is by imagining enemies everywhere that want to kill us. With making money the prime virtue of the faith, only a few heretics question it.

The big problem with faith based anything is that it obscures reality, making any problems that arise out of the idea in question nearly impossible to overcome.

To My Neighbors Working Against the Biomass Plant

I'm a johnny-come-lately to the issue. When y'all were geared up and fighting this thing last fall, I was working ungodly hours and didn't have a lot of time to really tune into it. I did make it to the VLCIA forum in December. However, at the the time I was tired from the hours and I knew a marketing presentation when I saw one. I wasn't in the mood for bull***t and they seemed to be shoveling it big time. Others knew a lot more than I and I had to leave. Things have slowed down recently, and I've spent the last couple of weeks playing catch up. I'm with you a hundred percent, and respect and thank you for all the work you've done to gather the case against the plant.

I was shocked at the way Commission Chairman Paulk came down on Professor Noll, President of WACE, at the county commission meeting. The tone seemed entirely over the top. At this point, the commission has expressed its opinion to support the plant. I understand the effort to get them to respond to citizens from the community, however, beyond a token, "The Lowndes County Commission expresses its disapproval of the proposed Biomass Plant," what can they do to stop it? The only real power on a county government level seems to be zoning. The VDT brought that up in its editorial. Would that be an area to bring pressure to bear?

It seems to me the two other entities that have decision making power over this thing are the VLCIA and Sterling Planet. With Sterling Planet in Atlanta, would the IA be the focus? Kudos to those who have gone to the meetings to express their resistance to the BP. Given at this point they are set in their ways, how much more of expression of displeasure at their meetings is going to help?

What do you think about this? We need to marshal a lot more public opinion to our side. Honestly, I doubt the vast majority of citizens in Valdosta-Lowndes County have any idea about this issue. I had a conversation with a young man I work with tonight that had heard something about the biomass plant, but had no clue what the issue was about. It opened the door to explain it to him. I could get his signature on a petition now.

LAKE, and its blog, On the Lake Front, have done a most excellent job in providing us with the best source of information about this topic. Thank you JSQ and GQ for your work. Let me also throw props to LT and all for the great mini-newspaper devoted to the biomass issue. These are examples of citizen journalism at its finest.

It's a pleasant plus that KH and the VDT seem with us at this point. Unfortunately, Frank Barnas seemed to give Brad Loftus and the IA free rein on that local radio program. Anyone know if Scott James has taken a position?

Let me bounce this idea off you: There is a tactic called guerilla marketing, which seems to be marketing, or the dissemination of ideas on a shoestring budget. I have experience producing brochures, flyers and tracts. These are powerful, condensed, concise, and most importantly, relatively inexpensive vehicles to convey information to people on an individual level. If we could combine these with a door to door campaign to blanket the city, followed up by a petition drive, we could probably get thousands of supporters.

The issue seems to be health considerations resulting from the poisoning of our air, land and water. If we could come up with a figure on the healthcare costs on an individual level, physically and financially, costs that will be most acutely incurred by our children and grandchildren, it would be a powerful tool in bringing people on board.

In the meantime, what do you think of a picket line at the VLCIA? The paper would probably come out, and the TV. Maybe the radio would take notice. The point is, I'm thinking we need to take battle from the halls of government to the homes of people, the citizens of Lowndes County, our neighbors.

Better to go down fighting than to lay down let them roll over you. -JJP

Bomb Found Along MLK Day March Route

A bomb was found Monday, along a MLK Day March route in Spokane, Washington. The FBI is pursuing the case as an act of "domestic terrorism." The bomb was confirmed to have been "sophisticated," with a remote detonator.

Does anyone in the media recognize this as a description of an IED? You know, the wicked things that have been the bane of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was in Spokane in western Washington, out toward Idaho, hotbed of white supremacy. In '09, the Department of Homeland Security put out this report that stated that right wing groups were recruiting veterans from the military. Could the bomber have learned his trade there?