Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2008 21:52 - Category: Climate change ;
The American West is heating up faster than any other region of the United States, and more than the Earth as a whole, according to a new analysis of 50 scientific studies.
Worse, the trend is expected to accelerate. What will this mean long-term for cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix. and Salt Lake City?
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2008 17:23 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Dave Rovics;
“If I can’t dance I don’t want to be in your revolution”
– Emma Goldman
Musician Dave Rovics wonders why Left antiwar protests are so boring. Endless speeches with little if any music, humor, or entertainment seem almost counter productive.
Radical culture needs to be fostered and promoted, front and center, not sidelined as people are gathering, or when the radio stations are doing station ID’s. Because if the point is to inspire people to action, a song is worth a hundred speeches. If the point is to educate people, a three-minute ballad is easily equal to any book. (They’ll read the book after they hear the song, not the other way around.)
Absolutely, music can inspire and motivate when mere speeches fall flat (or don’t get heard at all except by the true believers.) IWW member Joe Hill wrote songs that inspired millions during the union battles of the early 20th Century. Woody Guthrie’s populist songs are known worldwide. “We Shall Overcome” was the anthem of the Civil Rights movement as was “Fixin’ to Die” for the Vietnam War protests.
Dave is quite right. They will read the book and listen to you after they hear the song… The Left needs some anthems and it needs to start dancing again.
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2008 11:21 - Category: Anti-war ;
Iraq Veterans Against the War has videos of their recent Winter Soldier testimony online now.
From their listserv.
These testimonies are not just individual experiences - taken together, they tell the story of what has happened, and what is still happening, in these occupations. They make clear what a growing number of veterans and service members are saying: we must stop expecting our military to accomplish the impossible, we must stop expecting them to win an occupation. The time to withdraw our military is now.
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2008 06:16 - Category: Election 2008 ;
Yes, it’s getting a bit intense, isn’t it? But once the winner emerges, the party will unify. It always does. Knock-down drag-out primaries aren’t exactly new nor should they be feared. It’s the democratic Part, remember? Things are supposed to be contentious, at least some of the time.
The Polizeros Prediction: Hillary will not destroy the party. I mean, really, why would she want to? Obama will get the nomination, she will support him, and McCain will prove to be a paper tiger.
Bob Morris @ Mar 28th 2008 02:20 - Category: Energy conservation Tags: coal, nuclear power;
The Oil Drum points out that while coal is falling into disfavor in the US, it is widely used by developing countries because it is freely available and cheap.
The reality is that many of the nations that are switching to coal to provide the power for the next 20 years or more are doing so in part to bring their people closer to the living standard of the West. When villages have no power, we do not have the right to tell their government that they cannot provide it, even if coal is the only power source available.
If we don’t want hundreds if not thousands of new coal plants in the coming decades then alternatives need to be planned for now. Renewables like wind, solar, hydro, and wave can certainly play major roles, as can an emphasis on smart electronics and appliances that conserve energy. But what if spent nuclear rods could be reused? GE thinks this is economically feasible and is working on it. And yes, only a deep-pockets company like GE can fund something like this.
The market opportunity to recover the vast amount of useful energy in spent nuclear fuel remains available if a firm, such as General Electric, can develop the technologies to safety recover it without the environmental issues associated with aqueous recycling methods.
Maybe one day the government will be funding research into cleantech and cheap power. The fast developing Third World will be requiring vast amounts of power, and they will do it either with cleantech or with coal. If the developed countries make the right choices now and provide the technology for developing countries to produce clean power at a reasonable cost, then they won’t have to use coal. If not, then they have little or no choice.
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