Bob Morris @ Aug 26th 2008 23:42 - Category: Election 2008 ;
I had always figured when it came to crunch time that Hillary would knock the ball out of the stadium - and she did.
PS. Bob Casey Jr. said “John McCain votes with Bush 95% of the time. That’s not a maverick - that’s a sidekick.”
Bob Morris @ Aug 26th 2008 23:06 - Category: Unfiled ;
A number of states have been trying for years to do a grab of Great Lakes water. Now it appears, after twenty five years, that an agreement may be in the works to ban export of the water out of the region.
But some aren’t sure. Because such an agreement might then imply that water is a commodity to be sold rather than something in the public trust. And while the agreement might ban water being exported in bulk, it apparently exempts water in plastic bottles. Hmmm.
Bob Morris @ Aug 26th 2008 22:57 - Category: Unfiled Tags: sustainable business;
EcoTuesday has meetings once a month in several cities focusing on sustainable business, with a talk by a local business person. They are also great for networking. Went to my first EcoTuesday in SF tonight, and met a bunch of seriously interesting people.
Sheryl O’Loughlin, CEO of Nest Naturals and former CEO of Clif Bar, spoke about building her current business on sustainable principles and how they sometimes buy or partner with smaller businesses. Too often small business sell to larger ones who promise to be green and sustainable but aren’t. Nest Naturals tries to provides these small businesses with a platform where they can continue to grow and not lose their ideals. All of which may sound overly tree-hugging except that she appears to being doing just that.
Bob Morris @ Aug 26th 2008 18:33 - Category: Unfiled ;
Lenin and Trotsky both tried to stop Stalin. But Lenin was ill and Trotsky didn’t push hard enough when he could have.
Inherent in all this an apparent contradiction (or at least a problem) with revolutions. Those that you knock out of power are often the same people that know how the system works, the ones that keep the factories going and the electricity on. They are the ones that run things on a day to day basis. Push them out and things might stop functioning smoothly. Venezuela had this happen recently when they nationalized the oil companies and fired most of those who ran them. Production dropped 20%.
Those you want to push out of power might also be the same folks you need to run things. How do you keep that same strata, those who run things in a society, from forming a self-perpetuating class beholden mainly to itself? The USSR under Stalin had a ruling class with power capitalists could only dream of having, with no institutionalized checks and balances either. Then the horrors began.
Tip: LeftClick
Bob Morris @ Aug 26th 2008 13:25 - Category: Election 2008 Tags: Obama;
Darry Barry confirms the wingnut’s deepest suspicions.
[Obama's] goal, in his acceptance speech, will be to win over the undecided voters — the people who are unsure of what he really stands for, or who have received emailed rumors that he is a Muslim, or a socialist, or a vampire, or a lesbian. His goal will be to show, with no disrespect to the Muslim socialist vampire lesbian community, that he is a regular person just like you, except he has Vision and Leadership. After that, he will lay out his specific policies for building a brighter future. Then he will turn into a bat.
While Barry’s humor is always welcome, the possible assassination attempt on Obama by apparent meth head white supremacist wingnuts is unsettling.
The TimesOnline UK has a video interview with Nathan Johnson, one of the arrested, saying the others told him of their plan to assassinate Obama from on high with a .22-250 rifle sighted at 750 yards, a shot a skilled marksman could pull off. He also contradicted himself a few times. Can’t imagine why an alleged outlaw biker would inform on compatriots unless he was up on serious charges and wanted to cut a deal. Which means he could be making stuff up. Or not.
Bob Morris @ Aug 26th 2008 10:15 - Category: Credit crisis ;
Robert Reich
Any day now — perhaps any hour — the plug will be pulled on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and a massive government bailout will ensue. Together, they’ll become the largest government-owned entities in American history, and, once again, taxpayers will pay the bill, which could come to $25 billion or more.
It’s another case of socialized capitalism, folks. The largest, yet. Along with making lots of money for investors and their executives, Fannie and Freddie corrupted our political process.
This time we should make sure we bury socialized capitalism for good.
Meanwhile, the wealthy continue to grow rich off the collapse of F&F. Dealbreaker explains how the auction of $2 billion Freddie notes yesterday could yield a bank that can borrow from the Fed an annualized 17% return with little risk. How cozy.
Bob Morris @ Aug 26th 2008 05:10 - Category: Renewable energy, Solar power ;
The first part of the Pickens Plan is solar, the next is using natural gas as a bridge until we devise a nationwide renewable energy system. The thinking is, if solar gets used to create electricity, then natural gas will be freed up to power automobiles, decreasing oil consumption and giving us time to develop renewable power for vehicles and electricity.
He also says, drill, drill, drill for oil. Breakthrough says, not to worry, because Pickens also says drilling won’t help much because we will still be dependent on foreign oil. Also -
Democrats should drop the dogmatism and seize the political moment to carve out a drilling policy on their own terms. Otherwise, the options are no drilling or drilling wrong, and the American public has made quite clear their support for the latter.
Yes, Pickens is a right-wing, swift-boating, Texas billionaire who wants to make billions more on renewable power. He’s also thinking big and putting lots of money on the table. I’m glad someone is, because our government sure isn’t.
The Google Foundation is also thinking big, and is pumping money into clean energy research, tens of millions a year now, hundreds of millions a year soon.
This isn’t, or shouldn’t be, a partisan political issue. Low cost, renewable energy benefits us all.
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