Anti-immigration activist Shawna Forde guilty of murder

Forde and cohorts were looking for drugs and money when they did the home invasion. In other words, they’re just criminals. Their viciously racist anti-immigration stance was probably mostly a pose to provide camouflage and justification for criminal behavior. (“Mexicans are subhumans so it’s ok to kill them and take their belongings”.)

The verdict was [...]

US arms sales are booming! And Obama is leading it!

As defense giants like Boeing, Raytheon increasingly seek to peddle their wares to well-financed (sometimes by the U.S.) international customers, they have a surprising ally: the President. “Obama is much more favorably disposed to arms exports than any of the previous Democratic administrations,” says Loren Thompson, a veteran defense consultant. Or, as Jeff Abramson, deputy [...]

US military weaponry being used by drug cartels in Mexico

DJ was right. He’s long maintained that while drug cartels may be getting some weapons from straw buyers in the US this couldn’t possibly account for the huge numbers of weapons they have nor are such weapons powerful enough.

He recently commented on a post here about straw gun buyers being arrested in Arizona.

[...]

Ireland defaults on bond payments. Good

In the wake of the collapse of the Irish government, finance minister Brian Lenihan suspended capital injections for Allied Irish Bank, the Bank of Ireland, and EBS Building society until elections are held on February 25.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said Anglo Irish Bank will not get another cent if his party is elected. [...]

Cellulosic ethanol. A new approach

Ineos Bio plans to open a factory in Florida that will convert plant waste and garbage into electricity and ethanol. First they will gasify the waste then use a recently discovered bacterium that lives in chicken waste to convert the resulting carbon monoxide and hydrogen into ethanol. Remaining gases will be used to create [...]

Arizona could become a leader in algae biofuel

While San Diego is the world leader in algae biofuel development, with numerous companies working on it and the Imperial Valley nearby as a location for the algae farms, Arizona is a perfect location too as it has ample flat land and sun. But here’s what caught my eye.

The state’s coal-fired power plants produce [...]

Minority of the Opulent

When one is attempting to explain our very anti-democratic electoral college to someone from outside the US, there is usually a strong desire to explain it away, to claim it is a safeguard on Democracy. We are told it is to protect minorities. As DJ said in an earlier comment thread:

“The very premise of [...]

Novel argument against gay marriage

Because if we allow it then one day we might be marrying robots.

We need non-violent revolution here too

To paraphrase Gandhi, “What do you think about democracy in America?” “I think it would be a good idea.”

Washington’s Blog is eloquent in two detailed posts about why Americans need to Walk Like an Egyptian too. We’ve been hoodwinked. We’ve been bamboozled. It needs to change. Non-violent civil disobedience, especially in the form of [...]

Left is mean but right is meaner, says new study of political discourse

Just so you know