The Elephant Room

Official who OK'd Air Force One jet flyover resigns

2009-05-09T07:38:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama has accepted the resignation of Louis Caldera, the director of the White House Military Office responsible for the controversial low-altitude flyover of New York by a 747 plane used as Air Force One, the White House said Friday.

The photo shoot, which President Obama said he was "furious" with, happened on April 27. The image of a low-flying plane accompanied by an F-16 fighter jet sent some New Yorkers into the streets and into a panic -- reminding them of the tragic 9/11 attacks on the city.

Building evacuations also took place across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey. Read more of Obama's reaction

Caldera later apologized for the flyover.

"I have concluded that the controversy surrounding the Presidential Airlift Group's aerial photo shoot over New York City has made it impossible for me to effectively lead the White House Military Office," Caldera said in a letter to Obama.

"Moreover, it has become a distraction to the important work you are doing as president. After much reflection, I believe it is incumbent on me to tender my resignation and step down as director of the White House Military Office."

The White House also released a photo of the flyover and a report on the incident on Friday.

In the report, the White House said Caldera, who had been traveling with President Obama when the flyover plans were initially discussed, did not remember a conversation in which his deputy, George Mulligan, informed him of the flyover.

Caldera did not open an e-mail about final plans for the flyover until after it had happened, the report said, noting Caldera had been suffering from severe muscle spasms and had left the office early on several days.

Although recommendations by several parties involved in the flyover had been made that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina be informed of the plans, the report said, that job was left to Caldera, who did not pass the information along.

The flyover, officials said, was a training mission -- it was also a government-sanctioned photo shoot.

Military officials estimate the mission and the photo shoot, aimed at updating file photos of Air Force One -- cost $328,835 in taxpayer money.

But they said "the hours would have been flown regardless, and the expenses would have been accrued on a different mission."

Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty before flying up the Hudson River.

A YouTube video showed people standing in a parking lot, watching the plane approach. As it nears, they begin to run. "Run, run!" said one person. "Oh my God," cried another.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was visibly angry last week. "I'm annoyed -- furious is a better word -- that I wasn't told," he said, adding that the decision by the White House Military Office and Federal Aviation Administration to withhold details about the flight were "ridiculous" and "poor judgment."

But according to Air Force Capt. Anna Carpenter, local law enforcement agencies and the FAA had been notified of the exercise.

New York Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne confirmed that department had been alerted about the flight "with directives to local authorities not to disclose information about it."

GOP's Sen. Specter switches parties

2009-04-28T16:11:00.011-04:00

Today's announcement by Senator Arlen Specter was a welcome surprise to Democrats everywhere. His decision gives Democrats a whopping 59 seats, one short of a filibuster-proof majority.

(We'll have to wait and see if Democrat Al Franken can be seated in Minnesota's vacant senate seat.)

I was particularly interested in Sen. Specter's reasons for switching parties, reasons that appear to be as philosophical as they are strategic -

Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.

When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.

Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.

By the way, did you see The Daily Show last night? Jon Stewart is on his game when he is outraged. Check it out.

Air Force One jet scares New Yorkers

2009-04-27T21:39:00.004-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

"Jet flyover in lower Manhattan sets off panic"
By Ula Ilnytzky and Sara Kugler
The Associated Press, 4/27/09

NEW YORK (AP) — One of the president's official planes and a supersonic fighter jet zoomed past the lower Manhattan skyline in a flash just as the work day was beginning Monday. Within minutes, startled financial workers streamed out of their offices, fearing a nightmarish replay of Sept. 11.

For a half-hour, the Boeing 747 and F-16 jet circled the Statue of Liberty and the lower Manhattan skyline near the World Trade Center site. Offices evacuated. Dispatchers were inundated with calls. Witnesses thought the planes were flying dangerously low.

But the flyover was nothing but a photo op, apparently one of a series of flights to get pictures of the president's airliner in front of national landmarks.

It was carried out by the Defense Department with little warning, infuriating New York officials and putting the White House on the defense. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't know about it, and he later called it "insensitive" to fly so near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The director of the White House military office, Louis Caldera, took the blame a few hours later. The airliner was a 747 that is called Air Force One when used by the president.

"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," Caldera said. "While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

When told of the flight, President Barack Obama was furious, a White House official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Still, federal officials provided few details and wouldn't say why the public and area building security managers weren't notified. They also wouldn't address why someone thought it was a wise decision to send two jets into New York City, all for a few photos with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop.

An administration official said the purpose of the photo op was to update file photos of the president's plane near the Lady Liberty.

This official said the White House military office told the Federal Aviation Administration that it was updating file photos of Air Force One near national landmarks, such as the statute in the New York harbor and the Grand Canyon. The official requested anonymity to give more details than the official White House announcement.

An Air Force combat photographer took pictures from one of the fighter jets, administration officials said.

The photo op was combined with a training exercise to save money, according to another administration official who also spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the behind-the-scenes discussions about the flight.

The FAA notified the New York Police Department of the flyover, telling them photos of the Air Force One jet would be taken about 1,500 feet above the Statue of Liberty around 10 a.m. Monday. It had a classified footnote that said "information in this document shall not be released to the public or the media."

"Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe defies the imagination," Bloomberg said. "Poor judgment would be a nice ways to phrase it. ... Had I known about it, I would have called them right away and asked them not to."

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said typically a flight like this would be publicized to avoid causing a panic, but they were under orders not to in this case. They regularly get requests for flyovers, but without secrecy restrictions.

The FAA also alerted an official in the mayor's office, but he didn't tell Bloomberg, who said he first learned about it when his "BlackBerry went off crazy with people complaining about it."

The Bloomberg official who was notified was Marc Mugnos, director of operations for the Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management. Mugnos didn't immediately respond to questions about why he didn't tell the mayor; Bloomberg's spokesman Stu Loeser issued a statement saying: "He has been reprimanded and a disciplinary letter will be placed in his file."

Workers in lower Manhattan were stunned by what they saw.

John Leitner, a floor trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange Building, said about 1,000 people "went into a total panic" and ran out of the building around 10 a.m. after seeing the planes whiz nearby.

"We were informed after we cleared out of there," Leitner said. "I kind of think heads should roll a little bit on that."

Employees of the Wall Street Journal also left their desks to see what was going on.

Kathleen Seagriff, a staff assistant, said workers heard the roar of the engines and then saw the planes from their windows.

"They went down the Hudson, turned around and came back by the building," she said. "It was a scary scene, especially for those of us who were there on 9/11."

Air Force spokesman Vince King said the "photo mission" involved one of two VC-25 aircraft. The aircraft is part of the Presidential Airlift Wing, based at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

The F-16 jet that flew alongside came from the D.C. National Guard's 113th fighter wing.

"This was a photo shoot. There was no need for surprise," Sen. Charles Schumer said. "There was no need to scare thousands of New Yorkers who still have the vivid memory of 9/11."

Associated Press writers Sara Kugler and Colleen Long in New York and Joan Lowy, Michael J. Sniffen, Phil Elliott and Anne Gearan in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

NYT: 2 suspects waterboarded 266 times

2009-04-20T08:54:00.003-04:00

According to the New York Times, C.I.A. interrogators used waterboarding, the near-drowning technique that top Obama administration officials have described as illegal torture, 266 times on two key prisoners (Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed), far more than had been previously reported. Read Scott Shane's article here.

Tea parties by Fox

2009-04-16T09:34:00.000-04:00

What happened yesterday

2009-04-04T15:44:00.000-04:00

I can't stop singing this song

2009-03-24T22:02:00.001-04:00

What happened yesterday

2009-03-21T10:47:00.002-04:00

I just haven't had time to post anything meaningful this week. Sorry, I'm phoning this in. Thank you Talking Points Memo!

What happened yesterday?

2009-03-07T12:11:00.002-05:00

Before reading 1984

2009-03-02T18:33:00.004-05:00

Today CNN reported that the CIA destroyed 92 videotapes of terror-suspect interrogations. Another reminder that George Orwell's 1984 is as relevant today as it was in 1949. A colleague created the assignment below to introduce students to the novel.

Respond to each statement below with a plus sign (+) if you agree with it, a minus sign (-) if you disagree, or a question mark (?) if you are unsure of your belief.

1. For an idea to exist, we must have words to express it.

2. The only way to prepare for peace is to be prepared for war.

3. Patriotism means supporting your government during times of war.

4. Torture of a person who is a threat to our country's freedom is acceptable as long as the person does not die.

5. People who are a serious threat to the government should be able to be held in prison without being charged.

6. The government has a right to know what people are reading so they may determine who might be a threat.

7. Society would be safer if we had security cameras in public places in order to catch potential criminals.

8. It may be necessary for a government to keep secrets from its citizens.

9. It may be necessary for the government to tell lies or falsify historical events.

10. When it admits its mistakes (e.g. firing an official or acknowledging an incorrect supply prediction), a governing party is weakened.

Signs of the times

2009-02-28T13:26:00.021-05:00

There's a world of trouble out there
Mark Hosenball and Michael Hirsh, Newsweek - The CIA faces a threat it's never been great at analyzing: the fallout from global recession...(Feb 28)

Adapting to water woes
Stephanie Tavares, Las Vegas Sun - The southwestern United States is moving headlong toward an environmental catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions... (Feb 27)

Short on cash? Bartering making a comeback
Annie Wallace Allen, AP - Tired of her pink bathroom countertops but short on cash for a remodel, Rachel Alemany decided to get the work done the old-fashioned way: through bartering... (Feb 27)

Fresh evidence points to paralysis of global economy
Larry Elliott, The Guardian - The sharpest contraction in US growth for more than a quarter of a century, a collapse in Japanese factory output and an emergency package of help for the struggling countries in Eastern Europe provided fresh grim evidence today of the paralysis in the global economy... (Feb 27)

National Forest firewood ban mulled as thefts increase
Paul Gottlieb, Peninsula Daily News - Firewood poaching in Olympic National Forest's Hood Canal District is so prevalent that personal-use firewood permits will be banned in certain areas if cutters don't stop stealing wood... (Feb 27)

Financial crisis sparks unrest in Europe
Reuters - Thousands of Opel workers from around Germany took part in a mass rally on Thursday demanding parent General Motors (GM.N) scrap plans for plant closures in Europe. The global financial and economic crisis has sparked many protests in parts of Europe... (Feb 26)

Obama begins getting daily CIA report on economic crisis
Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times - The new briefing reflects the concern that global financial turmoil could destabilize foreign governments...(Feb 26)

China prepares to buy up foreign oil companies
Richard Spencer, The Daily Telegraph - This proposal may risk a backlash from countries who fear that China is using the world's economic crisis to tilt the balance of trade and diplomacy in its favour...(Feb 22)

Black market meat: Illegal killing of animals on rise as economy sinks
Tracie Cone, AP - The country’s financial tumult is exacting a toll on wildlife in California and Florida, where game wardens are seeing a surge in poaching for money as the economy declines... (Jan 19)

Ultimate stress test: Special forces training

2009-02-24T21:52:00.005-05:00

Lessons in Survival
Ben Sherwood, Newsweek, Feb. 14, 2009

In a laboratory, it's extremely difficult to study why some people are better at bouncing back than others because it's so hard to simulate the real stresses and strains of life. Scientists can show people scary pictures or movies to trigger their reactions and measure how they recover, but it's hardly the same as a mugger in an alley or a grizzly bear on a hiking trail. Dr. Andy Morgan of Yale Medical School set out to find a real-world laboratory where he could watch people under incredible stress in reasonably controlled conditions.

He ended up in southeastern North Carolina at Fort Bragg, home of the Army's elite Airborne and Special Forces. This is where the Army's renowned survival school is located. It's also where they believe in something called stress inoculation. Like vaccines, a small challenge or dose of a virus in your system prepares and defends you against a bigger challenge. In other words, they expose you to pressure and suffering in training so you'll build up your immunity. It's a kind of classic psychological conditioning: the more shocks to your system, the more you're able to withstand.

The toughest part of the 19-day training takes place in a secret location at Camp Mackall called the Resistance Training Laboratory. Translation: a mock prisoner-of-war camp where students have the chance to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom phases of survival school. Everything is modeled on real enemy encampments, including guard towers, razor-wire fences, concrete cells and metal cages. It's even got fake graves marked with crosses to scare you. The goal is to simulate hell on earth like the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam or Al Qaeda's torture chambers. If they allow you to use the latrine, they make you relieve yourself in a hole in the ground like some do in the Third World. The camp itself is off-limits to outsiders, and what really goes on behind the concertina wire is strictly classified. I'm told by several people who have gone through this program that highly trained professionals serve as jailers and interrogators who put the prisoners through a kind of carefully choreographed chaos designed to disorient them and break them down.

While they're frightening you and wearing you down with sleep deprivation, blaring music and semistarvation, they're also interrogating you using enemy techniques copied from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. They claim that they don't use torture, but the sessions are known to be very rough.

For Morgan, POW school was the perfect place to study who survives the best under acute stress. If you think it's just training and the soldiers know they're not really in serious danger, consider what Morgan discovered. During mock interrogations, the prisoners' heart rates skyrocket to more than 170 beats per minute for more than half an hour, even though they aren't engaging in any physical activity. Meanwhile, their bodies pump more stress hormones than the amounts actually measured in aviators landing on aircraft carriers, troops awaiting ambushes in Vietnam, skydivers taking the plunge or patients awaiting major surgery. The levels of stress hormones are sufficient to turn off the immune system and to produce a catabolic state, in which the body begins to break down and feed on itself. The average weight loss in three days is 22 pounds.

Morgan's research—the first of its kind—produced some fascinating findings about who does the best job resisting the interrogators and who stays focused and clearheaded despite the uncontrollable fear. Morgan looked at two different groups going through this training: regular Army troops like infantrymen, and elite Special Forces soldiers, who are known to be especially "stress hardy" or cool under pressure. At the start or base line, the two groups were essentially the same, but once the stress began, and afterward, there were significant differences. Specifically, the two groups released very different amounts of a chemical in the brain called neuropeptide Y. NPY is an abundant amino acid in our bodies that helps regulate our blood pressure, appetite, learning and memory. It also works as a natural tranquilizer, controlling anxiety and buffering the effects of stress hormones like norepenephrine, one of the chemicals that most of us simply call adrenaline. In essence, NPY is one of the fire hoses that your brain uses to extinguish your alarm and fear responses by keeping the frontal-lobe parts of your brain working longer under stress.

Morgan found one very specific reason that Special Forces are superior survivors: they produce significantly greater levels of NPY compared with regular troops. In addition, 24 hours after completing survival training, Special Forces soldiers returned to their original levels of NPY while regular soldiers were significantly below normal...

Click here to read the rest of this Ben Sherwood's article. It's fascinating stuff! On a related note, the following was written by WebMD's editorial staff for a Newsweek special.

We're often told that we're a resilient people, and that our resilience will see us through what is likely to be a year filled with financial hardship. But why are some people better able than others to weather traumatic events like a job loss, home foreclosure, or personal ordeals? And which of our personality traits are associated with resilience?

To find out, we spoke with two experts: Steven J. Wolin, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University, co-director of Project Resilience and co-author (with Sybil Wolin, PhD) of The Resilient Self: How Survivors of Troubled Families Rise Above Adversity; and Bernhard Kempler, PhD, clinical psychologist and Holocaust survivor. With their help, we have put together a quiz to test what you know about resilience, and to offer a few tips on bolstering your share of this essential human strength.

How well do you manage stress? Take WebMD's Resilience Quiz.

New York Post apologizes for cartoon

2009-02-20T07:44:00.003-05:00

After protests yesterday led by Reverend Al Sharpton in front of the offices of Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp, the New York Post has sort of apologized for a satirical cartoon which likened President Obama to a rampaging chimp shot by two white police officers.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Shift happens

2009-02-18T13:51:00.003-05:00

This startling video about a world experiencing rapid change comes from a research presentation created by Karl Fisch. It has been remixed and used for many purposes including a recent Sony BMG executive meeting in Rome.

Karl Fisch, the Director of Technology for Arapahoe High School, received two grants in 2005 to improve teacher and student use of technology to achieve curricular goals, to help transform the school to a more student-centered, constructivist approach, and to prepare the students to succeed in the 21st century. You can learn more about this on his blog, appropriately named The Fischbowl.

Grief upon grief

2009-02-13T13:59:00.006-05:00

Fifty people were killed last night when Continental commuter Flight 3407 crashed in a suburban neighborhood near Buffalo, N.Y. One confirmed victim was Beverly Eckert, a widow who had lobbied Congress to create the 9/11 Commission. Last week, Eckert met President Obama in the White House with other relatives of the victims of 9/11 and the bombing of the USS Cole to discuss the prosecution of terror suspects and the closing of Guantanamo Bay. Receiving news of Eckert's death, here is what the President had to say:

In honor of Beverly Eckert's life, and her work of the past 8 years, here is one of her articles...

Published on Friday, December 19, 2003 by the USA Today

My Silence Cannot Be Bought

by Beverly Eckert

I've chosen to go to court rather than accept a payoff from the 9/11 victims compensation fund. Instead, I want to know what went so wrong with our intelligence and security systems that a band of religious fanatics was able to turn four U.S passenger jets into an enemy force, attack our cities and kill 3,000 civilians with terrifying ease. I want to know why two 110-story skyscrapers collapsed in less than two hours and why escape and rescue options were so limited.

I am suing because unlike other investigative avenues, including congressional hearings and the 9/11 commission, my lawsuit requires all testimony be given under oath and fully uses powers to compel evidence.

The victims fund was not created in a spirit of compassion. Rather, it was a tacit acknowledgement by Congress that it tampered with our civil justice system in an unprecedented way. Lawmakers capped the liability of the airlines at the behest of lobbyists who descended on Washington while the Sept. 11 fires still smoldered.

And this liability cap protects not just the airlines, but also World Trade Center builders, safety engineers and other defendants.

The caps on liability have consequences for those who want to sue to shed light on the mistakes of 9/11. It means the playing field is tilted steeply in favor of those who need to be held accountable. With the financial consequences other than insurance proceeds removed, there is no incentive for those whose negligence contributed to the death toll to acknowledge their failings or implement reforms. They can afford to deny culpability and play a waiting game.

By suing, I've forfeited the "$1.8 million average award" for a death claim I could have collected under the fund. Nor do I have any illusions about winning money in my suit. What I do know is I owe it to my husband, whose death I believe could have been avoided, to see that all of those responsible are held accountable. If we don't get answers to what went wrong, there will be a next time. And instead of 3,000 dead, it will be 10,000. What will Congress do then?

So I say to Congress, big business and everyone who conspired to divert attention from government and private-sector failures: My husband's life was priceless, and I will not let his death be meaningless. My silence cannot be bought.

Beverly Eckert, whose husband died at the World Trade Center, is the founder of Voices of September 11th, a victims advocacy group.

Lawrence Lindsey on the stimulus plan

2009-02-04T18:46:00.001-05:00

Former National Economic Council Director Lawrence Lindsey gives Jon his two cents on Obama’s stimulus plan.

Recession leads to increasing unrest

2009-02-03T23:51:00.006-05:00

The Decline of Iceland
Bill Neely, ITV News

On my last trip to Iceland, it had the highest living standard in the world. Not my opinion- that was the view of the United Nations.

It was, until four months ago, the fifth richest country on earth per head of population. And the small population-about the size of Coventry, at 300,000- was having the best of times.

That was until October 8th. This week I am seeing a very different Iceland. In the weeks since, unemployment has gone up from one per cent to ten, and rising.

The country has seen riots- the police using tear gas for the first time in sixty years. The windows of the world's oldest parliament are smashed. Inflation is now at 22 per cent; interest rates at a crippling 18 per cent.

As I walked down the main street of Europe's most Northerly capital Reykjavik, Iceland's crisis isn't so visible. Shops have closed and everything is on sale, yes. But it could be Britain. Until I realised that everything I was looking at was borrowed or bankrupt or drowning in debt -the people, the cars, the banks, the businesses.

It is a country that mortgaged its future on the roll of a dice by a few high flyers- and lost. People shuffle past banks that are bust-every one of them. The lights are still on, there are people inside but there's no money.

At the car showroom there is a line of Range Rovers- they call them "Game-Overs" now. No-one is buying. The dealers say they'll be lucky to sell five hundred cars in the whole of the country this year.

Governments growing nervous at increased social tensions
Jamie Smyth, Irish Times

EUROPEAN DIARY: A continent-wide sense of injustice leaves Europe vulnerable to an explosion of unrest

ONE MILLION workers on the streets of France, wildcat strikes in Britain, rioting in Greece and the Baltic republics and sit-in protests by glass workers in Waterford: social unrest is spreading throughout Europe and no one knows where it is all going to end.

Last week the worst economic recession in at least 30 years claimed its first political victim in Europe when on Monday Iceland’s beleaguered prime minister Geir Haarde tendered his resignation following weeks of street protests. The collapse of the country’s banking system, which has shredded the value of the krona, driven interest rates to 18 per cent and unemployment to 8 per cent, put paid to his Conservative-led coalition.

By Thursday one million workers were protesting on the streets of Paris, angry that they are losing their jobs while bankers are being bailed out. “I’m tired and frozen after waiting half an hour on the platform,” commuter Sandrine Dermont said. “But I’m prepared to accept that when it’s a movement to defend our spending power and jobs. I’ll join the street protests during my lunch break.”

Workers at Waterford Crystal tapped into the continent-wide mood of defiance, staging a sit-in protest when a receiver announced an immediate halt to all manufacturing. Many must be asking why the Government is giving billions in taxpayers’ money to save Anglo Irish Bank while turning down a request for a State-backed loan for Waterford.

As more families in Europe face hardship the sense of injustice is growing. Words coined during the dark days of the 1930s such as “bankster”, which is a mix of banker and gangster, are suddenly back in vogue as a younger generation of Europeans used to more than a decade of consumerism gets its first taste of dole queues.

“There’s a big scandal . . . governments are now trying to save banks through injecting capital and save companies by giving credit guarantees, and this will translate into higher public deficits,” says Ronald Janssen, economist with the European Trade Union Confederation.

“This is not sustainable for public finances, so you have to cut social security, which will lead to an attack on social Europe,” he says, warning that the potential result is an “explosion of social unrest” and the de facto end of social Europe.

And it’s not just the trade unions that are warning of the danger of social unrest. The IMF, which has already helped bail out Iceland, Latvia and Hungary with emergency loans, warned back in December there was a dire need for governments to take action on the economy to stop trouble spilling on to the streets.

“If we are not able to do that, then social unrest may happen in many countries – including advanced economies,” said IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who warned that violence could break out if the global financial system was not remodelled to benefit everyone.

His warnings have turned out to be prescient. Widespread rioting broke out in Greece in December when a 15-year-old boy was shot dead by police. Students and young people went on the rampage for several days, citing lack jobs and opportunities for their anger. In January, riots broke out in Latvia and Lithuania, which have been hit hard by the economic slowdown. Later, a Bulgarian demonstration against corruption held in front of the parliament in Sofia descended into violence.

“Serious social unrest is probably more likely to occur in new member states in eastern Europe where political systems are less mature and there is often popular discontent due to corruption,” says Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, who also notes that some Europeans, such as the French, are quicker to protest than others.

The sight of typically more restrained British workers taking part in wildcat strikes is another sign that this is no mere economic downturn. Contractors brandishing placards with the message “British jobs 4 British workers” in protests against the use of foreign workers at an oil refinery in Lincolnshire showed that an upsurge in anti-immigrant feeling could take hold.

EU governments are getting increasingly nervous at the rise in social tensions and in Brussels there are fears the European elections in June will see a large anti-establishment vote that could see xenophobic and extreme MEPs elected. Employment commissioner Vladimir Spidla said last week he is investigating how the EU budget could be used to alleviate the crisis. One way could be to expand the scope of the EU globalisation fund, which provides funds to help retrain workers; another, to allow faster access to EU social funding.

But most of the policy levers to deal with the crisis and provide a social security safety net lie in the hands of national politicians. The €2 trillion question (the IMF’s latest estimate of the bad debts held by banks) is whether policymakers can find a plan that steers a course towards economic recovery while restoring a sense of fairness to life. If they fail Iceland’s Geir Haarde will certainly not be the last political victim of this economic recession.

Gore warns of damage from climate change

2009-01-28T17:29:00.005-05:00

Putting Machiavelli on trial

2009-01-26T19:58:00.003-05:00

Reading columns like yesterday's The Daily Dish by Andrew Sullivan gives me hope that truth will win out and justice will soon be served, even if politics of hope and change slows the process.

Yes, Machiavelli is still relevant. Or so says Roger Carpentter of the Kennebec Journal. His op-ed may be read below:

Machiavelli wrote, "There are many who think a wise prince ought, when he has the chance, to foment astutely some enmity, so that by suppressing it he will augment his greatness."
This tactic has often been used or considered. Germany was blamed during World War I for an unprovoked attack on the "Lusitania," which was carrying arms to the British, and the Vietnam War was expanded based on a false report on Aug. 4, 1964, of an attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Operation Northwoods, a 1962 military plan to fake a Cuban attack on the U.S., proposed shooting down a civilian plane with Americans onboard.
Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, representing more than 560 professionals, has released a report stating that the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and World Trade Center Building 7 showed the signs of controlled demolition, including a rapid and symmetrical fall, clouds of pyroclastic (heated) smoke and debris, and residue of the incendiary agent thermate in dust samples taken from the site. Building 7 had no collisions or fuel fires, yet fell in free-fall speed into its own footprint. In similar buildings, fire has produced only softening in the steel, never total collapse.
In a Dec. 28 letter, FBI Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Michael Heimbach wrote that the group "presents an interesting theory, backed by thorough research and analysis." Would a full investigation prove that Machiavelli's statement also describes the events of 9/11?

Joe Biden questioned about 9/11

2009-01-24T22:35:00.004-05:00

In November 2007, blogger Mike Jackman caught up with 2008 Democratic Candidate Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE). Jackman gave the Senator information on FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds while Justin Martell was able to ask the Senator about SOCOM's Able Danger program. (FormYourOwn.org)

Let's hope that our new vice president will work with others in the administration and the legislature to drag these secrets, these “things across the board,” out into the open.

Dear Mr. President

2009-01-20T17:52:00.011-05:00

Today, I finally exhaled as I watched you take the oath of office. Hearing those words repeated, having first been jumbled by Chief Justice Roberts (what a character!), it all begin to sink in.

At last. At long last. After eight years wandering in the desert, we can rest assured that this man will keep his promise to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution.

So tell me, will you set the record straight?

I'm sure you've seen the polls: a majority of Americans want a new investigation into the events of 9/11. Most recently, a November 2007 Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll indicated that 62% of American adults believe that it is either very likely (32%) or somewhat likely (30%) that their own government actually chose to ignore specific warnings about the attacks in New York and Washington.

We both know that public opinion is, in this case, correct. You've read the Book of Secrets. You know that the 9/11 Commission was, in the words of Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, "set up to fail." It's common knowledge that the commission's chairmen have long criticized the CIA’s destruction of evidence, saying that "the commission never felt that its earlier questions had been satisfactorily answered" (NY Times). You've heard Kean and Hamilton's claim (in their book Without Precedent) that "all of the after-action reports, accident investigations and public testimony by FAA and NORAD officials advanced an account of 9/11 that was untrue." It also comes as no surprise that Sen. Max Cleland, who resigned shortly after his appointment to the commission, echoes their claims that the Bush administration was "stonewalling" and blocking the committee's access to key documents and witnesses. On Democracy Now's radio show in March 2004, Cleland even went so far as to say, "This White House wants to cover it (the facts of 9/11) up."

President Obama, if you want justice to be done for 9/11 heroes and victims, please support a new investigation into the events of that day. Don't you think they deserve it?

If you would allow a brief ancillary, Mr. President, please instruct your attorney general Eric Holder to reinstitute habeus corpus and investigate the Bush administration's use of torture on detainees (aka "prisoners"). America can't afford to let these precedents to stand.

Thank you for your patience, sir. And now, Keith Olbermann would like a word...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Israel makes 'grave mistake'

2009-01-17T12:19:00.005-05:00

This morning, Israel hit another UN-run school and refuge site, wounding many and killing a woman and child. Since December, the Israeli army has killed 1,150 Palestinians in Gaza.

On Thursday, the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza City was struck twice by Israeli white phosphorus shells. Israel's defense minister has called it "a grave mistake."

The use of chemical weapon in a highly populated civilian area is not a mistake. It is a war crime.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9).

National Archives to open 9/11 Commission textual materials

2009-01-10T08:28:00.011-05:00

The following release was made on Thursday:

The National Archives (www.archives.gov) will open more than 150 cubic feet of records of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, known as the 9/11 Commission, an independent, bipartisan commission created by Congress. The Commission’s mandate was to provide a “full and complete accounting” of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and recommend how to prevent such attacks in the future.

On January 14th at 9 AM EST, Memoranda for the Record (summaries of 709 interviews conducted by the Commission), series descriptions, and folder title lists will be available online (www.archives.gov). These records include information on the terrorists, past terrorist events, al Qaeda in general, and related subjects. The records also include information concerning the emergency responses to the attacks in New York City and Washington, DC.

Background

When the 9/11 Commission closed on August 21, 2004, it transferred legal custody of its records to the National Archives. Before it closed, the Commission voted to encourage the release its records to the fullest extent possible in January 2009. Because the Commission was part of the legislative branch, its records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The records that will open on January 14th represent 35% of the Commission’s archived textual records. Review and processing focused on the portion of the collection that contains unique documents created by the Commission and those that reveal the most about the scope of the investigation and the internal workings of the Commission and its staff. The arrangement of the records reflects the organization of the Commission with series consisting of front office files, team files, and files of individual staff members. Due to the collection’s volume and the large percentage of national security classified files, the National Archives staff was unable to process the entire collection by January 2009. The National Archives will continue to process materials.

These records have been screened for personal privacy and national security. Summaries of the interviews with New York City First Responders are closed under an agreement reached between New York City and the Commission. Graphic personal details concerning the victims of the attacks have been withheld.

I'm sure you noticed that these records that have been "screened." And I'm sure you're asking the same questions I am: What criteria are used in the screening? What is the process by which a fact is deemed a matter of "personal privacy" or "national security"? Who conducts the screening? Which branch of government? Are the victims' family members consulted?

You've probably heard that kitschy saying among television detectives who work kidnapping cases: The first 24 hours are the most important. Why? Because statistics tell them that after 24 hours the missing person will not be recovered alive.

In much the same way, the truth has an expiration date. The Bush Administration knows this. Why else would it wait 5 years to release a redacted version of their intelligence? The die has been cast. Two wars have been fought. They know that, in time, we will forget. We will stop asking questions about the other 65% of their intelligence. The official story will be the only story. We won't care if the unpublished 65% implicates powerful interests and individuals, and directly contradicts the 9/11 Commission's conclusions.

God knows how long it may be before the National Archives has "processed" its records. And once it has, how can we be sure that we know everything? It is important to remember that "because the Commission was part of the legislative branch, its records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act." The National Archives only has what it was given.

Meanwhile, the truth is dying.

Lloyds pays $350m to end US case

2009-01-10T07:57:00.001-05:00

UK-based bank Lloyds TSB has agreed to pay a $350m penalty to US authorities over financial transfers that violated US sanctions.

The US Justice Department said Lloyds TSB had acknowledged "criminal conduct" and agreed to forfeit the funds in return for an end to its investigation.

Prosecutors said the bank faked records so clients in Iran, Libya and Sudan could do business with US institutions...

Read the rest of the article at BBC News.

Three Days of the Condor

2009-01-09T20:28:00.011-05:00

I just finished watching this 1975 American thriller directed by Sydney Pollack. And now I'd like to read the novel on which it's based: Six Days of the Condor by James Grady.

The film is a suspense drama set in contemporary New York City, and is considered an exposition of the moral ambiguity of the actions of the United States government following the Vietnam War and Watergate. It stars Robert Redford as an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency who inadvertently becomes involved in a deadly power struggle within the agency. (Source:Wikipedia)

But why am I so surprised that we haven't improved ourselves over the last 30 years? Seriously. It's the same old story (SPOILER ALERT!)...man finds oil, man hordes oil, neighbor clubs him.

I guess I'm naive. Or perhaps I've developed selective amnesia...

What was I saying? Oh yeah. You can read the script online here. The script really is as good as the film, if not better.

The final scene is fun to read with yourself in the role of our protagonist (Turner) and someone cold and calculating (let's say, Vice-President Dick?) in the role of Higgins.

HIGGINS
It's great to see you.
(Turner nods, vaguely)
You look really beat.

TURNER
Yeah. I'm tired.
(then)
The car for me?

HIGGINS
Sure. It's safe now. We need a few hours debriefing; the network had some pretty complicated wiring and ---

TURNER
Higgins? Let's say...for purposes of argument...I have a .45 in one of these pockets.

Pause.

TURNER
So if I asked you to take a walk with me you'd do it, right?

HIGGINS
(quietly)
Which way?

TURNER
West. Slowly. Four or five steps in front of me.

TRACKING TURNER AND HIGGINS

The sound of singing grows louder.

Higgins shivers as a cold gust of wind chills them. Another plain car is moving East TOWARD THEM ON 43rd Street.

HIGGINS
Where are we going?

TURNER
(indicating the car)
Wave them off...

Higgins makes a slight head move. The car stops and parks. Turner moves up closer to Higgins.

TURNER
Do we have plans to invade the Middle East?

HIGGINS
Are you crazy??

TURNER
Am I?

HIGGINS
Look, Turner...

TURNER
Do we have plans?

HIGGINS
No. Absolutely not.
(then)
We have games. That's all. We play games. "What if?", "How many men?", "What would it take?", "Is there a cheaper way of destabilizing the regime?"
(quieter)
That's what we're paid to do.

TURNER
So...Atwood just took the games too seriously. He was really going to do it...wasn't he?

HIGGINS
It was a renegade operation! Atwood knew 54/12 could never authorize it: not with all the heat on the company.

TURNER
Suppose there'd been no heat? And I hadn't stumbled on the plan? Nobody had?

HIGGINS
(shrugs)
Different ballgame. The fact is. It wasn't a bad plan. It could've worked.

TURNER
Jesus -- What is it with you people? You think not getting caught in a lie is the same as telling the truth.

HIGGINS
It's simple economics, Turner...There's no argument. Oil now. 10 or 15 years it'll be food, or plutonium. Maybe sooner than that. What do you think the people will want us to do then?

TURNER
Ask them!

HIGGINS
Now?
(shakes head)
Huh-uh. Ask them when they're running out. When it's cold at home and the engines stop and people who aren't used to hunger...go hungry! They won't want us to ask...
(quiet savagery:)
They'll want us to get it for them.

Details of 9/11 hearings deemed 'classified'

2009-01-08T21:55:00.004-05:00

Our values of justice and transparency - two bedrock principles of our republic - are under threat. Once again in the name of national security, the truth is being withheld from the American public.

Finn's article (printed below) was published yesterday in the Washington Post. Click here to visit their page.

"Judge's Order Could Keep Public From Hearing Details of 9/11 Trials"
By Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 7, 2009; Page A02

The military judge overseeing proceedings against five of the men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks signed an order designed to protect classified information that is so broad it could prevent public scrutiny of the most important trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to lawyers and human rights groups.

The protective order, which was signed on Dec. 18 by Judge Stephen R. Henley, an Army colonel, not only protects documents and information that have been classified by intelligence agencies, it also presumptively classifies any information “referring” to a host of agencies, including the CIA, the FBI and the State Department. The order also allows the court in certain circumstances to classify information already in the public domain and presumptively classifies “any statements made by the accused.”

Three of the accused, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, are defending themselves and, under the order, anything they say during the course of the trial could be shielded from the public.

“These rules turn the presumption of openness on its head, making what is perhaps the most important trial in American history presumptively closed to the public and the press,” said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch. “If these rules applied in all cases, there would be no such thing as an open trial in America.”

Late Monday, the judge appeared to have second thoughts about the breadth of the order. In an e-mail to both the prosecution and the defense, he invited counsel to file briefs on whether the protective order expands “the definition of ‘classified information’ and the scope of protective orders generally beyond that provided for in the [Military Commissions Act] and other applicable legal authority?”

If so, the judge said, he wants to know what “modifications” should be made to the order.

Prosecutors defended the wording of the order. It “is standard language used in numerous other counterterrorism, counter-espionage or habeas detainee cases in federal court throughout the past nine years,” said Col. Lawrence Morris, chief prosecutor for the Pentagon’s Office of Military Commissions. “In fact, numerous cases have applied far more restrictive language in their protective orders that we did not implement here.”

Asked if Henley would discuss his order, the Office of Military Commissions said it would be inappropriate for a judge to comment on an ongoing case.

Military and civilian defense lawyers in the 9/11 case declined to comment. They said they are under military court order not to discuss documents in the case until they have been released by the court. The protective order, which was obtained by The Post, had not been made public.

The case against the 9/11 defendants has yet to go to trial, and it is unclear if it ever will. President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. But he has not said whether he will also abolish the system of military commissions created by the Bush administration or if he will transfer cases to federal court or military courts-martial in the United States, as some of his supporters have urged.

The protective order states, in part, that “any document or information including but not limited to any subject referring to the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of State, National Security Council, Federal Bureau of Investigation, or intelligence agencies of any foreign government, or similar entity, or information in the possession of such agency, shall be presumed to fall within the meaning of ‘classified national security information or document’ unless and until the [senior security adviser] or Prosecution advises otherwise in writing.”

The senior security adviser assists the military court in the handling of classified material.

Defense attorneys and military and civilian lawyers advising the defendants representing themselves want to challenge any evidence gleaned from coercive interrogations at the hands of the CIA. But the defense is required to notify the prosecution of any intention to disclose “classified information in any manner.” Defense lawyers said the order, which carries the threat of criminal penalties if it is violated, hobbles any ability to independently investigate the charges against the accused and their treatment by the government.

“It’s a gag order that gives the U.S. government almost absolute control over the disclosure of information about the detention and interrogation of these defendants,” said a lawyer familiar with the document, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “If you look at the order in its strictest language, you better not read even the 9/11 Commission report in a court in Guantanamo.”

The document was signed after the Guantanamo Bay court considered motions from the prosecution and declarations by the director and officers of the CIA.

CIA Director Michael V. Hayden has acknowledged that Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding, an interrogation technique in which a prisoner is restrained as water is poured over his mouth, causing a drowning sensation.

But the ability to explore even that admission in open court is uncertain under Henley’s order. Attempts to corroborate the known actions of the CIA can be classified under the order.

Mohammed has already alleged in open court that he was tortured, but such claims by the accused may now be considered classified and off-limits to the public. The Guantanamo court is sealed and the proceedings are heard by those in the public gallery after a time-delay that allows the senior security adviser to cut off the audio feed when information thought to be classified arises.

Pentagon officials have long insisted that trials at Guantanamo would be transparent as well as fair. Prosecutors said they have to balance the desire to be open with the need to protect national security secrets.

“It is also important to remember that defense counsel, by virtue of their access to the accused in this case, are uniquely situated to credibly comment, confirm, or deny classified information in a public way that risks further damage to national security,” Morris said.

Daskal, however, said: “These rules seem little more than a thinly disguised attempt to classify evidence simply because it might be embarrassing or unlawful. These five men are known to have been tortured and severely mistreated during their years in CIA custody, including the acknowledged waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The claims of torture should be investigated rather than concealed.”

Waterboarding the truth

2009-01-03T11:41:00.006-05:00

Last month, the Bush administration's "big fish," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, confessed to being the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The only hitch? KSM has spent four years in captivity, including six months of detention and torture at Guantanamo Bay.

You should read Ex CIA agent Robert Baer's article "Why KSM's Confession Rings False" (Time 3/15/2007). The title says it all. Here's a rough video of Keith Olbermann's interview with Baer:

75% of Americans won't miss George W. Bush

2008-12-26T14:35:00.004-05:00

The poor guy.
Nobody likes him.
Everybody hates him.
He might as well go home.
At least, that's what this poll says.

Antinomianism: then and now

2008-12-20T20:51:00.005-05:00

Nathaniel Hawthorne, in the opening chapter of The Scarlet Letter, honors pioneer settler Anne Hutchinson by describing a rose bush in bloom said to have "sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison door" and symbolizing "some sweet blossom." In doing so, Hawthorne holds her up as a moral model for the reader - the model of conscientious objection and even martyrdom.

Lucky for Hawthorne (and Hutchinson), he never lived to see the day when Hutchinson's own brand of Protestantism would lead this country down the dark path of pre-emptive war.

Finishing The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell (of This American Life fame) this afternoon, I stumbled across an illuminating passage in which Vowell connects Hutchinson's emphasis on "immediate personal revelation," a radically unorthodox belief for a Puritan, to the cowboy adventurism of the last eight years:

The word [John Winthrop] uses to characterize Hutchinson and Wheelwright's thought is 'antinomian,' which means 'against the law.' This period is often called by historians the 'Antinomian Controversy.' Winthrop, as a magistrate, is on the side of the law.

Not the state's law, Vowell explains, but the will of God as expressed through the Bible. She continues:

Anne Hutchinson is merely taking Protestantism's next logical step. If Protestantism is an evolutionary process devoted to the ideal of getting closer and closer to God, it starts with doing away with Latin-speaking popes and bishops in favor of locally elected but nevertheless highly educated, ordained clergymen, and Bibles translated into the believers' mother tongues. This is the 'New England Way.'

Hutchinson is pushing American Protestantism further, toward a practice approaching the more personal, ecstatic, anti-intellectual, emotional slant now practiced in the U.S.A., especially in the South and Midwest. We call that swath of geography the 'Bible Belt,' but that would have been a more accurate description of bookish seventeenth-century New England...

Protestantism's evolution away from hierarchy and authority has enormous consequences for America and the world. On the one hand, the democratization of religion runs parallel to political democratization. The king of England, questioning the pope, inspires English subjects to question the king and his Anglican bishops. Such dissent is backed up by a Bible full of handy Scripture arguing for arguing with one's king. This is the root of self-government in the English-speaking world.

On the other hand, Protestantism's shedding away of authority, as evidenced by my [Pentecostal mother's] proclamation that I needn't go to church or listen to a preacher to achieve salvation, inspires self-reliance - along with a dangerous disregard for expertise. So the impulse that leads to democracy can also be the downside of democracy - namely, a suspicion of people who know what they are talking about. It's why in U.S. presidential elections the American people will elect a wisecracking good ol' boy who's fun in a malt shop instead of a serious thinker who actually knows some of the pompous, brainy stuff that might actually get fewer people laid off or killed. (215)

Let's just pray that the path of darkness (and by darkness I mean "willful ignorance in the name of faith") will end this January.

Cheney confesses to war crime

2008-12-17T22:40:00.001-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Hopeful signs (and dire warnings)

2008-12-13T23:07:00.010-05:00

Rumor has it that Dr. Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will be Pres-elect Obama's choice for Energy Secretary.

It will be exciting to see how Dr. Chu deals with our "addiction to oil." All I can say is thank God he's not another oil-industry croney.

And I'm glad to see that he takes this whole climate change thing seriously. In a presentation at this summer’s National Clean Energy Summit convened by the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), and the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Dr. Chu described why he has moved from his background in experimental quantum physics to tackling global warming:

Consider this. There’s about a 50 percent chance, the climate experts tell us, that in this century we will go up in temperature by three degrees Centigrade. Now, three degrees Centigrade doesn’t seem a lot to you, that’s 11° F. Chicago changes by 30° F in half a day. But 5° C means that … it’s the difference between where we are today and where we were in the last ice age. What did that mean? Canada, the United States down to Ohio and Pennsylvania, was covered in ice year round.

Five degrees Centigrade.

So think about what 5° C will mean going the other way. A very different world. So if you’d want that for your kids and grandkids, we can continue what we’re doing. Climate change of that scale will cause enormous resource wars, over water, arable land, and massive population displacements. We’re not talking about ten thousand people. We’re not talking about ten million people, we’re talking about hundreds of millions to billions of people being flooded out, permanently.

Detroit dinosaurs

2008-12-07T22:55:00.007-05:00

The Big Three powers-that-be insist that the auto industry be bailed out because it is the "backbone" of American manufacturing. But why? And for how long?

When he comes into office, Pres-elect Obama says he plans to invest in our transportation infrastructure (which means bridges and roads). But oil prices will eventually rebound. How useful will roads be when no one can afford to drive gasoline-powered cars? No, we need to think differently.

Mass transit is the future. UDPATE: According to the Washington-based American Public Transportation Association, subways, buses, commuter rail and light-rail systems in the United States saw a 6.5 percent jump in ridership from July to September (MSNBC 12/8/08). This was the biggest increase in 25 years.

In his article "Rail efficiences," Hans Noeldner writes:

And there are sound reasons to believe that investing in rail technologies rather than airplanes or automobiles is likely to produce the biggest efficiency gains overall. Thanks to many decades of top-notch engineering, aircraft have already approached their theoretical efficiency limits; thus spending billions more on R&D probably won't change efficiencies by more than a percent or two. Similar logic applies to automobile R&D generally, although electric cars and battery technologies might prove to be an excellent gamble. Even so, such breakthroughs in "automotive" technology might be used to equal or greater advantage in trains rather than cars. Given the nature of "fixed costs", it is usually much cheaper to install a particular technological improvement in a single unit – say, a locomotive that moves 250 people – than to install that improvement in many units – say, 250 cars that move 250 people.

Usage factors must be carefully considered also; the percentage of empty seats makes an enormous difference in passenger-miles per unit of energy or pound of CO2. (While the vehicle occupancy of automobiles cannot (yet!) be less than one, trains and airplanes often travel with relatively few passengers – and sometimes with none at all.) How much more usage-efficient is existing Amtrak service along the heavily-used Washington-Boston corridor versus lightly traveled routes in the "hinterlands"? How efficient is the best existing passenger rail in Europe? Japan? Practically speaking, what kind of usage factors could we expect for high-speed service along a Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison-Minneapolis route?

Given our worsening ecological circumstances, our unsustainable consumption of natural resources, and the prospects for a long and severe recession, America desperately needs facts rather than urban myths and "green-washing"; we need reality-based planning rather than cheerleading and poorly conceived, hastily-approved public works projects. We must thoroughly analyze the efficiencies of our existing transportation modes, soberly review existing and practically-achievable alternatives, and then responsibly choose those transportation arrangements our heirs can afford in the future. This is not the time to shoot from the hip, "wish upon a star", or print our money into hyperinflation!

And throughout it all we must never forget this elemental fact: proximity is the most efficient form of "transportation" that will ever exist. There is nothing like already being within a short stroll, a flight of stairs, or a quick bicycle ride from where we want to be. Our greatest challenge is to stop manufacturing so many "needs" for more complex, ecologically-disruptive forms of transportation in the first place!

Exactly. We must be willing to evolve.

The slippery slope

2008-12-05T22:10:00.016-05:00

Numbers like this make me think. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually GLAD that oil prices have taken a nosedive. Otherwise, our economy would be in a lot more trouble than it already is. But what happens when prices climb again, as they most certainly will? Read more at MSNBC.

Dread the future? I recommend Sharon Astyk's article "Elephants: Involuntary Simplicity," here published in part. Her conclusion: going without is tough, but simplicity is not all bad.

Although I admire the Voluntary Simplicity movement, when I was asked to write about simplicity and the economy, I was at first stumped. I can certainly see the grace and benefits of living a simpler life. We already grow much of our food, buy most of our consumer goods used, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without,” try and keep our energy use down to below 1/5 of the average American’s, and depend heavily on community, barter and sharing. At first glance, although we’re Jewish, not ”Plain” our life evokes a simpler past with the wood cookstove that heats our house, the jars of home canned food, the milk goats and our carefully managed budget.

When I think about Voluntary Simplicity, I tend to think about the end - imagining, if I could only get there, that my life would have the clarity, beauty and elegance of a sculpture - nothing extraneous, only the essence of the thing. I want this, although it seems hard to achieve. My own sense of the voluntary simplicity movement is that it works kind of like sculpture - one pares away everything that isn’t needed, until one find’s the essence of one’s life. It reminds me of the old sculpture joke, that one starts with a block of stone, and “cuts away anything that doesn’t look like an elephant.” At times, the idea of the elephant, the life lived gracefully has haunted me.

And yet, for me, the simple life has arisen from a conviction that we face a kind of “involuntary” simplicity, a shift to a life with less from necessity. It isn’t that I’m not taken by the aesthetic beauty of the transformation - how could I not be, as the snow falls upon my woodpile and as I come in, dusted with white stuff, carrying the milk from the barn, with the memory of my goat’s warm bodies and the gentle sounds of chickens settling in for the night. But along with an appreciation of the pleasures and clarity of a life with less, there is also the convictions that many of us, including me, will have no choice but to live simply, and that we are more likely to live well and beautifully if we practice now. I think there has been a tendency in the Voluntary Simplicity movement to see simplicity as primarily a chosen path, one which all compromises are voluntary, and the art of living is the primary mover. How then, might simplicity change when it is thrust upon many of us?

Why do I think that it will be? Why do I believe that hundreds of thousands of Americans and Europeans are facing a radical drop in standard of living, and an urgent need to live simply, make do and do subsistence work that helps them live that way? Well, as someone once pointed out, ”its the economy, stupid.” Oh, and peak oil and climate change. But for now, let’s stick to the economy...

Click here to finish Astyk's article.

Bailout or bust

2008-11-30T08:52:00.008-05:00

In his column "Stimulus for skeptics" (Seattle PI, 11/28/08), David Brooks wrote:

Over the past year, the federal government has poured money into the economy hundreds of billions of dollars at a time. It has also guaranteed investments, loans and deposits worth about $8 trillion. Barry Ritholtz, the author of "Bailout Nation," points out that this project constitutes the largest infusion in American history.

If you add up just the funds that have already been committed, you get a figure, according to Jim Bianco of Bianco Research, that is larger in today's dollars than the costs of the Marshall Plan, the Louisiana Purchase, the New Deal, the Korean War, Vietnam and the S&L crisis combined.

Is all this money doing any good?

The financial system seems to have stabilized, but bank lending is minimal, home prices keep falling, consumer spending is plummeting, and the economy continues to dive.

It could be we just have to endure some fundamental adjustments. Housing prices have to reach a new level. Consumption has to settle on a new trajectory. Until those fundamental shifts are made, no federal sugar rush is going to restore economic health.

That's not a recipe for doing nothing. It's a recipe for skepticism. And it leads to some guiding principles for those designing the $500 billion stimulus plan the next administration seems set on: Don't just throw more money into the sugar rush. Spend money on projects that will enhance the long-term economic health of the country even without a crisis. Do what you would do anyway, just do it faster...

Brooks referenced Ritholtz who had posted the following data on his blog, The Big Picture (11/25/08):

In doing the research for the "Bailout Nation" book, I needed a way to put the dollar amounts into proper historical perspective.

If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.

People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

TOTAL: $3.92 trillion

Say what, Mr. President?

2008-11-21T19:59:00.004-05:00

A fond remembrance of the verbal stylings of George W. Bush...

Obama: 44th President of the United States

2008-11-05T23:06:00.008-05:00

2008-11-05T11:54:00.005-05:00

Obama: I am the chosen one

2008-11-01T19:21:00.006-04:00

The Sunday Times | November 2, 2008

By Andrew Sullivan

...Between the roiling and increasingly bitter rapids on the right and the left, can Obama maintain a steady course? We cannot know, of course. But the evidence of the past year is encouraging. What has been truly amazing is the preternatural calm and moderation Obama has shown throughout this volatile and emotional campaign. He has managed to get to the brink of the White House by beating some of the most formidable political machines in America – the Clintons and the Roves – without intensifying the conflict or polarising the country himself.

He seems able to absorb these currents without further disturbing them. Of course, this is much harder in office than in opposition. In office, you have to make decisions that delineate winners and losers rather than make speeches onto which everyone can project their interests. But Obama seems unafraid of his enemies, undeterred by his rivals, and able somehow to stay healthy and cheerful.

His temperamental edge is complemented by his organisational and managerial skills. The most seasoned political observers have been struck by the meticulous professionalism of his campaign; and there has never been a fundraising machine as innovative or as successful as his in the history of American politics...

He is a strange liberal who seems to get along famously with conservatives. And he has now run up quite a roster of conservative endorsements, from Colin Powell to Francis Fukuyama. This is partly why a historical perspective on Obama does indeed return to the figure of Lincoln and the trau-ma of the 1860s.

In the middle of an unbridgeable divide, Lincoln kept calm. He inherited a much more divided country, of course. Lincoln did not even campaign in most of the southern states – he was not even on the ballot in most of them. By the time he was elected, many of them had already seceded. But Lincoln’s dedication to the cause of abolishing slavery was matched by a moderate demeanour and an extreme aversion to political polarisation.

Lincoln famously staffed his cabinet with what the historian Doris Kearns Good-win has called a “team of rivals”. Think of the way in which Obama handled the Clintons. He gave them just enough rope to hang themselves but managed to avoid a real breach. Last week Obama was jointly campaigning with Bill and comparing his economic proposals to Clinton’s in 1992.

That is a unifying skill Lincoln had and Obama will need. Obama’s capacity to pacify his enemies and organise his friends is his most telling characteristic. It should not be mistaken for softness. There is steel behind the velvet. But the velvet is really smooth and comfy.

Obama will also have something Lincoln never had. He will be in his DNA the visible incarnation of a wound that dates to America’s beginnings. If he is elected president, there will be a healing of some sort deep in the country’s psyche. That act will be a catalyst for unknowable change in America and in America’s role in the world. We can and should focus on his challenges, on the divisions still festering in America, on economic crisis and military quagmires. But what Obama appeals to is what Reagan appealed to: an American optimism that problems can be solved and divisions can be overcome.

In the coming week, if he is elected, we would be wise to resist euphoria or sentiment. But we would be wilfully blind not to sense the gravity and potential of the moment as well. We could have the first black president, with a congressional majority of a size not seen since Lyndon Johnson. We could see a landslide among the young. We could see an unprecedented African-American turnout – a moment when black Americans actively take ownership for the first time of the society in which they have always been such an integral part.

We simply do not know what new realities this moment could unleash. What we do know is that this is history – epic, deep, momentous history.

Read the full article from the Times Online

Cleese and our beloved Flying Circus

2008-11-01T12:10:00.010-04:00

Two years ago, when 70-yr-old John Cleese said he was leaving show business, I didn't really believe him. I wasn't really worried about losing his unique satiric voice.

I didn't think his health would deteriorate so fast.

But now, watching this interview on Countdown, his laughs aren't nearly as funny as they used to be.

Watching him gasp for breath, I find myself praying, Don't leave us, John! We need you. You've been right about everything. About Sarah Palin. About American football. About beekeeping.

Ah well, soldier on, I'm sure he'd say. And now for something completely different...

Racial tension in this final week of campaigning

2008-10-28T20:47:00.001-04:00

Republic or democracy?

2008-10-26T13:55:00.003-04:00

McCain staffer threatens to arrest journalist for exposing paid 'volunteers'

2008-10-26T13:21:00.007-04:00

I was reading the Loose Change blog this morning and stumbled across this story:

If there’s one thing both the McCain and Obama campaigns agree on it’s that the election will be close in Florida. The McCain campaign says it has more volunteers than the Democrats and that ultimately gives them the edge. McCain’s Central Florida Campaign Manger says ACORN and the Democrats have to rely on paid workers.

However, the McCain campaign is hiring paid workers who sometimes also call themselves volunteers. The UpTake’s Sam Mayfield talked to a few of them… and that’s when one McCain campaign worker decided you shouldn’t see what is going on and threatened to have her arrested.

Video the McCain campaign doesn’t want you to see:

Powell: Obama is a 'transformational figure'

2008-10-19T21:38:00.003-04:00

McCain says he 'screwed up'

2008-10-18T14:37:00.007-04:00

If you haven't been following this story, please read the article below:

NEW YORK (CNN) -- John McCain has learned his lesson: Don't ever cancel on David Letterman.

Appearing on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" Thursday, the Republican presidential candidate apologized for skipping out on a scheduled visit in September that Letterman later made the subject of an ongoing joke.

"I screwed up," McCain told Letterman more than once in the interview that aired Thursday night.

McCain's appearance on the show comes three weeks after he raised the ire of the generally mild-mannered host by canceling at the last minute, citing his decision to suspend his presidential campaign because of the financial crisis.

"This doesn't smell right," Letterman said. "This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil."

Letterman also didn't appear to buy the Arizona senator's explanation for the cancellation. At the time, he showed the audience a live feed of McCain preparing for an interview with CBS anchor Katie Couric. After praising McCain's record as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he said, "This is not the John McCain I know, by God."

Letterman has repeatedly harped on McCain for the missed appearance, noting the Arizona senator's poll numbers appeared to begin to slide right after he skipped out on the show.

"Look at all the conversation I gave you. Including having Mr. Olbermann on," McCain told Letterman Thursday night, referencing the MSNBC liberal talk show host who filled in for him that night.

However, Thursday's interview was not all fun and games, as Letterman pressed McCain on Republican VP Sarah Palin's preparedness to lead the country through "the next 9/11 attack.."

"Absolutely," she is, McCain said. "She has inspired Americans. That's the thing we need."

McCain said her experience as a mayor, governor and PTA member have prepared her to be president.

"In all due respect, one of the people I admired most was an obscure governor of a southern state called Arkansas and he turned out to be a fairly successful president," McCain said. "I mean, Ronald Reagan was a cowboy, no experience in international affairs. So, look, I think she has shown leadership."

When Letterman asked McCain about Palin's charge that Barack Obama "palled around with terrorists," the senator said "he did."

McCain said that while Obama might have been just a child when William Ayers founded the Weathermen, a Vietnam War era group blamed for several domestic bombings. Ayers recently said he regretted not doing more attacks.

"Mr. Ayers, on 2001, September 11, 2001 said, 'I wish I had bombed more,'" said McCain.

McCain's reference was to a New York Times story published on September 11, 2001, when Ayers wrote "I don't regret setting bombs ... I feel we didn't do enough."

Later, after the issue was raised in an April primary debate by Sen. Hillary Clinton, Ayers posted his 2001 reply to the Times story on his blog, saying, "I said I had a thousand regrets, but no regrets for opposing the war with every ounce of my strength."

The story here isn't the bruised ego of David Letterman, or even the terrorist charges that McCain and Palin are leveling at Obama.

The story is Sen. McCain being caught in a lie. A very public lie.

It's the sort of embarrassment that a Presidential candidate cannot afford. Especially considering the criticism that McCain has already received for his VP selection Gov. Sarah Palin, who last week was involved in a corruption scandal.

McCain skips The Late Show, 9/24/2008

McCain apologizes on The Late Show, 10/16/2008

Dow ends worst week ever

2008-10-10T21:53:00.001-04:00

Courtesy MSNBC

Palin's greatest hits

2008-10-01T22:13:00.001-04:00

Palin / Couric: The Israel Question

2008-09-26T23:09:00.001-04:00

Palin gets media savaging after faltering interview (AFP

Damon reads my mind

2008-09-11T21:04:00.002-04:00

Facts are funny things

2008-09-06T08:59:00.027-04:00

Since running for President, John McCain has changed his stance on countless issues including abortion, gay rights, torture, tax cuts, and off-shore drilling. This has led independents to ask, Has pandering killed the maverick in John McCain?

Last week, McCain said he made a maverick choice - one that would appeal to moderates and independents - by selecting Sarah Palin to be Vice-President. McCain claimed that Palin is a reformer, despite her one-time support for the so-called "bridge to nowhere," employing a lobbying firm to get earmarks for the town of Wasilla, Alaska, and receiving a vice presidential endorsement from indicted Republican Sen. Ted Stevens.

The truth? Palin was McCain's second choice. She became his running mate "because of her gender but much more because of her solid social conservative/evangelical Christian credentials." According to ABC News, the conservative base of the Republican Party had threatened to revolt at the convention if McCain nominated Joe Lieberman.

Palin's qualifications to be Vice-President remain a tough sell. She's a first-term governor from the 47th most populous state in the union. While Obama was state senator for a 200,000-person district, Palin was mayor of a 7,000-person city. While Obama was working as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, Palin was a sports reporter for KUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. Palin's resume also includes the honor of being runner-up Miss Alaska. Palin's highest degree is a B.S. in journalism from the University of Idaho.

No wonder Palin has avoided the national press.

At 72 years of age, with 20 years in Congress, McCain can't be criticized for his lack of experience. On the flip side, any mention of his age, whether intentional or unintentional, and his campaign cries foul.

Meanwhile, McCain's POW experience has been a bullet-proof excuse for any flaws of temperament or judgment - including his poor voting record on veterans issues.

McCain has survived plane crashes, imprisonment, torture, and even cancer - and "has the scars to prove it." You can be sure that these scars continue to influence his thinking.

As a young man returning home from a thankless war, McCain blasted the U.S. government for being "afraid to win." Despite evidence to the contrary, he firmly believed that victory would have been possible if only Johnson had sent more troops into Vietnam and conducted more aerial bombings. Withdrawing from Vietnam meant that his sacrifice and the deaths of his comrades were for nothing. McCain's war doctrine - what some call a "Vietnam obsession" - sheds light on his stubborn refusal to draw down forces in Iraq.

Let's hope that in November the American people don't elect a pandering old war dog bent on revenge just because they think he's a "maverick."

McCain's 'change' message

2008-09-06T08:33:00.004-04:00

Sexism and Mrs. Palin

2008-09-04T19:40:00.002-04:00

McCain's money

2008-08-25T09:08:00.025-04:00

Republicans have tried to paint Barack Obama as a wealthy elitist who doesn't deserve his celebrity.

Which got me to thinking...Just how wealthy (or out-of-touch) is John McCain?

McCain is so wealthy...that he doesn't know how many homes he owns. (He owns 11, including a 15-acre ranch valued at more than $1 million. Take the house tour!)

McCain is so wealthy...that he doesn't know what kind of car he drives. (It's a Cadillac CTS.)

McCain is so wealthy...that he defines the "rich" as those with an annual income of $5 million or more. (According to the LA Times, fewer than 0.01% of American households have an annual income of $5 million or more.)

McCain is so wealthy...that in a Senate full of millionaires, McCain ranks #8. (Obama is #67, Biden is #100.)

McCain is so wealthy...that last year he and his wife spent $273,000 on domestic help. (That's $50,000 more than the average American home value.)

McCain is so wealthy...that he wore $520 Ferragamo Loafers while visiting the Dalai Lama. (Did you know that in developing nations $500 can provide clothing for 160 children?)

McCain is so wealthy...that his economic adviser Phil Gramm - who says that Americans are experiencing a "mental recession" and should stop whining - continues to work for McCain. (Never mind that Gramm claimed he'd quit or that he has repeatedly sided with big business over the interests of low-income Americans.)

McCain is so wealthy...that he thinks "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." (Never mind that inflation is rising, wages are declining, the cost of food is rising, optimism in our economy is declining, and home foreclosures are still rising.)

So where did we get this impression that John McCain is down-to-earth? A rich politician with close ties to big business, McCain has admitted that he "doesn't really understand much about economics."Maybe we've somehow equated ignorance with being normal.

How American.

Dynamic duo

2008-08-23T17:20:00.005-04:00

The text message arrived at 3 am. (Ah, the irony...)

And, yes, I got up to check it. I'm that kind of crazy. But what else would you expect of a member of Obama Nation?

I confess that the sight of Sen. Joe Biden's name didn't thrill me. I thought Biden too slick. Too prone to the 'elitist' charge. In contrast, I'd liked Gov. Tim Kaine because of his military experience and his down-to-earth bulldog persona. That, and the strategic advantage of being a running mate from the swing state of Virginia.

But the more I think about it, the better I like Obama's choice. As the fourth-longest serving senator, Biden brings to the table all the gravitas that one could ask for. And he certainly doesn't mince words. I thought Biden's speech today in Springfield matched - and perhaps even topped - Obama's speech in its earnesty and forcefulness. He seems the anti-elitist that Obama needs to conduct 'aggressive negotiations' with the McCain campaign. My favorite salvo: "These times require more than a good soldier, they require a wise leader."

Biden may be more prone to gaffes than Obama, but his selection as VP shows that the Obama campaign is willing to take that chance in order to avoid being swift-boated. He will take the fight to the NeoCons, the fight he has been waging as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. No one will dare challenge his credentials on patriotism and national security.

See the Hardball interview (Sept. 2007) below.

Turkish journalists attacked in Georgia

2008-08-14T13:07:00.006-04:00

Click here to learn more about this Turkish news crew who was fired upon by Russian soldiers.

2008-08-13T19:43:00.001-04:00

The reality of war in Georgia

2008-08-12T15:00:00.003-04:00

Warning: Graphic images

Russia's land grab

2008-08-08T21:10:00.030-04:00

Today the tiny democratic state of Georgia was invaded by its neighbor to the north. Here are some facts (courtesy of the International Herald Tribune, Reuters, and the New York Times) that make this story worth following:

1. Tensions between Israel and Iran have been high, with Israeli officials warning of a possible military strike against what it says is a nuclear weapons program under development by Tehran.

2. Russia has been selling S-300 air defense missiles to Iran. Yes, we're talking about anti-aircraft weapons could help Iran fend off an attack.

3. Not to be outdone, Israel has been selling military hardware to Tbilisi - hardware that includes pilotless drone aircraft. Russian fighters shot one down in May, according to U.N. observers.

4. Three days ago, Israel decided to halt all sales of military equipment to Georgia because of objections from Russia. The freeze was partially intended to give Israel leverage with Moscow in its attempts to persuade Russia not to ship arms and equipment to Iran.

5. Georgia, which has been pursuing NATO membership, currently has 2,000 troops stationed in Iraq, all of which will soon be recalled to help defend against Russia.

6. Russia possesses the largest inventory of armor (tanks, troop carriers, etc.) in the world: 48,270 units. The U.S. has the next largest inventory: 29,920. That's a 40% difference.

7. According to the Times, Georgia has no significant oil or gas reserves of its own. But the BTC pipeline, which runs from central Asia through Georgia to the Mediterranean, earns Georgia $62.5 million per year in transit fees.

8. The BTC pipeline is the second largest pipeline in the world and cost $3.9 billion to build. It is a key plank of US foreign policy because it is the only route that avoids both Russia and Iran.

9. After months of massing thousands of troops along Georgia's northern border, Russia chose today to invade. Could the timing have anything to do with the opening ceremonies of the Olympics? Georgia's president Mikhail Saakashvili thinks so.

10. The price of oil dropped to $115/barrel today. I wonder how long it will take for the market to reflect Russia's move. And I wonder how close we are to large-scale war.

Iraq's Geopolitics

2008-08-07T13:17:00.003-04:00

Click here to watch Richard Engel's fantastically simple explanation of the Iraq problem.

I only wish the solution to this problem was as simple.

Indictment Of Conservatism

2008-08-04T13:25:00.016-04:00

Thomas Franks has an excellent point: Conservatism is an anarchic movement. Here are some of its key principles:

1. Lower taxes create jobs. What a rosy win-win situation: more money in our pockets and more jobs to go around! What's not to like? Unfortunately, there is always a price to pay when taxes are lowered and budgets are cut (e.g. fewer policemen on the beat, larger class sizes in public schools, poorly maintained roads, etc.) And of course one set of consequences leads to another (e.g. more muggings, poor academic achievement, more car repairs, etc.) until you have an enormous ripple effect reflecting the sad state of the union.

2. Family values trump all other considerations. Sadly, many working-class and middle-class Americans have been pressured - sometimes from the pulpit - into politicking against their own interests. Here's the deal: in order to elect that perfect candidate with the Pro-Life, Pro-Prayer, Pro-Marriage platform, we must also buy into the corporate lie of trickle-down economics. Don't worry about the ethics of neglecting the needy. Remember, what's good for business is good for us all. (For many Evangelicals, this is changing. But very slowly.)

3. Government intervention is wasteful and corrupt and just hurts business. One result of this principle is that, in the private sector, corporate responsibility becomes voluntary in the name of free enterprise. Big chemical and big oil pollute. Food becomes unsafe. Deceptive and fraudulent activities carried out by corporate officers, investment banks, brokerage firms and investment analysts cost investors billions. In the public sector, with a lack of oversight, nepotism becomes the norm. The Bush administration shamefully politicizes the Justice Department. Michael Chertoff's friend Michael Brown is appointed head of FEMA before a hurricane strikes. Meanwhile, free trade exports jobs, engorges big-box stores, and strangulates small town America.

4. America must have an assertive foreign policy aimed at supporting American business interests abroad, or the terrorists win. Fear can be a powerful tool in the right hands. The Republican Party - as led by President Bush in the past 8 years - has successfully sold a false choice to the American people: Fascism or Anarchy? Thanks to The New Pearl Harbor, we've chosen the former and may soon get the latter. You've heard it all before. The NeoCons (Cheney-Rice-Rumsfeld) have skillfully peddled an ironic war on terror regardless of the cost - 100,000 casualties, $1 trillion, and the loss of habeus corpus. Not just anyone could have succeeded at diverting our attention from bin Laden and Saudis, stealing natural resources from Iraq, and all the while making the executive branch of the United States of America more powerful than ever before. Vive le Roi!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

2008-07-29T21:55:00.002-04:00

My look-alike (Conan O'Brien) delivers!

2008-07-25T19:59:00.006-04:00

A generational challenge

2008-07-18T08:59:00.026-04:00

Did you watch Al Gore's speech yesterday?

I was surprised to see that "A Generational Challenge to Repower America" wasn't just another global warming lecture. His message now includes a dire warning about the folly of the carbon-based fuel system and "the inevitably of its demise."

Gore understands that the climate crisis and the energy crisis are two sides to the same coin - or, as he puts it, part of a "common thread." He knows that the age of fossil fuels is nearly over and that we need an unprecedented initiative executed on a national - if not global - scale if we're to survive the transition to renewable energy.

Listening to his speech, you'll notice that he doesn't equivocate. He doesn't propose a cap-and-trade system. He doesn't mention so-called clean coal. And he does't give distant deadlines of 2050 or 2030.

His deadline: 2018.

"Our entire civilization depends upon us now embarking on a new journey of exploration and discovery. Our success depends on our willingness as a people to undertake this journey and to complete it within 10 years."

The thing is, modern America is not 1960s America. Few of us know what the Marshall Plan or the New Deal were. Even fewer of us believe that immediate action is necessary. We have been trained for inaction. Seven years ago, when we would have done anything the President asked, Bush asked us to go shopping. Shopping! Whatever motivation or unity this country had after 9/11 has been lost. Maybe forever.

Because of the administration of "The Worst President Ever" - a leader who recently boasted his nation's status as "World's Biggest Polluter" - Americans have accepted their roles as "consumers" and have settled back into their fatuous apathy. As individuals and as a nation, we continue to spend beyond our means while ignoring grievous wounds such as Hurricane Katrina. Have we forgotten that the Gulf Coast is still cleaning up? Three years later, some areas of New Orleans still resemble a disaster zone. Does this have our attention anymore? Is it mentioned in the news? No. We have moved on. And Louisiana might as well be a foreign country.

Anyway, returning to Al Gore's speech...You have probably read the articles that say Gore is either naive or nuts to expect change overnight. It's just not realistic. After all, renewable energy sources provide only 7 percent of the nation's energy needs.

But believe me when I say that Gore is no fool and his deadline is not arbitrary. We don't have long to prepare for the end of cheap oil.

Ten years may be a conservative estimate.

The mystery spot

2008-07-16T18:59:00.006-04:00

Have you heard of this? I was intrigued...

The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California. It is a circular area of effect around 150 feet or 46 meters in diameter. Within the Mystery Spot you will be stunned as your perceptions of the laws of physics and gravity are questioned. But don't take our word for it, come and decide for yourself! The Mystery Spot was discovered in 1939 by a group of surveyors and opened to the public in 1940. The Mystery Spot has amazed and perplexed hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world, and many return time and time again to experience these puzzling variations of gravity, perspective, and height.

Some speculate that cones of metal were secretly brought here and buried in our earth as guidance systems for their spacecraft. Some think that it is in fact the spacecraft itself burried deep within the ground. Other theories include carbon dioxide permeating from the earth, a hole in the ozone layer, a magma vortex, the highest dielectric biocosmic radiation known anywhere in the world, and radiesthesia. Whatever the cause is, it remains a mystery.

Well, sort of.

After painstaking research (aka "Wikipedia"), I discovered that the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz is in fact a gravity hill, a type of optical illusion.

You just had to know the scientific answer, didn't you?

I prefer Wikipedia's personal accounts:

Visitors personally experiencing these effects at the Mystery spot may claim that the gravity hill illusion explanation is false because during the tour the guide uses a spirit level to prove that certain surfaces are indeed horizontal and not the result of an illusion. These visitors become convinced that the visual illusion of people becoming shorter or taller is due to the difference in the gravity related to a mysterious magnetic field. It would seem that when people become "shorter", they are actually slightly leaning to the side because of the "pull", thus appearing to be shorter. Because, as some visitors surmise, a slight change in gravitational pull cannot be easily felt, most people do not realize they are leaning. Their becoming "taller" would thus be explained by their arriving at a spot where gravity or "magnetism" is normal, no longer causing them to lean: They now stand straight, appearing to have re-gained height.

From the point of view of some visitors, the dizziness felt during the tour is not the result of the mind trying to habituate to a tilted environment. Such individuals have observed that they do not feel dizzy trying to climb a regular hill, but do feel dizzy as they near the center of the mystery spot. They draw the conclusion that this is most likely caused by the change in gravitational pull that results in confusion because the inner ear has semi circular canals filled with fluid to detect the direction of gravitational pull and to help us keep our balance. When the location of the fluid is changed, some sensitive people will feel dizzy, similar to the effects of seasickness. Tourists claim to literally feel the pull of gravity toward one direction as they near the center of the spot sometimes losing ballance and falling toward this pull, which they may is due to a magnetic field.

Another oddity noted by visitors is the many animals just outside the Mystery Spot, including birds, bees, and a dog owned by the people working at the site. They note the absence of animals within the boundaries of the site. This is perceived as an additional sign of the powers of the Mystery Spot, considered by such visiters as beyond mere optical illusion.

Optimist or ostrich?

2008-07-11T22:14:00.020-04:00

Today's headlines read like the dust jacket of an apocalyptic novel:

Given the state of things, optimists are increasingly looking like ostriches with their heads in the sand. In the past year, the price of crude oil has doubled, electric bills have risen 29%, global food prices have risen 40%, and now a 'perfect storm' is hitting the U.S. economy.

I don't mean to scare you, but if we are in the initial stages of what James Howard Kunstler calls The Long Emergency (read this book!), we have only begun to see the effects of rising food prices and energy bills. Imagine what will happen when oil hits $200/barrel...According to Martin Zimmerman of the L.A. Times, it would mean "fundamental shifts" in our ways of life: transportation, housing, clothing, food, etc.

By the way, Dad, thanks for the Costco membership. Our larder's almost full!

I read today that Britain is urging a return to wartime food frugality. That may be a responsible solution. But I wonder what Americans would think of ration cards and hunger pangs. Would we come together as a nation, or would we throw things into chaos? Given that a majority of Americans don't remember WWII - let alone life before the iPod - all bets are off.

On the other hand...

There's a superstitious part of me that suspects that my recent bout with sciatica may be due to my own lack of faith. I imagine myself as Atlas, burdened and alone. My wife insist that I take a break, and she's right. I must sometimes allow myself the luxury of rest. The news will always be there. In the meantime, I must try to let go. I must trust that humanity - beginning with these United States - will adapt more quickly and more gracefully than we have reason to believe.

I loved Wendell Berry's article in Harper's (May 2008). Berry seemed to hold out hope that we may be able to adapt as a people. That we may be able to accept the "sciences and technologies of limits," in exchange for the "fantasy of limitlessness" and the "strategies of delay." When faced with oblivion during this second half of peak oil, let us hope that, unlike Faust, we may indeed conquer our fear in order to "make the most and the best of what we have."

My BOB

2008-07-06T16:06:00.014-04:00

Everyone needs a bug out bag (BOB). Mine is an REI Venus Pack '06.

Yes, I know, the pack was designed for women, but I got it at a steep discount. Besides, I'm a slight 5'9 and it fits me great! Fit is more important than labeling.

I've packed the bag for extended survival (1 week or more), so it weighs a modest 33 lbs and contains the following...

Shelter:
Two-person North Face Rock 22 tent
Synthetic summer sleeping bag
Air mattress
6'x8' tarp
150 ft. of paracord

Fire:
Swedish firesteel
Magnesium
Match books (6)
Bic lighter
Cotton balls
Denatured fuel ethanol (3)

In case you're wondering, the photo at left shows where I've been practicing my fire-starting skills: my own backyard. My wife has kindly allowed it.

Food/Water:
Katadyn Hiker microfilter
Nalgene bottle (2)
Potable aqua chlorine dioxide tablets
Poland spring bottle (4)
Primus Yellowstone Classic Trail Stove
Primus Power gas canister
MSR Stowaway Stainless Steel pot
Snow Peak Titanium 3-Piece Cookset
REI Ti Ware Folding Spork (2)
Maruchan Ramen noodle pack (8)
Clif Bar (5)
Tuna packet
Hard candy

Tools:
Gerber Big Rock Camp Knife
Gerber FliK Multi-Tool
Wood folding saw
Magnetic Force Flashlight
$6 Walmart headlamp
Nightstar CS Magnetic Force Flashlight
Map and compass (w/ signal mirror)
Pad and pencil
US Army Survival Manual
Black Sharpie marker
Emergency whistle
Duct tape
Fishing kit

Clothing:
Ski cap
Outdoor Research Seattle Sombrero
Nylon hiking pants
Soccer shorts
Synthetic long johns
Wool socks
Underwear

Toiletries & necessities:
First aid kit (w/ hand sanitzer, After Bite, Off)
Aurelle TOOB Brush Toothbrush
Atwater Carey Camp-N-Travel Hygiene Kit
Toilet paper roll
Sunscreen
$50 cash
Copies of important documents

I keep a pair of hiking boots in my trunk and not in my bag, but they could be quickly strapped to the pack. There's nothing like reliable footwear. Speaking of which, never wear cotton socks while hiking. I'm sure you know the saying: "Cotton kills." Well, my brother discovered last week that cotton kills feet. Poor Sam had a blister the size of my hand. Ouch!

Big Oil poised to make triumphant return to Iraq

2008-07-05T08:02:00.006-04:00

Small service contracts announced last week are a step toward major development deals

Article by Linda McQuaig, The Toronto Star (7/5/08)

When Big Oil excutives and U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney met for secret energy talks in the spring of 2001, one subject that weighed on all their minds was the potential loss of Iraq's bountiful oil reserves.

After more than a decade of hostile U.S.-Iraqi relations, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had negotiated deals with oil companies from a range of countries, including Russia, China and India, to develop Iraq's largely undeveloped reserves.

That meant U.S. oil companies were to be denied a stake in developing one of the last oil bonanzas left on Earth. It also meant that the U.S. risked being denied access to this vast new source of petroleum – the commodity it considers essential to its continued status as an economic and military superpower.

So it wasn't surprising that Cheney's energy task force – set up with urgency within weeks of the Bush administration taking office – took great interest in a document called "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts." The document (eventually made public after a lengthy court battle with the Bush administration) included a detailed breakdown of Iraq's 97 oil fields, listing in each case the foreign company that was negotiating a development contract with Saddam, and the status of those negotiations...

Read the rest of McQuaig's article here.

James Howard Kunstler: The tragedy of suburdia

2008-07-03T21:23:00.001-04:00

Imagining peak oil

2008-07-01T21:01:00.003-04:00

Here are some articles from the Energy Bulletin. Click on the headline (link) for the full text.

Envisioning a world of $200-a-barrel oil
Martin Zimmerman, Los Angeles times
As forecasters take that possibility more seriously, they describe fundamental shifts in the way we work, where we live and how we spend our free time.

The more expensive oil gets, the more Katherine Carver's life shrinks. She's given up RV trips. She stays home most weekends. She's scrapped her twice-a-month volunteer stint at a Malibu wildlife refuge -- the trek from her home in Palmdale just got too expensive.

How much higher would fuel prices have to go before she quit her job? Already, the 170-mile round-trip commute to her job with Los Angeles County Child Support Services in Commerce is costing her close to $1,000 a month -- a fifth of her salary. It's got the 55-year-old thinking about retirement.

"It's definitely pushing me to that point," Carver said.

The point could be closer than anyone thinks.

Three months ago, when oil was around $108 a barrel, a few Wall Street analysts began predicting that it could rise to $200. Many observers scoffed at the forecasts as sensational, or motivated by a desire among energy companies and investors to drive prices higher.

But with oil closing above $140 a barrel Friday, more experts are taking those predictions seriously -- and shuddering at the inflation-fueled chaos that $200-a-barrel crude could bring. They foresee fundamental shifts in the way we work, where we live and how we spend our free time.

"You'd have massive changes going on throughout the economy," said Robert Wescott, president of Keybridge Research, a Washington economic analysis firm. "Some activities are just plain going to be shut down."
(25 June 2008)

The challenges of peak oil
Steve Yetiv, Houston Chronicle
We may not be doomed, but we also may not be ready for all of its effects
---
Americans are feeling serious pain at the gasoline pump, and scratching their heads as to why. Part of the answer may be that we are approaching peak oil sooner than many people would have guessed.

Peak oil refers to a key turning point when global oil production peaks, signaling a future of slowly decreasing world oil production. No one can say when peak oil will arrive, but one fact at least suggests that it may come sooner rather than later: Until recently, the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries barely tried to stem the rise of oil prices from $50 dollars per barrel in February 2007 to more than $130 per barrel today.

... peak oil may be a factor. OPEC behavior may be a signal that OPEC cannot easily meet long-run global oil demand, on demand.

... If peak oil is creeping up slowly, does this mean we're doomed? Well, no. But, depending on when oil does peak, it may produce some effects for which we are not prepared. Oil prices could spike possibly to more than $200 per barrel, triggering economic dislocation. Such prices will increasingly spur work on affordable alternatives to oil, as we are already seeing today in nascent form, but it will take a long time for such alternatives to penetrate the market. Our infrastructure is designed for oil. We can't switch overnight.

In addition, Middle East oil will become even more important.

Yetiv is author of "Crude Awakenings" (Cornell, 2004) and the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book, "The Absence of Grand Strategy," (Johns Hopkins, 2008). He is a professor of political science at Old Dominion University in Virginia
(28 June 2008)

Civilization's golden era is teetering on collapse
Hans Tammemagi, Vancouver Sun
New millennium has brought a turning point in history, yet we ignore meltdown

----
The period from 1950 to 2000 will be remembered as the Golden Era of modern civilization, the pinnacle reached by humans after a million years of evolution. This brilliant half-century was sponsored largely by fossil fuels, especially oil, which brought unprecedented economic growth, plentiful transportation and a rich and diverse lifestyle.

But the new millennium has brought the end of cheap oil, and civilization is suddenly teetering on the edge of collapse. Even if we manage to scrape through (and it would require heroic efforts), life will change. We're at one of the most important turning points in history, yet we persistently ignore the coming meltdown and just want to party on. Nero would be proud.

So, why is civilization teetering?

First, peak oil has arrived.
(28 June 2008)
Hans Tammemagi is a writer, photographer and environmental scientist in British Columbia.

Oil disquiet on the Western front
Andrew Nikiforuk, Globe & Mail
Oil has fantastic powers: Like the genie from One Thousand and One Nights, it can grant impossible political wishes both fair and foul. This is why the U.S. oil baron John D. Rockefeller once, in a moment of reflection, called oil "the Devil's tears," and why Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, in a moment of exasperation, wished that Saudi Arabia had discovered water, and why the late Venezuelan writer Jose Ignacio Cabrujas, in a moment of subversion, wrote that oil can create "a culture of miracles" that erases memory.

Canadians, the newly minted inhabitants of "an emerging energy superpower," now stand at the gas pumps cursing the price of oil and the prospect of shortened summer vacations. Yet they forget that many of our ancestors agonized about the price of slaves only 200 years ago. We too complained bitterly about the cost of feeding indentured labour, and dismissed the ugly rhetoric of abolitionists as offensive.

A barrel of oil, as analyst Dave Hughes often reminds me, equals 8.6 years of human labour. Think about that. "A human life span could produce about three barrels of oil-equivalent energy," he adds. We often miss this Hummer-sized truth because, as the Arabs know, petroleum induces lazy thinking and even lazier economics.

In fact, the North American media take for granted how much oil undermines democracy, powers our food system, feeds our drug-addled medical industry and concentrates our cities like bovine feedlots. It has done so as assuredly as cheap labour built Rome. "Slavery," a Wall Street Journal scribe recently wrote, "was the oil business of its time - profitable, essential, permitting piracy, demanding collusion in countless ills."

Andrew Nikiforuk's next book, The Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, will be published this fall.
(28 June 2008)

Living with less (and less) electricity

2008-06-23T09:32:00.016-04:00

Like the cost of fuel, the cost of electricity keeps rising. According to USA Today (6/15/08), utility bills have risen nearly 30% in the past five years. And they're set to rise another 30% this year alone.

Given this new reality, we need to conserve. That means running the air conditioning less in the summer. (Or giving it up entirely!) In the winter, we should seal our windows and turn down the thermostat. We could also turn off appliances, like the microwave or the television, during peak hours.

We should also reexamine our budgets. We need to spend less on luxuries and sell those luxuries we don't need. Personally, I've already sold a Palm Pilot, two televisions, and an Xbox 360. The funny thing is, I don't miss them. Living simply means less clutter and less noise. But for those already struggling to pay basic bills, life has been hard (and will get harder). I can only imagine the choices to be made. Food or heat? Medical bills or fuel?

Finally, we should plan for a future without electricity. Anita Evangelista writes,

"It’s going to happen. Sooner or later, the power will go off...For most modern Americans the loss of power means the complete loss of normalcy. Their lifestyle is so dependent upon the grid’s constancy that they do not know how to function without it. How do you cook a meal if your gas stove has an electric ignition? How do your children find their way to the bathroom at night if the light switches don’t work? How do you keep warm if your wood heat is moved through ducts by an electric fan? What do you do with a freezer full of expensive meat? How do you find out what is happening in your area with the TV and radio silent? What will you drink if your water comes from a system dependent on electrical pumps?"

To learn how to live without electricity, read the rest of Evangelista's article in Backwoods Home Magazine.

Survive this!

2008-06-18T22:09:00.001-04:00

Given the exact same scenario, who stands a better chance at surviving? Bear Grylls, host of Man vs. Wild, or Les Stroud, host of Survivorman?

Click here to find out.

Magnetic force flashlight

2008-06-16T22:39:00.008-04:00

I bought a flashlight at REI today and I have to tell you about it! Features:

- Lightweight (5.4 oz)
- Floatable
- Submersible (to 160 ft)
- Corrosion resistant
- Shock resistant
- Cold resistant (to -50 F)
- Heat resistant (to 140 F)
- No batteries
- No bulbs

According to the manufacturer, the capacitor can be recharged "several hundred thousand times." Too good to be true? Think again. Check out the Nightstar CS Magnetic Force Flashlight.

A crude awakening

2008-06-14T00:35:00.009-04:00

'Peaked' your attention? You ought to read Robert J. Samuelson's article Learning From the Oil Shock (Newsweek 6/23/08). You might also be interested in this AP article: G-8 Raises Alarm Over Rising Oil Prices (6/14/08).

The wolf at the door

2008-06-13T10:55:00.017-04:00

Even now, protests over high food and fuel prices are making headlines across the globe. Did you know that gas costs $8 per gallon in France and Germany? Yup. And we're next.

Related news:

'Don't panic-buy' motorists urged (BBC 6/13/08)

UK drivers warned as four-day fuel strike starts (Evening Standard 6/13/08)

Petrol protests go global (Telegraph 6/12/08)

After the oil crunch? (New Statesman 6/12/08)

Fuel protest: shortages, death & arrests hit Spain (The Guardian 6/11/08)

Buenos Aires mass transit affected by fuel shortage (M&C 6/11/08)

Fuel protests erupt in Asia as oil hits $139 a barrel (Washington Post 6/10/08)

Peak Oil: How will you ride the slide?

2008-06-10T09:22:00.036-04:00

Peak Oil, also known as the Hubbert Curve, was defined in the 1950s by U.S. geologist and Shell Oil employee M. King Hubbert. He rightly predicted the 1973 oil crisis and projected that, if trends continued, global supply would peak in 1995. Trends fluctuated. The EIA says that production peaked in 2005 and will dip in 2010. This means the end of cheap oil and, for economies dependent on cheap oil, "potentially severe economic and social consequences."

Related news:

Fuel prices challenge cars' reign (Washington Post 6/10/08)

Russia's Gazprom predicts $250 oil by 2009 (CNBC 6/10/08)

GM might dump gas-guzzling Hummer (IBJ 6/3/08)

Learn more about Peak Oil at EnergyAndCapital.com.

Obama's short list

2008-06-07T11:35:00.036-04:00

Selecting a VP is the first important decision Obama will make in the general election. And, given the stakes, he must make it with the electoral map in mind. Want to strategize? Here's an interactive map.

Here are my top ten favorites for Vice President. I should mention that the text below is shamelessly stolen (or "compiled" if you like) from The Huffington Post, The Left Anchor, and The Washington Post.

1. Jim Webb (Sen. Virginia, D)
A former Republican, Webb is a good foil for Obama's post-partisan message, and he's got the credentials to take on John McCain: Marine hero in Vietnam, former Navy secretary, Scots-Irish roots. Webb defeated George "Macaca" Allen to become a junior senator in Virginia.

Pro: Intelligent, capable, tough as hell. The Washington Post called Webb, a politician who writes his own speeches, an "iron intellectual." He's good at playing the attack dog, which will let Obama take the high road. And he's from trending-blue Virginia, which would be a great pickup in November for Democrats.

Con: He can be a little out-of-control as attack dogs go. He doesn't stick to the script. Hear of the time when Webb snubbed President Bush at a White House reception?

2. Tim Kaine (Gov. Virginia, D)

A Catholic pro-life Democrat and former mayor of Richmond. Endorsed Obama early and became his national campaign co-chair. When Kaine was asked if he would consider a spot on the ticket, he replied: "I've got one term to be governor of Virginia, and that is my plan." Plans have a way of changing, though.

Pro: Governor of a state with 13 electoral votes that has been trending blue the last few election cycles. Tireless campaigner. He's unafraid of Fox News. Handled the Virginia Tech massacre well and provided families with a generous settlement.

Con: Democrats will not like his pro-life stance. A more immediate problem with selecting Kaine is that it would put Virginia's Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican, in the governor's mansion, providing him with a leg-up in the 2009 gubernatorial race. A point of attack the Republicans will use against Kaine is likely to be the Governor’s stance on gun control. He has supported more restrictions on gun show sales and on concealed weapons, especially since the Virginia Tech massacre.

3. Mark Warner (Frmr. Gov. Virginia, D)
He remains overwhelmingly popular in his home state, and is currently on track to pick up the senate seat being vacated by Republican John Warner (no relation). He has the approval of 67% of Virginian voters according to a Washington Post poll from last October. According to stalwart political "journalist" Robert Novak, Warner has confided to friends that he's being considered for the VP slot, but has made no mention of whether he'll accept it.

Pro: Consummate politician with a sterling record on many of the top progressive issues. Has thus far run his Senate campaign on the themes of change and the creation of a post-partisan politics. He's a strong public speaker, young enough (he's 53) that he'd be an excellent candidate for president following an Obama administration, and with him on the ticket, Obama would likely win Virginia.

Con: There is no candidate to take his place in his Senate run. Without Warner, the Democrats will likely lose that seat. So, is he more valuable as Vice President or as Senator?

4. Chuck Hagel (Sen. Nebraska, R)
A retiring Republican senator who has fought with Bush tooth-and-nail over the Iraq war, Hagel is one of three Republicans who voted with the Democrats for a withdrawal plan. He also has served on the Banking, Foreign Relations, and Intelligence Committees. Hagel has also said he's considering endorsing Obama.

Pro: A veteran with experience in Reagan's administration. A living embodiment of Obama's commitment to work with like-minded Republicans. Supported the Webb-Hagel GI Bill, which "modernizes educational benefits for members of our Armed Forces who have served since the attacks of September 11, 2001."

Con: He is still a Republican (especially on abortion and health care), which would not sit well with many Democrats.

5. Evan Bayh (Sen. Indiana, D)

This Hoosier- and former governor- endorsed Hillary Clinton and was said on her VP short list. He was also considered by Al Gore and John Kerry. Gave the keynote address at the 1996 Democratic National Convention.

Pro: The most popular politician in Indiana, a swing state with 11 electoral votes. Choosing Bayh might help bridge Clinton/Obama divide.

Con: Young (53 years), but unremarkable. Bland campaigner.

6. Brian Schweitzer (Gov. Montana, D)

Very popular (70% approval) in his conservative state; has much crossover appeal. Won office by featuring a Repulican, John Bohlinger, as his lieutenant governor. Demonstrated his commitment to alternative energy through the creation of two new wind farms, and has announced the construction of four more. As governor, Schweitzer increased spending on education by 27%, and capped tuition at Montana's public universities to ensure the affordability of higher education.

Pro: His relative youth (he's only 52) would underline the reform message of Obama's campaign, and would help to highlight McCain's greatest weakness, the concerns of voters that he's too old for the job.

Con: It's hard to imagine him being able to deliver his home state of Montana, which voted for Bush over Kerry by better than a 20-point margin, and where McCain currently leads Obama by double digits.

7. James Jones (Frmr. Supreme Allied Commander, Europe)

Jones, a Vietnam vet born in Kansas City, MO (swing state alert!), was a career military officer who rose to one of the highest posts possible. Now retired, Jones has been critical of the number of troops currently in Afghanistan. He’s been appointed to independent posts by both the Democratic Congress and the Republican-run State Department. (The New York Times).

Pro: A tough 6'5 Marine who could go toe-to-toe with McCain on national security and foreign policy issues.

Con: He's on Chevron's board of directors. Ugh. He is also the president and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, which is an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce, not exactly the type of organization a typical Democrat gets involved with. (The New York Times).

8. Bill Richardson (Gov. New Mexico, D)
You know him, you love him; he's the New Mexico governor with a heart of gold, a kickin' beard, and - thanks to James Carville - a new nickname.

Pro: You've heard them all before. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, former Secretary of Energy, foreign policy resume a mile long, executive experience, and a lock with Hispanic voters. And he picked Obama, despite his Clinton ties.

Con: Did you watch any of the debates?

9. Michael Bloomberg (Mayor NYC, I)
Sure, most voters have never heard of him. And sure, he's never been a national player. But the current mayor of New York has been a darling of the media, as they spent months seeing if he would get into the Presidential race.

Pros: Excellent economic record- turned NYC's $6 billion deficit into a $3 billion surplus. Interested in policy minutiae. Post-partisan (former Republican switched to Independent).

Cons: Unheard of outside his home state. It's tough not to seem like an elitist when the word 'billionaire' applies to you. What would he say to taxing the wealthy?

10. Hillary Clinton (Sen. New York, D)
This ticket is either a dream or a nightmare. Some see it as the only way to reunite the Democrats in time for November. Others see it as the fastest way to destroy the Obama brand.

Pro: Strong appeal with working class voters and women. Would help in big states.

Con: See Iraq War vote, 3AM phone call, Bill Clinton in South Carolina, and the many debates. Their battle has been fierce! Click here if you've forgotten.

Opportunity

2008-06-06T15:48:00.014-04:00

In the chapter titled "Opportunity," from his book The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama explains that energy independence is one of the most important issues facing our country. It affects our economy and undermines our national security. He points out that the Bush Administration's approach to energy independence - subsidies for big oil companies and expanded domestic drilling - has been irresponsible and unrealistic:

"The United States has 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. We use 25 percent of the world's oil. We can't drill our way out of the problem." (168-169)

He's exactly right! For our children's sake (hell, for our sake!), we need to change our energy policy. Here is what Obama suggests:

"What we can do is create renewable, cleaner energy sources for the twenty-first century. Instead of subsidizing the oil industry, we should end every single tax break the industry currently receives and demand that 1 percent of the revenues from oil companies with over $1 billion in quarterly profits go toward financing alternative energy research and the necessary infrastructure. Not only would such a project pay huge economic, foreign policy, and environmental dividends - it could be the vehicle by which we train an entire new generation of American scientists and engineers and a source of new export industries and high-wage jobs."

Now that's what I call fair trade! Oil companies should share some of their record profits in order for our country's leaders to plan for the future - which seems bleaker every day. I wish our current administration had tried this. But, with oil company execs at the helm, there wasn't much chance of that happening.

Every year oil companies spend millions on lobbying. What do those millions and millions buy? For instance, the 2005 Energy Bill, which allocated $6 billion for oil and gas subsidies and $9 for coal subsidies. In 2007, Democrats were able to pass a bill that required the first increase in vehicle fuel economy standards in more than 30 years. The catch? The bill included $13.5 billion in tax breaks for the oil industry.

Sadly, nothing will change until November. To read initiatives proposed in the Obama energy plan, click here.

Will the fat lady sing?

2008-06-05T11:42:00.015-04:00

Representative Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, has been a patron of Clinton's since she first ran for the Senate. And yesterday he sounded frustrated.

"We pledged to support her to the end," Rangel said in an interview. "Our problem is not being able to determine when the hell the end is."

Campaign officials now say that Sen. Clinton will suspend her campaign on Saturday and endorse Sen. Barack Obama. For the sake of party unity, party officials want her to show humility on Saturday and give him her whole-hearted support.

But will she?

Personally, I doubt it. Why else would she reserve "her right to have her name placed in nomination"? Screw party unity! Hey, I'd like to think that she is just "catching her breath". I'd like to think she's only human. I'd even like to think that her campaign needs this time to fundraise and plan her exit.

But I don't.

I think she is staying in the race "just in case". She's just the sort of egomaniac who - like the current administration - would gladly manipulate tragedy.

Hypermiling

2008-06-03T17:17:00.010-04:00

Are you a hypermiler? I saw this article on CNN and thought, hey, I already do that! I drive the speed limit, I keep my foot off the accelerator, and I brake as little as possible.

Of course, I'd never actually turned off my engine at a red light before. So I tried that on my way to school today.

Tricky.

Not only did I have to anticipate how long the light would be, but I had to put up with the surprised looks of other drivers when PRESTO! my starter engaged.

I'm keeping track of my gas mileage now, so we'll see if it makes a difference. I'll share my findings in a few weeks.

UPDATE: My Ford Contour averages 26 mpg (city). But I filled my tank today (June 14) and discovered that I'd gotten 30 mpg! Now isn't that something?

Facts speak for themselves

2008-05-27T22:04:00.011-04:00

Number of dollars the U.S. government spends annually on renewable energy research: 1.5 billion

Number of dollars of revenue ExxonMobil generates in one day: 1 billion

--

Number of New Yorkers who “saw something and said something,” following the advice of public transportation anti-terrorism posters: 1,944

Number of terrorists arrested due to these reports: 0

Percentage increase in risk of cardiovascular disease between someone who does not worry about terrorism versus someone who does: 300-500

--

Lies told by top Bush administration officials leading up to the Iraq war: 935

Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons: 4.5-5 million

Percentage of women and girls working as prostitutes in Damascus, Syria, who are Iraqi refugees: 70-80

--

Miles per gallon a car got in a 1973 contest sponsored by Shell: 376.59

--

For more facts, go to Yes! Magazine's The Page That Counts.

Flying fish filmed from ferry for forty-five fantastic fleeting filamentals falconed from fulfillment

2008-05-23T19:38:00.006-04:00

Geopolitics of oil

2008-05-22T22:04:00.018-04:00

The International Energy Agency, the world's most reliable source of oil information, has announced that it is preparing a 'landmark' forecast to be released in November. This forecast is expected to reveal a tightening in global supply. Chief economist Fatih Birol told Associated Press, "We are entering a new world energy order."

Why should this matter to you? You live in a world driven by oil. Haven't you noticed? Here are some fun and/or scary facts:

1. At the start of the Iraq war, oil sold for $27/barrel.

2. Today, oil sold for $135/barrel.

3. In just one year, oil prices have nearly DOUBLED.

4. Exxon Mobil’s sales, more than $404 billion, exceeded the gross domestic product of 120 countries. The company boasted profits of $40.6 billion in 2007. (Source: New York Times)

5. The world's top oil consumer is the USA at 20.7 million barrels per day out of 82.6 million barrels total. (Source: Wikipedia)

6. The U.S. military is the biggest purchaser of oil in the world, and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest oil-consuming government body in the world.

7. President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and all of their top officials have deep connections to the oil and gas industry. For instance, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice was a director of Chevron. Vice-President Dick Cheney amassed some £50m-$60m while he was chief executive of Haliburton oil company. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans held stock valued between $5m and $25m in Tom Brown Inc, the oil and gas exploration company he headed. (Source: BBC News)

8. Countries that have the world's largest proven crude oil reserves:

* Saudi Arabia
* Canada
* Iran
* Iraq
* Kuwait

9. 66% of the world's proven oil reserves are in the Middle East.

10. Controlling oil access is a cornerstone of U.S. Middle East policy. Dual containment of Iran and Iraq, along with a broader military engagement policy, is key to U.S. strategy in assuring the flow of oil.

Here's to the New American Century! Here's to the new world order!

(Read sarcasm.)

Death-house door

2008-05-19T21:30:00.013-04:00

Today I was listening to a story on NPR about a chaplain named Rev. Carroll Pickett who witnessed 95 lethal injections and now publicly objects to the procedure. (Watch the trailer to his new documentary At the Death House Door.)

I was surprised to hear that one of the drugs (pavulon) in the lethal cocktail violates veterinary standards in almost every state. Does this mean that we treat condemned men and women worse than animals?

You should really research lethal injection for yourself. But for those of you who won't, here is how the death penalty is administered in most states:

Step 1: Inmate receives a lethal dose of sodium pentathol, a general anesthetic. It's believed by some that after this anesthetic is delivered, the inmate doesn't feel anything.

Step 2: Inmate is injected with a paralyzing agent called pavulon. The diaphram and lungs are stopped.

Step 3: Potassium chloride, a toxic agent known to cause intense burning sensations, is given at a lethal dose in order to interrupt the electrical signaling essential to heart functions. This induces cardiac arrest. (Source: HowStuffWorks.com)

Despite horror stories, like that of Angel Nieves Diaz, our proud nation continues to execute people 'humanely'.

Makes one wistful for the gallows.

Oil and the not-so-distant future

2008-05-17T07:56:00.009-04:00

This week, Congress stopped its 70,000 barrel-per-day shipment to the nation's emergency reserve, hoping that increased oil supplies will reduce the cost of oil.

What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)? The U.S. created it in 1974, in response to OPEC's oil embargo. The US SPR is the largest emergency supply in the world, maintained by the Department of Energy, with the current capacity to hold up to 727 million barrels of crude oil (or $88 billion worth). It is intended to mitigate temporary supply disruptions. At current levels, it holds a 58-day supply (Wikipedia).

Congress hopes that dipping into the emergency reserve will lower gas prices up to $0.05 per gallon. Given market adjustments, though, analysts doubt that it will result in any meaningful benefit to consumers.

This move by Congress came only days before Saudi Arabia's own demonstration of oil independence - that is, its refusal to increase production despite President Bush's second personal appeal this year to King Abdullah during his May 16 visit to Riyadh.

In other news, the Interior Department declared the polar bear threatened under the Endangered Species Act because of accelerated melting of the polar bear's Arctic sea-ice habitat. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said that without the new protections, polar bears could become extinct within 45 years. But he also made clear that the new ruling is not intended to influence U.S. climate change policies: Listing the polar bear as threatened can reduce avoidable losses of polar bears, but it should not open the door to use the ESA [Endangered Species Act] to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants and other sources."

Unfortunately for polar bears, proven reserves of oil will last 40 years at current rates of consumption. (Read BP's Statistical Review of World Energy.)

Just now, reading the May 19, 2008 edition of Newsweek, an advertisement catches my eye. It looks just like a magazine article and its title reads: "Do you own an oil company?" Using data from an industry-sponsored study, the article argues that the answer is YES. It says that the oil industry - an industry with record profits (Exxon Mobil made over $40 billion in 2007) - is not owned by corporate bigwigs, but by ordinary middle class Americans. The article ends:

These findings tells us something very important: tens of millions of Americans have a stake in the U.S. oil and national gas industry. When the industry's earnings are strong, the real winners are middle class Americans, people investing in their retirement security or saving for their children's college education.

So when the political rhetoric gets hot about increasing energy taxes or taking 'excess profits' from U.S. oil companies, it is important to step back, look at the facts, and ask yourself, ' who does that really hurt?'

Signed,
The People of America's Oil and Natural Gas Industry

Am I the only one who hears the threat? Save the environment at your own risk.

Biopolymers and sustainable solutions

2008-05-10T14:23:00.012-04:00

This afternoon, I was doing errands in Natick and decided to grab lunch at Boloco. Along with my Summer Burrito (no meat, no cheese), I opted for a fountain drink (mango juice). Yum!

Now, most people wouldn't feel guilty for buying lunch. But I did. I especially regretted not having the foresight to have brought along my Sigg bottle. I mean, how hard is it to fill a bottle with water? Instead, here I was consuming more plastic foodservice packaging.

But I discovered when I got home that the cup that I was drinking from had a message written on its side:

This cup grew up
in Blair, Nebraska.
It really did.
It's made entirely of corn.
It's 100% compostable.

It will disappear no matter
what you do with it.

Even cups matter.

Then I did a little research and discovered that, sure enough, the cup is part of a line of Greenware products made by Fabri-Kal, and it's compostable.

So I guess I don't have to feel guilty. At least, not this time.

How Clinton Lost the Lead in Superdelegates

2008-05-10T08:38:00.001-04:00

Click here to see The New York Times' graphic.

High-water mark

2008-05-06T23:14:00.007-04:00

Tonight Sen. Obama won North Carolina by 14 pts! And Sen. Clinton has a 4-pt lead in Indiana (with results still coming in). Well now...

Could this be the beginning of the end for the Clinton campaign? Tomorrow we'll know.

UPDATE: Yes! Clinton only just won Indiana 51% to 49% (19,000 votes out of 1.3 million cast). This is most certainly a turning point in what Jon Stewart calls the "long Bataan death march to the White House." We've also learned that Clinton loaned her campaign another $6.4 million this month in order to keep up with the Obama money machine.

Silly season

2008-05-01T19:23:00.023-04:00

Gasoline prices have risen sharply (up $1.50/g) in the last three years.

It's no wonder that Presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton want a summer holiday from the 18.4 cent-a-gallon federal gas tax. Assuming the market doesn't adjust - and thereby pass the savings on to producers rather than consumers - the average American family would save an estimated $20 over the summer. (How much would you save? Use the Gas Tax Holiday Calculator.)

A lousy 20 bucks? Are you kidding? No politician can buy my vote with lunch money and an irresponsible fiscal policy (nevermind the environmental implications). I use the word "irresponsible" because that's exactly what economists are saying about the proposed tax holiday.

That said, these signs are hilarious. Because they're true. I think I saw one today on my way to work.

For more tips, and to learn about US Energy Policy, go to the Sierra Club webpage A Pain in the Gas.

Nalgene bottles unsafe

2008-04-18T15:23:00.004-04:00

This just in: Nalgene is phasing out their polycarbonate Lexan bottles (# 7) made with bisphenol A (BPA). This may have something to do with the Canadian government's decision today to label BPA a toxic chemical. For the full story, click here.

In fact, there are several types of plastic - used for food storage and preparation - with proven health risks. When you're at the store, just look for the recycling number on the container's underside. Here's a shopping guide:

Good: # 2 High density polyethylene (HDPE), # 4 Low density polyethylene (LDPE), # 5 Polypropylene (PP)

Bad: # 3 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), # 6 Polystyrene (PS), # 7 Polycarbonate (Other)

If you want to know more about the health risks posed by each of the "bad" plastics listed above, click here.

Of course, you may prefer to avoid plastic altogether. Glass and ceramic containers are safe and microwavable. The other, more altruistic reason to avoid plastic is that you'll be saving the environment. After all, most of the plastic waste collected by recycling companies is actually buried or burned, often in third world countries. Click here to learn why.

ABC's great debate debacle

2008-04-18T12:41:00.001-04:00

Monkey wants my burger

2008-04-14T21:55:00.002-04:00

They're trying to kill us

2008-04-09T13:10:00.000-04:00

Something completely different

2008-03-26T19:59:00.011-04:00

Hello Christmas wishlist!

If you read or watched The Lord of the Rings you might have found yourself envious of Frodo’s mithril shirt which successfully protected him from stab wounds. Well, you'll be excited to learn that you can now snag the real life version. In yet another example of science catching up with fantasy, the company Nihon Uni has created a shirt that will protect against stab wounds.
Due to an increase in the number of stabbings of late night store clerks and even children, Nihon imagined a lightweight way to offer a bit more security in your day-to-day routine. It’s made from a fiber that is three times stronger than the cotton used for an average T-shirt.

The fiber is ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, which is equal to the aramid fiber which is used in body armor. Conveniently, the shirt is still machine washable. It will be released in Japan in June in both the T-shirt and long sleeve form. The long sleeve will be sold for $220-590 and the short-sleeved version for $190-522. Which means the average child or store clerk won’t be able to snag themselves one anytime soon.

To see this real life mithril, visit SlashGear.com.

Lenten reflection

2008-03-21T08:38:00.008-04:00

"God Is With Me" by Casey Surratt, age 5
Read Psalm 23

Mommy: So what is this song about?
Casey: Sheep and shepherds.

Mommy: Hmm. Let's try something else. Is there one sentence in the song that you like best?
Casey: The valley of the shadow of death!

Mommy: Really! Do you know what that means?
Casey: *silence*

Mommy: What are shadows?
Casey: It's something dark that looks like your hand.

Mommy: Are shadows real?
Casey: It's kind of like when I have a bad dream. The moving dragon on wheels was really scary, but it wasn't real. And when I wake up I just don't think about it.

Mommy: The rest of that line is "I will fear no evil, for you are with me." Does it help to know that God is with you?
Casey: Yeah

This entry was written by a friend at Presbyterian Church in Sudbury and published in our Lenten booklet.

Maundy Thursday

2008-03-20T20:40:00.022-04:00

During tonight's service, my pastor displayed a haunting painting called "Take This Cup Away From Me," by the contemporary painter John Barron, as he read Jesus' words:

"Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36).

It is that all-important moment when, after the Last Supper and before the crucifixion, Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The oil painting is a little abstract, but it clearly shows a figure kneeling, shrinking away from an angelic figure in flames. This angelic figure flies over the kneeling figure and does not smile. With one hand, the angel proffers a cup in his open palm. With the other, he points at the cup. Jesus ducks his head and rejects the cup.

When I looked closer, though, I noticed that the three hands in the center of the painting (Jesus' and the angels') are in fact three LEFT hands. This means that one hand - the one pointing at the cup - belongs to a figure whose face we cannot see. The pointing hand comes down from the sky and seems to come from the flaming wings of the angel, but it is doesn't belong to the angel.

And then the symbolism became clear.

All three members of the Trinity are present: the Holy Spirit offers the cup and seems to contemplate the decision; the Son begs for it to be taken away; and the Father points to the way that must be taken. It is the ultimate moment of conflict for the Christian God.

And this is what Christians remember on the eve of Good Friday. It is a somber and sacred time.

After the Lord's Supper, it is tradition to shroud the Communion Table to symbolize the fact that Jesus has been stripped of his power and glory and is now in the hands of his captors: "The means of Grace are shrouded until our Salvation is completed in Christ's rising from the Dead." It is also tradition to recite the benediction and leave the sanctuary in darkness and silence.

Walking out to the parking lot, I couldn't help but look up. The moon was right there, full and white. I could see the lunar oceans. I could make out every crater.

And behind the few low-flying clouds, which were eerily lit by the moon, the darkness of space seemed even deeper.

Broken Arrow

2008-03-18T20:08:00.000-04:00

Bush making light of failure

2008-03-13T14:54:00.003-04:00

This video courtesy of Keith Olbermann (and some guy's cell phone).

The race so far

2008-03-13T14:08:00.004-04:00

Contests:
Obama 30
Clinton 14

Delegates:
Obama 1,611
Clinton 1,480

Popular Vote:
Obama 13,263,920
Clinton 12,547,802

Vegas Odds:
Obama 2-3
Clinton 4-1
McCain 7-5

Explanation: These are simple fixed bet ratios. 4-1 means that the the candidate is 4x more likely to lose. 1-4 means that the candidate is 4x more likely to win. The payout is greater on a 4-1 bet than a 1-4 bet because the odds are against you. Vegas odds are based on placed bets and so they change constantly.

The truth is out there

2008-03-08T15:10:00.029-05:00

I'm taking a break from politics to talk about UFOs...

Did you see the awful way reporters treated Congressman Dennis Kucinich when, at a Democratic presidential debate in October, he admitted to seeing a UFO? It may not have been a smart political move, but at least Kucinich was honest. I can't say the same for Tim Russert or the other presidential candidates.

How did the topic of UFOs become taboo anyway? After all, Former President Jimmy Carter once saw a UFO. So did Ronald Reagan. And they're not alone. There have been the tens of thousands of UFO sightings worldwide. According to a 2002 Roper Poll:

More than half (56 percent) of the American public think that UFOs are something real and not just in people's imagination. Nearly as many (48 percent) believe that UFOs have visited earth in some form.

But according to Wikipedia, "...many sightings may yet remain unreported, due to fear of public ridicule because of the social stigma surrounding the subject of UFOs, and because most nations lack any officially sanctioned authority to receive and evaluate UFO reports."

Maybe the problem is that UFOs have long been the subject of tabloid articles, along with silly hoaxes like crop circles and Bigfoot sightings.

It is worth remembering that a UFO is not necessarily an alien spacecraft. A UFO is a UFO as long as it "cannot be identified by the observer, especially those which remain unidentified after investigation."

Did you hear about the UFO sighting this January in Stephenville, Texas? Here's what happened:

On January 8, 2008, Stephenville gained national media attention when dozens and later hundreds of residents reported observations of unidentified flying objects. According to reports, residents observed several types of UFOs, the descriptions ranging from triangular looking craft to discs. Several residents described the crafts as the size of a football field, while others said they were nearly a mile long.Some observers reported military aircraft pursuing the objects.

CNN's Larry King covered the story in the days following the incident, and according to Steve Allen, a private pilot who witnessed the UFO, the object was travelling at high rate of speed at 3,000 feet in the air. Allen said it was "About a half a mile wide and about a mile long. It was humongous, whatever it was."

On January 23, after initially denying that aircraft were operating in the area, the US Air Force said they were conducting training flights in the Stephenville area that involved 10 fighter jets. The Air Force said they were F-16 Fighting Falcon jets. Angelia Joiner, who during this period was the Stephenville Empire-Tribune reporter covering the story, left the paper because they ceased covering the topic. (Wikipedia).

Two weeks after the UFO sighting in Stephenville, Texas, the Air Force reversed course and said 10 F-16s were present. Why the delay? Who knows? (Listen to NPR's story.)

We don't know everything about everything in the universe. (Heard of quantum physics?)

You should read up on the Phoenix Lights, an event that took place on March 13, 1997. Watch a video documentary here. Then read these articles from CNN and the Arizona Republic.

Former Arizona Governor Fife Symington now admits to have witnessed the Phoenix Lights. The question is, why did it take him ten years to admit that he’d seen these “otherworldly” lights? Watch the CNN video below.

Symington said, "I think as a public figure, you have to be very careful about what you say because people can have pretty emotional reactions."

It's too bad Congressman Kucinich didn't heed Symington's advice.

The dust has settled

2008-03-06T11:12:00.003-05:00

Obama campaign projections show that Hillary Clinton gained 187 delegates and Barack Obama gained 183. That's a net gain of 4 delegates out of more than 370 delegates available from the 4 states that voted on Tuesday.

Next week, 45 more delegates will be up for grabs in Wyoming and Mississippi. Obama is expected to win both states.

Obama's current lead is 150 delegates, and there are only 611 pledged delegates left to win in the upcoming contests.

No wonder Clinton is talking about a joint ticket.

Obama's email

2008-03-06T11:03:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, just before I went to bed, I received this email from the Obama campaign.

Jonathan --

We may not know the final outcome of today's voting until morning, but the results so far make one thing clear.

When the dust settles from today's contests, we will maintain our substantial lead in delegates. And thanks to millions of people standing for change, we will keep adding delegates and capture the Democratic nomination.

We knew from the day we began this journey that the road would be long. And we knew what we were up against.

We knew that the closer we got to the change we seek, the more we'd see of the politics we're trying to end -- the attacks and distortions that try to distract us from the issues that matter to people's lives, the stunts and the tactics that ask us to fear instead of hope.

But this time -- this year -- it will not work. The challenges are too great. The stakes are too high.

Americans need real change.

In the coming weeks, we will begin a great debate about the future of this country with a man who has served it bravely and loves it dearly. And we will offer two very different visions of the America we see in the twenty-first century.

John McCain has already dismissed our call for change as eloquent but empty.

But he should know that it's a call that did not begin with my words. It's the resounding call from every corner of this country, from first-time voters and lifelong cynics, from Democrats and Republicans alike.

And together you and I are going to grow this movement to deliver that change in November.

Thank you,

Barack