Oil money

#Occupy & 350.org Stage "Human Oil Spill" at John Boehner's Office

Hundreds of 350.org climate activists and Occupy Wall Street protesters flocked to Speaker of the House John Boehner's Ohio office today, and proceeded to stage a "human oil spill". The action was intended to draw attention to the GOP's efforts to attach a provision to a popular payroll tax cut bill that would clear the way for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Garbed in black, the activists acted out a scene in which the pipeline ruptured and spread oil across a pristine Midwestern environment.
“The House brings shame on itself when its members take tens of millions in big oil money and then do the industry's bidding. Keystone XL creates no net jobs and pours carbon into the atmosphere. That’s why millions across the country opposed it. Its only beneficiaries are the fossil fuel industry and the politicians they support,” Bill McKibben, 350.org founder and environmental author, said in a statement.

When O's decision to simply postpone a pipeline decision was made i knew that the war wasn't over.  But putting it in the tax bill was a quicker move than I expected.
The payola must be really BIG!

Hope from Washington

Putting Farmland On A Fertilizer Diet

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a document yesterday that got no attention on the nightly news, or almost anywhere, really. Its title, I'm sure you'll agree, is a snooze: National Nutrient Management Standard.
Yet this document represents the agency's best attempt to solve one of the country's — and the world's — really huge environmental problems: The nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute waterways.
Essentially, it involves putting farmland on a sensible diet. Only feed the land as much as it really needs. And don't apply fertilizer, including manure, when the crops don't need it. Also, try to capture and store any excess nutrients. For instance, grow wintertime "cover crops" that can trap free nitrogen before it leaches into groundwater.

A move in the right direction.

Scary and crazy Luntz

A 'frightened to death' Frank Luntz offers Republicans advice on Occupy Wall Street

So Republican doublespeak strategist Frank Luntz went to a Republican Governors Association meeting to tell them how to talk about the economy in the age of Occupy Wall Street, which he's "frightened to death" of. He had a lot of advice that was standard Luntzian stuff—find the worst-sounding way to describe a basic function of government and run with it, like rather than "taxing the rich," describe it as "taking from the rich," as if taxes were jargon that needed translation. But a few were particularly rich sources of humor.

3. Republicans should forget about winning the battle over the 'middle class.' Call them 'hardworking taxpayers.'

How telling is it that the big Republican messaging advance is to try to get people to forget about the middle class? Of course we know that their policies are about eradicating the middle class, but I hadn't realized they thought that project was far enough along to stop talking about it altogether.

4. Don't talk about 'jobs.' Talk about 'careers.'

"Everyone in this room talks about 'jobs,'" Luntz said. "Watch this."
He then asked everyone to raise their hand if they want a "job." Few hands went up. Then he asked who wants a "career." Almost every hand was raised.
"So why are we talking about jobs?"
This is the kind of thing you say when you're so insulated from today's economy that you spend your entire life talking to employed political staffers. They have jobs. They probably have careers, even if they'd like better ones. But there are tens of millions of unemployed and underemployed people in this country who just want a damn job. And that's not even getting into the tens of millions more people who feel lucky to have a job, who have family or friends who don't have a job, who themselves recently didn't have a job. Ultimately, a lot of those people would love to have careers. But looking down your nose at the idea of having a plain old job—that's a luxury.

7. The three most important words you can say to an Occupier: 'I get it.' "First off, here are three words for you all: 'I get it.' . . . 'I get that you're angry. I get that you've seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system."

Then, he instructed, offer Republican solutions to the problem.
"I get that you're angry. I get that you've seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system. Here's my plan to make sure that the 1 percent gets even more of this country's wealth."

"Frightened to death?"  Come on Frank. Frightened that your wallet may be a little lighter.
Wonder if he has consulted with the mayors and police chief when they talk about evicting occupiers because they are concerned about occupiers' own safety.

Keystone

We talked before that the war was not over...
Indigenous Leaders Will Hand Obama Emergency Mother Earth Accord

This Friday, tribal leaders from across the continent will meet for their third summit with the president in Washington, and one of the prime items on the agenda will be the fight against the Keystone Pipeline. They'll talk about the way both the pipeline and the process of approving it have violated treaties, and they'll present the president with a copy of the Mother Earth Accord adopted in a special meeting at the Rosebud reservation a few weeks ago. It's a strong document, full of details about the impacts of tar sands mining and pipeline leaks and carbon emissions -- but it also speaks with the real power of the people who've lived longest and best on this continent. Indeed, it begins by affirming that "the earth is our true mother, our grandmother who gives birth to us and maintains all life."

This comes at a great time since a Republican Bill Demands a Quick Keystone XL Permit.

Republican lawmakers in Congress introduced legislation on Wednesday that would force the Obama administration to issue a construction permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days unless the president decides that the project is not in the national interest.

So is the war coming to a final end? Which side will be victorious - Mother Earth or big Oil?
I think McKibben says it best...

No win lasts forever, not in environmental battles. There's always someone there who wants the money badly enough that they'll find a way...

I just hope money loses to health and environment.

Sheeple on Black Friday

#BuyNothingDay saw the sheeple riot.  But not against consumerism.  Not against the corporate giants.
They rioted with pepper spray. They punched their way through. They were tased. They were arrested. For what?
For that "great deal" on that latest DVD player/toy/junk!  They ran over or through fellow man to "get what they want!"
Instead of democracy and equality (what we need) the sheeple voted for more Stuff (what they want).  Consumer culture remains strong - not something we should be proud of.
Instead of celebrating the increase in Black Friday spending over last year, we should mourn the loss of simplicity/family/quality time...

Be very afraid

Senators Demand the Military Lock Up American Citizens in a “Battlefield” They Define as Being Right Outside Your Window

... the Senate is gearing up for a vote on Monday or Tuesday that goes to the very heart of who we are as Americans. The Senate will be voting on a bill that will direct American military resources not at an enemy shooting at our military in a war zone, but at American citizens and other civilians far from any battlefield — even people in the United States itself.

Senators need to hear from you, on whether you think your front yard is part of a “battlefield” and if any president can send the military anywhere in the world to imprison civilians without charge or trial. The Senate is going to vote on whether Congress will give this president—and every future president — the power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world. Even Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) raised his concerns about the NDAA detention provisions during last night’s Republican debate. The power is so broad that even U.S. citizens could be swept up by the military and the military could be used far from any battlefield, even within the United States itself.

The people are watching this.  If it is passed, there better be a veto!  If no veto then be prepared for arrests!

Enjoy your turkey dinner

Drugged-Up Turkey

As families across America adorn their dinner tables with plump, juicy turkeys this Thursday, they've likely given little thought to what their future food previously consumed.
By the end of this year, an estimated 248 million turkeys will have been raised in the U.S., approximately 83 percent on farms that produce more than 60,000 turkeys each and most eating a diet that includes low doses of antibiotics. This common agricultural practice results not only in more meaty birds, according to experts, but also in greater risks to public health.
"Antibiotic use in animals comes back to haunt people," said Stuart Levy, a Tufts University microbiology professor who focuses on antibiotic resistance. He recently co-authored a review of the evidence showing how animal antibiotics affect human health -- via direct contact and indirectly via food, water, air and anywhere manure goes.
Levy and other experts warn that the widespread use of antibiotics to treat sick livestock, prevent the spread of disease in cramped conditions or simply promote animal growth has fueled the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is making many infections in humans harder to treat.

Makes your mouth water doesn't it?

Santa needs a break

#OCCUPYXMAS kicks off Nov 25/26

You’ve been sleeping on the streets for two months pleading peacefully for a new spirit in economics. And just as your camps are raided, your eyes pepper sprayed and your head’s knocked in, another group of people are preparing to camp-out. Only these people aren’t here to support occupy Wall Street, they’re here to secure their spot in line for a Black Friday bargain at Super Target and Macy’s.
Occupy gave the world a new way of thinking about the fat cats and financial pirates on Wall Street. Now lets give them a new way of thinking about the holidays, about our own consumption habits. Lets’ use the coming 20th annual Buy Nothing Day to launch an all-out offensive to unseat the corporate kings on the holiday throne.
This year’s Black Friday will be the first campaign of the holiday season where we set the tone for a new type of holiday culminating with #OCCUPYXMAS. As the global protests of the 99% against corporate greed and casino capitalism continues, lets take the opportunity to hit the empire where it really hurts…the wallet.
On Nov 25/26th we escape the mayhem and unease of the biggest shopping day in North America and put the breaks on rabid consumerism for 24 hours. Flash mobs, consumer fasts, mall sit-ins, community events, credit card-ups, whirly-marts and jams, jams, jams! We don’t camp on the sidewalk for a reduced price tag on a flat screen TV or psycho-killer video game. Instead, we occupy the very paradigm that is fueling our eco, social and political decline.
Historically, Buy Nothing Day has been about fasting from hyper consumerism – a break from the cash register and reflecting on how dependent we really are on conspicuous consumption. On this 20th anniversary of Buy Nothing Day, we take it to the next level, marrying it with the message of #occupy…
We #OCCUPYXMAS.
Shenanigans begin November 25!

Santa and his cronies will be upset but that shepherd and little drummer boy (both of lore) at the stable will revel in this campaign

O's mic check

Occupy Wall Street Protester Delivers Statement To Obama

A speech by President Obama in New Hampshire was briefly disrupted Tuesday, when Occupy protesters attempted to upstage him with a so-called "mic check." Though they were quickly drowned out by a chorus of "Obama, Obama," one protester reached the president while he was shaking hands after his address and delivered him their complete message by hand.
"Mr. President: Over 4000 peaceful protesters have been arrested. While banksters continue to destroy the American economy with impunity. You must stop the assault on our 1st amendment rights. Your silence sends a message that police brutality is acceptable. Banks got bailed out. We got sold out."

A weak response by O.  More of a "no response" IMO.

Pepper Spraying Democracy

More at jockohomo.tumblr.com/

My own revolution

What Does Gardening Have to Do with the #Occupy Movement?

"Vegetable gardening has been called 'the peaceful sedition' because at the most basic level, when a person can feed and shelter herself, she doesn't require a government to provide for her. ... It's not about pride or independence, or even connecting with nature. It's about wanting hash browns on a Saturday morning and being able to run out to the backyard in your bathrobe to grab some potatoes from the garden."
I would argue that, even more, it means that she doesn't need a corporation to provide for her. And when we don't need the corporations, they cease to have the ability to exist -- or at least cease to have so much power that the will of the people means nothing. Look at the way we're fighting for something as simple, as self-explanatory, as GMO labeling. 87 percent of Americans want to know if they're eating GMOs or not. The hubris of corporate America, and their Congressional lapdogs, is what is keeping us from that knowledge.
"Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks." -- Ian Hamilton Finlay This is how I've come to see my garden, bit by bit, over the years. Where others see a peaceful place to while away a summer afternoon, I see a full arsenal in my fight against corporatocracy. The shake of a seed packet is my chant; rows of chard and beds of potatoes are my weapons.

The power of the garden trowel!

FOX News - drug of choice?

Surprise: Fox News Viewers are Most Misinformed About Climate Science, Study Confirms

It's almost become a cliche to point out that Fox News is less a reliable news organization and more of an ideological agenda-setter for the American conservative movement. As such, the statement itself has come to be regarded less as a fact than liberal griping. Which is why it's important to remember that all that griping is actually founded in facts.
Studies have previously been conducted to determine whether the existence of a so-called 'Fox News Effect' -- whether people who use Fox to get most of their news are more misinformed about world events and scientific truths, and whether that misinformation skews towards supporting a conservative political agenda. The answer, it seems, has largely been a resounding 'yes'.
There really does seem to be a “Fox News effect," then, and one that is playing a central role in driving our political divide over reality in the U.S. And now comes a true tour-de-force seventh study showing that Fox News viewers are the most misinformed, this time once again about global warming.

Okay - I know2 you really didn't need another reason to not watch FAUX News.

Crazy buys

In Wake of Chevron's Major Oil Spill, Forbes Says: Buy Stock in Chevron

Yesterday, Chevron officially admitted that it was responsible for a massive spill that loosed as many as 3,700 barrels of oil a day into the Atlantic Ocean. Though the rupture that caused the release has since been plugged, oil is continuing to leak into the sea at a rate of 420-4,200 barrels a day. That's Chevron's estimate, anyway. The Brazilian government says that thus far, at least 110,000 gallons of oil have been released into the deep blue.
So, what's the response from Forbes? Buy Chevron!
Bearing advice that is sure to win Wall Street countless new fans, Nigam Arora, a stock trader and investment officer, penned an article for Forbes entitled "Why I'm Buying Chevron And Transocean Because Of The Brazilian Spill."

Morals? Who needs them!

Easy and meaningful

Peace Wreath

Supplies: one old wreath, cardboard tubes, scrap fabric, and a hot glue gun.

Very easy to make. Makes a strong statement. A must have wreath!

Bloomberg and Keith

Keith Olbermann was spot on when he called Bloomberg a

PUTZ!

Revolution

Running through the fire, running through the flame, running through the hatred, pushing through the blame, running through the hopelessness and shame, revolution already underway.

Belated birthday greetings

Enough of this Bull!

Drugs in your burger

FDA To Reject Antibiotic Ban

The FDA has rejected a petition to ban certain antibiotics for use in livestock that are important for the preservation of human health. The two petitions, filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Environmental Defense, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), and the Union of Concerned Scientists, were requested in 1999 and 2005, according to Food Safety News.
The FDA has announced that it will reject two petitions filed that would have banned the use of some antibiotics in livestock.

Did it really take the FDA 12 and 6 years to decide?
Maybe Perry should add this agency to his "cut list" after this joke of a ruling?
Need another reason to avoid meat?

Words of Caution and Sense

Imitating #OCCUPY To Death

If #OCCUPY is to be a revolution, it cannot become a ritual. We must innovate and never imitate.

What is in Texas' water?

It's not dead yet!

U.S. to seek new Keystone route, delaying approval

The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday it will explore a new route for a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline, delaying a final approval beyond the 2012 U.S. election, sources briefed on the matter said.
The decision would be a victory for environmentalists, many of whom oppose the pipeline, and a setback for TransCanada Corp, whose $7 billion Keystone XL project is seen as the most important North American oil pipeline plan for decades.
One source familiar with the matter said that studying a new route for the pipeline would likely take 12-18 months, putting a final decision after President Barack Obama's bid for re-election on November 6, 2012.
If the administration explores a new route, "it's a huge victory, and it would probably be the biggest environmental gift that President Barack Obama has given us," said Tony Iallonardo, a spokesman at the National Wildlife Federation.
Some of Obama's liberal supporters have strongly opposed the project and delaying a decision could allow Obama to avoid antagonizing environmentalists disillusioned with his progress on climate change. However, it could also open up a line of attack from Republicans who could argue that a delay will slow job growth.

So not dead and buried but delayed and "looking for a new home." A victory? Clearly this is a battle won but the war is still going on!

Hope in Congress?

Democrats ax bill to block US EPA clean air rule

Senate Democrats defeated a bill on Thursday that would have blocked federal environmental regulators from slashing power plant air pollution that blows downwind to other states and causes lung and heart problems.
The bill, sponsored by Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican and Tea Party favorite, needed only a simple majority of 50 to pass. The measure got only 41, while 56 voted against it. Only one Democrat, Joe Manchin from coal-rich West Virginia, voted for it.

Cheer yes - for now. But unless these guys finally get a spine and stand up against the lobbyists then be ready for tomorrow.

Watch for the flash

Scary! It could be any of us.

Three cheers Roger

Tar sands and money

We'll See if Obama's "An Oil Guy or a People Guy"

12,000 tar sands protesters wrapped themselves in a huge human chain around the White House. A couple months before, 1,253 people got arrested in another powerful demonstration. Green groups, students, activists, celebrities, and politicians have all rallied behind a single, unambiguous message to Barack Obama: Deny the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline proposal.
Yesterday's event saw the biggest turnout yet -- in fact, Bill McKibben, a head organizer, said that NRDC founder (who was also in attendance) John Adams had speculated that it was the biggest environmental protest that the White House has seen in decades.

But come on now Bill. So far the money has been talking to the State Department and others in DC.
Sure a Top U.S. Climate Scientist is against it...



But can he line the pockets of Congress. Ha! I didn't think so.

It's the money, stupid!

Tomorrow at Liberty Square

From Jambands.com:

Following the lead of fellow political songwriters like Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Tom Morello, David Crosby and Graham Nash will play for Occupy Wall Street protesters tomorrow. Nash and Crosby will play Occupy Wall Street’s New York home base in Zuccotti Park at roughly 3 PM. Crosby and Nash—who have toured and recorded as a duo as of late—are in New York for a performance with Crosby, Stills & Nash tonight.

Wonder what train i would have to catch out of Norwalk?

Running on grease

Freedom Fuel: A Petroleum Free Tour from Quiet Life on Vimeo.

They - and their van - will be inb New Haven on November 23. Grease anyone?

BP and the bad boys

BP's bid to clean up its act dealt blow by revelations in Russia case

BP's attempt to rebuild its public image after the worst oil spill in US history has been dealt a blow by court documents showing it was willing to do a major deal with Russian billionaires whom it regarded as "crooks and thugs" to gain access to the country's vast oil wealth.

Wonder if those billionaires feel the same way about BP?  I know I do

Poor Koch Bros

Activists Gather to Protest Koch Brothers Gala

Americans for Prosperity, a GOP front group funded in part by billionaires Charles and David Koch, held a gala at DC’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The event was part of its Defending the American Dream Summit and featured appearances by Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Herman Cain.
As the GOP’s A-list sat down for an evening of dinner and a movie (a screening of Atlas Shrugged), a group of protesters gathered outside the convention center for a counter-event sponsored by Health Care For America Now! and The Other 98% called the "Koch Brothers Guerrilla Drive-In." The organizers aimed a projector at the wall of the convention center building to screen a short documentary about how the Koch brothers have used their massive fortune to influence the country's democracy. The atmosphere was filled with anger and excitement as the number of people gathered outside the convention center grew, largely due to Occupy DC and Occupy K Street protesters who marched from their encampments at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza to “Occupy the Kochs.”

Those poor brothers.  They were only there to welcome family.

They are all proud to be the 1%, against science, against facts, for power....and for Godfather Pizza.

Don't give up the fight

S.W.A.T.

How to respond everywhere.

‘Occupy Squads’ are groups of people willing and committed to responding to examples of injustice created by the system, wherever they should arise. If someone is screwed over by a bank, by an employer, by government red tape, they no longer have to face it all alone – now they have a group, a squad, a movement to back them up. 'Occupy Squads' are people on call, ready to respond in the local struggle at the site of injustice, occupying until there is some justice. Such a move would flip the system on it’s head.

A 99% SWAT team.  Love this idea.

Go Bernie!

"I won't believe a corporation is a person until Texas executes one."

The future is bright

The Future of #OCCUPY

Of the many questions swirling around #OCCUPY, the most challenging is how to gel into a global movement without sacrificing the decentralized, leaderless model. There is a widespread acknowledgment that there are challenges that can only be dealt with on a global scale, such as a climate change accord and overturning international casino capitalism, and that we must therefore forge a globally united people's movement. However, there is also a growing recognition that the general assembly model that has worked beautifully thus far may be fundamentally limited on a structural level.
A breakthrough came on Friday from the New York City General Assembly where the structure working group has proposed, and the general assembly has accepted, the adoption of a modified spokes council model that will work in conjunction with the general assembly. This lays the foundation for a regional, national and potentially international spokes council, something that both #OCCUPYPHILLY and The 99 Percent Declaration have been pushing for. We are beginning to see how the #OCCUPY movement will elevate itself into an international force.

As the Earth's health is intertwined with ours - our plight is intertwined with every single person in this world.  It is no longer our state, their nation...it is one big interconnected world.

It is all connected

Green issues and greenbacks: Occupy Wall Street connects the dots

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters linked climate and the environment to their movement this past Sunday, Oct. 30.
OWS's environmental working group put the Climate Justice Day event together in five days, hosting workshops at New York City's Zuccotti Park on topics such as fracking and sustainable economics.
Throughout the day, speakers drew connections between the economy and the environment. "Every bank which you are down here protesting finances extreme energy -- fracking, tar sands development, mountaintop removal, deep water drilling," said Gasland documentary director Josh Fox after a "mic check" to the crowd.
He encouraged listeners to join the protest against fracking in the Delaware River basin planned for Nov. 21 in Trenton, N.J., to protect New York City's drinking supply. "Right now," he said, "50 percent of New York State, including the New York City watershed, the aquifers and the aqueducts that bring the water to the city are in jeopardy of this massive natural gas drilling campaign."

Planet welfare, our health, our survival - intertwined.

1% Cartman

1%
Get More: SOUTH
PARKEric Cartman,Wendy Testaburger,more...

'South Park' Tackles Occupy Wall Street

We wonder if those in charge of banks are reacting the same way that Cartman does while alone in his room.

Koch Bros Naked

No, no Rush...not naked that way. Don't get excited.
Best Koch Brothers TV Expose Yet

Stitching together their own field research with the best Koch footage out there from Taki Oldham's documentary Astroturf Wars and Lee Fang's great jump interview of David Koch (with Tim Phillips trying desperately to cut it off), this story provides a great picture of the Koch Brothers campaign to dominate the American political arena.

99% of the world is singing

Seven Billion

You Are Now One of 7 Billion People on Planet Earth

There are now 7 billion people sharing our little blue marble*, you and I included. That means 7 billion people who get hungry, need space, and disagree with things that the other 6.999999999 billion people say.
It means 7 billion people who want electricity, and who care first and foremost that they have it at all, not so much where it comes from.
It means 7 billion people who want to drive cars, and who will most likely use gasoline to fuel them. It means billions of people vying for oil, though experts believe supply will peak soon, if it has not peaked already.
It means 7 billion people who need clean water at a time when arid regions are becoming more so.
It means 7 billion people who are increasingly vulnerable to an increasingly ornery climate system that has been overloaded with a concentration of greenhouse gas emissions. There will be more floods, fires, and droughts, and there will be more people living in the areas impacted by them.
You are one of those 7 billion people, and you may or may not still want many of these things. The challenge of the 21st century will be meeting the demands of the 7 billion much more intelligently and efficiently than we have done in the past. If every nation consumed at the pace of the United States, we would need many more earths. We have the one. But we also have new tools.

That is a whole bunch of zeroes - in 7 billion. But we also have a bunch of zeroes in positions of planning, regulations, government...Also so many of us act like "zeroes' in our day to day lives. We must "live simply so others can simply live."

Comig Soon!!

Cannot wait!!!!

They need more and more

Exxon's Profits Hit $31 Billion So Far This Year, Yet Big Oil Subsidies Flourish

I'm not sure this can even be considered news anymore, given the regularity with which it happens: ExxonMobil has posted massive earnings. Again. The oil giant claims quarterly earnings of $10.3 billion dollars, bringing the yearly total thus far to $31 billion. And yet, this obscenely profitable company still gets annual federal handouts to the tune of billions of dollars a year. To make matters worse, leading GOP presidential candidates' energy plans include expanding federal handouts to Big Oil.

Hey, without the subsidies they may only make $8 billion.

Plumber's crack

Joe The Plumber

Sam 'Joe the Plumber' Wurzelbacher sat down with MSNBC Wednesday, fresh off his official entrance into the race for Ohio's 9th congressional district, and weighed in on some current events.
In his interview, Wurzelbacher was asked his pick of the GOP primary litter.
"I like Herman right now," he responded.

Wonder if he heard about the Godfather's trouble with taxes?

Herman Cain, the multimillionaire businessman who has made tax fairness a central part of his surging presidential campaign, missed paying his state income taxes for 2006 while undergoing treatment for cancer, prompting Georgia to file a tax lien against him that wasn’t settled until late 2008...

Okay, he was undergoing treatment. Sam and Godfather deserve each other.
Godfather doesn't appreciate the 99% and neither does Sam:

...he wasn't willing to endorse the broader movement because of supposed communist, socialist and anarchist actors within it.

Oil money

Mitt Romney's Energy Plan: Boost Big Oil, Slash Environmental Protections

Time to face the facts: Mitt Romney is going to win the GOP nomination. Barring some totally crazy left-field development, Romney is on track to become the Republican presidential candidate. As such, we should be taking his energy proposal seriously -- and it's 100% ugly.
Mitt Romney is the political establishment's best-known chameleon, so it should come as no surprise that his energy proposals merely echo and amplify the prevailing narratives crafted by GOP spin doctors. In short, it's this:
1. Give Big Oil, which already sucks down billions in subsidies every year, $4 billion more to play with.
2. Open up drilling just about everywhere. Alaska, the Gulf, everywhere! He'd also seek to...
3. Streamline and fast-track approval processes for drilling operations.
4. Do away with all of the environmental regulations Republicans have spent the year trying to do away with (despite the fact that Americans overwhelmingly don't want them to). Which of course means...
5. Amend Clean Air Act to exclude regulation of carbon.

Great. We have oil man versus O who hasn't been very green lately.  Better than Mitt, but....

We need another choice!!!!

Kudos Willie

And another one from the champion of the family farmer:

Feeling sorry for the children

You WIll Probably Live to See 'Dangerous' Levels of Climate Change

As far as Americans are concerned, climate change is a perpetually distant and ambiguous threat. Some glaciers thousands of miles away might melt, some poor people might suffer through droughts in Africa, some polar bears might drown. Et cetera. This 'distance effect' is, partly, what drives global warming to the bottom of our priority lists time and again. It's an amorphous problem, ever-looming. That's what it seems like, anyway.
Yet two recent studies published in Nature reiterate a warning scientists have been issuing for years: if greenhouse gas emission trajectories remain as rapidly ascendent, we'll likely see "dangerous levels" of climate change by midcentury. That means a good many of us reading these very words will be alive and well by the time climate change begins to reach what are commonly referred to as "catastrophic" levels.

2 degree rise in 20 years - only the start unless we act. Imagine what it will be like in 40 years.
We need to apologize now to our children.

Mmmmmmm Beer!

Drinking Fluids Could Decrease Men's Bladder Cancer Risk: Study

Drinking plenty of fluids helps to keep us from becoming dehydrated -- and a new study suggests it might also help to protect men from bladder cancer. The study, conducted by Brown University researchers, shows that men who drank large amounts of fluids (more than 10 1/2 cups) a day over a 22-year period had a 24 percent decreased risk of bladder cancer.

Just in case you really needed a reason to drink that IPA.

Thanks Pete

Just say no, O

Why Obama May Be About to Give a Giant Handout Out the Billionaire Koch Brothers

The brothers control nearly 25% of the tar sands crude that is imported into the US and own mining companies, oil terminals, and refineries all along the Keystone XL route.
Right now, President Obama is faced with the most crucial environmental decisions he is going to face before the 2012 election: whether or not to approve the permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, a 1,700 mile fuse to the largest carbon bomb on the continent, the Canadian tar sands. The Keystone XL isn't just an XL environmental disaster -- the nation's top climate scientists say that fully exploiting the tar sands could mean "essentially game over" for the climate -- it also happens to be an XL sized handout to Big Oil and, you guessed it, the Brothers Koch. You want fries with that?
President Obama can deny the permit, right now, and shut down this flow of cash to the Kochs. In doing so, he'll show that our national interest isn't always determined by the 1%, in this case a few big oil companies and the Koch Brothers, but by the 99% of us who have to pay the price for their greed.

It's up to you Mr. Prez.  Cow-tow to the interest of a few  or take the health and concern of the people as the only priority.

Let's hope the decision is the latter.  Sure the Koch Bros have mucho bucks to influence all in DC.  Let's hope the "Yes We Can" guy comes back to his senses and says no to the Bros.

Story of...

The latest (Story of Broke) is coming November 8. Just a little tease:

The next "Stuff" covers the terrible Court decision making a corporation equal to you or me. But since they have much more money, their influence is of course greater.

Until now...Now we have the hope of Wolf-PAC.

Our politicians are bought. Everyone knows it. Conservatives know it. Liberals know it. The Democrats are bought. The Republicans are bought. They don’t represent us. They represent their corporate donors who fund their campaigns and promise them well paying jobs after they leave office. We have taxation without representation. Our democracy is in serious trouble.
So what can we do to regain our ability to make our votes count and take back our democracy? We have to concentrate all of our resources into one single attack – making sure we take corporate money out of politics. The only way to do that is to bypass the corporate owned Congress and the Supreme Court – and pass a Constitutional amendment. We must pass an amendment saying that corporations are not people and they do not have the right to spend money to buy our politicians.
The objective of Wolf PAC will be to raise money and raise an army for the sole purpose of passing this amendment. We need a Constitutional revolution to get unlimited corporate money out of politics. Please join us and help retake our democracy.

We need a green leader

Not green as in "inexperienced" but green as someone concerned about Mother Earth. Someone concerned about food supplies. Someone concerned about our environmental health. clearly we have few elected leaders that fall into that category.
The Ungreening of Obama

Barack Obama was green when he entered the Oval Office. He was a relative newcomer to politics. He was also the most successful fundraiser in presidential history, hauling in more green than the two Democratic and Republican candidates in 2004 combined. And he was, more or less, an environmentalist.
Back in 2004, Amanda Little dug around in Obama's past and declared in Grist magazine that he was a "bona fide, card-carrying, bleeding-heart greenie" going back to his days as an undergrad "trying to convince minority students at City College in Harlem to recycle," and then as a community organizer in Chicago fighting for lead abatement in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood. As the junior senator from Illinois, Obama got high marks from the League of Conservation Voters for his introduction or co-sponsorship of 100 environment-friendly bills from mercury reduction to raising fuel economy standards on cars.
Running for president, Obama promised to paint the town green. He proclaimed his "intergenerational" perspective, his recognition that "we are borrowing this planet from our children and our grandchildren." After years of supporting the coal industry back in Illinois, he turned around to identify climate change as "one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation" and supported cutting carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. He put sustainable energy policy at the center of his economic renewal, pledging to derive one-quarter of all U.S. energy from renewables by 2025 and to improve the efficiency of federal buildings and all new construction. There would also be tighter regulations on emissions and a much greater commitment to conservation. These promises also had a price tag: $150 billion alone for renewable energy investments.
Obama did indeed keep some of these promises. Dealing with the enormous economic crisis gifted to him by his predecessor, Obama emphasized green jobs in his stimulus package, with $78 billion in clean energy investment and $500 million specifically for job training around energy efficiency. He boosted funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, put more money into the national park system, and worked to improve water quality standards. In July, the administration brokered a major deal with auto manufacturers and environmentalists to raise the fuel economy standard, saving consumers money at the pump and reducing carbon emissions. On some of the big issues, like climate change legislation, the president came up against considerable congressional opposition. Given the flaws of the cap-and-trade mechanism at the core of this legislative initiative, which would have established a dubious market in carbon credits, it was a bittersweet failure.
This record would suggest a president who desperately wants to be Mr. Green but faces the dual political challenge of climate change skeptics and pollution industry lobbyists. You might fault him for his backbone but surely not his heart. Here was a politician who'd seen the (green) light.
But recent moves by Obama suggest a different interpretation of his environmental record....
The real problem is not with Obama but with politics in general. The environment doesn't obey four-year cycles. Global warming could care less about democracy. And, in turn, snail darters and polar bears don't vote. Politicians who seek reelection want jobs now, not potential jobs, not future jobs, not if-everything-works-out-according-to-this-alternate-calculation jobs. Obama did invest in the new green economy, and that investment hasn't yet produced the 500,000 new jobs a year that he promised. And, because of the rush to produce results, the administration got sucked into a scandal involving the solar manufacturer Solyndra, which involved pumping money into a dying firm.
Ideally, our elected representatives would acknowledge that environmental issues should rise above politics, that the fate of the world should not be held hostage to lobbyists and election cycles. We have to take the long view. Of course we need jobs, and we need them sooner, not later. But the only job we create when we imperil the environment is the job of gravedigger. And when the grave you're digging is your own, there's certainly no future in that profession.

The brave 35

35 Congressmen Move to Kill $122 Billion in Subsidies to Big Oil

Who likes oil subsidies? Nobody! Nobody but the oil companies, that is. But as we know, these subsidies, which American taxpayers annually spend billions of dollars on, are extremely difficult to kill. But 35 US congressmen and women are going to try: They've just drafted a motion to the so-called 'super committee' charged with reducing the deficit, asking it to remove $122 billion worth of oil subsidies from the federal budget.

In the current budgetary environment, the United States can no longer afford to give away billions of dollars every year to corporations earning billions of dollars in profits and costing American taxpayers twice: at the pump and through the tax code. We urge the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to consider eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels as an excellent source of deficit reducing savings. According to a coalition of organizations, eliminating subsidies to the fossil fuels industry could reduce our national debt by up to $122 billion over ten years.

Why do I call them brave?  Because they knew they will be targeted by the oil companies, lobbyists and Koch Bros.  They knew when they drafted that motion that their next political opponent will be rolling the the oil-backed dough.

#RobinHood

October 29th

On October 29, on the eve of the G20 Leaders Summit in France, let's the people of the world rise up and demand that our G20 leaders immediately impose a 1% #ROBINHOOD tax on all financial transactions and currency trades. Let's send them a clear message: We want you to slow down some of that $1.3-trillion easy money that's sloshing around the global casino each day – enough cash to fund every social program and environmental initiative in the world.

Let us all become Robin Hood - not just the Hollywood figure like my profile picture.  

Morello as comic artist

When the seas rose, genetic codes were smashed. Now, human settlements are ringed by a dense wilderness, from which ferocious new animal species prey on the helpless. The high ground belongs to the rich and powerful, who overlook swampland shantytowns from their fortresslike cities. Iron-fisted rule ensures order and allows the wealthy to harvest the poor as slaves. Welcome to the world of Orchid.

Rise up

Know your food

This Blog Action Day, Say No To GMOs & Factory Farming

Let's link together two food and environmental issues getting some much needed light shone upon them this October: 1) labeling of genetically modified food -- currently mandated in the EU and many other nations, but not in the United States; and, 2) factory farming -- behind the 20% rise in global meat consumption over the past decade, and an utter disaster for both animal welfare and the environment as a whole.
Even though the US produces the greatest number of GMO crops in the world (94% of soybeans, 90% of cotton, and 80% grown in the US are genetically modified), this fact is, I'd argue, deliberately hidden from the public by the companies developing and promoting these crops. Claiming that genetically modified crops are no different than conventional bred hybrid crops, companies like Monsanto have actively lobbied to prevent labeling of GM foods in the US -- even though a CBS News poll has shown that 87% of Americans want GMO ingredients labeled. No doubt part of the reason for the opposition to labeling is related to another stat coming from the same poll: 53% of Americans would not buy genetically modified food if they knew that's what it was.
It all comes down to control and commodification of nature. GM seeds can be patented; conventionally-bred seeds cannot.
Factory farming comes from the same disrespect of nature and disregard for our fellow conscious, living beings with which we share Earth.

Not only a disrespect of nature but a complete disrespect of our own bodies.

Know what you are eating - how it was grown - how it was picked...

Coffee Lover

Starbucks Fears Climate Change Could Harm World's Coffee Supply

Starbucks lovers, beware. It looks like your precious coffee could be on the endangered list thanks to climate change.

"What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road - if conditions continue as they are - is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain, which is the Arabica coffee bean," said Starbucks Sustainability Director Jim Hanna in a phone interview with the Guardian.

In addition to Central America's farmers already feeling the effects of global warming on their crops, Hanna told the Guardian of his plans to visit Washington to speak to members of Congress at a Union of Concerned Scientists event to speak about climate change and coffee.

The move comes after rumors circulated this week that Starbucks might be considering juice bars. Though there's no formal confirmation of switching from coffee to juice, this could symbolize the coffee chain's attempt to secure its future business in the face of unpredictable weather, by varying its offerings and looking beyond coffee.

But I need my coffee!  Juice and tea are great but it is not the same.  I hold the "deniers" responsible!!!

Sun-dried everything

Looked past the corny jokes at the beginning. Any one want to build one for me?

Tom Hayden's Analysis

Olbermann Interviews Hayden: Insight into Occupy

There's, to me, three or four scenarios, because this can't last. One - one scenario is that it keeps growing as it has unpredictably - with no end in sight. Two is, somebody orders the police to crack down - I'm glad Mayor Bloomberg seems to be listening to the advice of his girlfriend, who's on the board of that Zuccotti Park neighborhood association. Three, it escalates to civil disobedience and arrests - non-violent, peaceful arrests on a scale never known before, probably, in my lifetime - it would have to be 20,000 to 100,000.
And imagine though, Keith, if 10,000 or 20,000 people peacefully sat down in the streets of New York and said, "If you don't do anything about Wall Street, arrest us."
"And by the way, we're going to demand jury trials of our peers." The whole system would break down, and the message would not be lost.
Or - a final scenario, of course, that's always possible - at the last minute, the president could sense an emergency that requires action and do some things that he has not done before, things that he alone can do, that are - don't require the Senate, or the House or the dinosaur elements in Washington.
One would be to end these wars. That would be a trillion and a half dollars.
Two would be to let the Bush tax cuts for the rich expire, that's another trillion.
Three would be to name his own Special Advisor on Wall Street reform, and start appointing people and doing things within the executive branch.
And then four - just lay down the gauntlet, and say "Look, folks. I have tried with the Republicans in Congress. It hasn't gotten us anywhere. This is going to be the campaign of 2012, please give me a mandate."
Something will happen, because these encampments will fester. The one in Los Angeles is interesting; it's not like New York. In LA, it's right up against City Hall. So, you have the beautiful City Hall, the grass is now covered with - by my count yesterday - 250 tents, 500 people, and it's just a circle of shame around the center of power.
You can't go to City Hall on any business to get your development permit or your tax break or whatever it is that you want without passing through these tents of people who are staring at you, who go into the building, who lobby, who go back out to rallies. It's quite serious and it's amazing that the authorities haven't done anything negative, which is good. But also, it's amazing that they've done nothing positive, which is, kind of proves the point.

Olbermann called Hayden's comments "extraordinarily insightful and useful." Couldn't agree more.

Too real and scary for halloween

Scary Chipotle Short Film on Plight of Farmers

"Abandoned" features a cover of the Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings classic "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" sung by Karen O, lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and tells the story of three boys who are exploring and vandalizing an abandoned farmhouse. One of the boys eventually comes to the frightening realization that the abandoned home may represent the plight of his own family farm.

Wall Street again

Biofuels, Speculators Driving Food Price Surges

The Global Hunger Index (GHI), released Tuesday by The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide, points to climate change, growing demand for biofuels, and increasing commodities futures trading in global food markets as the causes of price increases in food, which it says were also at the root of the food crisis of 2007-2008.

And Hannity, Rush, Cain and others wonder why we are upset at Wall Street.  It is the playing with lives that is the issue

Gore on Board

Thoughts on Occupy Wall Street

For the past several weeks I have watched and read news about the Occupy Wall Street protests with both interest and admiration. I thought The New York Times hit the nail on the head in an editorial Saturday:
“The message — and the solutions — should be obvious to anyone who has been paying attention since the economy went into a recession that continues to sock the middle class while the rich have recovered and prospered. The problem is that no one in Washington has been listening.”
“At this point, protest is the message: income inequality is grinding down that middle class, increasing the ranks of the poor, and threatening to create a permanent underclass of able, willing but jobless people. On one level, the protesters, most of them young, are giving voice to a generation of lost opportunity.”
From the economy, to the climate crisis our leaders have pursued solutions that are not solving our problems, instead they propose policies that accomplish little. With democracy in crisis a true grassroots movement pointing out the flaws in our system, is the first step in the right direction. Count me among those supporting and cheering on the Occupy Wall Street movement.
You can support the protests by clicking here.

From the economy to the climate crisis.... and some have not even pursued solutions!

Eating oil?

The U.S. Now Uses More Corn for Fuel Than Feed!

Over the past year, U.S. farmers used 5 billion bushels of corn for animal feed and residual demand. During the time timeframe, the nation used more than 5.05 billion bushels of corn to fill its gas tanks. And, while some of the corn used to produce these biofuels will be returned to the food supply (as animal feed and corn oil), a large proportion of this corn will be solely dedicated to our gas tanks.

The hungry and starving cannot eat gasoline.  Start growing real food!!!

Don't Expect a Response

To David Koch: Will You Be My Guest in Arkansas?

Charles and David Koch own my rights, and it cost them a few hundred dollars. Now, I'm asking the Koch brothers to come be my guest.
For the 30 years I've lived on South Penn Road in West Crossett, Arkansas, there has been a rotten odor hurting my friends, family and neighbors. It corrodes metal, and you can smell it everywhere on my street. I firmly believe, and have been told by doctors, that it's giving my community cancer. It drifts across town and is odorous outside our local Chamber of Commerce 2.5 miles away on Main Street.
The Koch brothers' Georgia-Pacific years ago paid neighbors on other streets to move away. They got out of here on Georgia-Pacific's dime, but the company opted to settle with us on the cheap, we learned later. We trusted them, needed the money and now we've been left behind and left to suffer alone. We cannot access a recourse for our health ailments and property damage, which stems from the chemicals that spew from the Koch brothers' mill and engulf my community.
The best recourse I have is appealing to the Koch brothers personally. David Koch is a cancer survivor and donates millions to fight cancer.
David, if you're reading this, I want to be your host at 401 South Penn Road. Come stay with me for one day, seven days, I don't care. We can camp out, and you can smell what I smell. My wife and I will cook for you. I make great pork chops. For breakfast, whatever you want- or I can whip up some grits and eggs. Whatever you like. You're my guest.
It'd be my hope we can have some time to go for a walk. You can see for yourself- the fog- and smell for yourself- the rotten air- that I live with every day.

Mr. Bowie is a far better human than me.  I would not extend an invitation to the Koch Bros even if it is to stick their nose into their own crap.

Mr. Bowie - don't expect the bros to take you up on your kind offer.

McKibben at #OWS

It is all connected...the welfare of humanity and the welfare of Mother Earth.  Both are also negatively impacted by greed, consumerism, cronyism.

Too many monied interests getting in the way of progress.

The same BP?

BP Announces Major Wind Farm In Kansas

Recently BP announced their plan to build a major wind farm in the state of Kansas. The UK oil company has planned to invest upwards of $8 billion for energies outside the typical fossil fuel field by the year 2015, a goal of which the new Kansas wind farm is a part. Thus far, BP is said to have invested approximately $7 billion through 2011, although it is unknown if their target goal of $8 billion will be increased. The majority of the money has been used in U.S. projects, about $4 billion.
The planned wind farm in Kansas will be the largest in the state once it is up and running. The plan includes a 419 megawatt capacity farm containing 262 wind turbines. The turbines are contributed by GE and are each 1.6 megawatts. The wind farm will be spread across 66,000 acres southwest of Wichita. Construction on the wind farm will be started before 2012 and operating by the end of 2012.
Seventy-five percent of the energy produced on the wind farm, 314 megawatts, have been allotted to Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. due to a purchase agreement with BP. This company will be using the energy in Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma. Currently the remaining 105 megawatts are not allotted to anyone in particular, although BP is working on finding another purchaser.

Has BP found religion after their oilspills?  Or have they found a way to look "green" and make greenbacks at the same time?
Ding...ding...ding.  Right answer - the mighty dollar wins again.

Crazy Train rolls again

Peter King Disapproves of Occupy Wall Street

“The fact is these people are anarchists. They have no idea what they’re doing out there,” King told host Laura Ingraham. “They have no sense of purpose other than a basically anti-American tone and anti-capitalist. It’s a ragtag mob basically.”

Criticism from GOPers on the marches has been growing louder and more frequent. Earlier today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor–who is coming to New York City this weekend– called the protesters “a growing mob.”

King called on Americans to condemn the marches. “We have to be careful not to allow this to get any legitimacy,” he said, adding “I’m taking this seriously in that I’m old enough to remember what happened in the 1960s when the left-wing took to the streets and somehow the media glorified them and it ended up shaping policy. We can’t allow that to happen.”

Well Pete - you are too late. "Legitimacy" was given by the 99%. Don't really care if you and Eric want to "grant legitimacy" or not..

Ice Cream Heroes

Ben & Jerry's Backs Occupy Wall Street Protesters

We, the Ben & Jerry's Board of Directors, compelled by our personal convictions and our Company's mission and values, wish to express our deepest admiration to all of you who have initiated the non-violent Occupy Wall Street Movement and to those around the country who have joined in solidarity. The issues raised are of fundamental importance to all of us.

Guys I didn't need another reason to eat your product. But your move is the best dessert ever. Thanks!

Earthalujah

Hate secret mathematics! Sure it is theater and over-the-top for some, but listen to the message. The consumer culture is a problem.

Rev Billy's church - one I can believe in.

An oasis of democracy...

Right Here All Over (Occupy Wall St.) from Alex Mallis on Vimeo.

Good versus Greed

From Carl Safina's essay, The Moral Climate:

Nearly every just cause is a struggle between the good of the many and the greed of a few. But because greed has the advertising dollars to make selfishness fashionable, it sustains itself by turning enough people against our own self-interest.

Or against a movement there for 99% of us.

Say Amen Reverend

Gotta love Reverend Billy and his Church of Not Shopping.

Occupy Wall Street and the Environment

Mark Ruffalo (yeah the actor) says it best:
We Are the 99 Per Cent

Family farms must be saved. The oil and gas industry must be divested of its political power and cheap, reliable alternative energy must be made available.

If just for these reasons (but so many more), please support Occupy wall Street.

Koch Bros Breaking the Law

Okay NYPD.  Instead of leading us up the Brooklyn Bridge and then arresting 700 plus, why not go after the real issues:
Koch Brothers’ Iran Ties

First, a Bloomberg report on Koch Industries. That company is run by Charles and David Koch, two longtime Republican donors who have helped fund and shape the Tea Party. They’re also shameful capitalists, more interested in the bottom line than the American people, American lives or American laws.
In addition to revealing that officials at Koch Industries’ French subsidiary offered bribes to secure business deals, the report shows that the States-based company paid over $400 million in fines from 1999 to 2003 for environmental and price-fixing, including $296 million for negligence on a Texas pipeline that exploded and killed two teenagers. The most politically revealing detail of the analysis, however, comes in the form of Koch Industries’ dealings with one of our nation’s — and the Republican Party’s — greatest enemies: Iran.
A Bloomberg Markets investigation has found that Koch Industries — in addition to being involved in improper payments to win business in Africa, India and the Middle East — has sold millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran, a country the U.S. identifies as a sponsor of global terrorism.

700 non-violent protesters arrested (after entrapment) and the corporate criminals are never even questioned.

On the bridge with #OccupyWallSt

It started out so well. Liberty Square was vibrant. It felt alive. All ages, all races, all sizes together. We started marching to Brooklyn Bridge. It was a great feeling of being one - cohesive - united. Even those tourists on the double decker buses were flashing signs of support. But then came the bridge...

There are two paths to go on the bridge - one pedestrian way and then one way for vehicles. The vehicle path in front was blocked off - I assumed for construction. There was a large crowd in front of the police phalanx. So I took the pedestrian path. After a few feet a large roar came up from behind. We looked down the car lane and here were the marchers coming up being led by a row of cops. They let us on the car lanes?
People starting jumping over the railing to join the "car path" walkers. There was a feeling that the cops were going to lead us and manage the traffic for our safety. I jumped over - helped to make sure I got over safely. Again, the unity in the air made us all help each other. I can still see the guy who I helped over - holding his sign and backpack.
Marching along, feeling great and Brooklyn in sight. But all of a sudden I saw a few heading back to Manhattan. Then we all came to a dead stop right in the middle of the bridge. Someone next to me climbed on the rail and said that our progress was being stopped by that (I assume) same phalanx of cops who led us up the bridge. Folks on the pedestrian walk were telling us that they were not letting anyone past them. I saw a few young girls calling out to their mother. I saw a few folks telling us to turn around and head back to Manhattan. I saw many just sit down. And I saw a few brave ones climb the girders to get on to the pedestrian walk.
Well that climb was not looking to safe so I looked down to Manhattan and there were the cops with orange fencing behind us and some folks being arrested. So what to do but just take a deep breathe and think about what to do if I was arrested. I then realized that I knew not a soul around me. I never heeded the suggested at Liberty Square to find a buddy. But I kept looking around trying to remember everyone's face. But then a few folks were saying that the cops were letting us go in single file past the orange fences. Relief! I ended up going through and started walking to Manhattan. Okay it was going to end peacefully save for those few arrests I saw. But then I looked back and saw more orange fences and cops starting to walk towards Brooklyn. I also saw that there were very few behind me. Was I somehow one of the last few to be "let go?"
I ended up climbing back over the railing and walking to see the arrests. But we were told to just keep walking - can't have any witnesses to travesties of justice.
I waited at the bottom of the bridge.

Watching the buses and vans waiting to be filled with peaceful folks arrested after a huge setup. I waited there hoping to see the faces of those young girls, or that young man I helped over the railing. Were they arrested? I do not know.
One thing I do know, the cops knew what they were doing. They led us on the car path and then simply turned around and waited for their backup and then penned us in. It was an honor to march for democracy. but it is disgusting to think that the cops setup up - is that a free society?
Shame! But it will bite you in the ass. Mistreatment and entrapment will only increase the voices of the 99%.

The Beatle Gardener

Looking forward to Scorsese's new film about George. Loved the article in Newsweek:

Equal to his passion for music, and his diverse and close friendships was George’s overwhelming desire to get back to earth—literally so, to dig, to plant trees, to surround himself with flowers that he himself had grown.

A gardener is inevitably someone with humility, who sees that these trees will eventually outlive him; the gardener is generous, optimistic, nurturing, taking pleasure in the planting but also making something beautiful for others. In George’s case, the gardens he made gave him the sense that he was living in isolation, on an island of his own making. “It’s great when I’m in my garden,” he is quoted as saying in the book of the film, a family album of extraordinary intimacy, edited by Olivia, “but the minute I go out the gate I think, what the hell am I doing here?”

Of George’s passion for gardening, well documented in Scorsese’s film, Olivia has said that his interest began with his father in his vegetable lot in Liverpool. But he went so much further. The most obvious characteristic of the houses that he built, or bought and fixed up in the course of his life, are the gardens he planned and planted.

“It’s fascinating to me that it manifested itself as hope, and nurturing,” Scorsese said. “Whatever problems he had, he was still out there, doing the gardening himself. Maybe it’s meditation. It helped to cut away the madness of the world around him. It fascinates me to think that he creates music like this and … he gardens! And he does everything in between. It gives him a different way of looking at life. The reality of it is that it’s a way of finding some peace with yourself.”

Another reason to protest

Why the Food Market Will Be the Next Bubble to Burst

Residential real estate may be slumping, but ag land is booming. In Iowa, farmland prices have never been higher, having increased a whopping 34 percent in the past year, according to The Des Moines Register. The boom is driven in part by agribusiness expansion, but also by a new player in the agriculture game: private investment firms. Both are bidding up land values for the same reason: the price of food.
They're betting on hunger, and their reasoning, unfortunately, is sound. This is bad news for would-be small farmers who can't afford land, and much worse news for the world's hungriest people, who already spend 80 percent of their income on food.
Agricultural commodities markets were created so that traders of food could hedge their positions against big swings in prices. If you're sitting on a warehouse full of corn, it's worth making a significant bet that the price will go down, just in case it does, and makes your corn worthless. That way at least you make money on the bet. Derivatives can add leverage to your bet, so you don't need to bet the entire value of your corn in order to protect it.
Derivatives, it turns out, are also really cool if you want to make a ton of money by betting just a little. And if you can bet a lot, even better, as long as you keep winning. The golden years of commodities trading lasted from 2002 to 2008, when prices moved steadily, but not manically, upward. Then they crashed. And then they rose even higher than before. This is the kind of volatility, except worse, that commodities trading was created to prevent.

Money over lives - the mantra of the past few decades!

Scum!!!!

Alternative Heat from Pond Scum

This year our pond has produced an overabundance of algae, and instead of simply trying to do something about the pond scum, I'm trying to figure out how to do something with the pond scum. In addition to using it in the compost bin, I'm making bricks for our wood stove. To do this, I made a brick mold and filled it with muck that I scooped up out of the pond, slopped it into the wooden mold, then let the algae dry into lightweight bricks. Watch the video of "the burning of the algae." Not the most flammable substance, but I think I'm on the right track. I'm hoping someone here knows how I can tweak the recipe for these alternative heating bricks so all this pond scum doesn't go to waste. Thanks

Love this idea.  Now if my pond would only have an overabundance of algae.  On second thought - I'll just keep burning wood.  Too much work to pull out the algae from the pond.

Malinowy Sok

At least that is how my father (who was polish) wrote it on his bottles.  It was simply a red raspberry juice with a flavor  like Chambord.  The recipe is simple and I have been making (and enjoying) for years.  It simply is berries topped with white sugar.  Those berries will release their juice and start bubbling away.  I assume it is some wild yeasts entering into the mix.  Then simply strain and squeeze out the great juice - bottle and then enjoy after a few weeks (even better a few years later).

So this year it is a new adventure.  Using the same process I am using some wild grapes (too sour to eat) and some crabapples picked off my tree.  The birds and deer are clearly upset but...  Have to see how these turn out.

After making and surviving the experiments in malinowy sok, dandelion wine, ginger beer and even some "jailhouse wine" concoction I figure what is the worst that can happen to me.  

Well if my posts stop in a few weeks - I guess the worst will have happened.  But if  it works - juice "wine" all winter long!