We'll never claim to be fair and
balanced, just honest and trustworthy
October 19, 2007
Yesterday we
talked about the race to war and looking at Atlanta and around the world
I have to ask what the hell is wrong with the world?
From James Joiner for An
Average American Patriot
Yesterday we talked about the race to war
and looking at Atlanta and around the world I have to ask what the
hell is wrong with the world? We are already in the fight of our
lives! Water wars and the environment!
Yesterday I wrote about the world allying themselves against Bush and
the Forever Wars he started in Iraq and threatens to spread throughout
the entire middle east before it encompasses the entire world. last
night I dwelled on the terrible prospect of running out of water and
the prospect of water wars after thinking of Atlanta facing the
prospect of running dry in 45 days with no rain in sight and 9 million
people. This is one city! This is happening around Georgia, Tennessee,
Alabama, North and South Carolina, as well as throughout the middle
east, and the Great Lakes, while floods and horrific storms cover
Texas and much of the rest of the country.
This morning I was thinking about that while replying to comments I
received after I got off line last night. Many are concerned as to
what the future will bring to us and the world. Noting the world is
racing to another world war and knowing our weapons are too powerful
for man or the planet to survive it and the fact that the environment
is turning on us and much of the world is running out of water, fresh
water I first wondered why Areas such as Georgia and many of the areas
around the ocean and world do not turn to desalinization as this
problem did not crop up over night.
I then decided to Goggle water wars as I know there are many problems
developing daily around the world as countries harness water sources
running through their land and was horrified at what I was finding.
There were 136,000 stories encompassing water wars around the world.
Let alone within ones own boundaries.
What the hell is wrong with the world? We are already at war! We are
already in the fight of our lives, why are we racing to end them? The
Washington Post had a good article. Global warming will intensify
drought, and it will intensify floods: As the air gets warmer, there
will be more water in the atmosphere. That’s settled science. Where
the atmosphere is configured to have high pressure and droughts,
global warming will mean long, dry periods. Where the atmosphere is
configured to be wet, you will get more rain, more gully washers.”
The droughts will be especially bad. How bad? Richard Seager, a senior
researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University,
looked at 19 computer models of the future under current global
warming trends. He found remarkable consistency: Sometime before 2050,
the models predicted, the Southwest will be gripped in a dry spell
akin to the Great Dust Bowl drought that lasted through most of the
1930s.
Droughts and water shortages already been driving conflict around the
globe: The potential for conflict is more than theoretical. Turkey,
Syria and Iraq bristle over the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Sudan,
Ethiopia and Egypt trade threats over the Nile. The United Nations has
said water scarcity is behind the bloody wars in Sudan’s Darfur
region. In Somalia, drought has spawned warlords and armies. Already,
the World Health Organization says, 1 billion people lack access to
potable water. In northern China, retreating glaciers and shrinking
wetlands that feed the Yangtze River prompted researchers to warn that
water supplies for hundreds of millions of people may be at risk. Water
wars will worsen
Water has emerged as a key issue that could determine if Asia is
headed toward cooperation or competition. No country would influence
that direction more than China, which controls the Tibetan plateau,
the source of most major rivers of Asia. Tibet's vast glaciers and
high altitude have endowed it with the world's greatest river systems.
Its rivers are a lifeline to the world's two most-populous states -
China and India - as well as to Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal,
Cambodia, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. These countries make
up 47 percent of the global population.
Yet Asia is a water-deficient continent. Although home to more than
half of the human population, Asia has less fresh water - 3,920 cubic
meters per person - than any continent other than the Antarctica and
China is taking it. The looming struggle over water resources in Asia
has been underscored by the spread of irrigated farming,
water-intensive industries and a growing middle class that wants high
water-consuming comforts like washing machines and dishwashers.
Household water consumption in Asia is rising rapidly, although
several major economies there are acutely water-stressed.
The specter of water wars in Asia is also
being highlighted by climate change and environmental degradation in
the form of shrinking forests and swamps that foster a cycle of
chronic flooding and droughts. The Himalayan snow melt that feeds
Asia's great rivers could be accelerated by global warming. Man am I
naive! Yesterday I couldn't understand China's wanting to control
Tibet, the Himalaya's, and the Dali Lama, today I know. Asia's
water wars
This is a crisis that will only worsen every day around the world .
Tens of millions of Americans have or are migrating to the southern
and western states where there are many areas of chronic water
shortages (duh). Now Governor Bill Richardson has fired the first
shot, suggesting a national water policy, which is shorthand for
stealing water from the Great Lakes. Rustbelters are outraged, some
suggesting we sell Richardson water at $80.00 a barrel.
Vegas, probably the fastest growing area
in the country, is sucking as much from the Colorado as it can, and
will still have major shortages, perhaps within months. The Great
Lakes are in a low cycle and any diversion would probably be an
ecological disaster. I was looking at the links that follow and the
Great lakes are being fought over as we speak and America is already
experiencing water wars as well as much of the world. Please look at
the overwhelming amount of stories on The
worlds water wars
The world is already at war with our
shrinking changing environment. A war we are bound to lose. I cannot
comprehend the world racing to another world war that will only serve
to seal all of their demise even sooner. What is wrong with us?
Know a blog that
deserves to be featured on the Blog World Report? Contact Robert.
American Family
Association Has History of Dishonest Statements
From Jeff Pruitt for Fort
Wayne Left
A Petition To
Congress In Defense Of Religious Freedom
Be one of one million Americans
willing to take a stand in defense of two of our most precious
freedoms—freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Here’s why:
A California lawsuit which is now headed to the U.S. Supreme Court
would make the use of the words “natural family,” “marriage”
and “union of a man and a woman” a “hate speech” crime in
government workplaces. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has
already ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.
CNN and The Washington Post both reported that General Peter Pace,
former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, was fired because of his
publicly expressed moral opposition to homosexual behavior.
A bill now before Congress (H.R. 1592 / S. 1105) would criminalize
negative comments concerning homosexuality, such as calling the
practice of homosexuality a sin from the pulpit, a “hate crime”
punishable by a hefty fine and time in prison. This dangerous
legislation would take away our freedom of speech and our freedom of
religion.
You might read this and
immediately think "what a bunch of crap". These points are so
asinine it's hard to believe that anyone would take them seriously. But
just to be safe the folks at Snopes.com exposed
this pack of lies for all to read.
The AFA's ad against Tom Henry is probably inconsequential but I thought
readers should at least know a little bit about the integrity of the
organization behind it...
IPSOS Poll: If
Gore Runs, 44% Of Dems Would Vote for Him.
Posted by Christopher for From
the Left
In an IPSOS poll,
commissioned by the Independent Film Channel, asked the
following question:
“If Al Gore
announced his candidacy for President today, how much would this
impact your decision?”
DEMOCRATS
polled said:
Would vote for Al Gore: 44% (In a primary with 4-top tier
candidates, Gore would win if he captured 44%)
Would vote for another Democratic candidate: 54%
Would vote for a Republican candidate: 3%
INDEPENDENTS
polled said:
Would vote for Al Gore: 33%
Would vote for another Democratic candidate: 29%
Would vote for a Republican candidate: 38%
REPUBLICANS
polled said:
Would vote for Al Gore: 5%
Would vote for another Democratic candidate: 4%
Would vote for a Republican candidate: 91%
NYPopulist’s
interpretration: Gore would receive 44% of the
Democratic primary vote. In a nine candidate race with four
top-tier contenders, this is more than enough to easily secure the
Democratic nomination.
i have no idea why i continue
to suffer amazement at human being's penchant for stupidity. i think
most folks would agree at this late date that there is indeed a global
climate change happening. i don't really give a rat's ass if you believe
it's natural or man-made- anything we can do to stop polluting and
contaminating our home planet is win-win. please spare me the argument
that we need the polluting jobs for our economy- we don't. we need to
make new jobs in the environmental sector. if that means you have to get
off your lazy, self centered asshole and go back to school to learn how
to do something productive- then so be it. either do it- or be left
behind. the neo con way hasn't worked too well- let's try something
else, shall we?
take a peek in the news and google southern or georgia drought- and see
what you find- then tell me it's ok to continue to consume wantonly and
pay into a non sustainable system. atlanta, georgia currently has
approximately 45 days or so of water left. georgia is a watershed for
parts of alabama and florida. you do the math.
Not only is this good legislation,
it's great tactics. The GOP is losing huge numbers of independent voters
over Bush's veto of SCHIP. Let him veto it again:
Following the House’s failure Thursday to override President
Bush’s veto of legislation expanding a children’s health insurance
program, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) vowed to send a similar bill
to Bush in two weeks.
Pelosi said at a press conference after the vote that any future
legislation reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP) would cover 10 million children — the program
currently covers 6.6 million. She declined to discuss whether
Democrats would make other changes to the bill.
House
and Senate Democratic leaders huddled shortly after
the vote to confer on how to alter the bill to secure more Republican
votes. Democratic aides said they would offer cosmetic changes, making
it clearer that the bill does not allow illegal
immigrants to be covered and capping the income
eligibility level.
Pelosi is going to clean up the bill so there isn't anything the GOP can
misrepresent--nothing they can lie about.
There are very good reasons why SCHIP is so popular. Ten of millions of
Americans cannot afford health insurance. Americans love their children
and are moved by the suffering of any child--consider the lengths to
which American soldiers will go to to rescue injured Iraqi children.
When you combine these factors: need, love and compassion, you find the
American people strongly motivated to help these children.
Let Bush veto it again: he'll bury the Republican
Party's hopes for 2008, and for years to come.
SCHIP is the will of the American people.
U.S. Mexico Border Fence
"Made In China"
From NY Texan for BlueBloggin
Yes, we Americans are priceless; I guess that’s why they keep
playing that commercial because we get it. As American jobs continue to
be outsourced and American industries continues to lay off workers and
shut down factories, you would think that the albatross being built on
the U.S. Mexico boarder would provide some American industry jobs. Think
again because that’s not the way this administration works. In the
continual slap down of American workers and American industry the
Department of Homeland Security has purchased steel from
China
to build the border fence.
You would think all the recalls from
China
would be reason enough not to purchase from
China
. What’s far more insulting is that DHS waived the “buy
America
” rule.
House
members allied with the domestic steel industry blasted the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday for building a
fence on the Mexican border with Chinese steel.
“By allowing the use of Chinese pipe [a type of
steel], DHS is allowing the U.S. taxpayer to subsidize Chinese
production at the expense of the American workers,” Rep. Phil
English (R-Pa.) said at a press conference. “This is
completely unacceptable.”
“This is outrageous, it’s offensive and it’s
unacceptable,” charged Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.).
English displayed photos of a portion of the border
fence from San Luis, Ariz., that shows pipes marked “China”
holding the border fence in place. He said DHS’s
Office of Congressional Affairs had indicated it had waived the
so-called Buy American rules in order to use the Chinese pipe and
tube. The rules normally require the use of U.S. steel in such
projects.
The Office of Public Affairs referred questions to Customs
Border Protection, which did not respond by press time.
GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), who
authored a bill signed into law last year mandating 850 miles of
fence along the border, said DHS should have gone to U.S.
producers to procure any necessary steel or pipe.
“The Department of Homeland Security has,
the last time I checked, $800 million cash on hand available
to build the border fence. So they don’t have to go and get
cut-rate deals to build the border fence,” Hunter said. U.S. pipe
makers can “easily” supply the products necessary for the fence,
Hunter insisted.
The lawmakers said they did not know if there was a bidding
process that led to the use of the Chinese goods. They also said
they were unaware if any U.S. companies bid for contracts related to
the fence but were turned down.
Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) said he was concerned
about the safety of Chinese steel. However, when pressed,
he and other lawmakers could not cite any specific safety problems
that might result from the use of foreign pipe in a fence. Visclosky
did note other safety issues that have recently come up with toys
from China, while English said the use of Chinese inputs in U.S.
infrastructure prompts broader concerns.
Members of the congressional steel caucus have invited DHS
Secretary Michael Chertoff to testify at an Oct. 31 hearing on
possible safety issues regarding Chinese pipe.
There's
Something Happening Here
By John Good for Left
in Aboite
When Jackson Browne, Graham
Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and many other bands played their "No
Nukes" concerts in 1979 to 100,000 people, they never dreamed
they'd have to come back almost 30 years later to fight the same fight
all over again.
But it's 2007, and here we go again. The nuclear industry just slipped a
clause into the energy bill that will provide up to $50 billion in tax
subsidies for to build new reactors—enough to launch a whole new
generation of nukes! We've already got the safe, viable alternatives to
replace the dirty energy we're using now. Building new atomic reactors
in an age of terror threats is not only scary, but the toxic waste from
nuclear power threatens our health and our planet.
The nuclear option is not the way to go.
So these old friends got together and recorded a music video to spread
the word:
They've also launched a petition, and are asking you to sign it. Here's
what it says:
"America's new energy policy needs
to focus on safe and economic fuel sources. Congress must strip the
nuclear tax subsidies from the energy bill before they pass it."
Clicking HERE
will add your signature to the petition. When you're done, please take a
minute to pass it along to your friends.
$50 billion in loan guarantees is a lot of money—enough to cover
financial risk for the big banks who want to get involved. In other
words, if something goes wrong, it will be the American taxpayers who
foot the bill, not Wall Street.
It makes no sense. We know nuclear facilities are a target for
terrorists. We know nuclear energy is toxic to our health and
environment. And we know solar and wind power are safer, cheaper, and
getting easier to use every day. This should equal a big "no"
on nuclear energy, and a big "yes" to investing in clean
energy. But the nuclear industry and their friends in Congress don't
want to take no for an answer.
Everyone worked hard to pass this energy bill and most of it is great
— we'll get more solar and wind with this bill, and even more fuel
efficient cars. We just need to ask Congress to take the nuclear
subsidies out.
BLOG RECOMMENDATION
Every great now and then
you run into something that is totally unique. Such is the case
with actor Jeff Bridges' blog. Rather than trying to describe it,
I suggest you simply pay a visit to Jeff
Bridges.com
"You don't have money to fund the war or children," Stark
declared. "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people
if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to
get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."
Here are just a few of the questions put to Michael B. Mukasey during
the Attorney General confirmation hearings. You may notice a different
Mukasey than the one who showed up yesterday. It looks like someone from
the White House "had a little talk" with him.
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) asked whether there is any
inherent presidential power to order torture. You remember John Yoo, the
attorney who was the former Office of Legal Council, who wrote the
famous "Bybee
memo" on August 1, 2002, don't you? Mukasey's reply seemed to
indicate that he held to the Constitution description of torture in the
5th, 8th, and 14th amendment.
Great! This is wonderful! Yipeee!
Wait a minute, not so fast! It all depends on what the meaning of
"torture" is....
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked Mukasey if he thought waterboarding
was Constitutional. Watch the video...
Whitehouse isn't the only one that's disappointed, and
"sorry" doesn't cut it, Mr, Mukasey.
Mukasey seemed to have gone from clear and cohesive yesterday, to giving
vague answers today, and even suggesting that it's ok for the President
to break some laws. Senator
Feingold challenged him by asking Mukasey if any activity to
"safeguard against a national security threat" would justify
violating a statute? Here is his answer (watch the video):
During a break in testimony, Leahy told reporters that he was
concerned about a "sudden change" in Mukasey's answers
regarding the limits of presidential power.
Michael Mukasey refused to directly answer some questions related to
controversial warrantless wiretapping surveillance, detention and
interrogation issues. He showed himself to be very close to the same
ideals of the former Attorney General, Alberto (Frodo) Gonzales.
If you recall, the Democrats had threatened earlier that they would hold
up these hearings until they received the documents that were related to
the investigations on the prosecutor firings. To this date, the White
House has refused to give them up. But, as usual, they relented and gave
in to pressure to go ahead with the confirmation hearings. When Mukasey
was asked if he would allow a U.S. attorney to pursue contempt charges
against the White House if it refused to give up these documents in the
future, Mukasey avoid the question.
There's no doubt in my mind that Michael B. Mukasey will be confirmed as
our next Attorney General. We'll hear all kinds of long speeches about
how much they admire him for his work and how grateful they were that he
took the time to answer all their questions, and knowing that he is no
better than Gonzo, they'll vote yes.
What are your predictions, unanimous 'yea' vote or a few brave 'nays'?
[There were more questions, but I only picked a few that spoke to the
issues that I think are the most important to me. You could find the
others on YouTube. ]
Middle School girls should have
contraceptives available to them if they are sexually active!
By Kay in Maine for White
Noise Insanity
It doesn’t take
a brain surgeon to figure that out either.
Well, that’s not what is
happening! Get that through your thick skulls if you’re able to
penetrate the lead surface.
The fact is…17 girls between
the ages of 11 and 13 have become pregnant over the past four years in
Portland middle schools. That number may not be a lot compared to other
cities around the nation, but it was a high enough number for the School
Board to have a vote on whether or not the middle schools should have
this kind of contraceptive (in addition to condoms which is also
available to the boys) available to these young girls SO THEY DON’T
GET PREGNANT. Why does the school feel obligated to do this? Well,
that’s because the parents of these young girls aren’t COMPLETELY
DOING THEIR JOBS or these young girls are in a position WHERE THEY
CAN’T APPROACH THEIR PARENTS ABOUT BEING SEXUALLY ACTIVE OR TO EVEN
TALK TO THEM ABOUT ANYTHING SEXUAL.
One nurse at the school said
that there hasn’t been a stampede to get birth control since the vote
went down. What does that tell you? It tells you that kids are not
lining up so they can have “free sex” like some of the reich wingers
are saying online and on the radio!
ONE MIDDLE SCHOOL/HIGH
SCHOOL PREGNANCY IS TOO MUCH.
Random thoughts….
How many of these 17 young
girls are being abused (physically & sexually) at home? Don’t
know.
How many of these 17 young
girls don’t have a good support system, terrific insurance, and have a
wonderful open relationship with their parents? Don’t know.
How many of these 17 young
girls are having sex with boys who are not using condoms? Wow, 17.
How many of these 17 young
girls have been parented well and are still sexually active &
sexually curious anyways? Don’t know.
What I do know….birth control
is not being used by THE YOUNG BOYS in all of these cases. Why not come
down hard on the boys too? Oh that’s right. We live in a world where
girls & women are persecuted for an action THAT TAKES TWO TO TANGO!
Speaking of young girls being
persecuted (or shunned) by society if they get pregnant no matter the
age…
The Howie
Carr Show today disgusted me. Todd Feinberg was the fill-in
radio host for Howie today and he kept calling sex between minors as
rape and illegal. (It’s not rape…unless the sex is forced upon the
girl unwillingly or if she’s in a state of mind where she can’t say
no (which could be the case in one or two of the 17 pregnancies in
Portland, but again, that information is not known or is public). It’s
considered “rape” when a 19 year old has sex with a minor even if
it’s not forced and if the parents object to it. That’s how our
society views it and that’s how it is in most cases. I don’t know
one person in my life who DIDN’T know someone in high school who was
having sex with another high school student! It happens. Using birth
control is a must, don’t you think? I think so.)
According to Todd…
…these minor girls who get
pregnant should BE SHUNNED by society (how they get pregnant isn’t a
concern for ole Todd!), go through with their pregnancies, and then be
dragged off to a place to give their babies up for adoption just like in
the days when his mother was young! Oh yes, Mister “I’m So
Righteous And Don’t Believe Young Girls Should Be Getting Their Birth
Control Through Their School Nurses/Doctors”, …but if you have
sex anyways and get pregnant…….“THAN DAMN YOU! You will be
stoned in the Town Square just like the Afghans do to their women!” (not
his words, but that’s what he implied on the show today)just
because ole Todd thinks it’s only HE who can tell what young girls
should or should not be doing and because he’s not a liberal! Oh yes,
according to Todd, it’s only the liberals who are telling Americans
what to do with their kids. *rolling eyes*
What Todd and others are not
understanding and are forgetting…..humans are sexual beings right from
the start. When puberty hits (for young girls, they can get their
menstruation as early as 8-11 years old), that’s when the hormones
rage and to think that we as a society can STOP ALL CHILDREN from
exploring sex is ludicrous! We can take action whether it’s in our
homes (beating the crap out of your daughter is not an option!) or
through others to keep our children from becoming pregnant or we can be
like Todd and do nothing.
Birth control keeps kids/adults
from becoming pregnant. It “stops” abortions from happening,
meaning, a young girl taking birth control or a young boy using condoms
has a better chance of not getting pregnant at all! Condoms help in
combating sexually transmitted diseases. Do the reich wingers care?
Nope! They think the only choice a woman, girl, man, or boy should have
is to keep their baby no matter what age they get pregnant at, while at
the same time thinking that it’s okay to persecute or shun a young
girl ONLY if she gets pregnant, because she didn’t have the resources
she needed to keep her from getting pregnant in the first place! Reich
wingers never make sense.
Locking our children in the
basement of our homes will only make for angry children later on. I
think if parents have parented correctly and gave their children enough
rope to prove they can be trusted, that’s one thing, but there is
always going to be A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE of children, who don’t have
this kind of upbringing and are almost destined to go down the wrong
path. We shouldn’t punish these kids. We should be protecting them,
especially if their parents are not.
It’s not lost on me that the
political party who is against abortions is also for not giving their
children birth control, so the child doesn’t get pregnant in the first
place. To be a neocon, you must believe that the world is perfect where
everyone owns a big house with a white picket fence and their children
just listen to everything they say to them. Sorry pals! That’s not the
case and it never will be.
Personally, I believe that
it’s a very small percentage of kids having sex as early as 11 years
old across this country. For the few who are, it makes sense to protect
them from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases if both the boy
and the girl use some form of birth control, right? If you disagree,
then you can’t complain that your daughter or your neighbor’s
daughter is pregnant. You just can’t.
Rudy
"9/11!1!" Giuliani
shares the lead for the conservative vote in the Republican presidential
race, despite the pussy-whipped adulterer's three
marriages and the fact that he's a gay-loving, baby-killing,
cross-dressing man-whore.
Meanwhile, his rethug rivals continue to out-conservatard
each other, hoping to attract the elusive yet important rightwingnut
vote:
"I was a conservative yesterday, I am a conservative today and I
will be a conservative tomorrow," said former Hollywood actor and
abortion lobbyist Freddie Thompson
from his chaise longue.
"So am I, maybe. No, wait, I am," replied Multiple-choice Mitt
Romney, who up until a few months ago was pro-choice, pro-gay
rights and not an NRA member.
"I think that my record is very clear of more than 20 years of
being a conservative Republican," squawked batshit-crazy John
McCain, who supported rights for illegal aliens and once called
evangelicals "agents of intolerance."
