7 Reasons Ralph Nader Gets My Vote 31 January 2008

Wow. Could it be that a person of integrity AND ideas will finally enter the race? Check this out (CLICK ME). If he does, I’ll be hard-pressed not to volunteer for his campaign for a few reasons.

[1] Edwards has dropped out. He was the only candidate with a mature environmental agenda. In fact, I was one of the first to endorse him.
[2] Nader is the candidate whose political views most closely mirror mine. That’s why you vote for someone, right?

[3] He isn’t a Democrat or a Republican - the twined bastard parties who have eviscerated the globe.

[4] It will piss off most of my friends and family, who, in their continued denial, blame Nader rather than themselves for Bush’s ascendancy in 2000. If you still believe the myth that Nader cost Gore the election, please, don’t pester me with your shrill howls. You’re simply in denial. Yet, I love you anyway.

[5] Getting involved in a Presidential campaign is, to me, a civic duty. You shouldn’t criticize those whose involvement extends beyond simply showing up at the ballot box, even if they’re voting for the opposition. At least they give enough of a damn to give their time and energy. It’s easy to bitch and moan, not so easy to roll up the shirt sleeves.

[6] Because I voted for him in 2000 and 2004.

[7] He named my son, Justice.

Here’s a typical anti-Nader article (CLICK ME). One of the comments to this article sums up why Nader matters more succinctly than I am able:

“Nader only matters if clean air, water, food, the Freedom of Information Act, auto safety, getting out of Iraq and ending corporate welfare matters.”

Indeed, not a one of the current crop of candidates is prepared to act AT ALL on any of the above. That doesn’t bother you? You’re happy to hand your vote over, be taken for granted by your party, for the chance to continue on with business as usual? Believe, I’d LOVE to believe that Obama stands for “change”. You and I, however, both know better. Remember Bill Clinton? His wars? His partnerships with big oil and the rest of the corporate world? What about his horrific environmental record? Or the fact that access to abortions was curtailed more sharply under Clinton/Gore than under any other administration? Or that the gap between richest and poorest in the U.S. grew at a record rate? Indeed, before you throw your vote to a Party, do some research. See if your views really do match those of your Party. Have you EVER done that? Have you really? If so, feel free to counter me via my comment box. If not, hit the library, amigos.

GOLF, Enemy of the People? 27 January 2008

According to National Geographic (really, you should subscribe), golf courses in southern Nevada use 8 percent of the region’s water. EIGHT PERCENT, in an area that is extremely hard-pressed to provide enough water for its occupants.

What’s more, in comprehensive research of area tree ring data, it appears that 20th century rainfall figures for the Southwest represented a brief cyclical uptick, and that we’ve returned to ‘permanent’ drought stage that will last for centuries. From the Nat’l Geo article:

Last April, a month before Meko and Woodhouse published their latest results, a comprehensive study of climate models reported in Science predicted the Southwest’s gradual descent into persistent Dust Bowl conditions by mid-century…researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have used the same models to project Colorado streamflow. In their simulations, which have been confirmed by others, the river never emerges from the current drought. Before 2050, its flow falls to half the amount consumed today.

Do YOU golf? Does this seem like reasonable use of scarce resources to you? Given that your sport consumes more resources per participant than any other, would you agree that it’s time to shelve the game and rip out the courses in areas with limited water resources (the entire western United States)? Maybe it’s time for the golf cart-riders to find a sport that requires a bit of exertion? Can’t hurt the national waistline, can it?
Do you disagree? Why? Do share…

Scientology, Frozen Spirits, and Tax Exemption 20 January 2008

With Tom Cruise so very in the news, it’s time people started to read up a bit on the history of Scientology. As your friend and trusted adviser, I’ve scoured the interweb for the finest “primer” available.

HERE IT IS.

Straight from the New York Times’ archives. Fortunately, the article escaped from the modern day “Operation Snow White,” Scientology’s well-documented effort to remove all critical mention of itself from all global media.

“Scientology’s Puzzling Journey from Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt,” is a fascinating read about, well, a bunch of folks who believe they have ‘power’ and insight. Follow it up with the above link to Snow White, and you’re off to the races.

Now, the fact that they believe that humans were trapped on earth 75 million years ago in chunks of ice, banished by Xenu, ruler of the Galactic Federation (I shit you not) - that doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just as realistic as the other creation myths (check out Mormon founder Smith’s ‘magic crystals’ story), and who knows, it could be true. No, I’m not a nutjob, I’m just saying we can’t dismiss out of hand what we don’t know, no matter how ‘crazy’ it seems. Could be we all live in a bowl of Jello, and are bound any moment for Charlton Heston’s diseased bowels. Could be. No, my questions about Scientology have to do with the organization’s massive amount of criminal deception.

Just because they want to be recognized as a Church doesn’t mean they have to act like one.

If I disappear…ask Tom Cruise about my whereabouts. Heh.

The B.A.T., Taking Over Where the Masons Left Off 16 January 2008

Ah, the B.A.T. The Back Alley Tabernacle. It’s a place on the interweb where only the glorious gather. I’ve been asked to join the B.A.T. and I have to tell you, it’s made my decade, this inclusion among the illuminated. Just yesterday my membership package arrived. Inside, the B.A.T. beltbuckle (gives you a 5% discount at all Agent Provacateur and Ace Hardware locations), the assorted membership material, and best of all - the secret handshake.

As a B.A.T. agent, I’m expected to contribute articles from time to time. My first, where I gush thank yous to Charlton Heston (”How Charlton Heston Snapped Me Back into Circle Jerk 2008″ IS HERE.

My latest is below.

“An Evening with Super Smart and Engaging Paul Saffo”

So I went to a lecture last night in San Francisco put on by Stewart Brand’s Long Now Foundation. The featured speaker was the much-celebrated futurist Paul Saffo. A Harvard teacher, Saffo writes for Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, ABCNews.com, and in the near future, The Back Alley Tabernacle. Check him out. He’s incredible. Watching him talk and forecast, one can practically hear his brain whirring and clicking. It felt like being in the college classroom I dreamed about but never experienced. The one where everyone in the room is smart, beautiful and motivated. The one where you leave class feeling hopeful about the future instead of depressed.I also left inspired to make some predictions of my own about life in the U.S.. Here they are:

1. Roomba robot vacuum cleaner owners will finally realize they were/are lazy fucktards for spending hundreds of dollars trying to avoid a ten-minute chore. By the end of 2009, Roombas will be common yard sale items, shoved in milk crates next to singing plastic trout and copies of The DaVinci Code.

2. Before 2010, there will be a mobile phone backlash among 15-25 year olds. Realizing owning phones only makes them trackable conformists in a too-networked society, they will rally at bonfires to burn their iPhones and celebrate their freedom. Dozens will perish inhaling heavy metal fumes. The resulting use of protective dust masks will spawn a fashion revolution that will pave the way for the adoption of Muslim hijabs. As a result of this apparent mass conversion to the words of The Prophet, tensions between the West and Muslim nations will decrease significantly.

3. Hillary Clinton will CONTINUED AT B.A.T….

Making Face in China 14 January 2008

Among my very favorite energy writers is David Dubyne. “Embedded” in China, Dubyne’s ground-level observations are always well worth the read. Dubyne’s take on “making face” or “mianzi” is of particular interest. A snippet, then you can click to the meat:

I present to you a vision of the future: China has already leapfrogged to where we in the West will be within a decade, using coal to power our economies and cities as conventional worldwide oil production continues to decline. The pollution is the sight and smell of economic growth.

There are only 270 days left until the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics. by Between now and the time the torch is lit and the Green games start, 38 new pulverized-coal fired power plants will open.

Statement after statement about how this Olympiad will be environmentally friendly and the amazing lengths China is going to with regard to alternative energy power generation in Beijing is plastered around the news media daily. That is the truth – well, half of it. Media releases seem to conveniently leave out the other half of the information: While there is tremendous focus on this single city in Green development, the remainder of the country is left behind in a haze of…REST OF ARTICLE

china, oil, pollution

Umm…This is Pretty Big 13 January 2008

Team Creates Rat Heart from Scratch

2007 2nd Warmest Year on Record 10 January 2008

Ice caps will be GONE by the end of 2013. . . .2007 is the 2nd warmest year on record.

Hmmm. . .

Eco-Economy Indicator — GLOBAL TEMPERATURE

January 10, 2008

Eco-Economy Indicators are the twelve trends the Earth Policy Institute tracks to measure progress in building an eco-economy. Taking the earth’s temperature tells us about the relative health of the planet.

2007 SECOND WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD
Northern Hemisphere Temperature Highest Ever

Frances C. Moore

With the record for 2007 now complete, it is clear that temperatures around the world are continuing their upward climb. The global average in 2007 was 14.73 degrees Celsius (58.5 degrees Fahrenheit) — the second warmest year on record, only 0.03 degrees Celsius behind the 2005 maximum. January 2007 was the hottest January ever measured, a full 0.23 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous record. August was also a record for that month, and September was the second warmest September recorded.

Looking at the northern hemisphere alone, 2007 temperatures averaged 15.04 degrees Celsius (59.1 degrees Fahrenheit) — easily the hottest year in the northern half of the globe since the record began in 1880, and more than a degree warmer than the 1951–80 average…

For entire text see http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/Temp/2008.htm

For data see http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/Temp/2008_data.htm

For an index of Earth Policy Institute resources related to Temperature and Climate see:

http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/Temp/index.htm

And for more on the effects of rising temperature and how to stabilize climate, you may be interested in Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester R. Brown (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008). Information about this book is on-line at http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/index.htm.
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Nader Follows Brilliant, Endorses Edwards 4 January 2008

One of my political heroes (throw your tomato now), Ralph Nader, has endorsed John Edwards for President, some weeks after yours truly did the same. Great minds think alike, you see. Still doesn’t mean I’d vote for Edwards as I’ve sworn off Demos (yes, and Repubs) after what they did and didn’t do during the Clinton/Gore years…and let’s not even talk about how pathetic the current Dem ‘leadership’ has been during the past year.

Nonetheless, in case you missed it:

HEALDSBURG, CA — Eco-advisor Tod Brilliant gave his endorsement to North Carolina Senator John Edwards in his run to be the Democratic presidential nominee in next year’s elections.The internationally-recognized Brilliant said Edwards is the only candidate who has offered real plans to combat the effects of climate change and make ready not only the U.S. citizenry, but peoples of all nations, for a world that will change rapidly in the coming decades due to resource deterioration.

“John Edwards has the courage to tackle problems that other politicians simply ignore, like reducing our national carbon footprint by 80% in the near future.” Brilliant parroted. “Obama is in love with coal, while Clinton simply ignores the issue, focused as she is on becoming the nation’s next warmonger.”

Edwards has proposed capping greenhouse gases beginning in 2010 with a cap-and-trade system. While Brilliant personally derides the cap-and-trade system as “smoke and mirrors” he is confident that Edwards is merely trying to appease big industry until he takes office. Edwards also has pledged to work for a new climate treaty that includes developing countries, and opposes subsidies for new nuclear power plants in the United States.

“There are times when the right message appears at the right time. I can only urge people around the world to read Lester Brown’s “Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet in Stress & a Civilization in Trouble”. Nothing summarizes our current predicament more concisely, nor offers a more cogent plan of attack,” intoned the Count of Montezuma. Edwards said he was honored to have the support of Brilliant, who he considers to be one of the few voices in the sustainability movement who is truly nonpartisan.

“We must work together to halt global warming and protect our natural resources to ensure our children inherit a healthy planet. Brilliant understands that partisanship on this most vital issue only dooms us to rapid failure,” Edwards might have said had he any notion of Brilliant’s existence.

This marks the second recent endorsement for Edwards from a leading ‘green’ advocate. Friends of the Earth gave their support to Edwards on October 14, noting that no other viable candidate proposes a solid environmental action plan.

Wind Power = Public Enemy #1?? 2 January 2008

The front page of the S.F Chronicle today. What’s the lead story? Something about the tinderbox in Pakistan? Afghanistan? Kenya? Iraq? Oil coasting to $100 and beyond? The rapid devaluation of the U.S. dollar? No. Here’s what we get: THE DEADLY TOLL OF WIND POWER.

A bit of a dramatic headline, don’t you think? When paired with that sinister ‘robots in the fog’ photo, it seems to scream “WIND POWER IS EVIL!”. At a time when the world needs to embrace alternative energy, the Chronicle decides to find fault with a wind farm that is easy pickings. Focusing on the wind turbines at Altamont Pass in San Joaquin Valley, California, the article discusses the continuing bird kill caused by the old-school fast-moving, low to the ground turbines. Yes, many beautiful raptors smash themselves upon the turbine blades each year. Yes, this is fucking horrible. However, now is NOT the time to give anti-alternative energy proponents even a sliver of ammunition. All over the U.S., people are fighting new wind farms out of fear of lowered property values. Believe me, this article will only help the anti-wind power advocates. The Chronicle is so darned “liberal” (as if there is anything remotely liberal about lily-white, uber-rich NIMBY San Francisco) that it attacks ‘big business’ even when that big business is doing the right thing. What, may I ask, is the incentive for businesses to move toward a sustainable platform? When doing the right thing=making money = incurring the wrath of the mouthpiece of Hypocrisy City?

What of the birds killed each year by cars and trucks? Why isn’t that front page news? After all, news is a numbers game, right? The more killed in a suicide bombing, the closer the article gets to A1, right? Over 4000 birds were killed in 2004 by the Altamont turbines. How many birds were killed by U.S. drivers? BETWEEN 50 AND 100 MILLION. How many animals have YOU hit while driving? Unless you can say zero, or unless you’ve vowed to stop driving, you’ve no right to point fingers.

James Walker, president-elect of the industry-backed American Wind Energy Association, said the wind companies also want to save birds and are helping to fund the study of the problem. He also said wind power helps save bird lives by combatting global warming, which the National Audubon Society acknowledges as a threat to many bird species.
A bit tough to argue, don’t you think?

Also: Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele…said both the wind industry and the birds need to be protected.“All environmentalists should support both things,” she said.

Amen, Gail.
The entire article is here.

birds, san francisco, wind power