Captain Obvious's Blog

Ignorance is Strength

2010-03-17T19:39:04Z

I just finished reading 1984, and it was a very thought provoking read for me. Very. Today I want to write about some of the ideas in Goldstien's book regarding revolution. I was pondering just now, the reason behind revolutions, is it a response to unjustice, or greed?

Revolutions were always done by the middle to become the high, or are revolutions by the proles because of unjustice?

I've thought it has been principled, revolutions and rebellions have been the downtrodden oppressed rising up against their oppressors, for example the Maccabbi's, slaves, the French revolution, the American revolution were all kind of glorified and romanticized in the histories I learned from as a youth.

Is there something innate in human nature which will cause people to realize that they are being treated unfairly, and to fight back? How many channels of TV, how many OnDemands, how many sports to gamble on, how many YouTube's to watch, how many Wars to fight, how many reality shows, how many celebrities, how many scandals, how many terrorists to fear, how many restaurants need to be delivered, how many people need to be on the edge of starvation, how many people need to be in desperation, in order to pacify (subordinate) the masses?

The middle gets "luxury" goods, you've heard the argument before about standard of living "we've got microwaves!" as if that makes middle class incomes stagnating and declining acceptable. If you have what people 50 years ago didn't, somehow this is supposed to be enough to satisfy all of your needs. So what you're going to be bankrupt from getting sick? You've got a digital alarm clock with a CD player!

The proles are stuck in ghettos, without bus services, without law enforcement, without jobs, without education. They are jailed, profiled, and vilified. Payday lenders rape them with the express consent of the congress. They see advertisements for the lotto at the liquor store on every corner with junk foods you can't find outside of the hood.

The middle is pacified through middling goods and services, and the proles are just suppressed. It is a coordinated effort to keep people ignorant of the fundamentally unfair distribution of wealth. Only ignorance can save the rich from the masses, and the effort to keep people ignorant is proof of the odiousness of the truth.

Yesterday, Digby quoted:

"Central to progressivism is a faith that educated and civilized individuals can, through the use of reason, determine what is best for society as a whole. Persuasion, discussion, and rational dialogue can lead individuals of different views to see what is in the public interest. "

I agree that people can be convinced as to what is right. I have argued with some of the most conservative people, and it is entirely possible to use logic and persuasion to have them change their minds. It takes a lot of work, and skill, and stories. After the first long conversation, they will say "you make a lot of good points," but they will be hesitant to admit that they were wrong. At that point, if you left it there, they would not be convinced. However, if you are persistent in your arguments, and confront the false assumptions that lead to many standard conservative opinions, you can change their minds.

This is why I am the most disappointed in Barack Obama. After the disastrous rule of Bush, the potential of destroying NeoCon/Reaganomics was at an all time high. Over 85% of the country said we were on the wrong track. That is why Obama won in a landslide. People had had enough, and weren't going to take it anymore. Do you remember Obama yelling "ENOUGH!" That is in essence the reason he was elected, because the Republicans were so bad.

Instead of going to war against the failed ideas of Bush, Obama has embraced most of them. I put the most importance on economic policy, followed by education, military policies, and civil liberties. In the economic arena, Obama has been indistinguishable from Bush. His subservience of Wall St, trade policy, desire to cut SS and Medicare, support of secrecy in the Fed, all echo the stance of Bush.

Obama has been bashing teachers, promoting waivers, and ignoring the root causes of under-performing schools. He is keeping the NCLB in place. Some grants have increased, but not on par with the increase in cost of college tuition. Obama just gutted proposed funding for community colleges.

We are still in Iraq, and Afghanistan. The military budget only grows. We still are in a War against Terror, which is like being in a War against Sarcasm. The privatization, and outsourcing of War continues, with contractors unaccountable to any laws. Our mistreatment of prisoners has continued.

The FISA law hasn't been "fixed," the criminals who illegally spied on all of us are free from any accountabilty. Obama maintains a hit list of American citizens - I mean, what else needs to be said? The people who implemented a system to torture prisoners are being protected by Obama. Obama has pressured the DOJ to act in a way that will help him politically, instead of enforcing the law. Indefinite detention continues, and Rahm is working with Graham now to set this into stone. State's Secrets is claimed to cover up the crimes against prisoners. The illegal spying on citizens by the government continues unabated. The president claims the right to imprison anybody on his say-so forever, if he doesn't put them on the hit list.

So at the apex of potential to destroy the tenets of Neo-conservatism and Reaganomics, Obama has done his damndest to make these failed policies bipartisan. Obama has used his opportunity to do exactly the wrong things. Instead of standing up and fighting for the principles he campaigned on, which were popular because they were just, he has maintained the direction of the ship.

What is most frustrating is that the solutions for many of our problems are obvious. In addition, these obvious solutions were a part of Obama's campaign speeches, and his platform on his website. I remember Obama being against a mandate, and for a public option.

I don't think that Obama or the other Dem leaders are spineless, as many like to say. They truly do not want to enact the policies they campaign on. Their fiery speeches, which contain the correct solutions to problems are a ruse to get money and votes.

I've heard Obama explain about Single Payer. He must know that is the most successful way in the world to do healthcare, but he chooses not to stand up and fight for it. He doesn't bother to explain why it is the right thing. He doesn't make any effort whatsoever to do the hard work of changing peoples minds, and handling their objections. We saw a glimpse of the possible, in his summit with Republicans. He easily shot down their arguments and showed the falsehoods of their talking points, the falsities in their underlying assumptions.

I would accept a less than perfect bill, if an honest effort to persuade was made first, and votes were not there. The thing is, the WH, and the Dem leadership was being dishonest the whole time of the Health Insurance debate. The party platform is forgotten as soon as they are elected, and instead of pressuring members to get in line with the party platform, we are told all sorts of lies. The WH made secret deals with their true base, Phrma and AHIP. The leadership crowed about not having 60 votes, until they did, and then did nothing. Then they claimed they couldn't use reconciliation, which we see now was a complete lie.

If the President had explained that the best HC systems in the world were universal coverage, offered to buyout the Insurance companies, and offer employment to the displaced workers in the new universal system (expanded Medicare), explained it would cost less, and then bullied his party to fall in line, some minds would have changed. I'm not claiming Evan Bayh is going to suddenly tank his wife's stock options, but the President would be able to convince some in the public, and he would be able to bully some in his party. Instead we see the president bullying his party to act against their party platform, to support his war supplemental, and to vote for something he campaigned against.

How much of this will it take before the last supporter of Obama's campaign, and of the Democratic Party Platform will stop supporting Obama the President? Will there be a point where the only supporters of Obama will those who didn't support him during his campaign because of his progressive rhetoric? I think there is a 25% that will support a Democratic president, no matter what he actually does, just like the 25% that would always support a Republican president.

I try to talk to people at every opportunity in order to whittle away at the ignorant 25 percenters. I think people can be convinced, it just takes effort and persistence, and sound arguments, appeals and logic. The persistence and effort is not going to come from the WH or the Dem leadership, so it falls onto us instead.

The Big News, I'm Excited!!

2010-01-22T06:08:58Z

Kobe and Lebron are playing!

Good thing the Democrats are in Power!

2009-12-01T00:01:22Z

So, what's in the news?

War - we are sending tens of thousands more soldiers to Afghanistan, the graveyard of Empires. This is good news. It will only cost a million dollars per man*yr, and we have a lot of extra cash these days with all of the prosperity on the home-front. This money could not be spent in a more productive way than shooting and bombing brown people on the other side of the world. The best part is that by occupying the country of Afghanistan, it makes it impossible for terrorists in Germany, London, and Florida to plan a terrorist attack.

Transparency - The SCOTUS agrees with the Obama Administration that we aren't grown up enough to see pictures of what our employees in the Armed Forces are doing to helpless prisoners. Obama said nothing new is in the pictures, and therefore they MUST not be seen. Additionally, the Secretary of Defense under Bush and Obama has assured us that releasing these photographs will put our soldiers in a risky situation. Secretary Gates also assures us that having hundreds of thousands of soldiers occupying, bombing, and shooting in other countries does not pose the same type of dire threat that these photographs do, even though the photos show nothing new.

Entitlements - The Obama Admin. is considering forming a panel to figure out how to reduce "entitlement spending". Because the military budget must never be reduced, the only way to fix the GIANT problem of running a deficit is to cut services to the middle class and poor people. There is no way that restoring tax rates to the richest people could help, and no way that taking off the SS cap would help either. It is the welfare queens in their Cadillacs, just like Ronald Reagan said. So, our elected leaders will give powers away to non-elected officials in order to take the taxes we've payed out of our paychecks for years, and steal them. Not only will these unelected leaders take away our safety net, they will figure out how to hand it over to Wall Street bankers (god bless their souls) so that they can rake in huge fees off of the top, and play games with our life savings. This is entirely a good thing, especially prescient in a year where many people lost ~40% of their 401k.

Torture - We have learned that torture is continuing in our black site jails, specifically in Afghanistan. This is a good thing, because there is no risk of angering Muslims - who are only offended by photographs. President Obama has vowed to hold nobody responsible, unless it is OK with Stanley McChrystal.

Mortgages - The Treasury Department has unveiled its new tactic for controlling banks. They will use a strategy of "shaming" banks by releasing names to the public. The banks who are moving too slowly will wish they never got billions of dollars once the government performs free advertising for them after handing them billions of dollars with no strings attached. More money will be given to the offending banks if they pinky swear to try harder to let the money "trickle down". Cram-down will not be considered, that would be detrimental to the banks that have served the economy so faithfully. Mark to Market valuations of bank's holding will not be considered either, that would just be shrill. Ratings agencies will not be blamed for rating the shit pile as AAA, because that would not be fair.

Personally I can hardly wait to register voters, hit the phones, and donate my money to the Democrats for the next round of elections. This agenda is exactly what was promised, and they are delivering beautifully on the biggest and most urgent priorities - padding Wall Streets pockets, preventing accountability, continuing torture, waging war against the darkies, and crushing the working class.

Those priorities are why I'm a proud Obama Democrat.

What's the news? I've been incommunicado...

2009-10-21T22:20:26Z

I was on, as the Brits say "Holiday"

Wanted to check in on progress towards some of my political goals? (not in order of importance)

1. Economy - after 40 plus percent of my retirement savings were lost in just on year, I was wondering if we have any new regs/orgs/laws to prevent this type of catastrophe? Have we done anything to break up the too-big to fail banks? Are the bets any less entangling? Have the losses "unwound" fully?

2. War - What is the status on Iraq/Afg? Is there any sort of timetable for withdrawal from either? I saw something about the President wanting to send more troops to Afg?

3. Middle Class - EFCA?

4. Torture - Dawn Johnsen news? How about the Spanish court? I saw Glen arty about British High Court reversing itself saying they didn't believe Obama's threats to withhold terrorist warnings over revealing the torture we did to (Binyam Mohammed? iirc)

5. Healthcare?

6. Free Trade/Globalization? Any good news on that front? I heard about some China/tires action - surprisingly positive IMO.

7. Environment? How's the regulating Carbon thing going? Is it gonna be cap-n-trade? (my opinion is Cap n Trade just rewards the largest polluters, and just keeping the option on the table will ensure more pollution)

8. Civil Rights? Is DOMA or DADT in any sort of impending danger? How is the President doing in fixing the problems with the Patriot Act, and the new FISA bill?

9. War on Drugs? Read one arty about Obama letting state's rights be trump with medical marijuana.

I would like to hear from the community on how we are doing on these issues individually or collectively. I am interested to hear about your expectations vs what has been done, what you think should be next after this "health care" reform? It seems like we can only do one thing per year, or thereabouts.

How do you think Democrats are doing with their numbers?

Before my holiday, I was upset with progress on all of these fronts. I hope some good has come out of all of our hard work during the campaigns - I know I could use some of that cash back. I've been forced to take a 10% cut in wages, no raises, no pension, no more 401k matching (in the co. stock of course), and now we have to take furlough days once a month. I am happy to have a job, but I've been raped for more than 5 years of raises... so I'm gonna be unhappy.

Tell me some happy news my TPM friends!

oh, and don't gimme any bubbleboy/balloonboy or whatever shit :)

Cash for Clunkers Analysis and Stats

2009-08-27T05:40:39Z

I think this program should be ruled a success, even if it is stupid to drag around your personal three thousand pile of metal wherever you go. The fact is that we saved a lot of gas, and after 2 years it will already be justified by the "saving" of gasoline which is a scarce, non-renewable source of energy. Oil is quite possibly the best natural energy source. I think that in the future, people will be aghast at how we waste oil in the present.

The program was shut down after the government spent 2.88 billion dollars. The average clunker's MPG was 15.76, the average of the new cars was 24.9 MPG. If each of the 700 thousand cars was driven thirty thousand miles per year, the program will have succeeded in reducing gasoline consumption by 489 million gallons per year. If those numbers hold up over two years, the cost per of gasoline saved becomes $2.94 which is cheaper than gasoline is now where I live.

Therefore, on terms of just conserving gasoline, or "buying it for the future", taxpayers have got market prices after two years. After five years the cost/gallon saved becomes $1.18, after 10 years at these rates the cost/gallon saved is only fifty nine cents.

When you consider the added money for companies to stay afloat through absurdly lean times and the workers who were recalled to work's income both on top of the conservation benefit there was a large fiscal stimulus, environmental benefit, and a environmental and prescient conservation.

Overall, the market share broke down like this:

% Market share	Company
19.4	Toyota
17.6	GM
14.4	Ford
13	Honda
7.2	Hyundai

Dollar Share	Company
558.72	Toyota*
506.88	GM*
414.72	Ford*
374.4	Honda*
207.36	Hyundai

	*millions of dollars estimated by market share x total dollars spent by Govt, assuming uniform revenue per market share percent.

So, some much needed cash for these large companies was given by the taxpayers, and taxpayers also funded the profit margin on each one of the 700K cars. I hope most of the people are paying cash. You hate to see that every time a dollar is spent that it is reapportioned to the rich in a regressive fashion. Financing takes a large slice out of non-savvy customers, and I bet the richest in the auto companies take more than their share of these revenues.

If I had written the program, I would have mandated only for cars built 100% in America by unionized American Companies, with EFCA as a rider. However, the law was written by imperfect people, but I think it can be ruled a wise and productive plan. The cost should be born by the rich, instead of the working poor's taxes, but that is my only major complaint.

Opposition Party?

2009-08-21T02:36:20Z

Reading Jane Hamsher's Baucus Caucus article leaves me scratching my head.

"There was a huge push to keep these groups happy during this period, and more importantly -- keep them from aligning with the Republicans."

These groups refers to the corporate vampires who are getting rich by skimming money off of us that should be going to doctors for healing us.

My question is if Obama is willing to do anything to keep these vampires happy, like the banks before, what is the ostensible difference between his policies and those of Republicans?

The only way to make the vampires go along is to use the bully pulpit, or to cave in to their demands. We all have seen Obama is not willing to use the bully pulpit except to get his perpetual-war funding approved, hardly an act of rebellion against the vampires.

So, to my mind that just means Obama will adopt the policies of the Republicans, which is exactly what we will continue to see on issue after issue. This is a continuation of the third way/triangulation strategies that everybody voted AGAINST. The CHANGE we wanted was away from sucking up to the vampires that are sucking the blood of the middle class.

People aren't as stupid as Obama and Rahm think, and I think their support will dry up. I think that this is part of their larger strategy, to promote apathy among voters.

There are two ways of keep voters from acting like the French, who will protest to get policies that make their lives better.
1. Keep voters ignorant. By using the 5 media companies to control information, and continuing to have horrible public education.
2. Promoting apathy among voters.

#1 is already in place, the WH doesn't need to do anything to achieve that.

#2 is being pushed hard by the WH. They will prove to all the young excited voters that their promises ring hollow, that they are full of false hopes just like all politicians. I think they aim to lose seats in the Senate, and the House.

A few examples of broken campaign promises/themes:
You thought Obama was against torture? Actually, he is OK with it.
You thought Obama was against War? He's sending more troops.
You thought Obama was taking Public Financing? Hardly.
You thought Obama would repeal DOMA/DADT? Nah.
You thought Obama would fix NAFTA? Ha!

I say this because having such a large majority makes it all too clear to see that the Democrats don't actually have any convictions about their principles. It will be much easier to fall back on the excuses of "don't have the votes" "need bipartisan support" than to acknowledge the fact that they just don't really care about the serfs in this country - and our petty demands for strong labor laws, adequate health care, etc.

My opinion is that Obama was installed to continue the status quo, people who think he actually cares about changing our country for the better will realize they were mistaken sooner or later. I really hope I am wrong, but this is what I see playing out.

I will not give up political engagement, I have called my Republican congressman Mike Rogers and my two Senators every week and hounded them. I will not give in to the elites, this is class war, and I will never surrender.

I will donate to ActBlue candidates, and continue to call and support good politicians like Anthony Weiner - who I called and congratulated, and offered my support for his strong statements regarding the Public Option.

Watching the Watchers

2009-08-18T05:23:44Z

A problem with governance, and getting public service instead of acts of for personal enrichment is how to structure power. In our system, the checks and balances were set up in order to maintain either the illusion of checks on power, or something close to it. Congress would write laws, the President would execute them, and the courts would decide if the laws were legal, or Constitutional. A Free Press would be a watchdog on power, to keep the people informed so that they could vote in their own interest. That all sounded really great in the 10th grade.

How it really works is quite different than they teach in schools, but many people are completely ignorant of this reality, most people likely don't even remember the fairy tales from school on how it is supposed to work.

Unelected lobbyists write our laws, corporations and other moneyed interests fund the lobbyists and buy politicians. The same moneyed interests own the 5 media companies that dictate all of the news the vast majority of the citizenry see hear and read. Presidents issue signing statements, vowing not to enforce laws that they don't want to, even after signing them into law.

Our reality is about 180 degrees from what it is supposed to be. So much power is held by so few, that calling our system "democratic" is a farce.

I have been contemplating how to change any of this. As time goes by, our system has become more and more corrupt. As it becomes more corrupt, it is easier still to become corrupted further.

There are obvious things that can be done to reverse this trend - but the people who would need to do this are the very people that are most corrupt, and benefit the most from the current state of corrupt affairs.

Public Financing of elections would be a great change for our country. Increasing taxes on the wealthy would be a good start. Breaking up huge financial corporations would be great, breaking up the huge media companies would be great, getting rid of a two party system would be great, re-apportioning the votes in the House would be great, giving DC statehood would be, outlawing corporate contributions to politicians would. So what stands in the way of all of these things? The very people who are enriched and empowered by the current state. The entrenched powerful elites have no reason to give up their power, and they will not do this willingly.

The day that a politician votes against his benefactors is the day that Republicans vote for compromise legislation they watered down to the point of ineffectiveness. The same day a fool realizes he is stupid. The American people are Charlie Brown, forever trying to kick the football, not knowing that it will be pulled away at the last second.

Because of the media conglomerates the vast majority of citizenry don't even understand WHY we are always at war, why they are scared, that they are being duped and exploited. More people know about Michael Jackson's deeds than those of Alan Greenspan. One of them (allegedly) screwed some little kids, and the other (certainly) screwed 99.9% of us.

I have been reading a lot about electing better Democrats, but I don't really have much faith in that accomplishing anything worth while. Look who the self-chosen leaders of the Democrats are: Pelosi and Reid. They seem like they are bumbling fools, not getting a Healthcare bill to the floor before recess was a mistake liberals say. I don't think it was a mistake, these are smart, savvy people. I think that like Bush, they just play bumbling characters on the TV. They talk about doing things they should be able to do, but always manage to find an excuse for the status quo. They only exist to protect the interests of their powerful benefactors, their success lies in convincing Charlie Brown that they won't pull away the football this time. "Just keep sending us your money, and in two years, in four years it will be different, I promise, this time it will be different."

I have the recurring sense that people have lost all sense of their proper place. Corporations order around the government, even though without the govt they would not exist. The President just decides not to follow laws, or obey court orders, police beat the crap out of the folks who pay their salary. It is like we live in upside-down world, where the subordinates slap around their bosses, and the bosses are happy with that situation. Senators preen about how the government is a Predator, when they ARE the government. Military veterans go on about how you can't trust the government to do anything big right, even though they are part of the largest government operation. The media, who is supposed to help us understand what is going on obfuscates at every turn, and refuses to call a lie a lie.

It is becoming harder to lampoon the present, we have become a caricature, satire is reality. It is hard to imagine a more corrupt system that pretends all is well. Democrats and Republicans make sure that ignorance is maintained through dismal education funding, and media control is kept for the elites only. Most people care more about their MLB/NBA/NCAA/NHL/NFL team than where their tax dollars are spent. The elites had the foresight to guarantee a monopoly for the leagues to exacerbate this condition, and even make the pawns pay for the new stadiums.

Virtually nothing that is done by our government benefits the masses in any way, they just do enough to placate the rubes, and scare them into line when they get uppity. The elites think that they stupid unwashed masses deserve to be played like pawns, that their lives are worthless, they are just put on earth to further enrich and empower the deserving elites.

How do we take away power from the few, when the powerful control all the mechanisms to do so?

I honestly don't know a way other than getting out the guillotines again, but this will need to happen soon, because it is almost college football season, and I will be far too busy then.

I'd like to think my vote can make a difference, but it will take much much more than that, what are your thoughts on how to right our ship?

Down the Rabbit Hole

2009-05-22T18:26:21Z

I like to write when I am angry, to help get out the negative energy without resorting to physical violence, or some other such harmful act. This results in some language which I wouldn't use if I wasn't so pissed off. (With apologies to Kurt Vonnegut Jr) So be it.

My words don't slice anybody's genitals with razor blades, I don't care if it upsets the Obama apologists who place hero worship ahead of justice, human decency, and the rule of law. Facing inconvenient realities, or as Al Gore made famous Inconvenient Truth is often upsetting.

One of the phrases I've used is "King Obama," and I've got comments that indicate people are highly offended by those two words. I really do mean to offend people when I write that, so I have no problem with it. I think I can express a little more why I say this, and following on Bush's Unitary Executive two terms why I think that this is so very dangerous to our country and its institutions.

I admit I have never read Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, it was a little before my time. (As I pull quotes from the net, I resolve to buy this book now. Anybody out there say its better than Animal Farm?) I did see the movie, and there was a very memorable scene, and a phrase or two that have stuck in my mind.

I may now start calling Obama "Queen of Hearts", but not to insult him about gender, or to say he is a homosexual queen. (I despise and abhor Maureen Dowd for those exact behaviors.) It is an allusion to the brilliant satire of Kangaroo Courts, Carroll's mockery of mock-justice.

At this moment the King, who had been for some time busily writing in his note-book, called out, "Silence!" and read out from his book, "Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court."

Everybody looked at Alice.

"I'm not a mile high," said Alice.

"You are," said the King.

"Nearly two miles high," added the Queen.

"Well, I shan't go, at any rate," said Alice: "besides, that's not a regular rule: you invented it just now."

"It's the oldest rule in the book," said the King.

"Then it ought to be Number One," said Alice.

The King turned pale, and shut his note-book hastily.

How, I ask, are the policies of indefinite imprisonment any different than rule 42? Invented by the executive, on the spur of the moment, to specifically target somebody they couldn't handle by the current laws, so rather than dealing with this situation a law is made up to guarantee the desired result. The executive (Obama) claims that we will stick to our "timeless values" and that "need not throw away 200 years of American jurisprudence while we fight terrorism" but now he pretends to not be making it up as he goes along, to satisfy his personal predispositions, actions that are exactly like the King of Hearts.

Does this not perfectly fit with our current debate in this country?

"Let the jury consider their verdict," the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.

"No, no!" said the Queen. "Sentence first--verdict afterward."

"Stuff and nonsense!" said Alice loudly. "The idea of having the sentence first!"

"Hold your tongue!" said the Queen, turning purple.

"I won't!" said Alice.

"Off with her head!" the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved.

This president, and the last, want to lock up "enemy combatants" forever - the sentence. There have been no trials after 7 years of imprisonment, indignities and torture. There have been no trials, thus no verdict. This is a perfect parrallel, mocking the sheer stupidity of such a phony system of justice. If you don't feel like Alice nowadays, I don't think you have been raised to appreciate the norms and morals of Western Justice.

It makes me sad to live in this country sometimes, our educational system and media have failed a great many of us, turning us into a nation resembling the jurors in this story's court. The funding of our public schools, and higher education is pathetic. The ruling class, just as described in James A Michener's Hawaii (I just finished reading it), have decided not to educate people above their "proper stations." The result is predictable we are fooled into supporting one of two political parties no matter what, Agressive Wars, thinking Iraq was behind 9-11, etc, etc.

"They're putting down their names," the Gryphon whispered in reply, "for fear they should forget them before the end of the trial."

"Stupid things!" Alice began in a loud indignant voice; but she stopped herself hastily, for the White Rabbit cried out, "Silence in the court!" and the King put on his spectacles and looked anxiously round, to make out who was talking.

Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down "Stupid things!" on their slates, and she could even make out that one of them didn't know how to spell "stupid," and that he had to ask his neighbor to tell him.

The fact is, we are surely living in the rabbit hole now, from perusing the story online, that is abundantly clear. What remains is to decide whether or not it is a desireable state of affairs. I emphatically contend that it is NOT.

"That I can't remember," said the Hatter.

"You must remember," remarked the King, "or I'll have you executed."

The miserable Hatter dropped his teacup and bread-and-butter, and went down on one knee. "I'm a poor man, your Majesty," he began.

"You're a very poor speaker," said the King.

Here one of the guinea-pigs cheered, and was immediately suppressed by the officers of the court. (As that is rather a hard word, I will just explain to you how it was done. They had a large canvas bag, which tied up at the mouth with strings; into this they slipped the guinea-pig, head first, and then sat upon it.)

Does this not mirror the tactics of the Bush admin forcing confessions of an Iraq-Al Qaeda link on threats of torture. Al-Libi was mock burried in a coffin to force him to "remember" this link that President Bush, and Colin Powell used as evidence.

The childish Alice learned some wrong lessons, the same thoughts which a great many have in this country currently:

Here the other guinea-pig cheered, and was suppressed.

"Come, that finishes the guinea-pigs!" thought Alice. "Now we shall go on better."

The foolish idea is that putting a few animals into sacks will help us get on better. As if there are only a couple of these animals, and we can feasibly supress them all.

Our officers of the court have even used the same techniques used to suppress the guinea-pig:

Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was being stubborn with his American captors, and a series of intense beatings and creative interrogation tactics were not enough to break his will. On the morning of Nov. 26, 2003, a U.S. Army interrogator and a military guard grabbed a green sleeping bag, stuffed Mowhoush inside, wrapped him in an electrical cord, laid him on the floor and began to go to work. Again.

It was inside the sleeping bag that the 56-year-old detainee took his last breath through broken ribs, lying on the floor beneath a U.S. soldier in Interrogation Room 6 in the western Iraqi desert. Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi paramilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents.

The sleeping bag was the idea of a soldier who remembered how his older brother used to force him into one, and how scared and vulnerable it made him feel. Senior officers in charge of the facility near the Syrian border believed that such "claustrophobic techniques" were approved ways to gain information from detainees, part of what military regulations refer to as a "fear up" tactic, according to military court documents.

That is from an article by Josh White, for the Washington Post.

Am I the only one who is more and more scared about how closely our country is beginning to resemble the the realities that were written about as WARNINGS, not as exemplary models? I hope not, but sometimes it is depressing to read justifications of all of this, too many people have not learned these lessons.

If it were only a dream, and I could just wake up.... *sigh*

Now, proceed to call me a "kook," "loony left," and say "grow up" in the comments section.

Obama: more dangerous than Bush (Reverend Wright was correct about Obama just being another politician)

2009-05-16T00:37:28Z

Barack Obama has continued to prove that he said things to get votes that he had no intention of actually doing. He espoused morals and ideals in order to fool voters.

He is a serial deceptionist, a liar, and more dangerous than Bush. Look how much Bush loves him, that is one tight hug, like I would only give to my dad or brother.

This is because he has erected a cult-following of Dem-bots that will justify anything he does, no matter what.

I do not know why Barack Obama calls him self a Democrat, other than Bush poisoned the Republican brand so bad that Obama opportunisticly rode a wave of NEED for change, and fooled the country in the most Machiavellian and disgusting way.

I pray that Obama does not get a second term, and an actual Democrat can be elected who is truthful, and has one or two progressive bones in his body.

Obama has vast record of breaking his promises on the primary trail. Obama lying to your face is his Modus Operendi:

1. NAFTA

Hopey-Changey Obama: "I would immediately call the president of Mexico, the president of Canada, to try to amend NAFTA, because I think that we can get labour agreements in that agreement right now," Obama said. "And it should reflect the basic principle that our trade agreements should not just be good for Wall Street; it should also be good for Main Street."

Gotchya Suckers Obama: "Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,"

bottom line: Obama says slowly and clearly to the 10million auto workers, the whole middle class, unions, and the entire state of Michigan: FUCK YOU! DIE SLOWLY! Barack Obama has no compunction about lying to voters faces about the issues that effect and affect them the most, it was in fact a deliberate strategy. How the fuck did his rhetoric get "overheated and amplified"? What a bunch of bullshit.

2. FISA

Hopey-Changey Obama:

Bill Burton issues a statement, October 24, 2007, reaffirming Obama's position and pledging to support Chris Dodd's filibuster:

"To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."

Gotchya Suckers Obama: Obama votes for cloture on the FISA bill that included retroactive immunity for telecoms

bottom line: Obama threw his lot in with the criminals in our Government, he is no different than any common crook of the Bush Administration. Coopting the arguments, language of Bush, Obama shows the country how he will act when he becomes the King.

3. Torture

Hopey-Changey Obama: Obama says waterboarding is torture, and nobody is above the law.

Gotchya Suckers Obama: Obama mimmicks the exact words of Bush: "The United States doesn't torture." Obama then proceeds in Orwellian language to insist that the last thing the head of the executive branch should do is actually enforce laws, or investigate crimes, cuz they are in the past, and distractions. Except (of course) for the crimes commited by ordinary citizens, who are locked up at the highest rate and totals in all of the Earth.

bottom line: Obama has the gall to pretend like it is his decision alone on who/when/how to prosecute lawbreakers. He shows the country that he thinks that crimes are acceptable if committed by high-ranking government officials.

Torture got worse at Gitmo after Obama was elected according to prisoners there:

"Since the election it's got harsher," Mr Mohamed said. [snip] his chest and penis were slashed with razors

. Obama has claimed King priveleges to ship Muslim prisoners to Bagram and torture them forever with no trial. I think Obama takes pleasure in torturing Muslims, because he resents his middle name, and his father that abandoned him like the garbage he turned out to be.

4. Covering up Government (War) Crimes

Hopey-Changey Obama:

My view is also that nobody's above the law and, if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen.

Gotchya Suckers Obama: President Obama insists "we should be looking forward and not backwards."

bottom line: Covering up War Crimes is a War Crime. Obama is no better than Bush on this. But we are just "ordinary citizens" so why should King Obama care about what he says to us?

5. Blackmailing the citizenry of Britain

Hopey-Changey Obama: OK, there was never any pretense here, but this is so dispicable and thuggish it needs to be pointed out to as wide an audience as possible

Gotchya Suckers Obama:

bottom line: Obama is commiting an international War Crime by covering up War Crimes, and he is committing a crime in Brittain by covering up evidence of the torture of one of their citizens. I hope all you Dems out there are proud of Obama blackmailing a whole country and threatening them with a terrorist attack unless they too illegally cover up for Bush's War Crimes. Fucking awesome!

6. Health Care

Hopey-Changey Obama:

May 14, 2007

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, seeking support from labor union members in New Jersey, vowed Monday to make health insurance available to all Americans by the end of his first term in the White House.

''We can have universal health care by the end of the next president's first term, by the end of my first term,'' Obama said, bringing 600 union workers to their feet during a question-and-answer session with members of AFL-CIO affiliated unions.

Gotchya Suckers Obama:

"Got the little single-payer advocates up here.....The only problem is that we're not starting from scratch. We have historically a tradition of employer-based health care. ....We don't want a huge disruption as we go into health care reform where suddenly we're trying to completely reinvent one-sixth of the economy...... If you don't have health care or you're highly unsatisfied with your health care, then let's give you choices, let's give you options, ....produce a bill before the August recess. And it may not have everything I want in there or everything you want in there, but it will be a vast improvement over what we currently have."

bottom line: I supported Obama in the primary, but I always thought Clinton's healthcare plan was better. It is still extremely disheartening. We are looking at at least 8 years of the same shitty for profit abuses and poor health care. Obama has his public option, why should he care about others? Additionally, it was those union workers' own faults for believing what Obama said, not Obama's fault for lying yet again.

7. Military Commisions

Hopey-Changey Obama: "we need not throw away 200 years of American jurisprudence while we fight terrorism"

Gotchya Suckers Obama: "will permit commissions to prosecute terrorists effectively ... This is the best way to protect our country, while upholding our deeply held values"

bottom line: I'm glad Obama doesn't even attempt to explain why we can't use our existing courts to try terrorists. After all, once he is elected King, he is the only person whose opinion matters. He is so much smarter than us "ordinary citizens", we wouldn't be able to understand anyway.

8. DADT (gay bashing)

Hopey-Changey Obama AND Gotchya Suckers Obama: http://www.towleroad.com/2009/05/jon-stewart-nails-obama-on-dont-ask-dont-tell.html link to John Stewart showing Obama's continued hypocrisy and outright dishonesty

bottom line: way to break the stereo type of the homophobic black guy, you should be proud of yourself Obama! And the bigger threat to our security is gays translating versus the backlog of wiretaps of suspected terrorists. FAAAABULOUS!

I am done with Obama, he is worse than Clinton. He lets Al Franken and Dawn Johnsen languish, he lets cramdown fail by not lifting a finger, he plays King and knights Arlen Specter the next Democratic Senator (fuck what the voters of PA think) and makes Gillibrand his annointed dutchess. I don't think anybody voted for any of this shit! If we wanted all these disgusting behaviors from a President we would have voted for John McCain.

Face it, Obama is a fraud, additced to the power of lies and deceit. It appears to me that Obama's top priorities are:

1. (TIE) redistributing wealth from the taxpayers to the banksters AND playing basketball

2. permanent land war in Asia (how did that work out for the Romans, Greeks, and Russians?)

3. the rendition, permanent imprisonment and torture (especially slicing of penises) of Arab Muslims at his personal whim

4. Covering up the crimes of the Bush Admin, supressing evidence, or whole lawsuits by claiming national security

5. Keeping enough Republicans and Blue Dogs (Specter, Coleman, Gates) in power so that he has an excuse to not enact any of the meaningful promises he made

6. Letting EFCA fail, or become so watered down it is no change

I fully expect Obama to appoint a Federalist Society member to the supreme court to cap off his DINO performance

Priorities, Class War, DINOs, Obama and Nero

2009-02-04T00:31:12Z

Can anybody out there explain to me why the President of the United States is not getting the highest salary in this country? The government is the largest employer in the country, and he is the President of that employer. The POTUS is also in charge of the largest and most deadly fighting force ever assembled. How is anybody in this country earning more money than the President? This cannot be justified rationally.

Can anybody explain why government officials should be able to become lobbyists at all? Why should becoming a Senator or Representative be a stepping stone to something more profitable? Of course the loyalties of the "public servants" will be to the future riches they envision by trading public interests of their constituents for their own future wealth? What is the point of waiting one or two years before becoming a proffessional grafter fighting against the interests of the public at large for obscene personal fortunes? If it is wrong to become a lobbyist right away, then what really changes after a year or two? Nothing!

Why do we claim Democrats are an opposition party to Republicans? Seriously, the Republicans get everything they want when they are in power, and also when they are out of power. War on Iraq, Torture, Bankruptcy Bill, Tax Cuts, FISA coverup, War Profiteering, etc, etc were all aided by the "leaders" of the "opposition" party. What exactly have Pelosi and Reid opposed effectively? Democrats are just Republican light for the most part, just barely enough difference to easily confuse the idiots our underfunded schools produce, and our monopolized media maintain.

Why is Solis being "held" up in the Senate? Where the fuck does it say that is even legal? I'm sure it is really great that Reid is being considerate of the Republicans feelings, and being polite. I'm sure that the Republicans will end up returning the favor... Is Harry Reid a fucking simpleton? He must have been a really shitty boxer, always getting punched in his face, and never fighting back. Maybe he threw fights, and bet against himself to profit personally. Those are the ways he works in the Senate.

Why does Obama think that Change is putting the people who fucked everything up in charge of fixing it? Rubin, Geithner, Summers, Gregg, etc. When will the sheep realize they have been conned yet again? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Why are we granting visas for foreign workers when we are suffering from record unemployment?

Why are we building schools in Iraq when our schools are shit here? There are tons of public schools crumbling, paying crumbs to teachers, with not enough books for each kid.

Why do we allow companies to become so large that they need to be bailed out, or else the world economy will fail? Why do we allow them to stay that big?

Why do we allow confessed criminals (FISA, torture, DOJ sackings, Iran Contra, etc) in the political class to wander freely, profitting handsomely from their crimes? How can people just ignore subpoenas with no reprecussions?

I think the answer to all of this is that there is a class war underway, there always is. The faces on TV, and in the newspapers are allied with their rich employers. There are very few fighters for the poor and middle class. Obama pretended to be one during the primaries, and the election. Now, he surrounds himself with one or two only, and says nothing about the illegal "hold" on Solis' nomination.

People are getting very close to the tipping point in this country. It might not be long before food and job riots break out. The super rich can only be that way for so long, before the masses reach the critical point and take the wealth back. Our founders knew that Revolutions are needed from time to time, and that time has long past. The anger is palpable, the formerly comfortable middle classes are being pushed over the edge. My homestate is over 10.5% unemployment, with the new rigged statistics. I won't be suprised when the fires start, and the blood starts to flow. Robbery is becoming the only chance to eat, and the rich flaunt themselves at every opportunity.

This country is seriously fucked up, and we need to start busting up the monopolies, the trusts, and the big banks. History proves it will be done through legislation, or through violence. Either through revolution, secession, or invasion. We are in the end days of the Roman Empire - military stretched too thin over too much territory - unsustainable. Obama is busy trying to be nice to Republicans who drove this country to the brink. He is trying out for the part of Nero, fiddling away songs of bipartisanship, while getting punched in the face time and time again by those he courts. Obama is not stupid, therefore he must be complicit in these neoliberal economic values. He sees nothing wrong with the policies (deregulation of derivatives, etc) of Rubin's ilk - and he is not ignorant that they have caused the problems.

Hope was a platitude, Change was an illusion, the class war is still on full tilt, and the powerful people are on their own side. Obama does not care about Progressive causes enough to make the needed changes, as evidenced by his treasury appointments. If you think otherwise you are fooling yourself. When Obama shouted: ENOUGH - I bet it made you feel good inside too.

In his own words "that was overheated campaign rhetoric"

We need to primary all these DINO fuckers out, or it will get very very ugly within the next 4 years. I don't want the riots and revolution to come, but I can't wait to punch some rich bastard in the face and redistribute their obscene wealth when it does happen.

I hope I am wrong about Obama, but I have no confidence that he actually cares enough to fight the hard battles, if he even believes in the principles he was elected on at all.

The most important thing I saw at The Grant Park Celebration

2008-11-06T05:02:54Z

The Kids

Last night was amazing. Truly magical, I was taking in moments as if in slow motion. The sounds would fade away, and visions of the leaders of the past rushed into my conscious.

Then the memories of George Bush winning, twice. The stolen elections, the lies, the corruption, the ineptness. The Bob Shrumness, the Karl Roveness, the Abramoff, Libby and Viceroy Bremer. 9-11, Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the US, Topped the Levy, Heckuva Job, Alberto's perjury, the illegal spying, the illegal war, the illegal torture, the illegal obstruction of justice(s). The war on science, the war on the poor, on the working, on the small businesses, states, cites, unions, and the pension plans. The bankrupting of our treasury, the missing 9 billion dollars, the giveaways to the only people who don't need it, and it doesn't help to give it to. The failure to catch Bin Laden. Scalito, Roberts, Meirs, Bolten, Medals of Freedom.

I don't know if that will fade away, but when I snapped out of my fog I looked around me. What I saw was nothing but young people. The average age could have been 21, maybe lower.

This is what Obama has done for the country, at a minimum. He has engaged many young people who never felt like it mattered before. These young people will be alive for many years to come, and will be the leaders of this country. As I looked around at all of the young faces I couldn't help but think that we are on the right track again.

The kids under 22 are more engaged than ever before, and the kind of hope that this gives them is immeasurable. They are the base of the Democratic party for the future, and they are very liberal/progressive. They know the issues much better than any young people before them for quite a while. I think that is what A War or Two does, it gets kids to pay attention when their friends are off dying accross the world fighting some dark skinned people. It gets kids asking questions, gets them pissed off, and gets them motivated and working for CHANGE!

The country got so bad, that everybody had to get serious and we didn't have the luxury of Republican rhetoric anymore. Nobody cares about Socialism, Guns and Abortions more than eating and having a house. In good times, I feel there are voters who vote Republican just to feel morally superior, or to be politically incorrect to piss people off. When their wallets' are hurting, they come back to the serious adults with answers.

Problem Solving and "Too big to fail"

2008-09-24T06:44:20Z

As a trained Engineer, I have learned about structured, proffesional problem solving. One of the finest principles in Quality Control is that of preventative countermeasures. In other words, making sure that a problem will not happen again. This is called Error Proofing sometimes, or Poke-Yoke.

The main idea behind problem solving is to find the root cause of a problem, and put countermeasures in place that will guarantee the root cause will be eliminated. The idea is to find a countermeasure that will 100% work, totally preventing the root cause.

Applying this logic, I propose that as a country we must move to stop the "too big to fail" business failures from occuring anymore. There is a serious problem with the country's economic "health" if a single private company can destroy the whole country's economy. That is the line we were sold for Fanni Mae and Freddie Mac, and AIG. The fact that we have now spent a fantastic amount of money to bail out corrupt businesses more than once means that it is a serious, and recurring problem.

To solve this problem our country needs to prevent companies from being that large. There needs to be a maximum size of assets (wealth) that a single company can control, a certain % of GDP or some similar constraint.

It has been written about how supremely wealthy individuals are a danger to the state, and it is true just as much for companies. Is there anybody out there who will second my thoughts on this, or do you think we should let this keep happening?

Why America is Lost

2008-08-19T03:56:01Z

reading my new Sports Illustrated:

"part of a larger initiative to promote healthy lifestyles, the Chinese government built 60,000 outdoor basketball courts last year and wants to lay down another 700,000 over the next decade so that every village has one."

Republicans would call that pork, and the media would agree. This reminds me of the differences I've noticed between working for a Japanese, and multiple American automotive companies.

At the Japanese company, there was a workout facility for all the employees. There was a fresh salad bar with high quality ingredients, and fresh food cooked in front of you. At Ford, they severed greasy ass shit burgers with piles of greasy ass french fries with a 32 oz drink of Coke, or some other sugary acid. The gym situation was an off plant drive to the Ford gym, and none at Cadillac or Lear Corporation. Then Ford has the nerve to bitch about it's healthcare costs for retirees.

The Chinese government, with its evils and flaws, sometimes "gets it" better than us. Government is FOR the people. That is the right thing for government to do.

Republicans are vehemently against this very concept, it is anathema to them, even though it is one of the main reasons that this country was created, to "promote the general Welfare". It is right there in the Preamble, with "Welfare" capitalized.

McCain says "welfare is a disgrace". He really means it, and so do the republicans. The majority of politicians in our government holding power think that Welfare is a bad word. Republicans have spent over 20 years demonizing one of the fundamental principles of this country.

This is a wedge we can drive between John McCain and older voters, I think Democrats would be very smart to attack him in Florida, and elsewhere on those lines.

To me the larger picture is that many of our largest institutions are doing their best to kill us quickly. Cigarettes, alcohol, fast food, denial of medical care, denial of health insurance, pumping drugs and guns into inner cities, etc.

That is one of the downsides of getting rich quick, there is not a long term strategy. Americans are mediocre at fire-fighting, but very very very poor at long term planning. We need a much more far-reaching approach to governing, versus a bunch of crooks looting our treasury as quickly as possible, while the largest companies fight to kill us with their 99cent menu products. After reading enough David Cay Johnston you have to wonder what this country would be like if people knew what was going on.

America is lost because our government does nothing for the general Welfare anymore. They actively fight the general Welfare by allowing usurious lending rates, by encouraging liar loans and then changing the bankruptcy laws. The government has destroyed our public schools, and then Bush and Kennedy worked to give less money to the schools that need it most. Our government openly admits to spying on us illegally, kidnapping citizens, torturing prisoners to death, planning and choreographing torture sessions, and the people of America don't really know about any of this. Most people just pick a side and either hate Democrats or hate Republicans, and don't realize that they are both selling people short and doing the bidding of a select few wealth mongers.

Our mission as seekers of knowledge is to be teachers and get more people to care about what is going on. The trend in this country seems to be leading to having the middle class work all day and then a night job to keep up with the payments on their high interest debts. Weekends are for football and NASCAR, so you don't have any time to read or be politically active. The masses will be occupied with anything other that getting involved in holding our government accountable. One media company will just own the government, which will really cut out a lot of middle management that just overlapped.

Let's get in somebody's ear, and try to save our country.

Joe Klein = ignorant, employable

2008-07-23T21:21:59Z

Joe Klein, head-banging-against-the-wall ignorant:

The reality is that neither Barack Obama nor Nouri al-Maliki nor most anybody else believes that the Iraq war can be "lost" at this point. The reality is that no matter who is elected President, we are looking at a residual U.S. force of 30-50,000 by 2011 (a year ahead of the previous schedule). The reality is that McCain should be proud that he helped salvage a disastrous situation by pushing the counterinsurgency plan. It's something to run on. But, at this point, McCain must sense that it's not a winning hand. Obama, the poker player, has drawn to an inside straight: the Iraqis favor his plan over McCain's long-term bases.

OK folks, so there you have it. This is the pure genius of the chattering classes, the flappy heads, the pundit class of "centrists". This is the type of thing you have to say to be corporate media employable.

In poker, an inside straight:

A straight from a gutshot straight draw by the river - (4 outs) 5.1 to 1 (17%)

17%

So serious pundit Joe Klein says:
inside straight = Iraqis favoring leaving vs. Permanent Occupation and Oil Exploitation.

I will do a google of "polling iraqis do you want US troops to leave?", BRB.

Ok from the very first result, here is what the polling data says:

A new WPO poll of the Iraqi public finds that seven in ten Iraqis want U.S.-led forces to commit to withdraw within a year.

not so "new" from 2006
LMFAO

What else can you even say about how Joe Klein argues? In his core he is a stupid person, who writes things that he can't possibly believe.

Boy, the guy Obama sure is lucky! How did he see that coming?????

It's like Obama could read the Iraqi's minds!

Or just do a simple google.

Joe Klein.

Nuclear (nuculur) Power: huh?

2008-07-12T07:02:44Z

I am always amused when I see nuclear power mentioned as a part of somebody's energy platform. Some things may have changed since I took Nuclear Engineering class at the University of Michigan around 5 years ago, but I think the most important problems have not (comment below if I am wrong, and Yucca Mountain is being used or the like).

The harsh reality is that pebble reactors and such reduce or eliminate the likelihood of a meltdown, but the real problem is how to dispose of the waste.

I remember instead of a final exam we had a climactic debate which was judged by Nuclear Engineering professionals. I drew the unpopular side with my professors (completely unbiased.... lol) of the anti-nuclear. The object was to get to a carbon-free energy. Not an easy task by any measure, my small team of three was to debate on points of "security". So we were to debate how "safe" the energy was to transport, use, etc.

In the shocker of the century, the pro-nuclear side won. I kid you not, the Nuclear Engineering department thought that Nuclear was better than not-nuclear. My mouth is still agape, but don't worry, I still passed.

I was not surprised, but dismayed as I knew our subsection alone of the debate was a closer. I felt maybe like the high power attorney in a courtroom as I destroyed my debating opponents. We proposed wind, bio-diesel, carbon sequestration (putting carbon into big zip lock bags in the ocean, or into rocks like limestone), wind power and solar to meet our energy demands carbon-free.

Easily I batted away the other sides' arguments like "what if a bio-diesel truck tipped over and caught on fire?"

me: "A nuclear spill would be worse than a fire, the half lives are tens of thousands of years."

I think the average person understands very little about nuclear power, but the most important thing to realize is that there is nuclear waste which will poison water supplies for longer than America will be around. That means that if the storage vault for fuel rods ever leaks the ground water will carry deadly isotopes, like Cesium 135, which has a half life of millions of years.

We need to look at wind as THE priority, and solar as a secondary source. Wave power is nice, ethanol is ridiculous. But I'm wandering.

Proponents of nuke power will say there are safe ways of storing the waste, but the current pools used for storage are not designed for long term storage, and there is no agreed upon method of disposing of the waste.

When I hear John McCain talking about getting a bunch more nuclear plants online, I am sure it is another boondoggle to corporate masters. Nuclear power in it's current form is not a viable solution.

Fusion is a whole different story.

Like Thom Hartmann says, a 90% corporate profit tax encourages R&D like nothing else....

I don't want to count on Purdue to save the earth, but our government and leaders continue to bark up the stupid trees.