The Angry Progressives

Alternative Energy Daily News - June 28, 2007

2007-06-28T11:51:00.000-05:00

Hotels now are rolling out all sorts of green programs, in part because their business guests in particular are demanding it, and in part because the hotels are finding that going green saves money.

Technology that allows truckers to run the air conditioning inside their cabs, keep soda cold or watch TV without idling their big rigs was introduced at a Bordentown truck stop Tuesday, the third New Jersey location to install diesel pollution-reducing devices.

The Pennsylvania Legislature is working on legislative action that would mandate a 1,250% increase in the solar requirements provided by electric utilities over the next 15 years.

Despite its government's slow action on the issue of climate change, the U.S. financial community has done what it has always done so well, and that is pour money at an opportunity, i.e., the renewable energy sector.

The EPA has offered tighter standards for ozone pollution for the first time since 1997 but critics say the proposal is more lax than what the EPA's own experts recommended.

The House aims to slash energy consumption by 50% in 10 years under a "Green the Capitol" initiative.

Google Inc. aims to voluntarily cut or offset all of its greenhouse emissions by the end of the year.

Chicago Carriage Cab Company unveiled its first Ford Escape Hybrid, making it the first gas-electric fleet vehicle in Chicago.

The increased demand for "green" vehicles is spilling over to the rental car counter, where many more drivers will soon be able to choose a hybrid vehicle.

Good News?

2007-06-19T20:01:00.000-05:00

Two progressive ideas for the future are now launched:

1. Michael Bloomberg for President - can you say no politics in politics, just time to get sh*t done - I like his style.

2. Google to use its funds to challenge us (environmentally).

Alternative Energy Daily News - June 15, 2007

2007-06-15T11:54:00.000-05:00

European low-budget airline EasyJet has urged plane manufacturers to produce greener planes after unveiling the prototype for an aircraft that could slash carbon dioxide emissions by half.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger notified the EPA that California will file a lawsuit against the federal government six months and one day after the required notice was originally sent on April 26, 2007.

Dallas oilman and investor Boone Pickens wants to build the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle, a project that would put as many as 2,000 turbines on nearly 200,000 acres in four counties.

The list of universities and colleges putting up green buildings, buying alternative energy and otherwise shelling out money to green their campuses gets longer every day.

Across the country, a sprinkling of economists, authors, bloggers, and pundits are making the case that there's a silver lining to high gasoline prices: less traffic, fewer accidents, reduced air pollution, better efficiency, more reliance on renewable fuels, and less dependence on foreign oil.

Japanese carmaker Toyota Motors, calling hybrid technology its core technology, said it looks to soon sell 1 million gasoline-electric vehicles a year.

Access to clean water is going to continue to grow as an issue around the world and in the U.S. Ultimately, it will become an issue of national security as much as it will be one of environmental concern. In Nevada, there's a battle of 'Crops vs. Craps' over water right now.

Friday Links

2007-06-15T11:32:00.000-05:00

After Hurrican Katrina, FEMA may have told the insurance industry that it was OK to load up damages on the taxpayer-funded flood program while shorting people on their wind damage payments.

In recent years, the Bush administration has recast the federal government’s role in civil rights by aggressively pursuing religion-oriented cases while significantly diminishing its involvement in the traditional area of race. Why? Ask Kanye West.

Responding to shabby treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Democratically-controlled Senate moved on Wednesday to boost disability pay to those hurt in combat and improve care for brain injury.

In stunning victory for gay marriage advocates and a devastating blow to efforts to reverse a historic 2003 court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, Massachusetts lawmakers blocked a proposed constitutional amendment Thursday that would have let voters decide whether to ban gay marriage in the only state in which same-sex marriages are legal.

Thursday Links

2007-06-14T08:15:00.000-05:00

Over the last six years, the Defense Department has spent more than $30 million trying to find an efficient way for American soldiers and civilians living abroad to vote in elections back home. Unfortunately, they haven't figured it out yet. “ 'A system should be in place, regardless of the cost, to make sure that the very defenders of our democracy have the opportunity to take part in it,' wrote Sgt. James Mowrer, an Iowa National Guardsman deployed in Iraq who helped organize voters in his unit in 2006."

GOP Congressman and lower-tier presidential candidate Duncan Hunter (CA) is having trouble defending his role in helping steer tens of millions of dollars to a La Jolla-based aerospace firm to develop a military jet the Pentagon did not want. Hunter aggressively supported the program over decades even though the Pentagon repeatedly questioned the jet's feasibility and lambasted the contractor's work.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the nation's one million home healthcare aides are not entitled to minimum wages or overtime pay under federal law, even if they work for private employers. The 9-0 decision, which keeps in place a long-standing rule that denies minimum wages and overtime pay to those who provide "companionship services" at home, could trigger a move in Congress to amend the law.

In another unanimous ruling on Monday, the Supreme Court strengthened a landmark anti-pollution program yesterday, enabling companies to recover costs when they voluntarily clean up hazardous material. The Bush administration, as one might imagine, had argued otherwise.

The Georgia Supreme Court threw out the latest challenge to the state's voter ID law, but sidestepped a decision on the whether the requirement is constitutional. With a federal challenge still pending, election officials will not require voters to show photo IDs for the special elections scheduled next week in the race to succeed the late Rep. Charlie Norwood in Congress. These voter ID laws are discriminatory, and the argument that they prevent "voter fraud" is bogus.

As motorists face near-record gasoline prices, the Senate took up an energy bill Tuesday that would raise vehicle fuel-economy standards for the first time in nearly 20 years and make oil-industry price gouging a federal crime.

Alternative Energy Daily News - June 12, 2007

2007-06-12T08:24:00.000-05:00

Votes for shareholder resolutions that would force General Motors and ExxonMobil to take action on greenhouse gas emissions received record levels of support at the companies' annual meetings.

If people object to wind farms cluttering up the countryside, one answer might be to put them in the air instead.

U.S. CEOs want leadership from Washington on regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Europe's first regular passenger train service powered by bio-fuel set off on its maiden journey across Britain last Thursday with prime minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown hailing the launch for helping to combat global warming.

Goodbye to "The Sopranos"

2007-06-12T08:20:00.000-05:00

As everyone in the country knows, this past Sunday's episode of HBO's "The Sopranos" was the series finale. And while we can all argue over whether we liked it or not (I thought it was amazing), we can all agree that the series itself was incredible.

In this article on Salon.com, Gary Kamiya discusses how what he'll miss the most is the show's moral perversity, and how it reflects how many Americans feel about their country in the age of Bush.

Saturday Links

2007-06-09T08:47:00.000-05:00

The Senate Judiciary Committee (at least the Democrats on the Committee and Arlen Specter (R-PA) ) took a step towards repairing the Constitution on Thursday, approving a bill that would restore the right of habeas corpus to this country. I can't wait to see Congressional Republicans argue against any person's right to not be sent into a black hole with no rights and no recourse.

Blue Jersey is reporting that a bill was released yesterday by the NJ Senate Health and Human Services Committee which would test pregnant women for HIV as part of routine prenatal care unless the woman refuses testing and requires testing for all newborns for HIV. Preventitive care, that's the way to go.

President Bush, who last July vetoed a bill permitting federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, threatened within minutes of final congressional passage of a nearly identical bill Thursday to do it a second time. So once again, Bush will use his veto pen to go against the will of the people and a large bipartisan majority in Congress. More great leadership, which will ensure that stem cell research will be a major issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. That's good news for Democrats, and you can be assured that if a Democrat is elected into the White House this measure will be signed post haste.

Hans A. von Spakovsky used every opportunity he had over four years in the Justice Department to make it difficult for voters -- poor, minority and Democratic -- to go to the polls. During his tenure, more than half of the career lawyers in the voting section left in protest. Von Spakovsky now serves as a temporary (because Bush used a recess appointment to circumvent Congress) commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, the bipartisan body that enforces campaign finance regulations. And a Senate Rules Committee hearing set for Wednesday on whether to confirm him for a six-year term could become a critical moment in the debate over political influence in the Justice Department.

Now that Democrats are in charge, international family planning groups cut off from aid because of their position on abortion could gain access to U.S.-donated contraceptives.

Legalizing gay marriage would add $142 million in economic benefits to New York City’s economy over three years, according to a report fromthe City Comptroller, Bill Thompson. Hey Republicans, it's more money! How can you vote against that?

The House passed a resolution calling on the government of the People’s Republic of China to use its unique influence and economic leverage to stop genocide and violence in Darfur.

Alternative Energy Daily News - June 7, 2007

2007-06-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

In the past 30 years, while Americans on average have nearly doubled their per capita consumption of electricity, Californians have kept their consumption about the same.

Brazil eyes ethanol as fast track to power.

About 300 drivers of the dirtiest and oldest trucks serving the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex gathered in Wilmington on Tuesday to support a program that would impose stricter pollution standards on harbor vehicles.

Global concern about climate change has risen dramatically over the last six months and consumers increasingly expect their governments to act, according to a survey published by the Nielsen Company and Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute.

With its purchase of a Canadian hydroelectric plant and investments in two wind farms, General Electric's Energy Financial Services has begun a plan to double its investments to $4 billion by 2010.

Tuesday Links

2007-06-05T13:51:00.000-05:00

After looking pathetic in caving to Bush over funding for Iraq, Democrats and anti-war groups are planning to keep the heat on the President and GOP lawmakers.

A military panel recommended that an Iraq war veteran who wore his uniform during an anti-war demonstration lose his honorable discharge status, brushing away his claims that he was exercising his right to free speech.

Reversing its recent decision, the state says it will provide a pricey new vaccine that prevents cervical cancer free to all eligible Alaska girls.

With the April release of a congressionally authorized study showing that kids who took abstinence-only classes were just as likely to have premarital sex as those who weren’t in the classes, there has been a movement toward comprehensive sex-education that teaches about contraception along with abstinence.

The federal government is in the midst of an unprecedented intervention into the local criminal justice system in New Orleans, adding more than 40 agents and prosecutors to regain some basic daily operations lost to Hurricane Katrina nearly two years ago.

Conservatives Don't Care About Hunger

2007-06-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

As we noted earlier, today is National Hunger Awareness Day. And a report entitled "The Economic Cost of Domestic Hunger", commissioned by the Sodexho Foundation, has found that hunger in America leads to $90 billion a year in societal costs, and that that boosting anti-hunger spending by an additional $10 billion to $12 billion a year is cost-effective and could even "virtually end hunger" in America.

Amazingly, in this same article, conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation claims that "there is no significant long-term hunger in this country." Read that again. These a-holes think that hunger is not a problem in America. Instead, they argue that obesity is a bigger problem for poor people.

This is classic conservative spin. Yes, we can all agree that obesity is a major health problem for all Americans, and that economically-disadvantaged people suffer worse from poor nutrition because they are forced to buy more unhealthy food to stretch their budgets. But what the Heritage Foundation is trying to do is act like hunger is not a problem simply because obesity is. Unfortunately, they are not mutually exclusive. And ironically, it's corporations like McDonalds and Coca-Cola, the same companies that peddle the unhealthy foods that are causing the obesity problem in this country, that are protected from government regulation by Heritage Foundation. If government ever tried to regulate those companies and attempt to correct this health epidemic, conservatives such as these would cry foul and say, "Let the free market work it out!"

When the leading conservative think tank comes out and says that hunger is not a problem in America, stricly to try and influence the government away from spending more money to actually fix the problem, it's yet another sign that conservatives (read, the GOP) do not give a crap about regular people.

Alternative Energy Daily News - June 5, 2007

2007-06-05T08:33:00.000-05:00

California-based Solar Electrical Vehicles has created a solar power option for the Toyota Prius electric hybrid.

Energy companies make wind power a top investment.

A major London-based executive chauffeur fleet operator is switching its cars to Lexus hybrids, saying that the emergence of the automaker's Hybrid Drive technology and the readiness of its customers to 'think green' has enabled it to start transforming its operations.

National Hunger Awareness Day

2007-06-05T08:27:00.000-05:00

Today is National Hunger Awareness Day, an effort to raise awareness of—and donations to help end—hunger in America.

There are 25 million Americans on food stamps. In a prosperous country like this, that number is ridiculous. Go to the Hunger Site to see what you can do every day to help.

Friday Links, Part II

2007-06-01T11:34:00.000-05:00

A lot going on today, so here are some more links:

New Hampshire became the fourth state to legalize civil unions yesterday, as Democratic Governor John Lynch signed legislation into law saying it was in keeping with the state's anti-discrimination tradition.

Another Democratic Governor, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, plans to unveil a proposal today to make the state's community colleges free to all high school graduates in the state by the year 2015.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno warned that he may not be able to make a full assessment of the situation in Iraq by September, as demanded by lawmakers. September is the month in which the country is supposed to receive an honest assessment of the progress being made by Bush's escalation. If we can't get one then, is there anyone who thinks Bush won't say "Just give me more time," once again?

The popular online dating service eHarmony was sued on Thursday for refusing to offer its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals. Not coincidentally, eHarmony was founded in 2000 by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil Clark Warren and had strong early ties with the influential religious conservative group Focus on the Family.

Friday Links

2007-06-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

Marines battle bureaucrats and plead for high-tech gear. Once again, the GOP and their military-industrial complex buddies, supporting the troops like only they can.

Advocates of a bill promoting openness in government are fuming that a Republican senator is blocking a vote on the measure. Why does GOP Senator Jon Kyl (AZ) want to block this bill? Beyond the obvious, of course, that he as a Republican he cannot stand the thought of ordinary citizens of this country being privy to anything that our government does. He says it's because Alberto Gonzales and the Justice Department have a problem with the bill. So since Gonzales, who has zero credibility, isn't happy than the bill is no good?

The Bush administration said this past Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease. Conservative hypocrisy at its finest. Please read this post from Common Sense, which blasts conservatism in a way that I wish I had done myself.

Democratic Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY) has announced a Hearings Series: “The Constitution in Crisis: The State of Civil Liberties in America” to discuss the various ways the Bush adminstration has eroded our constitutional civil liberties.

Bush: Iraq Will Be Like Korea, and We're Never Leaving

2007-06-01T09:30:00.000-05:00

President Bush said Wedneday that he envisions a long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq similar to the one in South Korea, where American forces have been stationed for more than 50 years.

This is beyond insane. It's beyond stupid. It's something only Bush and his cadre of idiots would think of.

First of all, there is no better recruiting tool for the anti-U.S. insurgency and al-Qaeda (in Iraq and all over the world) than for them to point to Iraq and say, "See, America wants to occupy Iraq forever."

Second, as Dan Froomkin points out, not only are there are many vast differences between South Korea and Iraq, but Americans overwhelmingly want to bring troops home from Iraq NOW, not in 50 years.

And finally, does this not prove once and for all that we did not go in just because of weapons of mass destruction, but rather to establish a dominating presence in a country rich with oil? Look at this embassy we're building there, the biggest in the world! Do you think anyone looks at a $600 million building and figures the owner isn't staying for a while?

Bush and his GOP lackeys got us into this debacle, and it's clear that it's going to take a new president to get us out of it. It's also clear that that's exactly what Bush is planning on, leaving his successor with the biggest mess this country's ever been in for him/her to deal with. Now that's leadership.

Update: Oh by the way, we're using forced labor and obscene working conditions to get this embassy built. More great public relations for the "Great Satan".

Alternative Energy Daily News - June 1 ,2007

2007-06-01T09:19:00.000-05:00

The Board of the City of Montebello, CA has authorized the purchase of 150 40-foot gasoline hybrid-electric buses, to be supplied by the team of New Flyer and ISE Corporation.

CB Richard Ellis is aiming to make buildings greener.

Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest US bank, said it would build only environmentally friendly branches by the end of 2008, starting with eight it plans to open soon in Southern California.

HSBC, Europe's largest bank, has waded into the climate change fight in a big way with today's announcement that it will donate $100 million over the next five years to four environmental groups working on a range of climate issues.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told a Toronto audience that the United States is the world's "best hope" for keeping climate change in check, though he acknowledged his country's reputation as a laggard on global warming issues.

Thursday Links

2007-05-31T11:30:00.000-05:00

Republican Senator Jim DeMint (SC) on Tuesday blamed Democratic “wimps” in Congress for American casualties in Iraq, and cited Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for special censure. This is beyond anything that even Bush and Cheney have ever dared to go. There's a special place in hell for people like DeMint, who, by the way, has never served in the military himself.

Twenty months after its depleted ranks of soldiers and airmen were pressed into service for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Louisiana National Guard still lacks hundreds of military troop trucks that can handle high water as it faces a new storm season that begins Friday.

A NYT editorial: The Supreme Court struck a blow for discrimination this week by stripping a key civil rights law of much of its potency. The majority opinion, by Justice Samuel Alito, forced an unreasonable reading on the law, and tossed aside longstanding precedents to rule in favor of an Alabama employer that had underpaid a female employee for years.

Nike said on Thursday it would improve conditions for its 800,000 workers in factories that make its products by eliminating excess overtime by 2011.

Do Something: Impeach Gonzales

2007-05-30T10:11:00.000-05:00

How is Alberto Gonzales still the U.S. Attorney General. He has lied under oath, he has obstructed justice, and he has proven himself to be nothing but an incompetent yes-man for the worst president in the history of this nation. Bush clearly isn't going to fire him, and Gonzles clearly isn't going to leave on his own.

So it's up to Congress to use its power to remove him. You can sign a petition and watch Brave New Foundation's second online video that calls for impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales here.

Update: Charles Chamberlain of Democracy for America has a post on DailyKos detailing why impeaching Gonzales is so important.

Alternative Energy Daily News - May 29 , 2007

2007-05-29T13:01:00.000-05:00

Solar power is the fastest growing source of energy in the world and likely will become much more affordable in the next few years, according to a new report.

GE Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said his "green" ecomagination unit is on track to "blow away" its 2010 sales target of $20 billion as demand for environmental products and services surges.

New Jersey utility to replace 1,300 fleet vehicles with hybrids over the next decade.

Concern about environment creates shift in school design.

Convinced that rules aimed at slowing climate change are inevitable, coal-fired power generators are reexamining construction plans, fund managers are raising billions of dollars to invest in projects to combat climate change, insurance firms are devising new products and at least one utility has inserted a novel global-warming provision in a contract.

Friday Links - Happy Memorial Day Weekend

2007-05-25T10:59:00.000-05:00

Here's a long-weekend's worth of links. Have a safe Memorial Day weekend, and please take time to think about the women and men in uniform across the globe, and what you can do to bring them home.

Although there is disappointment among progressives about the Iraq supplemental bill that gave Bush his money for Iraq without any accountability, America's lowest-paid workers did win a $2.10 raise Thursday, as Congress approved the first increase in the federal minimum wage in almost a decade. So congratulations to the Democrats, without whom this progress would not have happened.

The House approved legislation Wedneday to upgrade and expand the nation's network of health care and benefit outreach centers for military veterans, one of seven veteran-related bills that the House approved to provide millions more dollars in benefits. Republicans and everyone with a yellow ribbon on your SUV (redundant, I know) take note: This is what's actually called supporting the troops.

New Jersey senators pushed forward a plan that would make New Jersey the third state offering paid leave for family members needing time off work to care for a sick relative or new child, but not without protests from (who else) businesses.

NYT Editorial: With their credibility on the line, House Democrats did the right thing yesterday by mandating disclosure of the lobbying industry’s power to purchase Capitol influence with richly bundled campaign donations to pliable lawmakers.

On April 12, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the OPEN Government Act, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). The bill would improve the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by reducing delays in releasing government records requested under FOIA by creating incentives for public officials to comply with the law. The House passed a similar measure earlier this year but the bill was blocked from reaching the Senate floor for a vote yesterday. A Republican senator called the Minority Leader's office and objected to a vote on the bill, but asked for anonymity and did not publicly state the reason for the hold. This is not the first time a secret hold has been used to block open government legislation from reaching the floor. In Aug. 2006, GOP Senator Ted Stevens (AK) put a hold on a bill to create a searchable public database of all federal grants and contracts. So we ask: What do Republicans have to hide? Why are they against open government?

A biting editorial from the Christian Science Monitor on NBA star Lebron James's refusal to sign a letter condemning China's activities in Darfur. "James said he didn't have enough information about the issue to take a stand. We can choose to take him at his word, of course – or we can follow the money. James has a $90 million deal with Nike, which has huge business interests in China."

Following complaints by a government watchdog group, the Air Force and the Army partially distanced themselves yesterday from a three-day evangelical Christian event this weekend at a Georgia theme park.

Congressional investigators yesterday disclosed that Sallie Mae executives met with Bush administration budget officials in December, less than two months before the company chairman sold $18.3 million of Sallie Mae stock. Three days after the sale, President Bush unveiled a budget that included unexpectedly large cuts to lending subsidies, after which the company's shares plummeted. Insider trading scandal, anyone?

Surprise, surprise. Lower income consumers are most hurt by rising fuel prices.

Manufacturing industry lobbyist Michael Baroody withdrew his nomination to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission Wednesday amid strong opposition from some Senate Democrats and criticism from consumer groups.

Lawmakers who say the military has kicked out 58 Arabic linguists because they were gay want the Pentagon to explain how it can afford to let the valuable language specialists go.

Alternative Energy Daily News - May 25, 2007

2007-05-25T07:27:00.000-05:00

Solar power should become a mainstream energy choice in three or four years as companies raise output of a key ingredient used in solar panels and as China emerges as a producer of them.

The California Energy Commission voted on Wednesday to set a greenhouse gas emissions standard for municipally owned electric utilities as the state moves ahead to attack global warming and climate change.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal joined representatives of nearly a dozen states Tuesday who urged federal regulators to allow them to impose tougher carbon dioxide pollution standards on automobiles.

Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders are urging President George W. Bush and Congress to take action against global warming, declaring that the changing climate is a "moral and spiritual issue."

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will start selling two vehicles that can run entirely on ethanol in Brazil.

A group of Norwegian lawmakers are drafting a proposal that would eventually lead to a ban on the sale of gasoline-only fueled cars by 2015 or 2020.

Gentrification Tax?

2007-05-23T21:14:00.001-05:00

Here's a strange post for someone who has been having trouble posting, but it is certainly progressive...

Just in case you care about live music (especially in NYC, extra especially on the Lower East Side), check out this interview on jambands.com of a really talented guy, Marc Ribot, who has a unique take (amongst others) on what is happening to "culture" in NYC (and across the country).

The idea mentioned of a "gentrification tax" may seem bizarre to some, but the future of progressive democracy and maintaining a non-cookie-cutter society for just about everything will inspire many similar (what I call) "balancing" bills/rules/laws/taxes that keep in mind the need to maintain what is sacred and works (culturally) while still promoting growth (economically). Just another (less violent) example of how you can't force your own version of democracy on someone or something - you have to work with what exists to create a new version that meets (almost) everyone's needs.

Alternative Energy Daily News - May 23,2007

2007-05-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that the city's signature yellow taxi cabs would all be using hybrid energy within five years, reducing air pollution and helping to combat climate change.

With a 52-5 vote in the Senate Monday, Illinois became only the second state to enact legislation requiring green cleaning in schools.

An open-access paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that worldwide CO2 emissions increased between 2000 and 2004 at a rate that is nearly three times the rate of increase of the 1990s.

An old steel mill retools to produce clean energy.

Tuesday Links

2007-05-22T09:27:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Shelby County, TN. After months spent discussing the matter, the 13-member County County Commission split down party lines yesterday, with Democrats prevailing, to approve a living wage. Workers will be paid at least $10 an hour with benefits or $12 without, similar to what has been approved by the Memphis City Council.

As the costs for fixing the state's troubled corrections system rocket higher, California is headed for a dubious milestone -- for the first time the state will spend more on incarcerating inmates than on educating students in its public universities.

A New York Times editorial: As more and more workers who inhaled the dust at ground zero fall ill, it has become increasingly clear that much of the problem can be traced to the Giuliani administration’s failure to insist that all emergency personnel and construction workers at the site wear respirators.

Pregnancy discrimination is on the rise: EEOC seeing more complaints, filing more suits on behalf of affected women.

Impeach Gonzales Movement Picks Up Steam

2007-05-21T11:47:00.000-05:00

Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Foundation is airing a new online video that calls for the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

You can sign the petition and watch the video here.

Update: Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Artur Davis (D-Ala.) introduced a resolution in the House today urging President Bush to fire Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Monday Links

2007-05-21T09:22:00.000-05:00

Shrugging off a possible veto from President Bush, the House demanded that the administration develop a plan to transfer detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Bush trying to pack another unqualified business crony into his adminsitration - Senate Democrats urged President Bush to withdraw his nomination of a top lobbyist from the National Association of Manufacturers to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission, saying the candidate was unqualified and the appointment posed insurmountable conflicts of interest.

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing legislation that would force the CIA to release an inspector general's report on the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The agency is the only federal office involved in counterterrorism operations that has not made at least a version of its internal 9/11 investigation public.

It's bad enough that the federal government has yet to take the threat of global warming seriously, but it borders on malfeasance for it to block the efforts of states such as California and Connecticut that are trying to protect the public's health and welfare. So say Republican Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rep. Jodi Rell (R-CT).

Again We Ask, Why Does Bush Hate the Troops

2007-05-17T15:51:00.000-05:00

This from ThinkProgress: The Bush administration today threatened to a veto a House defense spending bill over a 3.5% pay raise for U.S. soldiers and a $40/month increase in benefits for military widows, among other provisions. The legislation passed the House today 397-27.

"Troops don’t need bigger pay raises."

Troops do need involuntary extensions of deployments. Troops do need to stay in Iraq for an indefinite period of time in the middle of a civil war with no clear defintion for success. Troops do need to be sent to war without the necessary equipment and body armor. Troops do need to come home to a decrepit Walter Reed.

But what our troops most certainly do NOT need is bigger pay raises.

Now This Is What I'm Talking About! Senate To Hold No-Confidence Vote on Gonzales

2007-05-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

As much as the U.S. Attorney firings scandal and W's refusal to remove Attorney General Alberto Gonzales from office has been bad publicity for Bush and the GOP, the fact that Gonzales remains is an affront to every American who thinks that we live in a constitutional democracy and not The Kingdom of Bush.

AG the A.G has refused to give answers to Congress when he's appeared before various committees and has ignored Congressional subpoenas. But finally, it seems we've got some real movement in the effort to actually get rid of him. At a press conference this afternoon, Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer (NY) and Dianne Feinstein (CA) called on the Senate to hold a no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Their announcement follows more evidence of wrongdoing by Gonzales and Bush, new criticism from Republicans, and the prediction of GOP Senator Arlen Specter that the investigation into the firings of federal prosecutors would end with the attorney general's resignation.

Thursday Links

2007-05-17T15:08:00.000-05:00

Once again, the Democratic Congress is actually supporting the troops. The House passed an amendment yesterday that aims to prevent soldiers deployed to war from permanently losing custody of their children because of the absence.

Nearly one in four Americans receive no paid vacation or holiday time. Even worse, nearly half of all full-time private sector workers in the U.S. get no paid sick days. The U.S. is also the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have introduced the Healthy Families Act (HFA), which would guarantee that workers receive at least seven paid sick days each year. Tell Congress to support this legislation here.

More stonewalling from Republicans. Former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman has refused a request by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (R-NY) that she testify about the "government's failure to respond adequately to the environmental crisis in Lower Manhattan" after 9/11.

A little-noticed resolution to a case involving same-sex couples from New York will allow dozens of them to be considered legally married in Massachusetts, and apparently in their home state as well.

Households are spending about $1,000 more per year for gasoline than they were just five years ago, an 85% increase according to consumer groups’ analysis in testimony prepared for the House Judiciary Committee.

Alternative Energy Daily News - May 17, 2007

2007-05-17T15:05:00.000-05:00

Sixteen cities around the world will begin cutting carbon emissions by renovating city-owned buildings with green technology under a program spearheaded by former
President Clinton's foundation.

Live Green, Live Smart is remodeling a 1940s house in Minnetonka, MN, which the designers hope will be the most eco-friendly residence in the world.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has contracted with Azure Dynamics Corp. for the development of gasoline parallel hybrid-electric powertrains for its delivery fleet.

The Pete Store, Inc. announces the delivery of the industry’s first Class 8 hybrid truck to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

The War That May Have Saved America

2007-05-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

President Bush’s approval rating recently hit 28%, the lowest of his presidency and equal to the low point of Jimmy Carter’s. The Republicans lost the Congress in 2006. The two GOP presidential debates were contests between 10 middle-aged white men to see who could invoke Ronald Regan’s name the most and establish their right-wing bonefides the best. Both debates were devoid of any new ideas. Now a majority of American identify themselves as Democrats rather that Republicans. The party that Karl Rove had envisioned as the majority party for a generation is in peril of losing the White House in 2008 and becoming an even greater minority in Congress. What caused this turnaround from just three years ago, when Bush was re-elected and the GOP ruled Congress and, it seemed, the entire country?

Of course, one not need be a rocket scientist to know the answer. It’s the war, stupid, and all aspects of the war: the decision to go to war based on lies; the lack of post-war planning and the resulting debacle; the war profiteering by the administration friends; and the hopeless quagmire that this country is now in.

Bush came into office as a result of the disputed 2000 election with an air of illegitimacy and with no mandate. Despite his claims of being a compassionate conservative (an oxymoron), the real agenda of his administration was to dismantle the social programs of the New Deal. He was the face man, as it were, for the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform et al. These people longed for the golden age of corporate and business rule, no government (except, of course, for the Defense Department), and no taxes, the way the country was before FDR injected a bit of humanity into it. All the talk about social issues was pure bullshit. These people could have given a rats ass about morality or so-called family values. They just used Gays, Guns, and God to get the pure shcmucks on the low end of economic totem pole, those who the New Deal was enacted to help in the first place, to vote against their own economic interests.

9/11 and the fear of terrorism gave Bush, Cheney and Rove the opportunity to advance their agenda. Now, in addition to the Three G's, they could use fear to get votes. And they were well on their way to talking this country back to the 19th Century when their hubris got the best of them. They pushed it too far and invaded Iraq. The rest, as they say, is history.

This war has been their undoing. They lost Congress because of it. Hopefully, they will lose the presidency in 2008 because of it. And, hopefully, their march back to those great days of the Gilded Age, when the country was ruled by a few elite families and corporations for whom the rest of us worked, has been halted. Hence the title of this post. The Iraq war may very well be the war that saved America. Not, however, from Saddam, but from itself. And, as hard as it is to say this, maybe the Americans killed fighting this war have therefore not died in vain.

- Jeff Bloomfield

Wednesday Links

2007-05-16T07:17:00.000-05:00

Not surprisingly, Americans get the poorest health care and yet pay the most compared to five other rich countries, according to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund. Yet another reason this country's healthcare system needs to be overhauled, and the fact that nearly every Democratic presidential candidate supports universal healthcare is a good start.

The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and 95% of those incarcerated will return to society. However, that reentry is incredibly difficult. Democratic Congressman Danny Davis (IL) has introduced the Second Chance Act of 2007 in the House, which would provide demonstration and mentoring grants to states and nonprofits, create a National Offender Reentry Resource Center, establish a federal reentry Task Force, and enhance many currents reentry programs.

In the first major investigation of Medicare marketing, the Oklahoma insurance commissioner has documented widespread misconduct by agents working for Humana and has ordered the company to take corrective action to protect consumers against high-pressure sales tactics.

Potential for at least moderate progress in the rollback of the War on Drugs. The U.S. Sentencing Commission has advised Congress to repeal a law that puts first-time offenders behind bars for at least five years for possessing tiny amounts of crack cocaine.

And finally, we mourn the loss of Yolanda King, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest child. She was 51.

Alternative Energy News - May 15, 2007

2007-05-15T09:42:00.000-05:00

Reported U.S. sales of light-duty hybrid vehicles rose 26% in April 2007 from the year before, reaching 27,351 units.

Contrary to those Republicans who can no longer dent global warming but instead cry that fighting global warming is too expensive, a new study shows that curbing global warming won't bankrupt economy.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced that it has launched a program to test the use of solar power at some of its operations.

Companies see profits in green initiatives: from manufacturers to banks, environmental projects surge.

In a sign of congressional concern over near record-high gasoline prices and global warming, a Senate committee approved legislation calling for the most significant increase in vehicle fuel efficiency in decades.

Gas prices may be nudging people in Ventura County, California out of big cars and wedging them into smaller ones, new marketing and sales data show.

Yahoo! aims to wield its power as the biggest U.S. Internet media company to encourage millions of consumers to take basic steps to help the environment as part of its corporate push to confront global warming.

IBM has unveiled its "Project Big Green," a $1-billion-a-year effort to make data centers worldwide more energy-efficient, cost-effective and greener overall.

Back From Vacation: Tuesday Links

2007-05-14T17:04:00.000-05:00

The Angry Progressives are back from vacation today with a big set of links. And we're excited that these particular news items focus on issues that have been important to us from the start, from (among others) healthcare and the phramaceutical industry's dominance over U.S. policy; stem-cell research and the potential for the creation of massive amounts of new jobs and economic development; corruption in the Bush Adminstration; and progress being made on the living wage and sustainable communities fronts.

Senators who raised millions of dollars in campaign donations from pharmaceutical interests secured industry-friendly changes to a landmark drug-safety bill. Republican Senators have also effectively killed a measure that would have let Americans buy prescription medicines from foreign suppliers, which sponsors said could have saved consumers billions of dollars. By a 49-40 vote, senators approved a provision requiring the government to certify that imports are safe -- a step the Bush administration is unlikely to take. The amendment, offered by Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), was seen as a major victory for the pharmaceutical industry.

The Kansas Board of Education repealed sex education policies enacted last year, the latest move by the moderate majority to undo efforts by conservatives when they dominated the board.

Democratic Governor Deval Patrick proposed that Massachusetts invest $1 billion in the biotechnology industry and challenge California as a hub for stem-cell research.

Four officials who helped oversee a federal reading program for young students have pocketed significant sums of money from textbook publishers that profited from the $1 billion-a-year initiative, a Democratic congressional report disclosed yesterday.

The Pentagon has placed unprecedented restrictions on who can testify before Congress, reserving the right to bar lower-ranking officers, enlisted soldiers, and career bureaucrats from appearing before oversight committees or having their remarks transcribed.

Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland signed the nation’s first statewide living wage bill , giving fresh momentum to a movement that seeks to raise wages through legislation.

A legislative committee endorsed a bill that would require retailers to pay for an economic impact study before they can build big stores in Maine communities.

Former President Bill Clinton announced agreements with drug companies to lower the price of so-called "second-line" AIDS drugs for people in the developing world and to make a once-a-day AIDS pill available for less than $1 a day.

A slice of this year's surplus oil revenues in Alaska would go to communities around the state under legislation that moved out of the Senate Finance Committee.

Native Hawaiian bills, one dealing with self-government and another with housing, moved a step closer yesterday to a debate before the full Senate.

And finally, there's comedy, there's high comedy, and then there's Tom Delay giving a political seminar in which ethics are discussed.

Alternative Energy Daily News - May 4, 2007

2007-05-04T08:09:00.000-05:00

Silda Wall Spitzer, wife of New York's Democratic Governor Elliot Spitzer, wants to turn the governor's mansion built in 1875 into a modern model of energy efficiency.

The U.S. Senate may vote this month on legislation that aims to drive down gasoline demand by boosting the fuel economy of cars and trucks and increasing the use of nonpetroleum fuels like ethanol.

By early 2009, but perhaps in less than a year, the American business community will have reached a tipping point in sustainable practices, according to a study by Siemens and McGraw-Hill Construction.

Now in the Bay Area: the anti-gas station.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will provide up to $200 million over five years (FY’07-’11) to support the development of small-scale cellulosic biorefineries in the United States.

Bush Hates Our Troops, Wants to Protect Others Who Hate

2007-05-03T13:01:00.000-05:00

The President has issued a veto threat against legislation that would expand federal hate crime law to include attacks motivated by the victims' gender or sexual orientation, which (predictably) has also met outspoken resistance from conservative groups and their Republican allies in Congress.

So, Bush has vetoed a whopping two bills in his 6+ years in office. One that would have expanded stem cell research, and the bill he vetoed yesterday that would have not only funded the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan but also brought them home by 2008. Now he's threatening to veto legislation that simply expands the definition of a "hate crime" to include attacks motivated by the victims' gender or sexual orientation. He's also recently threatened to veto legislation that would give the District of Columbia its first full seat in Congress. Oh by the way, citizens of D.C. pay federal taxes and fight in the military, in case you were wondering why they might deserve representation in Congress.

So I have two questions:

1) Why does Bush only veto legislation that promotes medical progress, brings our troops home, protects people from hate crimes, and gives U.S. citizens representation?

and

2) Why are conservative always so concerned with protecting hatred?

Thursday Links

2007-05-03T11:22:00.000-05:00

The House approved more money for the popular Head Start program Wednesday after rejecting a GOP-led attempt to allow religious groups participating in the program to hire and fire staffers based on religious grounds.

All hospitals in Connecticut will be required to provide rape victims with emergency contraception under legislation approved overwhelmingly Wednesday by the state’s General Assembly. The legislation was adopted by wide margins despite the strong resistance of the Roman Catholic Church, which has said Catholic hospitals should not be expected to prescribe the drug.

Oregon will become the seventh state to grant same-sex couples full marriage-style benefits allowed by state law, after the Oregon Senate approved a landmark “domestic partnerships” bill today. And in Massachusetts, gay rights advocates and state Democratic leaders are lobbying the national party to help them pressure a handful of state legislators to change their position and vote to kill a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.

Lawmakers of both parties are making a new effort to pass a federal shield law to protect reporters from being forced to reveal their sources. The bill would write into federal law the protection for reporters now granted by 32 states and D.C., and would give government whistle-blowers more reason to reveal corruption when they know that reporters will be shielded in most cases from prosecutors' efforts to reveal information.

Angry Progressives at Anti-Veto Rally

2007-05-03T07:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we attended the New York rally, sponsored by MoveOn.org, to protest W's veto of the Democrats spending bill that would have begun the end of the war in Iraq. It was one of over 300 across the country, and we met some really interesting people there.

Here are some pictures from the rally:

Again We Say It: Impeach Gonzalez

2007-05-01T12:06:00.000-05:00

The more I think about the fact that Alberto Gonzales remains the U.S. Attorney General, the angrier I get. It's been almost two months since we, and others, began calling for Congress to impeach Gonzales. His pathetic performance in front of the Senate Juduiary Commitee a few weeks ago bizarrely appears to have given the president more confidence in him (although maybe it's not so bizarre under Jon Stewart's theory that his bumbling was exactly what Bush wanted him to do), and Gonzales seems to be trying to slip off of the radar screen and keep his job. However, one week ago Roll Call reported that Senate Democrats were considering holding a vote of no confidence on Gonzales, which would be non-binding but would at least put all GOP Senators on record as either being for this corrupt figurehead or against him.

That would be a start, but as this scandal goes ever deeper, including today's story from Murray Waas about Gonzales signing a highly confidential order that delegated to two of his top aides extraordinary authority over the hiring and firing of most non-civil-service employees of the Justice Department, it remains absolutely vital that Congressional Democrats keep the heat on Gonzales and the White House. They think that they can lie, and stonewall, and lie some more until these stories go away. And they think that they can ignore Congressional subpoenas.

So fine, here's a solution: Just impeach the Attorney General. There's nothing Bush can do to stop that, and it would be quick and it would work. AG the A.G. would be gone, and it would send a signal to the White House that they're playing a new game now. A game in which the other side has power, and is willing to use it to stand up for what is right. AG should have already either been fired or stepped down himself, and everyone knows that. But if Bush and AG are going to play this game, then the Democrats, with their newfound power, owe it to the country to play it too.

Tuesday Links

2007-05-01T11:29:00.000-05:00

Do yourself a favor and watch this 33-minute interview with Jon Stewart and Bill Moyers on PBS's Bill Moyers Journal. Stewart is obviously one of the most gifted political and social commentators of our time, and when he's not busy trying to be self-deprecating he's incredibly thoughtful and insightful. Here's hoping that Stewart continues on the path he seems to have taken recently, in which he gets a little more serious while remaining hilariously biting in his commentary on the tragedy that has been the Bush Administration and the debacle in Iraq.

Wisconsin is rolling out the nation's most expansive guarantee of higher education to students in hopes of raising aspirations and improving preparedness. The program is similar to those in Indiana, Oklahoma and at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill that educators say have helped keep college affordable. All three target low-income students.

The number of people killed around the world in terror attacks rose by 40% last year to more than 20,000, the US State Department has said. The increase is mostly due to greater violence in Iraq. So, repeat after me: The war in Iraq has made the world less safe. The war in Iraq has made the world less safe. The war in Iraq has made the world less safe.

Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a measure Monday to force the Pentagon to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and move the trials of Al Qaeda suspects to the United States.

The Senate homeland security committee plans to hold hearings this summer on the Bush administration's handling of offers of foreign aid after Hurricane Katrina, senators. Of $854 million offered after the storm -- in cash and oil that was to be sold for cash -- only $44 million has gone to disaster victims or reconstruction so far.

Alternative Energy Daily News - May 1, 2007

2007-05-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

A new study ordered by the Pentagon warns that the rising cost and dwindling supply of oil will make the U.S. military’s ability to respond to hot spots around the world “unsustainable in the long term.”

An international research project has begun that could help bring to mass-market organic light emitting devices, which could have far reaching technological implications and profoundly cut the cost of lighting.

The hot topic in venture-capital circles these days is "cleantech," and a Minnesota start-up founded by a pair of Russian chemists with big ideas and some impressive Silicon Valley backers is hoping to become a leader in the field.

PepsiCo Inc. said Monday it is now one of the top 25 green-power buyers in the country, having made the largest purchase so far of renewable energy certificates.

Every dollar spent for construction of new transmission lines to support the development of wind resources in Texas will result in a $5 to $7 reduction in energy costs.

Kansas is among a dozen north central states in the U.S. with the potential to produce up to two-thirds of the nation's perennial bioenergy crops and crop residues.

May 1: A Day That W Wishes He Could Erase From the Calendar

2007-05-01T09:39:00.000-05:00

Ah, May 1. May Day. A good day. A day when you're just starting to get the feeling that summer's around the corner. Alas, for George W. Bush, May 1 is a day for both embarassment and irony.

Embarassment , because W and May 1 will forever be linked by two fateful words on a gigantic banner: Mission Accomplished. Yes folks, it was four years ago today that Mr. Combat Fighter braved the treacherous skies above San Diego Bay and landed his jet on the USS Abraham Lincoln to declare that "major combat operations have ended" in Iraq. This handy little chart from Think Progress details how much has changed since May 1, 2003, none of it for the good of either this country and its soldiers in Iraq or for the clown who sent them there on a lie.

And irony, because May 1 also happens to be Law Day. Unfortunately, as the New York Times notes, despite having sworn to uphold the Constitution, Bush isn't much for obeying the law or respecting the other branches of government. In his quest for complete power and Republican dominance over the United States, Bush has shown utter contempt for both the laws of this country and for anyone who dares to challenge him.

So like many things that Bush and his administration have attempted to erase from history, I'm sure that the president would love to see the calendar skip from April 30 to May 2 every year from now on. Maybe he can issue another signing statement to make just such a thing happen.

Happy May Day everybody.

Chickenhawk Bill Kristol Confronted With Reality

2007-04-27T07:45:00.000-05:00

Lead Chickenhawk Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard, who has never seen a war he didn't want others to go and fight, was confronted over the phone yesterday morning by a military wife while appearing on C-Span.

This woman, whose family has sacrificed so much for this war, told Kristol, who has sacrificed so little, that the soldiers and their families are real people who just "need a break."

Kristol looks incredibly uncomfortable (what's he drawing, 3-D cubes?), and blabbers about how he understands. No you don't, Bill. You don't understand shit. All you understand is calling for other people to go and fight and die while you and your fellow warmongerers make millions. Kristol will continue to propagate lies about how "we're turning the corner" and other bullshit like that, all the while not losing a wink of sleep. In the meantime, our soldiers and their families will continue to sacrifice and suffer until either Bush and Cheney are impeached and replaced by sensible leaders or a Democrat replaces those draft-dodgers in January 2009.

Thursday Links

2007-04-26T10:14:00.000-05:00

File under: Bush and the GOP using every lever of government to maintain power - White House officials conducted 20 private briefings on Republican electoral prospects in the last midterm election for senior officials in at least 15 government agencies covered by federal restrictions on partisan political activity. The previously undisclosed briefings were part of what now appears to be a regular effort in which the White House sent senior political officials to brief top appointees in government agencies on which seats Republican candidates might win or lose, and how the election outcomes could affect the success of administration policies. By the way, this is illegal.

Blacks already feeling the pinch from a housing shortage in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina are facing racial discrimination in their search for rental property.

When New Hampshire's Democratic Governor John Lynch signs the civil union bill granting gay and lesbian couples virtually all the same legal rights as married heterosexuals next week, it will make New England the first region to have every state granting a measure of legal rights to same-sex couples. Even as the bulk of the country has passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and civil unions, New England has stubbornly gone its own way.

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 26, 2007

2007-04-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

Boeing and Virgin Atlantic announced an environmental partnership, which includes an order for 15 787-9 Dreamliners, marking the largest 787 order to date for Europe.

Major grocery chains cut energy use.

Venture capitalists turned their attention to alternative energy like never before in the first quarter of 2007, pouring four times more money than a year ago, or $237 million into 10 deals. They put another $54 million into environmental innovation.

Green homes going mainstream.

In one of the strongest statements on climate change ever made by a U.S. auto industry executive, Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally said Monday that global warming is real, manmade and caused in part by auto emissions. The same day, a top General Motors Corp. executive said that the nation should accelerate the push toward renewable energy to fuel automobiles and said the conversion to ethanol as a leading contributor is "entirely realistic" in a few years.

The Dick Rears its Ugly Head Again

2007-04-26T08:04:00.000-05:00

You knew that it had to happen. It was just a matter of time. After being uncharacteristically quiet for a period of time after the November 2006 elections (in an undisclosed location, no doubt) it is back in its full glory. This is not its first reappearance since the "thumping" of 2006. First it shrunk back in defeat, but then it slowly began growing back to prominence. First peeking one eye out at a time. Then rising back up. And now it has fully raised its ugly head again. I am talking, of course, about The Dick Cheney, and it’s recent attack on Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid. Reid and the Democrats have had the audacity to call for a timetable for withdrawal from that catastrophic success known as Iraq in exchange for more war spending. How dare Reid and the Democrats mess with The Bush and The Dick’s little war. On Tuesday The Dick charged that the Dem’s "blind opposition to the new strategy in Iraq" was politically motivated. What?

If The Dick wanted to see a war equals votes strategy, I suggest that it simply go to the Oval office and look at The Bush. Or simply take a long, loving look in the mirror. What it will see are the authors of a war started and continued in large part merely to fan the flames of fear and false patriotism in the American public. Simply for the purpose of wining elections and gaining more power. Take a tragedy, use it to instill fear in the public, then blame it on a non-guilty but handy and defenseless enemy. Then beat the war drums further with false charges of mushroom clouds. Use this to win two elections. Then, when the war goes south, continue the same mantra, despite all of the evidence that your policy is dead and the war is lost. Deny reality. Blame that reality, which you yourself created, on the opposition. Call them unpatriotic or defeatist. Meanwhile, the death toll beat goes on. Yes, The Dick has reared its ugly head yet again. And it is uglier than ever.

If anyone now could now doubt that this administration manipulated 911, the so-called war on terror, and bogus WMDs all for political purposes, just look at the news this week. Look at the testimony before Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-Calf.) House Committee on Oversight and Reform, that the military and this administration lied to Pat Tillman’s family and the American people about the circumstances surrounding Tillman’s death. Tillman, the NFL star who gave up a multi-million dollar contract to join the army to fight, ostensibly, for freedom, was shot and killed by a fellow army ranger in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. However, to have revealed to the country, particularly following on the heals of the revelations regarding Abu Ghraib, that Tillman was killed by mistake would have been politically unacceptable. After all, in The Bush and The Dick’s wars, Americans, particularly good looking rich football stars, do not die in vain. They must die heroically. So The Bush and The Dick had to create a story, a myth. Just as they had to create the lie about Rambo Jessica Lynch. Just as they created the story and myth of the 911-Saddam connection and WMDs.

The Dick should just shut up and go away. Nobody now believes its crap anymore. It should just hunker down with the Bush and sit out the rest of this war, just like it and The Bush did during Vietnam.

- Jeff Bloomfield

Editors note: Perhaps not so ironically, on Tuesday GOP presidential candidate (and the mayor of New York on 9-11) Rudy Giuliani continued the Republican tradition of the politics of fear, asserting that if a Democrat is elected President in 2008 America will be in greater danger of "a new 9-11." Keith Olbermann took Rudolf to task last night with another one of his amazing Special Comments. Watch it.

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 24, 2007

2007-04-24T09:50:00.000-05:00

New York city mayor Michael Bloomberg presented a package of 127 initiatives designed to achieve the sustainability goals that he had outlined in December 2006, including reducing carbon emissions by 30% by 2030.

Houston is rolling out 10 hybrid buses, with another 30 on the way.

Members of the Senate Energy Committee met Monday to begin hearings on the Energy Efficiency Promotion Act. Topics on the agenda include promoting efficient use of oil, natural gas and electricity; reducing oil consumption and heightening energy efficiency standards for consumer products and industrial equipment.

The government of Ontario announced its plan to ban the sale of inefficient light bulbs by 2012.

Update: Senator Feingold on GOP's Secret Hold

2007-04-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

Just below, we noted that an anonymous Republican senator has placed a "secret hold" on a bill that would make campiagn finance (gasp!) more transparent.

This afternoon on DailyKos, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold comments on the GOP's blatantly obstructionary and cowardly tactics.

Senator Feingold is one of our favorite senators for many reasons, not the least of which is his willingness to take absolutely zero bullshit from Republicans. He's also a fellow progressive, and you can join him and his Progressive Patriots today.

Monday Links

2007-04-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

Despite a cartoonishly bad performance in front of the Senate last Thursday by Alberto Gonzalez, in which he lost even more support from Congressional Republicans, Bush continues to express "full confidence" in the Attorney General, his fellow Texas Troglodyte. However, the mainstream media is starting to note that the "signs point to the White House"and, at least in some degree, to the president's political adviser, Karl Rove in this scandal. David Iglesias, the former New Mexico U.S. attorney and one of the eight fired last year, said, "If I were Congress, I would say, `If the attorney general doesn't have answers, then who would?' There's enough evidence to indicate that Karl Rove was involved up to his eyeballs."

Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer will introduce a bill in the coming weeks to legalize same-sex marriage in New York.

Mike Adkinson, a colorful developer, hopes to build a brand new city from scratch in Mississippi for thousands of Katrina refugees.

A secret hold has been placed on a bill, S. 223, that would mandate that Senators file their campaign finance reports electronically. This process would not only make these reports more readily available to the public but would also save money and resources. The Sunlight Foundation is working to find out which senator has placed the hold on the bill. Oh, and surprise surprise, the senator in question is from...you guessed it, the GOP! Who else would object to ordinary citizens knowing where their dirty money comes from? You can help the Sunlight Foundation out this loser here.

The Washington state legislature passed a landmark five-week paid family leave bill.

Nasty Newt

2007-04-23T08:45:00.000-05:00

I just could not pass up a quick comment on Newt Gingrich’s statements on ABC News’ "This Week With George Stepanopoulos" Sunday wherein Mr. Newt blamed the Virginia Tech massacre on "liberalism." When asked by Stepanopoulos to explain this comment he replied with some bizarre nonsense about violence in video games, not being able to talk about rights coming from God, and situational ethics. What a craven use of a tragedy for political purposes (typical for Republicans, and not unprecedented for Newt). What a lowlife, scum-sucking pig this guy is. And he wants to run for president? Democrats should be so lucky. Hey Newt, how about blaming Virginia Tech on capitalism? Who sells and makes millions of dollars off of violent video games and music? Ever thought of that? Nah.

- Jeff Bloomfield

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 23, 2007

2007-04-23T08:32:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone enjoyed Earth Day 2007. Let's make a commitment to do something every day to help stop global warming.

Beginning May 1, all 229 buses in the Memphis Area Transit Authority fleet will burn a biodiesel fuel blend. And, sometime in the summer, the agency is slated to receive four even cleaner diesel-electric hybrid buses. Notably, the switch will bring cost benefits.

New York University purchased 118 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy between 2006 and 2007, earning it the greenest-school title in the EPA's annual College & University Green Power Challenge.

Governor Don Carcieri's administration this week unveiled a report calling it feasible to build wind farms off the coast of Rhode Island as part of a plan to get 15% of the state's energy from wind in five years.

New Mexico's two U.S. Senators have introduced legislation to reduce the use of fossil fuels by improving efficiency in vehicles, buildings, home appliances and industrial equipment.

In the past two years, many retailers have started going greener in the way they build stores, use direct mail and package their products.

In nod to consumer tastes, Nissan to sell cleaner cars.

Safer to be Daffy

2007-04-22T20:41:00.000-05:00

Back during my duck hunting days, it was illegal to use a shotgun that could hold more than three shells at one time. This, I assume, was to protect the ducks from greater slaughter and allow the duck population to flourish. I heard no one complain that their beloved Second Amendment was being violated by this. It was accepted as a reasonable restriction. A compromise. A balance of competing interests.

If we can protect Daffy without destroying the Second Amendment, why can’t we protect people by a similar limit on the number of rounds that a handgun or clip can carry? Simply ban 20 round clips. Limit handguns to 3 shots. Can a reasonable argument be made by the NRA that this would not have at least kept the carnage at Virginia Tech to a lower level?

Of course, we cannot have a rational discussion of ways to balance Second Amendment rights with saving lives. The response by the NRA and others to any discussion of gun control is that any limit on guns is a left wing, communist, secular humanist, anti-Christian, un-American, socialist, Jewish, Islamo-fascist, pinko, homosexual plot to take away our guns. After we are rendered defenseless, "they" will then ban school prayer, burn our flag, ban our SUV’s, rape our sons, enslave our daughters, and then force us to eat crepes while listening to the Dixie Chicks and watching the Motorcycle Diaries. If we let them limits any aspect of our precious gun toting heritage, then it is only a matter of time before the guvment has taken all our guns away. This cogent argument, of course, comes from the people who gladly let our guvment restrict other constitutional rights in the name of security (and saving lives).

This country simply must get past these insane arguments and finally address the gun problem that we clearly have in this country. As we have not, but need to do with national security, we must also find a balance between the constitution and public safety. Until we do this, it is safer to be Daffy.

- Jeff Bloomfield

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 19, 2007

2007-04-19T14:10:00.000-05:00

A new McDonald's restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, shows that the green-building model can work for the tens of thousands of of fast-food restaurants nationwide.

Brazil has vowed to increase its production of ethanol, defying calls from Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to scale back its output.

The largest solar power plant in North America will soon be providing electricity to an Air Force base in the Nevada desert.

Although the field is still relatively young, engineering issues concerning plug-in hybrid electric vehicles received a great deal of exposure at this year’s SAE 2007 World Congress.

Wednesday Links

2007-04-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

Oregon's gays and lesbians would win the benefits of marriage and protections against discrimination under landmark bills approved Tuesday by the Oregon House. The two measures are expected to win approval in the Senate and be forwarded to Democratic Governor Kulongoski, who plans to sign both bills.

Stanford students have pledged to fast until the university commits to a living wage without restrictions. Student activism at its best. Check Mother Jones for regular updates on their progress.

The House marked Tax Day on Tuesday by approving new protections against some of the modern-day dangers facing taxpayers, including identity theft, deceptive Web sites and loan sharks.

Latinos and immigrant-support groups said they are appalled at a University of Iowa College Republicans event Thursday that would pit "illegal immigrants" against the "border patrol" in a game of capture-the-flag. Should they really be shocked? Republicans, no matter how old they are, can't help but be anti-Latino.

The tax burden in the U.S. is shifting away from the rich, to the point where in a few years it could change from being progressive to effectively flat, a new study says. Just how Bush, the GOP, and their corporate cronies like it.

This NYT editorial takes Bush to task for having "reneged on his promises to Katrina’s victims."

New York City officials announced that the city will be providing free software to doctors who treat hundreds of thousands of people. And defying the usual pattern of wealthy patients benefiting first from technological advances, the city is starting with the poor.

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 18, 2007

2007-04-18T11:50:00.000-05:00

The world is currently producing more oil annually than it is replacing with new reserves, according to a new survey of global liquids reserves published by Energy Intelligence.

On the eve of the first U.N. Security Council debate on global warming, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett warned U.S. businesses to invest in carbon-free technology or lose out to Europeans. This is where blockhead global warming deniers miss the big picture. They claim that working to help protect the world from global warming will cost jobs and hurt the economy (suspend for a moment the irony of what a strong economy would do when the Earth is uninhabitable). On the contrary, what Europe and Asia, as well as some investors the U.S., are telling us is alternatiev energy is the next "internet boom" in terms of new jobs and a new sea change in technology and innovation.

Oakland, CA topped a list of U.S. cities using renewable energy, with 17% of its power coming from solar, wind and geothermal sources.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, joined by Democratic U.S. Congressman Ed Markey, announced a set of initiatives designed to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on petroleum.

One antidote to cleaners that harm the environment are "green" products, nontoxic substances that can effectively disinfect and maintain sanitation in homes and workplaces, the use of which has been increasing over the past 10 years.

The U.S. military is increasingly focused on a potential national security threat: climate change.

Western North Carolina, like the rest of the state, could take the first steps toward energy independence in the next decade, pumping homegrown fuel for vehicles instead of importing foreign oil.

Millionaires are piling seed capital into young firms developing green technologies, seeking better control over what happens to money they invest to help improve the environment.

Condolences to Virginia Tech

2007-04-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

Condolences to the Virginia Tech family after yesterday's massacre. We'd like to encourage our readers to use this forum to express their sorrow.

Some Updates About Genocide in Darfur

2007-04-14T10:41:00.000-05:00

Nongovernmental organizations and other groups appear to have scored a surprising success in an effort to link the 2008 Olympics, which the Chinese government holds very dear, to the killings in Darfur, which, until recently, Beijing had not seemed too concerned about.

Darfur activists have planned 195 events nationwide as part of the Global Days for Darfur from April 23rd-30th. Rally participants will come together to call on world leaders to adopt - and enforce - tough sanctions on Sudan until it allows the deployment of an international peacekeeping force to Darfur. Click here to find an event near you and RSVP.

In Darfur is a play that follows an aid-worker’s mission to save and protect lives, a journalist’s pursuit to deliver a front page story and a Darfuri woman’s quest for safety. It will be showing in New York at Public Theater from April 13 – April 29. Check out the play's website here.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration continues to deny that a genocide is actually taking place.

Alternative Energy Weekend Links

2007-04-14T10:35:00.000-05:00

Hybrids are quietly starting to show up in other transportation uses besides just autos, from locomotives to construction equipment.

ConocoPhillips announced its support for a mandatory national framework to address greenhouse gas emissions and has joined the US Climate Action Partnership, a business-environmental leadership group dedicated to the quick enactment of national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell announced the availability of $31.4 million in grants to help businesses and organizations develop clean energy and alternative fuel projects.

North Dakota, the state ranked #1 in wind-energy potential by the American Wind Energy Association, will soon be home to a 159-megawatt wind farm in the northeast corner of the state.

Nearly half of all U.S. states are using enough renewable energy to make significant cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, a scientific group said Tuesday.

Weekend Links

2007-04-14T10:18:00.000-05:00

The Senate this week passed a bipartisan measure that eases limits on the federal financing of embryonic stem cell research, which Bush has of course threatened to veto.

Roughly half of Arkansas's National Guard has been called to duty in Iraq. Now, 2,800 Arkansas troops are on alert for possible redeployment by October, in what would be their second tour of duty in less than two years.

Bush is threatening to veto a Senate intelligence bill that would force the White House and spy agencies to be (gasp!) more responsive to Congress. Doing anything out in the open, with any chance of oversight, is anathema to Bush and his incompetent crew.

As many as 6 million prepared meals stockpiled near potential victims of the 2006 hurricane season spoiled in the Gulf Coast heat last summer when FEMA ran short of warehouse and refrigeration space. The heckuva job continues.

The White House has withdrawan its choice to head the EPA's air pollution office. William Wehrum, a former lawyer for chemical and utility companies, was nominated after having been the architect of rules to regulate harmful power plant emissions that environmental groups and many Democrats (and anyone who doesn't hate the environment) blasted as too lenient. This is a great example of what Democrats in charge in Congress can do to stem the tide of Bush destruction in a way that even Bush's veto pen can't stop.

And, of course, the U.S. Attorney scandal has continued to grow more and more disturbing this week. We encourage all Angry Progressive readers to check ThinkProgress.org daily for updates.

How to become a "social" bank

2007-04-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

1. In the middle of everyone talking about Imus and never bringing up race seriously in the US as an issue needing to be addressed, WATCH PBS FRONTLINE!

2. Be sure to follow up on ideas like the one I saw in the excellent Frontline/World piece last night.

3. Mention the terrific and cool organization that is reponsible for the idea (or at least their version of microlending) that excited you: KIVA.ORG

4. Think of what you can do to further the economies of not just poorer countries, but also your own - maybe what these guys are doing works.

5. Remind all Americans that predatory lending hurts everyone, not just those getting the loans.

6. Add water, mix and be proud of the lady Scarlet Knights!

Wednesday Links

2007-04-11T11:05:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering if the Bush administration is even thinking about ending this war anytime soon if it isn't foreced to, ABC News has learned that the Pentagon is considering extending the tours of duty for every active duty soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Bush's spy chief is pushing to expand the government's surveillance authority at the same time the administration is under attack for stretching its domestic eavesdropping powers. Remember, Republicans think government is the problem when it comes to helping people; but when it comes to telling us what to do and spying on us, the GOP wants to be in our bedrooms 24/7.

Every year, tens of thousands of Americans who are unable to work due to injury or illness discover that they have to wait two years to be eligible for Medicare, the federal health program for elderly and disabled people.

A proposal that could raise the minimum wage in Alabama from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour over 26 months faces a key vote in a legislative committee today. Come on Alabama, you know you can do it. Just pretend the Crimson Tide is just paying its players another $2.10 an hour to not go to a bowl game.

Congrats to same-sex couples in the state of Washington. A domestic-partnership bill for gay and lesbian couples cleared the state Legislature on Tuesday and now goes to Democratic Governor Gregoire, who is expected to sign it.

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 10, 2007

2007-04-10T12:52:00.000-05:00

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation announced a $100-million grant-making initiative to help build a clean-energy economy that can reduce the threat of global climate change to people and the environment.

Hybrid car sales are growing worldwide and politicians are pledging money for their development. But is the local car industry ready to go green?

Supermarkets see green in going green.

Santa Cruz, CA schools may be converted to all solar power.

Tuesday Links

2007-04-10T12:39:00.000-05:00

The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed new documents Tuesday from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as part of its investigation into the firings of federal prosecutors, with the panel chairman saying he had run out of patience.

MoveOn.org is hosting a "live 'virtual town hall' forum about the Iraq war, in what is being billed as the largest and most ambitious experiment yet in harnessing the power of Internet technology to reshape participatory democracy." Seven Democratic presidential candidates are expected to take part in the event tonight.

McDonald's Corp. agreed Monday to pay a penny more per pound for its Florida-grown tomatoes to help boost wages for the migrant workers who harvest them, following a two-year campaign by the nonprofit advocacy group Coalition of Immokalee Worker that called for the increase.

Maryland will be the first state to provide a living wage. Individual cities across the country have taken similar steps; let's hope that other states follow suit.

Don't believe the talking heads that say that Democrats taking on Bush over Iraq and other issues are taking unpopular issues. According to an AP poll, public approval for Congress is at its highest level in a year as Democrats mark 100 days in power.

The Bush administration will soon pull the plug on federal funding for Medicaid services in Wisconsin despite having saved the federal government $669 million in Medicaid costs over five years.

Curious how your tax dollars are spent? National Priorities Project shows you.

Don't Let Lieberman Give Bush a Pass on Katrina

2007-04-09T18:17:00.000-05:00

From ColorofChange.org:

Ten months ago, Senator Joe Lieberman blasted the White House for obstructing a Senate committee's investigation into the federal response to Katrina. Now he controls that committee, but instead of forcing the White House to participate, he's called off the investigation altogether!
Lieberman is side-stepping his responsibility to hold the White House accountable and betraying the citizens of the Gulf Coast. ColorOfChange.org is calling him out and demanding that others in Congress conduct a full investigation if he won't.

You can click here to do the same.

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 9, 2007

2007-04-09T15:03:00.000-05:00

In an effort to keep its town clean and its environment unspoiled the aptly named Canadian town of Leaf Rapids has banned retailers from using plastic bags.

Can New York's East River generate electricity?

Europe is putting enormous faith in U.S. states to drive federal U.S. action against climate change, the top environmental aide to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told Reuters.

Building on efforts to expand the use of clean and renewable energy, Dallas, TX has started running much of its fleet on biodiesel. The city is taking it a step further by becoming the first fleet in the nation to utilize a new biodiesel additive that reduces NOx (oxides of nitrogen) emissions, one of the primary causes of the ozone pollution problem in North Texas.

Thousands of federal buildings would get more efficient lights and other equipment to reduce energy use under a Senate bill with bipartisan and White House support.

Monday Links

2007-04-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

San Francisco mayor's office is trying to stem a massive exodus of African-American residents from the city.

Ranchers are trying to protect thousands of acres of land from being acquired by the Army to "train soldiers in the nuances of modern warfare."

The New York Times calls for an investigation of a "loyal Bushie" U.S. Attorney in Wisconsin. "The case involved Georgia Thompson, a state employee sent to prison on the flimsiest of corruption charges just as her boss, a Democrat, was fighting off a Republican challenger. It just might shed some light on a question that lurks behind the firing of eight top federal prosecutors: what did the surviving attorneys do to escape the axe?"

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it is considering reclassifying the manatee as threatened instead of endangered, a move that would cause the animal to lose its endangered species protection.

As another update to a post from last week, Senators John Kerry, and Robert Casey have joined Christopher Dodd in calling for an investigation into whether President Bush acted illegally in recess-appointing Swift Boat funder Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium. "We view the recess appointment of Mr. Fox as a clear abuse of the President's recess appointment power," they wrote in a letter to the Government Accountability Office.

A senior official at the federal Education Department sold more than $100,000 in shares in a student loan company even as he was helping oversee lenders in the federal student loan program.

Congratulations to Planned Parenthood. In response to the organization's grassroots advocacy campaign “Fill My Pills Now,” Wal-Mart has notified Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) that it has revised its nationwide corporate policy with regard to emergency contraception. The new Wal-Mart policy ensures customers “will now receive their prescriptions or OTC products in store without discrimination (no harassment or lectures),” “without delay,” and “without judgment.”

A new Amnesty International report states that conditions at Guantanamo Bay prison have worsened.

Bush and the GOP Just Can't Stop Supporting the Troops

2007-04-09T14:44:00.000-05:00

In this article on Salon, author Mark Benjamin details further evidence that the military, in a desperate effort to fill its ranks for President Bush's escalation, "sent soldiers with acute post-traumatic stress disorder, severe back injuries and other serious war wounds back to Iraq."

Those remaining 20-some-odd percent of the people who still approve of this war are as much of a joke as Bush and his cheerleaders like McCain and Liberman who continue to throw more soldiers, healthy or not, into the meat grinder.

The Belgian Fox

2007-04-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

It was reported Wednesday that Bush has named Republican fund-raiser Sam Fox as this country’s ambassador to Belgium in a recess appointment. This is the procedure that the Shrub uses to bypass Congress and get his way when it dares challenge His Highness. This appointment came despite the withdrawal of Fox’s name from consideration after it became apparent that he would not be confirmed because of Fox’s $50,000 contribution to the Swift Boat Veteran’s for Truth. You remember that fine group of patriots, funded by W to smear a decorated combat veteran by the name of John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign (why oh why does Bush and the rest of that vile group hate our troops?). For some reason, this latest finger in the eye of the country by that spoiled brat hit me hard. All I can say is, what a petulant, arrogant little prick. I am counting the days until that scumbag is out of office.

- Jeff Bloomfield

Update: According to the Washington Post, Fox's recess appointment may be illegal. Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut is looking into it. Go get 'em Chris.

- AProgs

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 4, 2007

2007-04-04T15:42:00.000-05:00

Although March is shaping up as a good month for hybrid sales with a record 31,652 units sold just by Toyota and Honda, it was the best month ever for Toyota and its hybrid sedans.

Speaking of Toyota, after doubling U.S. sales of its Prius hybrid in March, the company is offering new discounts worth as much as $2,000 to counter dwindling tax credits and to meet rising sales targets.

The right mix of appropriate government regulation, greater use of energy saving technologies and behavioral change can substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the building sector, which accounts for 30%-40% of global energy use.

New market research by McGraw-Hill Construction finds that approximately 0.3% of all homes in the U.S. are "green," incorporating elements in three of five environmental building categories.

Suppliers of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are in the midst of a multiyear investment boom, with an eye toward producing electricity as cheaply as the entrenched standard: fossil-fuel power generation.

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 3, 2007

2007-04-03T15:34:00.000-05:00

Bus manufacturers are already rolling out the environmentally friendly vehicles – years before major automakers say they will.

Check out this really cool article about "vertical farming" in New York from TreeHugger

Automakers called for an economy-wide approach to global warming in reaction to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could give Washington the authority to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases from cars.

Rising gas prices spur sales of hybrid vehicles.

Tuesday Links

2007-04-03T15:27:00.000-05:00

Almost 40,000 of Iowa's lowest-paid workers get a raise Sunday, when the state's minimum wage increases from $5.15 to $6.20 an hour, the first of two bumps. The second increase on Jan. 1, 2008, will go to $7.25 an hour.

Governor Charlie Crist said Monday that he hoped to persuade members of the Florida cabinet this week to end the practice of stripping convicted felons of their right to vote.
Florida is one of three states whose constitutions require withdrawal of voting rights from all convicted felons, the other two being Kentucky and Virginia.

Lawmakers urge Bush to fire NASA official.

Alternative Energy Daily News - April 2, 2007

2007-04-02T15:36:00.000-05:00

US Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe (both R-ME) have introduced a measure that would require automakers to reduce new vehicle greenhouse gas emissions 30% below 2002 levels by 2016. This would nationalize California’s motor vehicle greenhouse gas reduction standard.

Legislative proposals to mandate that North Carolina utilities use solar and other renewable-energy sources could help Charlotte keep a local company developing a new process for manufacturing solar cells.

Volkswagon said it intends to become the most environmentally friendly automaker in China.

More than 3/4 of Canadians believe the country’s environmental regulations are too weak, while nearly 60% of the population would favor a new green tax on consumer and industrial products to crack down on pollution.

The nation’s ethanol producers hope to tie their product to the growing popularity of auto racing, one of many tactics the industry plans to employ in its initial attempts to advertise ethanol directly to consumers.

Monday Links

2007-04-02T14:03:00.000-05:00

Here's an outstanding Salon article from Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) in which he discusses his bill, to be introduced next week with Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), that would require the president to begin safely redeploying U.S. troops out of Iraq in 120 days, with redeployment to be completed by March 31, 2008. After March, funding for the war in Iraq would be cut off, with three narrow exceptions -- targeted counterterrorism operations, protection of U.S. personnel and infrastructure, and training and equipping Iraqi forces.

From Daily Kos: Quick! Before Congress comes back, let's screw some troops!

On Sunday, NBC Iraq correspondent Tom Aspell reported that while Senator John McCain walked through a Baghdad market to try and bolster his ludicrous and laughed-at claim that Baghdad is safe, in fact the Senator was accompanied by 100 American soldiers, 3 Blackhawk helicopters, and 2 Apache gunships. This morning on The Imus Show, Aspell said that, with a similar level of protection, “even Paris Hilton could ride a bicycle in a bikini through Anbar province.” McCain continues to look ever weaker, and frankly, stupid, as he flails about in an attempt to convince the American people that this war which he has cheered for is in fact going just swimmingly. He is wrong, and if he does not know that then he is even dumber than I'm giving him credit for.

In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times, long-time W strategist Matthew Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership. While this is all well and good, and represents perhaps the first Bush insider to go public with is disapproval of the president's horrific management of the country, it's too bad he didn't come to this realization before he got that clown elected again. Probably would've had a little bit bigger of an impact.

This deserves better than the fifth bullet on a list of daily links, but the Supreme Court today ordered the federal government to take a fresh look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars, a rebuke to Bush administration policy on global warming.

A proposed ban on homosexuals adopting or fostering children collapsed in the Arkansas Legislature on Tuesday, failing twice to win the approval of a House committee. I guess some people decided that it actually makes more sense for a child to grow up in a loving home, no matter the sexuality of the parents, than for him/her to grow up in foster care.

The New Hampshire House soundly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment to limit marriage to between one man and one woman.

Memphis Hosting Inaugural MLB Civil Rights Game

2007-03-30T08:30:00.000-05:00

I'm proud to say that my hometown Memphis Redbirds will play host to the inaugural MLB Civil Rights Game Saturday in a game that will be televised on ESPN at 5:30 ET. The game will culminate a two-day celebration of both Memphis's and baseball's part in the civil rights movement.

Here's an excellent article from the Memphis Commerical Appeal about how Memphis Redbirds president Dave Chase came up with a promoted the idea.

Unfortunately, the National Congress of American Indians, while commending MLB for implementing the Civil Rights Game has said that it is irresponsible to include the Cleveland Indians, "whose buck-toothed Indian mascot promotes blatant racism, mockery and negative stereotypes of Native Americans." I can't say I disagree with them. However, overall kudos to Memphis and MLB for putting this together. Hopefully next year they will use another team besides the Indians; or, better yet, hopefully Cleveland will have changed its mascot by then.

A Way for Young People to Serve Their Country

2007-03-29T18:43:00.000-05:00

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has headlined the call for the creation of a U.S. Public Service Academy. Modeled after the military service academies, the Public Service Academy will provide a four-year, federally-subsidized college education for more than 5,000 students a year in exchange for a five year commitment to public service following graduation.

The U.S. Public Service Academy Act has bipartisan support, and by all means should be fast-tracked and signed by the President. It is an outstanding idea, and will give young Americans the opportunity to both get a college education and also commit to serving their country.

Update: McCain - I Never Said That

2007-03-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

As we noted just earlier today, Senator John McCain, the head non-White House cheerleader of the Iraq War, has been called out by CNN reporters for simply lying about how safe it is in Baghdad. When asked about it just hours ago on CNN, McCain lied again, saying that he never said these things, and equated the fact that the President goes around America with protection to the fact that no one can walk around anywhere in Baghdad without fear of being murdered unless they are heavily armored.

He also maintained the clearly erroneous line of right-wing spin that it's the media (and, by the way, a large majority of U.S. citizens) who are behind the curve when it comes to the great progress being made in Iraq:

"I mean that there are neighborhoods safe in Iraq and he does go out into Baghdad and the fact is there has been significant progress and people are stuck in a time warp of three months ago. Of course, it’s still dangerous. Of course it’s still very dangerous. We only have two of the five brigades there and we are already seeing significant progress."

The only significant progress being made is by the media itself, who are no longer rolling over when the Bush Administration and its warmongering cheerleaders claim that "all is well" in Iraq, and that we should keep sending our soldiers over there to die while policing a civil war which we in fact started.

Wednesday Links

2007-03-28T11:02:00.000-05:00

In a great article on Salon, Gary Kamiya talks about how the Bush II presidency has dealt a devastating blow to both the GOP and conservative ideology, one from which it may not recover for many years.

Democrats suggested that they may use appropriations legislation to block Bush administration plans to gut the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

The House approved a two-year extension of a program offering tax credits for construction of low-income housing in areas hit by Hurricane Katrina.

A bill to help fund new clinics that can offer health care to low-income residents in Montana won approval from a key House committee on Tuesday.

Burger King said yesterday that it would begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that did not confine their animals in cages and crates.

And finally, doesn't it seem like we're always talking about Missouri? Yesterday, a House committee voted to advance a resolution designed to overturn the the voter-approved Stem Cell Initiative. So in Missouri, crazy right-wingers think that what they want is more important than what a majority of its citizens actually voted for.

McCain Losing More Credibility On Iraq (Wait, Did He Have Any Left?)

2007-03-28T09:50:00.000-05:00

To the extent that he had any credibility on Iraq left, Sen. John McCain has continued to lose his grip on it the last two days.

First, on Monday McCain told Bill "The Gambler" Bennett that "there are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through." He then chastised Wolf Blitzer for saying that it's not safe for Americans to even leave the Green Zone, saying "General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed humvee. I think you oughta catch up. You are giving the old line of three months ago. I understand it. We certainly don’t get it through the filter of some of the media."

When asked about McCain's claims about the overall safety of Baghdad and General Petraeus, CNN reporter Michael Ware, who has been in Iraq for the last four years, called McCain's statements "ludicrous" and said that the military people he had spoken to had even laughed at McCain's statements about Petraeus. Watch the video on ThinkProgress here.

McCain has big problems when it comes to Iraq and his presidential candidacy. He more than anyone else has tied himself to this escalation in Iraq, and with that has aligned himself even more closely to Bush. He has everything riding on the war working out, and because of that he has been more and more willing to say outlandish things about things going well there. It's one thing for a clown like Joe Lieberman to say ridiculous things like "There's no civil war in Iraq." Everyone knows Lieberman is a Bush lackey and he doesn't even pretend to be anything different. But McCain is supposed to be Mr. Straight Talk Express, and to the extent that people still think he's a maverick, despite his kowtowing to the religious right, flip-flopping on torture and campaign finance reform, and so many other political maneuverings, looking like a quack on Iraq is going to be what ruins his dreams of the White House for good.

Monday Links

2007-03-26T11:03:00.000-05:00

Last week we praised Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (R) for standing up for workers' rights. Unfortunately, Blunt has taken a few steps backwards, announcing that he will cut off all program funding to Planned Parenthood and redirect it to other health clinics. This despite the fact that fewer than one in ten clients comes for abortions, and less than 30% of 860 Planned Parenthood clinics in the U.S. actually provide abortions.

As if it were 1984 and not 2004, teams of undercover New York City police officers traveled to cities across the country, Canada and Europe for at least a year before the 2004 Republican National Convention to conduct covert observations of people who planned to protest the convention. And now, lawyers for the city, responding to a request to unseal records of police surveillance leading up to the 2004 Republican convention in New York, say that the documents should remain secret because the news media will “fixate upon and sensationalize them,” hurting the city’s ability to defend itself in lawsuits over mass arrests.

In yet another sign of the increased interest in investment in alternative energy, the New York Mercantile Exchange will soon offer alternative energy index futures and options contracts on its Globex electronic trading platform.

Airport Reading

2007-03-26T10:16:00.000-05:00

I was traveling this past weekend and picked up a copy of the April issue of Mother Jones in the airport. We make a lot of recommendations on this site, but instead of simply saying, "Subscribe to Mother Jones," here are a few highlights from the magazine and websites of those featured.

The article "Separated at Birth" is about GOP congressman and long-shot presidential candidate (and anti-immigrant) Duncan Hunter and his brother John, who heads up Water Station, a volunteer organization that provides water for migrant workers in California.

"Nanny 411" highlights Juana Nicolas and the Household Workers Project, a grassroots labor group made up of immigrant women who cleans houses and provide childcare in the Los Angeles area.

Bill McKibbon's "Reversal of Fortune" is an excellent look at the current state of the American economy, and asks the question, "Why is making more money no longer making us happier?"

Ava Lowery is what's commonly known as a heroine. She's a 16-year old homeschooler from Alexandria, AL whose anti-war website, www.peacetakescourage.com, with its poignant videos and hopeful spirit, has gotten her a lot of positive attention and even some unfortunate (although predicatable) venom from conservative bloggers as well as anonymous threats.

The Psychological Cost

2007-03-21T20:36:00.000-05:00

Please watch "The Soldier's Heart," a (PBS) Frontline documentary if you have not already.

By the way, this is posted by a Democrat who would like to reinstate the draft (and if I get what I want then one day we would focus on the military as a group made up of humans and not machines).

Wednesday Links

2007-03-21T15:06:00.000-05:00

A right-wing amendment to the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007 would force Katrina victims to find a job before receiving aid. Fortunately, the House defeated the amendment 266-162. Unfortunately, that's 162 people (Republicans, I've no doubt) who voted for this callous amendment. Honestly, the fact that I don't even have to look that hard to find a new example of Republican douchebagery every day is the saddest thing of all. In the meantime, an effort to bulldoze more than 9,000 rotting houses still standing after Hurricane Katrina has slowed sharply this year, prolonging the city's attempts to rebuild blighted neighborhoods.

Under a new plan adopted by the Iowa House, Iowans would be able to register at the polls and vote on election day. Current law requires Iowans to register at least 10 days prior to election day in order to vote.

The Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007, aimed at making immediate improvements in the treatment — medical and otherwise — of wounded combat veterans passed the House Armed Services Committee by a 59-0 vote Tuesday.

Senators pressed federal investigators to aggressively prosecute contracting fraud in Iraq, saying the dozen criminal cases filed aren't enough of a deterrent.

In a high-profile dissent from Bush administration policy, the nation's top medical research official told senators that he backs an end to restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

If you repaid student loans to the U.S. Department of Education during the past decade you may have been overcharged. A class-action suit has been filed that claims that despite repeated warnings that it was breaking the law due to a computer glitch, the DOE overcharged more than 3 million student loan borrowers hundreds of millions of dollars more than they owed.

As the Iraq war enters a fifth year, the conflict that President Bush's aides once said would all but pay for itself with oil revenues is fueling the highest level of defense spending since World War II.

Alternative Energy Daily News - March 21, 2007

2007-03-21T09:23:00.000-05:00

This special report from Business Week takes a look at which "green car" is the best.

Also from Business Week: Thanks to the Clean Air Act, many metro areas have tackled poor air quality, saving thousands of lives and millions of dollars in the process.

With the Air Force being the U.S. government’s biggest consumer of jet fuel, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley are looking at alternative fuels.

As the earth heats up and fuel prices soar, energy efficiency is becoming the new catchworld. A growing number of firms and individuals are investing in energy renovations to make money and cut emissions.

When employees don't turn off their computers after work, it can cost companies millions each year in wasted electricity. But one Seattle startup has turned this failure to shut down into a plan to rake in revenue.

Massachusetts House leaders today are to unveil plans for steering the state away from reliance on fossil fuels and toward embracing renewable energy and alternative fuels.

The Invisible Pink Unicorn

2007-03-21T08:42:00.000-05:00

California Congressman Pete Stark (D-California) this past week came out of the closet, so-to-speak. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, he has crossed one of the last frontiers in politics. What did he reveal about himself that was so startling, you ask? Did he confess that in the past he committed murder, had cheated on his income taxes, or that he liked to wear women’s shoes? What horrible thing did he say that was considered so politically risky? Well, this is what he revealed: he, horror of horrors, does not believe in the existence of a supreme being, a/k/a God. And such an admission, according to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll, does carry with it political risk. According to this poll, less than one half of Americans would vote for an atheist candidate for president even if he or she were "well qualified."

Now, imagine if Stark had come out and said that he does not believe in the existence of the Invisible Pink Unicorn, a/ka the IPU. Would this revelation have caused a similar stir? Probably, but not because he was merely denying existence of this fairytale creature. It would be controversial only because nobody, other than those residing at your local looney bin, actually believes that the IPU exists. And the reason for this universal disbelief in the IPU is that there is simply no proof of its existence. No one has ever seen it, other the aforementioned nuthouse residents. So if Stark had said that he does not believe in the IPU, a statement that itself presupposes that other people actually do hold such beliefs, his sanity, and therefore competence to hold public office would have indeed been brought into question.

But think about this. Stark said that he does not believe in something for which, similar to the IPU, there is simply no proof, i.e., God. But the belief in a supreme being is almost universally held, at least in this country. So his mere denial of the existence of God disqualifies him from holding public office, according to the Gallup poll, in the eyes of more than half of Americans. But what is the difference between a claim that their is no IPU and a claim that their is no God? Based on any disparity of proof as to the existence of either there simply is none. So shouldn’t a belief in the existence of a supreme being raise similar questions regarding the competency to hold public as the belief in the Invisible Pink Unicorn?

- Jeff Bloomfield

Republicans Still Voting to Kill Troops

2007-03-21T08:17:00.001-05:00

As we pass the fourth anniversary of the Iraq Debacle, here's an excellent post from DailyKos about how Republicans continue to send overworked, under-equipped, and at times physically and mentally unstable troops back to Iraq.

Not only do they continue to show their callous disregard for our troops' safety, they also show their ignorance of very recent history, as some of their fellow Republicans went down to defeat in November 2006 when ads like this one from VoteVets shined the light on their hollow claims to be "supporting the troops".

In a recent vote, the Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee unanimously opposed requiring that the troops sent to Iraq be properly prepared for their mission and protected with armor. Again.

So who did it? Does one of these troop-killers live near you? Let's name names:
Alabama: Robert Aderholt
California: John Doolittle and Jerry Lewis
Florida: Ander Crenshaw, Dave Weldon and C.W. "Bill" Young
Georgia: Jack Kingston
Idaho: Michael K. Simpson
Illinois: Mark Steven Kirk and Ray LaHood
Iowa: Tom Latham
Kansas: Todd Tiahrt
Kentucky: Harold Rogers
Louisiana: Rodney Alexander
Michigan: Joe Knollenberg
Mississippi: Roger Wicker
Missouri: Jo Ann Emerson
Montana: Dennis Rehberg
New Jersey: Rodney Frelinghuysen
New York: James Walsh
Ohio: Ralph Regula and David Hobson
Pennsylvania: John Peterson
Tennessee: Zach Wamp
Texas: John Carter, John Culberson and Kay Granger
Virginia: Virgil Goode and Frank Wolf"

Saving Human Lives

2007-03-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

Watch this:

It would be great if our foreign policy really allowed us to save human lives around the world (including the US).

And if you haven't seen this:

Did this actually air on a FOX show?

Alternative Energy Daily news - March 20, 2007

2007-03-20T13:57:00.000-05:00

Hybrid technologies developed jointly by Peterbilt Motors Company and Eaton Corporation have been integrated into an aerodynamically styled Class-8 heavy-duty vehicle. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is supporting development of the technologies.

"Building green," a catch-all for environmentally smart and region-specific construction, is the buzz phrase in contemporary architecture.

How can gasoline usage be reduced?

N.J. small businesses are providing renewable energy.

Environment ministers from the world's leading industrial nations began discussions this past Friday on how to step up international action to combat climate change.

AOL founder Steve Case, supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla are investing in a company that could produce up to 1 billion gallons of ethanol a year in Brazil.

Applied Materials will install solar panels that will be capable of generating 1.9 megawatts of power on the roofs of the buildings of its Sunnyvale, Calif.-based campus. That's bigger than the 1.6 megawatt facility search giant Google announced in October.

Monday Links

2007-03-19T15:47:00.000-05:00

Despite the fact that its citizens pay taxes and fight in this country's wars, Bush has declared his opposition to a bill that would give the District of Columbia its first full seat in the House of Representatives, saying (without merit) that it is unconstitutional.

Newly -elected Democratic Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado signed a law requiring hospitals to tell rape victims about the availability of emergency contraception.

Another newly elected Democratic Governor, Ted Strickland of Ohio, unveiled plans to expand Ohio’s early-education effort.

Wyoming's Democratic Governor Dave Freudenthal signed a bill Thursday that will set aside $4 million in state matching funds for an endowment program to benefit 16 rural and critical-access hospitals across the state.

In a bipartisan confrontation with the White House over executive branch secrecy, the House ignored a stern veto threat and overwhelmingly passed a package of open-government bills yesterday that would roll back administration efforts to shield its workings from public view.

Congratulations to Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, who overruled his GOP administration's Labor Department and ordered that it declare that tipped workers are covered by the state's new minimum wage law.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation to implement many of the remaining reforms suggested by the Sept. 11 commission, forcing a fresh national security confrontation with President Bush, who has threatened to veto the bill over a provision to expand the labor rights of 45,000 airport screeners (i.e., because he does not believe in workers' rights).

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome evangelical Christians to the world of reality. The National Association of Evangelicals has endorsed an anti-torture statement saying the United States has crossed "boundaries of what is legally and morally permissible" in its treatment of detainees and war prisoners in the fight against terror.

The Kroger Co. has promised to always offer Plan-B emergency contraception.

Alternative Energy Daily News - March 16, 2007

2007-03-16T12:05:00.000-05:00

Forward-thinking city officials in Vista, CA have approved a special use permit which allows Envirepel Energy Inc., to move forward with the balance of the permits required to finish construction of its renewable, bio energy facility and begin operation of it for an initial 18-months.

New Jersey Resources, parent company to one of the state's largest natural-gas suppliers, has pledged to aggressively reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions as part of efforts to fight global warming.

A long-awaited MIT study on the future of coal says the technology needed to capture greenhouse gas emissions from plants and store them underground apparently is sound, and urged Congress to swiftly pass controls on gases that contribute to global warming.

The Alliance to Save Energy today joined other energy-efficiency advocates and light bulb giant Philips Lighting North America in a coalition to advocate for policies that will transform the U.S. marketplace to energy-efficient lighting products by 2016.

Out of the ashes of the Internet bust, many technology veterans have regrouped and found a new mission in alternative energy: developing wind power, solar panels, ethanol plants and hydrogen-powered cars.

General Immorality

2007-03-14T09:26:00.001-05:00

Marine General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a newspaper interview on Monday that homosexual acts between adults are immoral, and the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces. He said that "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way." OK great, immorality is bad, and it should not be condoned by this country. But what is immorality? It is obviously the opposite of morality, and according to Merriam Webster the definition of morality includes "conforming to a standard of right behavior".

So morality is conformance to a standard of right behavior. Great. Now, lets take Gen. Pace’s logic a little further. He says that the U.S. is not served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral "in any way." OK, great again. But would he apply this standard to war? War represents a complete breakdown of civility. With it come the death of both combatants and innocents and barbarity on a widespread scale. Because of this, many people feel that a war fought by a country, not to defend itself against an aggressor nation or one that is imminently ready to attack, but for other reasons, is immoral. Shouldn’t it then be the policy of the U.S. not to engage in a immoral war?

I submit that to attack a country that never attacked you on the basis of lies is immoral. I submit that a war fought not for reasons of national self defense but for reasons of profit and to maintain the flow of a commodity (i.e. oil) is immoral. I submit that a war fought against a country with a vastly inferior army to show who is the toughest badass on the block is immoral.

I submit, therefore, that the Iraq war is immoral.

So I would ask the good General to apply his own standards to this war. The Iraq war is immoral. This country should not countenance, let alone start and engage in, an immoral war. So, General, stop worrying about conduct engaged in by consenting adults that harms no one. Worry about the immoral conduct of your country that is harming tens of thousands.

- Jeff Bloomfield

Alternative Energy Daily News - March 12, 2007

2007-03-12T18:21:00.000-05:00

The Washington state Senate overwhelmingly approved a climate-change bill Saturday that has won the embrace of utilities and environmental groups for curtailing the market for power produced by coal technologies.

California is no longer alone in its campaign against climate change. The nation's most populous state, after passing a landmark law last year to slash industrial greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020, has joined with Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington to address what some are calling one of the planet's most serious threats.

The two most influential groups in the home building industry and the code development and enforcement community are collaborating to bring uniformity to sustainable building practices.

The JPMorgan Environmental Index-Carbon Beta, jointly launched by JPMorgan and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, is the first bond index designed to address the risks of global warming.

Responding to growing concern from Madison, WI area residents about global warming, Madison Gas & Electric will triple the size of its green-power pricing program and reopen the program to new customers.

Japan is spending as much as $8 billion to buy minority stakes in 40 ethanol distilleries across Brazil, a Brazilian newspaper reported.

Thompson Trouble

2007-03-12T10:27:00.000-05:00

According to an AP report this past weekend, former Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) is considering entering the GOP presidential race. Thompson would be a formidable opponent. He is a powerful speaker, has experience, and he obviously has the star power lacking in any of the current GOP candidates. At first blush he may seem to be the lesser of the evils if you have to have a Republican president. He may even seem to be as good as a conservative Democrat. The problem with Thompson, however, is that when you look at his views, he can't even be considered a moderate Republican (if such a thing even exists anymore). According to the story, Thompson:

_Is "pro-life," and believes federal judges should overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision as "bad law and bad medical science."

_Opposes gay marriage, but would let states decide whether to allow civil unions. "Marriage is between a man and a woman, and judges shouldn't be allowed to change that."

_Supports the escalation in Iraq. He says that mistakes happen in war, and you rectify things, which he thinks is what we are doing now.

_Opposes gun control, and praised last week's 2-1 federal appeals decision overturning a long-standing handgun ban. "The court basically said the Constitution means what it says, and I agree with that."

_Would pardon former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice now, rather than waiting until all his appeals are exhausted. Thompson is a fundraiser for Libby's defense.

I guess I was lulled by his booming voice and his forceful presence into thinking that he is something that he is not. I even voted for him when he ran for the senate. But Thompson, if elected, and if he holds to his current views, could be not only one of most conservative presidents that we have had but also one of the most persuasive and effective. He could be Bush with a brain and a silver tongue. And that could be real trouble.

- Jeff Bloomfield

Impeach Gonzalez

2007-03-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

"On Thursday, Senator Arlen Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, hinted very obliquely that perhaps Mr. Gonzales’s time was up. We’re not going to be oblique. Mr. Bush should dismiss Mr. Gonzales and finally appoint an attorney general who will use the job to enforce the law and defend the Constitution."

The rantings of the liberal blogosphere? Crazy talk by the fringe leftist wing of the Democratic Party? No, that's today's editorial page of the New York Times. Now, I know that certain "Anonymous" readers would argue that the Times is nothing but a liberal rag anyway. And that's fine, those fine patriots can enjoy getting constant Terror Alert updates while watching Fox News all day.

We understand that the simple fact that the nation's most important newspaper is calling for AG the AG to be let go doesn't mean that Bush is going to listen. He never does. Nevertheless, the fact that a senior Republican Senator like Arlen Specter is hinting that Gonzalez's removal is a possibility, along with the Times is calling for his dismissal, is significant.

As more and more citizens become aware of the multitude of current scandals involving the Department of Justice, Congress needs to be prepared to impeach Alberto Gonzalez and force Bush to replace him with someone both competent and willing to protect the Constitution.

Update: This morning on CBS’s Face the Nation, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer (NY) called on Gonzalez to resign. Watch the video here.

Saturday Links

2007-03-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

Just hours after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dismissed the hubbub as an "overblown personnel matter," Bush administration is beating an abrupt retreat on eight federal prosecutors it fired and then publicly pilloried. Most importantly, President Bush will not stand in the way of a Democratic-sponsored bill that would cancel the attorney general's power to appoint federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation.

The Los Angeles Times argues that even though the new Democratic proposals for Iraq may eventually be weakened or killed, they have nevertheless successfully transformed a many-sided debate about the conflict into a sharp-edged argument about the endgame.

Senior Republicans who knew about problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center while their party controlled Congress insist they did all they could to prod the Pentagon to fix them, but stopped short of going public with the hospital’s problems to avoid embarrassing the Army while it was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Senate voted Tuesday to give 45,000 airport screeners the same union rights as border patrol, customs and immigration agents, despite a White House threat to veto it. The House passed a similar bill with the same union provision for airport screeners. Republican Senator Richard M. Burr (NC) said, “Terrorists don’t go on strike. Terrorists don’t call their union to negotiate before they attack.” In response, Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy (MA) thundered back, shaming the GOP senators for suggesting that our airport screeners would sacrifice America’s security.

The prices for about 200 prescription drugs commonly used by seniors in the United States rose nearly twice the rate of inflation, a seniors group said Tuesday, making a case for letting the government negotiate drug prices.

Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday that they would add money to the $100 billion wartime supplemental funding bill in about two weeks to improve health care for military combat veterans. In the meantime, according to the Wall Street Journal, the White House is adopting such a defensive stance on the Iraq-war-funding bill that it risks further alienating the Democrats who will write the measure.

News This Week From the States

2007-03-09T10:53:00.000-05:00

On "pro-life day" at the Texas State Legislature, Republican Representative Beverly Woolley from Houston has filed a bill to protect embryonic stem cell research and already has support from 64 House members.

In Kentucky, a bill to ban state agencies from offering health insurance benefits to domestic partners of employees died in the House Health and Welfare Committee, after the University of Louisville began offering the benefits and the University of Kentucky announced it is considering doing so.

The New Hampshire state House voted to repeal the state's 2003 law requiring a parent to be notified before a minor daughter can get an abortion, which has been appealed as far as the U.S. Supreme Court. The courts ruled the law is flawed because it was unclear how the Legislature intended to protect the health of a girl in an emergency situation.

The Hawaii state House revived a measure that extends state employee health coverage to same-sex partners.

And in Washington, more than half of the state's uninsured children could receive health-care coverage under a bill passed by state lawmakers this week. The state Senate approved the measure earlier this session, and Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire has said she would sign it.

Libby Limerick

2007-03-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

There once was a Scooter named Libby
Who told a great big ol' fibby
Soon his roommate in jail will be after his tail
And you know he will be scootin' aplenty.

- Jeff "Edward Lear" Bloomfield,

Alternative Energy Daily News March 8, 2007

2007-03-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

Combined sales of hybrids in the US rose 52% in February. The figures do not include sales of GM hybrids, which the automaker does not yet break out, but do reflect the addition of the Nissan Altima Hybrid, now sold in eight states.

A graph charting the number of pages discussing climate change in reports by investment analysts from traditional brokerages would resemble the renowned "hockey stick" graph of temperatures over the last 1,000 years.

Venture capital investment in U.S. companies developing alternative energy technologies more than doubled last year to an all-time high of $2.4 billion as high oil prices caused investors to seize on the promise of ethanol and other biofuels.

Under an ambitious new initiative announced by Bank of America, the financial institution will direct $20 billion to help its corporate, individual and small-business customers take advantage of the business opportunities created by green economic growth.

Verizon will soon begin a pilot project using 13 GMC 2500 service vans retrofitted with Enova hybrid drive systems. The vans will serve some of Verizon’s FiOS Internet and TV customers in Maryland and Texas.

The global auto industry is experiencing a green revolution, convinced that lower emissions and hybrid engines could turn eco-minded drivers into a long-term customers.

General Motors Corp has set a target for production of an all-electric car in 2010.

Tuesday Links

2007-03-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

This week, the St. Paul, MN City Council may ask the state legislature to approve a bill that would let the city offer health coverage and other benefits to domestic partners of city employees — both gay and straight. Mayor Chris Coleman backs the move and has written letters to top state officials, including Governor Tim Pawlenty, supporting the change in state law.

During a White House meeting last week, a group of governors asked President Bush and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about their backup plan for Iraq. The conclusion they took away, the governors later said, was that there is no Plan B. "I'm a Marine," Pace told them, "and Marines don't talk about failure. They talk about victory."

Democratic Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin has directed the state to turn down about $600,000 in federal abstinence education money because new rules would have required the state to teach abstinence-only sex education.

There are nearly 47 million people in America with no health insurance, and the problem is increasingly affecting the middle-class.

More and more former federal prosecutors are accusing the GOP of purging them for political reasons. The former federal prosecutor in Maryland said Monday that he was forced out in early 2005 because of political pressure stemming from public corruption investigations involving associates of the state’s Republican governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. And today, John McKay, the former U.S. attorney in Washington, revealed to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Republican Congressman Doc Hastings’s (WA) office contacted him and attempted to pressure him in an ongoing investigation. Also today, the former U.S. attorney for New Mexico David Iglesias publicly detailed how Republican Senator Pete Domenici (NM) and Republican Congresswoman Heather Wilson (NM) pressured him in an investigation.

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (NE) has suggested that Congress may consider the impeachment of President Bush in an article in the new Esquire magazine.

Scooter Libby Guilty

2007-03-06T19:46:00.000-05:00

Scooter Libby was found guily today on four of the five counts against him. More importantly than just Libby's guilt, both the trial and the verdict are embarrassments for both the White House in general and Shooter Cheney in particular.

Here's video of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's post-verdict press conference, and from the White House, which of course won't comment because they'd only lie some more.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Howard Dean urged Bush to pledge to not pardon Libby.

Not surprisingly, it took less than three hours for the impeccably-laughable National Review to urge Bush to pardon Libby.