Colbert has some advice for Palestinians

brilliant!!

Thom meet TXsharon

Today was a great day! Thom Hartmann had Josh Fox, filmaker, on his show to talk about his must see movie Gasland. It will premiere on HBO on June 21st. And then a caller suggested TXsharon to Thom.....Yahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! TXsharon speaks from the state where hydralic fracturing is on steroids.

Hydralic fracturing is to the land, air, and water what deep water drilling is to the ocean. No bees or ocean=no humans.

end barbaric extraction....mountaintop removal must end.

After David Neiwert's excellent coverage over at Crooks and Liars and then seeing Ashley Judd on the C-span where she addressed the National Press Club and took questions, my attention is again drawn to the people whose lives are being devasted so we can continue to overconsume and carry on with business as usual. As 50% of electicity we use in America is generated by burning coal, the humans living in harmony with nature in the second most diverse forest on planet Earth are being relegated to the collateral damage pile as greedy selfish corporate interest rape the Appalachian Mountains. SHAME SHAME SHAME!!

Mountaintop Removal mining is barbaric extraction and it must end!!!!



Dave's expose of Rand Paul and Randie exposes himself on the video.....



YIKES!!!!

Donna Smith The Health Care Issue is NOT Finished!

I had the pleasure of hearing Donna and a fine panel of local folks talk about where we are with this unfinished business-healthcare. Thanks to the sponsoring organizations and people who suit up show up every time. This was a very informative and inspiring evening.

Donna works with the California Nurses Association and can be read at American Patients United as she works to get real healthcare reform.

Sponsoring organizations:
United for National Healthcare
Organizing for a National Single-Payer Healthcare System

Jobs with Justice of Whatcom County

Social Justice/Action Committee of the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship

Moderator:
Larry Kalb

Panelists:
Aileen Satushek Jason Heck Dr. Chris Covert-Bowlds

Musicians:
the Prawns, John Flancher, Lou Lippman, and Warren I. Palken

Dear Democrats

In light of the events in South Carolina I feel it's time to mention that this open primary, top two, anybody and everybody now decides and the political party I voluntarily associate with, for the purpose of getting fellow humans elected to put the best policy into law to protect us and our commons, no longer choses a candidate to advance to the general election for anyone and everyone to vote on. Open primaries are a corporate wetdream and with the citizens united winds in their sails the greedy selfish are poised to continue the orgy. Mischief and unintended consequences are ahead. "Operation Chaos" is ripe for the picking.
I imagine we will very soon give away the last choosing we have, the presidential nominating process, the caucus, in favor of the taxpayer funded primary election. Many in my party buy the line that this is "real democracy" I would even embrace the taxpayer funded primary election if we were a closed primary state and for primary purposes you must be a declared Democrat to be involved in selecting the Democratic candidate to advance to the general election for anybody and everybody to vote on....the more the merrier.

This is a great post discussing the open primary .......

Why Open Primaries Are A Really Bad Idea
Posted in Liberaland by James Frye • June 9, 2010, 7:31 PMET


Pundits and commentators were “stunned” that South Carolina’s Democrats nominated Alvin Greene to run against Senator Jim DeMint in November, a man who never raised a penny for his campaign or even campaigned at all in Tuesday’s state primary. Seemingly, they passed on a former judge and four-term state legislator for the unemployed Greene.

Now it appears that the South Carolina Democratic Party is having buyer’s regret:

............How could Democrats do this to themselves? Well, don’t blame Democratic voters in SC for this — blame their primary system that allowed this to happen.

First, some definitions of terms: States who hold party primaries do so under basically two types of methods. Most states hold closed primaries which means that only voters who are registered in a political party may vote on selecting their party’s candidates for November. Others have open primaries which can vary from state to state but basically allows anyone in any party or none to vote to select the general election candidate of any party. The open primary system is a leftover from the bad old days of the Solid Dixie–er–Democratic South where, at the time, the Republicans had so small a chance of being elected to anything that the primary was essentially the November election.

What the open primary does now is offer an open invitation to mischief. Remember “Operation Chaos” during the 2008 primaries where right wing radio talkers were calling for Republican voters to switch over to vote for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama so the Democratic primaries would be extended and hurt the Dem nominee? That was meant for open primary states mainly – for that to work in closed primary states those Republicans would have had to re-register to vote to change their party affiliation for the primary then register again to change back afterward.

The open primary is also an invitation for one party to see to it that the weakest possible candidate of the other party wins to ensure that their real candidate has a better chance in the general election. This appears to have been what happened in the case of Mr. Greene’s Democratic nomination ‘victory’ in South Carolina. Sneaky? Yes, but totally legal and the SC Democrats would have done the same to the Republicans if they could.

The arguments for open primaries tend to go for the “it allows more voters to participate” line. That’s fine for November when everybody can vote for anybody. Primaries are (or should be) an internal function of the political parties. No one outside of nonpartisan offices are elected to anything on primary day: this is the chance for party members to decide who they think would be the best candidate for their party for the general election. If you want to participate, register to vote with a party affiliation. Doing that doesn’t mean that you have to vote for the candidates of the party exclusively and forever, it just allows you to help pick their candidates.
full post

and here is my rant and rational when this heated up during the last presidential election...
dear democrats

cheney's chernobyl

This really great post over at CROOKS AND LIARS outlines the path to the disaster we see unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. When it happened and halliburton was involved, I wondered, oh my god!!! they were probably hydralic fracturing down there. This piece outlines how they got us to where we are now. Their reckless disregard for all of our water and specifically safe drinking water will be on diplay for their children and grandchildren to experience for as far as the eye can see.

We must end barbaric extraction now!

How George Bush, Joe Barton, Dick Cheney and Tom DeLay Caused the Gulf Oil Spill and Made Sure BP Will Never Be Held Accountable
By karoli Monday Jun 07, 2010 2:00pm



Act Three - It is finished

On August 8, 2005, George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law.

On October 22, 2007 Randall B. Luthi, Wyoming attorney, Cheney cohort and new director of MMS signed a "Finding of No New Significant Impact" (PDF) with regard to Lease Sale 206, also known as the Deepwater Horizon. This finding was the last barrier for BP to cross before plunging equipment 5000 feet under the ocean's surface, using Halliburton fracture techniques to open the well, and beginning the flow of oil which ends as an environmental and economic disaster to Gulf inhabitants. No significant impact, indeed.
full post

Glenn Beck, Right-Wing Tea Party Cranks & Doug Ericksen

→

The Bellingham Tea Party has managed to keep up a front of simply being about objecting to deficit spending. Many people don't go any farther than reading their simplistic 'mission statement' that says: "Reverse deficit spending and the concentration of power in central government, in order to preserve states' rights and individual liberty for future generations."

But there's a lot more to their mission than that simplistic statement. The Bellingham Tea Party follows Glenn Beck's 'plan' when it comes to what they present as "education", e.g. study classes on the book The 5000 Year Leap and the "Making of America" seminar by Earl Taylor, of the National Center for Constitutional Studies. Those Tea Party indoctrination classes in far-right, conspiracy-theory, racist, revisionist history have gone largely unnoticed by the mainstream media.

Now that Glenn Beck has begun to promote the work of 1930's Nazi sympathizer Elizabeth Dilling, perhaps the media will begin to look at just how extreme Beck and the Tea Party leadership really are and exactly what it is that they are promoting.

And while they're looking, maybe they'll notice which politicians are giving aid and comfort to these far-right ideologues. For instance, (Republican State Senate candidate) Doug Ericksen is usually pretty careful to keep his far-right connects out of public view but the Bellingham Tea Party couldn't resist thanking him for hosting their extremist guest speaker, Earl Taylor.

From the Bellingham Tea Party website (emphasis added):

"Making of America" Seminar was Wonderful

It may sound crazy to some to spend a Saturday listening to someone talk about the Constitution and early American History, but for the 80+ people that attended, it was a great day filled with valuable information. We left with a better understanding of what our Founders intended for America and how much we have strayed. Earl Taylor, of the National Center for Constitutional Studies was an excellent speaker. Thanks to all who attended and to Ellen Baker for coordinating all of this. Special thanks to Doug and Tasha Ericksen for opening their home to Dr. Taylor's and acting as our host during his stay in Bellingham.

If you attended the "Making of America" seminar, you want more. If you missed it, you should consider signing up for classes sponsored by the Bellingham Tea Party. This class is produced by the National Center for Constitutional Studies and the DVDs teach the 28 principles of Liberty.

We want to thank Don Chadd and Hugh Foulke for volunteering to coordinate these classes.

http://www.bhamteaparty.org/index.html

From the SourceWatch entry on Glenn Beck (emphasis added):

Positions

Much of Beck's promotion of conspiracy theories and views on race can be attributed to his admitted ideological debt owed to Cleon Skousen, a controversial and discredited Mormon anti-communist "historian," far-right speaker, author and racist.^[14] Skousen authored more than a dozen books and pamphlets on the Red Menace, New World Order conspiracy, Christian child rearing, and Mormon end-times prophecy.^[14]

A former FBI clerk, fired chief of police, and Brigham Young University teacher, Skousen was disavowed or disowned by nearly every organization he was affiliated with, including the FBI, the city where he served as chief of police, the American Security Council, and the Mormon church. On the subject of Skousen's anti-communist scholarship a 1962 FBI memo said "During the past year or so, Skousen has affiliated himself with the extreme right-wing 'professional communists' who are promoting their own anticommunism for obvious financial purposes" and Skousen's "The Naked Communist, ... another example of why a sound, scholarly textbook on communism is urgently and badly needed."^[14]

In September 2007, a year after Skousen's death, Beck began touting Skousen's book "The 5,000 Year Leap" on his radio and television shows, through his websites and at his speaking engagements. The 5,000 Year Leap is Skousen's attempt to "explain American history through an unspoken lens of Mormon theology." Going beyond mere endorsement, Beck played a central role in seeing a new edition published, and wrote the foreward for the edition, writing "I beg you to read this book filled with words of wisdom which I can
only describe as divinely inspired." In Beck's announcement of introducing the 912 Project he called for all 912 members to buy the book, saying "The first thing you could do," he said, "is get 'The 5,000 Year Leap.' Over my book or anything else, get 'The 5,000 Year Leap.' You can probably find it in the book section of GlennBeck.com, but read that. It is the principle. Please, No. 1 thing: Inform yourself about who we are and what the other systems are all about. 'The 5,000 Year Leap' is the first part of that. Because it will help
you understand American free enterprise … Make that dedication of becoming a Sept. 12 person and I will help you do it next year." The result was that more than 250,000 copies have been sold in the first half of 2009. The book's publisher says Beck "has done more to bring the work of Dr. Skousen to light than any other individual in America today."^[14]

Another of Skousen's works, a slavery revisionist history titled "The Making of America" is the subject of daylong seminars to 912 chapters conducted by Dr. Earl Taylor Jr. president of the National Center for Constitutional Studies, which was founded by Skousen. Salon described it as "filled with factual errors, Skousen's book characterized African-American children as "pickaninnies" and described American slave owners as the "worst victims" of the slavery system" and Skousen as "a right-wing crank whom even conservatives despised."^[14]

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Glenn_Beck

t boone alert...again

I have no choice but to bring this up again. Today on the Stephanie Miller Show, Thom Hartmann again gave a bow to the pickens plan. The most important question to ask at that point is, "when we start talking about replacing oil by natural gas, how do we acquire this natural resource?" And the answer is increasingly (actually on steroids)by a process developed by dead eye, dark side dick's enterprise, halliburtion, in 1949. Hydralic fracturing is to the land what deep water drilling to our oceans.

what a way to start the day!!

end barbaric extraction! cheney's Chernobyl will be surfacing for decades, just look for things that go "boom" that he has had his hands on. Just ask the people of Iraq.

brilliant blog post Asher.....

this article is a good example of why I just got off my lazy ass and became a monthly donor and why I am a subscriber to their monthly newsletter...that's the Post Carbon Institute.

An Even Bigger Spill Looming?
Posted May 25, 2010 by Asher Miller

While the nation's eyes are turned towards the oil tipped waves and tar balls washing up on the shores of the Gulf Coast, an altogether different energy disaster looms in California—one that might be even more damaging for the environment and our economy in the long run.

For decades now California has led the country in environmental protection, passing legislation that's often set the benchmark for national policy. But this, like all tides, can flow in two directions. A pair of ballot measures—Props 16 & The California Jobs Initiative—could set California back immeasurably and by extension the entire country, at a time when we can least afford it.

full post

Greed on steroids

Thanks to Norman Goldman for pointing out that Transocean, one of the 3 companies responsible for the catastrophic environmental nightmare unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, is trying to limit their liability to $27 million. They will be using our taxpayer supported court system to pursue this. And they moved their headquarters from Delaware to to Cayman Islands and then to Switzerland to avoid taxes here. And to add insult to injury, as they try to dodge responsibility, and the oil continues to pour into the Gulf, they will pay their stockholders $1,000,000,000.

wake up america...the greedy, selfish people are winning and they are killing the planet as they loot it.

t boone alert...again

Today, once again, I was horrified to hear someone I respect immensely, tipping his hat to the t boone man. Thom Hartmann said he had to agree with him about commercial fleets running on natural gas. Natural Gas is a non-starter. We really are at peak everything. There isn't any energy source presently used (above a single digit %) that isn't acquired by barbaric extraction and natural gas is no different. Hydralic Fracturing (brought to us by Halliburton in the late 40's) is now being used in 34 states and it's use is rising ...on steroids!!!!! Humans in places where this is practiced are losing their homes and health. Water supplies are being contaminated with over 500 chemicals. (some known and some "proprietary" and we are NOT privy to the information even tho it's our water.)

previous t boone alerts ......and i will bring it up everytime this slips in under the radar.

previous barbaric extraction alerts

until we face where we are and change our ways, we are on course to destroy the planet.

FINANCIAL COLLAPSE 2.0 TEACH-IN

I had the pleasure of attending this wonderful teach-in on Tuesday and I videotaped the live feed of Dr. Simon Johnson from the other Washington, followed by questions from the great audience in Bellingham. I also had the repeat pleasure of seeing and hearing from Kristie Laguzza-Boosman as she spoke about big banks and the confluence of issues we face as it relates back to big banks, and what we can do.

thanks so much to Dianne!!! and all organizations who helped and everyone who keeps suiting up and showing up.
and thanks First Congregational Church for your gracious hospitality.

here is the video playlist of the introduction and Dr. Simon Johnson's presentation, followed by a Q&A:


and Kristi Laguzza-Boosman here:



Organizations and co sponsors:
A New Way Forward

Americans for Financial Reform

MoveOn.org

Job with Justice

Whatcom Peace and Justice

Whatcom Human Rights Task Force

Veterans for Peace

Sign petitions here:
Public Campaign

Move to Amend ...work with great folks like David Cobb to end corporate personhood

FREE SPEECH TV

and, of course, this brings me back to my question that almost caused my republican mother to hang up on me
"how's the cancerous phase of unregulated, croney, casino capitalism working for you???"

I want an economy that works for us humans, not the other way around.

barbaric extraction or our symptoms are showing

Today Joe Teehan had Jack Weiss, Bellingham City Councilman, on the line to talk about his lone dissenting voice on the recent council vote to renew the pipeline lease thru our home. His voice was an attempt, as I understood him, to call us to take a serious look at our current lifestyle in regard to consumption, and reckless use of fossil fuels as we deplete the Earth's resources at breakneck speed. He made a very important point in the beginning when he called the fossil fuel industry's attempt to greenwash by getting us to call tar sands "oil sands." I'm guessing it was more palatable marketing, which had been well researched. Then an excellent, well informed, caller named Dylan emphasized the point and said even calling it tar sands didn't really come close to describing the horror. My term for this new "gold rush" and all the desperate extraction we see is "barbaric extraction." It is a glaring symptom of where we find ourselves. We are at peak everything, including the atmosphere where we deposit the carbon from burning fossil fuels.

thanks Joe for a great program and I am sooooo glad to hear your voice on my radio!!!!

and here are some pictures of this form of barbaric extraction and the end result looks very similar to the other forms of barbaric destruction we see


mountaintop removal coal mining and a must see movie about this practice and the heroic people living where it's done

and then there is the contamination of our lands under the lands using hydralic fracturing and chemicals

and as we speak the "spill" in the Gulf of Mexico is playing out and promises to be catastrophic.

wake up humans, we must urgently change our ways so our descendent will have a home.

the dickens of doom.....

→Good question! Kunstler has is right again....

"Where's RICO?"
By James Howard Kunstler for ClusterFuck Nation

......The feigned cluelessness among some the highest-profile figures in these rackets is something to behold. For instance Citibank was among the companies that helped Magnetar put together their CDOs-designed-to-fail. Citi's chairman at the time, former US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, testifying before the new Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission said, "Almost all of us, including me, who were involved in the financial system -- that is to say financial firms, regulators, rating agencies, analysts and commentators -- missed the powerful combination of factors that led to this crisis and the serious possibility of a massive crisis." Bank of America's CEO, Brian Moynihan, told a congressional hearing, "No one involved in the housing system -- lenders, rating agencies, investors, insurers, consumers, regulators, and policy-makers -- foresaw a dramatic and rapid depreciation in home prices" [and therefore in investment instruments based on mortgages].

Either they lie or they are profoundly stupid and incompetent. If the former, then they might be induced to spend some time talking to federal prosecutors; if the latter then the US financial system is too hopeless to survive and we will all soon be bartering hand tools and designer shoes for food. Evidence of the latter is ample, for instance, in Citigroup's loss of 70 percent share value during Robert Rubin's chairmanship -- for which, in the crash year of 2008 alone, he was paid $17 million plus $33 million in stock options.

It is amazing this place we find ourselves. The thieves in high places are still in place. The greedy, selfish are transferring the wealth of the planet to themselves at breakneck speed and we are shitting in our home as we cling to obsolete paradigms. Our symptoms are showing everywhere. Our desperation is evident as increasingly we embrace barbaric extraction of Earth's resources, even when it destroys other human's home, water supply, and health. How much is enough?
How's the cancerous phase of unregulated, crony, casino capitalism working for you? Wonder how it will work for our children and grandchildren? Will the debt come due? Will the thieves be stopped?


Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) is courageously calling for a criminal investigation into Goldman and other Wall Street companies that broke the law. Several others in Congress have joined her.

SIGN PETITION: NO "TOO BIG FOR JAIL"

barbaric extraction...hydralic fracturing style

I hope this piece on NOW will begin to wake people up to the place we find ourselves. As the gas and oil interest sell people "friendly, green agreement" to use their property for hydralic fracturing gas extraction to people who are facing economic hard times, we must decide if this is the legacy we want to pass on to those who come after. It was telling to me when a landowner was asked, "what if the "fracking"ruins your water or land?" The person responded, "I will have enough money to move." Is this who we are? Are we really that selfish?

thanks TXsharon for this

and from the movie GASLAND